The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Improvement Trust ‘lands’ in trouble Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 6 The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has ordered the Improvement Trust to re-allot a plot of proper dimensions (30 ft X 60 ft) to a buyer of a plot under the Mall Mandi scheme. The Forum has also ordered the Trust to pay a compensation of Rs 25,000 besides Rs 2,000 as litigation expenses. In his complaint to the forum, the allottee Saroop Singh had contended that the plot given to him was not appropriate for constructing a house as it did not have the same dimensions as promised by the Trust. He had complained that the plot given to him had four unequal sides. The Trust had earlier allotted a plot to Saroop Singh measuring 200 square yards after a draw of lots for the Mall Mandi scheme. The complainant had first approached the Trust to demand an alternate plot, but the Trust refused to do so saying that the plot has the same area, 200 square yards, as promised. Taking into consideration a circular of the state government, the Forum decided that the Trust was bound to allot an alternate plot. The forum has stated it to a deficiency in service on the part of the Improvement Trust by not following the set procedure for allotment of plots with the promised dimensions. Importantly, plot owners in the Mall Mandi scheme are already irked as the Trust has failed to provide basic amenities in the area. Hearing a separate complaint, the Forum had earlier asked the Trust to provide all the amenities within a period of six months. Mall mandi Scheme The Improvement Trust had allotted a plot to Saroop Singh measuring 200 square yards after a draw of lots for the Mall Mandi scheme But the plot allotted to him turned out be a land with four unequal sides Saroop Singh approaches the Trust to give him an alternate site, but the Trust allegedly refuses to do so. He moves District Consumer Forum, which finds the Trust at fault. The Forum orders the Trust to re-allot a plot of proper dimentions (30ft X 60 ft) to Saroop Singh The Trust also ordered to pay Rs 25,000 as compensation and Rs 2,000 as litigation expenses No basic facilities Importantly, plot owners in the Mall Mandi scheme are already irked as the Trust has failed to provide basic amenities in the area. Hearing a separate complaint, the Forum had earlier asked the Trust to provide all the amenities within a period of six months.
	MC mulls cleanliness charges from chhabeel, langar organisers GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 6 Soon, organisers of langar (free community kitchen) and chhabeel (distribution of sweetened water), which are held to commemorate religious and pious days, may have to pay Rs 200 to 300 as "cleanliness charges". The Municipal Corporation has proposed to take stern measures to make langar/chhabeel organisers take the responsibility of cleaning up the area before leaving the event. These proposals are going to be placed before the newly-constituted MC House soon. It may seem to a step in the right direction, its implementation in total may prove to be a tough task for the MC as it involves public sentiments. Taking cognisance of the refuse left on the streets and roadsides after the events, Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora held a meeting recently with the officials concerned and a proposal was mooted to charge the organisers with cleanliness fees. Langars and chabeels are organised on almost all Gurpurbs. Besides, free food is distributed on Shivratri, Janamashtami and Nimani Kasti. Also, it is generally found that organisers install stalls in the middle of the road, which hampers traffic movement. "Once the langar is over, the organisers leave the road littered with refuse. It will be a commendable step once the MC implements it in true letter and spirit," said Jagdish Singh, a resident. Moreover, this refuse often clogs drains. Earlier too, several guidelines have been issued to the organisers to keep the area clean, but in the absence of any concrete planning, nobody abides by the directions. Organisers were told to install stalls or tents about 10 to 15 feet from pucca road so that the event doesn't hit traffic flow. Another resident Naresh Johar said instructions should have been passed on to the tent houses that if they damage roads while erecting tents, their tents would be confiscated for at least 15 days and would be returned only after they pay a hefty fine. Tough measures The Municipal Corporation has proposed to take stern measures to make langar/chhabeel organisers share the responsibility of cleaning up the area before leaving the event These proposals are going to be placed before the MC House soon mayorSpeak It was just the revival of an earlier proposal. We have no intention to hurt the sentiments of any community, but the basic idea was to take extra care to keep the surroundings clean and free from litter and garbage. We will discuss the matter in the House before implementing it — bakshi ram Arora
	‘The Puppetarians’ brings back childhood memories Neha Saini Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 6 Creating a world where learning happens to be fun, The Puppetarians, a group comprising popular puppeteers Sangya Ojha and Hashim Haider, brought back memories of childhood back for those who are young and young at heart. Performing and participating along with the children at One Up, a library-cum-experience centre, the duo performed ‘The Dog Story’, a show inspired from a story from the Puranas. Employing story telling along with music and dance with lovable puppet characters, the Puppetarians told the story of how dog found its best friend in man. “We believe and work to make learning fun and interactive with the use of puppets. The story that we have chosen tells the journey of how the universe was created by Lord Brahma. Then, when dog was created he undertook a journey to find his true friend, that eventually culminates when he befriends man,” explains Sangya. This is their second show in Amritsar. The duo will be performing with two different techniques this time. “We will use shadow puppets to explore the concept of creation of the universe. ‘The Dog Story’ will have muppets and hand puppets playing animal characters,” says Sangya. Years of training and working as an educator through puppetry inspired the duo to come up with their own brand of edutainment. They were a part of the famous Galli Galli Sim Sim, India’s version of the popular puppet show Sesame Street. “Puppetry is a wholesome art – there is singing, sound play, music and acting. If a child loves a character, he learns watching him. So it’s a responsibility to make these characters morally strong and get the message across. Like the underlying message in ‘The Dog Story’ is that friendship is a special bond and also children would learn to be kind to animals,” shares Sangya. The best thing about the show and the concept is that it inculcates moral values like friendship, coexistence and peace in children without having them to forcibly absorb them. The last time they were here, they made children fall in love with puppets. And this time, they plan to inspire them. “We are just trying to sensatise the future theatre audience. Puppetry is a form of intimate theatre where the audience has to connect with the characters. If we are able to inspire at least one child into becoming a puppeteer, our job is done,” she says. The duo will also be conducting workshops with the kids at One Up. The workshop will include teaching them the techniques of puppetry, making puppets, sound play, innovating with characters and more. They will also give away readymade dog puppets to let them feel the story. Learning with fun The Puppetarians, a group comprising puppeteers Sangya Ojha and Hashim Haider, performs The Dog Story’, a show inspired from a story from the Puranas. The story reveals how the dog found its best friend in man Show timings Timings for the show on Sunday – 11.30 am to 12.30 pm, 3 pm to 4 pm and 5.30 pm to 6.30 pm.
	Councillor’s son ‘supplied’ drugs to several districts PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 6 Bhupinder Singh, alias Sonu Kangla, a wanted criminal and son of a councillor, was instrumental in supplying drugs in areas including Gurdaspur, Batala, and Tarn Taran besides Amritsar, revealed police sources today, a day after his arrest in the city. He has a number of luxury vehicles and owns properties worth crores of rupees at various places in Amritsar and Jalandhar. This came to light during his interrogation. He was caught by CIA staff yesterday with over 500 g smack, a pistol and ammunition. His two accomplices Manav Singh and Arun Kumar who used to sell smack were also nabbed by the police. Besides an Alto car impounded from Manav and Arun, which was given by Kangla for running his illegal trade, the police has impounded a Skoda car of Kangla. On his information, the police today impounded an SUV. In the past, the Kapurthala police and Kot Mit Singh police here have seized two of his vehicles. Meanwhile, the court has also extended his police remand by two days. Sources said Bhupinder Singh also has close connections with Sonu Motta and Jujhar gangs. He used to provide them shelter whenever they were on the run after committing crimes. "It was really astonishing how he accumulated properties worth crores of rupees in a short span of his 'career' in the illegal trade. He owns two residential buildings in Jalandhar and has plots in Amritsar and Jalandhar," said the sources. The CIA staff was also searching for his property details. Sources said the police was also investigating the role of a former ruling party councillor who had close relations and under whose patronage he graduated into a most wanted drug peddler from a small time gangster. His mother and sitting councilor, Dalvir Kaur, is also on the run as she had led a mob which had attacked the police party headed by ACP Rajbir Singh which had gone to arrest Kangla. Before his arrest, he had also offered ‘money’ to the police officials for not arresting him. Bhupinder Singh was nabbed by CIA staff on Friday with 500 g smack, a pistol and ammunition During interrogation, it was found that he used to supply drugs in areas including Gurdaspur, Batala, and Tarn Taran besides Amritsar He has close connections with Sonu Motta and Jujhar gangs He owns two residential buildings in Jalandhar and has plots in Amritsar and Jalandhar. The police was also investigating the role of a former ruling party councillor who had close relations and under whose patronage he graduated into a most wanted drug peddler from a small time gangster
	50-year-old man killed in accident Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 6 Joginder pal Sharma (50), a resident of Judge Nagar, lost his life when he was hit by a speedy tipper in front of the Pink Plaza Market near Hall Gate area today morning. The truck hit him from back side and ran him over leading to instant death. Half of his body was crushed under the tyres of the truck. According to information, the deceased used to work as an accountant and was going towards Beri Gate to meet his client. The truck hit him from back side after which he, along with his vehicle bearing registration number PB-02-AS-1438, slipped under the truck (PB-02-BE-8764). He died on the spot. The truck was going towards the Jhabal road side. Eyewitnesses said the truck driver jumped over a 15-ft-high wall of PowerCom’s office in order to escape from the scene. He was later caught near the Pink Plaza Market. Bhagwan Singh, investigating officer, said the accused was identified as Baljit Singh. A case under Section 304-A of the IPC had been registered against the driver of the truck, he added.
	Land registry: Token system offers little help PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 6 While the district administration has introduced a token system to deal with the rush of people thronging the revenue department offices for land registry, it seems to have added to the woes of the residents as they now have to queue up outside the offices in the wee hours to get the token. People coming to the district administrative complex for taking a token for getting their properties registered are facing difficulties owing to shortage of counters and administration’s decision to distribute only 200 tokens in a single day on first-come-first-serve basis. Even the women could be seen standing in the queue for a long time. “I have been standing since early morning after taking an off from my job,” said Saloni, a teacher. The government collects huge revenues in the form of taxes from the public and see what facilities they are giving to us, she said. It is really disappointing, she added. As the number the power of attorneys are in lakhs, the administration should first increase the time period besides increasing the counters for issuing tokens, said Surinder Pal Singh of Shivala Colony, who had come to take a token at the administration complex. It should also not restrict the number of tokens to 200 only and instead give it till the official timings, he added. “I have been standing in the queue since 7.00 PM last night and still waiting for my turn,” said Gulab Singh of Krishna Nagar area. The tokens are issued only till 12.00 in the noon. The Deputy Commissioner should increase the timings to facilitate the people, he said. A real estate consultant, HS Dawar demanded that the time of registering properties through power of attorneys must be increased keeping in view the workload and the backlog of power of attorneys. He opined that the government must reduce the rate of stamp duty while registering the property from the existing 8 per cent to four per cent. He stressed that it would increase the revenue and at the same time people would be less burdened financially. He added that in this scenario, power of attorneys could be abolished. The validity of the deal of general power of attorney would hold no significance after the expiry of the temporary relief of two months stipulated by the administration. The officials concerned clarified that after this relief period is over, all the registries pertaining to any residential or commercial property would be done as per the norms cited by the government. An administrative official said they are well aware of the problems being faced by the people. But due to shortage of staff it has become very difficult for them to satisfy all the people on a single day. The staff has been working overtime for getting 200 registries done on a day. The token system has been introduced only to bring transparency.
	Baba Farid university plans new dept to overcome shortage of paramedics Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 6 The Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) plans to introduce a department of para-medicines soon so as to train enough technical manpower to assist doctors, said Vice-Chancellor Dr SS Gill during a national conference on diarrhoeal diseases here today. The Indian Association of Microbiologists organised the conference as part of the continuous medical education (CME) for the fraternity at Government Medical College. Dr Gill said, “We have already shortlisted 32 courses that might be introduced from the next year.” He said continuous training of the paramedics, nurses and doctors is essential to keep them abreast with the new advances in medical sciences.” He said continuous training of the medical fraternity is lacking. It is more in the case of paramedics and nurses, he added. He further said 93 post graduate seats especially in the basic sciences departments are lying vacant in various colleges in the state. He said not many students are willing to take the basic sciences as a result of which research has been pushed to the backburner. “I am sorry to say that there is no competition for the posts at the higher level as not many qualified people are available,” he said adding that state plans to introduce two new medical colleges soon. “We will require more faculties to run these colleges,” he said addressing the students of graduation and post graduation of medical sciences at the conference, hosted by GMC’s Department of Microbiology. He said all the posts in the medical colleges, dental colleges and nursing colleges should be filled at the earliest. Talking about the present scenario in the medical education, Dr Gill said, “We do not promote our teachers on time, we do not recruit people on time and we do not train enough people on time.” He said the state’s medical colleges also lack data about various diseases in the rural areas. “If somebody says that there are so many cancer patients, we have to believe it as we do not have any data. At least the person has visited one village while we have not visited a single house,” he said. Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Medical education and Research Chunni Lal Bhagat said the government was concerned about the need to upgrade medical education and research in the state. He said a comprehensive plan in this regard would be chalked out to upgrade institutions in a phased manner. Head of Microbiology and organising secretary of the conference Dr Pushpa Devi said the medical college would soon have a swine flu lab of its own besides a biology lab funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research. She said, “There is a growing need to tackle diarrhoeal diseases in the country as this is the major challenge with the nation.” She said even as the western countries have successfully controlled infectious diseases, India still needs to lot to work on in the direction. GMC principal Dr SS Shergill lauded the role of the Department of Microbiology for organising the conference. Around 500 delegates from the north and west of the country attended the conference.
	Winters round the corner, spa centres offer special packages Neha Saini Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 6 As the winter season approaches, city spa and wellness centres offer help at hand with the complete body and skin care treatments. Cleopatra Day Spa, Beauty & Slimming Centre, has already announced its Winter Spa Fest, marking the 10th anniversary since being established. The Winter Spa Fest, that started on October 3 and will go on till November 3 will render a full-fledged rejuvinating experience to distress your senses, leaving you feeling entirely relaxed. Richa Aggarwal, beauty expert at Cleopatra, shares, “Winter Spa Fest offers pampering with customised spa treatments meant according to the requirement of your body and skin type, like wine rejuvenating spa, green apple healing spa, lavendar reviving spa, chocolate pampering spa, la’ stone spa, healing massage, European spa, peppermint spa twist, milky rituals spa and dead sea body glow spa. Also, we are offering a free skin analysis for our guests and add other essentials to ensure that you get the spa which jibes with your skin type and body mechanics.” The spa fest will also do away several myths associated with skin care and the kind of diet you take. With every spa, you get free diet counselling, face mapping, beauty counseling, spa food guide and much more. Other popular winter body treatments include mud wraps, hot chocolate spa, herbal oil treatments like lavender, almond oil and cinnamon scrubs. Orane Day spa centre that offers beauty and wellness services too has a long list of treatments. “Renewing the top layer of skin and extracting impurities from deep within becomes a necessity in winters. For a truly rejuvenating treatment, try a dead sea body wrap that uses seaweed and mud to cleanse the body. For a more indulgent option, try a chocolate body wrap that uses real cocoa to nourish the skin,” says Harpreet Arora, centre head, Orane Day Spa. Their Orane signature hot oil treatments specifically target dehydration, pigmentation and anti-ageing in winters. “Shirodhara and other herbal treatmenst are helpful in increasing blood circulation, relaxing muscles and nuerological problems. They also remove anxiety and stress,” says Harpreet. Richa too agrees, “Any kind of muscle sores or back problems can be healed through hot stone therapies.”
	Animals deserve love, proper attention: NGO Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 6 The state government is fulfilling its duty towards saving the forest cover and wildlife merely by issuing advertisements, but it has failed to take concrete measures in this direction. This was opined by members of Mission Aagaaz, an NGO dedicated to environmental cause, during its meeting held to observe the state-level Wildlife Protection Week from October 2 to October 8. “In the present scenario, the forest area is fast depleting all over the country, while more space is being utilised for raising concrete jungles. This surge in erecting malls and other infrastructure at the cost of green cover has not only caused loss to humans but also rendered several birds and animals homeless,” said Gurbhej Singh, general secretary, Mission Aagaaz. “The attitude of public towards animals, especially stray dogs, cows and buffalos, is apathetic. People should understand that they are also living beings and they deserve love and proper attention. The rampant use of polythene has also caused deaths of many animals,” said Deepak Babbar, convener of the NGO. The Punjab Government should learn from the Haryana Government as the latter announced the closure of all butcheries in the state to observe Wildlife Protection Week. The members of the NGO appealed to the residents of the city to have a sympathetic attitude towards the animals. They also urged the government to hold district-level programmes in every district to observe this week.
	Block printing workshop for rural women Amritsar, October 6 On the fourth day of the NSS camp organised by BBK DAV College for Women, the unit visited Qila Jiwan Singh village. This village has been adopted by the college. Neelam Kamra, principal of the college, said the highlight of the visit was the block printing workshop, which was held in collaboration with the Red Cross unit of the college. Harpreet Nagi and Harpreet Dhillon from the Home Science Department led this workshop. While knowing the nitty-gritty of block printing, the women folk showed their interest in using this technique in earning their livelihood. Meanwhile, the second phase of tie and dye workshop was also conducted on the occasion. Hostel warden Kulwant Kaur gave an interactive lecture on naturopathy. She explained how naturopaths work with nature to restore the health of the people. NSS volunteer Jaswinder Kaur gave another lecture on drug addiction. She informed the villagers about the ill-effects of drug intake and threw light on remedial measures, too. — TNS
	Daljit selected for national boxing c’ship Amritsar, October 6 Daljit Kaur, a student of Khalsa College for Women and a national-level boxer, has been selected for the National Women Boxing Championship to be held from October 24 to October 29 at Guwahati in Assam. Daljit, inter-university and inter-zonal champion for the past three years, was today felicitated by the principal of the college, Dr Sukhbir Kaur Mahal, on the campus. The principal wished her to perform well in the sports event. Dr Mahal said Dalji was all set to take part in the Asian Games to be held next year. Daljit said she was working hard under her coach Baljinder Singh for the Guwahati national and was hopeful to continue her winning spree in this competition. Daljit, who has made a hat-trick by winning gold in the Senior Women Championship, was elated over her selection. She had been a champion in the inter-university, inter-zone championship and was the best boxer in women’s boxing event in Puducherry in 2011. — TNS