Sex Ratio
Four villages in district give birth to baby girl boom
Amritsar, July 4
The state government has chosen four villages of the district for a cash prize of Rs 1.5 lakh each for showing improvement in sex ratio. The prizes would be given at a state-level function in Mohali on July 10.

Amritsar, July 4
A police constable died in the court complex here today after he accidentally fell into an open elevator shaft, when it got stuck between 3rd and 4th floor. The victim, identified as Sandeep Singh, died on the spot.

It is learnt that the lift, in which he was coming down from the fourth floor, got jammed due to power disruption. During the rescue operation, he fell unconscious in the lift.

"The person who was trying to rescue him somehow managed to open the door of the lift stuck between the floors," said SP Joshi, Deputy Commissioner of Police.

He said the rescuer was trying to pull out unconscious Sandeep from the lower portion of the lift. But instead of his falling on the floor, Sandeep fell into the open shaft killing him on the spot.

Sandeep was coming down for some work after having lunch.

Amritsar, July 4
The inhabitants of Jora Phatak area today thrashed two persons who reportedly tried to snatch a purse of a woman. Identified as Binder Kaur, a resident of same area, she was returning on a cycle rickshaw after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple when the incident took place.

Eyewitnesses said the two accused were trying to snatch the purse, but the woman caught hold of one of them while his accomplice was nabbed by the nearby shopkeepers and residents following the alarm raised by the woman.

They were brutally beaten up by the people. They were taken to Maqboolpura police station for further investigation.

The police authorities said till now nobody has come forward to lodge a complaint while the woman was also reluctant to file a case.

They said as soon as they would receive a complaint in this connection they would lodge an FIR.

Amritsar, July 4
It seems that the Municipal Corporation has forgotten about the humble pedestrian while undertaking infrastructure development in the holy city. Flyovers are being raised with the investment of crores of rupees, but not a single subway has been constructed to provide safe passage to pedestrians from high speeding vehicles.

Notably, the MC in its 2009-2010 budget had proposed to construct subways at key intersections in the city with the investment of Rs 20 crore. However, it failed to provide even a single subway. The MC’s focus had been more on the flyovers in the last five years.

The MC in a 16-page booklet released in 2009 had proposed 15 projects, including Gateway of India, extension of elevated roads, land projects and others. One of these projects was offering subways to the city.

Even as work on costly elevated roads at SSSS chowk and Saifuddin Kitchlew chowk were initiated, nothing was initiated on subways.

One-way roads in the city, which do not have zebra crossings, have become a problem zone for pedestrians. Where there are zebra lines, there are no traffic lights to signal pedestrians to proceed and vehicles to stop. Even as the district administration has earmarked several roads as one-way in order to facilitate smooth flow of traffic, but it has forgotten about the pedestrians.

Queen’s Road, Cooper Road, Railway Road, Hall Gate to Town Hall, Town Hall to Katra Jai Mal Singh, Pashim Wala Bazar, Chowk Farid, Katra Sher Singh to Pink Plaza intersection have been declared one-way roads and majority of these roads are without zebra crossings.

Another problem for pedestrians is the absence of footpaths on these roads. Since the flow of vehicles remains high, pedestrians find it extremely tough to walk on these roads. From Town Hall to Katra Jai Mal Singh, Pashim Wala Bazar, Chowk Farid, Katra Sher Singh till Pink Plaza intersection, the road does not have footpath at all. The road had been made one way to facilitate flow of pilgrims coming out after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple.

From Crystal Chowk till Cooper Road turning, one side of road has a footpath, but the other side is devoid of a footpath. It is one of the busiest lanes in the city as it sees traffic coming from Batala Road, Majitha Road, Railway Link Road and Lawrence Road.

Experts say solution to all these problems could be subways as these would provide safe route to pedestrians and would de-congest the roads.

MC Commissioner Dharampal Gupta said the government has a comprehensive mobility plan, prepared by a private consultancy firm to suggest ways to reduce congestion on the city roads. He said the plan has suggested a number of ways, including construction of subways to address the problem.

Amritsar, July 4
The recent seizures of small pouches of heroin from petty drug peddlers in ural areas expose the fact that addicts in the rural areas are also consuming heroin. In less than one month, the Amritsar rural police has nabbed five persons, including a woman for allegedly possessing heroin albeit in small quantity.

On June 15 itself the Jandiala and Ramdass police nabbed three persons identified as Satnam Singh of Jandiala Guru, Sukhjinder Singh of Pakhoke and Harpal Singh of Chaugawan with 30 gm, 50 gm and 100 gm of heroin respectively.

Karanjit Kaur of Daburji was nabbed with 10 gm of heroin on June 12 while Balraj Singh of Gunowal was arrested with 5 gm on June 8.

Usually huge quantity of heroin is smuggled from Pakistan through Indo-Pak border which further finds its ways to Delhi and other metro cities from where it is smuggled to European countries through sea or air route.

“Definitely, the confiscation of heroin in small quantity from drug peddlers and addicts especially in rural areas is a worrying factor considering the already prevailing dismal scenario of drug addiction in border district and state. But still due to its high cost, it has not spread its tentacles,” said a police official of the Amritsar rural police district preferring not to be named.

Preetpaul Singh Virk, District Police Chief, Amritsar rural police, said although the seizure of heroin in small quantity was a recent trend but it is being consumed at local level for a long time now. “The overall trend shows a considerable decline in the consumption of heroin at local level while the use of synthetic drugs has risen recently,” he said.

Drug menace

* Heroin was usually trafficked in cities and metros. However, the recent seizures of heroin from rural areas suggest that addicts here are also buying heroin in small quantity

* In past less than one month, the Amritsar rural police has nabbed five persons, including a woman for allegedly possessing heroin albeit in small quantity

* The police, however, say due to the high cost of the product, it has not spread its tentacles. Regular checks are conducted to arrest the growth of drug menace in rural regions

Amritsar, July 4
City residents rue the government’s decision to include more services in the list of services on which they will have to pay service tax of 12 per cent.

The residents complained that as they were already paying tax on everything, the tax paid on services would result in more monetary difficulties for them. “The middle class, which obviously is the tax-paying class, will suffer more. Earlier, if despite all hardships we were able to save something for the education of our children and for our own old age needs, now we won’t be able to do so,” said Joginder Singh, a schoolteacher.

The residents rued that service tax on services as speed post, railway fare for first class and air-conditioned class, GMAT and GRE tests, passport and visa services were uncalled for.

A parent of an NRI son, Rajvinder Singhn said, “The government’s decision to apply service tax on the money sent from abroad is the worst of all. After all the burden would be shifted to the common man.” He said the money sent from abroad was a source of livelihood for many in the state.

Another resident Sushil Kumar said, “The government collects this huge amount as tax money and then it is wasted through scams and luxury of the senior officials and politicians. In doing so it is harming the interest of the salary class.” He said if the government had to impose all these taxes then it should not charge any income tax.

Amritsar, July 4
The agriculture department kicked off its ‘save water’ campaign here on Tuesday. The campaign was flagged off by SDM Manjit Singh Narang. He advised the farmers to go for direct seeding of paddy instead of the traditional method of transplanting the saplings.

Dr Harvinder Singh Bhatti, Joint Director, Agriculture, said the direct seeding is a scientifically tested method. “The results have shown that there is no loss of yield,” District Chief Agriculture Officer Dr Dilbagh Singh Dhanju said around 100 acres of paddy in district has been sown with this new technique. He said farmers must use this new technique for basmati production. 

Amritsar, July 4
Renowned ophthalmologist and squint specialist, Dr Harpreet Singh Miglani has done the city proud by receiving the prestigious Travel Fellowship for Advanced Training in Strabismology offered by the Strabismological Society of India.

Talking to The Tribune Dr Miglani said, “About two per cent of the total eye-related problems are of squint. As most of the doctors and people believe that squint would go away with age, the problem is often overlooked.”

He said in cases where squint has been auto-corrected were the cases of pseudo squint. “Because of the broader nasal bridge sometimes children seem to be having squint. With age as nose takes a proper shape the squint seems to vanish,” said Miglani adding that squint can be corrected only if treatment is started at an early age.

“Some times weak eyes lose vision if the problem persists. If we can start treatment early a child can lead a normal life,” said Miglani adding that children with the problem may suffer from inferiority complex or other psychological problems if it is not corrected.

“Most people believe that the problem has no medical cure. It is a thing of the past, now squint can be corrected with the help of exercises, glasses and surgery,” said Miglani.

Dr Miglani has done his specialisation in squint and cataract surgery from AIIMS, New Delhi, and Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai.

As part of the fellowship, he would be undergoing a two-week training programme in the management of complicated cases of squint and related disorders at Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi.

Amritsar, July 4
The health department has planned to observe World Population Fortnight from July 11 to 24, said Dr Hardeep Singh Ghai, Civil Surgeon. He said various programmes would be organised in the district to create awareness on population control measures.

He said involving representatives of the local organisations, the health department would educate the masses about the need for a stable population. District Family Welfare Officer Dr Ranjit Singh Buttar said the department would evaluate the population growth patterns of different pockets so as to provide specific solutions to the problems of a particular area. He said medical services needed in family planning would be given free of cost.

Amritsar, July 4
BA English Honours (second year) students, Pallavi Gupta and Sharman Kaur of BBK DAV College for Women, stood first and second in Guru Nanak Dev University result that was declared today. Pallavi Gupta accumulated 464 marks and Sharman got 450 out of the total of 700.

In BSc (Economics) part one, Ritima Bhatia (615/800), Palak Sreshtha (608/800) and Gurpreet Kaur (600/800) also bagged top positions in the university. The principal congratulated the students.