Mind your language, Mr Politician

Muktsar: A politician accompanied by some officers recently held a press conference to list development works carried out in his constituency in the last about two years. He, however, triggered a controversy, as he could not control his tongue and turned abusive over some issue. Those close to him later claimed that it was unintentional and not addressed to anyone. Next time, please be careful or it might land you in trouble dear bureaucrat-turned-politician. 

Verka gets post, courtesy Rahul   

Chandigarh: The appointment of Amritsar West MLA Raj Kumar Verka as chairman of the Punjab Warehousing Corporation has the blessings of Congress president Rahul Gandhi. During his recent rally in Moga, Rahul had asked Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh for giving the post to Verka, a prominent Dalit leader. With this, ends the speculation of Verka being considered for the post of Punjab Congress president.

Channeling the youth power   

Abohar: Police officials may not be able to recall immediately how many times they conducted drug-related raids in seed farm colonies located around the Regional Research Station of Punjab Agricultural University. A police post was also set up near the colonies which were later bifurcated as two village panchayats. Now, under the drug abuse prevention officers (DAPO) programme last year, playgrounds for volleyball, basket ball, badminton and kabaddi have come up in the area. The project, aimed at “nashon se door, khelon ki aur”, cost around Rs 10 lakh, says Sandeep Jakhar, former district president of the Youth Congress. Opening matches were organised on Friday, which saw enthusiastic participation by local youths. A small, but positive step to keep youth away from drugs.

Urdu aficionado, you will be missed

Abohar: Nearly 200 people from various walks of life will no longer receive the unique New Year greeting card that invariably carried an Urdu couplet. The card was sent to them by Congress leader Virendra Kataria, who passed away recently. An Urdu aficionado, Kataria would often start his speech with this couplet, “Adab pehla kareena hai, mohabbat ke kareeno mein”. He was an avid reader of Urdu literature. Mirza Ghalib, Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Sahir Ludhianavi were his favourites. The secret “code” for 1931-born Kataria during the freedom movement was “Sher-e-Jung”. His maternal uncle Satyendra Vidyarthi was known to veteran freedom fighters as “Mehboob-e-Alam”.

Truly ‘Friends of Punjab’

Chandigarh: His determination to give back to his motherland has been the reason for his selfless service for the economically backward people in Punjab. Bhupinder Singh Hundal, a Chicago-based businessman, has not only facilitated education and skill development for the poor in his native Kotli Arian village in Adampur block of Jalandhar, but he has also set up a group of do-gooders from the US, Friends of Punjab. The group adopts villages, identifies children in economically backward (tenant and landless farmers, marginal farmers and labourers) families, and support them in getting a good education. Some of these NRIs have also set up computer labs for children in their adopted villages and are making contributions ranging from $500 to $10,000 per annum. “We are now appointing a liaison officer, who will be identifying those in need of help and even offering them consultation on health and other government schemes that they can avail,” said Hundal. More power to people like him, to power Punjab on a much needed growth trajectory.