The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Thursday, April 4, 2002, 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

Workshop on tackling infertility
No need to lift garbage: MC
Mentally challenged pester devotees

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
APPOINTED: Mr Karanjit Singh and Mr Sukhbir Singh were on Tuesday appointed Head of Department of Computer Science and Engineering and the in charge of the Bhai Gurdas Library of Guru Nanak Dev University, respectively.

ADMISSION TEST: Guru Nanak Dev University will hold the undergraduate information technology test for admission to B.Sc (IT) and BCA courses in its affiliated colleges for the 2002-03 session on June 13. This was stated by Dr Kulwant Singh Thind, coordinator of the test, here on Tuesday.

RECOMMENDED: The team of nine Principals which was sent by Guru Nanak Dev University to visit several educational institutions in West Bengal and Assam has recommended in its report to the university Syndicate that stress should be laid on the courses of electronics and instrumentation engineering, food technology, biochemical engineering, packaging engineering and printing technology.

BATALA
RELOCATION SOUGHT: Mr V.K. Bhatia, Principal, S.L. Bawa DAV College, Ms Veena Watni, Principal, R.R. Bawa DAV College for Girls and others have demanded the relocation of a liquor vend situated on Circular Road, opposite Jassa Singh Ramgarhia Hall. According to them, the vend, which opened on Monday, is located in the vicinity of several schools, hospitals and a college. Mr Watni told this correspondent here on Wednesday that they had written letters to the Deputy Commissioner, Gurdaspur, the SDM, Batala, and the chief of the local police in this regard.

BATHINDA
PLEA TO CM: Bibi Giano Begum, a resident of the city, has urged the Chief Minister that a criminal case should be registered against the persons who had forged documents in order to deprive her of the right to manage a “makbara” after the death of her husband. In a letter to Capt Amarinder Singh, she said the Meera Sahib Peerkhana was looked after by her husband. After his death, she became the caretaker. She alleged that some persons wanted to grab the land of the “makbara”.

HELD FOR MURDER: The police on Monday arrested Balwinder Singh and Harcharan Singh against whom a case was registered in connection with the murder of a member of an orchestra party on March 27. Mr Ishwar Singh, SSP, said in a press note issued here on Tuesday that Balwinder Singh, Harcharan Singh and three others were absconding since March 27 after they had allegedly beaten up Rajiv Kumar, the orchestra member, who later succumbed to his injuries.

ANNUAL FUNCTION: A cultural programme was organised at the annual prize distribution function of the local Punjab Public School on Monday. Students who had bagged top positions in academics and extracurricular activities were given prizes. Mr Baljeet Singh, Principal, read out the annual report of the school.

SEMINAR: The local branch of the NIRC organised a seminar on bank audits here on Monday. Mr Parmod Mittal, coordinator of the seminar, said in a press note issued here on Tuesday that new techniques of bank audit were discussed during the seminar. He said CAs from Sriganganagar, Fazilka, Faridkot, Muktsar, Malout, Mansa and Dabwali participated.

JALANDHAR
ABDUCTED BOY FOUND: The district police restored a boy who had been abducted four days ago to his parents here on Tuesday. Mr Paramjit Singh Gill, SSP, stated that Jarnail Singh of Nauli village in Adampur township had reported to the police that his 11-year-old son was kidnapped by one of his male servants, Raju. He also alleged that Raju had stolen gold ornaments and Rs 10,000 before fleeing the house. The servant was arrested on Tuesday and the stolen items were recovered.

LUDHIANA
EYE CAMP: Bhai Ghanaiya Ji Sewa Sanstha, Haibowal Khurd, held a free eye camp at Lohara village near Moga on Tuesday. About 432 patients were examined for various ailments and nine of them were operated upon by Dr Ramesh. The management of the sanstha thanked all those individuals and organisations who contributed to make the camp a success. Free spectacles would be given on May 12 to the patients after a check up, according to a press release of the sanstha.

KIRTAN DARBAR: The International Dharam Prachar Council will organise first mahan kirtan darbar on Saturday, from 6 pm to 2 am, at Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Urban Estate, Dugri, Phase-I. Among the prominent ragi jathas which will participate in the kirtan darbar are Bhai Guriqbal Singh ji ( Amritsar), Bhai Surinder Singh ji Jodhpuri, Bhai Nirmal Singh ji, Bhai Niranjin Singh, Bhai Davinder Singh ji Sodhi ( Ludhiana), Bhai Manjit Singh ji ( Mumbai), Bhai Satinder Pal Singh ji of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha, Ludhiana.

ELECTED: Mr Sher Singh Aulakh was unanimously re-elected as the president of the Welfare Society, Shaheed Karnail Singh Nagar, Phase II, Pakhowal road, at the annual general house meeting of the society here on Tuesday. Other office-bearers, who were also unanimously elected, are: Mr Bhajan Singh Gill — general secretary; and Mr Sajjan Singh — cashier. The meeting drew a development plan for the next two years and urged the municipal corporation to speed up the on-going work on streetlights.

PROTEST: Workers of the Youth Congress burnt the effigy of the terrorist organisation, Lashkar-a-Toiba, under the leadership of the press secretary of the District Youth Congress, Mr Kewal Arora, on Wednesday. The protest was against the killings during the attack on the Raghunath Temple in Jammu. Mr Kewal Arora while addressing the demonstrators said the terrorists have no religion of their own and they merely want to spread terror. He also condemned the policy adopted by the Union Government against terrorism. He urged the government to provide tight security at all religious places to avoid such incidents in future.

HONOURED: Principal V.K. Mehta who retired after 38 years of service at Arya College, Ludhiana, first as Lecturer and then over seven years as Principal, was honoured at a function held at the Lodhi Club, Ludhiana. Mr Tulsi Das Jaitwani, President, Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal, who had organised the function and managed the stage, appreciated the work done by him in the field of education.

MAHAVIR SHOW: The Mata Shri Charakeshwri Devi Jain Young Society would organise a ‘Mangal Murti Mahavir show at Laxmi Palace in Sunder Nagar at 7 p.m. on April 7, according to Mr Vinod Jain, president of the society. The show is being held in connection with the 2600th birthday celebration of the 24th Tiranthkar Lord Mahavira, he added.

WIDOW RELIEF: The Gyan Sthal Mandir Sabha would hold its 56th monthly widow relief distribution programme on Sunday at 10 am, according to a press release. At the monthly function, as many as 561 widows of the town would be given ration and other items of daily use. Several bureaucrats and politicians would attend the function.

MOGA
7 DIE IN MISHAPS: Seven persons were killed and three seriously injured in separate accidents around Moga during the past 24 hours. Two persons were killed when their scooter collided head-on with a jeep near Panjgrahian village, about 25 km from here, on the Moga-Kotkapura road. The deceased were identified as Gurdev Singh and Harnek Singh. Gurdarshan Singh, a Sarpanch, was killed when his scooter collided with a car near Bughipura village in the district on Tuesday. In another mishap, a woman and a boy were killed when their car collided with a bus near Zira town, about 20 km from here.

PATIALA
MD HONOURED: The Managing Director of Milkfed, Dr Brij M. Mahajan, was honoured on Wednesday by the Minister of State for Revenue and Agriculture, Mr Amarjit Singh Samra, for his contribution to dairy development during Kisan Mela held on the campus of the Young Farmers Association, Rakhra. The Deputy Commissioner of Patiala, Mr Tejveer Singh, presided over the function.

NEW COMMISSIONER: Mr S.K. Ralhan is the new Additional Commissioner, Excise and Taxation, Punjab.

SAMRALA
CLASS V RESULT: The result of Class V of Guru Nanak Public School, Madpur, remained 100 per cent, according to Ms Gurdeep Kaur, Principal of the school. Mandeep Kaur, Tejinder Singh and Baljinder Kaur stood Ist, IInd, III rd, respectively.

PRIZE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION: The annual prize distribution of the Kinder Garden School of Education will be held on Friday on the school premises, according to Mr Daljit Shahi Advocate, chairman of the school. The chief guest on the occasion will be the Congress MLA, Mr Amrik Singh Dhillon, and the prizes will be distributed by the SDM, Mr S.S. Brar, he added.

MEETING: A meeting of the local Bar Association held here on Wednesday in the Bar room under the presidentship of Mr A.K. Gupta, president of the Bar, to discuss the situation arisen on account of shifting of the judicial courts of Ms Asha Condal, Additional Civil Judge to the new Tehsil complex. The bar members feel unhappy that there is no arrangement in the new complex for the Bar room causing inconvenience to the advocates.

SANGRUR
POPPY HUSK SEIZED: As many as eight bags of poppy husk have been seized from two women in Bhullarherri village near Dhuri. Giving this information in a press note here on Monday, Mr Amardip Singh Rai, SSP, said the Dhuri police had registered a case in this regard under Section 15 of the NDPS Act against two women of the Sehnsi community, namely Melo and Bhurro, both residents of Samundgarh Channa village near Dhuri. No arrests have been made so far.

TARN TARAN
MC BUDGET: The local municipal council has reserved an amount of Rs 2.14 crore for various development works to be initiated in the town in its Rs 4.95 crore budget which was passed by the council. This was stated by Mr Jatinder Kumar Sood, president of the municipal council, here on Tuesday.

EFFIGY BURNT: On the call given by the PSEB Employees Struggle Committee, hundreds of electricity board employees on Tuesday burnt the effigy of the local PSEB management in protest against the board’s move to abolish 14,000 posts of employees in various categories. The employees threatened to stage a state-level protest dharna on Tuesday if the board management failed to accept their demands by then.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following were on Tuesday elected office-bearers of the Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College unit of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU): president — Prof Lakha Singh; and secretary — Prof J.K. Arora.

ZIRAKPUR
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected officer-bearers of the Ex-Servicemen Democratic Association, Zirakpur: President — Col (Retd) Gurnam Singh; General Secretary — Mr Gurcharan Singh Baidwan and Treasurer — Mr Vidya Rattan Sharma. The next meeting of the association will be held at the Green Park on April 28.

HARYANA

AMBALA
DEMANDED: The Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry demanded on Wednesday the establishment of an exhibition centre where the industry could display its products. The senior vice-president of the chamber, Dr N.C. Jain said scientific instrument industry was several decades old. Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala should help set up an exhibition centre which would benefit visitors, he said. It would also give a boost to trade, he added.

FLYOVER: The MES workers union (area committee), Ambala cantonment, sought the early completion of the overbridge on the G.T. road on Wednesday. The branch secretary south, Mr Vineet Kumar Sharma, said the overbridge near the Army recruitment office was nearly 80 per cent complete. This was causing inconvenience to employees and their family members, he said.

WORKERS PROTEST: The local unit of the Roadways Workers Union organised a gate meeting on the Ambala roadways depot campus to protest against the proposal of the government to privatise five depots in the state. The president of the local unit of the SarvKaramchari Mahasangh, Mr Harjit Singh Takkar, while addressing the employees criticised the Union Government for reducing interest on the GP fund. The president of the Ambala depot, Mr Rakesh Batra, also addressed the workers. Later, a memorandum was submitted to the General Manager of the depot.

OPEN DARBAR: An open darbar would be organised at Berkheri village on April 4, Deputy Commissioner Mahender Kumar said. All heads of departments would be present at the darbar to redress the grievances of people on the spot, he added.

MOTORCYCLE STOLEN: A motorcycle was stolen near Vijay cinema at Ambala City on Tuesday evening. On the complaint of Jaspal Singh, the police has registered a case. Another motorcycle was stolen in the city two days ago.

FATEHABAD
DHARNAS PLANNED: The Haryana Kisan Sabha will organise dharnas and demonstrations in grain markets of the state on April 16 in protest against the delay in the announcement of MSP of wheat and the alleged anti-farmer policies of the Central and the state governments. This was stated by the state general secretary of the Haryana Kisan Sabha, Mr Krishan Swaroop, on Tuesday.

ESSAY COMPETITION: The district Women and Child Development Department organised a debate and essay competition as part of its anti-dowry awareness campaign under the women empowerment programme at the local Government Girls Senior Secondary School on Sunday. Ms Asha Setia, Programme Officer of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), presided over the function. Ms Swatantra Chowdhary, Principal of the school, and Ms Veena Bhayana, Vice-Principal, were present on the occasion.

SIRSA
DRIVE LAUNCHED: An anti-encroachment drive around the Bhadra Johar in the heart of the city began on Tuesday under the supervision of Tehsildar Ram Pal. The administration has made adequate security arrangements to counter any opposition to this drive. Mr Ram Pal said the Deputy Commissioner had instructed him to spare places of worship, dharamshalas, etc. provided documentary proof of ownership was produced.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
HAVILDAR CREMATED: Havildar Chhote Lal, who died fighting in the Naushera sector of Jammu and Kashmir two days ago, was cremated with full military and state honours at his native village Malhote on Tuesday. His son, Surjeet Singh, lit the funeral pyre. The Information, Public Relations and Cooperatives Minister, Mr Rikhiram Kondal, the Subdivisional Magistrate, Mr Subhash Nanda, and the Deputy Superintendent of Police placed wreaths on behalf of the Chief Minister, the Governor and the district administration, respectively.

KULU
POWER SHUTDOWN: Power supply from the substations at Kulu and Bhuntar will remain suspended on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Lug valley, Dhalpur, Sarwari, Akhara Bazaar, Seobag, Badhh, Pahanallah, Shamshi, Bhuntar, Mohal, Bajaura, Deyar, Sharabai, Kharhal, Babeli and the Manikaran valley. This was stated by the Senior Executive Engineer here on Wednesday.

UNA
DISTRICT CREDIT PLAN: The district credit plan amounting to Rs 59.17 crore for the financial year 2002-2003 was launched by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr K.K. Pant , here on Monday at the office of the local District Manager. Of the total plan outlay, Rs 10.84 crore has been earmarked for the government-sponsored schemes. A major chunk of the plan amounting to Rs 27.96 crore will go to agriculture sector, Rs 7.04 crore to non- farm sector and Rs 24.17 crore to other priority sector viz trading transport.

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

Workshop on tackling infertility

Dr Iqbal Singh Ahuja (second from right) with some of the other doctors who attended the workshop in Bournhall, Cambridge, UK.

Dr Iqbal Singh Ahuja who brought the test-tube baby technology to northern India and at whose IVF hospital in Ludhiana the first test-tube baby of the region was born, is just back from Bournhall, Cambridge, UK, where he had gone to attend a workshop on the new technique to tackle infertility.

The workshop was attended by doctors from Malaysia, Turkey, Australia and Egypt. The doctors discussed infertility, a worldwide phenomenon which “needs immediate attention”. More than drugs, it needs emotional and psychological treatment. Infertility, Dr Ahuja says, is on the rise because of environmental, physical and emotional stress. Male fertility is on the decline. To meet this challenge a new technique “ Intra, Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection” (ICSI) has been evolved.

The venue of the workshop, Bournall, is the place where the first test-tube baby of the world, Louise Brown, was born 24 years ago. Dr Iqbal said it was “my personal desire to see and show my teammate (Tony Ahuja) the working of this hospital — considered the Mecca of IVF”.

In this technique a single sperm is injected into the female egg directly with the help of a special pipette. The rate of fertilisation is increased up to 70 to 80 per cent and hence the pregnancy rate is also increased from 15 to 40 per cent. The technique also helps in selecting a good quality sperm. This technique is very useful for a patient with low sperm count.

Dr Iqbal said: “We were the first to bring this technique to northern India three years ago. Besides, the first test-tube baby of northern India was also born in Iqbal Hospital in 1992”.

He said: “We have already fixed the next team of Dr M. Chawla and Dr J. Singh to visit the IVF clinic in the USA. Our IVF clinic is as good as IVF clinics abroad and we will do our best to make it one of the best in the world. Dr Sall and Dr C.T. Goh will be visiting our IVF centre in June or July, 2002”.

No need to lift garbage: MC

With the danger of a plague-like disease creating panic among the citizens of Pathankot, the municipal authorities seem to be least concerned. Heaps of the garbage lying in various parts of the town are causing fear among the residents of the outbreak of diseases like plague.

The Health Department is taking it easy claiming since there has not been any plague case in the town for the past two decades, it cannot break out now. The Municipal Council, on the other hand, ruled out the need to remove heaps of garbage from residential colonies, saying it had been there for years.

The khud on the outskirts of the town adjoining the Civil Hospital, has become a dumping ground for garbage and is a permanent source of nuisance. Similarly, opposite the Ramlila Grounds, Mission Road area, Ram Sarnam Colony and Patel Nagar, the Municipal Council has not bothered to remove the garbage despite the long-standing demand by residents. The MC authorities have no site outside the city for dumping garbage.

The danger of the disease spreading looms large as heaps of garbage lie in every nook and corner of the town.

Last summer the city had witnessed gastroenteritis deaths and residents fear that the same could happen again as garbage attracts mosquitoes and flies. The MC Executive Officer, Mr Vijay Sharma, however, ruled out the possibility of outbreak of any disease. He said instructions had been passed to the officials to take necessary steps as a precautionary measure. Dr Parvez Taneja, SMO, Civil Hospital, said so far the situation was under control and there was no reason to panic as diseases like plague had not occurred in the state for decades. Instructions had been passed to officials to maintain a stock of medicines in case of an epidemic.

Mentally challenged pester devotees

Paonta Sahib is a religious and historic place connecting three states — Uttranchal, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. People come here from far off places. But there are problems galore for the devotees and tourists. Mentally retarded men and women pester them at the Vishvakarma Chowk bus stand, near religious places and Badri Pur Chowk.

Not much effects have been made by the social and welfare organisations. The police pick up these mentally challenged persons and leave them in nearby towns. Is this the only responsibility towards them. After a few days they are back.

One mentally challenged lady is always sitting near Vishvakarma Chowk. At times she remains sitting the whole night, even in winters. But the police and welfare organisations do not take any step to rehabilitate them.

Beside these mentally challenged, there are handicapped persons who beg for their livelihood in the streets. To top it there are hordes of professional beggars.

When contacted Mr Sanjay Sharma, SDM, Paonta Sahib, said: “We will take some steps to rehabilitate these mentally challenged”.

— Contributed by TNS, Ravi Bhushan Puri and Sarbjit Sakhowalia