Amritsar, July 11
Over a100 hoteliers or guest house operators doing business around the Golden Temple have reason to rejoice.

The MC House, during its general meeting today, has given its nod to regularise as many as 125 hotels, guest houses and inns as part of its ‘one-time settlement policy’. These units have been considered under compoundable offence and could be given authorisation to operate after imposing a penalty.

Besides, the House also hailed Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s announcement to put Amritsar under the ‘National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojna’ and the government’s move to transform the holy city into a ‘smart city’ by revamping its infrastructure and basic facilities to give a quality life to its residents.

Meanwhile, as many as 31 items pertaining to the development of the city, which included revamping water supply, sewerage, streetlights and repair of roads, were given the green signal by the House unanimously.

Nonetheless, the most important item on the agenda of the day was the regularisation of commercial units around the Golden Temple in the walled city area.

The Federation of Hotel and Guest Houses Association had approached the authorities to take a sympathetic view. It had stated that if such a large number of hotels or guest house would be closed, it would not only make them jobless, but also affect tourism and cause inconvenience to lakhs of tourists, who visit here daily to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple.

As mayor Bakshi Kumar Arora announced the proposal, reserved in the supplementary agenda for these commercial units, the House gave its nod unanimously within no time.

A councillor, Meenu Sehgal, had anticipated the possibility of inviting the ire of the Punjab and Haryana High Court while considering it as contempt of court. Mayor Arora clarified that it was the government’s invitation on which the MC had drafted the proposal and that all legal aspects would be looked after at the government’s end.

A SIT (special investigation team) headed by Deputy Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary Rahul Tiwari with two members, Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat and Chief Administrator, Amritsar Development Authority, Sandeep Rishi, had furnished in the court that there were 131 commercial units which seldom complied with the Punjab Municipal Corporation Building Bylaws 1997 and the revised bylaws formulated in 2010.

Acting on a PIL filed in 2010 against the illegal hospitality units around the Golden Temple, the HC has already ordered the authorities to initiate action against these structures by July 23. However, the next hearing has been fixed as August 22.

Mayor Arora said that these units did not come up in the recent past, but were as old as four or five decades.

“I admit that these units, established decades ago, could never follow the building bylaws of 1997 and 2010, as there could never be such an ample parking or building elevation, according to the present times. But, taking the base of building bylaws 1976, as many as 125 hotels/inns/guest houses could be approved. It will be a one-time arrangement, if the high court gives its final verdict in its favour,” he said.

About Amritsar being included in heritage city development scheme, the mayor apprised the House that this will not only help Amritsar regain its lost glory but also prepare a platform for staking its claim to 80 per cent Central funds under various schemes of JNNURM.

Sidelights Councillors were thrilled to know the increase in their monthly remuneration from Rs 12,000 to Rs 16,000. The Municipal Town Planning (MTP) Department has once again had to face the wrath of the House, when a councillor said that its officials had approached owners of under question hotels and guest houses, asking for underhand payment to get their cases included in the agenda list. Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora announced that no MTP Department official was ever included in finalising the list of these units. The whole list submitted by the hotel federation was included in the proposal for a one-time arrangement. For the first time, the Opposition leaders of the House did not walk out and listened to the proceedings till the end. Pointing out bad roads, sewerage and streetlights in their wards, councillors complained that they were not informed by officials about the works being carried out in their wards. The officials were rebuked by mayor Arora, who asked them to explain the lapses in various works pointed out by the councillors

Amritsar, July 11
The medical officers at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital here have criticised the government orders for their transfer to rural health institutions stating that it will create a shortage of medical experts at the institute.

Earlier, the state government had ordered transfer of 40 medical officers at hospitals associated with Government Medical College, Patiala, and Government Medical College, Amritsar.

Out of the total 40, at least 17 are working at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital associated with Government Medical College, Amritsar. A medical officer at the GND hospital said, “While the government is trying to make up for the deficiency of MOs and EMOs at the rural centres, the transfers will create shortage at here.”

Sources in the college said that the authorities planned to entrust the MO and EMO duties at the hospital to postgraduate doctors studying at the medical college.

Criticising the plan, an EMO said, “The EMOs have to often appear as witnesses or as medical experts in medico-legal cases. In case a postgraduate doctor who belongs to some other state shifts after the completion of his or her course, will he or she be able to attend the call of the court.”

The doctors stated that instead of transferring them to other stations, the government should appoint new MOs at stations were posts are vacant. Meanwhile, the MOs whose transfer orders were issued last month had approached the high court, which issued a stay order.

The MOs demanded that the transfer orders should be taken back as implementation of these orders would be against the interest of the employees and the general public.

Amritsar, July 11
As the night sanitation contract for cleaning the streets leading to the Golden Temple is on the verge to expire, the municipal corporation has decided to invite fresh bids for the job.

Meanwhile, the existing firm’s contract has been extended temporarily for three months till the time a new firm is hired.

The unique night sanitation drive was introduced around a year ago for the first time in Amritsar so that the pilgrims should find spic-and-span streets while on their way to pay obeisance at the holiest Sikh shrine. The present contract with a Chandigarh-based private firm is going to culminate on August 2. The total cost of the project has been estimated to be Rs 54 lakh a year.

Amritsar is on the global map and is visited by over 1 lakh tourists, yet it is criticised for lack of hygiene and cleanliness on the streets.

Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora, who was the brain behind the move, said that the idea was to create a positive awareness among the residents about sustainable and healthy living and projecting the ‘Guru Ki Nagri’ as a model city.

“The process of hiring the new firm will take some time, so the existing firm has been told to continue till the new firm takes over. The service cost of three months will come to around Rs 13.67 lakh. The professionally trained sanitation staff clean up the streets leading to the Golden Temple from 9 pm to 5 am daily,” he said.

At present, around 40 workers with four garbage-lifting trolleys were pressed into service for the job of cleaning the streets and sprinkling water thereafter. A total of four tractor-trailers were there to clean up the designated route and each trailer cost Rs 1,700 per day.

Three routes have been planned for the sanitation drive. The first is from the Hall Gate to the Golden Temple, which will cover Hathi Chowk, Fuwarah (fountain) Chowk, Jallianwala Bagh streets etc. The second route will include Ghanta Ghar Chowk to Mai Sewa Bazaar, which covers the whole Galliara. The third route will be Ghanta Ghar Chowk to Sakandari Gate and the fourth will be Gurdwara Baba Atal Sahib.

MC Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said that the routes leading to religious places would be on the priority list. After the Golden Temple routes, the service would be extended to the Durgiana Mandir routes. “The beautification project of Durgiana Mandir is in progress. Once it gets completed, we will start the night sanitation service on the streets leading to the shrine,” he said. 

Amritsar, July 11
Even after passing of over 24 hours, the police was yet to achieve any breakthrough in the case in which a young couple was hacked to death by unidentified persons on the intervening night of July 9-10 in Kammoke village in Baba Bakala subdivision here.

Balwinder Singh, SHO, Beas police station, said that the police was yet to arrest the suspects in the case, which could provide vital clues about the accused and the prime reason behind the brutal murder.

Guriqbal Singh (30) and his wife Kirandeep Kaur were found murdered in their home on the outskirts of the village while their three-year-old son Manbir Singh was left alone by the armed assailants. Guriqbal’s brother Bachitar Singh was also reportedly injured in the attack. There were sharp-edged weapon injury marks on the bodies of the deceased while the crime scene indicated struggle for survival on behalf of the victims before they were brutally killed.

On the basis of the statement of Dalip Kaur, mother of the deceased, the police have booked several persons, including the sarpanch of the village, Manmohan Singh. Dalip Kaur alleged that her son had land dispute with the accused who might be involved in the murder. The accused had, however, refuted the charge. Balwinder Singh, SHO, said that the role of suspects mentioned in the FIR by Dalip Kaur was yet to be ascertained. He said no arrest had been made in the case so far. 

Amritsar, July 11
Even as Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has announced preservation of the holy city’s heritage under the National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), the ongoing restoration work on various key heritage sites calls for immediate attention.

The preservation work at these sites has been going on at a snail’s pace for the past several years reportedly due to lack of funds. This has done no good to the holy city’s tourism prospects. Among the prominent heritage sites whose preservation work has been delayed inordinately include the Gobindgarh Fort and the Summer Palace of the legendary Sikh ruler, Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Ram Bagh garden.

Besides, a number of heritage structures in the city, including various bazaars in the old walled city, 12 gates around the walled city, the heritage wall around the old city, various temples, Qila Ahluwalia etc are lying in a shambles and crying for attention.

The Gobindgarh Fort was constructed by the Bhangi Sikh Misl, which was later extended and developed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It is a fine example of a special defence mechanism initiated by the Sikh army against artillery attacks. The fort, which remained in the possession of the Indian Army after Independence, was handed over to the Punjab Government in 2006 and since then the restoration work is going on. According to the authorities, only 50 per cent of the preservation work has been completed so far.

The Summer Palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Ram Bagh is also undergoing preservation for the past several years. It includes the fountains, the Baradari, the Hamam Ghar and the Machhi Ghar among other structures. A portion of the historic garden is under the possession of the Archaeological Survey of India while the remaining part is in the possession of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the state government. The huge garden replicates the Shalimar Gardens of Lahore (Pakistan).

The Union Ministry of Culture has reportedly approved Rs 200 crore to make Amritsar a tourist hub by undertaking projects to restore monuments. The posh Mall Road area developed during the British era has been turned into a commercial area where huge shopping malls have come up in the recent past while many heritage trees were mindlessly chopped by the administration in the name of development.

Recently, state tourism secretary Raji P Srivastava reviewed various tourism development projects in and around the city. While inspecting work at the Ram Bagh, known as Company Bagh, Raji asked the officials to complete the work in time so that these sites could be opened for tourists soon.

Amritsar, July 11
When it comes to choosing sterilisation surgery, it has been seen that men are found usually reluctant and want their wives to go through it.

The data with the Health Department shows that of all permanent contraceptive surgeries conducted, only 25 per cent were performed on men.

It is observed that men are unwilling to go through the surgery because of various misconceptions attached with it.

One of the most prevalent myths is that a man would lose his virility after undergoing no scalpel vasectomy (NSV).

Sometimes even wives are reluctant to allow their husbands to go for NSV and they themselves step forward to undergo tubectomy.

Experts say sterilisation surgery for men (NSV) is a non invasive technique while tubectomy, used for women, is a bit more serious surgery, which requires anaesthesia.

District family welfare officer Dr Ranjit Singh Buttar said, “It has been seen that more women go through permanent contraceptive surgeries decision.”

Dr Buttar said the government had initiated a programme to popularise NSV among men.

A male undergoing NSV is given cash reward of Rs 1,100, he said. The government also gives a cash prize of Rs 250 to a woman opting for permanent contraceptive measure. A woman from BPL category is paid Rs 650.

An incentive of Rs 200 and Rs 150 is paid to an ASHA worker who motivates a male or a female respectively for undergoing a permanent contraceptive surgery.

Dr Buttar said with growing awareness, more and more families were undergoing permanent contraception surgeries.

Fact file The data with the Health Department shows that of all permanent contraceptive surgeries done, only 25 per cent were performed on men Sometimes even wives are reluctant to allow their husbands to go for NSV and they themselves step forward to undergo tubectomy

Amritsar, July 11
Residents of the New Amritsar area have demanded setting up of a police post in their vicinity keeping in view the number of theft instances occurred in the area.

Harcharan Singh, an area resident, said repeated instances of petty crimes, including snatchings and thefts, were being reported in the area. People fear from coming out of their homes during late evenings, he added.

In a recent incident, some unidentified persons entered into a house from the roof top and stole away LPG cylinders.

In another instance, several miscreants decamped with furniture lying in the courtyard of a house.

Gurinder Singh said a couple of snatchings incidents had been reported in the B-block area.

He said the area usually remained dark during the evenings, which makes it easy for anti-social elements to commit crimes.

The matter was brought to the knowledge of police authorities but nothing concrete had been done so far, he added.

Residents urged senior police officers to set up a police post in the area, which would keep a check on anti-social elements. — TNS

Amritsar, July 11
The district Health Department organised an awareness programme at Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital on the occasion of World Population Day today.

Civil Surgeon Dr Rajiv Bhalla said the department had planned to create awareness among people about the available contraceptive measures in the fortnight from July 11 to July 24.

District health and family welfare officer Dr Ranjit Singh Buttar said during the fortnight, various camps would be organised to make people aware about permanent and temporary contraceptive measures.

He said NSV (no scalpel vasectomy), which is a non-invasive technique for men and tubectomy for women, were the two permanent contraceptive measures available with the government health institutions.

Dr Buttar said besides contraceptive measures, the Health Department also undertakes counselling of couples for choosing the right measures.

Senior medical officer Dr Balbir Singh Dhillon, mass media officer Raj Kaur, Parminder Kaur, Aarush Bhalla and other officials were present on the ocassion. — TNS

Amritsar, July 11
CKD Institute of Management and Technology will organise a joint placement drive on tomorrow (July 12).

Wipro Company, which has provided placements not only to CKD College students but also to students of other colleges, has given its consent to send their representatives once again to the CKD campus located on GT Road.

Principal HS Sandhu said all graduates — MBA/B Tech - 2012/2013/2014 (with no pending results) can participate in this drive.

“The aspirants are required to come along with their documents. We also express gratitude towards PTU for including the details of the placement drive on its website,” he said. — TNS

Amritsar, July 11
Guru Nanak Dev University has started a 21-day refresher course in social sciences at the Academic Staff College.

Director, UGC-Academic Staff College, Punjabi University, Patiala, Prof Balwinder Singh Tiwana, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Prof Tiwana shed light on the significance and relevance of social sciences in the modern era. “It has to play a major role in stemming the moral degradation of society. The need of the hour is to impart knowledge of social sciences to professionals such as doctors, engineers and scientists among others in order to inculcate basic human values,” he said.

Tracing the history of social sciences, he said that until 14th century, social sciences were not segregated at all. The demarcation of social sciences in various disciplines such as sociology, history, political science and public administration had begun later on, he added.

“The development in various aspects of human life would not have been possible at all, but for the unprecedented advancements in the field of science and technology. Both the sciences have to work in tandem for the overall development of society,” he added.

Head, Department of Political Science, Prof Jagrup Singh Sekhon, briefed the participants about the thrust area of the course. He threw light on the increasing role of social scientists in making the world a better place to live.

Apprising about the history of academic staff colleges started by the UGC in 1987, Prof Avinash Nagpal, said the main aim of these courses was to make the teaching fraternity more competent and efficient in all aspects related to teaching.

Amritsar, July 11
The starcast of the upcoming Punjabi movie ‘Yaaran Da Katchup’ arrived in the city for promotion. The movie, directed by Abhay Baiju Chhabra, has Hardy Sandhu, Varun Sharma and Anil Juneja in lead roles.

Chabbra had earlier worked as an assistant director with Prakash Jha in films such as Apaharan and Raajneeti.

The film is slated to be released on July 18. Singer-turned-actor Hardy Sandhu said the movie was about three friends who plan to meet in Pattaya, Thailand.

Varun Sharma of Fukre fame said, “During the shooting of the film, I never felt that it was not a Bollywood style movie.”

Chhabra said though it was a Punjabi movie, it would be loved by the Bollywood audience as well. Jaswinder Bhalla, BN Sharma, Vijay Tandon, Rana Ranbir, Ranjan Sehgal, Kruti Popat, Anita Hassanandani, Yuvika Chaudhary, Simpy Singh and Shagun Jasiwal will also be seen in the movie. — TNS