SPECIAL COVERAGE
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JALANDHAR


THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE
TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

Wall disappearing from ‘walled city’
Amritsar, April 27
“Something there is that doesn't love a wall.” When Robert Frost said this in much celebrated poem “Mending walls” he did contemplate about a number of reasons which lead to damaged walls. But he surely did not touch the one "apathy", which is causing ruin of the wall around the walled city.
The historical wall around the walled city has been encroached upon by shopkeepers at many places and it is hardly visible in Amritsar. Photos: Vishal Kumar
The historical wall around the walled city has been encroached upon by shopkeepers at many places and it is hardly visible in Amritsar. Photos: Vishal Kumar

City to get upgraded road infrastructure by June
Amritsar, April 27
An upgraded road network is on the cards for Amritsar district as construction is in full swing on several 72-km-long key stretches. Disclosing this, Information and Public Relation Minister Bikram Singh Majithia said development work on the 10 major road projects, at an estimated cost of Rs 15.32 crore, was in the final stage of completion and will be ready by June.


EARLIER STORIES


Special women police squad to check eve-teasing
Amritsar, April 27
To check growing incidents of eve-teasing and harassment, the city police has come up with a special women police squad. The squad will be equipped with specially designed patrol vehicles, revolvers and wireless sets. The squad while patrolling would keeping a check on any incident of eve-teasing and women harassment and would provide immediate action.


A member of the newly formed Women Armed Special Police Squad patrols the city on a specially designed vehicle in Amritsar. A Tribune photograph

Awareness campaign on voting rights
Amritsar, April 27
An awareness campaign on the use of voting right was held at the Khalsa College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (KCVAS). The event was organised by the NSS wing of the college.

Order on DJs to marriage palace owners
Amritsar, April 27
Concerned over the increasing level of noise pollution, the district administration, along with the police department, held a meeting with the representatives of marriage palaces and asked them to abide by the norms while playing DJ on their premises.

Praying for safety: Sukhpreet Kaur, wife of Indian prisoner in Pakistan Sarbjit Singh, and her daughter Swapandeep, take part in a candlelight march organised by the International Human Rights Organisation in Amritsar on Saturday.
Praying for safety: Sukhpreet Kaur, wife of Indian prisoner in Pakistan Sarbjit Singh, and her daughter Swapandeep, take part in a candlelight march organised by the International Human Rights Organisation in Amritsar on Saturday. 
Photo: Vishal Kumar

Australian company organises “Woolmark Rendezvous” 
Amritsar, April 27
The Woolmark Company (TWC), a subsidiary of Australian Wool Innovation, owned by 29,000 Australian wool growers, organised "Woolmark Rendezvous" to introduce new product range in wool, including presentation on the “Wool Lab SS 14” here last night.

AICTE nod for polytechnic college in Amritsar
Amritsar, April 27
Youth from Amritsar, Batala and Gurdaspur are likely to be benefited as the Global Institute of Engineering got approval for a new polytechnic college.

Students shine in varsity results
Amritsar, April 27
Anubha Aggarwal and Amrit Randhawa of DAV College bagged the fourth and sixth positions in MSc Computer Science third semester examinations of Guru Nanak Dev University.
Meritorious students being felicitated at DAV College in Amritsar. A tribune photograph
Meritorious students being felicitated at DAV College in Amritsar. A tribune photograph

400 examined at free eye camp
Amritsar, April 27
Around 400 patients were examined during a free eye check-up camp organised at the Satellite hospital in Ranjit Avenue here today.

Cycle of seasons on display at exhibition
Amritsar, April 27
Visitors throng the craft exhibition at Spring Blossoms School in Amritsar on Saturday. A Tribune photograph "The seasons change from sun to snow, here is a glimpse of them in a row." This was the opening message at the Ritu Chakra, a craft exhibition at Spring Blossoms School today. Displaying cycles of seasons, the exhibition was opened by Gitanjali Rohit Om Parkash, a renowned social activist.



Visitors throng the craft exhibition at Spring Blossoms School in Amritsar on Saturday. A Tribune photograph

Play presents a satire on evil of female foeticide
Amritsar, April 27
Artistes enact a scene from the play ‘Daughter of the Bin’ at Punjab Natshala in Amritsar on Saturday. Punjab Natshala celebrated 25th show of its home production 'Daughter of the bin' with an entertaining evening. The chief guest on the occasion was Laxmi Kanta Chawla. Other prominent names from the city were also in attendance.






Artistes enact a scene from the play ‘Daughter of the Bin’ at Punjab Natshala in Amritsar on Saturday.

Two killed in accidents
Amritsar, April 27
Two persons died in road mishaps in the city in the past 24 hours. Kallu of Gilwali Gate was crushed to death when a speeding truck hit him near Bhagtanwala Chowk. The driver of the truck, identified as Tarsem Singh of Vallah, fled the scene after the accident.

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Wall disappearing from ‘walled city’
Manmeet Singh Gill
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 27
“Something there is that doesn't love a wall.” When Robert Frost said this in much celebrated poem “Mending walls” he did contemplate about a number of reasons which lead to damaged walls. But he surely did not touch the one "apathy", which is causing ruin of the wall around the walled city.

The place with old architectural styled buildings and narrow streets what people call by the name of the "walled city" has its wall fast crumbling as the archaeological preservers and administration look another way.

The wall has collapsed at many a places and at others people have erected illegal shops alongside it so that it is hardly visible to an outsider.

The great wall with 12 gates was built during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Even as there had been efforts to preserve historical places as Gobindgarh Fort and Ram Bagh, heritage lovers rue that the wall has been ignored.

The residents and even outsiders still continue to call the place the "walled city", even as the wall is no longer recognisable. “The wall has disappeared at many places. May be soon we would find it no where but in history books,” said a disgruntled senior citizen, Kirpal Singh.

Not only the wall, but also many of the 12 gates in it have vanished over the years. Residents of houses along the wall have used it as a foundation to construct their residences. A few have even dismantled the wall and constructed it anew. Surely the area has lost its character, after which Amritsar was called the "walled city".

New buildings erected along the wall have come up by dismantling the old wall. Sikander Singh, another resident, said, “The walled city is without any wall. There is a need to preserve whatever little of this has left.” He said even the gates needed to be declared monuments of historical importance.

“People are running shops from rooms in the large pillars of the gates as Hall Gate. I think these should be converted into information centres for the tourists,” said Balkiran, a student.

Head of the Guru Ram Das Institute of Planning at Guru Nanak Dev University Dr Balwinder Singh said, “The built heritage in the city needs to be preserved with a missionary zeal. The wall is of so much importance, archeologically and historically, that it needs to be preserved.”

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City to get upgraded road infrastructure by June
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 27
An upgraded road network is on the cards for Amritsar district as construction is in full swing on several 72-km-long key stretches.

Disclosing this, Information and Public Relation Minister Bikram Singh Majithia said development work on the 10 major road projects, at an estimated cost of Rs 15.32 crore, was in the final stage of completion and will be ready by June.

These projects include the 23-km-long Amritsar-Ajnala-Ramdass-Dera Baba Nanak stretch coming up at a cost of Rs 500.07 lakh, 11-km-long GT Road-Bypass to Jagdev Kalan-Loharka costing Rs 180.58 lakh, 9-km-long Ramdass to Fatehgarh Churian stretch at the cost of Rs 210.00 lakh, the 1.25 km Ajnala-Fatehgarh Churian road for Rs 80 lakh, 5.5-km-long Amritsar-Ajnala road at the cost of Rs 165 lakh, the 3-km-long Ajnala-Chogawan Road costing Rs 130 lakh, the 7-km-long Narli-China Bidhi Chand road for Rs 106.24 lakh, the 4.3-km-long Gandiwind to Cheema Road at a cost of Rs 43.75 lakh, the 5-km-long Sirhali-Chohla Sahib Road at a cost of Rs 76.80 lakh and the 3-km-long Attsh to Verpal Road, costing Rs 40 lakh.

"Around Rs 4,200 crore would be spent on the road infrastructure during 2013-14. This would include Rs 1,700 crore for repair of 11,500 km of link roads, Rs 600 crore for upgrading 1,092 km of rural roads, Rs 200 crore for upgrade of 350 km roads and 5 bridges in the state sector, Rs 8,705 crore for Metro Rail Project, Ludhiana, Rs 2,500 crore for Water Front City in Ludhiana, Rs 900 crore on the Ropar-Phagwara Expressway, Rs 655 crore for Sidhwan canal bypass in Ludhiana and Ropar bye-pass, Rs 78 crore for 9 high-level bridges, Rs 59 crore for 18 ROBs and underpasses and Rs 72 crore for other infrastructure related works in rural/urban areas," he said.

10 road Projects on cards

23-km-long Amritsar-Ajnala-Ramdass-Dera Baba Nanak

11-km-long GT Road-bypass to Jagdev Kalan-Loharka

9-km-long Ramdass to Fatehgarh Churian stretch

1.25 km Ajnala-Fatehgarh Churian stretch

5.5-km-long Amritsar-Ajnala road

3-km-long Ajnala-Chogawan Road

7-km-long Narli-China Bidhi Chand road

4.3-km-long Gandiwind to Cheema Road

5-km-long Sirhali-Chohla Sahib Road

3-km-long Attsh to Verpal Road 

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Special women police squad to check eve-teasing
Neha Saini
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 27
To check growing incidents of eve-teasing and harassment, the city police has come up with a special women police squad. The squad will be equipped with specially designed patrol vehicles, revolvers and wireless sets. The squad while patrolling would keeping a check on any incident of eve-teasing and women harassment and would provide immediate action.

About 30 newly recruited policewomen have been put on job in the special squad, integrated with the PCRs. They will be deputed at various key locations, especially outside women educational institutes to check eve-teasing and other crimes against women. Women in the city have been at the receiving end since instances like snatching and robbery have continued unabatedly even after the police has initiated a number of steps to curb the same. But this new development will be at least able to give out a positive signal.

"On the initiative of the state government's the Women Armed Special Protection Squad is being introduced in various cities across Punjab. This has been done to cover any loopholes in curbing crimes against women. It will prove to be effective since in many cases the victims are not able to share information with male police personnel. With the women squad, the action would be immediate and also victims would not feel uncomfortable," says Inspector Kanwaljeet Kaur from the Women Cell.

The squad will be patrolling from morning to evening at all prominent schools, colleges and women working places. There will also be a toll-free helpline for receiving distress calls. The announcement has motivated the women police as well as the city women folk, who have welcomed the news.

"It's a good thing that women will be provided special protection. Girls have been living with a feeling of being unsafe all the time with growing incidents of eve-teasing. One cannot even go to the market without being harassed or groped. At least the women squad will provide immediate action on the spot," Rupali Khurana, a psychology student from Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), who lives in a paying guest (PG) accommodation in the city, said.

Several working women, too, think it's a positive step. "The administration has repeatedly failed to curb crimes against women. Recent examples of its failure are the gang-rape cases in moving vehicles. The idea of having a special women squad sounds brilliant, but so should be the effort from the police personnel to implement it to its maximum benefit," shares Neelam Sood, a banking professional from the city.

And that is what the squad intends to do. "We have earmarked specific areas which need special attention. The patrolling will be doubled in those areas, and more personnel recruited. We will cover all the chinks in the security of women in the city with the special squad. The idea behind this exercise was to inculcate a sense of security among women," said Police Commissioner Ram Singh.

In case of emergency, these personnel could also call police teams to help them. The policewomen would be accompanied by senior women police officials during patrolling.

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Awareness campaign on voting rights

Amritsar, April 27
An awareness campaign on the use of voting right was held at the Khalsa College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (KCVAS). The event was organised by the NSS wing of the college.

The purpose of the event was to educate the young students about the value of votes in a democracy.

College principal Dr SK Jand said casting the vote was a basic and sacred duty of every citizen which should be ethically used to elect representatives, who must work for the betterment of society and nation-building.

Students also organised a campus rally and carried placards and banners on electing the right candidates. They said the strength of any democracy could be gauged by creating awareness among the people to participate in the election process.

Dr SS Sidhu, NSS Coordinator, Dr SPS Bali, Dr Gurjot Mavi, faculty members were also present. — TNS

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Order on DJs to marriage palace owners

Amritsar, April 27
Concerned over the increasing level of noise pollution, the district administration, along with the police department, held a meeting with the representatives of marriage palaces and asked them to abide by the norms while playing DJ on their premises.

Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal and Deputy Commissioner of Police Dr Kaustubh Sharma directed the marriage palace owners to play the DJ music within the stipulated limits or else action would be initiated against them.

He advised them to pass a resolution and display the requisite instructions at their marriage palaces.

He said as per the Punjab and Haryana High Court, there was a complete ban on playing DJ music after 10 pm. He said the person concerned had to take prior permission from the SDM or police authorities concerned for playing DJ music during their programmes. — TNS

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Australian company organises “Woolmark Rendezvous” 
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 27
The Woolmark Company (TWC), a subsidiary of Australian Wool Innovation, owned by 29,000 Australian wool growers, organised "Woolmark Rendezvous" to introduce new product range in wool, including presentation on the “Wool Lab SS 14” here last night.

The seminar is about new initiatives taken by the Woolmark Company to help the industry adopt new technologies and introduce new product platforms which can be offered to the emerging Indian consumers.

Amir Sheikh, TWC, country manager, India, said the Wool Lab SS 14 was an inspirational seasonal guide to the world's most innovative, fashionable and high quality wool fabrics and yarn. The collection presents a seasonal guide to the most interesting trends and proposes seven inspiring trends for spring and summer 2014.

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AICTE nod for polytechnic college in Amritsar

Amritsar, April 27
Youth from Amritsar, Batala and Gurdaspur are likely to be benefited as the Global Institute of Engineering got approval for a new polytechnic college.

The polytechnic college would raise technical skills of the youth, said Dr BS Chandi, chairman, Global Institutes. He said a formal letter had been received from the AICTE, New Delhi, for starting the diploma courses in computer science and engineering, electronics and communication engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. He said the polytechnic would lay greater emphasis on learning. —TNS

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Students shine in varsity results
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 27
Anubha Aggarwal and Amrit Randhawa of DAV College bagged the fourth and sixth positions in MSc Computer Science third semester examinations of Guru Nanak Dev University.

Anubha secured 440 marks out of a total of 600 while Amrit got 436. Hiten Mehta and Lovejeet Singh of Bachelor of Multimedia first semester examinations bagged the first and eighth positions in the university by securing 820 out of a total of 950 and 783 marks, respectively. College principal Dr KN Kaul honoured the students and asked them to keep up the efforts. 

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400 examined at free eye camp
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 27
Around 400 patients were examined during a free eye check-up camp organised at the Satellite hospital in Ranjit Avenue here today.

The camp was inaugurated by Civil Surgeon Dr Yash Mitra.

Ophthalmic officer at the hospital Sanjeev Anand said as many as 55 patients were identified with immature cataract during the camp. He said all the patients were given free medicines.

Eye specialist Dr Chander Mohan, who examined the patients, said 15 patients had been referred to the Civil Hospital where relevant surgeries would be conducted on them.

He said apart from cataract, patients were diagnosed with squint, allergy, trachoma and glaucoma.

Hospital in-charge Dr Hardeep Kaur said the patients had been advised to get their eyes checked after every six months to avoid complexities.

A function to observe ‘Beti Bachao Diwas’ was also organised during the camp where people were educated about the dwindling sex ratio in the state.

Apart from the general public, the camp was attended by councillor Kulwant Kaur, BJP leader Kashmir Singh, Pritpal Singh and assistant Civil Surgeon Dr Balwinder Kakkar.

Chairman of Mulajam Welfare Society, Rakesh Kumar, who had organised the camp, said, “The society is an association of the ealth Department employees. Our endeavour is to provide medical facilities to the unprivileged sections of society.”

He said more such camps would be organised in the future.

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Cycle of seasons on display at exhibition
Tribune News service

Amritsar, April 27
"The seasons change from sun to snow, here is a glimpse of them in a row."

This was the opening message at the Ritu Chakra, a craft exhibition at Spring Blossoms School today.

Displaying cycles of seasons, the exhibition was opened by Gitanjali Rohit Om Parkash, a renowned social activist.

Using different techniques of art like papier mache, vegetable printing, cotton blobbing, hand printing, spray painting etc, various artifacts created by the tiny tots in the age-group of 2-6 years were exhibited in a grand array. The theme-based display of the spectacular world of seasons was a feast for the eyes and also provided a perfect backdrop for the crafts.

Chief guest Gitanjali Rohit Om Parkash was highly impressed to see how the children had learnt about different techniques of art at such a young age.

Principal Anupama Mehra said learning in Spring Blossoms transcends from the walls of classroom to direct natural environment. “Our endeavour has always been to make learning experiential and fun-filled,” the principal said.

Director Dr Kirat Sandhu Cheema applauded the hard work of the teachers and the children and said the school would continue to give exposure to children to such activities which would enhance their creativity and also polish their inherent artistic skills.

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Play presents a satire on evil of female foeticide
Neha Saini
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 27
Punjab Natshala celebrated 25th show of its home production 'Daughter of the bin' with an entertaining evening. The chief guest on the occasion was Laxmi Kanta Chawla. Other prominent names from the city were also in attendance.

“Daughter of the Bin” attempted to show a mirror to society on the very first day of its presentation. The play was written by Shiromani Natakkar Jatinder Brar. The play was originally a silent presentation, but its improvised version turned this non-verbal play into verbal and digital delight. The Punjabi play has been directed by Rajinder Singh and presents a satire on the evils of society in the context of female foeticide.

Staged every evening on Saturday and Sunday at Punjab Natshala, the play has been generating good response from the audiences. Woven around the malpractice of female foeticide, at the same time touching other evils prevailing in society, which affect all sections, it has made people sit back and reflect. Bureaucracy, politics, wrong policies, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and casteism and many other issues have been represented in a satirical yet comical way. “The point was to make the audience feel like they are a part of the play and experience incidents that they have felt at any given point in their lives,” said Brar, playwright of “Daughter of the Bin”.

The play starts in a public park, where someone has thrown away a baby girl in a dustbin.

The story moves on metaphorically, with the bench of the park depicting the system.

In the end, the play insists that no issues can be resolved alone. An effort by the whole of the community is required to conquer such social evils and religion could play a buffer. Though the play focuses on burning issues, it managed to have its moments of laughter as well. The play managed to make the audience put on their thinking cap.

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Two killed in accidents
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 27
Two persons died in road mishaps in the city in the past 24 hours. Kallu of Gilwali Gate was crushed to death when a speeding truck hit him near Bhagtanwala Chowk. The driver of the truck, identified as Tarsem
Singh of Vallah, fled the scene after the accident.

Prem Lata, a resident of New Tehsilpura, died when an unknown vehicle hit her near Senior Government College. Cases under Sections 304-A and 279 of the IPC have been registered.

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