Amritsar, March 26
Dr Daljeet Singh, Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Amritsar and a renowned eye surgeon, began his election campaign after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple and Durgiana temple today.

Dr Singh gave a clarion call to launch crusade against the corrupt and unethical politicians who were promoting their personal interests at the cost of public exchequer. He said he would leave no stone unturned for the welfare of the common man. He said it was a pity that the politicians had scant knowledge about people's problems and were framing policies as per the whims and fancies of corporate houses.

Taking a dig at the Congress and the SAD-BJP alliance, Dr Daljeet Singh said the political parties had failed at all fronts. "In Punjab, rates of construction material have skyrocketed and it has become impossible for the common man to even dream of own house. The public has further been burdened with unnecessary taxes whereas politicians are enjoying luxuries life. Similarly, the UPA government has proved to be a government of scams. The Aam Aadmi Party, which is a people's movement against corruption, unemployment, drug trade and inflation, would remove these prevailing evils," he said.

Gulshan Kumar and Prof Manjit Singh, members of state campaigning committee, Ashok Talwar, convener, AAP, Amritsar, JS Gill, youth coordinator, Dr Baljit Kaur, Jagdeep Singh, Princepal Singh, Vinod Kumar, Ravinder Kumar Sultanwind, Gurbhej Singh and HS Dawar were also present on the occasion.

Amritsar, March 26
The city police has initiated a programme to sensitise residents about traffic norms using audio public address (PA) systems at key intersections of the city. But the police itself are on the wrong side of law as it is using “kundi” connections (drawing power illegally) to run these public address systems.

It is a sheer case of moral turpitude on the part of the police administration under the government norms.

The Tribune team went to the police picket located on the Novelty Chowk only to find that the public address system as well as the recorder, which played the traffic norms information repeatedly, was attached to the wires, used to draw electricity from a nearby pole.

Interestingly, when the pictures were being clicked, a police official appeared on the spot. When questioned, he agreed it to be a ‘clear-cut’ case of power theft but had a readied justification with him.

He said, “So, what? The power supply is being drawn from ‘Maharaj’s home’ (God’s abode).” “We have been using or misusing, as you say, the electricity for the public only. It is an inter-departmental (police and the power) mutually agreed arrangement,” he (name withheld on request) said sarcastically.

Ironically, the office of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) is located just a few steps away from this picket, but they too have turned a blind eye to the power theft by the Police Department.

At another traffic intersection on the Customs’ Chowk, the same method was being adopted. Here too, the policemen reasoned that the electricity was being drawn (illegally) for the public awareness only. “You can question us only if we have been using the ‘kundi connection’ for our homes,” they said.

A few days back, the Police Department had started using audio public address systems to exhort the public on following traffic rules. A recorder was also installed, which played the message from morning to till dark.

A vigilant resident, Naresh Johar, said, “Setting a goal is important but means to achieve it has to be in a legal way. It is an appreciable step of the Police Department to educate public about traffic norms. But stealing electricity to run their public address system can never be justified in any court of law.”

Another resident, NS Gabarhia, said, “It is pity that the PSPCL takes the help of the police to check power thefts. Now the same Police Department is involved in stealing power. It needs urgent attention.”

Baljeet Johal, another resident, said, “The police register an FIR against those who steal power illegally through ‘kundi’ connections, but under what law the case should be filed against them now.”

Amritsar, March 26
With the arrest of three more persons, the Amritsar rural police have arrested seven persons for allegedly killing two migrant labourers. Later, the bodies of the labourers were set on fire, along with a car, to claim insurance amount worth crores. However, the alleged 
mastermind of the conspiracy, Surinder Singh, is still at large.

The police have also booked Balwinder Singh, brother-in-law of Surinder Singh, in this regard. Those arrested in the case are Surinder's wife Jasbir Kaur, son Sukhchain Singh, his wife Sarabjit Kaur, Surinder Singh's relative Nishan Singh, Avtar Singh and Ranjit Singh. Sukhchain's brother-in-law Surinder Singh, who was also involved in the conspiracy, is on the run. A case under Sections 302, 364, 420, 426, 115, 120-B and 201 of the IPC has been registered at the Chatiwind police station.

Rajeshwar Singh Sidhu, SP (D), Amritsar rural police, said Balwinder Singh knew about the conspiracy. He said raids were being conducted to nab the accused. He said efforts would also be made to arrest Surinder's two Australia-based sons Mukhtiar Singh and Sukhwant Singh.

It may be recalled that on January 22 a car, along with the bodies of the migrant labourers, was set on fire near Manawala on the outskirts of the city.

At that time, the victims were identified as, Surinder Singh (58) of Rana Garden Enclave and Sahib Singh. The police had initiated the action under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Jasbir Kaur, Surinder Singh' s wife, had told the police that her husband, along with Sahib Singh, was going to Chandigarh in their car for a health check-up when the car accidentally caught fire, killing them on the spot.

However, the investigation revealed that Surinder Singh had purchased insurance cover worth Rs 1.50 crore and Sahib Singh had purchased insurance cover worth Rs 26 lakh. During the probe, it was found that Surinder and Sahib were were still alive and were hiding somewhere. Later, the police arrested Sahib Singh.

Amritsar, March 26
The regional passport office will organise a passport mela from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm on March 29 at the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) on Mall Road near Custom Chowk in Amritsar.

The applicants are requested to take appointment after paying the fee online and visit the PSK with the application reference number (ARN) sheet. The applicants have been asked to bring with them duly self-attested photocopies of documents.

However, only applications under the normal, fresh/re-issue category will be accepted during the mela. Tatkal, walk-in, PCC and on-hold applications will not be entertained during the passport mela. The passport mela has been announced to ease the rush of applicants at the passport office. Earlier, a number of steps such as elongated appointment cycle, launch of mPassport Seva App and premium SMS service (optional) were taken by the authorities to provide hassle-free services to people.

The Ministry of External Affairs will also launch other passport-related services in rural areas through a vast network of citizen services centres.The passport mela is being organised on a regular basis in different cities to help people get their passports on time.

Amritsar, March 26
The Border Security Force foiled another smuggling attempt and recovered seven kg of heroin, worth Rs 35 crore, and a pistol from the Rajatal border outpost area today.

MF Farooqui, DIG, BSF, Amritsar, said four smugglers from the Pakistan side were trying to sneak into the Indian territory. He said the smugglers were trying to insert a plastic pipe containing contraband and arms. As the BSF jawans challenged them, they fired at them. The jawans also retaliated.

However, the smugglers managed to escape, leaving drugs behind.

During a search operation, the BSF recovered seven packets of heroin, a pistol with a magazine and five live cartridges. Notably, the BSF has seized around 143 kg of heroin from the Punjab border this year. The BSF have recovered 11 pistols, 15 magazines and 153 live cartridges this year.

Amritsar, March 26
Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat today initiated Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) campaign under which a van complete with paraphernalia to encourage electorates to vote in the upcoming elections was flagged off from the historic Ram Bagh.

He also pasted stickers on vehicles highlighting the importance of voting in democracy. A slogan on stockers read “Your Vote Your Voice” while another highlighted that casting of votes ensures development of the country. Earlier, various measures were taken not only to ensure the participation of people in the electoral process but also caution them against selling their votes. This campaign has been designed to appeal to the all categories of voters. A one-kilometre-long-banner signature campaign is also being carried out in 20 towns of the district with the support of NGO Voice Riders. The NGO has aimed at creating a Limca Book record and is in the process of extending the campaign by four meters, thereby beating all previous records.

Nearly 20 NGOs, 12 colleges and 180 schools in the district have been roped in to make the campaign a success. Various banks and associations (CSR) have been motivated to provide the publicity material under the corporate social responsibility .

Bhagat announced that Run for Vote Marathon would be held on March 30 and motivational audio and video CDs would be distributed among students and bus drivers. — TNS

Amritsar, March 26
Many projects for conservation of heritage Gobindgarh Fort, Rambagh Garden, Ramgaria Bungas, fresco work in Harmandar Sahib were initiated, but the holy city’s master plan has no concrete proposal regarding heritage zones.

This was stated by Prof Balvinder Singh while delivering lecture on “Conservation of Amritsar’s built heritage: An analytical review” at BBK DAV College for Women, here on Saturday. Prof Balvinder is a noted conservationist from Sri Guru Ram Das School of Planning of Guru Nanak Dev University.

“The master plan must assess the conservation needs of a city. It must devote a complete chapter on the concept of heritage zones or conservation areas. In other words, it must evolve heritage zones based on basic parameters,” he said.

“Referring to international charters such as Athens (1931), Venice (1964) and Washington charter (1987), it has been noticed that the conservation movement progressed from individual monument to urban areas and whole towns. Washington charter also known as Charter for the Conservation of Historic Towns and Urban Areas is considered to be a landmark for integrating conservation with the urban planning by way of conservation areas or heritage zones,” he added.

About heritage zone and conservation area he said it was an area of special architectural, historical and cultural interest. The need of the hour was to conserve and preserve buildings or sites of historical, architectural and social significance and to ensure that they were not adversely affected by any new development, he added.

Prof Balvinder said the basic purpose of designating such a zone was to ensure that the areas within it maintained the essential historic character or ambience and the development within the area was undertaken with care and sympathy to form, character and scale of existing heritage sites and buildings.

He said, “Looking at the importance of heritage zones, master plans or zonal development plans through proposed land use plans must identify and delineate special reservations in master plans. Once a special reservation is made on the statutory land use plan by locating such areas, it implies that the permission granting agency will easily distinguish these from other areas.”

He said Hyderabad was a good example where special reservations had been in operation. Even Kuala Lumpur City Development Plan was another example where a separate chapter in detail had been devoted to the heritage zones.

“Thus with the physical expansion of towns and cities, the buildings as well heritage areas containing unique examples of architectural styles or ways of life are increasingly exposed to the forces of urbanisation and urban development,” he added. Prof Balvinder said efforts to cover such areas had become difficult due to the absence of institutional framework or weak enforcement of legislation and above all due to neglect of integrating conservation in the process of urban planning.

“The most important tool is the master plan or popularly known as comprehensive development plan. Most of such plans have not given due consideration to the concept of heritage zone or conservation areas. This results in to the neglect of tangible and thereby intangible heritage of old historic towns and cities. Therefore, special considerations are needed while preparing the comprehensive development plan of old historic towns, if their traditional spatial patterns as well as tangible and intangible heritage, is to be keep intact,” remarked Prof Balvinder.

Amritsar, March 26
Simran Sethi, an Australian-based model of Indian origin, based at Amritsar, grabbed the title of Mr India in Mr India Quest (MIQ) 2014, held in Melbourne, recently.

Sethi took to modelling two years ago after doing professional course in modelling. It was for the first time that he participated in such a pageant and his hard work paid.

Sethi said his strength was his mother Paramjit Kaur, who raised him with such positive ethics that nothing was impossible in life.

MIQ contest is held every year in Melbourne. The event started in 2012 and this was the third year of the contest. Organisers of the show train their models in a professional manner.

“I take it very humbly. This is the beginning. Winning this pageant has given me a lot of motivation to do more exciting and wonderful things in my life. Doesn’t matter what career you want for your self, it’s always your hard work that pays you back,” said Sethi.

“Everyday I wake up, I feel today is a day to do something new and something different. One should never lose hope. Opportunities will knock at your door, if you are good enough to work hard for it. I intend to inspire the younger generation, which is getting addicted to intoxicants,” added Simran while sharing his experience over phone from Melbourne.

Coming from the holy city, where he was born and brought up, Simran is confident of achieving more in life. His father Manjit Singh Sethi passed away when he was just five years old. He has one brother and one sister.

“After my father left, it was my mother who raised three of us going through the hard times. She gave us love of both father and mother. So I will say that she is the bravest mother, who faced the challenges of life to raise her children only from a single source of income,” said Sethi.

He studied in St Francis Convent School in Amritsar and completed his degree in electronics engineering from Jalandhar.

Sethi said, “After my engineering, I decided to move to Australia to face challenges of life and distinguish myself.”

He moved to Melbourne in July 2006 for higher studies. In the beginning, he had to work very hard to get settled. “But now I will say that this country has given me a lot as I expected. Melbourne is a beautiful place to fulfil your dreams if you are desperate about them and have self confidence to achieve them,” he said.

Currently Sethi is doing freelance modeling and also working in aviation services at Melbourne Airport.

Amritsar, March 26
A local hospital today organised an awareness programme to mark World Purple Day dedicated to spreading awareness about epilepsy, which affected one per cent of the people around the globe.

Dr Ashok Uppal, a noted neurologist, said despite the medical advancement in the area of epilepsy, there was a substantial gap in number of patients getting treatment due to lack of awareness and myths associated with the disease.

He said in India this gap varied from 22 to 50 per cent in an urban middle income populace and from 40 to 90 per cent in the rural belt. Dr Uppal said there was an urgent need of such awareness programmes at every level especially in the rural areas. The disease was treatable if diagnosed at early stages, he added. The hospital staff also organised a cultural programme on the occasion to spread awareness about the disease.