The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Virsa Vihar set to open today
Moving forces behind the project totally ignored by admn
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

Standing unutilised and unnoticed despite completion for the past two years, Virsa Vihar, a prestigious centre for promotion of Punjabi culture and heritage, will finally be opened for use on October 13.

The inauguration of the building will be done by Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh. The news of its opening is bound to bring cheer to many budding and established artistes of the region who had long been waiting for the day but most of them are not in the list of invitees, totally ignored by the administration.

Not just that, many of those were keenly involved in the project said they had not been invited for the day.

Mr Shiv Singh, sculptor and President of the Punjab Lalit Academy, who had repeatedly given reminders to the administration for opening of the centre was completely unaware of its opening.

When contacted at his residence in Chandigarh, he said he did know about any such function.

“Since I have not been invited, there is no point of coming for the event”, he added.

Not just him, the MP who was instrumental in starting the project in five places too is not reportedly on the list of invitees.

The duplex building had been completed with an amount of Rs 1.13 crore spent from the discretionary MPLADS funds of Kartar Singh Duggal, former MP, in a prime location here at Namdev Chowk here.

Mr Duggal, when contacted at his residence in Delhi, said that he had not received any invitation. He added that he was not coming for the function.

The DPRO, who had been distributing cards, too confirmed that he was not in the list of invitees that he had prepared.

The DC, Mr A.Venu Prasad, too said he did not have his phone number as he was now putting up in New Delhi.

The building has, otherwise, been constructed with an aim to train youth in various traditional art forms such as classical and Gurmat sangeet, folk dances, theatre (both modern and folk), art and craft of Punjab, classical dances, instrumental music, sculptor-making, painting, embroidery, craft work, stitching and other typical folk forms that are becoming extinct.

Interestingly, almost all the Virsa Vihar Kendras set up in state by the former MP had failed to start functioning.

The centre at Kapurthala is being utilised by the Nehru Yuva Kendra for running a youth club for training the rural youth in vocational activities like art and craft, beauty treatment and make-up, judo, karate, bhangra and making leather products, besides other things.

A centre had also been opened up at Amritsar two years back.

The other three centres had been set up at Patiala, Ludhiana and Chandigarh.

Phagwara Industrial Area faces sea of problems
Anil Jerath
Tribune News Service

Scene from Hell: Pathetic conditions prevail at the Industrial Area in Phagwara. — A Tribune photo

To say that the Industrial Area at Phagwara is a picture of neglect is no exaggeration. Thanks to the Phagwara Nagar Council’s apathy, it increasingly looks like a slum. Life here is hard. The roads are full of sewer water, which has not been cleared for the past two over months. There is stench, and there are mosquitoes and flies hovering all around.

The root cause of the problem lies with the slums adjoining the Industrial Area, which have blocked the drainage of water. “Besides, the garbage thrown in the open has not been cleared for many months, says an industrialist.

Alleging step-motherly treatment being given to the area and industrialists, the Phagwara Industrialists Association (FIA) has demanded the removal of the adjoining slums. Located on the outskirts of the city, there is almost no indication that the council has anything to do with this place. There is no proper approach road. Stagnant water, huge potholes and garbage dumps greet industrialists from other states and their clients from abroad, which take with them the bad impression of the Punjab industry.

“The Industrial Area, which once was declared a focal point, has remained a small-scale industrial town due to change of government in the state. We are suffering huge losses due to indifferent attitude of the state government,” said a renowned industrialist.”

That is the situation in this industrial hub, which has six export houses, 35 medium and small units and has a turnover of exports worth Rs 600 crore annually.

Diesel engine pump sets, tractor spare parts, besides other goods are produced here, but the area turned from bad to worse when choking sewers flood the roads.

“It’s impossible even to negotiate your way across roads. For years now, we have heard assurances that roads will be repaired and garbage will be removed. But, I am yet to see any concrete action having been taken,” says Inder Singh, a small-scale unit holder. Industrialists have approached councilor Sushil Maini a number of times. Despite his efforts, council authorities have done nothing in this regard. Sewerage is the major problem here.

“We are living in uncivilised conditions. Imagine, polluted sewerage water has entered our industrial units and we have no choice but to live in that condition,” says AK Kohli, an export house owner.

A council official claims that the entire look of the Industrial area will change very soon. That of course, remains to be seen.

Young World
Fashion show to be held on October 14
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

A fashion show titled “Fantaseeah - a sage of creation” is being organised by the INIFD at Gymkhana Club on October 14.

Giving the details, Ms Shefali Sood, in charge, said it would showcase 150 bewitching ensembles by the budding designers of the INIFD to be displayed by leading models, most of them Ms India finalists.

She said there would be fillers by a renowned dance troupe, Angels, adding that the centre of attraction would be the ramp set up with innovatively designed furniture by institute’s interior design students.

There would be 15 rounds comprising arious garments with particular inspirations — Sari round, black-coloured garments, nightwear, garments inspired by the Monsoon, costumes for item numbers in films, garments for angels and vampires, fusion wear, dresses inspired by animals, evening gowns, garments for party lovers, uniforms for staff of multi-national companies, and street wear.

Colourful show

A colourful show on “Robin Hood — The Prince of thieves” was organised by the primary section students of Apeejay School, Model Town. The one-hour show was based on Robin Hood and his merry men who lived in the Sherwood Forest. The show was filled with innovative action-packed scenes, beautiful dances, melodious songs and wonderful acting skills of children.

The show brought the legendary bandit come alive in front of the eyes of the spectators.

The chief guest of the show was Mr Neeraj Berry, an alumnus and director of Leader Industries.

Ms Aneela Kinder, Headmistress, and Ms Roma Midha, co-ordinator, also attended the show.

Dance show

The Indian Institute of Fashion and Creative Dances will organise “Rock Star”, a dance show, on October 14 at Lilly Resorts.

Over 250 participants who had been short-listed out of 500 contestants during a previous show would perform during the event, said Mr Vivek Aggarwal, owner.

He said the contestants had been divided into four categories with children from four to six years, seven to 10 years, 11 to 15 years and 16 years or more.

He said more than 40 contestants would represent each category adding that there would be participants from Kapurthala, Phagwara, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Nakodar.

Seminar

A seminar on management practices and fundamentals was organised by the Lovely Institute of Management.

Dr Kavita Sood, a management expert and Director of Vivekananda Institute of Hotels and Tourism Management, began the seminar with a punch-line “Hero lies within you”.

She laid emphasis upon efficient planning and right approach for solving problems and handicaps. Talking about leadership qualities, she cited various traits that separated a ‘boss’ from a ‘leader’. She discussed techniques to command a group in pursuing a common goal efficiently.

She talked about the impact of positive attitude on one’s success rate by citing various anecdotes.

Freshers’ party

A freshers’ party was organised for the new batch of MCA students at Lovely Institutes.

The inaugural speech was delivered by Mr Rohit Dhand, a faculty member, who welcomed the newcomers and apprised them of the moral ethos.

The programme got a flying start with seniors and juniors celebrating the spirit of togetherness.

The young brigade showcased its talent in folk singing, music, poetry and dance.

The programme came to an end with the selection of the most talented new comers. Mohit Sharma was chosen as Mr Fresher while Navjot Kaur was crowned as Ms Fresher.

Quiz contest

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Citizens’ Welfare and the Protection Council organised Youth United for Victory on AIDS (YUVA) quiz for students of various schools of Jalandhar and Kapurthala at Government Polytechnic for Women.

Eight teams which had been short-listed during contests held earlier participated in the event. BSF Senior Secondary School won the first prize.

The second prize was shared by the teams of Government Senior Secondary School, Nehru Garden, and Government Model Senior Secondary School (for girls).

The team of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Ladowali Road, got the third prize.

Cultural fest

Apeejay Institute of Management will hold an intra-institute festival, ‘Pinnacle’, from October 13 to 14. Various academic, cultural and sports events would be organised during the festival. There will be contests for management and IT quiz, just a minute, debate, dumb charades, dancing and singing contests, rangoli, collage, paper presentation, software competition, ad-mad show, press conference, volleyball, basketball and table tennis.

Placements

Fifteen final year B.Tech students of DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology have been placed at Wipro Technologies. The company conducted a joint campus placement drive for engineering colleges of Punjab on October 8 and 9. Of the total 2000 candidates, 101 have been selected, including 15 from DAVIET. Mr C.L. Kochher, Director and Principal, congratulated the students.

Lecture

A lecture on book review was organised by the Mass Communication and Journalism Department of Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya.

The speaker on the occasion was Dr Atamjit, a famous playwright and Principal of ASS College, Mukandpur. He presented his views on book review through his play.

He said a review was a mixed form of art and craft. For writing a good book review, one must take care of contest, form and interaction of form with content, he said.

He summed up by saying that a book review had no set rules but a reviewer must know the rules to break it. Ms Ramnila Saini Sharda, Head of the department, gave a vote of thanks.

Rohini Khurana declared Mrs Karva Chauth
Tribune News Service

Winners of various events held on Karva Chauth at Windsor Palace in Phagwara on Tuesday.

JCI Phagwara Elite Club organised a function on the occasion of Karva Chauth at the local Windsor Palace in Phagwara on Tuesday. Around 32 women members of the club participated in various.

Mrs Rohini Khurana was adjudged as Mrs Karva Chauth while Pallvi Sardana was declared runner-up. Mrs Charu Sharma was declared as the best mehndi decorated on her palm and the best hairstyle prize went to Mrs Kanika Uppal.

Free couple photo

Dainik Jagran, in collaboration with SP Photo Frontier, Phagwara, organised a function for the couples desirous of having free photo on the occasion of Karva Chauth at the Improvement Trust complex in Phagwara on TuesGaurav Poonj, owner of SP Photo Frontier, said 163 couples got themselves photographed on the occasion. The best couple photograph would be awarded with a memento and their photograph would be published in the said newspaper on Saturday

Miss Infopark

Meditech Computer Centre organised a Miss Karva Chauth competition at its centre on the occasion of Karva Chauth on Tuesday. Mr Gurjit Walia, owner of the computer center told that tombola, one-minute game show, modelling, best decorated mehndi and overall look competitions were also held on the occasion.

Kiranpreet Kaur was declared as Miss Karva Chauth Infopark while Miss Neelam was adjudged Miss Karva Chauth Meditech. Paramjit Kaur Walia, Anu Parbhakar, Pteeti Chawla and Suman Sharma were the judges on the occasion.

Athletic meet

The district athletic meet was held at the Akal Stadium here in Phagwara on Thursday. The winners would take part in the State Athletic Meet scheduled to be held from October 14 to 16 in Amritsar.