Finance Dept demands action against GMC 
Amritsar, March 24
The State Finance Department has asked the Directorate of Research and Medical Education to take ‘necessary action’ in the case of purchase of dialysis kits at higher market price in 2012 by the Government Medical College here.

Amritsar, March 24
The deadlock between the MC employees and the authorities ended after the authorities disbursed the former them they salary dues.

With this, the employees suspended their protest programme scheduled to be launched from Monday onwards.

MC Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said it was a temporary delay on the part of the government to release funds. “It is the liability of the government to pay salaries to all its employees and they should not react instantly. “We have received funds from the government and several employees were paid their salary cheques on Friday only, the rest of them were given the salary cheques later on,” he said.

Vinod Bitta, president, Safai Mazdoor Union (Bitta group), said almost all their grievances were redressed in a cordial atmosphere. “It was decided to give up plans of holding any further protest”, he said.

The MC employees were on a war path against non-disbursal of salaries for February and foreseeing little hope for getting their dues for the current month. They had given 72-hour ultimatum to the MC authorities on March 19 to clear their wages, otherwise they would shun work in protest.

The same situation had arisen two months ago, too, when their wages got delayed and the MC staff observed a total strike and the system had collapsed for two days. The deadlock ended only after the direct intervention of the Local Bodies Ministry which had released their salaries on the persuasion of city mayor Bakshi Ram Arora.

Actually, the salary bill of MC employees amounts to around Rs 11 crore. The MC spared its share to the tune of around Rs 4 crore and for meeting the rest of the major amount, it had to depend on the government. The government disbursed the MC its fund quota against the VAT payments and other taxes which were paid in state exchequer by the MC. This payment got delayed. When the matter was conveyed to the Local Bodies Ministry and the Secretary, the matter was resolved. 

Amritsar, March 24
The city police headed by ADCP city-I Parampal Singh along with paramilitary forces today conducted a flag march in various parts of the walled city to monitoring the security aspect in the wake of upcoming Lok Sabha poll.

Parampal Singh said this was the first march carried out in the old city in view of the elections. He said nobody would be allowed to tinker with the law and order situation in the city during the poll and for this the police officials had been keeping a close watch on the activities of anti-social elements and history-sheeters.

He said that a company of the CISF had arrived in the city from Rajasthan in view of the elections and more forces were expected to come in the near future. More such flag marches would be carried out in various parts of the city, he added. — TNS

Amritsar, March 24
The State Finance Department has asked the Directorate of Research and Medical Education to take ‘necessary action’ in the case of purchase of dialysis kits at higher market price in 2012 by the Government Medical College here.

In a letter issued to the Principal Secretary, Medical Education and Research Department, March 12, the Principal Secretary, Finance, has asked for taking necessary action and conveys the action taken to the later.

The Tribune,had earlier on October 17, 2013, reported that Government Medical College had purchased 1,000 sets of dialysis kits from Bathinda-based firm at a price of Rs 1,750 per kit.

The whistle blower in the case, Ravinder Sultanwind, an RTI activist had alleged that the college had paid three times more than the market price.

An independent enquiry into the market price of dialysis kit by this correspondent too had revealed that the kit was available at a price less than Rs 7,00 per kits to a retail customer. However, the college which had purchased 1,000 sets had claimed to purchase the same at Rs 1,750 per set.

Ravinder said, “It is good that finally some action has been initiated by the state government. A thorough probe in the case should be conducted and all those responsible and found guilty should be punished.” He said the government must take strict action including recovering the money from the guilty officials.

The purchase of medicine at more than the market price had also came into light at the local civil surgeon office but no action in the case had been initiated so far. The civil surgeon office had purchased Hepatitis B vaccines at a price of Rs 6,770 per piece even as these were available in the market for Rs 4,200-4,500.

The office had further purchased Anti-D vaccines at a price of Rs 3,200 per piece even as these were available for 2,200-2,300. The office had purchased Intrauterine devices for Rs 4,990 but in market its cost was around 1,700-1,800. 

Amritsar, March 24
Continuing its campaign against drug abuse prevalent in border villages, the Border Security Force (BSF) organised a cross-country run and other sports activities at Government Senior Secondary School, Bhindi Saida village.

Vipin Panthari, Officiating Commandant, 67th battalion of the BSF, was the chief guest on the occasion. He also distributed prizes among the winners. The BSF also distributed track suits among schoolchildren.

BSF officials present on the occasion enthused the children to not fall in the vicious trap of drug addiction, which had ruined the youth of Punjab. They motivated them against drug abuse and appealed to the school authorities and teachers to spread the message of staying away from drugs.

“The only solution to the problem of rampant drug menace, which had spread its tentacles in every nook and corner of the border state, is to make youth aware about its ill effects and motivate them to shun addiction,” said BSF officials. Lesser the demand, lesser will be the smuggling said Vipin Panthari, adding that rehabilitation of the addicts was a major step in this direction.

Principal of school Balwinder Singh appreciated the efforts of the BSF and assured every possible help in spreading awareness against drug abuse for eradicating the menace. BSF Deputy Commandant Pawan Ladwal was also present at the event. 

Amritsar, March 24
Setting up of a number of residential townships stretched it and qualified it into one of the fast developing cities in the state. However, omission of sports grounds is snatching away from its youth, a chance to choose from and shine in their chosen sports discipline.

Amritsar, March 24
A 21-day refresher course in teaching English language and literature concluded at the UGC Academic Staff College of Guru Nanak Dev University here today. As many as 28 teachers from various colleges participated in the course.

Prof BL Chakoo, retired professor, Department of English, was the chief guest at the valedictory session.

Prof Chakoo, in his valedictory address, expressed dismay over the declining reading habits amongst the young teachers. “Learning is a lifelong process and in order to do justice to the students, it is imperative that teachers should continuously update their knowledge periodically,” he said.

He lamented that the teaching profession had become more and more business-oriented than a mission.

Prof Sukhdev Singh, course coordinator and Head, Department of English, hoped that the impetus gained by teachers during this course would motivate them to excel in their field.

Prof Avinash Kaur Nagpal, Director of Academic Staff College and Prof Sukhdev Singh, course coordinator, welcomed the chief guest and participants.

Prof Nagpal felicitated the participants on the successful completion of the course. The certificates were given away to the participants by the chief guest. Dr Mohan Kumar proposed a vote of thanks.

Amritsar, March 24
Six years into the entertainment industry, and various small and big-screen roles, we still know actor Mona Singh as the sweet and charming Jassi from her successful TV debut. Mona has had her hands full since her debut on screen, juggling between films and TV shows. After her show “Kya Hua Tera Vaada”, she is now back on small screen with the reality show “Entertainment ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega”, once again.

Admittedly in love with the small screen, Mona talks about her new season as a host. “It will be definitely one of the most fun-filled shows on the TV. With my new co-host Krushna, there will be more pagalpanti and so much more talent,” she says. Calling the show a huge success in its previous editions, Mona is sure that this time too, the show will bring out the talent of many unknown faces on national platform. “That’s why most of the auditions for the participants are happening in small towns. Giving them an opportunity to shine, fight for their fifteen minutes of fame, the show is going to be popular,” says Mona.

With “Kya Hua Tera Vaada” termed as her comeback on the TV after a long hiatus, suddenly ending, Mona says she was happy with whatever came off her way. “Definitely bigger and better things I will say. I was busy hosting reality shows, doing films.” Ask her to choose between small and big screen, and she chooses being an actor, regardless of any medium. She says, “It’s just magical to be an actor. You get to be so many things in just one life. Every role that I play comes with a different perception, which surprises me as well sometimes.” And she doesn’t mind the gruelling shooting schedules or going sleepless for hours. “I have experienced all this while doing Jassi….I remember shooting non-stop for hours, sleeping in between shots and sometimes going empty stomach. Now, with the years and experience in the industry, I can have off when I want or go a bit relaxed.”

As for the reality TV, she is better off hosting rather than being a part of it herself. “It’s true. I don’t think shows like “Bigg Boss” or “Khatron ke Khiladi” is my cup of tea. I can only watch them as an audience, but not be a part of it,” says Mona.

Recently, auditions for “Entertainment ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega” were held in Amritsar, but the actor missed out on a chance to visit the city, given her shooting commitments. She says, “It’s one of my favourite cities and the most amazing place to be. There is so much of energy, life here and the people are so warm.” 

Amritsar, March 24
This time two traditional left parties, the CPM and the CPI, would come face to face in the Amritsar constituency in the ensuing parliamentary elections.

While the CPM has announced the name of a senior farmer leader, Rattan Singh Randhawa, as its candidate from Amritsar, the CPI has fielded Amarjit Singh Asal, another popular communist leader, from the city.

Randhawa (59), is known for his struggle for the cause of the farmers and labourers. He spent his life for their cause and continued with his endeavour for raising issues surrounding the farming community. A postgraduate in political science and sociology, he has also done LLB.

Born in Deo village of Tarn Taran district, Randhawa remained associated with the Communist Party since his college days. He was an active student leader in Guru Nanak Dev University, where he fought for various issues concerning the students.

Addressing the media, he said All India Left Coordination, which includes the CPM and the CPI (ML) Liberation, decided to jointly contest these elections. He said the party would contest from the six constituencies in Punjab while it had already declared the candidates from Jalandhar, Khadoor Sahib and Amritsar.

He appealed to the people and other like-minded organisations to support the CPM in the forthcoming parliamentary polls.

While giving details about his agenda for the elections, he said he would raise the issues of high inflation rate, which had broken the back of the common masses, increasing unemployment, corruption, deteriorating health services and uplifting the education system during his campaign. He said it would be his priority to find a solution to these problems for the betterment of society. He said he would also raise the issues concerning the small farmers, Dalits and the women community.

He criticised the Congress, the BJP and the SAD for forgetting the real issues concerning the people at large while leaders of these parties were busy in hitting at each other.

Amritsar, March 24
With the commissioning of a unique controlled-atmosphere (CA) cold storage in the holy city, now vegetables like onion, garlic, spices, and dry fruit will be conveniently stored. Besides, vegetables like tomatoes will not lose their quality even after storing for a longer period.

Sakshi Fruit and Vegetable Cold Store, a private venture, has established the state-of-the-art cold storage with technical knowhow from the National Horticulture Board (NHB) and financial assistance from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). It aims to provide storage facility for perishable merchandise like dry fruit and other eatables being imported and exported via the International Check Point from Pakistan.

This cold storage differs from other controlled-atmosphere (CA) units in the country as it is externally insulated from UV rays and sunlight. Proprietor of the unit, Raman Gupta, said the concept digressed from the norms established by the NHB. He said it took a long time to convince the authorities concerned, but the struggle eventually set a novel benchmark for the forthcoming units to follow it.

He said after studying the global trends it was found that 80 per cent insulation was carried out externally over the walls. Under this concept XPS, a kind of paint, is painted on the external walls made of hollow bricks.

About its advantage, he said the building envelope could be sealed better from outside in continuous manner. Inside hollow blocks wall acted as a thermal mass to maintain the required temperature. Efficiency of the insulation was better as the concrete structure did not heat up. Insulation was protected against damage due to material handling, condensation and moisture absorption, added Gupta.

The NHB constituted a technical team comprising Dr KR Aharwal, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, and Umed Singh, Deputy Director of the NHB. The committee noted that the promoter intended to insulate the wall and the roof externally. As per the NHB standards, insulation should be provided from inside. It has been clarified by experts from the CBRI and IIT Rurkee as well as ASHARE hand book that external insulation also controls the heat loss from external wall. After a detailed discussion, the committee approved the proposal.

The state-of-the-art cold storage would replace the traditional cold storage, which works with singular objective of refrigeration. It will save 40 per cent of the running power cost as compared to the traditional cold storage.

Exporters, importers and farmers of the area dealing in fresh fruits, vegetable, spices and dry fruits will soon have a facility of a controlled-atmosphere (CA) cold storage here, which will increase the shelf life of perishable items.

There are six chambers with each chamber having five separate rooms to provide required oxygen, humidity, carbon dioxide, coolness and other gases as per the requirement of the product stored. For instance, apple, apricots, Asian pears, cherries, coconuts, oranges, plums and pomegranates can be stored between 0 to 2°C, 32 to 36°F, 90 to 95 per cent relative humidity.

However, fruits like cherries, melons, lychees, mausami and oranges (Calif and Arizona) will be stored in separate chamber at temperature of 4.5°C and relative humidity between 90 to 95 per cent.

Similarly, bananas, coconut, grapefruit, guava, mangoes, pineapple and papaya will be stored between 13 to 15°C and relative humidity will be kept between 85 to 90 per cent. On the other hand, garlic and onion dry will require temperature between 0 to 2°C and relative humidity between 65 to 75 per cent.

Gupta said with the introduction and application of modern agro-techniques, the production of all vegetables and fruits had risen beyond expectation, but sadly handled inadequately. Most of the produce went underutilized, unutilised or wasted in the inhospitable climate condition. It tantamount to colossal drain in terms of labour, employment and money circulation, besides leaving innumerable populace deprived of their basic food and vegetable needs and garbage disposal problem, added Gupta.

Cold storage is meant to preserve the perishable food commodities available in very inhospitable environment for extended period with a thought to retain the original real shape, colour, flavour and taste.

This cold storage has a total capacity of 5,200 MT with six chamber spread over five floors. Besides, ante rooms at each floor for pre-cooling so that the commodities do not face extreme weather. The unit also has special air cooling unit, advanced liquid overfeed pump system, special insulated heavy doors, automatic temperature control, specialised machinery and equipments, carbon dioxide scrubbers, ethylene scrubbers, carbon dioxide gas analysers, humidifiers, de-humidifiers.

At present, fresh farm produce like vegetables are being exported to Pakistan from the Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post (JCP) and to London from Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport. Besides, dry fruits are being imported from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Gupta said dry fruits consignments after being offloaded at Attari were transported to the rest of the country. He said all these products needed gradation and preservation, this centre would provide, which was earlier not available in this part of the country.

Gupta said moisture and humidity would be controlled at the unit. Advanced technology like thermal mass with steel, hollow cemented blocks instead of bricks had been used in the construction of the unit. The unit would be equipped with a modern laboratory for testing the produce and issuing certificates, he added.

The Central Government is extending support in raising more such storage facilities in the remote parts of the country as nearly one third of the horticulture produce, especially fruits and vegetables, are wasted due to lack of cold storage and other facilities.

The assistance by government agencies is in the form of credit-linked back-end subsidy at 40 per cent of the capital cost of the project in general areas for a maximum storage capacity of 5,000 MT per project.

Amritsar, March 24
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed a gas dealer to pay Rs 1,000 as compensation for causing harassment to a consumer by not providing him a second LPG cylinder as per the norms. The forum has also directed the company to pay Rs 1,000 as litigation expenses to the complainant.

Balwinder Singh, a resident of Baba Bakala, in a complaint to the forum had stated that he got a gas connection from Shind Gas Agency, Jandiala Guru, in 1997. He alleged that the LPG dealer had given him a slip for the second cylinder in 1998, but did not deliver it.

He said he approached the dealer many a times for the cylinder but to no avail. However, during the hearing of the case, the cylinder was provided to him.

The forum observed that though no representative of the gas agency appeared before it to file the reply, the complainant was issued the second cylinder after he filed the complaint. The forum stated that it proved deficiency in service on the part of the gas agency.