Amritsar, September 18
After a long wait of 136 years, finally the Punjab government has accepted the demand of raising memorials to five Namdhari martyrs of Amritsar Saka in their native villages on the pattern of Kuka martyrs of Malerkotla.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal made the announcement while addressing a shaheedi conference organised to commemorate the martyrdom anniversary of these Namdharis.

The function was organised as a part of year-long state-level celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of Baba Ram Singh’s Kuka movement. Interestingly, the Kuka movement is considered as the first effective agitation for India’s independence that adopted non-cooperation as a tool against the British rulers, which was later adopted by Mahatma Gandhi. It was on September 15, 1871, in Amritsar, Kukas assassinated several Muslim butchers involved in cow slaughtering. As a result, the British administration sentenced five Kuka disciples, Sant Hakam Singh Patwari, Sant Fateh Singh, Sant Lehna Singh, Sant Jhanda Singh and Sant Beehla Singh Narli, to death.

The then deputy commissioner of Amritsar opened a slaughter house outside the city. The butchers were asked to follow these instructions, “The cows will be slaughtered at a particular place within an enclosure. No butcher would bring beef inside the city for sale. Transgressors of these rules will be punished.”

Opening a slaughter house at Amritsar was a signal for opening many more in different towns of Punjab. This led to the development of strained relations between the Hindus and the Muslims because the butchers started selling beef openly in the streets of Amritsar. Peeved at this, Namdharis came forward to punish the butchers and embraced martyrdom during the British era.

However, except for old Bohar tree, the other buildings have lost their original contour. The heritage structure, which was once a part of historical Rambagh and later served as jail during British time, has been plastered without consulting conservationists or heritage experts. Even a part of the building is presently being used for round-the-clock “simran.” The old well on the premises has also been plastered from inside and a modern well has been added in the “langar” section. The boundary wall of the memorial has been constructed to separate it from the Summer Palace complex.

Amritsar, September 18
A meeting of the CII Punjab State Council was held for the first time in Amritsar recently in which industrialists from all over the state participated and deliberated on the state of the economy and the plans for the future of the city. The meeting while discussing the issues pertaining to Amritsar evolved a five-point charter for focusing on the areas of the city, which includes exploring the full potential of the holy city as a tourist centre.

The participants said for the purpose a holistic approach should be made to create a full-fledged world tourism and trade hub be created, which may include convention centres of varying capacities (for MICE tourism), hotels of different categories, exhibition centres, tourist information centre, commercial space and auditoria.

On the issue of education and technical training, which has a paramount importance to trigger a technical revolution in the city, the CII stated that endeavour needs to create ample opportunities in education and make employable the youth of the region. For this, Guru Nanak Dev University should be upgraded to the status of central university, besides linking industries with educational institutes so that the youth of Punjab do not lose opportunities available all over the country in burgeoning economic scenario.

With regard to the industrial development it was imperative to prepare an environment with similar economic packages given to hill states, which would open a grand opportunity for the local entrepreneurs to overcome the stiff competition by the special economic zones established in the neighbouring states.

The CII mooted three proposals to accelerate the industrialisation of this border belt to trigger faster economic growth and provide ample job opportunities to the growing educated work force. Some of the points were shortlisted to bring about the industrial revolution, which has eluded this border area, and includes the setting up of full-fledged 2,500 acre SEZ in Goindwal, where over 6,500 acre was available with the state. This will ensure that at least some of the expected Rs 3,00,000 crore investment in SEZ countrywide that shall create 40 lakh jobs, does not give Punjab the miss.

Secondly, mega food parks should be set up in the holy city to enable value addition to the state’s agricultural produce as it would also help in getting buyback opportunities for diverse crops. Thirdly, a bioinformatics park should be set up in the city with the support of GNDU, which could kick tart research and development revolution in agriculture, pharmacy and a host of new technology domains.

Fourthly, in order to focus on trade, VAT disparities between Punjab and contiguous states should be removed to restore the old trading glory of the city.

Amritsar, September 18
The Khalsa Action Committee (KAC) has decided to make Amritsar a drugs and tobacco-free city.

The committee decided to involve residents so as to make them aware against the ill-effects of tobacco and drugs.

The KAC has stated that the committee members have also decided to hold an anti-tobacco and anti-drug march on September 20 to create awareness among school and college students in general and the youth of the border district in particular about their ill-effects.

Due to the work of a Chandigarh-based NGO, KAC spokesperson stated that the city beautiful had become the first tobacco-free city of the country and the KAC spokesperson wished that Amritsar should follow suit.

Bhai Mohkam Singh, Jasbir Singh Rode, Kanwarpal Singh, Ragbir Singh Rajasansi, Manjit Singh Calcutta, Daljit Singh Khalsa, Karnail Singh Panjoli and H.S. Khalsa were among those who attended the meeting.

Quoting a world drug report released by the United Nations office on drugs and crime, describing Punjab as world number one transit point for opium, the KAC spokesperson said this revelation was a pointer that the state was on the path of destruction.

The committee members said drug peddlers were interested in making a fast buck at the cost of common man and their hold and penetration had reached the portals of power and the highest levels of the administration. They said a large cross section of society had been enticed by opium, heroin, smack, liquor, poppy-husk, cigarettes, injections and capsules.

Amritsar, September 18
The Army authorities here did not allow the mediapersons to enter the historic Gobindgarh Fort today to meet the 28-member delegation of Gujjars and Bakkerwals of Gaghrot village in Naushehra Tehsil of Rajaori district in Jammu and Kashmir.

The mediapersons were invited by the accompanying Army personnel to interact with the delegation, which was in the city under the Operation Sadbhavna.

Major P.S. Bhandral, who was leading the delegation, said he had already informed the JCO concerned here to get the permission from the higher authorities in advance so that the mediapersons could interact with the group from militancy infested area of the Rajouri sector. He added that due to communication gap, the message could not be passed onto the higher authorities. However, the mediapersons were able to meet the delegation at the entrance gate of the fort.

The nine-day tour has been organised by 1822 Light Regiment under the guidance of Brig N.P. Gadkari, Commander, 39 Mountain Artillery Brigade, under the aegis of Dah Division and will visit various places like Kapurthala, Chandigarh and Bhakra Nangal.

The programme is being conducted for the generating awareness among the Gujjars and Bakkerwals, most of whom are illiterate, besides providing them an opportunity to see places other than their own habitat.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Army has been organising such tours to exhort the people, especially the youths, of the militancy infested area of Jammu and Kashmir, who have been misguided to join the path of violence, to join the national mainstream back and help the state to grow thereby eliminating poverty.

The members of the delegation also visited the Attari border check post and viewed the Beating the Retreat ceremony. Mohammad Basheer, one of the members of the delegation, said he was overwhelmed to see the Attari retreat ceremony. He said he had moved out of the Rajouri district for the first time and surprised to see the development in the other parts of the country.

Amritsar, September 18
Dr Vinoda Kochupillai, former head of the Institute of Rotary Cancer Centre of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), espoused the critical role of yoga in strengthening the immune system which helps prevent cancer.

The ace oncologist was speaking at a seminar on “Yoga - for physical mental and spiritual well being”. The event was organised by DAV Public School in collaboration with the art of living foundation. Dr Vinoda said breathing exercises or “Pranayams” in yoga in combination with some “asanaas” could give fruitful results in improve immunity of the body. “Yoga could play a very positive role in improving quality of life by strengthening the defense mechanisms of the body leading to better mental health and spiritual calmness in patients suffering from cancer,” she added. The doctor has presented some 200 medical journals at national and international forums with a majority of them on cancer. In addition, she had also presented three papers on yoga and meditation, one of which was published in annals of New York academy of science, while another appeared in American journal, “Biological Psychology”. The oncologist also authored six books, includng four on yoga.

Earlier, the programme started with a display of different yoga “asanaas” by 15 students. Prominent among those present on the occasion were chairman of school management Harbilas Rai and members of the AOL foundation, including Dr Sushminder Sharma, Rajesh Prashar and Sunil Kajriwal.

Amritsar, September 18
Anantdeep Singh Dhillon, a city resident working as an agricultural officer with Axis Bank, has made the city proud as he has been selected to be part of the Asian youth committee of the world conference of religions for peace when he participated in a summit of Asian religious youth leaders in Asian youth assembly of world conference of religions for peace in Singapore recently.

Dhillon represented the Sikh youth and will be co-chairman of the communications team. He has been associated with an international human development NGO, United Sikhs, as a youth, inter-faith and community development associate since 2004.

At the summit the Asian youth leaders forged an alternative to religious extremism and the violent abuse of religion. The event brought together youth representatives of major Pan-Asian religious organisations and religious youth leaders from across 18 countries, who deliberated on the theme, “Choosing hope taking action.”

Dhillon said during his chance meeting with Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, minister for community development, youth and sports and second minister for information, communications and arts, Government of Singapore, he expressed his desire to visit the country in near future.

Meanwhile, he has been invited to attend the global forum on youth and ICT for development being organised by the United Nations and global alliance for ICT and development to be held in Geneva on September 24 with the theme, “Youth and ICT as agents of change.”

In my previous article “It’s Mathemagics”, you learnt the trick of guessing the age and money of your friends. Now in continuation with the same series, I would help you to guess the birthday of your dear ones. It generally happens that you forget the exact date of birth of your friends but you still want to give them a surprise by wishing them at the cock’s crow. No problem - you only have to convince your friend to play a game of numbers with you and you will automatically come to know about his date of birth.

The game is very simple. It needs just a little knowledge of addition and multiplication.

Step 1: Ask your friend to keep in his mind two numbers, the number of the month on which he was born and the number of the date of the month of his birth (these numbers will either be one digit or two digit numbers because months vary from 1 to 12 i.e. from January to December and dates from 1 to 31)

Step 2: Ask him to multiply the number of the month of his birth with 5 and add 6 in the result.

Step 3: Now multiply the result by 4 and add 9.

Step 4: Again multiply the result by 5 and add in this the date of his birth.

Your friend’s work is over now. Ask him to tell you the final calculated answer. He will certainly not have any objection in disclosing this number as it would in no way be related with the month and date of birth. Note that this answer will either be a three digit number or a four digit number.

Your work starts now. You simply have to subtract 165 from the answer and the answer to your query is hidden in the remainder. The last two digits will represent the date of his birth and the first (it may be one or two digits) will represent the number of the month of his birth. Here is an illustration:

Suppose your friend’s birthday is July 17.

As directed above, multiply the number of month 7 by 5 i.e. 7 x 5 = 35. Add 6 to it i.e. 35 + 6 = 41. Multiply 41 by 4 i.e. 41 x 4 = 164, add 9 to it, we get 164 + 9 = 173

Finally multiply 173 by 5 and add the date of his birth 17 i.e. 173 x 5 = 865 + 17 = 882.

Your turn now; subtract 165 from 882 i.e. 882 - 165 =717.

Therefore, the last two digits i.e.17 is the date of birth and the first digit i.e.7 is the month of birth of your friend. Isn’t it mathemagic?

Actually it is a trick of number 165 the directions you have given to your friend are a disguised way of adding 165 to the number of the month multiplied by 100 and then added ton it the number of the date of his birth.

See how: Suppose month of birth is “A” and date of birth is “B” Then by applying all the steps successively we get: {(Ax5+6)4+9}5+B =100A+165+B =100A +B +165. (The month of birth is multiplied by 100 to convert two digit number to three or four digit number)

Now go and wish your friend, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”.

(ushapaul.123@gmail.com)

Amritsar, September 18
A rendezvous with art and Sikh historic nuances at their best is what the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama in the holy city all about.

Cerated at a cost of Rs 5 crore, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama is an aesthetically designed, tall, cylindrical building, on 4.5 acres in the historic Ram Bagh next to children’s park. It is the creation of the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM). On display

are the large paintings of battle expeditions supplemented by a huge circular foreground diorama with numerous mannequins of prominent warriors, soldiers, animals and weapons. The light-and-sound effects are skillfully devised, giving the viewers a feel of being in the midst of a battlefield. A 12-metre tall and 100-metre long panoramic painting, showing six major battle expeditions, is a major attraction. Besides, the presentation of the Lahore durbar of the Maharaja in full splendour through life-sized mannequins donning the attire of the times is breathtaking. The level of maintenance and cleanliness by the AMC is world class.

On display are the latest interactive touch screen multimedia kiosks providing all information to visitors. Sadly, a very few people of the city and surrounding areas know and visit the beautiful panorama, a rare experience for north Indians.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh in whose memory the panorama has been built, often addressed his officers, saying “Be faithful, honest and true, and mankind will praise you, and my favour will follow you; think of your end, and oppress not the poor; so your name shall remain when all else of you is gone.”

Amritsar, September 18
Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) has declared the results of MA (public administration) Part-I and II, MA (Hindi) Part I and II, bachelor of physical education and postgraduate diploma in business management examinations held in April 2007.

While Ramit Kumar stood first in MA-I (public administration), Jagjit Singh was second. Simlarly in MA-II, Umesh R Yadav topped with 578 marks, while Kuljeet Kaur secured second position.

In MA-I (Hindi), Shelly Mahajan of DAV College Amritsar was topper, while Garima Aggarwal of DAV College, Jalandhar and Jyoti Gupta were seond and third respectively.

Tajinder Kaur of HMV, Jalandhar made was declared first in MA-II (Hindi), while Rajwant Maya of the same college stood second position. Deepti Dhir of Hindu Kanya College, Kapurthala was third. The results are available on the varsity website www.gnduonline.org.

Amritsar, September 18
It was the happiest moment for Prakash Chand, a resident of a remote village of Himachal Paradesh, when his grandson Ankit walked out of the hospital by himself.

Four-year-old Ankit was brought in a state of shock, after he had been run over by a trolley in the remote Chalwara village in Jawali tehsil of Himachal Pradesh. He was referred by the local physician to Pathankot from where he was further referred to Fortis Hospital, Amritsar. He suffered injuries to his vital organs. The child was operated upon by a team of doctors led by Dr Praveen Devgan.

According to Dr Devgan, senior consultant (surgery), the child could not have survived if timely action was not taken. There was even no time for arranging blood or to get any investigations done. The entire surgery involved repair of RT lobe of the liver and splenectomy was done in a record time of 20 minutes.