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Major fire breaks out in paper mill
Many booked for disrupting polls
54 fresh faces make it to new MC House
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Newly elected BJP councillor assaulted
Amritsar, June 12 
A newly elected BJP councillor, Dr Raj Chawla, was allegedly assaulted by a group of persons late last night.
Later, BJP leaders and workers gheraoed the Civil Lines police post for not taking any action against the culprits and disbursed only after the assurance given by the police of taking action soon.BJP leaders and workers stage a protest at the Civil Lines police post for not taking action against the culprits who had beaten their newly elected councillor Dr Ram Chawla in Amritsar. Photo: Vishal Kumar
SGPC to build more inns for pilgrims
Three robbers arrested
New variety of plum developed
NSD organises theatre workshop at Virsa Vihar
Stone for triple energy bunker laid
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Major fire breaks out in paper mill
Amritsar, June 12 Though no casualty was reported in the incident, yet tonnes of raw material, supposed to be used for recycling purpose, was reduced to ashes. Even as fire officials stated that the fire is under control, but the intensity of the fire was so much that it could not be doused fully till the filing of this report. In a damage control exercise, the occupants of 30 to 40 houses located adjoining the site were vacated to avoid any loss of life. Assistant Divisional Fire Officer Bhupinder Singh Sandhu said though the flames were under control, yet it would take some more hours to douse them fully. “The exact cause of fire cannot be ascertained till yet. It will take us some more time to douse it fully because the material was highly flammable. We are facing difficulty because the fire gets intensified due to wind and the bad light again cause hindrance for us,” he said. The whole battery of administrative officials, including Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal, were witness to the fact that the local fire extinguishing machinery proved to be incompetent in controlling the fire of this intensity. Sensing the gravity of the situation, heavy-duty fire hydrant tenders from the Airport Authority of India and fire-control machinery from Jalandhar, Gurdaspur, Ludhiana and Kapurthala were summoned. The mill, itself, has been equipped with a very efficient fire hydrant system, which, too, ran out of water and the mill workers had to refill the storage tanks repeatedly to meet the requirement of water, but the blaze swept through the storage yard very quickly. Even as the exact cause of fire and quantum of loss could not be ascertained, yet mill staff members said the flames were spotted at about 1.45 pm by them when they were on lunch break. “But before we could raise an alarm or take any action, it had engulfed the mounds of raw material lying adjacent to each other,” they said. The mill’s fire control system was made operational instantly and their two fire tenders were also pressed into service. The owner of the mill, Brij Mohan Khanna, and his other family members were present on the spot. “It seems that the severe hot conditions had caused the material to catch fire. It had happened quite often earlier too, but our own two fire tenders and fire extinguishing system were quite enough to control such fires. But this time, the fire could not be noticed well in time and it spread immediately,” said Khanna. Meanwhile, the Army has been called to control the fire.
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Many booked for disrupting polls
Amritsar, June 12 The police has registered a case against some supporters of the Congress candidate from Ward 52. A complaint was received by the Kabir Park police station on the polling day that the supporters of the candidate were distributing clothes and currency to woo the voters. In another case, the police has booked Pardeep Saini and his accomplices for allegedly manhandling presiding officer Pardeep at booth No 1 in Ward 3. The case has been registered on the complaint of Malik under Sections 133, 134 and 135 of the Public Representation Act and Sections 323 and 506 of the IPC. According to Sub-Inspector Puran Singh, Malik has submitted a complaint that Saini and his men tried to gain entry to the polling booth, despite his objection to it. “This led to a scuffle between them. The complainant had also alleged that Saini had misbehaved and manhandled him and his other staff members while they were on poll duty,” he said. In another incident, over 20 persons were booked on the basis of a joint complaint submitted by Sukhwinder Singh, presiding officer of booth No 11 in Ward 3, that these persons had attempted to take control of the electronic voting machines. The SAD candidate from the same ward, Rajkumar Jolly, had submitted a complaint with the police that some miscreants had tried to capture the electronic voting machines at polling booths 2, 4, 5, and 6. The police has registered a case and investigation is on. In another instance, presiding officer Jatinder Singh deputed at Ward 64 has lodged a complaint at the Chheharta police station that several persons misbehaved with him during the polling process and deflated the tyres of his official vehicle. “As I went to the polling station to oversee the proceedings, a group of people gheraoed me and abused me without any provocation,” said Jatinder, a Horticulture Officer. Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of the Chheharta police station Varinder Kumar has confirmed the incident. The SHO of the Gate Hakima police station, Sushil Kumar, said a complaint was received that supporters of Congress candidate Ravi Kant had been distributing currency among the voters. A case was registered.
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54 fresh faces make it to new MC House
Amritsar, June 12 As many as 54 fresh faces will be the new members of the Municipal Corporation (MC) House this time. They will take the oath within a span of 30 days before occupying their seats officially. The Divisional Commissioner will lead the oath-taking ceremony in a formal House meet. It will only be after this customary ceremony that the appointments for the posts of Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor would be done. The percentage of women councillors in the MC House, too, has increased this time as 24 women have made it to the House. In previous House, there were 22 women. The prominent winners included CPC Inderbir Bolaria’s wife Geetinder Kaur Bolaria, who has made her political debut by a convincing win and will be representing Ward 36. Another prominent newcomer in the House is Simarpreet Kaur Bhatia, wife of late Harpal Singh Bhatia and daughter-in-law of Congress rebel Ajit Singh Bhatia. Simarpreet is representing the BJP from Ward 20. Third in the line is Independent candidate Neetu Mahajan from Ward 9. She has entered politics by toppling the BJP’s Seema Khanna, wife of Improvement Trust Chairman Sanjeev Khanna. Neetu is wife of BJP rebel Pappu Mahajan, who decided to contest independently after being denied ticket by the party. Their experienced colleagues would include BJP’s Meenu Sehgal from Ward 52, Independent winner Manju Mehra Pappal from Ward 47 and Ranjit Kaur, who was elected to the House in 2002. Among the males, the experienced ones will be BJP’s Bakshi Ram Arora (Ward 50). It is being anticipated that on one hand these newcomers would bring with them new concepts to address the civic issues, while on the other hand, their older counterparts would contribute their experience to smoothen the corporation functioning. Meanwhile, the maximum number of votes was polled by the BJP’s sitting councillor Sukhminder Singh Pintu. He won the people’s mandate with a margin of 5,336 votes from Ward 11. On the other hand, the lowest winning margin of 19 votes was witnessed at Ward 61, where the winner was Dr Anoop Kumar of the BJP.
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Newly elected BJP councillor assaulted
Amritsar, June 12 Later, BJP leaders and workers gheraoed the Civil Lines police post for not taking any action against the culprits and disbursed only after the assurance given by the police of taking action soon. Dr Chawla alleged that the assailants were supporters of an Independent candidate, Deepu Pahalwan, who unsuccessfully contested elections against him. “I had an altercation with Deepu on the polling day on Sunday, but it was resolved there and then only. When last evening I went to pay obeisance at Durgiana Mandir, I was intercepted by these persons, who later assaulted me,” said Dr Chawla.
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SGPC to build more inns for pilgrims
Amritsar, June 12 Among these inns, the first one is coming up on the premises of Gurdwara Saragarhi, which is at a walking distance from the Golden Temple. The Saragarhi Niwas will be a 238-room inn and would be constructed at a cost of Rs 25 crore. Its construction work is on at full swing and the basic structure has already been raised. The inn, having a heritage look, would be equipped with amenities like basement parking, terrace garden, solar water heating system, VRV air-conditioning and rain water harvesting. It will have an ultra-modern power supply system, which will save 40 per cent electricity. The 10-storey building will have a capacity to accommodate 2,000 pilgrims. The SGPC also plans to come up with another inn on the same road after shifting Guru Nanak Girls Senior Secondary School to a different location. The work on the new four-storey school building has already started and it is likely to be shifted within a year. The design of the new inn to be constructed at the location of the old school building is being prepared. The site will provide around 1,000 sq yard area to the SGPC for building the inn. Apart from it, the SGPC is also planning to construct another inn at Baba Sahib Chowk. At present, the SGPC has eight ‘sarais’ (inns) in the holy city. These are Shri Guru Ram Das Niwas, Shri Guru Nanak Niwas, Shri Guru Arjan Dev Niwas, Shri Guru Hargobind Niwas, Mata Ganga Ji Niwas, Baba Deep Singh Ji Niwas, Mata Bhag Kaur Ji Niwas and NRI Niwas. These inns facilitate around 800 rooms for the devotees visiting the holy shrine. However, not many pilgrims prefer to stay in Baba Deep Singh Ji Niwas and Mata Bhag Kaur Ji Niwas due to their distance from the Golden Temple. Thousands of pilgrims visit the holy shrine daily and the number goes up substantially during the summer vacations. The problem of inadequate accommodation is all the more visible during this part of the year as the devotees can be seen lying either in the waiting area of the inns or the 'parikarma' of the Golden Temple. Makkar mum on memorial row
While talking to mediapersons, Makkar chose to steer clear of the controversy surrounding the Operation Bluestar Memorial. He merely restricted himself to accusing the Congress of trying to gain political mileage out of the issue. However, he remained tightlipped on the BJP’s opposition to the memorial. On the issue of Sikh Mayor for the holy city, he said it was a political matter and the SAD leadership will take a call on
it. RO plant inaugurated at langar hall
SGPC Chief Avtar Singh Makkar today inaugurated an RO plant at Shri Guru Ram Das Langar Hall in the Golden Temple Complex. The Rs 15-lakh RO plant has a capacity to purify 2 lakh litres of water daily. The plant has been installed by MR Morarka Foundation, Mumbai. It has been put up on the roof of the langar hall in an area of 300 sq yards. It is probably the biggest RO plant at a shrine in the state.
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Three robbers arrested
Amritsar, June 12 The robbers have been identified as Kuldeep Singh, alias Nikka, resident of Dholan, Abhinav, alias Abhi, resident of Gali Bagichi, and Ricky Ram, alias Dheli, resident of Navi Abadi. Addressing mediapersons, Deputy Commissioner of Police Satpal Joshi said the robbers were wanted in many cases. “One of their accomplice, Manjit Singh, alias Manny, managed to escape. Besides looting, they were also involved in drug trafficking. We have recovered 500 gm of charas, 150 gm of narcotic powder, two pistols, five cartridges and two motorcycles from them,” Joshi said.
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New variety of plum developed
Amritsar, June 12 The new variety named “Allu-bukhara Amritsari” has been developed after an intensive research and laboratory experiments on the college campus during the last three years. The new variety has high nutritious contents, less sourness due to higher 1:14 ratio of sourness-sweetness. The sweetness is further two degree higher in the fruit at the ripening stage and it stands at 16 degree in Total Soluble Solids (TSS). The variety also has free-stone character and the seed does not cling to the fruits. Besides, the sweetness is uniform. The fruit is not sour at seed level unlike the traditional varieties. College Principal Dr Daljit Singh congratulated Dr JS Bal and his team for developing the new variety. He said they were in the process of submitting the details of the new variety to the Director, Horticulture, Punjab, for taking it to the farmers on a large scale in the state. Dr Bal said the new variety would change the fate of horticulture in the state. “The traditional varieties of plums, locally known as allu-bukhara, are not very popular among the people because it is sour in taste. The new variety is not only sweeter, but also bigger in size. It has more juice contents and is stone free.” He said Khalsa College had the country’s largest Plums Field Genes Bank. “We took various varieties, including those developed in the USA, from our bank and through cross pollination the new variety has been developed.” According to him, plum is highly nutritious as it is high on lactose and fructose, while low on sucrose. “Punjab can benefit a lot as the fruit is brought here from neighbouring states of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. The state’s farmers may be asked to adopt this crop,” said Dr Bal, adding that they were ready to share seeds and plants with the farmers. He said they were also in the process to develop another variety of plum whose plant was dwarf and could be grown in households, open spaces and even lawns. Dr Bal has recently returned from the USA after presenting three research papers at the 10th “International symposium on plum and prune genetics, breeding and technology” at the University of California. Honourary secretary of the Khalsa College Governing Council Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina congratulated Dr Bal and said they would provide every help to the department to carry out more research in the field of agriculture and horticulture.
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NSD organises theatre workshop at Virsa Vihar
Amritsar, June 12 Kewal Dhaliwal, organiser and workshop director, shares, “This workshop has become one of the most awaited and prominent theatre activities in the city. Over the years we have invited and hosted artistes from various parts of the country and across the border as well.” Virsa Vihar has transformed into a theatre haven with 32 young artistes taking part in the workshop being given a lesson or two in various technicalities. This includes street plays, mono-acts, realistic acting, sterilised acting and voice and speech production, besides studying movements and facial expressions. Dhaliwal said the workshop exclusively concentrated on honing the acting skills of artistes by renowned theatre personalities of the NSD, including Paartho Banerjee, Vivek Mishra, Harvinder Kaur and Vijay. Some of the participants had participated in earlier workshops also, while some of them had recently passed out from Guru Nanak Dev University and would be participating for the first time to have some practical experiences. But a good number of participants from the Malwa belt, including Mansa, Dhuri, Patiala, Nabha and Ferozepore and some of them even from the Batala, Patti and Tarn Taran are the most benefited. “Mostly, artistes from small towns do not get much exposure and benefit from experienced professionals. These workshops offer them to close the gaps otherwise left blank. The workshop aims at making amateur artistes aware of the fine nuances of the stage and finishing skills to turn them into better actors and stage managers,” Dhaliwal adds. Apart from acting there will be classes in production and stage management, light and sound effects and the use of technology as a part of stage. The concluding section of the workshop will include two theatre plays being staged by the artistes, which will be directed by Kewal Dhaliwal.
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Stone for triple energy bunker laid
Amritsar, June 12 He laid the foundation stone after inaugurating a workshop to make doctors, radiologists, pathologist and others engaged in treating cancer patients aware of keeping a comprehensive record of cancer patients. The workshop is being held with the assistance of the Indian Council for Medical Research. The bunker, which is to be built at a cost of Rs 1 crore, would be ready within a next one year. He added that the bunker would not allow the radiations of the Linear Accelerator to escape.Dr Meena Sudan head of the institute’s Cancer Department said after Malwa, cancer was gradually spreading its deadly tentacles in
Majha.
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A major fire broke out at the stock yard of Khanna Paper Mill, located on the Fatehgarh Churian road.
Though no casualty was reported in the incident, yet tonnes of raw material, supposed to be used for recycling purpose, was reduced to ashes.
To facilitate proper accommodation to thousands of pilgrims visiting the Golden Temple daily, the SGPC is constructing three more ‘sarais’ (inns) near the holy shrine, thus, adding 500 more rooms for the comfortable stay of devotees.
