R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

• For whom Zirakpur matters more than C’garh

• A ray of hope for the blind

• Rare honour for man of religion

• Yamunanagar girl joins IAF

AMRITSAR
OFFICE BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Punjab Folk Dance Association: President — Mr Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina; vice-presidents — Mr Jatinder Singh Brar and Ms Nonika Singh and general secretary — Mr Sarabjit Singh Chhina.

STUDENTS WIN: Ms Nitni and Ms Ravneet, both of BBK DAV College for Women, here have won the quiz competition held at SL Bawa DAV College, Batala. Students of BBK DAV College for Women here have won the running trophy in the on-the-spot painting competition organised by the Rotary Club, Amritsar Cantonment.

VISIT TO VARSITY: A delegation of American Embassy visited Guru Nanak Dev University here on Tuesday. They interacted with the Vice-Chancellor, Dr SP Singh, teachers and students on prospects of higher education in the USA, educational exchanges programmes and services offered there.

GENDER RATIO: The male female ratio in the country has decreased considerably. It is 793 women per 1000 men. This was revealed by Dr KK Sharma, Civil Suregon, in a seminar on female foeticide held here on Tuesday. The seminar was organised by the All India Women’s Conference.

BATHINDA
ORDER: Mr Anurag Verma, Deputy Commissioner, has issued an order for the safeguard of railway tracks, canals, rivulets, bridges, water works and Indian Oil pipeline from any kind of damage by anti- social elements in rural areas. Residents of respective villages will guard them during night. The order will remain in force till November 15.

CONDEMNED: The district unit of the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF) has said that the lathi charge on students of the ETT course in Amritsar was unjust.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
INSTALLED: Mr Nakesh Jindal, a social worker, while presiding over the annual installation ceremony of the Bharat Vikas Parishad, Bassi Pathana unit on Wednesday. He called upon the people to adopt social service as their hobby and service towards mankind is service towards God. He appreciated the services rendered by the parishad in the country and particularly in this district. Mr Ajay Dutta General Secretary of the state unit of the parishad, who installed the new team, in his address highlighted the achievements and the various social activities being carried out by the parishad in the state. He administered the oath to the new team and urged them to do social service selflessly. Mr Surinder Dhiman was installed as president and his team of office-bearers took the oath. Mr Rakha Singh Jangu, SDM, also addressed the gathering. 

HOSHIARPUR
PENSION SCHEMES: Mr R.S. Sandhu, Commissioner, Jalandhar Division, has said 49 teams have been constituted to check the genuineness of the beneficiaries of pension schemes. The number of beneficiaries in the district is 60953. He was speaking to officers here on Tuesday.

RAID: The Dasuya and Tanda police raided the shops of many cassettes and CDs dealers in their respective areas on Tuesday seized a large number of fake audio and video cassettes and CDs. Cases have been registered under various Sections of the Copyright Act, 1957 in this connection.

RAPE: Two youths entered the bedroom of a woman at Chhowni Kalan while she was sleeping and raped her on Tuesday. The crime was committed at about 9 p.m. A case has been registered under various Sections of the IPC.

CRUSHED TO DEATH: Gurmeet Singh of Hajipur was crushed to death by a Mahindra jeep while he was walking on the Hajipur-Talwara road on Tuesday. A case has been registered against the driver, Ram Sarup of Nathuwal village.

JAGRAON
RESENTMENT: Residents of the localities falling near the Philli Gate took out a procession raising slogans against the local administration and Executive Officer of the municipal council for making no efforts to correct and repair the choked sewage system. They blamed the municipal council for ignoring their genuine grievance which has made their lives miserable. The protesters later on submitted a memorandum to the SDM, Mr Gurmit Singh.

THREE HELD: The Sudhar police arrested Arun of Ram Nagar Theli Patti and Piara Singh and Harbans Singh of Danco from a dharamshala while playing cards by staking money. The police has registered a case under Section 13, 3 and Section 67 of the Gambling Act.

STRIKE: The lawyers of the Local Bar Association abstained from work on the call of the Bar Council of India against the recent amendments carried in the Civil Procedure Code.

PROTEST: Many DIET students protested against the cane charging on DIET students at Amritsar on September 16 and raised slogans against the government. The student leaders criticised the irresponsible attitude of the state government against the just and genuine demands of the students and condemned the attitude of the government warned that the state government cannot suppress their genuine demands. Mr Bhag Singh vice-president Government Teachers Union, also condemned the cane charging and Principal Major Singh Sandhu appealed to the teachers and the students to remain united till their demands are not met.

KAPURTHALA
3 HELD FOR MURDER: The Dhilwan police has arrested three persons in connection with the murder of Sawinder Singh. The arrested are Lakhwinder Singh, nephew, Nirmal Singh, nephew and Baba Mohinder Singh.

PRIEST’S WIFE HELD: The kotwali police on Tuesday arrested three persons and recovered a colour TV, a VCD and a blue film from their possession. Among the arrested is Rajinder Kaur, the wife of a priest. She was living separately in Mohalla Sheikhwalan.

COP SUSPENDED: Head constable Amrik Singh of police lines here has been suspended on the charge of dereliction of duty. Handcuffed Mahil Singh, an undertrial managed to give him the slip at the district court on September 13.

KHARAR
FUNCTION: Vanamahotsava was celebrated by the State Bank of Patiala’s branch, Kurali, at Chakwal national Senior Secondary School, Kurali. According to a press note, Mr Malhotra, Branch Manager of the bank, highlighted various schemes of the bank. Among others present on the occasion were Mr Dhani Ram, Chairman, DAV Institutions, Kurali, Mr Kesho Ram, Vice-Chairman, and Mr Sushil K. Kushal, Manager.

LUDHIANA
WORKSHOP: The VLCC organised a workshop on self grooming and monsoon make-up on their premises here today. The one-day long workshop focussed on the needs of self-grooming and the personality development among the young generation. “As the season changes on the arrival of monsoon, so does the skin. Oily skin secretes more sebum and acne eruptions are more frequent. Mature skin becomes rashy and more sensitive. Dry skin loses its moisture further and looks dull. In short, all the problems aggravate in the extreme seasons. In our effort to look beautiful, we blindly use the products following the eye-catchy commercials. This tends to suffocate the skin further causing more problems”, said the beauty expert.

PROGRAMME: A national oral health programme was taken up by the Indian Dental Association in collaboration with Colgate IDA in DAV Public School, BRS Nagar, on Wednesday. Dr J.P. Singh, Dr Gurinder and Dr Thind instructed the students about various methods of dental care. The students were told that if tarter is formed, it should be cleaned by a dentist. The students should not do thumb sucking, nail biting or pencil chewing as these harm the formation of the teeth. Dr J.P. Singh told the students about oral cancer which was the third most prominent type of cancer and is caused by chewing of tobacco and eating paan masala.

CHANDIGARH

SEMINAR: The career guidance cell of the Shaheed Udham Singh College of Engineering and Technology, Tangori, organised a seminar on ‘Management as a career’. According to a press note, the talk, delivered by Mr Harsh Kumar Vijh, a speaker from New Delhi, focused on the origin and role of management, besides skills required by a manager and his life. 

HARYANA

AMBALA
MELA: The Vaman Dwadshi Mela was celebrated here on Wednesday. It is a century-old mela of Ambala City. Thousands of people paid obeisance to Bhagwan Vaman, an avtar of Lord Vishnu. The Sanatan Dharam Sabha, Ambala City, organised the mela.

HISAR
JIND RALLY: The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala on Tuesday addressed a meeting of party workers at the Jat Dharmshala here. He asked them to make the Jind rally a success.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

HAMIRPUR
HP MAHILA COMMISSION: The HP Mahila Commission Chairperson, Ms Malvika Pathania, claimed on Tuesday 33 cases from the district were pending before it. Out of these 12 would be disposed of shortly, she assured. She was addressing a meeting of the commission.

KUMARHATTI
ELECTED: Mr Devinder Gupta has been elected vice-president of the Kasauli Cantonment Board at a board meeting on Tuesday. He will hold the post till the coming cantonment election tentatively scheduled for February, 2003.

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

For whom Zirakpur matters more than C’garh

For engineers of Bathinda’s Public Works Department (B&R), Zirakpur is perhaps more important than Chandigarh, the joint capital of both Punjab and Haryana.

That perhaps is why all milestones on the Patiala-Bathinda state highway, do not mention Chandigarh. Instead the distance to Zirakpur, a small town just outside the capital, is given.

Many who are not familiar with the name of Zirakpur get confused on reading these milestones. For example, one of milestones on the outskirts of Bathinda mentions the distance to Zirakpur to be 95 km, Patiala 140 km and Sangrur 82 km from that point.

Interestingly, this “intentional” omission of Chandigarh from the milestones of the Malwa belt is nothing new. Neither has any politician nor any bureaucrat taken notice of the engineers’ “arbitrary decision” to prefer indicating Zirakpur, rather than Chandigarh, on the milestones.

Chandigarh, being the capital, definitely deserves to be mentioned, not only because of its importance and strategic location, but to inform travellers from other states who may not be familiar with small towns like Zirakpur.

A ray of hope for the blind

The rate of blindness in India is increasing day by day. At present more than 10 lakh people are blind of which 60 per cent are below the age of 12, states Dr K.D. Singh, an eye specialist and chairman of Bibi Kartar Kaur Memorial Eye Bank at Pathankot.

A philanthropist who has launched a drive to make the people aware of their social responsibilities towards the society and the humanity, Dr K.D. Singh says he feels pained on seeing blind young men crossing roads without being helped. Being an eye surgeon, he developed an idea of doing something for the blind as eyes are the only organs that can bring joy to their dreary life. Though loss of any part of the body makes the life of a person miserable, but without eye sight, one loses all zest and grows in darkness.

Eye donation is the main concept of his mission for which he set up an institution named after his grandmother, Kartar Kaur, to encourage people to donate eyes to help the blind see again. A pair of eyes donated by a person can give light to two persons at a time. Anyone who dies can become a boon of light for the blind, he maintains.

He points out in India the rate of eye donors is much less than in Sri Lanka. According to a survey conducted in Pathankot, only 60 donors are available annually as against a demand of 260 eyes on the basis of which the strength of donors nationwide can be adjudged at a glance. In Sri Lanka, people donate eyes generously on account of which it has the capacity to export about 1500 to 2000 pairs of eyes every year.

He states that eye transplantation takes 15 minutes only. Close relatives of the deceased donating eyes have to inform the eye bank authorities within a period ranging from six to eight hours in winter and three to four hours in summer after the eye donor’s death to facilitate transplantation.

Before transplantation of the eye, tests such as blood testing for checking contagious diseases like AIDS, hepatitis and rabies are conducted so that the life of the blind person getting it is not harmed.

Rare honour for man of religion

Brahmachari Braham Swaroop has brought laurels to the state. The Brahmachari has been conferred the title of Uttaranchal Rattan by the All-India Conference of Intellectuals held recently at Dehra Dun. Braham Swaroop, who has rendered yeoman’s service in education and preservation of Hindu thought and culture, is the only Haryanavi to be conferred this rare honour.

The Brahmachari, born at Igra village in Jind district, learnt at the feet of Brahmachari Devender Swaroop. The older Brahmachari is running philanthropic organisations known as Sri Jai Ram Annkshetra at Bhim Goda in Hardwar and another one at Rishikesh. Pilgrims visiting Hardwar and Rishikesh are offered free accommodation and meals in ashrams run by this trust.

Brahmachari Swaroop went a step ahead and set up Jai Ram Annkshetra on the banks of Brahm Sarovar at Kurukshetra. It was at Kurukshetra that he, along with his guru, was instrumental in opening a Sanskrit institute where students were taught. Hindu mythology and scriptures. They are also taught about the fast-disappearing puja padatti (worship system) of maintaining Hindu temples and places.

The credit of starting the Geeta jayanti celebrations on a large scale at Kurukshetra singularly goes to Brahmachari Swaroop and his guru. Earlier, Geeta jayanti was just a small function. During the celebrations now, mass marriages are celebrated and the devotees are treated to “katha” (religious sermons on Hindu philosophy, mythology and culture). Thousands of devotees from all parts of the country attend it every year.

Another feather in his cap is that he has started a degree college for girls at a remote village of Lohar Majra on the Kurukshetra-Pehowa road. This is the only women’s rural college in Haryana, where the latest technical education is imparted to rural girls at a nominal cost.

The Brahmachari has is a staunch opponent of using religion for furthering political interests and is opposed to VHP movement to communalise the Ram Temple issue.

Yamunanagar girl joins IAF

The twin Yamunanagar-Jagadhri townships feel proud of a girl joining the Indian Air Force in its Education Branch. Preeti of Yamunanagar joined the IAF as Flight Cadet (Education). She gives credit to her parents and teachers for her success.

Preeti is daughter of Mr S.K. Chopra, who retired as Barrack Stores Officer from the Military Engineers Services, and has been in Yamunanagar’s Krishna Colony for over 30 years.

Preeti did her schooling from Central School in the various parts of the country up to Standard VIII and later on from DVA Public School and Sant Nishchal Singh Public School, Yamunanagar, up to 10 plus two. Later on she did her B.Sc from MLN College, Yamunanagar. She was a topper of MBA, which she did from Kedar Nath Aggarwal Institute of Management, Charkhi Dadri.

Contributed by Prabhjot Singh, Bharat Bhushan Dogra, K.G. Dutt and Ashwani Dutta.