Bullseye for her

She believes her successes may not have been possible, had she not switched over to compound archery in July 2004. She might have lost a chance to perform, but Jharkhand, or for that matter India, would have suffered a greater loss had Jhano Hansda not made the switch.

Jhano (30) made headlines last Saturday when she bettered the world record set by Jamie Van Natta of the US by scoring 1,405 at the final selection trials for the national squad (compound section) at JRD Tata Sports Complex.

Though the record, first ever by an Indian archer, is yet to be ratified by Federation International Target Archery, the world body, Jhano’s feat can not be overlooked. The modest archer, living in the city suburbs, is ranked fourth in the world.

Last year, she was the toast of the nation when she shattered Valerie Fabre’s record (France) in the national ranking meet. The star archer, who has been offered a job in the state police, claimed bronze in the Asian Circuit Championships held in Vietnam (November 2004) before pocketing silver in the same meet held at Bangkok in February 2005.

And not content on resting on her laurels, this ace bagged the top slot at the Asian Archery Championship organised in Delhi in 2005 and claimed silver in the World Cup in June this year.

Jharkhand’s very own tress master

Pervez Musharraf loves it, newspapers publish reports every time there is a minor change in it and Dilip Kumar styled it. What is it? It is Mahendra “Mahi” Singh Dhoni’s tresses. And the man behind the mane magic, Dilip Kumar, is not the Bollywood legend but a Jamshedpur-based tress master and stylist who shaped (and sizzled) Mahi’s hair as the talk of the town. But Dilip’s far from being content and laying down his scissors and brush.

Recently, he managed to clinch a position in the finals of Loreal Colour Trophy, a meet for top hair designers, stylists and colourists, to be organised at Mumbai soon. That is a feat by itself. Dilip qualified for the finals from the east zone to be organised later this month. Elated by his selection, Dilip has already started preparing for the finals and hopes that he will be able to make it to the top few and make his home town proud of him.

Needless to add, most of his clients are impressed already.

Walia wins hearts at eve’s camp

He is a bearded, serious man and a tough taskmaster. But girls love him nonetheless. At least, the 50-odd girls he trained at the hockey camp organised at Astro Turf Complex a month ago, dote on Satinderpal Singh Walia — a former Olympian (1968 Olympic Games), national referee and coach. Walia is the former national coach for India’s sub-junior, junior and senior eve’s hockey teams. Described as an articulate and a strict coach he, however, is known to be equally thorough with the finer nuances of the game. As an official confirmed: “The reason behind inviting Walia for the camp was to inculcate discipline among the players, who are talented, hard-working, and athletic, but lack discipline to a great extent.” And as reports go, officials were more than happy with Walia’s training. The girls, too, were grateful and happy training under him. No wonder then that Walia and his wife, Leela Naidu Walia, a former international player herself, were a hit with the young players. The trainees and the trainer, let their hair loose and danced and sang at the farewell bash for the Walias after the completion of the camp.

Literary lady

Awarded the Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sahitya and Saurhardya Samman, Shanti Suman, originally from Muzaffarpur, has made the steel city her second home after her son moved here. For the former head of the Hindi department of a Muzaffarpur college, writing has always been a passion. With nine books on songs, three anthologies and almost 13 books in her kitty, her work is a delight for any bibliophile. Presently, the lady is out of town to accept her award.

Homecoming of sorts

It is a homecoming for accountant-general Ramesh Kumar Verma, who was recently transferred from Bihar to Jharkhand. Verma, who is originally from Ranchi, has proved his mettle over the years to becoming an expert in his field. A topper in history, he passed out from Delhi University. Recently, he took the audit and account services examinations.

Being appointed in Ranchi hold special importance for Verma as this happens to be his first posting after qualifying the tests. The 50-year-old has also done a stint in the airforce where he was sent on deputation.