Tribuneindia...Regional Briefs

	REGIONAL BRIEFS	Thursday, September 2 1999
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AMRITSAR
Appointed: Mr Davinder Singh Babbu, President, PYC, has appointed Mr Ashwani Sharma as Chairman of the PYC (labour cell).

BATHINDA
Dharna: Teachers of Guru Kashi College, Talwandi Sabo, have been staging a dharna since August 16 in protest against the non-implementation of new pay scales by the authorities concerned, according to a press note issued here on Wednesday by Mr D.S. Sidhu, President, Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union.

HOSHIARPUR
Janamashtmi: A shobha yatra in connection with Krishna Janamashtmi was taken out through the main bazaars of the city on Wednesday by the Shivratri Utsav Committee and the management committees of various temples.
Trophy awarded: Shivalik Kahatriya Gramin Bank has won the best RBE Trophy for the third consecutive year. Mr S.C Bithal, Chairman, of the bank said here on Wednesday. He said Punjab National Bank had presented the trophy. The bank has a network of 41 branches in Hoshiarpur, Ropar and Nawan-Shahr district, he added.

LUDHIANA
Last date extended: The Central Board of Direct Taxes has extended the last date for filing the Income Tax returns from August 31 to September 30. This information was given by the local District Taxation Bar Association.

PATIALA
Lions Club: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Lions Club (Moti Bagh): President — Mr Rakesh Singh Behl; Secretary — Mr Vikram Raj Singh Chauhan; and Treasurer — Mr Bhagwan Singh.
Plea: An executive committee meeting of the Punjab Library Association was held here on Wednesday and urged the Punjab Government to grant central grades to the school librarians, library assistants and professional assistants working in the university libraries of Punjab. It also demanded that the Career Advancement Scheme of the UGC for the librarians should be continued.

Alleged: The Southern Sectors Welfare Federation, Chandigarh, alleged on Wednesday that no effort was being made by the UT Administration to solve the problems being faced by residents of these sectors. At a meeting held under the chairmanship of Mr Sukhdev Singh, President of the federation, members complained of poor drainage system, insufficient power and water supply, bad condition of roads and parks, inadequate policing and non-inclusion of names of residents in voters' list.
Meetings: Mr Mata Ram Dhiman, Bahujan Samaj Party candidate for the local parliamentary seat, addressed meetings at Ramgarhia Bhavan in Sector 27, Maloya, Badheri, Raipur Khurd and Ram Darbar on Wednesday. He also met members of truck operators' union and mechanics' union.
Programme: An inter-school programme of literary events, Panorama-99, began at Bal Bhavan, Sector 23, on Wednesday. It is being organised by 'Les Amis — The Friends', a students' organisation.

PANCHKULA
Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the House Owners Welfare Association: Chairman — Mr Kuldeep Sharma; President — Mr Ram Phal Meham; Vice-President — Mr Vijay Sharma; General Secretary — Mr Joginder Singh; Joint Secretary — Mr Jai Gopal; and Press Secretary — Mr Y.K. Kaushik.
Support: The House Owners Association of Sector 10 has decided to support and vote for the BJP-INLD candidate, Mr R.L. Kataria, in the elections. This was stated in a press note issued by the President of the association, Mr S.C. Gupta, on Wednesday.
Presented: The Upkaar society presented a draft for Rs 25,000 to the Army Central Welfare Fund. The draft was handed over to Brig Bhagwan Singh of Western Command at Chandimandir on Wednesday.

PANIPAT
Colony development: Resentment among residents of Virat Nagar over indifferent attitude of the local Municipal Council towards the development of the colony. The council has failed to provide even basic minimum facilities to the residents. Though it has recovered development charges from the residents at the rate of Rs 60 per yard, but it has not as yet provided basic amenities like drinking water, sewerage, power transmission lines and paved streets.

SIRSA
Imprisonment: The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr A.K. Vimal, on Tuesday awarded 10 years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh each to Karam Singh of Rajasthan and Bakshish Singh of Dadu village in the district under the NDPS Act . According to the prosecution, the accused along with Piru Ram a resident of Rajasthan were arrested by the Kalanwali police on April 11, 1996, and seized 328 kg of poppy husk from their possession.
NDPS Act: Khayali Ram of Mathdadu village in the district was arrested by the Goriwala police on Tuesday under the NDPS Act and seized 50 kg of poppy husk from his possession.
Blood donation camp: The Shiv Shakti Blood Bank under the ageis of the Shiv Shakti Rakt Datta Samiti, held a blood donation camp here on Tuesday. As many as 60 persons donated blood
Municipal limits: Residents of Chakerian village in the district has demanded that their village be separated from municipal limits of Mandi Kalanwali. This village has been deprived of development as no funds so far has been allocated to it.
Motorcycle recovered: Motorcycle stolen on November 30, 1998, was recovered by the CIA wing of the police. The culprit Kuldip Singh of Jhanda Kalan was arrested under Sections 379 and 411 of the IPC. The accused disclosed that he had stolen the vehicle with the help of Surjeet Singh and Harjeet of Vaidwala village in the district.
Dhobi Yuva Sabha: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Dhobi Yuva Sabha: President — Mr Mahavir Prasad Manhar; Vice-President — Mr Budhram; General Secretary — Mr Bagwandass Khatri; Joint Secretary — Mr Jaipal Tanwar and Treasurers — Mr Mamchand and Mr Subhash.

SONEPAT
Attacked: Mr Satya Pal Arya, a lecturer of Government College, Gohana, was injured when he was allegedly attacked by four miscreants armed with lathis between Gohana and Khanpur Kalan village, 30 km from here, on Tuesday. He has lodged an FIR with the police against the four residents of Gamri village. However, no arrest has been made so far.
College closed: The local CRA College has been closed till Sunday following an indefinite strike by students against the alleged dismissal of two lecturers and suspension of another lecturer by the management. The striking students have threatened to launch a statewide agitation from next Wednesday if these lecturers were not reinstated.
Post-mortem: The police recovered the body of a man lying near a canal at Chidana village in the Gohana subdivision of the district on Tuesday. The body has been sent for the post-mortem examination. In another incident the police recovered the body of a man lying in Kalupur village, 3 km from here, on Tuesday.
Suicide: Rajesh, a 16-year-old youth allegedly committed suicide by taking insecticide tablets in his house at Pio Munyari village, 18 km from here, on Tuesday. In another incident, the body of Kaptan (25) was allegedly found hanging at his house at Thana Kalan village, 12 km from here, on Tuesday. The police believes it to be a case of a suicide.

BILASPUR
CPM candidate: The district unit of the CPM, has decided to field its candidate from the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency and recommended the names of the three persons to its state committee for approval. This was decided at the meeting of the council presided over by Mr Shankar Singh Chandel here on Monday.

KULU
Demand: The three taxi operators unions in the district have demanded that the government should liberalise the procedure of issuing route permits and withdraw the hike in permit its fees. The unions also opposed the decision of the 10 per cent increase in the passenger tax every year and demanded that the route permits should be valid for a period of 15 years instead of 10 years.

SOLAN
Body recovered: The Kandaghat police recovered the body of a man on the Kalka-Shimla national highway, near Kiarighat, on Monday. According to the DSP, Mr Prem Thakur, the deceased seemed to have been crushed to death by a vehicle. A bus ticket of the Haryana Roadways and Rs 300 indicated that he had travelled from Delhi or some other nearby places were recovered from his pocket.

Regional Potpourri

State recognition for 2nd time

Dr Iqbal Singh Ahuja, a leading gynaecologist of Ludhiana, received state recognition for the second time when he was given the State Award for 1999 by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at the Independence Day Function in Jalandhar.

He was given the award for simplifying the technique of IVF, for invention of Invivo Technique in which the female egg is transferred from the unhealthy side of the uterus to the healthy side. Dr Iqbal named this technique Berryl Howlo Technique, after the name of his teacher and guide at CMC, Ludhiana.

Reportedly, Dr Iqbal also achieved a feet in keeping an embryo alive for eight days outside the uterus. The award consists of a gold medal and a cheque of Rs 11,000. "I will donate this money to the Army Welfare Fund."

Talking about Berryl Howle Technique, Dr Iqbal said: "It is a very important invention where a female egg can be transferred from an ovary that has a blocked tube to the other open tube thereby facilitating pregnancy."

"The award has bought a lot of honour and now it is my duty to do something in return. My aim in life is to bring a smile on faces of as many couples as possible who by some reason or the other can't produce children."

Dr Iqbal has received this award for the second time. His first state award was in 1992 when Chief Minister Beant Singh presented him the State Award for the first test tube baby of northern India.

Yoga gold medal

Mr M.L. Sharma, a yoga expert and a former employee of Himachal Pradesh University has achieved the rare honour of the university accepting the endowment fund instituted by him in memory of his wife.

The fund will be used for helping those meritorious yoga students, who will bag the top position in the diploma course in yoga being run by the university.

This is perhaps for the first time that the Himachal Pradesh University has granted recognition or has accepted such a fund,instituted by an individual to help the students. From the current session any student topping the HP University yoga course examination will be awarded with the "Mrs Bimla Sharma Memorial Gold Medal in Yoga Studies," out of a fixed amount of Rs 25000, deposited by Mr Sharma, a renowned yoga expert and who himself is a gold medal winner of the university, for this purpose.

Mr Sharma, who had also been honoured by the university with the title of "Yogadhish" is now settled at Jansooh village in Hamirpur district and is busy educating people about the benefits of yoga after retirement.

A neglected Ashram

Damtel Ashram in the foothills of Kangra district, 6 km from Pathankot, is built on a spur of the Shivaliks. The Ashram is surrounding by a grove of giant banyan trees. A 'deohri' built in the traditional Rajput style is the main entrance to the ashram. The temple inside the building has exquisite idols of Lord Rama, Lakshmana, Sita and Hanuman. This temple was built by Raja Jagat Singh of Nurpur around 1646. The audience hall is adorned with mural paintings in the famous Kangra style. Its lacquered roof is crumbling due to lack of proper maintenance.

The mural paintings depict anecdotes from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Krishna sporting with gopis and marriage of Rama are shown. In the corner there is a favourite theme of the Kangra artists, a lady with black buck standing under a willow tree. The black buck is the symbol of the absent lover.

The ashram is a double-storeyed building. On the first floor is the 'Rang Mahal' or painted palace built in 1860 and decorated with unique mural paintings. The incidents illustrated are from the Ramayana and contemporary life. An English man accompanied by his wife and seated in a staged coach drawn by four horses is also shown in one of the murals.

The ashram has been the seat of learning. Boys from poor families used to study Sanskrit and astrology free at this ashram, till a few years back. But this has been stopped now due to lack of proper management.

— Contributed by TNS, Varinder Singh and Rajiv Mahajan