Amritsar, May 9
In a bizarre incident, a woman tried to commit suicide by self-immolation in SR Government College for Girls. She took the extreme step as her daughter, Shaweta, was not allowed to appear in the examination. Shaweta, is a student of second semester of BA first year.

Manju, a resident of Fateh Singh Colony, was timely caught by the teachers and college staff when she poured kerosene oil on herself and was threatening to immolate. The college management immediately called the police which took her into custody.

Manju alleged that the college management had deliberately not issued any roll number to her daughter, Shaweta. However, the college management has refuted the allegations while adding that the girl had not attended the requisite college lectures, which was mandatory as per the Guru Nanak Dev University’s norms.

Sunita Sehgal, Principal of the college, said that as per the GNDU norms, a student is required to have attended at least 75 per cent of the lectures in her class. However, Shaweta had negligible attendance in the second semester. She pointed out that in the first semester also she had a very bad record of attending the college lectures. However, she was permitted to give four exams at that time while barring her from giving the fifth paper of physical education. She said she was asked to complete her lectures in the second semester and that then she would be allowed to give her fifth paper (of first semester). However, she bothered little and had negligible attendance in the college in the first quarter.

She further pointed out that the college had repeatedly informed her family members by way of regular correspondence about her poor attendance. But they did not get any positive response from their side. Manju also knew about this as she was informed about this whenever she came to the college. Today, instead of meeting the college Principal, she tried to commit suicide in order to pressurise the college staff.

Vavinder Mahajan, SHO, Civil Lines police station, said a case under Section 309, IPC, had been registered against Manju and further investigations were under progress. 

Amritsar, May 9
Inadequate arrangements mar the Birth and Death Certificate Department of the municipal corporation.

There are neither adequate number of sheds, nor drinking water arrangement in the department for the applicants. They are compelled to stand in adverse weather conditions for hours together. Even the office staff, too, was found to be working under adverse conditions.

Besides, the staff members have been accommodated in a small work area. The room are without fans or coolers in the prevailing scorching heat or weather conditions.

Nonetheless, after the fake-certificate nexus was exposed, the Right to Service Act Commissioner, Dr Dalbir Singh Verka, had paid a visit here and observed many shortcomings related to the work culture.

He had issued directions to the MC authorities to revamp the system. Even as the process of issuing birth or death certificates was changed, the staff complained that their working environment remained in a dilapidated state.

One of the staff members preferring anonymity said that the fans in the department seldom work. “All our pleas to the authorities fell on deaf ears. We admit that there was no proper shed or drinking water facility for the applicants”, he said.

Ironically, some of the applicants were spotted carrying water bottles along while standing in the queue waiting for their turn at the certificate-issuing window.

Surjeet Singh Arora said that it was his fourth visit to the office and every time he had to face hardship.

“Running from one table to another here is a cumbersome matter to get the conditions for getting the certificates. The other problems are that the authorities never bothered to make basic arrangements like drinking water or a proper washroom for the applicants," he said.

Another applicant, Ranjeet Singh, said, “I had already faced these conditions. Even as I carry a water bottle with me, I faced difficulty in finding urinals on the premises. The existing ones were stinking and it was impossible to use these”, he said.

A woman, Gurnam Kaur, said she had arranged water for herself from a nearby tea stall.

MC Superintendent Shushant Bhatia said, "I have joined the department lately but cannot deny that there are shortcomings which need to be addressed on priority. I have also noted down these deficieneis and will put up the matter to higher authorities. 

Amritsar, May 9
Registered VAT dealers are peeved at the Excise and Taxation Dept's amendment of the Punjab VAT Act placing new input tax credit to goods sold with effect from April 1, 2014. They fear that it will adversely impact their business. The Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal president Amrit Lal Jain dubbed the move as another tactic to withhold the release of VAT refund to the traders. He claimed that it was about Rs 506 crore in January 2014.

Before the amendment of the section, the dealers were entitled to Input Tax Credit on entire purchases for sale in the state or in the course of inter-state trade or commerce or in the course of export or for use in manufacturing, processing or packing of taxable goods for sale within the state or in the course of inter-state trade or in the course of export.

However, after the amendment, the Input Tax will not be available as input tax credit, unless goods are sold within the state or in the course of inter-state trade or commerce or in the course of export. Besides, used in the manufacture, processing or packing of taxable goods for sale within the State or in the course of inter-State trade or commerce or in the course of export.

He said it will adversely impact the traders as they would have to compute their stock every day and dealers who pay their taxes quarterly would have to compute their stock every quarter to ascertain the quantum of stock on which Input tax Credit would not be available. The small dealers shall also have to maintain accurate stock records for every incoming and outgoing material. This would also imply the denial the credit of taxes which has already reached the coffers of the government. The department has already amended section 13(12) to ensure that input tax credit is allowed only against tax actually paid into Government Treasury.

The Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal demanded withdrawl of this amendment with immediate effect. 

Amritsar, May 9
Two days and 25,000 visitors after, the Pakistan Show at Trillium got better during the weekend. As evening brought in hordes of footfall and entertaining tunes of Pakistani folk artistes, the cultural and business show set the stage for popular singer Arif Lohar's performance this evening.

Our love for our neighbours designer suits and sizzling kebabs, universal now, the Pakistan Show attracted a lot of crowd at its traditional ethnic wear and food stalls.

Dishing out the latest trends for the season, the Pakistan suits this time were more 'designer' with digital motifs, tie n dye, gotta-patti work and even some western concept wear like palazzos and asymmetrical cuts. Shear fabrics rule the season, so does the signature georgettes and chiffons. "The southern states of Pakistan are rich in workmanship with embroidery and traditional handlooms that work well with Indian clients. Mostly the lacework, crochets and silhouette exclusive to Pakistan, is preferred, but the trend is changing now with more concept
driven designs working with women," said Zain Mohammad, an exhibitor from A&M collections.

Quasar Shekh and Haseen Bano, another exhibitor duo from Pakistan who have brought their lawn-cotton textiles, said they were more than happy with the visitors thronging Pakistani stalls. "The response is massive as always. It has been an opportunity to understand the interest of the locals. We look forward to visit Amritsar adding more items next time."

Amritsar, May 9
Congestion on roads, untreated garbage and illegally running industrial units who are using petro coke as fuel prompted WHO to place the district at the 14th spot in the list of the most polluted cities in the world.

Notably, the the Golden Temple is just a mile away from the Bhagtanwala garbage dumping site, which is spread over acres. The untreated waste develops methane gas and the burning of the waste causes air pollution. Close to the site is Majha's biggest grain market. It is widely known as the Bhagtanwala grain market.

The Pollution Control Committee, an NGO, gives various reasons for this. NGO's general secretary PS Randhawa held emission from vehicles as the biggest cause of air pollution in the district.

A study on vehicular pollution, carried out by the Punjab Pollution Control Board around Bhandari Bridge some years ago, declared it the most polluted area. At Bhandari Bridge, the particulate matter was as high as 599 per cubic metre (µgm/m3) during peak hours while it was 232 per cubic metre (µgm/m3) during lean traffic hours.

Similarly, the city's pathetic transport scenario was highlighted by the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) prepared by the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC) for the development of the city in the next four decades. It found during the assessment that a household expenditure on transportation was higher than the expenses incurred on housing, education or health in Amritsar. The expenditure comes close to the amount spent on food. Expected expenditure on transportation is about Rs 2,090 per household.

The number of two and three-wheelers has increased significantly in the city since 2005. It was found that over 14.20 lakh personal trips were generated in the Amritsar Municipal Corporation area on an average day.

Unprofessional civic management was another biggest cause of pollution. MC employees and shopkeepers burn garbage on the roads daily.

Randhawa said regular sowing of paddy and wheat crops turned the soil into fine sized particles called suspended particulate matter. He added that these remained in the immediate environment as pollutants. The non-availability of public toilets force people to defecate and urinate in the open, which is another source of pollution.

As per PPCB records, there are limited number of industrial units that cause pollution in the district. These are 60 dying units and 25 casting iron units those operate only once in a fortnight or month. As many as 110 rice shellers, including 80 dry shellers, and 300 brick kilns are being run as per the guidelines of the Punjab State Coucnil for Science and Technology. 

Amritsar, May 9
After seven years of delay, the city buses service stated on January 29 this year. However, "no efforts" were made to erect proper bus shelters. Even the existing ones are in a dilapidated condition. Consequently, residents are forced brave adverse weather conditions while waiting for their bus.

Meanwhile, the authorities are making lame excuses, blaming the imposition of the election code for delay in the construction of new bus shelters . Meanwhile, residents said the authorities had ample time to complete the task.

The residents said if the construction of new shelters was time consuming, the authorities should have renovate the existing ones. Most of the existing bus shelters have either turned into garbage dumping sites or are located at inappropriate points. A bus shelter near the Putlghar turning point has been occupied by rickshaw-pullers. Another bus shelter near Hartej Hospital on the Ajnala road has been occupied by a quack and it serves as his clinic. Another bus shelter on the Majitha road is in a dilapidated condition.

Some bus shelters are located in risky areas. A bus shelter near the railway station is close to a road intersection and when a bus reaches the stoppage, it creates obstructs the traffic flow. Another bus shelter is located at the end of the Bhandari Bridge.

Meanwhile, Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora said,” These shortcomings are in our knowledge and we had started erecting new bus queue shelters. We had to stop the exercise as the election code was in force.” 

Amritsar, May 9
The Government Railway Police (GRP) today registered a case against two Nihangs for allegedly assaulting a travel ticket examiner (TTE) of the New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi Express at the Manawala railway station two days ago. Dharminder Kalyan, SHO, GRP, said a case under Sections 186, 353, 332 and 34 of the IPC has been registered.

He said TTE Pawan Mehta had objected to their entry in the executive train and had asked them to leave. However, they refused and attacked him with sharp-edged weapons. Kalyan said they were yet to identify the accused who fled after the incident. — TNS 

Amritsar, May 9
Famous Sufi singer from Pakistan Arif Lohar will perform on the third day of The Pakistan Show. This was stated by Dalip Sharma, director, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, here today.

"More than 25,000 people have already visited the Pakistan Show, being organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the first time in Amritsar," he said.

"The response to the programme is very encouraging. We plan to scale up the event next year," Sharma said. Quasar Sheikh and Haseen Bano, who are participating in the programme, said they were more than happy as visitors were thronging Pakistani stalls. "The response has been massive. We look forward to visit Amritsar next time," they said.

Zadar Saed and Lazeeza, who are serving Pakistani food at the Pakistan food court at the exhibition, said the love being showered on them was amazing and they were inviting the visitors to Pakistan. Another participant Ahmed said, "It would be wonderful, if people from India visit Pakistan."

AS Rana from the Indian food court said their Pakistani counterparts were giving a good competition to them.

Meanwhile, Anarkali suits, stoles, gems, jewellery, and Punjabi "juttis" are a big hit, especially with youngsters. The polki, kundan, and oxidised jewellery are among the favourites.

Amritsar, May 9
Guru Nanak Dev University today released admission schedule for foreign language courses today. The online admission process will start from June 3.

Dr Mohan Kumar, head of the department of foreign languages, said the counselling for diploma courses in Russian and French would be held on July 10 at 10 am. He said the counselling for diploma in French (full-time) and diploma in Russian (full-time), diploma in French (part-time), diploma in German (part-time) and certificate course in Russian (part -time) would be held on July 10.

Similarly, the counselling for advanced diploma in French (part-time) will be held on July 12 and the counselling for certificate course in French and German will be held on July 13.

Dr Mohan said the classes for the full-time diploma courses would start from July 20. The classes for the part-time certificate courses will commence from July 23. 

Amritsar, May 9
To celebrate the birth anniversary of their president in a novel way, members of the Senior Citizen Forum, New Amritsar, planted saplings today. Sukhdev Singh Mattewal, a member of the forum, said the decision was taken to increase the green cover in the city.

"Today was the 65th birth anniversary of our president Sohan Lal. We decided to celebrate by planting saplings. This was an effort to highlight the issue of depleting green cover due unregulated construction in the urban areas," said Mattewal.

The forum has planned to plant 5,000 saplings in the New Amritsar area.

Forum president Sohan Lal said due to the lack of vision and proper maintenance, all efforts of the government come to a nought.

"To conserve the depleting natural resources, every citizen should take care of plants. We have aimed to plant 5,000 saplings in New Amritsar in the coming months," said forum president Sohan Lal. 

Amritsar, May 9
Amritsar Central Jail officials recovered a mobile from an undertrial today. He had concealed it in his anus.The policeman, who escorted him to the court for a hearing in a case, was also booked .

After undertrial Prabhjit Singh and head constable Jaswinder Singh returned to the jail, a thorough search of Prabhjit was carried out. Jail Superintendent RK Sharma said the undertrial was searched thoroughly in the presence of the head constable. Police officials said that they got suspicious after noticing his awkward walk.

"It was for the first time that such an astonishing attempt has been made by a jail inmate. This is not be possible without the assistance of the guard accompanying him.

The head constable, Jaswinder Singh, a resident of Jandiala Guru Colony village, Amritsar, has not been arrested yet. — TNS