Amritsar, July 3
The five-marla (125 sq yard) houses and vacant plots will be exempted from paying property tax in the new property-tax policy, soon to be implemented in the state. This will benefit around 1.25 lakh residents having the sizes of their homes similar or lesser in the holy city.

Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora, who had attended the all-Mayor meeting held at Chandigarh, said that the relief would be extended for the next year 2014-2015.

Nonetheless, the new policy appeared to have taken into consideration water and sewerage charges, as the smaller houses are not charged for both services for the past one decade. It has been learnt that the decision will be implemented as soon as it gets a nod from the coming Assembly session scheduled for the second week of this month.

Taking cognisance of the resentment shown by the residents about charging property tax on vacant plots, the government is contemplating not to implement property tax on these plots.

Arora said that under the new policy, the property tax slab would start from properties which were more than five-marla houses. “There would be no property tax on five marla or houses of lesser dimension. This proposal would be tabled in the coming Assembly session on July 8. Till then, the defaulters would have to clear their dues according to the old pattern by August 31,” he said.

According to the existing pattern for self-occupied houses up to 50 sq yards, a consolidated Rs 50 per year is being charged and for houses between 50 to 100 sq yards, there is an annual consolidated tax of Rs 150.

Despite all efforts, the civic authorities could realise only around 40 per cent of the property tax which amounts to around Rs 23 crore out of a set target of around Rs 50 crore. 

Amritsar, July 3
Assistant Block Managers (ABMs) employed with the mid-day meal cell of the Education Department in schools are irked at the government for giving them a “raw deal” by paying low salaries and ignoring their social security concerns.

For as many as 17 blocks in Amritsar, there are only seven ABMs. These ABMs are forced to travel to distant areas of the city to ensure that the rules of the mid-day meal scheme are adhered to. Similarly, 137 ABMs are working across the state for 216 education blocks. A majority of these ABMs were appointed on contract for three years with the eligibility criteria being possession of a BCom/BBA degree with computer knowledge through a competitive exam held in 2009.

Each ABM is supposed to visit three schools daily and submit a weekly report of 15 schools every Monday. It is compulsory for them to visit at least 60 schools in a month. The nature of their job demands that they distribute funds for mid-day meals to schools in their blocks, compile data of mid-day meals, check the food being served and inspect whether the given menu is being adhered to or not.

They were hired on a monthly salary of Rs 7,500, including Rs 1,500 travelling allowance, while there is no other provision for social security benefits like provident fund or pension.

The ABM Union said that ABMs were now being burdened with more work as more educational blocks were being given to them. It would mean spending more on travelling, stationery and working more to discharge responsibilities.

The ABMs were being given a fixed annual hike of Rs 225, which was nothing in comparison to the annual rate of inflation.

On the other hand, the Sarv Siksha Abhiyan employees, who were also appointed on a three-year contract, were getting social security benefits. The union said that the ABMs footed all expenses of stationery and telephone from their salary as there was no provision for reimbursement of these.

Sources in the union stated that the Department of School Education and Literacy Mid-day Meal Scheme under the Ministry of Human Resources had recommended that “the contract fee of Rs 7,500 per month being paid to the ABMs is too meager to subsist”.

Meanwhile, in a separate development, members of the Mid-day Meal Workers Union staged a protest in front of the District Education Officer today. They also stopped the vehicular traffic to register their protest against the government, seeking reinstatement of mid-day meal workers who were turned out of their jobs without assigning any reason.

Besides, their demands include that they must be given a miniumum salary of Rs 10,000 per month, maternity leave on the Haryana pattern, gratuity and other benefits. 

Amritsar, July 3
An inspection of the various shops selling uncovered eatables was conducted by the Health Department after which the Civil Surgeon has asked shopkeepers to cover the food items properly.

The Civil Surgeon, Dr Rajiv Bhalla, said that it had been observed that shopkeepers keep eatables in the open as a result of which dust and flies contaminate these. Bhalla said that uncovered food may result in health problems for the consumers, so it was advised that these were properly covered.

He said that unhygienic conditions were found at various shops for which the food wing would be asked to collect samples and take action against the culprits. He warned shopkeepers against selling sub-standard food.

Bhalla said that the spot for preparation of food at shops should be kept clean and it must be ensured that cooks are not suffering from any communicable disease. He said that under the Food Safety and Standards Act, it is mandatory for the workers at an eating joint to produce medical fitness certificates if asked by officials of the Health Department. 

Amritsar, July 3
In the wake of Ramzaan, the Chairman and representatives of the Minority Commission, Punjab, Munawar Masih, today visited the Amritsar Central Jail to ensure that the Muslim inmates could observe religious ceremonies, according to rituals.

During the month of Ramzaan, the Muslim inmates cannot be put to any kind of work in the jail and arrangements should be made for them to observe fast.

These inmates will be observing fast throughout the month and will be provided with milk and fruit, mangoes, apple, and dates, every day. This extra burden is borne by the Punjab Government under a special package in all jails across the state through the Chief Minister’s discretionary funds.

Masih also observed the state of affairs prevailing with the Muslim prisoners. He found deficiency in medical aid and sanitation after hearing the complaints of the jail inmates and directed the jail authorities to improve the conditions. He also directed the health officials to conduct regular check-ups of ailing patients.

He also visited the de-addiction centre inside the jail premises. He said that the state government had not only endeavoured to treat the prisoners who had been hooked to drugs, but was also chalking out special programmes to rehabilitate them.

He also monitored the training centre for women inmates who are taught embroidery, knitting and tailoring to make them self-reliant.

Jail Superintendent RK Sharma said that all efforts would be made on priority to resolve the problems being faced by the inmates.

Amritsar, July 3
The state government and the Punjab Police claim not to be taking action against drug consumers and on the contrary, they claim, they are helping them to get rid of the addiction. The claim was put to question today when a woman of Mahal village alleged that her son was framed by the police in a false NDPS case.

Kiran Bala alleged that around 10 policemen came to her rented accommodation in the wee hours of June 2. She said they picked up her son, Sanjiv Kumar, alias Nikku, on the pretext of some investigations.

“At that time, the police team found nothing from his possession,” she claimed. Later, she alleged that they came to know that the police had registered a case against her son under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act for allegedly possessing 60 gm of narcotic powder.

While admitting that though Sanjiv was hooked to drugs, she said that her son had done nothing wrong and was not involved in drug peddling as claimed by the police.

Mohan Lal, father of Sanjiv, said that his son fell in bad company. He said Sanjiv was a property dealer and was doing good business, adding that his friends got him hooked to drugs. While showing CCTV footage of his arrest, they said that it was clearly shown that the police found nothing from his possession and arrested him from the house and not from a naka as claimed by it. He alleged that he was falsely implicated in the case by the police.

According to the FIR, Sanjiv was arrested from a naka put up on Ram Tirath road and “recovery” was made during his search.

Sukhdev Singh, SHO, Kamboh police station, said that the case was registered after the police confiscated the narcotic powder from his possession. He said if the family members had any complaint in this connection, he would get the matter investigated.

Daljit Singh, DSP, Attari, said that they were verifying the CCTV footage and appropriate action would be taken after investigations. 

Amritsar, July 3
The Deputy Commissioner today reviewed the action plan chalked out by the Forest Department regarding the plantation drive in the coming season and stressed upon the need to make utmost efforts to involve NGOs, all government departments, village-level institutes and community in this campaign.

A meeting was held in the city under the chairmanship of Ravi Bhagat, Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, regarding a tree plantation drive to be undertaken under the Greening Punjab Mission in the district.

Expressing concern over the deteriorating environment, he said it was
the need of the hour to immediately reverse the trend of environmental degradation.

He urged all the NGOs and district heads from various departments to proactively participate, own the campaign and make it a campaign of masses.

He said the District Forest Department would extend all possible help to make it a big success in the district.

During the meeting M Sudakar, divisional forest officer, Ferozepur (additional charge of Amritsar), appraised the house about the action plan and preparedness of the Forest Department to make the campaign a success. He said the Forest Department distributed around 1 lakh plants, free of cost, among various departments and NGOs.

Vimal Setia, Additional Deputy Commissioner (G), Amritsar, Rohit Gupta, SDM, Amritsar-1, Surinder Singh, SDM, Baba Bakala, and representatives of various NGOs were also present on the occasion.

Amritsar, July 2
A city-based drug de-addiction centre admitted 25-year-old woman Australian national after she was found lying unconscious on Majitha Road bypass yesterday.

Dr JPS Bhatia, who attended on the woman, said she was accompanied by a British national. He said her drug test for opium and cannabis was positive. However, the same test was not conducted on the person accompanying her as he seemed fine in health.

Dr Bhatia said some youngsters, who were de-addicted at his centre, called him in the morning and told about a woman, who seemed to be suffering from drug overdose, lying on a road. She was denied treatment in various city hospitals as the couple did not possess enough money. Dr Bhatia said he was offering treatment to the woman free of cost.

The foreign nationals stated that they did not possess any contraband and had consumed cannabis near Manali in Himachal Pradesh, added the doctor. Dr Bhatia said he was now trying to inform the police regarding the consumption of drugs by the foreign nationals. 

Amritsar, July 3
Around 80 per cent of acute smokers quit smoking habits after treatment with the help of BICOM machine or what is popularly known as Quit Smoking Machine installed at the Swami Vivekanand De-addiction Centre here.

The machine uses bio-resonance therapy involving painless treatment with no medication and no chemicals or hypnosis. It does not have any harmful side-effects.

Dr PD Garg, Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Government Medical College here, said the machine was installed in 2011. As no medicine was administered in this, people found it hard to believe that it could cure them. Nevertheless, it was an effective machine. Chain smokers who found it difficult to kick the habit, had been successfully cured of their cravings, he added.

Since the installation of the machine in Swami Vivekanand Drug De-addiction Centre in December 2011, nearly a 100 patients had been treated successfully. The one of its kind machine was now also available in Patiala, Chandigarh and New Delhi besides Amritsar, he said.

The post-treatment follow-up shows that 80 per cent smokers abstained from smoking after the treatment.

Smoking is being cured worldwide by many techniques like nicotine patches, nicotine chewing gums, using medicines like bupropione, verilicline, etc but bio-resonance therapy is a novel technique and is fast gaining popularity. It also helps in quitting smokeless tobacco like gutka, pan masala, zarda, etc and is useful in certain allergies as well, Garg said.

Dr Jaswinder Kaur, in charge, Tobacco Cessation Centre, while giving details about the German-made machine, said that it worked on the principle of quantum physics. The BICOM device reduces or eliminates the pathological oscillations and at the same time strengthens physiological oscillations.

“All you have to do is to place your hands on the machine. Vibrations from the machine will lead to body vibrations and the resultant nerve impulses will reduce the craving to smoke/chew tobacoo.

With three sittings of 40 minutes each on consecutive days at the machine and intensive counselling, the patients can be fully cured.

She said that patients from far-flung areas of Beas and Majitha also visited the centre. Initially people had doubts on the success of the therapy and the cost of treatment amounting to Rs 2,000 was also felt to be high but with Punjab Government’s decision to slash the cost of treatment to Rs 500 and making it free for the poor, the number of people willing to take the treatment would increase, said Jaswinder Kaur.

Amritsar, July 3
A youth was drowned in the Jagdev Kalan canal while the police have recovered the body of an unidentified person from the Vallah canal here today.

In the first instance, Lovepreet Singh of Bal Sachander village along with five of his friends had gone to take a bath in the Jagdev Kalan canal yesterday when he got drowned accidentally. His body was fished out from the canal today. The police took action under the CrPC and handed over the body to the family.

The Canal Department has put up instructions not to bathe in the canal which is very deep. However, people hardly care and are usually found bathing in the canal.

In another instance, the police recovered the body of an unidentified youth from the Vallah canal. The police authorities said that an initial probe pointed out that the youth had died around a week ago. The deceased was yet to be identified. The police said the youth’s body had been kept at the mortuary for identification for 72 hours.

Amritsar, July 3
Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ajaib Singh Brar, has constituted various committees for the smooth functioning of the university. The tenure of these committees will be one year, ending on March 31 next year.

Prof Amarjit Singh Sidhu of the Department of Commerce and Business Management has been nominated as chairman of the Press and Publication Committee. Prof Vikram Chadha, Punjab School of Economics, Prof Shashi Bala, Department of Guru Nanak Studies, Prof Balwinder Singh Randhawa, Chemistry Department, Prof BS Chadha, Microbiology Department and Prof Paramjit Singh, Sociology Department, have taken over as members of this committee.

Prof Balwinder Singh Randhawa, Chemistry Department, will be the chairman of the Campus Committee while the executive engineer will be its convener. Prof Anish Dua, Zoology Department, Prof Jagroop Singh Sekhon, Political Science Department, security officer, landscape officer and presidents of teachers association and non-teaching employees association have been selected as members of the committee.

Dr Kupdip Singh of the Political Science Department has been nominated as chairman of Medical/Health Committee while the senior medical officer, in charge, Health Centre, will be its convener. Other members of this committee include Prof RK Mahajan, Chemistry Department, Dr Shyamal Koley from Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy Department, senior most medical officer, president non-teaching, president officers association and president, GNDU teachers’ association.

Prof MS Hundal, Dean, academic affairs, has been made the chairman of the Farm and Landscape Committee with the landscape officer as its convener. The Dean, Students Welfare, Dr Amarjit Singh Sidhu, Registrar, Dr Inderjit Singh, deputy director sports, Prof Amarjit Singh Sidhu (commerce and business management) and Dr Arwinder Kaur, associate professor, Zoology Department, Dr Karamjit Singh Chahal, Architecture Department and Dr Harvinder Singh Saini, Microbiology Department, have been nominated as members of this committee.

The Cultural Committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of the Dean, Students Welfare, Dr Amarjit Singh Sidhu and director, youth welfare, Dr Jagjit Kaur will act as convener of this committee. Other members of the committee are Prof Raminder Kaur, school of Punjabi studies, Dr Sudha Jatinder of Hindi Department, Dr Gurpreet Kaur Randhawa of university business school, Rajbir Bhatti, pharmaceutical sciences, Dr Ashwani Kumar Luthra, Guru Ramdas School of Planning and Prof BS Bajwa, Physics Department.

Amritsar, July 3
Good team work and exemplary courage helped in saving life of a patient, whose artery near the heart was cut in an accident. Dr Pankaj Goel, cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon at Fortis Hospital, said, “When the patient arrived at hospital’s emergency blood was flowing profusely due to which his haemoglobin level was merely 1gm.”

The 34-year-old patient had slipped from a ladder while white washing second floor of a building. On slipping from the ladder he crashed into a glass window. A piece of glass pierced the victim’s chest thereby cutting an artery.

Doctors in the emergency opened the chest and stopped flow of blood by holding artery with bare hands.

Dr Goel said, “The patient’s heart rate was 180 and blood pressure was un-recordable due to his critical condition. We thought that the only hope was to stop the blood loss first.”

On opening the victim’s chest, the doctors found that the glass shaft had cut the left internal mammary artery and both the ends were spurting blood. Dr Goel stated that he tried to stop the blood by pressing both the ends with his fingers, while the team started immediate transfusion of blood to revive the patient.

The patient was transferred to the operation theatre while the doctors pressed vessels to save loss of blood, where he was operated upon to repair the ruptured vessels. 

Amritsar, July 3
Global Institutes organised a week-long faculty development programme (FDP) on “Recent trends of communication in engineering application” on its campus, here today.

The FDP was sponsored by Punjab Technical University (PTU) with the objective of spreading awareness regarding latest developments in the field of communication engineering amongst the faculty, research scholars and students of institutions under the PTU. More than 100 faculty members and research scholars from institutions under the PTU attended the programme.

The FDP was inaugurated by Dr ML Singh, Professor and head, Department of Electronics Technology, Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU). Dr Singh discussed the role of communication in today’s world, various frequency bands in optical communications and role of amplifiers (EDFA, BDFA and TDFA), besides latest developments in the field of optical fibers, sensors etc.

Another session was taken by Dr Anu Sheetal, head, Department of Electronics Engineering, GNDU, Regional Campus, Gurdaspur. She stressed upon the advantages and various design issues in optical communication systems. She also elaborated upon optical simulators optisystem and explained the design aspects of transmitters and receivers. The session was useful for the faculty pursing research in optical communication fields.

Dr Akashdeep Singh, vice-chairman of Global Institutes, said the institute had always been at the forefront for organising such development programmes and seminars to update the knowledge of faculty.

Amritsar, July 3
The local branch of the Northern India Regional Council (NIRC) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) organised a cultural programe “SYNERGIA 2014” last night to commemorate the 65th Foundation Day celebrations. Satvir Singh, chairman of the local branch of the NIRC, said a large number of members of the ICAI along with their families participated in the event. Students pursuing CA presented comedy and drug awareness skits and bhangra.

Bhavesh Mahajan (vice-chairman), Gaurav Gupta (secretary), Lakhwinder Singh Bhatia (treasurer), Rajan Kumar, Sanjiv Gandhi, Sandeep Chopra, Kawal Kumar, Davinder Singh, Vipul Arora, Sanjay Arora were present on the occasion. — TNS 

Amritsar, July 3
Principal of Khalsa College, Dr Mehal Singh, has announced to bolster sports in the college with a special focus on women teams. He stated this while inaugurating the year-long sports session today, under which various categories of sports would be in the focus. He said so far the larger attention was on boys’ team, but they would promote girls’ team too.

Dr Mehal along with senior professors from the Department of Physical Education also inaugurated a friendly cricket match at the college ground. He said teams of athletics, hockey, basketball, handball, kabaddi, swimming, boxing, water sports and archery would be undergoing training throughout the year to compete in the inter-college, inter-university, national and international tournaments.

Dr Singh thanked Khalsa College Governing Council, especially honorary secretary Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina, for extending support for the promotion of sports.

Among others who were present on the occasion include joint secretary Rajbir Singh and international cricket player Harvinder Singh.

Amritsar, July 3
The city police today claimed to have got vital clues in the blind murder case of an elderly woman who was stabbed to death by an unidentified youth on the intervening night of July 1-2.

The 60-year-old woman, identified as Raj Rani, was a resident of the Bagh Ramanand area. At the time of the incident, she was alone at home while her two sons had gone to work. Her daughter-in-law had gone to her parents’ home.

On the statement of her son Gulshan Kumar, the police have registered a case under Section 302, IPC, against an unidentified youth. The youth had covered his face and was wearing a red t-shirt. This was revealed by the deceased before her death.

Parampal Singh, ADCP, said they had got vital clues and would crack the case in the next couple of days. After the initial probe, the police have been suspecting the role an insider as there were no signs of any theft or robbery.