|
|
|
‘Mass communication, fashion designing most popular courses’
Govt Girls Sec. School for holistic approach
No compromise with principles, says freedom fighter Bhittewid
Amway completes 7 years of its operations in India
City residents enjoy cricket talk with Bedi, Kirmani
Seminar on solid waste management organised
Weekly Round-up
|
||||||
|
Indo-Pak ties being fed
on pure basmati rice
Can the aroma of freshly-cooked basmati rice waft from across the border? Well, it may not be exactly so, but pure basmati rice makes its fragrance felt in both Indian and Pakistani Punjabs. Grown on both sides of Ravi River that flows in East and West Punjabs (Indian and Pakistani), there’s something about basmati that gives it a unique cultural flavour!
Valued equally by both chefs and home cooks, the pure basmati rice of the border belt of both Punjabs, is famous world over.Basmati rice is a unique commodity, which can grow only in certain specific areas of Pakistan and India. Super Basmati — Redolent with promises Good-quality seed of Pakistani basmati has been a great attraction for Indian farmers, especially in the border belt of East Punjab. A pilgrim, Mr Surinder Singh who had visited Nankana Sahib in Pakistan in 1998, went to ration and grocery shops in the vicinity of a gurdwara. The farmer in him caught scent of quality rice. He could not have missed the aroma of basmati rice that wafted through the air. Inquiries with local shopkeepers revealed that it was the Super Basmati. Unable to resist his temptation, he wanted to know from where he could get the Super Basmati seed, even if just a fistful. A helpful shopkeeper suggested him to visit the grain market. To his good luck, a commission agent there gladly gave him two kg of the Super Basmati rice all free as a goodwill gesture. The Super Basmati that he procured turned out to be promising. He and his brother set about sowing the seeds and multiplying them on their farm. Word went around to Punjab Agricultural University’s (PAU) Krishi Vigyan Kendra as several villagers and relatives, who were given small quantities of the seed, had also sown it. At the PAU, plant breeders worked on the Super Basmati seed for three years. Through scientific selection and screening, it was “purified”. Satisfied with the selection and trials, the PAU distributed it among farmers during kisan mela. Army jawans’ gift It is believed that Indian Army jawans brought to India the Pakistani seed of basmati from
Barki, near Ichhogil Canal (Lahore district), and Sialkot (opposite Gurdaspur district of India) when they captured a part of the Pakistani territory during the Indo-Pak War of 1965. This has been reported by Mr Chaman Lal Setia and Mr Pritam Singh of Amar Singh Chawalwala of “Lal Qilla” fame. Although basmati rice can be grown in other regions, its quality characteristics would not be the same as in indigenous varieties. Interestingly, the border village of Kuhali, a few kilometres away from Ravi River, has become world-famous for producing the finest quality of basmati. Mr Shamsher Singh, a progressive farmer, revealed that except for a few acres devoted to fodder, more than 95 per cent land of the village was devoted to basmati. He claimed that rice exporters and millers picked up basmati from Kuhali immediately after its arrival in mandis. Sometimes, the commission agents made advance payments for the standing crop. The other adjoining villages of Kuhali where basmati is grown are Brar, Khyala, Chogawan, Bhullar, Chawinda and Chainpur. Shockingly, the government has not made any programme to promote basmati, though basmati has made a niche for itself in the world market. The look-alike varieties like sharbati and ‘duplicate basmati’, produced in large quantity, have already overtaken the aromatic basmati, causing a serious concern both to growers and exporters. Once the most sought-after variety, the basmati of Punjab is facing a serious crisis in the world market due to competition with look-alike varieties. The government had signed an MOU with APEDA (Agriculture Food and Processed Export Development Authority) for setting up agriculture export zone for basmati three years ago, but it is yet to take off. The MOU was signed to protect and promote basmati rice produced in the border districts of Amritsar and Gurdaspur. Badshah pure basmati rice is the finest quality Pakistani basmati sown and carefully nurtured in the rice bowl region near the Ravi River across the border which has found a mention in Punjabi folk songs. The excellence of this variety comes from the unrivalled climate of the region, perfect for nourishing its long, aromatic grains and creating a superior fluffiness and flavour. Pakistan and India, both are proud of harvesting the basmati crop. The soil conditions required for cultivation of basmati rice are available in a particular belt of land which runs in Kalhar district of Punjab from Shekhupura through Sialkot, Gujranwala and Lahore in Pakistan, and Amritsar and Gurdaspur in India — both border districts. The size of the crop in Pakistan is, however, much larger as compared to the size of crop in India. India, which produces around 5 lakh tonnes of basmati, has successfully managed to earn a good reputation for its product in the world market by using the most modern milling technology, triple polishing, grading and, of course, aggressive marketing.
Many physical and physiochemical parameters such as length, width, translucency, degree of milling, colour, moisture content, shape, size, whiteness, chalkiness, amylose content, protein content, gel consistency, volume of expansion of cooked rice, aroma, stickiness, and hardness and much more are the grain-quality indicators. The Pakistani basmati rice also commands a premium price in international market due to its unique aroma, long and slender grains and elongation after cooking. Its increased popularity, both in domestic and international markets, makes basmati rice a target for adulteration with cheaper, long-grained non-basmati varieties. Contract farming, introduced by the Punjab Agro Food Corporation three years ago to promote basmati with great fanfare, has come a cropper because the government failed to act as a catalyst. Earlier, Indian and Pakistani basmati, an aromatic variety of rice, internationally known for its exotic fragrance when cooked, was cleverly registered by an American trading firm M/s Ricetec to market rice under the patent name of “Basmati”, in the United States and other countries. India reacted by creating the Special Basmati Development Fund, contributed by the exporters for fighting a legal battle in the American Court to secure the patent. The patent, under the legal obligation, was aimed at restricting the Indian and Pakistani exporters from entering the export market.
|
||||||
|
MC traces city’s development from 1850 to 2005
The local Municipal Corporation has released a booklet — “Past Present Future” — tracing the history of the development of the city from 1850 to 2005.
The booklet is an attempt to connect the past with the present needs, according to MC officials. “It is an attempt to co-relate the past with the ground realities of the present to ensure better future,” said MC Commissioner, Mr K.S. Kang. Tracing the history of the Municipal Corporation, the booklet reveals interesting facts like — till 1857 the administration of the city was handled by Deputy Commissioner. The booklet also contains maps of year 1849 (walled and outer city), 1922 (walled city) 1947 (walled and outer city). Apart from this, it enumerates the growth, population, trade and history of administration. The first enumeration of houses was done in 1859, and had been recorded in the record of Daroga Nazool, Amritsar. On the recommendations of the Royal Army Sanitary Commission, the local committee was replaced by the Amritsar Municipal Committee in 1868. The present Town Hall building housing the MC and other government departments, the clock Tower, the District School, the Circular Road and the Hall Bazaar were constructed by Mr Gordan. The water work projects were constructed in 1904 and inaugurated by Sir Charles Rivaz, Lt Governor of Punjab. A tank bearing the name Saunders Tank (Mr Saunders was the name of the then-Deputy Commissioner), was placed outside the Ram Bagh Gate in 1850. The Guru Bazaar is the oldest part of the city and it was founded by Guru Ram Dass. The Toshakhana of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was kept in Gobindgarh Fort. Moti Jheel was once famous for supplying water to moats of the fort. In 1860, Amritsar was linked to Multan in Pakistan by rail. The oldest silk trade centre was in Batti Hattan. Namak Mandi was noted for salt trade. Salt was imported from Dadan Kalan and Kheura in Pakistan. On Baisakhi and Divali, during the annual cattle fair, horses were imported from Afghanistan and Persia, and they contributed vital income to the civic body. In 1855, the population of the city was 1.22 lakh which grew to 3.91 lakh in 1941. The city was ranked the ninth in population in India at that time. Presently, the population of the city is more than 11 lakh.
|
||||||
|
‘Mass communication, fashion designing most
A three-phase session of counselling was organised by Career Smart headed by a panel of experts led by Ms Usha Albuquerque. During the workshop, ability-scan tests to analyse various abilities of children, and personal counselling sessions for Class X students were conducted at Springdale Senior Secondary School here.
Ms Albuquerque, who was a familiar face on DD as a newsreader for 15 years from 1985 to 1999, is a career counsellor of repute. She said she was happy to find a “readiness” among parents in Amritsar to opt for new and unfamiliar career options. It was also very positive to see their willingness to send their wards outside the city for chosen courses. She said career counselling had become a specialised field today. In fact, career-related programmes were hot on television channels as well. Her own programme “Hum hongey kamyab” aired at Zee network had been quite a hit. The counselling session that was attended by more than 200 students, including some students from other schools, provided to participants awareness and information about career choices. The phase-I of the session included multimedia presentation, while the phase II and the phase III included aptitude testing and individual counselling by a panel of experts. The former newsreader, who is a gold medallist from Madras University, has two books to her credit. She is also a regular columnist for highly-circulated national English dailies. Her programmes on career counselling are aired on NDTV and CNBC. According to her, the most popular professional courses in the city were mass communication and fashion designing. Travel and tourism, law, computer sciences, biotechnology, airlines and management courses were also very popular.
|
||||||
|
Govt Girls Sec. School for holistic approach
Despite limited resources, the 65-year-old Government Girls Secondary School, located in the posh locality of the Mall Road, has been competing with private and convent schools here.
Spread over 10,000 square yards of prime land, the school has 100 rooms in addition to two halls. The institution has the distinction of producing brilliant students, and national and international players. The school receives students not only from the city, but also from far-away villages like Attari, located at the international border, Verka, Rajasansi, Ajnala and various other places. Ms Neelam Bhagat, Principal of the school, says the school has an average pass percentage of 90 per cent in matriculation and 95 per cent in higher secondary classes. This educational institution has separate laboratories for physics, chemistry and biology. Besides, it has seven computer labs and 72 computers. A mini-hall, with a capacity of 500 persons, is being used for indoor games. The big auditorium-cum-gymnasium hall, named after its former principal, Ms Bhagwant Bawa, the first principal of the school to receive a national award for education from President of India, caters to various sports activities. Besides Ms Bawa, two more principals have received the President’s award for meritorious service in education. The present incumbent, Ms Neelam Bhagat, had been awarded the prize in the year 2004. Over 2600 students study here under the guidance of nearly 110 teachers. The school also runs five vocational certificate courses of two-year duration to make the students self-reliant. The courses include computer application, food preservation, garment technology, electronics and commercial art. Computer application and garment technology courses are the most favourite courses among students. The school has two hostels, including one for sports girls. The general hostel has 80 girls, who are charged fee on the basis of no-profit-no-loss. The sports hostel accommodates players of three sports wings — lawn tennis, basketball and athletics. Ms Bhagat said that the school tried its best to keep pace with the new developments in education. “We stress on extra-curricular activities like Red Cross, NCC, NSS, Scouts, Girl Guide to develop well-rounded personality of the students,” she added.
|
||||||
|
Govt Medical College a breeding ground for diseases
Hundreds of acres of wasteland at Government Medical College here have virtually become a breading-ground for many skin and respiratory diseases.
The wild growth of congress grass, besides other shrubs, in the medical college is a health hazard. Interestingly, government-run Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, where hundreds of patients come for treatment, also falls in the vicinity. The authorities may peg the blame on “severe financial crunch” of the college, without realising that this land could have been a source of tremendous revenue value for the medical college, besides providing healthy environment and scenic beauty to its residents. The vast land has a great potential and can be used for growing herbal medicines, vegetables, fruits, grains and flowers. Mr P.S. Randhawa from the pollution control committee said the pollens of congress grass remained active for 10 months. These caused allergy and skin diseases, besides creating respiratory problems, including asthma. Mr Brij Bedi, president, Citizens’ Forum, in a letter to secretary, Department of Research and Medical Education (DRME), said that immediate attention should be paid to that vast land, which was crying for care. “This land has a good potential for growing vegetables and grains, besides providing flowers for patients’ bedsides,” he added. Dr A.S. Padda, acting Principal of the college, said that the main ground of the college and the ground adjoining the pathology department had been cleared and that they were slowly coming towards the wasteland of the college. He said the authorities were thinking of planting saplings of fruit plants. He said they were also sending to government a proposal to purchase a tractor trolley for the college premises so that such wild growth could be cleared. However, he added that they could not give the land to forest department or horticulture department for generating revenue, as it involved certain legal issues.
|
||||||
|
No compromise with principles, says freedom
Mr Channan Singh Bhittewid is a staunch communist who sacrificed the precious years of his life for the country’s independence, and later for various people- related issues.
He has refused to take any pension, whether from freedom fighters’ quota or from old-age pension. He remained a bachelor so that his attention was not diverted to family responsibilities. He proudly says, “I jumped into the freedom struggle not for taking any advantage from anyone. I saw my motherland in shackles of the British rule and decided to do something for my country in the very early years of my life.” Mr Bhittewid, who is now the district office secretary of the CPM (Pasla Group), accepts Rs 500 as salary so that he can fulfill his needs. He still refuses to take any honour from government. He is an example for leaders of today. He joined the Communist Party of India in 1939 and is still associated with the party’s ideology. He says the party is his life and he cannot live without his association with the party. He participated in 1946 morcha and remained in jails for about eight months. He had to remain underground along with other party members for about 14 months during 1947. He worked with freedom fighters like Dalip Singh Tapiala, Sohan Singh Josh, Achhar Singh Chhina, Fauja Singh Bhullar. When asked about today’s political scenario in the country, he rued, “Politicians and the majority of the people have become opportunists and our system has completely failed to make the people aware of the problems.” He said the opportunist people who were loyal to the British before the Independence had come to power after the Independence with the help of their money and political influence. He said there was an urgent need to start a people’s movement to improve the system and change today’s dismal scenario. He said, “We can remove various problems, including poverty, illiteracy, social evils, only by starting a new fight against these.” He stressed on student leaders’ participation for the nation’s cause. He said nowadays, the student leadership was not organised. “The few student organisations are fighting for their vested interests and not for the good of the nation,” he said.
|
||||||
|
Amway completes 7 years of its operations in India
Amway India, one of the country’s leading and fastest growing companies in the direct selling channel and subsidiary of US $ 6.2 billion Alticor Inc, Ada, Michigan, USA, currently having over 4,50,000 active Amway business owners in India, has completed seven years of its operations in the country.
Mr William S. Pickney, managing director and CEO, while addressing media persons here, said that in seven years of the operation, Amway had emerged as country’s largest direct-selling company. He said the latest brand to emerge from the Amway stables was in the male grooming market in India, which included shaving gels and creams, cleansing products, deodorants, razors and hair gels. He said the Amway India had also established the Opportunity Foundation (AOF) whose mission was to be the frontrunner in providing opportunities for children’s education and health to attain economic independence, with special focus on the blind children. He said the AOF had partnered with NGOs like the All India Confederation of the Blind (AICB) and the National Association for the Blind (NAB) in printing and distributing Braille textbooks to all school-going visually challenged children in 15 states, which included Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra. A total of 80,000 children had benefited from this project. The AOF had also organised over 120 blood donation camps in collaboration with the Red Cross Society in many cities where over 13,000 volunteers, comprising Amway distributors and staff, had donated blood, he added.
|
||||||
|
City residents enjoy cricket talk with Bedi, Kirmani
It was once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Amritsarites to see and listen to the views of two former great men of the Indian cricket — Bishen Singh Bedi and Syed Kirmani.
The opportunity was given by Star News through its live show “Match ka mujrim kaun” held at Khalsa College here on the night of August 29. During the half-an-hour-long open debate, two former cricketers and cricket lovers shared their thoughts on India-Zimbabwe match held on that day at Harare. Former wicket keeper Syed Kirmani supported Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly and faced a barrage of questions from the audience. He was in favour of retaining Ganguly till the next World Cup to be held in 2007 in the West Indies. Bishen Singh Bedi, former Indian captain, gave his views against Ganguly and asked the skipper to “take a look at his performance”. He said the Indian captain had not been performing on the expected lines. He opined that a skipper should always lead by example. He said it was high time that Ganguly gave way to youngsters. He said that though Ganguly had accumulated more than 10,000 runs in the international arena, yet it could not make him a permanent fixture in the team. A large number of audience members conveyed their support by raising their arms. Meanwhile, both former cricketers were in agreement about the appointment of former Australian captain Greg Chappell. They said the coach could not be held responsible for the bad performance of the team in the recent past. They said it was an experimental and adjustment stage for Chappell who had been trying different combinations to shape up the Indian team for the 2007 World Cup. They felt that a newcomer Venu Gopal Rao should be given the time to adjust himself in the team and warned that his position of batting should not be tinkered with. They said it was too early to give any discredit to the coach who was trying hard to make the eleven gel as a team.
|
||||||
|
Seminar on solid waste management organised
The Amritsar Vikas Manch organised a seminar on solid waste management at the local Ashoka Senior Secondary School here.
Environment scientist, Mr P.S. Bhatti, and president, Lok Kalyan Samiti, Mr Jagmohan Singh, enlightened the audience about the problem of waste disposal. According to these experts, the segregation of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste is the need of the hour, and the municipal authorities should take it up at the earliest. Prof Mohan Singh emphasised on the need for a more scientific approach to modern living, while Mr Kulwant Singh Sufi cautioned the students against the use of plastic cups and plates. Dr Charanjit Singh Gumtala, the president of the manch, came out with “three r” approach — reduce, reuse and recycle — whatever we use in daily lives. Mr Y.P. Gupta, managing director, presided over the function.
|
||||||
|
Weekly Round-up
Vanmahotsav was celebrated by the Panther Division by planting saplings of ornamental, shady, fruit trees and shrubs in the cantonment, with the enthusiastic involvement of all troops, their families, NCC cadets and children from various schools.
Maj General S.C. Sharma said that the division celebrated Vanmahotsav every year to inculcate awareness among soldiers and their families about the immense value of maintaining right ecological balance and undertaking various bio-diversity, eco-friendly projects like arboriculture conservation of flora, solid waste management, maintaining of kitchen gardens, developing parks and raising nurseries. “Over 1600 trees were planted during the past one year at various locations in the cantonment. A modern nursery with the facility of sprinkler irrigation system has been created to propagate and multiply good quality ornamental trees and shrubs,” he added. Help centre
To help small and marginal taxpayers in fulfilling their wage obligations, the Income Tax Department has launched a new scheme and opened a help centre for assisting tax-payers in filing income tax returns, filling up challan for tax payments, filling up the application for PAN/TAN and giving advice on computation of income tax. Mr Kuldeep Singh, Commissioner, Income-Tax-I, inaugurated this help centre situated near the old octroi post, Sultanwind Road. The help centre is manned by one income tax officer and two inspectors of the Income Tax Department. Demands
Bishop P.K. Samantaroy has urged the government to make an amendment in the Constitution Order, 1950, and give “equal rights” to the Christians. In a press statement, Bishop Samantaroy and Mr Daniel B Das, Coordinator, Socio-Economic Development Programme, said that more than 95 per cent Christians of Punjab came from the scheduled castes and that they shared the same social, economic and political disadvantages as the scheduled castes. He alleged that the Christians were deprived of their rights and privileges on the basis of religion which was against the spirit of our Constitution. He said that all heads of institutions, priests, pastorate committees of the Diocese of Amritsar would write to the Prime Minister and Members of Parliament from their respective areas to seek support for “this very genuine and Constitutional demand”. Placements
The US telecom company, Avaya Global Connect, has selected four students of 2007 batch of B.Tech (Electronics), Guru Nanak Dev University, through campus recruitments. Dr Rajneesh Arora, director, placement, said the selected students — Divya Gupta, Swati Chopra, Ravneet Sandhu and Harkirtan Kaur — were of third year B.Tech (Electronics). “They have been selected by Avaya, which has been awarded as the ‘Best US Technology Company working in India’. In addition to this, Avaya has also selected three final year students, including Amarnath Lalka, Jaspreet Dhindsa and Harleen Kaur. The placements of one hundred and eightytwo students (2006 batch) from all three campuses of the university have also been completed,” he added. Appeal
Mr Deepak Babbar, president of AAGAAZ, an NGO, has called upon the city residents not to use air conditioners and other heavy-duty appliances. He said the small step would bring a major change and enable regular power supply to thousands of households. This would also reduce pollution due to the use of generators. Arrest
The district police has arrested three persons, including Sukhwinder Singh, Bikramjit Singh and Daljit Singh of Namdev Colony, from Bhuse village for allegedly stealing vehicles. The police said it had seized four stolen motorcycles from the accused, who, according to the police, used to sell stolen vehicles with fake numbers.
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
