Amritsar, September 28
A head constable, attached with an Additional Sessions Judge, shot his wife dead in an inebriated condition at Rajinder nagar late last night.

While his in-laws said the illicit relation of the head constable, identified as Sukhwinder Singh, was the cause behind the incident, the police claimed that he was unhappy with his wife Balwinder Kaur as she did not care about his parents.

Jaswant Singh, father of the deceased, said at around 9 pm he received a call from his grandson Harmandeep Singh that Sukhwinder Singh was drinking heavily and abusing the mother while threatening to kill her. He said when he reached their home at 9.30 pm, he found Balwinder Kaur shot dead by the Sukhwinder Singh, who had fled away from the scene. He said Harmandeep told him that Sukhwinder fired from his carbine killing his mother on the spot.

He alleged that Sukhwinder Singh had illicit relation with a woman in Chheharta and his daughter used to object to it. He said his daughter told him repeatedly that Sukhwinder Singh used to harass her physically and mentally and he did not want to live with him.

"She told me about the trauma from which she was passing through, but I insisted her to stay there and think about her two sons. I did not know Sukhwinder would kill her," he said, while tears rolled down his face.

Harmandeep, said as he was opposing Sukhwinder Singh, who was vehemently abusing his mother, he tried to kill him also, but his mother intervened. He said while escaping his father threatened to kill him if he raised any voice.

Amolak Singh, SHO, Maqboolpura police station, said Sukhwinder Singh had been arrested by the police and the court had sent him to two-day police custody.

"Though the deceased's son Harmandeep in his written complaint had not told about any illicit relations of Sukhwinder Singh and mentioned domestic dispute as reason for the killing, we are still probing the main objective behind the incident," said Amolak Singh. He said around six bullets had pierced the body of the deceased, which killed her on the spot. A case under Section 302 of the IPC and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act was registered against him.

Amritsar, September 28
A Nihang and his family killed a granthi of a gurdwara, located at Varpal on the Amritsar-Tarn Taran road, and later set his body ablaze on the gurdwara premises late last night.

The deceased, identified as Warayam Singh, who originally hailed from Gujjarpura village in Ajnala, had been performing sewa in the Rori Sahib Gurdwara for the past three years. He was deputed by the villagers to perform sewa.

However, the Nihang, Shamsher Singh, alias Shera, wanted the possession of the gurdwara while claiming that it was constructed on his land and therefore he has the right to perform sewa. But the villagers were opposing his claim. This has been the bone of contention between the two groups. Last year too, a clash had occurred between the two groups and a case of attempt to murder was registered against Shamsher Singh and his group members at that time.

While detailing, Jasdeep Singh, SP (D), Amritsar (Rural) police district, said last night Shamsher Singh along with his wife Raj Kaur, son Sajan Singh and mother Kashmir Kaur entered the gurdwara premises and beat Waryam Singh to death. Before doing so, they pushed several persons present there into a room by brandishing sharp-edged weapons and bolted it from outside.

They later put his body on a bed near the langar hall of the gurdwara and set it abaze in order to dispose it of.

The incident came to light when several devotees came to the gurdwara for paying obeisance. They searched for Waryam Singh in the gurudwara and later found his charred body near the langar hall, revealed Jasdeep Singh. The eyewitnesses narrated the whole incident to them, who called the police.

The SP said a case under Sections 302, 201, 342 and 506 of the IPC was registered. The police had taken Kashmir Kaur into custody, while the remaining accused were at large.

Amritsar, September 28
Supporters of the BJP today accorded a warm welcome to Punjab Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi on his arrival in the city after taking charge of his new portfolio.

His supporters had erected welcome stalls right at the entrance of the city at New Amritsar to his residence at posh Medical Enclave. Perched atop a mini truck, Joshi was garlanded by his supporters, who burst crackers and danced on the beats of dhols.

In a procession, BJP activists riding bikes and travelling in cars covered the entire stretch at a snail's pace to allow the waiting supporters to garland their leader and congratulate him. Ignoring the norms, his huge hoardings were put up on the entire stretch of the road.

Meanwhile, the slow movement of the cavalcade and installation of felicitation stalls at intersections caused traffic chaos. Commuters on the road were forced to take alternate routes or wait in the traffic jams to reach their destinations.

Amritsar, September 28
The week-long 83rd National Workshop on Radiochemistry and Applications of Radioisotopes, organised by Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at Khalsa College concluded today on the note that people must be made aware about the usage of peaceful nuclear energy.

Scientists and experts from India’s premier nuclear research body deliberated upon issues relating nuclear physics and stated that misconceptions regarding nuclear energy must be cleared.

The valedictory function was presided over by Dr SK Aggarwal, associate director, BARC, in which he emphasised on the need to educate the masses about the clean and green aspects of the nuclear energy and how it could be useful in the power production. He coaxed the students to opt for research in the nuclear sciences. Dr GS Brar, Joint Director Public Instructions (DPI), colleges, Punjab Government, stated that the studies and research in the nuclear arena would be the focus in the future as the rising requirement of energy and power could be realised only through the sources.

Khalsa College principal Dr Daljit Singh said the papers and lectures witnessed during the workshop and the practical undertaken would go long way in creating an environment of positivity on the nuclear sciences.

Amritsar, September 28
An undertrial, identified as Harjinder Singh, got himself grievously injured in an attempt to escape from the police custody in the district court complex here today.

He was brought from Central Jail for hearing in a case in the court of Additional Sessions Judge KK Goyal.

According to information, after the completion of hearing when policemen were handcuffing him, he pushed them aside and fled away.

While the police party was chasing him he tried to escape through a window, but his head hit the window frame. He immediately fell down with blood starting oozing out from his head.

Ironically, he remained on the first floor of the district court complex for about an hour, but no ambulance could be arranged to take him to a hospital, while he continued to bleed during the period.

Gurnam Singh, ASI, who was heading the police party, said repeated requests for an ambulance at 108 number proved futile. He said later he informed his higher-ups and took him to the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital in their private vehicle, from where he was referred to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital.

Harjinder Singh, a resident of Chhidan village, falling under the Lopoke police station, was nabbed by the Lopoke police on September 14 on charges of possessing 100 gm of narcotic powder.

Gurnam Singh said Harjinder Singh's condition was stated to be stable, while a police team had been deputed at the hospital. He said a separate case would be slapped against him regarding the today’s escape attempt.

Amritsar, September 28
Members of the Amritsar Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHRA) today apprised the officials of the Municipal Corporation (MC) and the Police Department over the issues and problems being faced by the tourists and the hospitality industry in the holy city.

They said the MC recently issued notices to hotels for installing rain water harvesting wells on their premises. MC Commissioner DPS Kharbanda suggested that a well would cost about Rs 2,00,00 each and depending upon the area of the hotel more than one well could be required on the premises.

He said it was a matter of concern that excessive exploitation of groundwater coupled with fast urbanisation is causing the acute drinking water shortage in cities. With this, the rate of groundwater recharge has taken a plunge. The reason is that more and more areas in cities are coming under construction for erecting residential or commercial buildings, laying roads and pavements. This leaves little open space for the rainwater
to seep into the groundwater reserves.

Initially, water supply in the walled city was based on a network of 40 wells located outside the city through which water was extracted and supplied through a well-designed and properly laid down network.

Over a period of time, a number of tube wells have been installed to extract groundwater and meet the increased need of water. This resulted in a rapidly declining water table in the range of 180 to 460 feet. With the fast depletion of groundwater, shallow tube wells used for water extraction have to be abandoned.

Kharbanda suggested that the simplest way to tap rainwater was through rooftop harvesting. For this, one needs to channelise water to a storage tank which could be three feet deep. The water can be used for irrigation and domestic purpose, whereby the surplus water can be used to recharge the groundwater through a filtered pipe fitted deep into the ground.

The MC Commissioner asked the hoteliers to adopt the rainwater harvesting urgently and consider it as their social responsibility. At present, groundwater table is receding at the rate of 50 cm every year. He said there were several methods of storing rainwater as it required a perforated pipe fitted with a filter to fix in a 70-foot deep bore. The clean water then travels down.

AHRA general secretary Piyush Kapoor said the hoteliers sought clarity over the recently introduced property tax. Kharbanda said it was just like house tax and it would provide the much needed funds to the civic body to offer better services in the city.

From the Police department Aadditional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) (City-I) Parampal Singh and ADCP (City-II) Amrik Singh Pawar were present. Members of the AHRA informed them that tourists were being targeted by snatchers besides they found unorganised traffic in the city a bane to travel to various tourist destinations in the city. They pointed out that the traffic was more unorganised around bus stand, outside Jallianwala Bagh.

Amritsar, September 28
The Chief Khalsa Diwan (CKD) Institute of Management and Technology, a pioneer in the field of management/technology, in its efforts to benefit the students with the valuable thoughts of learned and accomplished industry experts organised a seminar on ‘Decoding Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interviews (PI)’.

The seminar was conducted by expert trainer Rishabh Gupta, director of Triumphant Institute of Management Education (TIME), who has already conducted over 200 such seminars. Nearly, 250 CKD students enjoyed the enthralling session while learning tips and tricks to crack any group discussion and interview. They were taught how to enhance their self confidence along with personality development.

One of the students of CKD, Pragati Gulati, said, “The seminar was extremely beneficial, my fear of facing GD and interviews is completely gone.”

Amritsar, September 28
If you want to unleash your creativity or you are a budding creative talent with limited resources and opportunities, everything is about chance. And this chance is what some of these creative NGO’s are offering.

Providing creative avenues for budding talent in the field of digital and multimedia productions, some city-based NGO’s are offering training and a chance to go professional with independent productions, all at zero cost. With an aim to support the city’s talent and young professionals, these NGO’s have become an instant hit with their programmes and workshops.

G Animation Movies Production, which is one of the creative NGO’s in city, have taken a step in this direction by launching its maiden production "Mehrmaan". Going viral, the production features local artistes and city-based singer Jagjit Singh. An initiative by Goerge Emanual, a graduate from the Government College of Arts, Chandigarh, the production house will give the same chance to every new talent in the city . “We will teach animation, 2D, 3D, film and television production and fine art concepts for free. The motive behind the initiative is to recognise and provide a platform for every deserving talent in Amritsar. For the privileged, getting noticed is not a problem. Its others in crowd who have to struggle to get noticed. With my production house, I plan to reach out to the maximum number of talented people,” said Emanuel.

"Mehrmaan" has been made by the new talent from the city. "We decided to go viral as we wanted to reach out to the maximum number of youngsters and gather support from professionals in the field," he said.

The American-Indian Foundation, an NGO, has focused on school and college students with multimedia and digital media courses. From hand-on activities to independent projects, the foundation has launched many short-films, theatre productions, documentaries and other activities involving fresh talent. “Our aim is to groom talent at an early stage and expose them to the various aspects of creative production. We mostly work with under-privileged children and with limited means,” said Aamir Aijaz, project coordinator of AIF. 

Amritsar, September 28
The Peoples’ Party of Punjab (PPP) organised a blood donation camp to mark the anniversary of legendary martyr Bhagat Singh here today. Speaking on the occasion district President Manmohan Singh Gumtala said PPP is a party which is based on the dreams of martyrs of the freedom struggle.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) also organised a blood donation camp at Vallah village near here. Revenue minister Bikram Singh Majithia exhorted party workers to donate blood. He said while rich can procure blood during emergency situations using their money power, the blood donated by volunteers help in saving lives of the underprivileged and poor.

He also congratulated BJP MLA Anil Joshi for his appointment as the minister for local bodies and medical education. He said it was after a long while that any politician from city had got the important ministry of local bodies.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Inderbir Singh Bolaria said SAD would organise blood donation camps in every constituency in district.

Amritsar, September 28
Over a 1,000 suspected cancer patients got registered for the special screening camp organised by the Health Department at Government Medical College here today.

The patients were helped by a team of 50 medical specialists in the process of diagnosis and counseling. District Family Welfare Officer Dr Ranjit Singh Buttar said all relevant tests on suspected patients were conducted free of cost during the camp.

Earlier, during a door-to-door cancer survey campaign initiated by the state government in December last year, over 9,000 suspected cancer patients were detected in the district.

“Of these around 6,000 had been screened earlier. The camp was planned to diagnose actual cancer patients from the remaining 3,000 suspected cancer patients,” said Dr Buttar adding that the department had made all arrangements to convey the information about organising this camp.

He said the remaining suspected patients would be screened on Sunday. Dr Buttar said data of all the screened patients was computerised so as to make a data base of cancer patients and their treatment.

He said that many confirmed cases of cancer too visited the camp to seek consultancy from expert oncologists. He said Max Health Care had helped the department in organising this camp.

The department had made elaborate plans for catering to the huge rush of patients. Even sewadars of the Golden Temple served langar to the large number of patients and their attendants.

District Health Officer Dr Shivkaran Singh Kahlon said most of the patients had came from far off areas and as such it was felt necessary that they should be given facilities of food and drinking water. He said the department was very thankful to SGPC for helping patients.

Apart from oncologists, surgical specialists, gynecologists, pathologists, ortho specialists, ENT and dental specialists too were present in the camp to provide all kinds of medical services to the people.

Sidhu’s demands have been genuine all this while and he is fighting for the public of Amritsar. His concerns about the misuse of funds meant for people development proves that he is honest in working for the city and its people, since he is standing up against his own. The public should have the right to know how the funds meant for the development are being utilised and his demands must be supported. People like him should definitely stay in politics and the public should back them
—Gaurav Dhawan, businessman 

I think Sidhu’s efforts are aimed in a wrong direction. I understand that development projects are very important, but our priorities are way beyond stadiums and a few road works. Basic amenities are in shambles and the city desperately needs better traffic governance and garbage disposal plan. The political games being played between Sidhu and the government is turning into just another drama. If he really wants to work for the people, he should start spending more time in city, float his own NGO and take up individual development projects
—Brij Bedi, social activist

Navjot Sidhu has been constantly working for Amritsar’s development. And this time too his fight is in city’s interests. But the political interests in this whole situation cannot be ruled out. He is getting sidelined by his own party and there is a lobby working against him. He should not be bogged down by consolatory messages from the government. There is a positive public wave supporting him and he should continue his struggle and resign from the party
—Bhuvan Arjun, businessman