The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Thursday, December 14, 2000,
Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

R E G I O N A L B R I E F S

Regional potpourri

First endoscopic neurosurgery in Punjab
Public intrusion into institute
Handlooms on their last legs?

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
EYE CAMP: The Rashtriya Seva Sangh will organise an eye camp at Gagranwala temple , Fatehgarh Churian, on December 17. Patients will be operated and provided medicines free of cost.

SELECTED: Dr Gurjeet Singh, Head, Department of Law, Guru Nanak Dev University, has been selected for one-month visit to Paris under the Indo-French cultural exchange programme

DEMANDED: The Committee For Coordination on Disappearances in Punjab has demanded an inquiry into the Mattewala bomb blast. It has alleged that the police was unnecessarily bothering residents of the area on the pretext of probing the matter.

MEMORIAL LECTURE: The second Hans Raj memorial lecture will be organised at the DAV College here on December 16. A former Chief Justice of India, Mr M.N. Venkatchaliah, will deliver a lecture on the occasion.

DONATED: The Lions Club of Faridabad donated hospital beds and other equipment to the All-India Pingalwara Charitable Society here on Monday. This was stated by Dr Inderjit Kaur, president of the society.

BATHINDA
DECLAMATION CONTEST: A declamation contest on hazards of drug abuse was organised at the Police Public School here on Tuesday by the district police and the school management. Kanika, Ramaiyya and Mahesh Kumar won first prizes in Hindi, English and Punjabi categories respectively. Dr Jatinder Kumar Jain, SSP, gave away the prizes.

BANNED: The use of unauthorised loudspeakers in the district has been banned. This was stated by Mr Jaspal Singh, District Magistrate, in a press note issued here on Tuesday.

FARIDKOT
URGED: The district unit of the Communist Party of India has urged the Central Government to form a comprehensive crop insurance policy to protect the peasantry from natural calamities in the country. This was stated by Mr Pawanpreet, general secretary of the party’s local unit, in a press note issued here on Tuesday.

HOSHIARPUR
DIED: Mr Harbans Singh (58) of Bassi Daulat Khan village succumbed to his injuries at the local Civil Hospital on Monday. He was admitted to the hospital after being hit by a scooter on Hoshiarpur-Phagwara road near the village. The scooterist, Amrik Singh of Sehjowal Mussa village, was also injured and hospitalised. The police has registered a case under Section 279/304 of the IPC in this regard.

ARRESTED: The police arrested two satta operators Ajay Kumar of local Committee Bazar and Karnail Singh of Bansi Nagar locality on Monday. A case under Section 13A/367 of the Gambling Act has been registered against them.

JAGRAON
demolition stayed: The division bench of Justice S.S. Sudhalkar and Justice Mehtab Singh Gill vide its order dated 11 December ordered to maintain status quo with regard to the shops situated at the Sherpur Road, Jagraon, in the civil writ petition No. 17005 of 200, Harbanslal vs Union of India. The Railway Ministry issued orders for the demolition of about 45 shops stating it to be an encroachment on the railway property. Whereas the petitioners alleged having built these petty shops about 30 years back and that too on the edge of the PWD road. Kanungo while trying to demarcate the exact position showed to be unable to do the same as its being densely populated area with no pucca mark. The next date of hearing is fixed for 18 December.

LUDHIANA
Lohri Mela: Krishan Kumar Bawa, Chairman of Malwa Sabhyacharak Committee, stated at a meeting held in Royal Resort, Rajguru Nagar, that Lohri Mela will be celebrated in the open air theatre of Punjabi Bhavan from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mr Pawan Diwan, President, stated that like earlier years, the committee will confer honours on deserving artists. These people will be given gold medal, momento and a shawl. The mela will be dedicated to Dulla Bhatti.

Orthopaedic Association: The quarterly meet of the Ludhiana Orthopaedic Association was held here on Tuesday in which two eminent orthopaedic surgeons from USA were invited to deliver lectures on ‘Knee Joint Replacement Surgery’ and ‘Arthroscopic Knee Surgery’. Dr Ananthakrishnan and Dr Firoz Yousafjee said knee joints were more prone to injury and degeneration. Joint replacement and arthroscopic surgery had helped millions of people in the world to lead a normal and healthy life. The general secretary of the association said that the LOA was holding quarterly meetings to discuss various aspects of orthopaedics and its benefits.

Park competition: In a ‘park competition’ held by the municipal corporation two days ago, Water Tank Park maintained by the Model Town Welfare Council won the ‘first prize, informed Prof. J. S. Bindra, the in charge of council. He , further said, that the council is soon going to set up a diagnostic centre on no profit no loss basis and the council is on a look out for a suitable place to start this centre. Failing to find a suitable premises, the council will construct a hall above their library building and try to start the centre as soon as possible. It will provide sonographic and MRI facilities.

seminar: A seminar on “role of combinations in homeopathy” will be organised on December 17, at Gitanjali Ladies club in which almost all the homoeopathic chemists of Northern India will take part. According to an official press note, the aim of the seminar is to highlight the efficiency and need of homoeopathic combinations in the changing modern times. About 25 leading homoeopathic manufacturers and publishers will display their products at the venue. The chief guest on the occasion would be Dr S.P.S.Bakhi, president, Central Council of Homoeopathy, New Delhi, and the event will be presided over by Dr Gurmeet Singh Dhingra, managing director, Dr Wellmans Homoeopathic Pharmaceuticals.

MALERKOTLA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Brahmin Sabha: president — Mr Vijay Rikhi; general secretary — Mr Ghanshyam Dass Parbhakar; secretary — Mr Arvind Bhardwaj; joint secretary — Mr Shivdeep Viveki; and treasurer — Mr Kamlesh Kumar Sharma.

KILLED: Gajjan Singh (80) was killed after being hit by a vehicle near Pohir village on the Malerkotla-Ludhiana road, 19 km from here, on Tuesday. He died on the way to hospital. The vehicle-owner managed to escape.

PATIALA
DEALERSHIP OPENED: The Kinetic Group of Companies opened its first dealership by CMPL Motors at Leela Bhavan Complex, Patiala, on Wednesday. The showroom was inaugurated by Ms Jayshree Firodia, wife of the CMD of the company. CMPL has a Kinetic showroom in Chandigarh for the past 12 years. Ms Firodia also announced that CMPL would be the first dealers to get Kinetic motor cycles for sale. This was stated in a press release of the CMPL.

SAMRALA
strike: All the offices and cash counters of the PSEB at Samrala and Machhiwara remained closed here on a token strike call given by the PSEB employees struggle committee, on Tuesday, however, no reports of any interruption in the power supply was received. PSEB employees took out procession in the main bazaar earlier and also organised a rally in front of local city subdivision. While addressing the gathering, speakers condemned the Power Act 2000 and demanded not to introduce in the winter session of the Parliament. Among others who addressed the rally were Surjit Vishad, Bhag Singh, Sikander Singh, Sangat Singh, Prem Singh and Jugal Kishore. Later a memorandum was submitted to the local SDM, Mr Sandeep Hans.

meeting: A meeting of citizens, councillors, reporters was called here on Tuesday by the newly joined SHO, Mr Gulzar Singh. He demanded cooperation to deal with the anti social elements seriously and also assured to take action against the young students who do not abide by the traffic rules. Among others who participated in the meeting were Mr Amar Nath Tagra, Councillor, Miterpal Singh Lovely, President of the Nagar Council and Com Bhajan Singh.

meeting HELD: First meeting of the subdivisional level grievances committee held here on Tuesday in the local BDO office presided by the SDM, Mr Sandeep Hans, and all the heads of the subdivision, the DSP, Mr Sushil Kumar, the SMO, Mr J.P. Singh, and the EO Mr Grewal, including Tehsil Welfare Officer and the Tehsildar, Mr Hari Singh. The problems of increased water rates and poor sewerage system, non-payment of shagan scheme money and bad condition of roads was discussed and Mr Sandeep Hans promised to solve their problems before the second meeting which was fixed in the second week of every month.

CHANDIGARH

SELECTED: Dr Avtar Singh Bimbraw has been selected as outstanding researcher by the research editors of the International Biographical Research Academy Publications, Bhuwaneshwar. His biography has also been selected in the eminent personality of 20th century. Eminent personalities of 20th century highlights the achievements of several personalities chosen from diverse fields.

DEATH CONDOLED: A condolence meeting of the SC\ST Welfare Federation, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh was held here under the chairmanship of Mr Amar Nath Sarhadi, its president, on Wednesday following the demise of Swaran Singh, a scheduled caste social worker. The meeting mourned the death of their leader and observed a two-minute silence as a mark of respect to the departed soul.

OPENED: The State Bank of India opened a health club at SBI Officers Flats, Sector 42, here on Wednesday. Mr T S Bhattacharya, general manager, Commercial Banking, SBI, Chandigarh Circle, inaugurated the club. According to a press release of the bank, all modern gadgets had been installed at the club.

AWARDED: Ms Vineeta Kashyap, an English lecturer at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 23, was awarded commendation certificate by the Census of India - 2001. She was awarded for her services rendered in the conduct of house listing operations of the census. The certificate was awarded to her by Mr Shyam Lal Goyal, director, Census Operations, UT Chandigarh. This was stated in a press note of the principal of the school.

BJP LEADER: Mr Ram Das Aggarwal, who has been appointed in charge of the Chandigarh and Haryana unit of the BJP, is likely to visit the city on Saturday. His visit is important in the light of the forthcoming election for the Mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh.

DRAW ON MONDAY: The Chandigarh Housing Board on Tuesday finalised that the draw of lots to allot 140 acres to 60 cooperative housing societies would be held at 10 a.m. on Monday at the UT guest house.

WEB SITE LAUNCHED : A website on Indian patriotism, www.iluvuindia.com, was launched at the Log-in Cyber Cafe here by Dr Sanjay Tyagi, additional director, Software Technology Parks of India, on Wednesday. The site has been designed to build a common forum through which all patriotic people can interact. One can express one’s opinion on the prevailing social, economic, cultural and civic situations in the country. This will also serve as a platform for the NRI’s to express their concern and feelings for India. An unsung hero section to pay homage to the soldiers who laid their lives in the freedom movement and at Kargil has also been included. Other features include facts about India, quizzes, poems and books written by eminent Indian writers. The site has been designed and developed by Ashu Dabra, Sachin and Dinesh Verma.

MEMBERSHIP OFFERED: The British Library is offering its membership from January 1. All those who are desirous to be a member of the library can apply. A workshop on teaching of spoken English will be organised on December 20. Approximately 50 persons will be imparted coaching. An exhibition on books will be held from December 16 to December 23. Books on different subjects will be available, according to Mr Sushanta Banerjee, library manager.

HARYANA

AMBALA
REPRESENTED: Miss Mandeep Kaur Sidhu, a lecturer in physics at Government Senior Secondary School, Ghanaur, represented Punjab at the 27th Jawahar Lal Nehru National Science Exhibition held at Alto-Porvorim, Goa under the guidance of principal, Mrs Satinder Pal Kaur, her brother, Mr Pradeep Sidhu said here on Wednesday.

DECISION WELCOMED: The Haryana College Teachers Association has welcomed the decision of the state government to provide pension facilities to the teachers of aided colleges of Haryana. Mr Pardip Sharma Sanehi, zonal vice-president of the association, said in a statement on Wednesday that the teachers were felling honoured on the decision taken by the government. He urged the government to direct the Education Department to release the pending salaries of the teachers.

LIQUOR SEIZED: The Ambala range police has seized 2400 country liquor pouches from the possession of Mittar Sain and Raj Kumar, in Yamuna Nagar, a release said.

KALKA
WOMAN DIED: A woman, Renu, died of burns and her husband was severely burnt while trying to save her on Tuesday night. Mr Sanjeev Kumar has been admitted to Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh. The police has registered a case.

KURUKSHETRA
KISAN CLUB MEETING: The monthly meeting of the Kisan Club was organised at the conference hall of mini secretariat here on Tuesday. The meeting was presided by the Deputy Commissioner, Mrs Jyoti Arora, who is also a patron of the club.

REWARI
TUBEWELLS: Around 160 tubewell connections were given to farmers of various villages in the district during the past one month by the Dakshin Haryana bijli Vitran Nigam. Besides, 23 industrial connections were also given to newly-established units. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner, Mrs Sumita Mishra, here on Tuesday.

SONEPAT
KILLED: Ram Chander of Sehri village was killed on the spot while getting down from a moving Haryana Roadways bus on the Gohana road here on Tuesday. The police has registered a case against the bus driver.

SUCCUMBED: A married woman of Garhi Kesri village, in the district, succumbed to her burn injuries. She had received the burns while working in the kitchen at her house on Tuesday.

BEATEN UP: Himanshu of Sector 15, a residential colony of HUDA, was allegedly beaten up by some youths at Ashok nagar area of the city on Tuesday. He sustained injuries and was hospitalised. The police is investigating the matter.

YAMUNANAGAR
CAUGHT: Four persons, Sharawan Singh, Naresh, Suleman and Dalip, were caught by officials of the Forest Department on the charge of smuggling kherwood from Kishanpura forest, about 30 km from here, on Monday. A case has been registered against the accused.

Regional potpourri
First endoscopic neurosurgery in Punjab

Dr Ajit Singh Randhawa, the famous neurosurgeon from Amritsar, has recently performed the first successful endoscopic neurosurgery brain operation in a private hospital in Punjab. Talking to newspersons, Dr Randhawa said a 45-year-old man was referred to him with complaints of severe headache and vomiting for 15 days and semi-consciousness for two days.

An MRI test of the brain was done. This showed that he was suffering from an isolated lateral ventricle, a condition in which a fluid called CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) is blocked, producing a progressive collection of fluid in his brain (hydrocephalus), thus endangering his life. To relieve this obstruction in the prevalent method, a pipe is put into the brain and the fluid is diverted to the abdominal cavity by a shunt operation. It leads to a number of complications.

But with the help of an endoscope, which was put into the obstructed area through a small hole in the skull, the two ventricles on both sides were successfully connected and the blockage was relieved. Thus the patient was spared a shunt operation.

Dr Randhawa further disclosed that minimally invasive surgery like endoscopic neurosurgery is now becoming popular for removing clots of patients with brain haemorrhage. For the treatment of hydrocephalus and for a variety of other brain disorders, such a facility will now be available in Amritsar at an affordable price as compared to cities like New Delhi and Mumbai.

Public intrusion into institute

The regional station of the Cotton Institute, a part of Krishi Gyan Kendra, Sirsa, occupies the pride of place in this town. Its green environs attract morning and evening walkers but this has seriously impinged upon the security and secrecy of the centre and residents.

The dearth of public parks in Sirsa forces residents to turn to the Cotton Research Farm for a stroll. Its huge expanse, lush green atmosphere and fresh air lures even those living on the fringes of this town. One can see a great deal of vehicles parked in the morning and evening.

The regional station may offer a change to town dwellers but for residents of this campus, scientists and staff members, it is of serious concern as this research centre has been turned into a public park. This development is threatening their personnel security as well as the secrecy of the institute. Through a complaint, they have requested the head the regional station to close the farm to pedestrians, as according to the rules, entry is allowed into the research centre only with permission. The head of the station says that he had earlier banned public entry twice, but the ban was never enforced strictly.

This incident has highlighted the shortage of public parks in the town. It is time the administration provides parks to residents and at the same time maintains the secrecy of the research institute.

Handlooms on their last legs?

The handloom industry, which constitutes 80 to 85 per cent of the weaver community in Himachal Pradesh, is on the verge of extinction. As a consequence, sheep and goat-rearing, once a popular family trade, has suffered a jolt.

A random survey in the Pragpur segment of Kangra district presents a dismal picture. The chinks in this fast-vanishing family trade are more pronounced in some of its prominent pockets — Pragpur, Upper Pragpur, Har Bagh, Garli, Rakkar, Beehan, Badhal Thore, Chanaur, Paniamal and Dada Siba, to name a few, with a majority of the weavers quitting this trade.

In Har Bagh alone, Sant Ram, Ghaseetu Ram, Roshan Lal, Kashmir Chand, Yog Raj, Ratni and Vidya, are pursuing the trade. “Weaving is very hard, laborious, besides being more exacting. The knitting of a five-metre length of ‘khaddar’ means an eight-hour sitting on the loom at a stretch. But the remuneration fixed by the state government is incredibly low at Rs 4.50 per metre for khaddar, while a five-metre long school mat fetches just Rs 18 even now.

The scenario is, by and large, the same in Upper Pragpur where, out of the 50-odd weaver families, 45 had been carrying on the trade for two decades. But now only six or seven families are just dragging on against oddities. “Even though the rates of almost all essential commodities of daily use have sky-rocketed, the remuneration approved by the state government remains the same as it was 15 years ago.” says Bishambri, a weaver from the area. With indignation writ large on her wrinkled face, she holds the state government responsible for bringing the handloom industry to the brink of extinction.

Mr Des Raj Raju, who owns a handloom sale outlet and handloom industry here, feels the demand for hand-woven khadi products has gone down in the face of stiff competition. There is demand for readymade garments, which keeps growing with each passing day, with no takers for khadi products.

The low government rate, lack of motivation, outmoded techniques, knowhow and proper infrastructure and, to cap it all, the younger generations opting out are some of the dominant reasons for the downfall of this family trade.

In order to save handloom industry, the state government should shun its step-motherly attitude against the trade, the earlier the better.

Contributed by Rashmi, Bhupinder Dharmani and Ramesh Dhiman