Amritsar, August 15
Let us pay homage to all the great patriots and pledge to maintain this hard-won freedom as well as our age-old traditions of harmonious coexistence, brotherhood and love for all fellow human beings.

Local government, industry and commerce minister Manoranjan Kalia stated this while unfurling the National Flag at Gandhi Ground on Independence Day here today. He also inspected the parade. The march past comprised contingents of the Punjab Police, Home Guards, the NCC, girl guides, scouts, schools and police bands. The function was marked with great patriotic fervour and enthusiasm.

Extending his heartiest wishes and greetings to the people of Punjab, Kalia recalled the unique and matchless role of Punjabis in the freedom movement. He said the outstanding contribution of Punjabis in the struggle against colonial rule was unmatched in the annals of the Indian history.

Kalia said the moment also called for introspection and rededication to truly realise the great vision of those who helped to make the dream of an independent and sovereign India a reality.

A heavy downpour played a spoilsport, so the cultural programme planned for the day was suspended and the celebrations concluded with the singing of the National Anthem. Tricycles and sewing machines were presented to the disabled and the needy and 10 distinguished personalities from different walks of life were honoured.

Tarn Taran: Minister for rural development and panchayats Ranjit Singh Brahmpura unfurled the National Flag and took the salute at the district-level Independence Day function here on Friday.

The minister called the people to be united to fight against the anti-national elements and the social evils. Students presented a cultural programme on the occasion. Freedom fighters and other meritorious personalities were honoured in the function.

Amritsar, August 15
The reduction in the size of roundabouts to ease traffic snarls in the holy city seems to have been unplanned as instead of solving the problem they have added to the woes of commuters.

The three important Es - encroachment, engineering and education - which form the basis of streamlining the traffic, have been completely ignored.

Saifuddin Kitchlew Chowk is one of the biggest examples where seven roads meet from different directions. The intersection had a big roundabout earlier, but after the reduction of its size, traffic congestion has become a routine scene. Besides, confusion prevails among passers-by as the gap between the roundabout and the road leads to traffic chaos.

A top civil engineer, on the condition of anonymity, said scientific planning was required to gauge movement of traffic on the roads and before taking a decision to reconstruct the roundabouts without traffic lights. He said the corporation should have engaged the services of a top traffic expert to design the roundabouts. He lamented that no traffic constable with requisite trained skills had been deployed at the place to regulate traffic.

Municipal commissioner D.P.S. Kharbanda admitted that even he was not completely satisfied with the reshaping of the roundabouts. However, he added that under the revamping of the road network, adequate steps were being taken to redesign various chowks in the city.

He said under the road repair project, Rohan and Rajdeep Tollways had been asked to give special care to these squares. He said once the construction works would be over, traffic movement would be also regulated.

He said many private parties had offered their help to develop and beautify roundabouts without allowing any third party to advertise and the corporation would think about it once the work was completed.

He said the Hall Gate roundabout and Sultanwind Chowk were the next in line for revamping and around Rs 10 to 15 lakh would be spent on the work.

He said the corporation had entered into partnership with various business houses for reducing the size of roundabouts and developing the vicinity of the crossings by laying footpaths and erecting walls to check haphazard parking.

Amritsar, August 15
Municipal corporation commissioner D.P.S. Kharbanda, in a missive to the SSP of Amritsar, has urged him to register a case against the owner of a mall (under construction) on Batala Road here for putting the life of the general public to great risk by not complying with the norms of construction.

The heavy construction activity by the mall owner led to the caving-in of its adjoining road. The commissioner said the owner of the mall had failed to construct the retaining wall with a view to providing safeguards to the adjoining buildings.

However, in violation of the bylaws, the owner did not adhere to the norms. The commissioner said he had urged the SSP to register a case for “criminal negligence” against the mall owner.

Meanwhile, the corporation has taken remedial measure to provide safety to the residents of the area by filling the low-lying areas.

Amritsar, August 15
A motorcycle rally, organised by the Internationalist Democratic Party (IDP) and dedicated to those killed during a nuclear attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan and partition of India, arrived here yesterday.

The rally, led by state president of the party Karnail Singh Jakhepal, arrived here after passing through Bathinda, Manda, Sunam, Bhawanigarh, Nabha, Ludhiana and Jalandhar. It was to culminate at the Attari-Wagah joint checkpost in the evening.

Addressing mediapersons, Jakhepal said due to the wrong decisions of the then politicians more than 10 lakh people were killed and more than 40 lakh injured during the Indo-Pak partition. He said the then politicians could have stopped this bloodshed but for their selfish political interests they did not initiate steps in this direction.

He said similarly in order to attain the super power status, America killed nearly two lakh people in the twin cities of Japan. He said the present-day politicians should learn a lesson from these incidents and not indulge in communal politics.

Jakhepal said India and Pakistan should hold talks for a peaceful solution to the Kashmir issue. He said the people of the state should be given the right for self-rule, besides initiating steps for the safety of the people of the state and this could be achieved by giving equal representation to the people living in three zones of the state - Kashmir, Jammu and Leh and Ladakh.

He said in order to stop criminalisation of politics the people should be given the right to call back their representatives, besides making provision of providing special buttons in the voting machines for the nomination of representatives.

He said the central and state governments should pay special attention to education, health and employment, besides improving the working environment of the labour class in the country. He said the multinational companies should not be allowed to come in the retail sector to save small entrepreneurs.

Amritsar, August 15
The controversial hotel site at Ranjit Avenue is once again a source of menace for the residents here as the huge trench dug up for the construction has been filled with water due to a downpour endangering life and property in the area.

In a letter, residents of the area have asked deputy commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu to make arrangements for drainage of water.

Talking to The Tribune, advocate V.S. Bhatia, whose house is adjacent to the site, said the ditch was around 10 to 15-foot deep and heavy rains for the past three days had filled it completely. He said the stagnant water was eroding the earth slowly, thus posing a threat to their property and life. Besides, the water-filled trench was a clear invitation to water-borne diseases, he added.

Interestingly, the 10,000 square yard site, which belonged to the Amritsar Improvement Trust, is in controversy as a group of “highly connected people” managed to usurp the land by paying off the occupants. The case is pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. However, with the change of guard in Punjab the group had been trying to woo the new government to get hold of the prime land.

Meanwhile, the deputy commissioner said as the High Court had granted a stay on the construction on the land, no authority was trying to take a risk. However, he said arrangements would be made to drain out the water.

Amritsar, August 15
The widespread damage and loss worth several crores of rupees caused due to heavy rains during the past three days in the district is to be properly compensated by the Punjab government.

BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had taken up the issue of the loss of life and property with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, said the CM had assured him of providing adequate compensation based on the survey.

He said the Chief Minister had directed the deputy commissioner to conduct a proper assessment of the loss to life and property due to rains which had claimed four lives and damaged several houses.

He said that a number of business houses, small shopkeepers and industrialists had suffered losses worth several crores.

He said that he had surveyed certain areas and found waterlogging a perennial problem, especially in the low-lying areas which had caused heavy damage to the houses.

He said the shopkeepers in the IDH market had suffered huge losses as the water entered the basements which had been used as godowns and stores.

Sidhu said the CM had also assured him to provide funds for the construction of the Sultanwindpind bridge which was damaged due to movement of heavy traffic in view of diversion of traffic from the main GT Road. He said the funds would be released from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund immediately after the assessment report was finalised by the deputy commissioner.

Meanwhile, the rice shelling industry on the Tarn Taran road had suffered damages worth several crores as the rainwater entered their godowns.

Amritsar, August 15
Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) celebrated Independence Day on its campus with great enthusiasm. Vice-chancellor Dr Jai Rup Singh unfurled the National Flag. Students of the music department presented patriotic songs to mark the occasion.

Jai Rup Singh, while addressing the university fraternity exhorted the teachers to inculcate a sense of nationalism, social and moral values among their students so that they could become good citizens. Cautioning the nation about the emerging feeling of regionalism, he said it was a dangerous trend. He said, “We all are Indians first and then Punjabis, Gujaratis, Marathis and so on. The sense of nationalism is declining among people. We should associate ourselves with the national stream and not with region or state.”

He said the present-day generation was forgetting our martyrs who had made great sacrifices for the nation. He advised them to remember as they were enjoying the fruit of independence only because of their sacrifices.

Expressing his concern over the environmental pollution, he said, “We are enormously exploiting the planet earth. Consequently, the environment is being polluted by us and the problem of global warming is being faced by the whole world.”

Amritsar, August 15
There is least possibility of the Pakistan army supporting beleaguered President Parvez Musharraf facing impeachment in both the houses of the National Assembly for his acts of omission and commission.

This was revealed by Pakistan National Assembly member Shakila Khanam Rashid while talking to mediapersons here today. She was in the city to attend an Indo-Pak friendship seminar.

Rashid, who is a senior member of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), said seeing the overwhelming anger against Musharraf and his unpopularity, it would be advisable if he quit and sought a safe passage rather than facing impeachment. “The ruling alliance is ready to give him a chance, provided he quits voluntarily from the post of President,” she said.

Rashid said Pakistani people had suffered army rule for 41 years and no one could gauge the plight they had gone through. However, she added that with the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) joining hands, Pakistan was once again on the path of restoring democracy.

Referring to the arms race between India and Pakistan, she said wars were never a solution to any problem. Thousands of innocent people lost their lives and to prevent it dialogues were the best way. She strongly favoured structured talks between the two nations to resolve contentious issues.

Welcoming the move to establish Indo-Iran pipeline through Pakistan, she said the countries must sit down to formalise the project which would be beneficial for all the three nations.

A strong advocate of visa-free regime, Rashid said SAARC countries must implement it so that free movement across the subcontinent could be made possible.

Amritsar, August 15
The Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif-starrer, “Singh Is Kinng”, which has done exceedingly well at the box office in India and created a record of sorts within the first week of its release, has been a bit hit in the neighbouring country of Pakistan also.

The Pakistani delegation which arrived here yesterday to participate in the Candlelight Vigil festival on the Wagah-Attari joint checkpost, said the movie opened up in as many as 13 cinema halls and multiplexes across the metro towns of Pakistan, of which five in Lahore itself with public giving it a roaring thumbs up.

Sadia Parvez Malik, a young chartered accountant aspirant, told The Tribune that they had enjoyed the movie thoroughly which was one of the best films under the banner of the Adlabs group, the leading pair of Akshay and Katrina was a big hit with young enthusiastic crowd of Pakistan. She said the youngsters queue up outside cinema halls for the first day, first show for all Indian movies which hit the screen in Pakistan. Although DVDs and CDs were available for all the Indian movies, the crowd loved to watch the film in the theatres to enjoy the full impact.

Meanwhile, “Singh is Kinng” has grossed more than Rs 12 crore business during the first two days of showing across India, while the music of the movie was sold for Rs 2 crore. The punters in the cinema line expected that this movie would outgross all recent movies in the days to come. Akshay had been a big hit for his comic roles among the teenagers and all his movies, including “Welcome”, had done very well, said the film pundits.

Although the movie courted controversy as certain radical Sikh organisations had taken exceptions to the role of Akshay Kumar and tried to vandalise the cinema halls in Amritsar, while across India and globe it was a big success.