The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Heatwave kills two more PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 15 Two more persons died because of the extreme heatwave conditions over the past two days taking the death toll to eleven. A majority of the victims are destitute or mentally-ill roadside beggars. Out of the 11 persons who died due to the heatwave, nine could not be identified and they were cremated after the post-mortem examination. The district administration and the police have so far failed to take any action to take them to safer places to save them from sun stroke. A number of such patients can be seen near the railway station, the bus stand and even outside religious places. The temperature in the holy city is hovering around mid-forties. The destitute lying unattended on the roadsides are the most vulnerable. The city witnessed a maximum temperature of 44 degree Celsius yesterday while the temperature was recorded at 45.8 degree Celsius on Friday. Though the administration has established a night shelter in old Karam Singh Ward to keep and rehabilitate beggars from various parts of the city, but it has failed to bring desired results owing to various reasons, such as they go back to begging. A number of these beggars suffer from mental ailments. They can be seen wandering in city unattended and uncared. If the health authorities are to be believed it is the duty of the police to get such patients admitted to mental hospitals. With their infirm minds these people can even be a threat to the residents or for the law and order situation. The authorities at Dr Vidya Sagar Institute of Mental Health say that policemen from other districts bring such patients to the hospital for treatment, but it is rare to see policemen from the city bringing the mentally-ill patients wandering in the city to hospitals because of the cumbersome procedure both administrative and judicial involved in it. Mental hospitals can not intervene in such cases on their own. Deputy Commissioner Rajat Agarwal said he would coordinate with the health and police department so that such persons who are mentally challenged could be admitted to hospital or be shifted to safer places in view of the hot summer conditions. “I will pass instructions to the police and the health department in this connection,” he said. The to do list People must drink lemon water and eat fruits with high water content. Excessive sweating during summers causes loss of sodium and potassium from the body, therefore drinking lemon water which is a rich source of the two vital elements, is crucial. People must take more water and eat salads two to three times a day. During summers people need to drink plenty of liquids to replace fluids lost due to sweating. Residents should cover their heads to avoid direct sunlight which could cause heat stroke. While driving two-wheelers, people should wear helmets or cover their heads. Strenuous exercise that can cause excess sweating should be avoided.
	Prices of sand, gravel up Common man, builders feel the pinch Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 15 At a time when the common man is already grappling with rising inflation, steep increase in prices of construction material has dealt another blow. Prices of sand and gravel (bajri) have risen sharply since the past one week as people have to buy sand at 1,800 and Rs 2,600 per cubic feet, respectively. The prices of sand have doubled from Rs 900 to Rs 1,800 per cubic feet and the cost of gravel has gone up by 36 per cent from Rs 1,900 to Rs 2,600 per cubic feet. With a season of construction work, construction material sellers and residents feel a conspiracy behind the astronomical rise in the prices. Several residents have halted construction and repair work of their houses. Suresh Kumar, a teacher by profession, said about a fortnight ago he initiated the construction work at his plot after calculating his budget. “But the sudden rise in prices of materials upset his entire budget and I am unable to continue with the current prices. I am temporarily withholding the construction and will resume once the prices subside.” A shopkeeper, Gurwinder Singh said sudden and steep surge in prices of construction materials had upset his plans, but he could not stop the construction midway as his business would be hampered. He urged the government to look into the matter and unearth the reasons behind the price rise. Many industrialists involved in expansion work has also halted the construction of their projects. An industrialist Raman Gupta, who is constructing storage, said he stopped the construction. Harpinder Singh, dealing in construction materials, said they were forced to buy and sell the material at increased cost. Illegal quarrying is one of the reasons, he said. He said the auctioning of quarrying sites to one business house in the district has monopolised the affair. In Amritsar sand quarries are situated at Ajnala, where Ravi upstream is there, and Beas, on Amritsar-Jalandhar NH-1. Dharam Pal Bhagat, general manager, Amritsar, Department of Industries and Commerce, who also holds Mines portfolio, he said the department had acted strictly against the illegal quarrying cartels. He said the department was already in talks with the contractor over the rise in prices of sand and gravel. He anticipated that the prices would come down soon.
	City teacher, girl shine in PCS exam Neeraj Bagga/TNS Amritsar, June 15 Sakatar Singh Bal, who got the eighth rank in the general category of the PCS examination, has become an overnight role model for the youth especially from Sathiala and its surrounding villages. Son of a farmer Piara Singh Bal and Dalbir Kaur, a housewife, his family is known as a family of teachers in the village. At present four of the family members are teachers. Sakatar teaches the subject of social studies while his wife Amandeep Kaur and two younger brothers are primary level teachers. He works at Government Middle School Shahpur. Father of six-year-old Khushmanreet Kaur, Sakatar is the first PCS officer from his native village. He said couple of candidates had made it to the allied services of the PCS about three decades ago. A product of government school, Sathiala, his primary, senior secondary and he completed his college education at his native village only. An MSc (Honours) and M.Phil in Economics, Sakatar has done MA English, B.Ed and M.Ed as well. His optional subjects in the PCS main examination were economics and geography. On the choice of subjects, he said economics was a natural choice as he had done two majors in the subject. He, however, said examinations of these subjects were technically different from academics as stress was more on applications and he had to prepare accordingly. Being a social studies teacher he studied basic geography as well and developed interest in the subject. He prepared for geography from NCERT books recommended for Class X, XI and XII by Savinder Singh, K. Sidhartha, Mazid Hussain and DR Khullar. He did not take any coaching for the written examination. However, for the interview he had underwent coaching at the IAS, PCS coaching centre at Punjabi University Patiala. Keen to become a civil servant he cleared the written examination for civil services of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. Rajmandeep Kaur secured the 35th rank in the PCS examination. A visibly cheerful Rajmandeep and her family celebrated the achievement with their relatives and friends. Having done MA in political science and BSc in social sciences from GND University, she has been trying to crack the IAS for the past two years. Though she has cleared the PCS but is firm on her dream to become an IAS officer. She did her post graduation as a private candidate to prepare for the examination and took coaching for two years at New Delhi. At a very young age she decided to become a civil servant and despite being a brilliant science student up to Class XII, she switched over to the humanities stream in BA. Her optional subjects in the PCS Main examinations were political science and sociology. “My graduation in social sciences helped me immensely to prepare for general studies”, he said. His father Tarlochan Singh is a branch manager in Punjab and Sind Bank while elder Harmandeep Kaur is a lecturer at Khalsa College.
	Special summer course for teachers Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 15 A 21-day ‘Special Summer School 2012’ was inaugurated at Guru Nanak Dev University here today by Prof TS Banipal, Director, Academic Staff College. This course is being organised by Academic Staff College of the University in association with University Grants Commission, New Delhi. Prof Banipal said such courses provide an opportunity to teachers from various disciplines to interact with each other as well as with the various resource persons from different disciplines. He emphasised that the holistic development of students is of utmost importance in the modern times & the teachers have to play a key role in the whole education system. Dr Mohan Kumar, Deputy Director, Academic Staff College, exhorted teachers to become a role model for their students. Results declared Guru Nanak Dev University today declared the results of MA (sociology)-I (improvement), MA (sociology)-II, MA (music instrumental)-II, MA (commercial art)-II; advance diploma in French (part time), diploma in French (part time and full time) and certificate courses in French and German (part time). Certificate course The last date for submitting online applications for certificate course in Urdu, Persian and Arabic; diploma course in Urdu and Persian and advance diploma course in Urdu and Persian is July 27. Dr Aziz Abbas, Head of Department of Urdu and Persian, said counselling for certificate course in Urdu, Persian and Arabic will be held on August 1. Similarly, the counselling for diploma course in Urdu and Persian and advance diploma course in Urdu and Persian will be held on August 2.
	Drugs seized PK Jaiswar/TNS Amritsar, June 15 A three-member team of the health department seized drugs, including psychotropic medicines besides other scheduled H drugs, from an unlicensed godown in Ghannupur Kale area here today. The team of drug inspectors, led by Anupama Kalia, raided the godown on a tip off. A police party accompanied them. The health authorities seized medicines worth Rs 4 lakh from the godown belonging to Saurav Rambani who runs a medical store, Ravi Medicos, in Khandwala area. Though Saurav has a valid licence to run the chemist shop, but he did not have the required approval and licence to store medicines in the godown. He also failed to produce the record pertaining to the medicines, said Anupama Kalia, drug inspector. “The accused did not have a valid licence and documents to store medicines in the godown,” she said.
	Looking ahead: Agenda of councillors Ward 2 Name: Nagwant Kaur Party: SAD Though I was elected councillor for the first time, I have been involved in social service for the past five years. I have been campaigning for sewerage facility in the area with the SAD leadership for past many years. As a result, sewerage works worth Rs 3 crore have been done in the area under JICA. My priority will to provide potable water to the residents of the area. For this at least two new tubewells would be installed and new roads would be laid once the sewerage work is over. I will also ensure that the area, which is away from the main city, is connected by local buses once the city bus service becomes operational. Ward 4 Name: Amanpreet Singh Party: SAD I got elected to one of the most backward wards in the city where only 20 per cent of the entire area of the ward has sewerage facility. I will ensure that all localities are brought under the sewerage channel which is presently being laid under JICA in the city. Village Mahal was incorporated in the MC 15 years ago but its outer road does not exist. I will try to lay this road in my term. Close proximity to one of the biggest drains in the city has polluted the underground water which is no longer fit for human consumption. Besides, majority of tubewells are not functioning properly and six overhead water tanks need overhaul. RO system would be installed to purify water to be supplied to houses. Ward 5 Name: Ramandeep Kaur Party: SAD I am a first time councillor and have got a ward in which a majority of the areas are deprived of the basic civic amenities like sewerage, roads, water supply and streetlights. I will take up the case of providing these basic amenities at Gumtala, Loharka Road, Jhujjar Singh Avenue, Guru Ramdas Avenue, Village Mahla, village Tabo wali and Mira Kot Road