Railway employees lift the derailed coaches of a train with the help of machines near the Amritsar railway station on Wednesday. Tribune photo: vishal kumar

Amritsar, May 29
The derailment of two coaches on the main line during the shunting process close to the Amritsar railway station today threw the rail traffic on the Amritsar-New Delhi route out of gear for couple of hours. Two up-trains Shatabdi and Chhattisgarh were delayed.

The Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of the Northern Railways, Ferozepur Division, Naresh Chander Goel, said an inquiry had been ordered in this regard. A three-member technical team had been entrusted with the task to submit the inquiry report by tomorrow evening, he confirmed.

The Amritsar-Delhi Shatabdi, which was scheduled to depart at 4:55 pm, left the station at 5:45 pm and the Chhattisgarh Express departed later.

After maintenance, the coaches were brought from the yard to link them with different trains. According to sources, the derailment took place couple of minutes before Chhattisgarh Express was about to depart, which leaves at about 4:15 pm.

The officials called in workforce and about 150 persons were engaged in lifting the derailed coaches and place it on the track.

Sources said the derailment of coaches was the result of expansion of metal due to scorching heat, lack of maintenance of track and human error.

The DRM assured that action would be taken in this regard.

contributing factors Sources attribute the incident to the expansion of metal due to sweltering heat, lack of maintenance of track and human error. The Amritsar-Delhi Shatabdi, scheduled for departure at 4:55 pm, left the station at 5:45 pm and Chhattisgarh Express departed later

Amritsar, May 29
The international connectivity from Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport may have taken a hit, but there has been an increase in the number of domestic flights which has boosted the footfall at the airport.

The Amritsar airport recorded a domestic footfall of nearly 5.52 lakh during the fiscal 2012-2013, which was 4.94 lakh in 2011-2012. It was a big leap from 2010- 2011 when the footfall was 2.96 lakh.

Airport Director Suneel Dutt said the domestic footfall had surged by more than 80 per cent at the airport in the past three years. He credited it to extensive marketing among the airline company by the Airports Authority of India . He said the Amritsar airport, with modern infrastructure, architecture and equipment offered state-of-the-art amenities to the airlines and global ambience to the passengers.

Many domestic flights were introduced in the past one year that surged the connectivity and footfall. Budget airline career SpiceJet commenced its maiden operation from Sri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport on July 12. It introduced a flight on the Amritsar-Delhi route thrice a day. It filled in the space vacated by the exit of cash strapped Kingfisher from the route. SpiceJet is now running three flights between Amritsar and Delhi.

Besides, the budget airline introduced a to-and-fro flight between Mumbai and Srinagar with a halt at Amritsar. The air service restored the air connectivity with Srinagar after many decades and also linked the holy city with the commercial capital of the country. Thus, Amritsar got linked with cash-rich tourist circuit of western India and high potential Jammu and Kashmir. Apart from these, seven to-and-fro flights between Amritsar and Delhi are available. Four of these are being operated by Jet Airways and three by Air India.

Amritsar, May 29
Begging menace continues to rise unabated around the Golden Temple, as the authorities have failed to keep a check on it. These beggars give a tough time to the devotees, walking their way to and fro the shrine.

From aged to little boys and girls with tattered clothes and unkempt hair, beggars can easily be spotted seeking alms and cash on the temple premises.

In the holy city,stays abuzz with local and foreign tourists because of its heritage and religious importance. These beggars do not leave until they get money from the tourists.

Perturbed at the menace, Satnam Singh Kanda, whose hotel is located near the Golden Temple, said beggars often risk their lives by rushing to road crossings to come closer to tourists vehicles.

They often start to clean cars with rag and ask for money. They keep tapping at the windowpanes till one, tired of their whining, shells out some money.

"Some of these beggars are handicapped and some are blind. They do not stop pestering the people even in front of cops," added Kanda.

Besides harassing the tourists, the beggars also pose a threat to traffic.

The other aspect of the menace is the involvement of drug addicts, who are also involved in sell narcotics. Also, there are begging-rackets, in which beggars take advantage of poverty and migration of people from other states and induce them to adopt this 'lucrative business'.

Balwant Singh, a shopkeeper, said though these beggars could be found at railway bridges, Lawrence Road Chowk, outside Hall Gate, traffic lights, outside cinema halls, posh parking places, bus stand and railway station, their presence in high number around Golden Temple sullied the image of the holy city which is thronged by tourists from around the world.

About a decade ago, the then-DIG, PM Dass, along with Rotary Club Midtown, had jointly launched a massive campaign to identify the beggars. A spokesperson of the Rotary Club said they found that the majority of the beggars came from poor states like Orissa, Bihar, UP and West Bengal.

Another hotelier Surinder Singh said, “This report does not hold water, as beggars have descended here even from far off places in Rajasthan and other states.”

The district administration had envisaged various plans from time to time to eradicate the menace, including the implementation of the anti-begging law and establishment of the Rain Basera building to provide a home to beggars.

The project ‘Raain Basera’ tried to bring all beggars and destitute in the mainstream by rehabilitating them. However, the kind gesture of the administration did not pay, as it failed to change beggars’ attitude, who again hi to streets for alms.

Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal said two strict implementation of law to eradicate the menace and rehabilitation of the beggars was required to address the issue. 

Beggars’ haven To curb the menace of begging, the district administration had envisaged various plans, including the implementation of the anti-begging law and providing a home to beggars. The project ‘Rain Basera’ tried to bring all beggars and destitute in the mainstream by rehabilitating them. Under this, a building was also constructed to provide a shelter to the beggars. However, the kind gesture of the administration did not pay off and in no time beggars were out again on the streets.

Amritsar, May 29
Residents of the area near Arya Samaj Girls' Senior Secondary School, Katra Moti Ram, have complained to the Municipal Corporation against the unloading of garbage and debris in front of the school. The residents said they had repeatedly brought the matter to the notice of the MC authorities, but the activity had not stopped.

Anil Khanna, a resident of the area, said, " Garbage from around 20 lanes in the area was being dumped here. Apart from corporation vehicles, few individuals too dump garbage here."

Khanna, in a memorandum to the Mayor, has apprised him of the problem faced by the residents. " Garbage should be directly unloaded at the final destination instead of first unloading it here and then loading again," said Khanna.

The place is being used by the Municipal Corporation as a collection point for garbage from where it is again transported to Bhatawala dump. The residents complained that unabated loading and unloading of garbage produced an unbearable smell.

The residents said large numbers of devotees came to Arya Samaj Temple every Sunday and garbage posed a problem to them as well. "Even barefoot devotees go to the Golden Temple through this route. The garbage lying on road makes walking a difficult task," said Nirvair Singh, a resident of the area .

The residents complained that drains in the area got choked due to garbage and in rains, the water accumulated on the road. "Besides, these collection points should not be near the residential area. These should be enclosed with walls," said another area resident Karam Singh.

The general secretary of the Lala Lajpat Rai Park Committee, Anil Khanna, said, "We have met various officials of the MC besides the Mayor, but it seems that they are insensitive towards our problems. Had this garbage collection point been near to the houses of any influential official or politicians, they would have removed it immediately." 

Amritsar, May 29
A woman lost her life in a building collapse today. According to information, Seeto (33) and her two-month-old nephew got seriously injured when roof of their house caved in at Budh Singh Nagar at Sathiala village. They were asleep at the time of the incident. While Seeto could not survive, two-month old Pawan was admitted to the Baba Bakala Civil Hospital where his condition is stated to be stable and he is out of danger.

The Beas police has booked two persons, Manjit Singh and Ambu, the victim's neighbours. The victim's family hold them responsible for the mishap as Satnam Singh, the boy's father, alleged that the accused were excavating earth for laying the foundation of their house. As they had dug deep, foundation of Satnam’s house got weakened and the roof of the house caved in, the complainant alleged.

Amritsar, May 29
The Directorate of Research and Medical Education has invited applications from eligible PCMS officers for filling up the posts of senior resident in government medical colleges. A section of the doctors has criticised the advertisement issued by the DRME office, which explicitly states that if eligible doctors failed to apply well in time, it would amend the rules or issue a notification to allow direct recruitment to the posts of senior resident.

The doctors stated that the advertisement read that PCMS officers had failed to apply for the post during the previous years due to which many posts of senior residents were left vacant in medical colleges, which resulted in a loss to students as well as patients.

“At present there are around 272 PCMS officers who have completed senior residency in the past few years. But, only a few of them have been absorbed against the 75 per cent of quota in faculty in medical colleges,” said a doctor.

The doctors stated that the department was working under a design to even curtail the quota of PCMS doctors for senior residency.

“The eligibility rules have already been framed and now, a lesser number of PCMS officers are eligible for senior residency. They have to sign a bond according to which they would continue to be in PCMS service for 10 years after completion of senior residency. Thus, they are debarred from joining PMES for that time,” said another officer adding that rules should be made flexible to make more doctors eligible for senior residency.

Amritsar, May 29
Amritsar’s Global Institutes has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with University of Mauritius to hold a three-day international conference on sustainable manufacturing and operations management in Mauritius from June 26.

Dr Akashdeep Singh, vice-chairman of Global Institutes and patron of the conference, said was a joint Initiative of Global Institutes and University of Mauritius (only state owned university in Mauritius).

A memorandum of understanding was signed by the Vice-Chancellor of University of Mauritius, Prof HC Shumsher Raghooputh, and the director of Global Institutes, Dr Arvind Bhardwaj.

He said the move aimed at strengthening the research activities in the institute.

He said the international event would go a long way in boosting the research and consultancy culture in the technical institutes of the region.

The faculty members, who are going to present their research papers during the conference, would get an international exposure by interacting with researchers and academicians throughout the world, he added.

Dr Akashdeep said the best papers presented in the conference would be considered for publication in Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management being published by Emerald Publishers.

More than 100 scientists and researchers from leading international universities are expected to participate in the conference. 

Amritsar, May 29
The 15 children, who were rescued from a house on the Sultanwind road on May 16, were sent back to their native places through a train here today.

Vipin Parmar, Assistant Labor Commissioner, said that a team of the Labour Department had arrived from Bihar to take the children back to their native places.

Earlier, the children were sent to a children home at Hoshiarpur after their medical examination at the Red Cross Bhawan here. It is pertinent to mention here that the 15 children were rescued from the house where they were forced to do labour.

Former Cabinet Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla had contacted the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar who had deputed the Deputy Commissioner of Bhagalpur district for the purpose. A five- member team had come to take the children back. 

Amritsar, May 29
As the Municipal Corporation is likely to pass an increase in the license fee for shopkeepers, fire brigade charges, at the general house meeting scheduled for Thursday, the Congress councillors have decided to oppose the move.

In a press conference today, leader of opposition in the house, Raj Kanwal Preet Pal Singh Lucky said, “The MC ruled by SAD-BJP is going to put more burden on the residents.”

The MC has on its agenda the proposal to charge Rs 1,000 per hour for sending fire brigade to any religious functions for safety. The organisers can, however, pay Rs 5000 for the entire day.

It has also been planned to charge Rs 15,000 from organisers of cultural programmes and other such shows. The fee for the no-objection certificate from fire safety department is proposed to be Rs 1,000.

Lucky said, “The MC has a duty to provide safety to the residents. It should not charge for the basic and emergency services.” He said the Mayor has given a “lollypop” to councillors by taking it in agenda that each ward would be sanctioned Rs 10 lakh development projects.

“By giving this lollypop, the MC would get the approval for selling and mortgaging MC properties,” he said.

A project of Rs 80 lakh for sterilisation of stray dogs in the city is also on the agenda of the meeting. “The item was on agenda in the previous meeting too, but, later, it was scrapped, citing some technicality. It was required that a committee to work out the feasibility of the project was constituted before putting it on agenda,” said Lucky.

District Congress Committee (Urban) president Jugal Kishore Sharma said, “All this shows that the SAD-BJP alliance wants to fill its pockets by the burdening common man.” Sharma said tthe MC was going to increase license fees for shopkeepers from Rs 150 to 500 and had plans to impose penal interest at a rate of 18 percent on house tax dues.

“The SAD-BJP should know that if poor could have been able to deposit the house tax, they would have done so. Imposing penal interest would worsen the problem for them,” said Sharma. 

Amritsar, May 29
The city police has arrested eight persons in separate instances for allegedly possessing habit-forming drugs and illegal liquor. The accused has been identified as Sucha Singh of Verka, Charanjit Singh of Chohala Sahib Tarn Taran, Vikas Kumar of Jora Phatak, Dilbagh Singh of Habibpura, Sultanwind road, Rajdeep Singh of Haryana, Raju of Himatpura, Aahid Adhotra of Sunder Nagar and Sohan Singh of Indira Colony, Kot Khalsa.

Separate cases under the NDPS Act and the Excise Act has been registered against them. According to the police, Sucha, Vikas, Dilbagh, Rajdeep and Sohan Singh were arrested with proscribed drugs while Charanjit Singh, Raju and Sahil Adhotra were nabbed with liquor.