Dreams come true

Chandigarh: A 35-year-old dairy farm owner of Ludhiana, Amandeep Singh, has turned croreparti overnight by winning the first prize of Rs2.50 crore under the Punjab State Maa Lakshami Diwali Pooja Bumper-2019. Sharing his happiness, Amandeep, a resident of Meharban village in Ludhiana district, said he wants to expand his dairy business and invest the remaining amount on the education of his two children. In the draw held on November 1, HP native Sanjeev Kumar, a painter, also won the first prize. TNS

Get hooked to books

Bathinda: A book fair put up as a part of three-day Tony Batish Art Festival at Government Rajindra College attracted a lot of attention, not only due to the books it had on sale, but also the way it was projected. The organisers had put up a banner which named the event as “Theka Kitab Desi/ Angrezi”. The word “theka” is used to describe a liquor vend in Punjab. The fair had a wide variety of books in both English and Punjabi. “The aim was also to give a positive connotation to the word ‘theka’. We want the state’s youth to shun drugs and get hooked to the books instead. It is need of the hour that the youth play a constructive role in our society,” said organisers.

Supporting sporting talent

Gurdaspur: Shaheed Bhagat Singh Judo Centre being run at Government Senior Secondary School, Post Office chowk, may have produced national and international level judokas, its pockets are not deep enough to finance players who have been selected to play for Punjab or the country. Young players have now found a benefactor in police officer and incharge of Gurdaspur CIA staff Kapil Kaushal. Kaushal, a former national level judoka, who donates a hefty amount from his monthly salary to ensure the Centre runs smoothly. Jasleen Saini, who has been selected to don India colors in the forthcoming Olympic qualifiers to be held in Osaka, did not have money to fund his trip. The Judo Federation of India and the government refused to pay Saini. Kaushal paid Rs 50,000 to ensure his centre’s junior colleague makes it to Japan. In 2016, he had sponsored the trip of Harmeet Singh for the world university games to the tune of Rs 1 lakh. Kaushal is now in the process of setting up an NGO with the help of prominent citizens which will fund players in international sojourns.

Raising awareness lyrical way

Amritsar: Kashmir Singh Gill, a Hindi teacher at Government Senior Secondary School, Gumanpura near Amritsar, has been addressing social issues through his pen and voice. He has written and sung songs on issues impacting society and students. His latest song “Kheton mein aag kyu lagaye” is focused on the issue of stubble-burning and its impact on farmers. He had earlier penned a song “Chalo chalo sarkari school” to boost the enrolment drive, “Each One, Bring One” of the Education Department across the state. He had also come out with a song.

Special session for special kids

Abohar: Two schools are functioning in the town for special children. “Prayas” was set up by District Red Cross Society, trained staff for which was provided by Sriganganagar-based Sri Jagdamba Andh Vidyalaya. The institute aims at educating hearing and speech impaired children. Another school “Udaan” for special children, also sponsored by Sri Sathya Sai Sewa Sangathan, was set up in a posh locality. Lending a helping hand in this regard, a local school on Saturday hosted a special session for children of these schools. DSP Rahul Bhardwaj, SHO Paramjit Kamboj and Sub-Inspector Chanchal interacted with the special children, played carom and other games with them and assured all sort of assistance to make them feel better.

Of politics and nuptial ties

Chandigarh: Call it a coincidence or destiny. The youngest and first-time Congress MLA Angad Saini, who was elected from Nawanshahr in 2017, is set to tie the nuptial knot with Rae Bareli Congress MLA Aditi Singh on November 21. Aditi too had jumped into the political fray in 2017. While Angad is the grandson of Congress leaders Dilbagh Singh, Aditi is daughter of Akhilesh Kumar Singh, who represented Rae Bareli five times. He died on August this year. Said to be close to the Gandhi family due to her father’s association with the them, Aditi was recently in news for not participating in a foot march organised by Congress’ UP general secretary (east) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Lucknow to mark Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.

Contributed by Perneet Singh, Ravi Dhaliwal, Divya Sharma, Raj Sadosh & Rajmeet Singh