Amritsar, February 24
The Punjab School Education Board’s proposal to install CCTV cameras at sensitive examination centres, notorious for copying, at government schools in the border areas of the district is unlikely to be implemented in the forthcoming final examination of Class XII.

The announcement for the same was made by the PSEB officials last year.

Rasal Singh Malhi, District Education Officer (Secondary), said the board neither gave any instruction to install the cameras in schools nor allocate funds.

Initially, the PSEB had decided to install CCTV cameras in all examination centres, but later the decision was limited to the list of sensitive and border area schools.

The PSEB would hold Class XII board exams from March 1. There are 105 high schools and 90 senior secondary schools in Amritsar. Besides, there are 77 middle schools being run by Sarv Sikhya Abhiyan and one by Rashtriya Madhyamik Sikhya Abhiyan.

A considerable number of these schools fall in sensitive category as many of these are located in the remote border areas.

Malhi said there are 36 sensitive examination centres in the district. He said the number of these centres were the same like the previous year.

Notorious centres, where copying cases had repeatedly occurred, were identified acting on the report of the Unfair Means Branch of the PSEB.

He said the PSEB would set up 299 centres this year as compared to 288 last year. As many as 1,794 officials would be pressed into service.

He said three-layer surveillance would be in place at sensitive examination centres. The layers will comprise centre superintendents, observers and flying squads.

He said the board had been provided a list of senior lecturers who could be appointed as superintendents and deputy superintendents.

Besides, a control room at the district level would also be formed for the purpose. 

* The PSEB will set up 299 centres this year as compared to 288 last year. As many as 1,794 officials will be pressed into service. A three-layer surveillance will be in place at sensitive examination centres. The layers will comprise centre superintendents, observers and flying squads.

Amritsar, February 24
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed Saroop Rani Government College for Women to refund the admission fee (Rs 11,186) to a student whose admission was cancelled after three months of the initiation of the course.

As the student, Kiranpreet Kaur, lost her year due to the cancellation of her admission, the forum also directed the college to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation to her, besides Rs 2,000 as litigation expenses.

Earlier in a complaint to the forum, Kirandeep’s father Jagir Singh said her daughter’s admission to PGDCA was cancelled by the college which reasoned that her BSc IT (lateral entry) degree from PTU was not recognised by Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU).

Jagir Singh approached the forum claiming that it was the duty of the college to ascertain if she was eligible before granting her admission and the college was unjustified in expelling her after three months. He said she had paid Rs 11,186 as admission fee.

The college in the forum had reasoned that the conditions mentioned in the prospectus made it clear that the admission was provisional and subject to approval from the GNDU.

The forum, taking note of the letter written by GNDU to the principals of all affiliated colleges, which the complainant had procured under the RTI Act, said principals are bound to properly scrutinise the eligibility of the candidate before granting admission to any student in every course of GNDU.

The letter also required colleges to send papers of admission seekers in such cases to the university before granting admission. The forum said the college was deficient in providing service by not getting the requisite permission from GNDU in this case and later withdrawing admission of the student. 

Amritsar, February 24
The Ajnala police has booked Sukhdev Singh of Bhoewalli village for allegedly molesting a woman who lived near his house. The complainant in her statement alleged that the accused used to do vulgar activities and pass objectionable remarks whenever she was alone in her house.

The police has booked Sukhdev under Section 354 of the IPC. Sukhdev is absconding. 

Amritsar, February 24
If the problem of illegal weapons, sneaked into the city by criminals in large numbers, has given the police a haunting time, recent cases of stealing of legal (licensed) weapons from houses, including a policeman, have doubled up their worry.

In a recent case, two snatchers took away a self-loaded rifle from a policeman who was posted outside Hall Gate on February 12. Though the police released a sketch of one of the suspects and sounded red alert in the neighbouring police districts, it failed to make any headway in the case.

In another instance, four unidentified armed miscreants decamped with a .12 bore licensed rifle, 17 live cartridges and other items from the residence of Sarwan Singh of Roriwala Verka village on the intervening night of February 12 and 13.

A similar incident occurred in posh Diamond Avenue colony on the Majitha Road on February 1. The unidentified miscreants sneaked into the house belonging to NRI Onkar Singh, who lives in Canada. The miscreants stole one revolver of .32 bore and 25 cartridges besides other valuables.

Importantly, the Amritsar rural police had recently busted a gang of robbers which include a police commando besides an employee of a gun house. They used to steal weapons from the gun house with which they used to commit crimes. After committing the crime, they would put the weapons back in the gun house. These weapons were used in a contract killing. 

Amritsar, February 24
Close to the heels of the new budget, the indigenous manufacturing sectors of the city, like shawls, blankets and other trades and industries, have immense expectations from it.

To boost its growth, textile units in Amritsar will hope to get tax exemption in the budget. Photo: Sameer Sehgal

A shawl manufacturer, PL Seth said the woollen and knitwear industries had been demanding waiving off of excise duty and added that heavy imposition of taxes in the last couple of years had led to an increase in the prices of articles, which eventually contributed to the overall inflation.

He said the union budget had imposed a 10 per cent excise duty on the retail price of blankets in 2011. The same tax was increased to 12.36 in the 2012 budget.

The hike in taxes did not increase the income of the government and now it needed to review its decision so that the indigenous industry of the city could realise its true potential, he added.

He said a delegation of the shawl and knitwear manufacturers met Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on his visit to Ludhiana about two months back and he gave them a positive response. “Shawl manufacturing is a part of handicraft sector and imposition of high taxes is making it non-viable. The government was also earning negligible revenue”, he remarked.

Interest rate on Small Sector Industries (SSI) must be brought at par with agriculture, he sought. The government was extending this benefit to handloom sector alone. On the other hand, weaving and power loom units provided major employment, he said.

Amritsar Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHRA) president APS Chatha said the Union Government must exempt the hospitality industry of the border districts from paying the service tax. The government had imposed 7.42 per cent service tax on rooms, food, beverages and banqueting. He said hotels were already paying conservancy tax, commercial sewerage tax, commercial water tax, commercial power bill, sales tax, VAT and eight per cent luxury tax. The union government must extend some benefits to the industry which bloomed in the past one decade, he said.

Chatha added that the central government’s financial assistance to the Punjab Tourism was nominal whereas tourist assistance from the centre to other holy cities like Haridwar, Varansai was much more.

He said goods like air conditioners, linen, crockery, cutlery and other objects, which were freely used in the hospitality industry, must be made cheaper by waiving off the taxes. The finance ministry must direct banks to give liberal advances to the hospitality sector, he added.

A trader Kulwinder Singh said personal tax exemption limit should be raised to Rs 3 lakh while tax exemption under 80-c must be hiked from Rs one lakh to Rs three lakh. 

Amritsar, February 24
Already troubled by transformer thefts, the Powercom has now been hit by stealing of oil and copper wires from transformers located in villages. In the past couple of days, miscreants stole oil and copper wires from more than half a dozen low-capacity transformers fitted in the fields in the rural areas.

The Powercom authorities said miscreants make quick buck by selling copper to junk dealers.

The incidents pf stealing of transformer oil and copper wires had been reported from Riar, Bikrahoor, Raipur Kalan, Panj Gurayan in Ajnala belt, Udonangal and Managasarai villages falling under Jhander police station. Ajnala and Jhander police station have registered separate cases under Section 379 of the IPC in this connection.

According to PSPCL authorities, as many as 2000 transformers have been stolen from villages falling under border districts of Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur since April 2012.

Amritsar, February 24
A city-based horticulturist Major Manmohan Singh Verka (Retd) was given the Krishak Samrat Samman Regional Award for the North region, in the male category, by Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards.

Manmohan Singh Verka shows the award in Amritsar on Sunday. Photo: Vishal Kumar

Tanveer Anwar, Minister of State for Agricuture and Co-operation, conferred the award to Major Verka in the presence of Anand Mahindra, Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra and Mahindra, Ashish Bahuguna, Secretary, Agriculture and Co-operation, Ministry and Agriculture.

He was selected for the award for breaking the established stereotype and being instrumental in driving sustainable and scalable innovative farming technologies, thereby making a positive impact on the agricultural community and enabling them to rise, the citation said.

He also got Rs 51,000 in cash prize. Major Verka said he was thankful to the organisers for selecting him from seven states, including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, UP and Rajasthan.

A successful horticulturist, Verka said he would add Rs three lakh more to the prize money to hold MS Randhawa Memorial Fair on agriculture at Phirewariya village, about 25 km from here, on April 4.

Earlier, Verka had been conferred with the state award for being a progressive horticulturist. He has been growing kinnows, pears, peaches and others fruits on his farms.

His farm had also acted as a guide to the other farmers, as he organised various group meetings and discussions by arranging resource persons from Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana.

Amritsar, February 24
In the absence of sewerage system, a majority of houses in over 400 illegal colonies have been forced to set up septic tanks of their own to discharge waste. Residents of colonies have dug up 20 to 25 feet deep holes in front of their houses for the purpose.

Septic tanks established outside houses in an illegal locality in Amritsar. Photo: vishal kumar

They hire tractor trailers to take away the waste from these septic tanks. The waste is then emptied in an open nullah on the city outskirts.

A septic tank is a small-scale sewerage system common in areas which have no connection to main sewerage pipes.

Squadron Leader Tarsem Singh, a resident of Jhujjar Singh colony on Ajnala road, said, “I am staying in the ward for the past 17 years. Residents are compelled to set up septic tanks in the absence of sewerage system. Construction of underground septic tanks outside each house leads to narrowing of roads”.

Another resident TS Gill said about two decades back they procured these plots from people and gradually constructed houses. He claimed that the rules regarding construction of houses and planned areas were popularised later. He said the government on the humanitarian ground must provide basic amenities to dwellers.

Sunil Kumar, a resident of Chand Avenue on the Fatehgarh Churriyan road, said the condition sometimes goes out of control when waste overflow from the tank. He said people from these areas often complain of various diseases.

Unplanned construction of these septic tanks makes roads go uneven. Lids of these tanks are usually kept above the road level posing trouble for commuters.

Micro biologist Dr Pushpa Attri said proper disposal of human waste is important. If not done in a proper way, it can contaminate water supplies and soil which can further lead to bacterial and parasitic diseases, she added.

Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora said these colonies have come without following the due procedure laid down by the government departments. He said he would see how the problem could be redressed.