Second Punjabi film fest from Jan 17
Amritsar, January 6
Navtej Sandhu, a prominent film buff, who had taken up the challenge to give a boost to the Punjabi film industry, is organising the second edition of the Punjabi film festival from January 17 here.

Teaching gatka to keep youth away from drugs
Amritsar, January 6
In order to keep the youth away from the menace of drug abuse, a local gurdwara has found a novel way by training them in centuries-old martial art “gatka.” About 80 to 90 youths clad in traditional dresses throng the akhara established in the park adjacent to Gurdwara Guru Singh Sabha in the Tehsilpura area of the Golden Avenue locality daily at about 7 pm and practice the traditional art for about three hours.

Youths practise ‘gatka’ in Golden Avenue park in Amritsar. Photo: Vishal Kumar

A Sikh devotee lights a candle on the occasion of Gurpurb at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Monday. Photo: Vishal Kumar

Badal misleading people: Cong
Amritsar, January 6
District Congress Committee (rural) president Sukhjinder Raj Singh Lalli has alleged that the Badal family was misleading the people by saying that the Congress government at the Centre had always ignored Punjab in its policies, programmes and central-funded schemes, which he said was not true. In a press statement here, he said contrary to the facts, it was the NDA government, which had ignored the state.

90 youths, teachers attend ‘Vibrations’ 
Amritsar, January 6
“Vibrations-2008”, a two-day youth camp, was organised by the Chinmaya Yuva Kendra, youth wing of the Chinmaya Mission, at Bhavans SL Public School last week. The mission, with the aim of spreading message on the ancient Indian scriptures and empowering the youth, regularly arranged special talks, spiritual tours and camps.

The bazaar that wakes up in the winters
Amritsar, January 6
The sleepy Bhar Bhunje Wala Bazaar, inside the walled city, buzzes with activity with the arrival of winter. As soon as winter sets in, it turns into a gourmet paradise. Though no official record is available on how old the market actually is, it is widely believed to be as old as the city itself. Varieties of “gachaks” and “rewris”, made of sweat-meats prepared either from sugar or jaggery, til (sesame seeds) and “sut ladus”, are prepared and supplied to the rest of the city.

Time for gachaks and rewris: A shopkeeper sells these items in Amritsar. Photo: Vishal Kumar

Paper presented on poetry in US convention
Amritsar, January 6
The Punjab government’s Shiromani Kavi awardee Parminderjit read a paper on spectrum of the contemporary Punjabi poetry in the annual convention of the World Punjabi Literary Academy based in California, USA.

Dog show brings cheers for pet lovers
Amritsar, January 6
It was a virtual who’s who for the rich and famous to bring out their dogs in the bright sunshine and create a show for the canine beauties which captivated a 1,000-plus crowd. It was the 20th edition of the dog show organised by the Amritsar Kennel Club which has brought participants from all over the country with international breeds from Thailand, Australia, Mexico, Sweden and Hong Kong.

Bai heads pensioners’ new organisation
Amritsar, January 6
Former assistant registrar of Guru Nanak Dev University Amarjit Singh Bai, who had a long stint of trade unionism, was unanimously elected founder president of the newly constituted GND University Pensioners/ Retirees Welfare Association for two years. The unanimous election of 21 executive committee members was held on the university campus here today.