Amritsar, February 28
The general public seems widely disappointed with the Union Budget as it has failed to fulfil their aspirations. Though the Budget has marginally provided a tax relief in Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh bracket, the city residents were expecting that slab would be raised to at least Rs 3 lakh.

Charanjit Singh, a businessman, said, "The people were expecting that they would be offered a tax relief. The inflation is rising and people deserved a relief." He said the Budget had nothing to offer to a majority of the population.

Residents said as they did not understand economic policies deeply they were concerned for themselves. However, Dr Prahlad Duggal, Chairman of the Voice of Tobacco Victims association hailed the government's decision to increase tax on cigarettes saying that it would lessen it consumption.

"We feel that even the state government should in its Budget increase taxes on gutka and other tobacco products as they are harmful," said Duggal.

The city's dining-out class is however upset as food at restaurants would become costlier. "There was no need for it. I think the government is bent upon taking all little luxuries common people have out of their lives," said Avneet Singh, a private company employee.

Residents complained that necessities of life as TV sets, refrigerators, air-conditioners and air travel would become costlier. "The only respite middle class has got is that it would get cheaper home loans," said Vandana, a home maker. She said even all women banks and Nirbhaya scheme are good initiatives for women empowerment. "But we will have to see how these are implemented," she said.

Residents said the government had done a good job by taxing people more who earn more than Rs 1 crore. "But at the same time the government should make sure that corruption is wiped out as until then raising more taxes would not help," said Amanpreet Singh, a shopkeeper.

Amritsar, February 28
The Union Finance Minister's move to levy service tax on all the AC restaurants has come as a jolt to the hospitality industry of the city which witnesses inflow of lakhs of tourists from different parts of the globe every year.

Talking to The Tribune, Amritsar Hotel and Restaurant Association (Civil Lines) president APS Chatha said the hotel industry was already reeling under luxury tax which was doubled by the state government from four to eight per cent last year.

Besides, the hotels are also paying 7.42 per cent service tax. "Now, this fresh move will hit all the air-conditioned restaurants unlike the past when the service tax was levied only on the restaurants serving liquor. It will certainly leave an adverse impact on the hospitality industry, as having lunch or dinner at the AC restaurants was already out of reach for a large section of people." He said the tourists visiting the city were already feeling cheated with the eight per cent luxury tax and now more taxes on dining out would further hit the industry in the holy city which was known for its sumptuous food and delicacies. He said the local taxes like property tax and conservancy tax were adding to the woes of the hotel industry. He said the hospitality industry was going through a bad phase which is evident from the fact that many hotels were offering 50 per cent discount in room tariff.

Hotel Restaurant Welfare Association president Surinder Singh said the government is putting unnecessary burden on the tourists visiting the city, who throng local restaurants to taste traditional food of Punjab. He said the move would turn out to be the last nail in the coffin of the hotel industry which was on the brink of closure. "People are ready to sell off their hotels and switch over to other businesses," he claimed, while terming the government policies as "anti-business". He apprehended that the hotel industry too would fall on bad days just like fan and blanket industries in the holy city. He said there were no taxes on hotels in the other holy places like Haridwar, Banaras and Katra. "Being the Mecca of Sikhs, doesn't Amritsar also have a right to be exempted of any such tax," he wondered.

Amritsar, February 28
Acting on a tip-off, the Kotwali police raided a factory in the Alibaksh Nagar, near Hide Market, situated close to the bus stand, here. The owner of factory used to sell adulterated kerosene as turpentine oil by mixing it with some chemicals.

The police has booked three persons, including the owner of the unit, identified as Ved Parkeash. The other two persons who have been booked are Rajiv Sharma and Raj Kumar, resident of Gurbax Nagar, Nawa Kot area.

The Police received a tip-off from its Intelligence Department that the accused used to sell adulterated kerosene as turpentine oil in Amritsar and its neighboring districts.

A joint police team, involving CID staff, was formed and a raid was conducted on the designated place. The owner of the factory managed to give the police team a slip, while the police team took the workers into its custody. It seized over 40 drums containing about 9,000 litres of adulterated kerosene, besides nearly 38 empty drums from the factory.

According to sources, on the information provided by factory workers, the police team recovered another haul of 45 drums from near the earlier spot.

The sources revealed that the accused used to first decolour kerosene and then mix it with some yellow substance to give it a look of turpentine oil, which is used for thinning paints and as a solvent to make furniture wax for polishing wooden furniture. It is also used in many different cleaning products due to its antiseptic properties. It may be mentioned here that the turpentine oil is little costlier than kerosene.

Sukhwinder Singh Randhawa, SHO, Kotwali police station, said the police had sealed the factory and a hunt has been launched to arrest the accused, who had been on the run. He said further investigations were under progress, while a case under Section 420 of the IPC and Section 7 of the Essential Commodity Act was registered.

Amritsar, February 28
The Health Department found illegal sauce and noodle factories operating in highly unhygienic conditions in the Alibaksh road area here today.

The Health Department team found that the brands of sauce and noodles prepared at both the factories were not registered and did not have any batch numbers as are mandatory as per the guidelines.

“More than anything else, they were selling the products with unregistered brand names. The conditions in which these products were stored and prepared are highly unfit for human consumption,” said District Health Officer Dr Shivkaran Singh Kahlon, adding that they found sauces stored in empty kerosene drums.

He said it was also investigated whether acids were used in the preparation of various sauces as tomato, chilly, soya and continental. “The expiry dates on the bottles of sauces were also manipulated by sticking stickers over them,” said Kahlon.

At the noodle factory, the team found cooking conditions pitiable. “The owners and workers of both the factories fled. The matter is in the notice of the local police and it is identifying the owners,” said Kahlon.

The department has sealed both the factories and initiated departmental action. Kahlon said, “These products if had reached the market, could have bad impact on the health of general public, which eats these in good faith of the manufacturers.” He said the department was efficient and committed to curb food adulteration and unhygienic preparation of food products.

The general public has widely hailed the Health Department officials for identifying such illegal factories, which are playing with the lives of masses. “We hope that the department will continue such efforts and the holy city, which is known for its cuisines and gastronomic habits, will ultimately start offering quality foods to public,” said Balwant Singh, a schoolteacher.

Amritsar, February 28
The Health Department employees in the district have not been paid salaries for three months, while there have been many who are working without salary for the last six months. Employees of the department today staged protests, with Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital staff shunning work and other associations holding a gate rally at the Civil Surgeon's office against the non-payment of salaries.

A section of employees at the Civil Hospital and Community Health Centre at Verka complained that they had not received their salaries for the last six months.

As wide resentment was seen among the employees, they ridiculed Civil Surgeon Dr Yash Mitra’s statement about no budget allocation made by the state government for salaries. They said that Civil Surgeon's office was at fault as it had not projected the budget estimates correctly.

Chairman of the Civil Hospital Employees Welfare Association Rakesh Kumar said, “It was the duty of the Civil Surgeon's office to timely ask for budget allocations from the state government for paying salaries to the employees.” He said the office was now shifting the onus on the state government when it was its own fault.

Different associations as pharmacists, laboratory technicians' association, health inspectors' association, multipurpose health employees' association, Class IV union and nurses' association also held a gate rally outside the Civil Surgeon's office.

Satnam Singh Kohri of the pharmacists' association said, “The Health Department employees in the entire district are facing a problem in getting salaries in time.” He said arrears of increased pay had also not been disbursed to many.

The associations warned that if they were not disbursed salaries with in next two days, they would boycott health services.

Meanwhile, the patients at various health institutions failed to get medical treatment due to the protests. The protest was also supported by the PCMS association.

Amritsar, February 28
The Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial (JBMM) Civil Hospital has been selected for the CNBC-TV 18 and ICICI Lombard India Healthcare Awards 2012. The award would be presented by Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on March 9 at a ceremony in Delhi.

Senior medical officer Dr Balbir Singh Dhillon said the Civil Hospital had been selected for its quality of medical services and for serving a maximum number of patients. He said the hospital provides medical services to around 900 patients at its Outpatient Departments daily. Besides, the hospital on a daily average has around 100 patients admitted at its wards.

Dr Dhillion said the hospital had a record of serving maximum number of patients in child-birth services. He said around 450 child-birth surgeries were conducted every month.

Deputy Medical Commissioner Dr Prabhdeep Kaur said, ‘While we are happy that a hospital from public sector has been selected for this award, it has also set a benchmark for us. Now with this recognition we would have to put in even more efforts to serve the public.”

Senior Medical Officer Dr Sushma Sondhi said the award goes to all the hospital employees starting from Class IV to the senior-most official, who have jointly made this possible. Various other officials of the hospital were also present on the occasion of announcement of this achievement. 

Amritsar, February 28
DAV College is all set to host a two-day 2nd International Conference on "Innovative Developments in ICT: Today and Tomorrow" on its campus from March 2.

The event is being organised by the PG Department of Computer Science and Information Technology with sponsorship from the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi.

Over 100 papers are expected to be presented by various IT professionals from across the country and other parts of the globe. As many as seven IT professionals from the US, Italy, Dubai and Pakistan have confirmed their participation, revealed Dr KN Kaul, principal of the college in a press statement issued here today.

While TR Gupta, vice-president, DAV College Management Committee, would inaugurate the conference, Dr S Vadivel, professor and Head, Department of Computer Science, BITS, Dubai would deliver the keynote address. Dr Mohan Pal Singh Ishar, Vice-Chancellor, University of Jammu would be the chief guest at the valedictory ceremony.

Dr Kaul said, "The main motive behind the international conference was to focus on innovations in technology as a part of global changing trends that can be applied with wider perspectives in various fields of applications. This multi-track conference aims to increase the area of knowledge about the main technological developments that have been taking place, their present status and degree of applications and also their projections for near-term applications and longer term innovations both in research and industry."

IT Department head Amardeep Gupta advocated implementation of new developments in the IT education in sync with global findings.

Amritsar, February 28
Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School Bhagtanwala, Amritsar, (Chief Khalsa Diwan Charitable Society) organised Ardas Divas and annual prize distribution function of pre-primary section on the school premises.

Head Granthi Sri Darbar Sahib Giani Sukhjinder Singh blessed the students. School Shabad team enchanted divine and soulful kirtan to pray for success in exams.

The school also organised a prize distribution function in which Angrej Singh (DTO) was the chief guest. Chief Khalsa Diwan Charitable Society vice-president Dr Santokh Singh presided over the function. S Surinderpal Singh Walia and S Jaswinder Singh (advocates) also graced the occasion.

Principal Amarjit Kaur threw light on the efforts taken by the school to improve the standards of education. A cultural programme was presented by tiny tots, including welcome songs, rhymes, action songs, patriotic song, solo item of Tabla and Gidha.

The vibrant Bhangra performed by the students made the audience tap their foot and sway to the tunes. The chief guest, in his motivational speech, appreciated the efforts of the teachers and students. The students of pre-primary section were awarded by the chief guest for their outstanding achievements in the academic fields for the 2011-12.

Member incharge Pritpal Singh Sethi, Rajinder Singh Kapoor, Director Dr Dharamveer Singh, principal Amarjit Kaur and Ajit Singh blessed students and inspired them to prepare for exams with hard work and pass with flying colours. 

Amritsar, February 28
A three-week refresher course in Environmental Studies was inaugurated by Prof AK Thukral, director research. The course was organised by Academic Staff College of the Guru Nanak Dev University in collaboration with the Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences.

Prof Thukral, in his inaugural address, briefed about various environmental hazards being faced by mankind. He traced the history of evolution of mankind and said man had been making inventions and discoveries since times immemorial. He also expressed deep concern over the rapid depletion of natural resources.

He said the solution lies in optimum utilisation of all types of natural resources. He said the teachers being an enlightened section of the society had to rise to the occasion and transmit the message of conservation of environment to the students in a big way.

Prof Avinash Nagpal, coordinator, Department of Botanical and Environmental Science and Course acquainted participants about the thrust area "Management of Natural Resources" of the course.

She said man had to live in harmony with the nature in order to preserve the environment for the future.

Prof TS Banipal, director, Academic Staff College talked about the benefits of participating in such refresher courses. He urged the teacher participants to equip themselves with the latest developments taking place in various disciplines in order to become better teachers.

Amritsar, February 28
Jashan 2013—an inter-departmental cultural competition- was inaugurated on the premises of Guru Nanak Dev University today.

More than 600 student artistes of the various departments of the university are participating in the four-day event which would be concluded on March 3.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Ajaib Singh Brar inaugurated the competitions by lighting the traditional lamp. Dr Rajinderjit Kaur Pawar, Dean, Academic Affairs, Dr Inderjit Singh, Registrar and Dr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, Professor Incharge (Examinations), Dr TS Banipal, director, Academic Staff College, Dr AS Sidhu, Professor Incharge Publication Bureau, Dr Jagjit Kaur, Director, Youth Welfare and Dr Gurpreet Kaur, Head of the Music Department were also present. Dr PK Shejpal, Dean, Students Welfare welcomed the chief guest.

Prof Brar, while blessing the student artistes, said any competition should be competed above the spirit of loss and victory.

He said that these activities develop a sense of cooperation, discipline and national integration. He also lauded the achievements of university in the field of academics, culture and sports.

Dr Shejpal said the students would participate in 30 cultural competitions of dance, music, fine art, literary and theatre during these four days.

The competitions started with Bhangra. Students of Music Department also presented items on the occasion.

Amritsar, February 28
More than 120 students, both boys and girls, today donated blood at Khalsa College Engineering and Technology (KCET)'s ‘Blood Donation Camp’, organised by College's NSS Wing in collaboration with the Blood Bank Society of Government-run-Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (GNDH).

Students showed unprecedented enthusiasm to donate blood.

Khalsa College Governing Council (KCGC) honourary secretary Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina, who was chief guest, asked them to donate blood in routine to ‘save lives’.

KCET director Dr RPS Shukerchakia, Principal Dr Amarpal Singh earlier welcomed the guests with banquettes and students with certificates for making supreme donation. GNDH Blood Bank Society head Dr Adarsh Sahni said that he was overwhelmed by the response from the students and asked one and all to donate blood regularly.

Others present during the camp included College’s NSS officer Prof Manmeet Singh, Prof Harcharan Singh.

Amritsar, February 28
The city woman today accused her estranged husband for allegedly raping her on pretext of taking her back in the house.

The victim has been living separately since 2010. The police has booked two persons, including her husband Sandeep Mahajan, a resident of Hukum Singh Road area.

She said she filed a suit against him in the court which directed her husband to pay Rs 12,000 per month for her as the maintenance charges. She alleged the accused started alluring her, while promising that he would take her back in the house.

On January 10, Sandeep came to her house and forcibly made physical relationship with her, she said, adding that the accused took away Rs 35,000 and a mobile phone from her on January 17.

Investigating officer Harbans Singh said a case under Sections 376-B, 420, 120-B and 382 of the IPC had been registered against the accused and his relative Rohit Sharma in this regard.