DESIGN CLINIC Workshop Organised

Ludhiana, February 2, 2013: A "Design Clinic Workshop" was organised by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, in association with the Karnal Print-n-Pack Industries Association (KPPIA), Karnal recently at Barog Heights Resort, Solan, Himachal Pradesh.

T.L. Satyaprakash, Director of Industry and Commerce, R.C. Dahra, Addl, Director (Cluster), Haryana Government, A. K. Sinha, Director, Directorate of Printing, Govt. of India, were the distinguished Guests during this two days Workshop. Kamal Chopra was the key-note speaker whereas National Institute of Design was represented by Inder Kumar and Shweta Chaudhary.

Welcoming the participants, T.L. Satyapraksh assured that Haryana Government is making all out efforts for the development of MSME sector. For this purpose, Common Facility Centre for Print packaging industry is being set up at Karnal under the Cluster Development Scheme and more such centres are being planned for other segments in several districts of Haryana. Entrepreneurs in MSME sector are welcome to come forward with their problems, proposals and suggestions. He assured that the State Government would consider them seriously and positively. Sinha also assured every type of support and assistance from the Centre Government as and when the Association comes forward with concrete proposal for the benefit of printing industry.

Kamal Chopra traced the history of printing worldwide since inception of civilisation and assured that the future of printing is also bright if we keep pace with the changing times and adopt new technologies with an open mind. Cluster approach will only alternative to grow and compete in the global market.

Chopra congratulated the KPPIA members for their efforts to organize the workshop at such a place where the members and relax while participating in the conference without any official of domestic disturbances. The selection of venue is always a crucial part for such a workshops and it is matter of greatest satisfaction that everyone is concentrated only on the given agenda.

In his address, A K Sinha appreciated the activities of KPPIA and informed that Government of India is the biggest buyer of printing in India and assured that due consideration will be given to the associations and clusters while making further purchases. He assured his complete cooperation for the development of Printing and Packaging Cluster at Karnal and said that he will explore the possibilities of training of press staff at the Government of India press, Nelokheri near Karnal.

Sinha urged the delegates to avoid cut throat competition and must study the cost of production while quoting any rates.

The venue of the workshop Barog is located at a height of 1560 metres above the mean sea level. Due to its height, temperatures here range between 23 to 10 °C during summers and between 15 to 5 °C during winters. The hotel Barog Heights is located at a height and during the days of workshop due to snowfall it was surrounded by snow clad mountains, the delegates enjoyed the surroundings and it turnouts to be a perfect and ideal location for the workshop.

The story of this small city is quite different; Barog was settled in the early 20th century during the building of the narrow gauge Kalka-Shimla Railway. It is named after Colonel Barog, an engineer involved in building the railway track in 1903.Barog was responsible for designing a tunnel near the railway station. He commenced digging the tunnel from both sides of the mountain, which is quite common as it speeds up construction. However, he made mistakes in his calculation and while constructing the tunnel, it was found that the two ends of the tunnel did not meet. Barog was fined an amount of 1 Rupeeby the Britishgovernment. Unable to withstand the humiliation, Barog committed suicide. He was buried near the incomplete tunnel. The area came to be known as Barog after him.

Later the tunnel was constructed under Chief Engineer H.S. Harrington's supervision guided by a local sage, Bhalku, in a short period from July 1900 to September 1903 at a cost 8.40 Lakh. This tunnel is the longest of the 103 operational tunnels on the route of the Shimla-Kalka Railway, which is 1143.61m long. Barog station is immediately after the tunnel. Barog tunnel is the straightest tunnel in the World.Trains take about 2.5 minutes to cross this tunnel, running at 25 kilometres per hour.

The workshop was skilfully conducted by Vinay Taneja and his team. C.G. Dhingra, President of the Association, while thanking the honourable guests, the faculty and the 30 participants, hoped and wished a bright future for the print packaging industry.