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Electric wire fence in Central jail on cards
Kerosene, meant for the poor, sold in open market
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Police clueless on two absconding undertrials
Heroin, smack users form 34 pc of drug addicts at GNDH centre
Providing ‘Himmat’ to eve-teasing victims
CBSE schools to introduce vocational courses
From schools
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Electric wire fence in Central jail on cards
Jail Superintendent Amrik Singh said a proposal in this regard has been sent to the state government which is likely to be sanctioned within next week. He said a letter regarding providing a separate line for this purpose has also been sent to the Chief Engineer,
Powercom. “Once electric barbed fence is installed on the walls of the jail, no inmate will dare to climb the wall,” said Amrik Singh. This is perhaps the first incident in which jail inmates have scaled up the high wall and escaped taking the advantage of dense fog. Though the police has arrested one of the escapees, identified as Suraj, two others were still at large. In another major step to curb sneaking of narcotics and mobile phones into the jail, the authorities have installed a scanner to scan the material brought by the relatives and family members of the prisoners lodged in the jail. The jail staff on many occasions had seized mobile phones besides narcotics from inmates or their visitors. Amrik Singh said the scanner would definitely help the jail staff to curb smuggling of narcotics and phones inside the jail. “The scanner has been attached with the office of the ADGP (Jail) and Minister of Jails. It shows different colours for different materials thus helping in identifying the objectionable materials. Two metal detectors have also been installed inside the premises,” he said. The family members or visitors of jail inmates adopt different ways to push in narcotics. Recently, the jail staff unearthed a modus operandi in which the family members had hidden the drugs inside a carrot which they brought for their relatives. He said immediate action would be taken against those who would try to sneak in the intoxicants and mobile phone inside the high-security jail complex. jailbreak incident
Scanner installed
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Kerosene, meant for the poor, sold in open market
Reason: Non-availability of kerosene in the open market coupled with its high utility and demand in various industries is driving up its demand. Hence, manufacturers and industrialists dealing in paints, nuts and bolts, boilers and several others sectors procure kerosene from the licensed PDS depots. Sources both in government and private sectors said several depot holders and government officials are behind the thriving of this illegal business. They said several persons, who are eligible to get kerosene, are paid a small profit by dubious depot holders, who sell the oil to industrialists at double the prize. Kamlesh, a resident of Gate Hakima area who works as a domestic help, says the depot in her is often found closed. “And if it is open, the depot holder tells people that kerosene is not available,” she added. Pappu, a rickshaw puller and a resident of the Islamabad area, said sometimes they get kerosene after a long gap. “The depot holder says it’s not his fault as there is paucity in the supply of kerosene at the depot,” he added. A proprietor of a paint manufacturing unit on the GT Road, on the condition of anonymity, said kerosene was a vital ingredient in making paint. The units operating from the Focal Point, East Mohan Nagar and some other areas of the city get kerosene from depot holders at a cost of Rs 42 to Rs 45 per litre. He said substitutes to kerosene are thinner and mineral turpentine oil (MTO). He said both these products are available at a cost of Rs 50 to Rs 75 per litre and are procured from markets as far as Delhi. Importantly, the PSUs have a mechanism to sale kerosene to industries and institutional customers depending upon end-user verification. But as PSUs have not advertised the same, industrialists are probably not aware of this facility. Sources in the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) said under this category, kerosene is not sold to retailers and there is no upper limit for selling it in bulk. At present, rate of kerosene for commercial buyers is nearly Rs 55 per litre. However, interested buyers from the industries can buy it from its authorised depot only. In this region, the depot is situated at Jalandhar. Dr Rakesh Kumar Singla, District Food and Supplies Controller, said his department keeps a zero tolerance towards any irregular activity regarding the sale of items meant for the economic weaker families. He said his office had not received any complaint regarding the sale of kerosene meant for weaker sections in the open market. He, however, added that some months back complaints were received against three depot holders, whose licences were suspended. being Used in industries
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Car catches fire during jam, occupants escape unhurt
Amritsar, January 19 Eyewitnesses said the car caught fire when there a traffic jam at the bridge which was undergoing repair. Surinder Pal Singh, traffic martial, said the car got heated up during the jam which led to a short circuit. Amrik and his son timely came out of car, when the fire started. A fire brigade team reached the spot and doused the flames.
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Police clueless on two absconding undertrials
Amritsar, January 19 The police authorities said the accused were wanted in as many as six criminal cases, including highway robberies, kidnapping, rape and murder, registered in Amritsar and its adjoining districts including Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur. Lakha Singh and Jassa Singh along with Buta Singh were arrested by the Amritsar rural police in June 2012 in connection with a rape and murder case registered with the Tarsikka police. In this case, a student of hotel management was kidnapped and gang-raped by the accused. The accused had allegedly hacked her maternal uncle to death and injured his friend. It may be recalled that Lakha, Jassa and Buta Singh were returning from Hoshiarpur where they had gone in connection with a hearing of a robbery case before Judicial Magistrate First Class. The police arrested four out of five police personnel and placed them under suspension. While the fifth policeman was still at large. SSP Preet Paul Singh Virk said investigations revealed that the five policemen who were entrusted with the duty to produce them in the court had been drunk while returning. Taking advantage, the accused asked the policemen to stop the vehicle on pretext of buying cigarettes. They fled as soon as the vehicle stopped. Buta Singh was caught from the spot. The SSP said the police teams today raided their suspected hideouts at Muktsar and other areas. He said the culprits would be arrested soon.
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Police learns how to lend helping hand
Amritsar, January 19 Over 100 policemen these days are attending classes at the Red Cross bhawan where they attend lectures on first aid and other life saving techniques. Red Cross Joint Secretary and District Training Officer Randhir Singh Thakur said, “The police personnel are the first to reach an accident site. If they are able to handle the situation in a scientific manner, many a precious lives can be saved.” The personnel are being taught to handle a victim besides providing him medical care. Thakur said the general public fears while approaching the police. “There is something wrong with the image of police force. They have practical problems of their own, but we are motivating the personnel to behave more rationally,” said Thakur. He said they are being taught about what to do when an eve-teasing victim approaches them. He said the police could also help in solve the problem of beggars. “Usually at present they intimidate beggars, who go to other place. It is not a solution,” said Thakur adding that they have taught the police personnel to bring any beggar they find to Raen Basera, the shelter home. He said after training police personnel in the urban areas, a similar training would be conducted for personnel posted in the rural areas. He said the police personnel posted at various check posts and on PCR duty were first targeted.
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Garbage stench dogs ESI Hospital
Amritsar, January 19 A visit to the ESI Hospital shows that a pile of garbage around 10 feet high is practically lying on the hospital premises. Even the residents of the staff quarters of the ESI hospital have to bear the brunt as the building is beside the wall. Residents say that the workers and the ditch machines clearing the nullah had started throwing the garbage on the premises around more than six months ago. They said that the bad smell emanating from the garbage was unbearable at times. Even as the ESI hospital is an institute meant for safeguarding the health of the people, the unhygienic environment created around it due to the garbage is uncalled for. The ESI has more than 32,000 registered employees of various employers’ groups associated with it. The patients complained that it reflected badly on the institution. “It could have been better if instead of allowing the garbage to rest here, it was removed to a place meant for it,” said Nirbeh Singh, a visitor. He said he had seen it lying here for many months now. Even the hospital staff and residents of the nearby quarters are not too easy about it. “It is not good when we clean our homes and throw the garbage on the street. Likewise, it is good that nullah was cleaned, but garbage should have been disposed of elsewhere,” said Vishal, an employee. Meanwhile, the Medical Superintendent, Dr Jagjeet Singh said they had written to the authorities concerned to shift the garbage to its just place. Stinking problem
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Heroin, smack users form 34 pc of drug addicts at GNDH centre
Since the inception of the centre in February 2011, it has treated around 334 addicts of heroin alone. The centre, during these two years, also treated 128 persons addicted to smack; 143 to brown sugar; and 69 to opium and poppy husk. The centre also cured 158 persons addicted to alcohol and 80 to smoking. The authorities felt that de-addicting heroin and smack users was a really challenging job. Dr PD Garg, centre head, said though these narcotics were very costly and one had to spend something between Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500 to satiate his desire on a single day, there is no dearth of its users. He said mostly people aging 15 to 45 years use the drugs. Most of the drugs addicts coming to the centre are from the rural areas adjoining the border. The centre during the past two years cured as many as 1,368 people. In the past one year, all government run de-addiction centres in the district have de-addicted 3,667 addicts. Dr Garg said instead of falling prey to private and self-styled de-addiction centres where addicts are mostly subjected to inhumane treatments, the government-run centres adopt a scientific and pragmatic approach. Providing Treatment
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Providing ‘Himmat’ to eve-teasing victims
Amritsar, January 19 Addressing
mediapersons, Dr Sidhu said the group was conceptualised a month back. She claimed the group in its short span has helped 40 victims. The group has youngsters, most of whom are advocates. It has set up a helpline (9888754522) where victims can call for instant help. Dr Sidhu said the group has visited several schools, colleges and tuition centres to spread awareness among girls. She said it had been noticed that girls often do not report eve-teasing incidents to the police. “We are motivating them to report the incident to the police and also bring it to the notice of the group which will ensure that action is taken,” she said.
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CBSE schools to introduce vocational courses
Amritsar, January 19 The CBSE has released a list of vocational courses and asked the educational institutes to choose one or more than one course from the list. It is offered 40 courses for senior secondary level and four for secondary level classes. Majority of these courses would be carried out with the help of industries. Dr Dharamvir Singh, Director, Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary Public School and also president of Sahodya Schools, an organisation representing 60 CBSE schools in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur, said the CBSE-affiliated city schools in a meeting today decided in principle to introduce vocational courses from the next academic session. He said on the directions of the CBSE, many schools have decided to join hands in setting up laboratories for those vocational courses which required high investment. DAV International School Principal Anjana Gupta said her school had introduced two vocational courses in retail and IT for Class IX from this academic session. The school would launch other courses from the next academic session.
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Anti-polio awareness rally flagged off
Amritsar, January 19 He said the rally would make people aware about the need of getting their children immunised. The children who are earlier administered drops and who otherwise are sick are also required to be given the drops, he said. Industry Ministry Anil Joshi would inaugurate the polio immunisation drive by administering drops to children at Ranjit Avenue hospital while CPS Dr Navjot Sidhu would kick start the campaign at Verka Community Health Centre.
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DAV students take out ‘Jal Chetna’ rally
Amritsar, January 19 The rally taken out was a first step towards the ‘Project Boond’, an initiative to harvest water. At BBK DAV College for Women, students took an oath to conserve water and use it judiciously in daily use. Bakshi Ram Arora Mayor flagged off the rally. Dr Neelam Kamra, Principal, BBK DAV College for Women, said, “Depletion of water resources is one of the biggest problems in the present time which need mass attention”. She said college students took out a rally covering areas of Majitha road, Ghala Mala Chowk, Gopal Mandir Lawrence Road, Shastri Nagar, Race Course Road, Dayanand Nagar, Garden Colony, Joshi Colony, Company Bagh and Crystal Chowk. DAV College Principal Dr KN Kaul and BJP leader Tarun Chugh flagged off another rally from the college.
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From schools
Amritsar, January 19 Science fest
Nearly 3,000 students from 70 schools of the state took part in the second state-level science fest ‘Srishti-2013’. The event was hosted by Global Institutes. The science quiz was devoted to Earth. Students showcased creative skills in model presentations, recycling and collage making. The festival concluded with cultural performances including bhangra, gidda, western band and
gatka.
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Amritsar, January 19
Amritsar, January 19
Amritsar, January 19