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HC notice of motion to Local Bodies Minister
Finnish students thrive on ‘language’ of service, love
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Eco-film festival focuses on ‘tiger dynasty’
Gunshots fired, 3 hurt
mid-day meal scheme
Paucity of funds
Mother, child care centre to be inaugurated soon
Admn fails to install tree guards
FROM SCHOOLS
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HC notice of motion to Local Bodies Minister Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 4 He demanded that the north constituency, Amritsar, should be declared vacant since Joshi had contested elections from a place from where he never possessed a vote, according to the report submitted by the Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner. Mahajan, a lawyer and Congress worker, said he had filed the petition on September 23 on the basis of the inquiry report submitted by the Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner while scrutinising the dual vote controversy. The inquiry report had found Joshi on the wrong side of the law. The Divisional Commissioner had concluded in his report that “during the intensive revision of controversial electoral rolls during 2005-2006, it was found that the names of Anil Joshi and his family members were entered with a different handwriting other than the handwriting of the enumerator” and that these names were entered illegally at the time of printing. Mahajan, addressing mediapersons, stated that he had made it the base for the civil writ petition filed in the high court that Joshi who had utilised the reference of his vote no. 498 of north constituency, Amritsar, on the nomination papers for the 2012 elections carried no legal sanctity and he stood disqualified to fight elections. Showing solidarity with him, his colleague, Sandeep Gorsi, said that even as the reply to the high court’s notice of motion had to be submitted by the respondent by November 25, they would stick to the demand of removing Joshi from the legislative chair and declaring Amritsar North as a vacant constituency to conduct fresh elections. Citing an identical case of K Venkatachalam versus A Swamickan and others relating to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, Gorsi stated that a similar judgement was pronounced by the Supreme Court then under similar circumstances. Joshi was declared the winning candidate from Amritsar north constituency and subsequently appointed as a Cabinet Minister for Local Bodies, Medical Education and Research. He continues to hold this position till date. Earlier, it was on the directions of the Election Commission of India (ECI) that criminal proceedings have been underway against Joshi and his family members, who have allegedly enrolled themselves “deliberately” at several places in Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts and contested Assembly and MC elections from different places. The matter is still pending with the local court here.
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Finnish students thrive on ‘language’ of service, love
Amritsar, November 4 Not just a tourism expedition, but also an exercise to learn and understand through people-to-people interaction, the students had arrived in India a month before as part of an internship programme under the Finland-India study network supported by the Government of India. And a month seemed too short for them to get ‘used’ to our ways. “When we came here first, it was too overwhelming. The airport, the traffic, the language, the chaos in general was too shocking for us to get ‘normal’ for a while. But the people were too comforting, with a warm heart and big smiles,” says Anniina Nikander, a student of tourism from Finland. Their month-long internship and study programme at the Pingalwara Charitable Society, Manawala, was a tool to find a connection. “We were already informed about the kind of humanitarian work the society was involved in with the locals. And so, we visited their special schools for deaf and blind children, also visited local villages where several vocational programmes are being done. The kind of response we got, despite the fact that we had a huge language barrier encouraged us to go ahead with our plans here,” says Niina Nalli, a nursing student, who also observed something ‘different’ about the people here. “We went to the Civil Hospital here as a part of the study tour and I observed that the patients were surrounded by their families and friends. I mean, each one of them had somebody taking care of them. Back home in Finland, patients are all alone, with no one quite interested in taking that much of an initiative. It’s quite heart-warming.” The nursing and management students also interacted with the special children and students at the Pingalwara’s school for deaf and blind. “We learnt the sign language, which is very different from the one we use back home, obviously,” says Jenna Kurppa, a management student. The most interesting part of the tour was performing sewa. “It was fun serving the people with Pingalwara’s volunteers. The most fascinating part of it all was that one doesn’t need words to understand and appreciate the language of love and service,” adds Kurppa. If their compatriots were studying the people, the students of media and tourism were studying the city. Media students Emma-Roosa Nokela and Mikko Patrokainen along with their teacher Timo Vikman, who have just arrived for their month-long study tour, will be focused on the city’s culture and heritage. “Amritsar is a quite popular tourist destination, but its simple and heritage background is quite a different change from the modern, global cities in the world. We will be making videographs of our tours and excursions here and
enjoy the experience,” says Emma.
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60 autos impounded for failing to fulfil norms, no move on diesel autos
Amritsar, November 4 ADCP (traffic) Dhruman Nimbale said the department resumed action against erring autos about three days back and about 60 autos, failing to fulfil norms, had been impounded. He added that the traffic police decided not to force all diesel autos off the roads, the matter being sub-judice. Besides, there were not adequate LPG and CNG-filling stations in the city. He elaborated that it had been categorically conveyed to the representatives of the auto drivers that over 15-year old autos would not be allowed to ply on the city roads. Similarly, autos permitted by the local transport office only would be allowed to ply. Autos registered in neighbouring towns like Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and other places would not be allowed to ply here. Auto drivers are asked to wear uniform with nameplate and autos without proper documents and involved in violations of traffic norms would not be entertained at all. According to the data available with the district transport authorities, there were 9,342 officially registered diesel-driven autos. In reply to an RTI inquiry, the transport authorities admitted to having given permits to around 526 more LPG autos. According to the transport norms, auto-rickshaws can operate within the municipal limits of the district only, where these are registered. However, over 25,000 other autos have been plying on the city roads illegally. Besides, a high number of these are ferrying passengers on the highways like Attari-Wagah, Ajnala, Jandiala Guru to city bust stand and others against norms. To maximise their margins, they pack their vehicles, carrying as many passengers as possible. The Transport Department can impose a fine of Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000 for violating the permit norm. Autos registered with the neighbouring districts also ply illegally to make things bad to worse. A serious situation arises if any such auto is involved in a mishap. In that case, the insurance company cannot be held legally bound to compensate. Otherwise, ferrying eight to 10 persons in an auto-rickshaw is a violation of the norms as overloading is a punishable crime. It has been noticed that many avoidable accidents take place because of overloading. The law limits the number of passengers in an auto-rickshaw from three to four, yet up to six could be “acceptable”. Meanwhile, Auto Union leader Ramsharan Paul accepted that in the Civil Writ Petition (CWP) No. 13490 of 2008, the Punjab and Haryana High Court vide order dated July 23, 2009, banned registration of diesel auto-rickshaws within the limits of the Municipal Corporation, Amritsar. However, he claimed that the state government failed to provide enough LPG and CNG-filling stations here to facilitate conversion of diesel autos to green energy. He added that in addition, the state government must extend soft loans to financially help auto drivers to switch over to CNG and LPG fuel.
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Eco-film festival focuses on ‘tiger dynasty’
Amritsar, November 4 The day started with the inaugural ceremony at DAV College and screening of the films on the tiger dynasty. Short film “The Tiger”, “They Are All Dead” by Reema Sen Gupta and another one called the “Tiger Dynasty”. Both the films highlighted the dwindling count of tigers due to poaching and the need to act swiftly against it. DAV School screened films “Smarty Plants” by Kavita Behl and Nandan Sexena, “Chilika — Jewel of Odisha” by Shekhar Dattatri, “Gaur in my Garden” by Rita Banerji among others. Two foreign films were also screened at the festival. German film “The Moors” by Jan Haft and “Wind of Change” by Julia Dahr, both are critically acclaimed films. “The Moors” is about the bountiful landscape in central Europe, which is the habitat of some of the world’s most interesting natural flora and fauna. It showcased the bio-diversity of the little-known habitat. “Winds of Change”, the award-winning documentary was about a Kenyan farmer, affected by climate change and fighting to achieve his dreams and aspirations in an unpredictable climate. “When Every Drop Counts” by Rishu Nigam, “Greeny the Great” by Dhananjay Bhopale, Corbett’s “Legacy” were also screened.
— TNS
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Gunshots fired, 3 hurt
Amritsar, November 4 The injured who have been admitted to the Escorts Hospital included Ram Kishan, his son, Kamal Nayyar, and nephew, Vinod. According to information, the two families had old enmity that led to the quarrel. It has been learnt that the incident occurred at around 8.80 pm near the Moon Avenue locality yesterday. Sources said a scuffle arose between two members of the opposing families near Gurudwara Bukhari at around 7 pm, but it later took an ugly turn when members of one side started
pelting the other side with stones. They were armed with a .315-bore gun, a rifle and a revolver. They fired shots, leaving the trio injured. The accused have been identified as Gurbinder Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Tejinder Singh and Vikramjit Singh. Sub-Inspector Prem Pal of Majitha bypass police post said though no arrest had been made so far, a case under Section 307 had been registered against the accused. “The accused have absconded. The quarrel had broken out between the youngsters of two families, which later became violent. The condition of the injured is stable.”
— TNS
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Unhygienic food served in city schools
Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 4 The Education Department outsourced the mid-day meal to a private concern registered as an NGO as a pilot project last year. Within days of outsourcing, the SDM detected lacunae in the midday meal scheme during a surprise check. Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat shot off a missive to the Secretary, Education, highlighting the poor quality of food being served to school students. The deficiency was detected in cooked meals being served at Government Senior Secondary School, Ghanupur village, after a surprise checking by SDM Rajesh Sharma and tehsildar JP Salwan. District Health Officer, Dr Shivkaran Singh Kahlon, said two samples of meal had been forwarded for testing at the laboratory concerned. Its outcome would be submitted to the district administration, he added. The government incurs over Rs 1.23 crore per month to provide once-a-day meal to over 1.61 lakh students, including 1.06 lakh from primary and 55,000 from upper primary in Amritsar district. The government has also arranged 1,275 LPG connections for running these kitchens. Thousands of students from Class I to VIII have their mid-day meal under the Central government sponsored scheme. The Central assistance under the mid-day meal scheme to an upper-primary class student was Rs 5 per meal, while it was Rs 4.08 per meal to a student of the primary class. This includes cooking of ration and fuel cost. Officials of the NGO asserted that a modern kitchen was set up to supply freshly cooked meals to around 50,000 students of nearly 250 schools in five blocks of the city and one block of Verka. They said meals were prepared as per the chart issued by the government. Meals were cooked in a steam cooking system to keep the nutrient value intact. Kettles fitted to one and a half tonne boiler had been installed for cooking. Working of a kettle was similar to cooker in which rice, cereals and vegetables were cooked for around 1,500 children at a time. After cooking, packaging and transportation were other vital links, which needed special care to maintain hygiene standards. Food was packed in steel containers and delivered to schools on vehicles specially hired for the purpose, they added. Officials of the NGO said, “Packaging of food in steel container is done under the eye of an automatic digital camera to keep a check over hygiene conditions. CCTV cameras have also been installed in the room, where women employees weed out unwanted material from grains, cereals and rice.”
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Inter-Departmental Championship Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 4 Prof Amarjit Singh Sidhu, Dean, students welfare, presided over the final event. He also distributed trophies among the winners. In the women’s section, the team of the Computer Science and Engineering Department won first position with 4 points and the Electronics Technology Department came second with two points. The Architecture Department finished third. As many as 12 teams of Guru Nanak Dev University participated in the competition.
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No meal facility for Army aspirants
Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 4 Sources at the office said free meal services for candidates had to be stopped as sufficient funds were not available. Most of the candidates for pre-recruitment training come from rural areas and some are not economically well off to spend money on food. Candidates have to pay from the pockets for the food. “Everything was going fine for many years. Then suddenly the funds stopped coming,” said an insider. The office charges Rs 450 from a candidate belonging to Scheduled Caste. Candidates from general categories are charged Rs 750. The office apart from making students fit for physical efficiency test also gives them coaching to enable them to qualify written exam. A senior official at the centre said, “The food facility is available only for Scheduled Caste candidates. The general category candidates are not provided this facility.” An official on condition of anonymity added that there was a delay in sanctioning of the budget at the government level, which had forced them to stop the facility. He said they had learnt that the funds had been sanctioned and would reach the institute soon. The official said the facility would be started as soon as the funds were available.
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Mother, child care centre to be inaugurated soon
Amritsar, November 4 The 50-bed centre has been built at a cost of Rs 9.5 crore. The centre has operation theaters, intensive care unit for neonatals, labour room, paediatric ward and gynaecology ward. The centre will provide all medical facilities to mothers and new-born children under one roof. Previously, the hospital had to refer critical cases to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, which resulted in loss of time. The government had earlier built a nine storey mother and child care centre at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, which had started functioning around two years ago. As the Health Minister is expected to formally inaugurate the building within this month, the designated staff for the centre has not been sanctioned. The Health Department plans to run the centre with the existing staff of the Civil Hospital. However, as the hospital is already facing a shortage of various categories of employees, it will not be easy to manage the new centre. The huge rush of patients at the hospital will also make it difficult for the authorities concerned to spare staff from the new centre. Senior medical officer, Dr Balbir Singh Dhillon, said initially the centre would be managed by the existing staff. He said the department would make the additional staff available as per the requirement.
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Passengers complain of poor quality food at ISBT
Amritsar, November 4 The samples collected by the department had failed on quality parameters and action was initiated against many of these food outlets during previous year. Passengers complained that most of the shopkeepers were taking advantage of their helplessness and selling substandard food. Due to time constraints they could not go out of the bus stand to buy eatables to be consumed during journey, they added. Eateries alongside the periphery of the bus stand are not serious in maintaining cleanliness and hygiene. The shopkeepers are often seen selling cut fruits and bakery goods, kept in the open. A passenger, Gyan Chand, said the Health Department should keep an eye on the activities of shopkeepers in and around the bus stand as thousands of commuters eat from these shops daily. He said the inspection of these shops should be carried out regularly. The passengers also complained about the lack of drinking water facility at the bus stand. They said the quality of water should also be checked. District Health Officer, Dr Shivkaran Singh Kahlon, said the department was earlier busy with inspection of sweet shops due to festive season. He said inspection of shops would be conducted soon. He said action was taken against all shopkeepers, whose food samples had failed during the previous inspection.
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Admn fails to install tree guards
Amritsar, November 4 However, no guards were installed to keep them safe from stray animals. Many of them have already perished. A large number of stray cows can be seen grazing on the grass which has grown on dividers. The cattle has eaten saplings at many places too. Abundant wild growth on dividers draws animals towards it. The residents said new saplings were planted almost every year. “The government has been planting sapling for the last many years. But none of them seems to grow up,” said a resident, Rattan Kumar. He said tree guards were must to save them from animals. Another resident, Mehak Khanna, said, “Instead of planting thousands of saplings and then not caring about them, the authorities concerned should plant only that much, which can be taken care of.” She said a large number of trees in the city had been cut recently to make way for roads. The administration was not serious on increasing the green cover, she added. The stray cattle also led to traffic jams in the area. The residents complained that Khazana Gate was the entrance point of the city, from where a large number of animals sneaked in from nearby villages.
— TNS
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Vigilance Awareness Week
Amritsar: Senior Study II observed the vigilance awareness week on the theme of “Combating corruption – Technology as an enabler” on its campus on Saturday. Technology has improved drastically and involving this at various levels of functioning enhances efficiency, transparency, accountability and helps in controlling corruption. Students were shown a movie titled “The mirror”, which tells the story of a group of high school students, who want to do something about the massive problem of corruption. After screening the movie, students were asked to make posters on how to combat corruption, uses of technology in controlling corruption and causes of corruption. “Such activities help students understand corruption as a multifaceted issue affecting every person. They also motivate and help them form strong opinions and take possible actions to fight corruption,” said Upasana Mehra, vice-Principal, Senior Study II. She said students could play a major role in eradicating corruption and unveiling a healthy society. Seminar on psychology
Manav Public School organised a seminar on child psychology for its teachers on its campus on Saturday. Dr Rupam Dhillon, assistant professor, psychology, Guru Nanak Dev University, was the resource person at the seminar. In her lecture she encouraged teachers to understand behaviour and psychology of their students before starting actual classroom teaching. She asked the school faculty to look for weaknesses and capabilities of each student to extract best out of them. She motivated teachers to learn these skills to attain excellence in their chosen profession. She said its outcome would be terrific as it would help students attain higher professional standards. Teachers were encouraged to mould and then develop students into good human beings. Dr Rupam said students would conveniently slip into professions of their choice once motivated.
— TNS
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