R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

Regional potpourri

• Rumaals and registration

• Adieu to an archaeologist

• Smile doctor has reason to smile

CHANDIGARH

Camp held: A Community mobilisation, HIV\AIDS & Health Awareness Camp was organised by Targeted Intervention Project run by Servants of the People Society in collaboration with State AIDS Control Society, UT, Chandigarh under the National AIDS Control Programme Scheme III at Colony No. 5, here, today. As many as 500 people visited the camp and free medicines were distributed to 96 patients. Counselling on HIV\AIDS, STDs, TB, reproductive health and drugs was done by Mrs Varsha Arora. On the occasion, a street play was performed to educate the public about the right way to use a condom for the prevention of HIV\AIDS\ RITs\STIs and unwanted pregnancies. Mrs Ram Piari Kumar, programme manager of TI Project, Burail made the audience aware about different topics. During this camp, social workers informed about the operation of the toll-free phone number of Chandigarh AIDS Help Line 1097.

Farewell organised: Students of Class XI of Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, gave a farewell party to the outgoing students of Class XII. The programme included games, music and crowning of Mr GNPS and Ms GNPS. Ankit Vashist and Pamelpreet Kaur were crowned Mr GNPS and Ms GNPS respectively. The principal, Ms Jaswinder S. Singh, in her farewell speech wished the children every happiness and success in their future life.

Bansal felicitated: Members of the State Bank of India Staff Association led by Mr D. S. Thakur, president and Mr O. N. Bindroo, general secretary, today met the Union Minister of State, Finance, Mr Pawan Bansal and congratulated him on his induction into the Council of Ministers. They urged him to look into their demands regarding recruitment and pension.

Free check-up camp: A free medical check-up camp was organised by BSNL Telecom Residents Welfare Association at Sector 43 yesterday. Around 200 patients were examined by a team of specialist doctors from Mukat Hospital.

Elected: Following have been elected as office-bearers of the Progressive Traders Association, Sector 22-D: president: Mr Ranjan Verma; vice-president: Mr Sardool Singh; general secretaries: Mr Iswar Lal and Mr Manjit Singh; and joint secretaries: Mr Sanjiv Sharma and Mr Vinod Sharma.

Inaugurated: The Chandigarh branch of Northern India Regional Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India inaugurated their branch building today in Sector 35 B. The inauguration was done by the newly-elected president of ICAI, Mr T. N. Manoharan and Vice President, Mr Sunil Talati.

HARYANA

Kurukshetra
Mahayajna: Elaborate arrangements are being made to organise ‘Viraat Mahayajna’ by the Vedic Anusandhaan Sansthan here on February 19. Stating this here on Saturday, Krishan Kunj Vedic Sansthaan, founder president, Mr Raj Kumar Vats, who had also been appointed spokesman for the sansthaan by its chairman, Mr Gopal Sharma, said over one lakh ‘yajmaans’ would participate in the one-day ‘Viraat Mahayajna”.

Rewari
Stone laid: The Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday, laid the foundation stone of a trauma centre in the Civil Hospital complex. The state government has allocated Rs 60 lakh for the building while the Central Government has provided Rs 1.5 cr for the necessary equipment and other allied requirements.

Case registered: The Kanina police, has registered a case of murder following a complaint lodged by Amar Singh Yadav, father of Satyavan, whose burnt body along with his scooter was recovered by the Kanina police on February 5. The deceased as a trader of Karoli village in Rewari district.

Regional potpourri

Rumaals and registration

As part of the Himachal Pradesh Government’s move to promote Chamba’s traditional products in the indigenous and international market, the State Council of Science, Technology and Environment has drawn up a plan for getting these products registered under the Geographical Indications (GI) Act, 1999.

A workshop on the registration of traditional products of Chamba was organised by the council in collaboration with Sewa Himalayas, an NGO, at the Bhuri Singh Museum in the town recently.

Pushpendra Rajput, Deputy Commissioner of Chamba, appreciated the initiative, taken at a time when the town is going to celebrate 1000 years of its existence from April 13 to 19. “Chamba has a rich cultural heritage and the government is committed to its conservation and preservation”, he said.

Dr S.S. Chandel, Principal Scientific Officer of the council, informed that the Himachal Pradesh Patent Information Centre (HPPIC) had already identified the products to be registered — the Chamba rumaal, chappal, zareesh, chukh, metal crafts, etc.

Based upon the inputs put up by the participants in the workshop, a strategy for getting the products registered was finalised.

The Director of Sewa Himalayas, Manuj Sharma, has been authorised to coordinate with the local groups for documentation of the Chamba products.

The workshop was attended by about 50 persons, including experts in the traditional crafts of Chamba.

Adieu to an archaeologist

Dr Padam Chand Kashyap, noted ethno-archaeologist, folklorist, journalist and a student of ancient Indian history, who passed away recently, had pioneered several scientific studies on Himalayan culture and folklore.

Dr Kashyap was born in Nirmand village of Kulu district in Himachal Pradesh in 1925. His book, “Surviving Harappan Civilisation” on the discovery of a cluster of Harappan settlements along the Sutlej, upstream Ropar in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, has been described as a “sensational book which opens up a hitherto neglected line of ethno-archaeological investigations”.

More recently, he had focussed attention on the linkages between the present day folklore and traditional practices with pre-Vedic and Vedic system of beliefs and practices. These linkages were documented in his publication, “Living Pre-Rig Vedic and Early Rig Vedic Traditions of Himalayas”, in 2000.

He was a member of the Sahitya Kala Academy, Archeological Society of India, Himachal Art, Culture and Language Academy and many other literary associations. He worked as Information Officer with the Government of India.

He is survived by his wife, two sons and four grandchildren.

Smile doctor has reason to smile Dr Shashi Bala Dr Shashi Bala, a senior faculty member at the Government Dental College, Rohtak, has been awarded the first prize at the sixth international conference of the Asia-Pacific Society of Periodontology held at Chennai recently. Dr Bala, who is the first Indian to have won this award, got it for her poster presentation on “Pre-term low birth weight and dental intervention: Is there any link?” Prof Krishna Sangwan, Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, PGIMS, Prof S.C. Narula and Dr Rajender Sharma supervised the study, which was conducted at the Dental College, Rohtak, in collaboration with the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Science, Rohtak. Loved and respected by her colleagues as well as patients, this doctor believes in serving with a smile. The other doctors and paramedical staff at the college say that treating patients far beyond the official working hours is a common thing with her. She can even be seen visiting the college on holidays. “Many a time, she accompanies a patient just to ensure that he/she does not encounter any difficulty in getting things done,” says Sunil Kumar, an employee at the Dental X-ray section of the college. Dr Bala, who has had a long association with the college, first as a student and later as faculty member, however, gives all credit to her senior colleagues, fellow doctors and other staff members. “My only wish is to cure anybody and everybody who comes to me with a problem. This is my duty,” she says. Contributed by B.K. Prashar, Prashant Sood and Sunit Dhawan