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Heritage project thrown open twice
Dialogue between the V-C and teachers fails |
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Parking lot attendants alter their ways, nothing has changed
Unauthorised parking outside a complex on Mall Road leading to traffic chaos in Amritsar. Tribune photo: Sameer Sehgal
Detection rate of TB goes up in city
Magnetic appeal of Pakistani stalls draws crowds
Against all odds paddy procurement picks up
The labourer winnows paddy at the Bhagta Wala grain market in Amritsar. Tribune photo: Vishal Kumar
Destination Punjab: aims to popularise science
Town Hall: Congress MLA doubts government’s resolve
Om Parkash Soni MLA (left to second) Congress addressing the media person in Amritsar on Oct 8. Tribune photo: Sameer Sehgal
2-day workshop on cyber techniques in Sikh Studies
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Heritage project thrown open twice
Amritsar, October 8 The foundation stone of “Heritage Village” project in the Guru Nanak Dev University complex was already laid, way back in 2003. Dr SP Singh was the Vice Chancellor of the university then and he got this ceremony done through Giani Gurdit Singh, author of the famous book “Mera Pind”. The drawing of the proposed heritage village was published in the university desk calendar of 2004, too. Nevertheless, the idea of establishing a heritage village on an 11-acre land could not see the light of the day even after a lapse of eight years, yet the race for “grabbing the credit” was not a deterrent for the politicians. It has been learnt that the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Heritage Village which was performed in 2003 too was scheduled just a few days ahead of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha polls. No points for guessing that the ruling party feared losing the credit game if not voted to power. The Heritage Village concept here was the brainchild of Dr SP Singh who wanted to establish a pre-1947 village theme in the varisty complex. The then Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan had also announced a grant of Rs 20 lakh for the purpose, but this amount was never received. The university on its own had purchased several typically rural artifacts to give it a real ‘village-like’ look. After superannuation of Dr SP Singh, Dr Jai Rup Singh joined in. he too made efforts to materialize this project but all these efforts proved to be a futile exercise for want of proper planning and initiation. In 2009, the Punjab government initiated to adopt this project, but nothing concrete could be done to materialize it. Reacting on this lapse, Dr SP Singh viewed that this project was conceptualised keeping in mind the conservation of Punjab?s village culture and showcasing its traditional crafts articles, but the political intervention has spoilt its essence. “What was the point of inaugurating this project again when it was already done through the author Giani Gurdit Singh, the writer of such a repute and who had projected the true Punjabi culture and heritage through his pen”, he said. Before drafting its plan, the teachers from Punjabi Culture wing of the university visited Manipal, Madras, Gujarat and Rajasthan to observe the kind of heritage villages developed over there. The teachers resented the fact that the Punjab government had handed over the job of this project to the administrative wing who seldom possess any knowledge about the cultural heritage of Punjab. “We have been receiving reports that several changes have been introduced to the original concept which seldom had any connection with the Punjab heritage. Like, in the original plan, there was reference about having a culture research centre, but it does not hold any place in the amended plan. It has also been learnt that after completion, this project would be handed over to private hands”, said the teachers. The appointment of Dr Daria as Associate Professor of School of Punjabi Studies wing was made especially to nurture this project. Officialspeak
I don’t have any
knowledge about it. The whole programme was looked after by the tourism
wing at Chandigarh. I have been informed that certain changes have been
introduced in its concept plan. Our endeavour is to make it as a prime
tourism destination by 2012. — Rajat Aggarwal, Deputy Commissioner
Village as heritage yWith
a tagline of “Saada Pind Saadi Viraasat”, the 12- crore Heritage
Village was proposed to be set up on the Guru Nanak Dev University’s
portion of land located on the Amritsar bypass, en route to the
Attari-Wagah border. It will feature huts used by potters, weavers,
blacksmiths and other artisans who make parandis, juttis, phulkaris,
clay toys, musical instruments, durries, agricultural implements and
shawls (lohis), among other things. Each hut will try to bring alive the
life of that particular rural artisan, complete with the interiors, the
decor, and the tools used for work. yThe official website of
Punjab infrastructure Development Board(PIDB) testified that the project
would be developed on a public-private partnership (PPP) mode. The PIDB
had already invited bidders, a month back, for maintenance, upgradation
and management of the proposed heritage village.
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Dialogue between the V-C and teachers fails
Amritsar, October 8 On the other hand, the vice-chancellor said all the decisions were taken after having deliberations in the syndicate meeting held on September 27 and were taken in the interest of the university. Dr Balwinder Singh said the talks between the two sides did not yield any positive outcome and the executive body of the teachers has unanimously decided to intensify the agitation against the authorities for its dictatorial attitude. “The V-C was adamant on pursuing dismissal proceedings against Dr Bhalla. First, the ground on which he is taking such an extreme step does not have any significance, even if Dr Bhalla committed some professional negligence. Second, the executive body observes it as a sheer case of personal vendetta when the authorities removed me from the headship of the department. Third, the V-C was not ready to review the change of eligibility dates of teachers for promotion avenues simply by saying that he alone should not be held responsible for it as it was decided by the syndicate members. So, in the executive meeting held afterwards, the agitation path was decided,” he said. The differences between the two sides arose when the authorities decided to dismiss Dr GS Bhalla of business and commerce management department, though later the authorities stated to take legal course of action, but removed Dr Balwinder Singh as in charge of the department. The teachers also protested the arbitrary change of their eligibility dates while awarding promotions. The authorities had formed a three-member panel to mediate between the authorities and the teachers. Though the panel members had conveyed the teachers that the V-C was ready to review key issues and therefore, a meeting was arranged today. Meanwhile, various teachers today criticised the alleged autocratic attitude of Dr A S Brar. While quoting various instances, they alleged that no respect was given to the Rules and regulation besides UGC norms were openly flouted by the V-C.
Efforts to bridge the
divide fail
The authorities had formed a three-member panel to mediate between the authorities and the teachers. Though the panel members had conveyed the teachers that the V-C was ready to review key issues and therefore, a meeting was arranged today. But the talks between both the sides did not yield any positive outcome and the executive body of the teachers unanimously decided to intensify the agitation.
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Parking lot attendants alter their ways, nothing has changed
Amritsar, October 8 Now, instead of issuing a parking slip to the people, the attendants are requesting people to pay them some amount. Shivraj Singh, a visitor to the complex, said, “When I parked my car, a parking attendant rushed to me and requested that I should park the vehicle in such a way so that those coming later should not face a difficulty in finding space. Though he did not issue me a slip, on my return he requested me to pay reasoning that he too has a family to rear.” The other visitors said they, too, were asked for money, but the attendants were not adamant as they used to be. Another visitor, Raminder Singh, said, “The attendants are not pressing people who are reluctant to pay. They know that they are asking money illegally.” The Tribune had earlier reported that how in the absence of sufficient parking space inside the courts complex, illegal parking lots have mushroomed outside the court premises and that some people are harnessing the opportunity to make easy money. The illegally parked vehicle alongside the road poses a problem in the flow of traffic. The road outside the complex, towards the entrance gate of the Deputy Commissioner’s office, is blocked by illegally parked cars. “ A multilevel parking area will solve the problem of traffic jams,” said Gurpal Singh, a shopkeeper in
the area. When contacted, Amritsar Bar Association President Pradeep Kumar Saini said, “In the proposed lawyers chambers complex there is a
provision for parking space. We are waiting for the State government to issue its share of money so that we can statrt the construction work.”
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Detection rate of TB goes up in city
Amritsar, October 8 During the first six months of the current year, the number of TB patients detected in the entire district was 641. However, in next three months -July, August and September-369 patients have been detected with the disease, said Rajeev Chaudhary, project coordinator for Axshya project for control of tuberculosis. Talking to The Tribune, Chaudhary said TB detection rate has increased because of the intensive awareness campaign initiated under the district health department. “In the past two months, sensitisation workshops have been held in 100 villages in district. Because of the social stigma attached to the disease, people are afraid of reporting this disease, he said, adding that almost 30 per cent of the people, who had shown symptoms of TB during workshops in villages and were asked to get medical examination conducted, have failed to report. In view of the large number of people refraining from undergoing the tests, it has been decided to re-contact them. He added that involvement of NGOs and members of rural youth clubs have helped in detection of the new cases. Chaudhary said TB is a curable disease and medicine for it is provided free of cost at all medical centers. “Under the DOTs (Direct Observation Treatment), the medicine is provided to the detected patients at their door steps. With regular medicine and proper care it is curable in six months,” he said. Under the Axshya project various sensitisation workshops for government health workers to educate them on the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) were conducted during the past two months. Workshops for health workers
Under the Axshya project various sensitisation workshops for government health workers to educate them on the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) were conducted during the past two months. |
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Magnetic appeal of Pakistani stalls draws crowds
It’s not about a B2B but a personal interaction. To simplify this business-like statement, the Pakistan arcade at the ongoing CII consumer fest is not about making money but also the sentiments attached with it. A regular feature at one of the biggest consumer fests in Amritsar, these Pakistani stalls are a big crowd-puller. For the Chamber of Pakistan at the CII, it’s about building a brand. For Amritsaris, it’s about getting their hands on the finest things from across the border. Like high on fashion and elegance quotient beautiful Pakistani suits and juttis. Going by the exquisite taste of the buyers of Amritsar, and on popular demand during the last shows, the fair presents an exclusive range of Pakistani clothes from almost all the regions of Pakistan, including garments and embroidered fabric from Multan, Karachi and Lahore along with ethnic footwear from Lahore and Multan. “We have been a regular part of CII and have found a big market for our designer suits,” says Fahed Hanim, from Meera Designer. Bringing a select selection of hand embroidered suits in chiffons and crepes; Fahed says the response is always good. “Amritsar is a good market for us as the cultural tastes are similar to Pakistani people. Also, buying potential of the consumer here is fairly good.” Henna Naqvi, another designer from Pakistan, is a busy lady behind her stall. “We have all kinds of fabrics; hand embroidered and specially designed for Indian tastes.” A lot of gotta patti work and sequin work is visible in my collection. Moreover, they are quite finicky about their fabrics. So we have to keep in the mind the quality as well.” And for quality, be ready to shell out anything between 2000-6000 rupees. Usman Khan, who is here with his mother and is a first time participant in the fest, feels that the only problem is the bargaining bug, “We try to bring the best from Pakistan and price it in a way that is comfortable for us as well as our consumers. But then, some still demand for a discount.” But the emotions attached with their stalls is what makes them stand out from the others and not to forget, is a reason for them being the centre of attraction. “Sure the footfall is good because of the curiosity about Pakistani stuff,” says Usman. Food fiesta
The food stalls at the CII Fair were equally popular as their consumer stalls. Showing diversity here as well, the food court had stalls of south Indian and Rajasthani cuisine. But the most popular was the Pakistani food corner, with its halal meat delicacies. The sight of delicious tikkas cooked slowly over charcoal, biryani and curries would surely make one pounce on the Pakistani platter. Not far behind when the taste is concern, Rajasthani food stalls saw its own share of fans. Specially, the one offering a range of Rajasthani chikkis. Cocunut, dates, raisins, almonds; name any flavour and they will have it. For the not-so-sweet-tooth kinds, Mirchi bada and spicy dal bati churma serve as top picks. The ones who don’t want any of these, Dominos is two steps away. The side lanes
Apart from the Pakistani stalls that were a major highlight, there were other lifestyle products that fetched a good response. Metro Plus was one of them. A collection of innovative and fine range of garden furniture caught the fancy of many at the consumer fair. Furniture made of plastic, PVC, aluminum and wood, the products had style with comfort. “We have folding picnic tables with attached chairs, garden umbrellas, and light weight PVC furniture for easy mobility. Most people today are looking for something convenient yet stylish that adds to the interior of their home,” says a stall owner. Another lifestyle and home decor option comes in form of the molten glass show pieces. A collection of glass vase, mirrors and other glass items that would add a dash of elegance to your space. The items are made by free-blowing the molten glass and shaping it into interesting art forms.
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Against all odds paddy procurement picks up
Amritsar, October 8 According to Rakesh Singla, District Food and Supplies Controller (DFSC), around 10,000 metric tonne of paddy was procured by PUNGRAIN, the lone agency which came forward yet to lift the crop from here. A visit to the various grain markets located in Amritsar, Chheharta, Majitha, Jandiala, Bhaktanwala and Rayya and district there was no representative for other agencies which included Punjab Agro, Markfed and PUNSUP. The Foodgrain Agency Mulazim Talmel Committee, Punjab has given a state wide protest call against the irregular procurement practices adopted by the government. The activists of the Amritsar and Tarn Taran chapter of the committee today assembled at Company Bagh here and observed chain hunger strike. Balbir Singh, district president of the committee told that it is their state wide protest against the irregularities and mass corruption in the prevailing procurement methodology. They resented that in the absence of any watch and ward policy framed by the government, the grains procured under the joint custody of the sheller and the Inspector, generally get embezzled. Secondly, the storage-gain of 1kg in a two-month period, as demanded by the government norms, against a quintal of wheat, too is also not feasible. “Under both circumstances, the onus would lie on the Inspectors only. Consequently, they would be chargesheeted and face inquiries for not being able to meet the ‘desired results’, whereas the fact is that in the absence of any watch and ward policy, the shellers themselves embezzle the grains”, he said. “We have decided to sit on chain hunger strike till October 5. After a day’s break, the activists from all over state would hold a protest rally at Chandigarh on October 7 to take next course of action”, he said. Meanwhile, the DFSC Singla told that the farmers have been instructed to maintain the moisture level of 17 per cent. “Today, the moisture contents were read as 19 but with the help of fans, it was brought down to 17. We have given directions to farmers not to use combine machines before 10 am or after 7 pm to meet the parameters of moisture level. The minimum support price for ‘A’ grade paddy crop was measured at Rs 1110 per quintal and for IR 8 variety, it was Rs 1080 per quintal.
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Destination Punjab: aims to popularise science
Amritsar, October 8 The Punjab Technical University (PTU) and Pushpa Gujral Science City have set up their stalls at ‘Destination Punjab’ to reach out to the industrialists and youth of this border city. The Dean of Students Affairs of the PTU, Dr AP Singh, said the university allowed industry to participate in revising syllabi of the engineering colleges. He said all the engineering colleges has a board of studies, which has industrialists, apart from academicians, as its members. He said rules had been made flexible to accommodate request of an industry to incorporate a particular course as an optional course in the curriculum. He cited the instance of the IBM company whose suggestions for new subjects were accepeted as optionals in BTech Computer Science and BTech Information Technology. He said that the company even offered free faculty development programme to train the varsity’s teachers in those courses. He said the varsity was constantly striving to make its students ready for big industries. In order to achieve this goal, Industrial Training programme was launched under which the students could join industry for half an yearand then again return to the varsity for completion of their courses. He said the move was being liked by more and more industries as they could judge the persons thoroughly. industries are now preferring this trend more than interviews. He cited the example of Majestic Auto, Ludhiana, which hired 34 out of 60 students who joined the Industrial Training programme. The PTU’s Placement Officer, Navdeepak Sandhu, said the PTU was here to showcase its strengths and initiatives. He said in addition to the academic programmes they were highlighting the new initiatives taken by the university like MoU with Wipro Mission10X for employability enhancement of engineering students. He stated that the university had signed another MoU with The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) and Punjab Infotech for setting up of Incubation Centres in PTU affiliated colleges to encourage students to become entrepreneurs. Pushpa Gujral Science City was also part of the CII initiative to generate interest towards science among the visitors and encourage more and more youth to take up science as subjects. The Deputy Manager Science City (Marketing), Rohit Gupta, said the prime motive was to turn youth towards science. He said the Science City was incorporating new technologies and adding new features keeping in view the interest of people and new developments. He said Science of Sports Gallery, Virtual Reality Gallery, Cyber Space Gallery, Fun Science Gallery and Bio-Technology Gallery were new features. He stated that climate change theatre, railway gallery and life through the ages, showing the development of human being from apes, would soon come up at the Science City. He said the Science City also offered air conditioned night-stay facility to students and teachers at Rs 50 and Rs 60, respectively.
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Town Hall: Congress MLA doubts government’s resolve
Amritsar, October 8 Addressing media persons, Soni said, “We doubt that the government would demolish the building and transfer the land to a private entrepreneur for opening up a shopping mall or a food court.” The MLA claimed that the MC House had passed a resolution, giving its nod for the proposal of the shopping mall or food court. The decision about shifting the MC office, presently located in the Town Hall building to the plot owned by Water Supply and Sewerage Board near the office of Amritsar Improvement Trust has already been taken, said the MLA. “As the building is of great historic significance for city people, we demand it should not be demolished but preserved as it is. Moreover, the opening up of shopping mall at the place would add to the traffic chaos near The Golden Temple,” he added. Terming the proposal as scandalous, Soni said they would demand a CBI enquiry. “The Town Hall has a monetary worth that ran into crores besides its historical importance. Giving this land to a private firm is scandalous,” he said.
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2-day workshop on cyber techniques in Sikh Studies
Amritsar, October 8 Prof AS Brar, Vice Chancellor, inaugurated the workshop, while Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, Former Jathedar of Sri Akal Takhat Sahib, presided over. Dr Gurnek Singh, Vice Chancellor of Guru Granth Sahib World University, Fatehgarh Sahib, was the chief guest. Dr Balkar Singh,Sikh scholar, delivered the keynote address and Dr Balwant Singh Dhillon, Director at the Centre on Studies in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, introduced the establishment and activities of center. The second session of the workshop was conducted by Dr Kulbir Singh Thind from California. Prof AS Brar said the religion and science are complimentary to each other because both are reflections of truth. He said that computer has revolutionised the life on planet so we should utilise this technology for the development of society. In his keynote address Dr Balkar Singh said that computer technology is helpful to mankind but in modern days it is dominating over human psychology. “We have become overdependent on scientific tools.”
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yesterday, the Deputy Chief Minister laid the foundation stones of heritage village, conceptualised in the Guru Nanak Dev University campus, little knowing that this ceremony was being performed for the second time.
Although the authorities have failed to whip those running illegal parking lots outside the District Court complex, the attendants at these parking area have altered their way of demanding money.
Amritsar, October 8
Raising doubts over the state government intentions vis-à-vis historic Town Hall building, Congress MLA OP Soni today said the building should be preserved as it is and not transferred to any private party for commercial purposes.
