Amritsar, April 3
Train passengers today again found themselves at the receiving end as activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party Kisan Morcha blocked rail traffic in Amritsar. At least six trains, including Shatabdi, had delayed arrival at Amritsar.

“Blocking rail traffic has become a routine. The trend should be stopped,” said Satyamjit Singh, a passenger. Some passengers even preferred to get down from trains coming to the city near the Shiwala railway crossing where BJP Kisan Morcha activists had blocked rail traffic.

Amritsar, April 3
Domestic LPG cylinders too have an expiry date. A fact many of us are unaware of. What is alarming is that using an outdated one in our kitchen can even prove fatal. Taking advantage of this ignorance on part of the consumers, these expired cylinders still circulate in the market. Consumers often ignore the expiry date of the LPG cylinders and continue using these highly volatile cylinders in their homes.

Gurinder Kaur, a resident said, “I got suspicious when a worn out and old cylinder was delivered at my home.” She said they made the LPG gas agency dealer replace the cylinder after pressing hard for it.

Another resident Charanjit Kaur said the administration must take a serious note of such gas agency holders which are putting lives of people at risk. She said the norms in this regard are being openly violated by gas agencies in the rural areas. A gas agency holder on the condition of anonymity said, As per the norms, the cyclinders are to be replaced after 20 years. The gas companies keep circulate them after changing gas nozzles and giving them a fresh paint. The expiry code is engraved on one of the three pillars on the top of every cylinder using one of the four alphabets A, B, C or D. One of these alphabets is marked with the year of the expiry. The alphabet A stands for the months of January, February and March. Each of the other three stand for the three subsequent months each.

District Food and Civil Supplies Controller Dr RK Singla said action will be taken against agencies and companies violating the norms. He said people should first check the expiry date of the cylinders.

Amritsar, April 3
Autistic cases have increased manifold in the world, especially in developing countries including India, in the last few years.

As the world observed Autism Day on April 2, Amritsar Tribune talked to experts to find out the problems areas especially regarding the rehabilitation of children suffering from this neuro-developmental disorder.

First thing the experts pointed out was the lack of seriousness at the government level. They said at a time when the disorder is affecting more and more children, nothing has been done at the government level for the rehabilitation of these patients.

Due to lack of awareness, a large chunk of such children remain undiagnosed and unattended. There are no schools for the rehabilitation of these patients, which should be mandatory so that they could lead a near normal life, they said.

They said the government should take initiative and spread awareness about the life-long disability, which could be detected in first three years of birth.

"A large number of children don't get necessary rehabilitation therapies due to lack of awareness among people. As children suffering from the disorder could not understand simple questions, commands and have problems in communication, parents consider autistic children mentally retarded or 'fools'," said Dr BL Goel, director, Vidya Sagar Institute of Mental Health. The data available on the disorder reveals that there were 20 lakh cases in India in 2003 that has now gone up to over 1.30 crore. The latest global survey reveals that in every 88 children born in the country, one develops autism.

"Going by the data, Amritsar city having a population of over 12 lakh could approximately have 13,000 children suffering from the neuro-developmental disorder. While the city has only a couple of NGOs working for the rehabilitation of mentally challenged and autistic patients, government institutions in the city have no such facility," said a teacher in the Government Medical College preferring anonymity. There also no government school especially for such patients, he added.

Dr Ashok Uppal, a neurologist, said the autistic children can lead a near normal life if they get the necessary rehabilitation therapies. He said people should come forward for the treatment of their wards.

Parents of an autistic child, preferring not to be named, admitted that initially they faced problem as they were unaware of the disorder. But the therapies at local Raj Rani Uppal Charitable Special School along with our hard work paid dividends and improved the life of our child, they added.

Dr Esha Dhawan, a psychiatrist and counsellor, said early diagnosis and timely treatment can help children lead a normal and healthy life.

"These children are quite sensitive. So we have to find out their field of interest," she said.

HS Ghai, Deputy Medical Commissioner, Punjab Health System Corporation, confirmed that there is no facility for the treatment of autistic patients at government hospitals in the city.

Amritsar, April 3
Increase in collector rates and subsequent enhancement in registration fee has hit the common man's dream of owning a house.

Ramesh Kumar, a generator mechanic by profession, is depressed after buying a 50-square yard house in New Golden Avenue area. Reason for his dejection is that he purchased the plot at the rate of Rs 4000 per square yard near the railway lines, but he has pay Rs 20,000 to get the registry done, which was Rs 17000 a couple of days ago.

"I arranged the amount to procure the small chunk of land after selling some gold ornaments of my wife; took loan from relatives and utilised my savings". However, I am finding it difficult to arrange money for the registry.

A real estate agent, Harpinder Singh Walia said considerable hike in collector rates has affected the plans of families belonging to middle and lower income groups.

He questioned the procedure being adopted by the government department in fixing the collector rates. He said as per the department, rates at posh Mall Road and Mall Mandi area are not too different. Emerging as upscale shopping area, rate per square yard of Mall Road is Rs 20,400 (residential) and commercial Rs 60,000. On the other hand, the rate per square yard of Mall Mandi is Rs 20,000 (residential) and Rs 50,000 (commercial).

He said many people from lower income groups have procured 40 square yards land in different areas of the city to escape monthly expenses on house rent.

He said as per the new law, people buying land costing above Rs five lakh would have to show PAN card. "This is another move to discourage real buyers."

He suggested that the government must devise ways to discourage and keep speculative buyers out of the real estate and must provide relief to real buyers.

Amritsar, April 3
Vikram Sharma has done the city proud by winning a gold medal in wrestling at the All-India Police Games for the sixth time. The event concluded in Delhi recently.

Vikram was a wrestling champion in the All India Police Games for 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 also.

An international level wrestler, he is employed with the Punjab police and has won many titles for the state and his department. Earlier, the Punjabi community settled in Toronto had invited him to train youngsters in the game after he won Sri Guru Gobind Singh kabaddi and wrestling tournament there. He beat Criss of the US in the finals at the event. His maiden international exposure came in 2001 during Junior Wrestling Asian Championship held in Iran. After this championship he joined the Punjab police. Vikram credited his trainer Sohan Singh, a qualified international coach, for honing his skills in the game.

Vikram won the silver in the 84-kg Greeco-Roman style in the World Police Games held in New York in September last. He lost the finals to Russia's Cooka. He won the gold at this year's National Games after beating Haryana's Rinku at Ranchi in the same category. At the national wrestling championship, 2009, in Udaipur he bagged the silver in the 84-kg Greeco-Roman category. In the 2009 World Police Games at Vancouver, Vikram bagged the gold in the same category and the silver medal in the freestyle.

Amritsar, April 3
Employees of Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), including sports coaches, allege they are denied hike in salary and pension benefits to which they are entitled under the Sixth Pay Commission. These employees are sports coaches, programme coordinator (NSS), placement officer, Director Youth Welfare, Assistant Placement Officer and others.

GNDU’s retired Cricket coach Joginder Singh said he has been denied enhanced pay benefits under the last pay commission, which was implemented in August 2006.

He retired on May 20, 2010, he said. Having joined the university in 1981, Joginder received the benefits of revised salary following each hike affected once in a decade. Last time, his salary was revised in 1996 as per the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission.

He said he along with other employees contacted various departments concerned and was told that the state government’s audit department had not yet released the enhanced benefits on the ground that the names of these officials did not figure in the UGC list and recommended that their names be approved by the Secretary, Higher Education. He said when all previous hikes were released as per the recommendations of the pay commissions, how can their names be omitted from the list concerned.

He stressed that these employees, especially those who retired, have been incurring financial losses on account of delay in the release of hike salaries. Retiring in 2010, Joginder was issued pensionary benefits like leave encashment, commutation of the salary, gratuity as per the old scale of Rs 13,500. Had the department implemented the revised pay scales, these benefits would have been released under the basic salary to Rs 27,000. He claimed that he was getting Rs 5,000 less as pension per month and the dues due to the university are more than Rs 10 lakh.