Amritsar, April 24
The picture tells it all - Highly unsafe building with wooden lags and iron bars lurking out dangerously on the Katra Parja chowk leading to Bombay Wala Khoo inside Hathi Gate.

There are a number of dilapidated buildings and structures located inside the walled city, which poses danger not only to its occupants but to passersby as well. That houses share walls and are located in congested and labyrinth of roads pose danger to commuters and passersby could not be denied.

Shopkeeper Kapil Kumar of Katra Parja said the house had been unoccupied for the past many years. However, the badly damaged building was a threat to the lives of people residing around it and people using the road as it could come down any time.

He said the market persons had conveyed gravity of the situation to municipal committee officials visiting the market but had not formally registered a complaint.

Officials in the Municipal Town Planning Department said the department had identified a certain number of buildings as unsafe in the limits of the corporation.

They said requisite action could not be taken since majority of the buildings were disputed as court cases were in progress.

As per the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, it was duty of the MC to secure or remove dangerous buildings and places.

As many as 17 persons, including five children, had lost their lives in two separate building collapses in 2001. Five children belonging to the family of a vegetable vendor were buried alive when the roof of their two-storey house collapsed at Hathi Khana, near the Golden Temple complex.

Kiran, wife of Ram Prashad, who lost two children Anchal (13) and Sahil (8) in the sudden fall of the roof when they had been enjoying programmes on television, said the tragic incident left their lives traumatised forever. Besides, Pawan (12) and Gagan (8) and Guria (7), children of her relatives had also perished under the debris.

She claimed that her family had been requesting the owner of the house to get it repaired. When asked about compensation, she said the district administration had given Rs 25,000 against a deceased child.

Amritsar, April 24
The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has given permission to the Khalsa College Society to open its first engineering college at the prime land of 15.7 acres in posh Ranjit Avenue, near MK Hotel here.

To begin with, the engineering college would start admission from the current session i.e. 2009-2010. Initially, admissions for 60 batches of four courses each, including B. Tech (computer education), information technology, mechanical and B. Tech electronics, would be conducted.

The 117-year-old Khalsa College was established with the efforts of scholars of that time. The first four principals of the college, founded on March 5, 1892, by the then-Lieut-Governor of Punjab, Sir James Broadwood Lyall, were Englishmen. They were Dr Johan Campbell Oman (1898 to 1899), M.G.V. Cole (1900 to 1910), R.G. Wright (1910 to 1915) and G.A. Wathen (1915 to 1924).

However, Col W.R.M. Holroyd was the founder-president of the governing council of the college, while Dr William H. Ratigan succeeded him.

After the Englishmen, Rai Bahadur Manmohan, Principal of Government College, Gujarat, became the first Indian to be appointed as the principal of the college.

Sardar Bahadur Bishan Singh became the first Sikh principal in 1928. Bhai Jodh Singh took over in 1936.

Today, the college, built in the typical Sikh architecture style, has carved a niche for itself in the educational map of the country.

The Tribune connection

A brief history of Khalsa College, authored by Dr K.S. Bajwa takes note of the key role played by The Tribune in selecting Amritsar (instead of Lahore) as the location for Khalsa College. “Rai Bahadur Bhagat Narain Dass wrote a pamphlet, “Amritsar versus Lahore” and distributed it among Sikhs. Hundreds of telegrams were sent to the Lieut-Governor and the Khalsa College Establishment Committee (KCEC) which appeared in the columns of The Tribune. Anti-Lahore articles often appeared, particularly from the pen of Amolak Ram of Gujranwala. On April 5, 1891, before the setting up of Khalsa College, a huge petition, about 2000-foot long containing 46,698 signatures, was placed before the KCEC to plead in favour of Amritsar.”

Amritsar, April 24
Are you thinking of not attending a party simply because that you don’t have a gorgeous dress? Don’t worry! Visit the ancient Guru Bazaar where you can find a solution ready for this problem.

There are shops which rent dresses to help you attain a gorgeous look and that too at an affordable rent.

The concept of giving dresses on rent was started by Arun Seth, known as Billa Seth.

He gives the dress on rent after getting an identity proof for the security. Bille Di Hatti has a vast range of dresses for all occasions like a wedding party, bangle ceremony, engagement party - small or large functions. Even brides and grooms could also take the benefit of the concept.

Arun Seth said, “I started this business with four lehngas only and now I have 400 varieties of the same.” Not only the lehngas but we have also the dresses for all parties and the matching jewellery, bangles and all accessories on rent, he added.

He said when he started the business, not many people were interested to take dresses on rent. But as the prices started rising and fashion became the status symbol, people preferred these dresses.

About the designs of the dresses they said they bought all the things from Farkabad, Rajasthan. The Muslim community makes all this work and came here for selling.

Another shopkeeper and owner of the beauty centre, Surinder Singh said, “Today, life is so fast that people do not have time to get their dresses stitched, so they prefer to borrow dresses for parties. They don’t need to wash or get the dresses dry-cleaned and hence can save a lot of time.”

About the business, he said his two brothers were in the business. His brother Ravinder Singh said they had been endeavouring to move with the latest fashion. “We watch TV serials and fashion shows for updating our dresses, suitable for the functions,” he said.

Amritsar, April 24
The Katra Jaimal Singh market, where only a few khokas (kiosks) existed before partition of the country, has now become the major textile market in this border region.

The kiosks selling shoes, which were owned by Jaimal Singh, got damaged or gutted in the fire after the partition and no one knew what happened to the owner.

The market, which basically is thronged by consumers for purchasing garments for marriages, has become the central place not only for the buyers from the neighboring states but also for the visitors who came here from across the world to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple. Though most of the shops are selling women garments, there are a few shops which cater to the need of the menfolk.

Briefing the history of the market, an oldest shopkeeper, Sat Pal Arora, said the local government established a market in Jaimal’s name at the same place in the city in 1953. He said from just five shops, the number had grown to 110 which catered to the needs of the customers of the neighboring states of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

Arora said most of the shops in the market were old and as the owners had to pay a minimum rent as compared to the new shopping malls coming up in various parts of the city, the rates of the garments were very low, which was the main attraction for the customers, especially the tourists.

He said this market had become so popular that Sikh devotees who came here to celebrate 400 years of Guru Granth Sahib thronged the market and it had become difficult for the traders to meet their demands and every shopkeeper had done brisk business during that period. He said most of the shopkeepers tried to maintain their unique designs while keeping in view the latest trend. However, he said due to fast change in the fashion world they had to offer their products at 50 per cent discount.

He rued that the condition of the roads in the market was very bad as the authorities did not bother about them, adding that politicians visited the market during the elections and once the elections were over who cared then.

Amritsar, April 24
There seems to be no major power theft in the border belt of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran. At least, this is what appears from a number of complaints registered with the much-hyped bijli thana (electricity police stations) established by the Punjab State Electricity Board here.

The main motive was to check power theft, meter tampering and kundi connections, especially in rural areas. However, since the inception of police stations about nine months back, only seven complaints have been registered so far. The PSEB has set up five police stations in the five zones of Patiala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Bathinda and Amritsar. The Amritsar zonal power police station was situated in the old quarters on Batala Road, Transformer Workshop, catering to Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran, besides Amritsar. Among the staff there is one inspector, two ASIs and six constables. According to sources in the department, there is maximum power loss in this border region as compared to other zones. As the people in the rural and border belts have put kundi connections allegedly in connivance with local linesmen.

Thana inspector Ram Lal said they had started registration of cases from January this year, adding that it had imposed Rs 16 lakh a fine on the violators so far. When asked about the lesser number of cases registered, he said there was a shortage of staff as the officials posted in the thana had been attached with the Vigilance Department of the board who usually had to first check any anomaly in the stores. He said the work in the thanas had just begun and it would improve as the electricity board would increase the strength of staff. He said the staff were trying to provide as much facilities as it could, said border zone Chief Engineer Rajiv Kumar. 

Amritsar, April 24
Seven more persons filed their nomination papers from the Amritsar parliamentary seat today by the end of the scheduled time for submitting papers for contesting the general election.

Today’s nominations took the tally of the total persons contesting for the local seat to 21.

Bakhshi Ram Arora filed his papers as a covering candidate for the BJP’s Navjot Singh Sidhu. While Manjit Singh filed from Akhil Bharatiya Sangharsh Dal, Harmit Singh from the Lok Janshakti Party and Gokal Chand from the People’s Party of India.

Lovinder Kumar, Satwinder Singh and Bal Krishan filed the papers as Independents.

Meanwhile, the observers appointed by the Election Commission of India for the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency reached here today.

Bhagwant Singh, District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner, said Asit Kumar Mahapatra would supervise the poll-related work of the Ajnala, Rajasansi and Amritsar (North) assembly segments.

Similarly, Shikha Dubey would supervise the election-related matters of the Amritsar (West), Amritsar (South) and Attari assembly segments. These observers can be contacted in the local Circuit House at telephones 0183-2220941, 9455223952, 0183-2220895 and 9465223954, he added.

He said another election observer, Gaynesh Bharti, for the Majitha, Amritsar (Central) and Amritsar (East) assembly segments was expected to reach here in the evening and would be available at telephones 0183-2220942 and 9465223953.

Amritsar, April 24
The district library of the Punjab Education Department is indeed a retreat for the local book lovers. Though it opens at 11 am, a small group of avid local readers - both young and old - arrive at the place an hour early to browse the daily newspapers along with the class IV staff of the library. Most of them are also fond of reading magazines. Luckily for the local library birds, the place is located in virtually the heart of the city - Rani Ka Bagh. Two important departments of the state government - District Block Development Office and District Public Relations Office - are in close proximity to the library established way back in 1980. At present known as Sardar Sohan Singh Josh Library, its original name is Guru Nanak Dev Library. Josh’s two portraits adorn the walls of the library along with maps of Punjab, India and the world. The library has a large collection of over 10,000 books, mostly classics on different subjects and in different languages, including Urdu, Hindi, English and Punjabi.

From 11 am to 5 pm, a regular stream of members can be seen eagerly waiting to get books issued.

Librarian Kamal Kishore Saini, a tough and no-nonsense man, mostly remains busy either in the official work or reading books.

Amritsar, April 24
Dr Charles Stevens, Professor, Department of Professional Legal Studies, Law School, University of Leicester (UK), while delivering a lecture on “International trade law” at Guru Nanak Dev University said the Indian economy was growing rapidly day by day and by the year 2040 it would be third amongst the developed countries.

Explaining the benefits of learning the international trade law and how it is relevant for future Indian lawyers, Prof Stevens said India’s growth in trade would see a demand for expertise in the international trade law.

He comprehensively explained that export transactions are not independent contract, rather they involve four distinct contracts, which are sale contract, insurance contract, carriage contract and finance contract.

The students can be benefited by equipping themselves in this lucrative area of legal profession, he added.

R.N. Madaan, senior advocate, spoke about the dispute resolution through international commercial arbitration.

He explained that in the legal profession, intellectual property right, corporate law, anti-dumping laws are the emerging areas.