|
|
|
|
Hike in City Bus fare irks commuters
Showers bring mercury down
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
mc passes rain test
No anti-rabies vaccine at Civil Hospital
Youth found dead at home, suicide expected
national theatre festival
LS poll: Notices issued to heads
of 12 institutions
campus notes
Mr and Mrs 420 star cast visits city
|
|
Hike in City Bus fare irks commuters
Amritsar, March 11 The commuters lament that this has defeated the purpose of the launch of the service, which was meant to be cost-effective in comparison to the auto-rickshaws, which also charge Rs 5 as the minimum fare. Even as mayor Bakshi Ram Arora, who is also the director of the Amritsar City Transport Service Ltd, showed total ignorance about the development, he assured scribes that he would look into the matter instantly. “The least ticket for non-AC travel will be Rs 2 only." According to the contract, the Karnataka-based firm, which has been engaged for providing the bus service, the rates fixed were for the non-AC buses. The least fare is Rs 2 (up to 5 km), Rs 5 (5-10 km) and Rs 10 (more than 10 km). The fare for AC buses is Rs 5 (up to 5 km), Rs 10 (5-10 km) and Rs 15 (more than 10 km). BR Pareenja, general secretary of the Consumer Rights Protection Society, Amritsar, who was charged Rs 5 while travelling in the City Bus said, “I was bewildered when the bus conductor informed me that the earlier arrangement of charging Rs 2 had been abolished and that the least fare of Rs 5 would now be applicable. I had no choice but to give up the idea of arguing with him,” he said. Another resident, Naresh Johar, who also uses the City Bus service to reach his office, said that even if Rs 5 as the least bus fare might not matter much to an individual commuter, when the contract between the firm and the MC has been signed at a stipulated fare, there was no justification of enhancing the least fare from Rs 2 to Rs 5. “The buses have been purchased under the JNNURM scheme out of public money and the firm has been allocated the buses for negligible rent which they pay to the MC, but the calculations of the bus fare, which was stipulated under the arrangement. These should not be disturbed without a valid reason and the firm was in the wrong in law to enhance the fare on its own,” he viewed. With the addition of 20 more buses recently, a total fleet of 60 buses is being run on different routes, which included AC, non-AC, and mini buses. These buses are being operated on the NCC (net-cost contract) mode by hiring a Karnataka-based company. It will be the liability of the company to operate and maintain the buses. In lieu, the company would also pay the MC an amount of Rs 1,250 every month for each bus.
|
|
Showers bring mercury down
Amritsar, March 11 As the city got in a mood to welcome the spring break, the changed weather came as a disappointment. With Holi around the corner, the chill in the air might play spoilsport for Holi enthusiasts. This is the second such sudden change in temperature that has surprised cirizens. Post-Lohri showers had people in shock as they expected bright sunny weather. And now they are prepared for rainy Holi. " The weather has been quite unpredictable this year. The wintersstarted late and might end late as well," said Anupam Dayal, a retired government officer from Adarsh Nagar. The low spirits is visible in both the young and old, with some even complaining about the extended winter season. "Winters seem to be never- ending. I hope it gets over and we can breathe in the cool spring breeze in a few days," said Sahil Madaan, a student of Khalsa College. The sudden rainfall also brought traffic snarls. With more rainfall predicted in the coming days, the cold weather is nowhere near retreating and so pile on some more clothes from your winter wardrobe.
|
||
|
Key roads remain clean despite showers last evening
GS Paul Tribune News Service
Amritsar, March 11 The MC has made new water outlet chambers on the key roads to drain out storm water. The problem with the old ones is that they are located some inches above the level of the road, which serves little purpose. Nonetheless, these new chambers seem to provide better results. This was proved during showers yesterday. Water did not accumulate on roads. Recently, the MC had allocated funds for de-silting the main sewage lines in all 65 wards of the city. Various areas in the city grapple with waterlogging every monsoon. According to an estimate, around 150 million litres of water passes through the 872- km sewerage network. Many posh areas like Lawrence Road, Madan Mohan Malviya Road, parts of the GT Road generally face waterlogging in monsoon. The reason behind the problem is the absence of free passage of water. The change the drive would bring is yet to be seen. Meanwhile, it has been learnt that the AMC has birfurcated the city into eight zones and have deputed 72 persons to clean the manholes. According to an estimate, the zone-wise expenditure would be Rs 50,424 for zone I; Rs 42,402 for zone I-A; Rs 80,000 for zone II; Rs 42,000 The Councillors have been asked to keep an eye on the work being done in their areas so that some active mechanism to pump out the rain water could be put in place. City Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora said Rs 12 lakh were spent on the drainage system. “Our teams will work in collaboration with the councillors. The councillors will guide our officials during the drive. It would be a relief to the residents during upcoming monsoon season," he said.
|
|
No anti-rabies vaccine at Civil Hospital
Amritsar, March 11 The Jallianwwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital on an average receives 15-20 cases of dog bite every month. Even yesterday, a child was reportedly bitten by a dog on the hospital premises. Earlier, the state government had decided to provide anti-rabies vaccines to patients free of cost. Residents have complained about the stray dog menace to the authorities but in the absence of any mechanism to deal with it, the Municipal Corporation failed to take appropriate measures. Dr Hardeep Singh Ghai, Senior Medical Officer of the hospital, said, "We will send a fresh demand for injections as we cannot use the injections from the existing lot until the inquiry is over." He said a patient had allegedly died of reaction from an anti-rabies vaccine in Patiala and the department had stopped using injections from the stock until the inquiry was over. Dr Ghai, however, denied that any case of dog bite took place on the hospital premises yesterday. "No such case occurred on the hospital premises a day before. Even if such an incident had taken place, no patient visited the hospital," he said.
|
|
Youth found dead at home, suicide expected
Jalandhar March 11 The deceased was identified as Kamaljit Singh. He was a painter by profession. Police sources said police was not suspecting any foul play behind his death as no suicide note was recovered from the spot adding that inquest proceedings under section 174 of CrPc were initiated by the police. During preliminary investigation, it came to the light that yesterday youth had arrived home late night and today morning his body was found hanging in the room, police sources said youth was living at her aunt’s house for the past several years. Police said, deceased’s kin had also not suspected any foul play behind his death. They were even unaware of the reason why Kamaljit took the extreme step.
|
||
|
Kak from Jammu presents Ibsen’s ‘Ghost’ on second day
Actor-director has been keeping innovative theatre alive; His daughter is one of the rare women theatre directors Neha Saini Tribune News Service
Amritsar, March 11 Reflecting social characters and moralities, Kak said his works were just an extension of the classics. "For me the two greatest realist storytellers were Sadat Hasan Manto and Henrik Ibsen. Thier stories and characters are relevant even today and are about society, with all its ugliness. Even in my play, "Ghost", the five characters are connected to one another, tormented by thier inner ghosts," said the director. As one of the noted names in theatre from Jammu and Kashmir, Kak has been actively keeping innovative theatre alive in the Valley. Having directed over 100 plays and winning the Sahitya Kala Parishad award for four years with critically acclaimed plays, Kak is one of the very few theatre patrons in Kashmir. "The fact that we have been able to stage acclaimed plays like "Andha Yug", "Pratibimb" and "Ghost" with talented artistes from J&K itself proves the ideology and quality of theatre. Youngsters are directly and vigorously involved in theatre and travel a lot with our productions."Though he agreed that lack of theatre space had been a let down. But we have not let this limit our theatre, instead we redesign our theatre according to the space available. sometimes with intimate theatre or open-air presentation. Besides, forms and techniques are experimented with," he said. His daughter, Ifra Mushtaq Kak, too, has carried forward the family legacy and is one of the first women theatre directors in the Valley. " She directed a play two years ago at the National Theatre Festival in Amritsar and was appreciated. I have always let her choose her own path and am glad that she is doing well," said he. Besides theatre, he has also been part of Bollywood films like "Vishwaroopam", "Kai po che", "Hijack", "Shahid" and "Mausam". As for the play Ghost, it was a collective story of five characters and the consequences of their past lives with present references. "It's a family tragedy but also a social drama. "Story of Captain Alving and his Family", each battling a ghost. "The initimate drama defines the diffrence between realism and literalism," explained Kak. The two-hour long play depicted how man fell a victim to social conventions, the ghost being Captain Alving, finally presented as a victim rather than the defaulter. The next play to be staged is Girish Karnad's mystical story, "Nagamandala".
|
|
LS poll: Notices issued to heads
of 12 institutions
Amritsar, March 11 Additional District Election Officer Pradeep Sabbarwal said notices had been issued under the guidelines of the Election Commission of India. He said it was felt that employees of some institutions were deliberately flouting the guidelines for attending various meetings. Speaking at a meeting regarding the Lok Sabha elections today, Sabbarwal said that notices had been issued to General Manager, Punjab Roadways Amritsar-I, Principal, Khalsa College of Education, Principal, Khalsa College of Physical Education, Principal, Anand College of Education for Women, Principal, Guru Teg Bahadur College of Education, Principal, Global College of Engineering, Principal, Government Arts and Craft Institute, Principal, Mohan Lal Institute of Education, Principal, Government ITI, Jandiala Guru, Principal, Government ITI, Ranike, Deputy Director, Punjab Institute of Textile Technology, and Divisional Manager,
FCI.
|
|
GNDU holds seminar
A national seminar on the theme "Perspectives in Plant and Environmental Sciences" began at GNDU on Tuesday. Experts from various universities and educational institutes in the country are participating in the seminar, which is being organised by the Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, GNDU. The seminar is sponsored by UGC-DRS. Prof RK Kohli, Vice-Chancellor, DAV University, Jalandhar, delivered the keynote address while Prof MS Hundal, Dean, Academic Affairs, presided over the programme. Prof Adarshpal Vig, head of the department and the organising secretary for the seminar welcomed the guests. While speaking on the occasion, Prof Kohli raised some vital issues related to environment, food security and genetically modified crops. He discussed how biodiversity was being disturbed through the introduction of species like lantana and GM crops like BT cotton and BT brinjal. “In most of the cases, the aim is to introduce a new trait in the plant," he said. Prof Hundal said there were many other environmental issues besides air and water pollution, which were posing a challenge to humanity. “India has made the fastest progress in addressing the environmental issues in the world. However, India has a long way to go in comparison to the developed nations. Pollution remains a major challenge for us,” he said. Results declared
Results of MA music instrumental (third semester), MSc zoology (first semester), MA Punjabi (first semester ), MA political science (first semester), MA history (first semester ), MSc botany (third semester), MSc zoology
(thisrd semester), MSc biotechnology (first semester), BOD (seventh semester, MSc math (first and third semester), were declared by GNDU on Tuesday. Dr RK Mahajan, In-charge (Examinations), said the results were available on the university website
www.gndu.ac.in.— TNS
|
|
|
Mr and Mrs 420 star cast visits city Amritsar, March 11 "It's a light film with the usual dose of romance, comedy, drama and action. It's a story of four village youths known for their failures and troubles. Whenever they try to come out of their problems, it backfires. The other two stars in the movie are Babbal Rai and Binnu Dhillon," said Yuvraj Hans. Shruti Sodhi, Swati Kapoor and Avantika Hyundal are also in lead roles.— TNS
|
|
Amritsar, March 11 According to Sanjeev Kumar Sharma, in-charge anti-narcotics cell, special branch, Amritsar, both were proclaimed offenders and were wanted in a case registered on March 7 under Section 370, 411, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC. Both were arrested during a checking. They were in a car and could not produce the car's documents. The police said they confessed to have stolen a Zen car, four motorcycles, a scooter and three motorcycle chassis. "We have recovered all stolen vehicles besides fake registration certificates," the police claimed. The accused have been sent to police remand by the court. — TNS
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Within a few weeks of the launch of City Bus service, it has dealt a blow to the commuters by jacking up the minimum rate.
A sudden
drop in temperature and a cloudy morning with a bit of hailstorm had
Amritsar residents running for woollens again.
The Municipal Corporation's de-silting drive seems to have succeeded as the key roads did not get inundated despite showers last evening. Though the residents heaved a sigh of relief, there were some drainage outlets, which need to be cleaned up as their vents were blocked by filth.
As the Health Department has instructed all health institutions in state not to use anti-rabies injections from the existing lot, no effort has been made to supply alternative injections. The department had issued orders following the allegations that a patient in Patiala died due to reaction from one of the injections from the same lot.
Mushtaq Kak, the renowned theatre actor-director from Jammu, presented his production, "Ghost", on the second day of the National Theatre Festival at Virsa
Vihar. The director known to bring realism on stage through his socially hard hitting plays, adapted Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's play "Ghost".
