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MC in proactive mode
Heritage Walk: Tourist guides sensitise residents on cleanliness
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70 bottles of illicit liquor, ‘lahan’ seized
Delay in GT Road widening upsets businessmen
2 mobile phones, intoxicant powder seized from three jail inmates
World Suicide Prevention day
GND University Campus placements
GND University’s Inter-Zonal Youth Fest from Sept 15
FM radio channel celebrates 5 years in city
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MC in proactive mode
Amritsar, September 10 The drive, which started a couple of days ago, continued today with officials from the horticulture department, the MC Commissioner, health officer, Superintending Engineers (both from the civil and sewerage wings) supervising garbage collection on Lawrence Road and other areas of the holy city. After the Antony Waste Handling firm pulling out its hands from the garbage-lifting job, the MC had engaged extra force and hired men and machines like tractor-trolleys from private players as well as from other government departments. The Health Officer, Dr Yogesh Arora, claimed that around 40 trolleys had been pressed into service for lifting the city garbage, which included 15 trolleys from rural contractors at the rate of Rs 1,000 per day per trolley. In addition, the MC had engaged the services of the PWD and the Water Supply wings for sparing their tractor-trolleys as a stop-gap arrangement, but these vehicles were not meant for lifting the garbage and, hence, the purpose was defeated. Questions are being raised whether just 40-trolleys would be enough to lift the city waste, which amounts to over 500 tonnes daily. Yet the moot point is that these tractor-trolleys are not meant for lifting the garbage. Unlike the automated mechanised machinery of the Antony Company, the manual job of pouring the garbage to these trolleys would end up in “picking some and dropping back more”. Moreover, heaps of garbage could be witnessed in any pocket of the city. An insider said that a majority of the man force engaged to fill the trolleys, too, had also threatened to back out as they were being paid only on the basis of DC rates (around Rs 134 per day), by all means considered to be too low by them for such a tedious job. Similarly, the trolley owners too have shown reluctance to continue with the job due to lesser payments in comparison to the wear and tear cost of their vehicles.
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Heritage Walk: Tourist guides sensitise residents on cleanliness
Amritsar, September 10 Tourist guides Gurinder Singh Johal, Davinder Singh Chawla, Gurwinder Kaur and Rajwinder Kaur are painstakingly knocking at nearly 2000 residences and shops falling enroute the walk. As part of the campaign, PHTPB project manager AR Mishra met members of the Qila Ahluwalia Market Association and motivated them to wholeheartedly take part in the clean drive. Tourist guide Johal said they found piles of garbage, people urinating in the open, hanging waste like polythenes containing refuse, shreds of clothes over various cables offering nasty look to the tourists. He added that not only these concealed the façade of beautiful buildings to be shown, but also present the locals in a bad light in front of the tourists especially foreigners. Besides, some residents, may be children, throwing waste from the upper storeys is another nuisance. In charge Heritage Walk Harpreet Kaur Bhullar said these practices and habits were brought to the notice of the officials and they came with the idea of sensitising people. She said the cooperation of the residents and shopkeepers would herald a big change, which would offer a welcome look to the tourists visiting the holy city from around the World. Besides, the residents would enjoy living in clean surroundings, she opined. A resident and cloth merchant on the route Kamal Seth promised his full cooperation to the government agency, but said that in the face of limited infrastructure, the residents had little space to manoeuvre. For instance, no attempt to place dustbins was placed on the narrow roads of the walled city and in this scenario, they could do nothing except throw refuse on roadsides. He added that wagons come only once during the daytime to pick up the refuse. He said the garbage must be removed in the night and small and big dustbins, as per the availability of space, must be installed on the route. Bhullar said the Board had received ample funds and soon advance from the Asian Development Bank would also arrive and plenty number of dustbins would be placed along the route. She said the guides would be educating the traders and shopkeepers to use toilets situated at Dharam Singh market, Bazar Main Sewa Wala and Kathiyan Wala Bazaar. Meanwhile, only 40 tourists took part in the walk in June, while the number was 66 in July. She said extreme hot conditions held back tourists from taking part in the walk. Now, with moderation in temperature, a number of tourists had also increased as 129 tourists visited in August. She added that the number of tourists would pick up in the coming months. She said efforts were on to rope in Baba Kulwant Singh from Ajnala to clean the route as he has been cleaning roads on way to Panj Sarovar (five holy ponds) Walk on each Saturday night. Baba Ji, as Baba Kulwant Singh is addressed, said the route of the heritage walk, which included heritage buildings, gurdwaras and temples would be taken up for cleaning up. He said the PHTPB had offered assistance in the shape of providing trolleys, tipper, bicycle-drawn rickshaws and other equipment for cleaning after registering his group of volunteers as an NGO. He said soon he would register it as an NGO to start the clean drive. It is learnt that the PHTPB had engaged an engineer to collect data to ascertain the number of required dustbins.
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District transport office earns Rs 70 lakh from auction of fancy numbers
Amritsar, September 10 The auction of 0001 number under the “BQ” series earned the maximum of Rs 5 lakh. The number was brought by Gurbhej Singh, a rich landlord of the city, for his Skoda Octavia car. Jaskaran Singh got 0002 by shelling out Rs 1.25 lakh and Surinder Pal got 0003 by paying Rs 80,000. Fancy number 0004 went to Pratap Singh for Rs 1.15 lakh, 0005 to Nishan for Rs 95000, 0006 to Prince Nagi for Rs 1.55 lakh and 0007 to Balwinder Singh for Rs 1.55 lakh. However, the BR series could not receive the similar response from the people as its 0001 was brought by Santokh Singh for Rs 1.75 lakh. Similarly, 0002 number was grabbed by Loveleen Mahajan at Rs 1.20 lakh, 0004 at Rs 30,000 by Manpreet Singh, 0005 by Resham Singh at Rs 1.53 lakh and 0006 by Manpreet Singh at Rs 1.70
lakh.
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70 bottles of illicit liquor, ‘lahan’ seized
Amritsar, September 10 One of the accused managed to flee during the raid. Two of them were later released on bail. Acting on a tip-off, the rural police raided a place at Bhagtupura and arrested Sukhwinder Singh and recovered 525 litres of illicit liquor from his possession. Another team raided a hideout at Ghonewal village and recovered 30 litres of illicit liquor and 20 kg of lahan from Niyamat Masih, a resident of Dera Baba Nanak. Investigating officer Kuldeep Singh of Ramdass said the accused had to dilute water in it before selling it off. In yet another raid at Sathiala village, the police arrested two persons and recovered 75 litres of illicit liquor each from them. Those arrested have been identified as Gurpal Singh, a resident of Jodhe village, and Ajit Singh, a resident of Thathian village. Both were later released on bail. Separate cases under Sections 61/1/14 under the Excise Act have been registered against the accused. In other cases, the urban police booked four persons and recovered 70 bottles of illicit liquor and narcotics from their possession. One among them, dealing in illicit liquor, dodged
the police. In the first instance, the C-Division police raided a place located on Circular Road Gate Hakiman and arrested Gopy and Sarbjit Singh. The team recovered 25 bottles each from their possession. The police said an accused who fleed had been identified as Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Noori Mohalla. “Yet we could recover 20 bottles from his hideout,” said Kuldeep Singh. Separate cases under Sections 61/1/14 under the Excise Act had been registered against them with the C-division police station. In yet another case, the Civil Lines police arrested Kanwardeep Singh, alias Deepu, a resident of Partap Nagar with 50 gm of toxic powder. ASI Jatinder Pal of the Shivala Mandir police post said cases under Sections 22/61/85 of the IPC had been registered against the accused.
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Delay in GT Road widening upsets businessmen
Amritsar, September 10 FPIA president DS Goraya, in a letter to the MoRTH section officer Prem Singh, today stated that it was disheartening to note that almost no work had been initiated to widen the two-lane stretch between Dhilwan village to the Jalandhar bypass. He said numerous representations had been sent to various agencies concerned that the stretch had snuffed out many precious lives in road accidents. Besides, roads connecting the stretch from both ends were of four and six lanes. He said it was learnt that the private concern was reluctant to undertake the widening work on the BOT basis, for it being non-viable. He said the matter had been pending for the past nearly a decade and there is still no real assurance. He said talks with the concern revealed that it was ready to execute the work on cash payment only. He recalled that the association representation to the former President Pratibha Patil had received encouraging support, as her office had directed the ministry concerned to look into the matter on priority this February. Following this, NHAI general manager SS Gaharwar intimated the association that the MoRTH had been requested to upgrade the 20-km stretch from the Dhilwan to Jalandhar bypass on an engineering procurement and construction (EPC) mode
through government funding. Another member Kamal Dalmia said the association had been writing to various authorities, including the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), state government and the local MP for the past many years but without any success. Goraya said thousands of tourists visit the holy city via road. Besides, four and six laning of the NH-1 draws tourists from this route. However, lack of infrastructure on a small stretch leads to traffic blockades and accidents.
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2 mobile phones, intoxicant powder seized from three jail inmates
Amritsar, September 10 According to Superintendent BS Gill, separate cases under Sections 420 of the IPC and the Prisoner Act had been registered against the trio at the Cantonment police station, besides 22/61/85
against Pardeep Kumar from whose possession some intoxicant powder was also recovered. “During a routine checking, our staff recovered two Nokia mobile handsets with SIMs, bearing IMEI Nos. 359756045516329 and 351997049958970,” he said.
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World Suicide Prevention day
Amritsar, September 10 The British Medical Journal states that India has the highest suicide rate amongst youth in the world and it has become the second leading cause of death amongst youngsters in the country. In a country with 60 per cent citizens amongst the age group of 15-35 and a state marred by drug abuse, we ask city experts why Amritsar doesn’t have any help at hand for those on a suicidal track. “Most suicide cases are found amongst youngsters, for reasons varying from violence, drug abuse, social and cultural pressures, lack of emotional intelligence. They are being pushed to threshold and, thus, become vulnerable to suicidal tendencies,” says Dr Randhir, additional secretary, Red Cross Society, Amritsar. “It is important that we have professional channels or helplines in city for those who seek help. The Red Cross Society doesn?t run any specific centre for such people, but we do have motivational classes that deal with issues like stress management, home nursing, harnessing positive thoughts and counselling the troubled,” he adds. While the mental health of our young hangs precariously, the help is rather limited. “The problem is that most people lack understanding of mental health. Suicide is a sign of weakness, severe depression. Anybody who is having suicidal thoughts leaves hints and, generally, conveys his thoughts to people who are close, which is not taken seriously. Sometimes, even treating doctors are not able to convey the message across to a patient, in case he/she takes offence,” said Dr Goel, director, Vidya Sagar Institute of Mental Health, Amritsar. The institute runs the only walk-in clinic for people suffering with extreme stress and psychological problems. “We have a special ward that is open from 9am to 5pm, and have professional help for people with suicidal tendencies and in need of counselling,” says Dr Goel. Educational institutions which, according to Dr Randhir, are the best places to check the problem at an early stage should make it mandatory to have counselling centres at their premises. “Since, mostly teenagers and youngsters are the most affected, schools and colleges should take on the problem by counselling the students on their pressing troubles,” he says. Dharminder Rataul, assistant deputy, PR, Khalsa College Governing Council, shares the views. “Schools and colleges should focus on the mental well-being of students by regular counselling sessions and motivational classes. It is sad that no educational institution has led the way in doing so, but it would be a welcome initiative.” Also, a helpline through some administrative channel would be an easy route to reach out to people in distress. “Anybody who is having suicidal thoughts finds it relieving to talk about it with someone. If such a helpline ensures professional help, it would be a real life saver,” says Dr Goel. The Help
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GND University Campus placements
Amritsar, September 10 Dr Hardeep Singh, Prof in charge (Placements), said the selected students were of B.Tech (Computer Science), B.Tech (Electronics), MCA, M.Tech (Information Technology) and M.Tech (Computer Science) from the three campuses of the university, ie Amritsar, Jalandhar and Gurdaspur. The selection was based on online test, followed by interviews by a strong team of 23 technical experts and HR Department. “These students have been offered an annual package of Rs 3.16 lakh and will join their duties after the competition of their formal studies in June, 2013,” Dr Hardeep Singh said. Dr Hardeep Singh claimed that the demand for the GND University students by the corporate world itself speaks of the quality infrastructure and facilities available at the university. “Many companies, such as DyStar, Capgemini, IVP, Headstrong, Infogain Nagarro and Amdocs, are likely to visit the campus shortly for placements,” he said. About 624 students from different courses, who would pass out this year, had already been placed in various multinational companies till July 31, he said. “All the already placed students are offering volunteer services to help their other classmates to get placed during recruitment drives. Active participation of students, academic input by able faculty and infrastructure input by the university authorities are the main reason for these quality placements,” he said.
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GND University’s Inter-Zonal Youth Fest from Sept 15
Amritsar, September 10 She said the “D” Zone Youth Festival would be held from September 21 to 24, 2012, at Hindu Kanya College, Kapurthala. Similarly, the “B” Zone Youth Festival would be organised from September 28 to October 1, “A” Zone Youth Festival from October 5 to 8, “C” Zone Youth Festival from October 12 to 15, Educational Colleges Zone Youth Festival from October 19 to 21 in the Dashmesh Auditorium on the university campus. However, the Inter-Zonal Final Youth Festival would be held from October 24 to 27 in the Dashmesh Auditorium of the university.
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FM radio channel celebrates 5 years in city
Amritsar, September 10 This was a month-long activity, where participants had to find an LCD TV worth Rs 50,000. Each week one finalist for the grand finale was selected, who won different gifts. The Grand finale was held at Astrum Homes Amritsar on Saturday evening, where top-five finalists played the game “5 banao star banjao the big treasure hunt” for a 40” LCD TV. More than 10,000 people registered for the game, but only five could manage to become treasure seekers. The month-long treasure hunt kept the participants on their toes, making them cover the length and breadth of the city. Prominent places in the city were used to hide clues and the participants were supposed to locate them and move ahead. “It was very exciting to be part of such fun activity. Treasure hunt has always been fascinating since childhood and a chance to be part of one was thrilling,” said Jatinder Kaur, one of the finalists from the city. Abhijeet Halder, station head, BIG FM, Amritsar, too, couldn’t hide his excitement and thanked the city listeners for making the event a hit. “For the past five years, we have been entertaining our listeners as well as creating awareness pertaining to various issues and events. In our mantra, ‘Life Banao’ style we had organised this treasure hunt, and our participants made us cut above the clutter.”
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