The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Govt to acquire 700 acres for central varsity
Ashok Sethi

Amritsar, June 3
The state government has initiated the process of acquiring 700 acres for setting up a central university proposed by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in the holy city. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, while addressing people during sangat darshan, said the deputy commissioner had been directed to identify the land for the construction of the prestigious educational institution to upgrade the academic standards of the border area.

Meanwhile, he said eminent foreign consultants had been engaged to prepare a master plan for the city to develop it on the modern lines to cope up with the increasing inflow of tourists.

Badal said the state government was conscious of the needs of people residing in the holy city and would ensure that it acquired world-class infrastructure for which the government had already initiated a series of steps.

Outlining the plans of the government, Badal said projects worth thousands of crores had been planned for a complete makeover and the government had already released Rs 100 crore as an initial payment to start the process of development.

He said the government had approved the modernisation project to upgrade the premiere medical college. He said the medical college would achieve its old glory soon as the government would arrange maximum funds to give academic excellence to the medical institutions in Amritsar.

Panorama: Thin turnout annoys CM
Varinder Walia/ TNS

Amritsar, June 3
Concerned over the thin turnout at the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama, located inside the historic Ram Bagh, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal asked the deputy commissioner and mayor municipal corporation to ensure proper publicity so that people, especially school children, could benefit from rich Sikh history.

Badal, who visited the panorama for the first time, said a proper campaign should be launched to make it more popular. It may be mentioned here that due to an injury Badal could not attend the foundation laying ceremony of the panorama by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on November 18, 2001.

Following directions from the CM, a 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 panorama at Kurukshetra in Haryana.

The place 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 a river on horseback, which is believed to have exhorted his men, who were faced with the Afghanis, has also been frozen in time.

Visitors get to know the childhood of the Maharaja, his marriage and the capturing of “Zam Zama canon”. A view of the Maharaja overseeing the gold plating of Harmandir Sahib, stands out. Four historical scenes, including the acquisition of the Kohinoor, French generals inspecting the Sikh army and the famous Ropar treaty, are some scenes depicted in the exit gallery.

The panorama is spread over 20 kanals of land in the “protected area” of the Ram Bagh, while the main structure extends over 2,500 sq metres. The round-shaped building has an inner diametre of 39 metres.

Plot Problem
Property dealer accused of land grab
Sanjay Bumbroo
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 3
A property dealer has been accused of grabbing a chunk of prime land at Gumtala village on the Amritsar-Ajnala road. The property dealer has allegedly turned the plot into a park and is not allowing the real owners to enter the area.

Plot owner Manpreet Singh alleged here today that property dealer Jugal Kishore Sharma was trying to grab his 450 square yards plot of prime land and was threatening and abusing them whenever they visited the area. He said, besides him, the plot was in the name of his mother Baljinder Kaur and brother Amandeep Singh.

Manpreet Singh alleged that after the death of his father, Sharma had forged the documents in connivance with a tehsildar in 2004 and was claiming that he had purchased the plot from his father for Rs 9.90 lakh and had paid Rs 7 lakh after the deal was struck. The rest of the amount (Rs 2.90 lakh) was to be paid at the time of registration.

Manpreet said he contested the case in the court of the subdivisional magistrate who had decided the case in his (Manpreet’s) favour.

However, Jugal said baseless allegations were being levelled against him as he had already paid Rs 7 lakh to them and was to pay another instalment of Rs 2.90 lakh. He said Manpreet’s move was aimed at defaming him.

Meanwhile, Manpreet said he had already filed a case against Jugal in the court and a status quo had been ordered in the case. He said he had also complained to the district police chief who had marked an enquiry to DSP Balkar Singh Randhawa with the instructions to submit his report within a week.

“However, two months have passed and despite repeated requests, the police is yet to complete the enquiry in this regard,” he added. Manpreet further said the plot in question was covered from three sides as the opposite party had constructed houses there.

He alleged that Jugal was now using his close links with BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu and other senior leaders of the party to threaten him and grab the plot.

	School Buzz UP excels in jump rope tourney Our Correspondent Amritsar, June 3 Uttar Pradesh secured the first position, while Punjab were the runners up at the National Level Jump Rope Championship 2008 which concluded at DAV International School here. The Delhi and Goa teams finished third and fourth, respectively. Principal Anjana Gupta said UP won 45 gold medals, 21 silver and 15 bronze medals in various competitions, while Punjab bagged 5 gold, 9 silver and 19 bronze medals. Delhi’s medal tally was 2 gold, 8 silver and 13 bronze. Earlier, the closing ceremony was presided over by Mahant Anant Das and Anil Singal was the guest of honor. Leading functionaries from the national jump rope federation included Col Pardeep Singh, Sunita Joshi, Varinder Bawa and Sanjay Mahajan. Ayurvedic camp To make students and their parents aware of benefits of Ayurveda, a three-day camp would be organised by DAV International School from June 4.. Various therapies would be demonstrated during the camp to enable people have a better understanding about ayurvedic practices and their effectiveness in common ailments like cough, cold, stomach ache and fever etc. The camp would also provide insight into major diseases like diabetes, arthritis, kidney failure and cancer etc. Toppers felicitated To acknowledge the achievements of toppers in various examinations, the management of Sri Harkrishan Senior secondary Public School organised a felicitation function. Dr Dharamvir Singh, principal, said while reading out the annual report bout the academic achievements said that Japnik Singh has brought laurels to the school by securing 25th rank in IIT/JEE. The school also honored Arshpreet Singh, Ravneet Kaur and Deepkamal Kaur who secured 96, 95 and 94.2 percent marks, respectively, in the CBSE Class X examination. The president of Chief Khalsa Dewan, Charanjit Singh Chadda also appreciated the meritorious students.
	‘Kick the butt, reduce heart disease risk by 30 pc’ Our Correspondent Amritsar, June 3 Hundreds of patients in and around the city were examined at the three-day free heart and multi-specialty check up camp organised at Fortis Healthworld here. Mayor, Shawet Malik, inaugurated the camp in which specialists from Fortis and Escorts Hospitals, Dr Arun Chopra along with Dr Manan Anand and Dr. Gaurav Thukral accompanied by 14-member medical team conducted the examinations. The hospital spokesman said as many as 250 patients availed the facility of free blood sugar, ECG and other tests. Specialised tests like ECHO and bone mineral density (BMD) were also conducted on deserving patients. Dr Chopra said there was a considerable increase in cardiac cases in the last five years. “Even in the age group of 20 we see high blood pressure patients. It’s a dangerous trend,” he said, adding that just 30 minutes of brisk walk daily could reduce the risk of heart diseases by 18 percent. Such physical activities encourage body to use up excess fat, improve cholesterol and sugar levels thus controlling hypertension, which is a major risk factor for heart diseases, added the specialist. Dr Gaurav informed that quitting smoking could reduce the risk of heart disease by as much as 30 percent. Besides, healthy food and good lifestyle habits, also helps in prevention of heart problems. Dr Manan stressed on the need for preventive health checks which can prevent one from major hassle later. He emphasised that all males above the age of 50 and females above 45 must go in for routine examination once in a year.
	School gives ‘home’ to poor families Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 3 The keys of some newly constructed houses at Dhanoya Khurd village, near Attari, were handed over to three families living in utter poverty by the management of St Francis School, here recently. These houses had been constructed through the money collected from the fete and other functions organised by the school. These families had been chosen out of the 11 families selected by the school, which had made an extensive survey of the area near the Indo-Pak border. The school management had decided to allot the houses to Kala Singh, Kanso and Mulk Raj Singh, who were living in abominable conditions. Principal sister Prabha said director father John Mankuzhichalil accompanied by teachers and students had laid the foundation stone of the houses. She said the students of the school had been actively participating in the survey done by the school and had been in the forefront for organising the fete and other functions to generate money to help the downtroden..
	Bulbs that rear grapes P.K. Jaiswar Amritsar, June 3 Known for his innovative ideas, local resident Jagmohan Kanojia, a kite maker by profession, has created a unique module to save bunches of grapes from insects and flies by growing them inside a hollow electricity bulb. Talking to The Tribune, Kanojia said he put the bunch inside a hollow electricity bulb when they were small and just starting to grow. He said flies and insects destroyed lot of his fruits and sucked their juice. He then came out with this idea after carefully watching the grapes and plants in his house and decided to do something to save the grapes from being harmed by insects. He said after a lot of research and thought he decided to find a suitable container which would help save the fruit and give a natural environment to it. Kanojia also holds a place in the Limca Book of World Records.