Amritsar, November 25
Almost all the gates dating back to Maharaja Ranjit Singh era have been defaced with posters, display boards and plaques.

Only six gates have survived out of 12 gates erected almost two centuries back. Even as the government is investing crores of rupees in preserving the holy city's heritage, its own departments, politicians and individuals have been tinkering with the heritage oblivious of its significance.

Leaders belonging to the ruling party have got installed a plaque on the wall of Gate Khazana bragging about their "achievements".

On the wall of Lahori Gate, a Friends club has put up a display board announcing contact number of a beat officer of police station D division. Besides, plenty of posters have been pasted all over the walls of gates by various organisations.

These gates were said to be constructed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to protect the city from foreign invaders.

Historian Harish Sharma said over the period of time the wall around the city has disappeared and just six gates have survived. He said these gates namely Hall Gate, Hathia Gate, Lahori Gate, Khazana Gate, Hakima Gate and Sultanwind need to be preserved.

An attempt to raise gates, which got destroyed, could not see light of the day. Specifically, two gates Darwaja Ramgarhia and Darwaja Ahluwalia were to be raised. These two gates were believed to have been demolished after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

The British administration had tried to re-construct some of the historical gates and most of the sites were named after English administrators. For instance, Hall was named after the then Deputy Commissioner of the city C.H. Hall in 1876.

He said it was believed that Amritsar looked like a fortified city in the days of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Municipal Corporation Commissioner Dharampal Gupta said soon all gates would be restored to their original self. He said no defacement of heritage structures would be allowed and strict action would be taken against the violators.

Historian’s take
Over the period of time the wall around the city has disappeared and just six gates have survived. These gates namely Hall Gate, Hathia Gate, Lahori Gate, Khazana Gate, Hakima Gate and Sultanwind need to be preserved, says, historian Harish Sharma

official speak
The MC will restore the beauty of all gates soon. No defacement of heritage structures would be allowed and strict action would be taken against the violators

— Dharampal Gupta, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation

Amritsar, November 25
One girl was killed while another one was critically injured after they were hit by a train on Sunday.

Hailing from Panipat, the girls had come to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple. The girl who succumbed to her injuries was identified as Vaishali (20). The other girl, Jasmeet Kaur (16), is under treatment at a private hospital where her condition is stated to be stable.

Even though onlookers termed it as a case of suicide as there was no crossing point at the spot, the investigating officer of the Government Railway Police (GRP), Satwant Singh, maintained that it was an accident which occurred when the girls tried to cross the track. “According to their statement, they had come to visit the Golden Temple. At the Shivala crossing line, they could not gauge the speed of the train approaching towards them and the accident occurred as soon as they tried to cross the track,” he said.

A few minutes after the Chandigarh-bound Superfast train left the platform at about 5.25 am, the train passengers heard shouts. The passengers pulled the emergency chain to halt the train.

After the train halted, the passengers pulled them out and called an ambulance.

A passenger said, “One of the girls told us about their identity. I informed her parents at Panipat about the incident on the mobile phone,” he said.

Both the girls were taken to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. Later, the family members of both the girls shifted both to Dr Karam Singh Memorial Hospital. Since, Vaishali’s condition was quite serious, she was shifted to Amandeep Hospital.

Doctors who attended on Vaishali said she was in a very critical condition when she was brought to the hospital at about 8.30 am.

Dr Harish of Amandeep Hospital, “Our team of doctors tried to save Vaishaili but weren’t successful. Even her blood pressure was out of control. She had three cardiac arrests. She died between 4 and 5 pm.”

Ram Kishan, Additional SHO of the GRP, said the guardians of both the girls have arrived and further investigation is on.

On a pilgrimage
y Hailing from Panipat, the girls had come to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple.

y The girl who succumbed to her injuries was identified as Vaishali (20). The other girl, Jasmeet Kaur (16), is under treatment at a private hospital where her condition is stated to be stable

y Even though onlookers termed it as a case of suicide as there was no crossing point at the spot, the investigating officer of the Government Railway Police (GRP), Satwant Singh, maintained that it was an accident which occurred when the girls tried to cross the track

Amritsar, November 25
The man who was arrested for allegedly raping a minor girl has been sent to judicial custody.

The accused has been identified as Bela Mahanto, hailing from Mohli, Cheema Bath, Lucknow.

The police said the accused (32), who was arrested on November 20 at Jalluwal village near Beas, was already married and had four children in Lucknow. He had kept the girl (14) under illegal confinement since November 16 at his local residence.

The Beas police team also rescued the girl from Mahanto’s house. In her statement to the police, she alleged that the accused had kept her against her wishes at his house and raped her several times.

The girl has been sent for medical examination. The accused was produced before a local court which sent him to judicial custody.

The girl came to the Jalluwal village near Beas along with his father Jiwat Mahanto, a resident of Basna in Lucknow, to assist him in the harvesting work in the fields a few months back. Bela Mahanto lived a few yards away from the girl’s house.

The girl’s father, Jiwat Mahanto, alleged that the accused had tried to allure his daughter on the pretext of marriage and detained her illegally at his house.

The investigating officer, Lakhbir Singh, said the accused was arrested under Sections 242, 363, 376 and 386A of the IPC.

“Her father suspected involvement of Bela about her disappearance. We raided his house and recovered the victim,” he said.

“On interrogation, we came to know that the accused was already married and had four children in Lucknow. We have registered the statement of the victim, who said she was detained against her wishes and was raped several times. Further action would be taken as per the medical report we receive from the lab at Chandigarh,” told the police official. 

Amritsar, November 25
It was his grandmother’s culinary skills coupled with her routine visit to the Golden Temple’s community kitchen as a volunteer that inspired Vikas Khanna to set his goal in life. And he achieved that and became a celebrity chef.

Having grown up in Amritsar, Vikas has now made his way to the United States and has worked with some of the most honoured chefs in America.

He was in the city today to launch the third edition of Master Chef India, a cooking game show on television. He has been invited for the auditions to be held in Amritsar on December 3 at a prominent hotel here.

While talking to The Tribune, Vikas said it was due to his grandmother that he got drawn towards the intricacies of Indian cuisine.

“I must be 10 then. I used to accompany her to the Golden Temple kitchen and imitate her while she made chapattis. The feeling which I could experience then was enough to make me aware that the best way to reach people’s heart is through stomach only,” he said.

Telling about his journey, Michelin-starred chef Vikas said he started his own catering business, Lawrence Gardens, at the age of 17 and the business is thriving till date.

Upon his graduation from the Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration, Vikas went on to train under renowned chefs of Taj Group of Hotels, Oberoi, Leela Group and many more.

Vikas is the executive chef of the Junoon Restaurant, which has drawn the attention of New York press.

The Cafe Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art with Vikas’s menu has been named the Best Asian restaurant in New York.

He has received recognition from the James Beard Foundation in the US. Richard Gere, Tyra Banks, Sir Salman Rushdie, Harrison Ford, Christina Hendrix, Martha Stewart and ace tennis player Andre Agassi are among the many elite who have dined at Vikas’s restaurants.

In the past, Vikas has cooked for galas and events honouring former US President Bill Clinton, Madonna and Mohammad Yunus, among others. Last year, he cooked a ‘saatvik’ meal at the Dharmic Seva Conference for Hindu American Seva Charities at the White House.

“Post Wisconsin firing incident, I wanted to make the residents residing over there aware about the basic principles about Sikhism. An idea struck me and to catch the fancy of common American, I decided to organise community langar for them to explore the langar traditions prevailing in gurdwaras. I got university students involved in my mission and we served traditional ‘daal’ and chapattis free of cost. This idea was highly publicised and I feel I was quite successful in my mission”, he said.

Vikas invited Amritsarians to take part in the auditions for the third season of Master Chef India.

master chef
In Amritsar to hold auditions for Master Chef India season 3, Chef Vikas Khanna says he set his goal of becoming a chef taking inspiration from her grandmother, who was herself a fine cook and used to visit the Golden Temple community kitchen often.
Having grown up in Amritsar, Vikas has now made his way to the United States and has worked with some of the most honoured chefs in America

official speak
I must be 10 then. I used to accompany her to the Golden Temple kitchen and imitate her while she made chapattis. The feeling which I could experience then was enough to make me aware that the best way to reach people’s heart is through stomach only

Amritsar, November 25
Even after two months of the formation of the new Municipal Corporation (MC) House, there are no signs of the first meeting of the House. The city is facing many important issues like delay in solid waste management plant, streamlining the garbage collection system, sewerage and water supply issues, which needs immediate attention.

According to officials, the cash starved municipal corporation has not yet received its share of budget from the government. Apart from the main projects of solid waste management plant, augmentation of the sewerage system and garbage collection system; the obligatory services of the municipal corporation includes the maintenance of roads, sufficient water supply, regulating property/house tax, and building rules.

The municipal corporation is already facing staff crunch in its various departments. It’s been over five months when the interviews for engaging 346 safai karamcharis were held. This delay in the recruitment process is also taking a toll on the cleanliness in the holy city. 

official speak
The agenda of the house meet has to be prepared by the administrative staff only and till date I have not received any list of proposals

— Bakshi ram Arora, mayor

The meeting would be scheduled soon. Except for the fresh development projects, the ones already in the pipeline never get stalled under any circumstances

— Dharampal Gupta, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation

Amritsar, November 25
Seven employees of Walmart’s Best Price store have been booked for allegedly stealing articles from the store located on the GT Road.

Seven employees, out of which three are women, allegedly kept stealing costly articles from the display podium, not knowing that their act was being captured by a hidden CCTV camera installed at the store.

On the basis of complaint submitted by the management, the Chattiwind police has registered a case against the employees.

The management officials came to know about the stealing when they checked the CCTV footage of weeks.

It has been learnt that the CCTV footage revealed how an employee appeared and pocketed the articles from the shelf. Few minutes later, six other employees appeared in the picture and stole the articles.

No arrest has been made so far. “It is a matter of investigation. They have allegedly forged the record registers too. We have asked for the list of missing goods from the management”, he said. 

Caught on camera
The act of employees were captured in the CCTV footage. Three out of seven employees are women.

Amritsar, November 25
About 400 delegates from various colleges and universities across the country took part in the 40th Annual Conference of Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle.

Tejinder Sigh, additional chief secretary, Study Circle, presented the annual education report and Iqbal Singh, another additional chief secretary, offered report on social works discharged around the year.

Professor Apinder Singh announced that Gurmat programmes would be launched to curb social evils in villages. Kanwaljit Kaur elaborated the works of the Study Circle towards the women literacy.

Dr Inderjit Kaur, head, Bhagat Puran Singh Pingalwara Charitable Trust, elaborated the welfare as propounded by the Sikh gurus.

Pirthi Singh, chief secretary of the Study Circle, said: “The Study Circle would take moral tests of about 15,000 students in 2,500 schools and colleges and about 30,000 students are expected to take part in 100 personality development and leadership training camps to be held in the next year." 

Amritsar, November 25
The need of the hour is to make amendments in our education system keeping in mind the communication abilities and innovative skills among the students instead of imparting only theoretical knowledge for apt social and economical setup, said professor Dev Parkash Agrawal, Chairman, Union Public Service Commission, New Delhi, while delivering his lecture at the 43rd Foundation Day celebrations of the Guru Nanak Dev University at the Guru Nanak Bhawan.

Professor JS Grewal, former Vice-Chancellor of the university, and Professor Jaspal Kaur Singh, professor, English Department, Northern Michigan University, USA, also presented their views on this occasion.

Professor AS Brar, Vice-Chancellor, welcomed the guests. Dr Inderjit Singh, Registrar, introduced the eminent speakers. Many academicians and eminent personalities of the city participated in these celebrations. Dr Rajinder Kaur Pawar, Dean, Academic Affairs, presented the vote of thanks.

Professor Agrawal advocated for quality research. Showing concern about the dropout rate, he said: “Around 60 to 75 per cent students are enrolled for primary education but 40-50 per cent only reaches the higher education level.”

While talking about the rate of growth, Professor Agrawal said: “We still have large population below poverty line which clears that less population is receiving quality education. Although there is right to education at primary level in our constitution but less people are aware of this.

Professor AS Brar said, “Guru Nanak Studies Department and School of Punjabi Studies are contributing towards the objectives of the university.” He said the centre is engaged in significant research on Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

Earlier, the day-long celebrations began with the Bhog Sri Akhand Path at the University Gurdwara Sahib followed by the Shabad Kirtan by Bhai Maninder Singh, Hazori Ragi, Sri Darbar Sahib and Ardas.

A hockey match between women teams of Punjab University and GND University was also organised at the university’s hockey stadium. In addition, a keertan darbar was also organised in the evening at the Gurdwara Sahib of the university.

In the folklore competitions, BBKDAV College for Women, Amritsar, and Sri Guru Angad Dev College, Khadoor Sahib, stood first. Guru Nanak Dev University College clinched second position while Mata Gujri Memorial College, Balvanda, took the third position. Hans Raj Mahila Mahavidiala, Jalandhar, and SSM College, Dinanagar, were awarded the consolation prizes.

Meanwhile, Professor Agrawal also inaugurated an exhibition of rare books and manuscripts arranged at the Bhai Gurdas Library.

Foundation
This university was established to commemorate the 500th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev on 24 November, 1969. It is envisaged in the Act of the university that it will make provision for the study and research on the life and teachings of Guru Nanak Dev and will also promote Punjabi Studies.

Amritsar, November 25
With a view to safeguard the interests of the small farmers, the Kirti Kisan Union will stage a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s offices across the state on November 30.

Union vice-president Datar Singh while addressing a meeting of the workers said, “Farmers’ who owns up to 5 acres of land must be clubbed under the category of small farmers.”

He said, “As per the survey of the Punjab Agriculture University, 21 per cent farmers in the state are under heavy debt and they can not repay their debt even after disposing off their entire land.”

He said, “The demands of the small farmers include waiver of all kinds of loans, government job to at least one member of the family, free water for irrigation, agriculture implementation centers for sowing and cultivation, subsidised seeds, fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, government and panchayat lands in villages must be given to them for free and the land ceiling must be reduced from 17.5 acres to 10 acres. 

Amritsar, November 25
The students of Shri Ram Ashram Senior Secondary School yesterday unfolded a mesmerising performance in the play ‘Ehsaas’ depicting the feminine qualities like patience, co-operation and sacrifice on the concluding day of their 89th annual day function.

Narrative of the play also stressed on the significant role of parents in bringing up their girl child.

School Principal Neetu Sharma presented the annual report of the school which highlighted various achievements in academics, co-curricular and sports activities. A craft exhibition was also held and the school Magazine ‘Kshitiz’ with theme “Armaan” was also released on this occasion.

Prominent among the others present on the occasion included Balbir Bajaj, president of the society running the School, and KS Pathania, Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, were present.