Jalandhar, June 4
Even as the monsoons are just a month away, the Municipal Corporation Jalandhar has done little to ward off the perennial problem of deluging of city roads.

The residents cannot expect any respite this season as well as the tall claims by Mayor Rakesh Rathour last year on laying of storm water sewer in low-lying areas to check the problem have fallen flat. Even as the MC has already received funds to the tune of Rs 22 crore as a part of the 50-crore project from the central government, these are lying unutilised.

The Mayor had in August last pointed out that the project was about to take off from Khurla Kingra area on Nakodar Road but it has not got started even 10 months ever since.

The only effort made by the MC till date is the construction of single rainwater harvesting well on Gulab Devi Road. Laid down on the model of Vadodara, the working of the well remains to be tested by the Groundwater Board this season so as to ensure that there is no mixing of the rainwater with the sewer water as it seeps down.

Explaining the technology, SE (operations and maintenance) V.P. Singh said that a 150-metre deep well with in-built de-silting provision had been dug up at the maximum depth point on a side of the road at a cost of Rs 3.25 lakh.

“All existing drainage points on the road have been closed to check any mixing. We also need to test the speed with which the water gets drained. If successful, the project could offer a triple bonanza - by checking clogging on roads, reducing washing away of roads and helping restore the falling groundwater table level to some extent”, he elaborated.

The MC officials plan to come up with 100 such wells in low-lying areas. The rainwater harvesting wells and storm water sewage systems are likely to come up in a mix and match fashion in the next two years.

The city gets so much messed up due to water logging in rainy season that crossing the entrance points to all prominent public places of the city including bus stand, district administrative complex, police lines and Niku Park becomes extremely difficult. The pedestrians had to pass through knee deep waters reach these places.

Roads of all major colonies including Model Town, Defence Colony, Ranjit Nagar, Rama Mandi and Basti Gujan also remain filled with rainwater. 

Jalandhar, June 4
The semester IV students of masters in journalism and mass communication who appeared for their examination on “current affairs” conducted by Guru Nanak Dev University were a disappointed lot.

The students from local affiliated colleges said rather than a paper on current affairs, it carried questions on history, politics and economics. Some of the questions were based on profile of Rani Laxmi Bai and Lala Hardyal.

The students said they had gone prepared with questions based on recent Lok Sabha elections, relations with Pakistan post 26/11 attacks and the end of LTTE chief Prabhakaran but none of such issues figured in the question paper anywhere.

“We were instead asked to define terms like demographic dividend and judicial activism. There also were questions based on demand for greater state autonomy and its impact on functioning of Indian polity, fundamental duties, situations for contempt of court and causes of terrorism”, they said commenting that it rather seemed to be a paper on general knowledge rather than current affairs.

The students said of the entire 100-mark paper, only a two-mark question seemed to be based on current affairs. The question was related to Ram Setu, a controversy that has not erupted for the past more than a year.

Meanwhile, Dr Kamlesh Duggal, head of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Regional Campus, Guru Nanak Dev University, Basti Nau, claimed that the paper was not at all difficult. “In fact, the paper was quite easy and the postgraduate-level students are supposed to have knowledge on general issues of all topics they were tested for. It was a perfect paper to judge the students’ index of mind and their style of writing,” he said.

Jalandhar, June 4
Members of the PCMS Association have been crying foul over the court’s instructions to the medical officers for filing affidavits in lieu of their statements recorded in the courtrooms.

In a joint statement, association president Dr Sanjiv Dayal Mali and secretary Dr Raman K Gupta said the instruction was a great harassment for the medicos as preparation of an affidavit was going to be a time consuming process and it would further affect their patients. Moreover, recording the statement of a doctor is of no use as he himself is a class I gazetted officer of the state government and now he had to approach a public notary for preparing an affidavit. The preparation of an affidavit duly attested by a notary costs Rs 80 to Rs 100 and the health department had no provision to refund the cost incurred on preparing a document.

Apart from this, there was no set rules for paying TA and DA to the medical officers appearing in various courts on regular basis, they said.

The association said when medico legal documents and opinions had already been on the record in the court by the medical officer concerned, it was of little use to submit the same documentary evidence material in shape of an affidavit. The association had demanded that the Punjab government or the court should form a medico legal cell for fulfilling the issue under consideration. — TNS

Jalandhar, June 4
Rich tributes were paid to Baba Bhagat Singh Bilga, Ghadarite, at his native village Bilga, near here, yesterday. Baba Bilga was cremated with state honours amidst loud slogans of “Baba Bilga amar rahe” and “Baba Bilga di soch te, pehra deyange thok ke.”

The family members of Baba Bilga. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

The followers of Baba Bilga and his ideologies reached from far and wide. Apart from the family members of Baba Bilga, his close associates especially reached India to pay last respects to the departed soul. At the local Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Hall (DBYH) the scene was nothing short of another “Ghadari Mela,” the annual event, which is held every year on November 1.

Kulbir Singh Sanghera, elder son of Baba Bilga, said, “Baba ji was highly commended personality due to his logical, scientific and contemporary ideologies, which are relevant even today. We held similar condolence meetings in the UK as well and people reached from across the world as a mark of respect to the departed soul.”

Even the grandsons of Baba Bilga were seen lost in the memories of bygone days. Talking to The Tribune, the elder grandson of Baba Bilga, Amanbir Singh Sanghera, said, “Despite his fragile health he remained active till his last breath. For us he was an encyclopedia, a great knowledge hub. Even to this date he could speak for hours with logical conclusions.”

Sharing some sweet memories, he said Baba ji was an instant starter. He was a quick decision maker and never pondered over an issue for long. “As a young boy I visited India in 1988 during my vacations and stayed here at DBYH with Baba ji for a long time. One day Baba ji asked me, do you want to see India? And I agreed with a nod. Within no time he packed his bag and took me to the local bus stand from where we reached Kashmir.”

“Throughout the journey Baba ji met scores of Kashmiris and took interest in their local issues. And he never complained of fatigue or tiredness during the journey. He was an apt example of Never say die attitude,” he added.

Rajbir Singh, the younger son of Baba Bilga, maintained that it was his optimistic zeal towards life which made him an iron man. “Even some days before his death he was busy dictating instances from history which he wanted to compile in the form of a book titled History of Bilga. He had an amazingly sharp memory and could narrate minute details of the Ghadar party and freedom struggle. Though the book has been left midway but we will complete it soon,” he said.

He added that Baba Bilga never preached anything to the masses. He had a methodological approach towards life and loved to discuss issues concerning India. “Recently we recorded the voice of Baba Bilga in eight cassettes, which would be digitised soon and available in the form of cassettes,” said Rajbir.

In fact, Chandana Anand, an American citizen, took away the cassettes and is presently working upon the digitisation of those CDs. Another close associate of Baba Bilga, Tari, a UK citizen and a member of the Indian Workers Association, said, “His demise has created a vacuum which can never be filled. He was the voice of the masses and always expressed concern for the downtrodden.”

Among his contemporaries was Jagjeet Singh Lyallpuri, a fellow comrade of Baba Bilga, who had met Baba Bilga for the last time on May 7 in the UK. “When I met him for the last time he shook hand with me and said, “Hun safar da ant hai” (It is the end of my journey). And he died on May 22,” he added.

At Bilga village people jostled to have a glimpse of Baba Bilga for the last time. Despite scorching heat, the villagers stood in the streets to pay last respects to Baba Bilga. It was a tearful adieu to the revolutionary Ghadarite. Even when the cremation began members of trade unions kept shouting slogans reflecting the ideology of Baba Bilga.

Kartaro, an elderly woman from Bilga village, said, “He was a great loyalist of the Ghadar Party and remained true to his soul. The so-called politicians of the present times who leave their party for the sake of money should learn something from Baba Bilga. We are proud to be a resident of this glorious 
village,” she added.

Jalandhar, June 4
He has earned praise from the likes of Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, the maestro who was so impressed by his performance that he expressed a wish to make him his student. Hans Raj Hans has compared him to the biggies in classical music and the list of his fans never seems to end.

Ranging from the melodious classical to the soulful sufi, such varied is his style that he conducts the shabad, ghazal, sufi and classical styles of singing with equal ease and panache.

An unparallelled performer, encyclopaedia in classical and sufi music, son of the famous Baba Kesar Chandji and one of the most precious in the galaxy of Hindustani classical maestros, Ustad B.S. Narang is a name to reckon within circles which still understand the value of classical music.

Born and brought up at Nakodar, music came to him naturally as the atmosphere at his home made a strong impact on him right from the time when he was a kid.

An obedient student of music, listening to his father teaching top-ranking students made him pick up various ragas as early as seven years of age.

His brother’s performance in classical music at a fair first inspired him to perform in front of an audience. At the age of 10, he delivered his first performance at the Shivratri Mela in Nakodar, singing Raag Deshkar (a rather difficult composition) to the awestruck masses.

A child prodigy, the audience loved his performance which marked a beginning of his long and successful journey into classical music.

Following renowned maestros in his early days, half of his early practice included listening to maestros like Ustad Salamat Ali Khan and Ustad Amir Khan.

In his school days, he was influenced by tabla maestro Ustad Inayat Khan and Baba Somgiri.

He won hoards of competitions in his school days reaching the zenith of success in youth festivals as a student of Doaba College and DAV College.

He learnt music from Pandit Husn Lal and Karam Singh Chakraborty.

Joining DAV College as a professor brought out the teacher in him. Laying more emphasis on practical (than theory) the college reached unparallelled heights under him.

Boasting of disciples like Hans Raj Hans, Sarbjeet Cheema, Sukhwinder and Tejwant Kittu, he is an A grade artiste of AIR and BBC Radio also making his presence felt on BBC TV, Radio worldwide and TV Asia. He has participated in Baba Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan (Jalandhar), Saptswar (Delhi), Fort William (Kolkata), Sangeet Sammelan (Mumbai) to name a few and has wooed audience worldwide London, Birmingham, Scotland, Bratford, Wales, etc.

He presently lives In Jalandhar and still teaches music to his myriad disciples in India and abroad.

Which gharana do you belong to?

My father was from the Patiala Gharana. I inherently follow the same but try to adopt the good stuff from other gharanas like Sham Chaurasi, Kapurthala and others.

Best compliment?

Daad from the likes of Ustad Salamat Ali Khan.

A trend in music which worries you

Classical music is massively downplayed by the media. In the state’s context, a lot of grabbing and partiality takes place around us. The real artistes are always passive they can never speak up or fight. The best we can do is serve music with all our hearts.

Message to the audience.

Baki nashe chhoro. Sangeet ka nasha karo. I am confident it can help wipe out crime.

Recent incidents of violent attack on Indian students in Australia remind me of our days when we were in Australia (Melbourne) last year with our son and daughter-in-law, both employed as software engineers there.

As was their daily routine, they used to leave at 8 am and return at 8 pm. To avoid boredom, I along with my husband would go for an outing daily. It was possible because in Melbourne there is a free shuttle and tram service for visiting tourist places within the city. So we had pleasure trips of all the important locations in the city. We were highly impressed by the organised administration of the law-abiding country.

One day when we were walking across the market, I commented, “What a peaceful country it is!” No strikes, no dharnas, no demonstrations and no bandhs, which are common in our country.

But the very next morning, as we reached the bus stop, we came to know that the bus service was held up due to some demonstration going on at Federation Square. We reached the spot on foot and to our great astonishment we saw that the protesters were all Indians because at that time also one Indian student (driver) was badly beaten up by some Australian passengers.

On seeing the behaviour of the Australian police with the Indian protesters, it took us no time to change the “clean image” of Australia to a “shady one” in our minds. The Australian police dispersed the protesters with a fierce force within minutes. From that day, I started feeling uneasy in Australia.

Today when we are listening about the brutal incidents of violence on Indian students one after the other, the reason may be any - racism or depression among the Australian youth due to recession in the market, our hearts sink.

On one side, the Indian students are obliging the Australian government as one-third of the Australian economy is due to the Indian students. On the other hand, Indian students have to struggle hard to make both ends meet for highly costly education in Australia. They have to do cheap labour.

It is time for our government to wake up and save our youth. Can’t our government establish some universities of international level on franchise and arrange professors of eminence with subject specialisations from foreign countries, or open some branches of foreign universities in India? It will certainly lessen the lust of Indian youth for study abroad. The education will be cheaper as well as risk free. It will be of relief to the parents also.

Provision of foreign education in India will not only save our youth but also retain our hard earned billions of rupees in our own country.

Jalandhar, June 4
Mansavi Ghera of Mehr Chand Polytechnic College bagged the first position in the state in civil engineering (first semester) examination conducted by the Punjab State Board of Technical Education held in December last year.

Jalandhar, June 4
The Technical Services Union (TSU) has decided to hold sub-division-level rallies in Punjab on June 5 against the proposed unbundling of Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB).

Stating this in a press-note issued here, TSU general secretary Jagtar Singh Uppal said the date of extension, given by the Centre to PSEB, would end on June 15. Hence, we decided to restart the agitation against the proposed unbundling.

Uppal said the PSEB Employees Joint Forum held a meeting on May 29 in this regard in which it was decided to restart agitation against its proposed unbundling. All farmer and labour organisations were supporting the agitation of PSEB employees against its unbundling, he claimed.

A state-level dharna would also be held in front of PSEB head office in Patiala on June 15, he said adding that a meeting of PSEB Employees Joint Forum would also be held on June 10 to decide future course of action.

Jalandhar, June 4
Two youths committed suicide in different areas of the city in last 24 hours. A vendor was found dead in a rented accommodation in Urban Estate Phase-II this morning. Sugau, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, was found hanging with the ceiling of his room by his brother Chitah Ram.

In another incident, Shankar Shah, a resident of Ramdas Nagar, committed suicide by hanging him self in his house last night. The deceased had suffered financial losses which forced him to take the extreme step, the police said.

Begowal (Kapurthala), June 4
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and former SGPC President Bibi Jagir Kaur expressed gratitude to the people of Bholath for giving a considerable lead of 10,116 votes from the Bholath assembly segment for SAD-BJP candidate Som Prakash from Hoshiarpur (SC) in the recent Lok Sabha elections. They stated this while addressing a religious gathering at Dera Sant Prem Singh Muralewale here on the last day of the three-day function organised to mark his death anniversary today.

Badal said the public of Bholath had disappointed the Akalis during the last assembly elections as he had not even thought that Bibi Jagir Kaur would lose the election.

Meanwhile, Badal gave a cheque for Rs 1.4 crore to the Kapurthala Deputy Commissioner for upgradation works of different educational institutions in Bholath.

Bibi Jagir Kaur demanded from Badal to widen the Nadala-Subhanur, Nadala-Dhilwan and Nadala-Bholath roads up to 23 feet. She also requested Badal to make Bholath a subdivision.

Accepting the demand of widening the roads, Badal said Bibi might come to Chandigarh any time to discuss the other demands pertaining to Bholath and they would be accepted accordingly.

Badal said Sant Murarewale was not only a religious leader but also a politically and socially very active. He served the public by remaining SGPC executive member and MLA twice. He had set up several educational institutions for the benefit of the people, he added.

The incident occurred in Beverly Hills when Britney was pulling out of a car park, reports a publication. As she tried to navigate her way out of the parking lot, Britney’s car went over Rick Mendoza’s foot. In the lawsuit, Mendoza said Britney’s people: “Should have known...Britney was not in the mental, emotional and/or physical condition to operate the subject motor vehicle in a safe and reasonable manner.” — ANI