The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Healing hand: Admn to set up immunisation posts for Pak kids Immunisation Officer visits Attari-Wagah checkpost PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 17 The state Immunisation Officer, Dr Balwinder Singh along with Dr A S Jarewal, Civil Surgeon and other officials of the Health Department today visited the Attari-Wagah joint checkpost and Attari International Railway Station to oversee the locations for setting up polio immunisation posts in order to administer polio drops to children coming from the Pakistan side. The posts are being established to counter the potential threat of infiltration of polio virus from neighbouring country where as many as 77 cases of polio have come to light during current year. “The Government of India has expressed its concern over this after four polio cases which came to light in China was caused due to the infiltration of polio virus from Pakistan. The virus found in China was very similar to what used to be found in neighboring country,” revealed Dr Balwinder Singh. He said till now only one case has surfaced in India in year 2011 and this is a very good sign as the number was pegged at 741 in 2009 which had effectively gone down to mere 42 in year 2010 due to door-to-door pulse polio campaigning. Interacting with this correspondent, the Immunisation Officer said that special emphasis is being given to reporting of Acute Flaccid Paralysis cases from all over Punjab. He said under this, every doctor or physician working in government health institutes or practising privately would have to report to the Health Department in case they found sudden weakness of limbs in a patient. A team from the Department would be sent to take the samples of the patients to check whether it was due to polio virus or any other reason. He said the department is also planning to facilitate the districts where maximum of AFP cases are reported or the doctors who reports maximum number of such cases. He said the step has been taken for making the country polio free. When asked about the pulse polio campaign in the border areas, he said special emphasis is already being given in this connection. He said that National Polio Surveillance project and Rotary Club would help in this project which would initially be continued for four months from now which is peak time for the spreading of the virus. Dr Grewal said a site near the Immigration Office at the Attari-Wagah joint checkpost has been identified for setting up the post. He said not a single child below five years of age coming from across the border would enter the country without polio drops. “In last few days about 21 children from Pakistan were administered the polio drops,” said Dr Grewal.
	Bikers’ gang drives cops to launch Op night-dominance Dharmendra Joshi Tribune News Service Jalandhar, September 17 Ever since the dreaded bikers’ gang made nine persons its victim in the past seven days, the city police has started operation night dominance since Wednesday to nab its members. As many as 200 police personnel were deputed at 28 special nakas laid from 11 pm to 2 am in various parts of the city. Besides, 42 mobile motorcycle parties also patrolled the city. The city was divided into two parts comprising the areas falling under Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) one and two. A total of 14 special nakas were laid, where 100 police personnel were deputed in each of the two parts. Similarly, 21 mobile motorcycle parties also patrolled each of the areas falling under ADCP I and II areas, respectively. Several policemen also patrolled the city in mufti. The ADCP crime Rajpal Singh Sandhu and ACP crime RS Cheema supervised the special nakas laid in the areas falling under ADCP I areas, Sandhu issued special directions before dispatching the police personnel at special nakas from police division number three near Lav Kush Chowk. Sandhu directed those in charge at the nakas that the motorcycle-borne youths should be searched thoroughly to check if they were carrying any weapon. He told them the special emphasis should be placed on the search of the motorcycle-borne youths, instead of asking them to show any document, including the registration certificate (RC) of their vehicle and licence. The ADCP crime also instructed them to bring the suspected persons to nearby thanas for verification. Sandhu said a number of suspects were rounded up at special nakas but most of them were let off after their preliminary verification. The bikers’ gang remained calm on Wednesday night. There was no recent report of robbery by them. However, they had already struck at various areas, including the locality near Guru Gobind Singh Stadium, Kapurthala Chowk, New Grain Market, Mai Hiran Gate and Vikash Puri, making nine persons their victims within the past seven days. In the meantime, Sandhu said the two-fold strategy, including laying special nakas and questioning history sheeters would help to bust the bikers’ gang. police strategy As many as 200 police personnel were deputed at 28 special nakas Nakas were laid from 11 pm to 2 am in various parts of the city Besides 42 mobile motorcycle parties also patrolled the city Besides 42 mobile motorcycle parties also patrolled the city Several suspects rounded up Most of them were let off after verification
	Youth pays price for eloping with sarpanch’s daughter Dharmendra Joshi Tribune News Service Bagga (Jalandhar), September 17 Love marriages are still a taboo in a section of the society as a boy’s family members were thrashed and detained at their house at Bagga village for two days as he had eloped with the village sarpanch’s daughter. The boy Sodhi’s mother, Mohinder Kaur (60), has been admitted to the Civil Hospital, Shahkot, as she had been detained for over two days after being thrashed allegedly by the associates of village sarpanch Disho. She was detained with her elder daughter-in-law Jumla (25) and her two-year-old son Harman. Though both the boy and the girl belong to the same Dalit community, the latter’s family was against their marriage. Narrating the incident, Jumla told The Tribune “My younger brother-in-law Sodhi had reportedly eloped with the sarpanch’s daughter on Monday. The sarpanch and her associates contacted us to know Sodhi’s whereabouts but we did not know anything about him as we had already severed our links with him.” “Two days later, the sarpanch’s supporters, Chhinda and two women, Swarni and Manjit, dragged Mohinder Kaur’s from her house by holding her from her hair, thrashed her and took her to the nearby Sarpanch’s house. I tried to save her but they also beat me up.” She said. “They kept on beating us for several minutes. Later, they brought us to our home and locked us, including my two-year-old son, inside a room.” She said “We remained there for two days without eating anything. My son kept on crying because he wanted to eat something, but I was helpless.” Jumla said she shouted for help on Friday, saying that her mother-in-law would die if the door was not unlocked. A passerby showed pity on them and managed to open the door, she added. Subsequently, they took Mohinder Kaur to Civil Hospital, Shahkot, where her condition is reportedly critical. While the village sarpanch could not be contacted as her mobile was switched off, the Shahkot SHO Inspector Gurmeet Singh told The Tribune the police had gone to record Mohinder Kaur’s statement but she was not in a condition to get her statement recorded. Appropriate legal action would be taken after the registration of a case after recording of her statement, he added.
	Double delight: Govt high school girls youngest to make it to Kabaddi Nationals Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service Jalandhar, September 17 Two students of a little-known Government Girls High School, in the nondescript village of Sarih have brought laurels to their institution. Selected to be a part of the national Kabaddi team, Gurpreet Kaur (Class 1X) and Paramjit Kaur (Class X), both 16 years old, are the youngest members of the national hockey team. While the school won the state-level Kabaddi tourney (57th Kabaddi Punjab games) this year, they were the first students from their school to ever become part of a national team. Girls from only one other government school (Government Senior Secondary School, Udhopur) have been a part of the state team, while the rest are mostly from collegiate schools across Jalandhar. For both of them, the journey has been similar. Into athletics since their childhood, both of them started playing for their school when they were in Class VI. A strong backing from their parents and their outstanding sporting abilities let them stick to a path that many of their classmates feared to take. Interestingly, it was their own will that had a huge role to play since the school didn’t even have a coach two years ago. Gurpreet, who bagged a jogging bronze in the recent Punjab district games, says, “We have been winning medals and trophies in village-level games since childhood but the lack of proper infrastructure certainly did slow our growth.” But things have been different since their new in charge came in. Coach Amarjit Kaur, who has herself been a kabaddi player, joined the school two years ago. She says, “Students need someone to encourage them, to gauge their talent but in schools without coaches, even talented students are left without options or guidance.” School in charge Daljit Kaur facilitated coaching, strict diet regimes and transportation facilities for the students. Something they did not have earlier. Paramjit says, “Better diets and financial assistance from the school has played a huge role in getting us this opportunity. We wouldn’t have been able to play so well otherwise.” Interestingly, Gurpreet even got an offer from a school to be their coach but school in charge told her to stick to her goal assuring her of financial assistance for her sports now and also in the future. “A coaching profession would have got her the money but her own talent and expertise would have been lost. I told her to stay and play,” Daljit quips. The girls (Gurpreet’s a raider and Paramjit a stopper) would join the camps for the nationals in October. Both the school in charge and the coach have a grievance: “While the schools with sports wings get many facilities, those without them don’t get any funds to nurture sporting genius.We have also been managing help from various donors.Talented sportspersons in schools need to be financially secure.”