The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Undertrial escapes from hospital Three head constables booked, process initiated for their suspension PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 26 An undertrial, Satnam Singh, alias Satta, a notorious drug peddler, has escaped after fooling policemen from the Swami Vivakanand De-addiction Centre located on Government Medical College premises here late last evening. He went to a toilet on the pretext of answering the call of nature and escaped from the window. The police has booked four persons, including three policemen, who were on duty at that time. They have been charged with dereliction of duty. A case under Sections 223 and 224 of the IPC has been registered against Satnam Singh, head constables Hardev Singh, Pawanjit Singh and Dilbagh Singh. Assistant Sub-Inspector Jagtar Singh said when he was checking the guards deployed for the jail prisoners admitted to the hospital he found Satnam Singh missing. He came to know that he had given the police team, consisting of three head constables, a slip. Ravel Singh, investigating officer, said Satnam Singh had been under treatment in Guru Nanak Dev Hospital for the last one month, while 15-days back he was admitted to the Swami Vivekanand De-addiction Centre. The accused was a drug addict and was held by the C-division police for possessing drugs. He said the process had been initiated for the suspension of the three policemen for their negligence and following the registration of a criminal case. It has been learnt that Satnam Singh was trying to prolong his stay in the hospital and avoiding going back to Amritsar Central Jail. Satnam Singh through his relatives had approached the authorities at the de-addiction centre for issuing a certificate that he was needed to stay at the hospital for further treatment, which they refused to do so. Dr PD Garg, said Satnam Singh was asking for an "unfit" certificate and he needed further treatment. "We outrightly rejected his demand and had initiated the process to send him back to the jail," revealed Dr Garg, while adding that he was admitted to the de-addiction centre about 15 days ago.
	District admn forms five-member committee To provide security to couples who marry against wishes of their family members Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 26 In order to provide security to the couples, who tie the nuptial knot against the wishes of their family members, or in cases of inter-caste marriages, the district administration has formed a five-member committee as per the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The committee, which would be chaired by the Divisional Commissioner, Jalandhar, would consist of Deputy Commissioner, Police Commissioner, SSP, Amritsar (Rural) police, and District Social Welfare Officer. According to the press note issued by the district administration here today the committee would also ensure the implementation of the policy formed by the Punjab Government in the connection in letter and spirit. As per the policy, the government would provide security to the couples, who have threat to their lives after going for inter-caste marriage or tying the nuptial knot against the wishes of their family members, for a month and arrangements would also be made for their future safety. The state government has formed such committees and established security centres in all districts. A similar centre has been formed at the guest house of the Public Works Department in Amritsar. The administration has also appealed to the aggrieved couples, who face any such threat, to approach it. It also appealed to the representatives of various areas to come forward for providing security to such couples and sent them to the security centre at PWD guest house.
	No plan for 6th, 7th phases of Galliara scheme: Mayor GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 26 Refuting the reports about the sixth and the seventh phases of the Galliara scheme for the beautification of the vicinity of the Golden Temple, Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora said no such proposal was on the agenda of the government. However, the Mayor clarified that a proposal worth Rs 740 crore for the two phases was sent to the Union ministry in 2010, but was outrightly rejected. The issue gained significance because it created panic among residents, especially those living in the area around the Golden Temple. Even as the ones who were the owners of properties got adequate compensation for the acquisition of their properties, but the worst sufferers were the tenants (both residential and commercial) who are still waiting for compensation. They were witness to the mass demolition, which was done to facilitate the initial phases of the Rs 120- crore Galliara project. The old markets, depicting the historic eminence, like Bazaar Maniaran, Mochi Bazaar, Kapda Bazaar, adjoining Baba Atal, a portion of Atta Mandi, Pappranwala Bazaar and the major portion of Mai Sewan Bazaar had to be demolished. Later, about 150 shops in front of the Golden temple had to be removed to create an open plaza, started in 2009 and still under construction. Had the Galliara scheme been extended (sixth and seventh phase), it could have involved the acquisition of approaching roads leading to the Golden Temple while displacing substantial number of families. The sixth phase anticipated an investment of around Rs 180 crore while acquiring shops and houses falling on approaching roads to Harmandar Sahib (from the Brahm Buta market side). Similarly, the seventh phase envisaged an extension of an open plaza and acquisition of buildings to widen the road from the Dharam Singh market to the Golden Temple. Consequently, a number of commercial establishments and residences, barring some religious structures, on this patch of the road, could have been demolished to pave the way for this extension. The Union Government had conceptualised and funded the Galiara scheme after the infamous Operation Blue Star in 1984 and Operation Black Thunder in 1988. The historians resented that it could have further damaged the historic significance of the holy city as many parts of the city are still known as "Katras", but they feel that many of these would be lost forever with the implementation of the proposed phases. "I have got it confirmed from Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal, in charge, Galliara scheme, and chief of the Amritsar Development Authority Sandeep Rishi that there is no planning as such to extend the Galliara scheme further as yet. So, it was baseless and rumours only. I assure the residents not to get panicky and that the area mentioned under this so called scheme belonged to the corporation and there was no such scheme to extend the Galliara project," the Mayor said. His statement was endorsed by the Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor too.
	Youth booked for raping minor PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 26 A minor girl, resident of Chak Bala village, falling under the Ajnala police sation in the Amritsar (Rural) police district, was raped by a youth of the same village. The incident occurred late last night. A case under Sections 376, 323 and 506 of the IPC has been registered against the youth, identified as Ravi. The victim in her complaint to the police alleged that she had woken up to answer the call of nature at about 2 am when Ravi caught hold of her. She alleged that Ravi covered her mouth and forcibly took her to nearby fields. She said Ravi raped her and threatened her with dire consequences if she shouted. She said she somehow managed to escape from his clutches and raised an alarm, following which her family members reached the spot. She said in order to silence her Ravi threw a brick at her, which hit her. Seeing her family members Ravi fled. Hardip Singh, SHO, Ajnala police station, said raids were being conducted to nab the accused, who was on a run after the registration of case. He said investigations were under progress and process had been initiated for the medical examination of the girl. Meanwhile, the Sultanwind police has booked a person for allegedly raping his sister-in-law (wife's sister). The incident occurred about one and half month ago, while a case was registered only last evening when the girl reportedly became pregnant and told the family members about it. The victim stated to the police that she was alone at home when the accused, identified as Sukhdev Singh, resident of Walipur, took her to a room and raped her. She alleged that the accused threatened her with dire consequences if she tell anybody about this. "She narrated the whole incident to her mother when she became pregnant," said the SHO, Sultanwind police station, Arun Sharma. He said a case under Sections 376 and 506 of the IPC was registered against Sukhdev Singh. He said the process of conducting medical examination of the girl had been initiated. Raids were being conducted to nab the accused.
	PESCO to provide security at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 26 Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (GNDH) and Punjab Ex-servicemen Corporation (PESCO) have signed an agreement for the security of the hospital premises. With this the problem of lack of security at the hospital has been solved. Medical Superintendent of the hospital Dr KS Sidhu said they had received 36 guards, who would manage the round-the-clock security at the hospital. Earlier, PESCO had withdrawn security from the hospital in October, 2011, due to some financial issues with the management. However, in absence of proper security a few thefts of property, including costly equipment of solar panels, were reported from the hospital in the recent past. Even a theft of medical instruments was reported from the ART Centre at the hospital. Dr Sidhu said all previous issues had been sorted out with PESCO and it had agreed for the job. He said 36 security guards, including two supervisors, had taken over the job of security. Dr Sidhu said the problem of security had been solved for now, but they had asked for more guards from the state government as many new buildings had been added to the premises in the past few years.
	City students shine at int'l youth fest Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 26 Two students from Amritsar have collected accolades and awards at the recently concluded International Youth Festival of History and Civics in Lucknow. A collage depicting “Turn guns into guitars” won the second prize for the students of Delhi Public School, Amritsar, at the prestigious event titled 'Reflections 2013'. Bhavya Gupta and Reet Agnihotri conceived this bright idea about depicting melting guns that form into guitars and implemented through a collage of how music transcends all borders on the topic given to them, "Something, somewhere which can shape the world", and won the coveted prize. "It was not as difficult to conceive as violence has only one solution, love and what better than music to connect people through a common goal," shared Bhavya. Another DPS student Madhur Arora joined the two in impressing the audience while speaking incisively in a group discussion at the same International competition on the theme - ‘Illiterates should not be given a right to vote’. Madhur spoke on various decisions taken by village panchayats that have been a big setback to sane society. "Khap panchayats in India have taken many measures in the past that were against human dignity and a progressive society to impress upon the importance of minimum literacy to be mandatory for the right to vote. I based all my arguments on the fact," he said. It won him a third place. While congratulating the eight-member DPS students’ team and guiding teachers, Dipti Aggarwal (Social Science Department) and Sonia Kanwar (Science Department) on school’s remarkable achievements, school principal Sangeeta Singh said as many as 600 students from 91 schools of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka had participated in various categories at this international event.
	Introduce earned leave in GNDU colleges: Association Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 26 A meeting of the Principals' Association of government-aided private colleges affiliated to Guru Nanak Dev University was held at Khalsa College here today in which they expressed concern over the lack of financial support from the state government. They asked the state government to make higher education a top priority and release pending grants and financial assistance to the aided colleges. The meeting was presided over by association president and Khalsa College principal Dr Daljit Singh in which 30 principals from colleges of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Tarn Taran and Nawanshahr participated. Deliberations were held on various issues concerning DPI Colleges, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar and specific legal matters. The principals expressed resentment on the inordinate delay in the release of salary grants to the colleges, because of which the colleges are experiencing acute financial crises. Some of the colleges have not received salary grants for the past 14 months and in some colleges, professors have not been paid salary for the last six to 10 months. All the principals agreed that this callous attitude of the government was hurting the prospects of higher education in the state. They also decided to acquaint GNDU Vice-Chancellor in the next meeting with various problems experienced by the colleges. Principal general secretary Dr Dharmjit Singh apprised the principals about various activities of the association in the academic arena and chalked out the future strategy of the association. The association demanded earned leave to be introduced in GNDU colleges, ban on the recruitment be revoked, annual salary and arrears claims be sent to DPI colleges only through registered post, college teachers having PhD degree and research work experience should also be allowed to act as supervisor/ guide for MPhil and PhD degrees. They also decided that a deputation of the principals would meet the Punjab Education Minister and Punjab Education Secretary to apprise about various problems being faced by the colleges and for the redressal of the grievances.
	India’s economic growth good for American economy: US prof Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 26 India needs to put in place a very effective border policy on Pakistan and China’s front so as to prevent the entry of soldiers deep inside the Indian Territory, viewed Walter Russell Mead, Professor, Foreign Affairs and Humanities at Bard College, Washington DC, USA. He was here today at the Guru Nanak Bhawan auditorium of the GNDU to deliver special lecture on foreign affairs. This lecture was organised as a part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the US Embassy in India and Guru Nanak Dev University and was jointly organised by the School of Social Sciences and Department of Political Science of the University. Speaking on India’s relationship with China and Pakistan, Prof Mead opined that the ‘Rise of India’ along with Vietnam, Indonesia and other powers like Japan would compel China to assume harmonious role than competitive role in and around the region, which would be in commensurate with great the Chinese leader Deng Xiao-Ping’s policy of ‘China’s Peaceful Rise in the World’. While speaking about Pakistan, he said Pakistan had grown very weak, even the men in Army uniforms were afraid of terrorist groups operating freely in Pakistan. Prof Mead also appreciated the Indian policy of non-alignment and self reliance. He said America would like to create a global system whereby all countries grow rich, including India, which would make American people richer and more safer and as prosperity rises world over. He said the American business would grow accordingly and people in many regions of the world would have lesser reasons to fight with each other. He said India’s economic growth was good for American economy and hoped that Indian Rupee would stabilise very shortly. In his presidential remarks, Prof MS Hundal, Dean, Academic Affairs, emphasised on greater Indo-US cooperation in many areas of science and technology so as to enable India to be part of the developed world while making his presidential remarks. Meanwhile, Prof Jagrup Singh Sekhon, head, Department of Political Science and School of Social Sciences proposed the vote of thanks and Prof Gurupdesh Singh, professor from Department of English was the convener for this special lecture.
	US, India a natural ally in fight against terrorism, says foreign policy expert Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 26 Prof Walter Russel Mead, a US foreign policy expert of Bard College in Carolina USA, today stated that the US and India are natural ally in the fight against terrorism. He said a lot of terrorist activities were emanating from Pakistan where security scenario was worrisome as the state was turning weak against disruptive forces. Prof Mead was speaking at a special lecture organised by the PG Department of Political Science, Khalsa College, Amritsar, on 'US Foreign Policy'. He said the nature of threat from terrorism was realised by the US only after the 9/11 happening, but it does not mean that it was not aware about the destructive nature of terrorism before. "The 9/11 sent a clear message to us that no one is safe and we can’t ignore terrorist activities which were assuming alarming proportions. The US and India are natural ally in the fight against terrorism," he said. He said the security scenario in Pakistan was so bad that even military officers remove their Army No. plates while moving from one place to another as they fear threat from terrorists. Prof Walter was honoured by host college Principal Dr Daljit Singh. The vote of thanks was offered by Political Science Department head Prof Jaspreet Kaur and question-answer session was conducted by Prof Devender Singh.
	‘Plastics can be recycled, reprocessed easily’ Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 26 Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals union secretary Indrajit Pal called upon the Punjab Local Government Department to instruct its municipal corporations, councils and committees to separate waste disposal to enable its convenient management and energy development. Addressing a technical seminar on Plastics Recycling and Waste Management hosted at the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET), Amritsar, today, Pal said he came to know that the Amritsar Municipal Corporation had planned to set up a solid waste management plant and it was a welcome step as plastic management was a part of solid waste management. Stressing on the need for establishing biodegradable plastic units in the country, Pal informed that 23 CIPETs, situated across the country, had accelerated Research and Development (R&D) on biodegradable plastic. "Till date, the units manufacturing objects from biodegradable plastics are doing it by importing the same," he commented. He said the Union Government was encouraging the recycling of plastic by exempting it with central excise and called upon the industrialists to avail the benefit. He shared that 85 lakh tonnes of plastics in its various forms were being produced annually in the country and not more than 40 per cent was being recycled. Pal highlighted that a unique advantage of plastics was their ability to be re-used, reprocessed and recycled quite easily. He said all over the world, the approach of 4R-Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover- was being adopted for effective management of plastic waste. "The methods and technologies used for recycling depend on the availability and the types of plastics to be recycled, level of investment and techno-economic feasibility. "The need of the hour is to focus on proper segregation and collection of plastic wastes for efficient plastic waste management systems," he said. The seminar was being organised with the support of the Department of Chemicals and Petro-chemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers. CIPET director general Dr SK Nayak said we established a plastics waste management centre at Guwahati and undertook the e-waste recycling project at the laboratory for Advanced Research in Polymeric Materials (LARPM), Bhubaneshwar, with the active participation of plastics recycling industries. He said plastics had attracted a lot of attention, not so much of their positive attributes, but because of their environmental impact after its intended use. The problem is severe in urban agglomerations. In the absence of segregation at source for wet and dry waste, a systematic and scientific arrangement for plastics waste management, the criticism against plastics has been building up. CIPET director Ishwar Singh informed that essay competition and quiz programmes on plastics would be held in 10 city schools for spreading awareness of plastics along with recycling technology.
	Ghulam Nabi Azad to lay foundation stone of mother, child care centre tomorrow Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 26 Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad will lay the foundation stone of mother and child care centre at the Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital here on August 28. The 50-bedded centre is a Union Health Ministry sponsored scheme and the construction of the building has already begun. Hospital's senior medical officer Dr Balbir Singh Dhillon said the construction work of the building was going on at a fast pace. The Union Minister will also inaugurate a free medicine dispensary at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital's Bebe Nanki Mother and Child care centre. Azad would address the students and faculty during his visit, said Dr SS Shergill, principal, Government Medical College.
	New senior medical officer welcomed Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 26 The employees welfare manch of the Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital welcomed Dr Hardeep Singh Ghai to the hospital on his appointment as the senior medical officer (SMO). A brief function to observe the event was held under the chairmanship of Rakesh Kumar and Sanjeev Anand. Rakesh Kumar said Dr Ghai was known for his sincerity and integrity. Dr Ghai has earlier served as the deputy medical commissioner and acting Civil Surgeon of the district. Meanwhile, former SMO Dr Ranjit Singh Buttar has already joined as the district family welfare officer (DFWO) as the earlier DFWO, Dr Sushma Sondhi, was appointed as the principal of the medical training school.