30 injured in mishap near Laddowal
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA July 30 — In all, 30 members of a family were injured, 18 of them seriously, when the four-wheeler in which they were travelling overturned near Laddowal, 10 km from here, today. The accident happened at about 11 am.

The family of Parkash Kaur was going to Balachaur near Hoshiarpur to participate in a religious ceremony. The families of Parkash Kaur's children and three of her brothers-in-law, Sada Ram, Mohan Lal and Gurmeet, had left their house in Sundar Nagar here in the morning. They had hired an open Tata 407 vehicle for the journey.

One of the injured persons, Darshan Lal, son of Parkash Kaur, said, "After the driver of the vehicle crossed Ludhiana, he began driving at over 90 km per hour. Several times I asked him to slow down, but he refused to listen to me."

The injured persons also said at least twice before the four-wheeler overturned, they had narrowly missed having head-on collisions with some other vehicles. Near the Fatehpur turn, barely 3 km before Laddowal, a Maruti car overtook the vehicle. The driver lost control and the four-wheeler turned over thrice.

All passengers sustained injuries and there was chaos on the GT Road. Another of the injured persons, Mohan Lal, said, "For at least 15 minutes after the accident, we waited on the road for help, but it did not come. It was then that a three-wheeler stopped by. Its driver asked all his passengers to alight and took the seriously injured persons to a hospital. He got five persons admitted to the CMC. In the meantime, the Laddowal police was informed of the accident. ASI Ajit Singh of the Haibowal Kalan police post arrived on the spot and took the other injured persons to hospital.

While most of the injured were discharged after being given the first-aid, 12 of the them are still in Civil Hospital here and five, including a brother of the driver of the four-wheeler, are in the CMC.

Persons who were injured in an accident near Laddowal on Sunday, in Civil Hospital, Ludhiana.

Protest against encroachments
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, July 30 — Residents of Nanak Nagri and many other localities around New Sabzi Mandi on the GT Road staged a dharna and obstructed traffic on the national highway for more than two hours to protest against encroachments in their areas by vendors and vegetable sellers.

The protest was led by the Councillor of the area, Ms Neelam Pathak, who accused the Municipal Corporation of inaction despite repeated pleas by residents of these areas. She alleged that traffic policemen were in league with the offenders.

The dharna and the traffic blockade created chaos on the highway and many vehicles were stranded outside the town. The traffic was restored after the Superintendent of Police (Traffic), Mr S.S. Bhatti, and the Joint Commissioner of the MC, Mr Harjinder Singh, arrived there and assured the protesters that the encroachments would be removed.

Talking to the Ludhiana Tribune, Dr Mohan Lal Pathak, Mr Bishan Das Jassi and many other residents of the area said the entrance to the colony remained virtually blocked always due to these encroachments. Every morning, school-going children and officegoers find it difficult to cross the lane and often get delayed.

Residents said encroachers not only misbehaved with residents, but also resorted to violence when they were asked to shift.

The Councillor, Ms Pathak said the protest would continue till the encroachments were permanently removed from the area.

Misplaced optimism about leprosy eradication
From Vimal Sumbly
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, July 30 — Contrary to the claims of the government about wiping out leprosy from Punjab, on an average about 30 such cases are reported every year from various parts of the state. While most of the leprosy cases have been reported from among the migrant labourers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, some local patients have also been found suffering from this disease.

Doctors revealed that the number of cases may not be increasing but leprosy was not on the decline. In fact the number of patients per year is almost the same as it used to be 10 to 15 years ago.

Giving details a senior doctor revealed that the pattern for treating leprosy cases had changed over the years. While earlier the patients were registered for a period varying from 3 to 15 years, now the patients were registered for a period of 1 to 2 years only.

The Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister, Dr Baldev Raj Chawla, has been claiming that leprosy has almost been eradicated from Punjab. He said, for the financial year 2000-2001, the government will be spending around Rs 15 lakhs on eradication of leprosy from the state.

Mr Chawla claimed the percentage of leprosy patients in Punjab was as low as .0016 per cent. He disclosed that anti-leprosy drugs were being distributed free of cost among the patients. He said, the government of India had launched a project for total eradication of leprosy from the country by next year. In this context leprosy societies have been set up in all the districts of the state.

The doctors have now been claiming that leprosy can be treated completely with timely treatment. They, however, are not optimistic about the government claims. They pointed out, leprosy was down but not out as yet in Punjab. They cited several examples of leprosy patients in the state.

According to various skin specialists dealing with leprosy cases the Punjabis are inherently resistant to leprosy. However, massive influx of migrant labourers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar increases the vulnerability of the local people. At the same time they said, it should not be generalised that each migrant labourer carries the risk of leprosy infection. It may exist in exceptional cases only and can be treated with timely treatment.

The doctors stressed that leprosy is now totally curable. However, the treatment takes relatively longer time. The treatment can last for two to three years after which the patient gets completely cured. They also clarified that although leprosy was a contagious disease, but it is not as contagious as it is said to be. The patients with this infection need not be isolated.

Referring to the symptoms, the patient’s skin gets dry and hair starts falling. In case any part of the skin gets insensitive, it should be referred to a skin specialist as it can lead to leprosy, because there is no loss of sensation in any other skin diseases, the doctors pointed out.

COMMUNITY

Cricketers, not cricket, lose appeal in town
From Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, July 30 — Who says that cricket is losing its mass appeal? Even after the match-fixing scandal, the number of persons interested in this game has not declined.

Those who disagree should visit any playground or vacant space in this town, especially on a Sunday, to witness how the game still generates interest among the youth. Not a single inch of space in any playfield is spared by players. In a normal-sized ground, 15 to 20 teams can be seen playing often.

The favourite playgrounds of the town are Moti Nagar, Dhuri Line, Government College ground, Dugri, Meharban, Civil Hospital ground, Daresi, old jail ground and Suffian Bagh.

Any small stretch of plain surface suffices for a batting strip if it does not intersect another pitch. However, it is normal for a bowlers' run up to cross a wicket on which some other match is being played. Onlookers wonder how fielders spot the ball in this chaos. It is also astonishing how players manage to concentrate while cricket balls are zooming past them from everywhere.

After the match-fixing scandal, the issue is widely discussed and it is taken for granted that the game has lost its charm. However, after meeting these youths, one can safely say that some players may have lost their mass appeal, but not the game.

“The cricket fever is still on,” says Manu, once an ardent fan of Kapil. “I have torn his photograph, but the game is still my favourite,” he says. The scandal has eclipsed the reputations of several players and has reduced their star value, but cricket remains popular as ever.

Harish, another mohalla player, said because of a few persons, the game could not be punished. He also said it was incorrect that the game had lost TV viewership. “Let the cricket season begin in September and the euphoria will be back,” he said.

Rishi still “eats and sleeps” cricket. Every Sunday, he is on the batting crease at one of the grounds in the town. “Have Pakistanis or South Africans stopped playing or watching cricket?” he says, “They were the one whose involvement in the scandal has been proved.”

These players say that because some players have been caught, the rest will play the game honestly now.

Cricketers at Daresi Ground, Ludhiana, carry on with the game as ever, belying the belief that cricket has lost its mass appeal after the match-fixing scandal. 

Education, healthcare can help
curb population growth
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, July 30 — Setting up a national agenda, providing good healthcare and mass education were some of the measures suggested at a seminar, organised here, for curbing the population growth in the country.

The seminar ‘Population Explosion: where we failed’, was organised by the Ludhiana chapter of the All India Integrated Medical Association. The speakers expressed concern over the alarming rate of population growth in the country and regretted that the issue was not being taken seriously.

Initiating the discussion, Dr Ravinder Vatsyayan said the issue of population growth had never been a priority with the successive governments in the country. In fact, he regretted, it had still not become a priority agenda. He pointed out that while the excesses during the emergency had brought a bad name to the family planning programme, the subsequent governments had not responded adequately to the issue.

Dr S.S. Johal, former Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala, emphasised the need for setting up a national agenda. He suggested that the issue should be considered by ignoring partisan interests. He pointed out that better education and good healthcare could help in curbing the population growth.

Suggesting a way out, Dr Johal said, India could adopt a middle path approach by considering the Chinese and Western models for curbing the population growth. He said while the Chinese model was compulsive and harsh, the Western model was persuasive and more humane. He pointed out that India could adopt a synthetic model of the two approaches. He also suggested bringing about a bill in the parliament for tackling the problem of population explosion.

Dr L.S. Chawla, former Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Medical Sciences, Faridkot, emphasised the need for mass literacy with the main focus on women. He said it was necessary to educate women for making the family planning programme a success.

Dr Chawla suggested a target oriented campaign for curbing the population growth. He pointed out that about 50 per cent population which had no access to communication avenues, were responsible for the growth in population. “We need to target this section of the society”, he suggested. He said the one child norm was not practicable as yet. However, he added, the two children norm could be successful and had already succeeded to a great extent.

A former advisor (health and family welfare), Planning Commission of India, Dr Harcharan Singh Chhina, stressed the need for a changed mind set. “We need a decisive change to deal with the problem”, he said, adding that so far the desired development had not been achieved. He regretted that several opportunities had been lost during the last 50 years.

Dr Chhina warned against the dangers of massive population growth which, he said, could shake the very existence of the country. He said, the focus needed to be on the problems of illiteracy, ill health and poverty. He said, “We need a thorough introspection and ask ourselves whether we have reacted with the desired concern or not”. He stated that although India was the first country in the world to officially adopt the family planning programme yet the desired results had not been achieved.

Member Parliament Lala Lajpat Rai, whose suggestion of a two year baby holiday triggered a lively debate in the Ludhiana Tribune, sought to clarify that he had been misunderstood. He said, he had not suggested a two year ban, but a voluntary baby holiday.

Expressing concern over the population growth, he said it can shake the very basis of the Indian economy. He pointed out, that population growth was directly related to economic development of the country and it was necessary to curb the growth.

He said every individual in the country needed to commit himself to the cause as then only the desired results could be achieved. He observed that the heads of various religious sects could play an important role by preaching about small families.

Faith helps kanwarias on their way

LUDHIANA, July 30 — Sawan has many references in the Hindu mythology. This month is dedicated to Lord Shiva and ends on a chadusi, a day before purnima.

There are innumerable tales of how Lord Shiva's fiery temper is cooled down by Goddess Parvati. In spite of this, Shiva, the destroyer, has followers all over the country.

Today, this correspondent met some Shiva devotees called kanwarias who were carrying behngis full of water on their shoulders. These behngis or slings were decorated attractively and covered by a satin yellow and red cloth embellished with gota and kinari.

Sonu, a Shiva devotee, said, "All kanwarias assemble in a group and travel to Hardwar on foot. After taking the holy dip in the Ganges, they fill two pitchers with the holy water from Har Ki Pauri. Then, the homeward journey begins, again on foot. The journey may be thousands of miles long, but these valiant devotees of Lord Shiva keep on walking."

Sonu and his party were of Ferozepore and had covered the distance in a week. They hoped to reach Ferozepore the next day. They said pilgrims from all over India travelled to Hardwar this month every year to fetch the holy water from the Ganges and pour it on Sivalingams. In Ludhiana, too, devotees took out a shoba yatra today and bathed the Sivalingam in Sanglawala Shivala in the interior of the city.

They believe that this pilgrimage will secure them a place in heaven. This journey is the ultimate test for them to please Lord Shiva.

After two persons have walked for six kilometres carrying behngis without stopping for a minute, two other members of the group take over. From experience, they know how much time they will take to return, so, they start accordingly. The further the distance, the earlier the journey begins.

Akash, another kanwaria, said he was going to Hardwar along with his 40 companions. His companion, Som, said, "We never get tired, we keep chanting Om Namah Shivaye and remain silent on the way. We have utmost respect for the holy water and do not put it down under any circumstance."

Tomorrow, after prayers, they will go to the Shiva temple and bathe Sivalingam with the holy water. It is a special day for them, as it is the end of their hard journey.

There are many persons in Delhi and on major highways who organise free food camps for them. Before they eat, they place their bhengis on a tree or some other thing, but not the ground.

Persons from Rajasthan join these yatras in large numbers. The journey is tough, but faith helps them overcome the obstacles. — A A

Dating is their first love
From Ruchika Mohindra
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, July 30 — Scene 1

Time : 11:30 a.m.

Place : A cinema hall on the Ferozepore road.

A young boy and girl, most likely in their early teens, stand hand-in-hand and ‘cootchie-cooing’ to each other, waiting for the ticket window to open for the next film show.

Scene 2

Time : 2:30 p.m.

Place : A fast food joint in the Sarabha Nagar market.

A young couple sip a cold drink together and oblivious of the snide looks of others dining there.

Scene 3

Time : 5:30 p.m.

Place : A temple in the Civil Lines area.

A girl walks with an older woman and pays obeisance, even as a young boy continues to convey something to her by using the sign language.

Scene 4

Time : 12 noon

Place:A cafeteria in Punjab Agricultural University.

A few couples are sitting on the benches and having a good time.

In the city, dating is definitely in with inhibitions crumbling down and boys and girls getting more comfortable with each other-beyond the norms upheld before.

Teenagers today are highly competitive, intelligent and street smart. They hate politics and drugs with a vengeance - but love to frequent discotheques and enjoy booze. And of course, dating is their first love.

Says Aparajita Saxena, a 16- year-old cherubic teenager, “Generally people have misconceptions about dating and consider it a passion meant only for 'fast' girls and boys. It is actually an important part of our socialisation process where boys and girls come together as friends, to find our prospective life partners if things work out smoothly.”

She feels that going on dates adds a zing to the otherwise monotonous life.

Interestingly, while a peck on the cheek and casual flings are quite a common accurance, going steady with a date and also getting physical is something that is not quite unheard of.

Ramandeep Singh(19), a commerce student in a city college says, “We are out to have fun-change and variety being the main requirements. This is the reason that going steady with someone during your teen years is a foolish thing, more so at the cost of your future plans.”

Affairs proliferate like viruses and die our fast. Hence the number of girlfriends and boyfriends one has speaks of his popularity amongst the opposite sex. Interestingly a 20 years old, not wishing to go on record, told TNS, “Many a times affairs begin mainly to bolster one's ego and to rise in the eyes of the peer group.”

Interestingly, most teenagers admit that the criteria for selecting a date partner are the physical attributes of the partner. "Physical attractiveness of a partner is what clicks in the first place; the mental compatibility can be judged only after the initial physical currents get you close," says Aparajita.

Another change which is seen is in the selection of dating places. Whereas earlier teenagers used to go to secluded places where there was no chance of being seen or recognised, they now go to posh restaurants.

Parents, on their part, bestow liberties on their children like allowing late nights out and granting hefty pocket money, which has hastened this metamorphosis. They themselves no longer regard dating as taboo. As Mrs Rupinder Kaur, mother of a teenage son says, “Teenagers these days are quite smart and teach us a thing or two about life.”

Remembering Udham Singh

IN the history of our country’s freedom struggle Udham Singh holds a place of prominence for his exceptional courage, bravery, spirit of patriotism, and the supreme sacrifice of his life for avenging the ruthless killing of a thousand of unarmed and peaceful Punjabis by British troops at Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, on April 13, 1919. On this day, the people of the city of Amritsar and its nearby villages has assembled in the bagh to celebrate Baisakhi as well as to register their protest against the arrest and deportation of their leader, Dr Kitchlew and Dr Satyapal. The tyrannical regime of the British headed by Sir Michael O’ Dwyer, Lt-Governor of Punjab, ordered Gen Dyer to open unprovoked, unnoticed, and indiscriminate firing in which the innocent people were brutally massacred. Such a tragic event in unheard-of in the annals of history. In an official report on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre it has been rightly stated that ‘the O’ Dwyer-Dyer axis not only demoralised the patriotic sons and daughters of Punjab but also enacted horrifying cold-blooded scenes which made the iron into the souls of all Indians who took a vow not to rest till the British imperialists are not ousted from India.

Udham Singh, who was a witness to such a grave and tragic event, took a solemn pledge to punish Sir Michael O’ Dwyer under whose orders atrocities were committed on the people, their leader were arrested and jailed and the agitation against the dictatorial regime of the British were crushed by inflicting severe injuries on the peace-loving people of Punjab.

Since Udham Singh had vowed to kill both O’ Dwyer and Dyer he met Bhagat Singh to evolve a strategy. He first left for Afghanistan where from he went to Africa. From there we went to America. Responding to the message of Bhagat Singh he returned to India but was arrested and jailed for four years for possessing illegal arms and ammunition. After his release in 1932 Udham Singh escaped to London where he joined an engineering college. He did all this to achieve his mission of killing both Dwyer and Dyer. Since Dyer died in 1927, only Michael O’ Dwyer was his target.

In a special despatch on the killing of Sir Michael O’ Dwyer, Mr James Brian, a London-based writer of Ireland writes that ‘one day while in London Udham Singh saw a notice in India office announcing a meeting to the East India Association in conjunctions with the Royal Cultural Asian Society at Caxton Hall, where Percy Sykes was to speak on Afghanistan and Lord Zetland was to be present along with O’ Dwyer. Udham Singh had managed to get some arms and ammunition by then. So he decided that it is must for him to be present in the meeting.

It was March 13, 1940, at Caxton Hall after Sir Percy Sykes had spoken, the meeting was addressed by O’ Dwyer, Sir Louis Dane and Lord Lamington. All of them were in the front row. Udham Singh was standing in the gangway on the right side of the hall. He moved quickly as soon as the meeting was over. He fired with precision and at close range. Sir Michael O’ Dwyer was seen falling, with Udham Singh standing close to him. Lord Zetland was laid down on the floor. Sir Louis Dane and Lord Lamington were also injured. Udham Singh made no effort to escape. His revolver was emptied of all six bullets. Three persons — Claud Wyndham, Harry Riches and Captain Burnstrad — caught hold of him, and his revolver handed over to the police. The bullets which killed Dwyer were shot from a very close range. The medical report mentioned that Dwyer had died of two bullet wounds on the right side of the back of his chest. Udham Singh was committed to trial in June, 1940, before Justice Atkinson and was awarded death sentence. He was removed to Pentoville prison, where on July 31, 1940, he embraced the gallows with pride. Udham Singh, thus, fell martyr to the dignity and honour of the people of his homeland.

Udham Singh was born on December 26, 1899, in a poor Kamboj family of Sunam, an important town of the erstwhile princely state of Patiala. While his mother died when he was just two-year-old, his father died when his age was barely seven years. Since he and his brother, Sadhu Singh, were rendered orphans they were admitted to Central Khalsa Orphanage, Putligarh, Amritsar. When he passed his intermediate examination, his only brother died at the age of 15. Udham Singh was so much moved by all these tragedies that he turned emotional as well as slightest injustice to any human being. Despite this, he was determined to teach O’ Dwyer such a lesson which the administrators of his type could never forget and thus may not dare even the least to indulge in ghastly acts like the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

As in other spheres, Punjab led India in the matter of making sacrifices for the country’s emancipation from the foreign yoke. Unfortunately, at the present juncture we are away from the path shown for us by our martyrs like Udham Singh. Instead of cementing the unity of India and strengthening communal ties, we have begun to fight on trifles, forgetting that our welfare lies in facing emerging challenge as a unified nation. Our martyrs have entrusted to us the task of safeguarding our hard-won freedom at all costs. Let us not betray them by our short-sightedness.

— J.S. Bedi

Ludhiana Rotary chief installed
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, July 30 — Mr Arun Jain, district governor of the Rotary International, has called upon all the Rotarians to rededicate themselves for the uplift of society. He was addressing a function organised in connection with the installation ceremony of the new president of the Rotary Club Ludhiana Central.

Mr Jain appreciated the role of Rotarians in helping the poor and needy. He lauded their contribution in helping to manage the Krishna Charitable Hospital. He stressed the need for adopting more and more such programmes to help humanity.

He drew the attention of the Rotarians towards the problems of unemployment, rising population and environmental degradation.

Earlier Mr M P Singh took over as the president of the Rotary Club Ludhiana Central, while Harpreet Singh Kharbanda was installed secretary of the club.

Listing the programmes to be taken up during the forthcoming year Mr Kharbanda said, the club would be adopting children for free education, besides rehabilitating some poor and needy children. The club would also provide scholarships to handicapped, poor and needy children, besides launching plantation drives and distributing free medicine.

It would also focus on youth and sports activities, organise AIDS awareness seminars, free medical check-up camps and polio treatment camps.

About the last year’s activities, the outgoing president Mr Anil Jain and secretary Sushil Singla said, the club organised sapling plantation camps, pulse polio camps and several other cultural programmes.

Towards peaceful coexistence

When the Indian politicians, strategists and intelligentsia were occupied in debating nuclear tests at Pokharan, Pakistan undertook a tit-for-tat action which sent the so-called intelligent debaters into a tailspin. It is a fact that both India and Pakistan are faced with a serious economic situation and the problem of overpopulation. The nuclear tests do not warrant embarking upon massive military measures by the two countries . The threat perceptions to India’s sovereignty have long been identified and the mischief in which China has been engaged during all these years is a known fact.

There is no doubt that the BJP has tried to draw political mileage out of the Pokharan nuclear tests. But it is also a fact that the Congress government could not muster enough courage for carrying out such tests even though it was fully aware of what was going on around India. Incidentally, the Congress during its rule has always chosen to remain indecisive on vital issues unless it was sure of deriving power. A concrete example of its indecisiveness is the Partition of the country which it has been trying to justify by putting a facade of secularism on the two-nation theory. Its dithering on the issue of the Babri Masjid has been the cause of growth of the BJP.

One fails to understand as to why we did not raise a hue and cry when China exploded nuclear devices. The protests, if any, were muted. And we did not decide to go nuclear at that time is a proof of the fact that we have been painfully lacking in political will. Preference for power to general good of the country and its people has been the bane of our political set-up. Such dithering and the tendency to keep self interests before the countrys, has brought us to such a sorry pass. Afterall, for how long could we have postponed the tests and allowed others to twist our arms. China’s evil designs were registered as early as in 1949. But unfortunately our rulers continued to conceal this fact from the Indian public and continued to accord lowest priority to the defence by deploying the armed forces for agriculture and house building. The result was a humiliating defeat of our forces at the hands of the Chinese.

We should not bother whether or not Pakistan’s atomic tests were true. We have demonstrated that we have acquired a deterrent so vital for the security of the country and it should remain as a deterrent. We should not be afraid of anyone. We can thus coexist with a nuclear Pakistan as a neighbour. In due course of time, the Chinese may realise the potential of India and Pakistan and stop its mischievous role. Afterall, France and the UK on one hand and Russia and China on the other, all nuclear powers are co-existing.

The first step towards coexistence should be to recognise the importance of each other’s security concerns. The two countries must also shed the hangover of the Partition. A nuclearised Pakistan and India should not act as a menace to each other. Instead, the achievement should be converted into an opportunity of peace and prosperity for the people of both countries. The coexistence will thus flower into an economic miracle which will serve as an example for others.

— Lieut-Col C.S. Dhilon (retd)

FLAVOUR OF THE MONTH

The rain that lashed the city on the first of this month was lapped up greedily by the parched earth. But it did not rain regularly, leaving ‘mother earth’ thirsty for more rain. In Ludhiana, a funny phenomenon was observed. If it rained in Transport Nagar, it didn’t rain in the suburbs and vice-versa. The first heavy rain put life out of gear. Some houses collapsed, leaving a few dead. Then it rained only moderately for the rest of the month. But anyway the trees on the road-side shone a fresh after they were washed by the rains.

The release of four films, Refugee, Josh, Jungle and Papa the great, proved to be damp squids. Refugee and Josh, after the initial hype and rush, proved non-starters. The other film, “Jungle’, could not be successful at the box office in spite of Urmila’s performance. The T-Series home production, Papa the great, with their own hero, Kishan Kumar, and Nagma, as expected didn’t cause a single ripple.

The “Kale Kacchewale” struck again, spreading a lot of terror in the city, looting and killing. Some car thieves and thieves operating at the railway station were rounded up by the police. The usual minor and petty crimes mere reported from different parts of the city.

Rains always bring an increase in the prices of both fruits and vegetables. Prices fluctuate according to the amount it rains. More rains means an increase in prices as the transport systems get disrupted. The price of tomatoes fell from Rs 40 to Rs 20 a kg whereas jamuns varied between Rs 80 to Rs 40 a kg. The residents of the city had a wide variety of fruits to chose from. There were fruits like mangoes, apricots, jamuns, pears, apples and lovely water-melons from Bangalore. Earlier, one could never find mangoes and water-melons at the same time.

The fashions did not have a chance to change as the weather remained mostly hot and humid. There is a saying: “The rays of the sun of Sawan are equally sharp as the stinging words of a step-mother to the step child”. Prickly heat bothered a lot of people. Cool voiles and soft khadi were preferred, though on a rainy day, drip-dry clothes were popular. The cool colour blue, in all its shades-indigo, aquamarine, inky, royal blue was preferred to other colours. White, beigs, and limegreen were seen to be equally in favour.

There were a spate of activities as all the institutions like schools, colleges and courts, reopened after the summer vacation. There was a rush for admissions in the colleges and at PAU. The hustle and bustle in the city increased manifold. Most of the clubs had an ‘installation ceremony’ for their new members. Fashion shows by NIFD and other ladies’ clubs got a good response. There were many functions organised by the educational institutes too.

Cases of viral fever were reported. Water borne diseases like jaundice, dysentery were quite widespread as well. However, not many malaria cases were reported.

The devotees of Lord Shiva thronged the temples, specially on Mondays, to pour water on the Shivlings. Many havans were performed to appease Lord Shiva, the destroyer in the Hindu Trinity. The havans were followed by bhandaras.

Nothing really outstanding happened to set the Satluj on fire. The first July of the millennium was really quite ordinary. — AA

Challenges for modern dairy farming
From Surbhi Bhalla

The future of India’s dairy Industry will be high-technology oriented. However, its base will continue to be in the hands of a large number of small rural masses.

India ranks second in the world, after the USA in milk production. According to reports, the annual milk production is 74 million tonnes, which has shown a progressive increase.

The fact remains that over a period of time the increase in milk production has been particularly due to increase in the number of animals rather than increase in the productivity of an animal. Export of our milk and milk products such as milk powder and butter hardly accounts for 0.05 per cent of the world share.

Dairy farming plays a vital role in the country’s agricultural economy. The live stock sector output in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is about 9 per cent.

The per capita milk consumption in the recent years has increased over a period of eight years. According to the Naitonal Health organisation, the per capita availability should be 283g per day. Today, the major constraint in milk consumption is not only limited production of milk but the low purchasing power of a majority of people.

According to Mr Man Singh Gill and Dr J.R Kaushal’s report, a majority of animals are of low genetic merit with longer ages at first calving (36-50 months and lengthy intercalving period (18-24 months.)

Chronic shortage of feeds, fodder and inadequate health covers have lowered the productive capacity and fertility of animals. Apart from poor breed, low milk yields, food shortages and health, there are problems of shortage and lack of facilities to process the milk.

Most of the Indian cattle are not economically suitable for dairy farming. On an average, an Indian cow yields 930 kg milk in a lactation of 305 days as compared to 3900 kg milk in Denmark, 4150 kg milk in the USA, and 3950 kg milk per cow in the UK.

The low milk yield is due to poor productive potential of our dairy animals.

Crossbreeding experiments have indicated that 50 per cent exotic inheritance is ideal for growth.

In our country exotic dairy breeds of Frisian, Jerry, Brown, Swiss and Red Dane Bulls are used for breed improvement of indigenous cows.

Buffaloes continue to be major source of milk and this accounts for more than 50 per cent of the total milk production of our country.

The situation of milk yield with buffaloes is slightly better than cows with an average of 1150 kg milk per lactation.

In India buffalo breeds of good genetic potential are Murrah, Nilli Ravi, Jaffrabsadi, Sutri and Nagpuri. Murrah and Nilli Ravi are best milk per lactation. They are known to be good converters of fibrous foods (low grade) into high quality milk containing 7 per cent fat.

The shortage of feeds and fodders and their poor nutritive value has affected the milk production of dairy animals.

The importance of green fodders in economical milk production is well recognised. However, one constraint is their limited availability. For example, an animal in Punjab requires 45 kg of green fodder daily but its availability is only 15 kg per day. So, there is need to produce more green fodders.

Recent scientific developments have concentrated mainly on boosting the nutrient availability in crop residues, agro-industrial by products which can form major source of energy and protein in the food of dairy animals. One step in this direction is upgrading the nutritive value of cereal straws by impregnation with urea-molassesor urea solutions. These two methods increased the CP content of straws to about 10 per cent and they can solely be fed to animals as maintenance ration. The preparation of uromin-licks containing minerals, urea and molasses is the best way of feeding urea to dairy animals.

Besides increasing milk production (5-6%), uromin-lick plays vital role in improving reproductive efficiency. Another method available at commercial level is the preparation of Uromol/Uroban a heated urea-molasses bran product.

Mortality and mordibity through diseases are causing heavy economic losses in the dairy production. We will have to look towards containment, control and to some extent the eradication of epidemics of dairy animals like Rinderpest, Black quarter, Haemorrhagic Septicaemiq.

There is introduction of automatic milking and milk testing machines to boost milk quality, mobile cooling tankers to revolutionise milk preservation. The technologies already developed and tested in fields for breeding, feeding and management must reach the farmers.

BUSINESS

Gold jewellery losing its sheen
Tribune News Service.

LUDHIANA, July 30 — The overall recession gripping the industry for the past some time seems to have had its impact on the local jewellery market as well. The jewellers claim that the business has come down by about 25 per cent. Ludhiana with a potential affluent class fond of spending lavishly has a prosperous jewellery market.

According to Mr Naresh Jain, a jeweller, the craze for gold jewellery was unabated, but lack of extra resources discourage people from spending on ornaments. He pointed out that the jewellery business usually is at its peak during the marriage season, however this time the season offered no relief. He said the marriage season did not continue for more than a few days. He, however, expressed hope that the business would pick up after August 15.

Another jeweller in Sarafa Bazar said that the craze for diamond jewellery had not diminished but the clientele was limited obviously for the reason that diamond is expensive. Talking about the current trends in the gold jewellery he informed that jewellery, with black polish and radium polish (copper and platinum polish) was very popular. “Kundan jewellery has again made a comeback during this season and more and more customers are opting for it, particularly when it comes to buying heavy jewellery”, he added.

Most of the gold jewellers were of the opinon that the business had not suffered due to the arrival of branded gold jewellery in the market. A jeweller on the Mall Road said that initially the business had suffered when branded gold jewellery like Tanishq hit the market, but the high prices, brought the customers back to local jewellers.

Jewellery weighing between 60 and 80 grams was generally preferred, when buying for personal use, but gift items were preferred with weight between 20 and 30 grams.

More or less the constant price of gold for quite some time has also contributed to a slump in the market. In case of sharp or marginal fall in the gold prices, people rush for purchases. This has also made things difficult for the jewellers.

Converting cassettes into CDs his forte

Ricky Bindra, a local studio owner, specialises in converting cassettes into C.Ds. Necessity and circumstances made him choose this line as his old business of lending video cassettes and video library petered out due to the invasion of cables.

Ricky had moved from Mumbai to Ludhiana to find his roots. At that time he was in his early twenties and did not have much experience of any business. He started video repairs in one room of his house and was doing well and gradually started his video lending library, and when it failed, took up video recording of marriages and still photography.

Due to a lot of competition he faced an uphill task. One day he chanced to see a movie on a CD player. He was amazed at the clarity and good sound and that set him thinking.” If one can record a movie on a CD then why can not one record a marriage or any other function on a CD,” he thought to himself.

So his search for a machine that could convert cassettes into C.Ds started. There have been rapid advances in electronics as he discovered that cassettes’ magnetic field was not so effective as digital field of C.Ds. C.Ds lasted for 50-60 years and had no fear of the spool getting spoilt, no fear of moisture ruining the picture and reduction of picture and sound after playing it for a number of times which, people generally do. C.Ds on the other hand, kept ones’ precious moments safe and for a longer period even after repeated playing. Their clarity and sound was much better than cassettes. They were superior to cassettes in every way.

He was not strong financially at that moment. He took a calculated gamble to purchase a very expensive machine which converted cassettes into C.Ds. He had to run around a lot to Bombay as well as Delhi to find a machine at competitive price. He arranged for a loan and plunged into this latest venture with a ‘do or die’ spirit.

As usual, when one is determined to achieve success, one gets it, if one persists. Ricky had to face many disappointments in the beginning as none of his clients wanted their cherished memories to be destroyed. They were vary of the idea of conversion from cassettes into C.D.s. Moreover, most of the customers said, “We have no C.D. players at home.” But Ricky says,” I continued, in spite of my initial disappointments; gradually people saw for themselves the advantages of a C.D. over cassettes. So the orders started pouring.”

“I thank God for helping me,” Ricky says. A deeply devout man, he has established his business once again. He offers free conversion of wedding cassettes or cassettes of any function into C.D.s. Ricky says, “It is all legal as we are not duplicating any movie”. — AA

HEALTH

Bael : a boon for intestines

THE famous bael tree [Sanskrit- Bilva, Botanical-Aegle marmelos ] is found in the sub-mountainous regions and plains all over India. It has strong axillary thorns with leaves in a set of threes. Since time immemorial bael leaves have been used as an offering to Lord Shiva. With the onset of summer season, the bael trees start bearing round fruits. Initially, these unripe fruits are green and soft with yellowish green pulp. But as the rainy season approaches, they are ripened to turn into hard shell like balls which are mostly yellow in colour.

Almost all parts of the bael tree such as the root, leaves, and skin of the tree have their distinct medicinal value, but it is the fruit, which is mostly used for this purpose. The pulp of the bael fruit contains mucilage, pectin, sugar, tannin and volatile oils. The wood ash contains potassium and sodium compounds and the fresh bael leaves, on distillation, yield an aromatic oil.

The ripe bael fruit is nutritious and laxative, whereas the unripe fruit is astringent and digestive. The ripe fruit regulates the bowels and is very useful in chronic diarrhoea and dysentery, particularly for patients who complain of diarrhoea alternating with spells of constipation. It also has anti-inflammatory and liver stimulant properties. The bael leaves decrease the frequency of urine and are also used as anti-diabetic agent. Here are a few tips to use bael as a remedy in a variety of diseases.

In case of loose motions and constipation, taking the sharbat of ripe bael fruit is of great help. Besides its soothing effect it also regulates the movement of the bowels. In dysentery and when the patient is passing blood and mucous with the stool, the pulp of unripe bael fruit is given with a pinch of roasted jeera powder. Added with a teaspoon full of isapgol husk it helps the patients who pass more than two but incomplete stools in a day. The bael murabba is also a household remedy to control the various symptoms of the irritable bowel syndrome.

The root of bael tree is known for its anti-inflammatory and sedative action. It is used in anxiety-related tachycardia and insomnia . The famous Dashmool which contains root of the bael tree has also been used in Indian homes since ancient times. It cures the non specific uterine swelling and also helps to treat various post-delivery complications.

Regularly taking a paste of five to ten bael leaves empty stomach is very beneficial for diabetics. It is also very helpful in controlling problem of polyurea.

For the purpose of dry powder, the unripe bael fruit should be used. For the murabba it is taken as half ripe and if sharbat is the choice then it is better to take ripe bael fruit.