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The Autorickshaw Story
The tiles on the gate are coming off
with each passing day |
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No Roza Ration Worries
Members of the Al Habib Charitable Trust distribute eatables to Muslims in
the Amritsar Central Jail. Photo: Vishal Kumar
Young World
Punjab Karan Ki Sifat Teri, Planning staged
Govt’s plantation
drives merely publicity stunt: NGO
Punjab climate suitable for Basmati cultivation: Experts
‘Upsurge of Maoists in Nepal likely to strain ties with India’
Seechewal to help clean Kasur Nullah
Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal on his way to the Kasur Nullah in
Tarn Taran. A Tribune photograph
Seminar on fluorescent sensors
Civil Services
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Traffic police chalk out diversion plans to cut chaos
GS Paul Tribune News Service
Amritsar, August 10 Parking on the road by auto rickshaws - in the absence of any designated place for an auto stand - and thoughtless halts in the middle of the road to pick passengers, are grave violations which autorickshaw owners indulge in carelessly, upsetting the tempo of smooth traffic or aggravating the situation on an already chaotic road. The Herculean task of managing the ‘auto rickshwaw menace’ has been initiated by the local traffic police in co-ordination with municipal authorities of the city. In the first phase, the Amritsar traffic police has chalked out a plan to divert auto rickshaws approaching towards roads leading to ISBT. The autos coming from the GT road to ISBT would be diverted towards the City Centre. Similarly, the ones coming from Jandiala Manawala, Duburji and Tara wala Pul, along with those coming from areas like Vallah, Mehta Chowk, would be diverted through Ram Talai Chowk to City Centre. Besides this, there would be a blanket ban on autorickshaws throughout on the Maha Singh Chowk and Chitta Gumta Chowk. If officials are to be believed, this plan would ease the traffic volume outside ISBT. How far these steps would prove effective is yet to be seen but the core problem of multifold increase in the illegal autorickshaw operations in the city has not been addressed as yet. According to the District Transport Office records, there are around 9,342 officially registered rickshaws in the city. Meanwhile, there are around 25,000 autos operating in the city in an illegal manner. It is an irony that almost all of these - generally overloaded - autorickshaws are driven by underage, inexperienced drivers, many of whom do not have licences. Consequently, the traffic lights installed beneath the elevation just mean decorative lights for them. They apply breaks anywhere on the road to pick up passengers, unmindful of the heavy traffic trailing behind them, thereby leading to serious road accidents. While finding no space for parking, auto rickshaw drivers, not only park their prized possessions just in the middle of the road, but try to outdo each other to catch a customer for their ‘already overloaded autos.’ OfficialSpeakAdditional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Surinder Singh Sidhu: It is true that unless there is a designated place for parking autorickshaws, the problem would not meet a logical end. I am pursuing the matter with the municipal authorities in this direction. The validity of auto drivers and their vehicles would be checked with the collaboration of the DTO wing shortly in the next phase. The alternate mode of transport, like low-floored buses too, should be introduced soon so that autos should never be the only local public transport. Traffic Zone II in charge, GT Road Ashok Kumar: Another problem we observed was that auto drivers hesitate to park their autos inside the Bus Stand premises, auctioned to private contractors, who charge about Rs 180 per vehicle. That’s why they try to find place anywhere near the bus stand in order to catch passengers but ultimately it creates chaos on the road. We are on the job and our appeal to the auto operators is to hand over their vehicles to those who carry valid driving licences and the documents of the vehicle should always be in the vehicle to avoid further complications.
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The tiles on the gate are coming off
with each passing day Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service
Amritsar , August 10 The tiles on the gate, prominently located at Naraingarh Chowk along with a magnificent statue of General Sham Singh Attariwala, a gallant commander in the army of legendary Maharaja Ranjit Singh, are coming off with each passing day. It resulted in appearing of ugly patches on the gate, which offers a clumsy look to the domestic and international tourists. The construction of the gate was completed in February, 2009, and was formally inaugurated by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on January 17 and within a few months the tiles have started coming off. This shows that low-quality material was used for the construction of the gate. When the matter was brought to the notice of the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, D.P.S. Kharbanda, he said the gate would be restored to its original condition with in a week. He assured that punitive action would be initiated against the private company which had constructed it. The Gateway of Amritsar greeted the international tourists coming in and crossing over from the Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post. The dismal look put the nation in shameful state, said a senior citizen, Major Mohindar Singh Sarkaria. Badal, as the then Chief Minister, had laid the foundation stone of the gate in 1976, but the project could not see the light of day. The foundation stone was again laid by former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh in 2006. The Rs 3.35-crore project on 2.5 acres is located around 15 km from the Indo-Pak border. The gate is 70 ft high with a base of 80 sq ft. An 800-ft-long and 18-ft-wide passage was constructed with granite and Dhaulpur stone. As per the original plan, the second phase of the project would see the construction of an international-level cafeteria for the visitors, which would cost about Rs 25 to 20 lakh.
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Charitable trust to do the needful for Muslims in jails
P.K. Jaiswar/TNS
Amritsar, August 10 Talking to The Tribune, Mustaqeem, member of the trust and secretary to Shahi Imam, said the trust had been offering eatables and other requisite materials like caps and handkerchiefs for offering Namaz, Kuran Sharif (holy scripture of Muslims) and other religious books in as many as 13 jails for last three years. The trust is also contemplating to extend this facility to the inmates lodged in the jails of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, he added. “This is the fourth year and we decided to distribute things among the inmates of various jails in state from Amritsar Central jail wherein about 155 Muslim - 128 male, 14 females and 13 children- are languishing,” said Mustaqeem. He said the trust also provides legal services of Lawyers to economically weaker Muslims. The trust has also planned to distribute new cloths during Eid festival. Mustaqeem said during his brief stay in the jail after a dispute, he observed that the people of community face problems in celebrating Eid besides observing fast during the Ramzan. Earlier, it was emotional scene at jail premises when the members of the trust were distributing the eatables tears rolled down on their face of many of them. It is pertinent to mention here that there were about 100 inmates in Ludhiana, 80 inmates in Malerkotla, 40 in Jalandhar, 30 in Sangrur, 25 each in Gurdaspur and Bathinda, 15 in Hoshiarpur, 12 in Ropar, 10 each in Ferozepur and Patiala and 5 in Nabha.
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Kartik to perform symphonies for Oz radio channel
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, August 10 Earlier, he had performed as a guest singer at the Radio channel last year. Kartik skillfully plays the symphonies of noted composers ‘Scott Joplin and Christopher Norton’ on the piano. GND varsity counselling
Guru Nanak Dev University would hold counselling for M.Tech (urban planning) and master in planning (infrastructure) on August 13. All the candidates who have applied for the said courses
are required to appear for the counselling along with their original documents. Varsity toppers
Kritika Kohli, a student of M.Sc (Chemistry) at Khalsa College, has topped the Guru Nanak Dev University in Semester - II examination with 83 per cent marks. Trailing her is Manpreet Kaur on the third spot. Manjit Kaur stood fifth and Kanwaljit Kaur got
sixth position and Shilpa Sharma secured the 10th position in the University. Innovative competitions
The DAV Students Leadership Programme Association held a number of competitions, under the banner of the “Shine India” campaign at the DAV Public School campus. Students from 16 schools in Punjab participated in the programme which held competitions, ranging from graffiti on nationalism and environment to a confusing quiz, besides innovative competitions on topics such as reality shows or child labour, salesman’s ability to sell nonsensical items, documentary competitions on problems of India, computer games, renaissance of carom board, workshops on internet security and other
fun competitions. GIMET, GIM scorers
The MBA students of GIMET and GIM educational institutes secured 100 per cent results
with more than 20 students scoring above 80 per cent marks and the topper Abhishek Mehra getting 89 per cent. Other star performers of the institutes are Arika Mehrotra (87.63 per cent), Shama Rana (87.50 per cent), Shikha Kapoor (87 per cent), Isha Naulay (86.63 per cent), Davinderjit Kaur
(86.38 per cent), Gurpreet Kaur (85.63 per cent), Gagandeep Kaur (85.50 per cent) and Richa Dhawan (85 per cent). 34 ICM students pass
IPCC, PCC exams
Institute of Commerce and Maths (ICM) claimed that 34 of its students have passed the IPCC and PCC examinations. In a press release issued here today, its Director Gautam Bery said in all, 45 students had appeared in the tests. |
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Govt’s plantation
drives merely publicity stunt: NGO
Amritsar, August 10 “The recent incident has yet again proved the fact that the plantation drives launched by the government and district administration is merely a publicity stunt. It is a well-established fact that the saplings being planted today cannot match the characteristics of a 100-year-old tree and moreover, who knows how many of them will survive,” said Gurbhej Singh, General Secretary, Mission Aagaaz. “What’s the fun of giving full-page advertisements on Vanamahotsava costing crores of rupees, when we don’t care to save age-old heritage trees? The intention of the government is quite clear. Much hyped government sponsored plantation drives under different banners are nothing but simply an eye wash and a typical political drama to divert the attention of general public,” he rued. The seriousness of the government and administration could be gauzed from the recent incident of chopping of age old pipal tree at Chatiwind Chowk with all the authorities washing off their hands in the case, he alleged. The tree could have easily been saved, he added, if the authorities cared to do so. While appealing to all the NGOs working for the protection of environment to boycott all the so called plantation drives of the government until it gives written assurance for the protection of age old heritage trees like pipal and bohar under any circumstances and stringent action against the timber mafia, added Gurbhej. The National Highway Authority of India today inaugurated the work of plantation of saplings of trees on the sides of Amritsar-Attari bypass road leading to Attari joint check post. About 5,500 trees were chopped for widening and construction of four lane road here. The NHAI had decided to plant as many as 7,000 trees along both sides of the road, said Deputy Commissioner, Kahan Singh Pannu while adding that the authority would also plant approximately 30,000 small plants and shrubs in the divider and both sides of bypass road. It is to mention here that the Forest Department has also assured to plant 20,000 trees along the road. The Deputy Commission added that the NHAI would also plant 6,000 saplings on the Amritsar-Jalandhar Road. Earlier, renowned environmentalist Baba Sewa Singh of Khadoor Sahib had planted trees on main GT Road.
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Punjab climate suitable for Basmati cultivation: Experts
Amritsar, August 10 The workshop was conducted under the auspices of Markfed, Punjab, Agricultrure and Process Food Product Export Development Authority (APEDA), New Delhi, and Basmati Export Development Foundation (BEDF), Meerut. Dr J.S. Kolar, former Director, Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, and presently Member, Board of Management of PAU, Ludhiana, and Punjab Farmer Commission, was the chief guest. More than 250 progressive farmers from the state participated in the workshop. Navneesh Sharma, Deputy General Manager, APEDA, New Delhi, highlighted the role of the APEDA in the promotion of export of Basmati rice. Dr Ritesh Sharma, Executive Scientist, BEDF, explained the technique for producing quality seed of Basmati rice. While giving introduction of the contract farming of Basmati by Markfed, S.K.Jha from Markfed, Chandigarh, informed that the programme was initiated in 2006-07 with an area of only 16,342 acres under Basmati with contract farmers. During the current year (2010-2011), about 50,000 acres, spread over 18 districts of the state and involving about 6,000 farmers, had been covered under the contract farming of Basmati programme. The farmers were educated about the latest technology regarding integrated nutrient management, weed management and water management and integrated test and disease management by Markfed’s senior consultants. — TNS
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‘Upsurge of Maoists in Nepal likely to strain ties with India’
Amritsar, August 10 He was delivering a lecture on “Social and Political Roots of Maoists and the Implications of their Politics for India and the South Asian Region” under the auspicious of the Department of Political Science of the Guru Nanak Dev University here yesterday. Senior professors, research fellows and students of the Department of Political Science and the School of Social Sciences attended the lecture. Dr Sharma said India and Nepal had close cultural connections and the Treaty of 1950 has been a milestone in the bilateral ties of the two countries. “Despite the fact that a large number of Nepalese work in India and people are free to move freely on either side of the border, certain elements within Nepal perceive India as a colossal power, out to dominate the region,” he said. He said such a perception had led to fear of Indian domination in the minds of Nepali people and this was hampering establishment of multi-faceted meaningful ties between the two countries. Dr. Kuldip Singh, Head, Department of Political Science of the university, pointed out that such apprehensions, though unfounded as established by the history of relations between the two countries have not allowed meaningful economic ties to take place. For example, for India the need of the hour is to explore the possibilities of importing of hydro electricity from Nepal, the project which has not materialized because of trust deficit in Nepal. Among others, Prof. Gurnam Singh, Prof. Jagrup singh
Sekhon, Dr. R.S. Sandhu and Mr. Harmit Singh participated in the discussion. |
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Seechewal to help clean Kasur Nullah
Tarn Taran, August 10 Baba Anantbir Singh of the RVS had already been carrying out the kar sewa of cleaning the nullah for the last five months. The nullah and the path had been used a garbage dumping place by the Municipal Council since decades. Baba Anantbir Singh with the help of the devotees in the first phase of the kar sewa cleansed the interior portion of the nullah and also removed the garbage from the paths of the nullah. The sansthan approached Baba Seechewal keeping in view of the projected cost of cleaning. Sant Seenchewal came here today and took serious note of pumping of sewage into the nullah by the MC against the set norms as the nullah was meant for rainwater disposal. He assured the RVS his full cooperation in cleansing the nullah and said the matter should be brought to the notice of the residents of the area. |
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Seminar on fluorescent sensors
Amritsar, August 10 He was delivering a lecture on “Fluorescent Sensors”, organised by the Chemistry Department of DAV College here. Importance and applications of sensors were emphasised during the seminar The day long seminar was held in the College premises. He elaborated on the applications of sensors and emphasized that in the coming time it would ease applications of electric gadgets. Officiating Principal of the college A.K Chugh and Dr Sanjay Sharma, Head of Department, Chemistry, focused on the need and practical implications of these sensors.
— TNS |
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GND varsity to start coaching programme from August 25
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, August 10 Centre Director Dr Jagrup Singh Sekhon said the programme would commence from August 25. He said Rs 6,000 would be charged as fees from the general category students while Rs 3,000 would be charged from the reserved category students, including SC/ST and minority communities like Sikh, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist and Jain. The application form would be available in the Centre at Rs 30 and the last date for the submission of complete application forms is August 18. The interview for selection of students would be held on August 20 at 10 am in the Centre, he added. Further information, aspirants can contact officials on phone number 0183-2258802-09 (ext 3174).
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Environment day organised at govt school
Tarn Taran, August 10 |
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Khet Mazdoor Sabha organises dharna
Tarn Taran, August 10 The workers also took out a rally in the bazaars of the town and presented a memorandum of their demands to the district authorities. On the occasion resolutions were passed, demanding supply of 14 essential daily use items to the weaker section through the public distribution system, an increase in the monthly pension to Rs 1,000 under the social security scheme and an increase in the amount of the Sagan Scheme to Rs 25,000. |
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Tarn Taran, August 10
