J A L A N D H A R    E D I T I O N

Man shot dead at Hoshiarpur village
Hoshiarpur, July 21
A man was shot dead by some unidentified persons at Bassi Kikran village in Hoshiarpur on Friday night. A resident of Bassi Kikran village, the deceased, identified as Rajinder Kumar, had a suvidha centre and a money exchange shop at Adda Bajwara.

ADC inspects schools, dispensaries
Nawanshahr, July 21
Amarjit Paul, ADC, carried out sudden inspections in as many as 12 schools, anganwari centres, civil and veterinary dispensaries here on Saturday.

Merchants shut shops
Nawanshahr, July 21
Sugar merchants kept their shops shut to protest against the levying of 5.5 per cent VAT on sugar here on Saturday. Mandi Merchants Association president Ashok Kumar and members Bharat Bhushan Jetwani, Deepak Saren, Anil Jain, Tarsem Lal Jain, Deepak Sahni, Surinder Arora, Darshan Lal Arora said as excise duty is already levied on sugar, levying of VAT on sugar is illogical.

Gastroenteritis breaks out at Muradpur Awana
Hoshiarpur, July 21
Gastroenteritis broke out at Muradpur Awana village located on the outskirts of Mukerian town on Friday. Dr Shavinder Singh, SMO of the Civil Hospital, Mukerian, said 14 patients suffering from gastroenteritis was admitted in the hospital on Friday. Out of the total, three had been discharged after their condition became normal. He claimed the hospital is providing medicines to patients free of cost.

Bains attributes power crisis to weak monsoon
Amritsar, July 21
After taking over the charge as the Chief Minister’s media adviser, Harcharan Bains today visited the holy city and paid obeisance at the Golden Temple.

Memory in melody

Folk singer and Congress MLA Mohammad Sadiq pays musical tributes to Rajesh Khanna and Dara Singh during a function in Amritsar on Saturday. Photo: Sameer Sehgal

DC, SSP on a green mission
Gurdaspur, July 21
Top bureaucrats have decided to breathe a new life into the air by embarking on a massive tree plantation drive in this district where depleting forest cover has become a cause of concern.

CIC inaugurates school block
Amritsar, July 21
Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Ramesh Inder Singh today inaugurated a new block of computer and science laboratories at Baba Gurmukh Singh Uttam Singh Senior Secondary School being run by Baba Sewa Singh at Khadoor Sahib.

Man shot dead at Hoshiarpur village
Ravinder Sud

Hoshiarpur, July 21
A man was shot dead by some unidentified persons at Bassi Kikran village in Hoshiarpur on Friday night. A resident of Bassi Kikran village, the deceased, identified as Rajinder Kumar, had a suvidha centre and a money exchange shop at Adda Bajwara.

On Friday evening, two persons came to the shop and enquired about Rajinder Kumar from Gangandeep Singh of local Aslamabad, who was sitting there. Gagandeep Singh told them that the person who was conversing on the phone was Rajinder Kumar. When they approached Rajinder Kumar, he inquired about their identity and offered them some soft drinks. But they did not disclose their identity.

Later, Rajinder Kumar handed over the keys of the shop to Gangandeep Singh and told him that he was going to the village for some work and left the shop.

Deceased’s uncle Karam Chand of the same village told the police that he received information on Rajinder Kumar sustaining bullet injuries near Sud farm. He along with some persons immediately rushed to the spot and took Rajinder Kumar to a private hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

The postmortem examination was carried out at local Civil Hospital today.

Harbans Singh, SHO, Sadar police station, said prima facie, it is suspected that Rajinder Kumar was shot dead due to some personal enmity. The assailants did not loot money and other goods of Rajinder Kumar.

The Sadar police has registered a case under Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act.

ADC inspects schools, dispensaries
Our Correspondent

Nawanshahr, July 21
Amarjit Paul, ADC, carried out sudden inspections in as many as 12 schools, anganwari centres, civil and veterinary dispensaries here on Saturday.

He found a doctor absent at a veterinary dispensary in Asmanpur and directed to issue a show-cause notice to the doctor. He also found staff shortage at Behloor Kalan school and promised to take up the matter with the higher authorities concerned. Besides, he interacted with the children, their mothers and villagers to take stock of the functioning of the anganwari centres at different villages. 

Merchants shut shops
Our correspondent

Nawanshahr, July 21
Sugar merchants kept their shops shut to protest against the levying of 5.5 per cent VAT on sugar here on Saturday. Mandi Merchants Association president Ashok Kumar and members Bharat Bhushan Jetwani, Deepak Saren, Anil Jain, Tarsem Lal Jain, Deepak Sahni, Surinder Arora, Darshan Lal Arora said as excise duty is already levied on sugar, levying of VAT on sugar is illogical.

“Levying of VAT on sugar will impact trade in Punjab as its price will increase by Rs 2 per kg. Besides, there is no VAT on sugar in the adjoining states of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Chandigarh which may give rise to the corrupt practices in the trading of sugar,” said the merchants.

Gastroenteritis breaks out at Muradpur Awana
Ravinder Sud

Hoshiarpur, July 21
Gastroenteritis broke out at Muradpur Awana village located on the outskirts of Mukerian town on Friday. Dr Shavinder Singh, SMO of the Civil Hospital, Mukerian, said 14 patients suffering from gastroenteritis was admitted in the hospital on Friday. Out of the total, three had been discharged after their condition became normal. He claimed the hospital is providing medicines to patients free of cost.

Following the news of spread of gastroenteritis in Muradpur Awana, a team comprising Dr Ajay Bagga, District Immunisation Officer, Dr Sardul Singh, SMO, Civil Hospital, Hoshiarpur, and Raj Kumar, District Health Inspector, has been sent to the village to check the spread of the epidemic.

Dr Ajay Bagga said a health checkup camp was organised in Muradpur Awana and it was found that more than 100 persons were suffering from mild gastroenteritis. Three patients had been admitted in the camp site for treatment. He appreciated the efforts of Dr Naina Salathia, SMO, PHC Buddabar, and Dr Kalyan, a private practitioner in the village, for treating the patients.

Four water samples have been taken from the village and would be sent to State Chemical Laboratory, Chandigarh. Chlorine tablets had been distributed among villagers. He advised the people to use water after boiling it.

Former Punjab Minister Arunesh Shakar today visited the village and met patients. He appreciated the services of district health authorities in providing timely treatment.

Bains attributes power crisis to weak monsoon
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 21
After taking over the charge as the Chief Minister’s media adviser, Harcharan Bains today visited the holy city and paid obeisance at the Golden Temple.

Interacting with the media after visiting the shrine, Bains blamed the Congress-led UPA government for the rising inflation and said its policies are restricted to merely benefitting some big business houses.

Replying to a query regarding the rising crime graph in the holy city, he said a Union government report has termed Punjab as one of the most peaceful states in the country where crime is very less. He justified free power facility to the farmers. On the prevailing power crisis, he attributed it on the weak monsoon, but added that the state government is taking all possible measures to meet the power requirement in the state. He said new power plants are being raised and soon the state will become power surplus.

DC, SSP on a green mission
Ravi Dhaliwal/TNS

Gurdaspur, July 21
Top bureaucrats have decided to breathe a new life into the air by embarking on a massive tree plantation drive in this district where depleting forest cover has become a cause of concern.

Deputy Commissioner Dr Abhinav Trikha symbolically planted a sapling in the sprawling Dala farmhouse whose proprietor Manjit Singh Dala has promised to plant 500 more such saplings in the area. He has also undertaken to take care of them for the next five years.

Likewise, SSP Ravcharan Singh Brar undertook a similar drive at the Sai Maa College of Arts and Crafts where the college management will look after the saplings. Later he planted 500 more such trees at the Sadar Police Station. The police personal posted there have given an undertaking to take care of the trees.

The DC said such initiatives had become necessary in this district because of the depleting tree cover. “The Punjab Chief Conservator of Forests has already identified 200 villages in this district where massive plantation drives will be launched shortly. In this day and age of global warming, tree planting has become a requirement rather than an option. Tree plantation has much more benefits than what we ever read in books. However, it is sad to note that 33 soccer pitches of trees are cut down every minute worldwide. We should start now by educating people, particularly students, on the many benefits of tree plantation,” he said while speaking on the occasion. “The advantages of growing trees are aplenty - they purify the air, help reduce global warming, prevent soil erosion, conserve water, maintain the ecological balance, provide food and shelter, among other things. We in the Gurdaspur police like to practice before we preach and so we lead by example. The force has conducted several tree plantation drives in the past to help increase and conserve the rapidly dwindling green cover in this district,” the SSP added.

CIC inaugurates school block
Tribune News Service

Chief Information Commissioner Ramesh Inder Singh at Baba Gurmukh Singh Uttam Singh Senior Secondary School on Saturday. Photo: Vishal Kumar

Amritsar, July 21
Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Ramesh Inder Singh today inaugurated a new block of computer and science laboratories at Baba Gurmukh Singh Uttam Singh Senior Secondary School being run by Baba Sewa Singh at Khadoor Sahib.

Addressing a gathering after the inauguration ceremony, the CIC said Baba Sewa Singh has dedicated his whole life for promoting the cause of education and environment. He exhorted the students to study hard and acquire more and more knowledge, as ‘knowledge is power’ in today’s highly competitive world. He also lauded the institution for equally promoting sports among its students.