The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Bridges without railing No headway in compiling report after a road accident PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 20 Even as Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat had asked the authorities to compile a report regarding bridges sans railing in Amritsar's rural belt, the district administration is yet to receive the same. Bhagat had directed the officials of the Public Works Department, Mandi Board and Central Works Department for preparing a report, following a tragic road mishap near the Ramdass area around two months ago. As many as 10 persons, including women and children, had died in this mishap after their car fell into the canal from the bridge having no railing. On the other hand after the incident, the Amritsar rural police conducted a survey on their own. As many as 86 such bridges were identified which do not have any railing and thus making it an accident prone area, especially during the foggy season in winter. As per the list, the copy of which is with The Tribune, areas falling under Tarsikka and Mattewal police stations have maximum number of canal bridges (9) without railings besides areas falling under Gharinda and Ajnala police station has 8 and 7 bridges, respectively. Chatiwind, Kamboh, Majitha, Beas Bhindi Saida and Jandiala Guru have six similar bridges falling in its area. Jasdeep Singh SP (D), Amritsar rural police, said it had identified 22 more accident-prone areas. He said the police department had been writing to the District Administration to ask the department concerned for putting up railings and conduct repair work at these bridges which were snuffing out innocent lives. The DC said he had deputed AC (General) for collecting the information and to make a relevant report in this regard. He said he was not aware of any report prepared by the Amritsar rural police. “If the Amritsar rural police have prepared any report, I would ask them to give it to the district administration for further action regarding the fixing of railings and repair of the bridges,” said Bhagat.
	Case registered in child kidnapping incident in shrine PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 20 A one-year-old boy was allegedly kidnapped on December 28 by a woman from the premises of the Golden Temple here.But the mother of the victim lodged a complaint with the Kotwali police only last evening. Jyoti, a resident of Jhajhar, Haryana, had come to Darbar Sahib for paying obeisance on December 25. She told the police that an unknown woman, who also used to visit the temple developed a friendly relation with her. She said the woman told her that she belonged to Sultanpur Lodhi and used to regularly visit the holy city to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple. She said on December 28, she went to the community kitchen to take some milk for the child and left the child with that woman. After coming back she did not find the lady and her son there. She alleged that the woman had kidnapped her child. When asked why she was registering a complaint after nearly a month has elapsed, she said she was searching for the child on her own and sometimes used to wait in the Darbar Sahib for that woman. On the basis of her complaint the police have registered a case under Section 363 of the IPC in this connection while further investigations were under progress. Surinder Mohan, SHO, Kotwali police station, said the investigating team had gone through the CCTV footage of that particular period and place from where the boy was allegedly kidnapped. "Till now we have not got any breakthrough in the case while the CCTV footage have also failed to provide any clue in this connection. "The CCTV footage did not find the presence of the victim as well as the accused on the Golden Temple premises," said Surinder Mohan. An official of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) said the incident occurred on the Sri Guru Ram Dass Niwas side where the number of close circuit cameras were less. He said the CCTV footage of the particular point was not conclusive. It is pertinent to mention here that this is not the sole case. In June last year, a 3-year-old boy was also kidnapped by three persons, including two women, while the victim was sleeping with his family. Though a day after the boy with shorn hair left abandoned near the Chatiwind gate, the police was yet to nab the culprits.
	Municipal Corporation tries to win over safai karamcharis Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 20 With the municipal corporation employees continuing their protest, heaps of garbage can be seen accumulating at the local government health institutions and other places. Earlier sweepers with the civic body had gone on a strike and had refused to lift the garbage. A visit to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital here said that a large bin placed inside the hospital by the MC was already full and garbage was lying scattered around it. Sweepers at the hospital said it was the responsibility of the MC to collect garbage and transport it to the garbage- disposal facility. Meanwhile, visitors to the hospital said the garbage had started rotting as it was lying there for the past four days. “Especially after mild showers in the city on Friday night, foul smell has increased. The garbage must be transported at the earliest as it is very unhygienic,” said Alambir Singh, a visitor. Another visitor, Sukriti Sharma, said, “Garbage collection is an emergency service and the government must not allow employees to remain on on for any issue. It would be very good if the issues are resolved so that situation of cleanliness can be improved.” Even as residents of the holy city had been complaining regularly of scattered garbage even when the employees were working regularly, the problem on the roads can be easily assessed when employees are on protest for the past five days. The safai karamcharis with the MC are on a warpath alleging that setting up of a solid waste management plant with the association of private companies would harm their interests. In protest, they have stopped lifting garbage to pressurise the civic body to shun all such proposals. Meanwhile, MC officials said that they were trying to resolve the issue with the employees. They said hopefully the problem would be solved soon.
	Govt doctors told to work sincerely Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 20 Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jiani asked doctors to perform their duty with sincerity and honesty to restore public’s faith in government medical services. The minister held a meeting with the doctors of Tarn Taran and Amritsar districts at local circuit house here today. The meeting was also attended by Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, Director, Health, Dr Karanjit Singh, Director, ESI, Dr Bagh Mal, State Drug Controller Ajay Singla, Civil Surgeon Dr Usha Bansal, District Family Welfare Officer Dr Ranjit Singh Buttar, District Health Officer Dr Shivkaran Singh Kahlon and a large number of doctors from both the districts. He instructed the doctors to prescribe cheaper and generic medicines to the patients. He said instead of writing brand names on the prescription slip, the doctors should write salt names only. He said cleanliness should be ensured at the hospitals and pictures of the religious figures should be installed in the patients’ wards. Jiani instructed the drug inspectors to seal the chemist shops if they are found selling proscribed drugs. Jaini said the state had been divided into eight zones with a administrative point of view and a system of regular meetings with the staff had been initiated. He said the idea was to know the problems faced by the employees and find solutions for these at the earliest. He said new paramedical staff would be soon recruited in the state.
	Captivating jugalbandi between Rudra Veena, Pakhawaj players Preneet Singh Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 20 Music inevitably comes to those, who love to make it under all circumstances, was the message that rang out loud and clear through the halls of Spring Dale Senior School during the joint recital by Rudra Veena player Baha’ud-din Mohiuddin Dagar and Pakhawaj proponent Chitrangna Agle Reshwal under the aegis of Spic Macay. Apart from the overwhelming styles of these two musicians, the students and teachers had the opportunity to have a glimpse into their awe inspiring musical journeys too. “Besides getting acquainted with the finer nuances of classical music, the recital enabled the students to learn a valuable lesson that hard work, determination and persistence pay rich rewards whether it is in the field of music, academics or any other field,” said Rajiv Kumar Sharma, Principal, Spring Dale Senior School. The duo also presented a programme at the DAV International School where their performances left everyone spellbound. Principal Anjana Gupta extended a warm and traditional welcome to the revered guests. The function commenced with the lamp lighting ceremony. School chairman Dr VP Lakhanpal while extending a warm welcome to the guests, said that music is an inseparable part of nature. Rudra Veena player, Bahauddin Mohiuddin Dagar, with a stupendous ‘Alaap, Jarr and Jhaala’ in Rag Tori, enthralled students as well as teachers. In his address, he informed the students that Rudra Veena is considered dear to Lord Shiva. It is an ancient instrument rarely played today. He inspired students to show interest in classical instruments. Chitrangana Agle Reshwal, in her address, informed the students that despite being a woman she gained an expertise in Pakhawaj, proving women are no less than men. The Principal honoured the guests with mementoes and appreciated them for sparing their valuable time for the school. The students learnt about the musical instruments like Rudra Veena and Pakhawaj. The classical music concert had a soothing and a long lasting impact on the minds of students. Baha’ud-din Mohiuddin Dagar Son of legendary Rudra Veena maestro Ustaad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, Baha’ud-din Mohiuddin Dagar began his musical education on a sitar under the tutelage of his mother Pramila Dagar, at the age of seven, where after he went on to learn Surbahar and then the Rudra Veena under his father, after whose demise he was trained by his uncle. His style reflects all that he has learnt from his father, but Baha’ud-din has made his contributions as far as his renditions on a Rudra Veena are concerned. Between 1990 and 2013, he has been conferred with several awards for his musical endeavours and performances in India and abroad. At present, Baha’ud-din teaches at the Dhrupad Gurukul at Palaspe near Panvel and continues to learn from Pandit Pushpraj Koshti, a senior disciple of Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar and Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar. Chitrangna Agle Reshwal Chitrangna Agle Reshwal was barely 10 when she expressed a desire to be initiated into the world of Pakhawaj, only to end up being admonished by her father Pandit Kalidas Pant Agle of the Nana Panse gharana, who wanted her to learn Kathak, sitar and veena, all feminine instruments and dance forms. However, she used to lurk around corners whenever her father taught her brothers to play Pakhawaj and learnt every note, practicing the instrument when they were not around. Her determination paid off and one day she was caught playing the instrument by her father, who later made her sit along with her brothers during the practice sessions. Reshwal was soon sent to Baba Alauddin Khan Academy, where she trained under the famous Pakhawaji Raja Chhatrapati Singh for five years.
	Better amritsar tourism AT a GLAnCE concluding part Not enough signposts installed to guide tourists Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 20 Tourists visiting the holy city and the hospitality players have different demands and issues to improve the hospitality industry here. A Sikh pilgrim from Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh Narinder Singh said, “Haphazard movement of vehicles, rampant encroachments on the main roads and footpaths, are resulting in undue harassment to tourists as well as local commuters. Adequate number of policemen and policewomen were out on the streets but they looked helpless in the face of various gaps”. Ritz Hotel general manager Piyush Kapoor said, mismanagement of tourism sector is reflecting badly on business. Tourism is a unique sector where various government departments and businesses right from rickshaw and auto drivers to hotels and traders were involved. Levying of proposed beautification tax would deter tourists from visiting Amritsar”. A tourist from France, Maya, said during her three-day stay in the Sikh holy city, she found that, “The system to inform visitors about tourist places is slow and tardy. Not enough signposts are installed to guide visitors to the tourist office at railway station. I found it as I arrived by train from Delhi three days back. I did not find the guide to inform about the Sikh culture and history and the relevance of various historic places in French language”. Another tourist from Srinagar, Mushtaq Ahmad, who visited the Golden Temple and Jallianwala Bagh today along with his mother, wife and a son, said, rickshaw and auto drivers charged hefty amount from them. They tried to know about local bus service to curtail transport expenses but in vain. I found goodlocal transport at Jammu and Chandigarh. Amritsar Hotel and Restaurant Association president, APS Chatha said, “Luckily number of tourists are growing every year, but the government failed to bring any constructive policy to make them stay longer here. Excessive and high taxation have become a bane for organised and chain hotels while unregistered and small hotels are flouting norms to evade taxes. Government is happily adding taxes after looking at the construction of new hotels and rise in the number of tourists while failing to bring hotels and lodges under the tax preview”.
	Polio drops administered Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 20 The volunteers and employees of the Health Department today administered polio drops to the children who are less than 5 years of age, in a door-to-door campaign. The department had yesterday administered polio drops to children at 1,410 immunisation booths set up in the district. The District Immunisation Officer said the door-to-door campaign immunisation drive would be continued on January 21. She said that the door-to-door campaign was planned to immunise those children who could not reach to the booths. “The teams of the department enquire about whether the children in a home have been given the drops or not. If not, they were administered drops on the moment,” she said adding that people are cooperating with the department in the campaign. She said the department had constituted teams under 272 supervisors who were managing the entire campaign.
	Need to create awareness about heritage, says scholar Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 20 A day-long deliberation at the Khalsa College of Education (KCE) today on `Heritage Conservation in Punjab: Issues and Strategies,’’ stressed on the need for conservation of heritage and awareness about `living history'. The key speaker Prof Balvinder Singh, Head, Guru Ram Das School of Planning, Guru Nanak Dev University said there was urgent need for creating awareness regarding heritage so that the `relics of the past’ could be preserved and conserved. He sought government’s initiative to preserve the historic buildings and sites and urged NGOs to come forward to protect our heritage structures, which were falling to the vagaries of time. ``The awareness at school level is must and we must protect our historic sites and towns, including capitals of formerly princely states,’’ he said. ``There is good work going on. The preservation is on at the Golden Temple complex, Gurdwara Baba Atal, Gobindgarh Fort, Ram Bagh gardens but we need to focus on the wall city areas where the existing bylaws are playing havoc with the old buildings which are being destroyed,’, said he, adding that we must review the whole efforts that were underway to preserve the heritage. ``Punjab and especially Amritsar has many historic sites, including Khalsa College complexes where the conservation and preservation work had been carried out in a big way. We need to focus more’’, he said further. Prof Balvinder was welcomed by KCE principal, DrJaswinder Singh Dhillon, who said globally an awareness to protect physical and cultural heritage was growing and stressed on creating public awareness about diversity of the heritage. ``The pilgrims and tourists circuits must be developed to encourage heritage tourism to earn revenue, generate employment and this will lead to conservation of the buildings too," Prof Balvinder Singh said. Prof Balvinder said the involvement of community and educational institutions to develop awareness on the subject was must.
	Contract teachers stage protest Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 20 The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Central sponsored scheme (CSS), teachers association staged a statewide protest here today. Addressing a gathering of members from Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Tarn Taran districts, state president Didar Singh said the state government was not regularising the services of teachers employed on contract basis. He said while the teachers were being exploited for the last five years, the government has taken no initiative to regularise their services. He said a large number of posts of teaching staff were lying vacant in the schools, and the government must formulate a policy to absorb contractual staff at these posts. Association general secretary, Sunil Kumar, said contractual system was an exploitative system and it should be abolished.
	Deployed for VIPs, cops fail to arrest accused Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 20 The police failed to make any breakthrough in the kidnapping case of a Class +2 student of Government Senior Secondary School for Boys, Majitha, for the second consecutive day on Monday. Investigating officer Mehar Singh said investigations could not be carried out as the police had been deployed for VVIPs attending the final rites of Bidhi Chand, sect chief, Baba Daya Singh, at Sur Singh village. The victim, Harvinder Singh, was allegedly kidnapped by his classmates over a minor dispute from outside the school premises. Following a complaint by the victim’s cousin, Ravinder Singh, resident of Naagkalan village, the police registered an attempt to murder and kidnapping case against Jajbir Sing and Amarjit Singh of Kotla Majha village, Jagroop Singh of Rumana Chak village, and Jatinder Singh of Gallowali. The complainant alleged that the four car-borne accused kidnapped Harvinder. “While Jagroop was armed with a revolver, Amarjit Singh possessed a double barrel gun of .12 bore. When Harvinder came out of the school after the examination, the accused thrashed him, shot at him and took him away in the vehicle,” alleged Ravinder in his complaint. The school management immediately informed the police.
	Youth booked on extortion charge Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 20 The city police have booked a local youth on extortion charge. He allegedly tried to extort money from a girl who happens to be sister of his own friend, living in Kuwait. The accused allegedly blackmailed her while threatening to post her photographs and SMSs on the internet and extort thousands of rupees from her. The complainant told the police that her brother Naveen sent a Laptop from Kuwait, but she did not know how to operate the equipment. She alleged that her brother asked the accused, identified as Sunny of Haripura area to give her some tips and teach to operate the Laptop. She alleged that her brother also sent some cash for procuring a mobile from which he bought Samsung Grand phone. She said the accused used his ID in the Laptop and mobile for activation and somehow transferred data of her mobile phone into his mobile. She alleged that the accused later started harassing and threatening her for posting her photographs on the internet. She said the accused demanded cash and gold chain from her. She said she gave Rs 20,000 to the accused. The police have registered a case under Section 386, 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 66, 67 Information Technology Act 2000. No arrest has been made so far.
	Branch manager of bank goes missing Amritsar, January 20 Chandresh Saini, branch manager of the Central Bank of India branch located near Guru Nanak Dev University here has been missing under mysterious circumstances for the past couple of days. His family members, suspecting his kidnapping, have lodged a complaint with the Chheharta police. The police have registered a missing report in this regard while further investigations were under progress. Sudesh Saini, wife of Chandresh Saini, said that her husband did not return home since Saturday. She said her husband went to the bank as a routine but failed to return home till late in the evening. She repeatedly called on his cellphone but did not get any response. She then contacted his colleagues who also failed to give a clue about his whereabouts. Late in the night, when the bank was reopened, the officials found his bag, spectacles and cellphone in his cabin. Gurdev Singh, deputy manager of the bank, said there was meeting of branch managers at the regional headquarters and Saini had left the office to attend the meeting. Harish Behal, SHO, Chheharta police station, said they had lodged a missing complaint for the time being while further investigations were under progress. He said they were noting down the call details of Saini to find some clue in this connection. — TNS
	Man held for murder Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 20 The police have arrested prime accused of a case in which a city resident was killed outside a liquor vend on the night of Lohri. The accused identified as Munish Kumar was arrested from near his house. The police also confiscated the revolver used in the crime. Harish Behal, SHO Chheharta police station, said the weapon used was a licensed weapon. Munish used to work in a private firm and lend money on interest. Naraingarh resident, Naresh Kumar, alias Monu, was shot dead by Munish Kumar of Naraingarh at a liquor vend on January 13 following a minor dispute. The police have registered a murder case on the statement of Rakesh Kumar, a relative of the deceased. The victim was celebrating Lohri with his family members at his residence when a friend of his insisted on serving liquor.