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Space Crunch Amritsar, March 11 Thanks to the encroachments by dozens of malls which have sprung up in these areas where all pavements are being used as parking lots much to the chagrin of residents and daily walkers. The master plan of major buildings have been cleared with proper parking lots but it has been alleged that the most of the owners have converted the parking basements into commercial areas thus duping
the civic and other authorities concerned. A leading social activist, Brij Bedi, who has been leading the crusade for proper parking in areas, has decried the apathy of the town planning department for turning a blind eye to the major menace of car parking encroachments leading to complete chaos and daily cases of road rage. Bedi pointed out that in case of any mishap it would be difficult to move the evacuation parties and fire tenders because of congestion on the leading roads where the building owners have violated the building bylaws with impunity. He urged the corporation to review the building plans of all large establishments and commercial buildings and take proper corrective measures for the safety of lives and property of people living in the vicinity of these complexes. Besides the encroachments by the unruly parking in the lanes and bylanes of these areas, a number of unauthorised poles and hoardings have sprung up all along the major roads of the city and some of the advertising board structures have come up on the pavements and even on the roads causing further congestion to the already narrowing of roads by unruly car parking. The civic authorities issued show cause notices to number of owners of these malls few weeks back but they have done nothing in this regard. Interestingly, some more commercial complexes are awaiting clearance from the government on Mall Road and other areas and would further add to the woes of the public living in these localities.
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Next: Lawrence Road to be holy city’s high street Amritsar, March 11 Talking to The Tribune, SSP Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh said a comprehensive plan had been prepared for developing Lawrence Road as the commercial hub of the city. As part of this, a ban would soon be imposed on parking of vehicles on both sides of the busy road. “Once this is done, one-way traffic movement, which has been introduced this week, would be made a permanent feature so that there are no bottlenecks on the road and pedestrians can walk easily on the footpaths which would be re-laid,” he said. “The shopkeepers of the area, besides the visitors, would be asked to make use of the parking facility provided by the improvement trust next to the Nehru Shopping Complex. Parts of the area would also be declared no-vehicle zones,” he said. “The objective is to develop Lawrence Road on the lines of the main shopping area in Sector 17,
Chandigarh, which provides the luxury of hassle-free shopping without the fear of a vehicle running over the pedestrians. With no parking on the sides and traffic smoothly moving in only one direction, the day is not far when city residents can shop about with their babies in strollers,” he said. “The restriction of traffic would also put a check on the rising pollution levels in the area. If drivers know that they would not be allowed to park on the main road itself, they would not take the Lawrence Road at all and would go straight to the parking and the end of the stretch,” he added. One-way traffic rule is being stringently implemented in the city and movement of vehicles from the BBK DAV College towards Novelty Chowk has been prohibited. With no median on the narrow road, it has come as a respite for commuters even though they have to take a longer route on the way back. The traffic police department has also received complaints about two and three storied showrooms for not providing proper parking space to their customers. This leads to unauthorised parking right outside the showrooms spilling over to the main road, especially during the peak hours. The SSP said while the details of the traffic plan for Lawrence Road have been finalised and the implementation would be carried out in steps, it would be followed by traffic plans for other areas as well. “Katran Jaimal Singh is another area which could soon be declared a one-way traffic zone to save commuters from botheration caused by traffic jams. Today itself I took a round of the city with the mayor and senior deputy mayor to get first-hand information about the traffic scene in
the city,” he said.
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Punjabi research scenario grim, say experts Amritsar, March 11 “It’s a matter of concern for all of us that many universities abroad have procured valuable and rare Punjabi manuscripts for research and setting up language museums,” said Toor, adding that due to lack of adequate coordination, same type of research work was being undertaken by various universities in India. “There’s an urgent need to avoid duplicity,” he further said. While stressing on comparative and inter-disciplinary study for good research, Toor suggested that the faculty associated with teaching of Punjabi language, literature must have the knowledge of other languages
and disciplines. “With the change of guard in Pakistan, development and promotion of Punjabi language and literature would receive a boost. The Institute of Punjabi Language and Literature is being converted into Punjabi University Lahore (Pakistan) which would work for the development of Punjabi language and literature in collaboration with GNDU and Punjabi University, Patiala,” revealed the scholar. He said Kashmir University, Srinagar was also establishing Punjabi department for promotion of Punjabi language in J&K. Earlier, inaugurating the seminar, vice-chancellor, Dr Jai Rup Singh said to promote Punjabi among the populace, it was necessary to simplify the language. He said the varsity is committed for the promotion and development of Punjabi language,
literature and culture and has taken a number of measures, including capsule courses for NRIs from the next academic session. He said a heritage village with the financial assistance of Rs 30 crore from state government is being established in the university complex soon. The Centre would incur Rs 10 crore to set up a Punjabi museum in the village, he added. A distinguished Punjabi scholar Dr Deepak Manmohan Singh, a senator of Panjab University, Chandigarh, said the research work in Punjabi Language is not satisfactory. He said serious and dedicated efforts were needed for the promotion and development of Punjabi Language. He hoped that the deliberations among the scholars would go a long way in improving the scenario. Dr Noor and Dr Jai Rup Singh also released three books titled “Veehveen Sadi di Punjabi Kavita”, edited by Dr Baljit Kaur, Dean Language Faculty, “Inqlab da Bani-Shaheed Bhagat Singh” by Dr Sohinderbir Singh and “Majhe de lok te Lok Sahit” by S. Kulwant Singh.
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English language boost for BBK College Amritsar, March 11 Inaugurating the facility, the BJP MLA Anil Joshi said the scientific technique would bridge the learning gap of the language and help students to develop confidence and speak fluent English with proper expression. “It would also help in
students’ personality development through open group discussions,” he added. Later, the MLA while presiding over the annual prize distribution function said it was important to empower girl students and make them self-reliant. “As we are celebrating International Women’s Day today, I want girls to take up vocational courses to support their families and contribute to the country’s development,” he added. The women were endowed with tremendous potential, adding that they can enhance their outlook with modern techniques and quality higher education. Joshi distributed prizes to 350 students of the college for achieving laurels in
various academic and co-curricular activities.
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Fiscal Facts Amritsar, March 11 An additional provision of Rs 5 crore has been made for the research development fund, which would provide assistance to those undertaking research projects. The university would also provide financial assistance to the poor students who would be eligible for various scholarships sanctioned by the Punjab government. In addition to it, free education would be given to physically handicapped and wards of Sikh migrants. The Budget estimates for 2008-09 were presented by registrar Dr R S Bawa and were unanimously approved by the Syndicate and the Senate of the university here on Sunday. The estimates showed a net deficit of Rs 20.90 crore for fiscal 2008-09. GNDU vice-chancellor Dr Jai Rup Singh said Rs 110.22 crore would be spend this year which includes capital works of Rs 4 crore, enhancement of dearness allowance of Rs 3 crore and Rs 1.53 crore for other items. He said the total expected revenue receipts of the university and maintenance grant from the state government would amount to Rs 7324.35 lakh. He said, “After taking into account the plus balance of Rs 1597.46 lakh, there would be a net deficit of Rs 2090.19 lakh. The decrease in revenue is due to the fact that NRI sponsored seats would not be filled in this academic session and the release of dearness allowance to the university employees.” In order to meet the deficit, the university would introduce more need based and self-financing courses, added the vice-chancellor. Dr Jai Rup said the university would spend 50.50 per cent on teaching, research and improvement of education; 23.07 per cent on miscellaneous departments and health services; 13.82 per cent on general administration; 4.88 percent on conduct of examinations; 3.62 per cent on construction and 4.11 per cent on payment of dearness allowances. He said Rs 20 lakh would be spend to improve infrastructure and Rs 50 lakh to equip the laboratories with latest scientific instruments. Besides, Rs 11.57 lakh have been sanctioned to provide
financial assistance to the deserving students.
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Patrolling cops chase down snatchers Amritsar, March 11 Both snatchers were fleeing after snatching a wallet from a person near Pawan Nagar. On receiving information, a patrolling police party chased them and caught them near Judge Nagar. The police recovered a motorcycle, a sword and Rs 500 from them. A case under section 382 of the IPC was registered at Sadar police station. During interrogation, they revealed that many snatchings had been made by them at Lawrence Road and adjoining areas. They also confessed to snatching a purse and cash from a lady of New Delhi near Shastri Nagar, a few days ago.
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His lawns bloom with liquid manure Amritsar, March 11 Rajesh Khanna, the man behind the ideas says, “One can witness garbage heaps on every nook and corner and the idea can prove to be a boon for the city.” Since the ambitious solid waste management and disposal plant is a distant dream, such ideas can be adopted to tackle the increasing waste, he added. “The liquid manure has given unexpected results. It has increased the fertility and the flower yield too,” says Rajesh who started gardening 20 years ago. He said he took gardening as hobby after his marriage and loves to experiment. Giving details, he said ½ kg of bio-waste could produce 500 ml of liquid manure and is rich in all nutrients including nitrogen which is very essential for plant growth. “The idea of using waste as manure has changed the whole scenario of my lawn. Now, I plan to experiment with vegetables and expect the same outcome. Besides, the vegetables grown
by using organic manure would taste different,” adds Khanna. Rajesh, who has set up a kitchen waste biogas plant on his house’s rooftop, says, “Both the liquid manure and the methane gas produced from the
biogas plant have proved to be very useful.” People can use different products like biodegradable kitchen waste, paper, green grass, leaf litter, weeds, etc as raw material for the biogas plant,
he added.
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Wild Call Amritsar, March 11 The kids were dressed up as rabbits, monkeys, cats, elephants, lions, dogs and foxes in a series of eight stories that combined human lives with those of animals to convey a clear moral message to the students in a clever and interesting manner. Neera Sharma and Nirmaljit Singh Chabba principals of the senior and junior DAV Public Schools, respectively, welcomed the chief guest JP Shoor director school management and Neelam Kamra, principal BBK DAV College. All 15 sections of the pre-nursery class were given a part in the beautifully combined stories that unfolded on a unique theme "sermonising pitara". The bilingual play was the school's first attempt at combining dance and drama with moral stories entirely composed in 'rhyme' form. Participation by as many as 467 students raised the curtains on the series of eight popular stories
including “the greedy dog”, “fox and the grapes” , “hare and tortoise” , “sher aur khargosh” , “haathi aur darzi”, “shepherd boy”, “billi aur bandar” and “samay ka sudupyog”. Two teachers, Shama Sharma and Suman Tara guided the team on combining the rhymes to the storyline in the colorfully produced performance.
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Hindi magazine to hunt for women talent Amritsar, March 11 Pankaj Vig, editor, said the magazine would provide a platform to women to bring out their talent and share their ideas with the society. The magazine would also give an update on fashion trends, beauty tips, shopping offers, updated technology and educational and career options. The first edition of “Sampurn Mallika” carries a story on the first lady IPS officer, Kiran Bedi in the “city’s pride” section, besides features on prominent women from the city, including heads of educational institutions.
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Entertainment unplugged
Amritsar, March 11 The contestants were divided into three categories - sub-junior wing 5 to 12 years, junior wing 12 to 18 and senior wing 18 to 28 years. All the participants were given time of 3 minutes to present their skills. In filmy songs, Bhanu Pratap, Rishab and Jyotisha were first in sub junior, junior and senior categories, respectively. Artiste Vijay Mehak, Ritu Sharma, HoD of music department, BBK DAV College for Women, and Gurmeet Singh, music director of Punjabi songs were the judges. The programme started with Ridham Behl presenting a song, “Ha koi to wajeh, jo jine ka maja aane laga”. The show was compered by Arvinder Bhatti and Maninder. The stars of Voice of India Vipul Mehta, Dipin Adiwal and Sharda Das of little champ were also present during the event. After his performance, Vipul said encouragement of crowd works wonders for artistes. Anju Chaturvedi, President Sangam Kala Group, Gopal Bharti of Mumbai, Neerja, Dr Jagdish Sachdeva, Puran Chand Wadali and renowned artiste Dr Avtar Singh were among others present on the occasion.
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Nippon visit leaves Spring Dale students enriched
Amritsar, March 11 The school principal Manveen Sandhu said Pranav Malhotra was sent to Chiba-Shi, a suburb of Tokyo. He was given a chance to live in Japanese family and attended a Japanese school. Pranav said he was surprised to see “Amritsari Kulcha’s” and Japanese dance on the beats of Punjabi music. Besides, they were fascinated by the Indian Educational system especially mathematics. Earlier, Aakshi Khurana of grade XI of the school had spent five months in Japan under the same program to promote understanding and exchanges between countries all over the world.
— OC
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Roller skating rally held Amritsar, March 11 Addressing the gathering, Joshi said the decreasing percentage of women in the society was a serious issue and though the government had taken various measures to control the decrease in the women population but it was not enough. He said the people, especially the women, should come forward to fight the social menace of female foeticide. Sukhminder Singh Pintoo, councillor, also spoke.
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Sangeeta is Miss Khalsa College
Amritsar, March 11 Students presented a colourful programme on the occasion. College principal Dr S.K. Mahal presided over the function. The function started with the welcome of Dr Sukhbir Kaur Mahal. Sangeeta bagged the title of “Miss Khalsa College for Women” while Rajwinder and Silki came first and second runners-up, respectively. Dr Mahal addressed the students and gave her best wishes for their future.
— OC
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SaharaOne holds ‘Mata ki chowki’ Amritsar, March 11 The spokesman for the TV channel said they were organising such programmes in over 20 major cities across four states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. He said the reason to organise jagratas in so many cities was to bring viewers closer to their show and connect with the concept of the show. Giving the details of the new serial, he said it is a story of two Punjabi families residing in Jammu.
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