Tribuneindia...Regional Briefs

	REGIONAL BRIEFS & REGIONAL POTPOURRI	Thursday, November 18, 1999
weather spotlight today's calendar

FARIDKOT
Eye-camp: A five-day free eye camp organised by the District Elders Service Society at Deep Singh Wala village concluded on Tuesday. As many as 20 operations were performed and 465 patients examined. Dr S.P.S Sodhi, a renowned social worker, distributed 20 blankets to the needy.

FEROZEPORE
Bus fares: The district unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union held a meeting here on Monday under the presidentship of Mr Kartar Singhpalla. The meeting passed a resolution condemning the state government for increasing the bus fares. The union urged the government to roll back the hike immediately.

Bar association's protest: Members of the District Bar Association abstained from work and sat on a dharna in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office here on Tuesday in protest against the inclusion of nearly 150 villages of the Dharamkot area in the district in Moga district. According to the secretary of the association, the agitation will continue till November 19 and the future course of action decided at the meeting scheduled for November 19.

Power theft: The local Citizens Forum has asked the Punjab State Electricity Board to check the theft of electricity to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the town. According to its general secretary, the association has also decided to collect relief material and money for the cyclone-hit people in Orissa.

HOSHIARPUR
Cows worshipped: Thousands thronged the Vrindavan Dham gaushala complex here on Tuesday and performed the puja of cows. The function was organised by the Shri Hindu Gau Rakshni Sabha. It was presided over by Mr Charanjit Singh Channi, MP. Mr R.P Mittal, SSP, was the chief guest.

Octroi contractorship: Mr Tikshan Sud, MLA, has welcomed the decision of the Punjab Government to end the octroi contractorship system in the state. In a press note issued here on Tuesday, he said though the income of municipal councils had increased through this system yet the business community had been harassed by octroi contractors. He said the SAD-BJP government had always been in favour of the business community and was now considering to make amendment in the Sales Tax Law and reduce octroi on certain goods to avoid harassment of traders.

KAPURTHALA
Run over: Amarjit Singh (45), an employee of the local rail coach factory, was killed when he was run over by a bus near DC chowk on Tuesday. According to the police, the victim got down from the bus when the driver was negotiating a curve near the chowk and came under the rear tyres of the bus. He died on the spot. The police has registered a case under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC and arrested the driver.

Case registered: The Kotwali police has registered a case under Sections 363, 366 and 376 of the IPC against a father and son of Nawan Pind Bhathe on the charge of abducting a minor girl of the same village. According to reports lodged with the police, Teja Singh, father of the girl, alleged that Gurwinder Singh had eloped with his daughter and Gurwinder's father had helped the boy in abducting the girl on November 4.

LUDHIANA
Arrested: The police has arrested Mahesh Kumar, alias Maheshi, and Dev Raj, alias Deva Nand, on charges of cheating and defrauding. A case under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC has been registered. According to a press note issued by the SSP, Ms Gurpreet Deo, the duo, in connivance with Bhago, had cheated Sanjay by taking Rs 2,000 for procuring a visa for him to South Korea. However, the accused neither got him the visa nor was the money returned to him.

PATIALA
Awarded: Dr Amarjeet Singh, senior lecturer in the Department of Botany, Punjabi University, was awarded a certificate of merit for his research contributions in pteridology by Prof R.R. Das, Vice-Chancellor, Jiwaji University, at the inaugural function of national symposium on "Fifty years of pteridology in India: in retrospect and prospect" held in Gwalior on November 12.

Cyclone contribution: The Punjab State Electricity Board Engineers Association decided on Tuesday to donate a day's salary for the Orissa Chief Minister's Relief Fund. Disclosing this, general secretary of the association H.S. Bedi said Rs 10 lakh were likely to be collected through the exercise.

Cultural programme: The Basant Ritu Youth Club, Tripuri, organised a cultural programme on the Children's Day in which students from Hindu Public High School, Tiwari Model School, National Public High School and Sarswati Model School participated. Club President Rajesh Sharma said a play, "Chhuppan ton pehlan" was also presented on the occasion.

Ration distribution: The Dedicated Brothers Group organised its 42nd free ration distribution camp here which was presided over by its founder, Dr Rakesh Vermi. Social workers Gopal Krishan Kapoor and Indira Kapoor of the USA, who are doing pioneering work by looking after orphans of Patiala, were the chief guests. Free ration was distributed to widows above 60 years who have no income of their own.

Assumes office: Mr D.K. Tiwari has taken over as Secretary, Punjab State Electricity Board, an official statement said here on Tuesday. The statement said Mr Tiwari was a Civil Engineer, who had served as an Engineer from 1992 to 1994 in the CPWD, New Delhi, and belonged to the 1994 batch of the IAS. He served as SDM, Faridkot, SDM, Abohar and Additional Deputy Commissioner (General and Development), Moga.

PHAGWARA
Anti-tobacco drive: The state unit of the Indian Medical Association on Tuesday declared to join the anti-tobacco drive of the World Health Organisation which says, Tobacco kills — don’t be duped. Dr Raman Aggarwal, state secretary of the IMA, Medical Action Committee-cum-Legal Cell, asked the Union and state governments to ban tobacco-related advertisements on TV, radio, and other media.

PHILLAUR
Fashion show: A cultural programme-cum-fashion show, "Lamhe 99", was organised by the LCC at Goraya on Tuesday. The IG, Mr Chander Shekhar, presided over the function. Ritu and Gurpreet Singh were adjudged Miss LCC and Mr LCC.

Ministerial staff: The following have been elected office-bearers of Punjab Social Welfare Ministerial Staff Association (Head Office), Chandigarh: President — Mr Sudesh Saini; Sr Vice-President — Mr Balbir Singh; Vice-President — Mr Balbinder Singh; General Secretary — Mr Taranjit Singh; Cashier — Ms Kuldip Kaur; Office Secretary — Mr Dayal Singh; and Press Secretary — Ms Amarjit Kaur.

Appointed: Mr Kulbhushan Gupta, acting President, Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee, has appointed Mr Surinder Singh acting President of the Mani Majra Block Congress Committee in place of Mr Rameshwar Giri, a press note said on Wednesday.

Utensils donated: The Chandigarh Crockery and Bartan Dealers Association has donated 200 boxes of household utensils for the cyclone-hit people of Orissa. The association will contribute 100 more boxes of utensils for the victims, according to its President, Mr Arun Gupta.

Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Sikh Citizens Council: President — Mr H.S. Bajaj; Senior Vice-President — Mr Joginder Singh Sawhney; Vice-President — Mr Manohar Singh; General Secretary — Mr Harbans Singh Randhawa; Joint Secretary — Mr Trilochan Singh; and Finance Secretary — Mr Khazan Singh.

Quami week: The Chandigarh Administration will observe a Quami Ekta Week from November 19 during which National Integration Day on November 19, Welfare of Minorities Day on November 20, Linguistic Harmony Day on November 21, Weaker Sections Day on November 22, Cultural Unity day on November 23, Women's Day on November 24 and Conservation Day on November 25 will be observed.

Camp: A blood donation camp was organised on Wednesday at the Dhillon complex, Mani Majra, by Mrs Manjit Kaur Dhillon of the Dhillon group of industries in association with doctors from the PGI.

REWARI
Road repair: As many as Rs 1.25 crore will be spent on road repair in the district. The work will be completed by November 30. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner at a press conference here on Tuesday.

National Press Day: Journalists working with various national and local newspapers from Rewari, Bawal, Dharuhera, Kosli and Jatusana participated in a district-level meeting organised to mark the National Press Day here on Tuesday. The Deputy Commissioner presided over the function. Addressing the meeting, she stressed the need for journalists to follow Press laws and ethics strictly.

SIRSA
Held for murder: The police has arrested two persons allegedly involved in a murder in Sherpura village in the district. According to a press note issued on Tuesday. Jai Kishen and Dharmveer were arrested under Sections 302/323/148 and 149 the IPC. The duo, along with three others, had attacked Telu Ram, who was on bail, and Raj Kumar on October 14. Telu Ram was injured seriously and later succumbed to his injuries.

SONEPAT
Robbers arrested: With the arrest of three persons, the police claims to have busted an inter-state gang of highway robbers operating in parts of Haryana and Delhi for the past few months. Disclosing this, the SSP, Mr K.P Singh, told mediapersons here on Wednesday that the arrested were Ajay, alias Anuj of the local Sainipura Mohalla, Sanjay of Rawli village (UP) and Karamvir, alias Munim, alias Kala of Ferozpur Jat Majra village. The police has recovered a stolen motor cycle and a loaded pistol from them.

Shobha yatra: To create awareness among the people about dental care, the Dental Health Welfare Society organised a shobha yatra here on Wednesday. Dr R.N Sachdeva, Civil Surgeon, flagged off the procession which passed through the main bazars of the city. A large number of students of various schools and people participated in the procession.

Discharged: A young housewife, Sarita, who had been trapped and sustained serious burn injuries in a devastating fire at Ashok Nagar on the eve of Divali, was discharged from a private nursing home on Monday after treatment.

Embezzlement case: The Gohana police has arrested Ram Diya and Sajjan Singh Secretary and Salesman, respectively, of the Gamri village Cooperative Society and registered a case of embezzlement under Section 409, IPC, against them. A raid had been conducted by officials of the Agriculture Department, headed by a Deputy Director, on the godown of the society where underweight bags of DAP fertilizers were found.

Assaulted: Ram Kumar, a resident of Devi Nagar, was allegedly assaulted with a sharp-edged weapon by his neighbour Ram Phal at Gohana town, 35 km from here, on Monday. Ram Kumar, who sustained injuries, was immediately hospitalised. A case has been registered against the alleged assailant who is still at large.

Gamblers arrested: The CIA police conducted a raid on Sooraj Dhaba on the G.T. Road near Murthal, 8 km from here, on Monday and caught four gamblers redhanded.The police also seized Rs 5,530 and other articles from them. According to another report, the city police arrested a youth, Harish Punjabi, of Akbarpur Barota village on the charge of gambling and seized Rs 5,010 and "chits" from him. Cases under the Gambling Act have been registered. The city police also arrested Romesh of Inder Garhi, Gohana, and seized 6 gm of brown sugar from him. A case under the NDPS has been registered.

Challans: Officials of the Haryana Roadways, in a special campaign launched against unauthorised plying of vehicles, challaned 89 vehicles and impounded 171 in violation of the traffic rules and collected Rs 2 lakh as fine from the owners during the past fortnight. Mr Harish Chander Jain, General Manager of the Haryana Roadways, said on Tuesday that the campaign would be intensified in the wake of public complaints.

KULU
Song competition: A patriotic group song competition was organised at Government Senior Secondary School, Katrain, by the Manali branch of the Bharat Vikas Parishad on Monday. Mr Amrit Lal Sharma, Subdivisional Magistrate, Manali, was the chief guest whereas Mr Narayan Singh Thakur, a retired school Principal, presided over the function. As many as 12 teams from various government and private schools under the Naggar Development Block participated in the competition.

1 kg worms removed from child’s stomach

A BUNCH of worms weighing around 1 kg has been removed surgically from the abdomen of a two-year-old child at the Aggarwal Hospital in Yamunanagar.

Jaswinder Singh of Shamgarh village in Saharanpur district was referred to the P.G.I., Chandigarh, as he was in a very serious condition. But on the way when the boy, along with his father, reached Yamunanagar he started gasping for breath. Hence he had to be rushed to this hospital, where Dr Anil Aggarwal after resuscitating the child decided to perform an emergency operation on him as his abdomen was grossly distended.

During surgery it was amazing to see that three feet of the boy’s intestine was filled with worms. The worms had ruptured the intestine at various places. He removed this length of the intestine along with thousands of works. These worms are called ascaris which are a foot long and resemble little snakes.

According to the surgeon, the situation seems to have arisen because of a wormicidal tablet given to the child about four days back which killed the worms but the worms being in large number entangled themselves while dying and completely blocked a three- foot stretch of the intestine.

The surgeon says the boy is out of danger and would lead a normal life.

Treat plants with care

Scientists say plants are living organisms. These react to changes in the environment. They breathe, grow in a suitable environment and like the "touch me not" plant feel pain when hit by aggressors, mostly human beings. No wonder, the stress and strain exerted on any plant leads to retardaction in growth.

As against that certain selfish people pose to be ignorant about the plants being a living organism. The Municipal Corporation of Shimla has made rules banning the nailing of advertisement boards on trees. But who cares! A businessman wanting to display his hoarding nails boards on trees.

The question naturally arises how and why does man not realise that even plants are living organisms and they do feel pain whenever hurt. Moreover, the convention here is to use dead, dry and fallen trees for their fine wood. The presence of nails and other foreign bodies on the wood make the timber useless for conversion at the sawmill and carpentry.

Should then one hope that the Municipal Corporation does take steps to discourage advertisers from fixing their boards on the mute sentinels of the environment.

Anthology by poetess released in UK

Shakuntala Srivastava, well-known poetess and president of the Hindi Sahitya Parishad, Punjab, recently attended the World Hindi Conference in the United Kingdom. This conference was organised by the Hindi Samiti, U.K., Geetanjali Samudai and the Bharatiya Bhasha Sangam and was sponsored by the High Commissioner, Mr Lalit Mansingh.

During the course of this conference, she was invited to York, Manchester and Birmingham to participate in poetical symposiums. She represented the state of Punjab and also presented a paper on "Hindi at the national and international level and future generations". Around 300 delegates comprising poets , writers, journalists, lecturers and critics participated in this conference.

A compilation of poems written by the poetess, called "Mehak Gulabi Dhoop Kesari" was also released during this conference by the former High Commissioner, Dr L.M. Singhvi, at the Virat Kavi Sammelan.

A former Head of the Hindi Department at Ludhiana’s Government College for Women, she has written nine other books on poetry. The essence of her poetry is on the philosophy of life and romance.

Contributed by Ashwani Dutta, K.L.Noatay and Ruchika Mohindra