Jalandhar, December 3
For the first time, a state-level sports day function was organised under Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan for the special children studying in government schools on the occasion of World Disability Day today. As many as 220 differently-abled children of all ages up to 14 years took part in various athletic events organised for them. The participants were first selected at the block level. Then they made it to the top at the district level before being finally chosen for the state event. Competitions were organised to cover the disabilities of four different types - mental challenge, visual, hearing and orthopaedic impairment.

The children showed amazing abilities as those children who were completely visually impaired walked straight, without support, in their own track. Even those children who suffered from twin disabilities of mental challenge and hearing impairment completed their races in record timings and managed to take longer leaps in jumps.

This was particularly proven by Budh Ram from Garhshankar, who suffers from the twin disabilities, and competed in 100-m race. Visually impaired Mandeep Bharti, class II student from government elementary school, Bariana village, Hoshiarpur, came for the event with her mother Rajinder Kaur. Kulveen from Ferozepore too suffers from visual problems but performed well in the long jump.Seventeen-year-old Ajay, who is mentally challenged and a class II student of a school in Gurdaspur, was not allowed to participate in the event as he had surpassed the maximum age of 14 years. He won two medals in Special Olympics held at Ludhiana yesterday.

Alawalpur-based Tejinder Sehgal, whose both arms have been amputated, won a loud applause from the audience as he recited a poem, “Kyon taras asan te karde ho (Why do you pity on us?)” at the opening of the function. The boy, who is a football player and is able to write words clear and fast with his right foot, had lost his arms about nine years back when he suffered an electric shock.

Talking to mediapersons after inauguration, Dr Upinderjit Kaur, education minister, said the department would soon be filling 14,000 posts of teacher in government schools by March 31. She said the department had received nearly 2.5 lakh applications for the same, which were being sorted out.

Nawanshahr, December 3
The physically handicapped association of Punjab, in collaboration with different social and religious bodies, organised ‘Apang Punarvas Divas’ here today to mark the World Disability Day.

The chief guest Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, general secretary of SGPC, in his address said the SAD-BJP alliance was committed to the welfare of the physically-challenged people. The Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has constituted a committee to probe the alleged misuse of the funds meant for the welfare of the disabled, he said. The SGPC has been granting due reservation to the disabled while recruiting staff for its religious and educational institutions, he further added. While lauding the consistent and relentless efforts of the association, Bhaur exhorted the people from all sections of the society, especially NGOs to come forward to change the mindset of the people towards disabled.

ADC Pritam Singh Johal stressed the need for strict compliance of road safety measures. The driving licenses and registration certificates of vehicles should be issued only after proper checking and verification, he added. This will, to a large extent, reduce the number of road mishaps and subsequently decrease the disability associated with it. The ADC announced a grant of Rs 50,000 on behalf of the chief parliamentary secretary, Sarwan Singh Phillaur.

Kashmir Sanawa and Balwant Singh Dardi, chairman and president of the association in their addresses lamented the apathetic attitude of the bureaucracy towards implementation of the Persons With Disability Act, 1995. Gurdev Singh SP, disability commission, SGPC member Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa, social workers Kartar Singh Sekhon, Dr Kabul Singh, Naresh Suri, Jatinder Kaur Pathlawa, Ashwani Kumar Pappu, among others, also spoke on the occasion. The association distributed 101 tricycles among the disabled. 

Jalandhar, December 3
The sprawling wetlands of Harike Pattan, the winter destination of airborne vagabonds, are a total delight for birdwatchers who wait the whole year round to catch a glimpse of the guests  from the west.

With the temperatures dropping in the west, the wetlands are ceremoniously being flocked by the winged guests once again. The lake, which is thronged by birds of various species every year, has again been filled with the chirps and quacks of the foreign guests.

The birds which come here every year are Siberian cranes, purple moorhens, pigtails, brahming ducks, grey-legged geese, grey heron, purple heron, cotton pygmy goose, tufted duck, yellow-crowned woodpecker, yellow-eyed pigeon, watercock, pallas’s gull, brown-headed gull, black-headed gull, yellow-legged gull, Indian skimmer, white-winged tern, white-rumped vulture, hen harrier, Eurasian sparrowhawk, Eurasian hobby, horned grebe, black-necked grebe, great-crested grebe, white-browed fantail, brown shrike, common woodshrike, white-tailed stonechat, white-crowned pendulin tit, rufuous-vented prinia, striated grassbird, cetti’s bush warbler and sulphur-bellied warbler.

S.C. Sharma, coordinator, Punjab and Haryana, Indian Birds Conservation Network, said, “One can witness 23 species of ducks and geese, 31 of raptors (eagles, hawks and kites), 50 of waders, 19 of terns and gulls, 10 of flight caters, nine of lease vowlers, 10 of pipets and nine species of buntings.”Apart from these, collared patching, koel, Asian dowichers and long-toed stint are some of the rare bird species which visit the lake, he added.

Gurmeet Singh, deputy chief wildlife warden, said the number of birds visiting the wetlands cannot be predicted because it depends on many climatic factors like temperature and fog. However, a good number of birds are expected this time.

He said, “One can see many rare and endangered species. It is a great treat, especially for birdwatchers and ornithologists.” Sometimes birds come in such a big number that the whole wetland is covered with them, he added.

Jalandhar, December 3
The district police today claimed to have arrested three persons for the murder of a watchman of Amway on duty outside the office at Chhoti Baradari, Phase-I, on the intermittent night of Friday and Saturday.

Sham Lal was strangulated to death as he had tried to thwart the attempt of the three persons who tried to barge into the office with a motive to loot money.

The accused, Surinder Singh and Major Singh from Patiala, and Jagjit Singh from Fatehgarh Sahib, had an information that Rs 25 lakh get collected in the office on the last day of every month and they had come with a plan to break the safe that night.

The accused had to wait till late that night because of much rush on the road due to a kirtan darbar held on the same evening. Finally at 2.30 am, they parked their vehicle at the back of the office and tried to enter the office from the adjoining showroom. The watchman after seeing them hit Major Singh with a stick. After the incident, the trio strangulated him and dumped his body in an under-construction house at the back of the office.

Thereafter, the threesome removed the number plate of their vehicle and went back to break open the office. They managed to enter but failed in their effort to open safe. When they tried to flee, they saw police from division number 7 checking their vehicle. They left their vehicle there and managed to escape from the other side.

The documents in the vehicle helped the police nab the three accused.

In another case, the police from division number 4 has arrested the main accused involved in the recent attack on the house of BJP leader Amarjit Singh Amri. Twentyfive-year-old Suraj, hailing from Ali Puli Mohalla, and his accomplices were said to have entered the residence of the leader late in the evening and smashed the windowpanes of his car.

The police officials said they had secret information of his whereabouts and laid a trap to arrest him.

The police is also said to have recovered smack from him. Four other accused in the case had been arrested earlier.

Phagwara, December 3
Body of Raman, son of Krishan Kumar Kaura, who had gone missing since his return from UK was recovered by the police today. Raman, who had come back from UK after attending wedding of a relative only a few days ago, had been missing  since November 29.

Mehtiana police recovered the body of Raman, wrapped in a plastic bag and a bed sheet from the field in Arihanakalan village. Krishan Kumar, identified the body at a local hospital. The body bore several injury marks and was handed to the family after a postmortem examination.

The deceased worked in real estate business with his father. He had no rivalry with anyone said, Krishan Kumar.

Phagwara, December 3
Punjab medical education & forest minister Tikshan Sud today demanded that Simaranjit Singh Mann, President, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) be booked for hurting the feelings of the citizens of the country by calling Shaheed Bhagat Singh, a petty terrorist. The BJP leader said it was unfortunate that person like Mann was being allowed to roam free and make such provocative statements. He said Mann should be thankful to Shaheed Bhagat Singh who gave his life, so that we could all breathe in freedom and enjoy all fundamental rights including right to speech.Sud said by denigrating the national hero, the SAD (A) president has shown his moral as well as intellectual bankruptcy.

He said the nation would always remain indebted to all the known and unknown freedom fighters who gave their life for the freedom of the country.

Giving a call for social boycott of SAD (A) president, Sud said every citizen of the country should rise above the petty political lines should socially boycott Mann who has dared to call our national hero a petty terrorist.

The BJP Leader said it was unfortunate that Mann has deliberately chosen to make a statement in the year of the birth centenary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, when the every citizen of this country was participating in yearlong campaign to pay tributes to him.

Sud said that it was because of ‘provocative statements’ of Mann and his ‘links with anti national forces’ Punjab had to suffer for a decade during which thousands of lives were lost. Sud said he was hoped that the judiciary of this country would soon take cognizance of the utterances of Mann and would book him for sedition.