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Change of land-use norms
Eye camps in schools bring out refractive eye problems in children
Eye problem: New lenses introduced
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Bar association postpones strike
NGO to Sidhu: Raise issue of Chandigarh rail link
Film fest on environment
Vegetarians’ delight
Beautification of Durgiana Mandir begins
Young World
‘Be friends to children’
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Change of land-use norms OfficialSpeak AMC Commissioner DPS Kharbanda: We are aware of those household areas falling on certain commercial roads where people have been misusing the place for commercial purpose. As per government instructions, they are liable to pay CLU fee to the AMC, because they have been using AMC infrastructure like the streetlights, water supply and sewerage, roads etc, for flourishing their own trade. A list of defaulters has been prepared and we would be strict in days to come against the violators.
Amritsar, February 8 The traffic chaos and encroachments add to make the situation from bad to worst. It is prominent to mention that several individuals have been using their household area, which fall on prominent roads of the city, for running commercial activities and AMC has turned a blind eye to these blatant violations. Inside the Walled city the area to be scrutinised comprised Katra Baggian, Gole Hatti Market, Subash Park, Roran Wali Gali, Ganj De Muri, Telephone Exchange, Guru Ka Mehal, Guru Bazaar, Partap Bazaar, Katra Jaimal Singh, Mochi Bazaar, Katra Ahluwalia and Town Hall area. The lackadaisical attitude of the AMC could well be gauged from the fact that despite officially earmarking nine roads as ‘commercial roads’, which included Lawrence Road, Albert Road, Court Road, Mall Road the AMC has yet to question them for violating the CLU policy. Questions are also being raised over the integrity of the AMC officials for ignoring over 158 illegal colonies flourishing in the city on AMC land. Few months back a report was tabled in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha committee meeting recently, where the committee had took strong cognizance of the blatant violations of CLU policy matters. It was then that the AMC had produced a list of around 30 major defaulters. Interestingly, majority of defaulters were those doctors who have been running their medical centres. Though the AMC officials have been trudging with the list of these defaulters for past several months, the action against them is awaited. Meanwhile, according to the AMC list, Dr Om Prakash Hospital, which has spread its wings in 2000 sq yards area, has to pay Rs 95 lakh and a commercial establishment in the name of Richi Rich International, running in 1000 square yards, has to pay Rs 49 lakh as CLU fee. However, the due amount against Randhawa Hospital stood at Rs 46 lakhs, Randhawa Diagnostics Rs 10 lakh, Dr Hardas Hospital Rs 30 lakh, Charitable Trust Hospital Rs 10 lakh, Hospital Green Avenue Rs 12 and Smt Sushma Seth Shanti Hospital Rs 3.5 lakh. Similarly, other trading companies, which have found place in the AMC list included Parnami Marbles Rs 3.5 lakh and Concept Marbles Rs 2.75
lakh. |
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Eye camps in schools bring out refractive eye problems in children
Symptoms of eye problems amongst
children Role of
teachers Since a child spends important time in school with teachers, so the mentors can play a useful role in many ways:
Amritsar, February 8 “About 8 per cent students out of 3,000 students checked during these eye camps were suffering from uncorrected refractive errors while one per cent was wearing glasses and one per cent had miscellaneous eye problems such as squint, allergy, lid problem etc,” revealed Dr Gumber. This is very quite high percentage. Moreover, majority of children were ignorant of their problems while many of them said that they complained to their parents about their problems including headache, visual deficiency etc. However, instead of thorough eye check-up, their parents seemed to be least bothered about it. Refractive error is one of the major causes of blindness and visual impairment in the country and according to estimates about 150 million people all over the world are visually impaired due to this problem. Dr Gumber pointed out that 75 percent of total blindness is avoidable either by prevention or by treatment available with the experts. Since the prevalence of refractive error especially myopia or near sightedness is quite significant in school children, there is need to have some school vision screening programme targeted towards school children, he said. The government should also think in this direction as it also affects the performance of the children who are the future of the country, he added. Dr Gumber said, “During the camps it was found that most of school children do not realize that they suffer from ocular disability. This leads to loss of productivity and efficiency and ultimately reduced work output.” The school screening would help in timely detection of refractive errors and their correction with the treatment available. Spectacles can control the refractive error to some extent. Similarly, the prevalence of squint and Amblyopia (Lazy eye) is 4-5 percent and its timely detection and proper intervention before 6-7 year of age can prevent a child from developing permanent uniocular blindness in children. He held the lack of out door activities and more of computer/television
oriented indoor activities in children as one of the major factors for growing eye problems day by day. Moreover, healthy diet, rich in green leafy vegetables, fruits, carrots, papaya, fish, mango, egg, milk products, should be encouraged in children. Besides healthy diet the children should be encouraged of outdoor activities like sports etc.
Role of parents
1. Parents should advise children to study in well-illuminated rooms in proper sitting posture. 2. Children should not be allowed to watch TV, computer more than one hour continuously. 3. Encourage children to have diet rich in fruits, green vegetables, fish, carrot, papaya, mango, egg and milk products. 4. Outdoor activities, physical exercise, morning walk should be promoted in children. 5. Disallow children from playing with sharp pointed objects such as bow and arrow, pencil, pins, and games like gulli danda, which can injure the eyes. 6. During festival season, always supervise children while igniting fire -crackers because even a slight ignorance can lead to permanent eye loss. |
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Eye problem: New lenses introduced
Amritsar, February 8 According to estimates, over five lakh people are affected by keratoconus in the country. The chances of blindness are higher in this eye condition and corneal ‘transplant’ was the last recourse to retain the vision, said Ken Pullum, a UK-based expert at clinical applications, who was here at Dr Om Parkash Eye Institute to demonstrate the effect of these lenses on 15 patients. “The condition has no known set of reasons and appears during teens or early twenties. It is a progressive disease in which the normally round cornea thins and begins to bulge into a cone-like shape, causing distorted vision,” explained Dr Pullum. He said the advanced lenses arrest the deterioration to a large extent besides saving many patients from surgery and improving quality of vision apart from being ‘rarely inclined’ to infections. Blurred vision even when wearing glasses and contact lenses, frequent eye rubbing, Ghost images, glare at night/light sensitivity and frequent prescription changes in glasses and contact lenses are among the visible symptoms of the onset of this condition. This is for the first time that the ‘advanced lens’ has been introduced in Punjab, revealed Dr Ajay Khanna, noted ophthalmologist, and Amit Srivastava while adding that approximately 75 patients in last two years had approached the eye institute with this vision-threatening eye condition. — TNS
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Bar association postpones strike
Amritsar, February 8 The six associations that came forward in support of DTO included Amritsar Gurdaspur District Bus Operators Union, Mini Bus Operator workers union, Truck Operator Union Ajnala and Punjab Government Roadways Workers Union. “There is no point of continuing the agitation after an inquiry has already been launched by an IAS-level officer from Chandigarh,” said Gurvail Singh, president Sand Supply Truck Operators Union while claiming that the state government was incurring huge financial losses in view of the
strike by ministerial staff of the district transport department supported by the Punjab State Ministerial Service Union (PSMU), an umbrella organisation of clerical staff for various government offices. It is pertinent to mention here that an advocate Arvind Sharma was allegedly by DTO Jasbir Singh and his gunmen after he raised an alarm over some persons getting out-of-turn services in the transport office on February 2. Like many, he was in the queue to get his license prepared. On the other hand, DTO Jasbir Singh, claimed that the advocate misbehaved with him in the office. He had alleged that following the incident a large number of lawyers barged into his office, held him hostage and also smashed office furniture. The deputy commissioner wrote to commissioner Jalandhar division for holding enquiry by an IAS officer from outside the district. Following this the state government deputed secretary home affairs, Punjab to investigate into the issue. The work remained suspended in DTO office and district Courts after the ministerial staff and advocates respectively went on strike while the common man remained at receiving end. Jasbir Singh, DTO talking to this correspondent said that the government has already handed over the investigations to an IAS level officer and advocates should wait till the completion of probe and let the government decided on the issue. “I am ready to accept the decision of government if it finds me guilty after the completion of inquiry,” he said. He claimed that the “so called” advocate had himself apologised in written and even then they (advocates) are not satisfied they should join investigations. Meanwhile, in an emergent meeting of General House here today, the Amritsar Bar Association led by Pardeep Saini unanimously resolved to defer the ongoing strike. Saini said, “Following the assurance of Administrative and Inspecting Judge of Amritsar Sessions Division that no injustice would be done with the lawyers, the members of the association decided to postpone the agitation till February 15.” He said that the association also resolved to file representation before the Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court, on tomorrow so that requisite appropriate action in this regard could be taken in due course. “An additional copy of the representation would also be submitted to the Chief Minster and if no action would be initiated on the representation on or before the designated date, the members of Bar Association would restart their agitation till concerned DTO is transferred from Amritsar, besides taking other appropriate legal action against him. In the meantime, the lawyers will bear black batches as a mark of symbolic protest,” said Saini. Meanwhile, Gurmeet Singh Bablu of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Youth Front also came in support of advocates’ cause. |
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NGO to Sidhu: Raise issue of Chandigarh rail link
Amritsar, February 8 “Punjab is the only state in India where none of its city is connected with state capital while the intercity connectivity of trains was also very low,” said Gurbhej Singh, General Secretary of the NGO. He said earlier the Sidhu had raised the issue in Parliament during the last railway budget session after which Union Railway Minister Mamta Banerjee announced to start Duranto train between Amritsar and Chandigarh last year. However, even after a lapse of about a year, it could not be materialised for the reasons best known to the Union Government, he rued. |
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Teachers go on mass casual leave
Amritsar, February 8 In the rest of Punjab and Chandigarh, teachers observed cease work for two hours and organised campus dharnas. The rally at Amritsar was the first regional rally organised by the PCCTU under the lead of Prof. HS Walia, state General Secretary. While addressing the rally Prof. Walia said that the state executive committee of the PCCTU, in its meeting held on January 23, had decided to hold three more regional rallies in Jalandhar (February 16), Ludhiana (February 26) and Patiala (March 8). “The education bandh will be observed on March 15 and state level rally will be organized at Chandigarh”, told Prof. Walia The demands include, inter-alia, Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) for DPEs and Librarians as per UGC letter dated October 19, 2006, relaxation from refresher courses as per UGC guidelines, implementation of pension and gratuity scheme, as promised in the manifestos of the Akali and BJP parties, lifting ban on recruitments imposed in 2005 and regular disbursement of salary grant under 95 per cent grant-in-aid scheme. Elaborating on these demands, Prof Walia stated that the issue of Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) has been hanging in balance since the revision of pay scales in 1996. “The state government has not given the benefit despite directions from the UGC which directed the state governments to implement the scheme w.e.f. July 27, 1998. As per the regulations, only 20 per cent of the additional burden is to funded by the State Government and rest of the funds i.e. 80 per cent of the total liability is to be met by the Central Government. As regards relaxation from refresher courses, the UGC has relaxed the date upto June 30, 2010 but the State Government has not extended it beyond December 31, 2000. The said two demands were accepted by Dr. Upinderjit Kaur (the then Education Minister) in the meetings held with the representatives of PCCTU but nothing in black and white has come out from the Govt. side, claimed the agitating teachers. Again the Akali-BJP parties promised the implementation of pension and gratuity scheme for the teachers in their manifestoes issued before coming to power in 2007 but so far the State Govt. has not fulfilled its promise, the teachers resented. Further, the ban imposed on recruitments in 2005, inadequate and irregular grant under 95 per cent grant-in-aid scheme, non implementation of pension and gratuity scheme and non-review of sanctioned posts since November 1981, has led to a situation, where about 25 per cent of the colleges are on the verge of closure were the issues that had forced PCCTU to adopt an agitational path. |
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Film fest on environment
Amritsar, February 8 Department of Mass communication and Video Production in association with Indian Youth Climate Network is organising the festival. The festival is aimed at creating awareness among the youth regarding the protection and conservation of environment. During the three days of the festival, documentary films highlighting core issues related to environment by noted documentary filmmakers would be screened. Appreciating the Department of Mass Communication and Video Production (MCVP), DAV College principal Dr KN Kaul said the fest organised by the department would bring about a change in the mindsets of the students regarding environmental issues and would also help journalism students in the field of production. Karen Nijman, special correspondent, India, with OHM Radio, Netherlands, was the guest of honour at the inauguration. Speaking on the occasion, Nijman said the documentaries would make students aware that a lot of the Indian environmental issues are the same as the global one and the global issues also related to India. So it was important for students to become aware that their responsibility did not end at the border of their country but all humans were responsible for the entire world, he added. Ghazala Khan, the co-producer of Harvest of grief, a documentary film on farmer suicides, was the special guest on the second day. On the occasion, a screening of the movie was held after which Ghazala Khan interacted with the students and shared her experience on the making of the film. She said the aim behind the movie is to bring to light the mounting problem of farmer suicides in Punjab. “Punjab is always shown as a prosperous state in the media, but it is important that the lesser known side should also be shown,” she said. The screening of the film was followed by an interactive discussion between the filmmaker and the audience, which included students from different educational institutions across the state. Documentary films like Home, Harvest of Grief, Eco- Dharma and Future by Design was screened on the occasion. The first day of the festival saw the screening of award winning documentary films, including The Story of Stuff, Poison on Platter, Gaon Chodab Nahi and Blue Gold. The screenings were followed by discussions on the films by the guests, who also answered the questions of the students. |
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Vegetarians’ delight
Amritsar, February 8 It’s an inimitable Mughlai and Bar-b-Q restaurant with deceptive introduction through its name “Chor-e-Bizarri-e, located opposite to BBK DAV College on the Lawrence Road. It offers pure vegetarian delicacies served in a distinctive manner. The ambience here has been inspired from ‘jungle-like feel’, the walls decorated with gigantic paintings recite spirituality, the bird nests entangled on artificial tree branches and not to forget the cut-glass ceiling which adds to flavour when it comes to candle light feast. The menu, which includes mocktails has been designed with care to take guests on a journey through antiquity and spirituality that make this dining experience truly unique. Now, meet the team behind it- Raj Aurora, his wife Renu, son Utsav and daughter Megha. Each family member has made respective contributions in crafting this place. “We believe in food as a philosophy and vegetarianism as a way of life. I thought of the concept and designed several wall-size paintings, my wife and daughter handled the interior designing and kitchen front while my younger son took control of the marketing strategies”, he said. “Our main motto was to provide good vegetarian food, served in a unique manner amidst different ambience and at reasonable price”, said Renu. The tastes on the menu are grand. Even the names of the dishes, mostly inspired from Mughal era are unique here-the vegetarian fried rice has been named as ‘Nazakat-e-biryani’, the cheese dishes have been named as ‘Paneer Mumtaz tikka masala’, then ‘Zafrani Shahi Paneer’. The ‘Makhmali Shahi Kofta, ‘Nargisi Haryali Kofta and ‘daal handi’, which would be cooked overnight is simply irresistible. Nevertheless, Megha read out the mocktail menu, which offers “Flying Kisses”, presented with sweet lime, chilled coffee and French coffee, “Kiss ‘n’ tell” is a blend of strawberry crush, “Dark Secrets” is mixture of grape juice, black tea, “mango mastani” is made out of mango pulp with its top covered with dry fruits, to name a few. “All the dishes and even mocktails have been our home creation and you would seldom find the blends on net or any other place. We serve different mocktails in specifically designer glasses”, said Megha. Equally excited Utsav pointed towards the slogan he especially composed which say ‘ Swad me to hum sabke baap lagte hain’. The furniture here has been made out of wooden loafs brought in from Himachal forests. “With little trimming, polishing and cushioning, these wooden loafs took the shape of very comfortable furnishings”, told Megha, basically a fashion designer. |
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Beautification of Durgiana Mandir begins
Amritsar, February 8 “It cost us Rs 22 lakhs to coat the doors with gold. This is a new addition in the history of this sacred shrine and part of our project for beautification of this holy shrine and its surroundings. The doors of Ram Darbar and Sri Krishan Darbar, falling in the same complex, would also be replaced on the same pattern”, said Harish Taneja, general secretary of Durgiana Mandir Prabhandhak Committee. It is to note that the committee has already undertook the task of coating all the four sides of the shrine with gold and its two sides have now been gold laden. “Till date, gold worth Rs 5 crore has been used to glaze its two sides and the work on the third side is under progress”, he told. The parikrama of the mandir would be the next spot on the agenda of the committee. It has been learnt that the parikarma would be equipped with solar lights and new ornamental fountains would be installed on its periphery. The flooring from Sheetla Mata Mandir towards Hanuman Mandir too would be replaced with high quality granite stone and on all the four corners, four huge idols of God and Goddesses would be installed”, he said. Nevertheless, the water treatment plant for the sarovar has recently been made functional in the mandir complex and still more plans for the convenience of the devotees were on the cards. While apprising about future plans in the same direction, Taneja said a new PRO office would be set up at the entrance of the complex soon which would be equipped with adequate religious literature, photos of gods and goddesses. “The purpose was just to keep in mind the convenience of the tourists. The footfall in the Mandir has increased manifold and the need was felt to provide the devotees with information about the Mandir as well as other religious or tourist spots falling within or around the holy city. |
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A creative soul
Amritsar, February 8 Meet Sarvan Singh (19), a resident of Sant Singh Nagar on Batala Road who is a gardener in a school by profession. His determination to do something in life turned him into an artist with a difference. Without any professional training, he created animal figures by carving woods. He fitted electronic gadgets and speakers in these items turning it into a music system. At a click of button, music starts playing as if these decorative pieces were singing. The musical lights also adorn these creations. He made these decorative pieces from the minor electronic things, which are usually discarded by people as waste. “I have not taken any professional training from any shop or person. But just started working in this direction out of curiosity. It took a lot of hard work to understand the electronic circuits, gadgets, their working and reconstructing that circuit,” claimed Sarvan Singh. Revolving tree and dancing lights in the rooms at the music beats are testimonials of his sharp creative mind. As one enters their drawing room, he is bound to be astonished to see his work. Now he is working on preparing a chair fitted with such a system that would become active and music would start playing as soon as a person would sit on it. |
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Young World
Amritsar, February 8 Sharanjeet shines Sharanjeet had a golden run in 400 and 800 metres race during the 79th sports event held at the Saroop Rani Government College for Women, Amritsar. Sharanjeet bagged the first place in both the events. Harpreet and Mandeep were second and third, respectively, in 400 metres race. In 1,500 metres, Paramjeet got first place while Harpreet and Sharanjeet pocketed second and third places, respectively. In 4X100 relay race, the students of BA-III grabbed first place, diploma course students got second and BA-I got third place. Sports meet
Ekamjot of Class V bagged the first place in the boys’ category in skipping race, straight race, sack race and juice race during the various competitions held in Springdale Public School. Ekamjot also shared the first position with Abhish in ‘Ball for Drop’ event. Vishwas, also a student of Class V, was adjudged best in quiz during the personality development camp held in the school premises. Parents of the participating students too participated in different races including needle and thread race, three-leg race and musical chairs, which lent greater significance to the camp, highlighting the coordination in the school’s and parents’ in a child’s growth process. The activities included relay race, running in pairs with ‘ball for drop’ (boys), running with the skipping rope, matka race for girls, straight run (70 mts), juice race, sack race, tug-of-war, besides musical chairs, three-leg race, needle and thread race for parents. Annual function
The annual function of Revel Dale Public School, Ranngarh (Attari) was based on the theme ‘School and Scholars’ depicting the significance of the school in the life of a scholar. Tiny tots of the nursery, LKG and UKG standards were shown as tiny titans on stage where they all performed so enthusiastically in the segment of poems. An enactment on the theme ‘Inspiration’ was also the part of this programme. The need of having a strong bonding with books was duly emphasized in the enactment entitled “Books-Our Best Companions” The musical play on the theme ‘Welcome Examination’ presented the value and worth of examination in everybody’s life was projected. The student who did well in academic and co-academic activities were honoured with prizes. Youth festival
Youth festival for schools in Amritsar district was held in Sri Guru Teg Bahadur College for Women. The students from 15 schools participated in well-contested events. The Champions Trophy was bagged by Guru Nanak Senior Secondary School, Town Hall. All winners were given cash prizes by the principal. Tech Stud-2011
Tech-Era Computer Society, PG Department of Computer Science and Applications, organized an event “Tech Stud-2011” in which research papers on 12 important areas was presented by different students and posters like computer virus, cloud computing, computer network, mobile computing, GPRS, artificial intelligence and ethical hacking etc were presented depicting latest trends in computers and information technology. Dr Daljit Singh, Principal, Khalsa College, Amritsar, stressed on the need of spreading awareness on computers. Basant Panchmi
Attired in myriad hues, students of Spring Blossoms Senior School celebrated Basant Panchmi on Friday. The celebrations were accompanied by a social message about avoiding the use of Chinese kite strings, which have injured many people in the city. |
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‘Be friends to children’
Amritsar, February 8 The workshop was organised as a part of school’s endeavour to engage parents in good parenting activities. While laying emphasis on importance, urgency of comprehending and laying foundations of sound parenting using tools of love and logic, Dr Chona said, “Three factors disturb the children. First, the nuclear family culture, second parents are working and third, seldom interaction with neighbours. If you are possessive about your children and cannot give them quantity time, make sure that you spend quality time with them”, she said. |
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