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Governor releases book on Maratha battalion
Beant Singh Medical College to start session soon: Bhattal
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ASI, three others arrested
Female foeticide high among educated mothers: Study
PSEB accused of harassment
Manav Sehyog Society gets
Rs 1 lakh grant
NRI killed in road
mishap
Kids gaze at chrysanthemums in full bloom at the Flower and Baby Show in Burlton Park in Jalandhar on Sunday. — Photo by S.S. Chopra
Villagers protest against noise pollution
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Governor releases book on Maratha battalion
Kapurthala, December 4 The book titled “A Royal Tribute” is authored by 84-year-old Maj-Gen E. D’Souza, PVSM (Retd), a widely-accepted authority on war history. The work recounts the 205-year-long illustrious history of the 5 Maratha Light Infantry which was raised on 21 December in 1800 by Captain Greene at Mumbai. Since its inception, the battalion has taken part in almost all the major operations undertaken by the Indian Army in India and abroad. During World War I, the battalion, as part of the British Army, fought in Mesopotamia displaying unsurpassed gallantry and valour, and thereby earning the sobriquet “Royal.” And during World War II, the battalion took part in eight Indian divisional operations in Italy. “It took me three years to compile the history of brave soldiers of this historic battalion,” Major-General D’Souza (Retd) said while addressing the gathering. He has also written on the history of two other battalions of this regiment. In August this year, Major-General D’Souza (Retd) was honoured by the Polish Government for his “outstanding contribution in matters of history.” On this day, Battle Honour “Suadih” and Theatre Honour “East Pakistan” were awarded to the unit for its gallantry in the 1971 war. Subedar K. Bhonsle (Retd), who was a Mention-in-Dispatch in the battalion, shared memories of time spent in Sri Lanka, where for four years and three months the unit was part of the Indian peace keeping force. “Ours was the first battalion to land in Sri Lanka and the last one to leave the island. We were deputed in all the five districts of Sri Lanka— Jaffna, Vavunia, Killonochi, Trincomalli and Elephenta Pass,” he said. Among those present in the function was Major John Redfern of the British Territorial Army and the son of Captain J.A. Redfern who joined the British army in 1939 in London and served from 1942 to 1946 in 5 Maratha Light Infantry Battalion in India. Captain Redfern died last year. The battalion also boasts of soldiers like Subedar Major and Honorary Captain Shankar Laxman, the captain of the gold medal winning Olympic hockey team in Tokyo, and also conferred upon with the Arjuna Award and the Padam Shree. General J.J. Singh, Chief of Army Staff, served as the commander of the battalion from 1985 to 1987. |
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Beant Singh Medical College to start session soon: Bhattal
Jalandhar, December 4 The Punjab Deputy Chief Minister, Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, gave this assurance today while attending the inauguration of Apollo Clinic in the New Jawahar Nagar locality here. Responding to a question as to why the much-publicised medical college project was getting delayed, Ms Bhattal said, “There is nothing to worry about. We are making all efforts to ensure that it starts functioning from the next academic session.” Brushing aside the apprehensions that Punjab was heading for nightmarish times with drug addiction and stressful work culture having overpowered the people, Ms Bhattal said she was upset over the fact that “every third Punjabi seems to be sick.” “It is a matter of concern that we are breathing polluted air. Machines—in place of humans—are exercising nowadays. Though our first priority should be good health, but its worrisome that we are loosing that age old motto. Where is the spirit of Ranjha and Heer, which dominated the golden land of Punjab once upon a time?.” She, however, had no answer when she was asked to explain as to whether the Punjab government was not responsible for rising pollution. “We are doing the needful,” she said simply. Referring to a Punjabi Tribune story from Bathinda about a quack, she also lamented that people of Punjab were falling prey to superstitions and malpractices adopted by quacks to loot innocent people. “We will have to come forward to get our lost pulse back. We have to diagnose the problem first and then to cure it suitably,” said Ms Bhattal. She was accompanied by two Punjab Ministers— Mr Amarjit Samra and Ms Gurkanwal Kaur, along with the Chief Parliamentary Secretary Mr Sukhjinder Randhawa, and the Chief Director, Punjab Vigilance Bureau, Mr A.P. Pandey. Editor-in-Chief of daily Ajit, Dr Barjinder Singh, was special guest on the occasion.
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ASI, three others arrested
Jalandhar, December 4 The police has also seized four computers from Pawan Kumar and Sumit Narang, both residents of Islaam Ganj in Ludhiana, and recovered an amount of Rs 80,000 from possession of Sarbjit Kaur, a resident of Ashok Vihar locality here. The police alleged that Sarbjit Kaur was running the racket with the help of Bhupinder Singh, the ASI posted at Noormahal. According to Mr Kulwinder Singh Thiara, DSP (D), all the accused, including the ASI, have been booked under Sections 420, 467, 468, and 471 of the IPC on a complaint lodged by Mr Avtaar Singh, a resident of New Sital Nagar here. Mr Thiara said the accused used to purchase fake IELTS certificates from Pawan Kumar and Sumit Kumar and sold those for an amount ranging between Rs 50,000 to Rs one lakh to those desperate to go abroad. |
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Female foeticide high among educated mothers: Study
Phagwara, December 4 According to the recently-released fertility data of Census 2001, the more educated the mother, the more chance there is that she will resort to female foeticide. Ironically, illiterate mothers do better. Such incidences are higher in the states like Punjab, where the status of women considered is relatively low and sons are looked upon. In Punjab, the girl-boy ratio is 845:1000 in case of illiterate mothers and 745:1000 when the mothers are literate. In effect, there is a difference of 70-100 points in the child sex ratio across the northern states of the country when the mother is literate. And, there is no reason to celebrate the comparatively healthier child sex ratio among illiterate women as they too have started accessing modern technology to kill female foetuses. “There is an inverse relationship between educational status and sex ratio of children born in the states where foetal sex determination has become popular over the past two decades,” said an official of the Centre for Women’s Studies, who has been compiling data on fertility series. “However, in states like West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where the sex determination is relatively less, there is no such inverse relationship.” |
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PSEB accused of harassment
Hoshiarpur, December 4 The inspection of the establishment was voluntarily sought by the pub owner, Mr Jaswant Singh, and his son, Mr Gunraj Singh, a key witness in the Pathankot SDM Poaching Case, after PSEB’s Enforcement Wing raided the pub on October 27. The pub owner had alleged that the raiding team misbehaved with them and also imposed a huge fine. As per the team’s report, the pub owners were withdrawing 60.2 kilo watts of electricity which was far above the sanctioned load of 35 kilo watts. Then, another team of the PSEB officials re-inspected the pub on November 14 and reported that 44.191 kilo watts was being consumed by the owners. A difference of approximately 16 kilo watts in two separate reports by the same department has raised eyebrows. While talking to The Tribune, Mr Gunraj Singh, the pub owner, said he had opened the pub about a fortnight before the raid was conducted. “I voluntarily got the electricity load increased from 3.5 to 35 kilo watts after fitting all the electrical appliances and getting the load tested from PSEB officials.” “Three different teams have shown different load of electricity on the same premises and it is being done to harass me, since I’m a key witness in the Pathankot SDM Poaching Case. The action of the authorities shows that everything is being done at the patronage of the accused. Pressure is being mounted on us to withdraw the compliant against the accused.” |
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Manav Sehyog Society gets
Rs 1 lakh grant
Jalandhar, December 4 Exhorting the people to come forward and improve the state of health and education in Punjab, Mr Samra added that it was heartening to see that the NGO was busy realising its dream of an educated and a disease-free society for the past over 30 years. “People should come forward to support such NGOs.” Mr Vijay Chopra, Chairman of Hind Samachar Newspapers Limited, who presided over the function, said he was elated to see that the work, which should have been done by the government, was being performed by an NGO. Dr S.K. Sharma and Mr
K.L. Jain, the General Secretary and Vice-President of the society respectively, were also
present. |
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NRI killed in road
mishap
Kapurthala, December 4 The NRI, Hartirath Singh, a resident of Golden Avenue here, lost his control over his Zen car which subsequently rammed into a tree on roadside, police sources said. The deceased was taken to the civil hospital here where he was declared dead, sources added. Woman charred to death A 45-year-old woman was charred to death when the bed in which she was sleeping reportedly caught fire in Santpura Mohalla here late last night. The victim, Vidya Devi, had put an ‘angithi’ under her bed apparently to get respite from cold. But the bed caught fire and she sustained severe burn injuries, police sources said. Vidya Devi was taken to civil hospital here where she succumbed to her burn injuries, sources added. |
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Two-day flower show in city
Jalandhar, December 4 Speaking on the occasion, Ms Gurkanwal Kaur said flowers and plants contributed a lot in checking air pollution. Praising the corporation for organising the two-day show, she said the effort was laudable as it could educate the common people about the importance of flowers and plants in changing their surroundings. Mr S.S. Johl, the Commissioner of the civic body, said “Though houses are constructed with bricks and cement, but plants add beauty to the homes. Indoor plants can save us from harmful gases and air pollution inside our homes.” He said the MC would make an effort to distribute flower plants to the residents of the city and to the visitors free of cost. Ms Anita Raja, Senior Deputy Mayor, Ms Gurpreet Kaur Sapra, Assistant Commissioner, and a number of councillors of the civic body were also present on the occasion. |
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Villagers protest against noise pollution
Jalandhar, December 4 Hundreds of villagers along with school students holding placards were venting out their anger against the hall and restaurant owners for causing noise pollution till late hours of the night. They alleged that the music at the hall and restaurant was played for long hours which disturbed the students and the patients. The practice, they said, was illegal. A police party from Chaheru also arrived on the scene to control the protesters.
— TNS |
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