|
|
|
|
Plan to streamline city traffic
OMG screening stopped amidst protests
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
'OMG needs to be taken rationally and not emotionally'
Amritsar, September 29 After the "Son of Sardar" controversy, it's the Akshay Kumar-Paresh Rawal-starrer OMG (Oh My God) that has come under attack by religious and social groups for objectionable content.
Jewellery worth Rs 20 lakh seized
Bhagtanwala garbage dump yard: MC to adopt proper dumping mechanism
Workshop for teachers concludes at GND varsity
Medical colleges, hospitals to be upgraded
Curb smoking, drinking to keep heart problems at bay: Expert
Plastic surgeons attend conference on hand surgery
PowerCom officials, villagers settle dispute
|
|
Plan to streamline city traffic
Amritsar, September 29 The plan proposes the removal of encroachments from the city roads, marking yellow lines on roads, providing temporary parking lots for auto-rickshaws, rehri stands, installing new traffic lights and construction of railway overbridges. Sidhu also announced to give funds from the MPLAD funds for procuring alcometers for checking drunken driving in the city. It is pertinent to mention here that Jalandhar has 10 alcometers, while the city police has just a couple of alcometers. Sidhu said the plan would be implemented in phases and in the first phase, yellow lines would be marked on roads. The police team, which has prepared the plan, during a survey identified rehri and temporary auto-richshaw stands, besides constructing 12 places where parking spaces could be provided for parking vehicles. The BJP MP said the construction of five RoBs was already in the pipeline, which would further solve the problems of traffic chaos. These are Verka, Vallah, Kot Mit Singh, Chheharta and 22-number level crossing. Besides, he added, Rs 6 crore had been sanctioned for the expansion of Bhandari bridge which connects the old walled city with other parts of the city. He also urged the MC authorities to designate a place for public rallies and protests. Various organisations usually hold protests outside the Hall Gate area leading to severe traffic chaos for hours. Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu said the MC authorities would also remove the encroachments from footpaths so the pedestrians do not walk on roads. He said NGOs would also be involved for spreading awareness in this regard. She also urged the police department and the MC authorities to implement the Noise Pollution Regulation and Control Act 2000 in letter and in spirit. Bakshi Ram Arora, Mayor, said the Municipal Corporation would fully cooperate with the police and other departments concerned in this cause. Police Commissioner Ram Singh said MC teams have been informed about all proposed sites where dividers, yellow markings and traffic lights were to be installed. It had also informed about the encroachments in the city. He said a data base of auto-rickshaws was being prepared under which the registration of all autos was required. They had been given a time-frame to complete all documents. If they failed to do so, the police department would be forced to adopt stringent measures.
|
|
OMG screening stopped amidst protests
Amritsar, September 29 Coming under scanner for its alleged portrayal of an athiest protagonist and showing religious practices in bad light, the protesters shouted slogans and burnt posters of the film outside prominent cinema halls in the city. To avoid any unpleasant situation and vandalism, shows of the film were immediately cancelled for the day. Voicing their concern, president of the Shiv Sena, Punjab, Baldev Bhardwaj, said, "The film mocks at our religious beliefs and practices. No one should be allowed to take liberty to hurt religious sentiments of any community." Despite tight security outside some of the halls, the protesters managed to get shows cancelled and raided several cinema halls while the movie was in progress to make sure that the screenings were immediately stopped. The movie has landed in trouble in the Punjab region, with protests held by various religious and social organisations. Its screening has been called off in major cities like Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jallandhar, Bathinda etc.
|
|
'OMG needs to be taken rationally and not emotionally'
Amritsar, September 29 The story, dealing with the issues of atheism and the existence of God, testing the faith of a man and relevance of some religious practices followed, has landed in trouble in Punjab, with demonstrations and protests withholding its screening in some major cities. Actor Gurpreet Ghuggi, who has been constantly in touch with Akhsay Kumar over the issue, said, "Akshay is quite disappointed that his film is facing such issues in Punjab, as he is a true blue Punjabi. The film gets across a point which is based on a fact that atheists do exist in society and the film represents it. People should take it rationally and not emotionally." The film, which has Paresh Rawal playing the role of an atheist who files a legal suit against God as he faces huge losses in business, opened to a good response and has already generated a business of reportedly Rs 4 crore across the country. But Punjab is a different story. Screening of the film was called off at various cinema halls and multiplexes due to violent protests. "We ran the shows houseful on the first day but had to cancel these on day 2 to avoid any ugly incidents. It's sad because the film is doing good in all major cities and has got good reviews," said Munish Karanwal, Unit Head, Cineplolis, Amristar. Fun cinemas at Alpha One carried on with the screenings, "The film has opened to a good response and is running successfully. We have not yet faced any security problems, no shows have been cancelled and things are running smooth," said Satyender Deol, manager, Fun Cinemas. It's not news that Bollywood filmmakers have long been facing allegations of hurting the religious sentiments of certain communities through films. A few days back, Ajay Devgan had visited Amritsar to clarify his stand on upcoming film "Son of Sardar" which had come under scanner for its controversial portrayal of the Sikh community. And now, Akshay Kumar's OMG, faces the same dilemma. "No filmmaker deliberately wants to make a film that comes under attack for being anti-social or hurts public sentiments. Such incidents are quite upsetting for those associated with the film. Though, I have not seen the movie, going by some of the information, I believe that if something is objectionable, the Censor board should be made answerable and not the filmmakers as they pass the film after critical analyses," said filmaker Manmohan Singh. Agreed Ghuggi, "The censor board should have clear such issues from cropping up early on. There is a lot of money and effort invested in a film and nobody wants to get stuck in such controversies. Eventually, a filmmaker's money and reputation is at stake. OMG is a good movie, if the message it carries is understood in a positive context." The film is based on critically acclaimed Gujrati play, Kanji Virudh Kanji and has been receiving positive feedback from international movie critics, but also banned in some countries like Malaysia and UAE. The producers Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal had tried to come clean by holding a special screening of the film in Delhi for spiritual leaders of the country.
|
|
Jewellery worth Rs 20 lakh seized
Amritsar, September 29 TS Randhawa, Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner (mobile wing), said the person could not produce the requisite bills and printouts of the electronic information collection, which were mandatory in such cases. The Excise and Taxation Department team recovered 300 grams of ornamental gold, 13 diamond-studded rings, a pair of gold bangles, two pairs of earrings and 1 kg of alloy metal. Randhawa said the jewellery arrived from Mumbai on a Jet Airways flight. He, however, denied disclosing the name of the arrested accused, saying it may hamper further investigations. Woman duped of Rs 1 lakh
A conman allegedly duped Jashanjit Kaur, a resident of the Kabir Park area, when she had gone to deposit money in the Bank of India branch located in the Rani ka Bagh area here. Jashanjit reported to the Civil Lines police that she had gone to deposit Rs 1 lakh in the bank. As there was lunch break going on in the bank, I was standing inside the bank. She said an unidentified person, who seemed to be an employee of the bank, offered her help to deposit the cash and asked her to sit on the sofa lying in the bank. She said a few minutes later, she found him missing from the bank along with the money. The police has registered a complaint under Section 420 of the IPC against the accused. This is not the first such incident, as earlier too unsuspecting residents have been robbed of their money in a similar fashion On July 12, an ex-serviceman Suba Singh, a resident of Bareilly, was robbed of Rs 5 lakh by an unidentified person. The victim was filling a voucher to deposit Rs 8.85 lakh at the State Bank of India brach, Town Hall, when the accused took his money
away in a similar manner. The accused offered to help him in depositing the money. Though the bank captured the CCTV footage of the accused, the police has not traced him till now. Ram Singh, Police Commissioner, said a police team had acquired the CCTV footage of the accused and further investigations were under progress. “We would also watch the CCTV footage of the State Bank of India’s CCTV footage to see whether the same person was involved in duping the innocent residents,” he said. He added that the residents should also remain alert while depositing and withdrawing money from banks.
|
|
Bhagtanwala garbage dump yard: MC to adopt proper dumping mechanism
Amritsar, September 29 A team of the MC, which included sanitary inspector Satnam Singh, Surinder Tona and Kashmir Kumar, paid a visit to the dump site and guided the drivers and sanitation staff about the proper technique of dumping the garbage. They cleaned up the passage, as the garbage-lifting trolleys were unable to reach the site properly as the approaching road was littered with garbage. Two ditch machines have regularly been pressed into service at the Bhaktanwala site to arrange the dumped garbage. Besides, an MC team has been designated under the supervision of Surinder Tona Kishore Kumar and Sudesh to keep a vigil on the dumping process on a regular basis. While the much-awaited solid waste management plant continues to hang fire for over three years, in the absence of a proper vigil, the garbage was being dumped in a very unprofessional manner at the Bhagtanwala site. Consequently, heaps of the garbage have been spilling over and the dump pond has filled to the brim and heaps of garbage are mounting with each passing day. So pathetic is the situation here that even all the sides of the grain market, consisting of at least 60 shops, have been covered with garbage stockpiles. The place, which otherwise displays paddy and wheat grains during procurement season, has now been accumulated with solid garbage, emanating a filthy smell. The partial phase of garbage lifting and dumping at the designated place took off in 2009. At present, Mumbai-based company Antony Waste Handing Pvt Ltd, which was assigned the job of garbage lifting has withdrawn its machinery due to the non-payment of its dues amounting to over Rs 1.5 crore. The MC, with its scant resources, has been finding it difficult to lift the garbage. Satnam Singh, sanitary inspector, said the idea was to gauge the situation physically and devise the mechanism of garbage dump accordingly. “Today, a programme has been chalked out to arrange the dumping process. From now onwards, the garbage would be dumped under the strict supervision of our trained staff." Unprofessional dumping
With the much-awaited solid waste management plant hanging fire for over three years, in the absence of a proper vigil, the garbage has been dumped in a very unprofessional manner at the Bhagtanwala site
|
|
Workshop for teachers concludes at GND varsity
Amritsar, September 29 The workshop, which was inaugurated by Dr AK Thukral, Director, Research, GNDU, Amritsar, on September 22, concluded today. The participants were teachers from various institutions established across the state. The focus of the workshop was on imparting teaching skills through case study method to the participant teachers. The expertise of Dr JD Singh (ex-professor IIM-Bangalore), Dr Ashutosh Dash (MDI, Gurgaon) and Dr Vinay Sharma (IIT-Roorkee) and Dr Manjit Singh (Punjabi University) in the field were availed for the purpose. The participants gained immensely from the wide experience of the trainers and attained enough confidence to adopt real-life cases for the purpose of teaching commerce and management students. Their horizons were broadened to analyse real-life business situations in the backdrop of management theory. The valedictory function was presided over by Sunil Khanna, MD, RK Overseas, Amritsar. He enriched the participants with his business experiences and distributed certificates among them.
|
|
Medical colleges, hospitals to be upgraded
Amritsar, September 29 Alumnus and member board of governors of Medical Council of India, Dr HS Rissam, was the special guest at the function. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Rissam said, “About 80 per cent of the super-specialties in country are in five big metropolitan cities. The rest of the country is at a disadvantageous position." “For the first time in the history of the MCI, we have rejected applications for permissions (from colleges) and reduced the number of seats of a few colleges despite pressures from various quarters,” said Rissam, adding that the MCI was committed to the cause of improving medical education and research in the country. He said he had seen colleges where bus loads of teachers and patients were brought during inspections conducted by the MCI. “It could not have happened without the involvement of bigwigs. While a vast majority of the people in every profession are honest, the miniscule minority which is corrupt is powerful, as the vast majority is a mute spectator,” he said. Chunni Lal Bhagat said the state government had increased the budget for medical education and research by Rs 198 crore. He said the state government had planned to upgrade medical colleges and hospitals in state to super-specialties. A medical fiction novel by Dr Rissam, "The Scalpel" was formally released by Chunni Lal Bhagat at the function. Talking about the CME, organising secretary Dr Santokh Singh said the CME had helped the medical fraternity about the advances in the field. He said eminent personalities from all over North India attended the conference. Others present on the occasion included Industry Minister Anil Joshi, Medical College Principal Dr SS Shergill, CME chairman Dr AS Padda, Dr Tejbir Singh and Dr Shiv Charan.
|
|
Curb smoking, drinking to keep heart problems at bay: Expert
Amritsar, September 29 “Amritsaris are at a greater risk of heart ailments because of gastronomic habits involving rich fat diet,” said Dr Adarsh. He said as costly interventional treatments were within the range of only five per cent population, the prevention was surely better than cure. The cardiology expert said: "Smoking and drinking should be curbed to keep heart problems at bay. Proper diet control and regulating body weight are also necessary. In India, almost 20 per cent to 30 per cent of heart attacks occur below the age of 40”. Government Medical College has a state-of-the-art ICU ward form cardiac patients. “A cardiac catheterisation laboratory for doing all cardiac interventions will be shortly installed at the hospital, which will be a boon for the patients,” he said. A free cardiac check-up camp was organised at the department on the occasion of World Health Day today, during which around 250 patients availed the facility. They were provided free medicines and fruits during the camp. Dr Adarsh also delivered a lecture to the patients about the dos and don’ts to avoid heart problems. Dr HS Rissam, a renowned cardiologist and a member of the Medical Council of India, also visited the camp. The District Health Department also organised an awareness campaign at Company Bagh here to educate people about the causes and cures of heart ailments. Fortis Escorts Hospital organised poster-making and elocution competitions for schoolchildren to make them aware of heart ailments. EMC Super Speciality Hospital organised a walk-a-mile campaign at Company Bagh, which was flagged off by Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora. Students from SBS College of Nursing, SGRD College of Nursing, NRI College of Nursing, United College of Nursing, Khalsa College of Nursing, Amritsar College of Nursing, Guru Amardas College of Nursing, GG Singh College of Nursing and DAV Police Public School participated in the event. At a press conference held today, Carewell Super Speciality Hospital announced to initiate bypass surgery and heart valve repair, said Dr HS Pannu, claiming that the hospital was the only institution in the region with the facility to repair valves. Pannu said: “Heart diseases are increasing everyday. Therefore, Carewell is stepping ahead in providing valve repair, along with bypass surgery and valve replacement”. He said 10 per cent to 15 per cent people with heart ailments were the city dwellers. He added that the number of heart ailments in the rural areas was only 5 per cent to 8 per cent.
|
|
Plastic surgeons attend conference on hand surgery
Amritsar, September 29 Speaking on the occasion, Ravi K. Mahajan, hand and plastic surgeon, said hand injuries could be divided into six general categories, which include lacerations, fractures and dislocations, soft tissue injuries and amputations, infections, burns and high pressure injuries (industrial). He said: “Besides pain, numbness, discolouration, bleeding, movement difficulty and deformity are other symptoms. In case of infection, fever is one of the symptoms, along with others.” He said fractures, dislocations, high pressure injuries and amputations required emergency care. On the occasion, Dr GD Vandhiyadevan talked about rheumatoid arthritis which causes the onset of stiff hands and other parts of the body. He said: “If medication and physiotherapy are not applied from an early stage, malfunction may set in.”
|
|
PowerCom officials, villagers settle dispute
Amritsar, September 29 The PowerCom Department restored power supply by replacing the damaged transformer and repairing electricity wires. PowerCom employees, along with the police force and the duty magistrate, had gone to the village for installing power meters outside the houses. However, certain villagers opposed this and allegedly indulged in pelting stones on the police party. The police then used cane-charge to disperse the crowd. A number of villagers and police officials sustained injuries in the incident. Enraged over this, the villagers, led by the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta), held a protest outside the Lopoke police station, which continued till late last night. Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan, general secretary of the union, said the sub-divisional magistrate reached the spot and interacted with the farmers. After his assurance, the dharna was lifted. He said the district administration had assured to provide free treatment to the injured persons, besides restoring the power supply by repairing the transformer and electricity wires. He said the administration had also agreed to keep the electricity meters inside the houses and take action against the erring police officials. He said the injured persons were admitted to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. NS Bal, deputy chief engineer, Border Range, PowerCom, said the dispute had been resolved for the time being. He said power meters would be installed outside the houses later on as per the government policy after consultation with the authorities concerned. SSP Preetpaul Singh Virk said the dharna was lifted after the parties reached a mutual compromise. About the case registered against the villagers, he said for the time being, no action would be taken in the case.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Amritsar, September 29
