Amritsar, October 12
Throwing all norms to the winds, the biomedical waste in the government-run Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital is being disposed off in an unhygienic way just a few metres away from the gynaecology ward, posing serious health hazards to the patients visiting the hospital, especially the newborns in the ward.

The hospital authorities are throwing the waste in open ground, where it is burnt for disposal in an unhygienic way. The half-burnt biomedical waste lying on the ground could prove be a potential health hazard.

The case is no different at the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital where the hazardous waste is dumped in the Municipal Corporation’s container mixed with garbage at the back of the hospital.

According to norms stipulated by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, biomedical waste shall not be mixed with other wastes, instead it should be segregated into different containers or bags at the generation point prior to its storage and transportation to the treatment and disposal plant. It should be transported only in such vehicle authorised for the purpose by the competent authority as specified by the government.

Amritsar, October 12
State leaders, who hogged the limelight at a recent programme on protecting the girl child and her rights, seems bent upon evading more serious matters which haunt their city. The girl students of a school have been fighting for their cause - for they have been living in the most unhygienic of environs - with the district authorities.

A space, which is just 10 metres away from the main entrance of Arya Girls Senior Secondary School, Lahori Gate, in Khu Bambe Wala area in Walled City, is being used as a garbage dump which expose students of the school as well as residents living around to various diseases.

All their cries to put a stop to the abuse of this space as a garbage dump fell on the deaf ears of the officials concerned. It has been discovered that spaces around the school are being treated as garbage collection sites. The solid waste of areas like Katra Sher Singh, the Telephone Exchange, Katra Moti Ram Tikoni Park, Lohgarh Gate and up to Guru Bazaar is brought here before being transported to the solid waste management plant at Bhagtanwala.

Although ministers and top officials like Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla, Water Supply and Sewerage Board Chairman Dr Baldev Chawla, the Chief Parliamentary Secretary belong to this area, yet this smelly affair could not catch anybody’s attention. Dismayed residents and school authorities had submitted a joint representation to the President of India as well as the World Health Organisation’s office in New Delhi, but in vain.

Amritsar, October 12
Sparing a thought to ensure continuity in teaching, the Guru Nanak Dev University has decided to make the Credit Based Evaluation System mandatory from the next academic session 2011-12 in all streams.

Earlier, this new methodology was adopted on courses which were taught in the university campus only.

This decision has been taken in the academic council meeting, presided over by Vice-Chancellor Prof AS Brar, here.

The house also approved the changed syllabi for different faculties for the next academic session, for all courses being run at affiliated colleges, and at the university campus.

Prof Brar informed the house that this evaluation system has already been implemented in sciences, commerce and engineering departments of the university campus, but from the next academic session, it would be made mandatory for all courses.

According to this methodology, the student is evaluated on a 10 point scale and is awarded grades from 10 to 1.

He said the minimum pass grade will be 4.5. The students are evaluated by the same teacher who teaches them. The grades, when converted into percentile according to the conversion formula, will place our students in an advantageous position.

This system is practical and prevalent in most parts of the world.

This is based on continuous testing and evaluation and is friendly to both teachers and students. In this system, every student is supposed to give two minor and one major examination, besides a quiz based on multiple choice questions in one semester. “It is a total transparent system. Students are shown their scripts after evaluation. There is no revaluation and moderation in this system.

This system ensures continuity in teaching and is flexible in the sense that if any student is unable to give examination due to any reason, he can do so at a later stage and would be allowed to proceed for the next test if he obtains minimum gradation of 4.5, but he can not escape from appearing in the requisite tests or quizzes in any case”, clarified Vice-Chancellor, Prof AS Brar.

In yet another significant move, Prof Brar said the changes in syllabus of the various faculties have been made after many meetings and discussions by experts. “The new pattern of the syllabus would be available on the university website. I appeal to the teachers to consult this website and teach students accordingly,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Inderjit Kaur, president, All India Pingalwara Society, Amritsar, Dr SS Johl, Deputy Planning Commission, Punjab and Manmohan Singh, ex-IAS officer, have been nominated as the member of the Academic Council.

Amritsar, October 12
Even as a number of green campaigns have been initiated in the holy city in the past couple of years, there is a lack of clarity as far as administrative decisions were concerned.

Take for example, insensitivity of officials and advertisement contractors took a toll on a tree, which was chopped to pave way for installing a unipole for advertisement purpose in the green belt on the old Jail Road.

This who-bothers attitude certainly serves a jolt to Go Green Go Clean, Nanhi Chhaan and Mobile Green Service campaigns that were started with much fanfare in the city. With the aim of providing fillip to Nanhi Chhaan, President Pratibha Patil and top leaders of the Punjab Government even participated in a programme held at Khalsa College and the President had also planted a sapling.

Meanwhile, it is important to mention that the unipole installed in a green belt flouts Municipal Corporation and civic norms. A cursory look at the location made it clear that the daring step was taken keeping in view its vantage position. It is located bang opposite of Green Avenue’s main green road.

Interestingly, the green belt was located opposite Red Cross Bhavan, where the district administration has placed thousands of saplings to be planted under another campaign Mobile Green Service.

Under the Mobile Green Service, saplings are given to the interested persons on a phone call besides the district administration distributing these saplings to various schools.

Despite all these efforts, the green belt situated few metres away from the Bhavan was lying unattended. The residents said it was in deplorable and filthy state.

Haphazard growth of grass and bushes hide its view to the passers by and provides an ideal location to the anti-social persons. Residents are dumping garbage, waste construction material in the green belt with impunity. A look at the belt convey that it has been a long when it was attended and pruned properly.

Earlier, the green belt was in news when a Punjab Government undertaking and a private hospital had opened their rear gates in it to provide short and easy passage to its employees and customers.

When contacted, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, DPS Kharbanda said since the matter was brought to me now he would ensure prompt action in removing the unipole. He assured that due legal step would be taken against the erroneous persons responsible for chopping off the tree.

Amritsar, October 12
The city saw a fresh assortment of leading designers during the Design Weekend ’10 organised at Ranjit’s SVAASA, Heritage Boutique Spa Haveli, in Amritsar.

The designers exhibited autumn-winter and festive collection which included apparels and accessories.

Vishhal Chand Mehra, the creator of the show, said the collection was a blend of Indian and western wear including dresses, Mughal miniature drafted saris, tunics and suits across labels from Mumbai, Kolkota and Delhi.

The Tribune had a chat with several designers at the show.

Nikasha Tawdev has been among the lucky few designers to have had a chance to dress tennis star Anna Kournikova. Preity Zinta sported some of her chic ensembles in the movie Lakshya.

“My collection embodies a vintage feel with a rhapsody of colours coming alive through the interplay of fabrics and prints. The use of light silks, chiffons, muls in combination with turquoise, coral, glass, wooden beads all interlaced with lace, satin, ribbon, splashed with a hint of embroidery make every garment look elegant”, she said.

From Kolkata Fashion Week, Indian Premier London Fashion Week to Lakme Fashion Week and now Design Weekend’10, it was a successful journey for Arjun Agarwal and his label “ARJUN” is quite popular with women folk.

“I want to make my presence felt in the global market by spreading sagacity of fashion through inventiveness ideas. The USP of my design concept has been an amalgamation of ethnicity and a strong foundation of pattern drafting”, he said.

Arjun, a fashion graduate from Australia, presented his cocktail dresses, Indian fine ethnic wear having blend of Indo-western outfits to suit occasions and festivities.

Graduated from Pearl Fashion Institute, New Delhi, Harangad Singh Jandu launched his own label ‘Harangad’ two years back. The label ‘Harangad’ in the second year of retail and bespoke services endeavours to provide women and men creative drapes with cuts which are orchestrated on traditional customised textiles.

Another line of collection was from Rashi Kapoor, from Bangalore. Worked as assistant for Manish Malhotra for two years, she launched her own label “Rashi Kapoor” at the previous edition of Design Weekend.

In the current edition of Design Weekend, she displayed Indian ethnic suits, saris and lehangas. “Her work is enormous” said one of the guests. She is known for her ethnic rich Indian couture. At this very young age she tasted an aura of success.

Amicably known as JV, it was Jatin Varma, an endowed fashion designer who started his career in late 90s. “I believe in being atypical to survive in the fashion fraternity. My expertise is in bridal collection, evening gown dresses in silk dupion, satin and jersey. My collection is edgy and strong for any occasion”, he said.

Apart from designers at Design Weekend, Amritsar also witnessed Prasadam Jewels from Jaipur who displayed the polka studded gold and diamond jewellery, Dmart with hi-end silver plated god idols and corporate gift items, Rachel bag with Indian and western women’s stylish handbags and purses and Stoffa shoes from Mumbai.

Harpreet and Rimple Narula’s ‘Kabalah’ need no introduction. Another label for their Bridal collection that includes Saris, Lehangas and drapped suits, Rimple displayed it all.

Amritsar, October 12
The Amritsar Improvement Trust’s 97-acre Ranjit Avenue scheme, dubbed by its political masters as a golden opportunity for common man to own dream houses, seems to be an eyewash as there are insufficient number of small sizes of plots.

Valued at Rs 16,000 per sq yd, the price of the smallest plot of 100 sq yd is of Rs 16 lakh. However, the total number of the plots under this category is only seven. The 150 sq yd plots are only two in number.

Meanwhile, the number of 200 sq yd and 250 sq yd plots are 86 and 220, respectively. The number of plots under these categories are really impressive, but their cost is too much for commoners. The cost of former is Rs 32 lakh and the latter is Rs 40 lakh, making them unaffordable for common man.

Apparently, it gives the impression that the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) has turned a blind eye to common man. This despite the fact that it was offering the land lesser than the market value of Rs 32,000 per sq yd. The residents feel that it gives another opportunity to the well-to-do people to increase their wealth.

Besides, there are 19 plots of 300 sq yd and three of 400 sq yd. The scheme, which offers 337 plots in all, is slated to close on October 15.

When contacted, the Chairman, AIT, Sanjeev Khanna, said following the established norms, the plots were classified on the basis of availability of land. Similarly, vacant space was left. Shrugging off the allegation, Khanna claimed that he had prevailed upon the officials to increase the number of plots of smaller sizes, which were non-existent prior to the floating of the scheme.

The AIT aimed at collecting Rs 400 crore in shape of earnest money from the scheme for which Rs 93 crore had been received till last Friday.

Reliable sources in the AIT informed that the 97-acre scheme was part of the original 880-acre Ranjit Avenue scheme, which was first floated for public in 1979. Interestingly, the rate was then Rs 60 per sq yd for plots less than 200 sq yd, Rs 70 per sq yd for plots above 200 sq yd and Rs 80 per sq yd for plots above 500 sq yd.

More plots under the scheme were sold twice in 1987 and 1988. At that time, Rs 135 per sq yd for smaller plots, Rs 202.50 per sq yd for plots above 250 sq yd and Rs 270 per sq yd for 500 sq yd plots were offered by the improvement trust.

They stated that the AIT managed to go ahead with the sale of plots since the litigation was over in 2005. Hence, the sizes of plots seemed to be uneven, which was actually as per the rules. They said still about five acres of land was under litigation.

The AIT had mopped up Rs 97 crore as earnest money in its last scheme Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar offered to the public last year. Under the scheme, rates of Rs 5,000 per sq yd were offered for smaller plots and Rs 7,500 per sq yd were charged for plots above 200 sq yd.

Amritsar, October 12
Despite adverse weather conditions, Punjab is expecting over 142 lakh metric tonnes of paddy in grain markets of the state.

Darbara Singh Guru, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, who was here to monitor the paddy procurement arrangements in grain markets of Amritsar, Jandiala, Bhagtanwala and Tarn Taran said in spite of floods, there will be shortage in the food basket.

“The government would soon set up a storage facility of 70 lakh tonnes of paddy and the tenders have been floated for the same. Till date 27 lakh metric tonnes of paddy has arrived in grain markets statewide out of which 25 lakh MT has been purchased. Out of the total procurement in the state, 97 per cent has been done by government agencies and 3 per cent by private millers”, he said while adding that 78 per cent of payments have been made and 62 per cent of the lifting has also been accomplished.

The state government has a cash credit limit of Rs 13,500 crore to pay for paddy procurement. “Out of paddy procured worth Rs 1,900 crore, till date 1,500 crore i.e. 78 per cent of the payment, has been made and 62 per cent of the lifting has also been accomplished. For smooth procurement, number of mandis in the state has been raised from 1600 to 1718. We make sure that payments have been made within 48 hours,” he said.

Giving details about the arrangements made for hassle free procurement, Guru informed that the state has been divided into six sectors which are being monitored directly by three Divisional Commissioners and an equal number of Special Secretary rank senior IAS officers.

Nevertheless, paddy procurement from Bhagtanwala grain market would also be re-allotted to PUNSUP and Markfed, too.

Contrary to the precedent, this season, the paddy lot procured from this biggest grain market of Punjab, had not been allotted to these agencies and only Pungrain and FCI were chosen.

Yet, conceding to the demands of farmers and arhtiyas, Guru informed that markets to PUNSUP and Markfed would be restored. Guru was here to inspect the paddy procurement arrangements in various grain markets of Amritsar, including Jandiala and Bhagtanwala.

However, Kahan Singh Pannu, Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, Dr Anjuman Bhaskar, DFSC and District Managers of various procurement agencies accompanied Guru during the inspection.

At Tarn Taran, taking serious note of non-lifting of the procured paddy, Darbara Singh Guru today directed the Director , Food and Civil Supplies to issue Release Order immediately for lifting the paddy to Markfed.

Guru along with other senior officer was in the area today to take first hand information regarding the paddy procurement arrangements.

He visited the grain market of Khadur Sahib, Fatehbad, Chohla sahib, Naushehra Pannuan, Sarhali, Harike etc

Amritsar, October 12
Five-year-old Shreya wore a bright red outfit with silver trimmings, conical caps and held a staff, becoming the first-ever girl langoor. Shreya, thus, broke the age-old practice of the internationally acclaimed Langoor Mela in which only boys play langoors every year.

Thousands of boys dressed as “langoors” of Lord Hanuman’s vanar sena, assembled at the ancient Bara Hanuman Temple during the nine-day-long Navratras.

Shreya’s parents Amit Kumar and Puja said they were aware that only boys were dressed as langoors.

But they did not want this retrograde view to end the dream of their daughter. They fulfilled the demand of their daughter who joined her two-year younger brother daily to the temple.

All-India Hindu Shiv Sena president Surinder Kumar Billa said parents heartily dressed up their daughters as langoors, reflecting the change in the social trend.

Many childless devotees throng the temple to seek Lord Hanuman’s blessings in the hope of being blessed with a child, especially a son. After the fulfilment of their wish, they make their sons wear a particular dress to show their gratitude towards the Lord.

To see the procession passing through the different parts of the city is a feast to the eyes. The Bara Hanuman Temple, which is part of the Durgiana Temple, is said to have the biggest idol of Lord Hanuman in a sitting posture.

Legend has it that the temple of Bara Hanuman was built at a place where Luv and Kush, the twins of Lord Rama (Lahore and Kasur in Pakistan were named after them, respectively), who lived in exile with their mother Sita, captured the Ashwamedha horse let loose by Lord Rama to stake his claim over the territories where the horse set its 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 this place. To commemorate this, couples still tie a red thread to this ancient tree.

The “langoors” have to follow an ascetic regime during the nine days by remaining bare-foot and sleeping on the floor.

Amritsar, October 12
The state-of-the-art radiotherapy centre being set up at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital is likely to start its operations from mid of December this year.

The equipments worth Rs 3 crore are being installed at the centre while the authorities have applied for the uranium to be used in treatment of cancer to a Canadian company.

The centre after its establishment would cater to border region including Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran and Ferozepur besides Jammu and Kashmir.

The centre is being established by the Union Government in collaboration with state government. Initially, the hospital received Rs 2 crore under Oncology Development Programme which was later extended to Rs 3 crore from which modern gadgets and instruments were procured.

In the meanwhile, the centre was declared as regional cancer centre by the government for which Rs 5 crore were allotted for purchasing equipments for Brachy therapy and other cancer treatments. These would be released after producing utilisation certificate, said Dr S.S. Shergill, Principal Medical College. “As soon as the hospital receives the uranium, three-day dry run would be carried out by experts from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai. After the completion it would be open to patients by December,” Dr Shergill said.

As per records more than 4 lakh patients from various parts of the region suffering from different kinds of cancer and its related diseases had visited the outdoor patient department in year 2009.

Meanwhile, six doctors --- five from the local Government Medical College and one from Government Medical College, Patiala --- is slated to visit Memorial Salone Catering Cancer Centre, New York, for getting training in different aspects of cancer treatment, revealed Dr R.P.S. Boparai, Medical Superintendent, GNDH.

Those who would visit the USA are Dr Surinder Salvan, Dr Jatinder Singh, Dr Rajiv Devgan, Dr K S Chawla, Dr Ramesh Chander and Dr Vinod Dangwal.

Amritsar, October 12
Kewal Dhaliwal expressed his love for his mother tongue through a play ‘Diwa Baal Punjabi Da’.

Staged at Naat Place, Dhaliwal, writer and director of the play, hit out at those relegating Punjabi, who show themselves as sophisticated, as being sham and pretence.

Cultural values, language, beliefs and rudimentary education start to be taught in the family initially. Hence, the play highlights the negative role of parents in encouraging their ward to speak English and Hindi languages at the cost of Punjabi.

The narrative made it clear that it was really nice to learn other languages to enhance knowledge and horizon of students but at the same time overlooking mother tongue could be disastrous. Since the language contains in it cultural heritage of the group of people.

The same trend is found in the offices and educational institutions. Cast of the play included Jatinder Kaur, Pawan, Sukhwinder Virk and Pritpal Palli.

Amritsar, October 12
More than 1,000 students hailing from 16 affiliated colleges of Guru Nanak Dev University participated in various events, including dance, music, literary and fine arts, during the inaugural day of the "A" Zone - Zonal Youth Festival at Dashmesh Auditorium of the university.

Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina, Chairman, Punjab Small Scale Industries and Import Export Corporation, inaugurated the festival by lighting the candles. Dr Jagjit Kaur, Director, Youth Welfare of the university, welcomed the chief guest and other student-artists. She also hounoured him with a memento on this occasion.

While addressing the student-artistes, Chhina said youth festivals provides appropriate platform for the students to show their hidden talent and develop their personality. He said every child has some special quality which needed to be explored. “The students should participate in cultural activities along with their studies for their overall development. I hope that the winners of this festival would also be winner in the National Youth Festival”, he said.

Dr Jagjit Kaur said this festival would conclude on October 15. Kahan Singh Pannu, Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, would preside over the valedictory function and gave away prizes to the winners.

Amritsar, October 12
All top three positions in above nine-years category have been pocketed by city students during the first Regional Abacus and Brain Gym competition “SIP Prodigy Punjab-2010”, held at Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary Public School, GT Road, here.

Vaibhav Suri of SL Bhawan School, Shivala Road, Amritsar, and Tarunjeet Kumar and Rashnoor Singh, both students of Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, bagged the top three slots.

The event was organised by Sip Academy India, an Indian arm of SIP Academy, Malaysia, in which 500 SIP-trained students between the age group of 7 and 12 years participated from various schools of Punjab, Chandigarh and Panchkula.

Prannay Bansal and Gurbani Rajpal, both from Chandigarh, were awarded first and second position, respectively, in the below 9-years age category contest. The third position went to Guneet Kaur of Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Golden Avenue, Amritsar.

The contest was inaugurated by Charanjit Singh Chadha, president, Chief Khalsa Diwan, in the presence of Dr Dharamveer Singh, Principal, Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary School, and Harpal Singh, DGM, Punjab National Bank. Students from various schools of Amritsar - Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Spring Dale Senior School, S.L. Bhawan, Sri Ram Ashram, International Fateh Academy, Sacred Heart, Guru Teg Bhadhur Public School, Khankot, Manav Public School and Senior Study - participated. — TNS