Jalandhar, April 1
Euphoria over the Cricket World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka scheduled for tomorrow seemed quite evident today as youngsters were seen lending every bit of support to the Team Indian in their own special ways.

A bunch of youths in Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar got their chests, arms and faces painted in Tricolour. They danced on the numbers “Jai ho” and “Chak de India” using stumps and cricket bats as props.

Students of the Eye On Animation centre in Bhai Jaita Ji Market made pencil sketches of cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh. They carved out a 3-feet World Cup trophy made out of plaster of Paris and thermocol and wrapped it in a golden foil. Dressed up in the uniform of the Indian players, they cut a cake designed in the shape of the World Cup trophy and danced to the beats of a dhol.

A popular sweet shop on Cool Road here was bedecked with Tricolour linen. A stall was arranged with sweets in the colours of the national flag. Mouth-watering sweets, like rasgulas, dhokhlas, heart-shape burfis, ladoos, jalebis and methi mathis, were arranged in platters to attract the customers.

Suteekshan Samrol, owner of the shop, said he was especially getting rasgulas made in larger quantities and would distribute these among his friend circle, if the Team Indian won the cup.

Big screens have been arranged in all city hotels and clubs for the customers and members so that they can enjoy every moment of the match while having food.

Jalandhar, April 1
Bishop of the Diocese of Jalandhar Anil Couto has written to the Governor and Chief Minister of Punjab demanding that the state government should show respect to the occasions of Good Friday and Easter falling on April 22 and 24, respectively.

Outlining details of the demand, Father Peter, spokesperson for the diocese, said the universities had set their annual examinations on these days, owing to which the students would not be able to participate in the prayers.

He said nothing was being done at the government level, despite several representations written in this regard. He said a memorandum in this regard had been submitted to the Deputy Commissioner, Gurdaspur, on March 10. He said a meeting to redress the problem had been planned for April 10.

Amritsar, April 1
The Centre on Studies in Sri Guru Granth Sahib today became functional, though its official inauguration by Prime Minster Manmohan Singh is still awaited.

Established at the cost of Rs 47.05 crore, the centre has been fully funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) on the long-term basis.

Prof Balwant Singh Dhillon from the Guru Nanak Studies Department of the university today joined as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) of the centre. The “ardas” ceremony was performed by Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh after the culmination of the “path” of Sukhmani Sahib and recitation of shabad kirtan by Bhai Jagtar Singh, Hazoori Ragi of the Golden Temple.

It is pertinence to note that on September 1, 2004, on the occasion of celebration of quadri-centennial celebrations of the installation of Guru Granth Sahib in Amritsar, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, had announced to a public gathering that a Centre on Studies in Sri Guru Granth Sahib would be established at Guru Nanak Dev University. In pursuance of that, Guru Nanak Dev University submitted a proposal to the UGC and Union Ministry of HRD.

Jathedar Gurbachan Singh said Sri Guru Granth Sahib is providing guidance to humanity. He hoped that the research done in this centre would be beneficial for the whole humanity.

The Vice-chancellor, Prof A.S. Brar, while talking about the functioning of the centre, said overall there would be one director, six professors, six visiting professors, 18 project fellows/JRFs in the centre to carry on the academic work. Besides, there would be technical and supporting staff to manage the library and museum.

The centre would have six divisions, i.e. Division for Studies on Interfaith Understanding, Division for Scriptural Studies, Division for Studies on Musicology, Division for Hermeneutic and Linguistic Studies, Division for Social and Cultural Studies and Division for Scriptural Translations.

The centre would work in close rapport with the universities where research work on Sri Guru Granth Sahib is being done.

“The eminent scholars, who have done commendable work on Sri Guru Granth Sahib would be appointed as visiting professors and research fellows on term-based projects. The senior scholars who cannot come to join the centre would be offered off-campus fellowships to complete the research projects assigned to them,” he said.

THE INSTITUTE

* The “ardas” ceremony was performed by Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh after the culmination of the “path” of Sukhmani Sahib

* Established at the cost of Rs 47.05 crore, the centre has been fully funded by the UGC and the HRD Ministry

* The centre would work in close rapport with the universities where research work on Sri Guru Granth Sahib is being done

Tarn Taran, April 1
The district police has claimed to recover a 12-year-old kidnapped boy and also arrested two of the three accused.

The SSP, Preetpaul Singh Virk, in a press conference told mediapersons here today that the boy Gurlal Singh, son of Resham Singh, resident of Pakhopur village, 25 km from here, was kidnapped a week back when he was on his way to the nearby township of Chohla Sahib.

The SSP said the accused - Gurbaj Singh of the same village Pakhopur, his brother-in-law Shamsher Singh of Sheron village and Kuldeep Singh - had kidnapped the boy to take ransom of Rs 5 lakh from the father of the boy.

A case under Section 364 of the IPC had already been registered against the trio at Chohla Sahib police station. Kuldeep Singh is still absconding.