Amritsar, January 25
The state Health Department has approved the setting up of a state cancer institute at Government Medical College here. The Directorate of Research and Medical Education has already asked the college authorities to prepare a proposal in this regard.

The proposal will be sent to the Centre which will contribute 70 per cent of the expenditure for the proposed cancer centre. The remaining 30 per cent will be contributed by the state government.

Earlier the Central Health Ministry had asked for a proposal from the directorate. The Government Medical College here is already equipped with a cobalt machine which is being used to conduct radiotherapy on cancer patients.

The college authorities are busy preparing a list of all facilities which they have for the treatment of cancer and which they do not have but will be required for upgrading the treatment facilities. The list will be sent to the directorate which will forward it the Central ministry.

The sources said that a Central team would soon visit the college to help the authorities in preparing a blue print of the building which would be required for the proposed state cancer institute. They added that the centre was expected to become operational by 2018.

The proposed centre will have a Nuclear Medicine Department, diagnostic centre, a radiotherapy centre, a head and neck wing, a surgical wing and many others that will be finalised by the government. The Centre will be a boon for the cancer patients as such a facility was not available in the region especially after the cancer has spread its wings in the region.

College Principal Dr Karnail Singh said the proposal was almost ready and may be dispatched to the Directorate of Research and Medical Education within two days. He said the instructions for preparing the proposal were received a few days ago. 

Amritsar, January 25
As many as 740 students of BEd and MEd classes were awarded degrees at the Khlasa College of Education's 58th Annual Convocation today.

In his convocational address, National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) Chairperson Prof Santosh Kumar Panda called for revamping of the education system which, he said, must be made more functional.

Prof Panda said a teacher’s profession was the most noble and full of responsibility, adding that he asked the degree holders who would be teachers to help modernise education. He said the present system of imparting education was turning obsolete and new methods of teaching and research were required to be adopted.

Khalsa College Governing Council (KCGC) joint secretary Gunbir Singh welcomed the chief guest and other dignitaries, including Guru Nanak Dev University Registrar, Dr Inderjit Singh, KCGC additional honourary secretary, Sawinder Singh Kathunangal, joint secretary and former Vice-Chancellor, GNDU, Dr HS Soch. He said the primary aim of education was to impart positive thinking to students and make them productive human beings to serve the community, society and nation.

KCE Principal Dr Jaswinder Singh Dhillon earlier read the progress report of the college citing achievements of the college in academics, cultural activities and sports. 

Amritsar, January 25
Various programmes on the eve of the birth anniversary of Baba Deep Singh were held in the holy city today.

The SGPC in association with various Sikh organisations held a Nagar Kirtan which started from the Golden Temple. After passing through various markets of the city, it concluded at Gurdwara Baba Deep Singh Shaheed. The ceremony of Amrit Sanchar (initiation of baptised Sikhs) will be held by the SGPC at Gurdwara Baba Deep Singh Shaheed. Besides, bhog of Akhand Path will be offered at the same gurdwara tomorrow morning. A Kavi Darbar, Dhadhi jatha and Kirtan Darbar will be held tomorrow.

Revered as one of the most hallowed martyrs in Sikh history he personified the Sikh philosophy of Miri-Piri, said Rajinder Singh Sangha of Sewak Jatha Ishnan Amritwela, a Sikh religious organisation. He said members of his organisation had been cleaning the gurdwara with the jal (pious water) drawn from Amrit Sarovar (pool of holy nectar) of the Golden Temple.

Meanwhile, the Chief Khalsa Diwan Charitable Society will hold a religious programme to mark the birth anniversary of Baba Deep Singh at Shubham Enclave tomorrow. Recitation of Japuji Path, Kritan by students and a raagi jatha will be held. 

Amritsar, January 25
In an interesting case, the Civil Lines police today booked a prominent advocate on charges of transferring the licenced weapon of a smuggler in his name after forging documents.

The police have also booked the smuggler's wife for her alleged connivance in the illegal act.

The case was registered following an inquiry conducted by an ACP-rank official. He was marked the inquiry by the Police Commissioner, Jatinder Singh Aulakh, about a month ago.

According to information, Rajesh Kumar, alias Danny, a resident of Rani Ka Bagh area, was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in August 2006 with 11 kg of heroin. He was sent to Tihar Jail from where he was shifted to Gurdaspur Jail a couple of years ago.

It has been learnt that Danny submitted a registered complaint with the Police Commissioner that an alleged false case of Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered against him on August 5, 2006 and since then he had been languishing in jail and did not come out of jail on parole. He stated that all documents related to his weapon .315 bore, including the licence, was with wife Sushma Kumari. He alleged that the advocate in connivance with his wife forged documents and transferred the weapon in his name.

Police sources claimed that Vaneet Mahajan had friendly and family relations with Danny before he was arrested by the DRI for possessing contraband after which he was sentenced to 11 years of rigorous imprisonment.

Jatinder Singh Aulakh, Police Commissioner, said that during investigations it was found that at the time when the weapon was transferred in the name of Mahajan, Danny was in the Tihar Jail. Moreover, he added, the person from whom the stamp paper was said to be taken stated before the Judicial Magistrate that he did not issue any stamp paper to the advocate.

"Though we were yet to verify the signatures of the Notary, without the presence and signatures of the owner of the weapon (Danny) how the licence and weapon could be transferred in somebody's name?" the Police Commissioner said.

A case under various sections of the IPC has been registered against Vaneet Mahajan and Sushma Kumari.

Amritsar, January 25
Even as the former Principal of Government Medical College here, Dr SS Shergill, had earlier claimed that he had not rented out a single shop during his tenure, a local RTI activist has procured documents establishing that Shergill had rented out at least three of them. The faulty allotment of shops to favourites is being investigated by the DRME Department.

Dr Shergill had earlier claimed that no allotment of shops was made during his tenure as the college Principal. He had recently resigned from the government service after he was transferred to Government Medical College, Patiala.

A local RTI activist, Pritpal Singh, said the documents procured by him through RTI revealed that a few of these shops were allotted during the tenure of Dr Shergill. Showing a copy of the agreement signed between the college and the allotee, Pritpal Singh said, "The chemist shop in the OPD block of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital was allotted to one Sandal Bedi in April 2011. The contract was signed between Dr Shergill and Bedi."

Showing the date of purchase of Rs 100 stamp paper on which the contract was signed, which is mentioned on the back of the stamp paper itself, Pritpal Singh said while the contract papers mentioned that it was signed on April 1, 2011, the back of the paper mentions that the stamp paper was purchased on April 8, 2011.

The stamp sellers are required to mention the date of the sale of all such papers on the back of the paper and maintain a record of it according to the government instructions. "How could it be possible that contract was signed on April 1 but the paper on which it was signed was purchased after seven days on April 8?" he said, alleging that the contract was signed in backdate which shows that anomalies were there.

The faulty allotment of shops was first highlighted by Pritpal Singh.

Amritsar, January 25
The mobile phones and SIM cards seized from smugglers involved in trafficking of drugs, arms and ammunition from across the international border are proving of little help to the intelligence agencies here.

Pakistani SIMs are used by the smugglers to remain in contact with their counterparts across the border. Almost in all seizures made by the Border Security Force (BSF) in the recent past, mobile phones and SIM cards of Pakistani telecommunication companies remained a part of the consignments.

The seizure of SIM cards has baffled intelligence agencies as it became very difficult to know the exact movements and nefarious plans of the smugglers. On the other hand, it is very handy for the smugglers as they could continue their activities without any hesitation and fear of intelligence agencies.

An official associated with the counter-intelligence wing of the Punjab Police while preferring not to be named revealed that the Pak SIM cards did not help at all in discovering the nexus between Indian smugglers and their counterparts in the neighbouring country.

“The SIM cards at best can be used as evidence against the arrested smugglers rather than helping the investigating agencies,” he said.“As these SIMs belong to Pakistani telecom companies, we could not have the details of the calls and owners of these numbers. The Pakistan Government would also not prefer to disclose the details as it would determine the locations of their towers,” he added.

“You have to understand one thing. The Pak mobile SIMs confiscated during the seizures are meant for Indian smugglers so that they could remain in touch with each other. When seized these SIMs are blank and are not used. So these are hardly of any use,” said DIG, BSF, M F Farooqui.

Jasdeep Singh SP (D), Amritsar rural police, said the forensic examination of mobile SIM cards handed over by the BSF following the seizures could not yield any result so far.

Amritsar, January 25
Four technical sessions were held on the second day of the ongoing three-day Global Scientific Conference on Physical Education, Health and Sports Sciences.

Dr NS Mann from the Department of Physical Education, Panjab University, Chandigarh, presided over the sessions.

The conference is being organised by the Department of Physical Education (Teaching) of Guru Nanak Dev University. As many as 10 research papers were presented by eminent scholars from across the country. A special poster session and a session on sports injuries, chaired by sports physiotherapist Ravi from the Punjab Cricket Association, were also organised at the Guru Nanak Bhawan Auditorium of the university.

A panel discussion was also organised on the ‘commercialisation of Indian sports challenges and opportunities in which eminent sports personalities presented their views.

Former Olympian (hockey) Brig Harcharan Singh (retd) said: "Not much money was given when we used to participate in sports. I was the 17th person to be awarded with the prestigious Arjuna Award."

He suggested all sportspersons need to do introspection and strike a balance between earning money and performance. Today, players only play for money so the standard was going down.

Dr Avinash Sidhu, a sports psychologist, said there should be intrinsic motivation. On the other hand, money was just extrinsic motivation. She said players like Roger Federer enjoy their game, they do not play for money.

Amritsar, January 25
The National Monuments Authority (NMA), a regulatory authority for monuments in India, has asked the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) to submit the entire work plan, including the design, of the proposed flyover at Sant Singh Sukha Singh (SSSS) Chowk to ensure that it would not disturb the existing monuments at the historic Ram Bagh Gardens, the summer palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Since the summer palace is a notified monument by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), no fresh construction can be undertaken within a 100-metre radius of the protected monument.

Keeping in view the traffic congestion in the city and considering the futuristic needs, the Trust approached the state government to intervene in the matter and request the ASI to have a close look at the project.

One of the busiest intersections in the city, SSSS Chowk, is situated on The Mall. It also facilitates linkage to Batala and Majitha bypasses and traffic coming from the bus stand and the Bhandari bridge.

The proposed bridge has two components - an over-bridge and an underpass. Billed as the city's first flyover, it was conceptualised in 2011 but it lost the race to the flyover at the Saifuddin Kitchlew chowk, popularly known as the Court chowk, which was opened to public this month. To be raised at an initial cost of around Rs 39 crore, the project now faces estimate revision due to cost escalation.

The AIT had applied for the NOC to the agency in July this year due to its proximity to the ASI-protected monument in Rambagh gardens, popularly known as Company Bagh.

It was done to avoid legal hassles before floating of tenders. The application for the NOC was rejected as the ASI called the documentation as "incomplete".

The trust chairman said all required documents were arranged and were sent to the state government, which had forwarded the same to the ASI office in New Delhi.

A Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) survey conducted at various places in the city in November 2011 had revealed that after the Bhandari bridge, the area around SSSS Chowk was the most polluted in the city.

The Company Bagh came into existence in 1818 as the summer palace.

It houses some of the rare trees which usually grow in the Himalayas and Nilgiri Hills. Sandeep Rishi, Chairman, AIT, said construction of the flyover may bring down the pollution level as it would reduce traffic bottleneck and facilitate smooth flow of the traffic.

Soon the entire plan would be submitted to the NMA to secure its NOC, he added.

Amritsar, January 25
An inter-zone gidda contest was organised by District Education Officer (SE) at Government Girls' Secondary School, Mall Road. It was organised under the directives of the DG, School Education, and the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA).

Teams from Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Pathankot and Kapurthala districts participated in the contest.

Satinderbir Singh, DEO (SE), was the chief guest. Paramjit Singh, DEO (SE), Tarn Taran and Daljinder Kaur, Dy DEO, (SE), presided over the programme.

The team of the host school stood first, and the teams of government secondary schools of Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran got the second and third positions, respectively. — TNS

Amritsar, January 25
The two-day poster exhibition against female infanticide, organised by Sarhad-E-Punjab Sports Club, concluded today at Thakur Singh Art Gallery.

Club president GS Mattu announced that Deesha Aggarwal of BBK DAV College for Women stood first, Amanpreet of the college was second. Besides, 300 girls who secured merit positions in education and shone in sports were honoured. — TNS

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