Drugs, mobile seized from central jail inmates
Amritsar, July 8
The Amritsar Central Jail authorities have seized intoxicant powder and a mobile from two inmates in separate instances.

Remove Jethuwal distributory land encroachments: HC
Amritsar, July 8
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Departments of Forest and Irrigation to get back the possession of their land which at present was encroached upon for commercial use by at least 20 government, police and private parties, without procuring the mandatory CLU (change of land use) certificate.

Civil supplies official booked for demanding money
Amritsar, July 8
The Vigilance Department, Amritsar, has booked the local Food and Civil Supplies Controller, Talwinder Singh Chopra, on the charge of demanding money from his inspector to clear his pending bills.

Akali leader thrashes SGPC driver 
Amritsar, July 8
In a case of road rage, a driver of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Jatinder Singh, was allegedly beaten up by an unidentified Akali leader and his associates outside Jallianwala Bagh today. Jatinder, who is admitted to the Civil Hospital, said his right arm was fractured at two places and he received some head injuries in the fracas.

PFC to auction its local office, local industry at receiving end 
Amritsar, July 8
In a set-back to the industries of the holy city, the Punjab Financial Corporation (PFC) is all set to auction its local office at Ranjit Avenue’s prime commercial property on July 23.

Amritsar, July 8
The role of Amritsar Central Jail staff in passing on forbidden stuff to prisoners has come into focus going by the alarming number of seizure of mobiles and narcotics.

Today, three jail staffers have come under the scanner in the course of an inquiry conducted by the jail authorities from the inmates from whom narcotics and mobiles 
were seized.

Taking cognisance of it, the jail superintend, RK Sharma, instantly suspended the erring officials. They have been identified as Head Warder Sukhdev Singh (No. 3154) and two warders, Kuldeep Singh (No. 2483) and Sukhdev Singh (No. 2573).

Sharma said that their evil practices came to light during the interrogation of an undertrial, Kirpal Singh, from whom 5.80 gm narcotics were recovered during a routine checking recently. “He disclosed the names of these three officials who allegedly supplied him the contraband. All three have been put under suspension,” he said.

The supply of the prohibited material inside the jail seems highly unlikely without the involvement of jail staff as a tight search is conducted at the jail entrance and there is two-tier checking of the jail inmates (before they come back to their barracks from the visitor’s gallery).

Similarly, while on their court hearing, the prisoners are escorted in constant vigil by the guards all the time. While coming in, they have to pass through special security checking before going to their barracks.

Not only mobile phones, registration of NDPS cases after seizure of narcotics like opium, smack, etc show that prisoners get their daily dose in connivance with the jail staff, apparently by greasing their palms in lieu of the service they get from them.

“It is true, the staff’s connivance is there. We will continue to interrogate more inmates from whom we have seized narcotics or mobiles. I think more black sheep could come to light,” he said. 

Amritsar, July 8
Most of the washrooms and urinals at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital here are in such a state that any one would think twice before using one of them. Sanitary fittings such as water taps and pipes are missing in large numbers from these washrooms. As a result, the water is either flowing continuously through them or they have been permanently closed with wooden plugs.

The sewerage system of the hospital is such that the used water accumulates beneath urinals making it unapproachable for the visitors. The users are even devoid of any privacy as some toilets do not have doors.

In the absence of proper facilities and cleanliness washrooms for male visitors are in a pathetic condition. Wash basins without taps show the indifference of authorities concerned towards providing such facilities for the public. Leaking taps and pipes are in abundance on the hospital premises.

At times, when the government has restricted transplantation of paddy before June 10 and even going overboard to encourage farmers to go for direct seeding to help water conservation, the hospital can save a significant quantity of water by replacing all missing and leaking sanitary fittings.

Heaps of garbage near the patient wards is a common sight. The patients said sweepers seldom cared to throw the waste away from wards. Patients too are to be blamed for throwing food waste and plastic wrappers around buildings.

Patients have demanded that washrooms and urinals be made usable. “The condition of these washrooms is such that a person will use them as a last resort. The drinking water and urinals are the two basic things, which government hospitals must maintain,” said a patient.

Amritsar, July 8
There has been a mixed response from residents of the holy city to the maiden railway budget of the Narendra Modi government.

They welcomed connectivity to Nagpur and the new train between Amritsar and Saharsa, but they lamented that no train was announced between Amritsar-Mumbai via the Ferozepur route as this would have facilitated connectivity to the Malwa region of the state and Rajasthan.

About the railway budget, Amrit Lal Jain said so far as his city was concerned, the budget was disappointing. It ignored the major demands and aspirations of the inhabitants of the border city.

He said the Amritsar-Delhi Shatabdi was already overcrowded and there was a need for a high-speed train (160-200 km/hour) between the two stations.

He said despite writing to the Union Railway minister DV Sadananda Gowda to start a train between Amritsar and Ferozepur as the 25.47 km railway track between the Makhu-Patti rail stretch was announced in the last budget, nothing materialised. He said its benefits would have been immense as the distance between Amritsar and Ferozepur would have got reduced from 196 km to 82 km. Similarly, the distance between Amritsar to Mumbai would have been reduced by 240 km besides connecting the region with Rajasthan. Two Important regions of Punjab, Majha and Malwa, would be connected and even the distance between Jammu and Mumbai will reduce 267 km.

Jain claimed that the upgradation and expansion of the railway loco workshop, Puttalighar, in Amritsar was stalled by the Akali-BJP government during the tenure of the UPA government. He said non-availability of space was given as the reason and it was suggested that it be set up at Bathinda instead. He said upgradation and expansion of the workshop must be taken up now as they had cross- checked that adequate space was available.

CII Task Force on Governance Member Gunbir Singh said, “As the first rail budget of the new government, one is gladdened to see the accent on sanitation, hygiene, food quality and conveniences for both, the general public and the differently abled. Also heartening are the enhanced concerns for safety, speed and expansion. The political will to deliver on the promises is well stated, but the year will showcase the delivery and execution of plans.

“The hard decision of a hefty rise in tariffs was taken before the budget itself. The connectivity of Sikh shrines, added logistics with Punjab are indeed welcome.

“Addition of the Makhu patti short line, in order to have a new, much shorter linkage of Punjab with the ports and Mumbai seems to have been ignored and, therefore, needs a relook because of its strategic and logical import,” commented Gunbir Singh.

Dr AL Adlakha said there was an urgent need to offer quality amenities to passengers travelling in non-reservation compartments. Since the number of passengers travelling in these compartments increased more than the availability of seats hence tickets must be allotted in conformity to the number of seats. Non-reservation compartments could be increased to accommodate a high number of passengers.

He termed the railway budget as a “glamorous” report spiced with bullet and high-speed trains while missing in substance. He said, amenities like potable water, fans, clean toilets and other facilities must be offered in the non-reservation compartments. 

Amritsar, July 8
The Amritsar Central Jail authorities have seized intoxicant powder and a mobile from two inmates in separate instances.

In the first instance, contraband weighing 1.250 gm was seized from an undertrial Gurjit Singh, a resident of Khemkaran Road, Bhikhiwind. He was lodged in the jail under the NDPS Act, registered with the Jandiala police in 2012. Besides, cases under Sections 302 and 429, IPC, were also registered against him.

Now, a fresh case under Sections 21, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against him with Cantonment police station.

In another instance, a mobile phone has been seized from an undertrial identified as Ashu, a resident of Indra Colony, Amritsar. He was lodged in the jail under Sections 302, 364, 201,148 and149, IPC, registered with police station Islamabad. The mobile phone seized from Ashu was a black-colour Nokia make bearing IMEI No: 351671053940766. It was found to be activated with No. 96466-40390.

Jail Superintendent RK Sharma said that both these seizures were made during routine checking. “Both the inmates are being questioned to find out the source through which they procured the forbidden materials.” 

Amritsar, July 8
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Departments of Forest and Irrigation to get back the possession of their land which at present was encroached upon for commercial use by at least 20 government, police and private parties, without procuring the mandatory CLU (change of land use) certificate.

The site is located over land of an old canal called “Jethuwal distributory” which used to flow across Amritsar city, but is now closed down.

Amritsar, July 8
The Vigilance Department, Amritsar, has booked the local Food and Civil Supplies Controller, Talwinder Singh Chopra, on the charge of demanding money from his inspector to clear his pending bills.

However, the Vigilance team led by Jasbir Singh Malhi, Deputy Superintendent of Police, maintained that no money could be recovered from the official on the spot and hence he was not arrested.

Terming it as an “eyewash” exercise, the Food and Supply Inspector Shivraj Khanna alleged that the Vigilance team was shielding the controller who had asked for Rs 70,000 to get some of his bills cleared, but later it was settled for Rs 50,000.

“I informed the Vigilance Department about the matter. According to the plan, the currency notes were kept in a file lying in the office of the controller. The Vigilance team reached the spot and caught him with the file red handed, but tried to hush up the matter,” he alleged.

DSP Malhi denied all charges but admitted that a case for demanding money under the Anti-Corruption Act, Section 7, 13 and 2, had been registered against the controller.

“It was absolutely wrong to say that the official had accepted the money as we had searched the official and his belongings thoroughly. The money recovered from a file does not imply that he had accepted the money. I along with two SDOs of the Sewerage Department were there on the spot as witnesses. At the moment, we could not conclude that the official had accepted the money. We have videographed the whole episode. The matter will be reviewed to give the final verdict whether the official was guilty of accepting bribery or not,” he said. 

Amritsar, July 8
In a case of road rage, a driver of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Jatinder Singh, was allegedly beaten up by an unidentified Akali leader and his associates outside Jallianwala Bagh today. Jatinder, who is admitted to the Civil Hospital, said his right arm was fractured at two places and he received some head injuries in the fracas.

He said the quarrel started after a minor accident between his bus and the car of the Akali leader. Jatinder said he had filed a complaint at the police station in which he had given the number of the vehicle involved in the accident. The leader hailed from Muktsar and his exact identity was yet to be establisher, added the driver. 

Amritsar, July 8
In a set-back to the industries of the holy city, the Punjab Financial Corporation (PFC) is all set to auction its local office at Ranjit Avenue’s prime commercial property on July 23.

The PFC came into existence in 1953 to grant loans for the establishment of new industrial concerns, modernisation, expansion or diversification of existing activities etc. Envisaged as a premier leading institution to perform the role of a development bank in the state, it failed to achieve its objective. From its very inception, the PFC’s working was ‘guided’ and ‘influenced’ by political objectives and marred by political interference. The body remained a tool to conform to the whims and fancies of political masters. Hence, it never acted as a professional body assisting industrialists to modernise their set-ups and augment these.

The SAD-BJP coalition government had extended the One-Time Settlement (OTS) scheme in January 2013. Anil Joshi was Industries Minister then. Under the scheme, Rs 1,300-crore loans were waived with a view to revive dormant and closed industries in the state to repay loan on easy instalments.

A major part of the benefit has gone to the industries in the border districts as 409 units got a Rs-566 crore loan waiver and these industries will now have to pay only Rs 59 crore against the total loan of Rs 625 crore. Besides, the industries in border districts will be charged interest at the rate of 6 per cent, industries at Goindwal Sahib at 0 per cent rate of interest while the units in the rest of the state were charged interest at 12 per cent.

The industrialists who had taken an advance up to Rs 1 lakh were spared from paying any interest. The borrowers did not need to repay double the amount of advance if it was up to Rs 5 lakh.

In many cases penal interest has mounted to 36 per cent.

Loans given under self-employment schemes for terrorism-affected persons, communal-violence victims and ex-servicemen were exempted to repay beyond the actual amount, according to the OTS policy.

One of the leading city industrialists, Raman Gupta, said the corporation was established with an objective of granting loans for the establishment of new industrial concerns, modernisation, expansion or diversification of existing activities, etc. However, professionalism was absent. Even the OTS scheme set a wrong precedent as the low interest rates were applicable on those persons who had not repaid the advance while the ones who had repaid the loan felt cheated.

Meanwhile, the PFC invited bids for 10,346 sq feet area (907.50 square yards) at reserve price of Rs 11.48 crore. Auction will be held on July 23. Its premises has been vacated as five member staff, including three officials and two class fourth, have been shifte4d to Jalandhar. Now, Jalandhar office looks after Amritsar area.

Officials of the PFC claimed that it assisted more than 18000 units with the total financial assistance of more than Rs1400 crores and generated employment for more than two lakh persons. 

Amritsar, July 8
The Mini Bus Operator Workers Union today lodged a protest against the city buses going out of the prescribed Municipal Corporation (MC) limits, thereby causing loss to their business.

In a letter written to Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat, workers said their 600 buses, which were operating in the city, were means of livelihood for thousands of drivers.

Secretary of the union, Baldev Singh, said they welcomed the government’s move to introduce city bus service, but as per norms, these buses should not operate on the bypass and beyond city routes.

“Our fares are not at par with the city bus ticket rates, as we have to bear the heavy burden of taxes unlike city bus operators. Now, with city buses moving out of their limits, our business is suffering,” he said.

Workers appealed to the DC to stop the operation of city buses beyond their designated limits and save their business from getting ruined. 

Amritsar, July 8
Most of the road stretches along railway crossings in the city are in an utter state of neglect. Commuters often experience a bumpy ride, besides causing traffic jams as the speed of vehicles is slow.

Officials of the Public Works Department said the Railways was responsible for the maintenance of the road between the railway crossings and up to few metres on both sides of the crossing.

The condition of roads near the railway crossing is far worse than the remaining part of the roads.

The potholed road near the crossings forces the residents to slow down their vehicles, which often results in traffic jams.

“People face a lot of inconvenience when the crossing is opened after the passing of a train as they drive on a potholed road. Low surface cars are always at the risk of hitting the ground,” said Joginder Singh, a driver at Fatak No. 21, on one of the busiest Putlighar stretch.

The commuters complained that even the roads near crossings at Chehharta, near the Civil Hospital, Shivala, B block and various other places is in bad shape. “When a road is re-carpeted the stretch adjoining the crossings is often left out. These points are like black spots on roads,” complained another commuter Shivani Moudgil.

An official of the PWD on the condition of anonymity stated, “This happens because of lack of co-ordination. The Railways do not act when the road is being built. Sometimes they rebuild the stretch when the rest of the road is in a dilapidated condition.”

Amritsar, July 8
Members of various NGOs in the city, led by former Health Minister and senior BJP leader Laxmi Kanta Chawla, staged a protest against the state government and the local administration for illegally cutting full- grown trees. Chawla termed the act as mass slaughter of green lungs of the city.

Members of the NGOs demanded action against Mayor, Municipal Corporation, Bakshi Ram Arora, former MC Commissioner DPS Kharbanda and Divisional Forest Officer NS Randhawa for allowing the indiscriminate cutting of trees.

Chawla said, “Politicians and officials take out processions on World Environment Day to encourage people to plant more and more trees, but when it comes to saving trees they keep mum.”

She also requested Baba Sewa Singh, known for his extensive tree plantation drives in Punjab and Rajasthan, to help NGOs and residents save the natural wealth of Amritsar.

She said hundreds of trees were cut, but not even a single sapling was planted during the past month, when trees were being felled. 

Amritsar, July 8
The police have booked a person for allegedly abducting a minor girl. In a complaint submitted with the police, the victim’s father, Vinod Kumar of the Chhota Haripur area, stated that her 17-year-old daughter was missing since July 6. He along with his family started searching of her whereabouts immediately, but in vain.

He suspected that Sahil, a resident of Chheharta, had abducted his daughter on some pretext. “On July 6, at about 12 noon I was informed that my daughter was not at home. I along with my relatives inquired from our acquaintance about her whereabouts but it was of no use. Then, I recalled about Sahil, who used to visit her sister’s house, located near our locality. He had lured my daughter and kidnapped her,” he said. SI Vipan Kumar of Islamabad police station said that no arrest had been made so far.

“The complainant also said that the accused had threatened his son over the telephone. A case under Sections 363, 366-A, 506, 34, IPC, has been registered against the accused,” he said.