Amritsar, June 11
Five Assistant Town Planners (ATPs) of the Municipal Town Planning Department have been transferred for being negligent in performing their duties.

The decision was the aftermath of a surprise visit conducted by the Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi and Secretary Ashok Kumar Gupta on June 2.

It has been learnt that out of a total of 45 staff members, around 15 were missing from their seats till 9.30 am.

There were many top-level officials, including the Municipal Town Planner Raj Kumar and ATPs Narinder Sharma, IPS Randhawa, Suresh Raj Sharma, MS Bhatti and Surjit Singh. Even as the inspector-level officers and Municipal Town Planner Raj Kumar were shifted instantly to other districts, it was now the turn of the other 'erring' officials.

While Raj Kumar has been transferred to Bathinda, Narinder Sharma has been shifted to Ludhiana, IPS Randhawa to Patiala, Suresh Raj to Hoshiarpur, MS Bhatti to Moga and Surjit Singh to Bathinda.

Though they are yet to get the official communication, officials confirmed that they have been transferred. Resentment prevailed among them as they were never issued any show- cause notices to put forth their side of the story.

One of the officials said it was a dictatorial order as many among them were on official duty then. "Since we have field tasks as primary part of our job profile, we were officially on tour. But no chance was given to us to clarify our positions. I was going to a court hearing when this raid was conducted," he said.

Another official said it was not yet clear that on what ground they were transferred. "Was it a punishment or a routine exercise because we were operating from our home towns. The confusion still prevails in our minds because none of us were issued show- cause notices against our so-called absenteeism when the minister and the secretary came to our department", he said.

Their colleague said that he was present on the office premises only, but when he came back, the guards of the minister did not let him in which was not fair.

However, a case under Section 416 and 511 of the IPC was also registered against a beldaar Satish Kumar and building inspector Sanjiv Devgan. Satish was caught red- handed while signing the leave application of Devgan by forging his signatures at the time of the raid.

Municipal Commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal said that the whole action was taken against the officials under question at the level of the Department of Local Bodies only.

Amritsar, June 11
The candidates who contested Amritsar parliamentary seat have been asked to submit details of their poll expenditure by June 16.

A total of 23 candidates were in fray from the holy city. As per the norms, it was mandatory on their part to furnish their expenditure details on campaigning to the district authorities concerned within a span of one month i.e. from the date of general poll results (May 16).

They have to furnish their expenditure-detail register to the District Treasury Office located at the court complex. A meeting was conducted by the district officials with the representatives of all political parties yesterday.

Captain Amarinder Singh, Congress leader, who has won the elections, is yet to submit his expenditure details. Similarly, the SAD-BJP combine candidate Arun Jaitley, now union minister too did not bother to furnish details. Both the candidates came under the scanner of district expenditure monitoring cell (DEMC), after the poll expenditure revealed by them did not match the figure computed by the designated expenditure observers, during the poll expense inspection.

However, the AAP candidate Dr Daljit Singh’s expenditure tallied 100 per cent with the shadow register maintained by the DEMC designated poll observers.

The Election Commission (EC) had initiated an extensive exercise to monitor the poll expense during Lok Sabha elections. The maximum expenditure limit fixed for a candidate for is Rs 70 lakh each. Each and every step, from campaigning, rallies and meetings to movement of vehicles, publicity and distribution of election materials was under the EC’s radar and videographed.

Captain Amarinder Singh and Arun Jaitley were issued notices too for under-stating their poll expenditure. As per shadow observer’s register, Captain Amarinder Singh has spent around Rs 28 lakh; Arun Jaitley Rs 44.8 lakh and Dr Daljit Singh Rs 36.95 lakh.

As per official records till April 22, Jaitley had claimed to have incurred a consolidated expenditure of just Rs 9.80 lakh and Capt Amarinder Singh Rs 13.60 lakh. 

Amritsar, June 11
At the time when Central Government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled its agenda promising zero tolerance for violence against woman, repeated instances of rape, especially of minor girls in the holy city has left the woman community worried.

The year till now has witnessed as many as eight cases of rape while there are a number of cases of sexual assault and molestation also. In the recent instances of rape half of the victims were minors.

Yesterday, the city police apprehended a teenage boy for allegedly raping a minor girl living in his neighbourhood while few days ago a foster father was arrested for allegedly subjecting her stepdaughter to sexual abuse. The 14-year-old victim told the police that her step father used to rape her after intoxicating her. She told about this to her teacher where she used to learn stitching and tailoring.

In a similar instance, two minor girls were raped by their two Gatka (Sikh martial arts) trainer. The accused identified as Randeep Singh and Saminder Singh are yet to be arrested by the police. The victims (13 and 15years of age) had stated to the police that the accused had been training them in Gatka for past nine months. They also told the police that about four months ago the accused sent all the children to a competition at Sarhali village in Tarn Taran while detaining two of them at the training centre. They alleged the accused gave tablets to them following which they fell unconscious. They said when they woke up they found that the accused were sexually abusing them. They alleged that the accused threatened them to kidnap their fathers and brothers in case they tell anything to anyone. After the instance they stopped going to the centre.

"What is worse that the girls were raped by the persons they know and trust for their safety and security. This is really a worrying factor. Now to whom they should trust?" said Anuradha, a local resident.

Sehaj Gulati, a teacher, pointed out that such instances are being repeatedly occurred due to lack of education and crash of moral and ethical values among the people. She said the young girls are working as domestic helps which is also a major cause for such incidents. She said that lack of administrative and police action in implementing the laws in letter and spirit is also one of major reasons behind this.

Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh said: "The recent instances clearly indicate that the accused were known to the victims. Therefore, there is a need for people, especially the parents to be more vigilant. People should also educate their children to whom they can trust and to whom they cannot. Proper guidance from the parents is very necessary. On part of police department we are adopting zero tolerance attitudes in such cases and took prompt action against the guilty persons." 

Amritsar, June 11
In a major catch, the special branch of the local police nabbed Prince Kapoor, a notorious gangster, who was wanted in over 12 cases of attempt to murder, NDPS Act and clashes.

The police confiscated an illegal .32 bore revolver made in Indian ordinance factory, Kanpur, and five live cartridges from his possession.

He was arrested following a tip-off that he was selling illegal arms after procuring it from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The police had the information that the accused along with his accomplices was supposed to go to Guru Ki Wadali for some violent clash with another group. A team headed by SI Gurwinder Singh was immediately dispatched at the designated spot.

ADCP (Special) HS Brar said Prince Kapoor, a resident of Naraingarh, was a notorious gangster and involved in the violent clashes and the NDPS cases in the past. He said over nine cases were already registered against him. He is stated to be a relative of former councillor.

A case under Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act has been registered at the Chheharta police station in this regard. 

Amritsar, June 11
The District Magistrate of Amritsar, Ravi Bhagat, has issued ban orders on the cultivation of high rise crops and BT cotton due to security concerns.

By the virtue of exercising powers vested under the provisions of Section 144 of the Cr PC, 1973, he ordered that no farmer will sow or cultivate such crops between international border and border security fence. These ban orders would also be applicable on a stretch of 75 feet of land (including 22 feet of border track) on the home side of border security fence.

Bhagat said it was brought to his notice by the Commandant 74 bn BSF, Ajnala, that some farmers were spotted cultivating BT cotton and high rise crops over the Indo-Pak border stretch and there was every possibility of infiltrators crossing the border in the shadow of high rise crops. Thus, there appeared to be apprehensive of breach of security of public life and property. This order will remain in force till August 4.—TNS

Amritsar, June 11
Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Amritsar, a unit of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, in association with the District Agriculture Department, All India Rice Export Assocation and Basmati Export Development Foundation, Meerut, held a seminar-cum-workshop on producing better quality basmati rice at Attari today. KVK deputy director, Dr Bhupinder Singh Dhillon, said the workshop was held to discuss good agricultural practices for the production of export quality basmati rice. Agriculturists from Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur are known for growing basmati. However, rampant use of fungicide, weedicide and pesticide were making the produce unfit for exports. Scientists of the All India Rice Export Association and Basmati Export development Foundation, Meerut, briefed the farmers for adopting techniques, which could make the basmati grown by them worthy of exports. The main agenda of the foundation is to promote export so that the produce is not rejected. Chief agriculture officer Paramajit Singh Sandhu was the chief guest on the occasion. He said the country earned annual revenue of Rs 28,000 crore from the export of basmati. “If the farmers improve the practice of sprinkling insecticide then they can double their benefits. Firstly, their investment cost will come down and secondly their yield will increase. Besides, it will increase exports for Basmati,” said Sandhu. He said last year Basmati was sown in 11,000 lakh hectares in Amritsar district. A total of 1.77 lakh hectares was under the rice in the district, he added. 

Amritsar, June 11
Over the years Australian apparel wool has been increasingly used as raw material in the famous textile industry of the holy city, which was once called the ‘Manchester of India’. It is used in the manufacture of shawls, stoles, knitwear, sports wear and suiting. Known for producing fine fabric, its demand is equally high among the customers in domestic and international markets. A prominent shawl and stole manufacturer and exporter, PL Seth, said, “Despite the increase in the cost of Autralian apparel wool in the past two years, its demand continues to remain high.” He said the cost of 1 kg wool, which was Rs 600 in 2012, was Rs 1,175 at present. He anticipated the price to come down as its major customer China had reduced its intake. China was using the apparel wool for manufacturing uniforms of its defence personnel. However, keeping in view its high price, it had started using a blend of polyster. Seth said parts of Australia suffered drought, which also brought down the production level. As per the data available with the Punjab Industries Department, there are as many as 856 registered textile units in the state. In addition to these, there are hundreds of unregistered handloom operating in the city. Although there is no exact data on the strength of employees working in these units, it is considered one of the biggest employers after agriculture in the district. The city-based textile is sold in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Southern peninsula states. Besides, high quality shawls and stoles are exported to Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Finland, Denmark, Italy, the USA, Canada, Brazil, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Russia, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and many other countries of the world. 

Amritsar, June 11
The Civil Lines police have booked five persons for allegedly attacking a local resident and robbing him of cash and a licensed weapon, which he was carrying. The incident occurred in the posh Ranjit Avenue A-block market on June 8. The police today arrested one of the accused while remaining culprits were still at large. The complainant, Baljinder Singh, a resident of Heir village, located on the Ajnala road, said he was just going to sit in his car when the five accused surrounded him. They were armed with baseball bats and sharp edged weapons, he stated. The victim alleged that the accused asked him to handover whatever he was carrying. He said he took out his licensed revolver in self defense. However, before he could do anything they snatched his revolver and attacked him with baseball bats. They also took away Rs 4,500 in his purse before fleeing. The accused were later identified as Harjot Singh of Ranjit Avenue A-block, Amit of the Fatehgarh Churian road, Raghu of Navi Abadi, Goldi and Bill of Gumtala. The police have registered a case under Sections 392, 148 and 149 of the IPC against the culprits. Investigating officer Jatinder Singh said out of the five accused the police have nabbed Amit while the remaining were still absconding. He said raids were being conducted at their suspected hideouts. 

Amritsar, June 11
A fresh sense of humour and full of energy describes Nav Bajwa. The actor-radio jockey (RJ), who interacted with the media about his latest show on 92.7 BIG FM, “The BIG Punjabi Show,” was at his entertaining best. Just three weeks into the launch and the RJ has invariably become Punjab’s favourite evening drive-time companion with his free-spirited style, vibrant energy and contagious humour. The sprightly Bajwa recently visited the city and shared his experience as a first time radio jockey and his journey from the Punjabi silver screen to the console.“The show takes listeners through an entertaining journey of culture and trends followed by Punjabis, their likes, dislikes, et all. The three-hour show comprises fun elements such as Nav Shav, all based on what’s happening around the city, entertaining news from within the Bollywood and Punjabi entertainment industry and more,” explained Bajwa. The show also sees other segments such as Takdi, Charchey tey Kharchey, Khabran di Khabar, Celeb-Connect, Cross Connection, Ranjeet Singh aka Rocky special of the day with a culmination of Nav’s special tip of the day for the listeners.
Being an actor helps him gain experience for his show. “Taking listeners to live shoots, interviewing celebrities, gossip and trivial facts and behind the scene happenings will be our focus. The show is an entertainment packed with information,” says the RJ. While connecting with Punjabi NRIs from around the world, Nav also gives them all the information of what is happening within Punjab. “The information that humorously doesn’t count as news and also takes stock from them as to what they know about the present day Punjab,” he said, adding that the show is highly interactive and engaging in its approach, fresh and lively in its content and humour. Nav emphasised that it’s different from the countless song and gossip-based shows on air.

Amrtisar, June 11
With the active support of the city residents, the police arrested two snatchers, who were trying to flee after snatching a mobile phone from Santokh Singh of Kot Bhagat Singh area, located on the Sultanwind road. Those arrested were identified as Sharanjit Singh alias Sunny a resident of Jagdambay Colony, Bohar wala, Shivala Batala Road and Palwinder Singh of the Bhushan Pura area. Incidentally both the accused hail from Gali Piyara Wali, Jandiala Guru. They have been booked under Sections 382 and 34 of the IPC extended to 379, 411 of the IPC. Santokh Singh stated to police that he was returning home at around 4 pm from the Sultanwind road on foot when the two accused came from behind on a motorcycle, snatched his mobile phone and sped away. When he raised an alarm people caught the accused and handed them to the police. During search the police recovered mobile phone and impounded the motorcycle, which they were riding. The motorcycle did not bear any registration number. Gulneet Singh, SHO B-division police station, said Sharanjit worked at a juice vendor shop while Palwinder had recently passed his high school. Both were drug addicts. Sharanjit had been taking drugs for past 5 years and Palwinder was also hooked to drugs for the past couple of years. The motorcycle recovered from their possession was found to be stolen. 

Amritsar, June 11
Shri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Golden Avenue, organised a fortnight-long summer camp in which students got an opportunity to hone their skills by participating in various extra-curricular activities. Students learned skating, dance, tae kwon do, spoken English, drawing and painting during the camp. The camp was open to all, including students from other schools. Principal of the school said the institution believed in promoting extra-curricular activities and made all-out efforts to help the students excel in them. 

Amritsar, June 11 
President of the Chief Khalsa Diwan (CKD), Charanjit Singh Chadha, paid obeisance at gurdwara “Guru Nanak Darbar” in Dubai and other gurdwaras at Amsterdam in Netherland. He prayed for the prosperity of Chief Khalsa Diwan and for bestowing confidence to take right decisions. On his return to Amritsar, he said Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara Management, including gurdwara in charge SDP Singh, had assured continuous support whenever required to Chief Khalsa Diwan from Dubai Sikh community. Chadha lauded the efforts of gurdwara chairman SS Kandhari to set up an ultra-modern architectural Sikh worship place “Guru Nanak Darbar” in an Islamic country, where the Gurus teachings could be instilled in the young minds of Sikh community residing abroad through religious classes. — TNS