Deadly deeds  We are awfully short of words to describe the recent killing of a driver and a handyman of a truck at Lokhra, Guwahati by an armed PSO of an SP after the truck kissed the latter’s car. A lot has already been said, shown and written and a chakka bandh observed the other day to protest the unbelievable high-handedness of the men in uniform. But what more needs to be done to bring about some iota of civility among these ‘legalized’ criminals of the largest democracy in the world? Only two days after the pathetic incident in which the trigger-happy cop murdered the duo in cold-blood, an aged innocent civilian was also done to death by policemen in Darrang district. These two latest incidents prove that something is seriously wrong in the psyche of the policemen, including higher-ups, which needs serious thinking at the highest level so that the reasons for the menacing depravity among the lawkeepers come to light for consequent corrective measures. The keepers of law and order are always expected to behave and act civilized while being tough and stern. But the way our cops have been acting since quite some time now is a topic that commands the highest attention from the government, and the sooner real concrete measures are taken the better it will be for India and mankind. The erstwhile adoration commanded by the police personnel from the masses has now transformed into sheer hatred for obvious negativities that we cannot list here in our limited space. Only a civilized society can expect to have a civilized police force. Unless the whole strata of society is cleansed from top to bottom such brutal aberrations cannot be expected to cease.

Surgeon’s story  It’s heartening to learn about a recent pathbreaking work of an young Assamese surgeon presently based in Germany. Yes, the research work of Dr Hemanga Kumar Bhattacharjee has received global acclaim being adjudged one of the six best original presentations in the Technology Award Session of the 17th International Congress of European Association of Eudoscopic Surgery and other Interventional Techniques at the Czech Republic capital Prague. Dr Hemanga’s research was titled “Transanal Rectosigmoid Resection: A Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic surgery Technique”. He showed promise early on as Minimally Invasive Surgery Professor Dr Gerhard F Buess acknowledged Dr Hemanga’s assistance in his experimental work at All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi on Trans-Vaginal Cholecystectomy (TVC). The enthusiasm, hardwork and capability coupled with a pleasant demeanour of Dr Hemanga during their work from May to July 2007 prompted Dr Gerhard to appreciate his valuable effort in bringing out TVC for clinical application, saying: “His sound clinical knowledge, keen eye for observation, clarity of thoughts and dogged perseverance will prove beneficial to the surgical fraternity; he has a research-oriented mind which can be beneficial to any institution. Following this, the Centre for Minimally Invasive Surgery at the University of Tuebingen of which Dr Gerhard is in-charge, has offered Dr Hemanga a stipend from the German association MIO 20,000 Euros for a period of 18 months for doing scientific research and studies for a German doctoral thesis from September 2008 until March 2010.

Simanta / Mridumoloy