Jalandhar, May 15
Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras will monitor the footfall of every individual visiting the counting centre for the votes of the local Lok Sabha seat, which will be done here tomorrow.

The purpose of the police in installing the cameras is to keep a hawk eye over every visitor, be it an official, polling agents or police personnel.

Apart from this, adequate security arrangements have been made by the district police to maintain law and order situation in the city. Special nakas or patrolling teams have been formed to tackle any kind of urgency during the time counting process is on.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP), Headquarters, Naveen Singla, said 1,500 cops were deployed for security purposes in the city. Special police parties had been formed to provide security athe counting centre.

“The counting centre has been cordoned off completely with three layers security by paramilitary forces and Punjab police. Those entering the counting centre, even polling agents, will be frisked. No polling agent will be allowed to carry mobile phones inside the counting centre. Cops in civvies will also remain in and outside the counting centre for security purpose,” Singla said.

Two CCTV cameras will be installed outside the counting centre. A CCTV van will be stationed in the counting centre to monitor the movement of every individual. Anti-riot police, riot-control vehicle and reserve police force will remain alert throughout the day to tackle any sort of emergency.

Police officials said special nakas will be laid outside the office of political parties to prevent them from indulging in any kind of hooliganism. 

Jalandhar, May 15
After making his presence felt in the field of wrestling in India as well as across the world, The Great Khali shall now be doling out wrestling lessons to youths of the state.

Acclaimed wrestlers and international celebrities, The Great Khali and Sangram Singh, came to town today. Khali shall be opening his wrestling academy in the city by this November.

Khali started his day with a visit to the local Police DAV Public School. Excited students of the school cheered for him, gathered in the corridors. He also celebrated with them.

While Khali started off as an employee with the Punjab Police, he went on to become a force to reckon with in the WWE circuit, extending a crushing defeat to the likes of the insurmountable Undertaker.

He also made Hollywood outings with films like "The Longest Yard", "Get Smart" and "MacGruber", along with Bollywood outings in the films "Kushti and Ramaa: The Saviour".

Speaking on his initial challenges, he said, “Initially my path was ridden with hardships. While learning wrestling, while learning English, and when in need of financial support, it was very difficult for me. But eventually it all worked out and now I actually do understand even the American English accents very well,” he laughed.

Sangram Singh, who has won reputed national and international wrestling championships, was declared the World’s Best Wrestler in 2011, had a troubled childhood since he was a paralytic and also suffered from arthritis.

Growing up watching his brother Sanjay Kumar rough it out on the mud, he said, “AIIMS doctors had written me off and said I would never revive. But watching my brother slug it out as a wrestler, I was determined that was the path that I was going to take. So I worked hard to learn it. In fact, I was so weak, the first time I went on the field, a person laughed at me and pushed me lightly. I fell and my shoulder was fractured. But as soon as I recuperated, I started again. And here I am today.”

Speaking on the charm of wrestling after the glamour of Bollywood and Reality TV, they said:

Khali: “No matter where you go, wrestling remains deeply embedded in my mind. And while I enjoy cinema and TV, nothing else gives me the joy that wrestling does. Many acclaimed people from Punjab or elsewhere, have also moved abroad and now they don’t think of coming back. But I always knew I will be back to make others like me, who lack opportunities take up.”

Sangram Singh: “I grew up watching the wrestlers of my village slug it out in mud. My elder brother, Dara Singh and Khali Bhaji have been my idols. The people in the glamour world are all great and it’s been a pleasure working and interacting with them. But at the end of the day one does think that one owes something to the people of the place where he belongs to. Big, small doesn’t matter. What matters is that we stay true to our roots wherever we go.”

Speaking on the notion among some that WWE promotes violence among the youth, Khali said, “It is a profession and it is not consciously meant to propagate violence. I have, however, no problem in admitting that it sells, so we do it. The archaic akharas don’t have any commercial value anymore. The shows come with the tag that kids shouldn’t try this at home.”

Speaking on his recent engagement with actor Payal Rohatgi, he said they first met when her car broke down after a trip down from Agra and later worked together on the sets of a reality TV show when their romance blossomed.

While Sangram shall soon be seen hosting a show portraying the troubles of women who have suffered sexual assault, Khali will next be seen doling out lessons in wrestling.

Jalandhar, May 15
The failure of the city police to register a case against a Punjab Police cop, who allegedly hit a motorcyclist near Ravidas Chowk on Tuesday night, forced the victim's kin to block traffic by putting the body on the Nakodar road.

The victim, Money (22), had died last night at a private hospital.

His kin took to the road after they came to know that the city police was registering a case against another person than the Punjab Police cop who was reportedly driving the car when the accident occurred.

The victim’s kin said when Money was hit by the car (PB10 EA 3153) near Ravidas Chowk, the driver himself had told the kin that he was a Punjab Police cop Gurvinder, deployed at PAP.

“The cop Gurvinder had also visited the Bhargav Camp police station along with the victim’s kin after the accident. Then we had also requested the police to confiscate his ID card and put him under arrest, but the police were least bothered,” Ashwani Kumar, uncle of Money, said revealing that the alleged cop also misbehaved with them and claimed that he was a national volleyball player.

“We came to know about the police negligence when the police brought a person named Surjit and told us that a case was being registered against him. The police refused to budge even when we told them that Gurvinder, not Surjit was driving.

Raman Kumar Roma, a representative of BSP accompanying the deceased’s kin, said when the police refused to register a case against cop Gurvinder, they brought the body on road and blocked traffic.

Traffic had remained blocked for more than an hour on the Nakodar road. Senior police officials reached to resolve the matter, but to no avail.

It was only after ADCP PS Bhandal assured the victim's kin that a case would be registered against the real culprit that the dharna was lifted.

“If cop Gurvinder is the culprit, a case of negligent driving under Section 304-A of IPC will be registered. We are identifying the cop and action will be taken as per the law,” the ADCP said. After the ADCPs assurance, the dharna was lifted from the Nakodar road.

Jalandhar, May 15
“He has been planning India’s win at the Hockey World Cup since he was three years old. He used to take out pocket diaries from my bag and played dummy games by positioning the players on the paper,” said Dr Harsharanjit Kaur, the elated mother of Jasjit Singh Kular.

Young Jasjit ‘Kular’ with his hockey stick. A file photograph

The 24-year-old boy from legendary village Sansarpur is all set to mark his international debut at the Hockey World Cup that is to be held at the Netherlands from May 31.

Jasjeet is the first player from the Kular clan who has been selected 39 years later after Ajit Pal Singh, the then Hockey captain, hailing from the village, represented the country in the 1975 World Cup. However, in 2010, Ravi Pal also made the village proud by representing in the 2010 World Cup.

Born to a doctor couple hailing from Sansarpur, hockey runs into this drag flicker’s blood. His sister and her husband are also doctors in the Border Security Force. His great grandfather himself was an accomplished hockey player who represented the Sikh regiment in various tournaments around 1939.

Jasjit’s father, before suffering a severe stroke, had captained Amritsar Medical College team in many hockey tournaments by donning chest number 13. Surprisingly, after 23 years, Jasjit also represented the same city in the Punjab (u-14) Hockey league by donning the same chest number.

“Although, good in academics, hockey was his first love since beginning. He was such a hard hitter that he used to break the hockey stick many a time while hitting the bal. His grandfather used to scold us that we are not guiding him properly and he is breaking the stick by hitting wrongly on the ground. It was only when he saw himself that he realised his immense strength,” revealed Dr Jasminder Singh, the proud father of Jasjit Singh. He also revealed that Jasjit has actually drawn a lot of inspiration from the Shahrukh Khan’s dialogue in "Chak de India" movie where he spoke about the importance of 70 minutes in the game.

His coach Olympian Sanjeev Kumar who guided him during his stint at Lyalpur Khalsa College and later at Punjab and Sind Bank Academy was also thrilled on hearing the news. He applauded the player for his consistency and determination to improve his game. “He was serious about the game since beginning. So many times he has expressed his desire to represent India in a game against Pakistan. He is a very good player and will play a significant role in India’s expected win at the Hockey World Cup. I wish him all the best,” said the jubilant coach. He said the fiery player was an all-rounder in defence, offence and penalty shootout.

With the selection of Jasjit Singh in the World Cup team, Sansarpur is all set to regain its entry into the worLd of Hockey as it has started churning 
out players once again to compete at the international level.

Meanwhile, president of the Sansarpur Hockey Asociation, Col Balbir Singh (retd), said, "He has done us proud. He has reclaimed the lost legacy of the Kular clan after 39 long years. After Ajit Pal, it is Jasjit who has won a place in the Indian hockey squad. The village is going to get its 15th Olympian shortly. We wish him all the best for the World Cup."

Jalandhar, May 15
The Agriculture Department has been encouraging farmers to use Direct Sowing Rice (DSR) technology this paddy season to maintain watertable. The new technique, would not only help in maintaining the watertable, but also be beneficial to the farmers. Last year 1,300 hectare of the paddy was sowed with DSR technology. Officials of the department said they expect that 2,900 hectare of the paddy would be sowed this year by using this technique.

Talking to Jalandhar Tribune, Chief Agriculture Officer Dr Suttantar Kumar said, “ The DSR technique is beneficial for the farmers as they will get more yield. Input cost will decreasing this way, as the farmers need not to spend diesel and labour on making mud, which a traditional way of planting paddy. The paddy will be sowed directly instead of planting.”

“We have already launched an awareness campaigning to disseminate the message among the farmer, while two vans have been operating in various villages in the district,” said Suttantar.

“On the land, where the DAP fertiliser has already been used during the wheat sowing, the use DAP again is not required for the paddy crop. As per the instructions from the Punjab Agriculture University, reuse of fertilisers containing phosphorus like DAP would not only cost more, but damage the paddy crop too,” said Suttantar Kumar

A farmer from Kangniwal village, Mandeep Singh said he adopted the same technique last year. The input cost was very low that saved money. The other thing was it needed less water than the traditional technique. 

Jalandhar, May 15
Several industrial associations today extended support to the family of Chander Mohan Arora, who had committed suicide by jumping before a train a few days ago. The industrialists have given a seven-day ultimatum to the Government Railway Police (GRP) to arrest the accused. They have threatened to gherao the police station.

They also took on the local politicians for not extending support to the family members of the deceased.

“We are giving seven-day ultimatum to the police to arrest the accused, otherwise we will gherao the police station” said Gurcharan Singh, president of Federation of Jalandhar Industrial and Traders Association, accompanied by other industrialist.

Industrialists also rued that no political leader from the city bothered to visit the house of the deceased.

It is to recall here that on May 7, an owner of a pipe fitting factory, PN Metals, Chander Mohan Arora (56), had reportedly committed suicide by jumping before the train at Kailash Nagar near Sodal area.

Despite a suicide note left by the deceased, it was after three days that the GRP had registered a case of abetment to suicide under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code against Yograj Puri, Neeraj Puri, Davinder, Naresh Sharda, Ramesh Sharda, Harish Verma, Sudesh Sharda and Rajesh Verma. While the police have been claiming that all the accused are still at large, the victim’s family has been alleging that the accused were being allowed to run scot-free.

The Puris are the popular property brokers, whose names had also figured in the DAV University land purchase deal. Deceased’s son Sahil said it was his father who had helped the university officials purchase the land. He alleged that even as the suicide note (a copy of which was circulated to the media) mentioned the addresses and the phone numbers of some of the accused who are well established in the city. The police took a lot of time in taking action against them, which helped them escape. He added that the note had even mentioned the names of witnesses in front of whom the financial deals had been struck.

Alleging that it was more of a murder than a suicide, he said that his father could even have been dragged to the tracks as a sum of Rs 3.5 crore was due from the accused in various property dealing cases. 

Jalandhar, May 15
Shooting off a missive to the heads of various NRI departments of the state, the North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) has expressed concern over the strict implementation of the Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act.

Peeved at the miserable plight of more than 100 Punjabi youth languishing in the US jails charged with illegal entry, Executive Director Satnam Chahal said his association was extending all possible help to secure their release. “Some of them were released on parole, or on bond and others are still behind bars. A couple of months ago, a Punjabi youth, had committed suicide by hanging himself, and NAPA sent his body to his native village in Punjab ”, he said.

Chahal said the passing of Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act was a step in the right direction, but it needs to be implemented strictly.

“It is estimated that 15,000 to 25,000 Punjabis spent anything between Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh on being promised greener pastures abroad and Punjab has become a hub of human trafficking racket involving Rs 12,000 crore of illegal business,” said Chahal.

“The state government should initiate measures for proper implementation of the Act. The people in general, and youth in particular, require to be educated regarding immigration formalities to settle abroad. Special seminars are needed to acquaint the travellers by the Public Relations Department. There is an urgent need to monitor the activities of registered and unregistered travel agents,” Said Satnam.

KMV Collegiate Sr Sec School organised various competitions to highlight the post-election scenario. Election survey of different states and Union Territories and the performance of the ruling party was also brought under the scanner. Atima Sharma, principal, elaborated conditions necessary for a successful democratic society and the future of the Indian democracy. The role of political parties in a democratic set up was also discussed.

Pilot project funded

Department of Biotechnology (DBT- Govt of India) has approved the grant of 55 lacs to PG Department of Biotechnology, Lyallpur Khalsa College, for science students. Various pilot research projects were successfully completed by the students. Major themes under research projects were Microbial Biotechonology and Bioinformatics. In total 31 students participated in these research projects. Dr Harsharan Singh and Prof Gobind Ram supervised and guided the students for the above projects. Principal of Lyallpur Khalsa College,Dr Gurpinder Singh Samra, along with Dr Arun Dev Sharma and Dr Inderjeet Kaur distributed trophies along with certificates.

Sponsorship

St Soldier Group of Institutions has been distributing scholarships of Rs 1 crore every year. Under this scheme the group has sponsored study of Shubham Arora, a Mechanical Engineering student of St Soldier Polytechnic College( 4th semester). Chairman Anil Chopra and vice- chairperson Mrs Sangeeta Chopra took initiative for the cause. Mr Chopra also offered him a good job after studies. — TNS

Jalandhar, May 15
A three-day CBSE regional-level Science Exhibition-2014, commenced at Sanskriti KMV School here today.

As many as 164 schools from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, with 326 science and technology-savvy students are participating in the exhibition.

Principal Rachna Monga welcomed the chief guest Om Gouri Dutt Sharma (Deputy Director General, Doordarshan) and other dignitaries.

The event was inaugurated by the chief guest and the dignitaries by lamp lighting ceremony. Sub-themes and exhibits were judged by respective judges. Energy-Dr SBS Mishra, Dr Sanjeet Sharma, Prof Parminder Kaur, Environment and Resource-Dr Rohit Mehra, Prof Daljit Singh, Agriculture and Health - Dr Sanjeev Dhawan, Dr Neetu Chopra. Dr Atima Sharma addressed the gathering.

Principal Rachna Monga appreciated the efforts of students. Dr Om Gouri Dutt Sharma, in his address, emphasised the need for concrete determination and commitment by the young generation to achieve their goal.

Chander Mohan, president, Sanskriti KMV School, was the chief guest for the valedictory ceremony.