The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

MLA’s kin killed in shoot-out
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 8
The ongoing war over supremacy in liquor trade, fed regularly by the two ‘well-known’ Akali Ministers, has taken a grim turn. A kin of a Congress MLA, injured in a shoot-out between two liquor groups at Samrala last night, died at the CMC hospital today morning.

The deceased Jagjit Singh Jaggi nephew of Congress MLA Amrik Singh Dhillon had received gun shot injuries when the two rival groups of liquor contractors clashed with each other at Samrala last night.

Following the shoot-out there is tension in the town. According to reports, the traffic on the Chandigarh-Ludhiana highway remained blocked for several hours last night. A heavy police force has been deployed. Officials of the Excise Department have also been rushed to the town.

The police has registered a case against four persons. These were Umraopinder Singh, alias Pammy, Ranjeet Singh alias Jeeta, Sarbjit Singh (brother of Ranjeet Singh) and Balwant Singh. Two of these Umraopinder Singh and Ranjeet Singh were arrested on the spot. The police has also found the weapons used by them.

The incident took place at main bazaar last night when the deceased along with other persons were standing in front of their shop and the accused’s party was passing by. The rival group pulled a fast one at the other group which led to heated exchange and violence. According to the police the accused also opened fire. The deceased Jagjit Singh was shot at when he started throwing bottles at the other group from the rooftop. He was then shot at.

The police arrested two persons from the site. The deceased was rushed to the CMC, Ludhiana. The bullet had pierced his chest. He died today morning.

According to enquires made by Ludhiana Tribune, the rival groups were once close associates and worked under the leadership of the Congress MLA, Mr Amrik Singh Dhillon. However, later due to some differences these groups parted ways. Since then the rival groups were at loggerheads.

Meanwhile, the postmortem of the deceased was conducted at the civil hospital here today and the body was taken to Samrala.

12 Punjabi writers honoured
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 8
As many as 12 noted Punjabi writers and intellectuals were honoured at a function held today at Punjabi Bhawan in the memory of Kartar Singh Dhaliwal. Mr N.K. Arora, the chief guest, released a souvenir on the occasion. The souvenir contains the citations of all 12 awardees.

Mr N.K. Arora, Chief Secretary of Punjab presented Rs 1 lakh and a citation to Prof Pritam Singh. Prof Pritam Singh in his acceptance speech said, "I am glad to receive such a great honour from my fellow literary figures. I take the money as advance to make me think that if I work for the remaining years left to me, I deserve it or I would have to return the award.

Incidentally, his daughter and his pupil Dr Dalip Kaur Tiwana also received an award of Rs 1 lakh.

The other recipients of the award were Rattan Singh Jaggi, Dharampal Singhal, Afzal Ahsan Randhawa (a Pakistani poet, who could not come for he was denied the visa), Hardev Singh Virk, Waryam Singh Sandhu, Inderjit Hassanpuri, Baldev Singh, Harbhajan Singh Hundal, Sukhwant Kaur Mann, Bhagwant Singh, all of them received a cash prize of Rs 21,000 each and a citation for their contribution to Punjabi literature.

Kartar Singh Dhaliwal, was dedicated to the cause of promoting Punjabi literature and culture. For the past 16 years, his family has been instrumental in presenting cash awards to the prominent literary luminaries of Punjabi, who are selected on the basis of their merit by the members of Punjabi Sahitya Academy.

The president of the Punjabi Sahitya Academy, Mr Amrik Singh Pooni, paid rich tributes to Dhaliwal and his family. Tracing the history of Punjabi Sahitya Academy, he said, "The academy came into existence 47 years ago. Eminent personalities like M.S. Randhawa, Pritam Singh have been associated with it. The academy has established a library of mainly reference books where the research scholars can find all the material. I feel sad that the bill to implement working in Punjabi in the offices was passed 34 years ago. Yet, we have not been able to make it a official language."

He appealed to the Chief Minister, and the Chief Secretary, Mr N.K. Arora, the chief guest to accept the files in only Punjabi. He also regretted that some institutions were rendering yeoman service for the cause of Punjabi literature but they were not given any financial assistance and hence the work suffered.

For the past 16 years, the Punjabi Sahitya Academy with the support of Dhaliwal has awarded cash prizes of Rs 21,000 to 80 literary figures and has presented an award of Rs 1 lakh to nine prominent personalities of Punjabi literary world.

Poets amuse in police academy
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 8
How does a poet react to degradation of cultural values, particularly the West-inspired fashion among women which prompts fashion-crazy among them to wear less and less clothes. Poet Sagar Khayami says: Zahid maze mein aur na kalandhar maze mein hai, Kapda farosh aur na tailor maze mein hai, jab se kiya seen tanoo ne libaas kam, tab se humare shahar ke machhar maze mein hain.
The occasion was the annual seminar on Sufism organised by the Centre for Sufi Studies at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Police Academy, Phillaur. Poets like Shaharyar (of Umrao Jan and Zuni fame), Balraj Komal, Mauj Rampuri, Sardar Anjum, Zubair Rizvi and Aziz Parihar had come to the academy to stir the elements with their couplets. Khayami said: Akal is ko nahin kehte hein Atal kehte hein, marsiya beewi ko sani ghazal ko kehte hein, faisla kar liya rehna kunwara hum ko, aise hi logoon ko atal kehte hein.

Eminent poet Mauj Rampuri presents his poem at a mushaira held at Phillaur on Saturday. — Photo Rajesh Bhambi

The audience for Babaj Komals’ turn waited for over four hours. He said: Asmaan asmaan hoga ya zamin hoga, harf-i-roshan ka woh amir hoga , Bazmi yaran panah gah uski, hona hoga to woh wanhi hoga, woh jo tasveer mein nahin dalta, kis kadar woh shakhs hasin hoga.

The attendance was poor and the poets did take note of it. Mauj Rampuri said there were three types of people who came to attend a mushaira — those used to staying out till late in the night, those who quarrelled with their wives and those who only came to listen to the poets. By the time he stood for his rendition the hall was almost empty. That did not deter him from singing his ghazal in tarannum and making the audience sing with him. He said: Badan phool jaisa hai, magar pathar bane rahiyo, chaman mein gul khilane ki hawayien bandhte rahiyo, bale hi aankh khul jaye, magar soye huye rahiyo. The last couplet, he said, was addressed to the nation.

Shararyar was brilliant with his couplets like shadeed pyas thi phir bhi chhua na pani ko, mein dekhta raha darya teri rawani ko, shikwa koi darya ki rawani se nahin hai, rishta hi meri pyas ka pani se nahin hai, and teri judai mein kya kya dikhai deta hai, kahin pe tu kahin tuj sa dikhayi deta hai.

Other poets like Raminder Jhaku Sahil, Aziz Parihar, Zuber Rizvi, Makhmoor Saeedi, Azhar Inayati, Ahsan Rizwi, Sheen Kauf Noizam, Azad Gulati, Sardar Anjum, Prem Kumar Nazar, Pritpal Singh Betaab, Krishna Kumar Toor, Jigar Jalandhari, Mohd Rafi, Dilkash Afridi and Nuzhat Nigar were also appreciated by the audience.

COMMUNITY

BJP for probe into Budha Nullah project
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 8
The district unit of the BJP has demanded a high-level inquiry in the Budha Nullah project from the date of calling the tenders to their acceptance, delay caused in the scheduled completion of the work for the construction of road along Budha Nullah, reports of huge funds having been siphoned off by contractors and colluding officers and reasons for appointment of M/s SGS Quality Control Company to supervise the quality of the work.

Reacting to a report published in Ludhiana Tribune on April 5 about the project being marred by massive corruption and inefficiency, the District President of the BJP, Mr H.L. Sethi, has said in a statement that a party delegation had met the Punjab Minister for Local Bodies, Mr Balramji Das Tandon, in the middle of the last month to apprise him of the poor progress of the project. Since the Mayor and the MC Commissioner were also present in the meeting, the MC administration had made the ‘Engineer-in-charge’ of the project a scape goat and he had been reverted.

Continuing the party’s campaign against the elevated road project on Old GT Road between Jagraon Bridge and Chand Cinema, Mr Sethi said with the completion of the road project along Budha Nullah, congestion on the national highway, passing through the city, would ease to a great extent and the amount of Rs 40 crore to be spent on the flyover, could be utilised for expansion of water supply, sewerage and other basic amenities in the outer areas of the city.

Attributing ‘motives’ to the appointment of M/s SGS Quality Control Company to supervise the quality of work on the Budha Nullah project, the BJP launched attack against its own ally and coalition partner in the MC. Mr Sethi alleged that the firm was awarded work only to accommodate a friend of City Mayor, Mr Apinder Singh Grewal, who had retired as an official, of Punjab State Electricity Board and had no experience of road construction work.

It was a matter to be probed whether the firm had any laboratory, technical know-how, requisite equipment and machinery to check the quality of earth, sand, bricks, pebbles etc and whether the amount paid to the agency as consultancy fee was justified, he asked.

Shaheed-e-Karbla conference held
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 8
The first Shaheed-e-Karbla conference in Punjab, organised by the Indian Muslim Council, Punjab, at Basti Jodhewal here last night, passed off peacefully.

Addressing the conference, Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, Technical Education Minister, Punjab, paid tributes to Hazrat Imam Hussein, the martyr of Karbla, and said Islam gave the message of tolerance and brotherhood. Referring to the recent actions of some misguided people who wanted to create communal tension in the state, the minister said their designs had been defeated.

He assured the conference that the Punjab Government would deal with such mischievous elements with an iron hand.

Mr Bakar Hussein, the chief guest, said by his sacrifice 1400 years ago, Hazrat Imam Hussein had left behind the message for future generations to raise their voice against repression. He congratulated people of religions other than Islam for participating in the conference and presenting an example of national integration.

He said Muslims of the country had fought for the freedom of the country along with other people and even today the Muslims of the country were working for the defence and development of the country.

Maulana Habib-ur-Rehman, who presided over the conference, regretted that certain people were projecting a wrong image of Islam by indulging in non-Muslim acts. He said Islam gave a message of peace and preached non-violence to its followers. Those who cry and beat themselves in mourning for Imam Hussein were a misguided lot, he added. Mourning was done for the dead but martyrs never die as propagated by Islam. Referring to the blasphemy shown towards the Quran by certain people, the Maulana said it was part of a well-planned conspiracy to disturb the brotherhood in the country. He said that Shaheed-e-Karbla conference would be held every year at Ludhiana on the occasion of Muharram.

The conference was attended by thousands of Muslims from all over the country. Among the prominent persons who participated were Mr Bakar Hussein Shaz, chairman, International Garib Nawaz Mission and Chief Editor of daily Saaz-e-Deccan, Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, minister in the Punjab Cabinet, Mr Ateeq-ur-Rehman, president, Indian Muslim Council, Punjab, Maulana Jamil Ilyasi, member, Dargah Ajmer Sharif, Maulana Jamir Mujahid, national general secretary, Majlis-e-Ahrar, Jaunpur, Maulana Hakim Mohammad Ibrahim, Mr Kulwant Singh Dukhia, councillor, Akali Dal (B), Mr Parminder Mehta, president, District Youth Congress (I), Mr D.P. Khosla, president, Bahujan Samaj Party, Punjab, Father Ram Lal Masih, Kalvari Church, Ludhiana, Mr Ghulam Hassan Kaiser and Mr Sardar Panchhi from Rae Barielly. Nishan-e-Ejaz was given to Mr Bakar Hussein Shaz from Hyderabad, Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, Maulana Jamil Ilyasi, Maulana Bilal Ahmed Kasmi, Azamgarh, Maulana Jasim Sahib, Deoband, Mr Parminder Mehta , Mr D.P. Khosla, Father Ram Lal Masih, Mr Kulwant Singh Dukhia and others.

	Pritam Singh — a man led by quest Asha Ahuja Ludhiana, April 8 Prof Pritam Singh was awarded the prime prize for his religious dedication to the promotion of Punjabi literature by the Punjab Sahitya Sabha for the year 1998- 1999 at a function held in Punjabi Bhawan today. His daughter Prof Dalip Kaur Tiwana informed that her father was the first teacher of Punjabi post graduate classes which started in 1949 at Mohindra College, Patiala. Talking exclusively to Ludhiana Tribune Prof Pritam Singh said, “My love for literature led me to do research work. When I started teaching about Baba Farid, Shah Hussain, in Gurmukhi script there was not much material available on these topics so I started researching on them. My first literary work was titled ‘Murtan’ in which I have sketched the portraits of Gurbachan Singh and Bhai Mohan Singh. The companion volume of ‘Murtan’ is titled ‘Doosriyan Murtan’. He said, “It is commonly believed that Guru Arjun Dev compiled the first volume of ‘Adi Granth’ on the basis of ‘Mohan Pothis’ or ‘Goindwal Pothis’. Now I have written a 350 page book disproving this theory. He told this correspondent that ‘Jharokhe’, his latest book was a compilation of his literary contribution. He said the future of Punjabi literature is bright. Formally, there were few writers but now many more writers are there. He said writers are emerging from villages and from Punjabis settled abroad. Interestingly, the number of journals and newspapers published in Punjabi has increased too. But the irony is that there are very few buyers as there are not many readers. Newspapers and magazines are providing a platform to the young writers. He, however, rued the fact that the government was not serious about the all round development of Punjabi and Punjabiat as the writers would like it. The government is spending a lot of money but results are not there because there is lack of integrated developmental policy. In this context, he quoted the example of English being introduced from class I in schools which would destroy the growth of mother tongue Punjabi. He said, “The government should immediately discontinue teaching of foreign language from class I. Even Dogra Committee appointed by the government, had recommended that teaching of English should start from class VI.
	Land controversy refuses to die down Our Correspondent Ludhiana, April 8 The controversy surrounding a piece of 4000 square yards land in the Model Gram locality refuses to die down with the two factions, represented by the Model Gram Residents Association and the Model Gram Welfare Society levelling allegations of unlawful activities and land grabbing against each other. A body known as the Model Gram Charitable Trust formed by the area residents is constructing a community centre and eight shops on the land which has been amidst a prolonged litigation. On March 13, the Municipal Corporation authorities had made a bid to demolish the structure on the ground that the building plan had not been approved and building bylaws were violated. However, in the wake of resistance offered by the residents and intervention of the area councillor, Mr Bharat Bhushan Ashu, the demolition was shelved and a seven-member committee comprising the City Mayor, the area councillor and MC officers was formed to study the case and give its decision, which was still awaited. In the meantime, the Model Gram Welfare Society had charged that the trust was a family affair and the MC administration had bowed down to the pressure mounted by the councillor and the residents. They maintained that the land was earmarked for setting up a library while the trust had constructed shops and a marriage palace was also being constructed. A local court had, however, restrained the construction work for the time being. The functionaries of the trust, however, refute these allegations, saying certain disgruntled elements, including non-residents of the colony, were trying to create trouble for their selfish motives. Mr Gurdial Singh Grewal, Chairman of the trust, alleged that some of those, opposing the construction of a community centre on the land, had grabbed land themselves in the Model Gram locality.
	Tension brews in Dera Dhakki Sahib Jupinderjit Singh Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 8 The controversy over the possession of Dera Dhakki Sahib near Maqsoodran village has raised its ugly head again as the supporters of Sant Darshan Singh have alleged harassment at the hands of the rival group helped clandestinely by certain ministers of the ruling party. They have also claimed that the police was not arresting a number of persons ‘wanted’ in connection with attack on the dera last year. Supporters of Sant Darshan Singh have also accused the district administration of being guilty of contempt of court. They alleged that the administration was given time till March for solving the dispute of paying obeisance but the administration had failed to do so. While the leaders of the rival group led by Tara Singh and Bhagwant Singh could not be contacted, DSP, Payal, Balraj Singh, under whose jurisdiction the dera falls, said the allegations were false and motivated. According to a representation sent to the police and the district administration authorities by sevadaars of the Sant, the rival group, helped by the police and the government, was violating a court order directing the district administration that no bonafide devotee will be prevented from entering the gurdwara for offering obeisance. However, according to sevadaars Gurdeep Singh and Balbir Singh, the villagers after remaining quiet for a few months had now again started harassing them. Giving a number of such instances beginning from March 31, he said as all paths to the dera go through the village a number of parties of the sevadaars taking ration and other necessary items to the dera had been stopped and not allowed to move further. They alleged that local police authorities had not taken any action on their complaint. Making another allegation against the police they alleged that a number of persons wanted by the police in connection with an earlier attack and burning of religious books in the dera were roaming scotfree in the area and the police was not nabbing them. They alleged that one of these persons was a relative of a sitting Akali MLA and because of his influence the police was not arresting them. The DSP, however, when contacted, denied the allegations. He said as many as 80 persons had been booked in the attack on the dera. Of these, 76 had already been arrested and only four were remaining unarrested. He assured that these four would also be arrested soon.
	Anti-graft council’s focus on Telecom Dept Our Correspondent Ludhiana, April 8 The Anti-Corruption Council of India has alleged that there is rampant corruption in the Department of Telecommunications and no work can be done or file can be moved without giving bribe to the department officials. According to a press note issued here today, Dr Shiv. K. Gupta, director-general of the council, in a complaint written to the Chief General Manager, (Telecom) Punjab Circle, Chandigarh, said a telephone connection booked under waiting list number MW/GEN/6055 dated September 27, 1996 in the name of Mr Satinderpal Singh had not been installed in Shimlapuri area on “technically non-feasible” grounds. Dr Gupta said the applicant, however, shifted from earlier address to Urban Estate, Dugri and a revised waiting list was allotted to the applicant. A fresh advice note had also been issued but the telephone had not been installed yet. The director alleged that Junior Engineer and other field staff of the Telecom Department visited the site and met with the applicant’s wife but since bribe was not offered to them, they remarked the objection “party not available”. He said the facts were reported to the General Manager several times but he also seemed to be helpless because of his “corrupt” staff. The SDO when approached said it was the job of JE to install the phone. Dr Gupta said the receipt of the amount deposited Rs 3,000 on September 27, 1996 was also not delivered by the Telecom Department. The council members demanded thorough investigation of the matter and sought immediate transfer of SDO/JE.
	Telephone bill blues Our Correspondent Ludhiana, April 8 Due to a number of holidays in the last week, most of the telephone subscribers have not been able to deposit their bills so far and tomorrow is the last date for depositing the bills. The subscribers in the city had a tough time yesterday when they stood for hours in long queues to deposit their bills. One of the subscribers said,” the department (BSNL) should check the list of holidays before announcing the last date for the deposit of bills. Today is Saturday and I am returning without depositing my bill. I have already wasted two hours today and expect to waste my whole Monday for the submission of bill”. Ms Asha Rani, a school teacher while standing in a long queue, said that keeping in view the list of holidays, the lost date for depositing telephone bills should be extended. She pointed out that those who were not able to deposit it in time would obviously have to pay the penalty which would be unjustified given the number of few working days during the past one week. “This is not our fault. I have not been able to deposit the bill so far although I came early in the morning” she said. Some of the subscribers demanded that the department should arrange for some extra counters so that the unnecessary rush could be avoided. “We have been put to great inconvenience due to holidays,” said an old man standing in a long queue.
	Sukhbir Badal for humane approach Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 8 Former Union Minister and Rajya Sabha member Sukhbir Badal today urged the managements of the private sector hospitals to adopt a humane approach so that the people were able to get good medicare at reasonable cost. Underlining the role of private sector in providing better healthcare to people, he stressed that the private hospitals should ensure that it is not just the profits but also the service to the humanity that is expected of them. Mr Badal was speaking at a function after inaugurating the diagnostic centre of Deep Hospital. He lauded the management of the hospital for bringing in the latest technology to the town.
	Three boys traced Our Correspondent Sahnewal, April 8 The Sahnewal police traced three boys of Mandi Gobindgarh from the grain market of Sahnewal, on Friday. The boys have been identified as Jaswinder Singh(10), Sukhwinder Singh (11) and Amandeep Singh (6). The boys had run away from their homes and reached Sahnewal on a truck on the same day. They were handed over to their parents.

BUSINESS

Industry representatives meet PSIEC MD
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 8
The Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC) Managing Director, Ms Surjit Kaur Sandhu, held a meeting with industry representatives for seeking clarifications on the issue of the development of Industrial Focal Point Ladhowal here on Friday.

The Industry was represented by Mr Vinod Thapar, president, Knitwear Club, Mr Narinder K. Miglani, general secretary, Mr Jaswant Takkar, treasurer, Knitwear Club, along with Mr Charanjeev Singh, Mr Inderjit Singh Pradhan, president, CICU, Mr Brahm Dutt Sharda, president, Dyeing Factories Association, Mr Ajit Lakra, president, Ludhiana Knitters Association and Mr Lalit Jain, president, Bhadur Ke Road Dyers Association.

The major issue discussed at the meeting was the rates at which land was being offered by the PSIEC at Focal Point, Ladhowal. Industry representatives asserted that the industry did not accept the current rate of Rs 700 per square yard and asked the PSIEC to give bifurcation of the calculation of the price. It was suggested that there should be complete transparency of costing. They cited the high prices of land as a major reason for poor response from the industry in filing applications for plots.

Mr Thapar pointed out that there was a scheme under the Ministry of Commerce for Integrated Apparel Parks, which should be availed of in order to bring down the prices and increase infrastructure. This scheme is conceptualised to provide financial and other assistance for building and maintaining apparel parks with high standards and infrastructural facilities and establishing textile and clothing manufacturing units, including integrated production in these parks. The central government will give as grant, 75 per cent of the capital expenditure incurred by the state government, subject to a cap of Rs 10 crore while the state government will provide the remaining 25 per cent, plus the required land.

Industry also demanded that the commissioning of an effluent treatment plant should be the responsibility of the PSIEC and not the industry as desired by the PSIEC. The formation of a nodal committee for monitoring the progress of the Focal Point at Ladhowal, Ludhiana, was also discussed at the meeting. It was suggested that the proposed nodal committee should have representation of the PSIEC as well as industry representatives.

AGRICULTURE

Report on farm export zones soon
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 8
A committee comprising the Managing Directors of the Markfed and the Punjab Agro, and various other farm experts have prepared a report on promoting agriculture exports from Punjab by developing agriculture export zones (AEZs) such as vegetable zones in Ludhiana and Sangrur, a rice export zone in Amritsar, potato zones in Jalandhar and Gurdaspur and fruits export zone in Hoshiarpur.

The Chief Secretary, Punjab, has called a meeting on April 18 to finalise the recommendations of the report. Mr D.S. Bains, MD, Markfed, in an interview to Ludhiana Tribune here recently disclosed that the report had been finalised in view of the Central Government’s decision to develop AEZs in the country to boost agriculture exports. He was in the city to a preside over at a state-level meeting of district managers of Markfed to finalise the preparations of the wheat procurement in the state.

Mr Bains said Markfed was going to procure about 20 per cent of the total wheat to be procured by the government agencies. But all arrangements had been made for the procurement of wheat.

Regarding the export prospects of wheat, Mr Bains said, “The contract for the export of two lakh metric tonne of wheat has been finalised with South Korea, Vietnam, Yaman and other countries. By the end of the year, the agency expects to export at least 10 lakh tonnes of wheat at the international prices.”

While defending the decision of exporting wheat at rates lower than the purchase prices, he said, “We are paying to the farms at the cost of production and selling at the international rate. When the European countries are providing subsidies to its farmers under various heads, what is wrong in paying reasonable prices to them.”

He informed Markfed was planning to launch in joint ventures with foreign and domestic private players to boost exports from the country. Specific items, markets and strategies are being finalised. One of them was to start fruit and vegetables exports to the Gulf countries directly from Amritsar through cargo flights. These flights can be started from Ludhiana and Jalandhar also.

The state government has provided Rs 50 crore to boost agriculture exports. The agency was trying to become a commercial organisation at the earliest by collaborating with PAU experts and other firms. Now, the incentives are being provided to the employees to increase the profit of the organisations.

EDUCATION

Games MBA students play
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 8
Some of the students of Master of Business Administration at PAU, through dedicated and concerted efforts have developed all-round personalities, honed their talents and have equipped themselves well to face life. In spite of long hours of studies and research work involved, these students have climbed the ladder of success.

Bhavna Maheshwari is one such student. She started participating in swimming contests at the age of eight. By nine she had started participating in the swimming championship at the national-level. She says, “I used to swim for five hours everyday when I was in the school, but as the pressure of studies increased, my swimming hours dwindled. I have won 10 gold and two silver medals in the inter-college swimming championship at PAU. I was the best swimmer at state-level and had participated in national-level competitions at Bangalore, Vijayawara and Kolkata. I also won a bronze medal in Triathlon.”

In spite of being a good swimmer, the sports authorities did not provide her any incentives to take up swimming seriously. She says, “There is lot of politics in sports, I cannot even dream of adopting swimming as a profession for I know that the career of a sportsperson is shortlived .”

“Moreover, I am a first year student of MBA, and do not find any time for swimming now. I do miss it, but if I have to get good grades and find a good job, I will have to sacrifice my greatest joy — swimming”, she says. So the faulty education system and apathy on the part of sports authorities to pick up a prospective winner has nipped the promising career of a swimmer in the bud.

Rahul Puri who is a final year student of MBA at PAU. He excels in co-curricular activities besides being good in studies. In a recently held annual function ‘Anjuman’, he was the main compere. He has been doing modelling assignments and is also the editor of Business Weekly Newsletter. Rahul is a member of the Management Forum and as a part of his duties, he makes arrangements for industrial visits for his fellow students and arranges guest lectures. He has been involved in three live projects in Vardhman, Duke and Voltas. He says, “Stay focussed, aim for perfection and succeed.”

Kavish Dhanda has made a habit of topping examinations from Class X onwards and he has continued to top in the MBA, too. He says, “If you just concentrate on studies, it tends to get monotonous. So one should try to develop an all round personality. I feel one can never be the master of everything, so keep an open mind and absorb all the new things.” He is the vice-president of the Management Association.

In the Company Secretary Inter-Zone Competition, he bagged the second prize. He stood second in the North Zone Inter-University Quiz Competition. For the past three years, he has been winning inter-college quiz championships. He was declared the best parliamentarian when he won the ‘mock parliament quiz’. Kavish is an excellent debater.