Teachers protest against college management
Our Correspondent

Khanna, May 18
Retired teachers of AS College, Khanna, protested against harassment and humiliation meted out to them by the Principal and the management of the college. The teachers, including Prof N.K. Sood, Vice–Principal, Prof R.G. Gupta.

Head of Department of Physics, Prof R.P. Sharma, Head of Department of Economics, Prof R.D. Sharma Head of Department of English, Prof R.K. Manro, Head of Department of Chemistry and Prof Ram Murti alleged that the college management had refused to release the cheques for payment of the gratuity. They alleged that the Principal had demanded withdrawal of the case filed in the high court against the management by them. However, the Principal had denied the charges and said that he always honoured all teachers.

The retired teachers alleged that the college Principal had sent a letter to them to collect cheques for part payment of gratuity from the college office. They said when they went to the college to receive the cheques the college office refused to hand over the cheques unless they gave an undertaking to withdraw the case from the high court. They said that the Principal told them to meet the secretary of the college who, however, failed to turn up. The teachers alleged that they could feeling upset and humiliated at the shabby treatment being meted out to them.

The Principal of the college, Dr R.S. Jhanji said while denying the charges said the teachers were only asked to issue receipt of the cheques and no one asked them to withdraw the case from the court. Mr Sanjiv Dhamija, secretary of the college, said Rs 31 lakh had been released as gratuity payment to teachers of the college in the last one year. He said the teachers were asked to give an application to revalidate the cheques but they refused.

13-year-old authors puzzle book
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 18
A Class IX student of Sacred Heart Convent Senior Secondary School has written a book of puzzles titled, ‘Brain Storming Puzzles’. In the preface of the book, Tushar Gupta (13), the author of the book writes, “My book ‘Brain Storming Puzzles’ is my endeavour to provide readers with hours of fun and excitement. The book has over 120 original brain teasing puzzles.”

The book was released by the Principal of the school, Sister Maria Lena, in a special ‘morning assembly’ held in the school this morning. The Principal congratulated Tushar for his unique effort and has given him permission to put up a stall to sell his book on May 21 on the occasion of parents teachers’ meet in the school.

Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, Tushar said, “As far as I remember, I was always solving puzzles and riddles that appeared in magazines and newspapers. Two years ago, I started devising my own puzzles. I took the help of computer too. After some time I was able to assemble 30 puzzles. My father Er S.K. Gupta took my book to the publishers, Virdi Books, India. The publisher told my father that the book should have atleast 100 or more puzzles for it to be published. From then onwards, I made it my mission to work 2 to 3 hours every day to devise more puzzles and finally I met the target and my book is out.”

Actually, the book is a joint effort of the family. Tushar’s mother edited the book, his sister wrote the preface and his father helped him in getting the book published.

The 96-page book has nicely illustrated brain-teasers and when Tushar was asked for which age group the book is suitable, he impishly replied, “for all ages”.

Farewell organised by DIMT students
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 18
‘Sayonara,’ a farewell party, was organised by the students of MBA, BCA and PGDCA of the Doraha Institute of Management and Technology (DIMT) to bid farewell to their seniors. On the occasion, a cultural programme was presented by the students.

Various titles were given to the seniors. Iftikar Bhat and Gagandeep Kaur were crowned as Mr and Miss DIMT, respectively. Satwant Singh was declared as Mr Handsome and Rajwant Kaur was crowned as Miss Charming.

While speaking on the occasion Mr Sukhpal Singh, Chairman DIMT, appreciated the efforts of the outgoing students in bringing laurels to the institute. He wished them very best in the future. Dr R. S. Gupta, Director, DIMT, gave advice to the outgoing students and wished them good luck 

Calligraphy contest results
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 18
English calligraphy competition was held at Baba Ishar Singh Senior Secondary Public School, BRS Nagar, Ludhiana, yesterday. Students from classes from I to XII participated in the contest. Students were awarded three prizes in each class. The School Principal, Ms Aneeta Kundra, appreciated the winners.

Results: Class I — Meet Sirjna Kaur 1, Manmeet Kaur 2 and Harmanpreet Kaur 3; Class II — Harvir Kaur 1, Gaganpreet Singh 2 and Gagan 3; Class III — Ramandeep Singh 1, Muskan Arya 2 and Kavneet Kaur 3; Class IV — Gurjot Singh 1, Harmandeep Singh 2 and Harpreet Kaur 3; Class V — Akreet Kaur 1, Jiwan Singh 2 and Jagmanjot Singh 3; Class VI — Manjot Kaur 1, Yadwinder Kaur 2 and Amritpal Singh 3; Class VII — Dilpreet Kaur 1, Preedhi 2 and Harmanpreet 3; Class VIII — Inderpreet Kaur 1, Harpreet Kaur 2 and Tavleen K. Chawla 3; Class IX — Ripudaman Kaur 1, Kirtipreet Kaur 2 and Kamalpreet Kaur 3; Class X — Inderpreet Kaur 1, Harpreet Kaur 2 and Dapinder Kaur 3; Class XI — Navneet Kaur 1, Surinder Kaur 2 and Kirandeep K. Grewal 3; Class XII — Parampreet K. 1, Harsimranjit K. 2 and Simranjeet S. 3.

CULTURE

Mission to boost Indo-African art ties
Asha Ahuja

Ludhiana, May 18
Ms Karuna Mohindra, an eminent artist, will be leaving for a two-week trip on May 22, to the East African nations of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, to promote co-operation between India and these countries, in the field of different forms of fine arts like painting, sculpture and applied arts. During her visit, Karuna will be holding exhibitions of her paintings and art workshops, apart from deliberations with the artists in these countries.

Ms Karuna Mohinddra is the founder and the serving Director of Punjab’s first and only professional art gallery “TAC Art Gallery,” based at Ludhiana.

“There is a wide potential of cooperation with these countries in the area of art and culture, since there are many socio-economic similarities between India and these countries,” she said while talking to the media. . “Many African artists have expressed their willingness to display their works to the Indian art lovers on a reciprocal basis” she added. As a part of the process, Mr Emmanuel Mutungi, from the Nomo Art Gallery of Kampala, Uganda will be visiting India during August 2005 to display his creations.

She has a keen inclination towards nature and environment, clearly depicted in her works which have been displayed at dozens of exhibitions in India and which she is carrying abroad.

She is also founder and serving Director of the TAC Academy of Fine Arts, a sister institution of the TAC Art Gallery which conducts various long term diploma courses and short term certificate courses, in the field of fine and applied arts, to give the right direction to the budding talent in the region.

OP Sharma impresses with his tricks
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 18
Magician O.P. Sharma has completed 25 shows in the city. To create more interest, he is now displaying new tricks every day. The trick that he likes to perform is to lift himself in midair after creating a spiritual atmosphere.

He suspends himself in midair and produces ash from nowhere. Through this act, he wants to tell people not to be befooled by to the tricks performed by tantriks. He tells the audience that there is no magic, and all tricks are efforts of great ‘sadhna’ and have scientific reasons. “Beware of the tricksters and tantriks “, he cautions.

Another interesting trick is to go through a mirror without causing any damage to it. Two other tricks that fascinate people are turning a girl into a bear and one ‘icchadhari snake’ assuming the shape of a damsel who starts dancing.

Yesterday he called three well-known magicians of the city on the stage. After honouring them, he made them disappear.

HEALTH

‘Change lifestyle, food habits to prevent heart disease’
Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, May 18
In a bid to create awareness among the people about cardiac disease and to shed myths related to heart surgery, the Hero DMC Heart Institute (HDHI) has launched a concerted rive. In the first phase, a public health lecture was organised on ‘prevention and cure of cardiac disease’ in the BSNL Colony at BRS Nagar here yesterday which was attended by nearly 200 residents.

Focusing on different factors leading to coronary artery disease, Dr Bishav Mohan, cardiologist at HDHI, talked about the reasons behind hypertension and blockage in arteries. He emphasised that heart disease occurred due to imbalanced lifestyle. People like workaholics, those taking less rest, always in hurry and under stress, those consuming fried and high calorie fast food, obese, impulsive smokers, as well as those who never exercise, easily fall prey to this disease.

He maintained that contrary to general perception that only men were more vulnerable to heart disease, its incidence among women, particularly those who had crossed the menopausal age, was also rising. “It is worrisome that the disease among those in 50s has now become a disease of the young generation as patients in their 30s are also reporting at clinics.”

Dr Mohan suggested that as a preventive measure against heart disease, people should take a lot of vegetables, fruits and fibres in diet, go for at least 45 minutes walk four times a week, stay in sync with nature, eat and sleep at the right time, take out time to relax from busy schedule, adopt yoga and meditation and give up smoking.

Dr V.K. Sharma, chief cardiac surgeon, HDHI, provided an insight into several myths related to heart surgery. “Generally people are carrying on with the old concept that cardiac surgery is a highly risky operation, whereas with the passage of time, a lot of development has been made and it is now as safe as any other operation. At HDHI, in the past four years, hundreds of cardiac surgeries have been performed and the success rate is overwhelming. Beating heart surgery is a sought-after technique and the latest machines are also very efficient. Besides, valve replacement and all other kinds of heart surgeries are being done in routine by surgeons at HDHI.” He also explained the procedure to the audience by showing the recording of a heart surgery on screen with the help of a projector.

Ms Harsimrat Kaur, dietician, HDHI talked about balanced diet. She stressed on the need to give up fried and fast food and colas. She also spoke about the positive role of soya products in protection from various diseases. The event was followed by an interactive session.

Innovative surgery performed on NRI
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 18
The industrial hub of Punjab is fast emerging as one of the foremost medical centres for non-residents Indians. Dr Manoj Sobti, consultant neurosurgeon at Sobti Neuro and Trauma Centre, here, recently performed an innovative cervical surgery on a patient belonging to Nawanshahr district and working in Greece for the past several years.

Giving details at a news conference here yesterday, Dr Sobti, former Head of the Department of Neurosurgery at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, said Mr Hans Raj (50) had come with complaints of numbness and pain in the outer aspect of the left upper limb for two months. The MRI of the patient showed that he had ‘prolapsed intervertebral disc’ at the C5-C6 level. This displaced disc was compressing the nerve root and causing the problem to the patient.

The patient was taken up for surgery to remove the prolapsed disc and a team of doctors headed by Dr Sobti performed ‘anterior cervical discoidectomy’ under microscopic control. Deviating from the standard surgical procedure, a bone graft, taken from the patient’s pelvic bone, was put in the C5-C6 intervertebral space. Further, a ‘titanium plate’ was placed to the C5-C6 vertebral body anteriorly. The patient showed wonderful recovery after surgery. Numbness in his left limb and pain were relieved. Hans Raj was now fully fit and stitches have been removed.

Dr Sobti said he had surgically treated a large number of NRI patients during the past two years, coming from countries like the UK, USA, Canada and Germany. “The cost of treatment here is also very low in comparison to what the NRIs have to spend in their adopted countries. Moreover, the NRIs prefer to get treatment in India for several other reasons like difficulty in communicating with medical professionals in foreign countries and abnormally long waiting period for medical and surgical treatment. At the same time, they find the medical technology comparable even to advanced countries at much cheaper rates.”

SPORTS

Punjab cagers for junior nationals
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, May 18
Gurbaj Singh of Baba Lodhiana Academy and Kiranjeet Kaur, also of the same academy were named captains of the Punjab boys and girls teams respectively, which will take part in the 56th Junior National Basketball Championship to be held from May 21 to 28 at Pondicherry.

According to Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal, honorary secretary, Punjab Basketball Association, the boys team with a number of internationals in their ranks, are determined to retain the title which they had been winning for the past five years while the girls team who finished runners-up in the last edition of the championship is also expected to perform well this year.

The members of the two teams are: boys- Gurbaj Singh, Gurbhej Singh, Amandeep Singh, Sukhbir Dhillon, Yadwinder Singh and Gurpreet Singh of Baba Lodhiana Academy; Sumit and Bhupinder Singh of Gurdaspur; Sukhpal Singh of Faridkot; Pradeep and Amandeep of Amritsar and Ajay Prashar of Ludhiana. Ramesh Kalley and Jasbir Singh will accompany the team as coach and assistant coach, respectively while Balkar Singh Brar will be the manager of the squad.

Girls- Kiranjeet kaur, Manda, Radha and Harvinder Kaur of Baba Lodhiana Academy; Simran of Ludhiana; Ramandeep and Sarabjeet Kaur of Jalandhar; Harpreet Kaur of Amritsar, Sakshi Sharma, Surbhi and Rubel of Gurdaspur; Harneet Kaur of Muktsar. Gurdial Singh and Jasbir Singh are accompanying the team as coach and assistant, respectively while Dr S Subramanian will be the manager.

Talented players turn up for trials
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, May 18
More than 50 male players turned up to attend trials conducted at Guru Nanak Stadium here today by the Punjab Sports Department. The trials were held in three disciplines — athletics, hockey and wrestling — to enrol players with the Speed Fund Academy being run here by the department. They will be given training-cum coaching by experts of repute to prepare them for international meets.

As many as 28 talented wrestlers in different categories took part in the trials. The Director, Sports, Punjab, Padma Shree, Kartar Singh, informed that he was not satisfied with the response of the aspirants as these trials were conducted only for players who had secured positions in the national or state-level tournaments. He said only four athletes and 16 hockey players came for the trials and the department had decided to conduct the trials again probably in the first week of June.