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Fire exposes ignoring of safety measures
2 held for raping married woman
HC refuses to direct govt to refund licence fee to liquor vend owners
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Panghura receives 67th child in city
Amritsar, June 17 The Panghura, installed at Red Cross Bhawan here for abandoned children, has received 67th child. It was a baby boy, aged about 9-10 days.
Head constable booked for assault
Despite govt’s promise, recreational centre remains a far cry
SGPC supports celebration of Amritsar Foundation Day as annual event
DNA test to identify dead girl: Police
City doc set to pen down his life experiences
5 arrested with narcotics, liquor
Khalsa College Amritsar script emphatic win in netball tourney
Staff and students of Khalsa College, Amritsar, with the winning trophy in Amritsar on Monday. A Tribune photograph
Minimum wages for labourers revised
Spirituality a way to connect with inner self
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Fire exposes ignoring of safety measures
Amritsar, June 17 The fire is suspected to have been caused due to bursting of a cooking vessel in which discarded rubber is heated to turn it into fuel oil, carbon black, gas and steel wires. Apparently, the unit was not adhering to the safety norms when its vessel burst. Fortunately, no loss of life was reported and the fire was timely brought under control. An uncontrolled fire could wreak havoc on the area as there are many industrial units dealing in combustible material there. The process of recycling used tyres is called pyrolysis. Heating discarded tires in a reactor vessel in an oxygen-free atmosphere cause smaller molecules to vaporise eventually and exit from the reactor. This process produces an oily liquid, generally used as a fuel, a gas which can be burnt as fuel, substances like steel, which are part of the tire, are removed as solids. Superintendent Engineer of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) GS Majithia said the unit was operating after getting the permission of the Site Appraisal Committee for a duration of five years. Besides, a no-objection certificate (NOC) was also obtained from the board. He, however, added that the unit was granted temporary operation permission with a rider that a sub-committee, which was formed by the Site Appraisal Committee, would study all the plants of this nature in the state along with the representatives of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). As per this, these units would have to adhere to additional pollution control measures, which would be suggested by the sub-committee. Meanwhile, Majithia said an order was issued to seal the unit on June 11, which the officials could not execute as they had been busy in various engagements. A day after the fire broke out, PPCB officials sealed the vessel. Over 20,000 registered industrial units, big or small, are being run from unsafe structures. The fact makes it obvious that the safety of the labourers working in these factories has no meaning for the owners, a fact highlighted by the worst industrial accident in Punjab at Shital Fibres in Jalandhar on April 15 last year. Making money at the cost of precious human lives is the sole criteria here. Notably, the Directorate of Factories, a wing of the Labour Department, is tasked with inspecting the industrial units, clearing their building plans and keeping a check on the safety measures. The directorate is woefully short of staff and the registered strength of units here is not more than 1,200. Officials of the directorate challans owners of the factories for violation of safety measures and sent to the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) for penalty. The directorate is governed by the obsolete Factories Act-1948, which does not provide it any punitive powers and could only file challans in the CJM’s court against the violators. Factories here are scattered all over the city and keeping a tab on them is a mammoth task. Factories are situated in East Mohan Nagar, along GT Road, Puttlighar, Islamabad, Verka, Batala Road, Majitha Road, Nawa Kot, Dam Ganj, Kot Khalsa, 22 Number Phatak and Chheharta. On the other hand, there are 10 big or small designated industrial clusters, including two focal points, an industrial area and an industrial estate. The two focal points are situated at Maqboolpura, Vallah Road, and Mehta Road besides an Industrial Estate at Chheharta. In the city master plan, the government proposed to set up three more major industrial pockets. “Owners of these commercial establishments do not adopt fire safety measures. They claim that accidental fire can never take place,” said Surjit Sharma, an expert in the disaster management. The disaster management requires swift reaction and smooth movement to curtail the loss of men and material. Majority of these buildings do not have smoke-detection alarms and sophisticated fire extinguishers, he maintained. He said the employees of these units must be trained to respond and combat any disaster and its aftermath. Keeping in view a large number of industrial units and their scattered presence, he stressed on the need to have disaster risk management response team. He said many past incidents like bursting of a boiler in a factory on Ajnala Road sometime back should have made the authorities to take safety measures seriously. He said, “The Punjab Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards (Amendment) Rules, 2002, state that the factory owner shall not undertake any industrial activity unless he has prepared a safely report and has sent a copy to the Chief Inspector Factories at least 90 days before commencing the activity in the unit.”
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2 held for raping married woman
Amritsar, June 17 The incident occurred on June 11, while a case was registered on June 15. The accused, identified as Sarvan Singh, resident of Sarandev village and Ranjha of Khanwal village, have been arrested by the police after the victim lodged a compliant with the police. The victim complained to the police that the accused had barged into her house when she was alone. On June 11 when her husband and brother-in-law had gone to the work, the two accused entered the house, bolted the room from inside and raped her one by one. She said though villagers tried to pressurise her for reaching a compromise with the accused, but she wanted justice in the case and therefore she lodged the complaint. Sukhpal Singh, SHO, Ajnala police station, said the victim made a complaint on June 15, following which hunt was launched to nab the accused, who were arrested today. He said a case under Sections 376 and 34 of the IPC was registered against them. The accused were presented in the court, which sent them to judicial custody. He said police teams were approaching the woman for medical examination, but she is dithering over the same.
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HC refuses to direct govt to refund licence fee to liquor vend owners
Chandigarh, June 17 As many as four petitions were filed before the high court by Chaman Lal and other petitioners in 2007. They were seeking the quashing of order dated July 10, 2007, passed by the District Magistrate directing the closure of liquor vends from July 10 to September 9, 2007. In the other two writ petitions, directions were sought to "refund or adjust proportionate amount of licence fee, payable on account of closure of liquor vends". The petitioners claimed that the order was passed "apprehending that peace would be disturbed and there was possibility of riots, if the residents start an agitation". The petitioners claimed that sufficient material was not available with the District Magistrate to pass the closure order. They contended that the court could examine the legality and validity of the order passed by the District Magistrate, in exercise of judicial review powers. Taking up the matter, the Division Bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Ritu Bahri asserted that an order passed by the District Magistrate was in exercise of executive powers. But the high court in "exercise of judicial review cannot sit into the armchair of the District Magistrate to return a finding that there was no likelihood of breach of peace". In its detailed order, the Bench said, "The District Magistrate has passed an order of closure of liquor vends in apprehension of breach of peace. Exercise of such power by the District Magistrate in the absence of any mala fide cannot be interfered with by this court in exercise of its writ jurisdiction." Dismissing the petitions, the Bench added that the question of refund or adjustment was examined by the high court in the case of Satnam Singh and company versus the State of Punjab and others. The court held in the case that it was not possible for the high court to issue direction to the respondents to "compensate the petitioners for the alleged loss suffered by them or to direct the respondents to give remission in the licence fee".
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Panghura receives 67th child in city
Amritsar, June 17 Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal said the child was left abandoned in the cradle on June 8 and was spotted by the Red Cross staff at about 10 am. “The baby was examined at Parvati Devi Hospital at Ranjit Avenue and was found to be healthy. He would be sent to Swami Ganga Nand Bhuri Wale village, Talwandi Khurd, Ludhiana, for adoption purpose. The childless parents can adopt the child after completing legal formalities there only,” he said. Talking about the latest guest in the Panghura, Dr Randhir Thakur, associated with the District Red Cross Society, said the child, who was a newborn, was wrapped in a dirty cloth when the Red Cross staff spotted him. It was in 2007 when the then Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar KS Pannu introduced a cradle at the Red Cross Bhawan entrance. This is the only district in Punjab which has started the scheme. The cradle concept is one among the several measures initiated by the district authorities to save the infants, especially the girl child, prevention of female foeticide and strictly prohibiting pre-natal diagnostic test for sex determination. Ever since the installation of the cradle, 67 infants - 62 females and five males - have been saved and adopted by needy persons through licensed adoption agencies. Otherwise, most of the times, newborns were left on roadsides, garbage bins and at places In the majority of cases, the infants died before being found by someone. “We have installed an automatic electric bell on the cradle. The moment someone puts the child in it, it automatically rings. This arrangement has been made because we cannot afford to lose time because in many cases the child is in bad health and needs immediate medical attention,” said Dr Randhir Thakur.
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Head constable booked for assault
Amritsar, June 17 Narinder Kumar was booked following a complaint by Angaddeep Singh's father Harjinder Singh, resident of the New Partap Nagar area. Harjinder Singh stated to the police that on June 11 his son had a quarrel with another youth after his motorcycle collided with his motorcycle. He said the youth was a relative of Narinder Kumar, who along with several other persons came to the spot and attacked his son, who sustained a head injury. He said when he raised an alarm Narinder Kumar and other assailants ran away. He said Narinder was wearing uniform during the incident. The Kotwali police has registered a case under Sections 323, 325 and 34 of the IPC. Narinder Kumar has reportedly been suspended following the registration of the case. Sarwan Singh, investigating officer, said that Narinder was deployed in the PCR team.
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Despite govt’s promise, recreational centre remains a far cry
Amritsar, June 17 A Bangalore-based private firm was given the responsibility to develop the patch of land into a park at the cost of Rs 4.5 crore. The park was set up after jumping various deadlines, but other promised facilities are yet to be delivered. The park was proposed to have a recreation centre, open theatre, herbs, plants and bushes and a secluded zone. The park is spread on 30 acres of land at Sector E, Ranjit Avenue. Moreover, the open air theatre has not held its inaugural show as it does not have necessary infrastructure to facilitate artistes. The park was said to provide another green lung to the city, which is bursting at it seems and concrete structures of all shapes and sizes coming up in all its directions. Though there are big and popular gardens in the city, the recreation activity is somehow limited because of several reasons. Considering all these factors, the district administration along with the Amritsar Improvement Trust had proposed to offer the holy city another green and exquisite recreation centre. A portion of the park is dedicated for meditation purposes while it also consists of a children park and a Haat Bazaar for temporary vendors to sell eatables. The land of the park falls under the Improvement Trust’s 97-acre Ranjit Avenue scheme, which is located along the GT Road. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has prohibited raising any concrete structure within 100 m of the highway. Hence, the district administration and the Improvement Trust had decided to set up the park. The then Local Bodies Minister, Manoranjan Kalia, had laid the foundation stone of Amrit Anand park on September 2, 2009. Improvement Trust Chairman Sandip Rishi said the open air theatre was raised much before his joining. He said the theatre would be re-designed to facilitate theatrical activities. Besides, facilities like change room and toilets would also be added. These activities would be operational as soon as possible.
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SGPC supports celebration of Amritsar Foundation Day as annual event
Amritsar, June 17 During a meeting held between SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar, secretary Roop Singh, Eco-Amritsar Chairman Gunbir Singh and Ravneet Singh, the proposal was discussed and was approved by the SGPC. EcoSikh, a Washington-based organisation, took an initiative to celebrate the foundation day of Amritsar by engaging major organisations and grass-roots level bodies to care for the city and its natural resources and preserving its habitat. It had launched an Eco-Amritsar campaign in July last year by bringing major stakeholders of the city together to discuss ways and means to improve city's environment. These included the SGPC, Khalsa College, Durgiana Mandir, Chief Khalsa Diwan, the Amritsar administration and various educational institutions and major business outlets. A committee of Eco-Amritsar has been formed to implement the five-year Eco-Amritsar 2017 plan. EcoSikh will also hire a full-time official to coordinate this campaign. The plan, that was launched last year, focuses on creating awareness to preserve natural resources, engaging the government and NGOs to reduce air pollution, improving city's garbage disposal system and increasing green patches in the city. EcoSikh had also facilitated Amritsar to become a founding member of the green pilgrimage network launched at Assisi, Italy, in November 2011. Delighted with the approval of the SGPC, Rajwant Singh, president, EcoSikh USA, under whose inspiration Eco-Amritsar was formed said, "The accent of the annual event will be to spread the message of a clean and eco-friendly Amritsar which was established on Haar Vadi 13 in 1577 by Sri Guru Ram Das and was initially called Ram Dasspur." Thanking the SGPC chief, Gunbir Singh said, "If Surat can do it, then why can't we? Environmental consciousness is imperative, and is well expounded in the wisdom of the Gurus as contained in the Guru Granth Sahib. The proposal is to work with all stakeholders of the city on six fronts—to save, harvest and improve quality of water; to shun chemical usage in homes, institutions and farms; to reuse and reduce waste; to conserve energy; to nurture sustainable lifestyle and green cover; and to clean and beautify the city—. The support of the SGPC therefore is crucial to spread this message far and wide, and also start the process for implementation in all gurdwaras and institutions under the aegis of the SGPC. Eco-Amritsar initiative
Focus on preserving natural resources
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DNA test to identify dead girl: Police
Amritsar, June 17 Though the family earlier insisted that the body was not of Preet Kaur, the Police Department was of the firm believe that she might be the same girl. Since the body was badly decomposed, it was not possible for the department as well as the family members of the girl to ascertain the identity of the body. SHO Gate Hakima police Parvesh Kumar said the family was now urging for the DNA test and we would initiate the necessary procedure for this. The DNA test would ascertain the identity of the girl. On the other hand, he said, there was no clue about Preet Kaur till now. Baljinder Singh, the victim's father and a resident of Patti Khursara in Fatahpur, had told the police that his daughter had gone out of the house, but she did not return. A kidnapping case under Section 363 and 366-A of the IPC was registered in this regard. —
TNS
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City doc set to pen down his life experiences
Amritsar, June 16 Recently honoured with a fellowship of American College of Endocrinology in Phoenix, Dr Neki is all set to write a book about his experiences. "I have always maintained that whatever be my personal achievements, they should also be useful for others," says Dr Neki, who has been awarded a number of fellowships from medical colleges in like UK, Canada, US and back home in India. He has also managed to give Amritsar its first cycle club in order to promote cycling. "Amritsar is a very closely connected city and the distances are short. So riding a cycle becomes easy, on pocket as well," he says. "Fuel prices will go on rising and the smart option is to change our dependency on petrol. It's better to ride a bicycle rather than going bankrupt paying for the fuel," he says. Busy planning his book, he says it will take some time since he wants to share his experiences with the world. Dr Neki has been featured in a documentary which will be aired soon on a popular channel.
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5 arrested with narcotics, liquor Amritsar, June 17 Those arrested are Sarwan Singh of Hawelian village, Satnam Singh of Kapoor Nagar, Arshdeep Singh of Guru Amardass Colony, Chheharta, Pawan Kumar of Jora Phatak and Hardip Kumar of Rasulpur Kalar. The police recovered 10 gm heroin from Sarwan Singh and 220 and 190 capsules of proscribed drugs from Satnam Singh and Arshdeep Singh, respectively. Pawan and Hardip were arrested with 35 bottles of liquor and 285 capsules of habit-forming drugs, respectively. Cases have been registered. — TNS
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Khalsa College Amritsar script emphatic win in netball tourney
Amritsar, June 17 Haryana lad shines in entrance exam The result of entrance test held on June 13 for the admission to BSc (Hons) Agriculture at Khalsa College Amritsar was declared today. As many as 1382 applicants applied for the admission to 80 seats. Lakhwinder Singh of Takhatna village in Sirsa (Haryana) district stood first in the entrance test, securing 141.8 marks out of 200. Lakhwinder had secured 90 per cent marks in metric and 88 per cent in 10+2. Among girls, Navdeep Saini of Hayatpur village in Hoshiarpur district secured second position in the merit list. A number of applicants from Haryana, Rajasthan, UP, MP and others applied for the course. The following is the merit list of students and the first 125 candidates in order of merit are required to appear for an interview for admission on June 19 along with original documents in the Main Hall of Khalsa College. Merit List: 1726, 1874, 2233, 1257, 1136, 1731, 2288, 2167, 2220, 1590, 1243, 1611, 2225, 2190, 1383, 1450, 1220, 1602, 1025, 1702, 1413, 1741, 1690, 1196, 2067, 1217, 2181, 2337, 2115, 2307, 2090, 1272, 1060, 2126, 2216, 1054, 1592, 1708, 1885, 1889, 2263, 1242, 2315, 2208, 1300, 1578, 2196, 1968, 1915, 2203, 1435, 1090, 1331, 2047, 1511, 1080, 1209, 1484, 1126, 1098, 1905, 2228, 2355, 1688, 1880, 1229, 1262, 2024, 1530, 1806, 1116, 1150, 2057, 2144, 2093, 1191, 2118, 2029, 1754, 2201, 1043, 1529, 1290, 2188, 1066, 1357, 1727, 1487, 1546, 2171, 1386, 2259, 1304, 1841, 1605, 2338, 1627, 1986, 1504, 1911, 1224, 1779, 1058, 2207, 2183, 1527, 1519, 1581, 1650, 1982, 1092, 1057, 1135, 1336, 1399, 1267, 1032, 1360, 1187, 2036, 2283, 2231, 1919, 1280, 2007.
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Minimum wages for labourers revised
Amritsar, June 17 Cabinet Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, in a press release issued here today, said the minimum wages of non-skilled labourers like watchmen, peons and helpers were raised from Rs 5,200 to Rs 5,695 per month. Similarly, minimum wages of semi-skilled workers was raised from Rs 5,980 to Rs 6,475. Minimum wages of another category of semi-skilled workers like blacksmith, electricians and others with at least five years experience would be paid Rs 7,372, which was earlier Rs 6,877. Minimum wages of high skilled workers, including graduate technology degree holders, crane, truck drivers was raised from Rs 7,909 to Rs 8,404 per month. Minimum wages of staff category A who include postgraduate, MBA and others have been raised from Rs 10,370 to Rs 10,865 per month. Minimum wages of staff category B who are graduate was raised from Rs 8,700 to Rs 9,195 per monthly. Minimum wages of staff category C, who are under graduate, has been increased from Rs 7,200 to Rs 7,695 per monthly. Mnimum wages of staff category D, who are matriculate, has been raised from Rs 6,000 to Rs 6,495 per monthly.
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Spirituality a way to connect with inner self
Amritsar, June 17 The spiritual and mantra chanting concerts are teaching people to live out their spiritual aspects, without turning all monk. The city, with its special spiritual status, has embraced meditational music with all its soul. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and Art of Living chapters in the city are quite active in this regard and are holding regular concerts and programmes to get the people grooving to some spiritual notes. Vaishnav Das, vice-president, ISKCON Vrindavan, and other devotees from Chandigarh, were in the city to hold a mantra chanting and spiritual-guidance session. The mantra chanting is usually done with musical recital of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra using instruments like mridung and guitar. “We have been witnessing many musical sessions here and mantra-chanting classes are becoming effective in our programmes. Spiritual gurus regularly visit the holy city to hold such sessions and each session has at least 300 volunteers,” says Manmohan Mehra, incharge of the ISKCON centre in Amritsar. This time devotees from ISKCON Vrindavan and Chandigarh have come in to hold a two-day session. Its good to see that the youth are becoming a part of such programmes, Manmohan adds. "Young children are so good with 'mridung' and 'kartal'. We came across a devotee, Vasu Trehan, from ISKCON Panchkula, whose divine mantra chanting session mesmerised each one of us," says Raghav Mehra, a Charted-Accountant from the city. Similarly, the Art of Living, too, has incorporated these musical meditation mantras into its spiritual programmes and to everyone’s pleasure. “We hold musical concerts time to time as a part of our programmes. The music too differs depending on the programmes with rock to instrumental and bhajan sandhyas,” informs Raman Aggarwal, volunteer incharge of the Art of Living, Amritsar Chapter. It’s not about making spiritualism entertaining or just chanting to the tunes, but its about connecting through music. “We believe that meditation is a state of mind, irrespective of the outer elements. So, through the music we try to connect to our inner being,” says Raman. Since holy city is also a popular spiritual destination, international tourists too find the concept intriguing. “At most of such spiritual music concerts, we get a lot of foreign volunteers, who are visiting as a part of a spiritual getaway. A number such programmes happen during peak tourists seasons,” shares Megha Sharma, a spiritual instructor from the city. So, trance is not just a genre of music, but for a reason. The popular versions of spiritual music remain instrumental using guitars, while the rock concerts spread the live positive energy for the young seekers!
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recycling unit converting discarded rubber (especially tyres) in fuel oil, gas and other substances on the intervening night of June 15 and June 16 at Industrial Area in Bal Kalan village has once again brought out the fact of continuous ignoring of safety measures in factories.
Even though the residents of the holy city were promised an environmental park-cum-recreational centre in Amrit Anand park, which was duly included in the vision paper released by the
SAD-BJP coalition government in the beginning of 2009, the same has not been delivered in entirety.
Khalsa College Amritsar (KCA) has emerged overall winner at the conclusion of the two-day Open Punjab State Netball Championship held at Guru Nanak Dev University
(GNDU) on June 16.
