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ASI seeks takeover of Ram Bagh
25th anniversary of Operation
Bluestar
Radical Sikhs criticise the Jathedar through a public address system on the 25th anniversary of Operation Bluestar. Photo: Vishal Kumar |
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PAU experts visit Golden Temple to treat ancient ‘beris’
Punjab Agricultural University experts spray insectide on Beri Sahib in
the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar. Photo: Vishal Kumar
A shop in Amritsar displays a banner to attract students to buy their holiday homework projects.
— Photo by Vishal kumar
Paddy transplantation
DC K.S. Pannu hands over a paddy transplantation machine in Amritsar on Friday. A Tribune photo
Campus Buzz
Jallianwala Bagh project:
Activists get hearing today
Young World
DC K.S. Pannu inauguarates Cessna 172R at the Amritsar airport.
Photo by Vishal Kumar
Words in Punjabi language fast vanishing: Pattar
Nishan-e-Sikhi to start maiden course from next month
Defacing The City
Preparing students for SAT examination
Student organisations hold joint convention
Activists of the BEd Teachers Front protest outside the DC office in Amritsar
on Thursday. Photo: Vishal Kumar
More samples of milk fail
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ASI seeks takeover of Ram Bagh
Amritsar, June 12 Giving the detailed information, Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu said the government has prepared a comprehensive blueprint for the conservation and the revamping of the historical buildings and monuments in the city to develop Amritsar as a major tourist destination. He said the central government have provided funds for giving shape to the proposed conservation project and added that projects worth Rs 15 crore were in the process of completion and more financial help would be available to turn the holy city into a tourist hub. Pannu said the government plans to take a decision to evict the three clubs --- Amritsar Club, Services Club and the Lumbsden Club --- as their shifting was in the process which was facing certain glitches eventually these would be transferred to some other suitable site. The entire complex would then be handed over to the ASI for its total face lifting. Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu said the government plans to take over the heritage town hall presently housing the offices of the Municipal Corporation which would be turned into a museum. Meanwhile, a high-level team, led by Archeological Survey of India Director General K.N. Srivastva accompanied by Principal Secretary, Gitika Kalla, Director Tourism D.P. Reddy along with Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner Corporation D.P.S. Kharbanda reviewed the major tourism projects under conservation and renovation. The ASI delegation have urged the government to urgent steps to transfer the historical Ram Bagh on 80 acres prime land along with other historic monuments including Sarai Amanat Khan, Gobindgarh Fort, Samadh Sham Singh Attariwala Pull Kanjri, the 12 gates etc for taking up the conservation work on war footing. The question mark would remain on the fate of three clubs in the precincts of Ram Bagh in case the government gives go ahead for the transfer of garden to ASI. The Deputy Commissioner, who briefed the visiting team, said a number of projects and ancient buildings constructed during the glorious period of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, which had been under decay, have been spruced up.
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25th anniversary of Operation Bluestar
Amritsar, June 12 The leaders of radical Sikh organisations came down heavily on Jathedar, Akal Takht, Giani Gurbachan Singh for eulogising the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in his message, delivered from the rostrum of Akal Takht to mark the anniversary of the Operation Bluestar. Though the Jathedar, Akal Takht, called for panthic unity, but minutes after his message, the leaders of rival Akali factions and panthic organisations showed total disunity, in gross violation of his directive. The jathedar in his message, delivered from Akal Takht, had appreciated the SGPC for taking steps to rehabilitate the victims of the Operation Bluestar and the Army men who had deserted their barracks after the Army action in June 1984. What annoyed the radicals most was the reference of word “Akali” in his (jathedar’s) message. Though criticism of jathedars have become a routine, yet it was after 1986 that radicals openly criticised the Sikh clergy from the Akal Takht itself. The unruly scenes witnessed at Akal Takht could be attributed to the mismanagement of the SGPC and Akal Takht secretariat who failed to make appropriate arrangements to prevent untoward incidents, notwithstanding the tall claims of the authorities. The SGPC’s task force was a silent spectator even as radicals continued to deliver the provocative speeches. The mismanagement on the part of the SGPC also gave an opportunity to slogan-shouting radical youths to roam freely with unsheathed swords in the parikarma of the Golden Temple. The SAD (A) president, Simranjit Singh Mann, raised a number of slogans in favour of “Khalsitan” and left the scene. However, senior leaders of other radical outfits, especially SAD (Panch Pardhani), led by Daljit Singh Bittu and Harwinder Singh Norway, continued to address the gathering for more than two hours. Minutes after the speech of the Jathedar, Akal Takht, leaders of radical Sikh organisations started criticising the SGPC and Sikh clergy in front of Akal Takht through battery-operated public address system. The spokesman for the Damdami Taksal , Bhai Mohkam Singh, asked the Sikh high priests to appear before the “Panj Pyaras” (five beloved ones) of Akal Takht for allowing Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to sit in a chair in one of the rooms of the Takht at the time of starting Akhand Path for speedy recovery of the Sant, injured in Vienna. He alleged that the Sikh high priests and SGPC president were sitting on the floor while Badal was sitting in the chair in “gross violation of the maryada”. It was for the first time that the radical Sikhs used harsh words in front of Akal Takht against the jathedar. They alleged that the jathedar appreciated the SGPC, which itself was “responsible” for the circumstances that led to the Operation Bluestar. The radical Sikhs openly criticised the Jathedar, Akal Takht, for using the word “Akali” in his speech. The radical Sikhs alleged that the Operation Bluestar was not aimed against Akalis as mentioned in the message of the jathedar. They claimed that it was against Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale, the then chief of the Damdami Taksal, who had become challenge to the Union Government. Had the SGPC accepted the demand of radical Sikhs to organise the 25th anniversary at Manji Sahib, they could have avoided the unsavoury situation that was witnessed at Akal Takht.
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PAU experts visit Golden Temple to treat ancient ‘beris’
Amritsar, June 12 In the Golden Temple, the historic ber trees are the sign of the country’s rich heritage. Ber Baba Budha Sahib is one of the oldest ber tree and is considered to be more than 425 years’ old. As this tree was associated with Baba
Budhaji, the first head granthi of the Golden Temple, hence it is called Ber Baba Budha
Sahib. Dukh Banjani beri and Illaichi ber are also said to be more than four centuries’ old trees. From the last two decades, the growth of these sacred trees was greatly reduced and they were heavily infested with lac insects. A team of ber experts from the
PAU, Ludhiana, have been tasked to look after the ber plants on the Golden Temple premises. The PAU experts claim that after the treatment, the health of all these plants started improving. During the last many years, no flowering and fruiting occurred on these trees. However, with the consistent efforts of the scientists, last year there was profuse flowering on all trees, which resulted in small to good fruiting on different trees. Again this year, a team of ber experts, comprising Dr
J.S. Bal, Head of the Department of Horticulture, PAU, Ludhiana, Dr D.R. Sharma, Entomologist, Dr Paramjit Singh, Senior Entomologist, and Dr Sukhdev Singh, Professor, Khalsa College, Amritsar, today inspected all four ber trees. Pruning of these trees is done according to their health in the summers as the plants shed leaves in the season after the harvest of the fruit. All
lac-infested shoots are pruned and later on plants are given spray with Curacron 50Ec mixed in one litre of water. The health of the ber plants has now considerably improved. The pruning, rejuvenation and spraying operations will be continued. The devotees and visitors are advised neither to place “karah
prasad” near the stem of these, plants nor to touch the plants with oily hands as this can harm the bark of the pant. It is duty of the people, especially devotees paying obeisance at the Golden Temple, to provide healthy environment to the sacred ber trees so that life of these plants can be further prolonged. In this way the rich heritage can be preserved. The ber is one of the most ancient and common fruit of India. The ber has a long historic background and is mentioned in the earlier Sanskrit literature and with many other names in different Indian languages. It is intimately connected with the folklore of people in Punjab. The reference of ber is available in the religious holy books and ber plant is considered most sacred one. Sikh Gurus preferred to plant ber trees in the
gurdwaras. |
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Holiday homework on sale
Amritsar, June 12 Cashing in on this trend, many shopkeepers, who usually sell books, supplement their income substantially by making holiday projects of the students. Priced at Rs 200-300, one could buy all types of charts and posters from the market. Though this trend has been going on for past many years, the business has picked up now as more and more schools give practical work like preparing charts, painting, pasting of pictures and other project work instead of theoretical work. However, the new method devised by the shopkeepers could be a lesson for the schools as the kids want to enjoy the summer holidays and don’t want to take the burden of work allotted by the schools. Madan Kumar, a shopkeeper, said as month of June started, many people have enquired whether the projects given by the schools were available with them or not. He said earlier the number of customers of these projects was very low but as the demand for the same has increased manyfold he had engaged persons, who specialises in making the projects, on nominal fee. He said the charges were according to the project work. Resident Anika said her 6-year-old son was not ready to prepare the project work on his own so she was forced to buy the same from the market. She said although she knew that it was bad for her son but was helpless as the extra marks were also important. She said that the teachers instead of giving difficult and time consuming projects should return to the old practice of allotting theoretical work. Neera Sharma, principal of the DAV Public School, said they know that this practice was going on for a long time so they have decided to change the project work every year. She said instead of giving pasting work they have given the practical work to the students during this summer vacation. This year students have been given discussions, character sketches of personalities etc, she added. |
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Govt to help farmers buy machines
Neeraj Bagga/TNS
Amritsar, June 12 Farmer Jaswant Singh said the cost of transplanting of paddy on an acre rose from Rs 500 to Rs 2,000 per acre. He said it was economically unviable. Deputy Commissioner K.S. Pannu said the machine was capable of planting about 32 saplings in area of a metre against 20 by manual. He stated this here today after handing over keys of Global Agrotech manufactured paddy transplanter machines to eight farmers. He said it would augment the income of farmers by about Rs 4,000 per acre. He said though the machine cost Rs 1.7 lakh but the state government was offering 50 per cent subsidy. He asked the farmers to take up the direct seeding of paddy on beds through specially made multipurpose bed planter machines and added that these machines were available with district Agriculture office. Pannu informed that about 10,000 acres would be transplanted with the machines this year. He stressed the utilisation of land laser lavellor machine to level the field before mechanised transplanting operation and added that the farmers could avail them after paying minor rent from the district agriculture office as it has 40 of them. According to him, about 1,000 acres of paddy would be sown directly using multipurpose bed planter. In order to control weeds in direct sown paddy weedicide would also be made available at subsidised rate. He informed that to encourage growing of basmati, the farmers would be paid Rs 8,000 as incentive for sowing mat nursery on at least one acre area. Pannu exhorted the farmers to upgrade agriculture technology through the system of Agriculture Service Centers. Interestingly, it was Pannu who took lead in introducing the mechanised transplantation of paddy in Punjab last year.
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Varsity dispatches admit cards for UGC-NET
Amritsar, June 12 Coordinator Dr R.K. Bedi of UGC-NET-June, 2009, advised those candidates who did not receive their admission cards for appearing in the UGC-NET by June 24 to contact the Coordinator from June 25 to 27 along with two passport-sized photographs duly attested by a gazetted officer. The Coordinator, however, clarified that no admission cards would be issued on the day of the test. New guidelines
Guru Nanak Dev University would follow the revised rules on "Standard of legal education and recognition of degrees in law" as issued by the Bar Council of India
(BCI) regarding eligibility conditions, introduction of semester system and requirement of attendance in the law degree courses. Law department Head Dr Jaspal Singh said under the revised rules for a three-year LLB degree, the general category candidates could seek admission only up to the age of 30 years as on July 1 of the year of admission. However, a five-year relaxation is available for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes candidates, he added. Fellowships
Students of School of Punjabi Studies of Guru Nanak Dev University have once again excelled in the UGC examination held in December 2008. School Head Dr Dharam Singh said Karamjit Kaur,
Sangeeta, Amarjit Singh and Maninderjit Kaur have qualified for research fellowships. He claimed that the School of Punjabi Studies had already the largest number of UGC qualified research fellows among the universities of this region with more than 30. Synthetic
turf
Dr Manohar Singh Gill, Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, would inaugurate the work of laying of new synthetic hockey surface at Guru Nanak Dev University on June 14. Sports Director Dr Kanwaljeet Singh said after inauguration, Dr Gill would meet officials of the Sports Authority of India and Nehru Yuva Centres and review the youth affairs and sports programme in Punjab. Orientation
course
A four-week general orientation course-79 was inaugurated in the Academic Staff College of Guru Nanak Dev University today by Dr S.S.
Dhillon, former Professor of Zoology, Punjabi University. Dr H.S.
Bhatia, Director-cum-Course Coordinator of the staff college, said 30 teacher participants from different colleges and universities within the state were attending the course. Dr Bhatia explained the aims and objectives of the orientation programmes and underlined the philosophy behind the course. Dr Dhillon talked about what had actually gone wrong with our system of education and the ignorance of the policy makers. He suggested certain interventions to overcome the existing debacles. He said, “We should rise above the exploitation prevailing since ages. This could be done by enlightening the mind and adopting scientific aptitude towards life.” |
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Jallianwala Bagh project:
Activists get hearing today
Amritsar, June 12 Presiding over the meeting RL
Bhatia, Governor of Bihar and President of the managing committee of the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial, said they would review the beautification project and said that the committee would listen to the suggestions of the people who had been agitating about changing the face of the national monument. It may be mentioned here that the highly ambitious beautification project in the Jallianwala Bagh which had been stalled due to the agitation by the concerned activists of BSNS would be given a proper hearing tomorrow before giving a final go ahead to the projects including the installation of light and sound project. Talking to The Tribune, Navjot Singh
Sidhu, MP, suggested that the government obtain pictures of all those victims who had made supreme sacrifice during the mass killings by the British troops. He said a police post should also be established to guard the memorial from anti-social elements. He further said the committee must engage professional consultants for the landscaping and maintenance of the memorial. He said he would personally monitor the entire project. Briefing about the project, Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu said the government had already given its approval for erecting the light and sound system which would be implemented shortly after incorporating certain changes. He said an information centre would also be set up to provide complete details about the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of April 13, 1919. |
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Students have a date with revolutionised science
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, June 12 The seminar was addressed by guidance expert Gurinder Sachdeva having an experience of 32 years in educational and vocational guidance. He explained in detail the current job scenario in the country and guided the students to chose their field carefully, keeping in mind the prevailing job market. Sachdeva said students often felt confused due to the vast arenas of options open to them. “Students are generally swayed by either parental or peer pressure and questions about their aptitude, interest, financial aspects along with job situations, training facility and future prospects are left unanswered. The confusion and consequent fickleness affect the overall planning of chosen fields and lead to frustration and wrong choices that have a bearing on career moves.” Information of as many as 53 fields in the medical and non-medical streams, including correlated training and employment scopes, were explained to the students. The career counsellor laid emphasis on job requirements and nature of work in specific fields to make students aware of the avenues for information, training and guidance. Students were acquainted with the professional fields along with detailed variables that needed to be taken into account and had a direct bearing on overall planning while opting for courses and institutions correlating to career options.
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Amritsar Aviation Club gets Cessna
Amritsar, June 12 The club will receive another aircraft Hansa-3 next month. It already has a Hansa-3 and a good old Pushpak. Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu, who is Manager of the club, said the club was already carrying out ground classes for student pilots under the DGCA-approved Chief Ground Instructor, a retired Wing Commander of the Indian Air Force. He said soon one more multi-engine flight simulator would be added to its kitty as it presently had an ATC 710 flight simulator. There are 20 trainees against the same capacity of seats in 200-hour Commercial Pilot Licence course for both boys and girls. Capt Rachhpal Singh, Chief Flying Instructor of the club, said the sophisticated machines were being funded by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. He said class XII students (with physics and maths) would be allowed admission with minimum 16 years of age. He said the Airport Authority of India had allotted five acres of land to expand facilities in the club. An ultramodern hanger, tarmac, operational block and other vital installations would be set up in the area. Three acres of land has been given in non-operational area for the construction of administrative block, hostels, recreation area gymnasium. |
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Words in Punjabi language fast vanishing: Pattar
Amritsar, June 12 Speaking during the valedictory function of four-week long general orientation course held at Academic Staff College, Guru Nanak Dev University here, Pattar pointed out that if one language vanishes, one universe dies. He stressed that the society must not replace the existing Punjabi words with English vocabulary. “Any language is developed by the society i.e. common people and not by linguists,” he added. Any language becomes stagnant when people stop thinking about new words, and that stage triggers
the decline. “The need of the hour is that we must respect our mother language to save our rich culture and give respect to those who respect their mother language,” he added. Dr Pattar highlighted
the importance of a language saying a language is a link between various generations. As many as 22 teachers of different colleges and universities within Punjab participated in the said course. Dr H.S. Bhatia, Director and the Course Coordinator, informed
that in this course more than 35 resource persons shared their knowledge
and experience with the participants. |
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Nishan-e-Sikhi to start maiden course from next month
Amritsar, June 12 Former Jathedar Akal Takht, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, here today said under the five-year long course, the students would be imparted training in Gurbani, Sikh philosophy, Sikh history, besides comparative knowledge of major religions of the world by competent teachers. The trust had announced to raise the tower during the fifth centennial celebrations of the Parkash Utsav of Guru Angad Dev in 2004. The course would have a capacity of 15 students in the beginning. Baba Sewa Singh, chairman of the trust, said entire expenses of boarding, lodging and study would be borne by the trust. The eight-storey-building of the tower has been constructed on a four-acre land and is financially supported with donations by Thakral family
and Sikh sangat. It will provide a bouquet of religious education, spiritual awareness, cultural understanding, historic information, vocational knowledge, national cohesion and entertainment options besides training for IAS and allied services. In all, there are eight directorates in the eight-story tower. |
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Defacing The City
Amritsar, June 12 Issuing the notices, the DM said as per the on the spot inspections, the posters of films being shown in these cinema halls were pasted on the poles of electricity and telephone department which was a direct violation of the Punjab Cinema Act. He asked the cinema owners to explain the reasons in written to DM office within a week otherwise the licence of these cinema halls would be suspended for one month. It is pertinent to mention here that the district administration has banned the pasting of vulgar poster of films on government and non-government buildings and had asked them to remove these posters. Pannu said if the cinema halls and other institutions involved in such practice would be taken to task.
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Preparing students for SAT examination
Amritsar, June 12 Group founder Director Morgan Handerson had a healthy interactive session with the students. He said Indian students were quite hard working, they managed to score well, but the language was their main difficulty. He added that to overcome this problem, the simple key was to read different kinds of material written in English. The command over a foreign language came when you would learn, read and speak their language, he added. He said though the grades mattered, it was not enough as the universities in America looked for interesting and well-rounded individuals and prefered students who showed interest in art, sports, and international relations which also helped the students get scholarships and financial aid.
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Student organisations hold joint convention
Amritsar, June 12 The resolution was passed at a joint convention held here today. Baldev Singh Pandori of the sabha said an intensive struggle of the two student organisations against the alleged change in the original shape of the historic bagh during the beautification process had come to an end following the commitment of the district administration to arrange a meeting of their representative with the trust. He said other resolutions were equal opportunities for education, health and employment.
— TNS
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Implement pay panel report: BEd teachers
Amritsar, June 12 They also submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu.
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More samples of milk fail
Amritsar, June 12 Out of the total 35 samples taken, 21 samples had water mixed to the extent of 5-50 percent and had low fat while
the remaining samples were of good quality. Meanwhile, an awareness camp was held in the area during which Kulbir Singh, Balwinder Singh and Dairy Inspector Amandeep Singh demonstrated the tests for checking milk. However, the authorities of the department said no harmful chemical was found in the milk samples.
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Are the Sikh high priests
facing open challenge these days?
Experts from Punjab
Agricultural University today visited the Golden Temple to treat the ancient
beris, perhaps more than four centuries’ old, infested with insects. In the Golden Temple, the historic ber trees are the sign of the country’s rich heritage. Ber Baba Budha Sahib is one of the oldest ber tree and is considered to be more than 425 years’ old. As this tree was associated with Baba
Budhaji, the first head granthi of the Golden Temple, hence it is called Ber Baba Budha
Sahib.
Govt to help farmers buy machines
