Jalandhar, October 7
Bowing to the dictates of Guru Nanak Dev University, the governing council of Lyallpur Khalsa College today abolished the post of vice-principal and relieved Gurpinder Singh Samra as acting principal of the college with immediate effect.

In an order issued here, honorary secretary B.S. Sangha wrote, “Samra is reverted to his parent department of mathematics as lecturer. Seniormost lecturer of the college G.K. Jain of the commerce department is hereby appointed the acting principal who shall operate and carry out the duties of the principal till further orders.”

The order ended the four-month turmoil in the academic circles, which had begun with the resignation of Dr Satish K. Kapoor as principal on June 6, reportedly under protest against the powers vested with Samra.

The latter held the 18th position in the seniority list but was appointed vice-principal on May 19 and given the charge to conduct ad hoc appointments and students’ admissions.

Today’s order has been welcomed by the Association of College Principals (GNDU). Nirmal Pandhi, president and principal of Dayanand Arya Vidyalaya, Dinanagar, said, “We are happy that the university rules have been implemented now. This has left a good precedent for other colleges to follow.” The college atmosphere had been disturbed ever since the unsavoury episode occurred. Today’s college order is said to have come after an exchange of numerous communications between the dean of college development council of the university and the management of the college.

The staff members had also protested against the move, saying that the authority of five PhD faculty members and nine heads of the department senior to Samra had been forgone.The appointment of Jain as the acting principal has also washed off the image of the college management being pro-Sikh, at least for the time-being.

Jain is likely to remain on the post for a month only as the college management is said to have initiated the process of appointment of a regular principal to avoid payment of a recently introduced monthly penalty of Rs 50,000.

Jalandhar, October 7
Patients suffering from chronic renal diseases in this part of the region will not have to travel to Amritsar or Chandigarh now or bear the exorbitant charges of private hospitals as the Jalandhar civil hospital is going to introduce a dialysis wing on its premises shortly.

The civil hospital is going to provide the facility by installing two dialysis machines worth Rs 7 lakh each in the ICU unit from the next month. Separate rooms are being created for the machines and other supporting equipment.

Sources disclosed that the machines had been purchased with the efforts of Naresh Gujral, Rajya Sabha member from Jalandhar.

Dr Ashok Nayyar, deputy director-cum-medical superintendent of the civil hospital, said the machines had almost been installed and would be made functional by next month. The facility would benefit patients from the Doaba region who earlier had to go to the Government Medical College, Amritsar, or PGI, Chandigarh, in the absence of any dialysis machine in any government hospital in the region, he added. The hospital authorities have written to the Punjab Health System Corporation for fixing the charges for different categories of patients availing the facility here. Dr K.S. Bawa, in charge of the dialysis wing of the hospital, said on an average, the hospital had been registering 10 to 15 patients suffering from chronic renal diseases everyday.

“In the absence of the facility in the government hospital, private hospitals were charging exorbitant rates, forcing poor patients either to die a slow death or sell their valuables and land holdings to meet the treatment costs. With the setting up of the dialysis machines in the civil hospital, patients will at least heave a sigh of relief,” feels Phool Singh, a patient in the hospital.

Jalandhar, October 7
Remembering the almighty in his every song legendary Punjabi singer Gurdas Mann made Monday evening exceptionally memorable with his hit numbers leaving everybody enthused with youthful energy, love for Punjabi music and excitement.

The occasion was “Life Spirit,” an evening with Gurdas Mann, at Lovely Professional University (LPU) here.

The singer at his best performed on diverse songs starting from nostalgic ones to those bringing back the childhood memories. Amidst the incessant applaud and the thundering dance of youngsters who danced on every single note the ace singer went on to start the nite with a Sufiana song, dedicated to the glory of the almighty.

The crowd broke into a roaring cheer, as he greeted some 10,000 strong audience with a humble bow. Mann hit the chord with the young crowd, with all shades and genre of Punjabi music. The explosive mix of celebration, enjoyment and entertainment reached its peak when Gurdas Mann sang the famous “Kamli Yaar di Kamli,” which virtually left the youthful crowd dancing to his tunes.

And then, the thrill went on from one high to another as he doled out hit songs one after the other. From the nostalgic “Chhalla” to heart-rending “Heer,” from the youthful and evergreen “Dil Da Maamla” to legendry “Paranda,” from the religious “Sarbat Khalsa” to the youthful “Manke.”

The wonderful evening left the youngsters asking for more. Such was the scene at the venue that despite the three-hour long performance of the singer, the youngsters kept standing and dancing outside the barricade waiting to have a close glimpse of their favourite singer.

At the same time he did not forgot to fulfil the demands of the audience as well. Involving everybody in his performance the ace singer specially sang “Apna Punjab hove, ghar di sharaab hove” on the demand of chancellor of LPU Ashok Mittal. Touching every heart and soul the king of Punjabi folk left the audience mesmerised.

Jalandhar, October 7
It has been a nightmarish experience for the students and staff going to schools and colleges falling on the cantonment road or further in the cantonment area from the Defence Colony.

The entry or exit to the cantonment from the main road has been lying partially blocked for the past few days owing to the construction of a part of the Lyallpur Khalsa College railway overbridge there.

Since the opening and closing hours of all the schools, including St. Joseph Convent School, Seventh Day Adventist School and Kendriya Vidyalaya coincide, the traffic gets blocked from all sides causing a great inconvenience to all the commuters.

The cars, school autos, buggies, vans and buses get stuck up in the traffic, forcing the students to disembark almost daily 500 metres ahead of their schools and go walking along the trenches and piles of dug up soil along the roadsides.

While on one side of the tri-junction, the construction of a leg of a bridge is being undertaken, the other side too has been dug up to lay electricity cables underground, leaving a very narrow space in between.

PWD XEN B.S. Tuli said since heavy equipment was to be used in the area, there was a chance of the cables getting snapped in the process, so we got them underground today. He said while the cable trench was being covered now, the passersby would have to bear with the problem for some more days due to the construction work. 

Phagwara, October 7
Local Guru Nanak College has clinched the GNDU inter-college football tourney by winning all its three matches and scoring nine points.

GNC team overpowered teams of Lyallpur Khalsa College Jalandhar (6-1), defending champions SN College Banga (2-0) and DAV College Jalandhar (1-0) in the three-day tournament held at Amritsar recently.

SN College, Banga, had to be content with runners- up position with six points, while DAV College, Jalandhar, stood third with three points.

Vijay Kumar and Balbir Singh were the main scorers for the GNC team which was captained by Gursewak Singh. International footballer Jagir Singh was the coach, while Prof Sital Singh and Prof Kulwinder Singh were the manager and in charge, respectively. — TNS