Govt-aided school teachers hold protest
Amritsar, November 19
Members of the Government Aided-School Teachers Union today staged a protest outside the treasury office here against the state government for not releasing the second instalment of 30 per cent arrears of the Fifth Pay Commission.

Amritsar, November 19
In a late-night operation, the Municipal Town Planning (MTP) Department of the Municipal Corporation today demolished the facade of certain commercial buildings around the Golden Temple. The buildings were ready to be used as hotels/guest houses, but against norms.

On the other hand, the proprietors of these buildings alleged that certain MTP Department officials had taken action more out of a grudge, as they were not satisfied with the "underhand payments" at the time of clearing their files.

Denying it outrightly, MC Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said the immediate orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court were not to let any fresh illegal construction crop up around the Golden Temple.

He clarified that as many as 40 such hotels/ guest houses were identified which came into being recently. Out of these, around 17 commercial buildings were shortlisted in the first phase, which would have to be demolished.

“We have been proceeding according to the law. All were given 72-hour notices about the illegal construction of their properties and action was taken only after the lapse of this period today," he said.

Nonetheless, a large staff of MC and police machinery, including SHO, Ram Bagh area, fortified the identified areas to carry out the demolition drive.

According to information, the team was led by newly appointed MTP officer Raj Kumar. It was at around 8 pm when the ditch machines were pressed into service amid the presence of a heavy police force.

The drive was started by demolishing a four-storeyed building which was about to be put in use as a hotel, located inside the Sultanwind Gate in the Walled city area.

Jaswinder Singh Bhullar, the proprietor of the building, said that he had received the 72 hour-notice and had also met officials. “I had even offered to pay them the penalty amounting to Rs 4 lakh as I was told by the officials a few days ago. I had even met Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi, who had assured me that no action would be taken.

Later, another such illegal commercial building, located a few yards away, was demolished partially till the filing of this report. 

Amritsar, November 19
Members of the Government Aided-School Teachers Union today staged a protest outside the treasury office here against the state government for not releasing the second instalment of 30 per cent arrears of the Fifth Pay Commission.

Ajay Chouhan of the union said staff of all 484 aided schools in the state today staged protests in front of treasuries of all districts. All government employees had already been issued their second instalment while they were not, he rued. He said aided schools submitted their bills in treasuries way back in August but these were not released yet. Besides, the ultimatum given to the government had expired.

He said “on the one side the sate government was saying that there is no shortage of funds with the treasuries, on the other hand we have not been paid our dues yet”. The union’s state president Gurcharan Singh today added that payment of adjustment bills had also not been released since July. He said if all these grievances of the teachers were not addressed, then they would hold protest in front of the Treasury office.

Hitting out at the SAD-BJP coalition government for its myopic policies, he said students of government-aided schools had been deprived the benefits of Mai Bhagi scheme and Dr Hargobind Khurrana scholarship. The former scheme is meant to provide bicycles to the girl students from economically weaker families and the latter offers scholarships to the students scoring above 80 per cent marks.

Earlier, he said, teachers of government-aided schools used to get salaries after nearly six months since the state government withheld the stipulated grant.

The state government provides 95 per cent grant-in-aid while the rest of the 5 per cent is shared by the managing committees of the respective schools. Teachers of these schools complained about being overburdened as 60 per cent posts are lying vacant.

Amritsar, November 19
In a significant step towards facilitating Indian and foreign non-schedule airlines operating to and from Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has installed Global Positioning Remote Satellite (GPRS)-enabled electronic data capture (EDC) machine.

The EDC machine, which is expected to be operational soon, will facilitate private airlines to deposit their fee directly at the airport. Earlier, these airlines used to pay charges at the headquarters in New Delhi.

Airport Director Suneel Dutt said the facility had been installed at the airport and required some technical operations to be completed before it was formally commissioned.

He said the commissioning of the GPRS-enabled EDC machine would facilitate non-scheduled domestic and foreign airlines in paying airport charges to the AAI through credit, debit or corporate cards round the clock at the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at the airport. The amount will be credited directly in the AAI's account at Corporate HQ, New Delhi.

Till now, flight handling agencies and pilots of non-scheduled aircraft landing here unexpectedly were required to carry huge amounts of cash to make the payments. Often, Air Traffic Control personnel collect the money. It was a sensitive job for them to complete the formalities and ensure its safe delivery at the AAI headquarter.

Coming from a technical background, the ATC officials had an onerous task of locating fake notes among wads of currency. It would help in curtailing problems of fake currency as well as conducting transactions in a more transparent manner and on a real-time basis and would be replicated across the country in due course.

The EDC is a point-of-sale terminal for submitting and validating credit card transactions to a merchant account provider, or some other credit card transaction processor, said Dutt and added that the facility would be extended to scheduled airlines later.

An initiative of the Union Civil Aviation Ministry, the EDC was commissioned at Juhu in Mumbai and Dabolim in Goa in the first phase and gradually it is being implemented at other airports, he said.

Amritsar, November 19
Patients admitted in various government hospitals are braving cold-weather conditions during night as glass panes of windows in their wards are broken.

It was seen that the patients and their attendants had made makeshift arrangements using blankets and even old newspapers to prevent the cold winds from coming inside.

Even as harsh winters are yet to set in, the patients in these government institutions complain that temperature dips drastically during the night making them uncomfortable.

They said that they had to use extra covering to keep themselves warm. The glass panes of windows in patient wards were seen broken at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital, TB Sanatorium and ESI.

The glass panes of widows in the corridors, too, were seen broken. An attendant of a patient, Surinder Kaur, said, “The window glasses are brittle and they often break. The government hospitals must make arrangements to replace them before winter starts.”

They said patients in those beds which were placed nearby broken windows were the most uncomfortable. “It is already November and in two weeks, it will be very cold even during the day. So it’s better if these windows are repaired,” said another patient, Harpal Singh. Meanwhile, authorities at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital and Civil Hospital said that instructions had already been issued for replacement of windowpanes. The Senior Medical Officer at the Civil Hospital, Dr Balbir Singh Dhillon, said, “We do get broken panes replaced every year. As a result, there are very few of them broken at present.” He said that the broken ones would be replaced immediately. 

Amritsar, November 19
The Municipal Corporation today conducted a property tax awareness-cum-tax realisation camp in different areas of the city.

Property tax nodal officer Rajinder Sharma said the MC pocketed an amount to the tune of over Rs 22 lakh today.

With the deadline for depositing property tax with 10 per cent rebate approaching (November 30), the MC is conducting camps in different localities to sensitise the residents about paying property tax.

Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora said though these camps yielded results, they were not exactly in the expected manner. “We are still trying our best to convince the residents about paying property tax. In my ward, we collected over Rs 20 lakh. The residents are getting aware about the benefits of paying property tax. They have been told that the money collected would help in providing them a better life in terms of basic civic amenities. Around 350 cases were cleared in Majitha road ward no 14 only today,” he said.

In Amritsar, a total of Rs 2 crore has been collected from around 10,000 units till date. 

Amritsar, November 19
With a view to create mass awareness about pitfalls of copying in examination, the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) today organised a rally and a seminar here.

The rally was flagged off by PSEB Vice-Chairperson Suresh Tandon, who is the patron of undergoing statewide anti-copying campaign. He along with the campaign convener, Shruti Shukla, DEO Satinder Bir Singh and other officials, addressed a seminar on the issue held at BBK DAV College.

Shruti Shukla said cases of copying were reported more in the border districts of the state. Hence, there was a greater need to raise awareness in the region to mobilise public opinion. She said rallies and seminars were being held in each district of the state.

Amritsar, November 19
Urshika Sethi, a Class IV student at Ryan International School, has brought laurels to the institution as she was selected for the cover page of a book titled "Young Chefs— Breakfast, Lunch Box, Main Meals, Desserts & Drinks".

Published by Penguin India, the book has been penned by celebrity chef Vikas Khanna. The book was launched on the Children's Day in Mumbai. —TNS

Amritsar, November 19
Musician Zolton Orosz had found his calling when he was four, watching his father and grandfather successfully playing Hungarian folk tunes the world over. Carrying forward his family and cultural legacy, he, too, has been doing just that, already making a mark in world music with his accordion.

On his maiden India visit, Zolton introduced his native music through his accordion to Punjabi music lovers. Playing at Khalsa College and later interacting with the audience at the art gallery at the opening of Hungarian photographer and Indologist Ervin Baktay's works, he opened up about his music and his quest to learn Indian classical music.

“It’s my first visit to India and a part of the reason to come here was my curiosity about Indian music, especially folk instruments. My tour has taken me to Delhi, Kolkata and now Amritsar, places of thriving culture. I really enjoyed playing here, with the amazing audience applauding me.” Zolton, hailing from rural Hungary and recipient of numerous awards and honours the world over, has performed on international stages and festivals in Europe and mostly plays Russian, French and Hungarian music. “Europe has a very deep-rooted folk culture, with each region having its own individual school of music. There is a lot still to be learnt about our music in this part of the world,” he said.

Confessing that he desires to learn more about Indian music, Zolton said his native music got limelight with only Imtiaz Ali’s Rockstar. “I believe the popular song “Hawa Hawa” had featured Hungarian folk tunes and that’s most people her know about it.”

His solo act was followed by an interaction at the art gallery’s opening of Hungarian Indologist Ervin Baktay’s collection of photographs. Baktay was also the maternal uncle of renowned artist Amrita Sher-Gill. 

Amritsar, November 19
Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand regions have qualified for the final of the three-day annual National Cricket Tournament to be held at Gandhi Ground tomorrow.

The tournament is being conducted by the Association of Schools for Indian School Certificate (ASIC).

In the first semi-final played today, West Bengal players posted a target of 138 runs for 8 in 20 overs. Chasing the target, Tamil Nadu players met the target in 16 overs. Aswin was adjudged the best bowler with two wickets and Rohit Ram of Tamil Nadu region was the highest scorer with quick 36 runs.

In the second semi-final, Karnataka batted first and scored 79 runs. In return, the combined team of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand region comfortably chased the target. Rishab of Karnataka region took two wickets. Karan Nayyar of Uttar Pradesh region was the highest scorer. 

Amritsar, November 19
The recent instance of thieves barging into the Government ENT Hospital here has once again brought to the fore the lack of security at health institutions.

Besides this incident, about a dozen other incidences of theft have been reported from various government health institutions in the past one year.

It has come to light that only one security guard was on duty during night when the theft occurred on the premises of the Government ENT Hospital, which is associated with the Government Medical College.

The thieves had stolen washroom fittings from the official residence of the medical superintendent of the Employees State Insurance (ESI) hospital when he was on a vacation.

In April this year, copper materials from solar system fitted atop the Bebe Nanki Mother and Childcare Centre was stolen. In October last year, two computers installed at the pharmacy of the ESI hospital were also stolen.

Medical equipment was stolen from the ART centre of the Government Medical College earlier. Even an LCD screen installed at the CCTV surveillance room of the Civil Surgeon’s office was stolen only a few hours after it was installed in March 2012.

There have been frequent cases of theft of materials kept for ongoing development works.

The Government Medical College has recently signed a contract with the Punjab Exservicemen Corporation for engaging security personnel. Thirty six guards have been sanctioned at the hospital by the state government.

The hospital authorities have been demanding at least 70 guards to care of its premises as there are many facilities and buildings erected in the recent past.

Dr KS Sidhu, Medical Superintendent, Government Medical College, said, “We need at least 70 guards to manage security at the institute. We already have asked for sanctioning of more number of guards.”

Amritsar, November 19
A group of persons have been arrested with one of their accomplices still absconding in an incident of a clash with a TV crew.

The Civil Lines police today registered a case against them under various sections of the IPC for assaulting the newsmen in full public view.

The accused have been identified as Surmangal Singh, Gurlovepreet Singh, both sons of Gurdeep Singh, resident of E Block, Ranjit Avenue, Nirmal Singh, son of Rashpal Singh, a resident of Madiala Johal Singh Patti, Raj Kumar, a son of Tilak Raj, a resident of Patti, and Amandeep Singh, son of Sukhdev Singh, a resident of Patti.

Deepak Sharma, in charge of Zee news network here, said the accused used abusive language without provocation while his crew members in a Gypsy were negotiating their way on the road.

“Myself, my camera men Parshotam Chand, Rishi Kumar and driver Satpal Singh were passing through the Bhandari bridge to proceed for news coverage. The accused refused to get their car aside. They were in an inebriated state and started beating us up without any provocation. The accused also damaged our camera worth Rs 1.5 lakh. I immediately called up for police assistance but before it could arrive, they assaulted us badly,” Sharma said.

Confirming the incident, the ASI, Lakhwinder Singh of Durgiana police post, said that except Amandeep Singh, all accused had been arrested and a case against all five had been registered. "The accused were in Indica (PB-46-J 5004) under the influence of liquor, according to the complainant. The matter is under investigation," he said.