Tribuneindia...Regional Briefs

	REGIONAL BRIEFS	Thursday, August 27, 1998
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POTPOURRI

ABOHAR

Seized
The city police on Monday arrested Gurmit Singh of Arya Nagar, Fazilka, under Sections 21,61 and 85 of the IPC and seized 25 gm of smack from him.
Dharna
Government employees and residents of Sayyedwala village staged a dharna outside the office of the DSP here on Monday. They condemned the police for not arresting the alleged woman accomplice of a boy, who is believed to have raped a minor girl.

AMRITSAR

Protest
Agricultural technocrats of Amritsar and Verka staged a dharna in front of the office of the Chief Agricultural Officer in protest against non-payment of their salaries for the past three months.

BATHINDA

Fire drill: The Indian Oil Corporation Limited organised a mock fire drill at the local oil depot on Tuesday. Mr P.S. Negi, Senior Terminal Manager of the IOCL said the basic aim of the drill was to create awareness among the industries located in that area.

HOSHIARPUR

Procession
Congress workers of the district took out a procession through the Main Bazar here on Monday in protest against the recent increase in power tariff, prices of essential commodities and bus fares.
Office-bearers
The following have been elected office-bearers of the local branch of the Panjab University Teachers Association: president — Dr Ghan Shyam Uniyal; vice-president — Dr Krishna Saini; joint secretary — Dr Krishna Murari Sharma; and treasurer — Dr Parbhat Singh Thakur.

KAPURTHALA

New focal point
A new industrial focal point will be set up near the local Rail Coach Factory on the Kapurthala-Sultanpur Lodhi road. This was stated by Mr G.S Aulakh, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), at a meeting held at the local Yojna Bhavan on Monday.

Sangat darshan
The district administration has revived the scheme of organising "sangat darshan" in the district to meet the people and know their problems. This was stated by Ms Usha R. Sharma, Deputy Commissioner, at Dhilwan village on Monday.

LUDHIANA

Plantation campaign
The local Congress leaders on Tuesday organised vanamahotsava at Rajguru Nagar, Harnam Nagar, Atam Nagar, Model Town and Shastri Nagar.

NAWANSHAHR

Road accident
Mrs Kuldip Kaur (45), Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Jalandhar, was killed when her car met with an accident here on Monday. She was rushed to the local Civil Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.

Kavi darbar
The local Punjab Sahit Sabha organised a kavi darbar here at JSFH Khalsa High School on Monday. Prof B S Balli, presided over it. He also released "Ehsas", a collection of Punjabi gazals written by Mr Kuldip Anand.

PATIALA

Water shortage
Residents of Rajpura colony have complained about the scarcity of drinking water. Mr Narottam Sharma, president of the Employees Welfare Association, has urged the municipal authorities to take immediate steps to ensure adequate water supply to the colony.

Celebrated
The local Lions Club(Sheesh Mahal) organised 49th vanamahotsava here on Tuesday. The chairman, Lions Club International, Mr T.N. Sharma, addressed the gathering.

Demanded
The Punjab State Electricity Board Stenographers Union has urged the PSEB authorities to implement the decision taken at a meeting in June. The union president, Mr Karnail Singh, demanded filling of the vacant posts of stenographers.

Elected
The following have been elected office-bearers of the Shri Guru Singh Sabha: president — Mr Harminder Singh; senior vice-president — Mr Sarup Singh Sehgal; junior vice-president — Mr Hari Singh Azad; secretary — Mr Surjit Singh Dewan; and treasurer — Mr Baljinder Singh Bedi.

PHAGWARA

Dharna
Truckers, traders and industrialists here staged a dharna on Tuesday in front of the office of the Municipal Council in protest against their alleged harassment by private octroi contractors. They also sought the abolition of octroi.
Flayed
The Punjab Tourism Karamchari Dal at its meeting on Tuesday criticised the move to privatise the tourist complexes in the state. The association alleged that the hike in room tariff by the Punjab Tourism Development Corporation had led to a decline in tourism in the state.

SAMANA

Tubewell
Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra, MP, inaugurated a tubewell here on Tuesday under a water supply scheme which will provide potable water to about 20 per cent of the local residents.

Invited
Mrs Harjinder Kaur, Deputy Mayor, Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, has been invited to attend and present a paper at an international women seminar on "Making democracy work: Strategies for empowering women in political and public life" being organised by the British Government at Glasgow from August 30 to September 5. She will also visit different places of interest and meet scholars and principals of various schools, councillors and mayors of different towns and leaders of the Indian community in England.

PANCHKULA

Saplings planted
A week-long tree plantation drive launched by the Environment Society of Haryana at Senior Secondary School at Kalka near here concluded on Wednesday. As many as 250 saplings were planted during the drive.

GURGAON

Elected
The following have been elected office-bearers of the district unit of the Janata Dal: president — Mr Satish Yadav; vice-presidents — Mr Khalil Ahmed and Mr Nagender Saini; general secretaries — Mr Sube Singh Yadav, Mr Mohammad Yasin, and Mr Dalbir; and treasurer — Mr Mohinder Singh.

KALKA
Vanamahotsava
The local branch of the State Bank of India organised vanamahotsava at Sophia School on Monday. Mr B.C. Kaushik, Manager, inaugurated the function.

NURPUR

Indefinite strike
Lecturers of the Government College, Debri, went on an indefinite strike on Monday in support of the protesting teachers and their demands for the implementation of the UGC pay scales.

BADDI

Plea
The BJP Yuva Morcha has urged the state government not to acquire agricultural land for the construction of the proposed export promotion park. Mr Achhar Pal, president of the BJPYM, said the move to acquire 700 bighas of additional land for the construction of the park would render more than 100 families of Kunjahal village homeless.

HAMIRPUR

Elected
Mr Jaswant Singh was unanimously elected president of the Hamirpur Nagar Palika Parishad on Tuesday.

KASAULI

Urged
Residents of Nari panchayat area have urged the government to shift the Kasauli cantonment sewer line as it was throwing sullage into their fields. Ms Kusum Gupta, president, of the panchayat, alleged that the cantonment authorities had not heeded their requests to shift the sewer or to cover it.

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

A foetal feat
A Ludhiana doctor has done eight days of embryo development outside the uterus (womb).

The doctor is Dr Iqbal Singh Ahuja who brought the test tube baby technology to northern India in 1992.

The eight-day embryo formation technology outside the uterus has been photographed for posterity. This medical feat will ensure better results as most of IVF failures occur during the one-cell to 16-cell stage.

According to Dr Ahuja very few studies have been performed on the formative stage of the embryo. To see in reality how a single cell transforms into a mature foetus is very difficult. Keeping the embryo alive up to the 16-cell (morula) stage is the most difficult process. But by this new method close monitoring is possible for a better survival rate.

Dr Ahuja is determined to develop the foetus outside the uterus.

Dr Ahuja said this medical feat had been made possible because of the joint efforts of Dr Pushpinder, Dr M. Chawla, Dr Mrs Ravi, Dr Joga Singh, Dr Jagjit Singh and Tony Singh.

Ailing martial arts expert
Vijay Khayal, a black belt holder in martial arts, has been suffering from abdominal pain for the past five years now. He is suffering from duodenal ulcer, say doctors attending on him.

Vijay alias Vijay Khan (25) was a good exponent of kung fu, a Japanese martial art. He used to provide free training to youngsters at a coaching centre in his Fatehabad home. He got a black belt in kung fu in 1992 at the age of 19. Besides being a good exponent of martial arts, Vijay has been a regular blood donor too. He set-up a blood donor club with about two dozen members having blood from all groups.

On one occasion he donated and arranged for nine bottles of blood for a woman of Fatehabad who was suffering from cancer and was admitted to the Medical College, Rohtak. He paid her travelling expenses from his own pocket. But his only regret was the woman's life could not be saved.

One day, when Vijay took a leap while teaching martial arts he felt a severe pain in the abdomen. He was treated by local doctors but the pain did not subside. Doctors say he has perhaps injured an internal body organ which is causing him great pain. He has been on medication for the past five years.

Vijay has exhausted all his resources. His regret is none of those, whom he helped by coaching or donating blood had come to his rescue. Not to speak of any financial help, few have even enquired about his condition. A player who could have blossomed into a state-level player is now bed-ridden with mental depression.

HPTDC cafe awaits VIP
A cafe built by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Department at Indira Ground, near Government Post-Graduate College, Una, has been ready since mid-March but it has not been opened to the public so far.

The building is complete with fittings but has not been put to use because of the lukewarm attitude of the HP Tourism Department.

The cost of the cafe was about Rs 7 lakh when the project was started four years ago but now the cost has risen to more than Rs 16 lakh. The building is yet to be opened, probably it is awaiting inauguration by some VIP.

The cafe is situated on the Una-Nangal state highway and is on a busy road, which can fetch high profits as many vehicles ply on that highway.

(Contributed by AS Prashar, Sushil Manav and Lalit Sharma)