Father of Indian Arbitration passes away

Rajinder Deepa Abohar, Punjab

City loses Father of Indian Arbitration
Dr. P.C. Markanda passes away

Dr P.C. Markanda, Senior Advocate and a renowned authority on Arbitration Laws, passed away here in the wee hours of the morning after a short illness. He was 84.

One of the leading arbitration lawyers of the Supreme Court of India, architect and structural engineer, author, and academician, Dr. P.C. Markanda spoke very recently at a national level webinar on the 9th of October along with the Union Law Minsiter, Mr Kiren Rijju.

Popularly known as father of Indian Arbitration, he had been a multifaceted personality who excelled in the field of architecture as well as law.  Author of numerous papers, and books on law and architecture,

He was a Civil Engineering graduate who ventured into law and did his doctorate and acquired specialization in the fields of construction and infrastructure investment and joint venture, international and domestic supply contracts, service contracts, oil and gas company contracts, railways etc.

Dr Markanda served on various national and international artbitration law bodies, ,  . He has also served on various Boards and Advisory Committees and continues to provide advise to the voluntary sector.

As a civil engineer for 27 years he left indelible mark having constructed and designed many multi storeyed RCC structures, including Gymnasium in Punjab University having 100 feet clear span, the largest in any University in Asia, and was consultant to the Engineering Consortium in 1982 in Baghdad (Iraq).

Possessed of a strategic mind and ability to formulate bespoke solutions to clients requirements he has for many years acted for parties involved in contractual disputes. For his deep knowledge of arbitration and related fields he is on many arbitral tribunals with known High Court and Supreme Court judges.

Dr Markanda had been visiting professor and on board of studies of various universities for architecture too. 

Chandigarh Liteerary Society releases Alka Kansra's Book of Poetry

Dr Sumita Misra and Gen VP Malik release Alka Kansra's Book, "Zindagi Kavita Ho Gai" 

Chandigarh Literary Society (CLS) organized a function at Chandigarh Press Club on 8th October to release Alka Kansra's book of poetry, "Zindagi Kavita Ho Gai"

 

Chief Guest of the evening was Haryana's Additional Chief Secretary Dr Sumita Mishra IAS, an accomplished poet and Chairperson CLS, who commended Alka for amazing collection of seventy poems that touch varied aspects of life, love, romance, relationship and gender concerns.

 

She said that creative pursuits beyond one's mundane professional life help balance it that makes life meaningful and joyful.

 

General V P Malik PVSM, AVSM (Retd) and his wife Dr Ranjana Malik graced the occasion as Guests of Honour, and ex-IAS, author and TEDx speaker Vivek Atrey was the special guest on this occasion.

 

General VP Malik said that "though I have not read much poetry but I could not put down Alka's latest anthology which touches the heart and provides glimpse into the poet's vast canvas of experiences she assimilated and could express it in a simple style, which is more difficult to do."

 

Dr Ranjana Malik recited some of the poems from the book and pointed out the diverse facets of Alka's personality who had been a teacher of chemistry and inspired many lives of young girls, and now through her poetry, she is touching the lives of the people.

  

Vivek Atray suggested that everyone should discover the book that each one carries within, and share it with the world by publishing them.

 

Actor, Director and writer Vijay Capoor conducted the programme and interspersed the programme with poetry from the book.

 

Alka Kansra shared her journey of writing which started after her retirement as head of the chemistry department from MCM DAV College, and expressed her gratitude to her mentor – the famous writer Dr Virender Mehandiratta, who guided her and honed her skill in Hindi poetry that resulted in her first book in 2019, "Peedhion ke kshitij" (पीढ़ियों के क्षितिज).

 

Many literaty figures from the city attended the book launch including Dr. Kailash Ahluwalia, Col D.S. Cheema, Prem Vij, Vijay Capoor, Shakuntla, Jatin and Renuka Salwan, CJ Singh, Amulya Shukla, Simi Hans, Parminder Soni, and many members of Chandigarh Literary Society, and book clubs, amongst others.  

 

"I have just finished translating a Hindi poetry book into English, and am already working on two poetry books, one in English and another one in Hindi," informed Alka Kansra.