Amritsar, May 2
Two days after the Lok Sabha polls, the city police have registered another case relating to poll violence occurred in the Bombay Wala Khuh area in the walled city.

This action agitated Congress workers and the Prajapat community, who along with Congress councillor Gurinder Rishi, staged a protest dharna at Gole Hatti Chowk in the Hall Gate area in the evening and threatened to intensify the agitation if the police failed to cancel the case.

Lakhwinder Singh, reportedly, a BJP supporter and resident of Gali Berian Wali, Bibeksar Road, alleged to the police that he was sitting at the BJP booth in Bombay Wala Khuh area when several persons headed by Sonu Pehalwan, a Congress supporter, arrived at the spot. They attacked him with sharp-edged weapons, he said.

The police registered a case of criminal assault after receiving a medico legal report in this connection.

Along with Sonu Pehalwan, Acchi Pehalwan, Dwaraka, Tiddi Pehalwan, Rinku, Sadhu Nai and around 60 unidentified persons are also booked.

Congress party workers raised slogans against BJP leader Tarun Chugh.

They alleged that the case was registered under pressure of Chugh only to harass Congress workers.

Rishi alleged it was Chugh and his supporters who had attacked Congress workers during the Lok Sabha polls and Congress workers had just ‘responded’ to the attack.

In order to settle political scores, Chugh got a case registered with the police against Congress supporters, he said.

Rishi alleged that today a police officer came to the Telephone Exchange area and unnecessarily harassed ‘rehriwalas’ over there accusing that the area was notorious for drug peddling.

The Dharna was lifted after ADCP Parampal Singh intervened. He pursued the agitators to lift the dharna and promised appropriate action in the case.

The Congress councillor said if the police failed to cancel the FIR and stop harassing the residents of the area, they would launch a protest outside the residence of Tarun Chugh.

Amritsar, May 2
The state BJP leadership has expelled one of its councillors for allegedly indulging in anti-party activities. However, councillor Dr Anup (ward no 61) said it was a one-sided decision taken by the party and no official communication about his termination had been received by him yet.

“I was not given a chance to say anything in my defense. It is a biased and one-sided decision, which is not fair in any sense. I came to know about it from mediapersons as there was no official communication regarding this,” he said.

District BJP president Naresh Sharma said the party had enough evidence to prove that Dr Anup was engaged in anti-party activities by helping the Opposition during the Lok Sabha elections campaigning, on the basis of which Dr Anup’s has been expelled for six years.

“He may not have received the official communication but it will be sent to him shortly. It was a party decision by the state-level leadership taken after scrutinising his anti-party activities during campaigning. There was no reason to hear his side of story as the party has ample evidence with it to prove his culpability. As per the party constitution, he has been terminated for six years, which could even be extended to a life-term afterwards,” said Sharma.

Dr Anup said he was made a scapegoat by a section of BJP workers. He claimed that he had regularly participated in every road show or rally of the party and all allegations levelled against him were frivolous.

“I arranged a huge rally in support of Arun Jaitley on April 19 in which film-star Shatrughan Sinha also participated. The party didn’t recognise it. Instead, it defamed me in public by circulating news about my termination. It implies that true workers command no respect,” he said.

It is learnt that Dr Anup was told to arrange poll booth attendants by the party on April 30, which he couldn’t. This had invited the ire of the BJP leadership.

“The process of arranging polling agents was being looked after by other leaders and I was never invited in any of the poll preparation meetings held during the two months before the Lok Sabha elections. It was just on April 29 that I received a call from senior party leaders to arrange agents for 18 poll booths falling in my ward. I flatly refused to oblige them because at that juncture it was not possible. I even registered my annoyance as they didn’t involve me in any of the poll preparation meetings,” he said.

Amritsar, May 2
The employees of Amritsar City Transport Service Ltd went on a strike for a brief period today protesting the yesterday’s attack on their colleagues and the damage done to their buses. They called off the strike after Municipal Corporation (MC) officials assured them of taking stern action against the miscreants.

MC Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said he spoke to Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh over the matter and the latter assured him full cooperation.

He said a case had been registered against the accused at the Maqboolpura police station and the culprits had been identified.

The protesting staff had resumed the local bus service, he added.

It may be mentioned that the fleet of local buses, being operated on NCC (net-cost contract) mode by a Karnataka-based company, has become an eyesore since its launch on January 28. Many persons involved in ferrying local passengers consider it a threat to their livelihood.

Kuldeep, a driver, who was injured in the attack, said some unidentified persons forcefully entered the city bus service bus stand at Maal Mandi. They beat up driver Kuldeep and bus stand in-charge Prabhjot Singh and damaged the window panes and doors of three buses.

At present, the company operates and maintains the buses. The company also pays the MC an amount of Rs 1,250 every month for each bus. This contract will last for a year and further renewal will increase this amount to Rs 2,000 for each bus per month.

From the third year, there will be an automatic increase of 7 per cent for another 10 years. The project was proposed under the Centre's Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) programme. Initially the project’s cost was Rs 33 crore but the delay has escalated the cost to Rs 49 crore.

Amritsar, May 2
Vishal Khanna, a city-based powerlifting champion has made the country proud by winning a silver medal at the Eurasia Championship held in Russia recently. Back in the city after winning the tournament, the 32-year-old powerlifter shared his ideas on building a promising future in power lifting.

“The event saw competitors from eight countries. The championship is organised by World Power Lifting Congress (WPC) annually and is one of the most prestigious sports event in the world,” he said.

Vishal not only won a silver medal by lifting 240 kg raw bench press, but he also became the only Indian power lifter to do so. “Most Indian powerlifters before me were only able to lift around 200 kg. My achievement has been recognised by the WPC as well as the Global Powerlifting Alliance,” he said.

He has also qualified to represent India at the world championship to be held in Sydney in November this year.

“I have been pursuing professional powerlifting since 12 years and have won many championships in US, Europe and Asia. But I was compelled to shift my base to Canada as the sport didn’t have much scope for me in India,” he said.

Vishal has been training online through video-conferencing by his US-based coach, which involves three hours of grueling training schedule everyday.

Though the powerlifter has been a part of several coveted international events, his personal achievements are all a means towards his goal. By setting up his own coaching centre, he has brought the concept of raw powerlifting to India.

“Its ten times more challenging and exciting than the usual weightlifting as it doesn’t use the aide of usual equipments like pads, gloves, or guards,” he said.

Like other alternative sports in India, powerlifting too has no takers. “There are no state-sponsored training centres, which is a sad fact considering that the Indian Olympic Association has recognised the sport and its growing popularity in European and Asian countries,” he said.

With lack of finances and the required spirit to promote a budding professional sport, many youngsters are not ready to take it professionally. “Sports in our country are taken up with two purposes - as an employment opportunity or for money. I train youngsters who want to take up the sport professionally, but don’t have the means or guidance to do so,” he said.

Two of his students will soon be competing in the Amateur Powerlifting Tournament to be held in Moscow, later this year.

Amritsar, May 2
The city police have booked a youth on the charge of attempt to rape a 17-year-old deaf and dumb girl living in his neighbourhood. The accused, identified as Harjinder Singh of Kapatgarh area, managed to flee after the brother-in-law of the girl noticed him entering the house and came to her rescue.

The victim’s mother alleged in her complaint to the police that her daughter was alone at the house when the accused came through the roof of the house and tried to rape her. However, her son-in-law saw him and came immediately. Seeing him, the accused fled away.

Lakwhinder Singh, additional SHO of the Chheharta police station, said after receiving the written complaint from the mother of the victim, the police had registered a case under Sections 376 (attempting rape), 451 (house trespass), 511 and 354 (criminal intent to outrage the modesty of a girl) of the Indian Penal Code. He said no arrest had been made so far and the accused was at large. — TNS

Amritsar, May 2
Numerous drives by the civic authorities to free the approaching road and footpaths to the Golden Temple from encroachments have failed to yield results.

The approach road to the Golden Temple, which receives more visitors than Taj Mahal, has too little space for the pedestrians on way to the shrine. The stretch is almost non-existent as most part of it has been encroached upon by shopkeepers and vendors.

The visitors have to find space to move amidst goods displayed on the footpaths. Shopkeepers have exhibited their goods up to the middle of the footpaths from the Hall Gate to the Golden Temple, which hinders pedestrian movement. At some places, the entire footpath is blocked by goods.

Some merchants have even placed tables and small folding beds on the path to display their products, which range from clothes to electronic appliances. Vehicles parked on the roadside add to the visitors woes. It is difficult to move on foot amidst the rush of vehicles.

Harjit Singh, a pilgrim from Sonepat, said, “When you are walking on the road, you always fear that some vehicle will hit you from behind. I had to remain extra alert to save myself from these vehicles.” He said footpaths on the way to the shrine should be cleared so that visitors did not face any difficulty while walking to the shrine.

After one crosses the Saragarhi parking, the number of encroachments on the footpaths rises considerably. These also hinder the smooth flow of vehicular traffic.

Another pilgrim from Mohali, Prabh Inder Singh, said, “The vehicles move at a snail’s pace as the people walk in the middle of road since there is no space left on the footpath.” He said footpaths should be cleared for the walkers so as to reduce traffic jams in the area. It was convenient to reach the city all the way from Mohali, but to get to the parking lot after entering Hall Gate was an uphill task demanding a lot of patience, added Prabh Inder.

Even quacks and small-time vendors have set up their shops on the footpaths. Hand-driven carts selling food and other commodities also encroach space along with others, causing inconvenience to the people moving on the foot.

Satnam Singh, a hotelier, said thousands of people visit the Golden Temple and other Sikh holy shrines every day. All might be going back with the same impression that people here were not law-abiding residents, as they encroach upon public properties.

Meanwhile, Municipal Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said a strict vigil was being maintained on the hand-driven carts selling food items and other vendors to prevent them from encroaching on the space along the road to the Golden Temple.

Amritsar, May 2
To promote art-related activities, KT Kala Art Gallery organised two days Artist Meet, an art workshop of senior artists, at Lawrence Road in the city. The workshop has brought together senior and budding artists on a single platform, which will enable exchange of ideas and concepts.

Known names of art fraternity like Ashok Dixit, Rajat from Delhi, Dhoop Singh from Rohtak, Akram Khan and Amrit Kaur from Jammu, Sarvesh Kumar, Rakesh Sen and Babita Biswas from Mumbai, Ninu Vij from Chandigarh and Poonam Kishore and George Emanuel from Amritsar, are participating in the workshop.

Highlighting the works and techniques used by various artists and live art interaction with budding students from the city, the workshop aims at providing open learning experience.

At the end of the workshop, the art works created by each artist will be put on a display through an exhibition. The workshop will last till May 3.

Amritsar, May 2
Chandigarh University (CU), Gharuan, today announced its national-level Scholarship-cum-Admission Test (CU-SAT 2014) for the engineering students.

As many as 300 engineering seats in computer science, mechanical, electronics and communication, civil, electrical, petroleum and automobile will be offered under the CU-SAT 2014 to students passing-out their X+II examination with the non-medical stream.

CU-Gharuan Vice-Chancellor, Dr RS Bawa, said Rs 9 crore has been set aside as scholarship for those students, who qualify the national-level scholarship test to be conducted by the CU at 58 centres, all-over the country from June 1.

The one-hour duration test will conducted on-line based upon physics, chemistry, mathematics and general English subjects. The registration process for CU-SAT 2014 has already begun on the official website of Chandigarh University. Any X+II student of non-medical stream can register online for the test. The last date for registration is May 25.

Dr Bawa said the CU-SAT 2014 would offer 100 per cent scholarship to the first 150 toppers, while the next 150 would get 75 per cent scholarship for their course.

“A merit list will be announced on June 15, in which all-India rank will be generated based upon students’ performance in the CU-SAT 2014. An equal weight-age will be given to X+II examination results,” added Bawa.

In addition to the above scholarship, the CU is also offering fellowship worth Rs 3 crore to 38 regular PhD students enroled in the research-based doctorate programme in various fields of engineering and management.

Dr Bawa said other scholarships have also been announced for meritorious students, who want to pursue non-engineering courses such as hotel management, pharmacy, animation, business management and bio-technology.

“To promote brilliant students from this region, we have formulated a special scholarship scheme in which any student securing 80 per cent or more in the X+II board examination will be offered 50 per cent fee waiver in the opted course,” said Dr Bawa.

The CU has also drafted a policy under which seats for the wards of the Army and other forces personnel will be reserved along with a provision of 15 per cent fee waiver in the course fee.

Financial assistance in the form of scholarships for the SC/ST, OBC, physically handicapped and sports persons have also been announced under which the CU will provide fee waiver to the students belonging to the respective categories.

“For the promotion of the innovation, the CU, which is a hub for the centre of excellence (CoE), established by multi-nationals such as Microsoft, IBM, Wipro, Infosys, Tech-Mahindra, Quark and Mahindra and Mahindra, gives hands-on training to students to learn emerging technologies and cater to industry needs by working on live projects,” said Dr Bawa.

“Students from the Majha region stand to benefit while studying at Chandigarh University, as good placements have always been the top priority. This can be gauged from the fact that more than 457 multi-nationals have offered 45,000 jobs to students till date,” added Dr Bawa.

Companies like Microsoft, IBM, Infosys, Tech-Mahindra and TCS have been regularly visiting the university campus at Gharuan for the recruitment drive.

Amritsar, May 2
Among the professional courses, BTech civil and mechanical engineering are much sought after by the students.

Global Institutes vice-chairman Akashdeep Singh said infrastructure development was driving up the demand for civil engineers. Besides, mechanical engineering was another most popular course. Despite not enough jobs available in Punjab, the National Capital Region (NCR) around Delhi offered a number of openings in this stream. He claimed that there was a steady 5 per cent annual growth in professional courses.

Expressing similar views, Amritsar Engineering College Principal VK Banga said mechanical and civil engineering was among the most popular courses as there was good placement demand in the industry. However, once popular computer courses had reached stagnation as the demand in the companies had gone down. He added that besides computer companies were also targeting BCA and MCA passed outs instead of computer engineering graduates. Apparently, the objective was to save on the input costs. He said demand of electronics and electrical engineering courses was average among the students after passing out X+II.

Principal of Khalsa College Daljit Singh said BSc in bio-technology and agriculture was popular among the students as there were enough job and research prospects in these courses. “These courses demand high level of dedication, industriousness and tenacity from the students,” he remarked. Principal of BBK DAV College for Women Neelam Kamra said BCom was one of the most popular choices for an undergraduate degree after X+II in commerce. She reasoned that the course provided opportunities in fields like accounting, finance and corporate laws, financial and investment management, financial services, tax planning and management, besides several other management-related specialisations.

She added that in the recent years the hospitality industry had come out as one of the popular courses with plenty of jobs available in the town itself. In the past one decade, scores of hotels, including four and five-star, had come up in the city. The spate of investment in the hospitality sector had created local job opportunities. — TNS

Amritsar, May 2
Two unidentified persons, including a woman, were found murdered and their bodies abandoned, in separate incidents during the past 24-hour in the city. Both the victims were migrants.

The body of an unidentified woman in her sixties was found near Verka, at the Amritsar-Attari bypass road, last evening. The police investigations revealed that she was strangled to death.

“We found strangulation marks on her neck. There was no other injury mark on her body. It appeared that she was strangulated and later her body was dumped here,” said Darbara Singh, Station House Officer of the Verka police station.

He said they had flashed the picture of the victim to the media, but the deceased was yet to be identified. The body would kept for 72 hours after which it would be cremated after a post mortem examination, said the SHO, adding that a case under Sections 302 and 201 of the IPC has been registered in this regard.

In another incident, a migrant youth (32), was found murdered in the Bhagtanwala area. There were injury marks on the victim’s face and on the back of his head. The division C police has registered a murder case and launched investigations.

SHO Davinder Singh said initial probe revealed that the deceased belonged to Bihar and was known by the name of Bhagtan. He used to do menial jobs in Bhagtanwala area and lived on the footpath. It seemed that he picked up fight with some unidentified persons, who later killed him. The Station House Officer said further investigations were under progress.