9 booked in attempt to murder case
Amritsar, February 12
Around nine persons have been booked on charges of attempt to murder. The accused allegedly attacked and seriously injured Gurjit Singh of Dhand, Tarn Taran, now residing on the Green City Palah Sahib road.

Amritsar, February 12
Even as the district administration had issued challan books to all government institutions in the city to check smoking at public places, none except three departments have issued challans so far to a single violator in the past two years.

Apart from the District Health Department, which is issuing challans to curb smoking at public places, the Ayurvedic Department and Traffic Police are the only two which have issued challans to violators. Sources said even these two departments had issued challans in only one instance.

The state government had accorded a smoke-free status to the city on August 15, 2012. At a meeting with the heads of all departments before the city was accorded this status, the then Deputy Commissioner had issued challan books to all departments and asked these to challan violators on a regular basis around their buildings.

The administration had also asked all institutions to display warnings declaring ban on smoking around their premises. However, these warnings were displayed only after the administration had issued challans to these institutions for failing to comply with the instructions.

The District Health Officer, Dr Shivkaran Singh Kahlon, said all departments including the police, the PWD, Guru Nanak Dev University, transport and other educational institutions were issued challan books. "The challans books were given to each and every government office so that they could help in curbing smoking at public places. Had they taken the instructions seriously, the city could have been turned into a smoke-free city in the real sense," said Kahlon.

Kahlon said the cause of curbing smoking at public places in the city should be taken seriously by all departments. He said they would take up the issue with the Deputy Commissioner soon so that all departments could be roped in for checking the menace.

Amritsar, February 12
A 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her brother’s friend today while she was going to her grandparents’ residence in Sarangdev village in Ajnala.

The police have registered a case under Sections 376 and 506 IPC at the Ajnala police station against the accused identified Bunty Masih of Teda Rajputa.

Sohan Singh, DSP, Ajnala, said the victim had lodged a complaint with the police that the accused forcibly took her to sugarcane fields and committed the crime.

She told the police that she was going to Sarangdev village to meet her maternal grandparents. She said, “Banti Masih, who is close friend of her brother Mehal Singh, met her on the way. The accused, who was on a motorcycle, told her that he would drop her to the village.”

She alleged that on the way he took her to the sugarcane fields located near the temporary earthen dam and raped her.

Amritsar, February 12
Around nine persons have been booked on charges of attempt to murder. The accused allegedly attacked and seriously injured Gurjit Singh of Dhand, Tarn Taran, now residing on the Green City Palah Sahib road.

He sustained a bullet injury on this leg and is currently under treatment at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital here. A property dispute was allegedly the reason behind the incident.

Among those booked include Ajmer Singh, alias Kala of Chhappa village, Tarn Taran, Karanbir Singh, alias Ghapla, and Kinda, a former Sarpanch and six other unidentified persons.

Gurjit stated to the police that in the late evening of February 10 when he was returning home late after dropping his relatives at Sachander village, he was surrounded by the accused. They had come on two SUVs, he said.

He said as soon as they alighted from their vehicle, they challenged him, adding that they would teach him a lesson for the dispute that took place in Haveli. He alleged that the accused fired at him with their .12-bore rifle. The bullet stuck him in his left leg. He said later they fled when people rushed to the spot after listening to gun shots.

Police authorities said a case under various sections of the Arms Act had been registered in this connection while no arrest had been made so far.

Amritsar, February 12
The regional passport office today organised a ‘lok adalat’ to clear the pending applications of passports.

Regional Passport Officer JS Sodhi said till December 31, 2013 the office had around 520 pending applications.

The office had earlier posted letters to the applicants whose applications were pending, so as to inform them about the passport adalat.

Sodhi said around 330 applicants attended the adalat today out of which 300 were granted passports.

He said, “Sometimes for the want of additional documents, the applications are kept on hold and when the applicants furnish the documents the passports are granted.” Sodhi said the office has collected Rs 45,000 as penalty from the applicants.

He said tthe applicants who could not attend the adalat due to any reason today should get in touch with the office by coming Wednesday. He said those files would be closed permanently where applicants fail to appear in stipulated time.

Amritsar, February 12
Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora announced that contractors who have never performed their duties after allocation of work would be blacklisted. The announcement came after the resentment in the SAD camp about development works not taking place in their wards.

The SAD councillors accused the MC officials and lashed out at the contractors for not cooperating with them. They alleged that development work in their wards was not carried out. The agitated SAD councillors said the MC officials have been dilly-dallying while clearing development projects for their wards under the new policy and the contractors were reluctant to carry on with development works for want of timely payments.

They also alleged that the MC officials have been paying attention to the BJP-governed wards. They said that several councillors who have a close proximity to the Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi never faced any problems in getting funds released for their projects.

After scrapping the old pattern of development grants (limited to Rs 50,000) per ward, the MC has evolved a policy of release funds to the tune of Rs 11 lakh to each ward.

The SAD councillor from ward 35, Surinder Singh Sultanwind, said: “Ironically, the works in my ward were sanctioned and duly allotted but the contractors argued that they would not start the work until their payments are cleared. The old pattern of releasing development grants limited to Rs 50,000 per ward was made redundant whereas the grant of Rs 5 lakh could never be released. But I wonder how work in the wards of the councillors were being carried out? The councillors from ward numbers 30, 43, 37, 40 and 34 too showed their solidarity with me, as they were also facing a similar situation.”

Accusing the contractors of being connected to the BJP in one way or the other, the SAD councillors said they would be forced to protest this discrimination.

Pawan Khazuri of ward 58 said he has been running from pillar to post to get the funds released for the pending development works in his ward. “There are broken street tiles and chocked sewerage system. I cannot face the residents of my ward. The contractor, who shares a close rapport with the BJP, has been awarded work in my ward but is also looking after the work in ten other wards. Under what criteria did they award the work is beyond my comprehension,” he said.

Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora said, “I have directed the department to blacklist those contractors who showed negligence in performing their duties. While submitting the tender bid, they knew that payments could be delayed as there is a time consuming process for it. Further, we never asked for any discount on the services they provide us keeping in mind the delay in approving their payments. All payments have to pass through the F&CC. If they adopt blackmailing tactics, they could be penalised. About discrimination, it’s totally a false allegation. Just an application along with the estimated works to be undertaken in their wards is required and the funds will be released as per merit. There is no room for any discrimination.”

Amritsar, February 12
Terming the legal notice sent by Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora as a mere threatening tactic, the suspended Municipal Town Planner Des Raj retorted that the allegations he had levelled against the Mayor, former MC Commissioner and Senior Town Planner were true. He said that he was prepared to face any kind of inquiry about his position and antecedents of his properties.

Mayor Arora had sent a legal notice on February 7 to Des Raj to explain the logic on the basis of which the latter had imposed allegations against him and submit an apology within 15 days, otherwise proceedings of defamation against him would be initiated as per law.

Mayor Arora said vigilance enquiry would also be conducted against Des Raj to scrutinise his assets’ authenticity,the wealth he has acquired and the way he had raised from a mere labourer in 1997 to city’s MTP lately.

Des Raj had charged that his powers as the MTP were withdrawn after he didn’t oblige Mayor Arora with Rs 1 lakh bribery per month. He had also named the former MC Commissioner, Bhupinder Singh, and Senior Town Planner Hemant Batra for asking Rs 1 lakh bribery per month to let him continue with the post.

He had also held Mayor guilty of pocketing a token money of Rs 50 lakh from a land deal in Joshi Colony for Rs 1.5 crore, but later returned on account of political pressure.

Des Raj said that he would submit a notice with the High Court as he had constantly been tortured mentally by the Mayor and his men.

“I stand by what I had alleged against the Mayor, former MC Commissioner and the STP. Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora should set right his knowledge about me. I joined here as regular mate (supervisor) on December 2, 1985. Later, I was elevated to prominent positions because of my qualification and ability, as I am degree holder in Civil Engineering and had experience of 32 years,” he said.

About his assets, Des Raj said he owns a house at Nehru Colony in the Gopal Nagar area against a loan that he raised from the MC.

Amritsar, February 12
Guru Nanak Dev University organised a national seminar on "Contributions of Balraj Sahni to the Punjabi Community" today. The seminar was organised by the School of Punjabi Studies of the university in which as many as 15 scholars from various parts of the country presented their research papers.

Prof AS Brar, Vice-Chancellor, was the chief guest. Dr Jagbir Singh, former Professor, Delhi University, Delhi, presided over the inaugural session. Dr Sukhdev Singh Sirsa, Chairman, Punjabi Studies, Punjab University, Chandigarh, delivered the keynote address. Dr SS Khera, Head of the Department welcomed the chief guest and others. Dr Darya, Director of the seminar, presented the vote of thanks.

Dr Jagbir Singh, in his presidential address, said that Balraj Sahni was a charismatic personality. He projected the Punjabi culture and tradition at the international level through modern techniques. “Balraj Sahni, the youth icon, represented a common man and his sufferings in his characters through cinema,” he said.

Refreshing to the memories of Balraj Sahni, Dr Sirsa said he was associated with Balraj Sahni since his childhood. “I got my primary education in that school that was established with the donation given by Balraj Sahni,” he said.

Prof Brar in his inaugural address said that the contribution of Sahni to Punjabiyat was commendable. He said use of the mother tongue should always be encouraged, as it was always convenient to express our feelings through our mother tongue only.

He said constructive ideas and creativity needed to be developed among our youth. “In the next 20 years, the educational scenario will be changed entirely and influenced by internet. So, the need of the hour is to provide higher education with modern aids by developing a harmonious relationship among the teachers and the students,” he said.

Meanwhile, Professor Brar also honoured Dr Jagbir Singh and Dr Sukhdev Singh Sirsa with sets of university publications on this occasion.

Amritsar, February 12
Zoological Society of Khalsa College, Amritsar, today organised a workshop-cum-seminar on `Bee-keeping and Quality Testing of Honey’ in collaboration with the farmers training centre on the college campus.

Over 100 students from departments of zoology and BSc (medical) received information related to the testing of honey. The students performed their own tests in the presence of an Agriculture Information Officer.

Amritsar, February 12
Even as girls have outnumbered boys in many professions, Government Dental College here seems to be one institution where they have completely taken over. Of the total 182 students at the college in the BDS and the MDS courses, only 24 are boys. The percentage of boys in the college to the total strength is merely 13.

The figures procured from the college revealed that the college has 158 girl students and 24 male students enrolled with it. In the first year of the BDS, the college has only five boys and 33 girls. In the second year, there are four boys and 34 girls. In the third year, there are only three boys and 37 girls. In the fourth year, the number of boys and girls is six and 34, respectively.

In the MDS courses at the college, there are only six boys and 20 female students. “It seems that dentistry will be completely taken over by the girls,” said a faculty member at the college.

Even in Government Medical College here, the girls are fast extending their domain. The college had to increase the number of hostels for girls as their enrollment at the college increased manifold during these years.

In the initial years, the medical college had six hostels for boys and only one for the girls. At present, the college has four hostels for girls. The number of hostels for the boys has gone down to four from six.

As per the figures available with the college, in the MBBS batch enrolled in 2011, 85 girl students were admitted while only 65 boys were enrolled. In the batch enrolled in 2010, there were 90 girls and only 61 boys managed to get admission.

The faculty members at the college admitted that there used to be only four to five girls in each batch of the MBBS around three decades ago. However, in the present scenario, girls are managing to grab around 60 per cent of the total seats.

Amritsar, February 12
The police have arrested a human rights activist for allegedly insulting the National Flag.

His vehicle adorned two torn national flags on each side during a human rights awareness procession taken out by his association in May 2013.

MU Dua, president, All-India Human Rights Association (AIHRA), was arrested after a press conference yesterday. The police received a tip-off regarding his presence in the city following which he was arrested and later sent to judicial custody.

PC Sharma, an advocate and RTI activist, said he was booked after a complaint was lodged from his office in May 2013. At that time, he allegedly managed to dodge the police and fled with his vehicle.

Sharma said he had also misused the National Emblem on his letter pad and visiting cards.

“As he has misused the National Emblem which is against the law, he should also be booked under the Prohibition of Improper Use of State Emblem of India Act, 2005,” he demanded. Sharma said the police should also inquire into the content on his visiting cards in violation of the norms.

Neeraj Kumar, SHO, Ram Bagh, said he was produced before the court which has sent him to judicial remand.

Amritsar, February 12
Three persons, including a 10-year-old child, died in two separate road mishaps today.

As per the information, two youth were killed when their motorcycle collided head-on with a jeep carrying students of Government Girls College in Amritsar at Khatrai Kalan.

The deceased were identifieid as Gurwinder Singh (25) of Khatrai Khurd and his driver Gulzar Singh Sonu (27) of Khatrai Kalan.

The police said they were going to Dyal Bharang village when a speeding Tata Sumo coming from Kamalpura village hit them head-on. Both died on the spot while the driver of the Tata Sumo fled from the scene. The police have impounded the vehicle and a case has been registered in this regard.

Meanwhile in another mishap, a 10-year-old boy, identified as Joga Singh, was killed while his parents Sucha Singh and Kanto were seriously injured in an incident. As per the information, they were going to Loharka village from their native Ghoga village on a motorcycle when a speeding truck coming from Fatehgarh Churia hit them.

While Joga died on the spot, his parents were rushed to the Civil Hospital from where they were referred to Amritsar. A case has been registered against the unidentified truck driver in this connection. — TNS