Amritsar, July 25
The Punjab Police is on their toes to provide foolproof security arrangements during the Sikh conclave called by the Shiromani Akali Dal in order to plan their future course of action over the formation of a separate Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee for Sikh shrines in Haryana.

The convention will be held at Manjhi Sahib Diwan Hall on the Golden Temple premises on July 27. Heavy police force will be deployed around Darbar Sahib in order to thwart any untoward incident. Thousands of Akali Dal workers are expected to converge at the holy shrine for the convention.

Senior police officials today held a meeting with the SGPC authorities to discuss the security arrangements to be made during the convention. According to police officials, over 5,000 cops from the city police and other districts of border range will be deployed at various parts in the walled city, especially around the Golden Temple. Police forces from other districts have started arriving into the city. They converged at the police line area from where they will be assigned their duties.

In order to avoid traffic chaos and congestion inside the walled city road in view of the convention, the city police have decided to stop four-wheeler traffic from July 26 to July 27. “Vehicular traffic of four-wheelers will be restricted from 5 am onwards tomorrow up to 6 pm on July 27. Taxies, auto-rickshaws and horse carts will also not be allowed to enter inside the walled city during the period. Nakas will be laid in the walled city for security reasons,” said Babu Lal Meena, Deputy Commissioner of Police.

Meena appealed to the public to cooperate with the Police Department and not ply their cars and other four- wheelers during the fixed timings. Two-wheelers will be allowed till Dharam Singh Market near the shrine, said the police official.

Parampal Singh, ADCP city-I, said around 12 parking sites had been identified near the shrine for parking of vehicles of SAD workers participating in the conclave. He said around 20 outer nakas had been put up for security reasons. 

Amritsar, July 25
In order to provide state-of-the-art health facilities to the people of Punjab, the state government is going to open as many as 22 super-speciality hospitals, one in each district, soon.

In addition to this, the government will also upgrade 100 CHCs and PHCs in the state for providing 24-hour health facilities to the public.

This was stated by Punjab Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani while interacting with mediapersons on the sidelines of inauguration of a drug ware house at the Community Health Centre (CHC) at Verka here today. Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu was also present on the occasion.

While giving details about the drug ware house opened at Verka CHC, Jyani said that it would benefit the government health institutions in eight districts: Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Ferozepur. These institutions can easily take required medicines from here.

Dr Sidhu said the main objective of the Punjab Government was to provide basic health facilities to the people besides bringing down the mortality rate of mother and child during delivery.

Director, Health Services and Family Welfare, Punjab, Dr Karanjit Singh and Civil Surgeon Dr Rajeev Bhalla were also present on the occasion. 

Amritsar, July 25
While appreciating Cabinet Minister Anil Joshi’s decision to revolt against the government for its “ill-conceived” industrial policy and support the demands of industrialists, the Leader of the Opposition, Congress councillor Raj Kanwal Preet Pal Singh Lucky today stated that Joshi should take an identical stand to bring reforms in the civic body, too.

Due to “erroneous” and “odd” decisions, the residents have been facing multiple problems like unsafe drinking water, a bad sewerage system and sanitation problems. Besides, a cash-starved MC’s move to sell off its properties to generate funds has also invited criticism from several quarters.

Taking a stiff stand against his own government, Joshi had yesterday exhorted the traders not to deposit any advance tax and had threatened to join their protest, if the government did not withdraw the decision. While addressing mediapersons, Congress councillor Lucky said that the same enthusiasm should be shown by Joshi to strengthen the MC’s working. He pointed out that the MC had been grappling with such a fund crunch that it had failed to meet its staff salary bills.

“Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora had time and again stated that the government seldom provides development funds. The situation was so bad that the MC had started auctioning its properties to meet the expenses. For how long would it be feasible? I asked Joshi that why doesn’t he stage a dharna against the government for not granting funds to the MC? The councillors, be it of the ruling party or the opposition, have been complaining about stalled works in their wards. In my ward number 10, despite sanctioning the file pertaining to depute service providers, nothing could be done,” he said.

He also raised the issue of damaging public property by private and government telecom companies. He said that these companies had dug up roads in various parts of the city to lay underground pipes and cables, but never bothered to repair them afterwards.

“With the slow pace of sewerage-augmentation project under JAICA, residents face inconvenience as half of the roads have been dug up causing traffic jams. The MC never bothered to question these companies,” he said.

Reacting to it, mayor Arora said that despite all constraints, the MC had been doing its best to provide a good living to its residents here. “The best companies have been engaged to provide state-of-the-art civic amenities. The properties which we put under the hammer were the ones which had the least utility for us. Most of such properties were encroached upon for quite sometime. The revenue generated from them will be spent on the welfare of general public only,” he said. 

Amritsar, July 25
Vehicles moving at high speed have become a menace on roads. There are certainly many reasons behind high number of road mishaps reported in the city. One of them is speeding vehicles. Failure of the authorities concerned to keep a check on the traffic rule violators has lead to increase in the number of over-speeding vehicles.

The ill-equipped traffic police have hardly taken any measure to curb rash driving. Heavy vehicles like buses and trucks, cars and two-wheelers are violating traffic norms with impunity.

Private buses ferrying passengers and pilgrims are being driven rashly. Many a times SGPC run vehicles are involved in accidents at busy and congested roads like Bhandari Bridge and outside Jallianwala Bagh.

Heavy vehicles plying on roads around bus stand, outer Circular Road of the walled city, Queen’s Road, Cooper Road, the Mall-Railway Link Road and other areas of the town can be seen violating the speeding norms.

The city witnesses 10 to 12 road accidents every day. One accident is reported every three and half hours on an average. The worst hit areas are the Bhandari Bridge, Queens Road, Putlighar, Lawrence Road, Batala Road and SSSS Chowk. Lack of pedestrian paths, accident-prone dividers combined with open violation of traffic rules are some of the major reasons behind accidents. The violators are mostly young, in the age-group of 14-40 years.

A social activist and Amritsar Vikas Manch president Kulwant Singh Ankhi said people driving two and four wheelers were deliberately flouting speed norms to scare away fellow motorists. He said the authorities concerned must take cognizance of the violation to send a strong message. He said policemen were occasionally seen on roads checking papers of vehicles. “They must make efforts to check speed violations to ensure safe and smooth driving,” he added.

There have been instances of road rage involving politically connected people. It may be recalled here that the District Transport Office got an interceptor only for a week from the Punjab Transport Department to check over speeding of vehicles in the city in 2009. The interceptor had laser machine, which once focused on an approaching vehicle from a distance provided authentic account of its speed, thereby nailing the traffic violators.

The speed limit on GT Road in the city has been fixed at 50 km per hour. However, vehicles are found to be moving on this road at 70 to 80 km per hour.

The traffic rules are being violated with impunity despite the fact that the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has installed boards displaying speed limits to be followed. Drunk driving is another menace causing accidents and putting lives of the innocent people at danger.

Amritsar, July 25
The seizure of mobile phones from the Central Jail continues unabated, but the state government seems least bothered to install mobile jammers on the jail premises despite repeated pleas from the jail administration.

In the absence of any mechanism to jam signals, prisoners adopt innovative ways to sneak in mobile phones and use them to get in touch with their counterparts outside and execute their nefarious designs while sitting inside barracks. On May 9, jail officials recovered a mobile from an inmate, who had concealed it in his anus.

Mobile phones are frequently seized from those involved in drug peddling. Seldom has a day passed, when mobile phones or narcotics are not recovered from inmates during a routine search. Nonetheless, with reports of seizures of mobile SIM cards and cell phones from jail inmates coming from time to time, the jail authorities seem to be finding it difficult to control the menace.

The Punjab police had recently carried out a massive raid in the jail on July 11, in which 19 mobile phones, six SIMs and several other electronic circuits, besides some narcotics were recovered. With the state government sitting on a proposal of installing mobile signal jammers in various jails in Punjab, the notorious smugglers lodged in the high-security Amritsar Central Jail carry on their illegal trade through phones without any problem.

Highly-placed sources in State Special Operation Cell, Counter Intelligence Wing of the Punjab Police, said smugglers lodged in jails were using mobile connections of Dubai and middle-east countries as their signals could not be traced through Indian network.

Recent reports of mobile connections being used for drug trafficking from Pakistan, Dubai, and other middle-east countries by smugglers, has baffled many agencies.

“As their signals cannot be traced through Indian networks, they (smugglers) continue their illegal drug trade without any hassle,” said sources. The connections are managed by their bosses based in these countries.

India has emerged as a major transit point for smuggling of drugs from Afghanistan, Pakistan to different European countries. RK Sharma, Superintendent, Amritsar Central Jail, admitted that mobiles phones or SIM cards were seized from time to time by jail authorities.

“The ultimate solution to tackle the problem of mobile phones in jail is jammers only. Despite
our efforts, prisoners leave no chance to lay hand on a mobile phone. Almost daily, we recover one or two mobile phones from them,” added the superintendent.

He said the jail authorities had sent a proposal to the state government for installing mobile jammers, but nothing has been done so far.

Amritsar, July 25
A local resident, identified as Varinder Singh of the New Jaspal Nagar area on Sultanwind road, committed suicide by hanging himself.

His brother, Onkar Singh, stated to the police that a matrimonial dispute with his wife and her alleged illicit relations were the reason behind the incident.

The Sultanwind police have booked four persons, including his wife, identified as Prabhjot Kaur, Rashpal Singh, Sonu and Lucky in this connection. They have been charged with abetment to suicide and a case under Sections 306 and 34, IPC, has been registered against them, said the police authorities.

Onkar Singh stated to the police that Varinder Singh had taken Rs 15 lakh as loan from a bank for his new house. He alleged that his in-laws occupied his house. He alleged that Varinder’s wife also had illicit relations with Lucky, who was also booked by the police in the case. He said this had become a bone of contention between the couple, which led to quarrels between them often.

Amritsar, July 25
Educomp is now all set to transform schools across India with the launch of Educomp Smart School (ESS). This was stated by Smart Class Regional CEO-North, Rakesh Dahiya. In a press statement Dahiya said Educomp organised a seminar for school Principals at a city-based hotel here today as part of its 25-city road show.

The event coincides with the celebrations of the successful 10 years of Educomp’s flagship product smart class. As many as 11 schools, including Spring Dale Senior School, and Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School were felicitated as among the first few adopters of digital classroom on the occasion.

Dahiya said the ESS was the next generation of Educomp’s smart learning suite of products for schools which brings together five layers of technology adoption for schools, and integrates them into one composite solution.

He said this breakthrough product was the result of years of dedicated research and development by Educomp’s research and development team. “It helps schools in enhancing the quality of learning and increasing outcomes while providing never-seen-before features, allowing schools to integrate, create and enhance a 360 degree relationship with all stakeholders while keeping the student at the centre of the learning experience,” added the CEO.

He said, “With Educomp smart school, we look at a school as an integrated learning ecosystem, where students can see education come alive through their best in class 3D animations, with smart class recommended lesson plans and cloud based real-time updates.”

“Students can create and experiment virtually and master language though English mentor. Educomp Insight allows schools and parents to track where students are in their cognitive development. Through Educomp Online, schools can link students, teachers and parents into an information exchange, messaging, CCE, assessments and peer to peer learning,” added Dahiya. 

Amritsar: Shri Ram Ashram Public School organised a solo dance competition for LKG students on its campus. Toddlers dressed up in beautiful attire danced on the tunes of modern and folk music.

School manager SN Joshi appreciated the efforts put in by parents and teachers to make the event successful. Children were also awarded certificates of appreciation.

Amritsar, July 25
Activists of the Punjab Kisan Sabha staged a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office and burnt the an effigy of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today. They were protesting against alleged anti-farmer and anti-labourer policies of the state government.

Balwinder Singh Dudhala, national council member of the All-India Kisan Sabha, criticised the state as well as the Central government for their anti-people policies. He alleged that the BJP-led NDA government and the SAD-led state government had failed to address different issues concerning the farming community. He said there was unrest among the farmers and farm labourers.

The activists demanded the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report, continuation of subsidies on farm equipments, withdrawal of the proposed prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property Law, at least Rs 3,000 pension for senior citizens, Rs 5,000 per acre compensation to farmers hit by draught like conditions, Rs 2,000 compensation and five marla plots for farm labourers.

They also criticised the failure of the Punjab governments in curbing the drug menace, which had destroyed the young generation of the border state. The activists sought the framing of a special policy for stemming the problem of drug abuse in Punjab.