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Debt Net
Nurmahal MLA Bhullar dead
Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan |
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The Shashank redemption
Female Foeticide
Consumers flay LPG agency holders
Coldest night of season in Amritsar
The perfect voice
Dowry victim
commits suicide
3 thieves arrested
Farmer hit with spade, injured
1 held with stolen motorcycle
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Debt Net
Jalandhar, December 28 The Director-General of Resettlement at that time had launched this scheme with the help of the IDBI for the resettlement of the ex-servicemen above the age of 35 in 1987. It was implemented from April 1, 1987, through the Rajya Sainik Board with the help of the Punjab Financial Corporation (PFC), Chandigarh. Under the scheme, 680 personnel below the officer rank (PBOR) were provided small transport loans with an aim to help them purchase tempo, three-wheeler, taxi, mini-bus, truck and even establishing small-scale factories. Though the scheme took off very well, anomalies in its execution led to problems for the ex-servicemen. Ex-Servicemen Welfare Association president Avtar Singh Grewal, while talking to The Tribune, said their repeated meetings with the officials concerned and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had fallen on deaf ears. “Out of 680 PBORs only 500 have repaid the huge amounts of loans. The remaining 180 ex-servicemen have failed to repay the loans with the result that their mere existence is in the doldrums,” he said. Even now the fate of 159 ex-servicemen, including 28 widows, is in the doldrums as the state government has done nothing for the PBORs. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (the copy of which is with The Tribune), the members maintained that the PFC was now demanding huge amounts of loan up to Rs 4 to 70 lakh with an interest rate of 24 to 36 per cent each. “Left with no option, the ex-servicemen sold their very means of existence, including land and houses, to repay the loans. Till date only 21 of them had repaid the loan. Even some became victims of money lenders too,” he added. Avtar Singh of Baddowal village in Ludhiana took a loan of Rs 2.80 lakh for buying a truck. “Instead of our resettlement, the scheme brought problems for us. At present I have to pay a debt of Rs 55 lakh. Somehow I have managed to pay Rs 1.30 lakh.” In another case, sepoy Major Singh (retd) from Jogimajara in Ludhiana died in an accident. After his death his family failed to repay the loan. “He had taken a loan of Rs 4.17 lakh for his business. The PFC is demanding Rs 41,71,180, for which the family was forced to sell 26 kanals of agriculture land. With the help of his pension the family returned Rs 6.78 lakh,” said Avtar Singh. The PFC has obtained orders from the Punjab and Haryana High Court for auctioning the properties of ex-servicemen and lodging them in jails. “It is a request to the Punjab government to listen to our woes and provide relief by waiving off the loan amounts pending with the PFC as was done in the case of farmers in the state,” Avtar Singh said. |
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Nurmahal MLA Bhullar dead
Jalandhar, December 28 His mother, wife and three daughters survive the deceased, a resident of Bhullar village. He belonged to a family that has been staunch Akali supporters. Gurdeep’s brother, Dungar Singh and their three sisters are presently settled abroad. Senior Akali leaders
and workers, besides people from surrounding areas, made a beeline to the residence of Bhullar as the news of his death was flashed on TV
channels. Family sources said that the cremation would take place on Thursday after the arrival of his brother and sisters. Bhullar had represented the Nurmahal constituency in the past also. |
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Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan
Jalandhar, December 28 It was a packed house on the third day of the 133rd Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan which saw great performances by all the artists. The event started with tabla recital by Aman. Playing the “teen taal”, the young artist displayed an extraordinary understanding of the tabla, uncommon among people of his age. His brother Akash accompanied him on the harmonium. The ever-smiling Sugandha Mishra from Jalandhar, who has her genuine claim to fame with her comic act in TV show “The Great Indian Laughter Challenge”, surprised the audience, introducing it to her other, more serene and classical side. Starting with Hans Dhwani, Sugandha, who next sang the Adbhut Kalyan, a raag composed by her grandfather Shankar Lal Mishra, was a treat to listen to. She then presented a “rachna” of five raginis which, despite being a difficult composition, was managed beautifully by her. She ended the performance with a composition in raag Pahari. Next in the league was artist Milind Tulankar. Playing the “jaltarang”, his act was highly appreciated. Tulankar played raag Puriya Kalyan, his moves almost seeming to suggest the motion of a refined drummer going soft on his instrument. But the watery, sweet sound of the “jaltarang” broke the illusion and brought you back to the reality of the instrument which on a cursory glance might just have been mistaken for grandma’s white crockery stolen from the cupboard. The beats put in by Govind Bhilare on the “pakhawaj” and Charudutta Pharke on the tabla just added to the fun. Then came the quartet. The mist was all fine but the performance by Pandit Satish Vyas (santoor), Shashank (flute), Vijay Ghate (tabla) and Parupalli (mridangam) sure set the stage on fire. Presenting raag Kirwari, they easily can be called the show stealers of day three. Surpassing regional boundaries, the performance brought together the North and the South in Vyas’s santoor and Shashank’s carnatic flute, in Kashmir and Karnataka, in the tabla and the mridangam. The event came to an end with the performance of vocalist Mahinder Toke who mesmerised the audience with his rendition in raag Malkauns. |
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The Shashank redemption
Jalandhar, December 28 Starting early, flautist Shashank Subramanyam first performed for the music fraternity at the age of 11 in 1990, becoming the youngest musician to perform for the SADAS concert at the Music Academy, Chennai. “There was a cancellation for an artist at the festival. That is how I came into the scheme of things.” Was he scared? “I wasn’t. But my father was,” he laughs. “Thankfully everything went well.” Born at Rudrapatna in Hassan district of Karnataka, Shashank started learning flute from his father at the age of three. He was also taught by vocal maestros R.K. Srikantan, Palghat K.V. Narayanaswami and Sandyavandanam Srinivasa Rao. Talking about the flute, he says, “The traditional Indian flute is very difficult to tune so you have to devise new ways of overcoming those imperfections. It’s a challenge and makes it all the more fun to work on.” Talking about the perception of music in India and abroad, the artist whose album “Floating Points: has been nominated for a Grammy, says, “At many places in India people lack devotion and interest for music. The West, however, has a solution. Schoolchildren there have to pursue some or the other instrument right from the beginning because it’s a part of their grading system. Here kids at large are not interested in their own music. If music is made a compulsory part of education, it might help matters.” What is the best compliment he received as an artist? “When Pandit Jasraj (from whom he has training in classical vocal music) said to me after one of my performances, “You have won my heart.” His future plans? I want to create an ensemble of my own and would be working for it. |
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Female Foeticide
Tarn Taran, December 28 Lakhbir Kaur, in a complaint lodged with the Patti police, alleged that her in-laws took her to the nurse in the area on the pretext of treating her as she was feeling some pain. The family had allegedly presumed that Lakhbir Kaur was having a female foetus and they were not happy with this. The others who were booked are her mother-in-law’s sister Manjit Kaur, husband Gurcharan Singh and father-in-law Balkar Singh. A case under
sections 313 and 34, IPC, has been registered against the accused. Lakhbir Kaur also alleged that her in-laws used to torture her for having a girl child. However, investigating officer Harjinder Singh said during investigations it had come to light that the woman had a dead foetus due to which the Lakhbir Kaur was feeling pain. He said the in-laws then decided to abort the foetus as it would have endangered the life of Lakhbir Kaur. |
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Consumers flay LPG agency holders
Jalandhar, December 28 President Tilak Rajpal said the information obtained by the organisation under the RTI Act was contradictory to the claims of the gas agency owners in this pretext. The meeting also discussed various other consumer-related issues. The meeting was presided
over by the deputy general manager of the BSNL, Jalandhar. |
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Coldest night of season in Amritsar
Jalandhar, December 28 The visibility level in the city was near zero, leading to several trains and flights being delayed. Disruption of flights at Rajasani Interanational Airport put the passengers to great inconvinence. All trains arriving in Amritsar were also behind schedule due to the fog which remained throughout the day. Rail traffic across the state remained disrupted for more than five hours due to poor visibility. The 9226 Jammu-Tavi Express train was delayed by over five hours, while the 2137 Mumbai-Ferozepore Punjab Mail was running three hours late.
At Adampur, near here, the night temperature rose to 6 degrees, while at Halwara in Ludhiana district the minimum temperature was 5.6 degrees, the Met office at Adampur said. The minimum temperature in the border town of Pathankot dropped to 6.2°C, while at Bathinda in the
the Malwa belt, it was 7.2 degrees. The night temperature at Chandigarh settled at 7.2 degrees as the residents basked in the morning sun.
The Met Office at Adampur has forecast fog and mist tomorrow morning. — UNI |
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The perfect voice
Jalandhar, December 28 Ajoy Chakrabarty, one of the most accomplished vocalists of our times and successful teacher who has been working at his institute Shrutinandan for 12 years now, talks to The Tribune on the sidelines of the 133rd Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan. Ajoy, who started learning music at the age of two from his father Ajit Chakrabarty, says his parents were rooted deep in music. “My formal training in music began at the age of six from guru Kanai Das Bairagi.” He was also trained by guru Munawar Ali Khan and Gnan Prakash Ghosh. A topper in MA and BA with his MA scores still unsurpassed, the artist, who was also the first recipient of the Kumar Gandharva Award and the first artist to perform in Pakistan and China, says, “For 12 to 13 years I performed with the ITC Sangeet Research Academy (ITCSRA) and stayed with artists like Hirabai Barodekar, Ustad Latafat Hussain Khan and Pandit Nivrutti Beua Sarnaik. I learnt it is important to first learn the good elements and then the elements which we are supposed to eliminate.” Lauding ITCSRA, he said, “It has done a commendable job in taking music to all parts of the country. We used to travel 7,000 to 10,000 km every year. It is important that business houses also come up to promote music in a big way.” Talking about Shrutinandan, the institute made by him at Kolkata, he says, “Shrutinandan is a 12-letter long word. It has purposely been named so. Twelve letters signify 12 swaras. I have about 1,000 disciples in Shrutinandan.” Talking about reality shows, he said, “These shows create professional musicians. I personally like many of the contestants. But the root problem is that people don’t want to spend time for classical music. Choosing a guru, learning it for at least 20 years, seem like an alien idea to them. Today’s kids, most of them, want shortcuts.” Lamenting about the state of affairs, he says, “It hurts sometimes when an institute, which hasn’t produced a single artist, gets crores of rupees awarded by the government, while the one which are genuinely working hard don’t have anything spared for it.” Chakrabarty, who is also considered an authentic and leading exponent of the Patiala gharana, being a disciple of Munawar Ali Khan, while talking about the speciality of the gharana, says, “It has shudh aakar, open voice, gayaki in sargam, sentiment (roohdari) in singing, shudh baani and intricate taans.” His favourite upcoming artists? “Shashank Makhtedar (Goa), Manali Bose (Kolkata) and Arshad Ali hold promise.” His future plans? Producing best instruments and producing best artists. I am also working on collecting education material in music which would collectively be called ‘Geetinandan’. |
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Dowry victim
commits suicide
Hoshiarpur, December 28 Ramanpreet Kaur (30), wife of Kulwinder Singh, committed suicide by consuming a poison. According to police sources, Rachpal Singh said he had married his daughter a year ago. Her husband and mother-in-law Pritam Kaur allegedly started demanding more dowry and torturing her which led Ramanpreet committing suicide. — OC |
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3 thieves arrested
Phagwara, December 28 A press note issued by the SSP, Kapurthala, Rekesh Aggarwal, said acting on a tip-off, a police party rounded up three persons Daljit Singh, alias Manga, Pal and Ashok Kumar, alias Shoki, all residents of Goraya, roaming near Bari Bahian village today. Their one accomplice Sahib Singh, alias Sahba, however, managed to give the police a slip. The police claimed that during questioning the three admitted to have committed over half a dozen thefts in the past over six months. They admitted to have stolen 20 tractor hubs and 1 quintal cast iron from an industrial unit. Besides this, they committed thefts in various houses in Phagwara and surrounding areas and took away electronic goods, geysers, LPG stoves and cylinders, taps, and other household goods. They had also committed burglary at a resort on the Nakodar road. The police has registered a case. |
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Farmer hit with spade, injured
Pathankot, December 28 It was alleged that a spade was used in the fight. The injured farmer was admitted in the civil
hospital at Dinanagar where his condition was stated to be critical. Dinanagar SHO Yoga Singh said Parminder Singh and Sukhwinder Singh of Daburji village were on the way to their village on a motorcycle. When they reached near Shampur village, they crossed the water pipe being used by a farmer for irrigating his fields which got turned. The farmer asked them to be careful while driving, at which the duo got angry and hit him with a spade on his head. The SHO said the injured farmer was not in a position to record his statement. On the other hand, the accused had also lodged a complaint with the police. |
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1 held with stolen motorcycle
Batala, December 28 Gurmeet Singh, resident of Mishar Pura, riding a stolen motorcycle, when saw the police party,
tried to run away. But he was apprehended. He confessed to have stolen the motorcycle from the local Chakari Bazar. The police has registered a case under sections 379 and 411 of the Indian
Penal Code. |
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Jalandhar, December 28
