Amritsar, October 3
The nauseating smell emanating from a garbage dump lying near the building of the more than eight-decade-old Andh Vidhyalaya is leaving its visually challenged students ill.

The children cannot study during their classes and are forced to spend sleepless nights in their hostels situated on the upper floor of the building.

What is more shocking is the apathetic attitude of the municipal corporation in total disregard to the living quarters of the visually handicapped inmates who had been making repeated attempts, through the management, with the civic bodies to remove the garbage dump and the litter caused by the vegetable vendors and the residents of the area.

Manjit Singh, headmaster of the school, while talking to The Tribune, said people started urinating alongside the boundary wall due to open space and the garbage dump, making their lives hell.

The honorary secretary of the managing committee of the institute, Arun Kapoor, while corroborating the sentiments of the inmates and the principal said they had taken up the matter with the corporation many times but they failed to shift the dump to another place to prevent the students from getting ill.

The inmates criticised the role of various NGOs, local MLAs and the minister, who made several visits to the institute to participate in various programs of the vidhyalaya where the students raised the issue of the stinking dump.

Various encroachments have also come up along side the boundary wall.

Meanwhile, commissioner D. P. S. Kharbanda offered to look into the matter of shifting the dump and said he would direct the municipal health officer to make an urgent visit to the site to solve the problem of removing the dump.

Amritsar, October 3
“I am thrilled, excited and feel positive and close to God after becoming a “langoor” as per the wish of my grandmother and parents,” says 23-year-old Varun Narang, a London-based NRI, who was here to pay obeisance at Bara Hanuman Temple situated in Durgiana Temple premises.

Varun was accompanied by his parents, Prem Narang and Sunita Narang, who shifted to London in 1992 to pursue their dreams.

His elder sister, Anu and her husband Manish Anand would reach by October 7 to Varun dressed as a langoor.

A business and mathematics graduate from the City University with finance and economics as subjects, Varun, while talking to The Tribune said it was embarrassing when I reached here and saw little kids dressed up as langoors.

However, later I saw a number of elder ones who were dancing to the beats of dhol and enjoying every moment of this.

It was an experience which I would cherish all through my life, said Varun.

His father Prem Narang said his mother Kaushalya Devi had made a wish for a grandson and after the birth of Varun, she used to remind us a number of times about the mela but due to unavoidable circumstances we failed to pay obeisance at the temple during the event.

This year we were determined to come to Amritsar and participate in the mela, but unfortunately Kaushalya Devi passed away only last month, which was a shock to us. But as per her wish we made our son a langoor to express our gratitude to Lord Hanuman who had blessed us with Varun.

Varun said he would share his experience with his friends in London and tell them about the great culture, rituals and importance of the temple. I have also invited some of my friends here, he said.

Surinder Kumar Billa, president All India Hindu Shiv Sena, revealed that last year too two devotees from London and one from Canada had dressed up as a langoor.

Amritsar, October 3
Creative dance has been included in the folk dances category in the zonal youth festivals of Guru Nanak Dev University commencing from October 10.

Theatre items depicting negative characters of eunuch, blind, handicapped, deaf and dumb, etc, will be discouraged.

To give exposure to the hidden talent of students studying in the associate institutes of the university under distance education programme, the university is also holding an exclusive zonal youth festival for them.

Stating this in a press note here on Wednesday, Baljit Singh Sekhon, director, youth welfare, said there would be mixed-caste competitions in all youth festivals.

He said the creative dance item has been included under the folk dances category while in the fine arts category minor changes have been made in the competition rules of rangoli, phulkari and installation items.

He said in rangoli sieve, spoon, scale, etc, and in phulkari frame is also allowed while the maximum height of the installation item would be 6 feet.

While presenting the theatre items, negative character of eunuch, blind, handicapped, deaf and dumb, etc, would be discouraged.

Sekhon said the zonal youth festival (A-zone) of the university would be organised from October 10 to 12; the zonal youth festival (B-zone) from October 18 to 20 and zonal youth festival (C-zone) from October 24 to 27 on the university campus here.

Similarly, the zonal youth festival (D-zone) would be held at Amardeep Singh Shergill Memorial College in Mukandpur from October 31 to November 3, he added.

Sekhon said the zonal youth festival for government colleges would be organised from November 10 to 12 and the zonal youth festival for educational colleges (B.Ed colleges) would be held from November 14 to 16 on the university campus, Amritsar.

He said the zonal youth festival for associate institutes of the university under distance education programme would be organised from November 25 to 28.

The director said the university would hold an exclusive zonal youth festival for students studying in the associate institutes of the university under distance education programme from December 1 to 4 on the university campus here.

Amritsar, October 3
The tiny tots of Stalwarts High School, in a letter to the Prime Minister, urged him to initiate steps to protect their lives from serial bomb blasts going on in the country.

Displaying various placards like “save the country,” and “bring greenery in place of bombs” these students were attired as Mahatma Gandhi to mark the occasion of the birth anniversary of the father of nation.

Starting from their school in Rani Ka Bagh, these students marched in a procession which culminated at Company Garden.

They also paid floral tributes to the father of the nation besides observing two minutes silence for the people who lost their lives in the recent bomb blasts in various parts of the country.

Protesting against the bomb blasts they said they don’t want the bombs but the green environment so that they can breath in the healthy environment.

They also sent missives to state ministers and officers of the district administration.

Speaking on the occasion, BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu said there was need for following the path shown by the great messiah of peace so that the terrorists could be thrown out of the country.

He said Bapu had played an important role for the freedom of the country and his name would be remembered for many centuries.

A police party, headed by ASI Dilbagh Singh, arrested the accused near Kot Khalsa after specific information. A case has been registered.

Amritsar, October 3
The trials to select players for the Khalsa sports event, being organised under the patronage of Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) at Hazoor Sahib Nanded (Maharashtra) on October 31 & November 1, will be held at the Guru Nanak stadium at Ludhiana and Guru Nanak College, Moga, on October 5 & 6, respectively.

This was informed by SGPC secretary Dalmegh Singh, who is also the organising secretary of the event, in a press release issued here today.

The mega event would be held as part of the programs to be organised at Hazoor Sahib to mark the third centenary of Gurta Gadi Divas of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

He said Punjabi games like kabbadi, wrestling, horse-riding and gatka will be held during the event.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will preside over the inaugural function and SGPC president Avtar Singh will be the chief guest.

Maharashtra deputy chief minister RR Patil will grace the occasion on second day.

Union sports minister Manohar Singh Gill will be chief guest on the concluding day.

Sports and union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar will give away the prizes to the winning teams and players.

Besides, squads from Punjab and other states of the country, kabbadi and wrestling teams from Pakistan will also participate in the event.

Gatka teams of various sects of Nihangs will perform, while Malkhamb, a local game of Maharashtra, will also be held on the occasion.

The players of the Vanzara community will also present their traditional games.

Kishore Chandra Satpathy, who received the Young Librarian Award hails from Indore (MP) and presently working as librarian in the Indian Institute of Management.

The Best School Librarian Award was given to Renu Bala Dosanjh. She supervises and manages main school library of SKV Delhi Administration, Rajouri Garden.

Speaking on the occasion, the VC said they would implement all recommendations of the University Grants Commission for the library professionals.

The mobile libraries are a must as these are helpful and the books are accessible for the rural children, he added.

In the second session, Kalpana Dasgupta presented the key note address, while Dr Chahal presided over the event.

Amritsar, October 3
Amandeep Kaur and Harpreet Kaur (both sisters) of Ghasitpur village in Amritsar won the overall prize of five competitions, worth rupees one lakh, for successfully completing at least one recitation of the entire Sri Guru Granth Sahib during a span of one year.

Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh gave away prizes to 3,000 students for successfully completing at least one recitation of the holy scripture on October 2.

The competition was organised by Sukrit Trust - an NGO, to commemorate the tercentenary celebrations of the installation of Guru Granth Sahib.

Addressing the gathering, Jaswinder Singh Khalsa, chairman Sukrit Trust, Ludhiana, who has been holding the competitions for the last two years, said the judgments were based on the students’ accuracy in the recitation of the holy scriptures, held across 12 centres.

More than 12,000 students participated in the Shatabdi Gurbani Vichar Muhim competitions namely sehaj paath, Gurbani kanth, Gurbani vichar, Gurbani bolchal and Gurbani handwriting held across the state during the past two months.

While giving the details of the various projects undertaken by the trust, Khalsa said they were carrying out five projects, namely career guidance, coaching, vocational trainings, self help projects and placement services, for the students of Punjab.

He said the prime objective of the trust was to inculcate habits of hard work and work culture among the youth thereby curbing evils like drug abuse, apostasy etc.

He announced that the first Sukrit Sewa Ratan Award - 2008 would be bestowed on Bibi Kamalpreet Kaur of Jarg village in Ludhiana for her all round best selfless service to the Sikh community.

Avtar Singh Makkar, president, SGPC, Giani Jaswinder Singh, Granthi Harmandir Sahib, Bhai Jeewan Singh of Akhand Kirtani Jatha, Baba Sewa Singh, Kar Sewa Khadur Sahib, Harkirat Singh of Satnam Sarab Kalyan Trust, and Kulwinder Singh of Nishkam Sikh Welfare Council, New Delhi, were present on the occasion.

Amritsar, October 3
Fortis Escort Hospital in association with Lions Club organised free mega heart and multi-speciality check up camp at children’s park in Company Bagh here.

As many as 323 patients, members of the club, availed the facility of free examinations of blood sugar levels, blood pressure, ECG, ECHO.

Sunil Kapoor, executive director of the hospital, inaugurated the camp in which a team of experts and paramedics consisting of cardiologists, nephrologist, general surgeon, orthopaedic surgeon, gynaecologist and other specialists participated.

Speaking on the occasion, Kapoor emphasised on the importance of preventive health checks to minimise disease and illness.

The hospital has extended the free facility of heart risk assessment to all residents of the city till October 15, he added.

Amritsar, October 3
As many as seven underprivileged girls of Nishkam Sewa Public School, run by Sardara Singh, a prominent social activist, have been adopted by State Bank of India, Cantt Branch.

The bank gave Rs 5,000 each to the girl students for their fees, books and uniforms.

Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh, SSP, inaugurated the meet in which more than 400 students are participating.