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Gaiety, gloom: Two sides of border
Amritsar, January 8 In sharp contrast, the galleries on the Indian side of the border remained jam-packed with tourists from across the country arriving here to witness the colourful beating retreat ceremony conducted jointly by BSF officials and Pakistan Rangers. They jostled with each other to get a view of the ceremony amidst heavy clapping and chanting of “Vande Mataram” slogans. A group of girls also danced to the beats of patriotic songs being played at the ceremony. Official of the BSF, on condition of anonymity, said as per the reports emanating from across the border the low attendance was due to fear among the residents in Lahore in view of the violence erupting in various parts of Pakistan. Schoolchildren, who used to come here to cheer their soldiers, were not attending the ceremony as the authorities were not ready to take the responsibility for any untoward incident there, he added. Preeti, visiting Wagah from Pune, said she was disappointed to see the empty stalls on the other side of the border. She said she missed the old Pakistani with a grey beard and sporting a green shirt waving his country’s national flag at the joint checkpost, which she had visited earlier also. “A pall of gloom seemed to have descended on the neighbouring country after the death of a popular leader, who was championing the cause of democracy,” said Sharad Sharma, a marketing executive from Gujarat. He said, “My heart goes out to the people of Pakistan.” He said he felt like talking to some of the Pakistanis who had come to witness the ceremony. However, the trade between the two countries continued as usual as Indian trucks crossed over to the Pakistani side. More than 45 trucks laden with tomato and onion crossed over to the other side of the border today.
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Resurgent India: Youths’ role vital, says Rodrigues
Amritsar, January 8 This was said by Punjab Governor Gen (Retd) SF Rodrigues during a seminar on “Good citizenship and role of education” held at Guru Nanak Dev University. He said the British Raj tailored the education system to meet their requirements. “The need of the hour is to reinvent and restructure it so that the changing needs of the country can be addressed,” he added. Emphasising the need for rejuvenating the spirit of patriotism and nationalism to realise dreams of great stalwarts, Rodrigues said, “Our youth have a great potential. What they require is right guidance. For the new resurgent India, their contribution is vital.” The Governor said the role of education and teaching fraternity is of paramount importance, as the latter are responsible for proper implementation of guidelines. He said the country would need more competent professionals in the near future so it was very important for the youth to develop the necessary skills and commitment. Earlier, welcoming the guests vice-chancellor, Dr Jai Rup Singh said the university has achieved distinction in teaching, research, sports and cultural activities. He said the university has recently been reaccredited with the highest 'A' grade by National Accreditation and Assessment Council, (NAAC). Prof KS Rai, Jalandhar, Prof Parminder Singh, GNDU, Amritsar, Prof SL Sharma & Prof Manjit Singh, Chandigarh, Prof S.P Malhotra, Kurukshetra, Prof Hardev Singh Virk, Mohali and Jagmohan Singh Kaushal from Bathinda were among the prominent persons who were present on the occasion.
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Makeover to give Maharaja Ranjit Singh panorama popularity boost
Amritsar, January 8 Talking to The Tribune, municipal commissioner D.P.S. Kharbanda said the corporation would begin by putting up hoardings about the panorama at Rajasansi International Airport, the railway station and the Golden Temple. He said, “Major revamp of the panorama is on cards to make it more attractive and ensure better understanding about Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his reign. The panorama recreates the life and battles of the legendary Maharaja, through rare pictures and mannequins.” The panorama was set up by the National Council of Science Museum (NCSM), Kolkata, one of the largest networking science museums in the world. It has already created 28 such panoramas in the country, including the Mahabharata at Kurukshetra in Haryana. The panorama takes the visitors through six battles fought by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, including the seizure of Lahore Fort, Kangra, Attack, Multan, Kashmir and Peshawar. A scene of Maharaja Ranjit Singh crossing the Attack river on horseback, which is believed to have exhorted his men who were faced with the Afghanis, has also been frozen in time. Besides this, visitors get to know the childhood of the Maharaja, his marriage and capturing of “Zam Zama canon”. A view of the Maharaja overseeing the gold plating of Harmandir Sahib, recreated at the panorama, stands out. Four historical scenes, including acquisition of the Kohinoor, French generals inspecting the Sikh army and the famous Ropar treaty, are some scenes depicted in the exit gallery. The foundation stone of the panorama was laid by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on November 18, 2001, on the bicentenary of the coronation of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
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Irish lessons
Amritsar, January 8 In the process he gains immense satisfaction. Charles is senior office-bearer of the Irish-India Club and frequently visits
a gurdwara near his house there. The population of the island is slightly over six millions, he says. No Irish family had such underprivileged children, says Johnstone. He expressed shock over the plight of the area known as “Locality of Widows”. It was Promila Luthra, an Ireland-based Indian woman belonging to Amritsar, who inspired Charles to visit Maqboolpura. Luthra is a close friend of Kiran Bedi, first woman IPS officer, and noted theatre artiste Neeta Mohindera. The three women hail from Amritsar. He said there were approximately 500 Indian families in Ireland and they enjoyed good rapport with Irish people. The school was established following a story “Locality of Widows” published in The Tribune in 1999. However, during his latest visit, Charles was very happy to see the poor children well dressed up in school uniform and the recently constructed block of the school building. Charles was happy that the children were able to communicate with him as they understood English well. He said he had great admiration for Brij Bedi, president of the Citizens Forum and Master Ajit Singh, who had done yeoman’s
service. Charles said he would arrange visit of these students to Ireland to enable them to get global exposure. He described the students of the school as the “future of India”. He said without the help of philanthropists, such children would not be able to study. He, however, was shocked to see the living conditions of the residents of the
area.
Meanwhile, the Saraswati Welfare Society also organised a function at the school to create awareness among the children about the bad effects, besides presenting speeches, songs, poems and skits. Mr Virat Devgan, director, Saraswati Educational Group, announced that the college would provide free education to those students who wanted to pursue higher education. He exhorted the students to keep away from drugs and make themselves strong to face the problems of life. The society members also distributed sweaters and sweets among the students. Meanwhile, the Saraswati Welfare Society also organized a function at the school to create awareness among the children about the bad effects besides presenting speeches, songs, poems and skits. Mr Virat Devgan, Director Saraswati Educational Group, announced that the college would provide free education to those students who want to pursue higher education. He exhorted the students to keep away from drugs and make themselves strong to face the problems of life. The society members also distributed sweaters and sweets to
the students.
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CDs relive Wagah magic
Amritsar, January 8 The recordings of the ceremony help them revive the memory of BSF jawans and Pakistani Rangers marching in perfect drill. The moment the show gets over, scores of vendors selling these CDs run into the audience from the opposite direction. Priced between Rs 15 and Rs 25, the CDs have detailed recording of the ceremony. Soldiers from India and Pakistan perform a flag march. The flags of both the countries are brought down and the gates between India and Pakistan are opened. Soldiers perform the marching drill and then the complex is illuminated. The whole ceremony takes about half an hour. Still pictures of the ceremony have been around for a long time, the sale of CDs has caught on recently. Every shopkeeper outside the main gate of the joint checkpost can be seen playing the visuals on TV sets placed along the main road.“People who do not come to Attari with their entire families take the CDs back with them to share the lingering memories of the ceremony with friends for a long time. It also makes a perfect gift for someone who has not visited the retreat ceremony,” says Amardeep Randhawa, a shopkeeper on the Amritsar-Attari road. “Though the CDs come in different versions, most of them focus more on the class and the perfection with which the BSF jawans go about the ceremony, instead of highlighting the aggression and competitive spirit between the two sides,” he adds. A BSF official said the objective of the ceremony is that the Pakistani and Indian flags do not see the sunset. So they’re pulled down and wrapped right before the sunset and then the ritual is repeated in the morning when the flags are raised again. More than anything people turn out in large numbers for the sheer feel of the electrifying environment matching the excitement of an India-Pakistan cricket match.
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Tributes paid to Bakhna
Amritsar, January 8 Jagrup Singh, district secretary of the CPI, while paying tributes to Baba Bhakna, said, “If we want to fulfil the dreams of the freedom fighters who had sacrificed their lives for economic equality among the citizens of the country, we should get united to fight against the autocratic rule of the Congress and the state government headed by Parkash Singh Badal. He said the state government was going in for the privatisation of boards and corporations, which would render hundreds of employees jobless. Bhakna, who had played a significant role to make his country free from the yoke of slavery, had to go to jail even after Independence. He was of the view that “complete independence” was yet to be achieved. He was among those to be sentenced to death along with Kartar Singh Sarabha. However, timely legal help provided by Motilal Nehru saved him from the sentence a day before the actual hanging. During British rule, he faced inhuman torture in various jails of the country. The Cellular Jail, located in Port Blair, where Baba Bhakna was kept, was a mute witness to the torture meted out to freedom fighters, who were incarcerated in this jail. Bhakna and other freedom fighters were kept in fetters and they had snakes, leeches and scorpions as their companions. The food that was given was not fit for human consumption and they had to observe fast in protest against this many times. The guards would indulge in physical torture and flogging. This freedom fighter spent the best period of his life, 26 years, in some of the worst jails of the country. Speaking on the occasion, Atul Kumar Anjaan, national general secretary of the BKU said the Central government, instead of taking up the issues concerning the poor farmers in the country, was interested in going in for the nuclear agreement with the USA, which was detrimental for the security and integrity of the country.
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‘Wearing makeup for more than 8 hours risky’
Amritsar, January 8 Coloressence is one such company which organised one-to-one workshop for the owners of beauty parlours to guide them as to how they should use the products launched by the company in the city. The participants were also trained in using lesser quantity of products and using better techniques to get
better results. Talking to the media, Suneeta Arora, general manager and marketing head of Coloressence, said the company had now launched cosmetic
products which would basically cater to the needs of the professional segment through its dealer network. She said fashion trends were changing very fast and it was necessary to create awareness among the professional and the general public about how to use the products while doing make up in traditional, ethnic and modern way. Arora said at present the company has created a niche in the personal care product segment. It has almost 200 products in the professional segment and 20 products in the retail segment. Cautioning the participants about the time frame for keeping the time of the make up, Arora said one should not use make up for more than six to eight hours, especially in the case of people who have sensitive skin as the skin needs fresh air. She said nowadays some of the people were going in for permanent make up which was only possible through machines and pigment. She said any change in the make up also needed machine and pigment. Giving details about the company’s future programmes, Arora said the company was planning to open skin care and counselling centres in all A-class towns of the country, including Amritsar. She said the vision of the company was to be among the top three Indian cosmetic companies in the herbal sphere within the next three years and evolve into a true global beauty care Indian multinational operating in 20 countries across the world.
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Jalandhar Murders
Amritsar, January 8 The GNDU fraternity, in a condolence meeting held here, expressed deep shock and concern over the cold blooded murder of its Syndic and reputed academician, Rita Bawa, principal of KMV College. Strongly condemning the dastardly act, they demanded adequate and sufficient security measures in the educational institutions of the state. Paying tributes, Dr Jai Rup Singh, vice-chancellor, professor Raghbir Singh, dean academic affairs, Dr RS Bawa, registrar and Dr Davinder Singh, president of Guru Nanak Dev University Teachers' Association said Principal Bawa was an asset to the cause of higher education in the state. Her sudden and shocking demise has rendered the teaching fraternity poorer.” The university has suffered a great loss because she was the Principal of one of the premier Colleges of the State and the member of the Syndicate of the University, they added. They expressed their heartfelt condolence and solidarity with the bereaved family and friends. They also prayed that the almighty may grant peace to the departed soul. Two-minute silence was also observed in her memory. They said that the act had shaken the academia. This act has created a sense of insecurity in the campuses of the educational institutions. They also demanded that the culprits should be brought to book immediately. Meanwhile, the Khalsa College fraternity along with the Khalsa College Teachers Union and authorities of various colleges condemned the brutal murder of the principal along with three other employees. Condolence meetings were held sympathy was expressed for the aggrieved family. They urged the administration, police department and other concerned authorities to expedite the probe.
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Now, getting birth, death certificate is easy
Amritsar, January 8 Stating this to Amritsar Plus, civil surgeon Dr Lehmber Singh said there was need to create awareness among the people as most of them were ignorant about the simplified procedure introduced by the state health department. He said due to illiteracy and ignorance, gullible people were trapped by the unscrupulous elements to get their certificates made after paying huge amounts of money. Dr Singh said if the people were not getting forms from the department they could simply file an application on plain paper giving the details which include their residential address along with the phone number. He said the department was charging only seven rupees for a death or birth certificate and delivered these by post at their residence in three weeks’ time. He said the department later also confirmed from the applicant whether he had received the certificate or not, on the phone. He said they were receiving complaints about charging of hefty sums by some private operators who were helping the people to fill the relevant forms. However, no one had ever filed any complaint with the department in this regard so that they could file a complaint against the guilty with the police.
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Hoteliers celebrate New Year, Lohri
Amritsar, January 8 Members of the association informed Kohli about the problems being faced by them regarding licences, tourism department, VAT, harassment of tourists staying at their hotels, harassment at the hands of the police, conservancy tax, additional tax imposed by the administration on hotels serving liquor, besides, imposition of PPL tax imposed for
providing facilities like TV and music system. Renowned Bollywood singer Ramesh Kapoor regaled the audience with his famous number “Doston ke bhesh me dushman mile….” and other popular numbers. Kartar Singh Lubana, Punjabi film producer, apprised the members of his new Punjabi film “Sikhi Da Dhura”, the shooting for which would start in March. He also regaled the audience with some songs from the movie.
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Yoga lessons for cops
Amritsar, January 8 He said, “Yoga would help cops lead a quality life as it would help them to reduce stress and keep them physically fit. Besides, they should rope in their colleagues and family members to participate in it.” Speaking on the occasion, SSP Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh said this was the second camp in the series of the yoga campaign launched here. He said more than 400 officers were participating in the event and they should encourage the common man to join these camps.
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AVM against appointment of improvement trust chairpersons
Amritsar, January 8 The manch said Badal had himself opposed the presence of parliamentary secretaries when he was Leader of Opposition during Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress regime. The manch leader urged him to do away with these posts as an austerity measure because they were sinecure posts and were putting an unnecessary burden on financial resources.
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In memory of Bhai Ghanaiya
Amritsar, January 8 He said the government had also issued directions to all departmental heads, deputy commissioners, chairmen of boards and corporations in the state in this regard. He said that blood donation and medical check-up camps and seminars would be organised to mark the day.
— OC
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Gang busted
Amritsar, January 8
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