Amritsar, December 22
The Punjab Government has given 10 acres of its land for the Union government’s integrated checkpost project, which was originally to be executed in 120 acres of land.

According to Deputy Commissioner K.S. Pannu, this decision was taken by the state government following the request of officials of the Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) company, a central government enterprise, involved in designing the integrated checkpost.

He said the estimated cost of the project was Rs 120 crore. So far, he informed, Rs 30 crore has been spent for acquiring the land and hoped that the construction work would begin from March.

He said the same kind of infrastructure would be built by the Pakistan government on its part of the border.

Meanwhile, it is worthwhile to mention that the project near the Attari-Wagah border, which has a deadline of August 2011, is yet to be started even after three and a half years of its announcement.

Amritsar, December 22
To give impetus to the planning of the highly-ambitious integrated check post project at the international road leading to the Wagah-Attari border, member customs, SK Goel has sought the views of the stakeholders during his two-day visit to the various custom points in the area.

Talking to The Tribune, Goel said he has specially come here to proceed and take stock of the problems faced by the land customs exporters and other agencies to formulate a comprehensive blueprint to plan and execute dedicated export-import cargo terminus at the joint check post.

He said the 120-acre land has already been acquired by the centre and now the government is soliciting the views of several agencies to workout a project which would meet the requirements of the growing Indo-Pak trade.

He added that security considerations were being given paramount importance in view of the recent incidents of bids to smuggle heroine, contraband, fake currency and arms throughout this land route and Attari rail route.

He said at present the government has taken a serious view of the smuggling of some consignments of heroine through a case of pomegranate and also through Samjhauta Express, the bi-weekly train connecting Amritsar-Attari with Lahore.

To obviate the smuggling bids, the customs authorities have already placed orders for highly sophisticated truck scanners at the Wagah border. Goel said they would be installed in the next few months and would help to up the vigil and keep mischievous elements away.

Goel had an interaction with the local exporters, cleaning house

agents, senior officials of the customs posted here and also visited the custom points to understand the dynamics of the trade and understand the problems faced by the security agencies and custom officials.

Detailing with regard to other facilities to accelerate the export and imports through in-land container depot and at International Airport, Goel said the customs would soon operationalise the EDI system (Electronic Data Interface) for the faster facilitation of duty drawback claims at the ICDE and the airport. He hoped that this process would be brought into effect by the end of January next which would help to bring in more cargo exports at the airport. 

Amritsar, December 22
Residents of New Amritsar’s B Block area alleged that they were suffering due to supply of dirty water and absence of sewerage in the area.

They said if it was not enough, Gammon India Private Limited has turned the open area of the colony into a workshop for preparing concrete slabs for under-construction elevated roads.

A resident, Vikram Goel, said the constructional activities mixed the chemicals and cements used in preparing the slabs in immediate environment. He said it adversely affected the health of the residents, especially children and old. Numerous representations to the Municipal Corporation did not elicit any favourable response.

Another resident, Surinder Singh, said roads of the area had been damaged due to movement of heavy machines. He opined that the company could be allotted another site away from the residential area.

The private company is preparing big cemented slabs. He said, “They lift the slabs and carry them for placing them over the structure of elevated road. It has led to the deplorable condition of the road.”

When contacted, Executive Engineer, Municipal Corporation, Lachman Das said the residents had brought the matter to his notice. He said the workshop was temporary and would be shifted once the project was concluded. He said neither chemical nor any kind of hazardous material was being used in the preparation of cemented slabs.

Local in charge of Gammon India Limited Lokesh Sharma said the material was being prepared at the place after due permission and knowledge of the Municipal Corporation authorities. He said the construction material being used was the same being used by so many big building developers and houses as the area was recently carved out to develop as a residential area from the rural one. 

Amritsar, December 22
Fun and food-loving Amritsaris and, for that matter, youngsters of Punjab have got blown away by “Avtaar”- the costliest ever $400 movie dished out by Titanic-fame director James Cameroon. The movie is being hailed as future of the world cinema at Cinepolis, Punjab’s first 3-D multiplex here.Two-hour-41-minute-long movie and its intricate plot alone have stirred the thoughts or altered the viewing experience of the people. What has equally mesmerised viewers is the first-ever Rs 12.5-crore and four-screen 3-D Cinepolis as the Punjabis hitherto were apparently fed-up going to normal run-of-the-mill kind of theatres to view movies.

Now they have got armed with a choice to watch as many as 20 movies at one place and in one day, besides enjoying a hi-tech environ around them with the world’s best acoustics brought by Cinepolis, a Maxico-based international chain of multiplexes, already running 2,000 screens across the globe and boasting of over 110 screens in India.

“At Cinepolis we feel that despite scope Punjab has been short-supplied with good quality screens. We have an allocation of Rs 1,500 crore and we have a gigantic task to accomplish in coming days and it is to open 500 more screens across the country by 2016. The Cinepolis experience will introduce new and exciting concepts for film audiences across the nation. I am too excited about it as we have got a good response from cine-goers, particularly youngsters coming to watch the movie not only from Amritsar but from far and wide of Punjab,” said Cinepolis India’s head of exhibition Ashish Shukla. He hinted that the company was working on to foray into other major Punjab cities like Ludhiana and Jalandhar shortly.

“The highly innovative and awesome movie virtually shocked our senses. We had never ever thought that technology could do such wonders and that a director could be so creative and imaginative. We are particularly excited as we could hardly imagine that Amritsaris and people from hinterland of Punjab could be the first ones in the region to be able to watch James Cameroon magnum opus ‘Avtaar’,” said Pavel Bawa, a Khalsa college student, who came out from the multiplex along with his friends.

“I am a technology geek and have seen 3-D movies earlier also. But it was for the first time that I came out too impressed thinking that 3-D movies has a future now onwards. ‘Avtaar’ has raised a new bar for the 3-D movies,” said Rajiv Puri, a lecturer in IT, who had come from Jalandhar to watch the movie.

For Monika, an NRI, who had come to watch the movie, “Avtaar” was the story of mother earth and of those monsters who have always been looking for ways to plunder its wealth for their vested interests.

"Avtaar" is the story of an injured Marine transformed into a giant blue alien avtaar and sent to a distant planet where he is embroiled in a fight between aliens and humans over natural resources and he managed to win the battle after a long fight with those who were hell bent to destroy natural resources to enrich themselves. 

Tarn Taran, December 22
The recession has badly hit the life of Behari Lal (78), a cobbler. He has to give up the habit of drinking milk before going to sleep at night and in this winter season he has no budget to purchase groundnut and gachak, which he had been fondly consuming for the past many decades.

Behari Lal has been a cobbler for the past more than five decades. He has two sons and two daughters. He used to take care of the family of about 10 members about 30 years back. He used to provide them proper food, besides bearing the expenditure on the education of children.

He is still an active member of the CPI and during his youth days he used to give funds for the party.

While talking to Amritsar Plus, he said there was a time when he used to live with dignity, as he not only brought up his children well, but also got them married.

There was a time when many people used to come to him to get their shoes polished and mended.

He said these days only one or two persons came to get their shoes polished.

He earned only Rs 30 to 40 a day.

He said his wife had expired. Elder son was living separately, while the younger son had left home as he could not bear the expenditure of his family.

Though he is a Leftist, but he appreciates the Badal government for its Atta-Dal scheme. He said it was due to the scheme that he was able to bear his domestic expenditure. Even being diabetic, he is happy as he cannot afford to purchase the sugar due to its high price.

Amritsar, December 22
The tall claims of the Social Welfare Department fall flat when it comes to extending pension to widows under its much-acclaimed Widow Pension Scheme.

The case in point is of a widow, Balbir Kaur, who was registered under the scheme, but was denied pension on flimsy grounds.

Since 1987, through the Social Welfare Department, Balbir was issued identity card No 1158. Her pension of Rs 200 was credited to her account 6911/24 with Punjab and Sind Bank, Sarifpura branch, Amritsar, till May 5, 2002.

Thereafter, it was discontinued all of a sudden.

Since then she has been persuading the officials concerned to grant her dues as per their claims, but in vain. Meanwhile, Balbir shifted to another place in 2004.

Ironically, it took three years to the Social Welfare Department to “conclude” that her name has been deleted from the list because of change in her residential address. She was told to give her new address to the department on the prescribed proforma along with relevant documents to get her pension restarted, which she did.

But that was not to be. The department took its time only to intimate Balbir that her case would have to be looked after by the agenda branch of the Municipal Corporation now and she would have to apply afresh. She did accordingly, but till date her pension case has not been settled.

“I submitted the forms again with the agenda branch on May 14, 2007, but till today my pension has not been revived for reasons best known to them,” rued Balbir.

Balbir lost her husband Tarlok Singh in 1974 in an accident. She has two children to look after and one of her sons is a daily wager.

The state government has a budgetary provision of crores to give financial assistance to widows and destitute women. A special cell of the Social Welfare Department for Women and Children has been constituted and its thrust area is development of women and children who constitute about 70 per cent of the total population of the state.

Amritsar, December 22
His creations may be small in size but the statement and message they carry can in no way be termed as ‘minute’. It was his own way of attracting the masses, especially youth, towards the rich Punjabi heritage, which is losing its glory in the influence of Western culture.

Meet Harwinder Singh Gill, a dental hygienist by profession. With the curiosity to know how his urge to do something different turned into miniature sculptures of wood, a Tribune team spent over an hour at his house on the Fatehgarh Churian road, Amritsar.

“It all started as a hobby. Hailing from Madhopur village, I still cherish the old memories of my village in my mind. One day I decided to transform my memories into a unique way, carrying some message.

“I decided to direct the attention of Sikh masses towards Punjabiat and rich heritage through my skill. It was only then that I started taking it seriously and started getting it more polished,” said Gill.

From one inch to two inches in size, he has sculpted the minute details of the sickle, spade, weeding knife (khurpa), plough, cart, saw, cot, etc.

“These are all items prevalent in Punjab villages, the origin of Punjabi virasat,” said Gill. Gill has also made miniature dentures, the size of little more than an inch.

Actually, in global terms this skill, known as Netsuke art, has originated from Japan. The basic purpose of this is to communicate social values as a part of a custom. This art was being incorporated to preserve historical records.

Though not aware of this unique art form in this sense, the purpose of Gill’s efforts is undoubtedly the same.

Detailing his skill, Gill said though a very rare sort of wood is required for making microscopic sculptures, he had made these items out of waste. “I had an old discarded tray made of walnut wood. I chopped it into pieces to transform them into these items with the help of micro tools, dental grinders, files, etc,” said Gill, who now wants to get his creations registered with the Limca Book of Records.

Challenges are always acceptable to Gill. “If someone claims that he can make smaller items than me, I can try to make them even smaller,” Gill quipped.

Amritsar, December 22
Joint effort, formed after collaboration of various environmental NGOs, released a calendar to mark New Year celebrations, dedicating each month of 2010 to the cause of water conservation, women empowerment, drug de-addiction, eradication of poverty, etc.

Representatives of various NGOs vowed to follow the calendar and work accordingly by adopting at least one issue enlisted in the calendar.

Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu was felicitated for his efforts to curb pollution by strictly banning burning of straw in the fields.

Dr Gurbaksh Singh Chhina (Kheti Virasat Mission), P.S. Bhatti (Pollution Control Committee) and Dr N.C. Kajal (TB Hospital), shared their views on growing pollution and also explained methods of curbing it.

Dr Shakeel from Pakistan was also present on the occasion along with Kewal Dhaliwal (Virsa Vihar), Ghule Shah (TV artiste), Dr Purshotam Lal (SAATHI), K.S. Takkar, Deepak Babbar (Mission Aagaaz), Jagmohan Singh (Lok Kalyan Samiti), Gurdev Singh (folklore research), Gurpinder Mahal and Sumeet (Taraksheel).

Amritsar, December 22
Prof Sharanjit Singh Dhillon took over as Professor In charge (Finance and Development) of the Guru Nanak Dev University here today, a university press note said. Earlier, his appointment was made by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof A.S. Brar.

According to Dr Inderjit Singh, Registrar of the university, Dr Dhillon, presently serving as a Professor in the Punjab School of Economics of the university, would hold this assignment in addition to his present duties.

Among others, Prof T.S. Banipal, president of the Teachers’ Association of the university, Dr Sukhprit Singh, secretary of the Teachers’ Association, Dr Parminder Singh, Professor In charge (PR), Dr R.S. Bawa, former Registrar of the university, Dr P.S. Raikhy, Dr A.S. Sethi and Dr Parminder Singh, Head of the Punjab School of Economics, were present on the occasion.

Prof Dhillon joined the university in 1990 as Lecturer and elevated to the post of Professor in 2006. His 50 research papers have been published in national and international journals.

He has attended 70 national and international conferences.

Amritsar, December 22
The IAAPA Canada awarded Punjab Shiromani Kavi Parminderjit for his contribution to the Punjabi language in general and poetry in particular.

He has been constantly editing a poetry monthly Punjabi magazine “Akkhar” since 1975. He began publishing and editing “Akkhar” in 1997, after having been associated with another Punjabi literary magazine “Lo” for a decade.

His literary career started with the publication of his book of poetry, “Likhtum Parminderjit”. Although he has written only four books - “College Kitab” (1973), “Likhtum Parminderjit” (1981), “Meri Marfat” (2000) and “Bachpan, Ghar Te Main” - he has created his own place in the field of Punjabi poetry.

His poetic creations are characterised by unfolding the social issues in a poignant way. Besides, he lively expresses human relations and dilemmas. He does not hold back in defining the pinching social topics considered taboos some years ago. His poetry stirs heart and forces his readers to ponder over them. “Meri Marfat” remained in the university’s MA (Punjabi)-II curriculum for three years.

Apart from this, he has a special liking for editing and translating books. These include “Kalma Ke Rishte” (1970), comprising poetry of Indian and Pakistani poets, “Bedian Te Badban” (1973) which he edited in collaboration with Shaheryar, “Kavita Punjab”, “Shairiy 92” (1992) and “Dastak Te Sarnave”.

He was honoured with the Kalam Puraskar by the Komantri Lekhak Manch. He has been given a number of awards, including the Safdar Hashmi Puraskar, Bawa Balwant Kavya Puraskar, Janwadi Kavita Puraskar and Maulvi Gulam Rasul Yaadgari Puraskar.

In order to spread the message of his creations and proliferation of the mother tongue, he visited Japan, England, Pakistan and the USA and addressed seminars on Punjabi and shared his views with migrant Punjabis settled there.

Amritsar, December 22
The District Consultative Committee held a meeting for the quarter ending at Bachat Bhawan, Amritsar, today to review the progress of all banks and government agencies of Amritsar.

While addressing the meeting, Parneet Bhardwaj, ADC (Development), Amritsar said district bankers have achieved the quarterly target allocated for the quarter ending September 2009. However, he said, the CD ratio of the district is going down which needs special attention.

Aggregate deposits of banks in Amritsar district have increased from Rs 10,463 crore as at September 2008 to Rs 12,512 crore as at the end of September 2009, registering a yearly growth of Rs 2,049 crore (19.58 per cent).

Credit growth in the district had been from Rs 5,717 crore as at September 2008 to Rs 6,106 crore as at September 2009, showing yearly growth of Rs 389 crore (6.80 per cent).

So as to boost agriculture credit the banks have issued KCCs to 3418 farmers amounting to Rs 86.28 crore during the period from 01.04.2009 to 30.09.2009 and on accumulated basis 1,17,472 KCCs have been issued amounting to Rs 784.49 crore.

Under SSI Sector credit flow up to 30.09.2009, had been to the tune of Rs. 282.65 crore against proportionate target of Rs. 277.63 crore showing achievement of 101.81 per cent.

The district has achieved all other national goals eg PS advances to total advances, agriculture advances to total advances, advances to weaker sector and advances to women beneficiaries. The performance in respect of DRI advances is, however, not up to the desired level. The performance under government-sponsored schemes such as PMEGP, SGSY, etc is satisfactory, while the disbursement process needs to be expedited.

Girls perform giddha during the silver jubliee and prize distribution function of SB Senior Secondary School in Amritsar. A Tribune photo

Amritsar, December 22
The students from Pakistan and Spring Dale School today raised their concern over the degradation of the environment and saving the wildlife. Expressing their concern over the large scale violation of animals’ rights coupled with the depleting forest cover, which had led to global warming, a team of 12 Pakistani child artistes raised the issue through the medium of theatre. The students of Spring Dale expressed their solidarity. The Pakistani artistes earlier staged a play ‘Be zubaan’ dealing with animal rights at Punjab Naatshaala.

Declamation contest

The students of Spring Dale Senior School here won the declamation contest defeating teams from 14 other schools. The contest was held at Khalsa College for Education, Amritsar. Amandeep Singh and Gurshehbaz Singh, students of Class IX bagged the first prize in English and Punjabi language categories, respectively. Amandeep spoke on “Nuclear power- a boon or a bane” while Gurshehbaz talked about “media rules of the world”.

Skating medals

The students of Love Dale Senior School won two gold medals and a silver medal in skating event held at New Delhi recently. Neha Malhotra and Samreet Singh won the gold medals whereas Prabhjot won the silver.

Dental checkup camp

A free dental checkup camp was organised at SB Senior Secondary School. The camp was inaugurated by Baldev Singh Tiger, DIG (Home Guards and Civil Defence), Jalandhar range. The ailments of over 400 students and people belonging to poor strata of the locality were treated during the camp. Dr Akhilesh Kalia gave a talk on various diseases and their preventions during the camp.

Cinderella

The Indian Public School highlighted conservation of environment through a fairytale play Cinderella, enacted by students on its Annual Day today. In the play, palace guards were seen with placards around their necks urging conservation like ‘water is precious..save it’, ‘Nature is God.. worship it’ to bring home the message of importance of environment for our present and future generations. Senior students took the stage and danced on title song “Jai Ho” of “Slum Dog Millionaire.”