Jalandhar, December 16
The Army Mela and ex-servicemen rally organised by Vajra Corps at Guru Nanak Stadium, Kapurthala, today turned out to be a lacklustre affair as spectators, especially the schoolchildren, had to return back without watching the much-awaited helicopter flypast, dog show and horse show.

It came as a rude shock for the children who had been waiting since morning to watch the acrobatics of the helicopter team. The helicopter team was to come from Western Command Headquarters, Chandimandir.

However, the loss was made up by a thrilling Dare Devils motorcycle team from The Punjab Regimental Centre, Ramgarh Cantonment, Jharkhand, and an impressive band display during the ceremonial start of the Army Mela.

“We had been eagerly waiting to enjoy the thrilling helicopter flypast since yesterday. I have never seen a helicopter till date and wanted to see it closely and meet the pilots, but the function ended abruptly,” said a student from Sacred Heart School, Kapurthala.

Another student from the Government Senior Secondary School for Boys, Kapurthala, said, “An announcement was made that all students should gather at the stadium to enjoy some more adventurous shows but when we reached there, the entire show was packed up. We came with big plans to enjoy the adventurous helicopter flypast and click some pictures too, but the show concluded without any formal information.” Nevertheless, the students were happy watching the stunts of the motorcycle team and cheered the Dare Devils with a loud applause. The motorcycle stunts display by the “Galley Stallions” saw one and all giving a thumping response, while children assembled anxiously at the venue from where they started to see them getting ready for the show.

Defence PRO Naresh Vig said the helicopter team did not come due to some unavoidable circumstances. “The team was supposed to come from Western Command Headquarters and had been practicing for the show but due to some reason they failed to turn up and the show was packed up,” he added.

Later in the day, children gathered in large numbers to witness the Army equipment display under the theme “Know your Army”. From T-72 M 1 (Ajeya) tanks and bridge-laying tanks to radars and the various guns in the Army, children keenly saw and posed for pictures with them.

“It is for the first time that I have seen a tank in my life. Till date my only exposure about the Army weapons and equipment was through the Bollywood films. I also sat inside a tank and got some pictures

clicked. I was having the feeling of a fauji sitting inside the tank”, said a student from a government school.

Another highlight of the day was a special EME Show, Barki Brigade show and Gurki Brigade show where short films on the history of the respective brigades were shown.

Meanwhile, 16 war widows were honoured with cash awards and household gift items, while 12 modified scooters were distributed among war veterans on the occasion. Earlier, the chief guest, GOC of Vajra Corps Lt-Gen Munish Sibal, inaugurated the Army Mela and highlighted that the Army takes up various welfare projects for the ex-servicemen, war widows and their dependents.

CHM Rajesh Kumar from the Dare Devils motorcycle team of The Punjab Regimental Centre, Ramgarh Cantonment, Jharkhand, had a narrow escape when his Royal Enfield motorcycle accidentally skidded off the small elevator during the “tube crush” show of the team. As soon as he fell, Army officers, jawans and mediapersons on the spot rushed to his aid. The medical assistance teams of the Army immediately took him to the medical stall where he was declared fit.

Jalandhar, December 16
The Municipal Corporation (MC) has plans to regulate traffic in the Model Town market by installing sensor-equipped traffic lights at the tri-junction near the Mayor House.

It will be for the first time that the city will have such a traffic lights, which will regulate the flow of traffic depending on the volume of traffic on any of the three sides. The equipment coming up at a cost of Rs 8.7 lakh will include a triangular plate fixed underground, which will control the timings of the lights to be given to the motorists coming from the three roads at the intersection.

If the proposal gets through in the MC House meeting scheduled next week, the existing elongated divider with a diversion towards the gurdwara side will be demolished. There also is a plan to widen the existing tri-junction at an additional cost of Rs 3 lakh. An electricity transformer at the same intersection that had eaten up a lot of space and was a big hurdle for the commuters has also been shifted backward.

As of now, the commuters have to face a lot of problem because those coming from the market and turning towards Geeta Mandir have two options - either to take a very difficult U-turn or go straight and take a longer detour.

Disclosing the details, MC Commissioner Viney Bublani said if the model would prove successful in controlling the traffic, such lights would be installed at other strategic points in the city as well. He added that to ensure no traffic hazard for the commuters, a single traffic pole would be installed on the existing central verge, which will have U-shaped rods to hang lights for the commuters coming from the other two sides.

Jalandhar, December 16
For scores of ex-servicemen who gathered at the Army Mela and ex-servicemen rally at Guru Nanak Stadium, Kapurthala, it was a big relief to find their respective units’ record offices under one roof.

The mela was scheduled to begin from 11 am but the ex-servicemen gathered as early as 9 am to avail themselves of the benefits of the rally. The ex- servicemen availed themselves of the ready-to-help services and had a nostalgic get-together too.

A special arrangement of different record offices was made to assist the ex-servicemen and war veterans during the day-long mela. Vajra Corps had invited representatives from the records offices of The Dogra Regiment, Faizabad, Armoured Corps, Ahmednagar, Rehabilitation and Welfare Section, Ministry of Defence, Bombay Engineer Group, Kirkee, Bengal Engineer Group, Roorkee, Artillery Records Nasik Road Camp and Sikh Light Infantry to name a few.

Talking to The Tribune, naik Sukhwinder Singh from Sikh Regiment, who came to enquire about new welfare schemes, said, “I got to know about various loan facilities for ex-servicemen, scholarship for children and met some of my old friends from the regiment, too. Moreover I had some queries about my pension arrears, which were cleared.”

Subedar Sarmail Singh from EME Corps said the Army Melas should be made an annual feature as ex-servicemen come to know about the latest developments and welfare initiatives taken by the Army. “As we are putting up in small cities, we don’t come to know much about many developments. It was at the record office stalls that we came to know about the status of our fellow soldiers and met some of them too,” he added.

While the spectators were busy watching the Army Mela, the ex-servicemen were seen basking under the sun and sitting in large groups along with their old pals. “It was great to see many of our fellow ex-servicemen coming with their grandchildren. We all have turned old,” said sepoy Saluk Singh also from Sikh Regiment, who was enjoying a chat with his old pals.

The representatives at various stalls said they had come from the record offices to provide help to the veterans. “We are distributing pamphlets highlighting various welfare, resettlement and development schemes for the ex-servicemen. This would make them aware of the various timely initiatives taken by the Ministry of Defence,” said a representative from the records section of Sikh Light Infantry, Fatehgarh, Uttar Pradesh.

Apart from this, the ex-servicemen also enjoyed the benefits of various medical stalls where check-ups were being conducted by a team of Army doctors.

A separate segment on Army Welfare Education Society (AWES) also remained crowded with students and ex-servicemen enquiring about admission procedures into different Army institutes across the country.

Jalandhar, December 16
The city police claims to have busted an interstate gang of rogues that had been active in this part of the region. The police has recovered an LCD, laptop, over a dozen brand new mobile phone sets from the members.

Acting on a tip-off, the police laid a trap and managed to nab four gangsters, including its kingpin Raj Kumar of Hardev Nagar locality, from near DAV College.

Addressing mediapersons, ADCP Rajpal Singh Sandhu said the modus operandi of the gang was that it used to hire well-furnished offices in big cities and conduct interview of job aspirants. They used to influence their neighbourer shopkeepers and traders and getting household goods, besides mobile phone sets, laptops, LCDs, gold coins, jewellery and other valuable items from them on credit. The gang then used to wind up their establishments during night without returning the items to the owners or paying for them, he said.

Sandhu said the gang was active in Ambala, Khanna, Pathankot and some other cities of Punjab and Haryana. Cases of cheating were registered against unidentified persons, who committed similar crime at Ambala, Khanna and Pathankot in the past. — TNS

Jalandhar, December 16
A get-together was arranged on the premises of the local Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya on December 15, on the visit of its alumni after five decades. The alumni included Sudesh Ahlawat, founder principal of BBK DAV College for Women, Amritsar, Rama Sanwalka, former lecturer in history, Amarjit Gill, former lecturer in English in this institution.

Jalandhar, December 16
The receding level of mercury with every passing day is inversely affecting the prices of eggs, the item which has witnessed an increase of Rs 6 to Rs 8 per dozen in the prices during the past week. Roaring at the rate of Rs 46-48 per dozen this week, the eggs were available at Rs 40 per dozen just a few days ago.

It is expected that the prices of eggs would go up further during the peak winter season in the fag end of this month and then in January next year.

An increase in the prices of garlic also goes unabated and the item again witnessed an increase of Rs 10 per kg this week and was available at Rs 250 per kg. With the advancement of winters, the item witnessed a sudden increase of Rs 60 per kg in its prices and touched the mark of Rs 240 per kg last week.

Among other essential items, onion and tomato saw a significant increase in prices this week. An increase of Rs 7 per kg was registered in the prices of onion this week. The commodity was available at Rs 35 against Rs 28 per kg last week. Similarly, tomato also witnessed an increase of Rs 8 per kg and was available at Rs 30 this week.

Phagwara, December 16
The Phagwara police has sounded a high alert after receiving the news of the escape of an inmate, Sukhwinder Singh Sukha, from the Ludhiana jail on December 14.

Sukha was the main accused in the murder of Phagwara BJP leader Sudarshan Dhillon, who was shot dead in Phagwara on March 5.

The news has caused panic among the supporters of the deceased as Dhillon was shot dead by armed assailants when he was coming from his house in a car near Gandhi Hospital here.

Though the murder case was cracked by the Phagwara police within 72 hours with the arrest of all the six accused, including three main accused - shooter Sukhwinder Singh, alias Sukha, of Kahlawan village, Kartarpur police station, and Jatinder Kumar, alias Bobby, of Phagwara and Ajay Joshi, alias Binda Pehalwan, of Hadiabad - when they were standing in a queue before the UK Embassy for a correction in Bobby’s visa. The mistake in the visa was detected at the Delhi airport on Monday morning as the main accused, Bobby, residing in the UK, was trying to fly back to the UK after the murder.

All the three arrested were first taken to Chankyapuri police station in the Capital and then brought to Phagwara, while the other three accused were nabbed from different towns of Punjab.

Jalandhar, December 16
To commemorate the triumph of the 1971 war, the Vajra Corps celebrated Vijay Divas here today.

GOC of Vajra Corps, Lieut-Gen Munish Sibal, war veterans and other senior serving and retired officers paid homage to the martyrs at the Vajra Corps War Memorial.

GOC Sibal stressed the necessity of operational readiness and exhorted all ranks to be well prepared for any eventuality. “Professional excellence alone can help us achieve such spectacular victories in future,” he added.

It needs mention here that Vijay Divas commemorates the finest hour of the armed forces which came about with the triumph of the 1971 war. This historic victory signifies a unique and unparallelled feat wherein the soldiers fought for a just and noble cause to liberate the people of Bangladesh.

The Vajra Corps proved its mettle on the strategic western front and achieved its objectives. Valiant men of the corps earned eight Maha Vir Chakras, 47 Veer Chakras and numerous other awards. The corps was also bestowed with the theatre honour - Punjab and Battle honour - Sehjra and Dera Baba Nanak.