Amritsar, September 2
The Municipal Corporation (MC) has managed to extend the contract for the maintenance of streetlights in the city by another two months to keep the work going.

Faulty streetlights in Amritsar. photo: vishal kumar

Earlier, the annual maintenance contract for the upkeep of the streetlights had ended and the contractors were not ready to continue, as the civic body had failed to give them money for the past few months.

The MC spends a large amount of money on the annual maintenance contract for keeping streetlights in working order.

However, the civic body is facing financial constraints and has allegedly not paid any amount to the contractors during the past few months. Earlier, with the contractors not ready to continue the job, the city had faced the threat of plunging into darkness during nights.

Sources in the civic body said the contractors were responsible for the upkeep of around 60,000 power points in the city. The contractors were responsible for rectifying the power snags on a day-to-day basis and they could even be penalised by the civic body for any delay in repairs. Municipal Corporation Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said the matter had been sorted out with the contractors and they had agreed to look after the work for another two months.

He said the MC Commissioner could extend the contract by 10 per cent as per the provisions of the contract. “This would give us two more months and in the meanwhile we would float tenders and sign a fresh AMC,” said Kharbanda.

Talking about the liabilities of the MC towards the contractors, he said the civic body was in the process of making payments to the contractors. “We would start making payments shortly and we have already agreed on the terms of these with the contractors,” he said. 

Amritsar, September 2
Despite the U-turn by Union Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily on the proposal to shut down the petrol pumps from 8 pm to 8 am, his earlier stand stirred a controversy.

The Tribune team spoke to various sections of society here regarding the issue.

Petroleum dealers here stated that the move would not yield any results in curbing the sales as most stations are usually shut during the night. However, it would pose a problem to people starting their journey during the early morning hours.

“It would only lead to hoarding by the vehicle owners, who would prefer to keep tanks full all the time which would further push up a momentary demand,” said a petrol station attendant.

The city has only four pumps which sell fuel throughout the night. All others are closed as per the convenience of the owners and workers between 9 and 10 pm. The petrol stations on outskirts even close earlier as incidents of looting had earlier been reported at petrol pumps.

Meanwhile, the residents said that instead of taking any concrete measures to stabilise the economy, the government is beating about the bush. “If the pumps are closed as proposed, the people would have to change their timings of refueling. How would it curb the demand when everybody would be consuming the same amount of fuel?” asked Bupinder Singh, a school teacher.

Residents said they buy fuel as it is a necessity these days. “Nobody is running vehicles because these are luxury. Had it been the case, the ever-increasing prices of the fuel would have dissuaded people from buying it,” said Deepak Sharma, an electronics trader.

The residents stated that if the government was really serious on curtailing the petrol bill, it should probably ban SUVs, which consume more fuel than a modest two-wheeler. "Why do not they (politicians) cut down on their long cavalcades of vehicles. At least they are wasting a lot of petrol for making a single politician travel proudly," questioned Jagtar Singh, a farmer. 

Amritsar, September 2
The city police has recovered yet another haul of habit-forming drugs from an illegal godown located in the Katra Moti Ram area here.

The godown belonged to Rajiv Kumar, owner of Mehul Pharmaceuticals, who was earlier booked by the police in a similar instance in which the police had seized 45,000 intoxicant drugs from his another illegal godown located in Aroreawali Gali in Katra Sher Singh a couple of days ago.

Besides Rajiv Kumar, the police had booked his accomplice Sunil Kumar and arrested two persons, including Manpreet, his employee, and Lakhwinder Singh, owner of the building.

Sukhwinder Singh Randhawa, SHO Kotwali police station, said the interrogation of Manpreet led to the godown, located at Katra Moti Ram situated inside the Hathi Gate area. The subsequent raid led to the seizure of around 37,000 intoxicant capsules and tablets, 600 injections and 500 syrups.

A separate case under Sections 21/22/61/85 of the NDPS Act has been registered at the Kotwali police station against Rajiv Kumar in this connection.

Meanwhile, the Congress and BJP, the prominent political parties, seemed to have entered into a war of words over the issue. While the Congress, along with residents of Gali Arorea Wali, had held a protest against the police authorities for involving Lakhwinder Singh in the case, the BJP leaders had criticised the opposition for the same.

Among the other Congress leaders who were present in the agitation included district Congress president Jugal Kishore Sharma, Navdeep Goldy, Dinesh Bassi, local councillor Gurinder Rishi and others.

Cabinet Minister, Anil Joshi during a party programme, had raised serious questions over the Congress party leaders for holding protest, alleging that they were trying to save the accused involved in drug trafficking. He said Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president and Congress Majha in charge were answerable to the people over the conduct of their leaders.

Sharma, while contradicting the statement, alleged that the BJP was politicising the issue unnecessarily, adding that the Congress leaders had gone for Lakhwinder Singh, who is an illiterate and poor man working as a tailor to earn his living. He said he gave the shop on rent about 15-20 days ago on just Rs 1,500 per month only after the intervention of a known person.

"His only fault was that he unknowingly had not completed the mandatory formalities required before renting out a property,' he said, adding that this does not mean he was involved in drug trafficking. The police had booked him under narcotics Act, which was unfair.

We had only demanded that the police should verify the role of Lakhwinder before initiating action under the NDPS Act against him. He said the police authorities have assured to investigate into his role. He said the Congress party was against the drug peddlers and wanted stern action against them.

Amritsar, September 2
The Sultanwind police has arrested Rita, a resident of the Himmatpura locality, for allegedly possessing 100 gm of heroin. She is the third woman who has been arrested by the police in the past couple of days on the charges of drug peddling and bootlegging.

The Sultanwind police nabbed her from Murabba wala Chowk and procured her one-day police remand for further investigations.

A case under Section 22/61/85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against her.

Yesterday, the police had arrested Paramjit Kaur of Anngarh with smack and Swarani of Gwal Mandi with 20 bottles of liquor.

In another case, Hardev Singh of Kale village was nabbed with 14 gm of heroin.

Meanwhile, the police has nabbed as many as 21 persons for drug trafficking and bootlegging.

Among those arrested include Gurwinder Singh of New Jaspal Nagar, Gurjit Singh of Ranike village, Paramjit Singh of LIC quarters, Balwinder Singh of Ram Nagar Colony, Harjit Singh of Mira Kot Chowk, Kherabad, Jagjit Singh of Chetanpura, Deepak Kumar of Haripura, Rajinder Singh of Chheharta and Balwinder Singh of Bhutanpura. They have been arrested for possessing habit-forming drugs.

Among the bootleggers, the police arrested Kulwinder Singh of Indira Colony, Verka, Anil Kumar of Mustafabad, Heera Singh of Mustafabad, Surjit Singh of Mustafabad and Jagdish Singh of Gumtala.

Besides, the police arrested Gursharan Singh and Tejbir Singh driver and recovered 200 bottles of illicit liquor. Their three accomplices, identified as Harjit Singh, Lakhwinder Singh and Ravi, managed to escape from spot. The police also impounded their vehicle PB-02-AZ-9455 in this regard.

The police also nabbed Rajbir Singh and Lakhwinder Singh, both residents of Valtoha, Tarn Taran, and Gursahib Singh of Manochahal Tarn Taran with 120 bottles of illicit liquor. Their vehicle (DL-3-C-AA-7630) has also been impounded by the police.

Meanwhile, the Central Jail authorities seized 5 gm of an intoxicant powder from a jail inmate, identified as Sukhwant Singh of Harshan Chheena. 

Amritsar, September 2
The last time he was here, artist Haider Ali showed the glimpse of his famous truck art by painting two huge trucks. This time around, he is here to do a lot more. Painting once again for peace between the two neighbouring countries, the popular artist from Pakistan displayed his skills proudly on a Tata mini van at Sarhad, a food park situated near Wagah Border.

Pak artist Haider Ali (left) along with singer Geeta Zaildar at the Wagah border. A Tribune photograph

Painting Punjabi love legends on the mini truck, Haider got the message across. “I have been coming to Amritsar as I have some very good friends here. When I see their enthusiasm and hope for better relations between India and Pakistan, I feel inspired,” says the artist, who is here on a 10-day visit here.

Coming from a family of truck artists, Haider’s father Mohammed Sardar, too, was an artist and hailed from Jalandhar. Watching and learning from his dad, Haider has been carrying forward a century-old legacy. “Truck art has been a unique Pakistani tradition that goes back to 1900s. Earlier, competing transport companies in Pakistan hired craftsmen to decorate their buses in order to attract more customers. It became a regular feature and is still quite popular back home,” he explains.

Brightly coloured, richly detailed traditional and folk motifs are embellished to perfection, creating a perfect colour riot. His favourite ones include traditional Punjabi flavours like women making lassi, bird motifs, festivals and food. “That’s the beauty of this art. It gives you the freedom to play with colours,” says Haider. He has travelled across the globe with his art, holding workshops at several art schools and his works are displayed at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, Luten Culture Museum in UK and cities like Istanbul and Ankara. “People are struck by the sheer colourful motifs in this art form. It takes three days to paint a small truck, 15 to paint a big one with three artists," says the Karachi-based artist. But he is glad that he has been able to bring his art to the Indian circuit. “I am glad that my art has been appreciated here."

Last time, he was a guest artist at the opening of Sarhad and had introduced the art for the uninitiated here. Aman Jaspal, owner, Sarhad, has been hosting Haider ever since. “His art is a unique traditional way to celebrate our shared heritage. His folk themes, elements like food, festivals and everyday life seem to work wonders on a different level. Haider has been painting for two days and night and has been able to gather a crowd of admirers.”

Actor-singer Geeta Zaildar, too, dropped in to meet the artist. "I have become a fan after watching his work. A simple way to celebrate life and peace through portraying Punjabi culture on both sides in an unusual way. It’s quite something,” he said. 

Amritsar, September 2
The patients at Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital here may soon have the healing touch of music as the institution installed a public address system recently.

The hospital authorities said the system was installed as part of the Rs 31-lakh renovation project of the building granted by Punjab Health Systems Corporation.

In this public address system, around 25 speakers have been fitted at various places on the hospital premises to reach out to the patients and their attendants instantly. The system would be used to relay information about the medical facilities and spread awareness about the health issues.

Further, the hospital management is also planning that the system can be put to more good use by relaying soothing music. The authorities expressed that the music could be preferably played at least during early morning and late evening hours.

“Those who have ever stayed at a hospital during the night would know that how dreadful it is. The soothing music would make their stay more comfortable,” said Senior Medical Officer Dr Balbir Singh Dhillon. He added that soothing music is also known to have a healing effect on ailing persons.

He said, of course, the volume would be kept low so as not to disturb the patients. He said they were contemplating that only religious recitations were played.

A public address system was also reportedly installed at Civil Hospital a few years ago. “The old employees said that there was such a system here long ago and speakers had gone missing a few years ago,” said Dhillon.

The hospital also recently installed CCTV cameras to keep a watch on its property. 

Amritsar, September 2
The Amritsar Rural police is mulling over to write to the state government seeking 10 companies of police for beefing up the security across Punjab to ward off any untoward incident while taking the possession of two rooms inside the ancient Ram Tirath temple.

The temple is believed to be the hermitage of sage Vamlmiki.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court in its recent order had directed Amritsar Rural Police Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manmohan Singh to get the possession of two rooms in the temple and hand them over to Mahant Baldev Giri.

Presently, these two rooms are under the possession of another group led by Mahant Malkiat Nath, who is supported by Bhagwan Valmiki Dhunna Sahib Trust Chairman Om Prakash Gabbar, a political leader associated with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

The Shri Ram Tirath complex is located on the Amritsar-Chogawan road where sage Valmiki is said to have composed Ramayana. The temple site is also the place of birth of Luv and Kush, sons of Lord Rama when Sita spent some time there, according to the legend.

A potential tourist site, a state government release this July had announced that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal would lay the foundation stone of a temple with inbuilt museum and panorama at Ram Tirath at a cost of Rs 115 crore in Amritsar on October 18. A decision to this effect was taken by the Chief Minister in a meeting of the Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Vikas Board constituted for the development of Sri Valmiki Ashram (Ram Tirath). Badal had asked the Department of Architecture, GNDU, to design and supervise the construction of this world-class temple, besides providing structural designs of the project within two months. He also approved a corpus of Rs 10 crore to be kept at the disposal of the Board for managing the routine expenditure.

Setting up of the Ram Tirath Mandir Development Board (RTMDB) under the control of the state government through an enactment of the state legislature on the lines of the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board was suggested by the then Union Minister of Tourism and Culture Jagmohan during a visit to Amritsar in 2003.

The previous board was constituted in 1982 and was named the Shri Ram Tirath Improvement and Development Committee for the development of the ancient temple. The old committee comprised senior Congress leader RL Bhatia, four MLAs and other members.

However, the administration here felt that the old committee was not functioning properly. The board became non-functional due to paucity of funds and it stated that a large number of mahants were staying inside the holy parkarma and they were creating trouble for the managing committee by raising the income individually from donations. Thus the managing committee raises income only by way of auctioning various sites at the time of the annual fair of Ram Tirath, which is not sufficient for carrying out developmental activities.

It was in 2004 that many fish in the holy pond of the temple had perished.

Tension prevailed in the ancient Temple in the year 2011 when two groups, fighting over the management of the temple, came face to face over laying the foundation stone of the Bhagwan Valmiki temple in the sarovar of the disputed site.

Amritsar, September 2
The students of Khalsa College Public School (KCPS) have brought laurels to the school by sweeping medals in the Punjab School State Swimming and Water Polo Championship held in Ropar.

Ishwanpreet Singh of Class X got four gold and two silver medals in swimming and water polo competition. Naseeb Dhillon of Class X won four gold and two silver medals in swimming and water polo competition, said principal Sarvjit Kaur Brar.

Sarvjit Kaur Brar said Sahilpreet Singh of Class XII got one gold medal in water polo thus lifting the school championship trophy in under-17 swimming and overall championship trophy in water polo as well.

Amritsar, September 2
The star cast of upcoming Punjabi film "Viyah 70 km" today arrived in Amritsar here. The trio of singer-turned-actor Geeta Zaildar, Harish Verma and Aarti Chabbria took a tour of the city and interacted with fans to promote the film. Geeta will be seen for the second time on silver screen while Aarti is making her Pollywood debut.

The film is directed by Mushtaq Pasha and is a romantic comedy.

The film releases on September 13. In the film, Geeta and Harish play the male lead vying for Aarti's attention while Yuvraj Hans plays a cameo in the film.

"The film is about people fighting for love while generating a few laughs for the audience," said Geeta while interacting with mediapersons in the walled city.

For Aarti, her debut could not be better than this in Punjabi films, "I must say that Punjabi films are a great market proposition these days and since many of my contemporary artists have followed suit, I thought it would be a fun experience."

Aarti’s stint in this year's Jhalak Dikhla Jaa must have been for a shorter time but she vouches that she is here for a longer innings.

"I have enjoyed my first Punjabi film. I do not mind being a part of the industry in the days to come," the actress says. 

Amritsar, September 2
An exhibition of long-lost traditional musical instruments, some of which were invented by the Sikh Gurus, was today put at Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) here.

Baldeep Singh with the traditional musical instruments he has revived at GNDU on Monday. Photo: Sameer Sehgal

The man behind this endeavour is Bhai Baldeep Singh, the 13th generation exponent of a long lineage of masters of Gurbani kirtan maryada, who has revived these instruments.

The instruments drupadi, sarada, taus, jodi, pakawaj have so far been revived by Baldeep Singh. Baldeep is also a visiting professor at the Division of Musicology of Guru Granth Sahib at the Centre on Studies in Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

Baldeep said he has been working on reviving these instruments for the past 25 years. He has handcrafted these instruments and is also making efforts to teach these to students. He said nowadays most of the kirtanias used harmonium and tabla while these were invented much later in the nineteenth century.

"Harmonium was invented in 1840 in France and same is the case with tabla," he said. He said during the days of theGurus, kirtan was performed on these traditional instruments. Six-wire rubab was invented by Guru Nanak Dev, the jodi was made for the first time by Guru Arjan Dev and saranda by Guru Amardass, said Baldeep Singh.

He said the use of these traditional instruments had died with the passage of time. He further said he contacted the masters of the art of making musical instruments throughout the country to revive these. Baldeep said most of the traditional instruments were carved from a single piece of wood without using any glue or hinges to join different parts.

A seminar on 'Sri Guru Granth Sahib di Sampooranta atae sangeet parbandh' was also held at the university today. The programme was organised by the Centre on Studies in Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

Later Bhai Baldeep Singh and his jatha performed kirtan of the gurbani in 31 ragas using traditional instruments. Presiding over the function, SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar offered a grant of Rs 5 lakh for ensuing studies on Sri Guru Granth Sahib. 

Kapurthala, September 2
Unable to fish out the body of a 65-year-old farmer even nearly a fortnight after his reported drowning in the flooded Beas in Sultanpur Lodhi, the district administration has compensated his family by paying Rs 1.5 lakh.

Deputy Commissioner, Kapurthala, DS Mangat said his staff and volunteers from the village had made a consistent effort to at least take out the body of Pritam Singh, who had drowned on August 21, from the river, but to no avail. “Declaring him missing in the floods, we have compensated his family at Rampur Gore village, near Baupur Mand, by paying the amount. But we have not been able to trace his body from anywhere in the area. In the event of any miracle of the man resurfacing, we will get the compensation amount back from the family,” the DC said.

Pritam Singh was reportedly going back to his home after spending the day in a refugee camp in a boat with Harjinder Singh (19) when the twosome got out of the boat thinking that the water level had receded and that they would be able to walk the remaining distance. While the younger fellow managed to maintain his balance on the marshy land, Pritam Singh reportedly drowned with no clues of his whereabouts ever since.

The administration had reportedly carried out a rescue operation by plying eight to 10 boats the day through for over a week, but could not find his body. Officials now apprehend that it could have either got washed away too far or got trapped in the layers of marshy soil.

Paramjit Singh, a representative of the Kisan Sangharsh Committee, said the amount was far too low. “The administration should have at least compensated the family by paying Rs 5 lakh. Family members have received the amount, but they too feel that the compensation should have been at least three times more. It has been really a tragic episode for his three sons, who have not even been able to see his body,” he added.

Amritsar, September 2
In an alleged case of honour killing, the city police today booked the parents and the brother of a woman who allegedly had married against the wishes of her family.

The case was registered nearly after two years of the incident after her husband Jatinder Singh, a resident of Janta Nagar, Mohali, filed a writ petition in court alleging that his wife, Navdeep Kaur, was killed by her family members.

Following this, an investigation was carried out by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ketan Patil in this regard.

After the completion of the inquiry, the police today registered a murder case against the girl's family. Among those booked are Lakhbir Kaur, the deceased's mother, her brother Sumit Singh and father Harbaljit Singh, all residents of Akash Avenue on Fatehgarh Churian road.

Jatinder Singh, the deceased's husband, in his statement alleged that both of them used to study in a college in Ropar where a love affair developed between them.

He alleged that Navdeep's family was opposed to their relationship following which they got married in a gurdwara in Ropar in June 2011. He said when her family came to know about this, they agreed to solemnise their marriage as per the tradition.

He further said on the assurance given by the family Navdeep came back home while his family started preparations for the marriage.

He said on August 2, he received information that Navdeep had died under mysterious circumstances while her family members had cremated her in a village.

Sadar police station Station House Officer (SHO) Joga Singh said following the inquiry a case under Sections 302, 201 of the IPC has been registered in this connection. No arrest has been made so far, he added. The accused are on the run since the registration of case.