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Amritsar finally heading to be congestion-free city |
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Welfare club uses CFL power to pay tributes to Bhagat Singh
Manholes: Either too high or too low
Swaran Shatabdi in for a revamp, Omaxe on the job
Tubewell Trouble
NAAC team to visit govt college
Encroached slip roads, islands add to traffic chaos
Seminar on Punjabi culture inaugurated
Woman dies
Snatchers bring bad name to city as tourist destination
Santokh Singh’s ‘Yadon Bhari Changer’ released
Dhindsa pays obeisance at Golden Temple
World Water Day
Young World
Hold national hockey tourney to raise standard: Olympian
Something divine
Fresh facts
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Amritsar finally heading to be congestion-free city
Amritsar, March 23 Going by the prevailing chaotic scene, particularly from traffic point of view, it was yet to be seen whether the “clean city” move initiated by different government bodies proved to be effective or it will end up just as another bunch of usual and oft-repeated announcements and claims. Though the administration has been claiming that it had initiated a move to free Amritsar from congestion, there was hardly any outcome with traffic snarls at all important places greeting over 1.5 lakh tourists visiting the holy city from all over the world. The reason behind such moves going awry was that these steps have mainly been targeting gullible tourists - often causing acute inconvenience to them - and not local people, particularly influential shopkeepers who allegedly park their vehicles at their will, throwing the ill-implemented norms to the wind. For instance, tourists heading for the Golden Temple were forced to park their vehicles at privately managed parking lots near Dharam Singh Market where hefty parking fee was allegedly charged from them, while locals and shopkeepers were generally allowed to take and park their vehicles beyond this point. “Now we have initiated a drive to remove encroachments by March 29, particularly in the narrow lanes and roads leading to the Golden Temple. People have been asked to remove encroachments from near religious deras, from in front of shops, green belts, roadsides, business organisations and in front of shops which have been choking traffic,” said Amritsar Police Commissioner Varinder Kumar, Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu, Amritsar Improvement Trust Administrator M.P. Arora and MC Commissioner D.P.S. Kharbanda. “Traffic violators will be dealt with sternly. Owners of hotels, marriage palaces, educational institutes,
hospitals, business organisations and tuition houses have been asked to make adequate arrangements for parking in their respective areas. The stretch from Hall Bazaar to the Golden Temple is being
made a no-traffic zone,” said Varinder Kumar. |
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Welfare club uses CFL power to pay tributes to Bhagat Singh
Amritsar, March 23 Club president Gurinder Singh said they had plans to distribute around 10,000 CFL bulbs in those areas where there was either extra consumption or wastage of electricity among to people belonging to a humble background. Club members had calculated that after spending Rs 6.5 lakh on 10,000 CFL bulbs, they have contributed to preserve 2.37 crore units, thereby saving electricity worth around Rs 8.31 crore. “We would carry on this project till April 23 from door to door in some parts of the city. We have formed a special team of our members for the purpose. We would try to replace the ordinary bulbs with CFLs,” said Gurinder Singh. “Actually, this unique idea was conceptualised to attract the attention of people as well as politicians. If politicians distributed CFLs instead of distributing clothes, blankets and even cash among people for propaganda, how helpful would it be to provide a double benefit,” said Sarbjit Singh Shanti, vice-president of the club. |
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Manholes: Either too high or too low
Amritsar, March 23 Be it a posh area like Lawrence Road or Indira Colony, Majitha Road, falling in Ward 14, these unmanaged manholes have either been placed too low from the road level or far above the ground, thereby ending up in becoming a cause for accidents, sometimes fatal, daily. While at some places the concrete padding around the lids has come out, exposing the lids at other places, the entire lid is seen caved in. The accidents mostly take place when commuters moving on their vehicles suddenly notice the broken lids or the ones placed below the road level and get little time to negotiate them. The one which is almost in the middle of Lawrence Road is a prime example. A fruit vendor on Lawrence Road testified that at least 50 commuters, mostly two-wheeler riders, have fallen victim to his manhole whose lid must not be less than one foot low from the road level. An official, who pleaded anonymity, said, “What’s
wrong if five to six lids out of hundreds in the city are damaged? One must look at the positive side of the city’s development.” This MC official was probably monitoring the road projects. While most contractors in different wards have feigned ignorance regarding these mishaps, some tried to defend themselves saying the lids were damaged
due to road rollers during the road projects. Some even come up with an argument that the lids are bound to be damaged due to the
heavy volume of traffic. This needs frequent maintenance, but who cares in the MC here,” said a contractor. Another contractor said it was the nexus between MC officials and some contractors who always manage to grab the contract and naturally, the services offered by them would have to be “compromised” if they have to look after the interests of MC officials. |
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Swaran Shatabdi in for a revamp, Omaxe on the job
Amritsar, March 23 So the next journey to Delhi by this train would be a difference experience and that too at no extra cost. While the exterior of the train has been wrapped with vinyl to give it a fresh look, the mandatory facilities like clean toilets, fire retardant synthetic matting in the door area and hollow matting for the vestibule area, soap and tissue dispensers at wash basins and tissue paper would be must haves in Eight-member housekeeping staff would be there throughout the journey. To keep the passengers occupied during their journey, innovative ideas like providing paint books and crayons to young travellers and stuffed toys to the toddlers would be an added complimentary service. Meanwhile, adults Elaborating further, Avneet Soni, Director, Omaxe, said the company had spent around Rs 2 crore to give the train a new look and added facilities. “Now renovating its seats and fixing LCDs at the back rest would be the next step. Apart from this, we would probably take over the responsibility of food preparation after having a dialogue with the railway authorities. We would be introducing various games and contests for the passengers,” said Soni. Soni said this arrangement had been handed over to the company for six months, extendable up to two years. Upgrade
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Tubewell Trouble
Amritsar, March 23 Reason - the tubewell installed in the area is waiting for inauguration even after its installation about six months back. The problem compounded when another tubewell at nearby Dashmesh Avenue went out of order after a fault arose more than a month ago. While the MC authorities blamed it on some technical fault, the residents of the area described it as the result of political wrangling. Interestingly, the councillor of the area, Sunil Datti, is a former Mayor belonging to the Congress during previous regime. Baldev Raj, a resident, said residents were agitated and had met the authorities, but nothing had been done so far. He said frequent power disruptions had added to their woes. “People wake up early for fetching water, but power cuts during early hours leave them high and dry,” said resident Bishan Dass. However, the MC authorities said the tubewell could not be operationalised due to some technical snag, which would be repaired soon. |
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NAAC team to visit govt college
Tarn Taran, March 23 The college would
get accredited with the NAAC. The college was started in 1966 as a private enterprise and was taken over by the Punjab Government in 1974. This is the only government co-education college catering to the needs of the students of the area. |
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Encroached slip roads, islands add to traffic chaos
Amritsar, March 23 The dividers, built specifically to distinguish between the slip roads and the main road, are being used for sitting purposes. The small dividers play a vital role in managing traffic as they provide uninterrupted passage to vehicles, ensuring they are not required to wait at intersections for green signals. A senior citizen, Naresh Johar, squarely blamed the authorities for their negligence towards maintaining roads. The number of vehicles, residents, tourists and pilgrims has steadily been increasing, but the width of the main roads of the city had not been kept the same. Instead, they have been reduced, thanks to encroachments. The tendency has gobbled up several dividers. Though the local administration is putting together its resources and knowhow to overcome the traffic chaos, they would have to reconsider laying dividers to facilitate a smooth flow of traffic. Johar pointed towards dividers located at select intersections. The fact that the administration is completely oblivious of their significance can be judged from their partial removal and encroachment. The busy Putalighar Chowk crossing is one of the fortunate intersections which boasts of all four dividers. However, all are poorly maintained. They do not have a green cover on them and paint seems to have worn out long ago. Poor maintenance of them has resulted in encroachments. The intersection falls on the GT Road. However, a large number of vehicles coming from Railway Road are to turn towards Gurdwara Pipli Sahib and nearby localities. Due to encroachments on the left side of the island, they cannot proceed to their left or right but have to wait for their turn at the traffic lights. Similarly, vehicles coming from Gurdwara Pipli Sahib side could not turn left to proceed to Khalsa College and Guru Nanak Dev University. The same is the case with vehicles coming from GND varsity, turning to Amritsar cantonment and the traffic coming from the cantonment to turn to Railway Road. Another busy intersection is at Lawrence Road. It has only one divider while the rest three have vanished with the passage of time. The solitary divider is well maintained and free of encroachment. Consequently, traffic coming from SSSS Chowk to turn to Madan Mohan Malviya Road does not need to wait for it’s turn for a green signal and is always found free of traffic jam. In the absence of dividers, vehicles intending to proceed straight also occupy the left and right flanks. Resultantly, the vehicles intending to take left and right side are caught in traffic jams. Maha Singh Gate, popularly known as Suraj Cinema Chowk, has only three recently-constructed dividers. All of them are in a pitiable condition. MC Commissioner D.P.S. Kharbanda said recently the corporation, along with other agencies of the district administration, had launched an intensive campaign to remove encroachments. He said slip roads would be restored for the smooth functioning of the traffic. |
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Seminar on Punjabi culture inaugurated
Amritsar, March 23 They were speaking here today at the inaugural day of the two-day national seminar on “Punjabi culture: Current challenges” organised by Guru Nanak Dev University under the auspices of its School of Punjabi Studies. In his keynote address, Dr Sukhdev Singh Khera said owing to globalisation, Punjab was passing through a phase of economic recession. The new technologies and media also created a consumer culture. Suicides by debt-ridden farmers, unemployment, immigration, corruption, increase in crime, incidents of violence, female foeticide, polluted environment and drug addiction were the other aspects of erosion of Punjabi culture. In these circumstances, the growth of a counter-culture was feared. He said, “Undoubtedly we have a rich cultural heritage and the need of the hour is to re-read the traditional knowledge to face the challenges posed by the electronic media.” Prof A.S. Brar, Vice-Chancellor, who presided over the inaugural session, opined that there was no threat to Punjabi culture, only the rapid advancement in science and technology had created an imbalance between the social sciences, languages and literature; and science and technology. The universities should pay more attention to social sciences along with science and technology so that the balance could remain intact, he added. The Vice-Chancellor said the university was paying more attention to the development of the Punjabi language, literature and culture. Dr Jagbir Singh, a former professor of Delhi University, said, “We are adopting science and technology due to professional obligation. It only created a materialistic lust. To face the current challenges to the Punjabi culture, we should follow the knowledge tradition of our rich heritage.” |
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Woman dies
Tarn Taran, March 23 Jasmit was married only 14 months back with Kuldeep Singh, alias Deepa. She had a three-month-old daughter. New SMO
Tarn Taran, March 23 |
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Snatchers bring bad name to city as tourist destination
Amritsar, March 23 Courtesy: the deteriodated law and order situation in the district. Nevertheless, day before yesterday, at about 9 pm, Tina was riding a cycle rickshaw on Madan Mohan Malviya Road when two motorcycle-borne youths snatched her purse and fled. Her attempt to stop the miscreants from stealing her purse, when they pulled its strings, resulted in her falling down from the moving rickshaw and being dragged on the road quite some distance. Thanks to a good Samaritan, an advocate by profession, who took her to the nearby police post on his motorbike. Visibly under great shock, Tina murmured, “I will never come back
to Amritsar.” Lakha Singh, in charge, Lawrence Road police post, arranged for her medical treatment. “She received a deep injury on her right leg. She was rushed to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital and was administered first-aid. Thereafter, her guardians reached there and took her away,” said Lakha Singh. Meanwhile, a case under section 382, IPC, was registered and investigation was on. Looking back, it was found that this wasn’t the isolated case. The modus operandi of the snatchers also raised a question mark over the apparent involvement of rickshawalas. With their help, foreigners could become soft targets. During the past couple of months, a French couple, Angleth Rober and his wife Rochemin-de-La, too, became victims of snatchers on Mall Road which left them with head injuries. In another incident, a year back, an NRI woman lost her life while she was dragged on the road up to 10 feet when she tried to save her bag from the snatchers. Incidentally, most of
these cases took place in posh areas such as Mall Road and Crystal Chowk.
There is hardly any area in the city where chain snatchers have not executed their nefarious designs. Posh areas such as Ranjit Avenue, Green Avenue, Basant Avenue, Rani Ka Bagh, Medical Enclave, Mall Road, Crystal Chowk, Novelty Chowk, Majitha Road, areas around the Golden Temple, Hall Bazaar, Railway Road, Rigo Bridge and Batala Road are some of the main spots where hapless victims are targeted by these criminals.
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Santokh Singh’s ‘Yadon Bhari Changer’ released
Amritsar, March 23 In the city to launch his new literary venture “Yadon Bhari Changer,” Giani Santokh Singh advocated that prospective immigrants should not rush for abroad unless they had at least a years’ supply of resources with them. “But media reports, too, have grossly been exaggerated,” he opined. His latest book “Yadon Bhari Changer” was released by the former Akal Takht chief Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, Punjabi Writers Cooperative Society president Dr Bikram Singh Ghuman, Managing Director Dr Charanjit Singh Singh Gumtala, Principal Y.P. Gupta and Principal Amrit Lal Mannan at a function in the auditorium of the local Ashoka Senior Secondary School. —
TNS |
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Dhindsa pays obeisance at Golden Temple
Amritsar, March 23 He was of the view that cooperation of other parties would also be sought on these issues. He recalled that similar things had happened while discussing the 1984 riots in the Parliament when all parties except the Congress had come on a platform. |
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‘Save water, save environment’
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, March 23 Environmentalists urged the government to set up a forum for checking wastage of water. They pointed out that there were more than two crore tubewells for irrigation and drinking water purposes, while there was no official board to look into as to for how much time they had been running and quantity of water being extracted. They added that it was high time that the people and the government understood the urgency to save water. Deepak Babbar of Mission Aagaaz said that the “I don’t care” attitude had caused a lot of harm to our environment and if this trend continued for another couple of years, the people would have to strive hard to get a bucketful of water. Quoting some data, he said as per the reports of the World Bank, out of 5,723 blocks of India, 1,615 had been reported to have over-extracted water, 839 had already been declared as dark zones which included Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Haryana. P.S. Bhatty of the Pollution Control Committee said during a visit to various areas, it was found that the people were caring a little to save water which was being wasted in abundance in the holy city. At some places, he said public taps were left open while a number of them were out of order. At other places water was being “generously” used by the people in their houses and maid servants kept the taps flowing while washing clothes or utensils. “In the morning hours, one can easily spot that in every four out of 10 houses cars are washed with water pipes and water flows almost for 20 minutes for cleaning a car,” said Babbar. All the members showed their deep concern on the excess use of water mainly in ice factories, cloth industry (dying units), car washing centres and even RO systems and other domestic-level sources such as washing machines, utensils washing, etc.
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Young World
Amritsar, March 23 Principal Dr Satish K. Sharma congratulated all the prize winners for their efforts in bringing laurels to the institution. The annual report was also released, highlighting the achievements of the staff and the student in their respective areas. Seminar
The Department of Physical Education (Allied Teaching), Guru Nanak Dev University, would organise a two-day national workshop on “use of modern technology in health, physical education and sports” from March 27. Kalyan University Vice-Chancellor Prof A.K. Banerji would present the keynote address and Prof L.S. Sidhu, founder of anthropometry, would preside over the inaugural function. About 200 participants from different universities and colleges are expected to take part in it. University toppers
The BBK DAV College for Women acquired nine out of the top 10 positions in bachelor of design results declared by Guru Nanak Dev University. Sheena Chopra stood first in the university, while Krishma Kaur, Harleen Kaur, Sushil Kumari, Lalita Devi, Monika Mahajan, Ankisha Mehra, Ravneek Kaur and Chandanpreet Kaur secured the third to 10th positions, respectively. Lecture
Dr Parminder Singh, Dean, Faculty, Economics and Business, Guru Nanak Dev University, said globalisation created need for specialists. He was delivering a lecture on “Globalisation and Indian industrial scenario” organised by the management department of Amritsar College of Engineering and Technology. Dr Prminder Singh enlightened the students and faculty members on the impact of globalisation on Indian industry, society and individuals. |
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Hold national hockey tourney to raise standard: Olympian
Amritsar, March 23 As India came eighth out of 12 participating teams, the hockey veterans felt thorough introspection was need of the hour in order to raise the standard of the game. Hockey Olympian Col Harcharan Singh said it was disheartening to see the Indian players underperforming before the spectators who had turned up in large numbers to cheer them up. He along with Ashok Kumar, son of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand, were invited specifically to give the expert views of that day’s play for half an hour on national sports channel -
DD Sports. “We must remember that there is no luck in any examination without adequate preparation. How long can we continue sitting on old laurels,” he asked. He said unfortunately, the Hockey India has not been holding national hockey championship regularly. It was held twice in the past
10 years. The Premiere Hockey League (PHL), which used to attract young blood, was also done away with. It makes selectors job
of identification and selection of players extremely difficult as they do not find enough pool of players
to select. He suggested that the national team would have to struggle extremely hard to qualify for the 2012 Olympics to be held in London. For which the best course left is to win the Asian Games to be held later this year. Since the champion of the Asian games would automatically qualify for the Olympics. He favoured continuing with the present coach Jose Brasa of Spain. Remove the deadwood in the existing hockey team, induct young blood, show the door who did not perform in the
World Cup. Out of 12 teams, half were far ahead than the others. Tournament champion
Australia outperformed other teams in all departments of the game. The other five teams dominated the championship were Germany, the Netherlands, England, Spain and South Korea. Argentina, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and Pakistan were classified in the second block. There existed a wide gap of technical skills, physical build up of players, ball possession, lack of aggressive hockey, enthusiasm and will to perform among the players, he opined Another local who played in the 1988 Seoul Olympics Balwinder Singh Shammi said the youngsters did not perform to their potential. He said ball possession and drag flicking were the
areas where the Indian players needed to put in greater efforts. |
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Something divine
Despite having over 5,500 concerts to his credit, 200 music albums in six languages; 98 platinum and gold discs for record-breaking sales, versatile singer Anup Jalota is as modest as ever.
In Panchkula on an invitation by DPR Haryana for a devotional concert during the ongoing 'navratra' fair at Mata Mansa Devi shrine, the Phagwara (Punjab) born maestro, shares a few things. "From a humble beginning, even performing for a mere 35 rupees for a show to the present position of a devout bhajan, ghazal, playback singer, to a successful film producer, I owe it all to the training imparted by my father guru Parshotam Das Jalota, the acclaimed maestro of devotional music" He informs that none of his achievements has inspired him more than the 'Friendship Concert' series where he performed along with ghazal doyen Ghulam Ali in India Pakistan and the world over, which later resulted in an album titled 'Friendship'. "As you know, music companies that rule the market prefer to make what sells the most," he says. "After the ghazal boom came devotional music and then fusion, but accomplished singers excelled in all genres," claims Jalota. After over 30 years in music, he has now produced a film titled Sab Ka Malik Ek on the life of Shirdi Baba, which is set for release in May. "Jackie Shroff plays the lead with me in the role of a writer-singer- disciple, Das Ganu. Music is the main forte with greats like Jagjit Singh, Ghulam Ali, Pankaj Udhas and Anuradha Paudwal in the playback. And they have not charged any fee for it," he informs. " My next film 'Monika' features Divya Dutta in the lead role and is based on atrocities against women. Shooting for the other film "Tere mere phere" will commence in June. I have already made five Bhojpuri films," says Jalota. And his take on the ongoing music contests and reality shows on television? "They should be banned with immediate effect. It is mere mockery of our rich musical heritage and exploitation of a devout artiste whose fate is decided by an SMS." |
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Fresh facts
Cloves are the best natural antioxidants, which are crucial in keeping food fresh, a new study says.
Spanish researchers discovered the spice was the best antioxidant because of the high levels of phenolic compounds it contained. Antioxidants are crucial in keeping food fresh and the findings could have wide-ranging implications for the food industry. The study has been hailed as a win for the push towards more natural foods as cloves would be able to replace synthetic antioxidants, which are currently used by manufacturers to make food last longer. Professor Juana Fernández-López, from Spain's Miguel Hernández University, said cloves were a versatile spice. "Out of the five antioxidant properties tested, cloves had the highest capacity to give off hydrogen, reduced lipid peroxidation well, and was the best iron reducer," she said. "The results show that use of the natural oxidants occurring in spices used in the Mediterranean diet, or their extracts, is a viable option for the food industry, as long as the characteristics of the food product are not affected," said Fernandez-Lopez. "These substances exhibit high antioxidant capacity, and could have beneficial effects for health," she added. The study was published in the latest issue of the Flavour and Fragrance Journal. —
IANS |
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For the first time, residents of the holy city have got to see a blinking ray of hope with expectations of early removal of widespread encroachments in the otherwise chaotic city
as the district administration, police top brass and the civic bodies have
resolved in unison to initiate an effective anti-encroachment drive to make
Amritsar a clean and traffic bottleneck-free city.
Amritsar, March 23
Amritsar, March 23
Amritsar, March 23
Despite having over 5,500 concerts to his credit, 200 music albums in six languages; 98 platinum and gold discs for record-breaking sales, versatile singer Anup Jalota is as modest as ever.
In Panchkula on an invitation by DPR Haryana for a devotional concert during the ongoing
'navratra' fair at Mata Mansa Devi shrine, the Phagwara (Punjab) born maestro, shares a few things.
Cloves are the best natural antioxidants, reveals a study
