|
|
|
|
Centre’s nod to waste mgmt plant
PUDA to auction another lot of residential plots in Civil Lines area
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Students for closure of Open School shops
MC shuffles over a dozen officials in sudden move
Contractual nurses may gherao Assembly
GNDU holds lecture on Sardar Mahan Singh Dhesi
Experts dwell on urban development
campus notes
Health Department collects 38 samples from eateries
Theatre festival from March 11
Two held on molestation charge GNDU researcher honoured 2 injured in clash, 8 booked |
|
Centre’s nod to waste mgmt plant
Amritsar, March 5 The project, estimated to come up at a cost of over Rs 90 crore, has been hanging fire for the past over six years due to various bottlenecks, including a legal battle which was fought in the high court for long. After getting a go ahead from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Amritsar Municipal Corporation authorities have almost completed the homework and the process of floating tenders for roping in a firm that will execute the much-awaited Solid Waste Management Project in the city. The project will be funded jointly by the Centre, the state and the MC authorities. Officials said 50 per cent of the cost would be borne by the Centre, 30 per cent by the state and 20 per cent by the MC authorities. Out of a total of Rs 98-crore cost of project, Rs 49 crore has been sanctioned by the Centre. MC Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said the project report was approved by the Union Urban Development Ministry during yesterday’s meeting of JNNURM in New Delhi. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the civic body on July 23 to engage the execution firm and that process is on. The project was conceptualised in 2006 with much fanfare by a number of politicians, including Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, with a view to process garbage into eco bricks and green fuel, but that was not to be. Fingers were raised about the tendering process and the work allotted to a company was cancelled. Consequently, the firm had challenged the matter in the high court which declared it null and void during the final judgement. The BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu and his wife, CPS Navjot Kaur Sidhu, had also knocked at the door of the high court to clear the path for installation of the Solid Waste Management Project prominently. The city desperately needs the Solid Waste Management Plant to deal with the city’s garbage disposal problems efficiently. Under the project, about 700 tonnes of garbage would be collected from Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Jandiala and Patti. The things got worse when the Antony Waste Handling Pvt Ltd company withdrew its machinery from August 7, 2012, following a tussle with the MC over the payment of their dues. Till date, the MC is finding it a tough task to maintain cleanliness in the holy city. Even as MC officials claimed that the civic body had engaged private hands to do the job, the exercise was not enough to set the ball rolling.
|
|
PUDA to auction another lot of residential plots in Civil Lines area
Amritsar, March 5 The Chief Administrator of the Amritsar Development Authority (ADA), Sandeep Rishi, who also looks after PUDA here, said the Police Department had forwarded an estimate of Rs 23 lakh for the renovation of the abandoned building of the Family and Children Ward of Karam Singh Memorial Hospital, near Ram Bagh. The police offices would be shifted in this building. These government offices would be shifted to the abandoned building of the hospital, situated near Ram Bagh gate, before demolishing their offices. He said the Rs 23 lakh estimate had been forwarded for the approval of the Chief Administrator, PUDA. The refurbished hospital building would be ready for police officials' occupation within the next two months, he added. PUDA would hold the next auction for the rest of the 43 plots measuring 500 square yards each after about three months. Under the scheme, PUDA will develop two commercial pockets of 2.88 acres and 2.21 acres, respectively, 0.48 acre is being kept for multi-use, 0.32 acres for water works, 0.48 acres is kept as the reserved area and 2.72 acres the for setting up three parks. Majority of the successful bidders, who procured 43 plots during the auction held on March 1, were either politicians or their close associates. Officials associated with the project said in view of the high land rate and plot size, only affluent section of society could approach these.
|
|
Students for closure of Open School shops
Amritsar, March 5 Many students demanded the discontinuation of the open school system as it cost them more. Notably, the concept of appearing in exams as a private candidate was abolished in 2011. Earlier, students used to deposit examination fee individually but now they are required to take admission in open schools to appear in exams. A student said his school charged the monthly tuition fee apart from the annual examination fee, despite the fact that he was admitted to the school at the fag end of the session. He said the school authorities cited their in-house system as a reason for this. He said his family had to shell out over Rs 12,000 as annual fee. The student added that he had deposited Rs 1,000 as examination fee with the PSEB a couple of years ago for his matriculation examination. Earlier, private candidates used to submit their forms individually and were issued certificates with the name of the district printed on these. Sources said many schools did not comply with norms to ensure quality education and had taken affiliation only up to matriculation. However, they have taken approval for Class XII under the open school system. Moreover, these schools do not inform about their status to the public. A school needs to deposit Rs 13,000 as one-time fee with the board to get the associate status up to matriculation and Rs 13,000 per education stream (commerce, science and humanities) for Class XII. These schools deposit Rs 5,000 as continuation fee every year. District Education Officer Shinder Singh accepted that to ensure quality education, it was necessary to keep a check on open schools. He said he would write to the head office to review the concept of open schools. He said the erstwhile system was good as it did not burden students financially.
|
|
MC shuffles over a dozen officials in sudden move
Amritsar, March 5 Even as the move was according to the norms, the sudden action is being viewed as an outcome of the resentment shown by various SAD leaders, including senior deputy mayor Avtar Singh Trukkanwala who had prominently raised the issue of officials holding their chairs for
years together. The issue had gained prominence when it was pointed out that Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi was allegedly shielding Estate official Vishal Wadhawan and Health Officer Dr Yogesh Arora. The two had been occupying their seats for a long period. The SAD councillors were adamant on transferring them slapping charges of corruption on them and questioning their holding to hold such prominent positions for so long. The local SAD leadership had even approached the Deputy Chief Minister during his visit to the holy city for launching the city bus service. Sukhbir Badal had entrusted the task of resolving the issue to CPS Inderbir Bolaria and Joshi. It is learnt that Vishal Wadhawan has been shifted to the House Tax Recovery Department replacing Superintendent Shushant Bhatia. However, Dr Yogesh Arora still enjoys immunity from transfer and will continue in his present position. While Bhatia has been transferred to the Birth and Death Certification Department, Anil Arora, Superintendent of the General Branch, has replaced Vishal Wadhawan as the new Estate Officer. Similarly, Loveleen Sharma, Satpal Singh and Ashwani Sehgal have been shifted to the House Tax Department. Rajinder Sharma has been transferred to the General Branch, Subhash Chopra to Health, Pardeep Kumar and Daljit Singh to Water Supply & Sewerage, Pushpinder Singh to Property Tax, Jaswinder Singh to Census and Licencing and Asha Anand to the Agenda-Pension Department. MC Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said, "We acted according to the policy that stipulated that no official should hold a post for more than three years. More officials may be shifted in the days to come," he said.
|
|
Lisa Ray shares her struggle with cancer, surviving it bravely
Amritsar, March 5 Lisa, who we all know as the Afreen girl from the late Nustrat Fateh Ali Khan's song, has had her share of success in international cinema with films like "Water", "Cooking with Stella", "I Can't Think Straight" and popular play "Taj" working alongside Kabir Bedi. The actor who flew in the city early morning and had an afternoon flight to catch hurried with her visit while promoting the brand. Speaking with the media about resuming her cancer treatment last year after surviving multiple myeloma, Lisa said her life had been completely changed by the experience. "It was a difficult time, but it also made me value my health. There are thousands who are fighting the disease and I just want to reach out to them and share what I learnt from my experiences," said Lisa, who is half Bengali and half Polish. She has been invloved with global charities working for cancer survivors and patients back home in Canada. "I feel wonderful, healthy and strong, I've switched to a plant-based diet and I'm active in a number of exciting projects which I keep on sharing with the world. There is a lot about surviving cancer that people do not know about. My focus is on educating and making them aware," she shared. Her current focus is not on her career in films, but on the charities that she is part of. She also shared her struggle with cancer through her blog, Yellow Dairies, which gave an everyday account of her life while undergoing treatment. The celebrity said said, “I’m delighted to be here as it’s a beautiful place and I am happy that I could be a part of this prestigious opening event.”
|
|
Contractual nurses may gherao Assembly
Amritsar, March 5 However, Satinder Pal Singh, vice-president of the Staff Nurses and Paramedical Contractual Employees' Association, said they were contemplating to gherao the Punjab Assembly, which was in session in order to press for their demands. Meanwhile, support continued to pour in as hundreds of nurses and paramedical staff under the Directorate of Health Services decided to join them at Patiala. Earlier, representatives from the Punjab Nursing Association, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Punjab State Subordinate Services Federation and the Paramedical Staff Federation had extended their support to them. The Aam Aadmi Party workers had also joined their protest yesterday. The government had offered them 33 per cent hike in their salaries besides assuring regularisation of their services after three years. However, the contractual employees said they were being exploited by the Punjab Government. They alleged that the government had failed to regularise them even after several years of service. “Some of us have worked on contractual basis for eight years,” said Satinder Pal Singh. Meanwhile, the condition of Karamjit Kaur, president of the association, deteriorated. She is on hunger strike for the past nine days. She had refused to take any medication even after the district administration forcibly took her to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital yesterday.
|
|
GNDU holds lecture on Sardar Mahan Singh Dhesi
Amritsar, March 5 Prof Surinder Singh from Panjab University, Chandigarh, was the resource person on the occasion. Prof MS Hundal, Dean, Academic Affairs, presided over the talk. Dr Bir Good Gill, Head of the Department, spoke on Sardar Mahan Singh Dhesi and welcomed the dignitaries. A large number of researchers and students from various departments were present on the occasion. Prof Surinder Singh made a critical analysis of the socio-religious culture of the region based on literary writings of three legendary poets Bulleh Shah, Shah Abdul Latif and Nazir Akbarabadi who wrote in Punjabi, Sindhi and Urdu. He stressed on the unity of thought and fusion of cultures in their poetry. He said despite the difference in ther language, the poets managed to achieve communal harmony and represent the voice of the common man. “These poets advocated a non-philosophical and non-dimensional devotion, irrespective of all differences and peculiarities. These socio-religious ideas, as articulated by some leading poets during the 18th century, went a long way in undermining the influence of orthodoxy and sectarianism, which was promoted by revivalist leaders like Shah Waliullah,” he added. Prof Hundal in his presidential address underlined the importance of the composite culture, universal love and communal harmony in the present times. He said, “We should not forget our spiritual background.” GNDU declares results
Results of MSc (chemistry, semester-I) and MSc (internet studies, semester-I), MA (media studies and production-III) and BSc (IT, semester I and III) held in December last year, were declared by Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), on Tuesday. Dr RK Mahajan, in charge (examinations), said the results were available on the university’s website
www.gndu.ac.in.
|
|
Experts dwell on urban development
Amritsar, March 5 Eminent scholars and professionals from all over the country attended the conference. The participants deliberated on urban development scenario, land acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, besides policies and programmes to rejuvenate urban development in the northern region. Prof MS Hundal, Dean Academic Affairs, presided over the discussion, while Dr DS Meshram, former president, Institute of Town Planners of India, New Delhi, was the chief guest. Dr Hundal said India was being urbanised rapidly. The country’s urban areas were facing problems like slums. So, inadequate infrastructure, poor transportation network and said planners should make efforts to fix the maximum size of the cities so that they remained controllable entities. Dr DS Meshram said the profession of planning had been growing at a fast pace in the country. “As many as 10,000 planners are required for towns and cities of India in the next 20 years. It is not possible to arrest the growth and expansion of cities, so we need to promote their planned and controlled development,” he said. Pardeep Kapoor, Senior Town Planner, Government of Rajasthan, said procurement of land was necessary for the implementation of any project. He said with the enforcement of the new Land Acquisition Act, the availability of land would become difficult. Pundharkar from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), New Delhi, discussed the issue of land acquisition in Delhi. He said the DDA was working on the land pooling technique. Dr Ashwani Luthra explained the urbanisation in India and its future scenario. He mentioned how theLand Acquisition Act, 1894, had lost its relevance. He emphasised on the need to bring out pragmatic models and guidelines to work out rates of compensation and social impact assessment studies. Kiran Sandhu, a lecturer, made a presentation on the neo-urban paraphernalia and its impact on urban development in terms of compatibility, bankability, good governance, etc. Rituraj Kaur, Assistant Professor, presented a paper on urban policies in Haryana. She mentioned the legislative tools for urbanisation and highlighted a geographic information system (GIS) based database, being prepared in Haryana. She also discussed the EWS Housing Policy of 2012.
|
|
20 clear NTSE
As many as eight students of Class X of DAV Public School cleared the first stage of the National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) conducted by the NCERT. Of the 20 students who qualified from the district for the national-level round, eight are from DAV Public School. The national round of the exam will be held in May. The students who would appear in the national round are Tanishq Kansal, Pranshul Aggarwal, Ashray Sharma, Raghav Arora, Bhavya Vasudev, Manavdeep Singh, Shrey Sharma, Kaustubh Nayyar. Regional director, Amritsar Zone, Dr Neelam Kamra, congratulated the students for the achievement. 28 get jobs
As many as 28 students of Amritsar College of Engineering and Technology (ACET) got jobs in AON Hewitt through a placement drive. ACET Principal Dr VK Banga said they succeded due to their hard work. Refresher course begins
A three-week refresher course in teaching of English language and literature commenced at GNDU on Wednesday. As many as 21 teachers from various higher educational institutes from all over the country participated in the programme. HS Gill, Professor Emeritus, Punjabi University, Patiala, presided over the inaugural session. Avinash Nagpal, Director, Academic Staff College, welcomed the chief guest and
others. Prof Sukhdev Singh, course coordinator from the Department of English apprised the participants of the thrust area of the course. Professor Gill touched many important issues and concepts like architectonic structure of the text, problems of translation, formation of paragraphs and then transformation of the micro sections to macro sections, human conditions and the impact factor. Sukhdev Singh said language and literature were complementary to each other. Therefore, they needed to be taught together. Dr Mohan Kumar proposed a formal vote of thanks.
— TNS
|
|
|
Health Department collects 38 samples from eateries
Amritsar, March 5 They also collected milk samples from eateries in Attari and
Ramtirath. Five samples of sweets were also collected from Kanhya Sweets near Phoollan Wala Chowk in the walled city. Four samples from Aahuja Sweats and two samples from Plaza Bakery were also collected. Dr Kahlon said they took samples of gutka from a gutka supplier. He said all the samples would be sent to a food testing laboratory for chemical examination.
|
|
Theatre festival from March 11
Amritsar, March 5 The festival will be dedicated to Dr CD Sidhu. Plays like "Pulsirat" by Kewal Dhaliwal, "Ghost" by Mushtak Kak of Amateur Theatre, Jammu, "Nagmandala" by Sangeeta Sharma of Anveshna Dance Theatre, New Delhi, "Satyagraha" by Arjun Deo of Charan Rammat, Jodhpur, "Kehar Singh Di Maut" by Lakha Lehri of Sarthak Rangmanch and Social Welfare Society, Patiala, will be staged during the festival. "Sohni Mahiwal" by Rishi Pal of Faith In Theatre, Haryana, "Bobby Breaker" by Geeta Aggarwal Sharma, Dharohar, Yamunanagar, and "Museum" by Ankur Sharma of Yuva Theatre, Jalandhar, will also be staged.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Amritsar, March 5
of Technology (IIT), Mumbai. Prof BS Randhawa, Head of the Department, said her poster was adjudged one of the best posters among the 500 posters presented there.
She was awarded a cash prize of Rs10,000 by the Chemical Research Society of India. The award was sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry, London.
— TNS
