Amritsar, September 18
The recent incident of a speeding minibus overturning on a road in the heart of the holy city, that, too, in the morning, must be an eye opener for one and all.

Overloaded buses, autos, minibuses ferrying passengers and schoolchildren, overloaded trucks, canters and tractor-trolleys could effortlessly be spotted in and around the city.

The accident must serve as an eye opener for the administration, said a citizen, Gurmeet Singh, adding that the accident on Thursday morning could have snuffed out more precious lives had it occurred few hours later in the day. The bridge bears the maximum number of vehicles as it connects the new city with the walled one and leads to the Golden Temple.

He said unregulated traffic, rampant encroachments and brazen violation of traffic norms had been signalling towards the ominous signs of tragedy to occur. “Look at auto-rickshaws packed to their capacity with passengers and school students for ferrying them.”

He said Indian sensibility was limited only to awaken during the time of exigency and as the time pass everything was forgotten so easily as nothing ever had occurred at all.

A city resident, Pushpindr Kaur, said what to talk about overloaded and overcrowded automobile vehicles being driven with impunity on roads, but animals-driven carts were also overloaded caring two hoots for speechless animals.

She opined that at least the SGPC must lead by example by adhering to the transport norms as it is running the bus service free of cost for the pilgrims.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has been plying a fleet of four 32-seater buses for ferrying pilgrims to and fro from the Golden Temple to railway station daily.

President of the SGPC Avtar Singh said employees of the committee were regularly trying to limit the number of passengers in the buses but to no avail. Passengers force their entry into the vehicles in the morning as they have to catch their trains, he said, adding that moreover they could not force norms on devotees. However, he added that if need be then one more bus would be added on the route.

A devotee from Ajmer, Gurcharan Singh, said if the SGPC had taken the job on itself of dropping and taking the devotees from the railway station, then the effort must not be half-hearted.

Shopkeepers near the Golden Temple allege that drivers of the free bus service drive recklessly ignoring the fact that lanes are congested and a minor error can lead to fatal loss. Drivers are of the view that passengers do not heed to their warnings of no space in the vehicles and keep boarding it though they have to dangle at doorsteps.

However, it is yet to be seen what lessons are learnt by the district administration, in general, and the the district transport office, in particular, following the accident caused by human error.

Amritsar, September 18
The Langoor Mela will start tomorrow and about 5,000 “langoors” will take the blessings of Lord Hanuman this year while 1,000 people will dress up as Hanuman during the nine-day-long Navratra festivities to be organised at Bara Hanuman Mandir in the historic Durgiana Temple complex.

The Durgiana Managing Committee had made elaborate arrangements for the devotees’ comfortable stay in the Mata Dhanwant Kaur Dharamshala, besides making arrangements for langar.

Children dressed as langoors, dancing to the beats of drums in a procession passing through different parts of the town, will mark the festivities.

In bright red outfits, with silver and golden trimmings, conical caps, faces smeared with fuller’s earth with long tails and silver-coloured staffs, children dressed as langoors dance for all nine days of Navratras. The temple reportedly has the biggest idol of Lord Hanuman.

The reclining posture of the idol of Lord Hanuman in the temple can be found nowhere in the world except Hanuman Gadi in Ayodhya.

Giving detail of arrangements, Harish Taneja, Sanjeev Kapoor and Lalit said they were expecting 5,000 “langoors” this year besides about 1,000 people dressed up as Hanuman. More than 2,000 dresses of Hanuman had been distributed by the DMC, while about 3,000 langoor dresses purchased by people from outside.

Giving details of the Langoor Mela, Surinder Kumar Billa, president of the All-India Hindu Shiv Sena, said the temple of Bada Hanuman was built at a place where twin sons of Lord Rama - Luv and Kush - lived in exile with their mother Sita and captured the Ashwamedha horse of the Ashwamedha Yajna performed by Lord Rama to stake his claim over the territories where the horse set foot.

Hanuman, who came to defend the horse, was taken prisoner by the twins and tied to a banyan tree. Later, a temple was built at the place. To commemorate this, couples still tie a red thread on the ancient tree.

The “langoors” remain barefoot all the 10 days and sleep on the floor. On the first day, they bring some sweets, coconut and flowers after seeking blessings from the head priest.

Many childless devotees, irrespective of religion, don the garb of langoors to seek Lord Hanuman’s blessings for the birth of a child, while many children can be seen wearing the langoor dress to show their gratitude towards him.

On their part, the parents or the devotees sleep on floor, observe fast, avoid footwear, eat vegetarian food uncut with knife and recite verses from the the Ramayana during the entire period.

The mela concludes with Dasehra when “langoors” finally take off their langoor outfits near the banyan tree. In case of illness, only “vhibhuti” from the temple is used for cure.

Mothers gifted with a child after prayers at the temple untie the thread on the ancient tree only after the fulfilment of their wish.

Amritsar, September 18
The police yesterday took a three-day police remand of four activists of the Punjab Students Union (PSU) for staging violent protest in Jalianwala Wala Bagh on February 12. The activists had already been arrested in a separate case for causing inconvenience to public by blocking traffic under section 307 of the IPC on September 9.

The accused are Dharminder Singh Patran, Rajinder Singh, Harpreet Singh and Mohinder Singh. They were protesting against the registration of a case against their state leaders and withdrawal of free bus pass facility to students on the Bhandari bridge.

Earlier, the activists of the Bharat Naujawan Sabha (BNS) and the Punjab Students Union (PSU) protesting changes in original structure and design of the Jallianwala Bagh had organised a protest in front of the Jalianwala Bagh on February 12. They had damaged a newly constructed open-air stage for the installation of a light and sound system during the protest. It had forced the police to lathi-charge them.

Subsequently, the police had registered a case at B-Division police station against unidentified persons. However, the police yesterday identified them as the same culpable persons.

President of the PSU Gurmikh Singh Maan flayed the police action and said it was using pressure tactics to make the organisation follow the diktats of the present SAD-BJP government. He informed that a state-level meeting of the committee had been called on September 19 to chalk out future course of action.

Amritsar, September 18
Pitching up its voice for preparing a master plan for the overall development of the holy city, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), has set up a CII City development Core Group - “Amritsar First” - for the overall development of the city.

Announcing this during an interactive session with the Municipal Corporation, Commissioner D P S Kharbanda, Gunbir Singh, Chairman, CII Punjab State Council, said the group would act as a sort of think tank which would debate about the issues concerning the city and its residents and take up the matter with the concerned authorities.

He said the group contains members from cross sections of society, including businessmen, housewives, architects, social workers etc.

“The core group is a step taken by the concerned citizens of Amritsar to carry forward the agenda of city development. The group will act as a think tank and will push for the resolution of issues concerning the citizens of Amritsar,” said Gunbir.

Presenting a five point agenda to the commissioner, Gunbir said one of the main concerns of the citizens include lack of a proper master plan which was resulting in the mushrooming up of haphazard constructions.

Other issues which were presented before Kharbanda, include slow pace of infrastructural development, environmental and civic affairs, traffic management of the city, besides proper maintenance of industrial focal points.

Speaking on the occasion, the commissioner welcomed the step taken by CII and assured full support in implementing the issues raised.

He said there was utmost need for the citizens of Amritsar to take steps forward and work with the government in implementing issues. He added that the Punjab Government was preparing a master plan for city development in consultation with Malaysian-based company.

He also assured them that any suggestion given by the Core Group, regarding city beautification, would be incorporated in the plan.

He pointed out that NGOs and other bodies should come forward to educate people on environmental issues. He urged industrialists to adopt parks in the focal point area for its upkeep and maintenance.

The interactive session was attended by delegates from diverse sectors, including textile, hosiery, lathe and machine tool industry of the Amritsar region.

Amritsar, September 18
Young students are fast adopting the western culture and forgetting their own heritage and the glory of traditions but there are exceptions for every trend and BBK DAV College for Women, which accumulates precious legacy on its campus, with the name of Heritage Centre, is a case in point.

The Heritage Centre was a decade ago, at the time of Principal J. Kackria. At that time, they had a limited treasure but now the centre has almost all things related to the villages of old Punjab and the college is also planning to display the age-old artifacts for students, while the stuff is regularly displayed at Guru Nanak Dev University’s exhibition every year.

Rupinder Kaur, Head of the centre, said the centre was born a decade ago but they are also contributing proper time to this unique project so that they could save the heritage and spread the awareness.

She said in the centre they have sandook (old boxes), charkha, peedi (little stools), phulkari, traditional dresses, utensils (made of copper), beds, and agricultural implements like datri and kulhadi etc.

All these things had been gathered from villages and old people. Some people donated it while the college bought stuff from some others.

Principal Dr Neelam Kamra said they are planning to construct a more advanced, state of the art heritage center in a traditional house in which they will create the traditional hammam ghar (bathroom), chullah-chaunka (traditional kitchen) and a bed room including traditional bed (palang).

She informed that they would establish a house which would display traditional furniture not only for students but also for outsiders. She said these items would be covered by glass for their safety and preservation. She said the dummy of the heritage centre has been completed and the work on the project would be completed soon.

Amritsar, September 18
Even as India is the largest importer of almonds from USA, the present tax duty on pistachios has imposed a great restriction in trade with the latter.

Revealing this, Gunbir Singh, Chairman CII Punjab State Council urged the delegation led by Blair Hall Minister, Counselor on Economic Affairs, US Embassy, to take up the issue with the authorities concerned.

Gunbir, during an interactive session with the delegation here, talked of the current scenario in Punjab with regard to the significant relationship between USA and India.

While detailing the chairman, he said India imports 17 percent of the produce of almonds from the US but the present tax duty on pistachios has imposed restriction on its import from the country. He said although at present a major part of almond, pistachios and other dry fruits are being imported from Iran and Afghanistan, there was a huge potential of its import from America also. He stressed on the need for further collaboration between the US and Punjab on agro farming technology and agro processing.

Speaking on the occasion, Blair Hall said in the recent past there has been a significant improvement in the relations between India and USA. India has emerged well from recession and there is a need for strategic tie-ups in the field of trade, particularly in the use of Clean Energy and energy efficiency equipments as this is the area in which technology can be transferred from USA.

He further said health care is another area where India and USA can work together as there is ever an increasing demand for health care products.

Matthew K Bunt, Second Secretary to US Embassy, said the US Embassy has taken various steps for the smooth facilitation of VISA for USA. He said for granting US visa, safe border and open door policy was followed so that people should not be deprived of a US visa.

Amritsar, September 18
The Union Government must announce Punjab to be a special agriculture zone and provide relevant funds to the state in this regard, demanded patron of the Youth Akali Dal and former cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia.

He was speaking at the appointment of Sukhwinder Singh Goldy as Chairman, Market Committee, Mehta, here today. He assured the new Chairman all help from the state government to develop the Vallah grain market into a model one in the state.

He said market committees, apart from providing basic infrastructure, assist in providing real value of farm produce to the farmers, in consonance with labourers and commission agents.

Majithia said high cost of investment in agriculture and stagnation in production had driven the enterprising farmers of the state to resort to extreme steps.

He said the prime objective of the SAD-BJP government in offering free electricity to farmers was to share the burden of high cost.

He opined that the farmers of Punjab had steadfastly ensured replenishment of granaries of the country and on this count, the state deserved to be announced a special agriculture zone.

He said the coalition government introduced numerous social schemes like Atta-Dal scheme, rural water supply scheme, welfare schemes for weaker sections, urban development and many more in the state.

Among others, MLA, Beas, Manjinder Singh Kang, MLA, Jandiala, Guru Malkiat Singh, MLA, Verka, Dr Dalbir Singh, also spoke.