|
|
|
|
No traffic lights at varsity entrance
Manhandling of agriculture department officials |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Durgiana Beautification Plan
Ram Bagh clubs’ de-notification move invites AVM’s ire
Fraud in name of CBI chief: Police inaction alleged
Allowances remain unchanged since 1978
International Literacy Day
East Meets West: Kurti, leggings and chandeliers are the ‘in’ thing
Seminar on international award
‘Number 1’ sold for Rs 4 lakh in auction
Saplings planted
Rare heart surgery performed
Who wants blondes?
|
|||||||||||
|
No traffic lights at varsity entrance
Amritsar, September 8 The Chief Minister directed the officials after Assistant Professor of Kennesaw University, Georgia (USA), Harmit Singh Bedi, brought the urgency of the matter to
his notice. Bedi visited the Guru Ramdas School of Planning for a presentation in May. Following his visit to the university, he commented, “I took my life into my hands when the rickshaw-puller made a right turn on the GT Road to enter the university. The rickshaw-puller tried his best to dodge and manoeuvre against the approaching fast and heavy automobile vehicles. I had to wave with arms gesturing the fast approaching vehicles to stop so that the rickshaw-puller could enter the campus of
the university.” He was astonished to find that although thousands of students, hundreds of university employees and parents of the students visited the campus daily, yet no arrangement was made for their safe entry into it. According to him, it was amazing neither the university higher-ups nor the district administration insisted on finding a safe passage for the students, their parents and university officials. The CM directed the officials to install traffic signals, proper traffic markings and signs to manage the flow of traffic, provide safety to pedestrians, slow, manual vehicles and automobiles. The US professor stressed that the paraphernalia must be installed at the place before a major fatal accident took place at the site. Deputy Commissioner Kahn Singh Pannu said he had directed the Municipal Corporation to expeditiously install traffic signals, proper marking and other relevant arrangements to manage the flow of heavy and normal traffic on the road. |
|
Manhandling of agriculture department officials
Amritsar, September 8 The Ajnala police have booked Varinder Sareen, alias, Kale Shah, the accused dealer involved in selling pesticides without authorisation, and his two sons Subash Sareen and Amit Sareen and several unidentified persons for assault or use of criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duties and wrongful confinement of agriculture officials. The case was registered after the enquiry conducted by SP (D), on the directions of the district police chief. Dr Paramjit Singh Sandhu, Chief Agriculture Officer, Amritsar, said the main objective of the rally was to organise all the farmer organisations and spread awareness, besides seeking immediate intervention of the state government, in stopping political inference in the work of the Agriculture Department. He pointed out that the department was working hard to provide every possible help and facilities to farmers reeling under
severe debt. He said the government should order immediate cancellation of the license of pesticide dealers who interfere in the work of the department and
manhandle them. Various farmer organisations have condemned the incident and the negative role of an Akali MLA. The accused were close supporters of the MLA who was also present when the incident took place. They also demanded strict action against the MLA and his supporters. The agriculture officials said the government should help in creating such an environment, which boosts the morale of the department officials who were low in confidence after the incident. He added that the incident was just the tip of the iceberg, given the actual conditions in which these officials have to perform their duties. |
|
|
Durgiana Beautification Plan
Amritsar, September 8 In a missive to the DC, Kahan Singh Pannu, joint secretary and spokesman for the DMC Harish Taneja has urged him to take personal initiative for directing the officials of the Improvement Trust to complete the beautification project within a specified time frame. He said the DC should fix the responsibility on the officials who had been assigned the job. Taneja, while talking to The Tribune, rued that even though Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia had directed the DC to take up the project on priority basis
during a meeting held in the city on August 29 but nothing had been done so far in this regard. He said even though the Chief Minister had sanctioned a grant of Rs 37 crore and the amount was lying with the Deputy Director, Local Bodies, but the process of paying compensation to the shop owners to be evacuated from the site had not been completed till date. The DMC spokesman said during the meeting Pannu had also assured the committee members that the work for paying compensation to the shop owners would be started within a day or two. He urged the DC and the higher police officials to shift police chowki situated in the shopping complex and a meeting in this regard was also held with the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, to provide the required land near the Gol Bagh for setting up the same. But nothing concrete had been done so far. The DC, K.S. Pannu, could not be contacted for his views on the issue. Rajindermohan Singh Chhina, who has recently joined as the Chairman of the Improvement Trust, had deputed three official Rajesh Kumar, Revenue Patwari, Improvement Trust, Kuldeep Singh, Kanungo, and Paramjit Singh, Collector, to settle the claims of 37 shopkeepers in the area. These officials assured that they would soon prepare the report and submit it to the Chairman of the trust . The committee had also visited the shrine to identify the shopkeepers and the building owners to be paid compensation. Taneja said the issue of setting up a water treatment plant in the sarovar of the complex was lying pending with the state government. He said they had taken up the issue with the CM during the meeting but he told them that he (CM) had not received any such file from the Sewerage Board. He said they had taken up the matter with the Chairman ,Sewerage Board ,Dr Baldev Raj Chawla, who had assured them that he would clear the file to be sent to the CM for further necessary action. |
|
Ram Bagh clubs’ de-notification move invites AVM’s ire
Amritsar, September 8 In a communiqué to the PM, Amrit Lal Manan, General Secretary of the association said if this trend and the trick of hoodwinking top authorities was not checked, the rich heritage belonging to legendary Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh would end.
Meanwhile, the Punjab State Lawn Tennis Association, (PSLTA), which has been running its coaching academy in the garden for the last 89 years, led by Charanjit Singh Chadda, honorary secretary of the association, also urged the ASI not to forcibly evict them as it would destroy a premier coaching academy meant for training children. Chadda, along with other office bearers, in a press conference here today, pointed out that although there was no building and monument in the premises of the academy that the ASI wanted to “renovate or protect”, the ASI was ready to maintain the complex besides making whatever changes required by the archeological department. It is pertinent to mention that three clubs, Amritsar, Services and Lumsden Clubs, of the British era, situated in the Ram Bagh Gardens, had also urged Union Minister of Tourism Kumari Selja to get the area under their jurisdiction de-notified on the lines of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panaroma, constructed recently in the protected area. Selja wrote to the Prime Minister, who also holds the charge of Department of Culture and Archaeology, urging him to look into the representation of the three clubs seeking de-notification of the 76 kanals under their control, out of the 718.12 kanals declared protected. The clubs, in their representation, had pointed out that the clubs were set up in the historic Ram Bagh about 100 years ago and there was no heritage or historical building in their possession. They said they were ready to surrender any building or monument of national importance coming under the notified heritage building, pertaining to the summer palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Mannan pointed out that the Government of India has declared the summer palace as a heritage site and it was to be handed over to the Archeological Survey of India. He said the high court verdict clearly directed the clubs to vacate the site so that the ASI could take over and restore the heritage garden-cum-structure to its original shape and maintain the same as per conservation standards. |
|
DC bent upon weeding out congress grass
Amritsar, September 8 Congress grass has virtually turned to be a nuisance as it has covered most of the vacant spaces in the Northern region and a large chunk of population is allergic to it one or the other way. The congress grass plant was considered to be one of the most devastating weeds across the world even as most of the countries and governments have failed to contain its proliferation despite
pumping in billions of dollars on congress grass elimination programmes the world over. It was a different matter that such programmes were still on with a limited degree of success. In the same light, the Punjab Agriculture Department has started a programme to educate farmers regarding elimination of the dreaded weed, called “Gajar Booti” with the help of a fodder cutting machine, which, was said to be an effective tool against proliferation of the weed. In fact, the very idea to use a fodder cutting machine for destruction of the weed was said to have been conceived by the Amritsar Deputy Commissioner K.S. Pannu. Interestingly, it was Pannu who demonstrated the weed-cutting method by using the machine and driving a tractor at Nag Khurd village near Majitha today. According to Pannu, the fodder cutting machine was put to use particularly in respect of the cutting of such a dreaded weed for the first time in the state, owing to the over-growth of the weed leading to increasing incidence of skin diseases and other allergies among people. “In fact, we want that people should be experimenting with new methods to eradicate the weed. Nearly two dozen fodder cutting machines would be put to use by the agriculture department to cut the weed at different places in the district,” he said. According to Mohinder Singh, a farmer, the new method was seemingly more effective particularly when Punjab was facing shortage of labour. He said cutting of weed before maturity of its seeds would ultimately lead to a dip in its growth rate
in rural areas. |
|
Fraud in name of CBI chief: Police inaction alleged
Amritsar, September 8 Ninad Sharma and Nipun Sharma, both owners of Prudence Machine Company, had allegedly cheated Dilip Kumar of Bhawani Nagar of the city on the pretext that they would get his land vacated from the police as their uncle R.K. Sharma is the CBI chief. A case under section 420 of the IPC has been registered against Sharma brothers on July 3 on
the basis of a video clipping in which the accused had admitted to taking
the money from the complainant. Alleging police inaction, Dilip Kumar said the accused had applied for anticipatory bail in the high court, which rejected their pleas saying that effective interrogation of a suspected person was of tremendous advantage in getting out useful information and also materials, which would have been concealed. Inspector Vikram Sharma, SHO, A Division police station, said he would be able to comment only after going into the details as he had recently been transferred to the police station. While detailing, the complainant alleged that the accused had promised to get the land vacated without any legal fight as they had been able to resolve such property issues through their uncle. He said he along with his partners in the land deal gave the amount to the two accused in the presence of several responsible persons, including his father-in-law Dr B.R. Hastir, Chairman of the All-India Terrorist Victims’ Association. Dalip said they shot a video clipping of their interaction with the accused through a mobile phone camera as they had failed to get the land vacated in the stipulated period and were dithering on returning the money. He urged the senior police authorities to arrest the accused, who would have likely defrauded some other persons in the same manner. |
|
Allowances remain unchanged since 1978
Amritsar, September 8 Chairman of the district unit of the PPPWA Sukhdev Singh Chhina said former Punjab Police employees were offered revised grades from August 1, 2009, while serving employees were extended the same grade from January 1, 2006. He said the disparity must be removed immediately. Interestingly, Rs 20 per month conveyance allowance for serving constables and head constables and Rs 90 for Assistance Sub-Inspector, Sub-Inspector and Inspector (non-gazetted officers), which was fixed on January 1, 1978, were still being offered despite the fact that price of oil had skyrocketed since then. Chhina added that in spite of the fact that pay was revised thrice since 1978, conveyance allowance remained unchanged. The conveyance allowance being offered to Class IV employees in the civil department was Rs 70 per month. Similarly, Rs 25 per month kit maintenance allowance for constables and head constables and Rs 40 for non-gazetted officers had not been hiked since 1978. Executive clerical staff of the Punjab Police used to be paid Rs 20 special pay when their monthly salary was Rs 17. Presently, they were still being paid special pay of Rs 20 without any revision. Chhina said there was urgent need to revise the allowances and introduce parity among the employees to remove their grievances. |
|
Glum entry to holy city leaves commuters aghast
Amritsar, September 8 A software Engineer at Chandigarh, Rajinder Singh, was shattered by the painstaking efforts he had to put in to reach the Golden Temple after entering the city from New Amritsar. He, along with his family, came to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple in a four wheeler. “The drive from Chandigarh to Amritsar was smooth and hassle free. However, the moment we entered the city, we were dejected to find unregulated traffic and the inch by inch struggle to move forward, left us fuming,” he said, adding that it seemed that a free hand was given to all. Moving ahead did not solve the traffic problem. The scene around the bus stand, especially entry and exit points of it, presented a picture of neglect and mismanagement. Auto drivers and rickshaw pullers clogged the road in hordes in order to outdo one other to bag the customer first. It resulted in chaos and confusion. Under-construction elevated road provides enough open space in between the road that the drivers even of heavy vehicles do not mind in breaking the rule to speed their way up. In their hurry, they place the lives of others in danger and blatantly violate the traffic rules. An engineer Amarjeet Singh Bhatia said voids were visible from Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) slabs perched on supporting columns which could be dangerous. While from several spots, reinforcement parts were visible in RCC like iron rods and from them dangerously lurking small stone size mixture of cement, sand and crasher. Unmindful of safety of passers-by, large concrete sills with screws and nails, about four to six inches long, were placed on the sides of the road. They could prove fatal. However, the authorities have turned blind eye, alleged a resident of Hussainpura Sukhwant Singh. Repeated attempts to contact DSP (traffic) Gurmeet Singh proved futile. |
|
International Literacy Day
Amritsar, September 8 To highlight the importance of literacy to students, communities and societies, International Literacy Day was celebrated at Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary Public School here which was inaugurated by Dr Sukhbir Kaur Mahal, Principal, Khalsa College for Women. Earlier, she was accorded warm welcome by Principal Dharam Veer Singh. Speaking on the occasion, the chief guest in her speech stressed the need for continuing vigorous efforts to achieve the ultimate goal of eradicating illiteracy. She said literacy was an indispensable component of human resource development. She urged the students to adopt the motto of “each one, teach one”. Dr Singh pointed out that literacy was an empowered tool to eradicate poverty and a means of social and human development. He stressed on women literacy and women empowerment. Meanwhile, students of senior section presented Punjabi play “Vidya Da Chanan” and English
play “Crossing the River” based on literacy leaving the audience spellbound. Giddha by girls of senior section marked the finale to the International Literacy Day celebrations. Gurnoor Kaur of class XI regaled the audience with her Punjabi song. Charanjit Singh Chadha and Bhag Singh Ankhi, president and honorary secretary of Chief Khalsa Dewan, respectively,
honoured Dr Singh for receiving the CBSE International award, 2008. |
|
When little fingers speak loud and clear
Amritsar, September 8 An amazing example is little artist Lakshya Rana, who plays amazing tabla right at four years of age. Son of Master Samir Rana of Orissa, Lakshya studies in LKG class at the Prabhakar Senior Secondary School, Chheharta. This little legend started playing tabla at the age of two. He inherited the art from his father Samir Rana who got his education in classical music from Vihin Bihari Sahu. After that he shifted to Punjab and present is working as a music teacher in the same school and is also running his own institution of music. Lakshya got inspiration from his father and one of his disciples Kewal Bablu is a famous music director. There is no doubt that this love for classical music is in his blood because the famous Khayal Singer late Sunnanda Patnayak was his great grandmother. So Lakshya is belongs to the third generation of artists from Patnayak’s family. Samir, while talking to this reporter, said Kewal has a big hand in training Lakhya and the little champ was able to attract the people when he played tabla at the Raag Sammelan at the Ved Bhawan of Durgiana temple. He was appreciated by Puran Chand Wadali. On various occasions he was honoured by Sarhad-e-Punjab sports Club and by the Principal of his school. |
|
East Meets West: Kurti, leggings and chandeliers are the ‘in’ thing
Amritsar, September 8 As per fashion designers, fashion repeats itself after every 10 years, and today’s young lasses, who earlier hesitated to adopt western outfits, are certainly getting braver. But now as western dresses are being incorporated with Indian dresses, keeping in view the Indian taste and tradition, not only young but even married women are adopting the new trend. College girls these days wear half and quarter-length leggings with the toppling and chandelier earrings while middle aged women, who are generally fond of Indian dresses, also wear full-length leggings with the high-neck kurti. Shining shimmer cloth is now the new fabric in the market for the kurtis and formal dresses. While,
with the whole dress girls prefer long and heavy earrings embedded with pearl and stones. Navdeep Singh of Queen in Style said the atmosphere is changing and as the people are now demanding warm cloth, so demand of shimmer and velvet has increased considerably while crafty net is ordered as per demand. At the same time `Kali ` shaped kurti is the first priority of women of all ages. He said most of the people who earlier had never gone in for western dresses were now attracted to the new trend revolutionising the fashion trends. He said people of Amritsar are fast becoming modern now besides being bold enough to accept the new trends in the fashion industry and are going in for the one that suits their personality and to have a more gorgeous look. |
|
Seminar on international award
Amritsar, September 8 Addressing a seminar on the award, she said it was introduced in the United Kingdom in 1956 as the Duke of Edinburgh Award and in 1962 in India. She said the award reached young people of more than 100 countries and was known as International Award for Young People in India.
It aimed to provide worthwhile leisure activities and voluntary service as a challenge to the individuals to discover the satisfaction of achievement. Appreciating the efforts of Spring Dale School, she announced the school to be a nodal centre for training and facilitation of award scheme in
the belt. |
|
‘Number 1’ sold for Rs 4 lakh in auction
Amritsar, September 8 The proud claimant offered Rs 4 lakh for the VIP number under BD series. The number 01 went to one Palwinder Singh. According to sources in the DTO office, the auction for the VIP special numbers opened at Rs one lakh and ended up to its allottee within five minutes. The bid opened at Rs 1 lakh, the next bidder raised it to Rs 2 lakh and finally it ended at Rs 4 lakh. This is the first time that the DTO here sold the number at such a hefty price. The other numbers also brought in another Rs 5.11 lakh. This is a new root to earn money for the cash starved exchequer of the state government. According to Manmohan Singh Kang, DTO, more than 70 people turned up at the auction venue and were vying to outdo each other to acquire the special number for their vehicle. The auction was held in the presence of B. S. Dhaliwal, DTO Hoshiarpur and Sandeep Rishi, SDM. |
|
Saplings planted
Amritsar, September 8 The schools where saplings were planted are Sacred Heart Convent School, Government Senior Secondary School and MGKM College, Majitha. Deputy General Manager and Circle Head, PNB, A.R Mishra was the chief guest. Emphasising on the significance of plants in the current age, he exhorted each student to plant at least a sapling and maintain them to ensure their growth. |
|
|
Rare heart surgery performed
Amritsar, September 8 He suffered a heart attack in 1992 and had a coronary angiogram after which he was virtually living on medicines. However, as symptoms became severe and a repeated angiography was done. Singh consulted a number of reputed hospitals and doctors who advised against operation due to small artery. The ray of hope came when his son Dr Parveen Singh, who himself a cardiologist, consulted Dr Rakesh Sudan of the hospital. Dr Sudan decided to take the challenge and operate upon Singh. He received four bypasses, including use of internal mammary artery. He had very small diffused
calcified coronaries. |
|
|
The 24-year-old model-turned actor and former girlfriend of Formula One racer Jenson Button, said that though she had the time of her life shooting for the Imtiaz Ali directed movie but believes it is unlikely that she will get chance to appear in other Indian movies. Brudenell Bruce played Khan’s love interest and appeared in hit song Twist said, “I would really like to do another Bollywood film, but unfortunately, I have blonde hair and fair skin and there aren’t that many parts out there for people who look like that.” The actor now wants to do a “big Hollywood period drama” with Australian superstar Russell Crowe. — PTI
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Bollywood has no place for foreign actors Actor Florence Brudenell-Bruce,
who played Saif Ali Khan’s Swiss girlfriend in Love Aaj Kal, has
accused Bollywood of having no place for blonde beauties.