Environment supporters hold a protest in Amritsar on Saturday. Photos: Sameer Sehgal

Unholy decision

The Durgiana Mandir Committee had proposed axing of the more than a century-old Pipal and Bohar trees to beautify the complex housing the holy shrine.

Nature is divine

Apart from their medicinal value, Pipal & Bohar contribute maximum oxygen and provide shelter to living beings and thus are also worshipped as ‘Devtas’ in Hindu beliefs.

Against hindu ethos

A protest and prayer meet was organised by Mission Aagaaz, in association with Shake Hand Welfare and Human Rights Society and supporters over the anti-religious proposal.

Amritsar, July 28
The police commissioner has shifted SHO of Verka police station and a head constable to the Police Lines for their negligence in the case of suicide committed by Kuldeep Singh of Mohan Nagar in Verka by slitting this throat a couple of days ago.

The family of the deceased also protested against the police while alleging that Kuldeep was tortured by the policemen during the police custody.

They also gheroed the police station for an hour and raised slogans against the police officials allegedly responsible for his death.

The Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Baljit Singh Randhawa, reached the spot and pacified the family members. He said the family that Amolak Singh, SHO and a head constable who was on duty at that time have been shifted to the Police Lines for their negligence.

Sukhwinder Kaur, wife of the deceased had filed a complaint with the Verka police alleging frequent abuse at the hands of her husband. An enraged Kuldeep Singh reached the police post and slit his throat with a knife. The couple also hurled abuses at each other at the police post before the suicide.

Sukhwinder Kaur alleged that the police official did not let them inform the relatives about the incident.

"Immediately after the post-mortem examination, he was cremated in the night. They also did not allow us to inform our relatives to reach for the cremation," she alleged.

Demanding a judicial probe, she also sought stern action against the accused police officials.

Police Commissioner RP Mittal said the charges of torture leveled by the family members of the deceased do not seem to be true as people were present in the police station when Kuldeep committed suicide. But if the family wants we would hold a probe in this regard. The family can meet me at my office.

Amritsar, July 28
Erratic and long power cuts have not only troubled residents in the holy city, but have also affected rail commuters at the Amritsar railway station.

Sources said the station sometimes does not have power for 15 hours in a day.

In the absence of electricity, passengers waiting for their trains at the station complain of lack of attention from the authorities. Even passengers don’t get cold water to drink as the water coolers remain nonfunctional during power cuts.

A pilgrim, Parminder Singh said passengers were forced to buy water bottles from the outlets at the station. He said several persons aren’t in a position to spend money on water. Many a times, even the water in the bottles aren’t cold.

With fans non-operational, passengers and their relatives use hankies, dupattas and newspapers to fan themselves.

Many passengers at general waiting hall said newly laid concrete roof is unable to absorb heat. A waiting passenger Rajinder Handa from Dera Baba Nanak remarked that the previous roof over the hall was reasonably thick and used to absorb the heat well. A shopkeeper on the platform said power cuts have dealt a blow to their business as well.

The railway station witnesses departure and arrival of 128 trains daily. And the daily average footfall at the station is 26,562.

Northern Railway’s Ferozepur zone Divisional Railway Manager Naresh Chander Goel said he would take stock of the situation and then would act accordingly.

Amritsar, July 28
If you thought that the recruitment agencies advertising dreams of sending you abroad legally in every nook and corner of the city, you are in for a huge surprise. The city has only two recruitment agencies registered with the Ministry of External Affairs. The district administration has asked the police top take action against these unregistered agents.

A resident Patwinder Singh said, “These agents don’t disclose facts even to the students who wish to go abroad to study. Sometimes they make students take admission in some unrecognised college for which students have to suffer at a later stage.”

“Most frauds are committed with youngsters who are not well educated and wish to go to Dubai or Italy.” He said the students are charged heavy amount on the pretext of teaching some skill in which workers are required in some country. “Later they are sent to these countries often using fake documents. Such youngsters suffer a lot as they are not given any job as promised,” he said.

The High Court has ordered that no person other than those registered can operate an immigration agency or become an agent. Letters have been sent to the Police Commissioner RP Mittal and SSP Rural PPS Virk in this regard~

— supreet singh gulati, adc

Amritsar, July 28
As a token of respect for their founder Bhagat Puran Singh, 504 sevadars have decided to donate their eyes after death. The Pingalwara Charitable Society would observe the 20th death anniversary of its founder Bhagat Puran Singh from August 3 to 5.

Addressing mediapersons society president Dr Inderjit Kaur said, “The occasion holds significance for this institution as well as for all selfless social workers.” She said apart from the sewadars at Amritsar, sewadars at Sangrur and Chandigarh branches too have pledged their eyes.

“Initially it was difficult to make sewadars take the decision but we are happy that 90 per cent have decided to do so on their own.” She said the society has a tradition of donating dead bodies of abandoned inmates to the various medical colleges for the benefit of medical students. The pledge forms of the sewadars were given to renowned eye surgeon and president of Sawarn Kaur Rotary Eye Bank Dr Daljit Singh. He said there is an extreme shortage of eye donors in the state. “Moreover people do pledge their eyes but after their death their family members are reluctant to execute the same,” he said. He said there is need to encourage people to donate eyes.

The society is also going to organise a blood donation camp on August 3. The society has also announced to honour Dubai-based Punjabi industrialist SP Singh Oberoi for his efforts to save 17 Indians lodged in the UAE jail for alleged murder of a Pakistani national. The society would also honour Bhai Gurmej Singh, former hazoori raagi of Golden Temple for translating the Guru Granth into the Braille script.

Environmentalist Sunder Lal Bahuguna will also be present at the function.

Amritsar, July 28
Industrialists are up in arms against the Sales Tax Department’s notification as per which they have to intimate the department regarding the intra-state movement of goods worth more than Rs three lakh and above Rs two lakh, in the case of iron and steel, by filling an online form from August 10.

Raman Gupta, director, Small-Scale Industry Development Board, said the notification has been finalised without taking the business fraternity into confidence.

He said less than 10 per cent of the small-scale industries have internet connections. He said it would be a difficult task for the medium and small-scale enterprises to comply with the notification as majority of them did not employ fulltime operators and accountants. He said the MSME was already battered with the recent rise in electricity tariff and power cuts.

Amrit Lal Jain, president, Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal (PPBM), said the decision displayed the dictatorial way of working of the government. He said now the traders and dealers would have to buy computers and subscribe to internet connections. The information submitted to the department’s website would result in the generation of an acknowledgement slip which shall accompany the goods during the movement.

The notification reads, “Section 51 of the Punjab VAT Act stipulates that every movement of goods shall be accompanied by documents as mentioned in sub-section 2 of this section. For the purpose of inter-state trade, information regarding such movement of goods is collected on the Information Collection Centres (ICC) set-up by the Department of Excise and Taxation. To facilitate the furnishing of this information, the department had introduced an e-service namely ‘e-ICC’ whereby the owner of goods can furnish this information from his premises.”

Traders shall be liable for penal action under Section 51 of the Punjab VAT Act in case the movement of goods is carried out without the acknowledgement slip. An official of the department said the move would not hinder the transportation process.

Rupa, a Class IX student of Government Girls Secondary School, Mall Road, came second in the mathematical declamation contest ‘Maths in India-Past, Present and Future’ held at Prabhakar Secondary School, Chheharta.