Amritsar, January 17
Dense fog continues to envelope the city, causing delay in train and bus services. It threw normal life out of gear.

Many trains were running behind the schedule. Departure of Shan-e-Punjab was delayed by nearly 2:50 hours. Against its scheduled departure at 3:10 pm, it chugged out of the railway station at 6 pm.

Departure of the Dehradun Express was delayed by about 1:45 hours, against its scheduled departure at 10:15 pm. Similarly, the Delhi-Pathankot train chugged out 30 minutes behind its routine time.

Perturbed passengers were a harried lot as they huddled on the platform to learn the updated schedule. They thronged tea, coffee and snack vends to fight the biting cold. These three trains also arrived behind their scheduled time.

Similarly, many buses also reached and departed late to their destinations. Officials at the Shahid Madan Lal Dhingra Bus Terminal said bus drivers slowed the speed of vehicles as the visibility was poor under a thick cover of fog.

The city residents witnessed one more foggy day as the Sun god remained invisible while chilly wind intensified forcing life out of gear.

However, traders dealing in woollen garments are having a good time as they are cashing in on the cold wave that has gripped the region. A woollen trader, Harsimran Singh, said though the winter started well in November but it remained moderate. The sales picked up after it intensified in late December. He said once again dense fog returned a couple of days ago which is expected to prolong the winter and continue to drive the sales up. 

Amritsar, January 17
After the electronic-ticketing facility and fare-card-system, the MC authorities have conceptualised the idea of introducing pre-paid bus passes for commuters to be introduced soon in the city buses here.

Besides, the GPS system is being installed to locate the position of the buses. A centralised office is being set up at the Mall Mandi bus stand, especially built for the city buses.

Even as officials did not state the exact date of flagging off the service, yet the whole battery of officials could be seen working on minor detais.

MC Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said the idea was to make it as public friendly as possible.

“In a recent development, it has been decided to introduce pre-paid passes in buses to commuters. One pass per month could be obtained for Rs 250. This will entitle a person to board any city bus at any point. The modalities for electronic ticketing and fare-card system have already been finalised. The fare-card system will facilitate daily passengers to pay the fare by swiping the card, just on the lines of a debit card. The amount will automatically be deducted according to the usage. All these steps are being taken to bring transparency in the system and to shun the hassle of carrying small-denomination currency,” he said.

Under normal circumstances, for the non-AC buses, the least fare will be Rs 2 (up to 5 km), Rs 5 (5-10 km) and Rs 10 (more than 10 km). The fare for AC buses will be Rs 5 (up to 5 km), Rs 10 (5-10 km) and Rs 15 (more than 10 km) for air-conditioned buses.

In a step ahead for security purposes, every bus will be connected with the GPS system. “The location of the bus could be traced at any given time through this facility,” he told.

The MC has already deputed a dedicated team to remove all encroachments which could hinder the movement of buses.

As many as 40 GPS-enabled buses are going to be introduced in the first phase which will run in a span of 10 minutes for different destinations. There will be 20 mini-buses (29-seater) and an equal number of 35-seater buses.

The tentative route plan is: The 29-seater buses will run on Daburji-Sultanwind road-circular road-Golden Temple. The 35-seaters will run on Bus Stand-Railway Station-Chheharta-Attari.

In between, these buses will cater to around 25 other destinations falling on the way.

Amritsar, January 17
A special lecture was organised by the Department of Laws, Guru Nanak Dev University, to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. Vice-Chancellor Prof AS Brar presided over the seminar. Dr Anirban Ganguly, senior research fellow from Vivekananda International Foundation, New Delhi, delivered the lecture.

Dr Ganguly told the students about the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda. He said according to Swami Vivekananda, the only religion a student should follow was education. “He always advocated simple living, high thinking and a commitment towards society. He believed in the equality of mankind and preached extensively to remove exploitation based on caste, creed, race and gender," said Dr Ganguly.

Amritsar, January 17
Seeking withdrawal of an FIR lodged against 22 teachers, teachers from Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran held a protest march from DAV College to Jallianwalla Bagh.

Under the tutelage of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers' Union (PCCTU), the teachers working in the non-government colleges of Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Pathankot ceased to work after two periods. They organised a rally at DAV College and proceeded towards Jallianwala Bagh.

Throughout the march, the teachers raised slogans against the Khalsa College Principal, Dr Daljit Singh, its President, Satyajit Singh Majithia, and honorary secretary Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina and the state government.

Addressing the rally, Prof H S Walia said the FIR and the case were registered against the teachers on March 31, 2011, to suppress the democratic agitation launched by the teachers’ union against the proposed conversion of Khalsa College Amritsar into a private university.

He added that the agitation was totally peaceful and democratic and was launched with the objectives of protecting the interest of about 250 teachers and other employees of Khalsa College and safeguarding the heritage value of the college. He also demanded a fresh investigation by an independent agency into the turn of events to unearth the truth.

The PCCTU Vice-President, Prof Mukhwinder Singh, lambasting the state government for registering a "false and fabricated" case against the teachers under various sections of the IPC. He also condemned the Principal, Khalsa College, Amritsar for lodging a “false” complaint against the teachers. He flayed the Khalsa College Governing Council for backtracking from an agreement.

He said the agitation would be intensified and a call for 'education bandh' would be given after getting an approval from the PCCTU office- bearers.

Executive members Prof BB Yadav, Prof AK Dhir and Prof Charanjit Singh said the cases egistered against the teachers were the handiwork of a nexus among Principal, the Governing Council of Khalsa College, the state police and certain Cabinet ministers.

Amritsar, January 17
The row between the MC and its Class IV staff refused to die down on the third day too as the agitating employees gheraoed the MC Commissioner’s office at Town Hall. They also raised slogans against the state government.

As talks between the MC Commissioner and the employees remained inconclusive, the employees urged their supporters to continue the strike and shun the lifting of garbage in the city. The work in the other wings of MC office suffered after the agitating employees compelled the MC staff to support their agitation.

There is an estimated 1,800 tonnes of garbage lying unattended in various parts of the city. Heaps of garbage were seen at Custom Chowk, Putlighar Chowk, Old Sabzi Mandi, Hall Bazaar, Hathi Gate, Bagh Ramanand, Katra Moti Ram besides Lawrence Road Chowk and Chheharta. The same situation was witnessed in the walled city area.

While opposing the installation of a multi-crore solid waste management plant by private firms, the employees are also struggling to get their long-pending demands fulfilled. They argued that instead of hiring the firms to lift garbage at hefty prices, the MC should have improved its own machinery. Vinod Bitta, president, Safai Mazdoor Union (Bitta group), said, “The MC is not paying Rs 1,700 to every private garbage-lifting trolley daily, which translates to Rs 84,000 for 49 trolleys every day. It required a month’s rent to have the required garbage-lifting machinery. Due to the faulty planning and vested interests, the public money is being wasted," he said.

Endorsing it, Surinder Tona, general secretary of the MC Workers' Union, said the hiring of private firms would lead to corruption.

“We are demanding that the government should install the plant on its own and exploit the services of the hundreds of MC workers who were not being regularised. In 2011, CM Parkash Singh Badal had scuttled the move of hiring private firms for the installation of the the solid waste management plant. It is still unknown why the government took a u-turn and decided to hire the private firms. We want the government to invite us for talks and resolve our problems, otherwise we would intensify our agitation in the days to come," said Tona.

Amritsar, January 17
The Amritsar Improvement Trust on Friday earned over Rs 45 crore in the first auction of the year. The buyers evinced more interest in residential plots than commercial spaces. The improvement trust's Ranjit Avenue scheme attracted an exceptionally well response as five plots of 250 sq yard each were auctioned between Rs 31,500 and Rs 41,000 sq yard. All these plots are situated in the block B of the Ranjit Avenue and the reserve price was kept at Rs 21,000 sq yard.

All 11 plots situated in the block A and B of the New Amritsar scheme were also sold off. Five plots in the block A were sold between Rs 19,200 and 21,000 sq yard whereas the reserve price of a square yard was kept at Rs 12,100. Similarly, three plots of 106 sq yard each and equal number of 133 sq yard plots were aunctioned between Rs 22,500 and Rs 23,800.

However, half of the 10 built-up shops of 33 sq yard each under the same scheme were sold off. Against the reserve price of Rs 13.10 lakh, they fetched between Rs 14.26 lakh and 15.71 lakh. Of the 10 built-up shops (85 sq yard each) under the Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Maal Mandi scheme, only one was auctioned. The shop went for Rs 30.60 lakh.

Not a single commercial plot out of the five (363 sq yard each) situated in the District Shopping Complex on the Ajnala road, were sold off. The reserve price of a square yard was kept at Rs 90,000.

Amritsar, January 17
The Amritsar rural police have identified 20 accident-prone areas falling under the rural belt in Amritsar. These are the points where the maximum number of the mishaps took place in the past five years. The major causes behind the 173 deaths in 178 accidents are engineering defects, drunken driving, absence of road markings, reflectors and signboards.

As per the report, Road Accidents in India, prepared by the transport research wing of the Union road ministry, chances of getting killed in road accidents in Amritsar are the maximum followed by Ludhiana.

As per the police records, 191 persons were killed in road accidents in the rural belt in 2012. As many as 91 persons were injured in accidents in the same year. In 2013, 189 mishaps claimed 180 lives besides leaving 150 injured.

If police officials are to be believed, the maximum number of accident-prone points were on the Amritsar-Jalandhar road (National Highway I) followed by the Amritsar-Pathankot road (NH-15). The T-point near a religious dera at Beas witnessed 37 accidents, killing 29 in the past five years.

The police says a number of unauthorised passages through road dividers on the national highway are proving fatal for people as vehicles moving at a high-speed hit other vehicle taking a turn from these illegal carvings.

In the absence of under passages or slip roads, many accidents take place. Wrong parking of heavy vehicles or trucks is also one of the major reasons of accidents. Recently, seven persons lost their lives as their vehicles collided with stationary trucks near Khilchian, said Jasdeep Singh, SP (D). The Amritsar rural police have also identified 86 small bridges where there is no railing.

Amritsar, January 17
Even as mystery shrouds the death of a woman who allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself at her home in Krishna Nagar, located on the Tarn Taran road, on Wednesday night, the police have booked her husband following statements of the deceased’s father.

Pritpal Singh, a resident of Keerti Nagar, New Delhi, alleged that the accused, identified as Ranjit Singh, used to harass her and perturbed over this she took the extreme step of ending her life.

Police officials on the other hand said that according to Ranjit Singh, his wife, Jaspreet Kaur, committed suicide by hanging herself with the ceiling fan. He told the police that he found the body hanging in the evening when he returned home. He said he immediately took her down and called the doctor who declared her dead.

A police official said that the distance between the ceiling fan and the bed was short which raised suspicion.

He said further investigations were under progress while the accused was yet to be arrested in this regard. He said a case under Section 306, IPC, had been registered against Ranjit Singh, a cloth trader.

Amritsar, January 17
In Punjab, singer Malkit Singh is as good as "saag with makki di roti". The singer, who popularised bhangra globally, was in the city on Friday afternoon. He paid obeisance at the Golden temple. His purpose was spiritual by all means. Coming up with his latest album "Sikh Hon Da Maan", which is devotional one, Malkit was at his humble best. “When I started my musical journey, I never imagined that I would achieve such a success.”

Belonging to Hussainpura village in Jalandhar, the singer became the first person to be honored by Queen Elizabeth II of England with the Member of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire at the Buckingham Palace. And it did mean a lot to him. “It was a matter of pride for every Punjabi. Music lovers in UK and Europe are in awe of traditional Punjabi folk music. Despite the language barrier, the music provides them the entertainment,” he says.

Malkit Singh, who is one of the first to fuse bhangra with pop and collaborated with artistes like Apache Indian, is ready to release his first devotional album. “As an artiste, I want to explore every genre of music and since I am a spiritual person this album is all the more special,” Malkit says. “ My new album simplifies spiritual tunes like bhajans, shabad and kirtan for the youngsters. It would appeal to them. ” he says. The album has 10 tracks, comprising spiritual bhajans and shabads.

But the singer fails to understand the growing trend of violent and obscene lyrics among upcoming singers. He says, “I have always composed the music, which can be enjoyed by everyone. The youngsters should understand that the music should be for the soul.”

Amritsar, January 17
As many as 1,250 bicycles were distributed among girl students of Classes XI and XII under the Mai Bhago Scheme at Government Girls' Senior Secondary School, Mall Road, today.

The principal of the school, Mandeep Kaur, said Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi handed over the keys of the bicycles to the girl students.

School uniforms were also distributed among 320 students of Classes VI to VIII. The minister also announced to provide Rs 10 lakh from his discretionary fund to the school.

The minister also inaugurated a water recycling plant besides a netball ground on the school campus.

He said the SAD-BJP wanted to promote education among girls.

Joshi said it had been noticed that many girls drop out of school due to the distance between their residence and educational institutes.

“The government intends to increase the number of women pursuing higher studies," he said.