1. business and industrial
2. energy
3. renewable energy

A Nihang on the Khalsa land
Sri Anandpur Sahib
Punjab Advance
October-2014
My Word
Ajay Bhardwaj
Editor -in-Chief
editorpunmedia@gmail.com
I
magine every household producing its own electricity on the
roof-top with an independent solar power plant. No power
cuts. No worry of electricity bills shooting up.
Punjab has kicked up a dream of this sort by taking quite a few big strides
recently in the solar power generation sector. The nation's first satellite
solar power plant. The nation's largest roof-top solar power plant. All
happening in Punjab. Almost 30 projects are on stream and 24 more in
the pipeline.
Harnessing non-conventional energy is a new buzz in the state after Prime
Minister Narendra Modi patted New and Renewable Energy Minister
Bikram Singh Majithia for making Punjab the `best performing state` in the
country".
In the private sector , people like Dilbar Singh in Bahadurpur village in
Ropar district, have been performing exceptional feet in this sector for
others to emulate elsewhere in the state.. Running his own dairy farm in
the village, Dilbar has laid a network of gobar gas supply line to each
household in the village that caters to the cooking needs of each house.
As a result many villagers have not needed an LPG cylinderin their kitchen
In the last four years.
In this issue, we carry a special report on Punjab spreading its wings in the
non-conventional energy sector.
We also carry a special report on how the state has made some concerted
efforts to tide over cancer that has been taking a silent toll in the hinterland.
In the sports section, we salute 15-year-old Mandeep Kaur Sandhu of
Chakkar village in Ludhiana, who clinched the gold medal in the World
Junior Boxing Championship held at Taipei and brought laurels to Punjab.
Looking forward to your word on editorpunmedia@gmail.com
June 2015
Punjab Advance
3
Punjab
Contents
Advance
www.punjabadvance.com
L JUNE-2015
LVOL-2 L ISSUE-6
CEO
N
Rahul Tewari
Editor-in-Chief
N
Ajay Bhardwaj
Editor
N
Donald Banerjee
Designer
N
Kumar Jiv Chumber
Publisher
N Information and Public
Solar Vaults
12
Relations Department,
Punjab
Contact address N
PUNJAB ADVANCE,
Room No. 1, 5th Floor,
Punjab Civil Secretariat,
Chandigarh-160001
Ph. : 0172-2740668
Punjab’s Mary Kom
punmedia2011@gmail.com
Disclaimer: The views expressed by the
authors in the articles published in
PUNJAB ADVANCE are their own. They do
not necessarily reflect the opinion of
Punjab Government or the organization
they work for. Editor reserves the right to
edit, abridge or expand the articles
submitted. In case of any dispute, legal
jurisdiction will lie in Chandigarh based
courts.
Printed, Published and Edited by Rahul
Tewari on behalf of the Information and
Public Relations Department, Punjab.
Printed at New Printindia Pvt. Ltd., 8/4B,
Industrial Area, Site IV, Sahibabad-201010
Gaziabad, (UP) and published at Room No.
1, 5th Floor, Civil Sectt., Chandigarh.
4
30
Hat-trick by Kapoors
Page-36
Punjab Advance
June 2015
Your Word
Taming Cancer
Well Done !
18
Congrats, I liked the front cover of May issue
of Punjab Advance. It was a well-thought out
presentation of the Governance Reforms.
Later, reports on governance reforms were
also informative. I never knew Punjab was
doing much in the governance reforms. Keep
it up.
Rohit Saxena, Chandigarh
Passing the baton
It was interesting running through "Passing
the baton, Fletcher Style " by R.K. Kaushik
and You are Fired (Last Word). They made
fairly good light readings. Wish you could
run a regular column on literary pieces contributed by the Punjabi writers. Much work
is taking place in Punjabi which needs to be
told in English as well.
Ashuthosh Sharma, Mohali.
Biopic on Neerja
Reforming drug addicts
34
A teen-aged girl’s crusade to reform drug addicts needed a better picture presentation. I
find that your magazine lacks picture backup.
Yes, I think you need a good cameraman to
back up the articles.
Daljeet Kaur, Ludhiana
Health page
We are an elderly couple and we always look
forward to the health column by Dr Ravinder
Chadha, former physio-therapist of the Indian cricket team.His writeups are good, as
he speaks like a friend and not a doctor.
Super Sikh Hero
Page-40
Jagtar Singh, Mohali
June 2015
Punjab Advance
5
Glimpses of
“Darshan Didar Yatra”
A
n unusual religious fervour has seized Punjab as relics of
three Gurus, Guru Hargobind Singh, Guru Teg Bahadur
and Guru Gobind Singh, traverse through various parts of the state.
Enshrined in a specially-manufactured bus the holy relics were given a
rousing send-off amid chanting of prayers from Gurdwara Dukhnivaran
Sahib in Patiala. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief
Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal joined the prayers and paid obeisance to
the relics.
Devotees have been lining up in thousands as "darshan yatra" passed
through various towns and suburbs to pay their respect to the relics that
include attire and weapons of the Gurus.
Display of gatka, horses, elephants has been an added charm to the
journey.
6
Punjab Advance
June 2015
The Relics
June 2015
Punjab Advance
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8
Punjab Advance
June 2015
June 2015
Punjab Advance
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10
Punjab Advance
June 2015
June 2015
Punjab Advance
11
Cover
Solar
heights
PUNJAB TAKES A BIG LEAP IN
GREEN AND CLEAN ENERGY
projects conceived in last two years
· 48105newsolarsolarwaterpower
pumps installed
· 698 villages provided
with solar street lights
·
I
Ajay Bhardwaj
ndia’s first satellite-controlled solar power plant comes up in Lalpur
village in Hoshiarpur district.
India's single largest roof-top solar plant is set up in Beas in Amritsar
district.
Punjab has indeed been taking rapid strides in
solar energy generation lately, ushering in a new
era of "green and clean energy".
In February 2012, the state had installed
capacity of just 9 MW which has reached 225
MW with an investment of Rs. 1500 crore. While
12
24 projects (Rs. 1300 Crore) of 184 MW have
already been commissioned and four projects of
38 MW are under implementation. Besides, 24
new projects of 229 MW capacity plus 65 MW
rooftop with an investment of Rs. 2100 crore are
in the pipeline.
Punjab Advance
June 2015
Cover
In the last three years, 105 solar water pumps
have been installed in the state and 698 villages
have been provided with solar street lights.
Lauding the efforts of Punjab in this field the
Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
has already declared it as the "best performing
state" in the country for capacity-addition to renewable energy.
Coupled with it has been a pat given by the
Union Power Ministry to PEDA, declaring it as
the best performing state nodal agency for two
consecutive years in 2012 and 2013 in the energy
conservation programme.
" The state is all set to become a " solar state "
by promoting clean and green energy. We have set
a target of 4200 MW generation of solar power by
2022, " said Minister for Renewable Energy
Bikram Singh Majithia..
He said the latest big leap in the field had been
the commissioning of the satellite-based solar
plant in Hoshiarpur district in March this year..
June 2015
New and Renewable Energy
Minister Bikram Singh
Majithia has a view of India’s
first satellite solar plant at
Lalpur village inHoshiarpur
district
The first-of-its-kind
satelite-based solar
plant operates on
"Single Axis Tracking East West Tilt Technology" with a capacity of
4.2 MW. Set up by a Mumbai-based company,
Aditya Medi Sales Pvt. Ltd., the plant would generate 21,000 to 22,000 units of power daily.
Earlier, the minister had inaugurated a solar
power project of 4.20 MW capacity in Nangla
village of Bathinda district set up at a cost of Rs
32.7 crore. This was the fourth solar plant in
Bathinda district which jacked up the total solar
power generation in the state to 202 MW.
The minister announced that land lease policy
for farmers for setting up renewable energy
projects has evoked an overwhelming response.
Under the scheme, PEDA would safeguard the
interests of farmers and ensure they got more
lease value for the land as compared to the market
rates with a yearly increment of 6 per cent.
Punjab Advance
13
Cover
The minister said: "
Corporation Ltd (PSPCL).
Item
February
2013
Total
It’s a matter of pride for
Principal
secretary
2012
to 2015 March 2015
the state that companies
Anirudh Tiwari said under
Solar Water Pump
1850
105
1955
are investing in Punjab
the Roof-Top Solar Power
and finding the state as a
Generation and Net MeterSize Biogas
133295
31705
165000
land of opportunities for Family Plant
ing policy the state governtheir
successful
ment had notified its Net
Solar
Street
Light
3825
(324)
7737
(374)
11562
(698)
endeavours. "
Metering
Policy
for
(Villages)
Elaborating on the
installation of Grid interacfuture plans of the de- Solar Water Heating 25.24 Lac 6.53 lac 31.77 lac
tive Roof Top Solar Power
System
LPD
LPD
LPD
partment, the minister
projects
in
homes,
(Liter Per Day)
said: “We plan to deinstitutions, Commercial/velop a capacity to generate 5400 MW of non- private/governmental buildings, warehouses and
conventional power by 2022 with 300 MW industries in the state.
generation from biomass, 680 MW from
Under this policy, a solar power plant could be
cogeneration power, 4,200 MW from solar, 200 set up on the Roof Top of the building. During the
MW from hydel and 20 MW by converting waste day time the power generated would be used there
into energy”.
or in case of excess or no usage it would be fed in
In order to give a renewed boost to solar power the grid. During the night it could be drawn. He
generation the state government notified the net said a Bi-directional meter would be installed in
metering policy in 2014. The policy envisages in- the supply line for registering of import and exstallation of solar power projects on roof-tops or port of power. He added that under this ambitious
other open spaces. The power generated thereby policy Solar power projects of capacity ranging
would be first used by the building itself and the from 1KW to 1000 KW could be installed and the
rest fed to the grid of the Punjab State Power maximum capacity of solar power project to be
A farmer stands by his solar power plant
14
Punjab Advance
June 2015
Cover
Big rush for solar power scheme
The state government’s ‘Land on lease for
solar power projects scheme’ is turning out to be
a big success, with applications pouring in offering land on lease for setting up solar power plants.
More than 4,580 acres of land has already
been offered for the project on BOO (build, operate and own) basis. The minimum lease rate will
be Rs 35,000 to Rs 50,000 per acre depending on
the condition and location of the land.
Giving this information, an elated Mr. Bikram
Singh Majithia said the minimum requirement of
land was 25 acres, but any landowner having less
than 25 acres can also join hands with his neighbour for this purpose. “The landowners will have
an assured increase in their lease amount by 5 per
cent per annum basis”, he added.
installed in a building would be 80 per cent
of the sanctioned electricity load of that
building.
Punjab is among the eight states in the
country to have notified the policy. The
policy aims at covering about one lakh
buildings in the next three years which
should have a combined power generation
capacity of upto 200 MW.
A dedicated website giving details about
the policy was also floated last year to help
people understand about net metering and
join hands with the state government for the
project.
Embarking on its expansion plans the
state government has invited bids for canalbased solar power projects.
There is a special effort to promote
renewable energy projects as they help
generation of environment-friendly, green
and clean energy and reduce burden on the
regular power grids. Consumers that way
become generators of their own electricity
requirements, besides ensuring regular
power supply during power cuts.
June 2015
``I suggest, PM should make clean
energy part of Swach Bharat campaign``
New and Renewable Energy
Minister Bikram Singh Majithia
Q. How do you view the impressive spread of "green and clean
energy" in Punjab ?
A. Punjab is endowed with a vast potential of solar energy with over
300 days of sunshine in a year with insolation level varying between
4-7 Kw/sq.mtr. Our endeavour is to harness this and I am happy the
way Punjab has undertaken the projects in the recent times it has
become a leading state for the initiatives.
Q. You think in the long run it can help take off the burden on
traditional sources of electriicity ?
A. Of course, yes. We plan to develop a capacity to generate 5400
MW of non-conventional power by 2022 with 300 MW generation
from biomass, 680 MW from cogeneration power, 4,200 MW from
solar, 200 MW from hydel and 20 MW by converting waste into
energy”
Q. What new initiatives you propose to take to achieve the targets?
A. Well, we have asked banks to give easy loans. We are going to
bring about awareness as well among the people about it. As for
example, last month we launched a programme to involve school
children in conserving energy.
Our success has been remarkable in many ways so far. For instance, the satellite-based solar plant in Hoshiaprpur and the single
roof-top solar plant in Beas are the first of its kind in the country.
Q. Are you looking for any assistance from the Centre ?
A. In fact, at a function recently I had requested Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to make clean energy an integral part of the Swacchh Bharat Mission to save our future generation from long-term
adverse effects of pollution from traditional sources of energy.
It was imperative to give to give a big boost to clean energy, including solar, hydel, wind and bio-mass etc. that could be achieved
only by mission mode. He said as the Prime Minister had made
Swacchh Bharat Pan India mission, making clean energy as part this
mission would serve twin purposes of making India power surplus
without polluting our environment.
The Centre should also ensure availability of low interest rate
loans and give income tax incentives for setting up new renewable
energy projects to make these more economically viable.
Punjab Advance
15
Cover
Biogas wonder
I
n Bahadurpur vil- plying gas for six hours a day
lage of Ropar dis- to all the 75 houses in the viltrict a private entrepreneur lage free of cost for over a
Dilbar Singh is a proud man year.
and a pivotal man as well. He Consequently, many houses
controls the supply of bio-gas in the village have not bought
to the entire village, which an LPG cylinder for the last
has
about
100 houses,
and takes no
money for it.
Running a
moderately
large dairy
with 120-odd
cows in the
village, Dalbir pools the
cow dung at
a place and Dilbar Singh stands by his gobar gas plant
the biogas at Bahadurpur village in Ropar
plant
supplies it to each household. He four years.
laid down a network of sup- “Initially, I had proposed that
ply lines, for which, he did anyone, who wished to get a
not take any donations either. gas connection, deposit cow
In this day and age when en- dung at the plant.
ergy is scarce and costly, peo- “But, it was difficult to imple in Bahadurpur village are plement this idea so I set up
supplied free gas in abun- a dairy farm with over 120
dance! Entrepreneur Dalbir cows and decided to use their
Singh, who deals in scrap dung in the plant. It generates
metal in Dubai, runs the bio- enough gas to fill 10 LPG
gas plant and has been sup- cylinders daily,” he said.
16
For farmers it could go a long way in
providing an alternate source of income at a
time when farming itself has reached a
saturation point.
Students to be energy ambassadors
In Jalandhar last month Punjab launched a firstof-its kind campaign to sensitise the younger
generation about the need to save energy and bring
about awareness about importance of renewable energy for smart living.
The ‘State Energy Conservation & Efficiency
Campaign’ launched jointly by New and Renewable
Energy Minister Bikram Singh Majithia and Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema, targets at achieving energy saving of 20 per cent in domestic sector
in the coming five years.
A unique initiative is to rope in 40 lakh school
students in the next three years to make them not
only the ambassadors for energy saving but also for
promoting the renewable energy in a big way thereby
making this clean energy a significant part of their
lives.
The launching of the ‘Punjab State Energy Conservation & Efficiency Campaign’ was followed by
a special workshop for more than 1200 school Principals and Science Teachers/Eco club coordinators
of Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Majithia said overdependence on thermal power and hydro-electric
power was resulting in global warming, climate
change and contamination because of which health
hazards were multiplying. He said as a result of this
we were compelled to incur high costs for creating
infrastructure like hospitals, disaster prevention/management and rehabilitation infrastructure etc.
He said keeping in view this precarious situation,
Punjab Advance
June 2015
Cover
Incentives for solar units
“Punjab ready for
revolution in
renewable
energy sector”
• 25 yrs PPA with PSPCL which has
B+ rating
• Provisions of LC and Escrow
accounts in PPA
• 33 yrs lease of village panchayat land
(6% escalation/yr)
• Registration & Stamp duty charges
exempted on purchase/lease of land
• CLU charges exempted
• Pollution clearance exemption to solar
projects
• State Entry Tax exempted on NRSE
equipment
• No parallel operation charges
• 100% VAT exemption
• 100% Electricity Duty exemption.
-Sukhbir Singh Badal, Dy. CM
it becomes imperative for us to produce energy but not
by burning fossil fuels rather by saving energy as well
as generating energy from renewable sources like
solar, wind, biomass and small scale hydroelectric. He
said the purpose of starting this campaign was to create energy auditors amongst school students, principals and teachers. The target was to cover all
government and private High and Senior Secondary
schools involving 40 lakh students in the next three
years.
He said under this initiative students will be trained
to understand the energy bill, conduct energy audit of
school/home at their own level & also spread the message among the parents, relatives & friends. He also
suggested the Education Minister to include energy
conservation & efficiency as an important part of syllabus.
Mr. Majithia said that as targeted Punjab with 20
per cent energy saving can spare 1900 MW of thermal
capacity avoiding cost on infrastructure development
to the tune of Rs.12,500 cr. In domestic sector alone,
Punjab can spare 530 MW thermal capacity avoiding
cost on infrastructure development to the tune of 3,500
crore.
Mr. Majithia informed that the best schools in
every district will be recognized every year. A state
level function will be organized and the best top
schools will be awarded with cash prizes.
Dr. Cheema appreciated the unique joint initiative
of PEDA and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE),
Ministry of Power, GOI and said that the state education department was fully committed to making this
campaign a grand success. He said: “Children are
powerful agents of change; they may adopt a lifestyle
which ensures efficient use of energy.”
June 2015
Deputy Chief Minister offers a sweet to the new PEDA
chief Upkar Singh Sandhu
D
eputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has
said that the State is all set for major revolution in
renewable energy sector with path breaking initiatives in the
form of large scale investment in solar power projects, unique
net metering policy and farm level solar power projects thereby
ensuring the wider participation of investors, common people
and farmers.
Speaking at the installation ceremony of Mr. Upkar Singh
Sandhu as Chairman Punjab Energy Development Agency and
Mr. Jagtar Singh Rajeana and Mr. Kulwant Singh Bath as
Chairman and Vice Chairman of Punjab Genco Limited, Mr.
Badal appreciated the efforts of Mr. Majithia and his team for
outstanding achievements on Renewable energy front as in February 2012, the state had installed capacity of just 9 MW which
has reached now 225 MW with an investment of Rs. 1500 crore.
He said that he was informed that 24 new Projects of 229 MW
Capacity plus 65 MW rooftop projects with an investment of
Rs. 2100 crore were all set to be started soon. Underlining the
need for promotion of clean energy in a big way, Mr. Badal said
that the time has come to harness the big potential available in
solar energy and bio-mass energy and it could be possible only
through wider participation of various sections of the society.
Punjab Advance
17
Cancer
Taming
Cancer
Punjab launches all-out fight against cancer
· 16 fully-equipped hospitals to come up
· Rs 274 cr given to 23,000 patients
BUREAU REPORT
H
owsoever insurmountable it might
have seemed, but Punjab has staged a
determined war on cancer in the right earnest.
Under the watchful eyes of Chief Minister
Parkash Singh Badal and Health Minister Surjit
Kumar Jyani a team of dedicated officials has
been diligently scurrying around in the state to detect the cases of cancer and provide them requisite
assistance.
In fact, so far financial assistance to the tune
of Rs 274 crore has been disbursed among 21,780
cancer patients under the Mukh Mantri Punjab
Rahat scheme.
18
Punjab Advance
June 2015
Cancer
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal (third from left) is flanked by Principal Secretary Health Vini Mahajan
(left) and Punjab’s anti-cancer brand ambassador Yuvraj Singh
Sixteen hospitals, seven of Amritsar, Patiala, Faridkot, Bikaner.
them in the government sector AIIMS, New Delhi, PGI
The nine private hospitals
and nine in the private, have Chandigarh, G.M.C.H. Sector identified for the purpose are :
been identified under the 32, Chandigarh, Acharya Tulsi CMC, Ludhiana, DMC, Ludhischeme all over the state to pro- Regional Cancer Hospital, ana, Oswal Cancer Hospital,
vide treatment to cancer
Ludhiana, Max Super
patients with a provision
Specialty & Cardiac HosCancer Amount
of Rs 1.50 lakh for each
pital, Sahibzada Ajit
Year
Patients
Sanctioned
patient.
Singh Nagar (Mohali),
All cancer patients
Indus Super Speciality
who are residents of PunHospital, Sahibzada Ajit
6027
64,93,85,163/jab State are eligible to July 11 to Dec. 12
Singh Nagar (Mohali),
the financial assistance Jan 13 to Dec. 13
Patel Hospital, Jalandhar
5565
61,32,51,364/under this scheme.
and Sri Guru Ramdass
Jan
14
to
Dec.
2014
8121
109,48,20,009/Government hospiCharitable Hospital, Amtals where this faciltiy
ritsar.
Jan 25 to 18-05-2015 2841
38,43,09,180/has been accorded inUnder a special drive
clude the Govt. Medical
to
make
cancer
Total
22554
274,17,65,716/Colleges and Hospital in
medicines available, the
June 2015
Punjab Advance
19
Cancer
Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani (third from left) is flanked by Principal Secretary Health Vini Mahajan
(left) and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dr (Mrs) Navjot Sidhu. On the extreme left is Punjab State Health
Corporation MD Husan Lal
state government entered into a
rate contract of 118 anti cancer
drugs with the Tata Memorial
Cancer
Research
Centre,
(TMCRC), Mumbai. These medicines are also available at Jan
Aushadhi Generic Drug Centres
set up under the drive at the district-level. Anti-cancer drugs are
available at the centres at highly
concessional rates.
Besides , a number of initiatives have been undertaken by the
state government to provide treatment facility to the patients in
different parts of the state. If a
300-bed cancer hospital is proposed to be set up in Mullanpur in
New Chandigarh with the collaboration of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and the Tata
20
National Programme
· Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Mansa & Gurdaspur
districts are identified under Cancer Components
· Tertiary Cancer Centre at Govt. Medical College
Faridkot allotted Rs 4.8 crore against total of
Rs. 6 crore
· Tertiary Cancer Care Centres (TCCCs) are
going to be established in District Fazilka and
Hoshiarpur with Rs.45 crore each in the ratio
75:25 by Union Ministery of Health
· State Cancer Institute (Rs 150 crore) is going to
be established at Govt. Medical College,
Amritsar in collaboration with Central Govt
Punjab Advance
June 2015
Cancer
Memorial Cancer Research Centre, Mumbai, in
Bathinda a 100- bed Advanced Cancer Diagnostic Treatment and Research Centre would be
coming up soon. In addition, the cancer-care facility in the civil hospital, Sangrur, would be established in collaboration with the TMCRC,
Mumbai.
Talking about various initiatives taken in the
medical colleges in the state, Husan Lal, IAS,
Managing Director of the Punjab Health Services Corporation, said all medical colleges in
the state have been provided with state-of-theart equipment in the Department of Radiotherapy whereas a Brachytherapy machine has
been installed at Guru Gobind Singh Medical
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has
College, Faridkot.
vowed to make Punjab one of the best
The cobalt units for the treatment of cancer
cancer treatment destinations in the
patients have been installed at Guru Gobind
country and set up world-class facilities to
Singh Medical College, Faridkot and Sri Guru
Ramdass Institute of Health Sciences & Recombat the disease at an affordable cost.
search Sciences Amritsar.
The Govt Medical College, Amritsar, has
been equipped with two Cobalt machine units
more than 20,000 patients were examined, out of
whereas another one is under installation, the .
which 299 patients were confirmed to have canGovt Medical College, Patiala would shortly get
cer.
one.
A population-based
Recently, the state
cancer registry has
government
had
been set up in the Govt.
organised mass cancer
Medical College, Pascreening and treatment
tiala to ascertain the
camps to bring about
number of cancer paawareness among the
tients in the state.
general masses regardWhile this exercise is
ing cancer. As many as
Punjab's
being done with the
87403 patients were
anti-cancer
help of the Union
detected as symptoBrand Ambassador
Health ministry, the
matic in the 1st Phase of
state
government
the state-wide camcancer registry centres
paign.
have been established
"Even I have fought against cancer, and
In 2013 Mass Cancer
in Mansa, Sangrur,
therefore, I request the people of Punjab to
Screening and TreatMohali ad Chandigarh
come and get themselves tested, before it's
ment camps were orin collaboration with
too late. One will have to fight on one’s own
ganised all over the
the Tata Memorial
way against cancer,"
state covering 22 disCancer
Research
- Yuvraj Singh
trcits during which
centre, Mumbai.
June 2015
Punjab Advance
21
PUNJAB DIARY
Amjad Ali Khan invited to set up music academy
S
arod Maestro
of UK fame and the
Ustad Amjad
music composed by
Ali Khan has accepted
Ustad Amjad Ali
Chief Minister Parkash
Khan, the Chief
Singh Badal’s offer to
Minister felicitated
set up a state-of-the-art
both of them for this
Indian classical music
unique initiative and
academy in Punjab to
hoped this collection
revive the glory of
of Shabads would
ancient classical school
prove to be a ‘food
of music, which had
for soul’ to sooth the
roots of its origin in tormented minds of
Punjab---- the land of
millions of people in
five rivers.
this
materialistic
Chief Minister’s AdChief
Minister
Parkash
Singh
Badal
honours
sarod
maestro
viser on National Afworld. Besides, the
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan
fairs
and
Media
soothing effect of
Harcharan Bains said the Academy could come up
Gurbani through this album would also help the
either at Mohali or Mullanpur (New Chandigarh).
people to tread on the path of divinity. The Album
The Chief Minister’s hour-long meeting with one
of the tallest international icons from the world of contains six divine Shabads set to sublime music
arts coincided with the release of an album of based on Indian Classical lore.
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan made an extremely
shabads from Gurbani set to the spiritual uplifting
music and drawing liberally on the rich cultural, significant and revealing observation about the
unparalleled contribution of Punjab to the art,
religious and musical heritage of Punjab.
On the release of the Gurbani Album of Shabads literature and musical richness of the Indian culture
recited by eminent raagi Harbhajan Singh Namdhari and civilization.
Cabinet clears steel silos
T
he Punjab Cabinet okays creation of steel silos
with storing capacity of 15 lakh metric tones.
- 125 posts created in police department for sportspersons winning medals in Olympic, Asian and Commonwealth Games
and other international and national competitions.
- Entry tax of 11 per cent levied on sugar imported from out-
22
side Punjab.
- Land allotment policy-2014 amended to allow foreign
institutions/hospitals to invest at medicity in New Chandigarh
- Stamp duty on registration of power of attorney slashed from
existing 2 per cent to 5 per cent.
- Resource Mobilisation measures to mop up Rs 1400 cr
annually.
Punjab Advance
June 2015
PUNJAB DIARY
Dial 1905 and share your grievance with Dy CM
D
success of Punjab Police
ial 1905 and
helpline 181 and excise
share your grievdepartment helpline numance directly with Deputy
ber 1800-258-2580 for
Chief Minister Sukhbir
business community.
Singh Badal. This is the
A dedicated mobile no.
latest toll free help-line
7696-181-181
for
number introduced by the
WhatsApp users has also
Punjab
Government
which would function
been launched to facilitate
the needy persons where
from Monday to Saturday
people can upload photos,
between 8 am and 8 pm.
videos or audio clips
This online contact
regarding any violation of
service has been introlaw/rules
besides
duced in the wake of the
Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal
providing feedback on
grand success achieved by
police working / behavior
the redressal mechanism
"sukhbirbadal2014@gmail.com".To make it a more / conduct.
Accordig to a spokesman this helpline will
effective tool to resolve the grievances, the Deputy
CM will personally review the functioning and ensure the full reddressal of grievances. “No
public response of this helpline on a fortnightly complaint will be disposed off till the pursuer is
basis. Besides, he will randomly call the com- satisfied with redressal of his/her grievance”, he
plainants to enquire about their satisfaction and added. Each complainant would be given a unique
ID number for future reference which would be
feedback.
This helpline number has been launched by the forwarded to the department concerned
Governance reforms department after the grand immediately for further necessary action.
CM seeks interest waiver for milk sector loans
C
hief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting for interest subvention on loans taken by
milk federations, comprising small and marginal
farmers.
Badal requested for a viable interest subvention
scheme similar to the one floated last year to help
the sugar mills.
Mr. Badal said India was the largest milk producing country in the world. State Dairy Cooperative Federations, with the support of dairy
cooperatives consisting mainly of small and marJune 2015
ginal milk producers, were playing a proactive role
in the overall development of milk production in the
country.
The State Milk Federations had to avail cash credit
limits or short term loans to make timely payments
to the milk producers, but due to very less market
rates of SMP in comparison to its cost of production,
the federations were unable to sell the stock. He
feared in such a situation the State Federations may
fall in a debt trap, which will hit the dairy sector adversely, resulting in loss of livelihood to so many
small and marginal milk producers, added Mr. Badal.
Punjab Advance
23
PUNJABIS OVERSEAS
Sikh removes turban to help bleeding child
A
Zealand Herald reSikh man's
ported.
decision to
"I wasn't thinking
break religious protoabout the turban. I was
col and remove his turthinking about the acban to help a profusely
cident and I just
bleeding child in New
thought that he needs
Zealand made headsomething on his head
lines around the world
because he's bleeding.
after a photograph of
That's my job to help,"
the act went viral on soSingh said
cial media.
The injured boy
Harman Singh was
was rushed to a nearby
at his home in Auckhospital where his inland on Saturday when
juries were initially
a boy, who was walkthought to be lifeing to school with his
threatening. Later, his
elder sister, was hit by
Harnam Singh places his turban under the child’s bleeding head
condition was said to
a car. Twentytwo-yearbe stable.
old Harman Singh
An eyewitness to the episode, Gagan Dhillon, clicked a
rushed to the spot after hearing the screeching of car wheels
picture of Singh with the child and posted it on Facebook
and the ensuing commotion.
"Harman Singh did not think twice about removing his with the caption, "So proud of this young Sikh man who
turban to cradle the bleeding head of a 5-year-old who had helped at a crash this morning where a child was hit by a
just been hit by a vehicle on his way to school," the New car."
Sikhs explain meaning of turban to US lawmakers
A
Sikh rights group has
commended a US
Congress-established panel for
recognising "violations against
Sikhs" in its annual report on
religious freedom.
"Sikhs are often harassed and
pressured to reject religious
practices and beliefs that are
distinct to Sikhism, such as dress,
unshorn hair, and the carrying of
religious items, including the kirpan," says the US Commission on International Religious
Freedom (USCIRF) in its report for 2015.
"India's Sikh community has long pursued a change to Article 25 of India's constitution which states, Hindus shall be
construed as including a reference to persons professing the
Sikh, Jain or Buddhist religion, and the reference to Hindu
24
religious institutions shall be
construed accordingly," the
report said.
The lack of recognition of
Sikhism as a distinct religion
denies Sikhs' access to social
services or employment and
educational preferences that are
available to other religious minority communities and to
scheduled caste Hindus," it
added.
Calling panel's report a "landmark" for recognising the
labeling of "Sikhs" as "Hindus" in Indian Constitution,
attorney Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal advisor to Sikh
For Justice (SFJ) said "recognition of Sikh with separate
identity issue by US will shore up the support for Sikh
community's demand for right to self-determination".
Punjab Advance
June 2015
PUNJABIS OVERSEAS
Harbhajan Kaur is mayor of Ealing Council
A
n Indian-origin
work very hard to establish herself
and raise two children.
councillor
woman has became the first
She studied Social Sciences at
Kingston University and obtained
Asian woman elected mayor
of Ealing Council in London.
a degree in 1995. She worked as
Harbhajan Kaur Dheer,
an Approved Mental Health Professional in Surrey County Coun62, at a ceremony at the Victoria Hall at Ealing Council
cil until 2003.
After joining Labour Party in
on Tuesday became the
Mayor of Ealing Council
the Eighties, she began to develop
after succeeding councillor
her public role within the Party
Tej Ram Bagha.
and outside in the community.
She has served the borough as
"It is a great privilege and
a governor of a number of
challenge to be the Mayor of
Ealing Council in London. I
schools. In the Nineties, she
worked as a volunteer Home
have no illusions about the
task ahead. But if I can cope
Visitor helping home bound
Harbhajan Kaur
women with learning English.
up with Ranjit at home I can
She is a passionate advocate of rights of children and
climb even the Everest," Kaur said.
Her husband councillor Ranjit Dheer is a former Mayor elderly including those with mental health issues.
A mother of two children - a son and a daughter - she beof Ealing. Born in Punjab in 1953, Harbhajan Kaur came to
Britain in 1975.
came a grandmother in January this year.
The early years in Britain were difficult and she had to
Her husband held the post of Mayor of Ealing in 2001-2002.
Punjabi wins prestigious police award in US
A
very worthy of this award.
44-year-old Punjabi
Houston police department is
origin policeman
proud of Saini," said Muzaffar
has been awarded the prestiSiddiqi, senior police officer of
gious "Top Civilian Supervisor
city Police department.
of the Year" award for his effiVarious community leaders
cient services to the Houston
including Gurdip Singh Buttar,S
Police department in the US
Gurnam Singh Sandhar, Ajinder
state of Texas.
Singh Dhatt were present during
Harkeerat Singh Saini rethe occasion and congratulated
ceived the award from Police
Saini for his achievement.
Chief Charles A McClelland
And Houston Mayor Anise
Saini, a graduate from DeshHarkeerat Singh
Parker during a function held at
bandu College in New Delhi,
the Hyatt Regency Hotel here earlier this week.
hails from Hoshiarpur in Punjab. He came to the city in
Saini, a police records supervisor has been working for 1998,joined Houston Police Department in March 2000 and
the Houston Police department for the last 15 years.
was subsequently promoted as an office supervisor in the
"Harkeerat Singh Saini is a very efficient officer and following years.
June 2015
Punjab Advance
25
· PM, President to lead galaxy of luminaries
· Special trains for Foundation Day celebrations
A
ll the buildings in Anandpur Sahib will stand out in a
fresh coat of white paint with LED bulbs adding to
the luster of the ambience, when President Pranab Mukherjee,
Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi
lead a galaxy of luminaries to the 350th Foundation Day celebrations of Sri Anandpur Sahib starting June 17.
The state government is leaving no stone unturned in making the
three-day celebrations a mega event.
Draped in white the city stands out all the more with the green
kikars and the almost-always blue sky providing the painterly
contrast for a perfect silhouette.
Also on the cards are special trains which will connect Takht Sri
Hazur Sahib, Nanded, Takht Sri Damdama Sahib (Talwandi
Sabo), Bathinda, Sri Harmandar Sahib, Amritsar, and Delhi to
Sri Anandpur Sahib to enable devotees from other places to
participate in the celebrations.
The highly revered religious leader of Tibetans the Dalai Lama,
the Shankracharya of Dwarka Peeth, Swami Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravi
Shankar besides the key leaders of the Muslim and Christian
community are also being invited for the function Sri Anandpur
Sahib will probably be among the first few cities to be covered
under the ambitious Central scheme to be fitted with LED bulbs.
DSGMC president Manjit Singh GK said 80 lakh square feet
area would be painted in white using almost 115 lakh litres of
paint.
"For the purpose, we have divided the city into 13 parts and would
be using Snocem (cement paint) on walls and enamel paint on
doors with spray guns in consultation with engineers of the
Anandpur Sahib municipal council," he said.
Manjit Singh GK. said the DSGMC had painted Anandpur Sahib
white during the Khalsa birth tercentenary celebrations in 1999.
"This time also, we have been given the task of painting the town
white, which we will try to complete in the stipulated time," he
said.
An artist’s
s view of Foundation laying of Sri Anandpur Sahib
Jail reforms
Fighting drugs
in jails
Preet Kanwal Singh
T
wenty-seven thousand drug
addicts languishing in eight
central jails of Punjab have come out
clean. This is the result of the crusade
launched by the state government
against the scourge of drugs.
To start with the Punjab police
cracked the whip against the drug peddlers. Hundreds of drug peddlers were
nabbed and put behind bars. Then followed the positive angle to the drive
with drug de-addiction centres coming
up in jails. These centres played an exemplary role in not only treating the
drug-addicts, but also rehabilitating
them back to the mainstream society.
As per the data from the jail department, till date more than 27,000
drug addicts have been successfully
treated in the de-addiction centres set
up in the eight jails of the state. These
inmates are undergoing a multipronged
de-addiction therapy that includes
medical treatment, psychological and
sociological counselling besides religious sermons.
The credit for the success of these
de-addiction centres goes to Jail Minister Sohan Singh Thandal, who is personally supervising the deaddiction
drive in the jails.
Under a deaddiction campaign
launched by the Jail department 461
inmates are at present undergoing
treatment in different jails. Spiritual
and moral education is also being imparted through counselling, religious
28
Jail birds await their turn for de-addiction treatment
sermons and yoga whereas sports kits
are being provided regularly to encourage them to play games. The state
government has been incurring Rs.
1.78 crore on making these drug deaddiction centres ultra modern to help the
addicted jail inmates to get rid of drug
use.
The jail superintendents have been
made accountable for monitoring the
working of these deaddiction centres
on a daily basis and reporting directly
to the Jail Minister every week. Mr.
Thandal said most of the meditation
programmes were being conducted in
collaboration with the Art of Living. In
this financial year Rs. 8.20 lakh had
been incurred on organising religious
Punjab Advance
preaching, yoga and meditation programmes.
The Jail Minister clarified that at
present these drug deaddiction centres
had been established in eight central
jails of Punjab located at Amritsar,
Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Patiala, Bathinda, Faridkot and Ferozpur.
He said Rs. 1.78 crore had been spent
on medicines, laboratory equipments,
ECG machines, urine/blood testing kits
at these drug deaddiction centres.
-------The writer is a PRO with the
Punjab Government
June 2015
Unsung hero
He saved
hundreds
BUREAU REPORT
T
here were no official words
of condolence nor were any
wreaths laid as the body of "Chacha
Bomb Squad" was consigned to the
flames.
The exploits of unsung hero ,
Kishan Lal , or "Chacha Bomb Squad"
as he was popularly known among his
former colleagues in the Punjab police,
will not find mention either in history
books or in the numerous books written on terrorism in Punjab.
However,those who worked with
Chacha still carry vivid memories of
this lean man bending over a live bomb
and studying for some time before
snapping at the circuit of the device in
order to defuse it.
When bomb explosions by Pakistan-backed terrorists were a comman
occurrence in this holy city ,the onemember bomb squad of Chacha helped
save hundreds of lives by defusing the
devices .
Kishan Lal must have defused at
least a dozen bombs hidden by terrorists in the busy lanes and by-lanes, in
vehicles and in trains. But he received
no laurels for these acts except for the
occasional letter of appreciation .
The services of Chacha, Who retired as a subhedar from the army, were
sought by the Punjab police in the late
1980s as the department was hampered
by the lack of a bomb disposal expert
here .
He rejoined the police in 1989 as a
June 2015
special police offer (SPO) and left the
organization after three years ,let down
by the attitude of his superiors who
bomb in pouring rain, Kishan Lal
himself sustained injuries which led to
his arm being partially disabled .
File photo of an expert demonstrating how to defuse a bomb
were always on the look for an opportunity to berate him.
At the height of terrorism when
unidentified objects were detected , the
wireless sets would frequently blare
"Chacha Bomb Squad lab ke edhar aa"
(Chacha Bomb Squad come here
quickly).
Shopkeepers of the busy Katra
Ahluwalia area cannot forget that fateful day in 1991 ,when disposing a
Punjab Advance
Due to his army background
,Chacha could handle complex bomb
circuits as he proved in 1992 when he
defused a bomb planted in a compartment of the Frontier Mail minutes before it was to explode.
But recognition eluded him .For all
his acts of courage , Chacha's name
was never considered for any bravery
award, neither was he compensated for
his medical bills.
29
Sports
Punjab’s Mary Kom
15-yr Ludhiana girl
is world boxing champion
Mandeep Kaur Sandhu
BUREAU REPORT
M
andeep Kaur Sandhu is
barely 15 years old, but
this bubbly girl of Chakkar village in
Ludhiana, is a new Mary Kom in the
making. She demonstrated the punch
she carries in her fist, when she battered Niamh Earley of Irelad to clinch
30
the gold in the 52 kg category of the
Junior World Boxing Championship in
Taipei, Taiwan last month The judges
gave a unanimous 3-0 verdict in her
favour.
According to boxing critics they
see a Mary Kom in the making in this
Punjab Advance
teenage pugilist of Punjab.
Her gold medal triumph spread like
wildfire. The media made a beeline for
the little hamlet of the golden girl in
Chakkar village.
She was the toast of the internet
with her fans competing with each
June 2015
Sports
other to reach
out to her. While
the village panchayat decked
up the village
awaiting the return of the
golden
girl,
Punjab’s Education Minister
Daljeet Singh
Cheema honoured
the
pugilist at the
Civil Secretariat
in Chandigarh
the moment she
landed
in
Chandigarh on
her way back to
her village. He
announced
a
cash prize of Rs
one lakh and honoured the entire family of the boxer, besides her
coach.
This rags to riches script began
eight years back, when her poor father
failed to provide her a pair of gloves or
even shoes for the boxing training.
Then, as if in a fairy tale, it all fell
into place: the village panchayat
chipped in, a local academy run by two
NRI brothers took her in, even Mary
Kom made an appearance. What more
could a little girl of seven have asked
for. Mary Kom’s appearance made a
lot of difference.
Mandeep who studies humanities
(Class 12) at the Government Senior
Secondary School, Chakkar, started
playing the sport at the age of 7. Her
inspiration was her elder brother (an
amateur boxer), who Mandeep used to
accompany at the Sher-e-Punjab
Sports Academy in Chakkar. The
young girl learnt the tricks of the trade
watching her brother practice and followed his footsteps in the sport.
Balwant Singh (the academy incharge) also praised Mandeep for her
achievement and touted her as one to
June 2015
MC Mary Kom
watch out for in the near future.
Mandeep’s father Jagdev Singh
said he would never forget the day his
daughter told him she wanted to box.
“At the time, we owned one acre of
land and a buffalo and earned about Rs
20,000 a year. She got her first pair of
shoes from the academy where she
trained,” he said.
Her rigorous practice in the ring
paid dividends. She won her first national medal and the village panchayat
gave her a cash award of Rs 1100.
The family stood by her. “With her
brother Jagwinder also taking up
boxing, we stopped selling milk from
our buffalo, so that the two could have
a good milk diet,” said Jagdev Singh.
Her parents gave full credit to the
Sher-e-Punjab boxing academy run by
NRI brothers Ajmer Singh and the later
Baldev Singh, where she trained under
coach Balwant Singh Sandhu.
She defended her national crown
for two years and then struck a gold in
her first international debut winning
the 50 kg event in the Nations Cup in
Serbia.
Punjab Advance
“Once she
attended the national camp, her
confidence grew
a lot. She would
tell us about her
meetings with
boxers
like
Mary Kom or
Sarita
Devi,”
coach Sandhu
said.
On Saturday
though, hours
after Mandeep
beat Ireland’s
Niamh Earley 30 to claim glory,
Jagdev Singh
confessed that
he had another
reason to be
happy.
“Perhaps, she will
get new shoes
now,” he said.
"The final had got us all very
excited," said Harpreet Kaur, cousin of
Mandeep Kaur, adding: "Some of us
were following it on YouTube. Her
coach was sending us videos of the
bout constantly. When her hand was
raised, it was a proud moment for us."
The boxer's mother, Daljeet Kaur,
couldn't watch these videos because of
pending chores, but her ears were
glued to the news coming in from
Taipei. "I knew my daughter would
make it," she said. "Mandeep called us
later and said: 'I have won.'
Congratulating Mandeep Kaur Sandhu
for her spectacular performance in the
World Junior Boxing Championship at
Taipei, Chief Minister Parkash Singh
Badal said that the state government
would extend all possible help to the
girl and her family besides duly felicitating her. Mr. Badal said he would
soon contact the girl to offer full help
to her.
“Well done Mandeep Kaur Sandhu.
We are proud of you,” , said Deputy
Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.
31
Fiction
‘Masterji'
A short story by Ruskin Bond
Ruskin Bond
I
was strolling along the
platform, waiting for the
arrival of the Amritsar Express, when I
saw Mr Khushal, handcuffed to a
policeman.
I hadn't recognized him at first—a
paunchy gentleman with a lot of grey
in his beard and a certain arrogant
amusement in his manner. It was only
when I came closer, and we were almost face to face, that I recognized my
old Hindi teacher.
Startled, I stopped and stared. And
32
he stared back at me, a glimmer of
recognition in his eyes. It was over 20
years since I'd last seen him, standing
jauntily before the classroom blackboard, and now here he was tethered
to a policeman and looking as jaunty
as ever .
'Good—good evening, sir,' I stammered, in my best public school manner. (You must always respect your
teacher, no matter what the circumstances.)
Mr Khushal's face lit up with
Punjab Advance
pleasure. 'So you remember me! It's
nice to see you again, my boy.'
Forgetting that his right hand was
shackled to the policeman's left, I
made as if to shake hands. Mr Khushal
thoughtfully took my right hand in his
left and gave it a rough squeeze. A faint
odour of cloves and cinnamon reached
me, and I remembered how he had always been redolent of spices when
standing beside my desk, watching me
agonize over my Hindi-English translation.
He had joined the school in 1948,
not long after the Partition. Until then
there had been no Hindi teacher; we'd
been taught Urdu and French. Then
came a ruling that Hindi was to be a
compulsory subject, and at the age of
16 I found myself struggling with a
new script. When Mr Khushal joined
the staff (on the recommendation of a
local official), there was no one else in
the school who knew Hindi, or who
could assess Mr Khushal's abilities as a
teacher . And now once again he stood
before me, only this time he was in the
custody of the law.
I was still recovering from the
shock when the train drew in, and
everyone on the platform began making a rush for the compartment doors.
As the policeman elbowed his way
through the crowd, I kept close behind
him and his charge, and as a result I
managed to get into the same third-
June 2015
Fiction
class compartment. I found a seat right
opposite Mr Khushal. He did not seem
to be the least bit embarrassed by the
handcuffs, or by the stares of his fellow-passengers. Rather, it was the policeman who looked unhappy and
ill-at-ease.
As the train got under way, I offered Mr Khushal one of the parathas
made for me by my Ferozepur landlady. He accepted it with alacrity. I offered one to the constable as well, but
although he looked at it with undisguised longing, he felt duty-bound to
decline.
'Why have they arrested you, sir?' I
asked. 'Is it very serious?'
'A trivial matter,' said Mr
Khushal. 'Nothing to worry about. I
shall be at liberty soon.'
'But what did you do?'
Mr Khushal leant forward.
'Nothing to be ashamed of/ he said
in a confiding tone. 'Even a great
teacher like Socrates fell foul of the
law.'
'You mean—one of your
pupil's—made a complaint?'
'And why should one of my
pupils make a complaint?' Mr
Khushal looked offended. 'They
were the beneficiaries—it was for
them.' He noticed that I looked mystified, and decided to come straight
to the point: 'It was simply a question of false certificates.'---'Oh,' I said, feeling deflated. Public
school boys are always prone to jump
to the wrong conclusions . . .
'Your certificates, sir?'
'Of course not. Nothing wrong with
my certificates—I had them printed in
Lahore, in 1946.' 'With age comes respectability/ I remarked. 'In that case,
whose . . .?'
'Why, the matriculation certificates
I've been providing all these years to
the poor idiots who would never have
got through on their own!'
'You mean you gave them your
own certificates?'
'That's right. And if it hadn't been
June 2015
for so many printing mistakes, no one
would have been any wiser. You can't
find a good press these days, that's the
trouble .... It was a public service, my
boy, I hope you appreciate that .... It
isn't fair to hold a boy back in life simply because he can't get through some
puny exam ....
Mind you, I don't give my certificates to anyone. They come to me only
after they have failed two or three
times.'
'And I suppose you charge something?'
'Only if they can pay. There's no
fixed sum. Whatever they like to give
me. I've never been greedy in these
It was only when I came closer,
and we were almost face to
face, that I recognized my old
Hindi teacher.Startled, I stopped
and stared. And he stared back
at me, a glimmer of recognition
in his eyes. It was over 20 years
since I'd last seen him, standing
jauntily before the classroom
blackboard, and now here he
was tethered to a policeman and
looking as jaunty as ever
matters, and you know I am not unkind
. . . .'
Which is true enough, I thought,
looking out of the carriage window at
the green fields of Moga and remembering the half-yearly Hindi exam
when I had stared blankly at the question paper, knowing that I was totally
incapable of answering any of it. Mr
Khushal had come walking down the
line of desks and stopped at mine,
breathing cloves all over me. 'Come
on, boy, why haven't you started?'
'Can't do it sir,' I'd said. 'It's too
difficult.'
'Never mind,' he'd urged in a
whisper. 'Do something. Copy it out,
Punjab Advance
copy it out!'
And so, to pass the time, I'd copied
out the entire paper, word for word.
And a fortnight later, when the results
were out, I found I had passed!
'But, sir,' I had stammered,
approaching Mr Khushal when I found
him alone, 'I never answered the paper.
I couldn't translate the passage. All I
did was copy it out!'
'That's why I gave you pass-marks,'
he'd answered imperturbably. 'You
have such neat handwriting. If ever you
do learn Hindi, my boy, you'll write a
beautiful script!'
And remembering that moment, I
was now filled with compassion for my
old teacher; and leaning across, I
placed my hand on his knee and said:
'Sir, if they convict you, I hope it
won't be for long. And when you
come out, if you happen to be in
Delhi or Ferozepur, please look me
up. You see, I'm still rather hopeless
at Hindi, and perhaps you could give
me tuition. I'd be glad to pay . . . .'
Mr Khushal threw back his head
and laughed, and the entire compartment shook with his laughter.
'Teach you Hindi!' he cried. 'My
dear boy, what gave you the idea that
I ever knew any Hindi?'
'But, sir—if not Hindi what were
you teaching us all the time at
school?'
'Punjabi!' he shouted, and everyone
jumped in their seats. 'Pure Punjabi!
But how were you to know the
difference?
About the author: Ruskin Bond
has been writing for over 60 years,
and has now over 120 titles in print—
novels, collections of stories, poetry,
essays, anthologies and books for
children.
Born on May 19, 1934, in Kasauli,
Ruskin Bond grew up in Jamnagar,
Shimla, New Delhi and Dehradun.
Apart from three years in the UK, he
has spent all his life in India, and now
lives in Mussoorie with his adopted
family.
33
Films
Biopic on
Neerja’s
valour and sacrifice
Sonam Kapoor to play the lead role
DONALD BANERJEE
A
lmost 29 years after
Chandigarh’s
Neerja
Bhanot sacrificed her life while saving
children from a hail of bullets fired by
four hijackers aboard the hijacked Pan
Am flight in Karachi in 1986, Bollywood producer Atul Kasbekar and director Ram Madhvani have roped in
Sonam Kapoor for a biopic on Neerja.
I was a Chief Sub-Editor with The
Tribune, when the entire hijack drama
unfolded. I remember the entire day
the office phone kept ringing wanting
to know the latest on the hijack drama.
Among the callers were a number of
Neerja’s Sacred Heart friends, who
wanted to know about her welfare. Before we go into the biopic casting details, it would be appropriate to share
those moments when a 22-year-old girl
kept seasoned heavily armed terrorists
at bay for more than 15 hours.
Neerja was then two days short of
her 23rd birthday. Barely a year after
her recruitment with Pan Am airlines,
this young alumna of Chandigarh’s
Sacred Heart Secondary School was on
34
board that fateful flight. She displayed
her nerves of steel as she shielded three
children from a hail of bullets and
sacrificed her life aboard the hijacked
plane in Karachi on September 5,
1986.
This braveheart Virgoan was a
senior flight purser of the ill-fated Pan
Am Flight 73 which was hijacked by
four terrorists soon after it landed in
Karachi at 5 a.m. from Mumbai on
September 5, 1986.
Neerja kept her cool. She alerted
the cockpit crew about the hijack and,
as the plane was still on the tarmac, the
three-member American cockpit crew
of pilot, co-pilot and the flight engineer
left the aircraft. With all the senior
Punjab Advance
crew members abandoning her the 22year-old braveheart took over as the
commander.This is when her valour,
responsibility and compassion came
into play.
After 17 hours of being trapped the
hijackers opened fire and set off
explosives, Neerja opened the emergency door and helped a number of
passengers escape. She could have
been the first to jump out when she
opened the door, but she decided not to
and was shot while shielding three
children from a hail of bullets.
Neerja was recognised internationally as the heroine of the hijack and
became the youngest recipient of the
Ashok Chakra Award, India’s highest
award for bravery during peace time.
Sonam, who is playing Neerja in
the biopic, has clipped her long tresses
for the role.
Saying she is humbled to be a part
of the biopic, Sonam Kapoor shared a
picture of herself on Twitter wearing
the name-tag that reads ‘N Bhanot
purser’
June 2015
Films
Titled Neerja, the film is directed
by Ram Madhvani and also stars veteran actress Shabana Azmi.
Interestingly, Shabana Azmi gave
away the 2013 Neerja Bhanot Award to
Rashmi Anand, a victim of domestic violence.
While
giving away the
award, Shabana
said: “What must
Neerja have been
thinking of when
she opened the
emergency door of
the plane and, in
spite of the bullets
flying all round
her, she bore the
brunt of the bullets
shielding four children, who slid
down the emergency door.”
Neerja’s two
brothers, Akhil and
Aneesh, live in
Chadigarh
with
their mother Rama.
The braveheart’s
father
Harish
Bhanot was a journalist with the Hindustan Times for
over 30 years and
passed away in
2008. The family is
happy that a movie
is being made on
Neerja’s life.
Aneesh said: “The producers had
approached us sometime ago about the
project and we gave them our nod. My
family and I were extremely happy
when we heard that a movie was being
made on her life.
While Milkha Singh was involved
in his biopic, the Bhanots are not involved creatively in the project. They
have left it to producer Atul Kasbekar
to do justice to their loved one’s
memory.
Says Aneesh, “I totally trust Atul
June 2015
and his sensibilities. I am sure he will
handle the project with great care.” The
family is far away from the film world
and decided to ‘leave it to the experts’,
“We don’t know much about the tech-
happen.”
While most people know little
about her except how brave she was,
this brother recalls how she was also a
toughie, “She was the youngest among
us siblings, but she
kept us under her
thumb. It was her
word that was followed in our
house.”
When
asked what aspect
of her personality
he hopes gets
translated on celluloid, Aneesh is
quick to say, “Her
sense of discipline
and compassion.
The fact that she
stayed back to
look after the passengers. She was
the one who
opened the emergency door, if she
wanted,
she
could’ve been the
first person to
jump out and
escape. But she
didn’t. That sense
of responsibility
and compassion
that she had, is
something I hope
the world gets to
see.”
Neerja Bhanot
Today, it is
easy to talk about
nicalities of movie-making, so we Neerja but when it was fresh, it was
aren’t really getting into it.
difficult for them to cope with the
Aneesh reveals that they are grief. Specially given the media focus
pleased that Sonam has been selected on the case and curiosity about his
to play Neerja on the big screen, “She sister. Aneesh recalls, “It was
is the right choice. I have seen her extremely difficult. I went back to
work and I really liked her in Raan- work three days after the incident, so
jhanaa.” When asked if the family be- did the other people in my family. It
lieves that the film should have been was our way of dealing with our
made sooner, he says, “I have no com- emotions. When you are at work, you
plaints. I am happy that the movie is keep busy. But it was more difficult for
being made now. My father wanted to my mother. She used to be at home and
write a book on her, but that didn’t it was very tough on her.”
Punjab Advance
35
Films
Kapoors enact
a hat-trick
· Shashi Kapoor gets Dadasaheb Phalke Award
· He brought Hollywood and Hindi cinema closer
BUREAU REPORT
“I
was the initial choice of
Hrishikesh Mukherjee to
perform the character of Anand (in the
film “Anand”). When I went to shoot
on the first day, I was informed that
Rajesh Khanna had been signed in my
place. I returned them the amount
they'd paid me. I have no grievances
against Hrishikesh. There have been
similar cases in my life, and like I said,
I have no regrets.”, said Shashi Kapoor
holding the Dada Sahib Phalke award
in his hands.
Take two :
Shashi refused the national award
of best actor for his role in Dharamputra, because he did not consider his
performance up to the mark.
The chubby effervescent Punjabi,
Shashi Kapoor, is the 46th winner of
the award and the third from the
Kapoor family to be honoured with the
prestigious award.
Shashi Kapoor, an actor par excellence, who brought Hollywood and
Hindi cinema closer, a director who
was always affable on the sets and yet
36
a stickler for discipline, finally made it
to the cherished group of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award winners.
The muli-faceted Shashi Kapoor
wore many hats in his five-decade long
career. He was the most versatile
among the Kapoors with roles on
stage, in mainstream and parallel cinema, Hollywood productions and forays into producing and directing.
Due to ill-health Shashi Kapoor
could not attend the official ceremony
in Delhi. Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Arun Jaitley
came to Mumbai to honour the 77year-old actor who arrived in a wheelchair, draped in an orange scarf.
The venue couldn't have been better, as it was in the cozy confines of
Prithvi Theatre where Shashi Kapoor
was presented with the honour ---a
place he lovingly built in 1978 in the
memory of his father, the late Prithviraj Kapoor who himself was a recipient of the illustrious Phalke award.
Raj Kapoor was the second winner
of the award from this Punjabi family
that has been ruling Bollywood for
Punjab Advance
decades.
Conferring the award Arun Jaitley
said:”You represent the great legacy, it
is the third award being conferred on
your family. The way your family
produces talent, I am sure it (Dadasaheb Phalke Award) is not the last one.”
Amitabh Bachchan could not hide
his feelings for his co-star of three
mega hits:”Thanks Shashiji for being
just who you are. A compassionate
person, a wonderful colleague and a
generous friend.”
Shashi Kapoor who turned 77 on
March 18 this year, says he has no regrets in life.A competent actor, he is
remembered
for
his
subtle
performances in “Dharmputra”, “Jab
Jab Phool Khile”, “Kalyug” and “New
Delhi Times”. “I refused the National
Award for Best Actor as I felt my performance in ‘Dharmputra' was not up
to the mark. I, however, received one
for ‘New Delhi Times'. I always concentrated on natural performances.
While his performances have been
memorable, his dance moves remain
inimitable. “I was not a trained dancer.
June 2015
Films
Shashi Kapoor receives the Dada Saheb Phalke Award from Union Minister Arun Jaitley in Mumbai
When the situation demanded, I rehearsed with my choreographer and
performed my dance numbers.
Shammi Kapoor was a better romantic
actor and dancer,” he says.
To a question why did his
productions flop in spite of being critically acclaimed?, he said: “‘Junoon',
‘36 Chowringhee Lane', ‘Kalyug' were
all memorable films.
He is optimistic about today's cinema. “There are bold and better
experiments in films today. Aamir
Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and Vidya Balan
have showed a lot of promise. But, I
agree with Dilip Kumar saab that there
is no emotional involvement with cinema from the audience as it used to be
in the 1950s and 1960s,” the yesteryear
actor says.
Shashi Kapoor married actress
Jennifer Kendal in 1958, after a
romance that might have been scripted
for Bollywood. They met while each
was on tour with their respective theJune 2015
atre companies in Kolkata - Shashi
with his father's Prithvi troupe and Jennifer as part of her father Geoffrey
Kendal's Shakespeare group.
Born as Balbir Raj Kapoor, Shashi
was the youngest of Prithvi Raj
Kapoor’s three sons, the elder siblings
being Ranbir Raj Kapoor and
Shamsher Raj Kapoor (Shammi
Kapoor).
He was one of the minds behind the
establishment of Prithvi Theatre in
1978.
Shashi appeared in several films
with Nanda, who he considered his
favourite heroine, including the 1965
blockbuster Jab Jab Phool Khile.
Over a career spanning 175 films,
he appeared in hits such as Waqt
(1964), Pyar Kiye Jaa (1966),
Sharmilee(1971) and Roti Kapda Aur
Makaan (1974). With colleague
Amitabh Bachchan, he formed a hit
jodi in films like Deewar (1975), Kabhi
Kabhie (1976), Trishul (1978), Silsila
Punjab Advance
(1981) and Namak Halaal (1982). At
the same time, he was appearing in
several English films, mostly produced
by Merchant Ivory - 1963's The
Householder, 1965's Shakespearewallah and 1982's Heat and Dust. He also
appeared in the eponymous role in a
controversial 1972 adaptation of the
Herman Hesse novel Siddhartha, costarring Simi Garewal.
With wife Jennifer, he appeared in
films like 1970's Bombay Talkie and
the acclaimed Junoon, which he also
produced. Other films he produced
included Utsav, 36 Chowringhee Lane
and Kalyug.
He directed former co-star Amitabh
Bachchan and Dimple Kapadia in
1991's Ajooba. Shashi won the
National Award thrice for Junoon, New
Delhi Times and 1993's Muhafiz or In
Custody, which was his last proper
film appearance. He received the
Padma Bhushan in 2011.
37
Sports
Harsimran Bhullar
scripts basketball history in US
· Towering hoopster needs everything king size
DONALD BANERJEE
Harsimran Bhullar
H
arsimran (Sim) Bhullar,
who stands a towering 7 ft 5 in in his
socks, scripted history in America’s
National Basketball League on April 7,
when he became the first player of Indian descent to make it to the world’s
biggest league playing for Sacramento
38
Kings.
Thereafter the Toronto-born
Bhullar featured in a couple of more
games, thus creating a niche for himself among Indian fans. The tall hoopster was on a tour of India from May 2
to 7 to promote the growth of basket-
Punjab Advance
ball and was in Chandigarh interacting
with students of a school.
The 22-year-old player said there
had been tremendous response from
India after his historic NBA debut on
April 7 when he played towards the
fag end of the Kings' game against
June 2015
Sports
Minnesota Timberwolves.
"I have got a phenomenal response
all over my social network and most of
them have been from India. It feels
truly grateful with the kind of support
I have been getting and its encouraging for me to perform even better," said
the Toronto-born player whose brother
Tanveer is also a gifted hoopster.
Talking about the performance of
hoopsters in India, he said some good
work is being done to promote the
game by Reliance Foundation, who
have been requisitioned by the NBA to
tap talent in India.
The excitement in India has been
tremendous. Parallels have already
been drawn with Yao Ming, the Chinese hoopster whose performance for
the Houston Rockets played a huge
role in popularizing basketball. “I believe over a million kids are playing
basketball in India. You need to keep
the focus and hopefully we will see a
couple of Indians in the NBA in the
coming years,” said Bhullar.
He talked highly about 19-year-old
Satnam Singh Bhambra, who has become the first Indian to enter the NBA
draft. The seven-footer recently played
for the IMG Academy. “I am really excited that he has made it to the NBA
draft. He is a very good player and
hopefully he will be picked up by a
team. We do talk occasionally and discuss our game,” said Harsimran
Bhullar.
Hailing from Barnala (Punjab),
Satnam Singh, then 16-year-old, became the youngest player to represent
India at the 26th Asian Basketball
Championship at Wuhan in China in
2011.
Satnam has been training in Florida
for the last five years along with youth
of 39 countries on an initiative of the
US-based IMG Reliance Academy.
Bhullar said: "My parents have
been extremely supportive. I have had
a very modest upbringing and my father used to be driving the cab. But
there was immense support from him
towards me and my brother to pursue
June 2015
Satnam Singh Bhambra
my career."
The 7'5 ft tall center player will
help train top 140 youth from across
India, who participated in the Reliance
Foundation Junior NBA programme,
the NBA's premier grassroot event.
"I am very excited to travel to India
to see firsthand how basketball's popularity has grown and to meet young
basketball players across the country,"
said Bhullar.
"Hopefully sharing my story will
help inspire young Indians to pursue
their dreams on and off the court, just
as I have."
Bhullar interacted with his fans in
Mumbai on May 2. After an appearance in IPL Extra Innings on May 3,
he travelled to Noida where he inaugurated the Reliance Foundation Junior
NBA Elite National Camp on May 4.
He paid obeisance at the Golden
Temple in Amritsar on May 5 and fol-
Punjab Advance
lowed it up with a visit to the Pingalwara.
On May 6 he coducted a Reliance
Foundation Junior NBA clinic for 150
children at New Public School in
Chandigarh and returned to Noida on
May 7 for the concluding function of
the the Reliance Foundation Junior
NBA Elite National Camp.
The camp is the culmination of the
Reliance Foundation Junior NBA program that promotes health, fitness and
an active lifestyle through basketball,
and teaches the values of the game
such as teamwork, sacrifice, discipline,
dedication and sportsmanship.
Since 2013, the Reliance Foundation Junior NBA Programme has
reached more than one million youths
in 1,000 schools in eight cities. The
NBA has also trained more than 1,000
PE teachers, and donated more than
15,000 basketballs and 300 rims to
partner schools. As part of the programme, NBA legends Bruce Bowen
and Muggsy Bogues, and WNBA players Swin Cash and Tamika Catchings
have visited Chandigarh, Kolkata,
Kochi, Ludhiana and Mumbai to conduct basketball clinics for players and
coaches.
Bhullar's parents migrated to
Canada from Punjab. His father, Avtar,
is 6 feet 5 inches (196 cm) and his
mother, Varinder, is 5 feet 10 inches
(178 cm). Neither parent had exposure
to basketball until enrolling their sons
into local youth basketball programmes. Avtar himself grew up only
playing kabaddi, Bhullar has an elder
sister, Avneet, and a younger brother,
Tanveer, who stands at 7 feet 3 inches
(221 cm) and plays college basketball
for New Mexico State as a redshirted
freshman.
The towering Bhullar needs
everything kingsize and admits it is not
easy to meet his demands and needs.
“It is not easy to get clothes my
size. Finding big shoes is also not easy,”
he says and claims that the bed he
sleeps in California is also king size.
39
Comic hero
Super Sikh is new
turbaned hero
BUREAU REPORT
A
Sikh super hero in a new
co-creator and Silicon Valley executive
tually came up with the idea for Super
comic series is all set to
Supreet Singh Manchanda, the new
Sikh and I wrote the screenplay in
hit the stands a la Superman,
superhero is Secret Agent Deep Singh.
2012.”The creators of Deep have now
Spiderman or Batman. But, unlike
“It started as a screenplay idea.
decided to make it a four-part comic
them, he’s a bearded, turbaned super-
Supreet and I were friends and he sug-
series, which is being designed by
hero, who like them fights villains and
gested I write about a Sikh protagonist
comic-con India award winner Amit
is a protector of justice and equality.
in one of my screenplays. I thought it
Tayal.
The brainchild of California-based
sounded like a cool thing. We started
“Our hero is Secret Agent Deep
screenplay writer Eileen Alden and her
swapping some crazy ideas and even-
Singh aka Super Sikh. At night, he’s on
40
Punjab Advance
June 2015
Comic hero
undercover missions destroying the
in a modern world.,” said Eileen.
plans of evil villains. By day, he’s
working a mundane technology job as
actions. Sikhs also value equality and
so the villains you see in the comic are
Huge fan following
a cover. Quite frankly, he’s exhausted.
of all different types, to reflect the fact
that it’s not the caste, race or creed that
Deep decides it’s time to take his
Super Sikh has generated a huge
makes a person good or bad – it’s his
dream vacation to see Elvis Presley’s
fan following. Eileen and Supreet had
actions. Deep is a modern guardian of
Graceland in Tennessee (he is a big
posted about their project on Kick-
values,” Eileen said.
fan). However, one particularly crazy
starter, the world’s largest funding plat-
gang of Taliban terrorists decides to
form for creative projects, and the
make it their mission to follow him to
response it generated had over-
the United States and get rid of him
whelmed them.“The response was far
once and for all. We picked them after
beyond our expectations. We targeted
the attacks on Malala and the school in
$5,000 to create the first issue in our
Pakistan,” said an elated Supreet.
series, but we actually raised $22,511,
“While Supreet and I created Deep,
which funded the cost to create all four
his look is inspired by many people,
issues and start on our next series as
not just any one person, but we wanted
well,” said an elated Eileen.
“It has affected me deeply. When I
started research for the story years ago,
I knew very little about Sikhism. But
now I have learned Gurmukhi, I read
Sikh scripture and have fallen in love
with it. I have embraced Sikhism as my
personal spiritual path. So this project
has become much more meaningful
than I had dreamed of,” said Eileen.
him to be a blend of modern and tradi-
“Super Sikh was a natural choice
For Supreet, it’s about educating peo-
tional (like many of us). When you
when you consider Sikh history and
ple about Sikhs who are often stereo-
read the comic, you will see Deep is
values. Sikhs value the idea of a war-
typed and have become victims of hate
the kind of hero that’s like a mix of
rior-saint and we combine the idea of
crimes “And for our children Super
Batman and the skills of Jason Bourne.
spirituality with ethical living in the
Sikh will fill a void by creating a new
And his personality shows his tradi-
real world. So it seems natural to think
positive narrative and a modern role
tional Sikh values but he applies them
of a Sikh hero who fights against evil
model,” Supreet said.
June 2015
Punjab Advance
41
Health
Dry mouth—
causes & remedy
DR. SHUBHRA SHUKTIKA SHARMA
W
e often get the feeling of a
dry mouth, but most of us
do not know what it is and how it occurs ? In this write-up we shall discuss
about the dry mouth, its reasons, the
necessary preventions and the treatment measures to overcome it.
Dry mouth is basically a feeling
that there is not enough saliva in the
mouth. Saliva not only keeps the
mouth moist but also helps in digestion, protects the teeth from decay, prevents infection by controlling bacteria
and fungi in the mouth. Chewing and
swallowing becomes a common problem in such cases.
Dry mouth is medically known as
XEROSTOMIA. Basically dry mouth
is a condition during which the mouth
becomes very dry due to reduced saliva
flow. Saliva is necessarily required to
moisten the mouth, neutralize acids
produced by plaque, wash away dead
cells that accumulate on the tongue,
gums and cheeks. If not removed these
cells decompose and cause bad breath;
a condition medically known as HALITOSIS.
A dry mouth often inhibits taste
buds from distinguishing sour, salty,
sweet and bitter flavours.
Dry mouth may be due to side effects of various medications e.g. antihistamines, painkillers, diuretics,
antidepressants, muscle relaxants and
sedatives.
42
Stress could also be a prominent
reason for dry mouth. Certain medical
conditions such as high blood pressure,
acne, allergy, epilepsy etc can also lead
to dry mouth.
Dry mouth provides the perfect
environment for anerobic bacteria
reproduction. Longer duration of
speaking, smoking, large quantity of
alcohol and snoring are a few common
reasons for dry mouth.
For normal healthy individuals,
food odours are temporary and normal
salivary flow will eliminate it in a few
minutes. However, for those who
suffer from dry mouth that is i.e. lack
of saliva, minor food odours may end
up becoming long-term bad-breath
problems.
People who suffer from dry mouth
disease often feel difficulty in swallowing, have problems in speech and a
burning sensation in the mouth besides
a sticky, dry feeling in the mouth and
frequent thirst sores in the mouth. They
also face problems of sores or split skin
at the corners of the mouth, cracked
lips, dryness in the throat, a burning or
tingling sensation in the mouth especially on the tongue, dry, red , raw
tongue, problems in the taste sensation,
hoarseness of voice, dry nasal passages, sore throat, bad breath.
Dry mouth may increase the risk of
Gingivitis, tooth decay and mouth infections such as Thrush.
Punjab Advance
Dry mouth is also a problem for the
elderly and for those who use dentures.
It is very hard for the denture wearers
to use denture if they suffer from dry
mouth.
People suffering from disease like
Parkinson's or Alzhimer's or those who
have suffered a stroke may not feel
wetness or may experience dryness in
the mouth.
HOW DO YOU THINK DRY
MOUTH IS CAUSED?
1 Dehydration
2 Medicines like antihypertensives,
antidepressants, often cause dry
mouth
3 Some diseases which affect salivary
gland: Sjogren's Syndrome ( a condition where dry eyes and dry
mouth occurs), HIV/ AIDS and diabetes also cause dry mouth.
4 Radiation therapy
5 Chemotherapy
6 Nerve damage
7 Conditions such as fever, excessive
sweating, vomitting, diarrhea, blood
loss, burns can cause dry mouth.
8 Surgical removal of salivary glands.
9 Smoking and chewing tobacco can
affect the production of saliva and
aggravate dry mouth.
10 Breathing with open mouth can also
contribute to the same problem.
TREATMENT
1 Drink lots of water - This will keep
the mouth moist.
June 2015
Health
2 Avoid drinks with caffeine such as
coffee, tea and some soda as they
cause dehydration.
3 Chewing gum (sugarless) or sucking
on candy (preferably sugarless)
also stimulates the production of
saliva, which helps to wash away
food particles and bacteria.
4 Brush with fluoride toothpaste, use a
fluoride rinse.
5 Breath through your nose instead of
your mouth.
6 Floss your teeth everyday.
7 Do not use tobacco or alcohol, dry out mouth.
8 Be aware that spicy or salty
foods may cause pain in a
dry mouth.
9 Use a humidifier at night.
10 Since dehydration is a
major cause of dry
mouth, it is vital to restore
electrolytes to the body.
Mix 1 teaspoon salt , half
teaspoon baking soda and
1 tablespoon sugar into a
cup of water. Mix in a
dash of lemon , lime or
orange for added flavour. Drink to
avoid dehydration.
11 Must increase the intake of Vitamin
A as it enhances saliva production.
12 Parsley- Dry mouth also leads to
bad breath. This herb is a natural
breath sweetener, it provides ample
amount of vitamin A and C , Calcium and Iron.
13 Aniseed- It helps combat bad breath
that accompanies dry mouth. Mix
a few teaspoons of aniseeds and
fennel, place in a covered bowl and
keep it on the dining table and
make it a habit to eat after meal.
14 Cayenne pepper- It stimulates saliva
production.
15 Fennel- It helps to combat dry
mouth and bad breath. Munch a
few seeds several times a day to
treat dry mouth. Fennel herbs can
be combined with other herbs such
as rosemary to make a mouthwash.
Mix together equal amounts of
fenugreek and fennel seeds. Dry
June 2015
roast them. Grind thoroughly. Add
salt. Eat half tablespoon after every
meal.
16 Rosemary- Rosemary helps fight
germs, mint and aniseeds combined with rosemary freshen
breath. Mix 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, 1 teaspoon dried mint and 1
teaspoon aniseeds with two and a
half cup of boiling water. Cover
and steep for fifteen to twenty min-
utes. Strain and refrigerate. Use as
a gargle.
17 Oil Pulling- An ancient Ayurvedic
practice that keeps mouth moist,
also eliminates bad breath.Oil
pulling can be done with Coconut
oil, Sesame oil or any other edible
vegetable oil. Mix 1 tablespoon of
extra virgin Coconut oil in your
mouth. Swish the oil around your
mouth thoroughly for fifteen seconds. Spit it out and rinse your
mouth with warm water. Brush as
usual. Repeat the process every
morning before eating anything.
(please do not gargle or swallow
the oil)
18 Aloe Vera- It protects the sensitive
tissues in the mouth and enhances
the taste buds. Drink one forth cup
of aloe vera juice to cure dry
mouth. Rinse mouth with aloe vera
a few times a day. Apply aloe vera
gel around the mouth using cotton
swab. Leave it for several minutes
Punjab Advance
and then rinse mouth with cold
water. Do it two to three times a
day.
19 Lemon- Lemon stimulates saliva
production and relieves dry mouth.
Being acidic in nature it helps
cleanse mouth and also eliminates
bad breath. Add the juice of half a
lemon and a little honey to a glass
of water. Sip this water throughout
the day to stay hydrated. You can
also drink homemade lemonade to treat the same. Make
sure it does not contain sugar.
Also, sprinkle a little salt on
a small piece of lemon. Rub it
on your tongue to enhance the
taste buds.
20 Cardamom- An Ayurvedic
remedy to fight dry mouth
and eliminate bad breath.
Chew a pod of Cardamom
thoroughly after every meal
or whenever the mouth is dry.
Alternatively, add one teaspoon of cardamom powder
to a glass of hot water. Let it
steep for ten minutes and then
drink. Do this twice a day.Rinse
your mouth with lukewarm cardamom tea twice daily.
21 Ginger is effective in stimulating
saliva and makes you feel fresh for
a longer period. Chew a small
piece of fresh ginger slowly. Do
this several times a day to fight dry
mouth. Drink two to three cups of
ginger tea mixed with honey daily
to stimulate salivary glands.
22 Eat more of soft and liquid foods
like soups and stews.
23 Drink one to two glasses of Coconut water daily.
24 Drink herbal tea like Green Tea.
25 Eat partly frozen chunks of water
based fruits and vegetables like
pineapple, watermelon, cucumber
and muskmelon.
26 Last but not the least one must pay
a visit to a dentist once in six
months.
Eat Healthy. Stay Healthy. Spread
a Healthy Oral Hygiene.
43
Health
Flat feet---cause of many diseases
Dr.Ravinder Chadha
O
ne common finding amongst
scores of people suffering from
knee pain, foot pain, ankle discomfort
etc. is the presence of flat feet. Unfortunately this so-called minor problem
is not dealt with at an appropriate age
due to lack of awareness. This in fact
leads to complications later in life.
Causative factors are hereditary,
flattening of arch due to obesity and
lack of elasticity of ligaments, muscles
and tendons. Normally a child till the
age of two years has flat feet due to the
presence of pad of fat and incomplete
44
union of bones. With age fat pad
decreases and a child develops a
perfect arch by the age of 10 years.
Parents generally fail in detecting
flat feet. The usual complaint is child
falling frequently while running and
getting tired after activity. The ideal
way to detect flat feet is to place wet
feet on the floor. In a normal
individual, a central strip that joins the
heel and toe is about half of the width
of the front of foot. In individuals
having flat feet the
strip almost of the same width as
Punjab Advance
the front of the foot. Shoe examination
of an individual with flat feet reveals
worn out inner side of toes and outer
side of heels.
Flat feet in the normal course may
not cause any problem but in instances
where physical activity is accelerated
one may experience pain and discomfort in the foot, ankle, knee etc. Apart
from carrying the weight of the body
foot also acts as a shock absorber and
helps in propelling the leg and body
parts. Hence flat feet problem if not
addressed well in time can lead to
June 2015
Health
abnormalities like shin pain, heel pain
(Plantar Fascists), Tendoachilles, knee
pain, ankle pain, leg pain, low back
pain etc. thereby limiting physical
activities and obstructing the
performance of daily chores.
Flat feet are classified as follows:
Structural flat feet and
flexible flat feet
In structural flat feet the feet is flat
all the times vis-à-vis running,
walking, standing, lying down etc.
This is due to abnormal bone structure.
In Flexible flat feet there is an arch
till the time there is no weight bearing
but the arch disappears when the
patient stands up.
Treatment
If there is pain even after wearing
well-fitted shoes and there is difficulty
in walking, running and the shoes start
wearing out fast then Conservative
June 2015
treatment is undertaken
1) Orthotics or Corrective devices
placed in shoes treat most of the
patients with flat feet.
2) Shoes having a high arch on the
inner side should be preferred.
3) Certain exercises are also
advocated.
Exercises
Stand on a towel and grab it with
your toes. Return to original position
and repeat it 10 times.
Stand on one leg, increase and
decrease the arch of the foot, which is
on the ground 10 times.
foot.
-Weight Bearing Exercise—Duck
Walk
In case of structural flat foot and in
cases not responding to conservative
treatment, surgical intervention is the
answer. Surgical treatment may be in
the form of repair of muscle, tendon or
bony correction.
To conclude flat feet is an entity,
which if treated early in childhood, can
prevent lot of discomfort and handicap
later in life. Watchful and observant
parents can indeed prevent their
children from a lot of suffering and
pain. This also reduces the burden on
the health infrastructure.
Sitting
-Draw ‘O’ with great toe.
-Picking up duster / marbles.
-Threraband exercises to strengthen
muscles and ligaments of ankle and
feet.
-Increase and decrease arch – on one
Punjab Advance
----Dr Ravinder Chadha is a
former physio-therapist of the
Indian cricket team
E-mail: chadhar587@gmail.com
Tel: 2702929, mobile 9814088327
45
Children’s world
Hi kids,
S
ome of my fondest memories are of the summer
vacations: no school, playing in the sprinklers at
the playground, going to my Nani’s house in Allahabad
where we mingled with our cousins and had a gala time.
How time passed we never realized. That was real fun time
with no teaching involved.
Is it the same today. I have my doubts. Gone are those
days. The competitive world has put a spoke in the wheel of
the fun element. The parents are more eager to shunt their
little imps and angels to serious summer camps which are
more of teaching and less of fun.
You cant blame your working parents. After all summer
is more of a scramble than time off for them.
Summers are that time of the year when you can just
fling your books, bag and uniform and be happy. But this
excitement does not last for too long. You belong to the new
era and you are an eager learner.
As soon as the first week gets over the boredom begins.
No wonder parents are busy looking for good recreational
workshops for their children. Keeping up with the demand
for hobby classes during vacations, many institutes and
clubs must be organising workshops and summer camps in
your city to explore your creative and adventurous side.
But I am sure there must be some of you fortunate
enough to have your parents taking you out on a summer
vacation to the hills. What better place to learn about nature
and the hills than Shimla, Manali, Dalhousie or Kasauli.
That could be the ultimate. But such family outings with
working parents is a rarity.
Ok kids hope you have a nice summer vacation, Would
you like to share your experiences ? I would love to hear
from you. Till then, keep smiling.
The boy who cried wolf
Did you
Thanks and all the best
-----Uncle Don
know
N
There once was a boy who kept sheep not far from the
village. He would often become bored and to amuse
himself he would call out,
"Wolf! Wolf," although there was no wolf about.
The villagers would stop what they were doing and
run to save the sheep from the wolf's jaw. Once they arrived at the pasture, the boy just laughed. The naughty boy
played this joke over and over until the villagers tired of
him.
One day while the boy was watching the sheep, a wolf
did come into the fold. The boy cried and cried, "Wolf!
Wolf!"
No one came. The wolf had a feast of sheep that day.
Moral of the story: No one will believe a habitual liar
even when he is telling the truth.
46
inety seven per cent of all the water on Earth is
salty. Only 3 per cent is fresh water. Of that 3 per cent, over
2 per cent is frozen in ice sheets and glaciers. And that
means that less than 1 per cent of that 3 per cent fresh water
is found in lakes, rivers and underground.
T
he deeper under the sea you go, the greater the
pressure, that is the weight of the water above you. At a
depth of 9,100 m (30,000 ft), the pressure is equivalent to a
one tonne weight balanced on a postage stamp.
T
here is enough water in the atmosphere, that if it all
fell as rain at the same time, it would cover the entire surface of the Earth with 2.5 cm (1 in) of water
Punjab Advance
June 2015
Children’s world
The best
story
teller
MADHU GURUNG
“B
ajai,” as we called grandmother, was the best storyteller in the world. Her tales of
jewelled ladies and brave warriors, of
civilisations that ended due to famine,
floods, war or volcanic eruptions, filled
our young lives with fantasy.
Nestling in the foothills of Mussoorie is a tiny village called Johri
Gaun (Johri village) where we spent
part of our summer and winter vacations. They were fun-filled days of sunkissed air and raucous laughter, when
we cousins met and had a great time.
By the time I really discovered
Bajai, she was a very old woman, with
countless wrinkles on her face. My
mother was her youngest daughter. I
never got to meet Bajee (Grandfather).
He was a prisoner of war in Italy, during the Second World War (19391945).
He returned home alive but riddled
with asthma, to which he succumbed.
Bajai never remarried. Nor did she let
her maternal relatives pitch in to help a
young widow and her seven children
survive. Instead, she started tilling her
land and growing her own foodgrains
and vegetables
She always started her stories with
a saying, “To the listener a garland of
gold, to the story teller a garland of all
forest flowers and this tale that I tell
you today will be heard in heaven.”
When she told her stories, we always crowded around her. She would
clear her throat looking at our eager
faces. The kitchen fire would throw our
dark shadows on the mud-washed
walls. Our eagerly nodding heads
would appear large and distorted in the
lantern light.
And so would start a magical journey of words creating images larger
than life. Even now, 30 year later, I just
need to close my eyes to get that smell
of a wood fire and dung cakes and
Bajai’s voice lilting as she imitated the
sound of hooves on which the handsome prince rode…
Looking back, I think Bajai loved
telling us stories.
We would often fight amongst ourselves on whom Bajai loved the most.
When we asked her she would laugh
and say, I love you all. If we insisted,
she would spin out a long story of how
she would love us till the red necked
parrot came home or the rains came
home to make the tiny rice seedling
grow big and strong. We would laugh
Punjab Advance
June 2015
loudly, jump up and down, stick out
our tongues at each other or thumb our
noses. In our hearts each of us felt that
Bajai loved her or him the most.
Bajai’s stories were so much a part
of our lives that even her last day was
like a story she had once told. It wasn’t
yet dawn, when a sound woke me up.
All of us slept in the attic, but no one
else stirred. Everyone was sound
asleep. I opened the window. There
was a little rain and mist. I gaped in
open-mouthed wonder at a beautiful
chariot which stood in the courtyard. It
was drawn by two white horses and a
pretty woman in white was helping
Bajai up the chariot.
“Wait for me Bajai,” I yelled. Bajai
looked up and smiled. She looked
beautiful. There were no wrinkles on
her face. Her gray hair was open and a
few tendrils lifted in the wind. Bajai
waved and smiled, and the soft wind
carried her message. It was what she
always said to me, “I love you till the
rains come home…”
I do not know if it was a dream or
Bajai’s final farewell, but I woke up
and my pillow was wet.
47
Forecast
Your stars this month
Dr. Prem Kumar Sharma
email: psharma@premastrologer.com
Aries: You are likely to grasp a
situation on the work front quickly
and turn it to your advantage. You
may be forced to plan a trip with
someone you don’t particularly like.
An old ailment is likely to play up if
you are not careful. Socialise more. A
lucrative deal that brings in good
returns is likely to be seized. Some of
you will have to call a spade a spade on
the romantic front.
Leo: Your suggestion on the
professional
front
may
elicit
lukewarm response, but don’t press
things. If you are planning to visit
another city or town, this is a
favourable period. Property owners
can expect good returns from a
property deal. Those romancing on the
sly can face an embarrassing situation,
if not careful.
Sagittarius: Bad financial planning
can make you leave out something
important, so be deliberate. Friends
can force you into something that may
affect your health adversely.
Professional front brightens up for
some as new projects come your way.
You will get the opportunity to get a
burden you have been carrying off
your chest on the romantic front.
Taurus: Become a perfect ‘yes-man’ if
you want to remain on a safe wicket.
Much love is showered upon you by a
few family elders. You are likely to
win someone’s heart by your
genuineness. Perfect health is yours
for the asking. House hunting trip may
lead some to places they had never
seen before! But the effort will be
worth it.
Virgo: You may plan to thwart the
designs of a rival on the family front.
Your heart may not be in matters
romantic, but it is best if you play
along. Some of you may have to resort
to cutting corners to repay a loan. You
are likely to achieve total physical
fitness by sheer self-control. Putting
across your point most effectively at
work will help you gain respect and
recognition.
Capricorn: Those organising an event
or a function will have to plan things
out to the minutest details to prevent
any fiascos. An added skill on the
professional front is likely to
strengthen your career. A family elder
may require your presence for
something he or she wants done.
There are encouraging signs on the
romantic front as the one you secretly
love begins to feel attracted to you.
Gemini: There is a very thin line
between true love and infatuation, so
don’t get swayed at the slightest hint
of romance. Some of you can go in for
an image makeover. Company of
health-conscious
people
will
automatically help you achieve perfect
health. A family youngster can
become a source of worry and may
need the right guidance.
Libra: You will find things moving in
conformation with your plans at work.
Your power of motivation will help in
putting together an efficient team on
the professional front. Someone on the
family front may despise you due to
your incorrigible ways. Someone can
provoke you into doing something and
may even offer assistance for it, so take
your own call.
Aquarius: You know very well where
your interest lies and you will spare no
efforts in achieving that. Someone
who is not quite happy with you will
be won over by the sheer strength of
your personality. A flurry of activity is
likely to mark a successful
matchmaking exercise. Savings will
come in handy for organising an event
at short notice. You will be able to
take good care of your health.
Cancer: Some ideas implemented on
the professional front will start
showing results. Financial front
remains healthy as wealth comes to
you steadily. Chances of getting
romantically linked with someone
cannot be ruled out. The power of love
may make you move to another city!
A pending task is likely to be
completed successfully at work.
Scorpio: Your lackadaisical attitude
on the professional front threatens to
bring you into senior’s notice. Envy
can get the better of you and compel
you to avoid someone who is more
prosperous. You may be intolerant
towards the one you love and spoil the
relationship. Those indulging in
speculation will have reasons to cheer.
Excesses may need to be avoided for
good health.
Pisces: Something that you deliver on
the professional front may not satisfy
superiors. A mistake committed in a
financial transaction can cost you
dearly. A family youngster may have
to be made aware of the misdeeds
committed. Love life can suffer from
lack of interest and over-familiarity. A
skin problem may take some more
time to heal.
48
Punjab Advance
June 2015
Humour
A
n Indian chief is driving his Cadillac somewhere at Nevada. Suddenly his car breaks
down. He examines it, and reveals that a technician must
be called. But the chief has only $4, and no credit card. So he
gathers some wood, makes a fire and signals his tribe with its
smoke: "Hey, send somebody to my location with $500!" The tribe accepts this signal, but to make sure in its meaning, signals back
- once again, with the smoke:
"OK, chief, but why so much ?"
At this moment a ground test of nuclear bomb is being held on the test field nearby. A huge mushroom-like cloud of smoke rises into the sky... The tribe signals:
"Ok, Ok, chief, we just wondered, why to be so angry?
A
lady arrived at the Madras airport after spending 36 hours
in transit.She was fully exhausted after such a long trip with
her 6 young kids. Collecting many suitcases, the family entered the
cramped customs area.A young customs official watched our entourage
in disbelief, "Ma'am," he said, "do all these children and this luggage belong to you?""Yes, sir," the lady said with a sigh. "They're all mine."The
customs agent began his interrogation "Ma'am, do you have any weapons,
contraband or illegal drugs in your possession?""Sir," she calmly answered,
"if I'd had any of those items, I would have used them by now.
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June 2015
Punjab Advance
49
Last Word
‘Wo kahan hai?’
DONALD BANERJEE
I
t was the summer of 1974, my brother,
then a flight lieutenant with the Indian Air
Force, had just been transferred to Chandigarh.
Pending allotment of a house in the Air Force
colony in Sector 31, they landed bag and baggage
in my two-room bachelor’s apartment in the Tribune Colony.
On the second day of their arrival, I was on late
night duty. I locked the side-door so that I could
slip into my room on my return at 2 a.m, without
disturbing anyone.
Tired after my night duty, I dozed off the moment I hit the bed. But barely four hours later I
woke up with a start as Ronny started his Jawa
mobike. I covered my head with the pillow as the
din continued for three minutes. With my five late
nights over for the month, thereafter the morning
din turned into a welcome wake-up call.
My bachelor kitchen soon turned into a chef’s
haven and I savoured one of the best Goan dishes
in the first week of their arrival. There was an increase in my appetite and it started showing.
I used to come home for lunch. One afternoon
I got a message that I should have my lunch in
the office canteen. Something must have gone
wrong, I thought.
I was right. Soon after I had left for office at
10 am Deanne spotted a slimy creature, let out a
shriek and ran down the colony with her twoyear-old daughter in arms. She barged into my
elder brother Sam’s house and shouted: “There is
a big lizard in the drawing room. I am not going
50
back till it is shunted out.”
Sam mustered courage and with a cricket bat in
hand he walked down slowly towards my house,
with Deanne in tow. He halted for a brief moment
in front of the door. He peeped inside, his eyes
surveying the ceiling. ‘Eek’, he had spotted the
big slippery creature.
Virtually pushed inside, Sam moved to the
other end of the room sounding the bat on the
wall. The disturbance was enough for the lizard
to creep across to the side wall. With Deanne
shouting from one side and Sam standing motionless at the other end, the lizard moved back
and sought shelter behind a framed picture.
What to do now ? This question was still being
debated when Mrs Sam arrived on the spot. She
picked up a broom from the kitchen and asked:
“Chipkli kahaan hai”.
Deanne pointed towards the framed picture.
Mrs Sam lilfted the frame with her left hand
and waived her broom. The lizard fell down on the
floor.
Deanne darted out of the room with her little
daughter, Sam virtually climbed on to the table.
Mrs Sam swept the broom sending the lizard
crashing out of the room and into the courtyard. A
couple of crows swooped down and soon made a
meal of the liazard. Operation lizard was over.
Punjab Advance
June 2015
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Actual date of posting 10 to 15 -6-15
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