Kar sewa at Pak gurdwara: SGPC to take charge
Amritsar, February 5
The SGPC will take over the kar sewa at Dehra Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan from former DSGMC president Paramjit Singh Sarna, said SGPC president Avtar Singh today.

Amritsar, February 5
Just 20 days after the Guru Nanak Dev University was rocked by violence during a shooting championship, another row sparked off at GNDU during the ongoing Inter-University Archery Championship.

Maharishi Dayanand University (MDU) has accused GNDU of disallowing its team from participation without any valid reason.

Dr Rajinder Garg of MDU, who accompanied the team, alleged that GNDU with its eyes on the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) trophy disallowed the MDU team as they were tough opponent in the competition.

He said the university had disallowed the team claiming that they had not sent the entry on time. Garg claimed that they had sent the entries well in advance.

He said previously their team was debarred from participation during the shooting championship.

HS Randhawa, deputy director, sports, GNDU, said nine universities had been debarred from participation as they had not sent entries on time. He said the championship is organised under the aegis of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and they had informed it about the list of universities that sent the entries late. He said the universities were informed about the decision.

He said they had personally informed the representatives of each university about the decision.

Randhawa said only the AIU can allow participation of such universities which sent late entries. "GNDU can't do anything on the matter."

On January 15, the shooting range at Guru Nanak Dev University became a battleground when some of the aspirants from universities including Mumbai University, Rohtak University, Amity University and Jamia Milia Islamia University created ruckus after being denied permission to participate in the All-India Inter-University Shooting (Men & Women) Championship.

The agitating players were allegedly roughed up at the event. In revenge, the students reportedly threw empty bottles and damaged the shooting range. A coach of Mumbai University and several players were reportedly injured in the process.

Even at that time, the GNDU authorities had justified their stand by saying that the players of these universities did not confirm their participation in a stipulated time and as per university norms, they were not entitled to participate in the event.

On the other hand, the players from these four universities maintained that they were discriminated against and were denied entry into the event for no valid reasons. 

Amritsar, February 5
At a time when the illegal sale of medicines is thriving in the district, the health department seemed to be ill-equipped to tackle the menace.

The department is grappling with lack of infrastructure and staff shortage.

Though there are five drug inspectors with the department, there is no vehicle, no computer and no place left to store seized drugs. Against the requirement of 25 employees, there are only four employees (two clerks and two Class IV workers) currently available.

The illegal sale of medicines has reached an alarming point, especially in the rural areas.

As per the rules of the department, each drug inspector should have one clerk, one data entry operator, one daftari, one Class IV employee and one sewadar besides a vehicle with a driver.

The godown at local Civil Hospital used for safekeeping seized drugs is full to the brim and has no place left to contain any more drugs. None of the five drug inspectors have a computer.

The sources said the condition was much similar in other parts of the state.

The department had earlier assured the drug inspectors of armed security men during inspections at chemist shops.

"No chemist would welcome us when he is selling banned drugs. If an ASI can be murdered in a broad daylight, how do we secure the safety of a female drug inspector in remote areas?" fumed an employee.

The rampant misuse of medicines in the city by drug addicts was recently brought to light by Chief Parliamentary Secretary Health Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu when she discovered a huge cache of such medicines from various places.

Talking about the measures to curb the sale of banned drugs, Dr Navjot said, "We will have to provide enough staff and support to the drug inspectors so that they can raid shops fearlessly."

She said she would take up the matter with the government.

• Though there are five drug inspectors with the department, there is no vehicle, no computer and no place left to store seized drugs. Against the requirement of 25 employees, there are only four employees (two clerks and two Class IV workers) currently available.

• The illegal sale of medicines has reached an alarming point, especially in the rural areas
• Chief Parliamentary Secretary Health Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu said she would take up the matter with the government

Amritsar, February 5
Withdrawal of international flights has increased the losses of Guru Ram Dass Ji International Airport, which is managed by the Airport Authority of India, said MP Navjot Singh Sidhu after a yearly review meeting here today.

The airport losses have mounted from Rs 37 crore to Rs 55.86 crore, he said.

Sidhu said at least three new international flights are required to rescue the airport financially. He accused the UPA-led Central Government of applying a 'deliberate mechanism' to harm the interests of the border state.

"The figures show that 1.14 lakh people from Punjab go to Delhi for boarding various flights to international destinations. If flights to these destinations are initiated from local international airport, people would be saved from the harassment and the airport would earn revenue in return,” he said.

He said the way the losses are increasing, that day is not far away when the airport would become redundant.

Sidhu said the Centre’s step-motherly treatment was evident from the way the Amritsar-Birmingham-Toronto flight was shifted to Delhi and subsequently withdrawn. "It was the most profitable flight. A flight to Australia from here could also help," he said.

Sidhu said that he would raise the matter in Parliament in the next session. 

Amritsar, February 5
The SGPC will take over the kar sewa at Dehra Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan from former DSGMC president Paramjit Singh Sarna, said SGPC president Avtar Singh today.

He said the Pakistan Auqaf Board had tendered the responsibility of kar sewa of the historic Sikh shrine to Sarna.

The move is seen as an outcome of the DSGMC election, in which the faction led by Sarna group was defeated, and the Pakistan Auqaf Board was now moving close to the SGPC. The Pakistan-based board looks after the religious places of all the minorities in that country. Earlier, the board used to give more weightage to the DSGMC.

Avtar Singh said he would soon travel to Pakistan to meet and held parleys with the functionaries of the Aukaf Board and the Pakistan government over the matter.

He added that Sarna had got the responsibility of the kar sewa for being the head of the DSGMC. He said since the DSGMC was now being controlled by the SAD (Badal), it would look after the kar sewa under the supervision of the SGPC.

The SGPC chief said before the Partition, all those gurdwaras (in Pakistan) used to be managed by the SGPC. The situation remained the same even many decades after Pakistan came to existence. However, the Pakistan government had constituted Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee under its Auqaf board in 1999. Consequently, the SGPC lost the right to manage these historic shrines in Pakistan. The then members of the SGPC had stopped sending Sikh jathas to Pakistan to lodge their protest. 

For over 2.5 lakh residents of the walled city, commuters from other parts of the city and average daily tourists (approximately 50,000), commuting is a pain and inevitable on the external circular road around the walled city from Hall Gate to Sikandari Gate.

The historic wall was erected over a period of time by the Sikh Misls and legendary Maharaja Ranjit Singh to protect the city from invaders.

Anybody traveling to the walled city has to commute through this road.

Despite several traffic police personnel manning the roundabouts and traffic light points, the road at many parts remains choked with traffic chaos throughout the day. Tourists, VIPs and their cavalcades visiting the Golden Temple have to pass through this stretch.

Traffic movement increases manifold as traditional wholesale markets of various merchandises like textile, shawls, food grains, spices and dry fruits, are situated in the walled city. Many educational institutes and government offices are situated on or near the road. Hence, heavy flow of automobiles is natural.

A commuter takes approximately 47 minutes to cover a distance of 7.3 km during peak hours. During normal traffic hours, it takes 22 minutes to cover the stretch.

Who is to blame?

The number of auto-rickshaws has gone up manifold.

There has been little traffic management and planning. The elevated road still remains underutilised. Residents and shopkeepers said the government must have diverted buses to the elevated road to ease the crisis. 

Amritsar, February 5
As many as 32 students of Global Institutes have been recruited by MNC Rootsan Technologies at Pune.

Global Institutes chairman Dr BS Chandi said the selected students had undergone 3-phase selection process.

Amritsar, February 5
Due to rains, the Director, Recruiting Office of the Army, has now rescheduled its recruitment rally, which will take place from February 8 to 15. Earlier, the recruitment rally was to be held from February 6 to 13 at Tibri. The recruitment rally will be held for general soldiers' category. NA Seethi, Director Recruiting Colonel, said the water has spoiled the ground where candidates were to take running test.

He said earlier the candidates from Tarn Taran tehsil were to appear on February 6 and the candidates from Khadoor Sahib and Patti tehsils were to take test on February 7.

As per the new schedule aspirants from Tarn Taran will now appear on February 14 and those from Khadoor Sahib and Patti will appear on February 15. The remaining schedule will be the same. The rally is being organised for the youngsters of Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts.