Amritsar, April 22
The local court has sentenced owner of Sublime Chit Fund Company Kulwant Singh Nagi to rigorous imprisonment for one year besides imposing a fine of Rs 5,000.

The court rejected the plea of Nagi for taking lenient view by granting probation in a case filed by Harbans Singh Cheema, a city resident, in 2005, against him by one of the victims of a fraud committed by him.

Judicial magistrate (Ist class) Krishan Kant Jain, in his order said, “Heard on the quantum of sentence. The convict has pleaded that lenient view may be taken and he be released on probation. After seeing circumstances of the case as well as of the convict, I am of the view that this case is not fit case to release the convict on probation and it is necessary to give substantive sentence to him. Hence, I decline his plea for probation…….”

Nagi had floated the chit fund company, which operated from the walled city, and had lured senior government officials, businessmen, and religious and social organisations into investing money in his various schemes. He had offered attractive rates of interest by issuing post-dated cheques as security to a number of his investors.

A large number of investors were left high and dry when Nagi along with his family disappeared in June, 2004, an year after which a number of criminal cases were registered at the local Civil Lines and ‘A’ division police station. Later, he surrender before the local court in May, 2005, after his bail application was rejected by the apex court.

Harbans Singh Cheema had filed a petition against the accused for defrauding him by issuing cheque for Rs 1,00,000 drawn at Punjab and Sind Bank as the accused had assured him that the cheque would be honoured when presented to the bank. However, the cheque was dishonoured due to insufficient amount in the bank.

Amritsar, April 22
Various NGOs of Amritsar today vowed to put up a joint fight against environment problems, including global warming, climatic change and impact of pesticide on human health. They had assembled at Rambagh, one of the city’s greener area, to celebrate the World Earth Day.

The representatives of organisations, including Saathi, Param Vaibhav, Amritsar Vikas Manch, Bharat Vikas Parishad, Pollution Control Committee, Kheti Virast Mission and Mission Aagaaz gave a clarion call to the residents, various political and religious groups to pitch in to battle the threat being faced Mother Nature.

Meanwhile, mayor Shawet Malik, while addressing the students at Shri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Ranjit Avenue, said each one of us should plant a tree to keep our environment clean and green. The depleting cover of ozone layer poses a great danger to the inhabitants of the earth, he added. He made an appeal to various organisations, social sabha societies, religious bodies to make the holy city beautiful.

Meanwhile, National Green Corp of Ashoka senior secondary school organised a rally on the occasion of World Earth Day. DEO Davinder Pal Singh Dhillon, flagged off the rally in which a large number of students participated. The theme was ‘Save water save planet’. Addressing the students, Kailash Chand Sharma, district science officer emphasised on the need to conserve water. The planet Earth could be saved if we make sincere efforts to remove the pollution which has become a great danger to our planet’s existence.

World earth day also celebrated in Government Secondary School, Chheharta here.

Amritsar, April 22
Sarvdharam Raksha Sangharsh Samiti (SRSS) today burnt the effigy of the Wakf Board for harassing the residents living in custodian properties by threatening them to vacate the properties and claiming ownership of these buildings.

Speaking on the occasion, Rakesh Madan, spokesman of the SRSS and Bajrang Dal, urged the district administration to expose the corrupt officials of the Wakf Board, who were fleecing the residents who had come from Pakistan after the partition.

He said now the board officials were claiming the ownership of these properties and were blackmailing the residents by threatening them and recovering huge amounts from them illegally.

Madan said a memorandum in this regard had been submitted to the deputy commissioner on March 5 but the administration failed to take any action against the corrupt officials.

He alleged that the board had become the centre of corruption and despite numerous complaints against the officials they were busy minting money without any fear. He alleged that the board officials were threatening the residents that they would throw their domestic items from the premises if they failed to vacate the houses.

Members of Vishva Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena (Bal Thackeray), Arya Samaj, Brahmin Sabha, Shiv Sena (Hindustan), Shaheed Bhagat Singh Welfare Club, Hindu Suraksha Samiti, Durga Vahini, Shiv Sena Azad, Shiv Sena Punjab, Shri Lakshminarayan Yuvak Seva Dal, Shiv Sena Youth Wing and Wakf Board Kirayedar union were among those who protested against the Wakf Board.

Amritsar, April 22
The restoration work at the historical Ramgarhia Bungas in the Golden Temple complex is in full swing after the initiation of “Kar Seva”.

Built by Sikh warriors in 1794, the four-storey bungas are being restored under the patronage of Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC). Interestingly, this is for the first time that the heritage experts and conservationists would look after the restoration work at the Darbar Sahib. According to the information, deputy commissioner K.S. Pannu had played an important role in convincing Chief Minister Parkash Singh that the work should be done by conservationists.

Presently being undertaken by the SGPC, the task was earlier assigned to the Vishkarma Welfare Trust headed by Onkar Singh Sandhu. The trust had planned to spend Rs 1 crore on it. However, now the trust would only assist the SGPC in accomplishing the gigantic task.

The SGPC had asked the trust to carry out the task of conservation under the supervision of a sub-committee comprising two experts from GND varsity, an SGPC executive member and heritage experts.

A Noida-based agency Heritage Conservation Management Services had been given responsibility to execute the project. The team of professionals who would guide the agency include art conservator Maninder Singh Gill, conservation architect Ajaibdip Singh Jamwal, material analyst Sri Kumar Menon and structure engineer consultant 
Kunjan Poput.

During the Operation Bluestar in 1984, these Bungas were badly damaged and were later renovated by the SGPC and the Ramgarhia Society. Later some Babas of Kar Seva Wale had done colossal damage to the heritage site by converting its portion into their abode.

According to sources, some Sikh intellectuals had objected to the decision of giving Kar Seva to a particular Sikh community as it would promote caste system. So the SGPC decided to carry out the work under its patronage.

Amritsar, April 22
Nitish Aggarwal, a XII standard student of Holy Heart Presidency School in Amritsar has been seclected for the “Japan East Asia Network of Exchange for Students Youth Programme”, organised by human resources development department of school education and literacy of the Government of India.

The spokesman of the school, in a release to the media, said Nitish is the only student who has been selected from all the ICSE schools in Punjab. He said Nitish would be leaving for Tokyo on May 12 for a week-long programme, where he would get a chance to learn about the culture and traditions of the Japanese.

Meanwhile, a seminar on “multimedia animation” was organised at the Xplora Designs School for the students of X, XI and XII standard.

The organiser told the students that the potential of multimedia animation was so high that with just two years of experience one can make a significant mark on both the domestic as well as the international front. 

Amritsar, April 22
The documentation of songs of 16 Punjabi plays, staged in Amritsar, spanning 25 years (from 1978 to 2003), under the title, “Sheharyar de Nat-Geet” (drama songs by Sheharyar), has been acclaimed by critics as the first-ever work in this field of the Punjabi literature.

Unlike free flow of poetry, penning songs for dramas, in accordance with the situation (scenes) of a play is always a big challenge before lyricists. However, noted Punjabi poet Sheharyar has been performing this duty for two and half decades.

It was the brainchild of Shiromani Natak-kar (dramatist) Kewal Dhaliwal to compile the songs which he specially penned on the demand of playwrights in the past 25 years.

Unlike opera, an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work, the songs written for a play has its own limitations. Such songs can’t violate the original text of a play. These songs help in making the play more juicy, spicy and crispy, says Kewal Dhaliwal, a product of the National School of Drama. The editor of the book has also given brief descriptions of all 16 plays which makes an interesting reading.

The last play, “Parinde Hun Jan Kithe” (Where should these birds go?), is based on the short story of famous writer Gurbax Singh Preetlarhi “ Kehru Das Nambria” (Kehru a bad character).

This play was staged by Kewal Dhaliwal in border town of Preet Nagar in 2003. This is the story of the tragedy of partition of the country.

The hapless Muslim woman Kehru Anaiti who was rechristened as Harbans Kaur after taking shelter in the house of Kehar Singh at the time of partition was again separated from her “second home” when the Pakistani police tried to take her away from Kehru. Here, it was the forceful song of Sheharyar which made the play more powerful.

Sheharyar, who wrote many well-acclaimed plays in Punjabi, including “Peero Preman” (believed to be first Punjabi poetess), and Baba Bir Singh Naurangabad, who played a great role in motivating the masses after the fall of Sikh Raj in the middle of the 19th century, has many firsts to his credit.

He is the person who was instrumental in highlighting the need to conserve the frescoes of Baba Atal by experts. He wrote series of articles in different newspapers when “Babas of Kar Sewa Wale” replaced invaluable frescoes on the first floor of Baba Atal.

Coming to the drama songs of Sheharyar, the noted writer has penned many songs which could be compared to folk songs. He has taken motifs and similes from traditions which made him a poet with a difference.

The songs, written for “Dhamak Nagare Di,” staged in Amritsar in 1978, are thought provoking. This was perhaps the beginning of the “Total Play” in Amritsar.

Dhaliwal says, total theatre demands that theatre is much more than a style; more than a museum piece. The songs are part of the total drama.

It suggests a complete and compelling live experience with the help of songs. Hence Sheharyar did the pioneering work by writing songs for the new style of drama, staged in Amritsar. He wrote songs on Dulla, a legendry highway robber and contemporary of Akbar. He would loot affluent and distribute the booty among the needy.

Amritsar, April 22
Manmohan Singh has been elected president of the Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM), an organisation for the development of the city, during a meeting held at the Ashoka Senior Secondary School here.

The outgoing president, Harbhajan Singh Gill, presented a report about the activities of the manch during the last year.

Harmohan Singh Bedi, senior member and former president of the manch talked about the achievements of the manch. They proposed the name of Manmohan Singh as president for the year 2008-09.

The decision was unanimously welcomed by the members present.

The patron of the manch Dr Charanjit Singh Gumtala, prof. Mohan Singh and Pritam Singh Kalsi were among the other members present. 

Amritsar, April 22
Faculty, staff and students of Guru Nanak Dev University today expressed grief over the death of Prof M.D. Singh of the department of laws and Amarjit Singh Ahluwalia, assistant press manager, department of press and publication, here.

Vice-chancellor Dr Jai Rup Singh, Prof Raghubir Singh, dean, academic affairs, and Prof R.S. Bawa, registrar, in their condolence message said the two were committed and dedicated staff members and the university had suffered a great loss with their deaths.

Prof M.D. Singh suffered a cardiac arrest while Amarjit Singh Ahluwalia succumbed to his injuries in a private hospital here. He had met with an accident a few days ago.

The teaching and working in all departments were suspended for the rest of the day today. Amarjit Singh has put in 27 years of service and was to retire in 2011. He is survived by his wife and two children, both married.