Amritsar, June 7
Activists of various farmer and labour organisations today converged at Company Bagh here and staged a protest against what they termed the "anti-farmer policies" of the Union and state governments.

Addressing the protesters, farmer leaders Dr Satnam Singh Ajnala and Datar Singh said the state government could not curb their agitation with its oppressive policies. They demanded that the farmer leaders arrested in connection with the death of assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Kulbir Singh at Jeobala village in Tarn Taran should be immediately released without any condition, while claiming that the assistant sub-inspector had died a natural death.

They said the government policies were deepening the crisis in the agrarian sector. "While the subsidies are being slashed by the government, the farmers are not getting their due while selling their produce in the market. Similarly, the farm labourers are not getting work and the government's ambitious MNREGA scheme is marred by corruption. The government is also running away from its welfare schemes like Atta-Daal and Shagun Scheme," they alleged.

The farmer leaders urged the government to fulfil their long-pending demands without any further delay. Later, they also staged a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner's office here.

Amritsar, June 7
A Pakistani prisoner, lodged in Amritsar Central Jail, tried to sneak a mobile phone into the jail when he was brought back by police guards after a hearing session in a court.

The vigilant jail staff found a mobile phone without SIM card from him during a routine checking at the entrance to the jail.

The prisoner has been identified as Raseed Ahmad, alias Commando, resident of Saidoke, Bharowal district in Pakistan. He was lodged in the jail in January, 2012, under the NDPS Act.

The jail authorities lodged a complaint with the police, following which a fresh case under Section 420 of the IPC and Sections 42 and 52 A of the Prisoners’ Act has been lodged against Raseed Ahmad. Deputy Superintendent of the jail RK Sharma said a Samsung-make phone (IMEI No 326126050320079), but without SIM card, was recovered from the Pakistani undertrial.

“We have got a complaint registered and further investigation is on. It is yet to find out how he procured the mobile phone as he had gone to attend the hearing of his case. Further investigation by the police is on to know about his purpose of getting the mobile phone,” he said.

Earlier, on January 22, in a major security lapse, a mobile phone was found in the possession of a Pakistani inmate, Mohammad Akram Chaudhary, lodged under the NDPS Act in the jail.

Amritsar, June 7
Bus queue shelters provided by the administration at various places in the city have illegally been occupied by food vendors causing inconvenience to the general public.

A few of these shelters are in a shabby condition and residents have complained that areas surrounding these are filled with litter and waste. They complained they had to wait for auto-rickshaws and buses in the open.

"The temperature is rising and these shelters can provide respite to people if these are clean and free from encroachments," said Jeevan Lal, a senior citizen. He said vendors should be removed from these places.

The residents complained that the concept of the queue shelters was to provide comfortable resting place to people waiting for buses or auto-rickshaws. "People themselves cannot ask these vendors to move out as they would not listen to them," said Rukmani Devi, a resident. She said the shelters should be allowed to be used only for the purpose for which they were constructed.

Residents said the administration was earning revenue from advertisements installed atop these shelters and a portion of the same should be used for the upkeep of these places.

Kuldeep Singh, another resident, suggested, "These advertisers could also be asked to maintain the cleanliness of the shelters as they are using the same to their advantage." He said the garbage piles near these places should regularly be removed by the Municipal Corporation.

Amritsar, June 7
A local court has rejected the anticipatory bail application of policemen accused of siphoning off the money recovered from gamblers during a raid on Shalimar Resort ahead of Divali in 2011.

On the recommendation of the inquiry report conducted by the IG (Crime) SS Chauhan, the city police recently booked four policemen, including Inspector Jagbir Singh, who has been made prime accused in the case.

An FIR was registered on May 28 at the Sadar police station against Jagbir Singh, his gunman Shamsher Singh, reader of ACP Jasbir Singh and Suba Singh for embezzling the gambling money.

Additional Sessions Judge JS Kang today rejected the anticipatory bail application filed by Jagbir Singh.

A day before yesterday, ie on June 5, the court had reserved its orders after arguments.

Amritsar, June 7
The city police has arrested two persons, identified as Sucha Singh of Mustafabad and Roshan Singh of Maqboolpura, for allegedly possessing 3 kg charas and also impounded a motorcycle in this connection.

A case under Sections 20, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against them.

The police authorities in a press note issued here today said Sucha Singh and Roshan Singh were nabbed during a naka laid near the Batala road drain.

They said investigations were under progress to nab the big fish in the illegal trade from which they had procured the contraband.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Narcotic Cell of the Amritsar (Rural) police has arrested Satish Kumar of Ajnala and recovered 2,000 capsules of habit-forming drugs from his possession.

He was coming from the Ramdass side when he was caught by the police party on the Ajnala drain bridge.

Amritsar, June 7
The CPI on Friday said by allowing the construction of Operation Bluestar memorial in the Golden Temple complex, the SAD-led government had divided the people of the Punjab into various factions.

Dr Joginder Dayal, CPI national executive member, said it was all done for the narrow political gains and to garner the support of radical groups. He added that it would have far reaching implications on the peaceful atmosphere in Punjab and the country.

This is evident from the fact that another community has been contemplating to construct another memorial at Durgiana Temple for the people who were killed by the terrorists in the aftermath of Operation Bluestar, said.

"The Operation Bluestar memorial has been constructed in the form of a gurdwara and the Parkash Singh Badal-led government should not let it become a breeding ground for fundamentalists. Our party is against the constructions of such memorials in any religious shrine," said Dayal.

If the government or any particular community wanted to construct such memorials then it should be constructed elsewhere.

Dyal also criticised the SAD's alliance partner BJP for its silence on the issue.

He also rejected the much-publicised new industrial policy which was recently announced by the state government by stating that it miserably failed to address the problems of small and medium scale industries which has totally rejected this policy. He said it did not have any plans for reviving the industries in Amritsar, Batala, Jalandhar and Rajpura. He said that the government should frame job-oriented industrial policy.

The senior communist leader said the party was against bringing the political parties under the RTI Act. As far as disclosing the financial matters was concerned, he was not opposed to it as all the party leaders and workers in the CPI are income tax payeres, he added. But they were opposing the interference in the organisational structure of the parties, he said. 

Amritsar, June 7
The Forest Department held a meeting under the Greening Punjab Mission to plant about nine lakh saplings in the district during the forthcoming planting season.

Officials of various government departments and NGOs working in the field of environment took part in the meeting.

Chairing the meeting, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Nirmaljit Singh Randhawa said it was also a part of the Joint Forest Management Project to ensure that all government, non-government and various sections of the society were taken on the board before starting the ensuing plantation drive.

He said the meeting helped to identify new spots out of conventional forest areas and a list of the same has been prepared.

“Even the Department of Panchayat and Rural Development has been asked to identify land with various departments like health centre and common land in villages to plant the saplings.”

He said the ensuing plantation season started at the outset of pre-monsoon shower and lasted till August. Plants of sheesham, sukhchain, arjan, neem, gulmohar, amaltas, dharek, suhanjana, jamun, desi mango among others would be planted, he added.

Besides, shrubs like bottle brush, kaner, chandani, shoe flower will also be planted and these saplings will be sourced from 20 nurseries of the department spread across the division.

Departments of education, police, panchayats, zila parishads, Nehru Yuva Kendras, NGOs like Mission Aagaaz will also be roped in for the purpose. Jan Kalyan Sagathan, Lok Kalyan Samiti, Khudai Khidmadgar, Bharat Vikas Parishad, Civil Defence, Anti-Corruption Mission Wing and others took part in the meeting.

The plantation drive The meeting, part of the Joint Forest Management Project, was meant to ensure that all government, non-government and other sections of society are taken on the board before starting the plantation drive During the meeting, new spots out of conventional forest areas were identified and a list was prepared in this regard Sheesham, sukhchain, arjan, neem, gulmohar, amaltas, dharek, suhanjana, jamun and desi mango plants will be planted during the drive

Amritsar, June 7
An unrelenting heat wave has left the residents of the holy city high and dry. Since the soaring temperature is not giving any respite, the residents are trying every possible way to beat the heat.

Fighting the dehydration and exhaustion the summer sun brings, city residents are betting high on quick summer coolers. Street side vendors selling coconut water, lemonade, buttermilk are doing brisk business with the rise in temperature.

There is one more fun way to beat the heat that city residents are splurging money on — poolside parties.

“We are getting a lot of queries and arrangements for pool parties. Be it families, couples and youngsters, everybody wants to chill out by the waterside. Weekends are booked as nobody wants to loose out on a summer splash,” says Navdeep Kaur, a guest relations executive from HK Clarks INN, Amritsar. Same is the case with prominent city hotels and clubs where poolside parties have become a favourite.

“There is a lemonade stand in every street. Gulping down a chilled glass of good old lemonade is simply bliss on a hot sticky day. It has high water content and is rich in Vitamin C since it is made of lemon,” says Rahul Singh, a student of Khalsa College.

Since it is important to keep yourself hydrated, having more of liquids helps a lot. The sun drains you out in the afternoon and it is really difficult to maintain the energy level when one has to go around. Liquids are like a life support during summers,” says Kavita Kapoor, a finance professional.

Iced drinks and yogurt smoothies are also selling fast at city cafés. Summer special veggies and fruits too have gone up in sales. Melons, berries and salads have become cooling foods.

“Water-filled vegetables and citrus fruits is not only a great way to beat the scorching heat but it also offers low calories. When eaten with its peel, it is a good dietary fibre that helps prevent constipation andprevents extra buildup of heat in the body. Use cucumbers and other leafy vegetables with high water content to make a fresh vegetable or fruit salad,” advises Sonia Gandhi, a nutrition and diet expert from city. 

Amritsar, June 7
The District Education Department has announced to organise summer camps for children with special needs from June 10 to June 22.

District Education Officer (Secondary) Satinderbir Singh said these camps would be organised at Senior Secondary School Town Hall, Mall Mandi, Majitha, Tarsika, Baba Bakala and Ajnala. Participants would be trained in glass painting skills, sport and cultural activities. He said medical check up of the children would also be conducted by expert doctors. 

Amritsar, June 7
Global Institute of Management is going to start new courses like B.Com (professional), BCA, BSc (airlines, tourism and hospitality management), BSc (hotel management and catering technology) on its campus in Amritsar.

Chairman, Global Institutes, Dr BS Chandi said a formal letter had been received from Punjab Technical University for starting these courses.

He said the institute was determined to lay greater emphasis on learning based on extensive practice as opposed to theoretical learning. He highlighted that BSc (airline, tourism and hospitality management) would increase the importance of global and regional tourism to students.

The course will make the students to focus on the intricate aspects of the three major tourism industry components - accommodation, travel and visitor services, he added. 

Amritsar, June 7
The Fourth National CME (Continued Medical Education) on community ophthalmology will start tomorrow at the Government Medical College (GMC) here.

The two-day conference based on the topic "Reaching the unreached through effective community eye health programme - Punjab Scenario" is being organised by the GMC in collaboration with the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology (RIO), Amritsar Ophthalmological Society (AOS), and Association of Community Ophthalmologists of India (ACOIN).

On the first day of the conference, a sample survey will be conducted on eye ailments in four villages, including Saidpur, Chetanpura, Attari and Mattewal, said Karamjit Singh. He said the villages were selected keeping the fact in mind that they wanted the detailed study of the village where a religious dera was located. The main motive was that the religious deras usually conduct eye check-up camps and they wanted to study to quality of treatment provided during these camps. In the remaining three villages, they would check the nature of ailments prevailing in the region keeping in mind certain locations near border, availability of government hospital etc.

He said on the second day, Professor Emeritus Dr Daljit Singh would conduct a training session for the students with the help of 3-D projector.