Jalandhar, September 29
In order to maintain public peace and tranquility, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr. A. Venu Parsad, has banned the sale of certain medicines without valid prescription, bursting of sound emitting crackers, use of loudspeakers and other sources of noise.

The sale of medicines, containing preparations such as, codeine phosphate, diphenoxylate HCL, dextropropoxyphene, buprenorphene, morphine HCL, pentazocine HCL, diazepam, carisprodol, nitrazepam, and lorazepam, would not be allowed now in the district without valid prescription from a registered medical doctor or practitioner. Storage of these medicines without valid licence has also been prohibited.

The step has been taken on the basis of reports that certain medicines were being abused by drug addicts and youngsters, which endangered their lives.

Similarly, bursting of sound emitting crackers has been banned between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. “The restrictions would not apply on bursting of colour and light emitting fire crackers. In case of loudspeakers, the noise level at boundary of public place where loudspeaker or public address system shall not exceed 10 decibles above the ambient noise standards for the area of 75 decibles, whichever, is lower. No one shall beat a drum, blow a trumpet or beat or sound any instrument or use any sound amplifier between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. except in public emergencies,” the order stated.

The order also bans manufacturing and use of pressure horns in vehicles. All the public places where loudspeakers, public address systems or any other noise source is being used should display a board on prescribed format indicating the information regarding the provision of noise polluting rule 2000.

Jalandhar, September 29
By penning down “Kaash”, a novel which depicts the pangs of a beautiful handicapped girl for leading and enjoying a normal life, well-known Punjabi author Kuldip Singh Bedi has once again proved that he can fiddle with words with ease and weave magic in an effective and powerful manner.

Kuldip Singh Bedi has not only written dialogues for well-known Punjabi films, including, “Pagdi Sambhal Jatta,” and “Qatal-e-Aam”, but has also been a member of the Association of Motion Picture and TV programme Producers, Mumbai, and the Film Writers Association, Mumbai.

He has also won more than 100 awards, including, the ‘Prof Mohan Singh Award’, ‘Bhai Mardana Yaadgari Award,’ ‘Shiromani Pattarkar Puraskaar’ for his contribution to the field of Punjabi literature. He has also penned “Opri Mitti,” “Daa Pech”, “Jekar,” “Kinney Hi Varhian Baad”, and “Sailaanian De Desh Wich”.

Bedi’s new novel, “Kaash”, however, differs and stands out tall from rest of his works as it has been weaved around a subject which has almost remained untouched so far. It displays the intricacies of the human mind. It is about a handicapped young unmarried girl Kulwinder, who passes through agony for her physical incapacity but who keeps longing to enjoy life like other normal girls of her age. She wants to be hugged by someone who really loves her and reaches near her cherished goal as she meets Hardip.

Both turn true friends. Her long standing wish, however, remains buried somewhere deep under a heap of dust, created by social responsibilities and boundaries which she fails to surmount despite best efforts. Love remains a forbidden fruit for her all through her life.

“What inspired me to touch this relatively new subject was the state of handicapped people, particularly, women in the society. They are hardly treated as normal human beings.

They need more love but they are virtually shunned by people who are so busy with their lives that they cannot spare some moments for initiating an interaction with them.

My endeavour is to stir the conscience of normal people so that handicapped people can steal a bit more attention in society,” he said.

Jalandhar, September 29
The BSNL subscribers from Transport Nagar and Bulandpur village had to face problems after their telephone lines were cut last evening due to digging along the road side by the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board employees for laying of sewerage system.

The board employees got into work at 6 pm and that too reportedly without giving prior information to the BSNL.

The ditch machines damaged the telephone lines connecting almost 200 houses and even some business houses there.

After an alarm was raised by the telephone subscribers there, it took almost two and a half hours for the BSNL employees to restore connections there.

The BSNL officials confirmed the incident and said such negligence on the part of the civic authorities had often resulted in a monetary loss to them.

They said almost 300 telephone lines near Salempur village on the Amritsar road had also been disconnected last week when roads were dug up there to lay sewage pipes. 

Phagwara, September 29
The Phagwara police have registered a case under Sections 23 and 29 of the the PNDT Act, 1994, against Dr Akhil Malhotra and his wife Mrs Bhawna Malhotra of Malhotra Hospital on the recommendations of a team of the Health Department which raided the hospital last night.

It was learnt that the Health authorities found several irregularities in the records of ultrasound scans. Confirming this, the Senior Medical Officer (SMO), Dr Yash Mitra, said Dr Ajay Kumar, Dr Rajwinder Kaur and Dr Kamaljit Singh raided the hospital and found irregularities in the records. 

Jalandhar, September 29
Mata Gujri Institute of Nursing and Iqbal Public School, Mehmadpur in Adampur, organised a Hepatities B vaccination camp on Wednesday. Students of the school, college and residents from nearby villages benefited from the camp and got themselves vaccinated. President of the institutes, Mr Satnam Singh Kooner, inaugurated the camp.