Mohali is now Ajitgarh (India)

MOHALI: Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (SAS Nagar) or Mohali, has been rechristened as Ajitgarh, following approval of Union home ministry on Sunday.

During the tenure of former President of India Giani Zail Singh as Punjab chief minister from 1972-77, Mohali, which was named after a cluster of villages around Mohali village after the division of Punjab and Haryana in 1966, was renamed as Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar in the memory of the eldest son of Guru Gobind Singh, Sahibzada Ajit Singh. He had laid down his life at the young age of 18 fighting Mughal forces.

Political observers state that the name change never really gained any popularity as locals as well as those in power felt that the name was too long and preferred using Mohali.

An earlier proposal renaming SAS Nagar to Ajitgarh was also proposed in 1980s along with renaming a town near Phillaur to Ranjitgarh, in the memory of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It was felt at that time that the name, SAS Nagar, was too long and the shorter, Mohali, should instead be used.

However, Sunday's news of the name change to Ajitgarh has even taken Mohali-based government officials by surprise who are unaware of any such proposal sent to New Delhi.

Speaking to TOI, Mohali deputy commissioner Varun Roojam said, "We have not yet received any official communication regarding the change in name since today is a Sunday. Once we receive the official communication from New Delhi, only then I would be in a position to comment on this development."

He said, "I am not aware of any proposal regarding changing the name again from SAS Nagar to Ajitgarh, and have asked officials in the district administration to look for any such communication."
Locals too are somewhat surprised and slightly disappointed about change. Mohali-based Vikrant Singh Chaudhary said, "Re-naming an already renamed place would just add to the confusion. It's a good thing that everybody knows Mohali or SAS Nagar, but I believe that apart from official use residents would rarely use the name Ajitgarh to refer to Mohali."

source: Times of India

Delhi Fogged Out; Flight, Trains Hit (India)

According to related posts, Delhiites woke up to a foggy morning on Monday which has led to cancellation/delay of number of flights and trains.

The mercury hovered around 5 degree Celsius while sun was nowhere to be seen even as the day progressed prompting motorists to resort to the use of fog lights to negotiate through streets in the capital during the chilly morning. Visibility dropped below 50 metres and to almost zero in Palam area while it was around 200 metres at Safdurjung, the Meteorological Department said.

Image Credit: news.in.msn.com

Around 40 trains that arrive early morning are running late, while atleast 4 trains have been cancelled. Flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport were also disrupted with eights flights on the delayed list.  As per the Met department, fog would persist for the next 48 hours with visibility below-100m visibility. However, the haze would ensure that the temperature will go up a bit, the Met said.

The mercury has shown a downward trend in the past couple of days, with both the maximum and minimum dropping. The coldest day of the season so far was December 16 when minimum dropped to 4.7 degree Celsius and maximum to 21.7 degrees. In December last year, the minimum had come down to 5.2 degrees Celsius on the 22nd of the month. In the past decade, the lowest minimum for the month was recorded on December 12, 2005 when the mercury recorded 3.3 degrees Celsius while the highest maximum was 28.4 degrees on December 15, 2003.

The record for the lowest minimum for the month of December is 1.1 degree Celsius recorded on the 26th of the month in 1945 and the highest maximum was 29.3 degrees on third of the month in 1987. Cold wave has intensified in other parts of North India as well with over 60 deaths being reported from Uttar Pradesh. People in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Uttarakhand are also fighting the chill.

Fog had descended over large parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bangladesh on December 6 and now it has spread to the northern areas. As per reports, this year’s spell may turn out to the longest spell of fog over the Indo-Gangetic plains in December since 1998, when it lasted from December 7 to 28.

Leave your suggestions/ concerns in the comment box below.

Source: Related Posts on other sites