Fresh stock of anti-rabies vaccine arrives
Amritsar, February 4
The Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital which was facing a shortage of anti-rabies vaccine for a while has received the fresh stock, said Senior Medical Officer Dr Hardeep Singh Ghai.

Gun shot fired at cable operators’ meeting
Amritsar, February 4
A local cable operators’ meeting ended up in utter panic when one of the members fired a shot from his revolver following a dispute over some issue. No loss of life was reported in the incident that occurred at the Sun City amusement park, here, this evening. However, a person received minor injuries.

Amritsar, February 4
A week after its launch, the Municipal Corporation of Amritsar has geared up to fine tune the City Bus Service which had been grappling with teething troubles. Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora along with the MC's concerned officials took a ride in the city buses to have a reality check.

After detecting several shortcomings, Mayor Arora issued instant guidelines to redress them.

The team had travelled on route no. 1 from Doburji to India Gate via bus stand, Hussainpura Chowk, 4S Chowk, Rattan Singh Chowk, District Courts, Circuit House, Railway Station, Putlighat, Khalsa College Chowk and Chheharta Chowk.

Here, keeping in view the heavy flow of passengers, it was decided to introduce five more buses. Earlier, 15 buses were put on this route.

Taking into consideration the dilapidated bus shelters, Mayor Arora directed the officials concerned to get the existing bus shelters renovated and free from any encroachment. A number of shelters were being occupied illegally by rickshaw-pullers and the destitute.

"The existing shelters will get a fresh coat of paint and there will be a proper place for the commuters to sit on and wait for the bus," he said.

Similarly, there were numerous road stretches on the way sans any bus stoppage like the Putlighar chowk road had three bus stops but there was not a single bus shelter on the other side of the road.

This had posed confusion among commuters as to where to wait for the bus and drivers to take a halt for carrying passengers.

"We have identified the points on such stretches and it has been decided to affix bus-stoppage boards in both English and Punjabi," he said.

Another case in point was that even as the MC had introduced the e-ticketing facility taking into account the transparency in the bus fare, the passengers complained that the conductors were short of small denomination currency with them to clear the passengers' balance. The bus operators have been told to keep small-denomination currency and coins with them. 

Amritsar, February 4
In the wake of government’s plan to overhaul the electricity supply system under the Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (APDRP), a reality check in city is very dismaying.

Loose electricity wires, tilted poles, web of wires on poles can be seen everywhere and this is how the electricity supply system in city can be described. Even as a number of accidents have happened in the past and questions were raised on the working of electricity supply department, the condition had remained unchanged for decades.

In old city areas with narrow streets, electricity supply wires can be seen running parallel to the windows on the first floor. The newly developed localities as New Amritsar and Ranjit Avenue, too, have hundreds of electricity wires running over the streets.

“The condition is such that the electricians spend more time on identifying which wire supplies power to which electricity meter than rectifying the problem,” said a power corporation official, adding that the APDRP would hopefully solve most of the problems.

In Indira Colony and Mustabad, where high tension wires are running over the residential buildings, people are living in a constant threat. The problem with the owners of houses under the high tension wires is that nobody is ready to buy these. The residents have often requested the government to shift the wires but each time the power corporation had asked them to bear the shifting charges.

Now, with the APDRP inaugurated by Local Bodies Minister during a function yesterday, he has also announced to get these high tension wires shifted. The minister has also assured to get the live naked wires replaced with cables.

Kashmir Singh, a resident of Guru Bazaar said, “We never allowed family members to open windows on the first floor. Neither do we allow anybody to touch electricity poles, especially, during rainy days. It would be better if everything is changed.” He said the overhauling of supply system would also improve the look of the city.

Amritsar, February 4
The Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital which was facing a shortage of anti-rabies vaccine for a while has received the fresh stock, said Senior Medical Officer Dr Hardeep Singh Ghai.

The hospital is all set to provide these injections free of cost to the patients. "The injection will be given free of cost to all patients according to the new instructions of the department," he said.

The hospital earlier used to charge Rs 100 for the injection from the patient. Hospital authorities claim that stocks sufficient to last at least six months have been received. Ghai said they would ensure that the patients did not face a shortage of the injections in future.

"It will be ensured that the demand for the new stock is made before the existing stock runs out," he said.

The service will be of great benefit to people considering that the city has a large number of stray dogs. The instances of dog bites are reported on a regular basis. Considering the fact that anti-rabies vaccine is costly, poor patient find it difficult to spend money on these. 

Amritsar, February 4
A local cable operators’ meeting ended up in utter panic when one of the members fired a shot from his revolver following a dispute over some issue. No loss of life was reported in the incident that occurred at the Sun City amusement park, here, this evening. However, a person received minor injuries.

The police reached the spot but failed to nab the accused, Shiv Kumar, who managed to escape from the spot.

A case in this regard has been registered at the Mohakampura police station.

SHO, Mohkam Pura, Amrik Singh, said Vaishu Kumar got a leg injury after being hit by a bullet.

"A case under Sections 307, 323, 506 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered in this regard but the accused is still at large," he said.

As per sources, there was a discontentment among cable network owners and operators whom they had sublet the service over depositing the licence fee.

The shot was fired from one of the member’s revolver following a dispute over some issue

Amritsar, February 4
The star cast of Punjabi film ‘Kirpaan - The Sword of Honour’ visited the city to promote the movie. Promising to be a combination of love, romance, patriotism and family values, ‘Kirpaan’, which stars Roshan Prince in the lead along with Gurleen Chopra and Sameeksha Singh, will hit the screens on February 7.

Talking about his character of an angry young man, Prince said: “The protagonist, Beeru, is a young man that every youngster will co-relate to. Beeru’s role is close to my heart. It is a reflection of the personality metamorphosis a young man undergoes in compelling circumstances.”

Rajinder Pal Singh Banwait, producer of the film, said these days when the Punjabi film industry rides high on comedy masala and multi-starrer films, ‘Kirpaan’ comes in a different shade and perspective.

“The movie will guide youngsters and is high on entertainment quotient,” he said.

A production of Rabab Records Private Limited, the film stars Shivendra Mahal, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Sunita Dheer, Hari Joshi and Jeetendra Bharadwaj.

The film has been directed by debutante director Amrik Gill, who had written dialogues and script for Bollywood blockbusters like ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’, ‘Ghayal’, ‘Ziddi’ and ‘Hawayein’.

The script and dialogues for the film are also written by him.

The story revolves around a youngster named Beeru (Roshan Prince) from a small town who is a spoiled brat studying in a college. He is always in the limelight for all the wrong reasons.

He is caught copying in examination and is suspended from his college for three years. He goes abroad to earn a living. The story passes through different paradigms and spectra.

Actress Gurleen Chopra, who is playing one of the female leads, said she portrays the character of a girl living abroad who plays an important role in helping Beeru achieve his target in life.

On the other hand Sameksha plays the role of a college student who is Beeru’s best friend.

Gurmeet Singh is the music director, while choreography is done by Bhuppi.

Amritsar, February 4
The Supreme Court (SC) verdict directing the state governments to ensure quality of milk and to give up its "lenient" attitude towards those responsible for adulteration of milk and milk products with hazardous synthetic substances has come as a respite to the consumers in the city who often complain about adulterated and substandard milk supply.

A resident of Cheel Mandi, Parminder Singh, said the reaction of the state government in keeping a tab on the hygienic standards of eatables was far from satisfactory. This despite the fact that the Union Government admitted before the SC that 70 per cent of the milk in the country was found adulterated in one way or the other in 2012. The situation is no different in the city.

The field is open for unscrupulous sellers and dealers, as a majority of the city residents prefer to procure "loose" milk. Milk Plan officials say that, on an average, there is 10 per cent annual increase in the consumption of pouched milk in Amritsar.

The only organised body selling packaged and pasteurised milk here is Milk Plant, Verka, which is a unit of the Markfed.

The milk plant periodically holds quality tests on "loose" milk to convince customers to turn to packaged milk. Sources in the plant said many a time, adulteration using water, caustic soda, urea and castor oil was detected.

Adulteration using water, caustic oil to increase the shelf life of the produce had been found. As per standard specifications, solid, not fat, must be at least 8.5 in cow milk and over nine in buffalo milk.

This despite the fact that the new Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 was introduced in the country. Besides, the district does not have any food testing lab and each sample has to be dispatched to the Chandigarh laboratory. It took around 20 days to get the result of the food test.

It may be mentioned here that the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954 was replaced with the Food Standard and Safety Act in August 2011. As per the new Act, the penalty on the adulteration using water ranged from Rs 25,000 to Rs 2 lakh, while the presence of injurious ingredients could land an offender in jail for life and penalty up to Rs 10 lakh.

Dr Shiv Karan Kahlon, District Health Officer (DHO), who is the designated officer for the implementation of the act, while talking about the exact number of halwai shops in the city, said the data was not yet available as the registration under the new Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, was undergoing.

OfficialSpeak
Dr Shiv Karan Kahlon, District Health Officer, said Amritsar is not the only city that does not have a laboratorty and each district in the state sends its samples to Chandigarh. He stressed that his department regularly confiscates milk, milk products and other eatables to ensure quality. The DHO said that confiscation of adulterated eatables was a continuous process and his department was regularly spotting spurious eatables. 

Amritsar, February 4
Students of MBA, MCA and BTech, who passed out in the 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 sessions, from Global Institutes were conferred degrees at its first annual convocation held on the campus today.

Bikram Singh Majithia, Cabinet Minister, who was the chief guest, congratulated all degree recipients and said he was sure that passing-out students would be equipped with values, ethics and determination to work hard and meet the challenges of this competitive world for ensuring a bright future for themselves and for the country. He called upon engineers and managers passing out of the Global Institutes to introduce technological innovations that would have relevance to the economic development of the nation.

The Guest of Honour, Dr Buta Singh, Dean Academics, Punjab Technical University, congratulated the degree recipients and expressed the hope that all passing out students would have an bear an important responsibility as the country was evolving and the opportunities for capable engineers and managers were ample.

As many as 299 students of BTech, 56 of MCA and 263 of MBA received their degrees. More than 15 students who topped in their respective branches were awarded with the Institutes’ gold medals. Names of the toppers are: Samiksha Kapoor, Shama Rana, Meenu Dhiman, Navneet Kaur from MBA (GIM), Abhishek Mehra, Prabhjot Bhumra, Sangita Mahajan from MBA (GIMET), Nancy Manan (MCA), Aditi Goel and Ranjit Singh (BTech CSE), Jasjit Kaur and Navneet Kaur (BTech IT), Vishal Sareen and Parul Aggarwal (BTech ECE), Harsh and Amritpal (BTech ME).

Three university gold medallists Jasjit Kaur (BTech-IT), Aditi Goel (BTech-CSE) and Navneet Kaur (MBA-2013) were also honoured by the chief guest. Global Institutes vice-chairman Dr Akashdeep Singh said it was a great honour and pride for the institute that it was also inaugurated by the Cabinet Minister in 2008.

Earlier, Dr Arvind Bhardwaj, Director, read out the annual report of the Institutes and highlighted its achievements.

Amritsar, February 4
Following fresh directions of the Election Commission of India ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Punjab Police transferred as many as 47 police officials from the border range.

The ECI had directed the Punjab Police to shift those officials of border range who were deputed in their existing posting for over three years. The ECI has also sought a report in this connection.

IG, Border Range, Ishwar Chander said around 250 officials falling in the ranks of Assistant Sub-Inspector and Inspector serving in various police stations in border districts of Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Pathankot have been identified to be shifted from their present posting.

According to information, 11 Inspectors from Amritsar Commissionerate, 12 from Amritsar rural, six from Gurdaspur, eight from Pathankot and five each from Tarn Taran and Batala have been transferred. 

Amritsar, February 4
Newly appointed acting principal of Government Medical College (GMC) Sujata Sharma said providing better treatment to poor patients and improving the educational standards would be her top priorities.

Dr Sharma is also working as Medical Superintendent of the college-run Guru Nanak Dev Hospital.

She said even as the college and the hospital were grappling with the shortage of staff, she would work to improve the services.

The post of the principal at the college fell vacant on January 30 after the retirement of Dr Karnail Singh. A gynaecologist by profession, Dr Sharma took the charge yesterday.

She said she would focus on mother and child care services.

Amritsar, February 4
The Counter Intelligence, Amritsar, today arrested three persons with one kg heroin. They were produced in a local court which sent them in two-day police remand.

Under a special search programme chalked out by AIG, Counter Intelligence, Ashwani Kumar, a special raid was conducted near Hotel Mid Town, Bus Stand, where the three -- Deepak Kumar, Rishi Kesh and Love Gill -- were arrested by the team with drugs. The trio has been booked under the NDPS Act.

Inspector, Gurinder Nagar, said they had received secret information. “The accused were waiting at the spot to deliver the consignment when they were caught,” he said.