The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

A day for mother tongue
Tribune News Service

The mother language or mother tongue or first language plays a crucial role in personality building. Prof Mohan Singh said this on the occasion of International Mother Language Day at the local Ashoka Senior Secondary School which had organized a declamation contest on the importance of mother tongue. Twenty-one students spoke .Dr Charanjit Singh Gumtala, Managing Director ,Punjabi Writers Cooperative Society, presided.

Dr Gumtala emphasized the need to make Punjabi, the official language in the state particularly in courts, banks and post offices.

Dr Brijpal Singh ,director PWCS exhorted the audience to use the mother tongue with pride .

Rajinder Kaur, Sanjam Sharma of class six and Baghicha Singh of Plus one were adjudged the top three speakers.

Mr Y.P. Gupta, Mr Sushil Aggarwal and Mr Bhupinder Singh were among those present on the occasion.

Dr Neki elected Fellow of ACP
Tribune News Service

Dr N.S. Neki

Dr N.S. Neki, Professor Internal Medicine, Government Medical college and Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Amritsar ,has been elected as a fellow to the American College of Physicians (ACP) by its board of Reagents.

Dr Neki’s election as a fellow is based on the outstanding achievement made in the field of internal medicine and more than 50 papers in the quality based peer-reviewed national and international medical journals.

He is reportedly the only doctor who has been invited by the college where he would be conferred fellowship scroll and medallion during the convocation ceremony to be held on April 19, 2007 in San Diego convention centre, San Diego, California (USA).

Liver diseases on rise
Ashok Sethi

Excess consumption liquor has led to the rise of liver diseases, including Hepatits C,senior gastroenterologist Dr A.K. Panda at the Escorts Heart and Superspeciality Institute here has observed.

Dr Panda said that they had checked up 35 patients during the last over one month and found the patients suffering from serious liver ailments. He said that the majority of the cases were from the rural areas .A large number of them were suffering from ceirrhosis . The high intake of liquor was responsible for these diseases .The majority of patients was in the age group of 40 to 50 years out .Of which 30 per cent developed jaundice while in others fluids got accumulated in the organs. However no woman was found with any liver disease.

GNDU Notes
NSS volunteers honoured
Sanjay Bumbroo
Tribune News Service

Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) honored its five NSS volunteers who displayed commendable performance on the eve of Republic Day held at Delhi. Similarly, the university also honoured its two volunteers who brought laurels to it in the National Youth Cultural Festival held at Pune.

According to Dr. Sukhpal Singh coordinator, NSS, 97 girls and 88 boys from 77 universities and colleges participated in the Republic Day Parade. Among them, there were 16 volunteers from Punjab and out of these, there were five volunteers - Mandeep Kaur, Gurpreet Singh, Jaspreet Kaur and Satwinder Singh who represented the GND University,were from DAV College, Amritsar, S N College for Women, Amritsar, Nawab Jassa Singh Ahluwalia College, Kapurthala and Pathankot College.

Prof. Dr. Jai Rup Singh, vice-chancellor honored these volunteers and commended their performance.

Prize for department

The Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences of GNDU won the second prize under the senior category in the Professor B.M. Johri Annual Rolling Shield Paper Presentation Contest on "Bioenergy, not Nuclear Energy, is the answer to India's rapid Economic Development" organized by the Botany Department of Delhi University, Delhi.

Rajneet Kaur Soodan and Sukhwinder Kaur in the post-graduate category and Savinder Kaur and Rimple Sohi in the under -graduate category represented the university and won the second prize.

Proficiency course

GNDU conducted a short-term course for ministerial staff' of deputy registrars, assistant registrars and superintendents of the university under the aegis of Department of Adult, Continuing Education and Extension at Baba Budha College Bhawan.

Dr. R.K. Bedi, Director, Deptt. of Adult, Continuing Education and Extension said that the UGC had sanctioned Rs 21 lakh as grant to the department for infrastructure and short- term courses for staff.

Dr. R.S. Bawa, Registrar and Mr. Verinder Pal, Finance and Development Officer while addressing the officers insisted that officers that they should keep themselves acquainted with the Act, Statutes, Ordinances and Regulations of the university. While emphasizing the need for quick disposal of files, he also stressed on the role of politeness in public dealing. He proposed for constitution of a forum for encouraging healthy inter-personal relations amongst the officers. The issue of current developments like Right to Information and increasing use of computers in day-to-day official dealings was also touched upon by Dr. Bawa.

Young Scientist Award

The Punjab Academy of Sciences awarded the Young Scientist Award to Priya Arora of the Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences in the category of biosciences at the 10th Punjab Science Congress held recently.

Priya Arora got the award for her research work conducted on "Understanding and Evaluation of Intrinsic Factors Involved in Seed Development of Withania Somnifera (L) Dunal" under the guidance of Dr Pratap Kumar Pati.

This was the first report of Priya on precise identification of a developmental stage of seed leading to a maximum seed germination in Withania - somnifera, an important medicinal plant based on biochemical, molecular and tissue culture studies. As Withania-somnifera possess immense therapeutic value against a large number of ailments, including cancer .The study would give clue for the easy establishment of the crop and insights to the fundamental aspect of seed germination.

DAV College convocation
Ashok Sethi

The Acting Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, Dr Justice Shivraj V. Patil, delivering the 49th annual convocation of DAV College here said that the educational institutions must provide a launching platform to young brains to excel in their professions and take up the nation building task as a mission in their lives. He said the DAVs steeped in Indian values give them a more focused attitude to shape India’s destiny.

He called upon the students that they must show commitment and competence in whatever profession they chose.

The vice chancellor of University of Law, Patiala, Dr Gurjit Singh blessed the young graduates.

Earlier, welcoming the chief guest and other dignitaries, the Principal, Dr V.K. Sharma, read out the achievements of the college.

Message of love from Pakistan
Ashok Sethi

The musical evening “Paigaam-E-Moabbat” - an ode to the great classical poetry, presented by singers from Pakistan started on a somber note with the audience standing in a -two minute silence for the 68 passengers who perished in the devastating fire in the Samjauta Express near Panipat.

Speaking to newsmen on the tragic rail episode Niazi brothers of Pakistan said that the Almighty would never forgive those who perpetrate violence and take innocent lives.

“Sada Chiriyan Da Chamba Ve”, “Mitti Da Bawa” turned the audience nostalgic.

The evening was organized by Punarjyot.

Tasks for municipal commissioner
Dr A.L. Adlakha

Now that the din of elections is over, one expects our recently-appointed municipal commissioner to launch cleanliness and traffic decongestion drives. With ever increasing number of vehicles the passage through posh Lawrence road, Queens Road or Hall Bazar is becoming a nightmare. The time to act is now.

We have multistoried parking lot at the Nehru Shopping complex on Lawrence road lying unused becauseit is mostly locked. There is a small signboard announcing its existence, but it does not indicate whether it is paid or free parking lot.There is a strong case for making Lawrence road a no parking zone. It will add to the beauty of the area and make it a shoppers’ delight.