J A L A N D H A R    E D I T I O N

Sonia felicitates five girls of Gurdaspur
Gurdaspur, September 9
When 19 year old Mandeep Kaur walked up to the dais to receive the felicitation certificate from UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Krishan Tirath, Minister for Women and Child Development, at New Delhi recently, she turned nostalgic about her long odyssey from a Gurdaspur to a cosmopolitan city like New Delhi.

Sports school to be built in Nawanshahr
Nawanshahr, September 9
The district would soon have a state-of-the-art sports school to boost sports activities as well as to hone the skills of budding players in the age group of 6-14. Stating this here today, Deputy Commissioner Tanu Kashyap said the setting up of the sports school in the district will be a boon for the youth and budding players aspiring to participate in National and International sports events.

Man strangles wife to death
Hoshiarpur, September 9
Anjali (21) was allegedly strangled to death by her husband Udho Parsad Kesari of Doban, Jharkhand, presently, residing in Badoan village last night. According to the police sources, Udho Parsad Kesari was habitual drunkard and was working in a tavern in the village. He used to beat his wife Anjali under the influence of liquor.

Sonia felicitates five girls of Gurdaspur
Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, September 9
When 19 year old Mandeep Kaur walked up to the dais to receive the felicitation certificate from UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Krishan Tirath, Minister for Women and Child Development, at New Delhi recently, she turned nostalgic about her long odyssey from a Gurdaspur to a cosmopolitan city like New Delhi.

She is a resident of used Manepur village, 12 kms from here, she use to do menial jobs before someone told her about the concept of E-Vidya which was being taught at the 220 odd Common Service Centres (CSCs) run jointly by the All India Society for Electronics and Computer Technology (AISECT) and the National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW). After Mandeep completed her basic 36 hours course, she became independent, bid adieu to doing piece meal jobs and has now started earning through the ‘work and earn from home’ projects through the Internet. Although Mandeep Kaur was one of the five girls from Gurdaspur felicitated by Sonia Gandhi, there are nearly 3000 ‘empowered’ women in the district, who after completing the E-Vidya course, are now having more opportunities and options to eke out a better living.

Social scientists say that what MNREGA has done to rural women-empowering them financially E-Vidya is doing the same in urban areas-making young girls change the way they look at life.

“In today’s world, when technology has moved ahead by leaps and bounds, we still leave out our women. On the contrary they should be educated and must know the power of computer literacy. Computer education therefore becomes essential so that they can not only keep abreast with the current affairs but also learn, earn and fulfill their dreams independently,” said Sanjeev Sarpal, project director of AISECT.

The skills are being imparted at the 220 CSCs spread all over the district. These CSCs have also earned the sobriquet of mini suvidha centres where residents can get all their administrative work done under one roof.

Vasudha Gupta, an E-Vidya teacher, said, “We are teaching computer courses designed by the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIEIT). After undergoing the mandatory 36 hours training, spread over 18 days, some of the women had to appear for an online test conducted by the NIEIT and the five girls selected for the New Delhi function were part of this effort.”

“A large number of women of Gurdaspur are working in unorganised sectors. They are still bound by tradition and as such are in a disadvantageous position. Our job is to ensure that they change their mind set through computer education,” Vasudha added.

Sports school to be built in Nawanshahr
Our Correspondent

Nawanshahr, September 9
The district would soon have a state-of-the-art sports school to boost sports activities as well as to hone the skills of budding players in the age group of 6-14. Stating this here today, Deputy Commissioner Tanu Kashyap said the setting up of the sports school in the district will be a boon for the youth and budding players aspiring to participate in National and International sports events. "The project is a part of the joint venture of State and Centre Government under which all districts would have sports schools in a phased manner,"she added.

An amount of Rs 31.80 crore would be spent to create sports infrastructure in the proposed sports school in the district. Besides Rs 1.62 Lakh per student per annum would be provided separately, she further said. The district administration has recommended suitable sites at Banga, Saroya and Aur blocks for setting up the sports school, where as many as 100 budding players including 50 girls would be nurtured.

Apart from that, Rs 49 lakh has been released to 45 villages in the district earlier in April for promoting sports infrastructure and activities. Besides, Shabazpur village of Nawanshahr block has been given Rs 5 lakh for construction of a stadium. Sports kits had also been provided to 430 villages of the district to promote sports among rural youth.

Man strangles wife to death
Our Correspondent

Hoshiarpur, September 9
Anjali (21) was allegedly strangled to death by her husband Udho Parsad Kesari of Doban, Jharkhand, presently, residing in Badoan village last night. According to the police sources, Udho Parsad Kesari was habitual drunkard and was working in a tavern in the village. He used to beat his wife Anjali under the influence of liquor.

Yesterday night Anjali Devi called her parents and told them that Udho Parsad was beating her on petty issues. Anjali's father Bhuvneshwar Sahoo who has been living in the same village, along with her wife rushed to his daughter's house. When they reached they saw the door of the house was locked from inside and they heard screams of their daughter. They knocked the door several times when nobody responded they saw from the window of the house that Udho Parsad was strangling the neck of their daughter with a rope. Her parents tried to break open the door but failed to do so. They kept shouting but Udho Prasad didnt listen to them. After killing her Udho Parsad opened the door and fled.

The police has registered a case under Section 302 of the IPC and searching Udho Parkash Kesari who is still at large.

Two booked for fraud

The swindlers have duped Rs 16.64 lakh of a gullible person on the pretext of providing him a government job. Talwara police has booked Jaswant Singh of Labhar, Yashpal Sharma of Saraswati Garden, Kirti Nagar, New Delhi under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC for duping Rs 16.64 lakh of Gurdial Singh of Behi Kitto.

The duo allegedly took Rs 16.64 lakh from Gurdial Singh for getting him employment in in the Indian Railways.

He gave them money and kept waiting for his employment. But neither did they get him employed in the Indian Railways nor returned his money.

Tributes paid to martyr
Our Correspondent

Tarn Taran, September 9
The hero of 1965 Indo-Pak war Abdul Hamid (Paramveer Chakra Posthumously) was paid rich tributes on his 48th martyrdom day today at his martyrdom place Assl Uttar, 45 kilometers from here . The 7 Golden Arrow Infantry Division had arranged a program in which chief parliamentary secretary Prof Virsa Singh Valtoha and Lok Sabha member Dr Rattan Singh Ajnala besides Major General VK Jain paid floral tributes and ‘Chaddar ‘at the grave of the martyr. A free medical camp in the memory of the martyr was also arranged by the Indian Army.

Minor girl molested

Satnam Singh, a resident of Kot Dharam Chand Kalan village, 12 kilometers from here has been booked under Section 354 of the IPC for molesting a girl of the same village. She is a student of class ninth. In her complaint to the police she alleged that the accused molested her while she was going to purchase a pen. The accused absconded after the incident, said police.