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No trace of 10-yr-old boy; kin go on protest path
GNDU lifts trophy at youth festival
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City surveillance project nowhere in sight
Going innovative this divali
Most shop owners have decided to go grand this time with huge, decked up entrance gates outside the shops.
Photo: Sameer Sehgal
Dengue stings city; 20 cases so far
Two minor girls kidnapped
Meeting the special
ones: Children greet Canadian Minister Tim Uppal (blue turban) during his visit to Pingalwara in Amritsar on Sunday.
Photo: Vishal Kumar
Designer cakes, a new concept of pampering your loved ones
Designer cakes and chocolates are much in demand this festive season in Amritsar.
Photo: Sameer Sehgal
Air pollution goes up by 200 per cent on Divali: Chest specialist
Velodrome at GNDU
Exhibition for art lovers
Visitors take a look at the paintings at the ongoing art exhibition at Thakar Singh Art Gallery
in Amritsar. Photo: Sameer Sehgal
Students put up art show at BBK DAV
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No trace of 10-yr-old boy; kin go on protest path
Amritsar, November 11 They sat on a protest dharna and blocked the main Amritsar-Jammu road outside the historic Gurdwara Nanaksar in Verka about 10.30 am. The blockade forced the police to divert the traffic movement to another route. The protest was withdrawn only after the assurance by the police to expedite the proceedings in tracing the boy. The dharna continued for about two hours during which the residents raised slogans against the police for its failure to locate the boy even after four days of his alleged kidnapping. A kidnapping case was registered only on Saturday. Earlier, the police has lodged a missing report. The police has taken several relatives of the victim's family into custody for investigations. However, they were released following the intervention of BJP leaders who assured the police that the persons taken into custody had no connection with the kidnapping of the boy. Ironically, the police has failed to make any headway in the case. They were still groping in the dark and there was no clue about the mysterious disappearance of Gurkirat Singh who had gone to play near his house, but did not return. Earlier, the case was being linked to a land deal struck by his father worth several crores. It was being thought that he might have been kidnapped for ransom, but the family has also not received any ransom call till now. Meanwhile, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Health, Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu met the aggrieved parents and expressed sympathy with the family. She directed the police authorities to trace the boy as soon as possible and to leave no stone unturned in this regard. The police authorities present at the spot to pacify the agitating family members sought more time for locating the boy. They said the police parties are working round the clock to solve the mysterious disappearance of the boy. Karaj Singh, a relative of the kidnapped boy, said the family would intensify the agitation if the police failed to locate the boy within next couple of days. He claimed that several farmer organisations have extended their support to the agitation. Police inaction
Resident speak The family will intensify the agitation if the police fails to locate the boy within a next couple of days. Several farmer organisations have extended their support to the agitation. — Karaj Singh
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GNDU lifts trophy at youth festival
Amritsar, November 11 Sardar Sikandar Singh Maluka, Minister of Higher Education and Languages of Punjab, was the chief guest on the occasion and gave away trophies and medal to the winners. Vice Chancellor Prof Ajaib Singh Brar presided over the prize distribution function. Registrar Dr Inderjit Singh; observer from Association of Indian Universities Dr RK Dhand; Dean, Students Welfare, Dr PK Shejpal; Dean, Colleges, Dr MS Hundal; and Director Youth Welfare, Dr Jagjit Kaur were also present. Sardar Maluka welcomed the various teams from different universities of North India. He said these types of festivals provide a common platform to understand the culture of neighboring states and develops the sense of brotherhood between students. He also congratulated the Vice Chancellor for the successful organisation of this festival. He said though the youth of Punjab have been excelling in every field, most of the youth lag behind in higher education as compared to other states. He called for collective efforts by institutes and teachers to meet this challenge. He said the Punjab Government has kept education at top priority in its budget. He said in the near future various universities of Punjab would sign MoU with Punjab University, Lahore, for exchange of faculty and research. Earlier, Prof Brar lauded the achievements of Guru Nanak Dev University in various fields. He also encouraged student-artists who didn't secure positions in the festival to work hard and overcome their shortcomings to get better results at the next festival. Final results
Category: Music-Classical vocal solo (Hindustani/Carnatic) 1) Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar; 2) Ch Devi Lal University, Sirsa; 3) Lovely Professional University, Phagwara; Himachal Pradesh University, Simla, & Punjabi University, Patiala. Classical Instrumental Solo (Percussion - Tal Vadya) 1) Guru Nanak Dev University, 2) Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar; 3) Lovely Professional University, Phagwara; Himachal Pradesh University, Simla Classical Instrumental Solo (Non-Percussion-Swar Vadya) 1) Guru Nanak Dev University; 2) Dr BR Ambedkar University, Agra; 3) Lovely Professional University; Punjabi University; and University of Jammu Light Vocal (Indian) 1) Punjabi University; 2) Guru Nanak Dev University; 3) Lovely Professional University; Panjab University, Chandigarh Western Vocal Solo 1) Guru Nanak Dev University; 2) Punjabi University; 3) Kurukshetra University Group Song (Indian) 1) Guru Nanak Dev University; 2) MD University, Rohtak; 3) Punjab Technical University; Himachal Pradesh University, Simla; Ch Devi Lal University, Sirsa Group Song (Western) 1) Punjabi University; 2) Guru Nanak Dev University; 3) Lovely Professional University Folk Orchestra 1) Guru Nanak Dev University; 2) Lovely Professional University; 3) Punjabi University Music Trophy:
Guru Nanak Dev University Category: Theatre-One Act Play 1) Guru Nanak Dev University; 2) Kurukshetra University; 3) Himachal Pradesh University Skit 1) Punjabi University; 2) Panjab University; 3) Punjab Technical University; MD University, Rohtak; GNDU Mime 1) Guru Nanak Dev University; 2) MD University, 3) Panjab University Mimicry 1) MD University, Rohtak; 2) Guru Nanak Dev University; 3) Punjabi University Theatre
trophy Guru Nanak Dev University
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City surveillance project nowhere in sight
Amritsar, November 11 The project was aimed at to check criminal activities and traffic violations. Funded by the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) and supported by the state government, the project is still caught up in offices for approvals. The police department has identified key points in the city where these cameras were proposed to be installed. Apparently to win people's attraction, political leaders and bureaucrats have announced the project at various forums, but nobody has ensured its materialisation. Initially mooted by Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu a year ago, the project was hailed as a first in Punjab and was supposed to be completed by the end of 2011. Firstly, the SGPC elections and then the Assembly elections were stated to be the reasons behind the delay in the installation of these cameras. The Amritsar Police Commissionerate conducted a survey and submitted the report to the AIT. As per which the high-resolution day and night cameras are proposed to be connected with the centralised control room established at C-Division through dedicated broadband lines. Besides, providing top surveillance that will help check crime, it will also help in better traffic management. Even Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on a visit to the holy city in August said under a huge modernisation plan, intensive CCTV cameras in all the major cities of the state are in the offing. The CCTV surveillance project would also help in increasing conviction rate as the police would have visual evidence to support their cases. The police would now have database of record footage for a period of minimum 15 days or more as per requirement. The activities/movement of suspects/suspected vehicles can be kept under surveillance and help in nabbing the criminals by alerting the parties on the track being followed by them. The project would also help in better management of traffic. Hit by Govt apathy
Key points
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Markets light up with theme-based decorations
Neha Saini Tribune News Service
And the spirit is a bit higher and better displayed in the holy city, known for its Divali celebrations. Whether it’s the busy bylanes inside the walled city or the swipe clean outlets in the city malls, the festive décor seems to be the biggest selling point this Divali. With the recent hikes and inflation, anxiousness is writ large on the faces of consumers and traders. But some Divali spark is sure to cheer up the mood. To lure customers and tourists, the market and traders associations have been working on the innovative themes to decorate markets this year. The wholesale bazaars inside the walled city are the most popular and crowded during Divali and so the most decorated ones. Most shop owners have decided to go grand this time with huge, decked up entrance gates outside the shops. Some display floral patterns while others have religious symbols and idol motifs. The walled city is flooded with light, “We believe in attracting crowd with our out-of-the-box ideas. Over the years, we have decorated the market based on some simple designs, but this time we have used lot of LED lights to make Ganesha and Lakshmi idols at our entrance,” says Nirotam Khanna, a wholesale trader at Hall Bazaar. “The walled city has maximum tourists during the festive season and so it becomes important to get innovative with the market decorations,” shares Ashok Ghai, another shopkeeper inside walled city. “Since it’s an important trade and business hub, there is a lot of planning that goes into decorating the market,” he says. Moving out from the bylanes, the hi-end brand outlets at Mall Road, Lawrence Road and Ranjit Avenue too have gone extravagant with their decorations. Rising to the occasion, the jewellery stores in city are the ones to look out for. The grand entrance gate outside Khurana jewellery house has a lavish flower decoration that leads the way to the store with Victorian style lamp posts and antique lamps on the sides. Tanishq has gone yellow just like gold with endless rows of bright lights. Malliram has decked up the entrance gate with bright crystal chandelier hangings. The others have followed the lead and gone for interesting decorations like orchids, diyas, rangolis and even installing Ganesha idols. "Not only theme-based decoration, but ongoing shopping festival is also pulling crowds to our markets. The attractive décor helps boost the sales and also pleases the festive mood of the potential customers," says Devendra Mehta, manager, at a leading jewellery brand in city.
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Dengue stings city; 20 cases so far
Amritsar, November 11 So far the health department has received 90 suspected cases of dengue out of which just 20 patients were found to be suffering from the disease. Out of these, 19 patients have already been discharged from hospitals after treatment. The department has received reports of 87 such cases while it was still waiting for examination reports of the remaining three suspected patients. Dr Charanjit Singh, district epidemiologist, said till November 10 last year, the department had 142 confirmed cases of dengue out of total 265 suspected cases. To counter the dengue menace, the health department has issued clear cut instructions to the private medical institutions not to declare the dengue by own their own. They have been directed to report the case to the health department following which a team would take the samples of the patients which would be examined in the government medical college. After getting the final report, the health department would confirm whether the patient was suffering from dengue or not. The district epidemiologist said considering the pattern and occurrence of dengue cases in the city last year, the health department took steps in advance to put a cap on this problem. As fumigation is the only way to kill dengue mosquitoes after the larvae stage, he said the department got the fogging done in the residential as well as in the areas where dengue was reported last year. It covered all the areas where the disease was likely to raise its head in advance in April and in June this year. “This helped control the disease to a larger extent,” said Dr
Charanjit.
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Two minor girls kidnapped
Amritsar, November 11 In the first case, the Sultanwind police has booked Sarabjit Singh of Ranjhe Di Haweli for allegedly kidnapping a 14-year-old girl from the Krishna Nagar area. The victim's father in his complaint alleged that on November 2, the accused abducted his daughter after alluring her for marriage. He said the family has searched for the girl, but could not locate her. In another case, the police booked an unidentified person for kidnapping a minor girl from Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar. The girl's mother told the police that her daughter went missing on July 12. Later, they found a mobile phone with two SIM cards in the house. She alleged that the accused to whom these two numbers belonged had kidnapped her daughter after alluring her for marriage. The Sultanwind police has registered two separate cases under Section 363 and 366 of the IPC against the accused.
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Designer cakes, a new concept of pampering your loved ones
These small, round delicacies with dollops of innovative icing, festive designs and a topping of colourful sugar “sprinkles” are indeed selling like hot-cakes this season, especially with corporate-style gift hampers. Eating into Divali's traditional gift platter, these designer and hi-end creations have many takers. “This Divali, I thought of sending something different. So, I am sending Divali-themed cup cakes to my family and friends,” shared Jyotika Bansal, who is out shopping for more for her two sons, Unmukt and Uday. Likewise, Ashima Bhardwaj, a media professional from the city, too has invested in packs of Belgian chocolates and fondue cakes as gifting options. “These days nobody really eats sweets for health reasons, so cakes and chocolates make for a good option. Also, they look classy and come with customised detail and it makes the Divali gift more personal and intimate,” she says. It appears as if traditional Indian sweets have found a replacement. “People are fed up with the usual Divali sweets and they want to give something different this season,” says Parvez Arora, owner, Chic Chocolate. “We have so many orders for Divali cakes and bakes. People want assorted varieties in one box so we try to put in a mix of all Divali designs in one box,” he says, and has lost count of the orders on a daily basis. His wife, Aviruchi, specialises in making customised designer cakes and has come up with a colourful and delicate collection of designer bakes for Divali. “It includes cup cakes, donuts, dry cakes, fondants and some innovations like Ferrero Roacher cakes, cake sorbets that are crushed and made into small balls wrapped with chocolate, puddings and cookies.” Not only are cup cakes available in their usual chocolate avatar, they are also available in their lemon, vanilla and blueberry variants. With more and more people opting for this exotic variant, the demand for these festive designer creations has increased over last year, says Parvez, who has also put up his creations for an open sale at Amritsar Club. For those who love fruity flavours, there are some special hampers, customised to suit the bill. “Some people get customised cakes done with special messages, pictures imprinted on them. Exotic cakes with fruit and nuts, chocolates and mousse cakes are the most popular ones,” says Raunak Bedi, who makes homemade customised designer cakes. For all the diet conscious people and for the ones who have health problems, sugar-free variants are in place. “We have offer sugar free cakes for all the cake lovers who also want to lose weight. But for Divali everyone asks for the regular one,” says Raunak. Along with cup cakes, mini, festive, Divali- special doughnuts are also in great demand. Also, candies with fruit flavours, dry fruits, nuts and caramel too make for assorted gifts options.
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Air pollution goes up by 200 per cent on Divali: Chest specialist
Amritsar, November 11 Speaking during an interactive session with asthmatic patients at hospital premises, he said this rise air pollution poses a grave threat to about 30 million asthmatics in India. “Is this the best way to celebrate the much awaited festival?” said Dr Ravneet Grover. He aim was to make patients aware about precautions to be taken, especially during the festive season. Dr Grover said fireworks were one of the causes for childhood bronchial asthma, particularly in children between the age group of 6-12 years. He said recently it was established that 26 per cent of people without any prior history of respiratory ailments, develop symptoms of coughing, wheezing and breathlessness during Divali each year. “Emission of toxic dusts and chemical components from the crackers increases air pollution by 200 per cent and aggravates the risk of triggering asthma attacks in millions of people in India, who have asthma”, he said. Explaining about the components of firecrackers, he said, “Crackers contain 75 per cent potassium nitrate, 15 pc carbon and 10 pc sulphur. And when they are burnt, noxious gases like sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, manganese and cadmium are released. This causes irritation to lungs and leads to triggering asthma attacks.” “Each year, on Divali days about 10-15 asthma patients are admitted to the hospital who require emergency treatment due to aggravation of their asthmatic symptoms and few even require hospitalisation. Also, beginning Divali till the end of February, there is about 30-40 per cent increase in asthma cases. He cautioned asthmatics to remain away from crackers completely and keep their inhalers handy as the air pollution leads to the ‘development’ of symptoms in even healthy adults and children without any history of respiratory ailments. He called upon NGOs and health organisations to organise awareness camps on anti cracker themes. Dr Grover said, “It has now been established that fire-crackers cause severe health hazards in even healthy people. Coughing, wheezing and breathlessness are reported to develop in 30 per cent people and there are about 20 per cent people who complain of irritation of eyes, runny nose, allergy symptoms and itchy skin and these are linked to the increase in air pollution caused by the fire-crackers.”
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Velodrome at GNDU
Amritsar, November 11 Appreciating the sports infrastructure available in the university, Maluka said it is indeed a matter of pride that the university is the only one in the country who won the prestigious Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) trophy for a record 21 times. The Vice Chancellor informed the minister that GNDU is committed for the promotion of sports in this region and therefore, it is continuously adding to the infrastructure for various sports activities on the campus. He said the velodrome was constructed at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore and has been adjudged the best among all the 16 velodromes built at Indian universities by the University Grants Commission. He hoped that the university would excel in sports with the construction of this velodrome matching the international standards.
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Exhibition for art lovers
Amritsar, November 11 About 40 of some of the prominent works are for public display out of the collection that the academy has. Some of the senior artists from the city were present to inaugurate the exhibition. Some of the paintings have been restored and preserved for their texture for the
buyers.
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Students put up art show at BBK DAV
Amritsar, November 10 Their works included decorative candles, diyas, handmade greeting cards, envelops, key holders, show pieces. Sweet dishes were also prepared by the
students like chocolates, cup cakes, brownies and eatables like macaronis and dhokla.
— TNS
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Family members and relatives of 10-year-old Gurkirat Singh, who mysteriously disappeared on Wednesday, today blocked the Batala road for two hours in protest against police inaction in the case.
Amritsar, November 11
Amritsar, November 11
Amritsar, November 11
Amritsar, November 11
Amritsar, November 11
Amritsar, November 11