R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

• “Smart school” — a trendsetter
• Another pilot from HP
• Hip replacement performed

PUNJAB

AHMEDGARH
GRANT: A grant of Rs 3 lakh has been given to the local MGMN Senior Secondary School by Mr Simranjit Mann, member of Parliament. According to Mr Pardeep Sharda, principal of the school, documents and release order for grant for construction of a hall were handed over to Mr Abhey Jain, president of the school at a brief function.

AMLOH
ANNUAL FUNCTION: The annual day-cum-prize distribution function of Amloh Public Senior Secondary School was held on the school campus on Tuesday. Ms Meena Goel, Principal of the school, stated in the annual report of the school that the school has not only shown 100 per cent results but most of its students secured first and second divisions. The school has won distinctions in cultural activities in the Amloh block.

AMRITSAR
GND VARSITY: The Department of Botanical and Environment Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, has been identified as a DST-FIST-sponsored department. It has been given a grant of Rs 18 lakh by the Ministry of Science and Technology, New Delhi.

TAILORING COURSE: A one-year course in dress designing, cutting and tailoring is being started by Guru Nanak Dev University at its regional campus in Gurdaspur from January. Unemployed matriculate girls in the age group of 15 to 35 are eligible. The last date of submission of admission forms is December 30, a university press note stated.

FARIDKOT
RAIDED: As part of the campaign against drug abuse in the district, a team of senior officers of the Health and Police Departments, led by Mr Devinder Singh, SDM, conducted a raid at a medical store belonging to a senior leader of BJP here on Tuesday and siezed a large number of intoxicants, expired medicines besides physician’s samples which were being sold by the shopowner for the past many years. Stating this here today, the SDM said the store had been sealed.

DEATH ANNIVERSARY: The District Congress Committee organised a function here on Wednesday to observe the eighth death anniversary of former President Giani Zail Singh who died in an accident near Ropar on December 25, 1994. Paying tributes to the esteemed leader, the Congressmen appreciated his services particularly for the uplift of the downtrodden and in furthering national interests and of all sections of Punjab, the latter during his tenure as Chief Minister of the state for five years since 1972.

POLICE TEAMS: The district police has deployed four mobile teams headed by Inspector Harvinder Singh to check the activities of anti-social elements, particularly around the girls educational institutions here. Stating this here on Wednesday Mr Harinder Singh Chahal, SSP, said he had received a large number of complaints of harassment of students from their parents in this connection. He said the teams would also remove all encroachments on the Mall Road and in the main bazaar to ensure smooth flow of traffic.

BEOPAR MANDAL: The Punjab Beopar Mandal will hold a meeting of its executive body at Bathinda on December 29 to work out a programme against the “anti-trader” policies adopted by the Punjab Government. The meeting will also review its strategy for participation in the forthcoming municipal elections in the state, according to Mr Bimal Gupta patron of state unit of the body.

ROTARY CLUB MEETING: A two-day meeting of the 100 Rotary Clubs of the District RI 3090 comprising 11 districts, including Faridkot, Ferozepore, Bathinda, Sangrur, Patiala, Mansa, Muktsar and Moga alongwith the areas of Sriganganagar and Suratgarh in Rajasthan, Hissar, Sirsa, Bhiwani in Haryana, will be held at Chandigarh on December 28 to elect the District Governor of the institution. According to reports, more than 125 members of the clubs will elect the district governor in a four-cornered contest.

HOSHIARPUR
14 PASSENGERS HURT: Fourteen passengers were injured when a Punjab Roadways bus, on the way from Pathankot to Chandigarh, collided with a bus bound for Amritsar near Lajwanti Tourist Complex on the Tanda by-pass here on Tuesday.

BLOOD BANK: Dr Dalip Kumar, Deputy Medical Commissioner, Hoshiarpur, disclosed here on Tuesday that a blood bank had been set up by the Punjab Health System Corporation at the Civil Hospital, Dasuya, at a cost of Rs 10 lakh. He said three blood banks were being run in the city.

LUDHIANA
INSTALLATION CEREMONY: Ludhiana Central Junior Chamber (Jaycees ) organised installation ceremony at Lodhi Club, on Tuesday. Mr Rajiv Choudhary was installed as president for the year 2003. Oath ceremony was performed by Mr Sukhpal, zone President and oath to new members was given by Mr Rajiv Lochan Mahajan past state president. Other office-bearers who took oath were Mr Nitin Mittal, Mr Dhiraj Ghai, Mr Vanit Aggarwal, Mr Jasvinder Singh, Mr Dheeraj Chatley, Mr Madhusudan, Mr Manish Jain, Mr Rajan Goel, Mr Anshla Gaur and Mr Raghav Choudhary.

HONOURED: The Alag Shabad Yug Trust, Ludhiana, honoured Dr Ripple Dhillon on Wednesday, a leading physician in Ontario State of Canada. She was felicitated by Dr Sarup Singh Alag, Chairman of the trust for her selfless services to the humanity. She was here on a private visit. Dr Dhillon has been visiting India after 15 years. She was speaking at a function of the trust organised to honour her and her parents, Prof P.S. Dhami and Prof Jagir Kaur Dhami. Dr Ripple came to Ludhiana with her only daughter Monica to meet her parents.

WOOLLENS DISTRIBUTED: Mr Gurmail Singh Pehalwan, a senior BSP leader, Punjab, distributed free woollens to the needy students of Dashmesh National Public School, Kakuwal road. Addressing the students, he urged them to study seriously like Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar and earn name and fame. Jathedar Labh Singh of Kakuwal and Principal of the school addressed the students.

SABHYACHARAK MANCH: Sabhyacharak Manch has set up in California and Los Angeles to give the new generation of Punjabis a whiff of Punjabi culture. At a meeting of the manch held on Wednesday under the presidentship of Mr K. K. Bawa., it was decided that Jatinder Pal Singh would be the first president of the manch. Mr Bawa further said the manch was going to celebrate Lohri mela on January 10. The main feature would be holding of a healthy baby show.

ORGANISATIONAL POLL: The organisational elections of Janata Dal (United) would be held on Friday here at a meeting of the state office-bearers. According to Mr Rajinder Kumar, secretary general of the party, an observer of the party high command was also expected to attend the meeting. According to party sources, the election of the state president would, in all probability, be held unanimously and the state body would be reorganised by the new incumbent.

MUKTSAR
CARDIAC CAMP: Fortis Heart Institute held a heart check-up camp here on Tuesday. Patients from nearby villages were examined. In a press note issued here, the hospital authorities claimed that such camps would be held every fortnight at Muktsar and Kotkapura.

4 BOOKED: A case under Section 420 of the IPC has been registered against four persons for defrauding Mr Prem Singh, a retired BSF jawan of Rs 50,000. The police said the accused had been identified as Rajinder Singh, alias Babu, of Wan Tara Singh village, Nirvail Singh of Bhikhiwind village, Kashmir Singh of Bhoora Kohna village and Gurmukh Singh of Sidhwan village.

HARYANA

AMBALA
KHATRI SABHA: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Khatri Sabha: president — Prof Naveen Gulati; general secretary — Mr R.R. Suri; senior vice-president — Mr Anil Verma; vice-presidents — Mr Janak Oberoi and Mr Sunil Chopra, and cashier — Mr Davinder Chadha.

BHIWANI
TRADER ROBBED: Unidentified Maruti-borne miscreants reportedly robbed cash and other articles from a trader at Sangwan Chowk, at Tosham, 30 km from here, on Tuesday. According to reports, the trader was going in his car after realising payments from local dealers when the miscreants overtook his car, brandished a sword and snatched his wrist watch and Rs 25,000. The matter has been reported to the police.

SIRSA
11 ARRESTED: The Ding police on Tuesday arrested 11 persons in connection with the abduction and attempt to murder a youth. They have been remanded in police custody for three days. According to the district police chief here, the arrests were made on the complaint of Ranbir Singh of Ding Mandi under Sections 364, 307, 148, 149 and 506 of the IPC.

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

“Smart school” — a trendsetter

What does a child yearn for the most? An endless flight of his unending dreams; or perhaps an encouraging atmosphere where he can polish his nascent skills; or an appreciative group of caring people not only to guide him, but also to teach him the rules of surviving in this vast global village.

Ambika Modern School, Jalandhar, promises to provide all these cherished dreams from its session beginning in April 2003, the admissions of which commenced from December 1, 2002. The co-educational CBSE-affiliated school will provide an environment where students will not be puppets in the name of maintaining certain outdated standards, but will be treated as individuals. The school promoted by the Ambika Group of Industries is a dream of Mr Mankaran Bhandari of Ambika Overseas. Mrs P.K. Dhillon, a renowned name among the local academics, is the Principal.

The motto of the school remains providing “Education with a Difference” where the performance of the child will not be confined within the parameters of standardised grades or of doing well in a few papers at the end of the term. The judging yardstick will be the ability of the child to stand up to his beliefs and ideals, apart from having a rare expertise of developing his all-round personality.

This new generation school is thought of as the need of the hour. In this electronic age when this vast earth has shrunk to a global village, the child has to be made comfortable with the concepts of e-thinking, e-knowledge and developing his e-vision which will help him cope with the rapidly changing world around him. The school is all set to follow a “click-to-mouse policy” where children will be trained to gather and utilise knowledge. Ambika Modern School will be a trendsetter in establishing the “smart school” where the dominant feature will not be learning alone, but IT enabled learning.

Another pilot from HP

No. 1 HP NCC (Air Wing) squadron unit in Kulu had another feather in its cap when Navrendra Kanwar became the first boy cadet of this unit who was selected as a pilot in the Indian Air Force. He was selected in the NCC ‘C’ certificate direct entry into the Air Force competition at the all-India level among the eight officers taken for pilot training. A resident of Badah village, near here, Navrendra said his ambition to become a fighter pilot could only be achieved with the guidance of the unit’s Commanding Officer, Wing Commander Anil Arora, and the former CO, Wing Commander R.K. Tripathi, besides his parents.

Navrendra further said Wing Commander Naresh Dogra, who belonged to a place near his village, was also one of the model persons for his joining the IAF as a fighter pilot. It may be recalled that Wing Commander Dogra was killed in an MiG-21 crash near Bagdogra a month ago.

The NCC unit here has achieved many outstanding results during the past four years — it had sent the first woman pilot of Himachal Pradesh, Nidhi Handa, to the IAF and four officers, including a woman, in the Indian Army.

Navrendra’s mother, Chander Prabha, recalled how they used to punish their son, when he was a child, for tearing notebooks to make aeroplanes. “But we never knew that he would reach a stage when he would fly a real aircraft”, she said proudly. His father, K.S. Kanwar, said Navrendra would be a successful fighter pilot as he was very sharp in grasping things.

Navrendra will undergo pilot training for 173 pilot course at the Air Force Academy, Hyderabad, commencing from January 2003.

Hip replacement performed

Dr Rajan Sharma, an orthopaedic surgeon of Yamunanagar, has performed the first total hip replacement in the region at the local Lal Maternity and General Hospital. The surgery was done on 50-year-old Harish Lamba who had avascular necrosis of the hip due to long-term steroid intake. Dr Sharma replaced the joint with a metal one and HDPE. Earlier, patients had to go to Delhi or Chandigarh for these types of surgeries.

Dr Sharma graduated from Dayanand Medical College and worked at the PGI, Chandigarh. He was invited for fellowship and training by National University, South Korea, for a six-month fellowship in joint replacement and paediatric orthopaedics. He also attended the AO spine course in Seoul organised by AO International. He was also invited by Medical College, Ehime, for training in spine surgery. On his return to India, he was again selected by AO International for a fellowship in trauma and spine surgery in Germany and was awarded FASIF. He was also selected as a fellow by ISAKOS and French Arthroscopy Society and got training in knee replacements and arthroscopy at Clinic Des Codres, Toulouse, France.

Dr Sharma was the first to perform pedicular screw and rod fixation by the Zeta system for the fracture of vertebra for the first time in the region. He practises at Lal Hospital and Rajan Bone, Joint and Maternity Centre in Yamunanagar. He is the son of late Dr J.P. Sharma, surgeon and former MLA. His wife, Dr Meenakshi Sharma, is a gynaecologist and infertility expert.

Contributed by A.S. Prashar, Subhash Sharma and Ashwani Dutta