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GNDH left ‘Power’less; Services hit
Kin wish to install a bust of Kargil martyr at Putlighar
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Attacked by
advocates, Bar assn chief threatens fast
 Amritsar, December 17
Two days after the office and house of the Amritsar Bar Association president came under attack from few lawyers, the police has failed to arrest the accused in the case. Pardeep Kumar Saini meets police officials regarding the case in Amritsar on Monday. A tribune photo
Two of peddlers’ gang held with heroin worth
Rs 50 lakh
Police opens new post to curb snatchings
Textile industry bears the brunt of global slowdown
NGO to fund five Red Cross centres
from
schools
10-day theatre fiesta comes to end
Army mela Triggers enthusiasm |
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GNDH left ‘Power’less; Services hit
Amritsar, December 17
However, the hospital authorities claimed that they conducted almost all the emergency services and surgeries which required urgent operation today. The power remained off due to some repair work at 66-KV power sub-station providing a hotline to the hospital. X-ray and ultrasound centres besides laboratories were the worst affected. The hospital authorities used generator sets to provide electricity for all the emergency services. Due to non-functioning of X-ray and ultrasound centres, patients were asked to get the same done from outside or wait for a day. At the receiving end, patients and their family members said the authorities should have informed them about the power cuts. “The doctors asked me to get the X-ray of my wife done from outside as the X-ray centre in the hospital was not functioning due to power cut,” said Rajinder Singh, a local resident. Sources in the hospital claimed that a number of surgeries were postponed. The orthopaedic operation theatre and emergency operation theatre remained closed. Dr Tejbir Singh, Medical Superintendent, GNDH, admitted that the emergency health services were partially hit due to power shut down. But he also added that every possible step was taken to keep the operation theatres functional. He said the PSPCL authorities had intimated the hospital about the power shutdown a day before yesterday. “The circular given by the Powercom was circulated to all the departments,” he said. He said the hospital authorities are contemplating to boost the backup systems by installing high power generator sets. “I have asked the department concerned to send a proposal so that they could take up the matter with the government for installing high power gensets,” said the Medical Superintendent.
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Kin wish to install a bust of Kargil martyr at Putlighar
His ancestral house, lying deserted and unoccupied, is situated at Gali No 3 in Putlighar. Family friends and relatives of the Kargil martyr here have wish to install his bust at Putlighar intersection, which falls on GT road. They have been inspired by missionary zeal of Saurabh’s father Dr NK Kalia, who has approached the United Nations to secure justice for his son, who was brutally tortured and killed by Pakistani army.
A long time family friend of the Kalias, Raman Gupta said he would write to the Amritsar Municipal Corporation to acknowledge the sacrifices of the son of the soil. He recalled that Saurabh was born in 1976 at Lal Hospital here. His father was a scientist with a Union government department. Later, he was transferred to Palampur. Schooling and graduation of Saurabh took place at Palampur, said Gupta. He was an intelligent and industrious student who preferred to join the Army. Saurabh’s paternal uncle Dr Anil Kalia, who runs a clinic close to the ancestral house, said Saurabh was the second to join the Army in the family. Earlier, Saurabh’s paternal uncle Sudhir Kalia had joined the Army and retired as colonel. They hope that the sacrifice of Capt Saurabh Kalia would continue to inspire Indians.
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Attacked by
advocates, Bar assn chief threatens fast
Amritsar, December 17
Alleging police inaction, Pardeep Kumar Saini, president, Amritsar Bar Association, today threatened to sit on an indefinite fast till the accused, identified as Kultar Singh, his son Amarbir Singh, Karanbir Usaan, Sukhdip Singh Bedi (all advocates), besides four unidentified persons, were arrested. The accused have been booked under Sections 307, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act. Saini alleged that the accused roamed on the court premises today while the police looked the other way. The bar association in its general house meeting strongly condemned the incident. The association has also decided that if the police failed to arrest the accused by tomorrow, its members would be forced to take to protests. “I will go on an indefinite fast till the accused are arrested,” said Saini. He appealed to the legal fraternity of the state to show solidarity with him. He claimed that the lawyers associated with the Bar association would observe no work day on December 18. “I have received calls from my counterparts from various districts in Punjab who had extended their support,” he said. “The association will intensify agitation if the police authorities don’t arrest the accused.” Several advocates ransacked the office of ABA president on Saturday evening and later fired at his residence located in the Putlighar area. Kultar Singh was allegedly annoyed as Saini had refused to accommodate him in the newly built chambers complex. ACP (West) Sampuran Singh said the investigations were being carried out in the case and appropriate action would be taken against the erring persons after the completion of the report. Meanwhile, the general house of the Amritsar Bar Association constituted a four-member committee to resolve the dispute over C-block chambers.
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Two of peddlers’ gang held with heroin worth
Rs 50 lakh
Amritsar, December 17
Resham Singh, investigating officer, said Sanjiv and Vicky were arrested from the Kot Khalsa area and they were going to the Guru Ki Wadali area to sell the heroin. The two were notorious drug peddlers and a number of cases of clashes had been registered against them at the C-Division police station. “A case under Sections 22, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act and Sections 379 and 411 of the IPC has been registered against them. The police team recovered 90 gm heroin from the possession of Sanjiv and 10 gm from Vicky,” he said. Preliminary investigations revealed that Sanjiv and Vicky used to bring heroin from Bunty of the Gujjarpura area, who was also member of the Sonu Kangla gang. Resham Singh said raids were being conducted on the Gujjarpura area, besides other suspected hideouts of Bunty, who was absconding. "We also recovered a motorcycle without number, which is suspected to be a stolen one and we are verifying the ownership of the vehicle," he said. Sonu Kangla, alias Bhupinder Singh, son of sitting councillor Dalbir Kaurl was arrested by the police in October, while his accomplices went underground following his arrest. He was wanted in nine different cases of drug peddling, attempt to murder and clashes in the city.
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Police opens new post to curb snatchings
Amritsar, December 17 The police post was set up at a building vacated by the Maqboolpura police station which was recently shifted to the Focal Point on the Mehta road. The police authorities said after Maqboolpura police station was shifted, the area came under the jurisdiction of the B-division police station which was located far away from the area. Recently, there has been an upsurge in snatching instances and various anti-social activities in areas, including Partap Nagar, New Partap Nagar, Chamrang Road, 100-feet road, Transport area etc. When these incidents happened, the police parties usually reached late at the sites. The residents had urged the police officials to permanently set up a police post in the area. With this post, the total number of police posts under the city police has gone up to 27. “The decision was taken following the reports of anti-social activities in the area. As we had a building, we decided to set up a new police post which would look after all the areas coming between Taran Wala Pul and bus stand,” said Police Commissioner Ram Singh.
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Textile industry bears the brunt of global slowdown
Amritsar, December 17
There is about 40 per cent dip in textile export from the city. SCI president PL Seth said the city reported exports worth Rs 450 crore last year, which came down to Rs 300 crore this year. He said due to the slowdown, overseas customers cut their expenditure on garments. “And its fallout is visible at the local industry,” he added. Seth said global slowdown coupled with higher rate of interest on term loans have hit the textile industry, especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), hard. He claimed that at present, industrialists get a term loan (advance given for setting up of industry) and loan on working capital at an interest of 13 to 14 per cent per annum. He said the government should reduce the rate of interest to 7 per cent on loans to MSMEs in textiles. He said after agriculture, textile industry happens to be the major provider of self-employment. “In the fast changing domestic and global scene, the industry needs modernisation in production setups”. He said in the recent past, the government had offered financial assistance and packages to handloom and spinning sectors, but the textile sector was not offered anything. Seth recalled that the Ministry of Textile waived off debt of handloom sector to the tune of Rs 3884 crore. “A grant of Rs 6,365 crore to the handloom sector has been kept during this five-year plan 2012-2017,” he added. “The Central government's decision to restructure loans worth Rs 35,000 crore of the spinning sector has not helped Amritsar in any way. The district stands to be a loser as it has a few spinning mills in MSME sector,” he said. Another industrialist Kamal Dalmia said once there used to be a number of big units operating from Chheharta to Khasa. Over the years, a majority of these units have vanished. There are three kinds of powerlooms used by industries in the holy city. These are powerloom plain, automatic and shuttle less. These machines are being used to manufacture shawls, stoles, blanket, denim and suiting shirting. It is claimed that there are over 5,000 weavers, who are involved in the manufacture of shawls in 800 units. These workers are being paid on a basis of metres of cloth manufactured. As the demand goes down, the wages of workers also take a hit. Currently, majority of these units are situated on Batala Road, Chheharta township, Bakkar Mandi, Islamabad, Sultanwind, Dhapai Road, Khuh Bhalla etc. He said the government must extend financial assistance to the textile industry falling in category of MSMEs.
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NGO to fund five Red Cross centres
Amritsar, December 17 Sahney, owner of Sun Group, a company dealing in fertilisers, said initially five centres at Patiala, Qadian (in Gurdaspur district), Bathinda, Faridkot and Amritsar would be funded by the Sun Foundation. Of these five centres, two are de-addiction centres. He said the group has been running 20 non-profit centres of similar nature in Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
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from schools
Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Majitha road, won the Inter-School Sahodaya Volleyball Tournament today. Khalsa College Public School, which hosted the event, lifted the runners-up trophy. More than 16 schools affiliated with the CBSE participated in the tournament. —
TNS Abacus contest
Students of Spring Dale Senior School brought laurels by bagging different positions in the 8th All-Punjab State Abacus Competition. A school release said around 700 students from all over the state participated in this competition. Samiya Beri, Sonali and Himansh Arora of the school achieved first positions in their categories. Japekam S Dang, Harchit Singh and Shreya Sharma of the school grabbed second positions. —
TNS
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10-day theatre fiesta comes to end
Amritsar, December 17 “We had already hosted some of the best theatre groups with our national and international theatre festivals. And this time too, the audience support and encouragement has made us plan these events frequently,” shared Kewal Dhaliwal, organiser and a prominent theatre personality from the city. The theatre festival hosted 10 theatre groups from across the length and breadth of the country, right from Jammu and Kashmir to Kerala, Jodhpur to Kolkata. With critically acclaimed plays like Draupadi, Math Ke Raste Me Ek Din, Yamlila and Karmawali being staged, the festival was high on theatre ethics and quality performances. Some of the theatre groups and directors seemed quite impressed by Amritsar’s support towards theatre. “It was an amazing experience being a part of the National Theatre Festival here in the holy city. I am thankful to the audience for their support and full attendance during all 10 days. The festival was an excellent mix of classic, folk and contemporary theatre and brought together some of the most popular and acclaimed theatre artistes from the country,” shared Suresh Bharadwaj, a noted theatre person and director of the play ‘Math Ke Raste Me Ek Din’. Suresh was impressed by the venue chosen. “Punjab Natshala is an amazing cultural and theatre space created with the right amount of ambience and technical support. It’s probably one-of-its-kind in the country,” he said. Likewise, Bahrul Islam and Sharad Sharma, who brought their plays ‘Akaash’ and ‘Arey Sharif Log’ at the festival, too felt that Amritsar has picked up pace with the other noted theatre hubs in the country. “It’s not just about quality theatre, but also its implementation and understanding. The city has a good theatre audience and its encouragement enough for any theatre artistes to come and perform again,” said Sharad Sharma. As for the future plans, Kewal Dhaliwal is hopeful that bigger and better theatre events become calendar activity in the holy city. “Artists in the city have shared the responsibility along with the artists nationwide to promote the cause of theatre in the city. If only the government would take note and chip in with some assistance, we can have more such activities on a much better scale.”
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Modern weaponry, bravery skills make students fall in love with Army
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, December 17 Sanjeev Madhok, General Officer Commanding, Vajra Corps, who was the chief guest on the occasion, distributed scooters among 29 differently abled ex-servicemen and cheques among 60 widows of martyrs. Most excited of the lot, schoolchildren enjoyed every moment spent at the mela. They learnt functioning of the weapons and artilleries including tanks, guns and radars at the mela. Students also cherished motivational films on Indian Army showed on the occasion. “I have never seen such a display in my life. It is very interesting to see the Army jawan armed with heavy weapons. The army authorities should organise such fairs on a regular basis,” said a student.
A cultural show, malkhamb, kalaripayattu, a form of Kerala martial arts, and a live combat power display left visitors spellbound. Events like para-motor sailing and a dog show also attracted a huge crowd. ‘Awareness and entrepreneurship’ kiosks set up by the Army authorities provided an opportunity to the Army veterans to know about the new welfare schemes launched by the government. The authorities also established an anti-drug counter to educate the youth of Punjab on the ill-effects of drugs.
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The Sun Foundation, an NGO run by Padma Shri awardee Vikramjit Singh
Sahney, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Punjab Red Cross society to operate its centres in the state.
The 10-day theatre fiesta came to an end only to leave the audience asking for more and with performing theatre groups happily obliging. The annual National Theatre Festival organised by Manch Rangmanch at Punjab Natshala drew curtains with
Draupadi, a play directed by Chandradasan. And going by the success of the 10-day event, the organisers are content that Amritsar has finally arrived on the theatre map of the country.
Amritsar, December 17
Amritsar, December 17
Those arrested
have been identified as Sanjiv Kumar, resident of Himmatpura, and Vicky
of Baba Sangat Singh Nagar, Mehta road. The police also seized a stolen
motorcycle from them.
Taking up the cause of over 850 textile units, registered with the Punjab Industries Department, employing thousands of workers, the Shawl Club of India (SCI) has written to the Ministries of Finance and Textile to take stock of the plight of the industry. 
