PATHANKOT DIARY The idea behind the District Administrative Complex (DAC) was to ensure that all government departments function under one roof, thereby giving respite to residents who can get their administrative work done easily. The same can be said about the Judicial Complex. The state government went ahead and built the buildings of both entities near Mallikpur Chowk. So far so good! However, instead of solving the problem, the authorities actually compounded it by constructing both DAC and the Judicial Complex nearly 7 km away from the heart of the city. Residents now have to cover long distances to reach these buildings. Those without their own vehicles have to be dependent on auto-rickshaws. They actually ‘fleece’ the residents by taking a two-way fare by claiming that there are no takers while returning. On numerous occasions, residents have complained against them but to no avail. It is a classic case of vote bank politics. Moreover, to compound matters, the auto-rickshaws are an extended family and have a strong union. Red blood malta may find more space The famous and immensely likeable red blood malta (orange) is likely to find more space in the city. A quick survey has been done by orchard owners who now claim that growing this variety will bring more money. This variety had actually become a rare commodity but now things are bound to change with more and more orchards owners opting for it. Kinnows, which were the favourite of residents and orchard owners, will stay but the focus to be on its cousin—red blood malta. Renowned physician Dr Arvind Kalra, who also owes orchards, says the variety is a bit difficult to grow because of the care it requires. “This variety is popular among fruit lovers. It got its name as the fleshy portion of the fruit has a reddish tinge and even the juice has a tinge of bright red colour,” Dr Kalra adds. “The red blood malta disappeared after orchard owners started growing Kinnows on a large scale in the early eighties. Kinnow, which has its origins in California, killed this fruit which has a high medicinal value because of rich contents of Zink and Magnesium,” said a Kinnow grower. Wife of former BJP MP back in action Kavita Khanna, the industrialist wife of former Gurdaspur BJP MP Vinod Khanna, is back in action. Denied the party ticket by the BJP high command to contest the recently concluded parliamentary elections, she had flown back to Mumbai. Now, she is back in the city. She makes it a point to attend almost all social gatherings being held in the town. She is a member of the BJP national executive. Now, she is all set to stage a comeback in the organisational set-up of the party. Her detractors claim that non-Punjabi speaking Kavita is a misfit in politics but the lady herself is undeterred by such comments. Khanna has made it clear to all and sundry that she is in contention for the party nomination for the 2019 General elections. Ravi Dhaliwal

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