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Buy land on Moon now...Mars is next
Philately is a passion for this businessman
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Adalakha group sweeps Service Club election
Tourism potential of city untapped: INTACH
First Foundation resolves to make Amritsar clean
Weekly Round-up
Creating poetry on canvas
Poor civic amenities at Rajasansi airport
NGO to adopt village along Indo-Pak border
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Buy land on Moon now...Mars is next The Earth’s terra firma holds no fascination for Germany-settled Amritsari artiste Harjinder Singh Baghi. He’s already ‘mooning over’ lunar settlements, reports Varinder Walia.
Aspiring for the moon? Not content to have acres of land stretching across the verdant fields of Punjab, and yet more land in foreign countries, the Punjabi community has now started looking towards the Moon and the Mars (Sea of Tranquility) to invest in the real estate! Like the USA’s Neil Armstrong who became the first man to walk on the Moon, Mr Harjinder Singh Baghi (58), now settled in Germany, has become the first Amritsari to ‘own’ one acre of land on the Moon. Mr Baghi is the son of Jathedar Bur Singh, a great freedom fighter (honoured with the Tamra Patra by the then Prime Minister, Ms Indira Gandhi) who fought for the sake of his motherland. The proud ‘owner’ of one acre of land near the crater Arago (Sea of Tranquility), Mr Baghi says that it has fulfilled his long-cherished desire to purchase a piece of land on the Moon ever since he had seen Armstrong’s lunar walk in 1969. Recalling the historic day, he said that the memory of the “greatest space event” was still fresh in his mind. Armstrong had reported the lunar module Eagle’s safe landing with the words: “The Eagle has landed.” As he put his left foot down first, he declared: “That’s one small step for man but one giant leap for mankind.” The historic moments were captured on television cameras installed on the Eagle and turned on by Armstrong. Mr Baghi, who had migrated to Germany in 1986, has with him the declaration of the Lunar and the Mars landownership deed for the purpose of colonisation. It reads: “The lunar Federation will help set up a free democratic government to secure the rights of the lunar and the Mars colonies. The Moon and the Mars will become their own sovereign states. The Lunar Federation will regulate the colonies until such times that the governmental sovereign state becomes fully self-sufficient. The Lunar Federation plans to set up a permanent lunar and Mars base while setting up the government of the Moon and the Mars to secure private landownership and mineral rights.” The Lunar Federation promises that the settlers on the Moon would have spectacular views of the Earth, particularly during the lunar eclipses. Mr Dennis Hope, a Californian entrepreneur who first laid the claim to the entire Moon in 1980, is gearing up to jack the prices of the land on the Earth’s lone natural satellite. Mr Hope has quietly ‘sold’ parcels on the Moon to some 300,000 people through his Rio Vista California Company, Lunar Embassy. The Lunar Federation claims that for a limited time one can buy the land on the Moon! There are over 1,125,000 lunar landowners from 176 countries around the world. Till date more than 300 million acres have been issued to people from all walks of life here on the planet Earth. The colonisation mission will take place when one billion acres have been issued to the people all over the world!
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Philately is a passion for this businessman
Mr H. P. Singh finds his proclivity for postage stamps more intrinsic with every passing year. After devoting nearly two decades to the philately collection he has added another feather to his cap by designing four special postal covers, which were released recently by the Department of Posts to mark special historical or other occasions. A special cover to mark 300 years of 40 Muktas, designed by Mr H P Singh, was released in Jalandhar recently depicting them as asking for forgiveness from Guru Gobind Singh ji. To match the cover is an aesthetically designed special date ‘cachet’ or postal stamp ‘cancellater’ with war cry instruments ‘Nagara’ and ‘Shankh’ (conch) bordering its sides. In January this year, another special cover designed by Mr Singh was released during the inauguration ceremony of a post office dedicated to tri-centenary of four Sahibzadas of Tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. Mr Singh, a rice exporter, has also been looking after the affairs of Philatelic Club working as its General Secretary here for the last 18 years. Of his treasured collection of rare stamps numbering over 1.5 lakh, a score of them are considered unique which include 106 stamps of Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. He also possesses all the first day covers released on this historical occasion from 76 countries to mark the coronation. Apart from this, H P Singh also has a thematic collection on “Sikhism” with their first day covers. The first stamp on Sikhism was issued in 1935 on the Golden Temple on the eve of silver jubilee of King George-V in the denomination of three and half Annas. His collection also include stamps and postal stationary released in India and abroad on this theme. In addition, some of the stamp cancellations post cards and covers dates back to the postal history of Amritsar when the city was spelt as “Umritsar” in 1858 and he also has the first post card in black and white on the Golden Temple and Dera Baba Nanak issued in 1923. The collector has rare ‘cancellated’ post cards of Sai Mian Meer— the Muslim who laid the foundation of Golden Temple invited by fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ramdas. Of this 65 stamps are from India and 15 others were released by various countries including Canada, Korea, Dominican Republic, Holland, Kenya, and US. A huge collection of used and unused post independence stamps numbering more than 2000 is part of the 1.5 lakh stamp collection of this collector. However, his prized possession is the first stamp issued in the world by the Great Britain called Queen Victoria’s ‘Penny Black’ stamp worth thousands of dollars. It is fascinating to watch the 500 odd shaped stamps that Mr HP Singh lovingly displays. Interestingly, he also has the recently issued commemorative stamp on occasion of quadri-centennial celebrations on the installation of Guru Granth Sahib which were immediately retracted by the postal department following objections by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee.
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Adalakha group sweeps Service Club election
The group headed by Dr A.L. Adalakha, who had been clamouring for holding the Service Club elections and also alleging malpractices in the club, has made a clean sweep in the club elections. The elections were held after a gap of more than ten years on October 22.
Dr Adalakha ousted the club president, Mr Sarbjit Singh Sandhu, in the elections. Clouds of uncertainty had been hanging for a long time over the election of club office-bearers. Out of 1173 members of the club, 1013 exercised their right to franchise during the elections. A heavy turnout of 85 per cent was witnessed. Dr Adalakha, with 637 votes, got the better of Mr Sandhu by 274 votes. Mr Surinder Mahajan of the winning group became the vice-president by defeating Mr B.L. Gupta by a margin of 306 votes. Mr H.S. Dhot and Mr Sunil Kapoor were elected the honorary secretary and the joint secretary, respectively. Mr S.S. Chhina, former SP, Mr V.K. Mehta, Capt (Retd) Harinder Singh, Mr Inderjit Singh, Mr Rakesh Verma, Dr G.D. Puri and Mr Darshan Singh of the victorious group took over all seven executive seats. Earlier, the winning group had been clamouring that in violation of the club bylaws that ensured that elections be held every year, no election had taken place from 1994 onwards. The bylaws also mentioned that no person could hold a post for more than two consecutive terms. The group had alleged that Mr Sarbjit Sandhu had shown scant regard for the democratic norms and traditions of the club. Mr Chhina had alleged that earlier Dr Hakumat Rai had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mr Sandhu that they would run the affairs of the club alternatively for six months. However, after the completion of six months, Mr Sandhu did not relinquish the office and continued to hold the post of the president through his machinations to stall the understanding with the other group, he had alleged. However, Mr Sandhu had denied the allegations levelled against him. Keeping in view the sensitivity of the situation, the district administration had to deploy police to prevent any untoward incident. Dr Adalakha, after taking the charge, said that they would hold inquiry into the allegations of the embezzlement of club funds. He said an inquiry committee, consisting of legal and commerce experts of the club, would be constituted soon. |
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Raj Bhasha Hindi Puraskar for Bedi
Prof H S Bedi, Dean Languages, Guru Nanak Dev University, has been awarded with ‘Raj Bhasha Hindi Puraskar’ recently in New Delhi for his contributions to the Hindi literature.
On the occasion, He was bestowed upon a shawl and a memento by renowned fiction writer Rajinder Yadav, Editor of Hans Magazine and Mr Uday Shankar Awasthi, Managing Director, IFFCO. Prof Bedi, the recipient of “Shiromani Hindi Sahit Award” during World Punjabi Conference at Punjabi University, Patiala, has made invaluable contributions to the Hindi literature. He has also been honored by the President on behalf of the Hindi Sahitya Akademi. He was also conferred upon the title of “Kavi Rattan” by UP Sahitya Academy in 1987 and “Shiromani Sahityakar” by the UP government in 2003. During his 30 years of career, which he devoted to the Hindi literature, Prof Bedi has been the coordinator of Swami Vivekananda Study Centre, UGC, Head of Satguru Ram Singh Chair, Guru Nanak Dev University Chair and Chief Editor of Sahitya Abhiyan, a half yearly literary magazine published from New Delhi. Dr Bedi has 10 books to his credit that include national award winner ‘Garm Loha.’ He has also edited 12 books and translated 4 books, besides writing 11 text books. He authored three books in Punjabi too. |
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Tourism potential of city untapped: INTACH
Amritsar can be developed as a tourist spot, but the lack of funds and the absence of a proper tourism policy have deprived the state of its ability to harness the tourism potential of the Holy City, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has said. “The city has a vast potential. A visionary approach is all that is needed. Unfortunately, no clear cut policy has been drafted to promote tourism as industry,” lamented Dr Sukhdev Singh, INTACH’s Punjab State Convener. Dr Sukhdev was speaking at the two-day National Convention of Tourism and Economic Development held at the BBK DAV College for Women recently. He said there was an urgent need to work at many levels — make arrangements for proper infrastructure, plan out roads and traffic management, besides providing medical facilities and social security. “Tour operators should be honest and they should work as well-informed, linguistically proficient guides. Service providers should provide clean, efficient and affordable transport service,” he added. “The tourism department, with the assistance of other organisations, should create information resources available in the form of brochures, city maps and glow signboards,” Dr Sukhdev said. “Tourism is not only for entertainment, but it can also be helpful in spiritual enhancement and cultural awareness.” He said that the government must identify the areas of the state which could be promoted as tourist spots, adding that tourist circuits and tourist satellites should be developed to absorb international and domestic tourists. Dr Sukhdev also recommended a multi-lane road from Amritsar to Bathinda via Faridkot to showcase ancient forts and places of historical and cultural importance. “Then there could be a road map from Patiala to Amritsar via Kapurthala. There can be other routes such as the Shivalik Hills, Anandpur Sahib, Sanghol and Khatker Kalan. Tourism requires a collective approach of various government departments, NGOs and social organisations,” he added. On its part, INTACH state unit, besides raising these issues at various forums and giving inputs, has formulated the concept of the Heritage Walk to sensitise people of various cities, including Amritsar, Patiala and Faridkot, to the rich cultural and architectural splendour of these places complete with the Heritage Walk Maps and related brochures. Appreciating recent initiatives to organise heritage festivals, Dr Sukhdev suggested these should be celebrated as annual rituals without spending much, and the funds collected could be used for preservation of old buildings and sites. “It is necessary for government to amend the local body act and make way for the provision of a heritage cell in every municipal corporation or committee.” He demanded that the Gobindgarh Fort be opened to people as a “war museum” and the money sanctioned by the Centre a decade ago for Jallianwala Bagh be released and Khalsa College, Amritsar, be declared as a heritage building.
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First Foundation resolves to make Amritsar clean
It is said that it requires a few awakened people to stir the conscience of the multitudes. This seems to be the case with the Amritsar First Foundation, an NGO launched last year by a group of socially-awakened residents here. The foundation’s concern about the Holy City, which the NGO says has remained neglected for the last more than five decades, has received a positive response from the city’s residents. Talking to Amritsar Plus, the secretary general of the foundation, Mr Ranjit Sandhu, said they had made a representation to Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, about four most important projects that had been hanging fire for the last couple of years. The foundation highlighted that these projects, including the beautification of the surroundings of the Golden Temple, the four-laning of Amritsar-Jalandhar road, the creation of the Special Economic Zone and the modernisation of Rajasansi International Airport, were yet to take off despite repeated promises of political leaders. Mr Sandhu said they would try to build up mass movement to create pressure groups to restore the pristine glory of the city, which had been the commercial capital of the undivided Punjab for over two centuries. Expressing his serious concern over the lack of civic amenities and cleanliness in the city, he said the roads were choked with encroachments and that traffic jams had become regular features. He urged the people to come forward and register their grievances with the foundation to rebuild their city.
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Weekly Round-up
Dr S.P. Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, inaugurated the foundation stone of the third wing of the girls’ hostel at Guru Nanak Dev University. The hostel would be constructed at the cost of Rs 98 lakh. The UGC has contributed Rs 25 lakh for the construction of this building. The design of this hostel has been prepared by the Engineering Department of the University, a university press release said. This four-storey building, with a covered area of 21000 sq ft, would have 96 cubicle rooms. This block would have all modern amenities, the release added. Farewell
Prof Sarabjit Singh Chhina (Economics), Prof Gurnam Singh Kahlon (Mathematics), Prof R.P. Gupta (Commerce), Prof Gian Singh (Physics) and Prof Iqbal Singh Randhawa (Botany) from Khalsa College were given farewell by the staff members of the college. Dr Daljit Singh, Principal, and Dr Pannu, Registrar of the college, presented college photograph as a memento to the family members of the retired teachers. Foundation Day
The Chief Khalsa Diwan will celebrate its Foundation Day on October 28. A special programme would be held at Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary Public School. Akhand paath would be organised and famous kirtani jathas would present kirtans. Jathedar Akal Takht, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, would be the chief guest on the occasion. Awareness camp
Police DAV Public School, in collaboration with the Amritsar Consumer Welfare Forum, would hold an awareness camp under the Consumers’ Protection Act, 1986, on October 24 on its campus. Bumper prize
Airtel, mobile service provider, has offered “Maha Diwali bumper” prize of Rs 11 lakh to its prepaid and post-paid customers in Punjab. To participate, a customer needs to call at number 234 and answer a simple question and each correct answer will invite a participation number that will be entered automatically for a lucky draw contest. The customer is free to call any number of times and each call would be charged at Rs 11 per minute. Also, there would be bumper daily lucky prizes, including digital cameras, colour televisions, gold coins and Nokia colour mobile handsets. In addition to this, customers could win free ring tones or ten local SMS. The bumper offer would close on November 1. Launch
The Amara Raja Batteries Limited, manufacturers of the Amaron range of automotive batteries, has launched its first Amaron PitStop in partnership with M/S Rajaram and sons in the Holy City. Mr G Indeevar, Head, Automotive, Amara Raja Batteries, said that the launch offered a complete brand experience in the retailing of the automotive batteries along with qualified technical assistance. Exclusive shop
The Hutch India’s cellular service provider has announced the strengthening of its operations in Punjab with the opening of the exclusive Hutch shop at Amritsar. Mr Arun Kapoor, chief operating officer, said that as the subscribers looked for easy access to service providers, they had opened a hutch shop in easily accessible locations to come close to customers. Besides providing hutch connections, the hutch shops would provide demonstrations on all value-added services. |
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Creating poetry on canvas
His paintings are marked by magnificent and elegant workmanship reminding the onlooker of poetry-in-art. Dr E.K. Raj paints with a regal flourish, say experts.
The recently-held solo exhibition by Dr E.K. Raj depicted his style in its various forms. He is a prolific painter of contemporary art, and he hardly follows the traditional method of linear representation. He paints with the help of textures, light and shade, and tones, presenting dream-like feelings. Most of his works have an imaginative expression, a hidden beauty, and a visionary balance. “Those who care for modern art and do not consider the imitation of nature as art know the worth of his paintings,” says an art expert, adding that Dr Raj shows immense promise.
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Poor civic amenities at Rajasansi airport
While the Rajasansi International Airport is supposedly being upgraded by the authorities, the conveniences offered there have gone into a downward spiral. The two lavatories in the departure waiting lounge are stinking to knock a weak hearted person out of his senses. The flushes are out of order and the ventilators in the back wall are low enough to help a passerby have a look into the activity going on inside the loo. The most shocking experience one would have there is in corner of the hall having two large water coolers attached to two water filters, out of which one is out of order while the other had only one outlet tap giving out a weak squirt of the nature’s nectar. Even this was stopped allegedly by the contractor of the canteen to mint money from the sale his products. The disappointed visitors have to buy a mineral water bottle, which is being sold at much higher rates than its market price in the canteen, located in one corner of the lounge. On being asked the canteen boy admitted that “Asi dehd lakh da theka aive ta nahi leya, kujh kamauna vi ta hai” (we have received a contract for Rs 1.5 lakh and must earn from it) was his bashful reply. Further, the condition of mineral water bottles did not require a journalist’s eye to swear by the fact that the bottle had been filled up from tap and then sealed off manually. The experience at the airport upsets many passengers and brings bad repute to the nation and its authorities, many say.
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NGO to adopt village along Indo-Pak border In a bid to provide relief to the survivors in the quake-hit areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Amritsar Vikas Manch has adopted a village near Indo-Pak border. Attending a general body meeting of AVM, held last week at Ashoka Senior Secondary School, NRI Mr Jasbir Singh, Director, Technical Division, Bank of Montreal, Canada, said the AVM had decided to adopt Modey-Dhanoey village. In the meeting, the members also criticised the residents and local administration of Amritsar for making the living conditions in the Holy City “so miserable.” |
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