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Durgiana project
Passport seekers, vendors pose risk on Mall Road in city
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Today is
World Anger Day
Woman lodges assault plaint against in-laws
Teachers in rural areas may get more perks
Insurance company told to pay mediclaim
Woman alleges rape by tenant
Hospital organises continuing medical education programme
Regional sports meet commences
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Durgiana project
Amritsar, August 27 These properties would have to be acquired and ultimately demolished to pave the way for the Punjab Government’s ambitious project to beautify the Durgiana complex. The Collector, LAD-cum-Regional Deputy Director of Local Bodies Pardeep Sabharwal, had served them a seven-day vacation notice on August 22 through newspapers, the term of which is going to expire on Wednesday. On the other hand, the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT), under whose supervision this project has to be executed, awarded the work to construct a commercial complex in the first phase, to a local firm, which has already started the job. Even as the authorities assured the displaced shopkeepers shops in the upcoming complex at a reserve price, some of the occupants complained that the administration had taken a haphazard decision to displace them with no thought of rehabilitating them. Vipin Sachdeva, who has been running a printing press from three shops in the Durgiana complex for the past over five decades, resented that the authorities should have made alternative arrangements for them before acquiring their shops. “The proposed commercial complex would take over a year to complete. Where would I shift my machinery till then?” he questioned. Raghunandan, who owns a shop-cum-residence in the Durgiana complex, was dejected by the negligence and non-cooperative attitude of the department. “I went to submit an affidavit for claiming compensation, but they started finding faults in the ownership deed of my property.” Om Prakash, who has a grocery shop for the past over six decades, argued that in the absence of any alternative site, they would be out of work till the new complex came into being. Gaurav, who runs an icecream shop and lives on the upper floors with his family, has made up his mind to file a writ against the authorities’ decision. “I run my business from three shops, but the authorities are bent on counting it as one. It is not acceptable and I have no choice but to knock the doors of court,” he said.
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Passport seekers, vendors pose risk on Mall Road in city
Amritsar, August 27 A concerned citizen Naresh Johar said normally dangling legs from dividers are visible, while the rest of the body of the waiting people is covered under the green shrubs and trees. “Sometime even legs are not visible and then, all of a sudden, they appear from the green cover, leaving little time to the commuters on two-wheelers and four-wheelers to adjust their vehicles accordingly. Moreover, the entire Mall Road, being reasonably wide and governed by proper traffic light system, gives a psychological assurance to the commuters that they drive their vehicles at full speed, he remarked. He felt that the administration must do something in time to avoid occurrence of any accident. The Mall, literal meaning the shady passage, built nearly 120 years ago by the British after the annexation of Punjab, seems to have lost its splendour. It was replete with history as the ancestral house of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was also located here. However, it has become a concrete jungle. The first step towards its commercialisation was started by a former Akali minister who converted a part of his splendid residence into office and shops by using political clout during the hey days of militancy. Later, big hotels, hospitals, restaurants, besides commercial complexes and many kiosks dotted the beautiful landscape of the Mall. Reports of decades-old trees falling one by one point towards concerted efforts by commercial developers to gain proper view of their projects. A resident of the area, Surinder Singh, said service lanes were in use nearly a decade ago. However, he does not remember how long ago, but is certain that a political family, had set the wrong precedent by gobbling up the service lane in front of the house. The same was gradually done by almost all plush houses. The worst came when hospitals were opened on the Mall. A majority of them turned the service lane in front of their clinics into parking lots. Going a step ahead, some of the hospitals had installed barbed wires to earmark the parking and had even deployed a guard or two to man the spot. Interestingly, all these are being done despite the fact that mansions of Commissioners of Police and Municipal Corporation are located on the same road. With an objective of grabbing a pie out of high number of visitors at the Passport Kendra on the Mall road, many push carts have emerged to supply a variety of cooked food at moderate and low rates. They have marred the view of Mall Road and congested it. Passport Officer JS Sodhi said the waiting area and canteen were available at the office on Mall Road, which is dealing with over 500 passport applicants daily. He held the rush of people spilling out on the road to near and dear ones accompanying the applicants from far-flung areas. He said since the matter had now been brought to his notice, he would write to the police authorities to deploy security personnel to not allow people sit on the divider. He added that a communication could be forwarded to the municipal authorities to remove pushcarts.
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State of Govt Schools
Amritsar, August 27 Located in the city’s slum locality Mohkampura, the school is functioning on the land given by a gurdwara. Sources in the education department revealed that the land of the school originally belonged to the Waqf Board. A majority of its students come from economically weaker families and need more exposure to compete with their counterparts in future, said a retired teacher Charanjit Singh. He added that the scarcity of resources at home and wretched conditions at the school were enough to detract the students from studies. Yet promising students like Mandeep Kaur, whose father works as a labourer, earned fame for the school, as she won a cash reward of Rs 2,000 in mathematics last year. The school has only 30 benches to cater to 250 students. However, these students have to sit on mats, while its seven teachers have to make do with limited number of chairs. The school has two rooms to accommodate five classes from class I to V. Three classrooms are held in the open dusty foreground. Slight rain is enough to disrupt the study. A dingy room and a verandah serve as classrooms. Another room doubles up as a kitchen and a store. Prevailing unhygienic condition raise the risk of food being infected. An uncovered toilet set is out of use. Students are forced to urinate in the open, while teachers have to knock at the door of neighbouring houses. The school does not have its own power connection and it’s thankful to the magnanimity of the adjoining gurdwara which allows it to draw power from it. The school teachers pooled among themselves Rs 8,000 to install a motor and a water tank to supply potable water. Sources stated that that the Revenue department allotted 500 square plots each for raising school buildings to four elementary schools Tungpai, Sawan Nagar, Dharma Nagar and Mohkampura in 2004. Except Mohkampura school, the rest of the three schools managed to construct their buildings. The land belonged to the Irrigation department. Meanwhile, with the passage of time, sewerage was laid at the land and as per the norms, no building could be constructed on it. They stated that now a road had been built on that plot. Efforts to shift the allotted land to elsewhere came to a naught, as the departments involved failed to reproduce the first allotment letter. Officials of the Education Officer (Elementary) said no grant for the construction of the building could be released to be invested on the land which did not belong to the department. Area MLA Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu said the matter of the school was in her notice and she had forwarded the file to Education Minister Sikandar Singh Maluka. Besides, she said she had identified a piece of land near the school which belonged to the Amritsar Improvement Trust and stated that an extension of the school could be opened there after due approval.
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Today is
World Anger Day
Amritsar, August 27 These are recent but a few incidents of violence reported involving youth. Anger is a natural emotion and while getting angry is okay, letting anger get the best of you is not. Youngsters are quite easily forgetting to distinguish annoyance, inconvenience and a bonafide reason to get angry. While the world observes World Anger Day, we check out the reasons and suggested solutions to calm down our young. “Anger management has become essential as out-of-control anger is turning our youth into criminals. A momentary lapse of control over our temper is resulting in volatile acts. There is a growing intolerance towards public authority in the world and, often, parents transmit this attitude to children,” says Jyoti Bawa, general secretary, cultural NGO Punjabu Samvaad. So where does one put a fullstop? “It all starts at home. Anger managemnet should be incorporated in the upbringing of a kid. They should be made aware of living a subtle lifestyle, free of vengeance and fragile egos,” she says. Her daughter, a student of journalism, Jasmine Bawa, has recently learnt to control her temper. “I am a very short-tempered person and find it hard to deal with it. So, I found my therapy in cooking. I suggest that one should learn to divert the anger and chanellise it into doing something constructive. Talking to somebody and sharing your feelings is also a good way to vent out the heat.” Most acts of violence among teens and youngsters are a result of bottled-up anger. While some want to appear rebellious and daring in front of friends, challenge authorities to prove their superiority, others could be the result of bad parenting or bad company. “Anger and violence is being sold to them like hot cakes,” says Dalbir Kaur Madaan, owner, ‘One Up Library and Activity Centre for Kids’. “Television shows are increasing day by day, showing the use of abusive language and riots on television. Children tend to learn from these shows faster. Then there are X-boxes and i-pads, this is the first step to violence. Youngsters have so much energy, and the confusion as to its positive utilisation, sometimes turns rage into crime,” she says. For her, the answer lies in books, “Reading makes you calm and encourages thinking. Parents should try to inculcate reading habits in their kids so as to teach them to remain calm.” Even the law enforcers think it’s time to help them out, “Let’s not forget. Indulgent, unlawful and violent youth is a threat. Yes, there have been some reported cases of rage turning into crime, but analysing the situation and then hunting for solution is the way out,” shares Ram Singh, Commissioner of Police, Amritsar. “We have planned to use anger management and counselling in schools and colleges through the department and making the youth aware of the negatives of momentary lack of control over their temper,” he says. Anger management has become essential as out-of-control anger is turning our youth into criminals. A momentary lapse of control over our temper is resulting in volatile acts. There is a growing intolerance towards public authority in the world |
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Woman lodges assault plaint against in-laws
Amritsar, August 27 Rajinder Kaur, in her complaint, stated that she was married to Talwinder Singh in November 2007 and they had given enough dowry. She had two children - a boy and a girl - from their marriage. However, her in-laws’ greed was not satiated and they continued to physically assault her. The Police Commissioner has marked an inquiry to a DSP-rank official in this regard.
— TNS
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Teachers in rural areas may get more perks
Amritsar, August 27 Majithia, who was on his thanksgiving visit to Kathunangal, Abdal, Jhande and Alkare villages, said the Punjab Government was laying special stress for the betterment of rural education system. He said as a majority of the teaching faculty was willing to join jobs in urban areas, it was under consideration of the Punjab Government to provide more perks and allowances to the teachers, who prefer to get postings in rural and border areas. He said the Punjab Government has, in principle, decided to maintain the standard of education as in the urban areas.
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Cops spend own money for official duty
Amritsar, August 27 They are forced to use their own vehicles or procure fuel from their own pockets for ferrying criminals arrested by them to local courts. PCR teams, including four vehicles and motorcycles, are also facing the similar problems while keeping an eye on anti-social activities in the city. A station house official said senior police officials, including ADCP and ACP-rank officials, were getting supply from private petrol pumps. But they (SHOs and chowki in charges) were facing acute shortage of petrol and diesel for vehicles. “What we can do? Either we have to spend money from own pocket or ask for undue obligations to fill our vehicles,” said a police official. Police Department vehicles used to have the fuel supply from a petrol pump located in the police lines area. However, after the shortage of supply, the Police Department has designated several private petrol pumps for meeting the supply. But due to pending dues, these petrol pumps have also refused to supply fuel for police vehicles. As per the information, the condition prevails in almost all police districts. Even the officials of other government departments have been facing the same problem. The Punjab Petroleum Dealers’ Association pointed out that the cash-strapped government has miserably failed to clear the financial dues of retail outlets, while repeated reminders to the department concerned met the same fate. Government vehicles got the fuel from the designated fuel outlets after a credit slip signed by the police official concerned. Rakesh Kumar, motor transport officer, said: “Though the situation was difficult a few days ago,
we have the proper supply of fuel from the government now”.
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Avoid cramming, students told
Amritsar, August 27 This was stated by Vice-Chancellor Prof Ajaib Singh Brar while inaugurating a seven-day UGC-sponsored workshop on “Analysis of Biological Data” held at the biological block of Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) today. The workshop was organised by the Department of Botanical & Environmental Sciences. Prof Brar said science was much developed during recent times and there was a revolution in various disciplines of sciences. “Keeping in view all these changes, we are trying to set-up international-level infrastructure and equipment to be centrally placed and accessible to all researchers,” he said. He encouraged the students to operate all equipment themselves. Prof Brar also exhorted the students to avoid cramming habit as it hampers creativity. “Science is a subject which requires logic to understand it. Similarly, student-teacher interaction is a must,” he said. He said Guru Nanak Dev University was trying to sign more MoUs with many international bodies so that international-level research could be done at the university labs. Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor inaugurated the workshop by lighting candles. Prof AJS Bhanwar, Dean, Life Sciences, Prof AK Thukral, Director, Research, Prof Adarsh Pal Vig, Head, Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Prof Gurcharan Kaur, Head, Department of Biotechnology, Prof Renu Bhardwaj, Prof Saroj Arora, Dr Satwinderjeet Kaur and Dr Jatinder Kaur were among the faculty members and research scholars who attended the workshop. Meanwhile, Prof AS Soodan, organising secretary, welcomed the chief guest and others and Prof Avinash Nagpal presented the vote of thanks.
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Insurance company told to pay mediclaim
Amritsar, August 27 Neena Arora, a resident of Beri Gate, had filed a complaint on February 2, 2011, that her husband, Jagdish Kumar, had bought a medical insurance covering both of them. Jagdish had died during treatment at a private hospital. The insurance company had denied the medical compensation for Rs 62,158, reasoning that Jagdish was suffering from alcholic liver disease with Cirrhosis which was not covered under the policy. Jagish Kumar and his wife were insured for the amount of Rs 1.25 lakh after paying a premium of Rs 7,472 to United India Insurance. However, the forum observed that the insurance provider did not get the patient examined from a qualified doctor and denied the mediclaim on the report of a third party doctor. The forum further observed that the doctor who examined the patient on behalf of the insurance company has admitted that he was only a BAMS doctor not registered with the Medical Council of India and was not a liver specialist. The forum has taken into account the report of the private hospital which stated that the patient died due to malignant cell. The forum withheld that the insurance company had wrongly repudiated the claim. It directed the company to pay the claim, along with 9 per cent interest, within one month’s time, to the complainant.
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Woman alleges rape by tenant
Amritsar, August 27 Interestingly, the incident had occurred on May 9, while a complaint was filed by the victim on May 15. It took over two months for the police to register an FIR in this connection. The victim, in her complaint to the police, had alleged that Harpreet and his associate Parminder Singh had been raping her for months while threatening to kill her children. She said on May 9 about 7.30 PM, the accused finding her alone in ground floor pulled her in a room and tried to rape her. In the meantime, her father-in-law who was watching television on the upper floor came down and tried to save her. She said the accused beaten him and when the people started gathering near the house, they fled on their motorcycles. She said her mother-in-law and children also came down after hearing the shouts. Sukhdev Singh, investigating officer in the case, said the police had registered a case against Harpreet Singh after a probe conducted by a DSP-rank official and taking the opinion of DA legal in this regard. He said the other accused was left after investigations. No arrest had been made so far as the accused was at large, he added.
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Hospital organises continuing medical education programme
Amritsar, August 27 This was stated by noted ENT surgeon Karunesh Gupta during a Continuing Medical Education programme organised by Chikitsa ENT Hospital here last evening. He said it had been observed that people who do breathing exercises had managed to improve and even cure the problem of snoring and sleep apnea. But, he said, it was yet to be proved through credible research. He said surgery could be beneficial only in 20 per cent cases. But, if the person would not manage its weight and do away with the habits of liquor or smoking, it would persist. The problem of sleep apnea occurs when a flap of skin in the throat obstructs air intake, halting breathing during sleep for at least 10 seconds at a time. This is called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). “Severe apnea is marked by frequent breathing stoppages that awake a person from sleep. In a majority of the cases, this happens because of obesity. Sleep apnea is among the top four causes of heart disease,” said Dr Gupta. Quoting some data from a survey, he said around 93 per cent of Indians were deprived of good sleep and get less than 8-hours of sleep required for good health, while about 90 per cent of people with the problem go undiagnosed. “If we go by economic studies, OSA patients have two-times higher healthcare costs than the normal person,” he said. “Ironically, snoring is seen by most people as an annoyance or joke or even as a sign of good sleep,” he said. He said as compared to females, their male counterparts were more vulnerable to the disease. He said physicians of patients suffering from diabetic, blood pressure and heart ailments must enquire about OSA problem as they were more vulnerable to health complications and even could prove fatal.
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Regional sports meet commences
Amritsar, August 27 Students of KV-1 presented a colourful cultural programme comprising gidha, bhangra and bhajan. Kusum Malhotra, principal of the host school, welcomed visitors and chief guest Suman Sharma, Arjuna Awardee and observer of the sports meet SS Takkar, principal, KV-3, Srinagar. The chief guest declared the sports meet open and emphasised that players must adopt four D’s in their life - discipline, dedication, desire and determination.
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