Amritsar, April 19
The World Heritage Day, gone recently revived the concerns of heritage lovers and the people associated with the hospitality industry. They feel that the tourist potential of the district remained untapped due to several missing aspects, main being the poor basic facilities.

The visitors after paying obeisance in the Golden Temple, Durgiana Temple, Jallianwala Bagh and viewing the Beating the Retreat ceremony at Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post leave the city.

Locals from different walks of life point towards various reasons for tourists not staying here for longer. These reasons include lack of basic facilities, absence of mass transportation, little mechanism to guide tourists and others.

A shopkeeper at Amritsar Railway Station, Vipin Kumar said people working at stalls on platforms had to answer innumerable queries of visitors for learning other places of interest in the city.

He said these shopkeepers and salesmen had limited knowledge of the tourist sites in the city.

He opined that adequate number of display boards mentioning potential tourist sites in and around the city must be installed at vantage points.

He advised that a toll-free number must be mentioned at these points to answer visitors’ queries.

Similar procedure could be replicated in front of Guru Ramdas International Airport and at bus stand.

There are a number of tourist potential sites in and around the city.

The early 19th century Gobindgarh Fort raised during the reign of legendary Maharaja Ranjit Singh showcased special defence mechanism against artillery attacks which were rampant during the Afghan invasions.

The fort also housed residence of Gen Dyer and ‘Phansi Ghar’ (execution house) during the British Raj. Undergoing conservation and restoration, its opening is awaited.

Constructed under the supervision of Fakir Azeez-ud-din and other nobles of Lahore Darbar, the Summer Palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Ram Bagh stands as a testimony of the bygone era. The historic gardens house a swimming pool, constructed by a general of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Army Ventura in 1823.

The garden also has a museum which exhibits objects connecting to Maharaja Ranjit Singh such as arms and armour, outstanding paintings and centuries-old coins and manuscripts.

Another famous site near Attari village was Pull Kanjari. Associated with Maharaja Ranjit Sigh, crores of rupees have been spent to revive its old gory. However, no effort has been made to provide buses and other transportation links to help tourists reach there.

A resident of Dhanoe village, near Pull Kanjri, Sawinder Singh said tourists coming in their personal vehicles could only view the site as the bridge connecting it with the main raid was so narrow that buses could not cross it.

Ramtirth Temple, located 11 kms from the city, is the hermitage of Maharishi Valmiki.

Largest wetland in North India, Hari Ke Pattan wetland is located nearly 35 km from here and could be another famous site for the tourists.

Besides, there are umpteen number of historic gurdwaras.

Amritsar, April 19
The BA/BSc students appearing for the English (elective) examination paper-B were taken aback to see several questions out of the prescribed syllabus of Guru Nanak Dev University.

It has been learnt that questions worth 46 marks out of a total of 100 marks were out of syllabus. The examination, held on April 16, invited the ire of the students as well as their teachers, who demanded either grace marks or re-scheduling of the examination.

RK Bedi, professor in charge (examinations), GND University, said the matter has been brought to his notice and suitable action would be taken soon.

“It is yet to be seen, how such a lapse, if any, occurred because the university provided the paper setter, designated by the Board of Studies, very clear cut instructions before finalising the paper pattern. We will seek comments from the head of the department concerned and the paper setter about the issue and accordingly, the students would be compensated,” he said.

Vinod Kumar, a student, “With no fault of ours, the students were at the receiving end,” he said. Another student Srijana said “Only the grace marks can save our grace.”

KN Kaul, principal of DAV College, Amritsar, said a communication in this regard has been forwarded to the university authorities. “We are waiting for their decision. I have sent an appeal from my side that since the quantum of out of syllabus questions were too much, the university should compensate the students,” he said.

Amritsar, April 19
In a major seizure, the State Special Operation Cell, the counter intelligence wing of the Punjab Police, recovered 18 kg of opium and arrested two persons in this connection today.

Those arrested were identified as Pritam Singh and Kamaljit of Rurka Kalal, falling under Goraya police station in Jalandhar.

Manminder Singh, AIG counter intelligence, said the two were nabbed near the Mannawala area where they had gone to procure the contraband. A case under Sections 18, 25, 29, 61 and 85 of the Prevention of Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been registered in this regard.

The preliminary investigations found that the two had developed close links with some notorious inter-state and international smugglers indulging in drug trafficking a few months ago. Both the accused were working for a Jalandhar-based notorious smuggler who went underground after their arrest.

The sources in the cell revealed that the opium was smuggled from the Rajasthan side and was meant to be smuggled out of country through different means.

However, the AIG refused to divulge more details about their Jalandhar-based kingpin as it could hamper the investigations. He added that the department was probing into different lines to unearth the complete nexus and more arrests are likely to made in the near future.

Amritsar, April 19
Amritsar becomes the first district in the state to have a government certified ayurvedic hospital at Verka, which was inaugurated by Punjab Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla.

This 50-bedded hospital would be the first among the five hospitals planned by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Punjab, at Jalandhar, Bathinda, Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur, besides Amritsar. These hospitals would be operated under the auspices of the Department of AYUSH (ayurveda, yoga, unani, sidha and homeopathy).

While inaugurating the Amritsar hospital, the minister said this hospital would be equipped with the best available Indian system of treatment free of cost.

“The Jalandhar branch would be operational from next week whereas the other three would come into existence by the month of May,” she said.

The hospitals would be capable of taking care of geriatric diseases which would address the complex needs of older people, focusing on health promotion and the prevention.

“Apart from this, anaemic disorders too would be looked after by the highly capable doctors engaged for these hospitals”, she said.

The minister told that panchkaram therapy and ksharsutra clinic would also be the part of these hospitals. “Ksharsutra, which has earned distinction of being the golden treatment for curing the ano-rectal diseases i.e. piles, fistula and sinuses, would be administered free of cost to the patients”, she said.

The minister told that due to continuous programmes pertaining to promotion of ayurveda technique and its benefits, people have now stated showing their faith in this Indian traditional way of treatment. “There are around 205 ayurveda doctors in the primary health centres of Punjab who look after over 70 patients daily. apart from this, every civil hospital has the facility of ayurveda cure apart from the allopathic way of treatment.

Others present on the occasion included Dr Rakesh Sharma, director Ayurveda, Punjab, Dr Ashok Nayyar, director, Health Services, Punjab, Dr Lehbir Singh, director, Punjab Health System Corporation along with significant number of ayurveda doctors, paramedical staff.

Amritsar, April 19
The five-day painting exhibition by a group of three artists from Kolkata titled “Dimensions…Beyond” gave a delightful experience to the viewers.

The exhibition was held at Indian Academy of Fine Arts.

Atanu Chakraborty, 40, his 18-year old son Aniket and his friend Amitabha Ghosh, 41, presented 29 artistic imaginations of various hues in the exhibition.

All three artists belonging to different professional life chose painting as a mean to express their feelings.

Atanu is art teacher at Xavier Institute in Kolkata. He executed many national and international solo and group exhibitions with excellence.

His son Aniket just appeared in 10+2 examination. He held exhibitions at Kolkata, Madurai and Delhi. He looked for a career in creative art with a mixed of contemporary technological development. So he wanted to become animation designer.

Amitabha is a professional photographer with a Bengali tourist magazine in Kolkata. He turned to painting nearly a decade ago following a piece of advice from his friend Atanu. His fondness for stroke painting is visible through his creations as he had used the medium liberally.

His painting named “Leisure in a City” evinced his curious bend of mind which looked for recreational objects even in one of the most populated cities in the country.

Amritsar, April 19
For the welfare of police officials and their family members, the Punjab Police has established the Punjab Police Families Welfare Society at the police line, Amritsar rural police.

Among various steps to be taken, the society has decided to provide Rs 25,000 as fix deposit from the central welfare fund under “Dhee Rani” policy to the officials having a girl child after January 1, 2011.

“This will help in giving a clear message to the society to fight against the social evil of female foeticide and give preference to the girls who are matching the boys in every field,” said PS Gill, DGP, Punjab Police, while announcing the setting up of the society.

The DGP, who inaugurated the society building at Amritsar Rural police lines, was accompanied by his wife on this occasion.

While detailing the objectives of the society, the DGP said the society would also endeavour to provide coaching to the wards of the police officials for higher education besides establishing youth clubs to inculcate the value of sports activities. It would also try to connect the children with the theatre.

Under this, the society would organise interaction with different theatre personalities.

Among other aims, the society would provide computer training to the family members of the officials, provide beauty parlor training and arrange fates, free medical camps besides plantation activities on vacant lands.

A free eye camp was also organised at the police hospital followed by a cultural programme on the occasion.

Among others who were present include Iqbalpreet Singh Sahota, IG, Border Range, Ram Singh, DIG, border range, Gurmeet Singh Chauhan, SSP, Amritsar (Rural), Amar Singh, DCP and other officials along with their wives.