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Police admn starts cancellation process of arms licences
Minister launches special drive to clean Company Bagh
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1 kg of opium seized from drug peddler
Amritsar, May 17 The Kotwali police has arrested a notorious drug peddler, identified as Gopal Kumar, alias Gopi, a resident of Railway Colony, Kamalpura, district Kota, Rajasthan, and recovered 1 kg of opium from his possession.
GNDU teachers threaten to go on hunger strike
Rescued kids from Gurnam Nagar medically examined
City actor Jass Bhatia makes waves in Bollywood
Ludhiana girl wins tennis final
Passport office sought for Ferozepur
11 quarries identified for sand mining
With the state government giving a go-ahead to sand mining at 63 sites, having a size of less than 5 acres, 11 quarries of this C-category have been identified in this border district.
Fashion designing exhibition
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Police admn starts cancellation process of arms licences
Amritsar, May 17 Nevertheless, Opposition party candidates as well as residents, who own licenced weapons felt a sense of insecurity with the call of the police to deposit the arms prior to the zila parishad elections. While Opposition leaders stated that the police was lenient towards the ruling party leaders and their supporters when it came to surrendering arms, other licence holder civilians didn’t comply with the orders for fear of their lives. More than 25,000 weapons in the possession of political leaders, their supporters and civilians in the Majha region have been giving sleepless nights to the police as well as the civil administration of the border districts of Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Batala belt. The total number of licensed weapons in the state could be nearly 1 lakh, police officials here said. As per the data, the Amritsar rural area has the maximum number of licenced arms holders followed by Tarn Taran and Batala. Out of the total 14,473 weapons issued in Amritsar rural police district, nearly 5000 persons have deposited their arms with the respective police stations, while in Tarn Taran just 6,300 weapons were deposited out of a total of over 12,000 issued. In the Batala, Gurdaspur and Pathankot areas, about 3,930, 2,700 and 1,950 arms have been deposited against around 6,600, 5,500 and 2,500 arms issued, respectively. While the police sought the help of private gun dealers to deposit these weapons temporarily on monthly deposit charges from the weapon owners, many licensees who live on the outskirts of the city or in their agricultural fields, said that without their weapons, they were exposed to the threats to their life and property. DIG (Border Range) Paramraj Singh Umranangal said no discrimination was being done and all the licensed arm holders had been told to deposit their arms and the process was under way. Only those like terrorist victim families and security guards had been exempted by the respective police districts and that, too, after verifying their antecedents. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Amritsar, Dr Kaustub Sharma, admitted that in urban Amritsar alone, out of a total of around 7,000 weapons, only 1,000 had been deposited till date. “It is a serious issue because there has been a number of fatal incidents. We are facing a stiff resistance from the arms licencees, but I have directed the SHOs concerned to prepare the list of all offenders. We are going to issue them notices whey their arms licences should not be terminated as they violated the orders of the Election Commission by not getting their arms deposited,” he said.
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Minister launches special drive to clean Company Bagh
Amritsar, May 17 This historic site, once the summer palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, is becoming a garbage dump yard. Today the minister along with City Mayor engaged 200 safai sewaks to remove the garbage from the Bagh. Joshi said, “The government is very particular about the upkeep of the Company Bagh as parks are the lungs of the city besides having historic significance”, he said. Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora said, “Not only the Bagh, but the entire city’s cleanliness is our liability and we will make every effort to keep the city neat and clean. People should have the civic sense of disposing of the garbage at the designated place to keep the park neat and clean”, he said. MC Commissioner Bhupinder Singh, Health Officer Dr Yogesh Arora and Councilors, Manav Taneja, Anuj Sikka, Sukhwinder Pintu, Prabh Rataul and BR Bagga were present on the occasion.
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1 kg of opium seized from drug peddler
Amritsar, May 17 Interestingly, he used to smuggle the contraband on the instructions of his bosses lodged in the high-security Amritsar Central Jail. According to information, acting on a tip-off, the Kotwali police laid a naka near Sherawala Gate. They intercepted Gopal, who was standing near the gate and waiting for a party to deliver the consignment. Investigations revealed that he used to procure opium at cheaper rate from Rajasthan-based drug peddler and later sold these in various parts of the city at a higher price. Police authorities said a case under Sections 18/61/85 of the NDPS Act had been registered against him. Already, a number of cases of similar nature have been registered against him at various police stations. Sukhwinder Singh Randhawa, SHO, Kotwali police station, said that he came in contact with notorious drug peddlers lodged in the central jail and it was on their instructions that he brought the contraband from Rajasthan and sold these to their clients. He said Gopal used to get Rs 20,000 for this purpose. This has once again pointed out the fact that various notorious drug peddlers were running their racket from inside the jail premises through mobile phone network. Randhawa said the accused had been taken on police remand for further investigations. He claimed that vital clues and more recoveries were likely to be made following his interrogation. Third accused in looting incident arrested
The city police today nabbed Gurcharan Singh, the third accused who was among the three persons who had looted of an Army man at gunpoint near the railway station here on May 7. The other accused had turned out to be policemen, one of whom, identified as Jaswinder Singh, had committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance. The police had already arrested head constable Satnam Singh in the case. The three car-borne persons had robbed an Army man, Vikas Tyagi, a resident of Sonipat. The victim reported to the police that the accused had forcibly taken him in the car at gun-point. They kept him in their custody for over three hours. After snatching his camera and purse containing Rs 500, they asked him to give them more money. When he assured them of giving more money through an ATM, they agreed and took him to an ATM located on the Tarn Taran road. Here he got an opportunity to ring up his bank manager. The bank manager informed the Police Control Room about the incident. As soon as the occupants of the car saw a police vehicle, they sped, but head constable Satnam Singh, who was waiting outside the ATM, was nabbed by the police. The police had registered a case the two policemen and their accomplice Gurcharan Singh, alias Channa, under Sections 384, 387, 342 and 34 of the IPC and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act. Alcohol seized, 3 held
Anti-narcotic cell of the city police has seized huge quantity of alcohol from a canter number PB-02-BS-9550. The police has arrested Sukhwinder Singh of Bhagtupura village, Parphool Singh of Madhya Pradesh, Supinder Singh of Ram Chatiwind village, while their fourth accomplice Sohan Singh of Daburji managed to escape. A case under the Excise Act has been registered. Two held for murder
The Chheharta police has booked two persons, including a woman, for allegedly killing one Mehfooz Alam, a resident of Kot Khalsa area here. Those booked have been identified as Baljit Kaur, alias Lazia, a resident of Nivi Patti, Kot Khalsa and Balwinder Singh of Kot Khalsa. Nageena, the deceased's wife, stated to the Chheharta police that Baljit Kaur had developed illicit relations with her husband and disposed of his body with the help of Balwinder Singh. She said the accused threw his clothes and shoes outside his house, following which she became suspicious of her. The police authorities said the incident had occurred a couple of years ago. He said a case under Sections 302, 201, 363, 406 and 34 of the IPC had been registered on the complaint filed by Nageena. No arrest has been made so far.
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GNDU teachers threaten to go on hunger strike
Amritsar, May 17 Taking cognizance of the university authorities’ move to debar them from holding any protest within a radius of 100 metres from the V-C’s office, the teachers have decided to hold agitation at Putlighar Chowk near the university gate. GNDU Teachers Association president Dr Davinder Singh said, “It is a pitiable situation that teachers of the GNDU have not been paid the Sixth Pay Commission arrears. This has caused a widespread anger among them. The association has raised this issue with the authorities several times in the past two years, but nothing has been done so far. The executive committee of the association has also met Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal for the release of arrears”, he said. Endorsing these views, GNDU teachers association secretary Dr Lakhwinder Singh said, “Instead of listening to the genuine demands of the teachers, the authorities filed a law suit in the court. It is an unprecedented action in the entire history of the university. . Ever since the establishment of the university and all through our past agitations on the campus, the teachers have never resorted to violence of any kind”, he said.
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Rescued kids from Gurnam Nagar medically examined
Amritsar, May 17 Meanwhile, the Sultanwind police has registered a case under Section 370 IPC (buying and disposing of any person as a slave) against Arvind Kumar Jaiswal, the contractor who had brought the children from Bihar after luring their parents that he would provide them with good jobs. As many as 15 children, under the age of 10, were reportedly forced to do child labour in inhuman conditions for over 18 hours daily. Following information given by a resident, the police raided the rented accommodation at the New Gurnam Nagar area and rescued these children. Deputy Commissioner Rajat Agarwal today met these children at Red Cross Bhawan, where they were kept last night. The district administration got the medical examination of the boys conducted and provided them with clothes and other necessary items. They were later produced before District Child Welfare Council headed by Director of Dr Vidya Sagar Institute of Mental Health which decided to hand them over to Child Welfare Home at Hoshiarpur, from where they would sent to their homes after contacting the authorities in Bihar. Rajat Agarwal later instructed the Labour Department, besides Child Labor Task Force Committee and other officials to take strict action against rampant child labour. He asked them to raid dhabas, hotels, shops and industrial units to stem the problem.
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City actor Jass Bhatia makes waves in Bollywood
Amritsar, May 17 The young actor, who has his roots in Amritsar, has been juggling films since "Mausam", but he is not complaining because he loves his job. Jas, who has two releases this year- the first one already out for the audiences, Amarapali Productions’ "I Don’t Love U" and second is Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s biopic "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag". "'I Don’t Love U is a realistic love story that is about the youngsters in today’s world. It has a young cast and my character is a parallel lead which results in a twist in the story. While shooting me and Ruslaan, the lead actor shared a very close bond. After the pack up we had a ritual of wandering out and explore Delhi, eat the most famous food, visit the "pranthe waali gali", Khan Chacha and many more such excursions. I miss those days and can’t believe the film is out this week.” Jass plays the role of Lovely Singh, the funny boy in the gang of friends and hopes his role is appreciated by the audience and also his upcoming big film, "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag". Coming from a business family, acting was not in his genes, but in his talent. “I used to mimic and act in school plays. I always dreamt of becoming a famous star while watching television. I am glad that today, I am a part of my dream.” Three films old, Jass feels it’s a good time to be a part of the industry. “Young actors, newcomers are being given good roles, challenging characters and a chance to work with big banners. Eventually, if your work is good, you’ll get notice, especially now when there is so much space for everyone.” Since his acting assignments now keep him busy, Jass has shifted his base to Mumbai, but he goes into nostalgic mode whenever he gets time from his schedule. “I really miss home, it’s been almost a year that I have shifted my base to Mumbai and busy shooting. I miss my parents and especially 'maa ke haath ke paranthe'. But no complaints, I love my work and it’s a blessing to get to do what you desire.”
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Ludhiana girl wins tennis final
Amritsar, May 17 The tournament, being played at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Tennis complex, saw superb performance from Sarah. In u-16, she outplayed Kavya Gupta of the home state 6-2, 7-5 back-to-back. Overpowering weariness of the first match she defeated Seerat Kaur Pannu 6-4, 6-3. Meanwhile, u-14 boys match between Sabrang Sandal and Digvijay Pratap Singh, both from Chandigarh, evoked maximum applause from the tennis lovers. The three-hour long match under the blistering summer tested the mettle of both players. Sabrang who was 1-6 in the first set came from down under in the second set as he beat Digvijay 6-4. He maintained the same streak and enthusiasm in the third match, which he won 6-4. Digvijay played well in u-16 boys as he defeated Delhi’s Kartikeya Sharma 6-2, 6-0. Punjab’s Suraj Kumar and Vikas Kumar beat Haryana’s Paras Dahiya and Anuj Malik 4-1, 2-4, 7-1 in u-16 boys doubles final. While in u-14 boys doubles finals Amit Beniwal and Himanshu Mor of Haryana beat Dunush Handa and Ravish Kathuria of Delhi 3-5, 4-0, 7-2.
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Passport office sought for Ferozepur
Amritsar, May 17 Amritsar Passport Officer JS Sodhi said about 50 per cent of the applicants here come from Malwa. He said the request was pending with the Ministry to open another office at Jalandhar, which could cater to passport seekers from Sri Muktsar Sahib, Faridkotand Fazilka as well. He admitted that the present office and staff were inadequate to handle extremely high number of applicants. When asked about status of action taken against passport seekers, forwarding fake certificates, Sodhi said 160 cases of forged birth certificates had been detected so far. He stated that as per the ministry guidelines the applicants with forged documents must be dealt with sternly. He said in majority of these cases the applicants had been barred from getting visas from anywhere in the country for the next two years. Meanwhile, the local passport office will hold a passport mela (fair) on May 25 for those applicants who are facing difficulty in getting online appointments. He added that these applicants should visit the local passport office only after getting appointments for the mela at the website www.passportindia.gov.in at 5 pm on May 23 and 24 . These applicants must bring application forms with a computer print out of Application Refrence Number (ARN) with all originals and photocopies of documents to process the application for issue of passport. Applications for issue of passports under Tatkaal scheme will not be entertained in the passport mela.
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11 quarries identified for sand mining
Amritsar, May 17 District Mining Officer Dharam Pal Bhagat, who is also general manager, Department of Industries and Commerce, said the work on five of these quarries was about to start, while the rest of these would be operational before the first week of the next month. He said that environment management plans (EMPs) for five quarry sites had been cleared while for six other quarry sites, the same were awaited to be submitted by the contractors. He said that in order to give EMP clearance, a committee had been constituted at the district level. The committee was headed by Deputy Commissioner and its other members are SDM, District Forest Officer, Environmental Engineers of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), Drainage Department, PWD, Irrigation and district Mining Officer as its Member Secretary. As per the laid down procedure, a contractor after getting the EMP would apply for consent to operate to the PPCB. The contractors were engaged in laying underground weighing scale, which had become mandatory under the new rules. The weighing scale was set to regulate the extraction of specific quantum of sand at each site, varying from one quarry to another. The residents, desirous of constructing their homes, had heaved a sigh of relief as escalating sand prices in the city were already on the downward trend. Earlier, many development and private construction works had been hampered, as the rate of sand prices remained unabated and swelling the construction work manifold in the local market. The high prices of sand forced many people to halt construction and repair work of their houses. In the wake of ban on quarrying, sand mafia thrived as it was involved in selling sand surreptitiously to make hay. Those building their houses were perturbed with the government, as the prices of sand skyrocketed. The prices of sand, mined from Ajnala sub-division in this district, for a 100 cubic feet shot up to Rs 3,500 and above, which used to be Rs 1,200, not a long time ago. The same quantity and quality of sand was now available between Rs 1,800 and Rs 1,500 in the open market, confirmed Bhagat. The mining department here anticipates average daily demand of 6000 to 8000 tonnes of sand in the district, which is expected to be met with 11 identified mines. Earlier, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, had on August 18, imposed a ban on mining without environment clearance in all operational quarries less than 5 hectares. The order is in tandem with the Supreme Court's order of February 27. The order says that permission from the Ministry of Environment and Forests was mandatory for the quarrying of minor minerals on land less than 5 hectares. It prompted the government to form EMP committees at district level to provide environment clearance.
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Amritsar, May 17 The city-based designer, who studied fashion at Milan, Italy, opened an exhibition-cum-demonstration of his designs for aspiring young designers. "The aim of this demo was to give insight into the process of designing as well as to discuss the latest techniques in fashion," said the designer. His collection of western wear was also put on display. Sumit plans to open fashion designing institute in the city soon. — TNS
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Amritsar, May 17
Amritsar, May 17
