R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

• On mission to restore vision
• When passengers are sitting ducks
• Bhuntar’s ‘killer chowk’
  
  
  

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
AWARENESS CAMP: The Youth Welfare Club of Ramdas organised a youth awareness camp at Brahmi Sabha in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (Nehru Yuva Kendra) to create awareness among the rural youth regarding AIDS and drug addiction. A social worker and Khalsa College governing council member, Mr Daljeet Singh Sandhu, inaugurated the camp.

SEWING MACHINES: The Mayor, Mr Brij Mohan Kapoor, on Tuesday, presented 25 sewing machines to needy women at the Hukam Chand Colony here. The Chheharta BJP district chief, Mr Om Parkash Kalia, and other councillors were present on the occasion. Earlier these women were given training regarding buying, stitching, selling and business format of textiles. Till now, 500 persons under the Swarn Jayanti Rozgar Scheme had been trained in textile management.

TRADERS DISAPPOINTED: Traders and business establishments are disappointed over the budget presented by the Punjab Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, said Mr Amrit Lal Jain, president of the Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal. In a statement, the mandal sought abolition of octroi as stated by the Akali BJP coalition in their election manifesto.

BATALA
DHARNA HELD: The city Congress Committee staged a dharna on Tuesday at Gandhi Chowk here in protest against the Central Government for not registering a case of corruption against the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes and others involved in the issue. Mr Ashwani Sekhri, a former MLA, led the dharna and addressed Congress persons.

BATHINDA
SCHOOL FUNCTION: The demand of residents of the trans-railway colonies would be fulfilled as soon as work on railway over-bridge starts next month. This was stated by Mr Chiranji Lal Garg, Minister for Science and Technology, Punjab, while presiding over a school function in Gopal Nagar of the city on Monday.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
POLLUTION CONTROL: Mr B.S. Sudan, the Deputy Commissioner here, directed officials of the Punjab Pollution Control Board to check and stop the use of furnace oil and charcoal in industry which has been causing pollution in Mandi Gobindgarh. He gave the orders during the monthly progress meeting of district officers at Bachat Bhavan here. He also directed the Civil Surgeon here to ensure attendance of para medical staff and doctors in rural areas.

FEROZEPORE
ELECTED: The following were elected office-bearers of the RSD College Teachers Union: president — Prof D.K. Arora; vice-president — Prof Rajinder Gupta; secretary —Prof S.L. Rudra and finance secretary — Mr Ashok Jindal.

HOSHIARPUR
FATAL FALL: Baldev Singh (45), resident of Rapur village, died on the spot on Monday when he fell down from a tractor on which he was travelling from Himachal Pradesh to Hoshiarpur. The Mukerian Police has registered a case against Ajay Kumar, tractor driver, under Section 304-A and 279 of the IPC.

SUCCUMBED: Sushil Kumar of the local Mohalla Islamabad succumbed to his injuries at DMC Ludhiana on Monday. He was seriously wounded when his hero puck slipped near Chohal due to which he fell down.

LOK ADALAT: As many as 6,889 cases have been reported in 62 Lok Adalats in the district, out of which 5,735 were disposed of and a compensation of Rs 10,22,51,664 was released to the aggrieved parties. This was disclosed by Mr I.R. Roozam, District and Sessions Judge-cum-Chairman of the District Legal Services Authorities, in a special meeting here on Monday. He further said legal services authorities had given free legal aid to 1,214 persons so far.

SHAGUN SCHEME: Ms Mohinder Kaur Josh, State Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Punjab, has provided cheques of Rs 5,100 each to 75 needy persons under the Shagun scheme after inaugurating a senior secondary school at Sandhran village, about 20 km from here, on Monday.

JAGRAON
PADDY STOLEN: The local police has arrested Gurtej Singh of Nathipura village and took into possession 170 bags of paddy and a truck (PAT-3144). The paddy belonged to the FCI and was stored at his brother’s open complex. A case has been registered under Sections 380, 48 and 149 of the IPC at Jagraon police station.

JALANDHAR
TELEPHONE BILLS: For convenience of telephone subscribers, the Telecom Department has decided to accept telephone bills at its Nakodar Chowk office and Phagwara on March 24 and 31, Mr K.C. Jindal, General Manager (Telecom), said in a press note issued here on Tuesday.

PARTICIPATED: Dr S.P.S. Virk, a renowned embryologist, participated in learning initiative for fertility experts symposium held at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia on March 10.

CONSUMER PROTECTION DAY: The District Food and Civil Supplies Department organised a function to mark the “International Consumer Protection Day” at the local Red Cross Bhavan here on Tuesday. Mrs Simarjot Kaur, District Food and Supplies Controller, said consumers should utilise the district, state and union-level consumer protection forums for speedy and cost effective redressal of their complaints.

LUDHIANA
HISTORY EXAM: Much confusion over the ‘‘real’’ syllabus of history for Class X students appearing in the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) ended this morning after the paper was conducted. Till time the students and teachers saw the paper, they were worried whether the paper would be set from the new books or those printed last year. Students of majority of the schools had prepared for the test from the new as well as the old syllabus as the board authorities had not given any clear directions regarding the syllabus. While the paper was set from the new syllabus, some of the guess papers for the history examination available on Tuesday in book shops had added to the confusion as they gave questions from the old syllabus. However, after a sleepless night, most of the students and teachers were satisfied with the questions asked in the test as they said that the paper was easy and all the questions were from within the syllabus.

INAUGURATED: The Shiromani Akali Dal (B) Vice-President, Mr Amarjit Singh Bhatia, has reiterated the commitment of the SAD-BJP government in Punjab to usher the state in a new era of peace, development and prosperity. Addressing a function after inaugurating a road, constructed at a cost of Rs 13 lakh, to connect Issa Nagri Puli with Ram Nagar Puli in Ward No. 51 in the city, he claimed that the government had accelerated the pace of development and massive central and private investment had been made in several big projects in Punjab during last four years. The area councillor Mr. Kulwant Singh Dukhia, while speaking at the occasion, focussed on the ongoing development works and gave details of other works to be taken up in near future.

TRAINING COURSE: A two-day training course in “Paediatric advanced life support” will be organised by the Indian Academy of Paediatrics on March 24. Dr Rajinder Gulati, general secretary of the district branch of IAP, said renowned paediatricians, not only from Punjab but from Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, will be attending the training programme. In case of emergency, advanced life support techniques and methods would be told during the course, he added. Dr (Ms) Rajinder Kaur, Civil Surgeon, will be the guest of honour during the inaugural function. Dr Surinder Likhi, president of the Ludhiana branch of IAP, said the teaching faculty include five eminent paediatricians including one each from Jammu and Delhi and three paediatricians from Ludhiana. Dr Daljit Singh, professor and chief, Department of Paediatrics, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, will be the course Director.

CAMP: Over 453 patients were examined and 38 patients suffering with various eye diseases were operated during a free eye camp organised by the Gurdwara Management of Dhalia village. The camp was inaugurated by Ms Santosh Kataria, Senior Medical Officer, Pakhowal. Ms Kataria said such camps were the best way to serve the humanity. The operations were performed by Dr Ramesh, Director, Eye Bank Mansuran. Another such camp will be organised at Kamalpura (Jagraon) village on March 24.

MS PUNJABAN: Nearly 50 MA II (Punjabi) students of the Government College for Women were bid adieu at a function held here on Wednesday. A cultural programme was organised by the students of first year. Harpreet of MA I sang Aapan doven rus gaye taan manau kaun. Dilpreet Kaur danced on a Punjabi number, Dupatta tera sat rang da. Besides, several games were also arranged for the outgoing batch. More than 15 girls of the final year participated in a fashion show. Vimaljit Kaur was chosen Ms Punjaban, Prabhjot Kaur was chosen the first runner-up and Gagandeep Kaur won the second runner-up title. Ms Inderjeet Vashisht, Principal, and Prof Amarjit S. Dua, Head of the Punjabi Department, wished the outgoing students good luck.

BLACK DAY: Reacting strongly to the burning of the Quran at Amritsar and the incident of throwing of pig meat into the Jama Masjid there by some miscreants this morning , Maulana Habib-ur-Rehman, Shahi Imam of Ludhiana, declared that Muslims all over Panjab would observe March 23 as a black day to protest against these acts of sacrilege. An emergency meeting of prominent Muslims of the town was held under the aegis of Indian Muslim Council at Jama Masjid in Field Ganj here this morning which was presided over by the Maulana. It said certain elements wanted to disturb the peace of Punjab but the Muslims living in the state would not allow it to happen. The meeting also urged the Punjab Government to immediately arrest the miscreants. It was unanimously resolved at the meeting that black flags be put up at all mosques in the state on March 23 to mark the protest of the entire Muslim community. It was also decided to take out a mammoth public march in Ludhiana city that day to the Deputy Commissioner’s office and submit a memorandum to him.

IT QUIZ: Two students of B. Tech namely, Mr Jitin Khera and Varinder Dhadwal of the college of Agricultural Engineering, PAU, have bagged first position in IT Quiz at Pecfest 2001 held at Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, from 16th to 18th March,2001. The theme of the fest was ‘Making IT happen’. In all 30 teams of Engineering Colleges of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh took part in this competition. Dr H.S. Sekhon, Dean, College of Agricultural Engineering, PAU, giving this information to the press said that it is creditable achievement of our students which has proved that “Agrineers are a force to reckon with.” Jitin Khera, who was the team leader, was also given cash prizes by two leading computer institutes for his distinction in the IT Quiz. Mr Jitin Khera has already won prizes in paper presentation and quiz.

TB CLINIC: Nishkam Sewa Hospital, Jujhar Nagar, will now serve for the patients suffering from tuberculosis. The District Ludhiana TB Expert, Dr Anil Verma, would examined the TB patients. Nishkam also provided free x-rays and medicines to all TB patients. According to a press release, the patients will be examined on Fridays. They will be told about their condition and requirements to continue with the treatment. The Civil Surgeon, Dr Rajinder Kaur, while inaugurating TB clinic centre appreciated the efforts of Nishkam Sewa Ashram. The members of Sewa Ashram appealed the TB patients to visit them to be treated soon.

FAMILY PLANNING: Family welfare camps would be organised under guidance of the Civil Surgeon, Dr (Ms) Rajinder Kaur, on March 26 and 30 at Kapoor Hospital, Ludhiana. According to a press release, all the patients undergoing tubectomy or vasectomy would be given gifts and cash. Dr Neelam Bassi, District Family Welfare Officer, appreciated the organisations and people who encouraged the couples for family planning. Ms Santosh Bhatia and Mr Satish Bhatia visited various government dispensaries and made the people aware of benefits of having small families.

MEDICAL CAMP: Over 163 workers were examined during a two-day medical check-up camp organised by Directorate of Factories Punjab and E.S.I.C at Munjal Castings here on Wednesday. The camp was inaugurated by Mr P.L. Arora, vice- president of Munjal Castings. In his inaugural address, Mr Arora appreciated the steps taken by the Labour Department in this direction. Mr Kashmir Singh, Assistant Director, Factories, said the workers will be benefitted by such camps. The team of doctors included Dr Parveen Sikka, Dr Shruti Goswami and their paramedical staff. Free medicines were given to the patients and blood and urine tests were tested on the spot by the doctors.

A CLARIFICATION: In our news story “Society must rise to the occasion” published on March 21, Mr Lajpat Rai was inadvertently referred to as an ex-MP Mr Rai is a sitting Member of the Rajya Sabha from Ludhiana. The error is regretted. 

MACHHIWARA
ELECTED: A meeting of Punjab State Block Extension Educators was held here on Tuesday at the ESI Hospital, Ludhiana. The office-bearers elected unanimously are: President — Mr Bhag Singh Bhadson; vice-president — Mr Brij Mohan Sharma; general secretary — Mr Kasho Ram, finance secretary — Mr Balwant Singh; adviser — Mr Pawan Kumar, Sukhwinder Singh and Ms Rita Kumari; and press secretary — Ms Sunita Sidhu. At the meeting, the speakers sought from the Government of Punjab to provide the workers better service in the field area.

ICDS TRAINING CAMPS: ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) training camps were held by the Child Development and Project Office, Machhiwara, in Garhi Bet and Hedon village on Monday. The CDPO, Machhiwara, Ms Daljeet Kaur, highlighted the various schemes under ICDS on the occasion. Dr Shashi K. Singh , a medical officer, from Primary Health Unit, Machhiwara, informed about vaccination and other precautions. A number of panches and sarpanches, Anganwari workers, supervisors and representatives of social organisations participated in the camp.

MEETING OF BORROWERS HELD: A meeting of borrowers of Primary Co-operative Agricultural Development Bank, Machhiwara, was held, on Tuesday at Cooperative Agriculture Service Society, Ranwan, under the Chairmanship of Mr Charanjit Singh Lakhowal, a nominee of State Agriculture Development Bank, Punjab. Near about 50 farmers attended the meeting. Mr Bhupinder Sharma, Branch Manager, Machhiwara, highlighted the various concessions/benefits provided to the farmers decrease of 4 per cent rate of interest on the trolley loan etc. He also brought in the notice that the PADB was also accepting the fixed deposit receipts where rate of interest paid to the farmers is 1 per cent more rate of interest paid by the commercial banks. On the spot, Mr Baldev Singh of Ranwan village, assured to put in the FDR of 1 lakh with the PADB. The meeting was also attended by Mr Chanan Singh, chairman of the bank, Mr Ranjit Singh Adiana, a former chairman of the Market Committee, Machhiwara, and Mr Mewa Singh, sarpanch of village.

NAWANSHAHR
FOUNDATION STONE: Mr M. Kannappan, Union Minister for Non-Conventional Sources of Energy, will lay foundation stone of the Sofar Power Plant at Khatkar Kalan, native village of Sardar Bhagat Singh, on March 23, an official press note issued here on Tuesday said.

PATHANKOT
LINK ROAD: The government has sanctioned a sum of Rs 1.28 crore for construction of 40 km-long link road in Dhar block. This information was given at a function to lay foundation stone of a link road in Sudal village, 25 km from here, on Monday by the Higher Education Minister, Mr Mohan Lal. He said work on this project would be completed before Baisakhi festival.

THREE ARRESTED: The local police arrested three persons for gambling on Sunday near the Mahadev Temple area. The arrested were identified as Balbir Kumar, Ramesh Chander and Aman Kumar, all local residents. A case under Section 13/3/67 of the Public Gambling Act was registered against the accused.

PATIALA
BODY FOUND: Dead body of an unidentified youth was found by the police on Wednesday. The body was found in Virk Colony, adjoining the DCW complex. According to police sources the youth appeared to be strangulated by a wire before the alleged miscreants tried to burn his body. The police has registered a case under Section 302 of the IPC. The postmortem has yet to be conducted.

PHAGWARA
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: Mrs Pallavi Singh, Chairperson of the Indian Red Cross Society, district branch, Kapurthala, and wife of Deputy Commissioner, Mr V. K. Singh, on Tuesday, presided over a function held at Palahi village in connection with the current women empowerment year to awaken women about their rights.

SANGRUR
EYE CAMP CONCLUDES: A three-day free eye check-up and operation camp, organised by the Lions Club, Sangrur Greater, at Kanjhla village, concluded on Tuesday. Mr Mukesh Sharma, secretary of the club, said as many as 535 patients were examined for various ailments while 30 patients operated upon for cataract.

DIABETES DETECTION: The local Lions Club will launch a special diabetes detection drive here from Friday, the martyrdom day of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, in the town and adjoining villages and treat diabetic patients properly. Dr Mukesh Dhawan, secretary of the club, said the drive would be launched under supervision of Dr Surinder Singla, chairman, health projects of the club.

CHANDIGARH

PANCHKULA
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Shri Geeta Mandir Sabha, Sector 11: president — Mr Sushil Kumar Jagota; vice-president — Mr Raj Sood; general secretary — Mr Madan Mohan Dua; finance secretary — Mr T. R. Agnihotri; and joint secretary — Mr Sunil Jain.

HARYANA

POWER METERS: The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitaran Nigam has decided to replace all single phase meters of domestic and NDS consumers in Model Town subdivision under OP division, Ambala City, and No. 2 subdivision under Ambala Cantonment division with electronic meters. The Superintending Engineer, Mr C.L. Adlakha, said that no charges for replacement of these meters would be charged from the consumers.

BHIWANI
RETRENCHMENT OF EMPLOYEES: Sarv Karmchari Sangh has expressed concern over retrenchment of employees in small industries and export corporation. In a meeting held under the chairmanship of its block president, Mr Jaipal, here on Tuesday, it strongly demanded restoration of services of retrenched employees. The meeting criticised the corporation for terminating employees on directions of the state government.

HISAR
SENTENCED: The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr P.L. Ahuja, on Monday, sentenced one Gulab Singh to life imprisonment and fined him Rs 3,000 to stabbing a person to death. According to the prosecution, he had stabbed Chhotu Ram at nearby Kumharia village two years ago.

ANNUAL FUNCTION: The annual prize distribution function of Dayanand College will be held here on Wednesday. The Principal, Mr Subhash Sharma, said Mr R.S. Chaudhary, Vice-Chancellor of the Kurukshetra University, would be the chief guest on the occasion.

SEIZED: The city police seized 300 pouches of illicit liquor from a house in Parao Chowk here on Monday. According to the police, the accused Ludhania and Sukhdev managed to escape.

NARNAUL
REMANDED: Mr Vijai Singh, Judicial Magistrate (first class), here has remanded to police custody Dharambir Singh, resident of Akberpur village in the subdivision, produced by the Nangal Chaudhry police for allegedly sodomising a boy of class X and resident of Pipa Ka Nangal village who went to take matriculation examination at Akberpur examination centre.

PANIPAT
MASS AWARENESS: The Central Ground Water Board, North Western Region, Chandigarh, will organise a mass awareness programme on Thursday in Bal Bhavan here. The main objective of the programme is to make people aware of importance of water, particularly ground water, for conservation, protection and regulation. Mr Satvir Singh Kadian, Speaker Vidhan Sabha, Haryana, will be the chief guest. This was stated by the Regional Director of the Board, Mr M.D. Nautiyal, here on Tuesday.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
QUAKE RELIEF: The staff and students of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Sarol in Chamba district, have contributed a sum of Rs 20,638 for the earthquake victims of Gujarat. According to Principal of the Vidyalaya, a draft in respect of this amount had been submitted to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.

KANGRA
DEMANDED: The Himachal Pradesh Hindu Mahasabha on Tuesday demanded that the Hindus who have migrated from Pakistan and Bangladesh recently should be provided citizen rights on the pattern of the Hindus who migrated during Partition. This was stated by Dr Nalinder Gautam, state president of the Hindu Mahasabha, in statement here on Tuesday.

MANALI
INAUGURATED: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr A.J.V. Prasad, inaugurated the second state-level folk culture competition — 2001 at the auditorium of the Mountaineering and Allied Sports Institute here. This two-day cultural competition is being organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports under the Swami Vivekanand Yuva Protsahan Yojna.

SHIMLA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following were elected office-bearers of the HRTC Employees Union: president — Mr Ganga Ram Verma; senior vice-president — Mr Nana Lal Sharma; vice-president — Mrs Sunita; general secretary — Mr Bhup Singh Chauhan and treasurer — Mr Parkash Chand.

BHARAT VIKAS PARISHAD: The following were elected office-bearers of the Bharat Vikas Parishad, Himachal Pradesh: patron — Mr Ajay Mittal (Shimla); president — Mr Vinod Mahajan (Dalhousie); vice-presidents — Dr Keshav Verma (Chamba) and Mr M P Singhal (Solan); general secretary — Mr Harish Chawla (Palampur) and treasurer — Mr Sudershan Bhatia (Palampur).

RESIGNATION SOUGHT: The All-India Youth Congress (AIYC) on Tuesday demanded resignation of the Prime Minister. Addressing a press conference here, Mr Randeep Singh ‘‘Nabha’’, convener of the AIYC, said they would organise ‘‘Kisan cell’’ in each state.

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

On mission to restore vision

IF we are forced to close our eyes for a moment, the darkness, that results seems dreadful. Think of those passing their entire life in darkness, to whom fate has been cruel. We cannot help them get their sight back, but there are good samaritans like Subrata Chakraborty of Kolkata — a 25-year-old young instructor at Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling, who has undertaken the Herculean task of covering 18,000 km on a single-wheeled cycle and that too bare-footed.

Apparently moved by the plight of blind students at the institute, the youth has pledged to cover his distance in 550 days spreading the message of eye donation. Subrata, who has already covered 6367 km in 163 days, started his cycling mission on September 8 last when West Bengal Governor Viren Shah flagged off his mission for vision.

Subrata says: ‘‘One-third of the blind persons in the world — one crore 30 lakh — are in our country. Of these, 30 lakh get their vision restored through cornea grafting for which 30 lakh corneas are required”.

He is out to convince the people at large to donate their eyes after death. He pedals 11 to 12 hours daily on his monocycle, which he has assembled himself, covering a distance of 60 to 70 km, spending nights at police stations. Facing the vagaries of nature and defying all odds coming in the way, he has mustered support for his cause and has convinced over 3,000 people to donate their eyes. The solo adventure hopes that his efforts find mention in the Guinness Book of World Records for traversing 18,000 km on a single-wheeled cycle with tubeless tyres.

Subrata is all praise for Mrs Lalita Raghuram, Director of the Eye Bank Association of India, Hyderabad, and Mr Manoranjan Mazumdar and Malay Roy, president and secretary respectively of the International Eye Bank, Kolkata, who encouraged him and offered help in his noble venture.

When passengers are sitting ducks

A journey by bus from Chandigarh to Delhi has become quite comfortable with the completion of four-laning work on the G.T. Road up to Ambala. But the stopover points alongside the road act like scars.

After a journey of two to three hours, buses halt at dhabas or bus stands en route to let passengers refresh themselves. But usually these wayside eating joints are fleecing points. Passengers are often taken in by boards which display attractive prices. These prices seem reasonable for things arranged on the counter, but are just ploys to mislead the customer. Passengers who go for a meal are charged for more than the displayed price. Vendors charge the same price for a plate of salad as for a full meal. The service boy brings this plate of salad on his own along with the order.

Packed snacks of good brands are sold at a premium of 25 per cent. If a cautious customer seeks an explanation, the reply is “Yahan per to itne mein hi milta hai”.

Innocent villagers and migrant labourers are easy prey. Once, this scribe saw a vendor who charged as high as Rs 20 for a plate of a samosa-tikki from a group of labourers.

Even though there are some good joints along the highway but drivers prefer to stop at dhabas where their hands are suitably greased.

Next time, during a stopover at such points one should be cautious to specifically ask for things being offered at the displayed price. While buying packed stuff, look out for its price and expiry date. Beware of spurious quality. It is suggested that while embarking on a long journey, buy in advance some hygienically packed stuff, available a plenty in local markets.

Bhuntar’s ‘killer chowk’

The roundabout at the Manikaran Chowk, Bhuntar, about 10 km from Kulu, is usually occupied by stray animals, except during VIP visits when one can see a traffic constable. The 180° crossing of the National Highway No 21, coming from Ambala to Manali and the old Kulu-Bhuntar road, is prone to accidents, many of them proved fatal. The crossing, being in the heart of the town, rather in the main market of Bhuntar, is also a hazard to pedestrians, particularly school children.

No zebra crossing marks had ever been painted here. Neither the PWD nor the local Nagar Panchayat has bothered to put a speed limit signboard to caution drivers.

The rain-shelter (bus stop) at the crossing is another traffic hazard. Buses, usually, stop on both the sides of the road to off-load or pick up passengers.

The blind turn at this point can prove dangerous to passengers as well as pedestrians. On top of it the dogs in place of a traffic constable divert the attention of the drivers. The PWD should make this roundabout a bigger and instal traffic lights to avoid mishaps.

Contributed by Anirudh Gupta Sushil Kumar Sharma and Subhash Sharma.