Bathinda, April 30
Standing 6 feet 7 inches tall, shot-putter Om Prakash Singh Karhana, or OP as he is popularly and fondly called, can dwarf anybody standing next to him. Apart from his height, the sporting achievements of this 25-year-old shot-putter will also put many to shame.

Contrary to expectations, OP, who has qualified for the London Olympics in the shot-put event, is humble and down to earth. OP, a gazetted officer with the ONGC, who has been undergoing training in Hungary, was at his alma mater Malwa College today to attend a ceremony, held to felicitate him.

Talking to Tribune News Service about his long connection with Bathinda, he says, “My father was in the Army and I studied at the Army School, Bathinda Cantonment. I followed it up with graduation and post-graduation from the Malwa College.”

OP reveals that although he started playing basketball in school, he never knew that destiny had different plans in store for him. “I realised that there was no future for a basketball player in India and had to give it up. Later, I was guided to take up shot put in the first year of college. Within six months, I became a champion at the junior level after I won university level and national level championships,” he says.

Agreeing with the common perception that cricket is the only sport that is kept on a pedestal in India, he says, “Other sportspersons have to struggle on their way up. Initially, I also had to struggle a lot. I belong to a middle-class family and professional training for any sport requires a constant flow of money. I was fortunate to have got the right people to guide me. The District Athletic Association head, KPS Brar, guided me, not only financially, but also emotionally. Had he not been there, I wouldn’t have reached where I’m today. Initially, I did not get any help from the system.”

“In the year 2007, I was about to join the Punjab Police but he asked me to concentrate on my studies and sporting events. What plagues Indian sports is the fact that sports are considered secondary at the school level. While in countries in the West, schools have world-class sporting facilities and groom the interested students from a young age. In India too, the schools should focus on sports,” he adds.

Thanking all the organisations, mainly his employers ONGC, Olympic Gold Quest, the sports ministry, his federations for all the support, and the government for giving a sponsorship of close to `80 lakh for his training, OP says he plans to continue in Hungary till the Olympics.

Taking about his competitors at the London Olympics, he says it is difficult to name one strong contender in his category. “It is Olympics and everyone must be very good. I’m preparing well, and I’m confident and feeling positive about my preparations as I’m training under the coaches who have produced winners in the past,” he adds.

When asked about his inspiration, he says, “I am often asked about my inspiration. Surprisingly, whenever I need inspiration, I think about my mother. She is the one who struggled a lot for me and is still struggling. She worked very hard, despite limited opportunities. She ensured I never felt low and motivated me.”

OP flashes a shy smile when asked if he has plans to marry in the near future. “Right now I’m not thinking about marriage and have my eyes set only on the London Olympics. I’ll get married when I’m destined to,” he says on a lighter note.

Those arrested have been identified as Satish Kumar Romi of Muktsar, Pawan Kumar Pannu of Faridkot and Rakesh Kumar Rocky of Mansa. Police also claims to have recovered one country-made 32 bore pistol with four live cartridges from Rakesh Kumar and one kg opium from Satish Kumar and Pawan Kumar.

Policemen interrogating the case said the accused, taking advantage of the casual attitude of the vehicle owners, lifted as many as 15 vehicles, worth more than `75 lakhs.

They said the accused had devised various means to lift vehicles. For instance, they would look for vehicles without steering rod, gear lock and without anti-theft gadgets. They would open the small vehicles with ease and prepare keys for the SUVs.

They would park stolen vehicles in the parking area and sell the vehicles after preparing fake registrations to customers at a price lower than the market rate.

The vehicles recovered from their possession were parked in the parking lots of Bathinda Railway Station, Mittal Mall and Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot.

The vehicles recovered include five Indigo CS cars, stolen one each from Malout, Faridkot, Malerkotla, Guruharsahai and Jalandhar, two Indigo Turbo cars stolen from Muktsar and Faridkot, three Bolero jeeps stolen from Amritsar, Sherpur and Hisar, two Tata Safaris stolen from Jalandhar and Chandigarh, one Scorpio stolen from Amritsar, one Mini Canter stolen from Malerkotla and one motorcycle stolen from Faridkot.

Bathinda SSP, Sukhchain Singh Gill, said during interrogation the accused admitted to lifting vehicles from Guruharsahai, Malout, Muktsar, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Malerkotla, Sherpur, Ludhiana and Hisar.

So far, no vehicle stolen from Bathinda has been recovered from the possession of the accuseds. They were habitual offenders and were involved in vehicle lifting for the past many years, he added.

The SSP said one of their accomplices, Jagsir Singh Seera, who is absconding, is said to have been involved in lifting vehicles from Bathinda and surrounding areas. Seera is likely to be arrested within the next four or five days and vehicles stolen from Bathinda would be recovered from his possession, the SSP claimed.

Bathinda, April 30
After 20 day-long wait, water reached the stretch of Sirhind Canal criss-crossing the city. As per the officials of the irrigation department, 500 cusecs of water has reached up to the Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (GNDTP).

The water was released three days ago from Ropar and it was stored in water tanks and released for irrigation, drinking and other purposes.

City residents were upset over the short supply of the water following the closure of the canal for cleaning. Now, with the resumption of the flow of water in the canal, the supply of water is likely to get streamlined in the next 24 hours, said the officials of the Bathinda Municipal Corporation.

Even today, the supply of water was for a longer duration than usual in the morning and evening, bringing great relief to the people.

The officials have also begun the task of cleaning the 7km stretch along the Sirhind canal where silt from the canal bed had been dumped.

While the stretch along the canal towards Janta Nagar had been cleaned, JCB machines were seen working at the Arjan Nagar-Bir Talab intersection.

The closure of the canal had rung alarm bells after it was reported that the Guru Hargobind Thermal Power (GHTP) plant at Lehra Mohabbat did not have enough water to last the full length of the canal’s stipulated closure period.

Bathinda, April 30
To create awareness about the new Food Safety and Standards Act among karyana merchants, milk vendors, halwais, dhaba walas etc, the District Health Officer (designated officer for the implementation of the Act), Dr Raghubir Singh Randhawa, has started holding meetings with their associations and unions.

As part of the exercise, Dr Randhawa held some meetings a couple of days ago here with the representatives of the Karyana Association, Dairy Association, Halwai Association, Mustard Oil Association and Dodhi Union, separately. At the meetings, Dr Randhawa sensitised the representatives about the registration and licencing under the Food Safety and Standards Act-2006 that was implemented on August 5 last year.

Dr Randhawa said here today that he also educated the representatives of the associations in detail about the new Food Safety and Standards Act. He said the representative assured him that they would motivate their counterparts to get themselves registered or procure the licence from the District Food Safety Office.

Dr Randhawa said the unions expressed the apprehension that they might be harassed in the name of implementation of the new Act. He said he had assured them that they would not be harassed in any manner.

He said under the Act, one year had been given for the registration and licencing of the shops and business establishments, which was going to expire on August 5 this year. So everyone should get licence at the earliest for their shop or business establishment with a turnover of above Rs 12 lakh per annum while persons whose business turnover was below Rs 12 lakh per annum should get their ventures registered, he added.

Dr Randhawa said the licencing fee is Rs 2,000 while the registration fee is just Rs 100. He also said that district health authorities would send a group of five persons of various unions and associations to Mohali on May 2 to meet the authorities concerned. At Mohali, the state health authorities would also sensitise them and remove their apprehensions about the Act, if any.

It may be recalled that due to lack of awareness about the Act among the small shopkeepers, rehriwalas, venders and owners of business establishments, the district health authorities have been facing problems in the proper implementation of the Act.

Bathinda, April 30
The Gurukul Vidyapeeth Institute of Engineering and Technology today announced placement-linked admission in the field of Information Technology.

Emphasising that IT skills were used in almost all the sectors, Dr Gurdev Singh, head of the IT department at Gurukul Vidyapeeth, said 100 per cent placement guarantee with an MoU with a minimum package of Rs 3 lakh per annum for two years will be given to the students who would take admission in the Information Technology branch.

Talking about the scope of information technology, he said the IT sector had been instrumental in driving the nation's economy onto the rapid growth curve.

Elaborating on the academic alliances made by the Gurukul Vidyapeeth in the field of IT & Computer Sciences, he said the institute had forged alliances with names like Apple, IMac Sun ray system, Oracle, SAP, ERP Solution, British Library, Campus membership, and E-Acharaya Edusys. 

Bathinda, April 30
Two persons, identified as Sunil Kumar and Kala, both residents of Gopal Nagar, have been arrested by the police for allegedly indulging in gambling at the Gol Diggi Market in Bathinda.

An amount of Rs 20,700 has been recovered from their possession and a case under Sections 13, 3, 67 of the Gambling Act has been registered against them at Kotwali police station. They were later released on bail.

Eight booked for beating

Eight persons, including five unidentified persons have been booked by the police, for allegedly beating a resident of Peuri village.

The complainant, Gora Singh, said he was beaten up by Jaskaran Singh, Kala Singh and Harpreet Singh, all resident of Balluana village and five unidentified persons.

All have been booked under Sections 458, 323, 506 and 149 of the IPC at the Sadar police station for causing injuries to the complainant who is undergoing treatment at a hospital.

Bathinda, April 30
The Guru Ram Das Institute of Engineering and Technology, Lehra Bega, in a press release issued here, has said that despite the confusion at the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) examination centres in the city, the institute had made proper arrangements to prevent any harassment to the students and their parents.

The chairman of the institute, Prof Harbhajan Singh said that the institute plied its buses in the city from 7 am to 9 am so that candidates do not face any inconvenience in travelling to the institute.

Arrangements for refreshments had also been made, the institute said.