Gurdaspur: In November 1978, 14-year-old Navjot Singh Sidhu, alias Sherry, scored an unbeaten 69 against Delhi while playing for Punjab in the inter-state Cooch Behar (U-19) cricket tournament at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla ground. The knock was a big feat as it came against a strong Delhi attack. Once Sherry returned to the pavilion unconquered, he was surrounded by journalists. It was then that his father Bhagwant Sidhu, manager of the Punjab team, cautioned him against speaking to the media because “journalists would put words into his mouth”. During his 16-year long cricket career and later during his stint as a commentator, he adhered to his father’s advice. However, after joining politics, he started revelling at press meets. It appears to be a perfect case of a man changing with the changing times!

Déjà vu for Cong in Faridkot

Faridkot: As Navjot Sidhu became the state Congress chief, party leaders drew the battle lines. Once again, the ‘high flying’ banners of the All-India Jat Maha Sabha dotted the town. Loyalists of CM’s OSD Sunny Brar replaced their posters and banner with those of supporters of Faridkot MLA Kushaldeep Dhillon. Capt Amarinder Singh is the president of the Jat Maha Sabha and it came into existence in 2013, when the party faced similar crisis.

Amritsar loses its Good Samaritan

Chandigarh: In the death of eminent businessman Chaman Lal Setia, Amritsar lost its Good Samaritan known to champion the cause of destitute women and children. He fought for the cause of widows, advocating that their names be incorporated in the death certificates of their husbands, so that they could avail of government benefits. For a long time, he also advocated that children of widows should be given government aid for free education and reservation in government jobs.

Drive to promote paper bags

Abohar: The Municipal Corporation has launched a campaign to promote the use of paper bags. A team led by Swachh Bharat Mission coordinator Gurinderjit Singh gave a demo at the Town Hall and said there was a need to spread awareness about using paper bags. Plastic takes years to decompose, whereas paper can be recycled easily. The MC staff will visit markets and residential colonies to educate women on making carry bags using newspaper waste and glue. In the past six months, the staff raided many shops and godowns and confiscated sub-standard polythene carry bags. 

Contributed by Ravi Dhaliwal, Balwant Garg, Ruchika M Khanna and Raj Sadosh