R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

Regional potpourri

• A Hindi litterateur’s progress
• Less of porters more of  hotel touts
• Popularising eye donation through plays
• Cost-effective hip surgery
  
  
  
  

PUNJAB

ROPAR
Workshop concludes: The five-day workshop on developing healthy work culture for technical teachers organised at IET, Bhaddal, concluded on Saturday. G. Ramesh Kumar, director, technical education and industrial training, Punjab, presided over the valedictory function. Kumar planted a tree in the campus as a symbol of generation of new ideas, fresh thoughts and innovations. IET director-principal Dr H.R. Verma said this course comprised a series of lectures, discussions, case studies and a visit to Bhakra Dam, Nangal.

CHANDIGARH

A meeting of the Ministerial Staff Association, DPI, Punjab, Chandigarh, held under the chairmanship of its president Sunil Kumar unanimously decided that press secretary of the association Jatinder Puri will be fielded as a candidate for Senate election of Panjab University on behalf of the association.

HARYANA

KAITHAL
450 patients examined: As many as 450 persons were examined at a free of cost medical check-up camp organised by the Seva Sangh, Kaithal, on the premises of RKSD Public School here on Sunday. A team of doctors from Karnal examined the patients. Laboratory tests were also conducted on the spot. Deputy commissioner Vikas Gupta inaugurated the camp. President Subhash Mittal and others active members of the sangh were also present on the occasion.

Officials found absent: A number of officials and employees were found absent from their office during raids conducted by SDM Baljeet Singh in Guhla on Thursday. The SDM conducted the raids after he received complaints that staff in many offices played truant and skipped offices on many occasions. One office was found locked while at the municipal committee office, one employee and a few class four employees were present. Others had left the office. In the warehousing office-1, only one employee was present and in the second office, only two employees were present. 

KURUKSHETRA
Dharna on Aug 25: The Haryana Pensioners Welfare Society will stage a dharna in front of the deputy commissioner’s office here on August 25 to press the Haryana government for looking into their demands. Stating this in a press note released here on Saturday, the society’s general secretary Jagdish Gupta criticised the Haryana government for its apathy towards their demands. Block-level meetings would be held in Radaur on August 3 and in Ladwa on August 10 to motivate pensioners for their active participation in the ensuing dharna.

REWARI
Three booked: The police has booked Saroj Yadav’s husband Ishwar Singh Yadav, mother-in-law Chander Kala Yadav and sister-in-law Lilawati Yadav, all residents of Kohard village, near Kosli, on charges of abetment to suicide and harassment for dowry. A case has been registered against them on a complaint filed by Bir Singh Yadav, father of the deceased. Saroj (24) allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison on July 16 when cruel treatment by her in-laws became unbearable.

Robbery case registered: With the eventual conclusion of a 9-month-old row regarding jurisdiction over the place of occurrence of an incident of looting between the Kanina police of Mahendergarh district and the Dahina police of Rewari district, a robbery case has now been registered at the Dahina police post on a long-pending complaint of Rakesh Yadav, a resident of Dahina village, whose Qualis was reportedly looted in November 2007. A case has been registered on a directive of the inspector-general of police, Gurgaon.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

KANGRA
Child killed: Shubam, 10, was killed while taking a bath in Beema Khad in Bhalhad village of the Kundian area on Saturday evening. He reportedly hit against some rock while taking bath in the khud. He was taken to the Jawalamukhi hospital where he was declared brought dead.

NAHAN
Electrocuted: Heera Singh (45), a lineman of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB), was electrocuted while working on an electric pole in the Paonta area on Sunday. Heera Singh was working on the line after cutting off supply from the main control station. Some employees reportedly switched on the supply before he could finish his work and get down from the pole. Heera Singh died on the spot.

SHIMLA
Advani’s effigy burnt: Activists of the state Youth Congress burnt an effigy of BJP supremo L.K. Advani on Sunday. They alleged Advani was trying to divide people on communal lines. The protesters, led by state Youth Congress chief Manmohan Katoch, took out a procession and assembled in front of the Sher-e-Punjab hotel where they held a rally. They raised slogans against the BJP and Advani before burning his effigy. Katoch said similar protests would be organised at various levels to expose the communal face of the BJP and Advani.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
2 youths died in gang rivalry, not police firing: I-G: Close on the heels of death of two youths, allegedly in police firing in Samba on August 1, K. Rajendra, I-G, Jammu, has claimed that they had died due to gang rivalry and not in police firing. It may be recalled here that the town witnessed big demonstrations on August 1, forcing the police to fire several rounds to quell the violence and disperse the mob. Explaining the incident, the IGP said the incident took place around 5.45 p.m. on August 1 when Sanjay Singh fired on Sunil Singh, alias Kitto, of Mandigarh. Another person, Jugal Kishore, who tried to intervene, also sustained a bullet injury. Both Sunil Singh and Jugal Kishore later succumbed to their injuries, said the IGP. The incident had taken place near the Hospital Link road near Samba bus stand on the Jammu-Pathankot national highway. 

Cong leaders support stir: In a major turnaround, a number of Congress leaders are coming forward in support of the Amarnath land row agitation. The agitation has found another Congress supporter in former higher education minister Gulchain Singh Charak who heads the Dogra Sadar Sabha. Earlier, Congress MLC R.S. Chib, former Congress MLAs - Raman Bhalla, Yogesh Sawhney, Suman Bhagar, Sham Sharma and Manohar Lal - announced their support to the land row agitation. The leaders said they made the decision keeping in view the sentiments of the people of Jammu.

RAJOURI
Jawan commits suicide: A jawan committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle at the Core Battle School (CBS) at Sarole here on Sunday. Army sources claimed that sepoy Satish Kumar (32) of the 525 ASC Battalion allegedly shot himself with his service INSAS rifle in the Chin Area, while on sentry duty at 2.30 am. Kumar died on the way to the hospital. He hailed from Hoshiarpur in Punjab. Army sources said Kumar was upset due to some domestic problem which might have forced him to take this extreme step. 

Srinagar
408 leave Baltal for Amarnath: Undeterred by last night's strong winds and shooting of stones, which damaged more than 50 tents near the Amarnath cave shrine, more than 400 pilgrims left the Baltal base camp on Sunday morning. Besides tents, cooked food and other eatables were lost after tents were washed away, sources said However, information about the pilgrims who left the Nunwan-Pahalgam base camp was not available as no yatra official was available. A yatra official at the Baltal base camp told UNI over the phone that 408 yatris left for the cave shrine through this shortest route today following an improvement in the weather.

Regional potpourri
A Hindi litterateur’s progress

He has penned more than 500 poems, 200 short stories, 160 ghazals, 50 stories and 30 articles on varied subjects.

Prof Roop Devgan

Poems by prof Roop Devgan of Sirsa in Haryana are prescribed in syllabi of several universities.

Students of Hindi literature pursuing doctorate in various universities of the country have been doing research on Devgan’s works.

Born on November 1, 1943 to Swaran Devi and Khushi Ram Devgan at Narvar in Lahore, Roop Devgan did masters in Hindi and Punjabi literature before joining the National College , Sirsa as lecturer.

'Roop Devgan ki Rachna Yatra', a book mapping his literary journey was edited by Dr Darshan Singh.

Literary works of Prof Roop Devgan have been researched by many, including, Naveen Kumar from the Maharishi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, Bharat Lal and Anita from Kurukshetra University (KU), Suman and Neelam from Madurai University, Madurai (TN) and Rajender Kumar from Vinayak Mission University.

Five poems of Prof Roop Devgan are included in 'Haryana Ka Hindi Sahitya, a book' prescribed for M.A. (Hindi) second year students of KU, Kurukshetra and MDU, Rohtak.

'Hindi Ki Sashakat Laghukathaey', edited by Prof Roop Devgan has been included in the curriculum of M.A (Hindi) of the Vikramshila Hindi Vidyapeeth, Bhagalpur (Bihar).

The Haryana Sahitya Akademi has published Prof Roop Devgans's poetic collections 'Prashan Uthta Hai Mere Bheetar', 'Ek Baat Poonchhu', 'Jab Tum Chup Rahti Ho' and 'Pahar Ke Badal Abhiney Karte Hain'.

"My mother died when I was only four. My father did not remarry for my sake. The circumstances ignited in me spark of creativity and sensitivities started pouring out on pieces of paper," says Devgan..

"My first story was published in a newspaper in 1965 and since then there has been no looking back," he adds.

Even after 34 years of retirement, Prof Devgan still serves Hindi literature with his pen.

Less of porters more of hotel touts

Tourists rue the decline of the glory of the Queen of Hills since the Raj days. It was natural for Simla, pampered summer capital of the British rulers, to witness change when it became Shimla, capital of Himachal Pradesh in independent India. Some changes have been for the better, some for the worse. To residents of the charming hill town, haphazard construction and water shortage are troublesome but to the tourists visiting Shimla, coolies are number one nuisance: Certainly, even more troublesome than the monkeys one may encounter at the Jakhu hill.

The trouble starts on Cart Road itself just as the vehicles cross the Victory Tunnel. The porters start chasing buses and cars and even climb onto bumpers, not for carrying luggage but because they are functioning as touts of hotels. They mislead rather than lead unsuspecting tourists and take them to seedy rat-infested lodgings for getting paid up to 50 per cent of the tariff. Some hotels even give TV sets , steel utensils and watches etc, in addition to commission to the porters as incentive for bringing in a large number of tourists.

The stakes being high, the porters coax, bully and even intimidate tourists by snatching bags and forcing them to follow them to the ‘best’ hotel and making the holiday a nightmare.

Ironically, the Municipal Corporation issues tokens to porters, for wearing on arms, to carry loads in certain areas and not act as guides. However, most coolies, acting as agents of hotels, are scattered across the town. The Himachal Tourism authorities should take notice of this nuisance and even tourists should, on their own, find accommodation rather than be at the mercy of the hotel touts masquerading as coolies.

Popularising eye donation through plays

Faridkot-based Rupa Faridkoti besides being an artiste has also been persuading people of the area to donate eyes for those unable to see .

Rupa Faridkot

Rupa has been spearheading donate-eyes movement by visiting villages believing donation of eyes was the greatest good in the world. Rupa has also been making use of his acting skill for popularising eye donation for which, he and his family, particularly, his late elder sister Balwinder was known in the area. Unemployed Rupa also keeps himself busy by advising people, particularly, youngsters against the use of drugs.

“I have presented more than 125 plays in Faridkot and adjoining areas so far. My objective is go create awareness among people against social evils undermining our ethics. Though, I lack means , I get satisfaction when interacting with people through my plays. My late sister Balwinder is my source of inspiration. My dream is to get trained at the National School of Drama to polish skills as an actor,” said Rupa.

Cost-effective hip surgery

Dr. J.P.S Walia, the head of Orthopaedic unit of the Patiala based Government Medical College and Hospital has conducted total hip replacement procedures on three poor patients at less than 25 per cent of normal expenditure of a Rs.1 lakh to Rs.1.5 lakh of each of such procedures in the northern region.

Not only that all four patients had got their total hips replaced in record time of four hours, claimed Dr Walia. Earlier too he had replaced hips of two patients in a day.

“Private hospitals charge Rs1 lakh to Rs1.5 lakh for total hip replacement.But here all three patients and other patients are required to spend just Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 on the same procedure and it did not require prolonged hospital stay. A patient having undergone the total hip replacement procedure could walk on his own in 10 days,” said Dr. Walia.

Contributed by: Sushil Manav, Chetna Keer Banerjee and Varinder Singh