Thursday, November 5, 1998
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REGIONAL BRIEFS | Thursday, November 5, 1998 |
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Club poll fever grips Ludhiana POLL fever has begun to rise in next week's election of office-bearers and executive committee members of Punjab's biggest and most prestigious club, Satluj Club. Although the rival teams for the elections are still being finalised, it is becoming increasingly clear that there will be a fierce contest on November 8 for some of the top club posts. Mr Sanjeev Arora, who was elected unopposed as club general secretary last year, and was hoping to repeat the feat this year on the strength of "good work" done by his team, will have to fight it out. While Mr Arora has fielded more or less the same team with minor changes, the rival team is still in the formative stage. During the past one year, the club has changed beyond recognition. A badminton hall, billiards room, squash court, TT room and swimming pool have been renovated. Two new banquet halls have been constructed, a new children's park, tennis courts, a waterfall and a coffee shop along with landscaping have been added. Car parking has been streamlined. But there are many who think that given the chance, they could have done a better job. Some of them, including Mr Gopal Bhushan Gupta, point to their past performance as vice-president and general secretary of the club. The Satluj Club, which was started as an officers' club during the British Raj with the Deputy Commissioner as the permanent president in an ex-officio capacity, has a strength of about 2,400 but no more than 1700 members are active. The quality and quantity of members enrolled in recent years created a backlash a couple of years ago leading to the constitution of a committee headed by Mr A. Venu Parsad, an IAS officer now posted as Registrar of Punjab Agricultural University, which recommended a series of amendments to the constitution designed to bring about transparency, and putting in place a system to exercise an effective check on the quality of enrolment. Club membership is barred to non-graduates. An admission fee of at least Rs 1 lakh is charged even from those armed with a "sifarish" from the Chief Minister. Admission fee for corporate members is at least Rs 2.50 lakh. The term of the office-bearers has been restricted to two consecutive terms. A ban has also been placed on big parties, display of banners and pamphlets on the club premises. Ved Prachar Sammelan The Ved Prachar Sammelan and Grand Yajna held under the aegis of the Arya Pradeshik Pratinidhi Upsabha, Punjab, at Amritsar was yet another call for the renaissance of Vedic faith. Speaking on the occasion, the president of the Arya Pradeshik Pratinidhi Sabha, New Delhi, Mr G P Chopra, proclaimed the Vedas to be books of fundamental truths and universal truism. Though they originated in the past, they had enough to illuminate the present and guide us to a fruitful future. Mr M L Khanna, general secretary, DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi, asked the young generation to channelise all their energies toward self-development. Dr Som Vidyalankar, said Vedas were the guiding lights and an answer to the complexities and conflicts of the current times. The vedic philosophy was further accentuated by the dance and musical performances given by the leading DAV institutions. Ambala's literary giant Ambala is known for its scientific instruments but it also has a long literary tradition. Among the active ones from the present lot is 57-year-old Rakesh Vats, who has to his credit nine novels, six collections of short stories, a collection of poems and four edited books. Many of his works have won state and national awards and several have been translated into vernacular and foreign languages. His play, "Yatharaja", staged under the auspices of Adimanch followed by its cassette, remained a subject of serious discussion for its innovative technique. After editing the literary journal "Manch" for 10 years and looking after Saraswati College, he is at present devoted to "social well-being and creative writing". His latest offering is Kala Lok comprising 17 poems. The interesting point is that each poem is followed by its English translation done by M Thaplial. The translation does not rob the poems of their sensitive touch. Take for instance these opening lines from "Samvad" (A Dialogue): Hawa se utar/ek lahar/mere bajuon mein aa samayee/chhaatee choom kar bolee/ le chaloongee us paar/ meine poochha us paar kahan?/ Saanson se pare, woh boli.... Its translation goes like this: Riding on an airy surge/ A wave barged into my arms/ Caressing soft, she chirped:/ Like a mermaid shall I/ steal you beyond/ Beyond what— I queried/ Beyond the breathing life —/ she said .... Promised job not given Suresh Kumar (28) of Darbyar village in Hamirpur district has been moving from pillar to post to get the job promised to him. Suresh Kumar was instrumental in killing a female leopard in his village on March 2, 1994. This big cat had attacked him but he fought bravely and killed the animal. He suffered serious bruises on both arms and was declared disabled permanently. He was given a commendation certificate and a cash prize of Rs 1,000 by the then Deputy Commissioner, Mr K J B V Subrahmanium. Due to serious bruises caused to him he could not continue his studies and had to spend about Rs 40,000 on treatment. He was admitted to the local District Hospital for one year. Suresh Kumar claims that he was promised a job for his act of bravery by the then Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh and a case was referred to the police department. This case was however rejected. He then met the Chief Minister and his case was sent to the Department of Forests for employing him as a forest guard. He was recruited as a forest guard under a special drive but has yet not received joining orders from the department. An outstanding judoka of Himachal Pradesh he won the first position in the state in the 50 kg category in 1997-98. This was despite his disability to the right arm. He urges the authorities concerned to take a decision on his case without delay. He has to work as a daily-paid labourer to fulfil the daily needs as his parents are poor. Contributed
by A S Prashar, Varinder Walia, A S Chandel and Chander
Shekhar. |
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