The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Saturday, September 2, 2000,
Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

R E G I O N A L B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
BOOKED: The city police has booked Ravinder Pal Singh of Jalalabad West and his accomplice for allegedly attempting to kidnap Dr Rajinder Girdhar, Principal of the local Homoeopathic Medical College, according to an FIR registered under Sections 353, 365, 323, 452, 511 and 186 of the IPC.

AMRITSAR
CONDEMNED: The local Rickshaw Mazdoor Sangh has condemned the alleged beating of a rickshaw puller, Lakhwinder Singh, by a policeman. In a letter to the Chief Minister, the SSP, and the DGP, Punjab police, the sangh has demanded immediate action against the policeman involved in the incident.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
OFFICE BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Arhtiya Association, Bassi Pathana: president — Mr Surjit Singh Mann; general secretary — Mr Rajesh Singla, and treasurer — Mr Subhash Chand.

FEROZEPORE
CAMP ORGANISED: The State Bank of Patiala, Ferozepore Cantonment, organised a blood donation camp on the premises of local Lions Club. The bank also held an awareness workshop for farmers at Machiwara village and planted more than 500 saplings at the cremation ground as part of its social service campaign.

TRUCK RETRIEVED: Troops of the 607 EME Battalion on Wednesday retrieved a civil truck which had fallen into a nullah near Makhu, 45 km from here. Lt A.S. Kaviraj, who led the team, said two heavy-duty vehicles were used for the purpose.

HOSHIARPUR
DEVELOPMENT WORK: Mr Birbal Nath, Executive Officer of the municipal council here, has promised to step up development work in the city. He was speaking to a deputation of the district unit of the Janata Dal on Thursday.

KAPURTHALA
FAMILY PLANNING: A three-day family planning camp will be organised at the local Civil Hospital from September 25, Dr Ajaib Singh Sandhu, Civil Surgeon, said here.

LOK ADALAT: A lok adalat will be organised here on September 2. This was stated by Mr Gurdev Singh, District and Sessions Judge.

KHANNA
COMPETITION: A national group song competition will be organised on September 3 at A.S. College for Women, Khanna, by the Bharati Vikas Parishad. According to J.S. Lottey, a senior leader of the BVP, Prof Vandana Sharma, Head of the Psychology Department, Punjabi University, Patiala, will inaugurate the function.

APPOINTED: Mr Sarvdeep Singh Kalirao has been appointed president, local unit of the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha, according to a press release issued by the Khanna Mandal BJP. The press release announced the following executive committee of the local BJP unit: Vice-President — Mr Satpal Ghai, General Secretary — Mr Rajan Sharma, Organising Secretary, — Mr Vijay Vij, Secretary — Mr Devinder Pathak and Cashier — Mr Pardeep Vij.

WOMEN REPRESENTATION: The Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) is seriously considering proposal to give the posts of district presidents to women, so as to increase the representation of women in the party. According to reliable sources in the party, at the initial stage, Amritsar City and Ropar (rural) units will have women presidents. While for Amritsar, the name of Ms Kirandeep Kaur, daughter of former MP, Mrs Rajinder Kaur and grand-daughter of the late Master Tara Singh, to being mentioned, the Ropar (rural) Presidentship, is likely to be offered to former MP, Satwinder Kaur Dhaliwal. According to sources, Mrs Surinder Kaur Badal is taking a keen interest in the matter and is planning to strengthen the Istri Akali Dal.

KHARAR
CREMATED: A saint of Kharar, Sant Gopal Dass Ji Kuhari Wale, who died in Sector 32 Hospital in Chandigarh on Thursday night, was cremated on Friday near Hanuman Mandir in Mundi Kharar village. A number of his followers were present on the occasion. Mr Baldev Raj, secretary of the Hanuman Mandir Sewa Dal (Regd), said that he was more than 100 years old and he came to this place about 50 years back.

LUDHIANA
CAMP HELD: The Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry, extension of PAU, organised an animal welfare camp at Beerumpur village in collaboration with KVK, Bahowal, and Punjab Animal Husbandry Department. A team of experts from this department participated in the camp. The treatment of 68 animals was done free of cost. In the end a technical seminar was held in which Dr M.P. Gupta gave tips regarding new strategies to tackle diarrhoea, blood in urine, while Dr H.K. Verma talked about the measures to check the rising trend of repeat breeding. A question-answer session was also held. Dr P.S. Maskina, Associate Director of KVK Bahowal, discussed the problems of the farmers of the region. Dr M.C. Pathak, Assistant Director Animal Husbandry Hoshiarpur, proposed the vote of thanks.

ELECTION: The Indian Medical Association has supported the idea of the PCMSA and IMA contesting elections in Sunam constituency. Dr Gursharan Singh, local president, IMA, has appealed to fellow doctors to come forward and support the candidature of a doctor of the IMA. According to a press note Dr Gursharan Singh has also requested the bodies like AIIMA to support the newly launched drive of the association. “Doctors can not expect justice at the hands of a handful of illiterate politicians, who have been unable to understand the health and medical education in more than five decades of independence”, he said. Dr Rajesh Sharma, joint secretary, IMA, said the association had already discussed many times that educated people should come forward in politics for the betterment of the country, as the previous lot had almost failed in raising the status of the country.

INVITATION: Dr. Amrik Singh, Senior Horticulturist-cum-Head, Department of Horticulture, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, has been invited for chairing a session and to present research papers at the ‘VIII International Symposium on Pears’ being held at Ferrara, Bologana (Italy) from Monday to Saturday. He is to chair the 7th working session on Orchard Design and Pruning in this international symposium. In addition, he is to present two research papers entitled, Selection of superior cultivars of semi-soft pear for north-west India and Performance of oriental pears in Punjab.

TREE PLANTATION: The Rotary Club of Ludhiana Mid town organised a tree plantation programme under the chairmanship of Rotarian Surinder Mohendru and director Prof. S S Thind. Mr Tejwant Singh, secretary, informed that it was a phase-vise continuous programme. The club has decided to grow trees in the premises of the factories of its members. In the first phase 100 trees were planted in five factories, all in the Focal Point area. In the second phase, another 100 trees will be planted to curb pollution which is rampant in the Focal Point area.

COACHING CLASSES: Ludhiana Chartered Accountant’s Society will organise coaching classes for the students of CA (Inter) from September 2 to 23, under the guidance of the Board of Studies, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Mr Sushil Single, secretary of the society informed that the session will be addressed by Mr C.R.I. Verma, Director of Studies, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, at Bhartiya Vidya Mandir. He also said such classes were being held for the first time in Ludhiana.

TEAM ANNOUNCED: The basketball training camp for girls (under-19) for the 51st National Games scheduled to be held from September 9 to 15 this year, at Sarkaghat in Himachal Pardesh will end by this week-end. The total number of girls in the camp are 19, out of which 12 will be selected. The boys’(under-19) basketball training camp at Patiala is also in its final stages. The teams will be announced at the end of this week.

HEALTH EDUCATION: The Ludhiana district unit of Bharat Jan Gyan Vigyan Jatha will organise a series of lectures in schools to spread awareness about prevention of Dengue fever. The jatha, including Mr Sher Singh Aulakh, president, Dr Arun Mitra, general secretary, Mr M.S. Bhatia,secretary and Mr Ashwani Gupta, member executive committee visited Chanan Devi Memorial Government Girls High School, Salem Tabri, Government Middle School Salem Tabri, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Memorial Senior Secondary School, Haibowal Kalan and gave a detailed account of dengue fever and informed about its preventive measures. The jatha will also bring out pamphlets on the subject to spread information about the dengue fever.

MALERKOTLA
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Punjabi Sahit Sabha: president — Mr Paramjit Kuthala; vice-president — Mr Krishan Mehto; general secretary — Mr Gobind Sandaurhvi and treasurer — Mr Balwant Farwali.

PATIALA
DEMONSTRATION: On the call of the United Forum of Bank Unions comprising nine unions namely, AIBEA, NCBE, AIBOC, AIBOA, BEFI, NOBW, INBEC, NOBA, INBOC, a demonstration was held before the State Bank of Patiala Head Office here on Thursday. The demonstration was held against the privatisation and introduction of the Voluntary Retirement Scheme, aimed at down-sizing the staff and deunionisation. The demonstration was addressed by Mr Yog Raj Gupta, General Secy, All India Oriental Bank of Commerce Employees Federation, Patiala, and Mr Vinod Sharma, President, Oriental Bank of Commerce Officers Association (Punjab State).

UNION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Punjab Union of Journalists: State President — Mr Vijay Rattan, senior Vice-President — Ms Mohinder Singh Josh; Cashier — Mr Dinesh Goel; Executive members — Mr Kalicharan Kaushik and Mr Kanwalpreet Singh Gill. The union has decided to hold a state level seminar in the month of September.

HAILED: The Patiala Chamber of Industries has hailed the Prime Minister’s decision to extend the Central Excise limit up to Rs one crore for the small-scale industry. The chamber also appreciated the allowances given to the hosiery and woolen industries.

CHANDIGARH

SESSION OPENS: Prof J.N. Joshi, Chairperson of the Northern Regional Committee, inaugurated the academic session 2000-2001 for the B.Ed and M.Ed courses by lighting the inaugural lamp here on Friday, at the Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector 36. He praised the college for showing excellent results and for being the first college in the region to be recognised by the NCTE. He said teaching means transforming the environment of the classroom through competence in the subject and communication skills. Dr Satinder Dhillon, Principal, welcomed the chief guest.

CRITICISED: The Panchkula Welfare Federation has, in a letter written to the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, pointed out the “unfriendly and unsympathetic” attitude of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) regarding redressal of their grievances. The federation has alleged that virtually no occupation Certificates were being issued by the Estate Officer, HUDA, and most of the files had been lying in the office of the HUDA Administrator for the past two months. Further, the federation has alleged the HUDA had been imposing fines in an arbitrary manner, thereby causing harassment to the public. In some cases eviction orders were issued without giving any hearing.

CELEBRATED: The State Bank of India today started celebrations of “Rajbhasha Maas”. As a part of the celebrations, the Chandigarh circle on Wednesday organised a shabad gayan competition at the local head office of the bank in which 38 officers and other staff members participated. At the bank’s Staff Training Centre, Panchkula, a book exhibition was inaugurated by Mr S. Krishnan, Chief Vigilance Officer from Corporate Centre, Mumbai. Hindi books, and magazines on literature, banking, technology etc were displayed at the exhibition. An audio-visual presentation of the bank’s annual Rajbhasha programme was also exhibited on the occasion.

OFFER: Dr Attar Singh, a local acupressure specialist, has offered his services for treatment of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. Mr Vajpayee is suffering from osteoarthritis of knee. He said although this problem took time to cure yet his pain and stiffness can greatly be decreased. The relief starts from the day of the start of treatment. In view of the exigencies of work of the Prime Minister, Dr Attar Singh is ready to treat him in Delhi before his departure to the USA in the coming week.

HARYANA

AMBALA
PIG MENACE: The Citizens Council, Ambala Cantonment, has expressed concern over the growing menace of stray cattle and pigs, which are creating a nuisance in Ambala Sadar. The Council has stated that a variety of diseases have cropped up in the area due to these stray animals. “The district administration had earlier decided to shift the dairies outside the town. But due to lack of will and political pressure, the scheme could not be implemented and the public is suffering badly,” at press note said. A number of pigs are always moving around during the day and night in different areas and cause a number of accidents. “The Government should take stern measures to check the pig menace in the Ambala Sadar area and heavy penalties should be imposed on the owners of pigs,” the release said. The release states that a number of social organisations have started a cleanliness drive in the different areas of Ambala Sadar. The Municipal committee authorities should also take immediate actions for the cleanliness of the town and the social organisations, which have taken up the cleanliness drive, should be encouraged by the district administration.

BLOOD DONATION CAMP: The annual blood donation camp of Sanatan Dharam College was held here on Friday. A team of doctors from the PGI, Chandigarh, led by Dr Usha Rao collected the blood. As many as 268 units of blood was donated. Most of the students donated blood for the first time, a press note said. Besides students, several teachers, including Prof Jyoti Ratta, Prof Suman Dua, Prof Asha Sharma, Prof Neena Malhotra, Prof Divya Jain, Prof Kamlesh Dhingra and Prof Shashi Rana donated blood. Dr Deshbandhu, Principal of the college and Dr Sushil Kansal, convener of the camp, donated blood for the 23rd and 43rd time, respectively. The college also runs a round the clock emergency service of needy patients.

FARIDABAD
DISASTER MANAGEMENT: The Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Haryana, Mr L.M. Goel, has called for the cooperation of the general public, including voluntary organisations, for the success of disaster-management programmes. He was speaking at a workshop on “disaster management” at the municipal corporation auditorium here on Wednesday.

JIND
TELEPHONE CONNECTIONS: Mr N.K. Mangla, Chief General Manager, Telecommunication circle, Haryana, said here on Wednesday that the department was planning to provide telephone connections to 1.5 lakh subscribers in the state during the current financial year. He said during this period 60 new telephone exchanges would be set up in Haryana.

SIRSA
AIDS CASES: As many as 66 cases of AIDS have been detected in the district. This was stated by Dr R.S. Chaudhary, District Medical Officer and AIDS Nodule Officer, while speaking at a seminar organised at a senior secondary school in Ellenabad subdivision.

SONEPAT
GANG BUSTED: The Gohana police has busted a gang involved in giving fake currency supplying shopkeepers in Gohana town and the adjoining areas. Stating this Mr A.S. Chawla, SP, said on Friday that the police had arrested Jai Devi and Seema Devi, of Holi Mohalla, Gohana town, and Vinod of Sehri village in this connection and seized 18 fake currency notes of the denomination of Rs 100 from them.

VILLAGERS’ PROTEST: Residents of Pinana village, 21 km from here, blocked traffic for about three hours on the Sonepat-Gohana road on Thursday in protest against the inadequate and erratic power supply to their village. The SDM, Gohana, and officials of the UHBVN arrived and gave assurances of regular power supply, after which the blockade was lifted.

ROAD BLOCKED: Irate women of Barona village, 25 km from here blocked traffic on the Kharkhauda-Bahadurgarh road on Thursday in protest against the alleged inaction of the police in checking unauthorised sale of liquor in the village. The women lifted the blockade after the SDO (C), Dr Sultan Singh assured them of stern action against the culprits.

GAMBLERS HELD: The city police arrested three persons on a charge of gambling here on Thursday. The arrested were identified as Kuldeep, Jagdish and Rajesh. A case under the Gambling Act was registered against them.