Adampur (Jalandhar), September 26
The local populace of Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur areas was treated to a dazzling air show put up by the Formation Aerobatic Team Suryakiran and Helicopter Display Team Sarang at the Air Force Station, Adampur, here today.

The show began with the takeoff of two MIG-29 aircrafts flown one after the other by Sqn Ldr Rajpal Dhaliwal and Sqn Ldr Vikram Mehra. Amidst a thunderous applause by schoolchildren and residents of neighbouring towns and villages, the fighter planes went off into the air steeply at an amazingly high speed.

The helicopter display was put up by the team “Sarang”, meaning “peacock” in Sanskrit. Four Dhruv sorties were flown at a low altitude, forming different patterns and displaying daredevil feats. The team leader Wg Cdr Shashank Misra astonished everyone by flying the chopper in a reverse direction towards the other three at a speed of 120 km per hour.

The pilots crossed their choppers over each other closely, showing their precision and skill in flying the machines with large and unwieldy rotors. The sorties crossed each other while coming at the same level as well as vertically.

Then Formation Aerobatic Team Suryakiran entered the skies in three sets of three jet trainers. Led by Wg Cdr Sandeep Bansal, the nine aircrafts displayed various profiles by forming barrel roll, delta and wedge turns, rear entry loop,one of the most admired being a heart loop with a cupid crossing it.

Wg Cdr Mohit Shishodia, too, mesmerised everyone by inverting his aircraft time and again. In one of the displays, his jet trainer flew inverted atop another upright one, forming a mirror-run pattern. The aircrafts started from a point and flew outwards forming star-burst pattern. While the five aircrafts moved in one direction, the other one came fast from the opposite direction at the same level to join them.

The pilots of Sarang and Suryakiran teams later interacted with the mediapersons in the mess lawns of the station. Wg Cdr Shashank Misra said that while three choppers had been flown in an air display earlier, four were now being used.

He said that this was the third display by the team as part of the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Indian Air Force, with the first and the second one held at Jammu and Udhampur.

He said that the final display of the team based at Yelahanka, near Hyderabad, would be held at Delhi on the occasion of Air Force Day on October 8.

Wg Cdr Sandeep Bansal of Suryakiran Team said that air shows would be on till April. He said that the unit based at Bidar had its members being changed after every three years. During the three-year span, the members were also swapping roles among each other so that each one could perform every role during their tenure.

He also answered queries pertaining to a mishap during a practice session in which one of the new trainees had passed off.

He said that something had gone wrong with the aircraft that was coming at a high speed and the pilot had no time to eject out. 

Phagwara, September 26
In a significant political development, more than twelve staunch Congress leaders have raised their voice against Phagwara MLA, Mr Joginder Singh Mann, and urged the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president, Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, to replace Mr Mann with a new candidate for the coming Assembly elections to ensure victory for the party.

These leaders include former Phagwara Improvement Trust chairman, Mr Harjit Singh Parmar, former Block Congress Committee presidents, Mr Madan Mohan Bajaj, Mr Ashok Prashar, Mr Harjit Singh Walia, Mr Inder Duggal, former councillors, Mr Vijay Sondhi, Mr Gurbachan Singh Walia, Mr Lal Chand Thapar, present councillors, Ms Jyoti Ghai, Mr Ramesh Jordan, former Market Committee chairman, Mr Nirmal Singh Ranipur, besides several other prominent Congress leaders.

They met Mr Dullo yesterday and submitted a detailed report on the allegedly dictatorial attitude of Mr Mann.

They alleged that Mr Mann had never bothered about the interests of common workers.

They urged Mr Dullo to assess the political situation in Phagwara before allotting party ticket to any candidate.

It may be mentioned here that Phagwara Improvement Trust chairman, Mr Balbir Raja Sodhi, also said to be a loyalist of the Punjab Local Bodies Minister, Ch Jagjit Singh, was a candidate for the party ticket during the last Assembly elections. 
But Mr Mann, allegedly with the help of his uncle Buta Singh (former Union Home Minister), succeeded in getting the party ticket at eleventh hour just a day before the last date of filing the nomination papers. 

Phagwara, September 26
Fifteen jaundice cases have been diagnosed till now officially. Phagwara Senior Medical Officer, Dr Yash Mitra, has confirmed this. However, unofficially, the number of patients suffering from jaundice is reported to be much higher.

Today more than 12 residents of the local Dharamkot Mohalla were reported to be suffering from jaundice. Also, a pregnant woman Asha Rani, wife of Sukhwinder Paul, reportedly died of jaundice today. The SMO, however, denied this. He claimed that the woman had died of childbirth complications.

Meanwhile, the Health Department authorities have advised the people to drink only boiled water.

Dr Mitra told The Tribune that tablets of chlorine were being distributed and people had been advised to bring the patients to the special ward of the Civil Hospital that had been opened tonight. He added that contaminated drinking water supplied by Nagar Council was said to be the main cause of the jaundice outbreak.