Election office holds contests to spread awareness on voting rights 
Amritsar, January 15
The District Election Office organised declamation, slogan writing, painting, poster-making and quiz competitions to spread awareness on voting rights at Saroop Rani Government College for Girls here today.

Amritsar, January 15
Gidda is a popular folk dance of Punjab, but according to a Hindi textbook, prescribed by the Punjab State Education Board for Class V students, it is a song sung by women.

The book, titled 'Aao Hindi Sikhen', has remained in use for the past many years.

The anomaly on gidda occurs on page number 65 in the textbook.

This is not the only mistake in the book. There are several grammatical and factual mistakes in the book.

"Anyone staying in Punjab knows that gidda is a folk dance," said Prabnjot Kaur, a mother of Class V boy. She added that even the word has been misspelled in Punjabi language. Parents of Class V students, studying in government schools, have complained of similar mistakes in the book.

On page number 26 of the textbook, tree has been referred as 'ped' in both Punjabi and Hindi whereas it is called 'rukh' in Punjabi.

On page number 45, crocodile has been explained as a very big fish whereas experts define it as archosaurs, which means that they are genetically closer to birds and the extinct dinosaurs.

A line in chapter 12 of the book reads, "A guwaar started looking at three sisters with extreme surprise." Later it explains the word 'guwaar' as 'Pendu' (in Punjabi) which means village folk in English.

A teacher on anonymity said 'guwaar' in Hindi has negative connotation, whereas 'pendu' is a socially accepted refined word used for people residing in the countryside.

There is long list of the words, both in Hindi and Punjabi languages, which have been spelled differently in the book. It confuses the young minds of the students. For instance, heading of the chapter 10 is 'Janam Din', but the word has been spelled differently in the text.

PSEB Secretary Dr Balwinder Singh said, "Since the anomalies in the text have been brought to my notice, I will soon hold a meeting with the head of the wing to discuss the matter. Efforts will be made to rectify the anomalies in the next edition of the book. The government's ban on new recruitment, which had been in force for the past many years, has resulted in acute shortage of staff, including language experts, in the board." 

Amritsar, January 15
The Municipal Corporation, which is passing through severe fund crunch, has started the process to fill its coffers by meeting the recovery target from house tax defaulters.

Amritsar, January 15
The District Election Office organised declamation, slogan writing, painting, poster-making and quiz competitions to spread awareness on voting rights at Saroop Rani Government College for Girls here today.

The function was presided over by Ravinderpal Singh, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Ajnala. Around 50 students from various colleges in the city took part in the competitions.

In the declamation contest, Ashok Kumar, Pooja Rani and Jasmeet Kaur stood first, second and third, respectively.

In quiz competition, Anupam Sharma, Saurav Seth and Mohit Sharma won the top three positions.

In painting competition, Navjot Kaur, Rajwinder Kaur and Sarabjit Kaur bagged the prizes. In poster-making competition, Gurpreet Singh, Tarundeep Kaur and Manpreet Kaur stood first, second and third, respectively.

Students of Baba Darshan Singh College staged a short play highlighting the importance of vote in democracy.

The SDM said the motive was to create awareness among youngsters about voting rights. He said before exercising their franchise, the voters must evaluate performances and promises made by the candidates.

Amritsar, January 15
A 22-member delegation of Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC), based at Brampton, led by its president Naval Bajaj, today interacted with prominent industrialists, traders and developers of the city to explore new trade avenues.

The ICCC, founded in 1977, is a not-for-profit, sponsor-funded business and diaspora organisation.

Accompanying the visiting delegation was the Mayor of Brampton city, Susan Dorothy Fennell. Addressing officials and councillors of the Municipal Corporation (MC) she said, “Today Brampton has come home of the Punjab. Bilateral trade between India and Canada is growing well and the importance Canada attaches to India could be gauged from the fact that Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently visited India.” She added that goal was to establish bond with the business and with the families here. “The Punjabi community in Canada is known for its family values and team work and her aim is to build on these bonds,” she said.

She said her city offered expertise in manufacturing sectors like IT tools, logistics, food processing technology and many more. She said the city had actually hosted the IFA award ceremony last year and named a street after late Bollywood star Raj Kapoor. She said a brand new kabaddi stadium was added to the sports infrastructure of the city, which included a field hockey stadium, a cricket stadium.

The ICCC president said the delegation had left from Toronto on January 3 and completed its final leg today and they already visited Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kochi, Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar and Delhi.

They also participated in the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas-2013 in Kochi.

He emphasised the need to engage the youth from the Indian diaspora and said it “stands to reason that for the Indian diaspora to play an effective role for building partnerships between host countries and India, they have to integrate well into the societies of host countries. Greater civic engagement of members of the Indian diaspora with mainstream societies of host countries may bring substantial benefits to India."

He added that the aim was to forge linkages between the small businesses in Canada and India, and they attended over 30 interactive sessions, B2B meetings, seminars and workshops during their two-week stay in India.

He said Punjab was a predominantly agrarian economy and it needed technology to add value to its produce. He said here Brampton city and its businessmen could chip in as they had got the state-of-the-art technology.

Host city Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora welcomed the delegation and extended full cooperation. He asked the members of the delegation to explore business and trade opportunities being offered in the holy city.Establishing biz bond

A 22-member delegation of Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC), based at Brampton, interacted with prominent industrialists, traders and developers of the city

Mayor of Brampton city, Susan Dorothy Fennell said the goal was to establish bond with the business and with the families here

Amritsar Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora asked the members of the delegation to explore business and trade opportunities being offered in the holy city

Amritsar, January 15
Punjabi weddings have always enjoyed a premium tag. And now with people trying the concept of theatre cooking or using food as an art during the celebrations, the dream wedding funda has hit another high.

Exotic dishes like Spanish paella, tapas, soft shelled crabs, lobster grills, pork chops, mezzes, squids, smoked salmon tepanyaki grill and many more have found their way into the menu.

The larger than life menu just became a piece of art, how? We ask. “Guests at weddings eat with their eyes and just mouth. Food is the most important aspect of any wedding, appealing our senses. So innovative menu is the demand for the season,” says Ishan Sarkar, COO, Kwality Caterers.

So, rotisserie cooking, induction plates and robata grills become an important visual design element at the weddings. “Theme-based theatre cooking is cleverly designed for weddings, suiting to the demand. It includes highly advanced equipments, staff and cooking techniques that catch attention, while pleasing the appetite,” says Ishan.

Interestingly, events and food services groups are churning out new concepts of stimulating guests where skilled chefs can present their live culinary creativity with equipments like woks on high pressure ranges, hawker’s soup display station, char grills or wood fired ovens for that smoky wonder pizzas.

Traditional tandoors where the very own dal makhani is being cooked simmered for over eight hours could be quite tempting for the taste buds as well as the eyes.

“Amritsar has a growing demand for such concepts, which define innovation as well as their passion for food. It’s a place of food connoisseurs and well-travelled Punjabis want and appreciate these new concepts,” says Saurabh Khurana from Aurah caterers.

The most popular themes are dessert based and global cuisine. “African barbeque, Turkish kebabs, sushi and mid-eastern cuisine are the most popular amongst theme-based cooking. The dessert menu often has Belgian chocolates and ice cream cold stone factory themes,” says Ishan. Other attractions are cheese counters with imported cheese varieties and live grills.

Every now and then, some personal touches are added as per demand like paper mache moulds and wedding souvenir for guests on the table. “The clients are extremely choosy and aware about food, sometimes surprising us with their demand. Visual merchandise is also high in demand,” he adds. So, while the blessed couple basks in their newfound glory, the guests dig into innovation. 

Theme-based theatre cooking is cleverly designed for weddings, suiting to the demand. It includes highly advanced equipments, staff and cooking techniques that catch attention, while pleasing the appetite — Ishan Sarkar, COO, Kwality Caterers

Amritsar, January 15
The shooting range at Guru Nanak Dev University became a battleground this morning when some of the aspirants from various universities created ruckus after being denied permission to participate in the All-India Inter-University Shooting (Men & Women) Championship, which commenced today.

The GNDU is hosting the four-day inter-university championship in which about 150 teams from various parts of the country are participating.

The incident took ugly turn at about 8.30 am when the agitating players reached the shooting range and tried to disrupt the event. They reportedly threw empty bottles and damaged the shooting range.

It was learnt that a coach of Mumbai University and several players received injuries in the melee.

But the matter was amicably resolved after the intervention of the police. No case was lodged against anyone as future of students was at stake, the GNDU officials said.

Meanwhile, the event got delayed by about half an hour.

Players of four universities --- Mumbai University, Rohtak University, Amity University and Jamia Milia Islamia University --- were not permitted to participate in the event by the GNDU authorities.

The GNDU authorities justified their stand by saying that the players of these universities did not confirm their participation in a stipulated time and as per university norms, they were not entitled to participate in the event. The GNDU officials also said a communication was already sent to their respective universities in this regard, but still they reached the venue, apparently, to create chaos.

On the other hand, the players from these four universities maintained that they were discriminated against and were denied entry into the event for no valid reasons.

GNDU Deputy Sports Director HS Randhawa said the last date of confirmation of participation in the event was December 28. Those universities who had completed the entry formalities for the event on time were sent invitations, but those entries which were received after the stipulated date were communicated through an e-mail and fax that they have been barred from participation.

"Still, the players turned up. As a goodwill gesture, we provided them accommodation in the university campus and they assured us that they would leave the GNDU campus after confirmation of their return ticket within a day or two. This morning around 40 players reached the shooting range and after raising slogans against us, they started throwing empty bottles and damaged the range. The police was called in but we withdrew the complaint keeping in mind the students' future," he said. 

The GNDU is hosting the four-day inter-university championship in which about 150 teams from various parts of the country are participating

The incident took ugly turn at about 8.30 am when the agitating players reached the shooting range and tried to disrupt the event. They reportedly threw empty bottles and damaged the shooting range.

It was learnt that a coach of Mumbai University and several players received injuries in the melee

But the matter was amicably resolved after the intervention of the police. No case was lodged against anyone

Amritsar, January 15
The police busted a gang of robbers and arrested three of its members reportedly involved in several incidents of vehicle-lifting, looting and snatchings in the city.

Inspector Sukhwinder Singh Randhawa, SHO, Kotwali police station, said as many as eight motorcycles were recovered from them. “They first lifted vehicles and used them in other crimes (snatching and looting). We also seized 150 g of intoxicant powder from their possession,” he said.

Jugraj Singh and Satwinder Singh of Kohala village and Daljit Singh of Bhindi Saidan were nabbed at a special naka at old Sabzi mandi.

Later, the police also seized one mobile phone from them.

During interrogation, the accused confessed that they were involved in at least 12 loot incidents. After committing these crimes, they used to sell off the stolen motorcycles in other states.

A case under relevant sections of the IPC and NDPS Act has been registered against the trio.

“We will seek their remand in the court and will interrogate them further. We are hopeful to crack several other loot incidents”, the inspector said.

In another case, the GRP arrested 12 persons who used to steal passengers’ belongings in trains. The accused belonged to other states. Further investigation is going on. 

Amritsar, January 15
Six persons were arrested with narcotics and illicit liquor in separate incidents here today.

Gora, a resident of Gawal Mandi, Amritsar, was nabbed with nine bottles of whiskey. He was booked under relevant sections of the Excise Act.

Buta Singh of Rajinder Nagar, Maqboolpura, was arrested with 5,430 ml of illicit liquor and was booked under sections of the Excise Act. Surjit Singh of Veena Nurse Niwa Batala road was arrested with 30,000 ml of illicit liquor.

As much as 6,750 ml of illicit liquor was seized from Angrej Singh of Ajnala.

Jagjit Singh and Wassan Singh of Patti Pandora, Sultantwind were arrested with 320 g of intoxicant powder. A case under Sections 22, 61 and 85 under the NDPS Act was registered against the duo.