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Kapurthala
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Mobile mania all over
Stray dog menace haunts city
‘Mission Green’
Youthspeak
Tabla player to be honoured
Searching talent
Counselling session
From schools and colleges
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Kapurthala
The erstwhile princely state of Kapurthala is famous not only for its French-style buildings, but also for being the nursery of basketball legends.
Four Arjuna Awardee basketball players are from this town. Ranbir Chopra, the first captain of the Indian basketball team created after Partition, was from this town, and interestingly, his counterpart in Pakistan, Makbool Ali, was also born and brought up here.
Among the other famous basketball players are the Cheema brothers. Out of the five Cheema brothers, four have played for India and the youngest represented Punjab. Moreover, six players from Kapurthala were part of the basketball team which took part in the first Asian Games held at New Delhi. Three international basketball referees from Punjab hailed from this town. “Though the game was introduced in India in the onset of the 20th century, it was introduced in Kapurthala by Sardar Puran Singh in 1932, who had obtained a Diploma in Physical Education from YMCA, Madras”, Chopra said. He became a coach, a referee of the Basketball Federation of India and then the Honorary Secretary of Punjab State Basketball Association. He remained Vice-President of the Basketball Federation of India and a Member of the Selection and Technical Committee of the federation too. “There were four basketball centres in undivided Punjab, including Kapurthala, Lahore, Sialkot and Rawalpindi. Basketball was in fashion that time” Chopra said. Reminiscing the past, the former player said he was nine-years-old when a team from DAV
College, Lahore visited Kapurthala under the captaincy of his brother, Raghubir Singh. “All the teammates stayed at our home and I used to accompany them whenever they went for practice early in the morning. At that time, my brother observed the talent of young Mubark Ali and took him to Lahore to pursue the game” he said. Coincidently, Mubarak Ali was the coach of the Pakistani team in 1962 when Chopra was the coach of the Indian team, which participated in the Quadrangular Tournament in Lahore. Balkar Singh, the eldest of the Cheema brothers, played for the Services and Kuldeep Singh Cheema represented the BSF in the sport. The third brother, Sajjan Singh, who was decorated with the Arjuna Award in 1999, is serving as a DSP in Jalandhar. Sajjan Singh Cheema, in addition to participating in 1982 Asian Games at New Delhi, had participated in ABC Championships at Calcutta, Hong Kong, Delhi and Kuala Lumpur. The veteran Arjuna Award winner from Kapurthala, Anil Punj retired as a Commandant of the BSF. Parminder Singh (Senior), who was decorated with the Arjuna Award in 2001, has a long repertoire of international competitions in his kitty. The police inspector with Kapurthala Police had participated since 1992 in KAB Championship at Kuala Lumpur, Goodwill Tour at the US and Canada, SAF Games at Madras, VI Cup at Malaysia, Asian Confederation at Saudi Arabia and China, Spirits Challenge at Tashkent, ABC Cup at Kazakhstan, Calcutta, Harbin and many
other championships. The fourth Arjuna Awardee from Punjab in basketball is Suman Sharma from Amritsar.
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Mobile mania all over
With cellphones becoming a necessity, have the gadgets lost their status symbol? Maybe not. With new models making their way into the market, mobile phones continue to make a fashion statement. The time gap of changing a handset is also shrinking.
Shops owners selling cellphones here say that earlier people used to change their sets after a gap of approximately three years, but now this period has been reduced to about a month. “These days, people are changing sets within two months. Fifty per cent of the sale of new cellphones come from those individuals who already possess one,” Parveen, owner of Happy Mobiles in Jhatkaian Chowk of Phagwara, said. When asked about the reason behind such a phenomenon, he said, “People want to show off their attitude.” The trend also throws light on the buying patterns of cell phone owners. Owning approximately three cellphones at a time is classy. Slim and sleek handsets rule the mobile bazaar with day-by-day addition of new features. Affirming the trend, Sunil Madaan, proprietor of Madaan Communications in Central Town, said, “Frequent purchases of cellphones is on the rise. Now, the customer buys a second cellphone 15 days after purchasing the first one”. He claimed that thirty per cent of people purchasing new mobile sets were those who already possessed one or two sets. “Keeping two to three cellphones at a time is an in-thing with youngsters.” Also, facilities like mobile phone connections being readily available with more and more consumer-friendly offers, has furthered this trend. “Sales of CDMA phones have risen. Reduction in call rates and new attractive cell phone connection schemes are some of the reasons for an increase in the number of cellphones purchases, S.K. Kanda, owner of Kanda Mobiles, said.
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Passing Thru
What are your immediate concerns as the Principal Adviser to the CII?
My immediate concern is imparting vocational training and suitable employment to youth. There are as many as 21 million youth in India who graduate every year. The number is almost the same at second-year and first-year graduation levels. But I wonder how many of them are equipped with some skill to get a job. My idea is to devise a programme by way of which they could get training and also be employed. How are you going about this programme? We plan to hold vocational training courses, especially for youth from underprivileged and rural families, in association with an international firm. The firm would provide a certification that would have global recognition. The programme would be assisted by the corporate sector. You have been Vice-Chancellor of
PTU. What was your focus at that time? I served as the VC of PTU for just 18 months, but I learnt a lot. At that time, I handled a variety of complicated academic problems, including those pertaining to conduct of examination and running distance education programmes. When I look back, I realise that it was a very good learning experience.
— TNS
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Stray dog menace haunts city
Stray dogs can be seen everywhere in the city — following people or cars, exploring a garbage dump or barking at each other.
Then there are a section of people, who have also gone through the painful experience of dog bites.
On an average, the Civil Hospital treats around 20 victims of dog bite every day. According to Dr Devinder Singh Bindra, a microbiologist at the hospital, cases of dog bite mostly come from Jalandhar and its adjoining areas. He said that last year, several rabies cases were also registered. It seems the sterilisation programme started by the Municipal Corporation of Jalandhar five to six months back to control the population of stray dogs did not have the desired impact. “So far, 425 male dogs have been sterilised at the Civil Veterinary Hospital under the programme. Everyday, around five to six dogs are sterilised,” Dr H.S. Sandhu, Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry Department, said. After the operations, the dogs are kept in Burlton Park for some days depending upon their physical condition, he added. When asked about controlling their population, Mr Surinder Mahey, Mayor, said, “As per the law, we cannot kill these animals. Though the MC has started the sterilisation programme, its proving costly.” According to experts, previously, municipalities would kill the stray animals (mainly dogs) in several brutal ways. After 1992, it became illegal for municipalities to kill stray dogs. The Animal Welfare Board of India has laid down a code of conduct for municipalities to follow with regard to stray dogs. Failure to do so can invite contempt of court proceedings. Section 428/429 of the IPC makes it a cognisable offence to maim or cause injury to any animal above the value of Rs 10. In Jalandhar, People for Animals (PFA) helps in the sterilisation of female dogs. “So far, 150 female dogs have been sterilised, ” Mr Chandra Bhusan, general secretary of the PFA (Jalandhar), said. Despite the programme, residents feel it will take time to control the animals’ population.
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‘Mission Green’
It was a chance visit to a treeless school ground that marked the start of this green brigade. “Gradually, the tree plantation was expanded to include hospitals, parks and cemeteries. We feel planting a tree is a sacred act. It entails not only a sense of collective responsibility, but also a good measure of altruism,” avers Mr Dhesi. No wonder, many NRIs and villagers are chipping in with their bit, as was evident from last week’s seminar-cum-workshop on “tree plantation”. More than 200 persons from all over Punjab attended the programme. “Basically, the programme was about tree-talk and we received a good response from people. At least, we were successful in generating interest in ecology,” explains Mr Dhesi, adding, “The NRIs find tree plantation one of the best ways to stay connected with their roots.” Already, this NGO has planted more than 10,000 trees at Mehmasingh Wal in Ludhiana. Also, it has published books and pamphlets pertaining to environment. The books “Punjab kayamat de rah” (Punjab on the road to catastrophe), “Pradushan day kaeher atey hoshmand jivan jaach” (The catastrophic effects of pollution and mindful way of living) have been distributed free of cost to villagers. “It’s extremely important to save this planet from pollution. Our aim is to reduce, if not eliminate, pollution. We feel each individual can make a difference and each individual should try,” says Mr Dhesi, with conviction.
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Youthspeak
“Ever since I have been selected among the top-seven finalists in the comedy contest ‘Hasde hasande raho’ being telecast on MH 1, I feel that there is a need to have a specialised training centre for comedy, mimicry and dramatics in the state.
There is much competition in this field now and one has to go about learning the art on one’s own. No comedian is ready to train youngsters these days, as the former feel that the youngsters may turn out to be their rivals in the field. But Chacha Raunqi Ram has played the role of a guide to a number of youngsters like me. He trained me and took me to perform on the stage a number of times all across the state. That helped me boost my confidence. MH 1 gave me my first break and I am happy that I have been able to make it to the final round. The shooting for the semi-final round was held at Okhla in New Delhi in the TV channel’s studio. We were 12 participants and seven of us were selected. In the show, I cracked jokes on love affairs these days. In case, I manage to be the winner, I would get a chance to sign three years’ contract with the channel for acting in a comedy show. Currently, I am preparing for the final round for which the recording would be held this week. I am working on various themes, meeting many people, trying to explore and understand various characters and also trying to create different flavours of comedy.”
— As told to Deepkamal Kaur
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Jalandhar-based tabla player Pandit Kale Ram would be honoured for his “contribution to music” on April 8. The honour would be conferred on the musician during the music festival to be organised by the Shishya Mandal of Punjab. The programme would be held at the K.L. Saigal Memorial Complex here.
Pandit Kale Ram is an A-Grade artiste of All India Radio. He has performed with almost all leading artistes of the country, including Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pandit Rajan-Sajan Mishra, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.
— TNS
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Holy Faith International Pvt Ltd organised an award ceremony on Sunday for the winners of a talent search examination conducted by it in this session. Mr Harnam Dass Johar, Minister of Education, Punjab, presented awards to the state-level meritorious students and the principals of district merit students.
The class-wise toppers included Abhishek Dhawan of Class I from Atam Public School, Ludhiana, Mansi of Class II from Police DAV Public School Jalandhar, Manthan Agnihotri of Class III from Doaba Public School, Hoshiarpur, Aman Kathpal of Class IV from Sacred Heart Convent School, Jalalabad, Mayank of Class V from Army Public School, Jalandhar, Sidharth Sharma of Class VI from Doaba Public School, Hoshiarpur, Ankit Prashar of Class VII from Dashmesh Public School, Mukerian, and Bhupesh of Class VIII from Shiv Jyoti Public School. Mr Balwant Sharma, Director, Holy Faith International Pvt Ltd from MBD House, and Mr Ashok Kumar Malhotra, CMD, MBD group, were also present on the occasion.
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From schools and colleges
MGN Public School, Adarsh Nagar, organised a counselling session for the parents of Class I on Wednedsay. Ms Manmeet Sawhney, school counsellor, showed an audio-visual based on parent-child psychology. The parents were told about the ways to treat the children who keep throwing tantrums. They were also advised to make their children sleep on time so that they did not feel sleepy in classrooms. Slides were also shown to the parents of pre-primary class students to make them aware of the activities of their wards. Mr R.S. Mehta, Principal, advised the parents not to draw comparisons between two children for they could never be the same.
Innocent Hearts Innocent Hearts School started its new academic session giving a warm welcome to its students. During their first week in the school, the students of junior wing were shown an education movie based on aquatic life. The senior wing students organised an inter-class drawing and painting competition. Ms S. Bowry, Principal, distributed certificates to prize winners. Annual function Over 250 students from the DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology received prizes for their achievements in academics, cultural and technical activities and sports during an annual function held on Monday. Mr Y.S. Rajan, Principal Advisor of the Confederation of Indian Industries and Vice-President of DAV College Managing Committee, distributed prizes to the students. In sports, Kavita Vij received prizes for fencing, Suhel for high jump, Anuj for badminton, Vishav Dhir for table tennis and Lovejeet for athletics. For cultural activities, Varun Garg, Kunal Jhanji and Tarangini won prizes. Academic prize winners included Neha Aggarwal, Gaurav Sethi, Jagjit Malhotra, Vasudha and Vipan
Arora.
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New CMD
Mr Mavila Vishwanathan Nair, former Chairman and Executive Director of Dena Bank, has now taken over as the Chairman and Managing Director of the Union Bank of India. Farmer training The District Agricultural Department organised a farmer training camp and seminar at Bhogpur on Wednesday. Mr Kanwaljit Singh Lally, Chairman, Sugarfed Punjab, was the chief guest. Inverters Lucas Indian Service Limited, a part of the TVS group, launched its inverters in Jalandhar recently. The Chennai-based company is also involved in the sales and services of auto electrical and fuel injection equipment. The company’s zonal manager, Mr Paritosh Dhir, said their annual turnover was nearly Rs 145 crore. Restaurant Bacchus lovers in the city have a new address now—Tango Charlie—a new bar-cum-restaurant in front of the main bus stand. The place provides varied delicacies in Indian and Oriental food. There is a snooker table and a giant TV screen. Canadian varsity Encouraged by the overwhelming response from the north Indian students, the University of Windsor has set up three help desks in the cities of Jalandhar, Chandigarh and Ludhiana. The Director, International Outreach, University of Windsor, addressing media persons here said that 35 students from Punjab have already in Canada to study in the university. —
TNS
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The erstwhile princely state of Kapurthala is famous not only for its French-style buildings, but also for being the nursery of basketball legends.
Four Arjuna Awardee basketball players are from this town. Ranbir Chopra, the
first captain of the Indian basketball team created after Partition,
was from this town, and interestingly, his counterpart in Pakistan,
Makbool Ali, was also born and brought up here. Among the other famous
basketball players are the Cheema brothers.
Passing Thru
Hot and blistering earth, air that chokes breath and foamy water that kills all flora and fauna — it’s no initiation into the genre of horror tales. It could be a real-life situation if we denude our environment of trees and greenery, says Ram Singh Dhesi, who is associated with Savi Dharti Punjab, an NGO that focuses on eco-protection.
