Jalandhar, December 25
Though the number of trains is increasing day by day and works to lengthen railway tracks are going on at a great pace, but decline in the number of passengers can be expected in the coming few days.

The reason is not the thick blanket of fog, shortage of manpower or crumbled infrastructure. This time, it is parking lots.

The cycle/scooter parking fares have been raised from four to 20 times in the Ferozepore division of the Northern Railway.

This step is very discouraging for the daily passengers, especially the ones who have been using the parking service regularly.

According to the new rate list, the fare for parking a cycle is Rs 5 which was Re 1 previously. For scooters, the fare is Rs 5 up to four hours, Rs 10 for four to 24 hours and Rs 15 for more than 24 hours. Previously, just Rs 5 were being charged.

Interestingly, the additional fare of Rs 10 has also been added for keeping helmets. For four-wheelers, the rates of Rs 30 for four hours, Rs 100 for four to 24 hours and Rs 200 for more than 24 hours have been fixed. This increase in fares is for railway stations coming under the major category.

The fare has been increased to Rs 5 for cycle, Rs 15 for scooter and Rs 100 for four-wheelers for railway stations coming under the minor category.

As per sources, there is an increase in the contract limit from Rs 95,000 to Rs 1.62 lakh per month.

The contract for parking of four-wheelers is around Rs 70,000 per month. No firm has so far turned up to take up the contract of the parking lot for scooters.

Daily passengers prefer to use private parking lots which charge Rs 5 for a scooter and Rs 3 for a cycle.

A government employee posted at Ludhiana said, “Why should the passengers pay Rs 20 to park a scooter just for one day? This step of the railway authorities will simply give boost to parking at no-parking zones. That will ultimately create a nuisance.”

An official, on condition of anonymity, said, “The railway board is the authority to decide on this matter. But there are some local issues also. People residing around stations use the parking lots to park their personal vehicles due to less space in their homes. Usually private financers misuse these lots to park their impounded vehicles for months. The fare hike will discourage misuse of the railway parking lots.”

“It is evident that miscreants misuse space provided by these lots. But why should common passengers suffer due to this reason. There must be a criterion to demarcate passengers from trouble-makers,” added a businessman who travels everyday from Jalandhar to Amritsar.

Senior officials from the divisional office, Ferozepore, were not available for comments on this issue due to Christmas holiday. Whatever might be the reason, the common man, it seems, will be the sufferer once again.

Jalandhar, December 25
Not many people know that Bhavya Pandit, who has reached the finals of the ongoing singing talent hunt programme, “Indian Idol,” has a city connection.

Already a fame in the contest, she has been receiving rave reviews for her performances from the jury.

It was because of her career in the music world that her parents decided to shift to the tinsel town. Bhavya started singing at an early age with training in classical music since the age of five. She took her classical music training from Pandit Prabhakar Karekar.

Bhavya has already made her place in top 12 contestants of “Indian Idol.” One of the youngest contestants among the girls, she made a wonderful beginning but was eliminated from the show in the gala round.

It was due to her sound understanding of the classical music and brilliant performance in every episode that she was given a re-entry through wild card.

Interestingly, the budding singer shares her birthday with music director and one of the judges Anu Malik. She celebrated her birthday with Anu Malik on November 2 during the show, the day she got re-entry to the show.

Confident of her win for the title, her maternal uncle Shiv Sharma while talking to The Tribune over phone from Chandigarh said, “It was her consistent performance in the show which made her re-entry possible. We have already got made her posters for her publicity. Though she has been receiving appreciation from all judges but public voting plays a key role.”

Daughter of a retired army officer, she did her schooling from Central School, Mumbai, where her mother is also a teacher. Her father Capt (retd) Deepak Sagar after retiring from army in 1984 joined Punjab National Bank. At present he is posted in a Mumbai branch as senior manager.

And her mother Navjyoti Sagar hails from Mukerian in Hoshiarpur. Bhavya’s parents had stayed in Jalandhar for sometime before her birth.

The singer once asserted during the show that she would quit singing the day her performance would not be up to the mark.

Her maternal aunt Anju Sharma maintained, “Her unexpected elimination from the show made her future prospects bleak. However it was kind support of her judges, including noted lyricist Javed Akhtar, Anu Malik, Kailesh Kher and Sonali Bendre, that she was able to fulfil her dreams.”

At the age of 10, she won the title of “Kya Masti Kya Dhoom,” a singing competition on Star Plus.

Her biggest achievement till date was when she won the “National Balshree Award” from former President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at Rashtrapati Bhawan last year. Apart from this she also got a chance to judge the International Children Film Festival in Hyderabad two years back.

Recently she performed in a live show, “Rock for Humanity,” held in Mumbai along with other contestants.

“Her fans, including her family and friends, are sure of her win in the final of ‘Indian Idol.’ Till then fingers are crossed,” said Shiv Sharma.

Jalandhar, December 25
Hundreds of devotees assembled for the midnight mass and sung carols in churches to celebrate Christmas in the city. Christmas cakes were cut on the occasion.

The special feature this time was that people from other faiths had been specially invited for the festivities. The churches wore a festive look with a majority of them being tastefully illuminated and decorated. Devotees lit candles and sought the blessings of the Lord.

Although no official event was planned for today, a state-level function was held a few days ago that was presided over by Chief Miniser Parkash Singh Badal. He made some major announcements for the betterment of the community on the occasion.

At the Golaknath Memorial and St Mary Catholic Churches, the devotees could be seen greeting each other after attending the mass. Bishop Anil Couto also greeted the brotherhood on the occasion and urged them to maintain peace and try to forgive those who had targeted their community.

Similar reports of Christmas celebrations were received from Dhariwal, Batala and Gurdaspur regions where the community has a substantial presence.

Meanwhile, political leaders, including PPCC chief Mohinder Singh Kaypee, Partap Singh Bajwa, Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Jagbir Singh Brar, Ashwani Sekhri, Sucha Singh Langah, Sucha Singh Chhotepur, Gurcharan Singh Channi and Baljit Singh Neela Mahal also greeted the community on this holy occasion.

Jalandhar, December 25
Pandit Ranendranath Majumdar, a name synonymous to flute or the traditional bansuri, needs no introduction.

A renowned name in the world of classical music, Ronu Majumdar as he is popularly known emphasised on the need for the youth to adopt classical training before stepping in the professional music world.

“Exploring music in every form is good but values should not change. The youth of today is looking for shortcuts in the run for earning quick name and fame which cannot take them further”, he said.

The flute player was here in the city to attend the 133rd Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan. Tracing his roots from the famous Maihar gharana the flutist started his training at an early age and learnt flute from his father Dr Bhanu Majumdar.

Later on, he took his training from the revered Pt Vijay Raghav Rao. “My basic training started from my home itself. It was here that I became acquainted with the fine nuances of the instrument,” he said.

The artist has performed in some of the most prestigious venues such as The Kremlin, Brussels and many others. Ronu has given background score in many Hindi movies including 1942 A Love Story and Machis to name a few. He has also composed music for India’s first I-Max film “Mystic India”.

Ronu created a niche for himself in the field of contemporary popular music, which is exemplified by his Grammy nomination in 1996.

His fine renditions over the period of time have associated his name with international greats such as Pandit Ravi Shankar, former Beatle George Harrison and ace guitarist Ry Cooder.

Further talking about the scope of classical music in Hindi film industry Ronu said, “The industry banks upon classical music for its survival. And flute has been rather a part and parcel of Bollywood. There is hardly any Hindi movie of yesteryears which did not have flute in its music”.

On being asked about the interest shown by the international audience in the Indian classical music, the artist maintained, “Indian audience do have a sound ear for music but the youth has scant respect for this form. The international audience on the other hand knows how to appreciate the spirit of classical music. It virtually hurts to see the youth neglecting their culture.”

And in his message to the budding singers performing in reality shows these days, the ace flutist maintained, “It is good to provide a platform to budding talent in the form of reality shows but the concept of public voting should be discouraged. It is my appeal to all the reality-show performers not to consider these shows as an achievement rather take it as a stage to step ahead in life.”

Jalandhar, December 25
The Federation of College Principals of Punjab and Chandigarh today regretted that the Centre had not shown due concern for the most radical and positive recommendations made by the G.K. Chadha committee and the UGC with respect to financial support, uniform and simultaneous implementation of revised pay scales from the single revised date.

“It is indeed appreciable that the Chadha committee submitted the recommendations in record time of less than 13 months; UGC sent recommendations within one week, and the Union cabinet approved the proposals on December 15, based on the empowered committee’s recommendations,” federation president Dr V.K. Tewari said in a statement here while pointing out that the government had not shown serious concern for the recommendations.

Tiwari said the UGC had constitutional responsibility to maintain standards in higher education and so recommended that a serious departure from the existing pattern of 80 per cent funding of the additionality was essential because, in the past, this uniform implementation of the package in many states led to large-scale frustration and even anger amongst the teaching community, impacting negatively their academic performance.

He revealed that Chadha had addressed the meet of the education ministers of states in New Delhi in July this year and had strongly stressed on full, uniform, simultaneous implementation of the package and stressed on 100 per cent central assistance to the states “towards additional expenditure involved in implementing the recommendations of the pay review committee in total as a package uniformly throughout the country” for a period of five years from January 1, 2006.

The committee also recommended that those states which would implement the “package in total” would get a additional 50 per cent grant for the next five years also and there should be no compromise with the single date of implementation of revised date of January 1, 2006.

Tewari denounced the indifference of the Centre towards the stark realities prevailing in the states even when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had called the 11th Five-Year Plan as education plan. Some states, including Punjab, had not implemented the package in 1986 and again in 1996, he added.

The federation also demanded one scale, at least, equivalent to that of professor for all principals with teaching experience of 15 years. Tewari regretted that the Punjab government had been doing injustice to the principals of the colleges by violating the UGC notification of December 24, 1998.

Regrettably, the state government has imposed a ban on filling of hundreds of posts in universities and colleges of the state which was doing disservice to the youth of Punjab, he added. — UNI

Jalandhar, December 25
As a New Year gift for the people of the region, the government has decided to open a centre of the Northern India Institute of Fashion Technology (NIIFT) here.

Local bodies minister Manoranjan Kalia said the decision was taken since Jalandhar was an industrial hub with units manufacturing sports goods, leather apparels, sportswear, etc. The direct and indirect exports from city were about Rs 700 crore.

The centre would be set up on the land provided by the improvement trust at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Avenue at a cost of Rs 8 crore. There would be two diploma courses of apparel and leather designing and the fees would be about Rs 60,000.

There would be 40 seats each for the courses that would begin in July. The first session would be run from rented premises and those students who had passed the class XII would be eligible for admission, he said.

The Chief Minister would lay the foundation stone of the complex on January 1. He said the centre had been set up to cater to the need of trained fashion designers for the present requirement and future expansion of the industry.

It would be a boon to the leather/sportswear industry in and around Jalandhar. There would be 100 per cent placements, he added.

Jalandhar, December 25
A middle-aged couple of the Janta Nagar area committed suicide leaving behind one-and-a-half-year-old son.

The incident occurred yesterday when Luxman Jha, hailing from Bihar, and his second wife Hema, consumed poison with tea.

The couple reportedly took the step after a tiff with Neelam, the first wife of Luxman. The police has recovered a suicide note from the house in which the couple reportedly had not held anyone responsible for their death.

Sucha Singh, sub-inspector, Maqsudan police station, said Luxman had married Hema with the consent of Neelam sometime ago.

Since Neelam was not able to give birth to any child, so she gave her consent of another marriage to Luxman. Hema and Neelam were living together with Luxman.

The SI said relations of Luxman with Neelam had gone sour. The daily quarrels and poor financial condition forced Luxman and Hema to take the extreme step.

The couple was rushed to a private hospital in Maqsudan where Hema breathed her last on Wednesday evening while Luxman died late in the night.

Jalandhar, December 25
The general conception in our society is that art flows through genes, from generation to generation.

Nevertheless, some are born with that inherent excellence by virtue of which they defy this prevalent mythical conception.

However, everything, which this phenomenon needs, is great hunger to become a master, become popular and ultimately an artist.

Charan Dass (75) is one among those personalities which exhibit this trait. Cities rarely get a chance to boast of “dholis” like Charan Dass. Fortunately, we can.

Charan Dass, whose forefathers never held a “dhol” and “dagga”, has played his drum for more than 50 years.

Reviving his memories, he said, “When I started playing my drum, a team of nine participants used to dance as compared to eight these days. One person used to dance in the centre. We did not know anything about formal bhangra costume and used to dress up in typical rural attire even in the college competitions.”

Charan Dass was one among the leading “dholis”of a team of 500 performers who performed bhangra during the Delhi Asiad in 1982. He shows his photographs with personalities like S. Radhakrishnan, Dr Zakir Hussain, Partap Singh Kairon, Indira Gandhi and Suraj Bhan.

“I had worked with a team of the state public relations department for many years. I used to play the drum during the eight-day Dasehra mela in Patna Sahib. For eight years, I played the drum for students of the Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun. Students from Kerala, West Bengal, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh performed bhangra there.”

With a smile on his face, he said, “The Governor of Uttar Pradesh spotted me there and then we performed bhangra at his home.”

Given his unmatched quality one wonders whether he ever had a brush with Bollywood biggies. Indeed he did. And it was more than a brush.

He has worked in films like Naya Daur and Heer Ranjha. “The entire team of the public relations department performed in Naya Daur.” He claimed. Batwara, Chhammak Chhalo and Ek Thi Reeta are other films in which he performed.

On being asked about the memorable moments of his carrier, he said, “During the marriage of the foster brother of Raj Kapoor in Hotel Taj, I, along with my whole team, was invited to perform.”

This is not all. The unequalled “dholi” has another side to his persona. Caring and kind, he says, “A kind person approached me to teach bhangra to lepers in Pinglwara and mentally challenged children. I started teaching those children and I did it for 15 year without charging anything. I felt that I am the reason to smile for these people whom the entire world has discarded.”

Dass, who has travelled across countries like England, France and Germany, wants that special institutes should be set up to train the new generation.

Engaged in his own world comprising his age-old drum and pictures of his yore
days, Charan Dass is sad as the bhangra paradigm has had a major shift now as
“dholis” are recognised as mere commodities which can be purchased anywhere in
chowks or streets.

“Let not the barks of puppies frighten you, no, not even the thunderbolt of heaven… What India wants is a new electric fire to stir up fresh vigour in the national veins.”

Salute to the martyrs who have fructified the thunderous ideas of the great warrior monk Swami Vivekananda, thus crushing the ignoble heinous intentions of the terrorists to shatter our unity and peace.

Our commandos have proved their immaculate ability to snub the surging waves of turbulent terror by the excellent demonstration of their grit and gumption.

The whole country has witnessed the terrible swinging blow of communal powers exercising their wicked intentions by devastating the lives of innocent people.

In spite of the mayhem, disruption and blood-shed, the Indians have exuded an air of bravery and courage.

The miscreants have underestimated India’s stupendous capability to sustain multitudes of cultural diversity with great success.

Within a month of the terror attacks in Mumbai, the country has bounced back to normalcy, thus slapping the splenetic face of terror.

Along with the armed forces, common people, too, have not lagged behind in showing their incessant capacity to fight against the virulent forces.

These negative factors have forgotten that India is not just a name of a geographical territory but a spirit which has always irradiated the whole world with her sententious hues.

And this time, too, we have proved our worth by sustaining the essential capacious merit of being tough and calm at the same time.

Our muscles of iron and nerves of steel have enough capability to derail the evil mechanism of vicious terrorism.

Let these lethal elements see the yawning chasm of patriotism which is ready to engulf all that is pernicious and acrimonious.

Jalandhar, December 25
The murder of an elderly woman in the Kishanpura area has once again raised doubts on the security of senior citizens living alone in and around the city.

Unidentified miscreants strangled and then stabbed the woman to death in her hutment located in Vivek Nagar Colony late last night.

Certain dwellers of the area noticed Tara Rani (85), a widow, lying motionless on a cot with blood-strained clothes. Residents informed her relatives and the police.

ASI Satpal Singh of police station division No 8 said there were injuries in the chest and strangulation marks on the neck. Tara Rani was living alone after the death of her husband Ayodhya many years ago.

Jalandhar, December 25
Notwithstanding the additional orders of the Union pension ministry issued on September 1, 2008, to all the pension disbursing authorities in the country, the aged pensioners here rue the apathy of the authorities concerned.

Aged pensioners above the age of 80 said the State Bank of India (SBI) and postal authorities in the Punjab circle are not cooperating with them to help them avail the payment of revised pension and other benefits.

The pensioners maintained that the branches of State Bank of India and postal authorities in the divisions of Hoshairpur, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar have till date not made any payment of revised pension and benefits of additional pension from January 2006 onwards.