Muktsar, September 8
The bandh call given by senior Congress leader and former MP Jagmeet Singh Brar to protest against alleged high-handedness of the ruling SAD-BJP combine in run-up to the municipal committee polls on September 14, turned out to be sporadic.

During a visit to Muktsar, Malout, Lambi and Gidderbaha, it was observed that except for Muktsar, the rest of the towns in the district did not observe the bandh.

Ironically, the bandh call announced by Brar at Chandigarh also brought to the fore factionalism in the district Congress.

Moreover, the rally slated for today, could not be held. Except for PPCC president Mohinder Singh Kaypee, neither Rajinder Kaur Bhattal nor Captain Amarinder Singh reached the city, who as per Brar, had been invited for the rally.

Kaypee, after holding a press meet, listened to the grievances of the Congress workers. Addressing them, he accused SAD of strangulating democracy and claimed that he would approach the High Court with all documentary evidence.

On the other hand, a number of Congmen were found standing near the venue of the proposed rally, Guru Gobind Singh Park, located on Kotkapura road.

Finding no party leader over there, they tried to contact them on their mobile phones. After hearing that the rally had been cancelled, the disappointed workers accused senior party leaders of using them as mere "tools."

Earlier in the morning, a number of Congress activists including MLA Sunny Brar, Jagmeet Singh Brar, his brother Ripjeet Singh Brar, district Congress president Gursant Singh Brar and other local leaders, held a march in the city market, and appealed to the shopkeepers to lend support and roll down the shutters.

Though some willingly closed their shops, a number of shops re-opened soon after the protest march crossed the area.

When asked about the cancellation of the rally, Gursant Singh Brar said, "It was not practical to retain the crowd which had gathered in the morning till the time of the rally at 4 pm. So we deferred the programme and informed all party men to avoid inconvenience to their supporters."

When Jagmeet Singh Brar was asked about the cancellation of the rally, he said, "The media used the word "rally", but what I meant to say was 'public meeting', to enable a one-to-one conversation with the aggrieved persons."

Replying about the cold response to the bandh call, Jagmeet Brar said, "It was not done in a coercive way as we never use force as SAD (B) men do. Moreover, it was a symbolic protest and people willingly closed their shops from 9am till noon."

On being asked about the absence of Bhttal and Amrinder, as he had invited them, he said, "When party president is here, it covers the whole circle."

He further alleged that SAD leaders had asked taxation officials to foil the bandh call and that they used their official power to make such attempt.

Interestingly, Tejinder Singh Midhukhera, a close ally of the SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was moving around the rally venue to observe the situation said, "They have cancelled their programme as they could not get a healthy response to the call for bandh."

Abohar, September 8
Only 3500 black bucks existed in the Asia's largest open sanctuary spread over 13 villages of this sub-division as per the census conducted in 1991.

But now, it appears that constant persecution by man has reduced their numbers. The large herds, which freely roamed in the plains of North India earlier, are no longer visible.

During the 18th, 19th and the first half of the 20th century, black buck was the most hunted wild beast in the country. No census was planned during last 17 years.

Black buck, known by various regional names, is the most elegant antelope of India. Very few know that it is exclusive to the Indian subcontinent.

In some villages of Abohar, a few herds can still be seen roaming. The animals are being protected by villagers, mainly Bishnois, despite the fact that they cause some damage to the crops. An area of 46,513 acres in Abohar was declared a wildlife sanctuary in August, 1975.

Fragmentation of land holdings, extensive cultivation of land, occasional attacks by jackals and stray dogs and competition for grazing posed by the local cattle are some of the problems that are coming in the way of the protection of this endangered species.

The protection afforded to black bucks by Bishnois is laudable, but the government has not come up to their expectations at all.

The campaign launched by late Sant Kumar Bishnoi by forming the Akhil Bharatiya Jeev Raksha Bishnoi Samiti is losing its sheen, residents of some villages said.

The present leadership reportedly preferred to take a soft view against the poachers since they belonged to the home turf of the Chief Minister.

But the Bishnoi Youngsters Wild Animal Life Ward Committee, headed by Rai Sahab Gillan, has conveyed to the poachers in strong words that "bullet for bullet" would be their slogan if any one dare to hunt the animal as the community was known for making sacrifice to protect the deer and Khejri trees.

The youths had foiled attempts by poachers in the recent past and one of the hunters was identified as a kin of a popular Punjabi movie star who too hailed from village Mahnikhera of the CM's home turf.

It was an uphill task to find the wildlife officer here as he reportedly resides at the district headquarters, some residents in village Khairpur rued.

Repeated efforts to contact him on his cell phone went in vain. The government as per records had appointed six guards but they are not equipped with resources.

All the motorcycles given to the guards for patrolling in the sanctuary area are out of order, they have to arrange their own resources as and when required.

Sources in the wildlife department that had been merged with the forest department confessed that the stray dog menace was responsible for bringing down the population of black bucks and blue bulls besides other species in the sanctuary but explained that the district authorities had not taken any action in this regard.

The dogs had targeted the protected species during the recent rainy season repeatedly but it was not possible to protect the bucks, villagers said. The herds get trapped while running over the muddy dunes.

Stray dogs posed threat to human life also on the outskirts of some villages, Rai Sahab Gillan said.

Maneka Gandhi, as central minister for environment, had arrived here to inaugurate the statue of Sant Kumar Bishnoi some years ago.

She had offered to release grant for developing a veterinary hospital specially
to treat the animals in the sanctuary area but the then state government did
not process the proposal for unknown reasons, some members of the Bishnoi
community regretted.

The last SAD-BJP government had granted licences to some of the political followers to kill blue bulls (neel gai) under the pretexts that these damaged crops and resulted in road accidents on link roads during nights.

One finds some of the Bishnoi families nourishing female brown deer that had entered the village and were offered shelter.

One such animal, called Anjali, now three years old, was seen being fed with cereals in village Raipura.

Abohar, September 8
The controversy shrouding the recovery of a female foetus in the Nehru Memorial Civil Hospital here on September 1 has further deepened with the death of the woman about whom the authorities had claimed that she had accidentally aborted the same.

As per information available, the inquiry panel formed by the civil surgeon had stated that Mool Chand, a migrant from Uttar Pradesh, and presently settled in village Bahadurkhera as an orchard care taker had got his wife Sheela Devi admitted in the maternity ward of the hospital that is termed as an ideal health institution of the district on August 29.

She reportedly had serious travails on August 30 but the staff of the hospital was so much "busy" that none bothered to check her.

On September 1, Mool Chand took her to the toilets where, the doctors say, she became a victim of accidental abortion and returned after leaving the foetus there.

Kamla Rani, a sanitation worker at the hospital, noticed the foetus in the toilet of the maternity ward at the hospital. She informed the ward attendant, Ravinder Kaur, who immediately contacted the in charge of the hospital, SMO Ramesh Verma.

The SMO ordered that the foetus be kept in the mortuary till further instructions. He said it was a serious matter and would be probed.

Preliminary inquiries revealed that two women from Nai Abadi locality, identified as Nikki and Pooja besides one Meenu, who was married at Hanumangarh, were expecting babies.

Of them, Nikki gave birth to a girl while Pooja and Meenu delivered baby boys. None of the other patients was expecting delivery these days. As to who threw the foetus in the toilet is worrying the authorities.

As the media highlighted the story, the civil surgeon rushed to Abohar from Ferozepur and formed a three-member inquiry panel.

The panel in their inquiry report said ultrasound examination of Sheela Devi revealed she had no pregnancy whereas during the initial examination she had been found carrying 6 month child in her womb.

She had left the hospital without informing the authorities, the panel further lamented. There were only few takers of this finding. Health Minister Luxmi Kanta Chawla ordered public trial of the case.

As per her telephonic instructions district BJP Mahila Morcha president Suversha Narang and city BJP president Geeta Chaudhary, both members of the municipal council, paid a surprise visit to the civil hospital on September 4.

They reportedly scrutinized the related record and discussed the case with the gynecologist who reportedly conceded that she could not check Sheela Devi owning to some pre-occupations.

The public panel wondered why the doctors had not cared to check the number of inmates and their physical credentials on the day of finding of the foetus.

Last evening when Geeta Chaudhary visited village Bahadurkhera to have first person statement from Sheela Devi, she was told that Sheela had already died.

This brings the hospital authorities in the dock. Negligence besides other human
evils had been talk of the town for a long period but the latest episode has
stunned all. The health minister has been given details of the episode, BJP
sources confirmed on Saturday.

Bathinda, September 8
In an alleged case of causing death by negligence, the Nehianawala police booked a medical store owner, who allegedly injected wrong vaccination to a 26-year-old college lecturer, Parveen Devi, who died on Sunday.

As per the information procured from the police, Bharat Bhushan of Goniana, reported to them that his sister was suffering from fever.

He took her to Ramesh Kumar, owner of a medical store located at Mall road. They alleged that the persons, without conducting tests, injected some medicine, due to which her condition started deteriorating.

When he complained to the accused, he got a lukewarm response. Then he took her to Civil Hospital, Goniana, but finding no improvement in her condition, she was referred to a private hospital in Bathinda.

The doctors at the hospital further referred her to DMCH Ludhiana. She was then taken to Civil Hospital in Bathinda, where she died.

Frustrated over it, the family members of the deceased attempted to contact the shopkeeper, but he managed to escape.

The kin then informed the police, which registered a case under section 304-A of the IPC against Ramesh Kumar. However, the accused was still absconding at the time of the filing of the report.

Meanwhile, after conducting the postmortem, police today handed over the body to family members.

Bathinda, September 8
Panic prevailed in Janta Nagar here today when a youth, allegedly in an inebriated condition, created a ruckus in the locality.

Sources said that the youth, who is allegedly a drug addict, turned violent and started injuring himself with a hammer.

Besides damaging vehicles parked on roadside, he also tried to harm locals and others. The youth was overpowered and admitted to the Civil Hospital.

Bathinda, September 8
Three labourers got buried under a sand dune in village Haraipur on Monday while they were trying to dig up a canal distributary.

Due to the immediate intervention of the villagers, they were pulled out within half-an-hour and rushed to the Civil Hospital in Bathinda.

According to information available, half a dozen labourers were put on job along with JCB machines and other equipment to dig the canal distributary in the sandy terrain.

When the job was about to be accomplished, five of the labourers got buried under the sand dune.

Two of them managed to come out while the others were pulled out with the efforts made by the nearby villagers.

They were called through an announcement on the Gurudwara loudspeaker. They were reported to be out of danger.

Mansa, September 8
The dilapidated condition of the Ram Bagh road, Mansa, has been creating problems for residents of the city.

To get the road repair done, residents have formed a struggle committee, which has been staging dharna since August 25.

President of the committee, Ramesh Sharma said that they had been staging a dharna for demanding repair of sewerage system and the road, but no official had so far cared to solve their problem.

President of municipal committee, Atamjeet Kala, met the protesters at dharna site but it proved futile.

Vice-president of the struggle committee Harjinder Manshia said that due to poor condition of the road, heavy traffic had been diverted to the main bazaar road which was creating traffic problems in the city.

President of Sabhyachark Chetna Manch, Kamaljeet Malwa, demanded that repair work on the main road of city should be started immediately.

Abohar, September 8
The Senior Citizens Welfare Society (SCWS) has urged the authorities concerned to take preventive measures to check spread of malaria in the sub-division.

T.K. Dutta, vice-president of the society, informed today that during a meeting presided over by president K.C. Kalra the members regretted that cases of malaria were occurring in the sub divisional town and dengue was feared in coming days.

Treatment was beyond the means of common man in malaria whereas dengue had no specific treatment except symptomatic one.

Both often results in loss of precious human life casting gloom and agony. Prevention whereof lies in elimination of mosquitoes.

Municipal council should adopt effective measures to eliminate mosquitoes, the
society demanded.

Abohar, September 8
Calligraphy expert Navneet Setia said the would-be teachers at a function in the DAV College of Education here on Monday that handwriting could be the basis for adjudging the personality of a person.

"Calligraphy is an art that just about anyone can do. All you need is a pen and paper, and you're ready to do calligraphy! Indeed, it requires very few materials, you don't need very much space, and, since you can probably write anyway, you already know the basics! Calligraphy is an art form in which patience and attention to detail are more important than artistic talent. That means you don't have to be an "artist" to be good at calligraphy!" he said.

Observing that calligraphy is a whole lot of fun and can be enjoyed by young and old alike. It is one of the most enjoyable skills that a person can acquire. In short, calligraphy is really Fun!

There are some wonderfully gifted calligraphers whose work can inspire us to strive for excellence. However, no one should ever look at work of this calibre and conclude that there is no room for amateurs. Remember, in the end, we are obligated to please just one critic - ourselves."

He cautioned the students that wrong choice of pen and negativity can deprive them of proper evaluation in the examination.

Lecturers S K Oberoi, Parminder Kamboj and Mandeep Kaur presented a memento to the guest speaker. He thanked principal Venita Singh for organizing such lecturers.

Abohar, September 8
The victim of the Ramdevra road mishap, Bhanwar Dass (60), was cremated at the main Shivpuri here.

Bhanwar was among the local pilgrims who had left passenger train on Saturday night here and boarded Rajasthan roadways bus from Bikaner for onward journey to Runecha Dhaam located in Ramdevra village near Pokaran.

He had died yesterday as the state-run buses collided head-on near Phalaudi on way to the historic place where the annual fair was in full bloom now.

Bhanwar's body was brought here even as a pall of gloom descended on the Idgah Basti and surrounding localities to which most of the affected pilgrims belonged.

Hundreds of citizens today pedalled about 2 km carrying the body and chanted bhajans on the way.

Meanwhile, the condition of all those injured was stated to be stable and were under treatment in hospitals at Phalaudi and Bikaner.