Spell-bound by Dalai Lama

Pathankot: Students and staff of Pathankot-based Partap World School were pleasantly surprised when they received an invitation to McLeod Ganj by spiritual leader Dalai Lama. After the school was felicitated with the 'Excellent Academic Accomplishment' award, that was received by principal Subhra Rani, students requested the reticent Dalai Lama to deliver a speech, even if was a short one. The spiritual leader obliged. He spoke on 'educational ethos' and asked the students to "start contributing towards nation-building." On their return to Pathankot, the students could talk about nothing else except the leader's inspiring speech.

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From Russia, with concern

Chandigarh: Punjab’s farm crisis is drawing the attention of Western countries. Social activist Inderjeet Singh Jaijee, who was the first to highlight the cases of suicide in the state’s agricultural sector, says that teams of experts from the world’s top universities, including Harvard, Stanford, Yale and Columbia, have visited the Malwa belt several times. A team led by Russian documentary filmmaker Natalya Kadyrova is making a film for the country’s state-owned television RT. Natalya is visiting Sangrur and adjoining areas to document the crisis and understand what has gone wrong with a state known for spearheading the Green Revolution.

No room to rest at rest house

Muktsar: Officers of the Irrigation Department recently asked Secretary (Irrigation) KS Pannu to sanction a new rest house in Muktsar district. They told him that there was a rest house in Muktsar and another at Gidderbaha, but "whenever we need rooms, these are occupied by the security men accompanying the Chief Minister." They claimed that even the Chief Engineer (Drainage) once failed to get a room. However, Pannu quipped, "If you are unable to get a room in the two rest houses established by the department, how can you expect that they will leave rooms vacant for you in the new one?" This was enough to leave the officers dumbstruck.

Pumped up to inflate figures

Muktsar: In the run-up to the Assembly elections, hyperbole is the name of the game. Addressing a gathering at Lambi village on Saturday, PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh claimed that 10,000 people were attending the Congress dharna. However, when the party issued a press release in the evening, it said: “Over 50,000 people attended the dharna against corruption in Lambi.” Now, who got it right?

Making vacation worthwhile

Abohar: The Natrang Theatre Society, Abohar, is out to keep schoolchildren fruitfully busy during the summer vacation. During its eight-day workshop-cum-personality development camp at the Lala Lajpat Rai hostel here, Gurtej Singh, Chandigarh-based post-graduate in theatre, and Aks Mehraj trained participants in theatrical games, acting and set designing, while Sunil Verma gave tips on mimicry. Event convener Bhupinder Utreja said training in music, dance and other streams would also be imparted. With refreshments being served as well, there's no stopping the kids from learning new skills.

Doing his bit to make state drug-free

Sangrur: His name won’t ring a bell in the ‘Udta Punjab’ din. Punjabi writer Mohan Sharma has been working quietly over the years to increase awareness about the drug menace in the state. After retiring as a senior district savings officer in 2006, he joined the Red Cross Drug De-addiction Centre, Sangrur, as its project director. He has so far written four books on the subject. The latest one, ‘Nashian Di Mahamari’, was published in May. Sharma says proudly that an addict who got treatment at their centre is now serving on a senior position in a bank.

(Contributed by Ravi Dhaliwal, Sarbjit Dhaliwal, Archit Watts, 

Raj Sadosh and Sushil Goyal)