Expressing solidarity with the people of Bihar in their hour of crisis, the Gujarat government has decided to send rescue personnel to the aid of those reeling under the flood. Twelve rescue teams, six each from Ahmedabad and Surat, will be flown to the flood ravaged state on Sunday morning.

Nearly 70 trained personnel selected from the Ahmedabad and Surat fire departments will leave at 8.30 am with rescue equipment as per the instructions of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA).

While Rajesh Bhatt (divisional fire officer) will lead the Ahmedabad contingent, D H Dodhia will lead the Surat team. As many as 125 life jackets and ropes are also being dispatched with the rescue teams, said M F Dastoor (additional chief fire officer).

The Surat teams will join their Ahmedabad counterparts on Sunday morning.

The GSDMA initiative came after Chief Minister Narendra Modi wrote to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, assuring all possible help in relief and rescue operations.

The GSDMA is equipped with modern equipment and infrastructure besides trained personnel.

Modi has also urged the Union Home Minister to ensure necessary arrangements to airlift rescue teams and equipment. He has also announced a relief package of Rs 5 crore for the beleaguered state.

Amrita Pritam

Amrita Pritam (31 August 1919-October 31, 2005) is a household name in the Punjab, being the first most prominent woman Punjabi poet and fiction writer. After partition she made Delhi her second home. She was the first woman recipient of th Sahitya Akademi Award, the first Punjabi woman to receive the Padma Shree from the President of India in 1969. Though critical of the socialist camp, her works were translated in all the east European languages including French, Japanese and Danish. Mehfil, a quarterly from Michigan State University published an issue on her works. She got Jananpeeth award in 1982 for her lifetime contribution to Punjabi literature. She received three D Lit degrees from Delhi, Jabalpur and Vishva Bharti Universities in 1973 and 1983 respectively. Inspite of her poor health, she is still active writing and editing a monthly magazine in Punjabi Nagmani.

“Rasidi Ticket”, her autobiography, was one of her most controversial books. they also received three D Lit degrees from Delhi, Jabalpur and Vishva Bharti Universities. She continued writing and editing a monthly magazine in Punjabi, “Nagmani”, for years despite her failing health. Author of over a 100 books, some of which have been translated into several languages, including French, Japanese and Danish, Pritam’s accounts of Partition became the theme for the Hindi film “Pinjar”. A former member of the Rajya Sabha and recipient of the Padma Shri in 1969, she was awarded Sahitya Akademi award for her book “Sunedeh” and Jnanpeeth Award for her contribution to Punjabi literature.

At the time of Partition, in 1947, Amrita migrated to Delhi. After migration, she started writing primarily in Hindi, instead of her native Punjabi. She has authored two autobiographies, titled, “Rasidi Ticket,” and, “Aksharon kay Saayee.” Her novel, “Pinjar” (Skeleton), about the agonies of Partition riots, was recently turned into a famous movie by director Chandra Prakash Dwivedi. The French translation of this novel received the La Route des Indes Literary Prize in France, while its film adaption received the Screen and Zee Telefilms Award.

The translation of this poem has been an interesting six month journey through the Punjabi language and Punjabi culture; starting from the fact that it was impossible to find an Urdu/Persian text of the original poem, despite efforts in India, Pakistan and Canada. In addition, many of the words and terms used in the poem are part of the, “pure,” vocabulary of Punjabi, which has now, unfortunately, been replaced by its slang street version in Pakistan’s Punjab. This makes it even more difficult to translate the already, “untranslatable” Punjabi phrases. In addition, the cultural and agricultural similes are based on village customs, thereby making them quite difficult to unravel and comprehend.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that while terrorism divides people, tourism acts as a uniting force.

Addressing a gathering in New Delhi on Friday night after the special screening of a documentary on Kutch, Modi said his state has managed to attract tourists from across the world thanks to a tourist friendly policy and infrastructure.

“While terrorism divides people, tourism works as a uniting force,” he said. “In the 2001 earthquake, Kutch suffered heavy losses. But within eight years it stood up and is welcoming tourists again,” he said.

Leader of the Opposition L K Advani, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel were also present during the screening of The Unveiling of Kutch.

The short film discovers the various facets of the ‘white salt desert’.

Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will address ‘World Gujarati Conference 2008′ being held in the US, via video conferencing from Gandhinagar at 0400 hours tomorrow.

The World Gujarati Conference (WGC) is being held in New Jersey from yesterday.

Modi has been addressing many such events via video conferencing from 2005 when he was denied a US visa. Modi was denied visa to the US after the 2002 riots.

“The Chief Minister has not applied for the US visa recently. The recent campaign in the US against him is the handiwork of forces opposed to the state,” official sources said.

Modi’s speech will be shown live on the official website of the state government www.Gswan.Gov.In, they added.