Lights of devotionThe Kartikai Deepam festival will be celebrated from December 1 to 3 at the Untade Maruti temple near KEM hospital in Rasta Peth. On this occasion the entire temple will be lit with oil lamps. Special puja, abhishekam, archana and alankaram to Lord Anjeneya and maha arti will mark the three-day festival. This festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm throughout Tamil Nadu.Psychology for beginnersAkkisetti Ramprasad Naidu's book, Psychology for Beginners, is a guide into the world of psychology. Published by the Millennium Press, it is targeted at psychology students and has immense value for the general reader too. Naidu wrote the book for a primarily Indian readership, since he was sceptical of American books on psychology, which he feels don't address the Indian situation. The book was inaugurated by Professor Gita Mehta, Head of Department Psychology, Fergusson College, where Naidu is on the teaching staff.Voice for the disabled``It's normal to be different and it is our aim to value that diversity,'' remarked Mary Dalman, guest speaker at a Soroptimist meet held at UWA recently. She spoke about the discrimination against the disabled and the Disability Discrimination Act that has been passed in the UK with the view of making special educators here aware of the situation abroad and allowing them to take stock of the situation at hand. Mary who is a banker in charge of a branch called Disability Management also spoke about how the act was achieved in phases in her country, how corporate help is sought to support her causes and so on.The other speakers included Ujwala Karnik, working extensively with the spastics, who spoke about the laws for the disabled and the vast forms of discrimination they have to face in this country; Meenal Jaywant, principal of the Surud Mandal BEd College, introduced some of her students who then spoke about her life experiences.Outstanding awardRavindranath Bagwe, a dental surgeon with the Pune Cantonment Board hospital, was given the MSPI Outstanding Personalities - 1998 award in New Delhi recently. A member of the Indian Dental Association, he has taught in the Bharati Vidyapeeth Dental College. He has also been attached to the prosthetic unit at Sassoon Hospital and rendered professional services to the employees of Kirloskar Pneumatic Ltd for a period of one year. The aim of the MSPI award is to encourage those individuals who have made a meaningful contribution to society.A novel techniqueCoral Tree Publications, a division of the Pune-based Pushpa Publications Ltd, has recently published an English novel Three No Trumps by Raj Supe. The novel employs a dramatic narrative technique. The plot of the novel revolves around Brian D'Souza and three characters, Tejas Maurya, Shanti Sagar Nair and Prajapati Upadhyay. The readers will find the narration style most interesting.Raj Supe alias Rajbhashayak is a writer and seeker. He is a member of the Vaishnava Bhakti cult founded by Sitaramdas Omkarnath and divides his time between literature and religion. A past master in management consultancy, he lives in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and Rishikesh.Nuclear medicine conferenceA nuclear medicine conference has been organised by the department of nuclear medicine at Ruby Hall Clinic from December 3 to 5. Around 200 delegates and around 10 international faculty members will attend the conference. Panel discussions will be held by the cardiologists, urologists and endochronologists. Those interested in participating can get in touch with the department of nuclear medicine, Ruby Hall Clinic on phone at 623381.
