Amritsar, November 12
In response to a countrywide strike call given by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), its district unit observed a day-long strike, crippling all financial transactions and business in the border district.

The UBFU, representing 10 lakh bank employees and officials of nine unions, called the strike, seeking immediate settlement of wage revision.

The strike was implemented in branches of all banks and banking activities of the district branches came to a grinding halt.

The striking bank employees assembled before the Bank of India at Town Hall at 10:30 am and staged a demonstration, which later culminated into a rally. The agitating bank employees raised slogans against the “retrograde” policies of the BJP-run Union Government.

While addressing the bank employees, the speakers condemned and assailed the “anti-public sector” and “pro-corporate sector” policies of the Union Government, resulting in an undue delay in wage revision. They sought immediate halt in banking reforms, which are “detrimental” to the interest of common people.

Due to the “adamant” and “uncompromising” attitude of the Union Government, the UFBU has been forced to go on a countrywide strike today and relay zonal strikes will be observed from December 2 to December 5, said Punjab Bank Employees Federation secretary Ravi Razdan.

He said wages and service conditions in the banking industry were governed by the industry-level bi-partite settlement, signed by the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and the Workmen Unions and Officers Associations, operating in the banking industry.

All banks, which have given a mandate to the IBA to negotiate on behalf of them, are parties to the settlements. The UFBU, representing five Workmen Unions and four Officers Associations, is currently negotiating with the IBA for revision of wages of the bank workers.

The wage revision for bank employees is due from November 1, 2012. The common charter of demands, separately for workmen and officers, were submitted by the UFBU to the IBA on October 30, 2012.

The striking leaders regretted and apologised the inconvenience caused on account of the strike by the bank employees and officers to the esteemed customers and the general public and appealed to them to extend their moral support to their cause.

Amritsar, November 12
The investigation by the District Health Department in the case of death of two women during delivery at Narang hospital has found two doctors guilty of medical negligence. The department has sent the report to the Secretary and the Director of the department for action against the hospital.

The inquiry conducted by the department accused hospital owner, Dr Ashwani Narang, a BAMS doctor, and Dr Amandeep Singh of negligence. Dr Amandeep Singh is working with the state Health Department and had proceeded on leave a few months ago. Sources in the department said Dr Amandeep Singh was conducting surgeries in the hospital even as under government service rules, he was not allowed

to do private practice. In July, two pregnant women at Narang hospital had died during delivery. Later, as the matter was discussed at the monthly review meeting of the District Health Department, instructions were issued to the hospital to submit the records pertaining to both the cases.

The hospital owner had allegedly refused to accept a letter from the Health Department, seeking the records on August 8. Later, a team led by the Civil Surgeon himself had visited the hospital to inspect the records on August 21 when Narang and his “supporters” had not allowed the team to enter the hospital. Besides, senior health officials were abused and threatened by the mob.

Later, the police had registered a case against Narang and his “supporters” for misbehaving with the team.

Amritsar, November 12
Even as the new diagnostic centre building at the Jallianwalla Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital here was constructed almost a year ago, the facility is yet to become functional because the company, which had to run it on the PPP mode has failed to take over the building.

The building was completed in December last year and since then, its entrance is locked. According to the terms and conditions of an MoU signed with a private firm engaged to run the centre, Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC) was to construct the building and later the firm was to set up and operate the centre.

However, as the corporation completed the work on the building in December last year, it asked the firm to inspect the same. Sources stated that the firm failed to inspect the building for months.

The land for the diagnostic centre was provided by the local Civil Hospital over which the PHSC had constructed the building at a cost of around Rs 50 lakh.

The proposed centre was to have all latest diagnostic tests at subsidised rates. The patients have to spend huge amounts at private diagnostic centres for these tests. In the public sector, expensive diagnostic tests such as MRI and CT scan are available at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital only. The addition of a new centre will be a boon for the general public.

The Senior Medical Officer at the hospital, Dr Hardeep Singh Ghai, said, “The company has taken extension from the Health Department till December. If the company fails to respond by that time, the department will take action against it.”

On the other hand, the hospital is all set to inaugurate the Mother and Child Care Centre, whose building was completed recently. Dr Ghai said the centre would start functioning from November 24.

Amritsar, November 12
Cultural amalgamation through music and artistes was the purpose behind a colourful afternoon at Khalsa College of Education. A fusion of folk artistes from Czech Republic and Slovakia, with Punjabi music and dance programme marked the Khalsa College International Folk Festival. The annual music event that has become a tool to facilitate culture exchange between India and the world saw performances by over a dozen folk artistes.

Davinder Singh Chhina, festival director, said the festival had aided in opening cultural doors where artistes from both the host and the visiting countries could learn from each other. The Czech group, Mimi Fortunae, wearing their traditional colourful dresses took to the stage with full enthusiasm and won the hearts with foot-tapping dances and melodious singing. Similarly, the theatrical presentation by Czech artists touched the hearts as they gave traditional folk presentations through meticulous choreography. Slovakian artistes of Rozmarija folk ensemble from Presov, Slovakia, later enjoyed a performance by students from Khalsa Senior Secondary School, who performed bhangra.

The Khalsa College Heritage awards were also presented to Sukhdeep Sidhu, DS Rataul, Harpreet Singh Gill, Prof Gurdev Singh and international athletes Navjit Dhillon, Khushbir Kaur, for their meritorious services in the field of art, culture, education and sports.

“Bhangra, gidda, gatka and European dances are a blend of folk traditions of each country and this fusion of cultures had been organised to spread the message of culture of peace and multiculturism globally. Already German, Scottish, Greek and Ecuadorian delegations have performed in pur previous editions,” said Davinder Singh Chinna, who is also the chairman of the Punjab Cultural Promotion Council (PCPC). The event was organised in collaboration with the KCE and the Chandigarh-based Ghungroo group.

Hana from Czech Republic and Danka Kovalicikova from Slovakia, the respective team leaders and artistes, were honoured at the end of the performances. “It was a pleasure to perform with such amazing Indian artistes and audience. Music and dance reflect the people of any country and they are an immediate binders. Such cultural exchange programmes help in building up an understanding of the various cultures and international cooperation,” said Danka. The next thing they want to do is to visit historical places in the city.

Amritsar, November 12
The residents and some educational institutions near the Bhagtanwala yard have been protesting over the health hazards being faced by them due to the garbage dump. Questions are also being raised on how the construction of houses and institutes was allowed around the yard.

Residential houses can be seen at the back of the Bhagtanwala dump in Amritsar on Wednesday

Bhagtanwala garbage dump site has been in existence for the past many decades. The same space has been notified as dump site in the Amritsar Master Plan (AMP), which was adopted in 2011.

Yet the people and managements of educational institutes in the vicinity of the dump site have been demanding its removal.

Residents of the area complained that the dumping site, spread over 21 acres, reached saturation point as the corporation staff did not leave enough space to approach the dump yard from the rear side.

Besides, the grain market, which has nearly 550 shops with around 10,000 employees, is also situated close to the garbage dump. A large number of farmers and traders visit the market daily.

The government proposed various plans from time to time for the site, but failed to implement any of these. The corporation had declared that a proposal to generate power from garbage by using an integrated solid waste management technology had been finalised in 2007. Details of the Rs 36-crore project had been worked out and it was put up before the Ministry of Urban Development for its final approval.

Though the corporation was given a green signal by the government to establish Rs 80-crore solid waste management project here in 2011, the problem of disposing off waste requires an immediate attention.

Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM) president Kulwant Singh Ankhi held the Municipal Corporation and the Municipal Town Planning Department responsible for failing to prevent the coming up of colonies and institutes around the dumping site.

More than 450 illegal and unauthorised colonies have been identified within the 5 km radius of the Municipal Corporation limits by the PUDA.

A majority of these colonies came up in violation of the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act (PAPRA), 1995, which also paved the way for setting up of private colonies in the state. However, due to non-implementation of rules in a fair manner, establishment of unauthorised colonies continued. Some of these residential colonies came up around the dump site at Bhagtanwala.

Ankhi said, the government could not prevent mushroom growth of unauthorised colonies, which led to scores of problems for its residents. It also showed that the government could not provide enough houses for residents of the city, he added. Quoting the data of the National Building Organisation, he said the urban housing shortage in the state stood at 6.90 lakh units in 2007.

When contacted, Senior Town Planner, Municipal Town Planning Department, Hemant Batra accepted that the dump site at Bhagtanwala was older than the residential colonies and institutes. On being questioned whether setting up of a residential colony close to the dumping site violated norms, he said he would have to check the rules, before commenting over the matter.

Amritsar, November 12
Minister for Human Resource Development Smriti Irani will attend the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s national conference as the chief guest on the concluding day of the three-day event, starting November 14. At a press conference held here today, the ABVP’s national general secretary Shrihari Borikar said around 3,000 delegates from the entire country would attend the conference.

Borikar said the ABVP would encourage youngsters to make India a drug-free country. He said the delegates would also hold discussions on the present education scenario, youth participation in national development and women empowerment.

He said the conference would be inaugurated by the 1971 war hero, Brig Kuldeep Singh Chandpuri. He said the organisation would felicitate Arunima Sinha for conquering Mount Everest despite her physical disability.

The ABVP has also announced to hold a march in the city to spread the message of national integration on November 15.

Amritsar, November 12
Residents and shopkeepers along the Airport road decided to hold a protest against fixing of iron grills, which hampered their movement.

Traders said their business would be ruined if the authorities continued with their plans to fix iron grills on both side of the road. Local leaders belonging to various political parties, including Congress, BJP, PPP and SAD have come out in support of shopkeepers and residents. They submitted a memorandum to local Akali councilor, which was to be forwarded to the state government.

District Congress Committee rural president Gurjit Aujla said installing of iron grills would ruin business of shopkeepers while the residents would also have to travel extra miles for taking U-turn for reaching their destination. He said iron grills were being fixed for the VIP route coming from Sri Guru Ram Dass Ji International Airport at Rajasansi.

They would take out a protest march before staging a dharna on the road, he added. Shops would also remain closed till 2 pm, Aujla said, adding that they would chalk out further course of action after tomorrow’s agitation.

Amritsar, November 12
Though the Municipal Corporation Workers Union resumed its work of lifting garbage from roads in the city today after the MC gave them five alternative places to dump garbage, the residents of localities near Bhagtawala continued their protest.

The Union had refused to lift the garbage yesterday fearing backlash from the agitating residents, which had led to garbage pile up at various places in the city.

Officials of the MC in a meeting with safai sewaks today morning asked them to use the MC lands at Verka, Naraingarh, Bhrariwal, Chabal Road and Fatahpur for dumping garbage.

Officials also asked them to use the nearest dumping ground for throwing waste of a particular area. They said they did not want to create another bigger dump like Bhagtawala.

Meanwhile, the residents of localities near Bhagtawala dump said they would continue their protest against the authorities till they stopped throwing waste here.

A leader of the agitating people, Satnam Singh, said “We will continue our protest, till the authorities concerned assure us that no garbage will be dumped here.” He said people had decided not to allow anyone to throw even a kilo of waste at the dump.

Congress leader and former MLA Jasbir Singh Dimpa visited the protesting residents and assured them of all help. He said the government should wake up and address the problem faced by the residents.

Amritsar, November 12
Yet again, a foreign tourist has been targeted by snatchers in the city. In the latest incident, a Pakistani national was robbed of her belongings by the anti-social elements from the main GT road here last evening. Though the Islamabad police have registered a case in this regard, no arrest has been made so far.

Jhilmal Singh, an eyewitness of the incident, said he was a security guard in Easy Day near the Railway workshop. He said a couple of unidentified youths snatched a bag from the Pakistani national, identified as Rokiya Shaukat from Karachi. She was sitting in a auto-rickshaw when the accused snatched her bag. She said her bag contained Indian and Pakistani currency, clothes, books and her passport.

Neeraj Kumar, SHO, Islamabad police station, said Rokiya along with a group of students from Pakistan had come to India to visit Mumbai. Yesterday, they were returning to Pakistan and had stopped at Easy Day for some shopping. He said a case under Sections 382 and 34, IPC, had been registered on the statement of Jhilmal Singh while efforts were being made to identify and arrest the culprits.

In the meanwhile, the Division A police arrested a snatcher, identified as Charanjit Singh, on the charge of allegedly robbing Joginder Kumar of Verka bypass. His accomplice, Raja, however, escaped. Joginder told the police that the accused snatched his mobile and cash from near DAV College here.

He was later arrested by the police. The police have registered a case under Section 382, IPC, while raids were being conducted to arrest Raja, who is absconding.

Amritsar, November 12
The local court today rejected the anticipatory bail of Pinkesh Kumar Anand, who was booked by the local police on charges of cheating and bigamy on the complaint of his wife. He had applied for the bail in the court of Additional Sessions Judge KK Goyal.

Ironically, the case was registered after three years of lodging the complaint in which the victim had accused her husband of rape. An FIR was registered a couple of days ago and that too following the intervention of the Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PHRC).

Advocate VPS Bhatia, who is fighting the case, said the court rejected the plea of Pinkesh and asked the police to arrest him.

In a complaint lodged with the police in 2011, the victim had alleged that her husband married her by showing documents that he was legally divorced from his first wife. She came in contact with Pinkesh as she used to file her income tax returns through him. However, later it was found that he had neither divorced his first wife nor he had any valid degree of law. The petition regarding divorcing his first wife was rejected by Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2013 after a mutual compromise. Earlier, the local court had dismissed the petition in year 2002.

An enquiry was conducted by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Special Harjit Singh Brar in this regard. In his enquiry report, he pointed out that though the crime does not come under the purview of Section 376 of the IPC (Rape), but Pinkesh lived with the victim for 14 years, prime time of his life as her husband and used her for his vested interests. He further stated in the report that though the accused was not a qualified lawyer, he used to work as an income tax lawyer in violation of norms. He also lived with the victim without divorcing his first wife. He said a case under Sections 419 and 493 be registered against him. The cantonment police registered a case while no arrests have been made so far.

The victim alleged that the police was dithering on arresting him. She alleged that the accused and his sons had filed false and frivolous cases against her and her son in order to pressurise her for withdrawing the complaint and transfer her house in his name.