Hoshiarpur, December 24
Two occupants of a jeep, including a woman, died on the spot and six others were injured when their vehicle collided head on with a bus near Tuto Mazara on Sunday night.

The deceased were identified as jeep driver Yudhvir Singh and Shama, both of Ward 4, Garhshankar.

The injured, identified as Balbir Ram, his wife Meenu, Rajwant Kaur, Jyoti, Harpreet Kaur and Nansi of Garhshankar, were admitted in separate hospitals at Garhshankar.

According to police sources, principal of a private school Balbir Ram along with his wife and members of the school staff were returning from Chintpurni after paying their obeisance last night.

The mishap occurred near Tuto Mazara when a Hoshiarpur-bound bus from Garhshankar hit their jeep at around 8 pm.

After the accident, the bus driver fled, leaving his vehicle there. The Mahilpur police has registered a case under sections 229, 304-A, 337, 338 and 427 of the IPC against the bus driver.

Jalandhar, December 24
Carol singing and candlelight processions marked Christmas celebrations in all local churches here this evening.

All the churches were tastefully illuminated and decorated with buntings, stars, bells and hangings. Christmas trees were also decorated with lights, gifts and other items. Scenes depicting the birth of Christ were created outside the churches.

Men dressed up as Santa Claus giving sweets to children were a common sight
in all markets.

Devotees started gathering for the mass carrying offerings such as cakes, chocolates, cookies and other items.

The celebrations began from Bishop House where the bishop of Jalandhar, Dr Anil Joseph Thomas Couto, read out the Christmas message.

“Let us approach the feast of Christmas with a heart that is humble, pure and blameless. Christmas celebrates those eternal gifts of peace and joy that Christ brought to us from above. He gives us these gifts not as the world gives. The world looks for happiness through material gains but Christ gives us peace and joy through self-denial. Therefore, I appeal to all sections of society to use Christmas as a means of communal harmony and peace. May infant Jesus bless all,” he said in his address.

The Bishop then went out to St Mary’s Cathedral in the cantonment to lead the prayers this evening. Tomorrow noon, he will be at Sacred Heart Church for another mass. Celebrations are also in full swing at the Trinity College church, near Chogitti.

Spokesperson of the Diocese of Jalandhar, Franco Mulakkal, stressed, “We have been watching that the festival is being commercialised too much. We are against that. Santa Claus is gaining more popularity than the Holy Jesus. Santa giving out sweets to children is okay but there is more to the festival than this.”

Christmas shall also be celebrated at Prithvi’s Planet tomorrow with a dance competition and a fancy dress contest for kids.

Amritsar, December 24
Mayor Shawet Malik had to face the ire of the owners of a tractor trailer as Malik was unable to reach his office in view of the blockade at the Kotwali area near the Golden Temple, affecting the entire traffic on the busy route in the city today.

The police swung into action and arrested nine persons to disburse the protesting persons and clean the area for the smooth movement of the traffic on the busy thoroughfare.

The police and the district administration have been working on different mechanisms to streamline the traffic in the city in view of the large influx of all kinds of vehicles which have caused a serious problem to them.

SSP Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh today called a meeting of the representatives of the tractor trailer union ferrying building material and other goods on the choked roads of the walled city.

The union had sought the intervention of the SSP to extend the timings for the movement of goods imported from Pakistan from the railway godowns and carry them to different locations in the city.

The SSP had agreed to enhance the timing from 11 to 2 pm due to customs’ clearance as they were unable to ferry the goods after business hours.

Meanwhile, coming down heavily on the erring transporters the police booked some of them for violating the traffic norms.

Jalandhar, December 24
The Punjab State Aided Schools Pensioners Association today decried, that though they had been officially extended the benefit of six per cent enhanced installment of DA from July 1 this year, they were yet to receive the amount.

Association president Sudarshan Sharma and general secretary M.S. Gaoo said around 3,795 pensioners from 484 government aided schools of the state, who had retired before May 31, 2003 and were drawing pension as per the Pensions Act 1992, were entitled to receive the benefit.

The representatives said they had requested the district treasury offices of the state to circulate directions to the banks concerned for speedy implementation of the letter but to no avail. They would hold a meeting now on January 6, 2008 to discuss the matter.

Jalandhar, December 24
The stage is set for what is known as the Mahakumbh of music. The 132nd Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan, which will begin tomorrow, is already witnessing an influx of visitors, not only from within the country but also abroad.

The classical music festival, which is the oldest in the country, was started by Baba Harballabh in 1875 as a tribute to his teacher Baba Tuljagir.

He used to sing bhajans on the stairs of Devi Talab Mandir. After his death, the tradition was carried forward by Shree Baba Harballabh Sangeet Mahasabha.

Giving details, general secretary of the Mahasabha, Purnima Beri, said, “There was a time when the event used to go on 24x7. But keeping in mind people’s busy schedule, we had to fix a time limit. However, to ensure maximum audience this time, we have decided to give programmes an early start. The highlights of the first three days (December 25, 26 and 27) will be musical competitions in both junior and senior categories,” she added.

The main event will begin from December 28 and end on December 30 (Sunday). While on Friday, the performances would begin at 2 pm, the show would start at 1 pm and 12 noon on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

As per the tradition, the musical saga this time too would see performances from many internationally acclaimed classical music maestros.

The day one luminaries include Ustad Ali Ahmad Khan (shehnai), Nirmalya Dey (dhrupad), Ustad Nishat Khan and Ustad Mubarak Ali, who is especially coming from Pakistan. Another not to be missed performance is jugalbandi by Sabri Parivar.

The event will hit its crescendo on Saturday night with performances from Prateek Chaudhuri (sitar), Manasi Majumdar (vocal) and Tejendra Narayan Majumdar (sarod). The highpoint of the day would be santoor performance by Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma and vocals by Rajan-Sajan Misra.

The concluding day maestros, include Ustad Mazhar Ali Jawaad Ali Khan, Suvir Misra (rudra veena), Ustad Maqbool Hussain Khan (vocal), Pt Kartik Kumar and Pt Niladri Kumar.

The tabla maestro from Pakistan, Ustad Sattar ‘Tari’ Khan would too perform on the last day. Vocals by Pt Bhola Nath Mishra would bring the curtains down on the programme.

“The festival is generally organised in the evening and at night because the atmosphere is very calm at that time. Above all the ambience of the event leaves a soothing effect on spectators,” committee member Jyoti Mittu.

Regarding musical competitions, panel member Parvinder Kaur said, “There are two categories, junior (13 to 18 years) and senior (19 to 25 years). Till now, we have received applications from more than 50 participants from across the country. To facilitate contestants, the registration has been kept open till Tuesday morning with a late fee of Rs 100.” 

She said the festival was open for all the citizens of the city with a registration fee of Rs 100.

Hoshiarpur, December 24
Ayurvedic system of medicine needs a shot in the arm. This was stated by minister for medical education and research, Punjab, Tikshan Sud.

He was addressing a state-level conference on ayurvedic medicines where the birth anniversary of Lord Dhanvantri, founder of this science was also celebrated. The event was organised by the District Vaid Mandal here on Sunday evening.

Keeping in view its effectiveness of curing even chronic diseases, the first ayurvedic university was being opened in Hoshiarpur for which 25 acres of land at Kharkan village on the Hoshiarpur-Una road had been purchased.

The minister announced a grant of Rs 50,000 to the mandal for the promotion of the ayurvedic system of medicine.

Former Punjab minister Sewa Singh Shekhon, who participated in the conference as the chief guest, emphasised on constituting a state-level committee to deal with the problems of vaids. Tikshan Sud promised its formation at the earliest.

President Suman Kumar Sud and District Vaid Mandal chairman Ravi Kant Kholia demanded that the ban be lifted from all the ayurvedic and Unani medicines for making them available to the vaids on reasonable rates.