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‘Kuknoos Bhagat Singh’ brings alive hero’s saga
Amritsar, September 28 The play was organised by the Spring Dale Educational Society in collaboration with Punarjyot at Punjab Naatshala here as part of celebrations of birth centenary of martyr Shaheed Bhagat Singh. According to folk tales, Kuknoos is a bird reflecting hope, as it never dies. Its generation goes on welcoming death happily and has the power to destroy evil by spreading fragrance even after death. “Kuknoos Bhagat Singh”, depicts Bhagat Singh as ‘Kuknoos,’ still in living in the hearts of generations to come, due to his sacrifice and inspirational ideology. The performance made the audience spell bound and it seemed as if they enjoyed every bit of the play. MP Kuldip Nayyar and deputy commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu were present among the spectators. Spring Dale Senior School principal Manveen Sandhu said Bhagat Singh’s ideology was not just a story of sacrifice. It aims to bring the past in front of us. She said, “The play talked about Shaheed Bhagat Singh and his friends’ dreams and about the ancestral village of Bhagat Singh.” Describing play as a reflection of Shaheed-e-Azam’s dreams, she said, “The play forces to think about that if India is free as society, then why are citizens slave of social evils.” Speaking on the occasion, DC Pannu said Bhagat Singh’s ideology was the need of hour and youth should come forward to bring in positive changes for the development of the country and the society. He asked everyone to contribute for the nation’s progress. Meanwhile, a declamation and singing competition ‘Mera rang de basanti chola’ was organised by Spring Dale Senior School at Citizen Forum Vidya Mandir at Maqboolpura to mark the birth centenary celebrations of martyr. The Citizen Forum Vidya Mandir received a memento and Rs 50,000, as a part of Bhagat Puran Singh Award, presented to them at Baba Fareed Mela. In addition, Dr Sandhu presented Rs 50,000 to the school on behalf of the society. He also assured the students of providing a library.
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Khalsa College lights up as nation celebrates Bhagat Singh’s birthday
Amritsar, September 28 The detailed lighting of the arches added to the beauty of the sprawling structure, which is a rare architectural marvel and is visited by most tourists coming to Amritsar. The college campus covers an area of over 300 acres and as per records, nearly 101 acres were purchased for Rs 10,000 in the village of Kot Sayyad Mehmood (now called Kot Khalsa). Even though several other government buildings in the city, including the residences and offices of the deputy commissioner and the municipal commissioner, besides key roads, were also illuminated, the Khalsa College truly stood out apart. Bhai Ram Singh, vice-principal of the Mayo School of Arts, Lahore, is believed to be the spirit behind the architecture of the college. He was entrusted with the work of planning the college building, while Sardar Dharam Singh Gharjakhia, a reputed engineer, was specially transferred from Bannu to Amritsar to supervise the construction of the college. Sir Sunder Singh Majithia, a renowned Sikh, was the man behind the foundation of the college. He became the honorary secretary of the college in 1902. The Bhagat Singh birth anniversary committee organised a host of programmes in collaboration with the district administration from September 8 to 27 to pay tributes to the martyr.
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Birth centenary celebrations
Punjab health minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla faced an embarrassing situation when despite her repeated requests mayor Shawet Malik refused to vacate his seat in the front row for the minister. Left with no option Chawla had to sit in the back row. *** In utter disregard to the national song ‘Vande Matram,’ while it was being sung by a group of students, almost all the cabinet ministers kept glued to their seats with mouthful of snacks. However, it was only Chawla, who stood throughout the national song.
*** Cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia, acted as a police officer in mufti as he kept giving directions to the police and district administration through out the rally through his wireless handset. *** After the entire pomp and show, it appeared that it was only because of the famous Punjabi singer Gurdas Mann that the audience, especially the youth had preferred to stay. Immediately after Mann’s performance most of the youngsters could be seen leaving the venue much to the embarrassment of the political leaders present on the stage. *** A large number of youth draped in saffron turbans, depicting Bhagat Singh’s style, was a picturesque site and a treat for the shutterbugs. *** The hoardings carrying the pictures of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, had to face a stiff competition from the political leaders who opted to take full advantage of publicising themselves. Hoarding carrying the blown up pictures of these leaders with dwarf images the great martyr trio could be seen everywhere. *** All the cabinet ministers and MLAs along with Navjot Singh Sidhu, MP, wore saffron turban at the rally. *** The chief minister decreed the attempt of a section of crowed to raise slogans in favour of individual leaders and exhorted the crowed to raise slogans of ‘Inqalab Zindabad’. (compiled by Ashok Sethi)
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Punjab must tap tourist potential: INTACH
Amritsar, September 28 Stating this in a release to the media here yesterday, Punjab convener of INTACH Sukhdev Singh said that tourism of whatever kind was growing on its own in an unplanned manner in the state. He said that tourists visited the Golden Temple and the Attari border and went back which meant their stay in Punjab was not more than a day or two. He said there should be tourist circuit circles covering various destinations and places of different interests and it should not be restricted to religious tourism only. He said that it must be promoted as an industry with seriousness and planning. Sukhdev Singh said the Hussainiwala border and martyrs’ memorial at Ferozpore, Bathinda Fort and Faridkot Palace could be identified for majestic architecture, warfare and freedom fighters’ memorial, while Dina Kangar, Talwandi Sabo and Tilla Baba Farid and Gurdwara Godri Sahib could be promoted for religious tourism. Besides, there may be destinations for rural culture, including food, crafts, arts, sports, etc. in the Malwa region such as Gobindgarh Fort, Summer Palace in Amritsar, Kapurthala Palace, serais on the route of the old GT Road and Patiala Fort, Sheesh Mahal and Bahadurgarh Fort on the route from Delhi to Amritsar, he said. The Intach president said it was necessary for the state to do serious advocacy with the international tour operators, train Punjabi youths for conducting such tours and must know the facts and languages, and delicacies required for tourist guides. “The Punjab chapter of Intach has been lobbying with international tour operators to include Punjab in their programmes and the government must create the necessary atmosphere and infrastructure for it,”he said. The Intach president said Punjab tourism department must be activated which should set up its tourism information centres at major railway stations and bus stands with proper information in printed form. There should be illuminated glow boards carrying heritage walk and tourist maps at strategic positions.
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Bamboo not steel lintels are Mehar Singh’s forte
Amritsar, September 28 Mehar, a mason by profession, says he uses seven kinds of chemicals in the construction of the roofs. He also uses bajri, sand and cement in the ratio of 3:2:1, respectively. Such roofs have a longer life than those constructed by using steel, he says. The steel expands and shrinks during the summers as well as in winters, respectively, and the cracks appear in the roof thus decreasing the life span of such roofs. Moreover, these roofs are disease free. The contractor also claimed that with this technique he can lay the lintel of the size of 22’ x 12’ and as many floors could be added to the ground floor. He claimed that he can relay the foundation or construct the basement of a house without disturbing the entire structure. The roofs thus constructed also help in keeping the temperatures down, he added. He has been laying such roofs for the past 16 years and the technique also helps in lowering the construction costs by around 80 to 90 per cent, he claimed. He added that without demolishing the whole structure he can lay the lintel of each floor. He has also developed a chemical which helps in stopping seepage in the walls. He said after the plastering of walls there was no need of painting them as the colour was added in the preparing material for plastering. He claimed that recently top executives and engineers of the cement manufacturing companies of the country had visited him to get the first hand information about his techniques. He said the government should encourage such lintel as it would help in saving funds being used for the construction of buildings.
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Environmental studies made must at GNDU
Amritsar, September 28 The decision will also be applicable to the students of semester system and distance education courses of the university. Stating this in a press note, Dr R.S. Bawa, registrar, said the compulsory environmental subject had been started from the second year of under-graduate classes. He said if any student failed to clear the subject, he/she would be given two chances to pass the subject. The students could avail their first chance in the supplementary examinations and the second chance would be given to them along with the part-three examination, he added. The registrar said under the semester system, the paper had been introduced in the third semester. If any candidate failed to clear the paper, he could appear in the paper in the fifth semester. The medium of the subject would be as per other subjects of the degree.
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Left out by govt, martyr’s kin holds parallel function
Amritsar, September 28 Not to be left out, the grandson of Bhagat Singh’s brother, Sukhwinder Singh Sangha, instead held a parallel rally to mark the celebration. Talking to The Tribune, Sangha said he was not invited to any of the function organised by the government. “In fact the deputy commissioner had invited me for the meeting held on September 21 for finalising the programmes,” he added. Sangha said they had organised a seminar dedicated to the memory of great martyr here today. Addressing the seminar Layallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, principal Dr Satish Kapur and Guru Dev University College, Jalandhar, principal Dr Usha Kapoor urged the youth to keep alive the spirit of Bhagat Singh and emulate the life and mission of the martyr. Earlier, a peace rally was held at Jallianwala Bagh to Attari border in which 150 delegates from various stated of the nation, including Goa, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh participated.
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Traffic chaos, damaged roads upset residents
Amritsar, September 28 To mark Bhagat Singh’s birth centenary celebrations, the Punjab government, displaying rampant misuse of government machinery, used more than 350 buses of Punjab Roadways to ferry people from distant places to the venue. Moreover, these buses, when parked, encroached upon the whole of cantonment road, bypass and Ranjit Avenue causing heavy disruption of traffic for many hours on Ajnala Road bypass and court road besides above said places. Adding more to the woes, these buses in addition to other heavy vehicles damaged newly laid road and footpaths, which left the residents and authorities of cantonment fuming. Interestingly, these heavy vehicles were parked despite a ban on the entry of heavy vehicles into the peaceful environment of the cantonment. The entire area around the rally venue was virtually turned into a police cantonment much to the harassment of residents of the cantonment and Ranjit Avenue area. A senior citizen, Balwant Singh, who advocates making the city clean and green, criticised government and political leaders for bringing in thousands of vehicles endangering the environment and flora and fauna. He said the haphazard parking of buses had damaged plants and trees. “And without any toilet facility, people have left the area stinking, which would require several days before it could get back to normal.”
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World Tourism Day celebrated
Amritsar, September 28 Students, led by Naresh Kumar, visited Rajasansi International Airport here. While interacting with the airport authorities, the students were informed about various aspects of airport functioning, including ticketing, security, screening of luggage, immigration and custom formalities. The students communicated with members of cabin crew and ground staff. They also visited air traffic control room and were shown the landing of national and international aircraft.
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Paper presentation, poem recital at varsity
Amritsar, September 28 The occasion was marked by paper presentation and poem recitation by students. Dr M.P. Satija, Dr Amritpal Kaur and Dr Asha Narang spoke on the life and contribution of the revolutionary freedom fighter. The students were acquainted with the life of Sardar Bhagat Singh and advised to follow the ideology of Bhagat Singh. Prizes were also given away to the student speakers for their performance.
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Amritsar, September 28 Presiding over the function, registrar R.S. Bawa hailed the services rendered by them in the development of the university. He said these officers had performed their duties in various capacities honestly, dedicatedly and sincerely. He also honoured these officers by presenting them mementos. — TNS
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Sehar wins 3 gold medals
Amritsar, September 28 She won gold medals in singles doubles and mix doubles. She has been selected for the north zone inter-state badminton tournament to be held in Delhi and open national badminton championship in Goa. — OC
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Amritsar, September 28
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