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Global Trade Expo
Decorative lights found non-functional |
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Death Anniversary
Young World
Hockey tourney
Ward Number 10: Living amidst wire terror
Asian Federation of Sports Medicine Congress
Farmers hold ‘lalkar’ rally
PTF sweeps GNDUTA poll
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Global Trade Expo
Amritsar, December 4 The administration did not hesitate to show ‘rush’ by inviting schoolchildren. But surprisingly, the parents had to shell out Rs 50 per child for transportation. “After spending Rs 50, the children were asked to pay another Rs 10 as entrance fee. Is it justified?” rued a parent. “The administration, probably to show crowd to the TV cameras and newspaper lenses, must have insisted the school authorities to make this arrangement”, complained the parents. Now look at the inconvenience factor. The entrance of the exhibition, set up at a ground in the Ranjit Avenue, was full of dirt, blowing out of moving vehicles due to ‘kucha parking’ spaces designated just opposite to the entrance gates. While entering the exhibition after spending Rs 10 per head entrance cess, people were screened as if they were entering a cantonment area. Hoards of police staff deputed at the gates would thoroughly scrutinise. Thereafter, same number of police force would continuously stare at you when you get in at any of the stalls. Their presence was felt more in those stalls selling ladies’ items like imitation jewellery, suits, kitchen wares or would be found in plenty at the food stalls. “It is very inconvenient especially for the ladies when these cops gather around the stalls. They should have been instructed to keep a distance at least,” complained Som Nath Bhatia, a visitor. But wait, the worst is yet to come when you plan to come out of the exhibition shamiyana. The dingy exit point covered all around with jet black tents would horrify you with foul stink emanating out of temporary toilet setup just behind. Though the entrance point has green coloured carpets to settle the dust and uneven passage, the exit passage was found to be totally neglected with muddy stretch full of injury prone stones.
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Decorative lights found non-functional
Amritsar, December 4 These lighting poles were installed near Bhandari Bridge, at Putlighar Chowk, on the road opposite Guru Nanak Dev University and at Chheharta Chowk. Today these rusty poles with defunct lightening system cry for immediate attention. “This project is an example of the authorities’ ignorance and indifferent attitude towards public money which is being wasted like this. When the authorities least bother about the maintenance and upkeep of such projects, it is beyond our understanding about spending public money on initiating such projects,” said N.S. Gabarhia, retired Deputy Railway Station Superintendent and resident of Amritsar. One school of thought is of the opinion that this project has been suffering due to political friction. The reason, they cite is that these lights were installed during the Congress regime. “These lights were installed when the Municipal Corporation was led by a Congress representative. During that period the lights were being looked after properly, but later the governing body of MC changed and no body bothered to take care of this thereafter. Rest assured, it was the liability of the authorities to maintain them,” opined an official, preferring anonymity. Official Take While defying any political consideration, Municipal Corporation Commissioner D.P.S. Kharbanda said these lights were part of the cosmetic transformation for beautifying the city. “Definitely it needs attention. It is the liability of the Municipal Corporation to maintain the beautification projects and it has least concern with any political issue. I will get the lights checked.”
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Death Anniversary
Amritsar, December 4 Dejected by this “couldn’t careless attitude”, Ashok Kumar, son of Dhyan Chand and himself a veteran hockey player, said, “My father lives in hockey. If you want to remember him in real sense of word, try to survive the game only.” But for a change, it was only the DAV College ground in Amritsar where the college hockey team along with their mentor and coach Paramjeet Singh Randhawa commemorated hockey legend Dharam Chand. Pargat Singh, Director, Sports, Punjab, when asked about any function or sports events organised on this day, said, “But it does not mean that we do not remember him. We do celebrate his birth anniversary throughout as sports day.” When questioned about justifying not celebrating Dhyan Chand’s death anniversary, Pargat Singh, himself a hockey Olympian, retorted, “Yes, I admit it to be a big goof-up and from the next year, I would make it a point to organise events on this day too.” Nevertheless, this has invited ire of local hockey lovers. Paramjeet Singh Randhawa, a former hockey player who has authored many books on hockey, said, “It is really pathetic that no one bothered to remember the great hockey legend when the whole of nation cries for revival of hockey which incidentally happens to be our national game. The government never misses a chance to remember political or religious leaders but seldom makes efforts to remember those sports persons who have brought India on global map.” Balwinder Singh Shammi, a 1975 hockey Olympian, viewed that though the birth anniversary of Dhyan Chand was celebrated, due importance should also be on the agenda of the government. Born on August 29, 1979, Dhyan Chand died of lever failure on this day in 1979. He has been instrumental in bringing home three gold medals in Olympics (1928 Amsterdom, 1932 Los Angeles and 1936 Berlin).
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Young World
Amritsar, December 4 Annual day
MKJP School celebrated its first annual day. The function started with the presentation of shabad. Punjabi play on the importance of girls in the present society and gatka were also presented. Students performed yoga. Chief guest MP Navjot Singh Sidhu distributed prizes among the students. Theatre festival
Spring Blossoms School would hold a dance and theatre festival on December 6. Famous stage and TV artist Juhi Babbar, daughter of actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar and another TV actress Nadira Zaheer Babbar would be the chief guests. |
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Hockey tourney
Amritsar, December 4 Kurukshetra University won its second league match by defeating MDU, Rohtak, 8-1, while Guru Nanak Dev University in a keenly contested match defeated Panjab University, Chandigarh, 3-2. |
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Kiosks dot Green Avenue Park
Amritsar, December 4 The joyful sight of eye-soothing green plants, colourful flowers, nicely pruned bushes in the well lay out park has been eclipsed by kiosks. Located in the posh Green Avenue, the boundary of the park is grilled and has a concrete wall. Its lush green grass and ornamental flowers provide a pleasing sight to the passers-by. It is located on Green Avenue Road which connects Maqbool Road with Ranjit Avenue localities. Hence, it receives high volume of traffic. A resident of the avenue, Guljar Singh, said it was a violation of the norms that the kiosks were allowed to operate from the park. He alleged that the people consumed eatables and left behind refuse littered all over the road, besides adding congestion on the road. A concrete retail booth of Verka has been operational in a corner of the park at the side of main road for the past many years. Of late, a kiosk adjoining the booth, selling snacks and cold drinks has also sprung up while another kiosk selling tobacco and beetle has come up on the pavement along the boundary wall. Another resident Balbir Rai said the park had been meeting the needs of the residents for a long time. “Even a number of persons from neighbouring localities also come for a stroll in the park in the morning and return with packets of milk, cheese and other items. However, he said, these kiosks had created different problems. “People now park their vehicles in front of the kiosks to enjoy eatables which led to congestion on the road”, he rued. Savita Mehra said the kiosk selling tobacco and beetles had provided a place for unwanted elements to stay there.
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Ward Number 10: Living amidst wire terror
Amritsar, December 4 Going by the officials (not wishing to be named) of the Punjab State Electricity Board, PSEB is not at fault because these wires were laid during the British era and these colonies were established much later. Interestingly, these residences came up without any approval from the PSEB though as per norms it was requisite to take no objection certificate before approving any colony. Ultimately, the onus lies with the MC because any colony can’t get approval without proper NoC from the board. Fear struck residents had stopped visiting their rooftops or set up temporary boundaries so that they could not go very close to these wires. A resident Ravinder Kumar Sultanwind, also the president of the All India Youth Association, said local leaders of the ruling political party though have helped divert these high-tension wires in several areas, they forget many other areas. The people of the area were also facing another problem. The level of the road (from Gopal Mandir temple till Tung dhab drain) has been upped so much so that the houses find themselves located on a lower level. One Bhopal Chand of Guru Nanak Nagar locality had filed a petition in Punjab Human Rights Commission last year when the road was being carpeted. The commission had directed the corporation to look into the problem and get it rectified. Bhopal Chand said the MC instead of relaying the road, has been re-carpeting it raising the level of road. “This led to problems like entry of water in our houses during rains,” he added. Sultanwind said the road was built without passing any estimation only to woo voters during elections. He alleged no drains have been made on the sides of road for drainage. “This is a serious lapse which would only result in wasting of precious money of public as the road would be washed away during rains in the absence of proper drainage,” he added. Meanwhile, the residents also complained of stinking drinking water. It is pertinent to mention here that residents had taken to road in protests earlier this year when they found drinking water contaminated with sewerage water. They said although the sewerage disposal was cleaned and leaking connections were repaired, the smell in water still existed. They had to boil water and install machines to get safe water. Councillor’s say
Like councillors of other wards belonging to the Congress, Kashmir Kaur alleged political discrimination. She said she had got approved the small sewerage tanks for proper disposal of which tenders were also called, but the ruling combine did not let the process complete resulting in inordinate delay. She alleged that many developments works were lingering on due to alleged partial and discriminatory attitude of the government.About high-tension wires, she claimed that they got these wires disconnected in this ward, a claim that the residents of the area refused. |
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Asian Federation of Sports Medicine Congress
Amritsar, December 4 Meanwhile, as per the announced schedule the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Dr M.S Gill did not arrive to inaugurate the congress. It was said that he had to participate in the ongoing winter session of Parliament. About 1,200 delegates, including orthopaedicians, sports scientists, exercise physiologists, sports psychologists, sports nutritionists, athletic trainers and physiotherapists from India and over 46 Asian countries are participating in the congress. Delivering keynote address, Secretary, Youth Affairs, Government of India, A.K. Upadhayay emphasised the need for sports medicine and physiotherapy for making India surge ahead in international sports. He hoped that strengthening the sports medicine would certainly help raise the standards of Indian sports. President, Asian Federation of Sports Medicine, Dr Wahid-Al-Kharusi from (Oman) also spoke about the contribution of sports medicine in Asia. He said in the recent past this discipline had developed in many Asian countries to such an extent that future of sports now seemed to lie in the Asian continent. He appreciated the efforts of faculty of sports medicine and physiotherapy of GND University and the Department of Youth Affairs of Government of India for facilitating the organisation of this international congress. The MD, Fortis Escorts Group of Hospitals, Shivinder Mohan Singh, in his address focused on the utility of the discipline of sports medicine not only for speedy recovery of sports injuries but also for raising the quality sportspersons. The Vice-Chancellor, GND University, A.S Brar, while welcoming the delegates to the congress, pointed out an integral relationship between various academic disciplines of natural and social sciences with the development of sports. Dr Talia Alenabi, secretary-general, AFSM, Iran, and Dr Farasat Hussain, president, Indian Association of Sports Medicine (IASM), also spoke. Organising secretary of the congress Dr Jaspal Singh Sandhu presented the vote of thanks.
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Farmers hold ‘lalkar’ rally
Tarn Taran, December 4 The farmers along with their families, including women and children, participated in the rally in large numbers. Satnam Singh Pannu, state president, and other leaders of the organisation, while addressing the farmers, condemned the Central and state governments for ignoring the interests of the farming community and denying the farmers reasonable prices for their produce and privatisating the electricity board. The move to withdraw free power and canal water and prevailing corruption in government departments also invited the ire of the farmers. The farmers demanded that the defaulters should be treated leniently and the arrested ones released without any condition. |
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PTF sweeps GNDUTA poll
Amritsar, December 4 The PTF defeated the Radical Teachers Front (RTF) led by Davinder Singh. It had won the elections last year and had a majority of members in 2007-2008. The Democratic Teachers Front won the post of vice-president and got a seat in the executive. Dr M.S. Hundal, Returning Officer, said Dr Amarjit Singh Soodan (Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences) had been elected vice-president, Dr Sukhpreet Singh (Chemistry) secretary and Dr Shyamal Koley (Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy) joint secretary. Dr Aziz Abbas (Urdu and Persian) has been elected treasurer of the association. As per notification issued by the Returning Officer, Dr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon (Punjab School of Economics), Dr Amarjit Singh Sidhu (Commerce and Business Management), Dr Jagrup Singh Sekhon (Political Science), Dr Darya (School of Punjabi Studies), Dr Derick Engles (Electronics Technology) and Dr Kuldeep Singh (Political Science) have been elected to the executive committee.
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Amritsar, December 4
Amritsar, December 4
“When I die, the world will cry, but India would not shed a tear for me, I know them,” that’s what was quoted once by hockey wizard late Dhyan Chand and while living up to what he said, Punjab skipped from remembering his death anniversary which fell yesterday.Ironically, this day was allowed to pass like any other day, probably in whole of Punjab which is known for producing quality hockey players.
Rajkumar escaped death twice after accidentally touching high-tension wires (carrying 11,000 KV current) passing over the roof of his residence. A girl survived after being pulled by the wire when she was passing by. Presence of mind shown by an onlooker came to her rescue. The family of the girl has now shifted to some other place after selling the property.In ward number 10, these incidents don’t generate any attention of the administration though people live in terror and rarely visit their rooftops.
