Amritsar, May 12
The Dalit girl from Usma village who was brutally assaulted by Punjab police personnel in full public view in Tarn Taran on March 3, today said her “freedom was curtailed” by the strict attitude of the CRPF security men.

She further claimed that out of two vehicles as ordered by the court to provide for her security, only one had been provided by the administration so far.

The assault victim sought intervention of the Vice-Chairman of National SC/ST Commission Raj Kumar Verka who telephonically told CRPF Commandant Sanjiv Kumar to streamline her security cover.

It has been learnt that the victim was not allowed to visit her relatives or attend other social obligations. Besides, she said all the security personnel could not accompany her along as she was provided with just one vehicle whereas the other vehicle has yet not be sanctioned by the administration.

Talking to The Tribune, the victim said though she needed security cover in view of the threatening calls she had been receiving till date, it needed to be reorganised.

“I am allowed to visit just three places - gurdwara, court and hospital. The security personnel are reluctant to allow me to go to other places. I am not allowed to go to my relatives’ places or participate in any family gathering. Another difficulty is that all the security personnel cannot go along in the absence of adequate conveyance,” she said.

Expressing solidarity with her, Verka approached the Social Welfare Department to extend some financial help to the victim keeping in view the family’s poor economic conditions.

“I have told CRPF Commandant Sanjiv Kumar to direct the security personnel for being soft with the girl and allow her to go for social gatherings with security cover. I have also told the Tarn Taran Deputy Commissioner to provide the second vehicle to her as soon as possible so that she does not face any hassle while moving with security personnel wherever she wants to,” Verka said.

Amritsar, May 12
The police has booked five persons for setting a woman on fire. Reports said the woman was saved after timely intervention of her husband.

The accused are still at large, the police said. The victim has been identified as Sonia Dhawan, a resident of Green Avenue in Amritsar.

The incident occurred on May 9 when a scuffle took place between members of two families over some property dispute. In her complaint lodged with police, the victim said Sunita Dhawan, a relative of hers, poured kerosene oil on her and tried to set her afire. She said her husband and children came to her rescue and sprinkled water on her. A case under Section 307/34 of the IPC has been registered with the Civil Lines police station against Sunita Dhawan, Ravi Dhawan, Raj Rani, Ram Saroop Dhawan and Ashwani Dhawan. — TNS

Amritsar, May 12
Independent documentary film maker Sanjay Kak was in Amritsar for the screening of his latest creation "Red Ant Dream or Maati Ke Laal" at DAV College.

He had full attendance of academicians, thinkers and aspiring journalism students. The film is about those who live for the revolutionary ideals in India and covers a long distance from Bhagat Singh to the Maoists.

“The tragedy of today is that the term revolution has become a commodity. Even a new brand of soft drink could be marketed as a revolutionary drink with intelligent advertising. Through the film, I have tried to tone down the notion of revolution and questioned the possibility of an actual revolution. Tribals in the jungles of Bastar in Chattisgarh trade in tobacco and bidis to the tune of over Rs 100 crore. The question is why cooperatives have not been formed to help them,” he says. The film has excerpts of conversation with Maoist leader Azad and recitation of Paash’s aggressive poetry in the background. The film does not suggest a resolution but only gives us an access to an area denied by the "system".

“The revolution does not mean getting armed. If women in a remote area of Barnala carry pictures of Bhagat Singh and Paash during a protest rally, it means their ideals are still alive,” he said. He says that he does not attempt to find a resolution but to raise some tough questions. And if, he says, some people get offended in the process it is their problem. “I am just a film maker who wants to make honest films,” he says. His recent film Jashn-e-Azadi, which was based on the Kashmir issue, was banned in some places.

But that did not deter him. As a progressive film maker, Sanjay has been fighting against censorship of realistic cinema.

“I believe that censorship is political. The five babus do not have any right to decide what people deserve to hear or see. At most, a certification is enough and audience should be treated with respect,” he says.

Amritsar, May 12
Three persons were arrested for possessing heroin, proscribed drugs and illicit liquor in separate instances.

They have been booked under the NDPS and Excise Act.

The A-division police arrested Rajiv Mehra, a resident of Loharka road, with 1,800 capsules of Parvon Spas. ASI Bhupinder Singh said case under Section 21/22/61/85 NDPS Act was registered against the accused with the A-Division police station and a Santro Car has been confiscated in this connection.

In the second incident, the Civil Lines police recovered 50 grams of heroin and cash worth Rs 7 lakh from Malkiat Singh, a resident of Raja Tal. His accomplice Surjit Singh, a resident of Sarai Amanat Khan, was arrested with a motorcycle bearing number PB-02- BL 8092. Both have been booked under the NDPS Act, said investigating officer Kuldip Singh of Narcotic Cell, Amritsar.

In yet another incident, the police recovered 48 bottles of Royal Stag, 24 bottles of Imperial Blue from a Mahindra Xylo bearing number PB-02-BT 5447. SI Kulbir Singh of D Division police station said no arrest had been made so far. A case has been registered under Section 61/1/14 of the Excise Act.

Amritsar, May 12
The Airport police has arrested an Afghanistan-based couple from Guru Ram Dass International Airport for possessing fake passports.

The accused have been identified as Harpreet Singh and his wife Mohini. Investigating officer ASI Vijay Kumar said the accused were nabbed on after a tip-off.

“We had information that the couple possessed fake passports. They were spotted wandering near the airport. When questioned, they could not give satisfactory reply. We took them in our custody. They appeared to be traveling on these fake passports,” he said. — TNS

Amritsar, May 12
The district consumer disputes redressal forum has instructed a construction contractor to pay a compensation of Rs 10000 to a local resident who had engaged him for constructing his home.

The district consumer disputes redressal forum has directed the contractor to pay the amount for causing harassment and mental tension to the complainant. Besides the contractor has also been directed to pay Rs 2000 as litigation expenses and reimburse Rs 17000 to the complainant as he had to hire another person who charged more.

Earlier Mahinder Singh, a resident of Kot Atma Ram had filed a complaint against Gurdev Singh Thekedar in June 2012. Mahinder Singh had complained that he had hired the services Gurdev Singh for the construction work on his plot.

He stated that they had decided on an amount of Rs 1,40,250 for the work of which he subsequently paid Rs 1,10,000 on different dates.

He said that the contractor on June 6, 2012, Gurdev Singh had beaten his labourer Vinod after a dispute and the matter went to police where complainant was also called and a compromise was arrived between them as per which he was to pay Rs 30000 to the complainant for the remaining work and the contractor in return would complete the work at the earliest. However he alleged that contractor did not fulfill the promise.

He alleged that as he had to hire another construction contractor for completing the remaining work he had to pay Rs 47000 for the same work for which they had agreed on Rs 30000.

The district consumer disputes redressal forum observed that as the consumer had to spend Rs 17000 more due to the disbute, the contractor is liable to reimburse the same amount along with compensation of Rs 10000 and litigation expenses of Rs 2000.

Amritsar, May 12
Kisan Sangarsh Committee, a farmers’ association, today said it would stage a three-day protest outside the office of Amritsar Deputy Commissioner from May 16 to press upon the Central and state government to announce a bonus of Rs 500 per quintal on wheat crop.

The farmers are also demanding cancellation of FIR against KSC leaders for murdering an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) in Jeobala village in Tarn Taran in March this year.

The KSC said the FIR was registered with an intention to implicate their leaders while the ASI had died under mysterious circumstances and persons named in the FIR had no role in it.

It also demanded that the state government should not accept the Kalkat report as it was against the farming community. Committee leader Kuldeep Singh Baserke said farmers were also demanding regular electricity supply to houses located inside fields. He said farmers with a landholding of less than five acres should be given tubewell connections on priority basis.

He said the agriculture sector should be given uninterrupted power supply of 16 hours a day so that they did not face a problem in irrigating their crops. The government had earlier accepted all their demands after the protest at Beas but none of these were fulfilled, he added.

Amritsar, May 12
Employees of various government departments in the district have demanded that newly introduced electronic clearing service (ECS) system for disbursing salaries should be improved.

The ECS system was introduced by state government from April 1 to make all payments from the treasury through electronic mode. However, employees in the district complained that due to the failure of the system in working as per expectations, they got salaries late.

The employees associations alleged that 40 percent employees in the district had not got their salaries for the month of April. Jagdish Thakur, general secretary, Ministerial Staff Association said, "There is only a single branch of the bank, which is entrusted with disbursal of salaries. There are more that 550 separate government offices and bank the employees are inefficient to cater to the huge rush," Thakur said.

He alleged the bank was catering to the departments such as as police and vigilance on priority while other departments such as health and irrigation remained at the receiving end.

Tajinder Dhillon, president of the Punjab Health Department Subordinate Offices' Clerical Association said, "The system was introduced to make payments faster, but the result is very different. It is not working." He demanded that the government should instruct the officers concerned to improve the system.

He said the employees being asked to shift their bank accounts to SBI's Town Hall branch. "People are transferring their accounts, but still it is not working. It is not fair for the bank to ask for transferring accounts as people would always like to have account at the branch near to their residence," he said.

The employees at various subordinate offices such as the Excise and taxation, Education, PWD (B and R), Public Health, Agriculture, Horticulture, Sanitation, Irrigation, Revenue, Treasury, DC office and Suvida Centers, who are responsible for sending salary bills of the employees in their department to treasury complained that servers of the online system were too slow.

Another association leader Dalbir Singh said, "Even electricity and water supply bills of various departments have not been cleared. The departments will have to deposit these with fine after the due date and it would be an added burden on the treasury.

Amritsar, May 12
The Handicapped Welfare Association staged a protest against not filling handicap quota during recruitments in various government departments. The association members raised slogans against the local Municipal Corporation and the Punjab Government for ignoring them while recruiting employees.

Association president Mangal Singh said the Municipal Corporation had recently started a process for recruiting employees. He said MC was required to appoint at least 36 persons from the handicapped category.

The union had requested Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to direct the MC to give handicapped persons their due, said Mangal Singh. On this occasion, they also helped handicapped persons in filling forms for availing various government schemes. Mangal Singh said around 150 scholarship forms for handicapped school students and 200 for pensions and rail fare concession were filled.

Jalandhar, May 12
Two of the most influential and popular music families of Punjab are all set to turn their "dosti" into "rishtedaari". Navraj Hans, the son of singer Hans Raj Hans and Ajit Kaur, the daughter of singer Daler Mehndi, are all set to tie the knot. The duo will be exchanging rings at a ceremony, which will take place at a hotel in Jalandhar on May 15.

Confirming reports, singer Hans Raj Hans said, “Our families have known each other for a long time. Mika is like a younger brother and given the bond our families have shared. We thought that it was time we took our friendship a step further.”

“It is an arranged marriage all the way. We had great respect for each other's families and through the years, the bond had grown through good and bad times. So we had faith this would be the best choice for our children,” the beaming Sufi singer added.

Son of the Padmashree awardee, Navraj has created his own niche in the Punjabi industry with hit songs like "Saadi Love Story", "Saiyaan" and "Rabba".

He will be making his Bollywood debut with the film "Band of Maharajas", incidentally base on a story of three Punjabi folk singers. Ajit Kaur Mehndi, daughter of Daler Mehndi and niece of singer Mika, is also known to possess a sweet voice.

Jalandhar, May 12
Mothers are cool breezes, chicken soup for the soul, the steadfast pillars that one can always lean on and God’s greatest gift to humanity.

On International Mother’s Day, when women across the world celebrate the bliss of motherhood, some mothers shared their special stories, their bond with their children and the joy of being blessed creators.

Vandana Ghai, a homemaker, and a dedicated mother to her two daughters, said, “For me, motherhood is that special feeling of watching my daughters grow and be happy. When I am tired, they tell me to rest and cook something for me. We have little disagreements sometimes, but I have been blessed with daughters who are understanding and obedient. So that’s my greatest happiness.” She was gifted a cup and a Mother’s Day message last year and this year was greeted with loads of wishes and hugs.

Daughters Vidushi (16) and Vasudha wittily say their mother is a like a perfectly cooked meal, which has just the right amount of spices. “In other words, there isn’t a single aspect of hers which we do not like. She’s just right and we feel blessed to have a mother like her.”

Home-maker Manpreet Kaur Soand and her daughters Gurpreet and Amanjot celebrated the day with a special Mother's Day and some blissful moments of girl to girl talk.

Amanjot, a chartered accountant, said, “No matter what the problem, I can always lean on my mother and share all my problems with her. We are best friends and I feel serene after spending this special Sunday with her.”

Gurpreet, who herself has a one-year-old daughter, said, “Mothers are our first gurus and supports. I have learnt a lot from my mother and now that I have a daughter, it makes it easier for me to realise the sacrifices she made for us. I am trying to pass on the same love to my daughter Gurnav.”

Amanjot and Gurpreet’s mother Manpreet said, “I had a great day with both my daughters today. I am proud of both of them and love spending time with them. Our little all-girl party made the day all the more special.”

Narinder Sodhi, who received Mother's Day wishes from her daughters via Facebook and phone (both are in Australia), says, “I believe motherhood is about understanding your children and realising that you can never expect the same amount of maturity from your child that you yourself have. Mothers have to go down to the level of the child. The child can’t come to the level of the mother. When the time is right, children understand.”

One of her daughters is married in Australia and the second is pursuing studies in Melbourne.

About Mother's Day, she says, “Since my daughters were small, they have been greeting me on the day with gifts and cards. I feel delighted to be their mother. They are now abroad, but we regularly keep in touch via phone, messages and social networking and they wished me today as well.”

Charanjeet Kaur Bains, mother of two delightful children, daughter Sabreena (9) and son Zorawar (2), says, “There’s nothing as special as being a mother. My daughter was so keen to greet me that she couldn’t even wait until Mother’s Day. Two days ago, she gave me a hand-painted card with a poem written (by her) on it. On any occasion, she has some card or gift ready. It feels great and I live to see my kids smile.”

Amritsar, May 12
A newly constructed block, mini auditorium, multipurpose activity room, indoor games room, designed exclusively for children at Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary Public School, Amritsar, was inaugurated today.

Charanjit Singh Chadha, president, Chief Khalsa Diwan Charitable Society (CKDCS), presided over the function. Dr Santokh Singh, vice-president of the society, was also present on this occasion. A dance studio equipped with all needed facilities was also dedicated to the students to promote their artistic talent.

School Principal Dapinder kaur briefed the gathering about the programme. The children welcomed everyone by a song and performed a scintillating Himachali folk dance. — TNS

Amritsar, May 12
From being an unemployed a couple of months ago, Sawinder (24),a Class VI dropout, has become self-reliant after installing a handcart, dishing out hot samosa and satpura in and around the Hathi gate area. His is not an isolated case. Many youngsters and middle-aged people go his way to become self-employed with an investment of few thousands.

Handcarts of different sizes and colours can be seen serving Punjabi cuisine to Chinese, south Indian to Italian Pizza in the city.

Naresh Johar, a resident of the city, said the common man could not enjoy delicacies in five-star ambience, but the same quality food can be enjoyed at roadside rehris, which was highly economical. He demanded that gradation of rehri and farhis could be done on the pattern of hotels. "If a clean handcart supplies RO water, napkins and other amenities besides quality food, then these can be rated," he said.

He said the Cabinet had recently approved the revised Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, which sought to lay down procedures for mandatory registration of all vendors by panels set up for the purpose under every civic body. The new bill limits the number of street vendors in an area to 2.5 per cent of the population there.

All Punjab Rehri-Farhi Union President Inderjit said despite many legislations and policies for vendors, their condition had not improved. He recalled that a policy regarding street vendors was attempted by former Urban Development Minister Sahib Singh Verma during the Vajpayee government in 2004. In 2008, work on a another policy started and in 2010 it took shape of a law, he said. He said Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh forwarded a communiqué to all Chief Ministers in the country on October 30, 2010 to implement the same. However, insufficient was done on the matter.

He said as per the new law, Town Vending Committees need be formed in each district. About 40 per cent of the committee members were required to be vendors while the rest of the members need to be officials and politicians. Similarly, Zone Vending Committees were to be constituted according to the new law. The government was to give offices and other paraphernalia to these committees. According to the law, during the planning of a town, the security of rehri an farrhi required to be ensured. "As per the law, 33 per cent of the footpath can be used by vendors and identity cards must be issued," he added. He rued that there was no social security for vendors despite being under unorganised sector.

He said the number of vendors and handcarts was certainly growing but they were there as long as the demand was there.

Jalandhar, May 12
Frequent use of laptops and wearing tight jeans may cause infertility among males as the cases of infertility are on the rise.

This alarming fact was brought to light by a city gynaecologist, Dr Kumud Pasricha, during her address at a two-day hands-on workshop on male infertility held here. The doctor said,“The heat produced while using laptops is the latest cause of infertility among males. Similarly, more heat is created while wearing tight jeans, which is also one of the main reasons for male infertility. Besides, tense lifestyle and late marriages are also other reasons for infertility among males. — TNS