R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

• REGIONAL POTPOURRI
  

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
RE-ELECTED: Mr Onkar Singh Arora, a senior Akali leader, has been re-elected district president of the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (Urban) by the party high command. He was nominated on the basis of the highest recruitment in the district. This was stated in a press note issued by Mr Surjan Singh Thekedar, acting president, SHSAD. The party has authorised him to nominate the office-bearers of the district unit.

AIDS CONFERENCE: Dr Ravi Saini of the Department of Skin has been invited to attend the 13th World Conference on AIDS to be held at Durban this week. Dr Saini, who has done research on AIDS and other related problems, would present his papers on the work done for truck drivers. He was the founder of the AIDS Awareness Group sponsored by the British Council to educate truck drivers.

GARHSHANKAR
EX-SERVICEMEN: The Punjab Government is considering to seek the services of ex-servicemen for the development of the country. Talking to mediapersons at the residence of an SGPC member, Dr Jang Bahadur Singh, here, the Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, said schools, roads and government buildings were being named after martyrs. He said a sum of Rs 2 lakh was given as grant to the families of the martyrs besides Rs 5 lakh for the construction of houses.

TRIBUTES PAID: Rich tributes were paid to Havildar Baldev Raj, who laid down his life during the Kargil war, on his first death anniversary at his native village, Binewal, 12 km from here. The Excise and Taxation Minister, Mr Tikshan Sood, who was present on the occasion, said the government honoured the sacrifices made by the martyrs and it was our duty to remember them. Others who paid tributes included SGPC member Jang Bahadur Singh, Block Samiti Chairman Surinder Singh Thekedar, BJP leaders Avinash Rai Khanna and Hans Raj Nakra, CPM leaders Darshan Singh Mattoo and Raghunath Singh.

GURDASPUR
FAKE CURRENCY: The police has busted an inter-district gang of smugglers engaged in the circulation of fake currency. Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, in a press note issued on Tuesday, said three members of the gang — Bhajan Singh, Sukhdev Singh and Surinder Kumar Walia, alias Dada of Mukerian had been arrested and fake currency amounting to Rs 900 of the denomination of Rs 100 was seized from them. One .32 bore Webley Scot pistol and 6 live cartridges were also seized.

INSTALLED: The following were installed as office bearers of the local Inner Wheel Club at a function held here on Monday: president — Mr Prem Gupta; vice-president — Mr Gajinder Koundal, secretary — Neelam Mahant; joint secretary — Roopa; and treasurer — Reena Saraf.

JALANDHAR
XEN BOOKED: The local Vigilance Bureau on Monday booked a PWD (B&R) Xen and two other officials for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 19,500 from a contractor. Ms Gurpreet Deo, SP, Vigilance Bureau, said A.S.Basra, Xen, was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a contractor, Pal Singh of Adikali village. Pal Singh had complained that he had executed some works for the PWD and the Xen was demanding Rs 10,000 for signing his cheque worth Rs 4.35 lakh. An accountant and a Junior Engineer had demanded Rs 3,500 and Rs 6,000, respectively. The amount has been recovered from them. 

MALERKOTLA
CRUSHED: Manjit Singh of Ahmedgarh was killed in an accident near the Jagera canal, 16 km from here, on Sunday. According to sources, scooter-borne Manjit was crushed to death by a bus which was on its way from Ludhiana to Patiala. The Dehlon police has arrested the driver and a case has been registered.

ETT COURSE: The Punjab Students Union has condemned the policy to close down the ETT and B.Ed courses in Punjab for five years as stated by the Education Minister of Punjab. In a press note issued here on Tuesday, Mr Gurmukh Singh Mann, district committee member, said the Punjab Government was depriving the students of their rights. He said the government should draft a policy to eradicate unemployment in the state.

PATIALA
SAPLINGS PLANTED: The Lions Club Patiala Central planted 50 saplings of different trees on the premises of Navjeevani School for mentally retarded children at Sular village, near here. Sweets were distributed among the children. Besides, a cold water tank for drinking water was installed in the market of New Officers Colony, YPS Road, club Public Relations Officer Iqbal Sabharwal disclosed.

PHILLAUR
MURDERED: Two youths allegedly murdered Ranjit Singh (19) in a field near Kajla village, near Banga, on Tuesday. The police said a sharp-edged weapon was used in the crime. Old rivalry is said to be the cause of the murder. The miscreants sped away on a scooter after committing the crime.

LOCAL CALLS: The Telecommunications Department has made all calls made within a radius of 50 km local with effect from Tuesday. Giving this information, a department official said here on Tuesday that now local subscribers would be able to connect with Ludhiana, Nakodar, Jalandhar, Nawanshahr and Phagwara, and subscribers of Phagwara with Ludhiana, Nakodar, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Una in Himachal Pradesh at local charges

CHANDIGARH

RESULTS AWAITED: With the date of submission of forms ending on July 17, those students who had appeared for the M.Sc entrance test of Panjab University faced a predicament as their results have not been declared. A delegation of these students led by the ABVP met the DUI and the Registrar and submitted a memorandum to this effect. 

DEBATE: A debate on “Strict family planning measures : a key to population stabilisation” was organised by Kendriya Vidayalaya here on Wednesday. The winning teams would be participating in a competition to be held at 3BRD, KV, and the best team would be representing the Chandigarh region at the KVS national competitions.

SEMINAR: A seminar on “Strengthening primary education in Patiala Block III” will be held on July 23 in Vir Haqiqat Rai Senior Secondary School, Rajpura Colony under the aegis of the Nishkam Sikh Welfare Council, New Delhi. Mr Harnam Singh Bajaj, DEO (Primary Education), will preside over the seminar. 

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Anglican Church Welfare Society. Chairman — Rev Javed Massey; President — Rev Fazal Masih ; Secretary — Ashwani Kumar; Joint Secretary — Lawrance Malik; Treasurer — Bahadur Singh; Organising Secretary — Elvin Patras; and executive members — Ved Prakash, Gulzar Masih, Maqbool Masih, Edina Joseph, Rajan Yousef and Dropti Masih 

PANCHKULA
PLAY: The Director, Public Relations and Cultural Affairs, in collaboration with the district administration will organise a play “Shaheed Udham Singh” to commemorate the martyrdom day of the martyr. To be staged in HMT Auditorium, Pinjore, the play is directed by Mr C.S. Sinha, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Haryana. 

PROHIBITORY ORDERS: Keeping in view the forthcoming elections of the Municipal Council for ward 9 and gram panchayat ward 8 on July 2, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Surendra Kumar Monga has imposed Section 144 of the Cr PC in the city during the elections. A communique by the DC here on Wednesday said that no explosive was to be carried in the city till the elections were over. Not more than five people were allowed to be seen within a range of 300 metres near the BEL Factory, Sector 14, which is a polling station. 

HARYANA

JIND
MAN KILLS WIFE: Ramphal, a resident of Bibipur village in the district, allegedly killed his wife and cremated her with the help of two persons in the village. Mr Raj Pal Singh, SP, Jind, said here on Tuesday that on receiving the information about the incident the police rushed to the village and took into possession ashes and bones of the deceased for investigation. He said the relations between the deceased and her husband were strained. The husband along with his accomplices was absconding. A case has been registered.

IN-LAWS HELD: In a dowry harassment case, the police on Monday arrested Sarver, husband of Sunita, a resident of the local Loco Colony, her father-in-law Baldev Singh and brother-in-law Neel Kamal. According to police sources, Sunita, had filed an application in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate in which she had alleged that her in-laws harassed and tortured her for bringing insufficient dowry following which a case was registered.

POPPY SEIZED: The district police arrested Pritam Singh, Bitu and Surjit Singh of Rohar village in the district on Monday for selling poppy husk and seized 120 kg of poppy from them. A police spokesman said Shailander, Major Singh, Nishan Singh and Baldev Singh, residents of Rohar village, were also involved in the trade of poppy husk. He said a case had been registered against the four but they were absconding.

REWARI
HUSBAND HELD: The police has arrested Surender Singh Yadav of Majra Sheoraj village, near here, in connection with the alleged dowry death of his wife, Suman. She had suffered severe burn injuries on July 14 and later died at a hospital. A case was registered against Surender Singh on a complaint of Suman’s father, Mr Ishwar Singh Yadav.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

SHIMLA
SUICIDE: Raj Kumar, a 28-year-old youth of Palsoti village in Ghumarwin, allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison here on Tuesday. According to Mr A.N.Sharma, SP, he was found gasping for breath near Ram Chandra Chowk by the gunman and driver of the Health Minister, who rushed him to Ripon Hospital. However, he could not be saved.

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

Wrestler cop’s phenomenal rise

The saying pluck is better than luck has proved true in the case of Mr Jagrup Singh Rathee, Additional Superintendent of Police, Sonepat. He is one of the few police officers who has reached the highest police cadre of the country. He joined the Haryana Police as a constable in 1967 and found the job challenging. But he set his eyes on the highest post. Hard work, devotion of duty and sincerity of purpose ultimately helped him in his elevation to the IPS cadre.

Mr Rathee belongs to a family of wrestlers. He got inspiration for wrestling from his father, Mr Daryao Singh, a famous wrestler of the region. His grandfather, Mr Sultan Singh, too, was a wrestler of repute. Mr Rathee joined the “akhara” of the famous wrestler, Master Chandgi Ram, in 1963. During his college days (1963-67), he participated in the inter-university wrestling matches. In 1968, he won the national championship and retained the title for 12 successive years till 1979. He won gold medals at Salem (TN) and New Zealand. He represented India at the Munich Olympics in 1972. In 1983 he made his mark as a wrestler in the world wrestling championship held in Teheran and got the fourth position. In 1975, he defeated the Asian team and again won a gold medal.

Mr Rathee acted as a chief coach for the Indian wrestling team, which participated in the Olympics held in Los Angeles. He was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 1974. In 1982, he was given the Bhim Award by the state government and by the former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal for his best performance in wrestling. (See photo).

Even now Mr Rathee finds time from his busy schedule and guides budding wrestlers. He never misses any wrestling match held in this district and encourages wrestlers. He advises them to shed the fear that participation in this sport affects studies. He quotes his own example and says that the games instil a sense of confidence, and discipline, so essential for the all-round development of the personality.

Cadets bring laurels

Another milestone in the history of Himachal Pradesh NCC (Air Wing) was set when four of its cadets came out with flying colours at the Air Force Attachment Camp this year with the IAF’s 34 Wing.

These boys, Atishaye Vashisht, Atul Katyayen, Deepak Thakur and Pankaj Gaur, had successfully completed the course and brought honours to their college in Kulu.

While appreciating the four cadets of his unit, Wing Commander R.K. Tripathi, Commanding Officer, H.P. NCC, was hopeful of their achievements in every field as they were disciplined and smart cadets of the local unit at the Government College here.

It was learnt that the college NCC unit was reactivated by Wg Cdr Tripathi, who could manage to arrange training to the cadets in gliding, power flying, paratrooping, mountaineering and many more fields. It was for the first time that the annual training camp was organised under his guidance at the transit base of the Indian Army supplies at Solang on the Manali-Leh highway. Another camp is proposed to be held at Bhuntar, near Kulu.

He pointed out that there was enough potential in youth of the area; the only need was to tap it and give it a direction.

Deformity fails to deter her

Varinder Kaur (19) struck by polio since she was one and a half years old but has a remarkable urge to stand on her own two feet, despite the affliction that has deformed her torso, her arms and hands. She has performed well as an artist whether on fabric, canvas or glass paintings.

Belonging to a poor farmer’s family of seven children from Rathania village, the All-India Women’s Conference ( AIWC) took her under its wing providing her free accommodation, meals and a chance to learn painting at the short stay home of the centre.

Ms Vinni who is in charge of the centre, says despite Varinder’s disability she not only has a good hand in painting but also helps others around. “It is indeed creditable that this frail girl can pick up buckets of water, do the cooking using the ‘datar’ to cut vegetables besides looking after her daily chores.”

Varinder has created 30 paintings in four months as also decorating earthen pots with plaster of Paris, flowers, birds, and other motifs with her right hand assisting the left one. Many of her works on fabric can be applied on to garments.

She is trying her hand at making cards that could be sold at the AIWC to supplement her income.

The AIWC is garnering the support of the official sponsor for painting material to conduct a painting workshop-cum-competition at her village and help to establish her as a painting tutor in her village.

But Varinder, who has completed her 10+2, has set her sights high. She wants to be a computer professional. Her dedication and capabilities to draw precisely has convinced the AIWC president, Mrs Ranjit Chatha, and Executive Officer, Mrs Rajni Bhrany, to give her the chance to learn computers free of charge at the AIWC computer centre.

Varinder says she is not finding much difficulty in handing computer keys.

Dr Gargi Bhatia, performing honorary service at the centre, examined her and concluded that indeed there was Russian treatment technique which could improve 80 per cent of the deformed condition. The treatment would cost up to Rs 30,000.

Meanwhile, Varinder , who is more interested in a career than in getting married, is elated at the news as she diligently busies herself painting a beautiful picture of birds and flowers, hopeful of capturing the “sunshine and butterflies” in her life someday.

Contributed by R.D. Sapra, Subhash Sharma and Rashmi Talwar.