The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Fire-fighting system a casualty at city hospitals Most healthcare institutions have worn-out equipment; no maintenance for many years now Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 28 Various hospitals in the city — both government and private — are not well equipped in terms of fire safety measures. The Tribune team visited various government hospitals in Amritsar and found that fire safety equipment were worn-out for want of maintenance. Not many private hospitals and nursing homes, barring one or two, have acquired no-objection certificates (NOCs) for fire safety measures from the civil administration. In case of any mishap, the hospitals are not even equipped to refill the fire brigade water tanks as fire hydrants, to which hoses of tanks are attached, are not in a proper working condition. In some cases, the water-carrying pipes attached to water source points were found missing. The glass panels of fire alarms and fire safety equipment too can be seen broken at the Civil Hospital and the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (GNDH). The hospitals are more vulnerable to fire because of presence of large number of combustible substances as chemicals. Even the traditional equipments such as sand buckets too are missing. However, the emergency blocks of the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital and the Civil Hospital are equipped with fire extinguishers. A visitor to GND Hospital, Rattan Dev Singh, said, “It is happening because the administration is not strict against hospitals. If any accident occurs, the administration will do all sorts of things to save their image. But it would be better in public interest if they do not wait for any thing of the kind to happen before it is too late.” Residents said that disaster management techniques should be taught to the hospital employees on routine basis. As many of the private hospitals are located in narrow lanes, it will become even more difficult for the help to reach there. As per the law, all buildings are required to follow fire-safety measures listed in the Chapter 4 of the National Buildings Code. Smoke detectors, fire alarms, water hydrants and water sprinklers must be in place in hospital buildings. There should be wide approach roads when accessing any hospital. Mock drills should also be conducted after regular intervals at hospitals. Senior Medical Officer (SMO) Dr Balbir Singh Dhillon said, "We have written to the Health Department for upgrading fire safety equipment. We have installed a number of fire extinguishers in the building.” Waiting for disaster Private hospitals and nursing homes, barring one or two, have not acquired no-objection certificate for fire safety measures from the administration The hospitals are not equipped to refill the fire brigade water tanks as fire hydrants are not in a proper working condition In some cases, the water-carrying pipes attached to water source points were found missing Glass panels of fire alarms and fire safety equipment are broken at Civil Hospital and Guru Nanak Dev Hospital The norms All buildings are required to follow fire-safety measures listed in the Chapter 4 of the National Buildings Code Smoke detectors, fire alarms, water hydrants and water sprinklers must be in place in hospital buildings Mock drills should also be conducted after regular intervals at hospitals There should be a wide approach road to a hospitalbuilding
	As World No Tobacco Day approaches, ‘smoke-free status’ for city a far cry Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 28 As the World No Tobacco Day is approaching on May 31, the city has failed to implement a comprehensive “smoke-free status” even a year after it came into effect. Tobacco selling shops can easily be spotted near educational institutions even though the law prohibits such vendors in a 100-yard periphery of the education institutions. Minors can be seen purchasing cigarettes and other tobacco products from these vendors. Worst, some of the vendors have even minors selling these goods to customers. A cigarette shop can be seen operating from just across the road in front of Khalsa College for Women. Two such vendors are operating near Spring Dale School. Even a shop was spotted in the 100-yard periphery of BBK DAV College of Women. One such shop is operating near Khalsa College Public School and while another is near Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU). Some city residents said due to challaning of smoking at public places, the tendency to smoke anywhere has gone down but it has not stopped. “Cigarette vendors had stopped giving matchboxes to customers when the ban was initially implemented but now the things have again returned to normal,” said a resident. He said that during the initial days of the ban, the vendors were fearful that if somebody is caught smoking at their shop or nearby they would be fined. District Health Officer Dr Shiv Karan Singh Kahlon said they were going to launch a vigorous campaign against smoking soon. He said regular challaning of the violators had yielded results.
	Amritsar, Mohali to be next IT hubs of north India: Joshi Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 28 Amritsar and Mohali will be developed as next IT hubs of north India, Technical Education Minister Anil Joshi said here today. He said the Punjab government had sanctioned Rs 1.50 crore for the infrastructural development at ITI, Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar. The grant, the minister said, would be used for the procurement of machinery and setting up workshops, besides development of infrastructure at the ITI. Joshi further said there was an urgent need to set up workshops at the ITI, which required introduction of new trades. “The construction of the ITI building has been completed. New faculty, machinery and workshops will also be arranged for this,” he said. “The Punjab government is fully committed to the infrastructural development of technical institutions so that a congenial atmosphere could be created for imparting quality education to students,” he said. Punjab signs MoU with German company The Punjab Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Germany-based company GIS to start four international-level IT skill development centres in Hoshiarpur, Bathinda, Ludhiana and Amritsar. During the last five years, 1.50 lakh youths of the state have been trained in different skills and about 20,000 students have been trained under the Centre of Excellence Scheme. “Presently, India is providing more than 59% IT services across the globe and to avail the larger benefit from this sector for Punjabi youths, the government has also chalked out a special plan for skill development of youths in the state”, Joshi said.
	Untamed growth of Congress grass poses risk to health of residents Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 28 An uncontrolled growth of Congress grass in the city, especially on the roadsides, is posing a serious health risk to the residents here. A visit to various public offices, including city hospitals, revealed that the Congress grass (scientifically known as parthenium hysterophorus) has spread over to almost every nook and corner of the holy city. The grass is predominantly seen at places, especially alongside GT road, Cantonment police station, Railway Housing Colony, Majitha road, among others. The pollens of this grass cause diseases such as eczema, dermatitis and asthma among human beings. Even milch animals grazing on the weed too are at a risk of getting dermatitis. It has also been seen that weed has grown in not-so well maintained parks and open spaces along roadsides, especially highways. The residents demanded that the district administration should run a campaign with the help of residents and NGOs to remove the wild growth of grass. “A campaign was run in 90s which had proved effective. The grass grows fast and if unchecked it may spread to other areas as well,” said Harbans Lal, a senior citizen. Residents said the grass pollens suspended in the air cause asthma. Even a park in the name of Madan Lal Dhingra near the bus stand is full of grass. The Railway Colony has almost half of the plots vacant and the grass is seen all over there. The colony residents say they have tried to remove the grass near their houses but it grows again.
	NHRC asks foreign ministry to file report on granting citizenship to Pak Hindus Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 28 Acting on a plea of the All India Hindu Shiv Sena (AIHSS), the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the Union Ministry of External Affairs to file a report within four weeks over the issue of granting citizenship to about 250 Pakistani Hindus settled in different parts of India in recent years. The NHRC acted on a complaint filed by AIHSS president Surinder Kumar Billa seeking citizenship for Chunni Lal and others. Chunni Lal was among a group of around 250 people who crossed over to India from Sialkot (Pakistan) in 1992 after riots had broken out there following the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. His seven family members had arrived in India but they have not been granted citizenship so far, said Surinder Billa. He said these families were neither extended refugee status nor granted citizenship which entitled them for government jobs, education for their children and ration card to avail subsidised ration and other social welfare schemes. “After crossing over to India these families settled in Jalandhar and Ambala. They repeatedly filed requests for getting Indian nationality through the offices of Deputy Commissioners in their district headquarters which were never entertained. It prompted them to file a case in the Punjab and Haryana High Court,” Billa said. He said the High Court gave verdict in their favour about a couple of years ago but it failed to move the government. He rued that 15 of these people died while waiting to get Indian nationality. Billa said as per the Nationality Act, 1955, of the Indian Government, Hindu migrants from Pakistan could be considered for granting Indian nationality after their stay here for five years. In 2009, it was again amended that granting of Indian nationality could be considered after their stay for at least seven years. He maintained that this group of migrants from Pakistan lived here for about 19 years but their repeated requests for nationality have fallen on deaf ears. About 500 Peshawari families who live on the Amritsar-Wagah road were once part of over 3,000-odd families of Hindu and Sikh community who had arrived here from Peshawar in Pakistan from Attari-Wagah border in 1955-56. Their first destination was Amritsar, from where they moved to Jalandhar, Khanna, Ferozepore, Delhi, Rajasthan and other places. The area on GT road where they have been living since 1955 is now called Pishorian Da Mohalla. In Amritsar, the Peshawaris constructed a beautiful temple and gurdwara, adjacent to each other. The president of the gurdwara is Anant Ram, a Hindu. He says the Peshawaris do not discriminate on the basis of faith. The members of Pashoria community again arrived from Pakistan after 2005 following the rise of Taliban there. Heads of these families Bihari Lal, Jagdish Sharma and Harbans Singh said they have been struggling to get Indian citizenship for a bright future of their children. Those who migrated from Pakistan between 1955 and 1957 have the Indian citizenship. The Pishauria Gurdwara Committee president, Anant Ram, said nearly 150 families of the community arrived here in the 1950s following an "exchange agreement" between India and Pakistan. Later, families belonging to the community migrated from Pakistan in 1979, 1993 and 1999. He said all these migrant families had been granted Indian citizenship. Many of them are settled in Jalandhar, Khanna and Yamunanagar besides Amritsar. But the likes of Bihari Lal, Jagdish Sharma and Harbans Singh, who migrated from Pakistan in 2005, are still struggling to get citizenship.
	Health Dept team seals two factories While one was preparing substandard spices, the other was manufacturing pickles Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 28 The Health Department busted three factories preparing unhygienic food items during a raid today. The team, led by District Health Officer Dr Shivkaran Singh Kahlon, sealed two masala factories in Dhab Basti Ram area. One of the busted factories, Kalia Grinders, was preparing spices locally but selling it as ‘packed in Denmark’. Dr Kahlon said packets saying ‘packed in Delhi’ were also recovered from the godown. “The factory was grinding low-quality ingredients to make turmeric powder, garam masala, red chilly powder but was selling it as either imported or from renowned manufacturers,” he said. Five samples were collected from the factory and it was sealed. The team sealed another grinding factory owned by Paramjit, who ran after shutting down the godowns. “The police even raided his residence but he could not be traced,” said Dr Kahlon adding that they had sealed the factory. An unhygienic pickle factory, Titu Aachar Wala, was busted in Ram Bagh area. Dr Kahlon said lemons and other vegetables found at the factory were rotten and algae had grown in the drums in which pickle was being prepared. “We have collected three samples and few drums of pickle were destroyed,” said Dr Kahlon. The team later raided a sweet shop and a general store in Ram Bagh area and collected samples. Panic gripped the shopkeepers in Dhab Basti Ram and Ram Bagh area after the news of health team’s visit reached them. Most of them fled from the market after shutting down their shops. Dr Kahlon said the way shopkeepers ran established that there was something fishy about their businesses. He said they would conduct more raids in the area to check sale of substandard materials.
	City docs to perform free surgeries in Uzbekistan Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 28 ‘Smile Train’, an NGO and a charitable organisation working with sufferers of cleft lip and palate, is offering free surgeries to the affected in Uzbekistan, a country having almost negligible surgical capacity. For performing the surgeries, the NGO has short-listed Amandeep Hospital, Amritsar, out of 150 hospitals in India empanelled with it, to conduct the corrective surgeries. The hospital’s medical team today flew to Uzbekistan from Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport, Amritsar. The hospital was selected on the basis of designated surgeons and anaesthetists with good standing and MCI registration. The hospital team would be performing free of cost surgeries in Regional Hospital, Urgench, Uzbekistan, stated Dr Avtar Singh, Director of the Hospital and HoD, Orthopaedic Department. Dr Ravi K Mahajan is heading the team for the mission. Satish Kalra, chief programmes officer of ‘Smile Train’, said the aim was to give every human a chance at dignified living through the surgeries funded by the NGO. Briefing about the mission, Dr Mahajan, project director for ‘Smile Train’ at Amandeep Hospital, said the plastic surgeons’ team would perform surgeries on more than 100 patients. The Indian team would conduct the entire surgical mission within a period of 10 days, wherein post-operative care and follow-up treatment would be started and followed through thereafter by the local staff of the Uzbekistan hospital. The nine-member Indian team of the local hospital includes Dr Pankaj Soni, Dr Harish Ghildiyal, Dr Raman Sethi, Dr Rahul Chhajlani, while the para-medical staff included Sukhdev Singh, Rajwinder Kaur, Ramanjit Singh and Baljit Kaur.
	3 killed, 2 injured in road accidents Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 28 Three youths were killed while two persons were seriously injured in two separate road mishaps that occurred in Amritsar rural area in the past 24 hours. Sukhwinder Singh (21), a resident of Bharosi Rajputa, was killed on the spot while his two friends, identified as Satwant Singh and Davinderpal Singh of the same village, were seriously injured when a speeding car collided with their motorcycle from behind. They were returning home after paying obeisance at Baba Bakala Gurdwara when the incident took place near a drain near Bhinder village. Kulwant Singh, father of the deceased, said the driver of the car (PB-09-P-5850) fled the scene leaving the car behind. He was later identified as Sarabjit Singh of Kapurthala. The Khilchian police has registered a case under Section 304-A, 279, 337, 338 and 427 of the IPC in this connection. No arrest has been made so far. In the second instance, Bikramjit Singh and Manpreet Singh, both residents of Kotla Sultan village, were killed when their motorcycle was hit by a speeding car (PB-07-L-0444). Both the victims died on the spot while the driver of the car, Manpreet Singh of Kotla Majha Singh village, escaped from the spot. A case under Section 304-A and 279 of the IPC has been registered at Majitha police station in this regard. No arrest has been made till the filing of the report.
	Despite raids, drug trade goes on unabated PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 28 Though the authorities are acting tough against the trade of habit-forming drugs, the flow of these is not stopping. This is evident from the continuous raids and seizures in and around the city. However, the authorities are conducting raids only in some selected areas while ignoring the infamous localities like Islamabad and Maqboolpura. In a fresh case, around 27,000 capsules were recovered by the Kotwali police from one Shingara Singh of Khehra village. He was caught from Sherawala Gate area following a tip-off. If the sources in the Police and the Health Department are to be believed, the drug peddlers are now procuring proscribed drugs from other states, including Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Prdesh. An official with the local drug department said the wholesalers, chemists and drug peddlers were bringing in the consignments from Ambala, Karnal, Delhi and Meerut etc. Earlier, the major supply was brought from Ludhiana. “Huge consignments are transported through railways as there is negligible checking and a number of loopholes, which are exploited by the smugglers,” said a drug inspector. Moreover, the chemists or wholesalers involved in the illegal practice have changed their modus operendi. Now, they do not keep the intoxicant drugs in their medical stores. They keep it at other places or rented accommodations located near their stores. In one of such instances, a chemist had concealed habit-forming drugs in school bags at his residence. He used to give the same to his clients after giving a signal to his family members, after which they supplied the drugs to the buyers. However, a certain section of residents rued that the health and the police department was acting in selective areas. They pointed out that a lot was required on part of both the departments for curbing the menace. Kaustubh Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) said prompt action was being taken in this regard. He said whenever the involvement of a chemist shop came to light, health officials were also taken into the loop. “We are very strict and nobody would be allowed to indulge in such practices,” Sharma said.
	Students make schools proud Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 28 The students of Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary Public School, Majitha Road Bypass, have made the school authorities proud by scoring 100 per cent result in the CBSE Class XII examination, 2013. As per a release issued here today, 89 students appeared in medical, non-medical and commerce streams. Arshdeep Kaur from medical stream scored 93 per cent. Lalit Sharma from Non-Medical stream scored 90.6 per cent and Kunwar Yuvraj Singh from commerce scored 89.2 per cent. Members in charge Harminder Singh, Rajmohinder Singh Majitha, Manmohan Singh Sethi and principal Dapinder Kaur congratulated the students and wished them all the best for their future. The jubilant students expressed their joy and pleasure to the beat of drums and by distributing sweets. Meanwhile, Surbhi Anand topped science stream at the Ryan International School by scoring 93.6 per cent marks, while Avi Dhillon top scored in the commerce stream with 88.6 per cent marks. Vivek Chopra scored 87.8 per cent marks in commerce and Vageesh Sharma got 84.4 per cent marks in science stream.
	ACET celebrates founder’s day Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 28 The Amritsar College of Engineering and Technology (ACET) celebrated its foundation day today as it completed 11 years. The celebration commenced with lighting of the lamp by Amit Sharma, managing director, ACET, who was the chief guest for the day. Ragini Sharma graced the occasion as the guest of honour. She also unveiled the welfare society for social cause, 'Jagriti- Sanchetna', a community service initiatives taken up by the ACET. Jagriti has adopted the Kishanpura Rakhchita Rajewal village and is working to uplift and improve it completely. ACET principal Dr VK Banga welcomed the guests and shared the annual report of the institution. He said the ACET was setting up new benchmarks in imparting education to the youth.
	Heat wave claims one more life Amritsar, May 28 An unidentified destitute person died due to an unrelenting heat wave here. The police said the victim was found in an unconscious state near Guru Nanak Dev University. A local resident informed the emergency ambulance van which took him to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (GNDH) where he breathed his last. This is the fourth death reported in the city so far due to heat wave. Hans Raj, in-charge, Mahal police post, said the deceased was mentally upset and used to roam in the area. His body was cremated. — TNS
	Banned drugs seized Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 28 A team of Health Department and Narcotics Cell raided six medical stores in Mehta village near Baba Bakala. The team seized proscribed drugs worth Rs 1 lakh from two shops. Inspector Amarpal Singh Malhi said drugs worth Rs 85,000 were seized from Preet Medical Store. He said drugs worth Rs 16,000 were seized from KS Company Medical Store. He said that seized drugs were reportedly misused by drugs addicts. The inspector said most of the medical store owners in the area closed their shops on seeing the team. He said the shopkeepers had been warned by the Health Department against selling proscribed drugs time and again. A communication had been sent to the state drug controller for initiating legal action against the two shops from which drugs were seized, the inspector added.