The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Thursday, May 23, 2002, Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

R E G I O N A L B R I E F S

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

Rotarians bring ‘roshni’ to handicapped
Rare birth defect rectified
Encyclopaedia on Buddhism

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
BANK DHARNAS: Employees of Punjab and Sind Bank will stage a series of dharnas starting from Thursday in front of the zonal office at Chandigarh in support of their demands, Mr Jagir Singh, General Secretary of the All-India Punjab and Sind Bank Staff Federation, said the a statement here.

FLYING SQUAD: The PSEB’s flying squad booked 94 consumers for indulging in power theft. Thirteen others were booked for unauthorised extension in load. A team of five SDOs raided the area falling under Mal Mandi subdivision here on Tuesday and over Rs 2 lakh was imposed as penalty while Rs 15,000 was collected on the spot.

BATHINDA
ANTI-MALARIA MONTH: The district health authorities have decided to observe June as Anti-Malaria month. A meeting of the Anti-Larva Coordination Committee was held here on Monday. Those who attended the meeting included Dr Avtar Singh Sidhu, District Health Officer, and Dr Sunder Navetia, District Malaria Officer.

FEROZEPORE
FOREIGN INVESTMENT: The main priority of the Congress government in the state is to put the sagging Punjab economy back on rails. The Chief Minister has held a series of meetings with the foreign investors and representatives of leading MNCs in New Delhi recently in this regard. This was stated by Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, MLA, Political Secretary to Chief Minister, Punjab on Monday.

BAN ORDERS: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr D.K. Tiwari, has banned the use of fire crackers and firearms at marriage parties or ceremonial occasions under Section 144, CrPC, in the entire district. Mr Tiwari said this was essential in the wake of the prevailing situation on the border.

GURDASPUR
POLIO CAMP: A polio camp was held here on Tuesday in which 215 patients from all over the district were examined by an Italian doctor M. Russelle and Dr Parveen.

HOSHIARPUR
BLACKMAIL: A case of blackmail by a constable and taking of Rs 25,000 as bribe was reported here on Tuesday. According to police sources, Hari Kishan Pehalwan, a constable with the CIA staff, gave Rs 5,000 to a shopkeeper to bring fake currency notes from Amarjit Singh, resident of Model Town about a month ago. A case has been registered.

BODY FOUND: The body of Manjit Singh, an electrician of Budhi Pind village, was found in the fields of Gurcharan Singh, a panchayat member, on Tuesday evening. Ranjeet Singh, brother of the deceased, alleged in a complaint to the police that his uncles had murdered Manjit Singh. A case has been registered.

KHAMANO
CELEBRATED: An anti-terrorism day was celebrated here by all political, religious and social organisations. Mr Gurdip Singh, SDM, addressed the gathering. On the occasion Mr Surinder Singh, Tehsildar, Mr S.K. Agnihotri, DSP, Mr Rajwinder Singh, SHO were present, among others.

LUDHIANA
DISCOURSE: A function was organised at the Jain Sthanak, here on Tuesday. Dr Rajinder Muni, a disciple of Acharya Devender Muni, said one who wants to shun the path of sin must control his desires. Earlier, a discourse was given by Pandit Rattan Ramesh Muni. Acharya Rattan Muni, who was also present on the occasion, blessed the gathering.

JAGRAN: The Chhinmastika Sewa Sangh held its third annual jagran at the Chhinmastika temple in Chander Nagar on Monday under the supervision of Maa Manju Deva , according to a sangh spokesman. Among others who attended the jagran were Mr Deepak Kumar, Mr Mandeep Sharda, Mr Satish Bhardwaj, Mr Suresh Kapur, Major Rajinder Singh Dhillon, Mr Swaran Singh, Mr Baldev Singh, Mr Harish Bedi and Mr Prem Chand Gupta.

KIRTAN: The Shri Baba Gajja Jain Community Centre, Sunder Nagar, will host an evening dedicated to Radha-Gobind on Thursday at 7.30 pm at which hymn-singer Baldev Sehgal from Jagadhari will hold a kirtan.

RECITED: Sunder Kand was recited by a number of activists of the Shri Hanumant Sewa Sangh at a satsang sabha held at the Shree Siddh Peeth Dandi Swami temple in Civil Lines on Tuesday in connection with the celebrations of the 82nd birthday of Pandit Jagdish Chander Komal. Among those who paid tributes to Panditji included Rishi Onkar Dutt ji, Mr Raghubir Sahay, Mr Gopal Sharma, Mr Nand Lal, Mr Deepak Dhanda and Mr Rakesh Chugh.

EYE CHECK-UP CAMP: The eighth eye donation and check-up camp was organised by the New Shivpuri Shopkeeper Ekta Club at Karavara Government Primary School here on Tuesday. Dr Ramesh examined patients and distributed medicines. Dr J. William tested the blood sugars, while Dr Mehta checked the blood pressure and EGC of patients. As many as 250 patients were examined and 35 persons pledged to donate eyes. According to a press note, among others who present on the occasion were Mr Deepak Arora, Mr Bhagwant Singh Grewal, Mr Ashok Gupta, Mr Bunty Arora and Mr Anil Bagla.

DIAGNOSTIC CENTRE: The Dayanand Medical College and Hospital will start 60-bed diagnostic and treatment centre for the patients of gastrointestinal diseases in the new DMCH complex from May 24, according to Dr Sandeep Puri, Medical Superintendent, DMCH, in a press note.

NAWANSHAHR
FLED: The proprietors of the Shiv Shakti Enterprises set up here at Prem Nagar locality on April 4 by Mr A. Moni, of Madurai (Chennai), with whom local residents had deposited lakhs of rupees in the hope of getting household goods on concessional rates has fled. This was reported on Tuesday when those affected came to know this.

PATIALA
STREET PLAY: Four students of Yadvindra Public School (YPS presented a street play ‘Ghutde Sahan di Kahani’, at several places in the city on Wednesday to portray the menace posed to the environment by polythene bags. Written by Dr Satish Verma of Punjabi University and directed by Mr Bhiminder Singh of YPS, the cast of the play comprised Gaurav Singla Parmish Verma, Angad Tiwana and Jaideep Singh.

BIR BEREAVED: Mr Mahinder Singh (70), father of former Deputy Commissioner Jasbir Singh Bir, who has recently been posted as Municipal Commissioner, Amritsar, expired following a heart failure on Wednesday. Mr Mahinder Singh, is survived by his wife, two brothers and two sisters. The cremation will take place on Thursday at 11 a.m. at the Sector-25 cremation ground.

TARN TARAN
ASSAULTED: Three members, including an old couple, were injured at Palasour village, 4 km from here, on Monday by five armed persons. The injured have been admitted to the Civil Hospital where their condition is said to be out of danger.

RELEASE AMOUNT: The Amritsar district unit of the Bharti Kisan Union at its meeting held here on Tuesday demanded the early release of Rs 115 crore of against the sugarcane unloaded by the cooperative sugar mills. They also demanded minimum 12 hours’ power supply for the tubewells.

WATCHMAN DIES: Kishan, a watchman of the Public Health Department, posted at Chaudharywala, near Naushehra Pannuan, died on Monday when he fell down from the water tank where he was sleeping. The Sarhali police has lodged a complaint under Section 174, CrPC.

CHANDIGARH

BLOOD DONATION CAMP: As many as 100 units of blood were donated at a blood donation camp organised by employees of the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh here on Wednesday. Among others who donated blood included Mr M.P. Singh, MCC Commissioner, some councillors, Mr Gulshan Girdhar, Mr Chandan Gupta, and employees’ union president, Mr Ajit Singh. Meanwhile, over 160 officers and other staff members of the MCC participated in the shramdan at Sukhna lake on Wednesday, stated a press note of the MCC.

ESSAY COMPETITION: An essay writing competition to inculcate moral and cultural values and a sense of responsibility among children will be organised by the East branch of the Bharat Vikas Parishad, Chandigarh on Sunday at Kendriya Vihar Society, Sector 48. The competition has been topic-wise divided into the following categories: Class III to V — ‘Discipline’, Class VI to VIII — ‘Environment Pollution’ and Class IX to XII — ‘Cultural Pollution’.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Chief Engineer, UT Employees Union: Chairman — Mr Mohinder Singh; president — Mr Sada Ram Thakur; vice-president — Mr Lalit Mohan Mittal; general secretary — Ms Sunita Sharma; cashier — Mr Rakesh Sukheja; advisor — Mr Bhanu Partap Sharma and propaganda secretaries — Mr Jaipal Singh and Mr Gurcharan Singh.

COMPENSATION: The UT Consumer Court has directed the Director, State Transport, Industrial Area, to pay a compensation of Rs 250 to a resident of Panchkula for deficiency in its bus service. The case against the State Transport Undertaking had been filed by the Lawyers for Social Reform organisation through its secretary and a resident of Panchkula, Ravinder Singh. The complainant, Mr Ravinder Singh, had stated that he had boarded a state transport bus from Delhi for Chandigarh on April 30, 2000, but it developed some fault midway. The defect could not be rectified despite the fact that passengers also pitched in. After some time the complainant boarded another bus but could not be accommodated in it by the authorities, therefore he had wasted time and suffered inconvenience and was liable to be compensated.

BPCL DISTRIBUTORS’ COMPLAINT: The Bharatgas Distributors Association in a meeting held at Lalru expressed their discontentment over the attitude of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited’s (BPCL) officials. According to a press note of the Association, the bottling plant of BPCL at Lalru supplies defective cylinders, which are at times underweight, filled with water, having a pin broken and at times leaking. However, it is the distributor or the transporter which has to bear the responsibility, said the distributors. The distributors also said that while the field officers certify certain cylinders as defective, the BPCL officials at Lalru refuse to honour the recommendations. The distributors have decided to send a memorandum, with these and several other complaints, to the Chairperson, BPCL, Mumbai.

SAS NAGAR
DENTAL CAMP: A dental and eye-check up camp for students of Sanjay Public School was held at the school premises here on Wednesday. The students were examined by a team of doctors from Sri Guru Harkrishan Sahib Eye Hospital, Sohana. With the camp, a ‘Health Oriented Programme’ is being adopted by the school for the better health of children. The students were given tips about care of eyes and teeth. They were also told about the side-effects of watching too much television and spending more time in front of computers, stated a note of the school.

HARYANA

AMBALA
TAEKWONDO WINNERS: The students of Darshan Academy, Ambala have bagged six medals including two gold at a Taekwondo championship. Ms Monica Sharma, coordinator said that Darshan Academy has bagged two gold, two silver and four bronze medals during the course of the three day inter school open Taekwondo championship held recently at Kurukshetra. She said that the school team had been trained by coach Mr Ashok Sharma.

DHARNA: The District unit of Sarv Karamchari Sangh Haryana, is going to sit on a dharna in front of the residence of the Haryana minister, Mr Risal Singh, to press for various demands. The dharna will be staged on Sunday on the basis of a decision taken at a rally held in Hisar on May 12. A memorandum will be later handed over to the minister. The demands of the Sangh include that the government should not come under WTO pressure and carry out privatisation and retrenchment. Also MITC should not be closed down according to a press note.

OLD-AGE PENSION SURVEY: To identify new persons eligible for Tau Devi Lal old age pension, a survey is to be carried out in urban areas from May 25 to June 2 and in rural areas from June 5 to June 25. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr D.D. Gautam, said that four teams have been formed for urban areas and nine teams have been formed for rural areas for carrying out the survey. He said that while on one hand, the team would identify new persons whose medical will be carried out for the old age pension, on the other hand teams will also look into previous cases and if irregularities were detected , then their names will be struck off, a note said.

KAITHAL
ACCIDENTS: Four persons, including a woman, were killed in two road accidents, near here, on Tuesday. Surinder of Sirsal village and his sister Kirna died on the spot when their motorcycle was hit by a truck. In the second incident, Mohinder Singh of Buddha Khera village and another man were killed near Batta village on the Kaithal-Narwana road when their jeep was hit by a tractor-trailer. Cases have been registered.

KURUKSHETRA
ORIENTATION CURSE: An orientation course was organised here by the UGC-Academic Staff College on Wednesday. Dr M.M. Goel, a Senior Reader of Economics at Kurukshetra University, addressed the gathering.

SIRSA
WATER PROJECT: Residents of Jasania village in the district are facing water shortage despite the construction of water works project. The project, constructed at a cost of Rs 50 lakh, is still waiting for an inauguration.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

NURPUR
AIDS AWARENESS CAMPS: The Friends Club (an NGO), at Rey of Kangra district has launched awareness programmes regarding AIDS and sex-related diseases. According to Mohammad Rafiq, club president, the NGO has educated over 5,000 truck drivers under the programmes.

UNA
ROADS CONSTRUCTION: Minister of State for Excise and Taxation Praveen Sharma at a public meeting at Amb-Tilla village of Una district on Tuesday said over Rs 56 crore would be spent on 110 roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna in the next three years. The minister also laid the foundation stone of Guru Ravidas Mool Bhoot Suvidha Yojna at Jawar village.

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

Rotarians bring ‘roshni’ to handicapped

Dragging themselves along the dusty, narrow lanes of the village from morning till ok night, they (polio-affected children of rural areas) watch helplessly their friends walk, run and play around. To be able to stand erect and walk, to study and pursue a career like their friends, seemed to be a distant dream for them, always eluding their reach like a mirage in the desert. But the concerted efforts of some committed individuals are re-writing this sordid drama of life so as to translate their dream into reality.

That is precisely the reason why 30 handicapped children (now rehabilitated) gathered at the Rotary Club, Rajpura, together with their parents and relations, with smiles on their faces to thank their great benefactors — Rotarians of Rajpura and Dr Ujagar Singh of Rampuraphool — who enabled them to stand erect and walk, through corrective surgeries.

Sr Mary Kurissery (see picture), JMJ, National Co-ordinator, Liliane Fonds, from Secunderabad, who presided over the function, distributed certificates and shields of appreciation, arranged by the Roshni Society, to Chandigarh schoolchildren of St Stephen’s, Mount Carmel and Shivalik Public School for their special concern to their less fortunate brothers and sisters, shown in the purchase of the greeting cards made by them (handicapped).

Fr Thomas K.J., President, Roshni Society, the brain behind the above concern movement, distributed study scholarships to all handicapped children pursuing their studies at various levels. He suggested people of different religions to work together towards a common cause as in the case of his movement for the welfare of the less fortunate. He has identified some common causes to work together with people of different religions trying to find a solution to the communal virus which is destroying the values our forefathers cherished and handed them over to their posterity.

Rare birth defect rectified

A single plastic surgery operation helped to restore the impaired vision of Amit Singh of Jammu suffering from a rare birth defect in which, the reduction of skin of the eyelids leads to narrowing of the space between the eyelids. The defect called “Blepharophimosis” shows absence of skin on the upper eyelid; hence folds of the upper eyelids are absent. The shortage of skin of lower eyelids leads to slanting of eyelids. Amit had adopted a characteristic posture of extending his neck backwards in order to see below the eyelids, making him appear mentally retarded.

However, instead of multiple surgeries to correct the defect a single operation performed for the first time in Amritsar at Guru Ram Dass Hospital here by a team of experts led by Dr Bhupinder Singh, Head of plastic surgery, with Dr Amita Joshi and Dr Sunil Mehra, were able to correct the birth defect. Amit who had been shown to several eye surgeons in Jammu, Lucknow and in the city had lost hope of any relief. He presented a picture of happiness and delight when he was able to open his eyes wide for the first time in his life. The doctors said the patient’s defective posture would also be rectified.

Encyclopaedia on Buddhism

Having practised law for the past several years, Mr Madan Gopal Chitkara, now with his insight into Buddhism has authored a 21-volume encyclopaedia of Buddhism.

Mr Chitkara is now completely devoted to writing on Buddhism, while his younger son, Mr Anoop Chitkara, takes care of the chamber on The Mall.

Mr Chitkara said he had no special attraction towards Buddhism a couple of years ago, but suddenly he felt like studying the religion and authoring the set of books.

Before undertaking the gigantic task, he had his first audience with the Dalai Lama in July, 1993, when he discussed various aspects of Buddhism in length.

One of the volumes authored by Mr Chitkara points out that in the changing world of today, Buddhism has a great deal to contribute to establishing peace, while another deals with the unwritten moral code of Buddhism towards environment. Mr Chitkara has also dealt with the middle path.

Mr Chitkara started his practice in 1959 and remained in regular practice till 1991. He was also the Advocate-General and Chairman of the HP Administrative Tribunal.

Contributed by TNS, Rashmi Talwar and S.P. Sharma