Amritsar, May 20
It was celebration time in the schools affiliated to the CBSE as soon as the results of Class X was out in the evening. The toppers along with their parents visited their schools to share their joy with their teachers.

Amritsar, May 20
The Amritsar police have recovered the body of a Chandigarh-based youth under mysterious circumstances from Gill village located on the Amritsar-Mehta road today.

The police officials are yet to ascertain the exact cause of the death.

The victim has been identified as 28-year-old Harinder Singh Tinnu, son of a Chandigarh police inspector, Tarsem Singh Rana. He was a law student at Chandigarh.

The police officials are tight-lipped over their investigation and are on the lookout for four of his unidentified friends who were with him before the incident. Sources said no injury marks were found on the body during the preliminary examination.

A senior officer of Jandiala police station said the victim appeared to be accompanied by a group of friends on an excursion as toll tax slips of Delhi, Haridwar and Shimla were found from the vehicle (PB-31 L 0043) that they travelled in.

The police have taken the vehicle in their possession but the victim's friends are still at large. It was learnt that the police is working on various theories to know the exact cause of the incident.

"It is still a mystery as to how he was killed. The exact cause would be ascertained only after the postmortem report is out. We have come to know that there were three to four persons in the vehicle and they are missing after the incident. We are trying to know about their antecedents," said an officer.

Amritsar, May 20
The Hall Gate Shopkeepers' Association accepted the offer of the Tourism Department to renovate their facade free of cost under the project to lend them a heritage look after a meeting was held today.

President of the Association Sham Singh Ahuja said it was a good offer directed towards making the city look better for the tourists visiting the Golden Temple. He said the only demand of the traders was to finish the work in a time-bound manner.

He said the CD, given by the officials of a Mumbai-based private firm which carried out the study of the route and made the DPR, was shown to the member s of the association during the meeting. He said it dispelled various concerns of the members. The CD contained visuals of the present situation of the market in which display boards of various sizes and hues, loosely hanging mesh of wires offer an abominable look. However, once the promised works are done, it would be beautiful to behold the market.

The Muicipal Commissioner said the MC was the executing agency for the project. "Since the affirmation of the shopkeepers has arrived, the officials would start seeking NOCs from them from tomorrow," he said. He expected the work to finish in three days and said the shops would have a good ambience and beautiful exterior at the expense of the government.

The project envisaged painting the entire facade on the route in earthen colour. It aims at dislocating all the 12 power transformers obstructing the footpath to the nearby internal roads.

Being a mixed-use project, storm water drain, open plazas, facade cleaning and hanging cables would be placed underground and conservation of heritage structures on the route to the Golden Temple would also be undertaken. Besides, walkways on either side of the road would be raised for the pedestrians. En route, the buildings displaying Sikh architecture would also be restored.

Amritsar, May 20
The birth and death certificate department is the most neglected wing of the Municipal Corporation despite the fact that it witnesses the maximum footfall everyday.

The department is always in the news for the wrong reasons. Sometimes, the applicants are a harried lot as they are not being issued certificates due to lack of stationery or fall victim to the middlemen who operate from the MC’s Town Hall premises in connivance with the staff members every now and then.

Even as the stationery was arranged this morning which helped overcome the crisis, lack of basic necessities invited the ire of the applicants. On an average, over 5,000 applicants visit the office to procure either birth or death certificates every month.

The applicants complained of improper arrangement for drinking water and washrooms. Similarly, sans proper sun sheds, the visitors also have to bear the scorching heat while waiting for their turn in the queues.

Despite the repeated announcements and tall claims in the MC’s general house meetings, the department could not be revamped. Former Assistant Commissioner, Surinder Singh, had taken up the task to make the certificate issuing process computerised and contemplated introduction of an SMS service to the applicants to update them about their application status. Till date, neither of the services could take off.

The much touted semi computerised record keeping exercise could hardly bring any solace. Instead, it ended up creating errors on the certificates and causing inconvenience to the applicants. The reason is that the work culture among the employees continues to remain the same at the ground level.

The long queues of applicants outside the registration window testify to the hardships faced by the applicants in this regard and the government “servants” of this department still behave “royally” here.

Even as the MC authorities have claimed to snap the nexus between the illegal agents and the insiders, sources said that the practice of underhand payment in procuring the birth or death certificates is still prevalent, though not in the open.

A visit to the office revealed that several agents still loiter around the department and operate from the outside. Sources said they operate through some of the shops located nearby.

Superintendent Shushant Bhatia said, “It is true that there was scarcity of stationery concerning death certificates but this morning, we have received the lot. I also cannot deny that there is lack of proper infrastructure and basic amenities but we are committed to revamping the system and the matter would be taken up with the higher authorities soon.” 

Amritsar, May 20
The surprise search conducted yesterday at the Amritsar Central Jail has revealed the lacunae in the security of this high profile prison.

Sophisticated gadgets, including the much touted scanning machine, have proved unsuccessful in discouraging the inmates from committing offences time and again. The seizure of a large number of mobile phones and narcotics is a glaring example of lapses in jail security.

If the jail officials are to be believed, along with insiders’ involvement, inmates adopt various innovative ways to sneak in prohibited materials.

Since January, at least 25 cases have been registered against inmates for possessing cell phones. Highly-placed sources in the Special Operations Cell, Counter-Intelligence and Punjab Police said more than 350 smugglers have been lodged in the Amritsar jail.

They still have links with their associates outside the jail through mobile SIM cards from Dubai and other Middle-East countries.

A probe has revealed that mobile phones are sent inside the jail in small parts, which are later re-assembled by prisoners.

Most of the phone parts are smuggled by inmates during court hearings or when their kith and kin come to meet them.

Reacting over the episode of seven mobile phones seized yesterday, jail superintendent RK Sharma admitted that this can’t be possible without the connivance of jail staff.

“We have recovered circuit boards, batteries, chargers and SIM cards many times. Since, a complete mobile phone set is hard to sneak in while escaping the attention of search guards, prisoners do it by bringing small parts. Then they re-assemble all the parts inside the jail. We have been keeping a tab on this but lapses are there,” he said.

He said in the absence of adequate staff, sometimes it becomes impossible to thoroughly search each and every inmate and this helps the inmates to sneak in mobile phone parts that are mostly concealed under their headgears, clothes and private parts.

Recently, a shocking case had come to light when an undertrial had attempted to sneak in mobile phones by concealing it in his anus.

More than 300 inmates meet their family members and more than 100 are escorted out for court hearings everyday from the Amritsar jail, said Superintendent Sharma. 

Amritsar, May 20
The Department of Sciences of DAV College hosted a series of lectures on the second day of the science camp INSPIRE to motivate students to opt for science and explore scientific ideas.

Associate Professor (physics), IISER Mohali, Dr RS Johal, in his paper spoke about thermodynamics and the concept of information and its role in understanding the foundations of scientific theory.

He emphasised the significance of experimental discovery in the progress of science and the process of scientific enquiry.

Dr GS Sodhi delivered a lecture on how chemistry assists in crime scene management. He enlightened the students about the importance of fingerprints.

He said fingerprints found at the scene of crime can help in detection of crime.

In the last two sessions on the second day, students performed practical experiments in chemistry, biotechnology, physics, botany and zoology labs.

The event started with a lecture by head and Associate Professor, Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Dr Adarsh Pal Vig. He elaborated upon solid waste management. He said waste management included collection, transportation, processing and recycling of waste.

He added that the most popular method of management was biological composting and digestion processes to decompose organic matter. — TNS

Amritsar, May 20
Attacks on staff of hotels and restaurants, returning home late at night, have hinted that these commercial units are breaching their permissible time limit of opening their establishments till 11 pm in the night.

Concerned over these attacks, employees of hotels and restaurants held a meeting at the historic Ram Bagh, popularly known as Company Garden. They decided to request the owners and managements of these commercial establishments to adhere to the government norms.

Upon being asked about the reason for restaurants breaching the time limit, a restaurant employee said the practice was more prevalent in commercial establishments situated in the Ranjit Avenue area.

He said the growth of high end eating outlets and high prices of food items being served there had lowered the trend of fine dining. To make up their losses, these restaurants were attracting customers by various means, he said.

A majority of the hospitality industry employees are from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Gopi Singh from Uttarakhand, now living in Batala Road area, said he was robbed of his day’s earning of Rs 500 on May 4.

Another worker Sunil Singh Negi said his monthly salary of Rs 5,000 was looted from him on the night of May 10. One Rukam Singh of Gulmohar Avenue on Majitha Road said his mobile handset and Rs 500 were looted on the night of May 14.

A social activist PC Sharma said these cases were the tip of the iceberg as a majority of robberies go unreported. He said the police shirked from registering cases as insignificant amounts were involved.

Meanwhile, a delegation of the Uttaranchal Ekta Manch, Amritsar, demanding protection while returning home from work during late hours, submitted a memorandum at Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh’s office.

It claimed that in many instances the victims were also injured with sharp-edged weapons.

Amritsar Hotels and Restaurants Association (AHARA) presdient APS Chatha said his association and its member hotels and restaurants were extremely worried about the safety of their staff.

He said an advisory had already been issued to all the members of the AHARA to adhere to the government guidelines in opening and closing their establishments.

Besides, the AHARA also urged the Amritsar Police Commissionerate to ensure the safety of the employees of the hospitality industry, which is the mainstay of the local economy.

Amritsar, May 20
The city has been on the wish list of popular brands in the fashion industry, despite the reputation of being a difficult market. While some have made their presence felt in the apparel wear and accessories market, footwear industry lacks customised and specialised services that the city’s fashion crowd craves for.

Global shoe brand Aldo is planning to open an outlet in the city soon. The only designer shoe brand providing customised services is Swatimodo.

Shoe designer Swati Mehrotra’s Delhi-based brand has opened its first store in Punjab in the holy city. It already has a global presence in 25 countries, including Japan, US, UK and Dubai.

Despite the demand for exclusivity and fetish for brands, the designer shoe market has restricted itself to limited exhibits by popular labels like Rohan Arora.

"The reason is that the Amritsar crowd is responsive only to customised services rather than off-the-shelf selling. For a label, it becomes difficult to make it work alone on customisation," says Swati.

To assume that there is a limited market for designer shoes will be a misunderstanding. "Amritsar has great taste and demand for designer footwear. We have clients travelling to Delhi for buying their favourite designer pair," said Swati.

She Shoes, another Delhi-based brand, often exhibits its collection of footwear in the city. Not going with an exclusive store, the brand is happy with its restricted presence.

"If people here are brand-conscious, it means good business. But they are not ready to shell out money for that exclusivity beyond a pair or two. Customisation works here. But to sustain a constant footfall in a store is a struggle," says Dimple Arora, Delhi-based shoe designer, who is a part of fashion exhibitions in the city.

If shoes are not finding favour instantly, then some of the customised services offered by these brands are. Swatimodo's shoe laundry service has become one of the most highlighting features of the brand. "It’s become a USP for our brand in Amritsar," says Swati.

Her only advice to shoe designers planning to venture into Amritsar market is, "It’s a great business opportunity only if you plan to settle in for a year and then start counting your profit."

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