Amritsar, July 18
The holy city would soon be engulfed with sweet fragrance of roses as the district administration has decided to set up a rose garden here.

The park would be a replica of Chandigarh Rose Garden, adding to the number of sightseeing places in the vicinity.

This was announced by deputy commissioner (DC) Kahan Singh Pannu, while launching a tree plantation drive to lend more lungs and green space in the city.

Giving details of the project , he said the 30-acre garden would be set up in the periphery of Ranjit Avenue and the Punjab government had earmarked Rs 5 crore for preparing green stretches.

DC Pannu said the district administration would appoint a landscape consultant to prepare the project on scientific grounds so that the garden could be given a contemporary look.

Besides, it would help a walkway on the lines of an international park and be one of the best green areas in the city, he added.

Referring to the strong bond between human being and trees, he appealed to the public to adopt trees and nurse them because green shade would help change the landscape of Amritsar.

“It’s our responsibility toensure the well-being of the generations to come,” he added.

Launching the tree plantation drive from the Red Cross Society, he said public could pick up saplings from the society for planting them near their houses and in public parks.

They could even call at telephone number 2500598 and plants would be delivered at their residence.

He said last year’s plantation drive was a huge success as more than 2.50 lakh saplings were planted. He asked the people to add the same number of trees every year to conserve the environment.

Pannu, also the chairman of the Red Cross Society, distributed 100 saplings.

Amritsar, July 18
Financial aid continues to pour from India and abroad for the rickshaw puller’s bright son Om Parkash and other needy students whose plight was highlighted by The Tribune.

Overwhelmed by the urge of these students to pursue higher education in professional colleges, The Tribune received a call from a Canadian resident eager to bear all the expenses of Om and Lovish Ahuja, who was abandoned by his father.

With the help from principal of Spring Dale Senior School, Manveen Sandhu, Om has managed to secure admission in Pandit JB Polytecnique in Hoshairpur.

BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu has also assured to be the part of the foundation, set up to provide free education to bright and needy students who are unable to pursue their dreams for want of financial aid.

Emotionally moved by the gesture of the principal, a teacher of Spring Dale School, Sukhraj Kaur - who received an award of Rs 6,200 for being selected for Best School National Science Olympiad Award and Best School National Cyber Olympiad award - donated the whole amount for the cause of poor students. Earlier, an administrative staff member of the school Vinod Bhatia had contributed Rs 7,500 for the counselling fee of Om Parkash.

Both the boys are from government-aided DAV senior secondary school here. 

Amritsar, July 18
As per the UNAIDS fact sheet, due to the decrease in the HIV positive cases in Amritsar city and its surrounding areas the city has come into the “C” category from the “A” category in year 2005.

Stating this to a gathering at Ghatti village, near Chhabal, during an AIDS awareness programme initiated by the Sri Chaitanya Jan Kalyan Parishad, Krishna Murari Tripathi, general secretary of the parishad, claimed that according to the UNAIDS fact sheet data the percentage of HIV positive cases in the year 2005 was about 3 per cent which came down to 1.5 per cent due to the various seminars being conducted by the parishad.

Tripathi said the parishad was also providing necessary help and guidance to a woman. He said she was married to a resident of East Mohan Nagar in Amritsar suffering from AIDS. When the woman came to know about this, her husband and his parents threw her out of the house. He said they were also holding seminars in villages and creating awareness among panchayat members in this regard.

He said the parishad had started online counselling for villagers in border districts from July 11 and the youth were taking benefit by getting information about the deadly diseases to make their lives safe and better.

Amritsar, July 18
Commuters and public have been suffering for the past two years due to the poor condition of the GT Road alongside the ambitious 4 km-long elevated road being constructed to ease the traffic congestion for the tourists and devotees visiting the city of the Golden Temple and historic Jallianwala Bagh.

Due to the current monsoon season, the life has become hell for the commuters with dirty water flowing on the road due to lack of drainage and potholed GT Road causing serious damage to their vehicles. Accidents and traffic jams are also common.

The harassment started the day the construction of the elevated road was inaugurated two years ago. In spite of repeated appeals and dharnas by the residents of the GT Road, the corporation authorities and the contractors failed to provide proper service lane to regulate and ease the huge traffic entering the city. The biggest sufferers are the pedestrians and two-wheelers drivers who had to use the potholed and broken road on both sides of the bridge.

Clouds of dust continue to hang around the road with thousands of vehicles moving at a snail’s pace upsetting the life of people living in the vicinity of the road.

Although the entry of heavy vehicles, including buses and trucks, is banned due to process of putting of huge platforms on the pillars of the elevated road, but they continue to enter the area without any check as the traffic police could be seen allowing their entry. The wide GT Road grows narrow near Maqboolpura Chowk resulting in traffic jams.

Brij Bedi, a social activist, who commutes to his school at Maqboolpura every day, said he had made many representations to the civic authorities to improve the services but his pleas had fallen on deaf ears. He said the people in the area had agitated to repair the road or recarpet the entire stretch as thousands of people commute every day to reach the city. What to say, the mandatory service lane which should be provided during the construction of an elevated road, had not been 
constructed.

This was not the case of only one road, but almost all roads, said Aulakh, a resident of nearby Shaheed Madan Lal Dhingra Housing Complex on the GT Road.

Amritsar, July 18
The Youth For Equality (YFC) donated 16 wheelchairs, a water cooler and Rs 15,000 to Dr J.S. Dalal, director, research and medical education, Punjab, at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital here today.

YFC chief and senior doctor of the hospital Dr Ravinder Sharma said Rs 1 lakh was lying with the organisation that was collected during the agitation against the SC reservations. He said students of the Government Medical College and Hospital and the Guru Ram Dass Institute of Medical Sciences and Research had formed the forum to protest against the caste-based reservations. They rather demanded quota for economically weaker sections of society, he added.

Dr Sharma urged Dr Dalal to initiate steps to suppress increasing menace created by some miscreants at the hospital during the late night hours. He said the miscreants even tried to molest and threaten a lady doctor.

Dr Dalal further instructed Dr Jagdish Gargi, principal of Government Medical College, to take action. Dr Gargi said they would soon engage a private security agency once they got approval from the state government.

Dr Dalal said the medical college would be brought to its old glory by launching various new schemes under the Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana. He said they had ordered for a Cobalt machine which would be installed at the hospital and Rs 5 crore would be given by the Canadian government to set up a diagnostic centre for cancer patients.

Talking to mediapersons, Dr Dalal said they had complied with the questions raised by the Medical Council of India (MCI). He said, “We have already submitted a project report about the shortage of staff at the three medical colleges in the state. The file is presently with the personnel department and after approval from the government we would recruit staff as soon as possible,” he added.

Amritsar, July 18
There’s an immediate need to change the image of the libraries. Also, it’s important for librarians to understand the needs of the users and provide them services as per their requirements.

This was emphasised by Kalpana Dasgupta, chairperson of the Working Group of the Libraries of the National Knowledge Commission, New Delhi, while inaugurating a three-week refresher course in Library & Information Sciences today. The event was organised by the academic staff college in collaboration with the department of library and information science.

Regarding the role of the Internet, Dasgupta said it can't replace libraries or its services. Dasgupta is presently a member of a high-level committee on the upgradation of libraries of the ministry of culture, the Raja Rammohan Roy Library Foundation and the panel of experts of NISCAIR.

More than 30 college lecturers, librarians and assistant librarians from different varsities and colleges are taking part in the course. Earlier, Dr SS Chahal, director of research, while welcoming Dasgupta highlighted the role of librarians in the present scenario.

Dr Amritpal Kaur, head and course coordinator, gave a brief introduction of latest trends in the field. Dr Asha Narang presented the vote of thanks. — OC

Amritsar, July 18
With the arrest of three persons, including a woman, the police today busted a gang of auto-lifters and recovered a stolen car and motorcycle from their possession.

Amritpal Singh, resident of Tarn Taran police district, Baljit Kaur of village Narli, Tarn Taran and Tarsem Singh of Ferozepur were caught during a naka laid near T-point at Surta Singh road by Islamabad police.

They failed to produce any valid documents of the Santro car (PB10-BXT-0447) in which they were travelling. The vehicle was later found to be stolen. The police on investigation also recovered a motorcycle (PB09-H-4508) from them. A case has been registered. 

Amritsar, July 18
Plays “Teesra Netra” and “Avesle Yudha Di Nayeka” were enacted at Kartar Singh Duggal Auditorium in the Virsa Vihar centre last night. “Teesra Netra” and “Avesle Yudha Di Nayeka” have been written by Dr Sahib Singh and Prof Ajmer Aulakh, respectively.

The powerful performance and the content of the “Teesra Netra” play had brought to life the tribulations of a blind man, especially a Punjabi, who continues to be proud of his origin in spite of the handicap.

The play brought to focus the aspirations of a blind beggar and his dreams to lead a good purposeful life, which aroused many emotions among the audience. The two characters of the play brought to life many facets of human emotions. The characters claimed that they had a third eye, which manages to visualise the high and good points of life. The second play of Ajmer Aulakh concentrates on the evils of drugs, which has destroyed many families in villages. The play tries to highlight the menace of drugs, which has consumed many young lives and created a horrendous scene.

Earlier, Dr Ravinder initiated literary discussion on these powerful social plays. Among those who were present on the occasion were Shriomani poet Parminderjit Singh, Sulakhan Singh Sarhadi, Dr Anup Singh, Dr Neeta Mohindra, Kewal Dhaliwal, Talwinder Singh and Dr S.S. Deepti.

Amritsar, July 18
The three-day ‘Yog Shivir’ being organised by ‘Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Yog Samiti’ at All-India Women Conference (AIWC) centre will conclude on Friday.

This was informed by Rajni Bhrany, president of AIWC. She said as many as three instructors, including a woman, are teaching yoga to inmates and staff of the AIWC. Ashok Sharma, general secretary of the Patanjali Yog Peeth, Haridwar, said the organisation was already conducting yoga camps in schools and hospitals. 

Amritsar, July 18
The district food supply controller Dr Anjum Bhaskar in a press note issued here today informed that a new gas agency of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, A S Gas Service, has been opened at Gumtala. The consumers of the area had been left high and dry with the closure of Amrohi Gas Service.

She said people residing in Ranjit Avenue, Green Avenue, Lawrence Road, Chheharta, Putlighar, Islamabad, Rani Kg Bagh, Basant Avenue, Guru Nanak Dev University Campus, Gumtala and Gurdwara Pahal Sahib Road can been benefited from the new agency.