Gold chain snatched at gunpoint
Amritsar, May 22
Two persons looted the gold chain of Meenu Singh, a resident of 238 Gali no 10 New Jawahar Nagar Batala Road, at gunpoint on Monday evening.

Amritsar, May 22
City girl Neha Chopra has bagged the sixth rank in Punjab Pre-Medical Entrance Test (PMET), the results for which were declared today. A jubilant Neha credited her success to her teachers. Daughter of doctor parents, she said environment in the family helped her decide on medicine as a profession early in life. She likes the method of teaching Botany by her teacher Uttamjit Singh which helped her score better, she said.

About 75 city students cracked the entrance tests for various medical institutes in the state and the country.

In a statement issued here today, a private coaching institute Wisdom Classes has claimed that 73 of its students have cracked the Punjab PMET and the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC).

Avleen Kaur secured the 16th rank in Punjab PMET. She feared Chemistry till sometime back but under teacher MP Sidana her understanding of the subject improved qualitatively. Seven students who cracked the AFMC are Karan Bhatti, Simrat Bajwa, Smridhi, Sartaj Singh, Sandeep Randhawa, Bikram Raja and Ishan Mittal. Navjot Kaur and Samridhi share the 24th rank in the PMET. Samridhi credited her zoology teacher Rishi Mehta for developing in her an attitude to study the subject deeply, suggesting vital books and guidance. 

Amritsar, May 22
The Vigilance Bureau has arrested an XEN of the power corporation for accepting bribe from a resident. At a press conference held today SSP Vigilance Raj Jeet Singh said Sukhnandan Singh, a resident of Batala, had earlier submitted a complaint against XEN Jaswinderpal Singh for demanding Rs 2 lakh as bribe.

Sukhnandan Singh in his complaint to the police said he had received a notice for a fine of Rs 6, 51, 372 for alleged unauthorised use of electricity supply from the power corporation. When the consumer approached the XEN to ask him to reduce the fine, he asked for a bribe of Rs two lakh and agreed to reduce the fine, said the SSP. He later reduced the fine to Rs 96,828, he added. The SSP said the accused was arrested when Sukhnandan Singh went to pay him Rs one lakh, as the first installment of the Rs two lakh bribe as agreed upon by them earlier. He said a case has been registered and the officer has been arrested.

Amritsar, May 22
After introducing online dealer point registration system (DTRS) and smart card driving licence, Amritsar again became the first in the state to launch high-security registration plates (HSRP) in vehicles.

The District Transport Office, Amritsar, today started the allotment of HSRP officially. Vimal Setia, District Transport Officer, Amritsar, said the move would help check theft incidents.

A hologram will also be pasted on the front windscreen, which will carry details of the vehicle like registration, engine and chassis numbers. “The plate is pasted on the body of the vehicle in such a fashion that it cannot be tampered with, replicated or removed. Registration number of vehicles will also be stamped on the chassis to avoid tampering,” he said.

Rates of these registration plates have been kept reasonable. For a tractor, the rate of a pair of high security number plates has been fixed at Rs 135; Rs 295 for a two-wheeler, Rs 315 for a car; Rs 340 for SUV and other heavy vehicles (trucks and buses).

A private company, Agro Impact, has been given the rights to carry out the work in the state with centres at Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Bathinda and Amritsar.

The centre at the District Transport Office, Amritsar, will also cater to the neighbouring districts of Tarn Taran, Pathankot and Gurdaspur.

Setia said it would be mandatory for all vehicles registered from today onwards to have high-security registration plates.

Owners of vehicles, registered earlier, will be required to instal the HSRP before December 31.

Residents feel that the move may help curb the menace of snatching and traffic violations.

City resident Baljeet Kaur Johal said the new system would give an advantage to the police against motorcycle-borne youths who flee after snatching valuables before their number plates can be noted.

Amritsar, May 22
Finally, the elevator in Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital building became operational after remaining closed for more than five and a half years. The elevator in the five-storeyed building had gone out of order after it developed a technical snag in December 2006.

The hospital authorities kept asking their seniors in the Punjab Health Systems Corporation to rectify the problem, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, with the elevator coming back to life, attendants of patients and paramedical staff at the hospital seemed relieved. They said they won’t have to take wheeled stretchers through ramps anymore. “Those on duty had to work hard in case the patient was unable to walk,” said a paramedic.

The insiders at the hospital said the lift had earlier developed a snag because there was no trained lift attendant to manage it.

Senior Medical Officer Dr Balbir Singh Dhillon said the hospital has arranged for a lift operator this time. “Most of the visitors are not acquainted with the system of an elevator. It would be better if an attendant is present to help them.” He said the lift was lying closed for a long time and the authorities are happy to see it working.

Amritsar, May 22
The Guru Nanak Dev Hospital has changed a member of the committee constituted to probe charges of sexual harassment leveled by a woman patient against an employee of the hospital.

GNDH medical superintendent Dr Satpal said a member has been replaced following a request from him. He said the member had requested that he be removed from the committee because the accused is his relative and he won’t be able to conduct the enquiry in an impartial manner.

He said Dr Kulwant Rai has been made the new chairperson of the committee along with Dr Sukhcharanjit Singh and Dr Gagandeep Kaur.

Earlier the hospital had constituted the committee on May 16. The committee was asked to submit a report on the charges leveled by the patient within two to three days.

However, the report could not be tabled as a member of the committee requested his removal. A woman patient had earlier in a complaint submitted with Dr Satpal alleged that a hospital employee had misbehaved with her while she was resting in an operation theatre after a medical procedure.

Amritsar, May 22
Olympian Balwinder Singh Shammi today began to train hockey players at local Khalsa College Public School (KCPS). The programme is being conducted under Khalsa College Governing Council (KCGC)’s programme to revive the national game in its all educational institutes. About 17 students, who were already undergoing training at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Academy, have been admitted to the school free of cost, said school principal Dr Sarvjit Kaur Brar said.

Dr Brar said the accommodation will be free of cost for the students who have been admitted in Class VII and VIII today. “We are happy to have these students here and they will receive training from Shammi to prepare them for future tournaments and competitions.” She said they will be coached daily by hockey experts in the school premises and at the Astroturf ground of the neighbouring Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) campus.

Shammi said he was happy to impart training to the junior team of U-14 and was thankful to KCGC for the initiative as he will soon start the training for the senior team shortly. — TNS

Amritsar, May 22
Divya Aggarwal of BBK DAV College for Women stood first in BCom (regular) final year examination of Guru Nanak Dev University. Seven other students of the college got ranks in the top 20 positions in the examination, whose results were declared today.

Shallu Mahajan of the college came third in the university. Other students who featured in the top 20 were Hitashi Trehan (8th), Nitika Khera (12th), Isha Soni (14th), Shaina Kundra (15th), Anumeha Mittal (16th) and Heena Bharbuta (20th).