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City-Mumbai flight from today
Crores spent, but not many places to fly from city airport
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 Karnataka man champions cause of Punjabi language
Amritsar, March 24 A man hailing from Karnataka and working as a teacher in a college in Chandigarh sat on an indefinite fast outside gurdwara Khadoor Sahib here today. The reason is to divert attention of Punjabis towards restoring the sanctity of the Punjabi language as used in pop songs. Panditrao C Darennavar sits on an indefinite hunger strike outside Khadoor Sahib gurdwara in Amritsar on Saturday. Photo: Sameer Sehgal
Civil Surgeon’s office gears up
for summers
syndrome 2012 
Day 3 of revellery
Shaheed-e-Azam scholarships for 10
‘Maintaining hygiene key to control TB’
No end to chaos on city roads
Chemists seek relief from Food Act
‘Gandhi’s non-violence relevant in strife-torn world’
Graduation ceremony at Ryan
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City-Mumbai flight from today
Amritsar, March 24 Jet Airways station manager Wilson said the flight will take off from Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport at 10:20 am and land at Delhi at 11:20 am. After halting for an hour, it will resume its journey to Mumbai and reach at 2:10 pm. Similarly, the return flight will originate from Mumbai airport at 5:55 am to reach Delhi at 7:55 am and land in Amritsar at 9:50 am. He said the Airline will use the 170-seat capacity Boeing 737-700 aircraft with 162 economy and eight business class seats. Airport director Sunil Dutt said a proposal has been submitted to the Jet Airways to explore the route to provide connectivity to Mumbai. He said earlier Go Airlines had operated a flight between Amritsar-Mumbai for a brief period. SGPC chief Avtar Singh has welcomed the move. He said pilgrims from Mumbai, Nanded and various areas of the Western part of the country had been demanding connectivity to the holiest shrine of the Sikhs. He said an extension of the flight will meet their long pending demand. Punjab Small Scale Industry Development Board director Raman Gupta, also the General Secretary, Trade and Industry Association, border zone, said it will immensely benefit trades in the border district. He said traditionally all exports and imports from here were routed to Mumbai dockyard and Kandla port. He said Amritsar received chemicals, fabric, diamond studded jewellery, artificial jewellery and other merchandise from Mumbai. On the other hand, basmati rice grown in the district is exported through ports in Mumbai. CII Amritsar Zonal Council chairman DP Singh said industrialists here have welcomed extension of the flight. The move will boost business as an Integrated Check Post at the Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post is also expected to be operational.
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Crores spent, but not many places to fly from city airport
Amritsar, March 24 Even as Rs 145-crore integrated arrival terminal building at the Amritsar international airport was inaugurated by former Union Aviation Minister Praful Patel on February 25, 2009, but a lot needs to be done to attract more flights on various international and national destinations. A resident of Green Avenue, Kamal Dalmia, said no connecting flights were available for Australia, the US and New Zealand from the local airport. He said this despite the fact that a large number of students from the city and its surrounding areas study in these countries. He said better connectivity could also lead to exploring business opportunities and achieve better economic ties with these nations. He said ties with these developed countries could herald a new growth chapter in technology and could be a catalyst to raise the living standards of the people in this part of the country. Even as the airport commands the peak-hour handling capacity of 1,200 passengers and annual handling capacity of 14.6 lakh passengers, it receives only eight lakh passengers annually. Out of these, 70 per cent are international travellers. CII National Planning Council member Gunbir Singh said the city needs air connectivity with and East Asian countries. He said after the Indian government adopted a look-East Asia policy a number of opportunities have opened up in countries like Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. He said, a large number of people of Punjabi origin were settled in some parts of these countries. Besides, many youngsters from the region are turning to these countries in search for jobs and as transit stations to migrate to developed countries. Dr AL Adlakha, a resident of Race Course road, said a popular Amritsar-Srinagar flight used to be a hit among the tourists. He said its revival could boost tourism to the city called heaven on earth. Airport director Sunil Dutt said though the Airport Authority of India was not responsible to provide air connectivity, yet he has approached as well as written to various international airlines about the advantages of operating flights on various international and domestic routes from here. He said he could not comment on how many of them were exploring the business advantage of air connectivity on these routes. He has advised various airlines to begin operations to Australia, New Zealand and the US. He said Australia and New Zealand could be connected via Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, which will connect the border city with the East Asian countries. The vantage geographical location of Singapore made it an ideal transit point to link Amritsar by air with Australia, the US and New Zealand.
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Karnataka man champions cause of Punjabi language
Amritsar, March 24 Panditrao C Darennavar says, “Punjabi is a holy language. Today’s Punjabi pop singers are misusing and commercialising the language and encouraging social evils such as alcoholism, violence, objectifying women and are full of expletives. This projects a very bad image about Punjabis in the minds of people living outside Punjab,” he said. He was more particular about the famous song written by Makhan Brar and sung by Gurdas Maan “Ghar di sharab hove”. He said Gurdas Maan is a legendry singer and he should not have sung such lyrics as he has a great fan following. He should apologise for this which will show the way to other singers. “I will not relent and will continue my protest till Gurdas Maan feels sorry for using such language in the song,” he said. His protest has garnered support from the local residents too. Sarabjit Singh, resident of Guru Angad Dev Sahit Sadan, said he was impressed with his cause. “A citizen of another state has come all the way to raise his voice against the denigration of Punjabi language. We will support his cause and help him in all possible ways,” Sarabjit said. Panditrao, who is an assistant professor in the department of sociology at Postgraduate Government College, Chandigarh, and developed love for Punjabi eight years ago. “I used to experience difficulty while communicating with my students as majority of them belong to the rural areas and are not fluent in English. So I decided to learn Punjabi to teach my students better. During this period I struck a chord with the language and then learned to read and write in Punjabi. Eventually, I started reading religious books and started understand Sikhism as well,” he said. He has translated eight books from Kannada based on the teachings of Karnataka saints into Punjabi. He has also translated Sukhmani Sahib and Japuji Sahib in the Kannada language, which will be released on April 25 at Bidar to mark the 500th year of the visit of first the Sikh Master in Karnataka.
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Civil Surgeon’s office gears up
for summers
Civil Surgeon, Amritsar, Dr Manjit Singh Randhawa, said two new water cooling machines will be installed in the next few days. He said the office has also set up a place for the visitors to sit during the summer season. Earlier, the visitors had to stand in the corridors outside the various offices. The visitors feel there is a need to install some fans and chairs at the spot meant
for them. “Some chairs should also be provided,” said Sajan Sharma, a resident. Another visitor, Gulab Singh said, “The corridors should also have few fans.” Dr Randhawa said the demands will be discussed and the needful will be done to make the general public feel comfortable. Earlier, the Civil Hospital had also installed new water cooling machines keeping in view the problem faced by the general public during summers.
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Men in black from City Beautiful man crowds
Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service
Amritsar, March 24 Organising committee chairman Dr RS Sidhu said, "The bouncers are specially trained in handling partying crowds. With them managing the affairs there are lesser chances of any untoward incident.” Dr Sidhu said as cultural fests are to be enjoyed, students are naturally very excited and these people know how to diffuse the situation without offending the students. Jimmi, one of the bouncers said, “We try not to enter into a confrontation with the students. As we are of the same age as the students, we understand their sentiments better than the police or security personnel." He said they are often deputed at party hot spots to mange the crowds. Students also felt that hiring private bouncers are a better option than the cops. “They have been here for three days and no ugly scene has occurred. On the other hand, cops who are usually called at such places are more rude and intolerant," felt Yogesh Kumar, a student. Students said in the evenings when the star night performances are on at the festival every evening, the bouncers keep people from going on the stage because of security reasons. “At such performances when students climb on the stage, the event is disrupted. When we have specially-trained people for such circumstances,” said Niharka, another student.
Students of various medical institutions enjoyed singing, folk dance competitions and performances by rock bands at Syndrome 2012, an annual cultural festival being held at Government Medical College, which entered its third day today. The folk dance competitions and rock band performances were big hits among the student-audience. A fashion show by Ms India and Splittsvilla models in the evening and the performance by Punjabi singer Nachattar Gill kept audiences glued to their seats. Singing his hit numbers on public demand, Nachattar made students dance to his tunes. A large number of faculty members, employees and students attended the performances. Later the students attended a late night dance party in the college premises.
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Shaheed-e-Azam scholarships for 10
Amritsar, March 24 The resource person for the NGO Sunil Thakur said a monthly scholarship of Rs 500 per month will be given to these students for a year. The students were selected following a written test in which 150 girl students from Class VIII to graduation took part, he said. He said the NGO was working to provide assistance to deserted brides and also to investigate the background of prospective grooms in the US. Thakur said the NGO was working towards setting up a call centre here to communicate with the NGO at Ontario. He said Indian parents keen can approach them to investigate the background of prospective grooms in foreign countries such as Canada to protect the brides from being deserted after marriage. The organisation was founded by Dr RB Singh, who migrated to Ontario, Canada, three years ago. He said brides from Punjab are subjected to two types of exploitation from their NRI grooms. One of these is that the NRI grooms leave their brides here after marrying and they along with their families go back to Canada. Many more are abandoned in the alien country by their husbands. He said the NGO had introduced a project called Women in Need of Justice (WIND) to address these problems. The programme was designed to save women in South Asia in general and Punjab in particular from becoming a means of transport for their other family members to various developed countries around the world. It aims to help victims of violence and marriage frauds get justice by a global network system, he added. He said his organisation was stressing on preventive level to avoid breakdown of marriages. He said the aim is to spread awareness among people not to use marriage as a means to achieve their vested interests. He said the NGO aimed to help and support victims of domestic violence and educate them about their rights in the Canadian society, linking them to the available resources and other supportive agencies, besides helping them achieve a quality of life by preventing further victimisation and voicing their concerns.
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‘Maintaining hygiene key to control TB’
Amritsar, March 24 District TB Officer Dr Naresh Chawla said TB is prevalent is the semi-slum areas such as Maqboolpura. Addressing a gathering of residents and school students, Chawla said, “A patient of TB can transmit the disease to at least 10 or 15 more persons in a year if proper hygiene is not maintained." He said the volunteers in the area have been designated to spread awareness among the residents. He said, "Most of the TB cases are recorded in areas where no hygiene is maintained. If people can take care of the problem, TB can be easily controlled." Rajiv Chaudhary of Axshaya said the volunteers of the organisation visit the area and residents can consult them if they have any doubts about the disease. He said various programmes have also been organised in various areas of the city during the past one week to make people aware. “Because of the campaigns launched by the government and NGOs, people are more aware about the problem than they were few years ago,” said Chaudhary.
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No end to chaos on city roads
Amritsar, March 24 A resident of the hundred feet road, SB Singh said it showed the lack of cooperation and coordination among the authorities responsible for traffic and safety. All steps taken in this regard have failed to bear any fruit. He said traffic on the stretch of the Amritsar-Jalandhar GT road from Tarawala pul to Bhandari Bridge was very dangerous. He said the state government's ambitious plan to solve the problem by building a network of elevated roads had also failed to yield positive results. He said the death of a youngster should be a wake up call for all the departments concerned as well as the administration to chalk out a plan to link the elevated road with the bus stand. He said diverting the buses to the elevated road will decongest them. He said this move could take 650 government-owned buses and around 900 private owned buses off the roads around the bus stand. He said these buses make a total of 6,700 trips from the bus stand to various destinations. Gurmit Singh of Maqboolpura said the frequency of accidents on the road has increased recently. "Often we come across victims of road accidents lying on the road and people rushing to rescue them," he said. He said people avoid traveling on the elevated road as they were to buy grocery, vegetables, fruit and other material from shops on roadsides while a number of residential localities were also situated on the road. A resident Raman Kumar said when the city has over 250 cops, it is difficult to control the traffic menace. He said 50,000 vehicles are being added to the city roads every year. He said many people especially the youth flout traffic rules but keeping the buses off the road could stem the chaos.
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Chemists seek relief from Food Act
Amritsar, March 24 As per the provisions of the Act, food businesses with an annual turnover of up to Rs 12 lakh are required to register while those establishments with an annual turnover exceeding Rs 12 lakh and are also required obtaining a licence. The Act is also binding on chemists as they sell syrups, capsules, tablets apart from powdered milk and food supplements. Association president Surjit Mehta said, “When chemists are buying these items along with bill receipts and selling the same with the bills, it is unnecessary to ask them to keep the records and inform the food department after every six months.”
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‘Gandhi’s non-violence relevant in strife-torn world’
Amritsar, March 24 Speakers cited examples of the Egyptian crisis, terrorism and unrest at the day-long deliberations. They said in the current global scenario, the world needs to adopt Gandhi’s message of non-violence. More than 30 papers were presented at the seminar organised basically by Gandhian Study Centre of the college. In his keynote address, Prof Jai Narayan Sharma, honorary director, Gandhian Bhawan, Panjab University, Chandigarh said it was unfortunate that today politics has become a means to foster family businesses and incomes and is aimed only to mint money. “Gandhi had four sons and if he wanted he could make them ministers and MLAs. But he kept the nation before his family, said Sharma. We should explore Gandhi as a philosopher who set ideals and also suggested practical ways to achieve them. Khalsa College governing council (KCGC) honorary secretary Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina who presided over the valedictory session called Gandhi a practical-idealist. “So great was this man that even those who criticised him during his lifetime, later appreciated his message of non-violence and simple living,” he said. Gandhi was a great crowd puller in the history of the world because he was always linked closely with the masses and he raised common man’s issues. Prof RN Pal, former Pro-Vice Chancellor, Punjabi University, Patiala, said researchers must use all available sources to conduct more research on Gandhi. He said information regarding Gandhi is well-documented as his every word, spoken or written, is on record. Dean, Colleges Development Council, Guru Nanak Dev University, Dr MS Hundal presided over the inaugural session. He said, “It is unfortunate that we have not followed the path shown by the father of the nation completely.” KCE principal Dr Jaswinder Singh Dhillon earlier welcomed the guest speakers. Chhina honoured the guest speakers and also released a book on Gandhi.
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Graduation ceremony at Ryan
Amritsar, March 24 Children received their graduation certificates amidst loud applause. Oozing with confidence, the children also presented a series of colourful dance performances based on the theme of different months of a year. The tiny tots were awarded degrees, besides being presented with awards for excellence in various fields. School Headmistress Rajni Kalra congratulated the students and their parents. Among the guests, Congress leaders OP Soni, Jasbir Singh Dimpa and Sukhjinder Raj Singh Lalli Majithia graced the occasion. Surjeet Singh Kohli, brother of PM Manmohan Singh, was also present on the occasion. The ceremony concluded with a patriotic song and the national anthem.
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The government may have spent crores of rupees to raise infrastructure at Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport, but the holy city has not gained much in terms of air connectivity.
Amritsar, March 24
Amritsar, March 24
