The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

No sign of avian flu among migratory birds in Harike, say officials
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 11
The annual winter guests have started arriving in the wetlands of the region for their three-month break. Unlike previous years when the migratory birds were awaited anxiously by avian lovers, this time suspicion is greeting the birds.

But officials of wildlife, forest and animal husbandry departments say that not a single sample of droppings taken from the suspected varieties of migratory birds has tested positive.

Dr H.S. Sandha, Joint Director of Animal Husbandry, and in charge of the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Jalandhar, has confirmed the reports in this regard.

When The Tribune team visited the bird sanctuary of Harike, the biggest wetland of the region, hundreds of gulls, geese, gadwalls and ducks could be seen and they all seemed apparently healthy. Flocks of exotic birds were seen mixing closely with the local varieties of birds such as cormorants, herons and storks, and sharing their habitat, environs and food.

The employees of the sanctuary revealed that not even a single specimen of dead or ill bird had been seen ever since the birds started arriving a fortnight back.

They said that officials of the various departments had been regularly touring the 84-sq km vast wetland and had even taken samples but they had not come across any alarming signs. Even today the officials and employees could be seen taking rounds of the wetland on motor boats.

Various varieties of the birds were found at least 500 metre from the edge of the sanctuary. The biggest flock of the birds could be seen in a silence zone, almost 8 km from the gates of the sanctuary.

The birds seemed very sensitive to sound and light, as they started retreating from the embankments as The Tribune lensman tried to capture their images.

Even though they were quietly swimming around the area, they immediately left the waters and reached the skies.

The birds kept on flying for a while till they settled 500 metre ahead of the old place.

Former honorary Wildlife Wardens of Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur, Mr Sukhdeep Bajwa and Mr Gunraj Singh, respectively, said the number of migratory birds coming to the wetlands was bound to increase when the mercury registered a further dip.

They said that species, including mallards, pin tails, teels, spot bills were also expected to visit Harike in the chilly season ahead.

Mr Bajwa added that while most birds were coming to the wetland at this time, it was time for whistling teel, a unique migratory bird, to leave its summer home.

Unions rally behind leaders of Kiranjit Action Committee
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 11
Members of various unions today held a protest against the Barnala Sessions Court’s decision that was against the three leaders of the Kiranjit Action Committee— Narain Dutt, Manjeet Dhaner and Prem Kumar.

The unions alleged that the leaders were framed in false cases because they had fought against the injustice done to Kiranjit Kaur — a 17-year-old Plus Two student from Mehal Kalan village who was raped and killed in 1997.

The court has awarded life imprisonment to the three persons. The unions took out a rally and submitted a memorandum to the Punjab Governor through the office of the Deputy Commissioner.

The protesters were addressed by the Kul Hind Kisan Mazdoor Sabha president Hardev Singh Sandhu, Pendu Mazdoor Union Punjab state president Tarsem Peter, Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union president Harmesh Malri among others. The speakers alleged that the government let ministers and politicians involved in heinous crimes go scot-free whereas those who had fought for the rights of a teenaged girl, who was raped and then killed, had been falsely implicated. The court, they alleged, has punished the leaders who had fought for the girl. They demanded that the leaders be released.

Kiranjit Kaur, daughter of a physically challenged teacher Darshan Singh, was abducted from the village on July 29, 1997, when she was returning from her college. Her body was dug out from a field in the village after some days. In the Kiranjit abduction, rape and murder case, the Barnala Sessions Court awarded life imprisonment to the convicts. Later, in a case of murder of Dalip Singh, a member of the family of the convict in the Kiranjit case, the Barnala Sessions Judge, on March 30 this year, awarded life imprisonment to three members of the action committee and some others. Dalip Singh was attacked on March 3, 2001, in the Barnala Courts complex by some persons but he died after some days in a Ludhiana hospital.

The three members of the Kiranjit Katal Kand Virodhi Action Committee were awarded life imprisonment on the basis of witnesses.

Late President’s personal tailor recalls Narayanan’s humility
Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

Ibrahim Qamar Idris Sabri is seen taking measurement of late K.R. Narayanan at Rashtarpati Bhavan in New Delhi.
— A file photo

Jalandhar, November 11
For Md Ibrahim Qamar Idris Sabri, a famous based tailor here, late President of India K.R. Narayanan was a picture of austerity and humility. “He preferred to wear his old clothes, even when they required alteration, at the time when he held the highest office of the country.”

Mr Sabri, the former President’s personal tailor from January 28 1993 to July 2002 (during complete his office tenure), said Mr Narayanan loved tight fitting high-neck Jodhpuri suits (also known as the Band Gala).

Mr Sabri was introduced to Mr Narayanan by his personal physician Dr Kharia in January 1993, when the former was the Vice-President of India. Apart from Mr Narayanan, Mr Sabri has also been a personal tailor to another former Indian President — late Giani Zail Singh.

“Narayanan Sahib was affable and a down-to-earth person, who loved austerity. The thing which I had never encountered in case of other politicians was that even when Mr Narayanan was President, he used to order alterations of his old clothes, particularly suits, which he wore even during official functions. He said he was against any type of wastage,” added Mr Sabri, who used to frequent Rashtarpati Bhawan on calls made by the two late Presidents.

“Even though he preferred Jodhpuri Band Gala suits, for taking a salute from forces on Republic Day functions, he used to go in for Sherwanis with Kurta-Payajamas,” recalled Sabri, who incidentally, has also fetched the President’s Medal for Scouts from late Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, when he was a matriculation student in Saharanpur, UP.

Remembering his meetings with late Narayanan, Sabri said the former was always anxious to know about others and their problems. “As he came to know about my interest in the field of social service, he not only got me nominated as a member of the Zonal Railway Users’ Consultation Committee, but also kept on enquiring about what I had been doing about the problems of the passengers and railway officials.”

Fake travel agents may prove elusive for Delhi Police
Anuradha Shukla
Tribune News Service

Number cases registered against travel agents in Jalandhar Range

Jalandhar, November 11
The Delhi Police may have come to the region with much fanfare, but the real act of pursuing the fraudulent travel agents, they now realise, is far too tough. They are chasing 2223 fraud agents, most of whom are nameless and without an address.

All the cases registered with the national capital’s famed police department against these conmen point to only one area of action— Doaba (Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Nawanshahr). The amount siphoned from hapless, ill-informed but all the more foreign-crazy youth crosses Rs 50 crore in just four years! And the guests from Delhi are only armed with names (mostly fake.)

As most fraud agents send their victims abroad through the Indira Gandhi International Airport, and the security personnel there sometimes are able to make out fake papers from the real ones, arrests happen. And the youth keep languishing in Delhi’s jails, said Mr H.S. Dhillon, Inspector General of Police, Jalandhar Range. “It’s a double jeopardy for these arrested youth: first these travel agents dupe them with fake documents and then the authorities catch up with them either at the Delhi airport or at airports on foreign lands.” Mr Dhillon said that after interrogation of those arrested, roads usually lead to this region of Punjab, leaving the Delhi Police clueless.

“Rs five lakh is the minimum amount these youth pay to the travel agents for their services. Think of the size of the fraud,” he added.

When the two desperate police teams met each other recently, they decided to exchange information about these booked travel agents. The Delhi Police then tabled a list of 932 cases in front of the district police. Out of that, only 165 could be identified while the remaining 767 remain anonymous.

GND Varsity zonal youth fest concludes
Tribune News Service

Apeejay College team displays the trophy it won in the festival in Jalandhar on Friday. — Photo by S.S. Chopra

Jalandhar, November 11
Students from the Apeejay College of Fine Arts and Guru Nanak Dev University Regional Campus, Ladhewali, bagged the first position in divisions A and B, respectively, on the concluding day of the four-day Zonal Youth Festival (for girls) organised by the university here today.

Master Gurbanta Singh Memorial Janta College, Kartarpur, and DRV DAV College, Phillaur, were placed second and third, respectively, in B division, while HMV College and Kamla Nehru College, Phagwara, were declared second and third, respectively, in A division. Mr Amarjit Singh Samra, Minister for Revenue and NRIs, Punjab, presided over the valedictory function.

Results of the fest:

Gidha: Apeejay College (1), KMV College (2), KN College for Women (3), and HMV College (4).

Classical dance: Apeejay College (1), KN College (2) and KMV College (3).

Folk song: Apeejay College (1), KN College (2) and MGSM Janta College (3).

Skit: HMV College (1), GND University Regional Campus (2) and KN College (3)

Debate: HMV College (1), GND University Regional Campus (2) and HMV College (3)

Classical vocal: Apeejay College (1), HMV College (2), and PCM SD College for Women (3).

Cane-growers’ protest continues
Our Correspondent

Workers’ organisations protest against the Barnala Sessions Court’s verdict in Jalandhar on Friday.

Phagwara, November 11
The members of the local Canegrowers’ Cooperative Society, continued their indefinite dharna for the second day today against the decision of local sugar mill management to directly deal with the farmers, bypassing the society.

The protestors were led by the society’s president Rashpal Singh. He claimed that the farmers had stopped supplying cane to the mill, bringing work to a halt.

However, Mr Jarnail Singh Wahid and Mr Sukhbir Singh Sandhar, Chairman-cum-MD and Joint MD, respectively, of Wahid-Sandhars Sugars Ltd countered these claims.

JE gets 2-year RI
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 11
Ravi Kumar, a Junior Engineer with the Public Health Department, Punjab, has been sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment, and a fine of Rs 3000 has been imposed on him by the court of Additional Sessions Judge, Mr S.K. Aggrawal, for amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The JE, who remained posted in different districts of Punjab, including Jalandhar, was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau (VB) in 1997.

The VB investigations revealed that Ravi Kumar had collected property worth Rs 10.16 lakh between 1983 and 1995, and Rs 2.91 lakh was found to be disproportionate to his known sources of income.

For this excess amount, Ravi Kumar had failed to give a valid explanation, court sources said.

In his decision, Mr Aggrawal agreed with the view of the prosecution and sentenced Mr Ravi Kumar to three years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) and also ordered him to pay a fine of Rs 3000.

In case Ravi Kumar failed to pay the fine, he would have to serve another three months in jail, said Mr Aggrawal.

The decision has been given in the light of Sections 7 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, under which Ravi Kumar was booked by the VB.