Kapurthala, July 27
As many as 10 unemployed B.Ed teachers and six policemen were injured in a clash at Shalamar Bagh here on Sunday afternoon.

While the agitating teachers were hurt as police resorted to lathi charge and fired some tear gas shells to disperse them, six policemen including Talwandi Chaudhriya SHO Sarup Singh also sustained injuries as the unemployed teachers pelted stones at the cops.

Nearly 1,000 unemployed B.Ed teachers from different districts had gathered at Shalamar Bagh under the banner of Berojgaar B.Ed Adhyapak Front.

The unemployed teachers were insisting to proceed to education minister Upinderjit Kaur’s house but police was not allowing them to do so as section 144 of CrPC had been clamped in the city.

They wanted to hand over a memorandum to education minister for the delay in issuance of appointment letters to 14,000 teachers selected by the government.

The teachers agreed to court arrest in case they were not allowed to hold a protest march. They boarded two police buses and when the police drove the buses they alighted from them and staged a dharna outside Shalamar Bagh.

The police cane charged and fired several rounds of tear gas shells to disperse the agitating teachers when they tried to break the police cordon.

Interestingly, the police did not spare the government teachers who were holding a separate protest rally in another corner of the Shalamar Bagh under the banner of Sarkari School Sikhia Bachao Manch Punjab, a conglomerate of 18 organisations.

SDM GS Khera requested the government teachers to conclude their rally immediately due to the tense atmosphere. The teachers agreed and handed over a memorandum to the SDM to submit it to education minister.

The teachers were demanding regular appointment of teachers and restoration of schools handed over to zila parishads and municipal corporations during previous Congress government.

Meanwhile, talking to mediapersons, state president of the front Sukhdarshan Singh said government had adopted dilly-dallying tactics in issuing appointment letters to 14,000 selected teachers.

On the other hand, talking to The Tribune Kapurthala SP (D) Sukhwinder Singh said an FIR would be registered against the unemployed teachers for injuring six policemen and damaging two vehicles.

The police had to resort to mild lathi charge as the teachers pelted stones at the policemen, he added.

Amritsar, July 27
India is on the threshold of sending a spacecraft to the moon to collect data on the geological features of the surface of the moon.

Addressing students, faculty and intelligentsia at the interactive session organised at S L Bhavan’s Public School here today, missile man and former president of India, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam said the country would be launching its first spacecraft in September to study the environment on the Moon and to enrich the Indian space scientist about other scientific data.

He said India would be in a position to send its first astronaut on the moon within the next 10 years.

Describing the Indo-US nuclear deal as a landmark agreement for the countrymen, he said it is indeed significant to meet the growing energy needs of the country and said he strongly endorses the Indo-US nuclear pact which would provide much needed uranium to run the 14 nuclear reactors which are currently underpowered.

The former president said it was imperative to explore possibilities of generating economically cheaper and eco-friendly substitutes of energy for India, which is embarking upon a major economical revival through sustained growth.

Nuclear energy is the best alternative available for the country. He said India has now joined a group of nations which would help the country to meet its uranium needs and get new technology for atomic power plants.

Dr Kalam, who had produced a vision paper that by 2020 India can achieve its economic goals through sustained 10 per cent annual GDP growth, said India had the full potential to become an economic superpower by the next one decade and said the country must check the menace of inflation for its continuous growth.

He said the young generation must work hard to make the country self reliant and economically powerful.

He said he was sure that the country had the capacity to achieve the annual 10 per cent growth through strong development indicators.

He said the country was making fast strides to build a modern strong infrastructure through scientific growth wave.

Kalam emphasized on the strong need to give teachers their rightful place in the education system and society.

Quoting his personal example, Dr Kalam said whatever he had achieved in his life was due to the unstinted support of his teachers.

Jalandhar, July 27
It was dream come true for 15-year-old Sakshi who had come all the way from Hoshiarpur to express her gratitude to the missile man of India Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for the one special letter she received from him during his tenure as the President.

A student of St Joseph Convent School, Sakshi approached the Apeejay school authorities for allowing her to meet Dr Kalam who visited the school today to interact with students.

Sakshi met Dr Kalam and presented him a bouquet along with a handmade greeting card and her joy had no bounds. Calling Dr Kalam as her inspiration, Sakshi said she had been working hard to become an aeronautical engineer.

“I missed an opportunity to meet Dr Kalam earlier too when he visited Sultanpur Lodhi two years back. However, this time I was determined that I would meet him at any cost,” said cheerful Sakshi who couldn’t believe the precious moment was over.

Meanwhile, the former President of India was seen in his true spirits of a great teacher as he answered queries of students. Dr Kalam spoke at length on subject “No youth need to fear about the future”.

During his hour-long interaction with students, he emphasised on the fact that students should try to imbibe four qualities - aim, dedication, perseverance and method to achieve goal - in their lives.

Answering a question on how to implement good qualities and become successful like him, Kalam humbly replied, “Anybody can become successful provided they implement four core qualities. First one should have a goal which should be followed by three friendships that are good books, great teachers and great friends.”

Endless sweat for achieving your goal and ability to face problems were the third and fourth keys to success, he added.

To a query about what would be next in the field of science and technology, Dr Kalam said, “India requires three things in the sphere of science and technology. First clean energy, second agriculture revolution till the year 2020 as India would be left with less land by that time and thirdly which was yet to be done was development in science and technology”.

Lauding efforts of Apeejay School for giving a chance to students of classes VI to X of Government Senior Secondary Schools for attending the function Dr Kalam said the effort would give wings to many students from weaker sections of society.

Jalandhar, July 27
Gurpreet Singh, a budding basketball player, studying in BA-I at the local Government Arts and Sports College, drowned when he went for swimming at the college pool with his friends this afternoon.

A resident of Saidoke Naul village of district Ferozepur, Gurpreet had joined the college just a few days back.

According to the information, the incident came to fore when the guard saw the mobile phone and clothes of one of the boys lying outside the pool.

On the other hand the role of Gurpreet's friends has also come under the scanner as they did not come to check his whereabouts.

SHO police division number 2, Sukhjeet Singh said the guard later informed the swimming coach Om Prakash, basketball coach Chander and the hostel warden for immediate action.

“It was with the help of a national level swimming player that the college authorities were able to take the body of Gurpreet out of the pool,” he said.

However, sources at the college expressed astonishment over the fact that the boys were allowed for swimming on Sunday.

Principal of the college Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary expressed grief over the demise of a budding basketball player and said she would personally look into the matter.

Meanwhile, the parents of the deceased have been informed and the dead body has been sent for post mortem.

Jalandhar/Patiala, July 27
Indian wrestling, which dates back to the 5th century BC, has undergone several changes over the centuries.

The most recent changes have been the influence of western methodologies and expectations for international competitions like the Olympics.

Indian wrestlers are generally known to practise or play local matches in dug
earthen pits.

But ahead of the international competitions they have to prepare themselves for
mat wrestling.

Many believe this is one of the major reasons why not many wrestlers succeed in international competitions.

Despite the fact that international wrestlers are required to play their matches on mats, it is the earthen pits that are usually preferred due to their popularity among wrestling lovers, especially in rural areas. It ensures a consistent source of income and popularity for wrestlers in general.

The lure of financial security throughout the year compels many of the promising youngsters to opt for turf wrestling instead of mat - which is the international norm. Kamaljit Singh, one wrestler, said: “Turf wrestling is more popular because there is money in it. There are many contests in turf arenas. It ensures a regular income for wrestlers. Wrestling on the mat is very limited, with a very few tournaments held in a year. For this reason, young wrestlers prefer mat wrestling. If we start having more competitions on mat, wrestlers will start concentrating and practising and then we can surely win Olympic medals.”

Indian wrestlers have won several medals in the Asian and Commonwealth games, but they have largely failed to replicate their feats at platforms like the Olympics.

Most wrestlers blame their basic training on turf for their failure to excel on the big stage where competitions are held on the mat.

However, institutions like the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala are doing their bit to provide facilities to wrestlers who qualified for national championships.

The Punjab sports department has now converted turf courts into mat. Kartar Singh, the secretary-general for the Wrestling Federation of India, said: “We started late, but now wrestling in India is changing, especially in Punjab where every district has mat facility for wrestling. In Jalandhar alone, there are eight to nine centres like Hansraj Stadium, Sports school where mats are available for practice. Now mats are compulsory for international wrestling.”

This year, over a billion Indians are pinning their Olympic hopes on three wrestlers who are bound for Beijing.

And, the Indian Wrestling Federation has brought in three coaches from Georgia to give tactical training to the Olympic hopefuls.

Yogeshwar Dutt, one Beijing Olympic qualified wrestler, said: “Foreign coaches are making a huge difference to our preparations. They know most of the wrestlers and their styles pretty well. They know which wrestler uses what technique and that is really helpful for us in our preparations.”

Rajiv Tomar, another Beijing Olympic qualified wrestler, said: “We still have time and the way our practice and performance are going on and the way the foreign coaches are working with us, we are close to a medal. We will try our best to bring a medal home and make India proud.” — ANI

Hoshiarpur, July 27
Senior Congress leaders here have accused the ruling SAD-BJP combine of victimising Congress municipal councillor Brahm Shankar Jimpa for his support to the rebel BJP councillor Gopi Chand Kapur in the election for the post of president of Hoshiarpur municipal council.

Addressing mediapersons here today, Rajya Sabha member and district Congress chief Dharampal Sabharwal and senior PPCC leader Charanjit Singh Channi said water samples were taken from from Jimpa’s factories at Patiari and Bassi Gulam Hussain villages on Saturday, which was a holiday, just to harass him.

Notably, Jimpa along with five Congress councillors, 10 SAD-BJP rebels and two independents had supported Kapur against the BJP’s official candidate Shiv Sud.

The poll, scheduled on Friday, was indefinitely postponed by the returning officer after an attack by a group of armed hooligans.

The Congress leaders alleged that Kapur’s supporters were being terrorised by government officers to withdraw support.

Congress councillors Brahm Shankar Jimpa, Mohan Lal Pehalwan, Madan Lal Gandhi, Karambir Bali, Krishna Saini and Harbhajan Kaur were also present in the conference. They demanded voting through a secret ballot.

Batala, July 27
The police have arrested a youth in connection with a broad daylight robbery at a mobile shop here on July 22.

Sawinder Singh, in charge of the civil line police station, told mediapersons that Surjit Singh alias Monu, resident of Hasan Pura village was arrested on Saturday night from his house.

He was produced before the Ilaqa magistrate who has granted two-day police remand, he added.

“During the preliminary interrogation, he has revealed name of his accomplice Pankaj, a resident of Quadian. Two more persons were involved in the incident. The three accused are absconding, but we are conducting raids at several places to nab them,” said the cop.

Kamal Verma, owner of the shop, had complained to the police that the accused had entered his shop on the plea of getting their phone recharged and attacked him with a sharp-edged weapon.

Verma further said the looters took away Rs one lakh and a gold chain lying in the cash box.