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Punjabi 13th most widely spoken language
Ex-councillor’s Murder
States to have fix number of BEd seats
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Poll code comes in way of garden complex revamp
AVM: Govt ‘deliberately’ ignoring Rajasansi airport
2 years gone, power station still waiting to be operationalised
‘Exempt theatre from entertainment tax’
AkalAir all set to launch
DC unhappy with bankers for ignoring rural areas
Short Takes
Hoardings keep on violating model code of conduct
A huge hoarding of Congress leaders displayed near the walls of Ram Bagh in Amritsar. Photo: Vishal Kumar
Campus Buzz
Delay in completion of overbridge irks people
Sidhu’s hat-trick or Soni’s winning record?
Fashion that has stayed
Crash course for rural students begins
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Punjabi 13th most widely spoken language
Amritsar, March 27 He stated this while delivering his presidential address at a programme organised on Mother Tongue Day on the college premises recently. Dhillon said vested interests linked the language with religions and gave it a political colour. He said it harmed the interests of any language. He rued the same happened with Punjabi following the partition of the country. He said it was the moral duty of each Punjabi, whether residing in East Punjab, West Punjab or Pakistan, to strive for the promotion of the language. He said literary language must be constantly updated to counter emerging challenges. Dhillon intimated the gathering about the rich heritage of the language. He said Punjabi had inherited an independent script with all kinds of sounds available in it. Among others, Vice-Principal Dr Harpreet Kaur, Head of the Punjabi Department Mandeep Kaur Dhillon, Dr Nirmaljit Kaur Sandhu and Dr Gurjit Kaur presented their views on the occasion. They claimed that Punjabi was older than English. However, they expressed their concern over the rise in mass interest towards English. They added that the knowledge of English was definitely inevitable in the current scenario but at the same time love and respect for the mother tongue was our moral duty. On the occasion, students of various schools and colleges presented a play related to the Punjabi language “Maa Hundi-e-Maa”. They also showcased their skills in Shammi, a folk dance, Malwai giddha and rendered Punjabi folk songs.
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Ex-councillor’s Murder
Amritsar, March 27 Gurdaspur SSP Naresh Kumar Arora said that no arrests had been made and the raiding parties had been dispatched to various places in the district and other parts of the state to nab the culprits. Avtar Singh was killed and five others were injured when Satnam Singh accompanied by 25 to 30 persons and armed with guns and lethal weapons had attacked the victims who had gone to the hospital to enquire about his health. The police has already registered a case against the accused under sections 302, 307, 382, 427, 148 and 149 of the IPC and 25 and 27 of the Arms Act. |
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States to have fix number of BEd seats
Amritsar, March 27 Saddiqui was here to address a national seminar on “Teacher education and social evils in 21st century” at the DAV College of Education for Women. He said once recommendations of the commission were implemented, it would end numerous problems. He said fixing of the number of BEd seats would ensure safe and bright future for the students. He said the current century offered countless challenges in every sphere to the humanity. Thus teachers had a greater role to prepare the students to meet the challenges. Recollecting the role played by his alma mater Jamia Milia Islamia, Saddiqui said educational institutions earned name by perspiration and quality education contributed by
the teachers. According to him, the changing scenario required value inculcation among the students at every stage to check the onslaught of negative traits and trends while following the western culture. He said revolutionary changes would be introduced in the curriculum of BEd and it would add new standards
in teaching. Among others, DAV College Managing Committee secretary Punam Suri, Guru Nanak Dev University director (research) Dr S.S. Chahal attended the seminar. |
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Poll code comes in way of garden complex revamp
Amritsar, March 27
The Punjab Industrial Development Board (PIDB) had prepared a master plan with a total outlay of Rs one crore had been prepared for landscaping and providing better facilities to the visitors and released big advertisement last year to seek top notch landscape consultants to spruce up the green lungs of the city. Commissioner D.P.S. Kharbanda said the PIDB has already floated the tender but due to the mode code of conduct in place the work for the landscaping has not been allotted. Meanwhile, the garden complex now faces a more sever problem. It has got filled with dirty sewerage water. According to a frequent visitor Paramjit Singh, the park got filled with the sewerage water few days ago but the authorities are yet to come out of their deep slumber to clean the park. Now the dilly-dallying attitude on the part of the authorities in draining out the water may prove to be a major health hazard for the people living in the adjoining localities. Even the children’s park located in the Sakatri Bagh was also filled with storm water. When contacted, Resham Singh, Executive Engineer, Water and Sewerage Board, said the work on the nallah was going on for the past around eight months and due to the narrowness towards the end, the sewage is to be diverted through a temporary drain in the park. He claimed that it was only storm water which has accumulated in the park. He said he has urged the corporation and hopefully the water would be removed in a day or two.
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AVM: Govt ‘deliberately’ ignoring Rajasansi airport
Amritsar, March 27 Manch patrons Dr Charanjit Singh Gumtala and Prof Mohan Singh, in the letter, said the state government had acquired 300 acres for Rs 450 crore within an unprecedented time of about four months for the Mohali airport. However, the government had failed to acquire merely 44 acres for the Amritsar airport at a very nominal cost of Rs 10 to 12 crore. This land was to be acquired in July 2007 for the construction of a parallel taxi track (which is taken by an aircraft just after landing to avoid blockage of the runway). They said even after nearly two years, the 44 acres had not been acquired for reasons best known to the government. They said even before the beginning of construction, a six-lane expressway up to Phagwara was being provided for the Mohali airport for which the acquisition notification had been issued. But the Punjab government was not bothered to provide the six-lane expressway approach to the Rajasansi International Airport which is getting 60 to 65 international flights per week and
ferrying more than five lakh passengers annually. Gumtala said Union Minister for Sports Manohar Singh Gill and member of Parliament Navjot Singh Sidhu had been demanding that 1,000 acres should be acquired for the expansion of the Amritsar airport, but the Punjab government was not paying any heed to them. The manch leaders said all this made it clear that the government was not interested in the development of the Amritsar airport. The manch leaders appealed to the CM and the Deputy CM that to develop the Amritsar airport on the pattern of the Delhi airport, by postponing the construction of new international airports in the state till the Amritsar airport developed into a full-fledged international airport, to acquire 44 acres for expansion of the Amritsar airport immediately, start the process of expressway from Amritsar airport to Ludhiana and another up to Bathinda via Faridkot and also start the process of acquiring 1,000 acres for the expansion of the Amritsar airport. |
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2 years gone, power station still waiting to be operationalised
Amritsar, March 27 While the PSEB wanted to lay overhead power wire, the corporation authorities denied the permission, as it would mar the beauty of the posh area of Ranjit Avenue. About two-and-half-km power cable was to be laid for the power station. The corporation asked the board authorities to lay the wire underground which would put extra financial burden on the board. Due to this the people of the civil lines sub-division remained deprived of smooth power supply as the area has major load of electricity due to coming up of malls and posh residences etc. The electricity board had even installed the towers for laying the power wire. But the corporation did not allow laying the wire. The matter was brought to the notice of senior officials of the PSEB and Local Bodies and finally it was taken up with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who asked the authorities concerned to sort out the matter soon. The work of setting up the power station started about five years back and it was completed about two years ago. However, the lack in coordination between the PSEB and MC authorities and delay in taking concrete decision regarding the laying of power cable, it became a showpiece for the people. More than Rs two crore were spent on the construction of power station which could bear about 1,000 amperes of running load. The power station would cater to more than 40,000 consumers of posh areas of Green Avenue, Model Town, Rani Ka Bagh, Canady Avenue, Court area, Basant Avenue, Beauty Avenue etc. At present civil lines division having running load of 550 amperes was getting power supply from Ranjit Avenue power station. After the starting of this power station additional load of Green Avenue and Ranjit Avenue would be transferred to new power station. At present there were three 66-KV power stations in city circle at Dental College, Hall Gate and Ghee Mandi while this would be fourth 66-KV power station to be operational. Rajiv Kumar, Chief Engineer Boarder Zone, said problem had been sorted out and the work of laying of underground cable was under process. He said the power station would be handed over to city circle of the board as soon as it got completed.
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Theatre stars light up city
Amritsar, March 27 The commemoration started with the play with “Bitia Rani” and ended with the staging of “Kuch tan karo yaro”. The artistes showcased the abhorrence in the present day society and created awareness about all the evils prevalent in the society. The WTD was commemorated by the Naatshala in the memory of noted educationists and social workers late Dr Shivinder Singh Sndhu and. Manveen Sandhu, who were killed in an accident about three months ago. At Punjab Natashala, different groups of theatre artistes staged 7 plays in two days. First play was “Bitia Rani” written by Shahid Nadeem and directed by Hardeep Gandhi highlights social menace of female feticide. The play was an eye opener for those who look down upon daughters or consider them as liability and were made to realize that daughters could also lend their support and sustenance to the parents during their last phase of life. The second show was ‘Parda uthne se pehle’ written by Rajender Kumar Sharma and directed by Mukesh Kundra depicts the miserable condition of stage actor\director, when his heroine refuses to act as per his wishes. Another play “Sulakhni” written and directed by Gurinder Makna depicts love and affection of life besides creating awareness among the viewers the importance of trees. The play exhorts the people to plant more and more trees to save the environment which was already under threat from pollution from the industries. “Asi Natak nai kartde” also Next was “Sabj Bag”written by Jatinder Brar and directed by Narinder Sanghi is based on elections. The play on the one hand depicts the rivalry amongst the animals in a forest while on the other shows them as much more disciplined and faithful as compared to human beings. “Panj ishq” composed, designed and directed by Mandeep Manch is based on the five aspects of the life of a women - her love for her father, mother, brother, lover and husband. In the process of doing justice to all these relations, she looses her own identity, “Panj Ishq’ is an approach towards the search of this lost identity. At the end of the second day play “Kuch tan karo Yaro” written by Pali Bhupinder and directed by Dalbir Kale is a comic satire on the present day society.
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AkalAir all set to launch
Amritsar, March 27 Giving the details, Amritsar Airport Director Arun Talwar said here today AkalAir commercial manager Bhupinder Kandra would soon provide European connection to the large number of NRIs based in England for twice-a-week flight to the holy city. He said the flight operations would commence on April 4 with a direct flight from Vienna to Amritsar with a stoppage at Birmingham. Talwar said Kandra planned for an easy access to the large Indian diaspora. He said AkalAir, which was being operated by Aircylhet, would operate Boeing-757 aircraft with about 250 passengers on board. The two-way tariff from Vienna to Amritsar would be 550 pounds. — OC |
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DC unhappy with bankers for ignoring rural areas
Amritsar, March 27 Admonishing the bankers for not granting loan even to aspirants after attaining due permission, the Deputy Commissioner stressed for realising targets of loan disbursal in agriculture sector. He informed that Rs 1,495.31 crore were given as loan against the target of Rs 1596.48 crore in the third quarter of the financial year. Thus, 93.66 per cent of the target was achieved while the remaining target would be achieved by the close of the financial year. R.S Chattha, Lead District Manager, said deposited amount in various banks across the district witnessed a steep rise of 22.24 per cent as Rs 11,145.25 crore were deposited. In the third quarter of the financial year, Rs 6,016.81 crore were disbursed in the shape of advances.
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Short Takes
Amritsar, March 27 2 snatchers arrested
Amritsar, March 27 I’ntl invite for city doctor
Amritsar, March 27 |
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Hoardings keep on violating model code of conduct
Amritsar, March 27 When it was brought to the notice of District Congress Committee (DCC) President Jagjit Singh Sehdev, he said he visited the spot and confirmed that it was installed after following the established norms. He said it was installed by a private firm which had taken due permission from the civic authorities. He added that strict guidelines had been issued to the party leaders to approve the material before advertisement from legal cell of the DCC. Besides, he said instructions had also been issued not to install any kind of hoarding and publicity material on roadside and walls. Municipal Corporation Assistant Commissioner D.P. Bhardwaj said the private firm had taken prior permission to install the hoarding.
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Campus Buzz
Amritsar, March 27 Academic Affairs Dean Dr Raghbir Singh inaugurated the seminar, while Faculty of Languages of Punjabi University, Patiala, Dean, Dr Bhupinder Singh Khehra, delivered the keynote address. Dr Jaswinder Singh of Punjabi University presided over the function. Khehra said the folklore had changed its face in the era of modernisation. He said according to a UNESCO report, if Punjabi folklore and culture would vanish, it would pose a danger to the existence of the Punjabi and other languages. He said it was need of the hour to understand the folklore in the context of globalisation to save languages and folklore. Jaswinder Singh said folklore of any community gave voice to the basic and original human desires and creative impulses through its historical and geographical contexts. He said Punjabi folklore would survive in the modern or post-modern conditions in spite of the tremendous pressure from so-called one dimensional globalisation. He said we should evolve understanding and strategies taking into consideration our rich folklore and culture. He said Punjabi genes, Punjabi character had enormous creative capabilities, and folklore was the major source of these tested qualities. Dr Ragbir Singh said folklore had been widely misused by the electronic media. Sikh historical studies
Eminent scholars and historians gathered at the three-day international seminar on "Debates and trends in Punjab and Sikh historical studies since Independence" in Guru Nanak Dev University to take stock of developments to identify the gaps in the existing understanding and to indicate the possible directions for the future research. They were of the unanimous opinion that in order to have the better understanding of history and historical processes, the scholars must use the evidence as a whole and not part of it. It was organised by the Department of History and the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi. North-Western Regional Centre of the Indian Council of Social Science Research, Chandigarh, sponsored the event. The scholars said for the study of documents, it was necessary that we should not read one document but all the documents in that category, as this was essential to study the import of one document in the larger context. They recommended that a website on the works of Professor J.S. Grewal, to whom this international event was dedicated, would be developed and the proceedings of the seminar would be published in the book form. Department of History head and Sukhwant Singh said the 19 detailed presentations were made by senior scholars and historians of different disciplines, including Dr Harjit Singh Gill, Gurinder Singh Mann, Shinder Thandi, M. Muthu Mohan, J.S. Rahi, Himadri Bannerjee, K.L. Tuteja, Bhagwan Josh and Harish Sharma. They covered the subjects like historiography, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, caste and gender, literature, Sikh identity and society and economy in detail. Memorial lecture held
The social justice and institution of human rights was the mission of Guru Gobind Singh and for the fulfillment of the aim, he formed the Khalsa, revealed a noted scholar of Sikh studies Dr Madanjit Kaur, while speaking on "Sri Guru Gobind Singh and his mission" at Guru Nanak Dev University. She was speaking at “Principal Iqbal Singh memorial lecture” organised by the Department of Guru Nanak Studies of the university here. A large number of students and faculty were present there. Madanjit asked the universities to make a deep research on the life and teachings of Sri Guru Gobind Singh. Orientation course ends
A four-week long general orientation course organised by the Academic Staff College of Guru Nanak Dev University for college teachers concluded here. As many as 17 teachers of different colleges and universities from Haryana and Punjab participated in the course. Dr Yoginder Verma, Professor of Commerce and Director, Academic Staff College at HP University (Shimla), highlighted the importance of providing holistic education which included teaching, research and its implementation. He focused on providing quality education, which produced enlightened citizens - citizens who were equipped not only with knowledge but with skill, values and character. He discussed various aspects of higher education and the required mechanism which was necessary to coordinate the various agencies like University Grants Commission, All-India Council of Technical Education and National Council for Teacher Education to improve the state of education in India. In addition, he brought various anomalies to light in the education system and termed it as the black hole. This black hole was the major reason owing to which all the efforts were not giving the expected productive results. Director and course coordinator Dr H.S. Bhatia said in the course more than 35 resource persons shared their knowledge and experience with the participants. Two-day workshop
Guru Nanak Dev University would organise a workshop on "Generating awareness about contemporary social problems and adult education" on March 28 and 29 at Baba Budha Bhawan Auditorium of the Guru Nanak Dev University by the Department of Adult, Continuing Education and Extension of the University, here. The workshop was being conducted to promote awareness on the issues being faced by society. Department director and Prof R.S. Sandhu said Punjab Information Commissioner Kulbir Singh would inaugurate the workshop on March 28 and SSP Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, Amritsar, would deliver the keynote address. Dean Academic Affairs Professor Raghbir Singh would preside over the function. Eminent scholars and resource persons, including ICSSR director and consultant Dr Arun Bali, New Delhi; Prof Manjit Singh, Dean, College Development Council, Punjabi University, Prof A.S. Padda, Medical College, Amritsar; Dr Rakesh Bharti, Guru Ram Dass Medical College, Amritsar; Dr C.P. Bhora, consultant, municipal corporation, Amritsar; Prof Balwinder Arora, Prof of Sociology and Dr Davinder Singh, Department of Psychology of the Guru Nanak Dev University would enlighten the delegates on various aspects of the social problems in the country. |
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Delay in completion of overbridge irks people
Amritsar, March 27 The authorities ascribed the delay to the cumbersome procedure of the various government departments, including the Punjab State Electricity Board, the Sewerage Department and clearance from the Pollution Control Department for its approval for cutting of trees from the place for the erection of concrete pillars and poles. The construction of 650-metre bridge was started in December 2007 and it is already delayed by two to three months. What has agitated the people is the absence of any service lane, besides poor road conditions. This has resulted in accidents and brawls. The conditions became worst when the gates of the level crossing close due to arrival of trains which results in blockage of traffic. Further during the rains water gets accumulated in potholes, leading to serious injuries to commuters. However, Ashwani Sharma, project manager of the company engaged by the Public Works Department, said the cumbersome process of getting clearance from various departments had resulted in the delay, adding that they were doing their utmost to get the same done as soon as possible. He said the portion which was to be constructed by the Railways was likely to be started soon as initial testing had been completed, while other formalities had also been started. He claimed that the overbridge would be completed in next five to six months. The business of shopkeepers on this road had been hampered drastically, said Hardev Singh, a shopkeeper. He said the commencement of construction of bridge had brought cheers among the residents and commuters of the area. However, the delay in the completion of overbridge had added to the woes of the people. Another resident Rajesh Sharma said many students were getting injured almost daily as the gutters was open due to the construction activity. He said the work was going on at a snail’s pace due to which the shopkeepers were suffering losses and their business was on verge of closure. Recently, the residents of the area held a demonstration against the authorities, he added.
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Sidhu’s hat-trick or Soni’s winning record?
Amritsar, March 27 Though BJP candidate belongs to Patiala but he had defeated Congress heavyweight R.L. Bhatia (now Bihar Governor) with a big margin in 2004. However, the margin of his victory was reduced by about 50,000 votes when he contested the election second time in 2007 against Surinder Singla, also an outsider. Now, Sidhu would be contesting the election against Soni, a son of the soil. However, both Soni and Sidhu have been facing factionalism, which would definitely reduce their respective votes. While some senior leaders of Amritsar Congress have openly revolted against the candidature of Soni, the BJP candidate may not get the fullest support from coalition partner SAD this time. Though Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had given assurance to the BJP high command a number of times that Akalis would participate in the election campaign vigorously, yet the close confidants of Sidhu are of the view that they are not getting much support from the local Akalis. It is a different matter that Akalis organised some election meetings in their respective constituencies in favour of Sidhu after direct intervention by the CM and Deputy CM. The differences between the coalition partners had come to the fore during the panchayat and municipal elections. Even as the Congress has failed to keep its flock together in Amritsar, the party high command has been contemplating to send the “defiant” Congress leaders to other states as its observers. It may be mentioned here that intensive lobbying for ticket has left the party as a divided house. |
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Fashion that has stayed
Amritsar, March 27 A large number of boutiques and women departmental stores offer a wonderful variety in several textures of fabrics to entice their customers who are out to showcase the new designs on the campus as well as at kitty parties. It’s indeed commonplace to see women feel absolutely comfortable in wearing the kurti which hit the fashion scene just a few years ago. Several fashion shows, organised by top brands like Wills and Lakme, have been showing models wearing several enticing designs with the wonderful flow of the fabric around their waist. Kurti is the only dress which is Indian as well as western, says Gurbachan Singh, a garment showroom owner in the Civil Lines area. He said nowadays girls wanted style and fashion which gave them full confidence and kurti was the right stuff for this. He said an understanding of the larger needs of the masses led the designers to create kurtis and long tops in the first place. This is casual as well as formal wear. Sheena, a college girl, said, “We need style and comfort both in one dress and long tops or kurti is the perfect choice for this. It is a dress, which can change from Indian to western or western to Indian.” Most of all, she added, it could be worn with jeans, skirts, slacks and pyjami also. Designer Mandeep Sokhi said the kurti is the only dress which can suit all kinds of fabrics. If you want to wear it in office then use cotton cloth with collared neck, in college one can wear georgette, crepe or semi-satin fabrics. For party, the embroidered kurti is most attractive. Embroidery on collar, neck and front is also a preferred style, he added, while Lakhnawi kurti is a versatile dress which could be used in party, college and office as well. |
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Crash course for rural students begins
Tarn Taran, March 27 The crash course is being sponsored by Delhi-based NGO Gian Sewa Trust in collaboration with various Sikh organisations. As many as 100 students have registered themselves for the course. A function was organised to inaugurate the course at Sri Guru Angad Dev College, Khadur Sahib. School principal Gurdial Singh Gill said free board and lodging facilities was being provided to the students. — OC |
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Amritsar, March 27
Amritsar, March 27
Amritsar, March 27
