Amritsar, November 21
Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport, Amritsar, today became the 30th airport in the country with the operationalisation of the Global Positioning Remote Satellite (GPRS)-enabled electronic data capture (EDC) machine to facilitate ground-handling agencies, Indian and foreign non-scheduled airlines utilising cashless transfer to the Airport Authority of India (AAI).

Ministry of Civil Aviation Joint Secretary G Asok Kumar along with Rajesh Bhandari, Executive Director (Finance), Corporate Headquarters, AAI GPRS-enabled electronic data capture machine at the airport.

He said the facility was first extended to Mumbai Airport in September and before the conclusion of this year, all 96 airports would be covered.

The EDC would facilitate private airlines in depositing their fee directly at the airport. 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 airport. The amount would be credited directly in the AAI's account at the corporate headquarters, New Delhi.

Till now, flight-handling agencies and pilots of non-scheduled aircraft landing here were unexpectedly required to carry huge amounts of cash to make payment. Often Air Traffic Control personnel collected the money. Kumar said it was a daunting task for the AAI employees to distinguish counterfeit currency notes from the fee. Besides, it was also a burdensome job for the crew of non-scheduled flights to carry a huge quantity of cash with them. Conversion of foreign currency was another time-consuming job.

He said practice of non-scheduled flights at the country's airports had picked up in recent years, adding that the Panaji airport in Goa topped the list with over 1,000 non-scheduled flights landing there.

The Joint Secretary, Civil Aviation, said the holy city's airport was handling about a million passengers annually and as many as six airlines were operating from here. Many more flights were inclined to start operations from here.

In response to a question, he said Air India had a limited number of aircraft and recently about seven B787 Dreamliners had been inducted into the fleet out of the order for 27 Dreamliners.

Rajesh Bhandari spoke on the benefits of the new facility and how it could curtail fake currency. It would also ensure transparency in monetary transactions and their prompt realisation to the AAI. The facility was commissioned at the Juhu, Mumbai, Goa and Visakhapatnam airports in the first phase and Amritsar Airport also has now got the facility. 

Amritsar, November 21
The CCTV cameras installed at the Civil Surgeon's office complex here to keep an eye on the activities of the employees and to help in giving corruption-free services are lying defunct for a long while now.

These cameras were installed to keep an eye on the birth and death registration office, the Suwidha centre, the Civil Surgeon's office, inside and outside the main entrance.

The apathy of the administration towards the project has resulted in these cameras going defunct one after another. The employees' attitude towards these cameras was negative from the very beginning as the LCD screen to monitor these cameras was stolen within a few hours of its installation.

The then Civil Surgeon, Dr MS Randhawa, had come up with the novel idea of installing these cameras to curb corruption at the office. As a result, six cameras were installed in March last year.

An insider at the office said, "Employees in the office feel uneasy when the camera is looking at them. It forced people to remain on their seats during duty hours. Besides, it can also record underh and dealings."

The general public has often complained about corruption among employees at the Civil Surgeon's office. In such a situation, the cameras can help in providing fair and free services to the general public.

Baltej Singh, a visitor, said cameras could help curb corruption to a great extent. These can also help in ensuring the presence of employees on their desks during office hours, he said.

Amritsar, November 21
Even as the craze for modern-day hookahs among the younger generation is on the rise, as is evident from half a dozen such places operating in the city, the city doctors have warned that smoking hookah may lead to contracting the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Most of the hookah bars market their product claiming that they don't use tobacco. Even for youngsters, these hookahs are not a means for intoxication, but just a style statement. Speaking at a seminar about COPD, Dr Ravneet Grover, chest specialist at Respicure Chest and ENT Centre, said despite claims by these bars, the hookah had nicotine content along with emission of poisonous gases just as in cigarette smoking.

On World COPD Day, Grover and his team undertook free diagnostic tests on at least 120 patients using "spirometry", a device to check the presence of COPD especially in the case of smokers or ex-smokers, or persons in close proximity to contaminated air containing dust, smoke and chemicals.

Grover said, "The disease is more visible in persons who have started smoking in their youth and have crossed the age of 40. Once it is detected, only symptomatic help can be given via inhalers to help smoothen out breathing troubles. Even Yog asanas can render temporary relief and unless the sufferer leaves the contaminated environment and habit of smoking, the chances of the disease getting worse are imminent."

He said other major risk-causing factors of COPD include dust and chemicals encountered on jobs and smoke from biomass fuels as coal, wood and animal dung, burned for cooking and heating in poorly ventilated places.

In Punjab, COPD is seen more in the urban population and being a Sikh-dominant area that shuns smoking, COPD cases are less as compared to other states. "COPD is a not contagious but a new fad among urban youngsters is a detrimental trend," 
he warned.

The early symptoms of COPD are chronic cough, bringing up sputum, and breathlessness during physical activity such as exercise or walking up a flight of stairs, he stated.

Amritsar, November 21
A delegation of the PCMS Specialist Doctors Association met the Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, and apprised her of the problems faced by the medical fraternity. In a memorandum submitted to the CPS, the association demanded that a separate cadre of specialist doctors be constituted to address their grievances. The association further stated that the time scale of 4,9,14 years should be immediately implemented to promote doctors. They further demanded that the NPA (non-practice allowance) should be made a part of the basic pay as had already been done for the doctors working under the Union Government.

The association has also demanded an allowance equivalent to 50 per cent of the basic pay for higher qualification. It demanded 15 per cent conveyance allowance and 15 per cent rural area allowance. — TNS

Amritsar, November 21
Famous Hungarian Indologist and artist Ervin Baktay will be remembered through a collection of photographs exhibited at the local art gallery. Relatively unknown for his works and more for being the maternal uncle of legendary artist Amrita Sher-Gill, the Hungarian Culture and Information Centre is marking his 50th birth anniversary through a series of exhibitions of his documented photographs from his personal collection.

It was in 1926 that 36-year-old Hungarian author Ervin Baktay came from Budapest to India with questions on his mind about the Indian subcontinent. Fascinated by Indian figures such as Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi, he gave up his career as an artist to pursue Indology. His sister, Marie Antoniette Gottesmann, was married to Sikh scholar Umrao Singh Sher-Gill. It was during that time that Baktay travelled across India and documented India of that era in his photographs. “Baktay spent most of his time living in Shimla, Lahore and Kolkata. His observations about Indian culture, people and traditions remain most relevant in Hungary even today,” shares RMS Chinna, president, Indian Academy of Fine Arts, who opened the exhibition in city.

Sourced from the private archives of Baktay's family and curated by Zoltan Bonta, 30 photographs show the Indologist, writer and artist in various parts of India between 1926 and 1929. Among the photographs on display is a poignant portrait of the Umrao Singh-Baktay Gottesmann family; Baktay with Singh in Lahore's Shalimar Garden; in Shimla; on his houseboat in Dal Lake and his last India visit in 1956. One of the photographs shows a young Ervin Baktay when he was studying art under Simon Hollosy, the Hungarian pioneer in naturalism and realism. This was also the time he got interested in Asian arts and aesthetics. It was Hollosy's school of art that led him to mentor his niece, Amrita Sher-Gil, who was in Hungary, and encourage her to become an artist.

Along with Baktay’s works, a collection of prominent works of Amrita Sher-Gill, too, have been put up for display, including celebrated paintings like "Three Women" and "Brahmcharis". “Our effort was to bring some documents and books authored by Baktay on Indology. But since most of his books were written in Hungarian, not many people are familiar with them. We plan to educate and bring more of his works to the city and associate with galleries in Budapest as well,” said Chinna. The exhibition was inaugurated in the presence of Hungarian Cultural and Information Centre Director, Tibor Kovacs, and his wife, Orsi Kovacs. 

Amritsar, November 21
The police have arrested two persons in connection with yesterday’s instance in which a few youths assaulted a home guard, Baljit Singh, on duty.

Baljit Singh was accompanying the youths to the police station to get the vehicle impounded after the accused failed to produce documents of the vehicle they were travelling in.

The arrested have been identified as Navparkash Singh, alias Nav, a resident of Basarke Gillan, Amritsar, and Satwant Singh, a resident of Dharam Kot Bagga village, Gurdaspur.

A case under various sections of the IPC has been registered with the Chhehartta police station.

The incident occurred at the Chheharta chowk yesterday where a police party headed by ASI Devinder Singh had set up a naka to inspect vehicles.

The ASI said when he along with his team had been checking vehicles, the accused came by jeep no. PUP 193. “They were asked to show the driving licence and the documents of the jeep, but they couldn’t. Consequently, the jeep was ordered to be impounded. "I sent Baljit Singh along with them to get the vehicle impounded at the Chheharta police station, but on the way, the accused along with their accomplices, around 10 in number, beat him, tore his uniform and threatened him. Search is on to arrest the others,” he said.

The victim, Baljit Singh, who was posted at the Chheharta police chowki was later thrown near the Chheharta grain market area by the accused who later fled with the vehicle. The policeman was later admitted to the local Civil Hospital for treatment.

Amritsar, November 21
Professor Hardeep Singh from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Guru Nanak Dev University, has been awarded the best professor award in computer engineering by the Dewang Mehta Foundation Trust, Mumbai.

He has been given the award keeping in view his commendable services in the field of teaching and research in computer science and engineering.

Prof Hardeep, also holding the post of Director Placements of the university, has more than 27 years of experience in teaching and research in computer science and engineering.

He has published more than 110 research papers in various national and international journals. — TNS

Amritsar, November 21
The Bhagwan Valmiki temple, to be constructed at Ramtirath at a cost of Rs 115 crore, would strengthen the bond of communal harmony and peace, said Cabinet Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike here today.

The temple will have a central hall fanged by four porticoes in all the directions and approached by a causeway attached with deoris (entrance portals) at both ends.

He said the design of the temple was based on the concept of 84 lakh births one had to go through before attaining the human life.

Further explaining the design of this memorial, Ranike said the central shikhar of this memorial would be of 84-foot in height, circular in nature and it would rest on the octagonal drum having windows to allow light inside. He said the four small shikhras at the corners and a main central shikhra would have kalasha (pitcher) at the top which was viewed as a symbol of abundance, wisdom and immortality.

The temple would stand in a holy sarovar, which would be further connected to parikarma (circumambulation) with a wide bridge. In the interior, there were two helical staircases leading to cantilevered wide gallery to showcase Bhagvan Valmiki’s thoughts in inscription and pictorial forms.

The minister said a pocket of 11 acres was being developed as exhibition and congregation complex with a sangat hall having a capacity of 5,000 persons, a museum and panorama to highlight the life and history of Bhagwan Valmiki, as well as major events of the Ramayana. There was a provision of multi-storeyed parking complex to accommodate 800 cars besides an administrative block, sarai (inn) and a langar hall would also be constructed in the temple complex. 

Amritsar, November 21
Amritsar has become a torch-bearer for the state farmers in ambitious crop diversification plan of the Punjab government as farmers of this border district have been adopting subsidiary occupation rapidly instead of paddy and wheat crop pattern as compared to other districts.

Besides cultivation of basmati, dairy farming, fishery and horticulture are some other subsidiary occupations being adopted by the progressive peasantry of the Amritsar.

Ravi Bhagat, Deputy Commissioner said to prevent the depletion of ground water, the Punjab government was wooing farmers for basmati cultivation by exempting it from mandi fee, resulting in the increase of area under basmati by nearly 20,000 acres. Due to awareness campaign the farmers opted for 1121, 1509 and 386 varieties of basmati, which were sold out from Rs 3800 to 4500 per quintal. Amritsar district has increased 24 per cent area under basmati cultivation.

In dairy farming, Amritsar leads in milk production as the district contributing 10 per cent of the total milk production in the state. Besides that only Amritsar has been running more than 400 dairy farming centres.

Referring about the Blue revolution, Bhagat said in 2012-13, 637.50 acres area was brought under fishery, resulting in production of 5,519 tonne fish. Primary training of five-day on fishery was also imparted to interested candidates at district headquarters. To establish hatchery for fresh water fishery, Rs 1.20 lakh was also given as subsidy.

He also said a district level cattle fair will be organised on November 29 and 30 at Mela Ground, Amritsar, where competition in 48 categories would be held. Winners would be honoured with cash prizes worth Rs 5.5 lakh.

He said it was the first time that more than 17,000 acres of land had been cultivated under vegetables in which 2,100 acres had come under horticulture, he added. 

Amritsar, November 21
As part of the NCC Day celebrations, a rally was flagged off by Maj Gen PS Mander. The rally comprising 1,600 cadets from various NCC units of NCC group with tableau of four tractor-trolleys and other NCC vehicles, covering themes on social evil and upliftment which include waste managment, female foeticide, anti-drug and my earth my duty, visited various parts of the city.

The rally passing through Puttalighar, railway workshop, Balmiki Chowk finally ended on the premises of Khalsa College.

During the NCC week, starting from November 18, debates,declamations, painting competition are being conducted in various colleges and schools with aim to awaken the society against the social evils.

Jalandhar, November 21
Amidst a cold war between Mayor Sunil Jyoti and Senior Deputy Mayor Kamaljit Singh Bhatia, Gurcharan Singh Makkar, a local builder, has levelled serious allegations against Bhatia for demanding Rs 2 lakh from him as bribe.

Submitting an affidavit in support of his allegations to the Mayor and the Municipal Corporation Commissioner, Manpreet Singh Chhatwal, the builder alleged that Bhatia had demanded Rs 2 lakh from him in December 2011 for ensuring clearance to him for constructing a staircase at building No. 5 B, Model Town.

Talking to The Tribune, Makkar said: “My wife Baljit Kaur is the owner of the first floor and a portion of the ground floor of the building located in the posh Model Town market, whereas one of the shop located on the ground floor is owned by Harjit Singh Bhatia’s relative."

Makkar alleged that “Bhatia and his relative put pressure on me directly and indirectly to sell the first floor and portion of the ground floor owned by my wife to Harjit at just less than the half of the market value. They asked me to sell it to them at Rs 70 lakh whereas its market value is around Rs 1.5 crore. When I refused to do so, Bhatia used his influence and got my building sealed by stopping the ongoing construction work of the staircase.”

The builder said: “The seals were opened on the direction of the court sometime ago and I applied to the MC for getting permission for constructing the staircase on October 7. But MC officials are not giving him permission to construct the same at Bhatia’s behest.”

While the Mayor could not be contacted despite repeated attempts, the MC Commissioner said he would get a legal opinion on the affidavit submitted by Makkar.

“Since I have joined the MC a few weeks ago, I will ask my staff to provide me the entire information regarding the case,” he added.

Kapurthala, November 21
A government schoolteacher was slapped by the parents of a student here today. As per information, the incident occurred at the local government elementary school situated in the industrial area. It is learnt that Kamaljeet Kaur’s three children were studying in Class III. Yesterday, the trio had some verbal scuffle with their classmate Madhu.

Eyewitnesses said Kamaljeet Kaur, along with her husband Prem Pal, reached the school today and tried to take Madhu out of the school premises.

When the schoolteacher, Nancy, tried to prevent the duo from doing so, the latter allegedly slapped her. The matter was reported to the police.

City police station in charge Bharat Massih Ladhar, said: “We have received a complaint from the school staff and necessary action will be taken against the accused.” — OC

Amritsar, November 21
Ryan International School, Amritsar, has bagged the prestigious international school award, a Global Collaborative Learning Competition, organised by the British Council, in Kolkata, on November 16-17.

The award is a global project that recognises the outstanding works done by schools that are committed to developing international dimensions in the curricula to help young learners become effective global citizens. The school initiated the projects through collaborating with schools from the USA, London, Nepal and Canada. The students conducted projects on topics like environmental degradation and toxic wastes, international and Indian rivers, Olympics Grasslands in North America, Fractions and touching many more subjects. The students exchanged emails, conducted online surveys and interviews through video conferencing and conducted in-house activities on the topics of their interest.