Amritsar, October 22
On a day when people worship girls as "kanjaks" to mark the Navratra festival in many parts of the country, two infant girls were found abandoned in the holy city of Amritsar today.

While one girl was found abandoned by the side of a canal in Bhoma Khurd village in the Majitha area, the other was left by her family members in the "Pangura" installed by the district administration in the Red Cross Society.

The girl, who was found by the side of the canal, had some minor injuries of insect bites. Otherwise, she was a healthy child, said the Red Cross authorities.

Since its launch in January 2008, the "Pangura" has provided shelter to as many as 60 children who were abandoned by their family members. They have been handed over to Shishu Grah Trust, Jalandhar, and other adoption centres in Punjab, where they were adopted by childless couples.

“What an irony. Today the people worship girls as Goddess Durga to mark the Navratra festival, but there are some people who abandon their children to die. However, some couples made a beeline to the Shishu Grah for adopting the children,” said another official of the Red Cross Society.

Out of the 60 children found in "Pangura", 55 were girls. This is a testimony to the fact that there is a need to change the mindset of the people in our society. The efforts initiated by the governments, NGOs and religious organisations are proving inefficient and more efforts are required to sensitise the public.

The scheme launched by the district administration has managed to save several lives. Otherwise, they would have been thrown into garbage dumps or in empty plots by the immediate family members, only to be killed by stray dogs or become victim of vagaries of nature, as many such incidents had been reported in the past.

Amritsar, October 22
The district administration-appointed inquiry committee has said that only 42 plots in the 211-acre Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar Scheme, popularly known as Maal Mandi Scheme, are disputed, while the ownership of the rest of the scheme is okay.

Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal, who also heads the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT), had appointed an inquiry panel headed by Land Acquisition Collector Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal to look into the matter. The administration took this step after the Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Welfare Association threatened to launch an agitation, seeking basic amenities to raise their dwellings.

Aggarwal stated that the owners of these plots need not be worried, as they would be provided suitable alternative plots. He claimed that all basic amenities like roads, street-lights, water and sewerage pipes, besides parks would be provided in the 211-acre scheme within the next six months.

He said directions had been given to the officials of the Trust and the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board to provide these amenities.

Over half of the plots out of the nearly 1200, measuring 100, 150, 200 and 250 square yards, in the scheme have been allotted through draws of lots in the past seven years.

Sources in the inquiry panel revealed that 30 plots, falling in the B-Block, comprising 225 plots of 150-square yard area each, were “erroneously” allotted, though the ownership of these was not with the Trust.

Similarly, about 12 plots of 150 square yards each in the A-block of the scheme were also “erroneously” allotted though the ownership of these was not with the Trust.

On initiating punitive action against the mistake which led to the arduous delay in finalising the scheme, the Deputy Commissioner said the priority was to provide amenities and hand over the possession to the public.

Superintendent Engineer Bharat Bhushan Sharma said the demarcation of roads and the parks had been done in the B-block area of the scheme and soon tenders would be floated to lay roads and level the area. Besides, the trust would entrust the task to lay high-tension and low-tension cables in the scheme to a private concern. He said curve channels, on the line of Chandigarh, would be installed in the SGTB Nagar to prevent the accumulation of rain-water on roads.

Meanwhile, Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board Superintendent Engineer Gurmit Singh said the design to lay the sewerage and water pipes with in the scheme had been approved. He said soon tenders would be floated and the same facilities would be available by February. He said another month would be required to connect the sewerage channels through the Jahajgarh area to the city center disposal. He said this external work of the scheme would be done under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The Welfare Association president Harpinder Singh Walia welcomed the move to provide basic amenities in the 211 scheme. He demanded that the Trust should raise a wall around the locality to provide walled and gated colony as promised to the city residents.

Amritsar, October 22
With the arrest of three persons, including a son of a head constable, the city police today claimed to have solved a blind murder case in which Suresh Kumar, a resident of Khu Koria, inside Lohgarh Gate, was killed by some unknown persons on October 1.

Those arrested included Bikramjit Singh, alias Vicky of Surjit Enclave, Jatinder Singh, son of a police constable and residing in the police lines, and Manpreet Singh of Plot Lakha Singh, Sultanwind.

Suresh Kumar was killed when he was going for a walk towards Gole Bagh. He had gone just a few metres from his home when some unidentified persons attacked him with sharp-edged weapons. He was admitted to a private hospital in a critical condition where he died a day later.

Sandhiya, the deceased's wife, in her statement to the police, had blamed Gaurav Ahuja and his father of Gaurav provisional store, Chowk Farid, for the murder. A case under Sections 307, 34 of the IPC had been registered at that time and after his death, Section 302 of the IPC was added in the case.

Sukhwinder Singh, SHO, Kotwali police station, said the accused had a monetary dispute with Bikram Singh. Suresh had a dispute with Bikram a day before the incident.

Bikram, who confessed to committing the crime, said he took the other two accused with them and committed the crime. The police have recovered the sharp-edged weapons and motorcycles used in the crime. — TNS

Amritsar, October 22
Mystery shrouds the death of a pregnant migrant woman who was found murdered at her rented accommodation, located on the Fatehgarh Churian road here today.

The incident came to light when foul smell started coming out of her room. Residents of the area informed the police, which reached the spot and broke open the door. Preliminary investigations revealed that the unidentified woman was strangled to death.

The police suspected the involvement of her husband, who took the accommodation on rent about two months ago. Her husband, who had not been seen for the past couple of days, was identified as Sushil Kumar from Lucknow.

A case under Section 302 of the IPC was registered against Sushil Kumar in this regard. The police authorities said the woman was apparently eight- month pregnant. She was strangled to death with the help of a "dupatta" about a couple of days ago and since then her husband Sushil Kumar was not seen by the owners and residents of the area.

Vijay Kumar, in charge, Faizpura police chowki, said further investigations were under progress.

Amritsar, October 22
Befitting the title of his swan song, "Jab Tak Hai Jaan", film-maker Yash Chopra never failed to make people fall in love on the 70mm over and over again. The director-producer, whose sudden demise sent shock waves in the film industry and his fans across the country, had recently turned 80 and was looking forward to celebrate his final shot behind the camera.

As cinema mourns the loss of a guiding force, the Punjabi fraternity, too, feels the pain of losing one of its true sons of the soil. “It’s a big loss to Punjabis. He was rooted to his native land and popularised the Punjabi culture and its people through his films. He was deeply connected to Punjab and made sure that he remained connected till his end," said Dr Daljit Singh, principal, Khalsa College, Amritsar.

Dr Singh was known to the veteran film-maker, who had visited the holy city while shooting "Veer Zara" and "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi". “Both films were shot at Khalsa College and during that time, I got to know him personally. He shared his ideology of keeping the Indian cinema aesthetic and family oriented. He had a deep respect for the people and culture of Punjab which he shared with me on my recent visit to Mumbai a month ago," said Daljit Singh.

Another of his students and admirers, Punjabi film-maker Manmohan Singh, who worked along with Yash Chopra in his major hits like "Darr", "Chandni", "Lamhe", "DDLJ", "Mohabbatein", "Dil Toh Pagal Hai" among others, too, shared his grief over his demise. “Yash Chopra was a legend who changed the way of Hindi films love stories. The kind of aesthetics, class and scripts he came up with was an example of his cinematic genius. There would be no other who could work the same magic on screen as he did.”

Singh shared that the film-maker was keen on making a Punjabi film as he was a champion for the cause of Punjab and Punjabiyat. "All his films have glimpses or touch of Punjabi culture, whether their music, lyrics, locales or artistes from the region, he was always keen on associating himself with Punjab. He shared his desire to make a Punjabi film as well,” said the director.

Manmohan Singh, who has won two Filmfares for cinematography for Yash Chopra’s "Darr" and "Chandni", is sure that his last directorial film, "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" would be the best possible parting gift to his memory. “I am sure that the film would have all his strength, the beauty and glamour and romance associated with a Yash Chopra film.”

Dr Mahindra Singh Dhillon, former principal, Khalsa College, Amritsar, got an opportunity to know Yash Chopra while he was shooting for "Veer Zara" in the city. “He was a wonderful man, very grounded and simple in his being. I met him for the first time when he came to the GNDU to attend a function in his honour. Thereafter, we became very good friends and whenever he used to come to Amritsar, I was his host and company. He was very spiritual. Once he spent an entire night at the Golden Temple, offering his prayers along with his wife,” shared Dhillon.

“It is very sad that he left us suddenly and his demise has left a deep hole in the hearts of those who knew him,” said Dhillon.

Amritsar, October 22
Even as the Municipal Corporation (MC) has received around Rs 12 crore for the launch of the city bus service, yet no headway has been made in the project. Thanks to the official rigmarole and lack of policy matters on the part of the government or the authorities concerned which has put brakes to the much-publicised first-ever government-run public transport system in the holy city.

While replying to an information procured by a city resident, Gautam Majithia, under the RTI Act, the MC has admitted to have received Rs 11.66 crore (Rs 8.33 crore from the Centre under the JNNURM programme and Rs 3.33 crore from the state government).

The MC has ended up spending over Rs 7.28 lakh on consultancy and Rs 12.57 lakh on advertisements for the project, which is yet to see the light of the day.

An idea was conceptualised to ape the procedure adopted in Ludhiana. The programme was chalked out, the routes and the ticket fare were finalised. Even the trial run for the city buses were conducted with much fanfare by the then Mayor Shwait Malik. Subsequently, after getting nod from the Urban Development Ministry a lot of 150 buses was sanctioned and the tenders for the first lot of 30 buses were floated on the Ludhiana pattern, but all has to be scrapped.

Municipal Corporation Commissioner Dharampal Gupta said Rs 33 crore had been sanctioned for the project, out of which Rs 11 crore were received by the MC, but the project could not be executed due to legal hitch.

The ambitious project of city bus service was put on hold due to the Punjab and Haryana High Court verdict on using LPG or CNG-run vehicles, while discouraging diesel-run vehicles.

Ironically, the Punjab Government after furnishing all the formalities was on the verge of finalising the orders for the new vehicles for city bus service when the verdict was delivered. The city administration, too, found itself helpless because of the non-availability of CNG and LPG filling stations.

Amritsar, October 22
The district consumer disputes redressal forum has directed an insurance company to compensate a car owner, the claim by whom was earlier repudiated giving the reason that the repair was not got done from a nominated repairer of the insurance company.

The forum has directed the Oriental Insurance Company to pay Rs 42,474 along with interest at 9 per cent per annum from the date of filing of the complaint till payment is made to the complainant. The forum has further ordered to pay Rs 2,000 as litigation expenses.

Earlier, Usha Sharma, resident of the Islamabad locality here, had complained to the forum that the company had not paid the claim after her car was damaged in an accident. She stated that the company had not provided prior information to her as to who was the company’s nominated repairer in the city. Her car was insured for Rs 1,08,107 for a period of one year by the company. She had demanded a compensation of Rs 50,000 along with litigation expenses.

In the reply to the complainant, the company stated that it was a cashless policy, according to which the repair could only be gotten done from a nominated repairer of the insurance company. It stated that the repairer engaged for work by the complainant was not authorised to provide any cashless service by the company.

The forum observed that the insurer did not mention as to who was the nominated repairer of the insurance company in Amritsar and the grounds on which the claim was repudiated were not genuine and justified.

The forum observed that the company was liable to pay Rs 42,474, the loss assessed by its own surveyor earlier, to the complainant.

Amritsar, October 22
Rush for making ration cards is on the rise with the Central Government putting a cap on the number of subsidised LPG refills in a year as a section of city residents intends to get more LPG connections to cope with the government move.

Sanjeev Kumar, a resident of Sunder Nagar in the Batala road area, said his was a joint family and the LPG connection was in the name of his father. Though he got married about five years ago and was a father of two, but the idea of having a connection in his name never struck. He added that his inquiry with officials at gas agencies revealed that they preferred ration cards as it carried picture and names of the members in a family. “After finding the number of subsidised cylinders being limited to six in a year I decided to have a separate ration card and a LPG connection.”

Gurbaksh Singh, a new LPG customer, said he was astonished to find that the norms had been changed and made more strict for applying for a new ration card. Earlier, area councillors also used to assist in getting a ration card, which has now been abandoned.

Owner of an LPG agency in the city said ration card was the most reliable source of information to know the address and numbers of members in a family. He said about 3,000 duplicate connections had been cancelled since the campaign started to weed out multiple connections in an indiviual’s name. He said multiple connections in the same building could not be avoided.

Meanwhile, LPG agencies have stepped up efforts to comply with the Know Your Customer (KYC) as the deadline for blocking of multiple connections was October 31.

District Food and Supply Controller Dr Rakesh Kumar Singla said a minor spurt from 300 to 350 applicants had been witnessed in the past month. He said it was not mandatory that the new LPG connection could only be released on the basis of ration card.

He accepted that the rule had been changed as a new applicant had to get an affidavit from the Suvidha Center and now the Food and Civil Supply Department would put the data record online. Hence, no longer applicants could apply directly to the office as they used to do in the past. He said once all the formalities were completed then entire online data would go to the national database.

Amritsar, October 22
Various youth NGOs, including Sarb Bharat Naujwan Sabha, Shahid Bhagat Singh Naujwan Sabha, Punjab, and Janwadi Naujwan Sabha, Punjab, have announced to burn effigies of the state government on October 23 in protest against its announcement of not raising a memorial to martyr Madan Lal Dhingra at the site of his ancestral house.

Former national president of the Sarb Bharat Naujwan Sabha Prithipal Singh Mari Megha said protests would be held and effigies of the government would be burnt in various districts of the state, including Amritsar. He termed the government’s decision as betrayal as he claimed that it had announced that the martyr’s house would be procured to be converted into a museum. He said the premise that the vacant plot was owned by an individual and thus it could not be converted into a museum was a lame excuse. He said the government could procure the plot on market value from the owner and raise a memorial on it.

He said all these organisations had submitted a memorandum demanding setting up of a national memorial to the martyr at the site of his ancestral house in the Katra Sher Singh locality of the walled city to Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rajat Aggarwal. He said the memorandum was forwarded to the then Chief Secretary, Punjab, about some months back, with the promise of a positive outcome. He said member of these organisations had objected to the demolition of the ancestral house of the martyr, which unfortunately could not be saved.

He said all these organisations had agitated against the move and would now hold peaceful public protests against the government.