The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sunday, January 7, 2001,
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

AMRITSAR
PRAJAPATI SABHA: The Punjab Prajapati Sabha has established a presidium, comprising five members, which includes Mr Bawa Singh, president of the sabha (Amritsar), Mr Chajju Singh (Patiala) Mr Parkash Singh Malkotia (Abohar), Mr Sohan Singh Parwana (Gurdaspur) and Mr Tirath Ram (Noormehal).

ACUPRESSURE CAMP: An acupressure and magnet therapy camp organised by the National Students Union of India concluded here on Friday at Ajay Senior Secondary School. This was stated by Mr Sachin Mehra, chief secretary of the union, Punjab.

SIKH MANCH: The convener, Sikh Chintak Manch, Mr R.S. Bindra, said the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat should deter from distorting the Sikh history. The manch asked the Chief Minister, the SGPC chief, Jathedar Jagdev Singh Talwandi, and the Akal Takht Jathedar, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, to take a stringent view of the “misleading” propaganda by the organisation.

KAPURTHALA
DIED: Sukhdev Singh (30) of Chugiti village in Jalandhar, who along with his brother-in-law Avtar Singh was injured on December 31, succumbed to his injuries at CMC Hospital on Friday.

KHAMANO
RETIREMENT: Mr Kaur Singh, district president of Punjab State Services Federation, has sought the introduction of voluntary retirement scheme in the state. He said Markfed had already introduced the scheme. He said incentives should be given to the employees who want to opt for voluntary retirement. With this scheme many unemployed youths will get employment and the burden of the state government will also be reduced, he said.

KHARAR
DONATED: The Retail Karyana Merchants Association, Kharar, has given a cash grant of Rs 80,000 to the organisers of a community centre, Shri Ram Bhavan, here on Saturday. The community centre is already under construction. Mr Surinder Sharma, president, and Mr Ashok Sharma, secretary of the association said that the association has already given Rs 3,75,000 for the building. They also appealed to the residents to donate generously for this noble cause.

elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Bar Association, Kharar, unanimously here on Saturday. Patron — Mr Sukhdev Kaushal; president — Mr Avtar Singh Dhanoa; vice-president — Mr Vijesh Chaudhry; secretary — Mr Darshan Singh Dhaliwal; cashier — Ms Paramjit Kaur Gill.

LUDHIANA
INAUGURATED: A new building of Shri Harkrishan Sahib Public High School, Daba Road, Janta Nagar, was inaugurated by Mr Tota Singh, Minister of Education, Punjab, here on Saturday. The new complex houses a multipurpose indoor stadium, auditorium, music room and a play ground. The programme began with the bhog of Akhand path, followed by kirtan by ‘raagi jatha’ students and staff. Later, prizes were distributed among meritorious. Finally, ‘langar’ was organised for the students, parents and the staff. Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, Minister of Technical Education, Ms Usha Sidhu, District Education Officer (secondary) and Mr Gurtej Singh, District Education Officer (primary). Mr Prem Singh Sokhi, Principal of the school, encouraged the students to work hard to score better positions in the forthcoming examination.

CELEBRATED: The birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh was celebrated at Gupta Model High School, Civil Lines, here on Saturday. A jatha from Gurdwara Gur Sagar, Salem Tabri, recited Sukhmani Sahib and thereafter, performed kirtan. Students and their parents were invited for the celebration. Lala Lajpat Rai, Member Parliament, Mr S.S. Bhatti, SP (Traffic), Ms Simmi Gupta, Principal of the school were present on the occasion.

VISHRAM GHAR: A new hall ‘Dumra Vishram Ghar’ has been set up at Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib Hospital to provide shelter to the attendants accompanying patients. According to Mr Bakshi Mohinder Singh, president of the hospital, the four-storeyed building had been constructed at a cost of Rs 40 lakh. The building will be inaugurated by Justice Kuldeep Singh, former Supreme Court Judge, on January 7 and dialysis unit will be inaugurated by Dr Kirpal Singh Chugh, Mr Mohinder Singh said.

ELECTED: Mr Sham Lal Jain and Mr Daljit Singh Makkar have been elected chairman and president, respectively, of the Kalia Complex Wholesale Cloth Association. Other office-bearers of the association are vice-president-Mr Ravi Kumar Sharma; secretary-Mr Kamaljit Singh Chani; cashier-Mr Joginder Singh; joint secretary-Mr Jaswant Raj.

DHARNA: The Kirti Kisan Union, along with the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta) would stage a dharna at Ludhiana Central Cooperative Bank on January 18 to press their demands for legislation to ban forcible recovery of loans and stoppage of arrests of defaulting farmers. This decision was taken at a district level joint meeting of the two bodies held here on Saturday. Giving details, Mr Tarlochan Singh Jhordan informed that activists of the two organisations would submit a memorandum to the authorities and later hold a rally outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office. The meeting focussed on other pending demands, which include the rate of Rs 120 per quintal for sugarcane, immediate announcement of support prices of wheat and other kharif crops, ridding the farmers from the debt trap, setting up agricultural implements centres in villages and providing free power and water to marginal farmers.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Rotary Club, Ludhiana: president — Mr Sanjeev Sethi; secretary — Mr K.K. Chadha; senior vice-president — Mr S.S. Chopra; vice-president — Mrs Meena Puri; joint secretary — Dr Mandeep Singh Sethi; and treasurer — Mr D.P. Puri.

New Year party: The Punjab Net Users Club organised a dance party to celebrate the New Year at Dhodha Complex, Ghumar Mandi, here on Saturday. Members of the club danced to the tunes of various Hindi, Punjabi, and English numbers played by DJ Bhanu.

MANSA
MARKET FEE: Ms Raji P. Shrivastava, Deputy Commissioner, said the income from the market fee was Rs 2.31 crore as compared to Rs 1.18 crore, last year, due to good cotton production in the district. Mr R.K. Gupta, District Mandi Officer said to check the evasion of market fee and rural development fund, a gate pass system has been introduced in the district.

LIQUOR SEIZED: The Ahmedgarh police has arrested two persons and seized 21 bottles of country-made liquor from them. According to information received here on Saturday, the arrested persons have been identified as Sukhdev Singh and Ram Kumar. A case has been registered.

Vaccination camp: A hepatitis-B vaccination camp will be organised by the Malerkotla Laboratory Association at Kali Mata Mandir dharamshala here on Sunday, according to Mr Surinder Singla, president of the association.

CLUB: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local “P” Club: patron — Mr Parveen Singla; president — Dr Dupinder Jindal; senior vice-president — Mr Trilochan Singh Narula; vice-president — Mr Ashok Jindal; secretary — Mr Surinder Garg; and treasurer — Mr Manoj Garg.

MOGA
TELEGRAM FORMS: An acute shortage of telegram forms used for transmitting press and fax messages is behind faced by the local press correspondents here. They stated here on Friday that although they had repeatedly asked the Telecommunication Department to issue such forms but in vain.

NAWANSHAHR
GRIEVANCES HEARD: The Deputy Commissioner, Dr Roshan Sunkaria, along with officials of various departments heard people’s grievances at a sangat darshan programme organised at Bajidpur village, about 10 km from here, on Friday. He also laid the foundation stone of the panchayat ghar building.

CRITICISED: Mr Kulwinder Singh Chahal, general secretary of the state unit of the Punjab Students Union, in a press note issued here on Friday, criticised the government for stopping grants to the NSS units of the schools and colleges in the state.

STUDENTS’ UNION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local unit of the Punjab Students Union: president — Satnam Singh Asmanpur; and secretary — Kulwinder Singh Langroya.

EYE CAMP: Under the ongoing road safety week, being observed by the District Transport Department, eye check-up camps were organised at truck unions’ offices at Nawanshahr, Banga and Balachaur on Thursday. More than 250 drivers were examined, according to Mr Ravinder Kumar Chaudhary, District Transport Officer, here on Friday.

SAMRALA
Kabaddi coach: Kabaddi coach Mr Harbans Singh will be honoured at a cultural function to celebrate Lohri by the Reet Punjab Di Sabhiacharak Manch, Samrala. Kuldeep Manak, Yudhvir Manak, Bhajna Amli, Karnail Sibia, Amar Koma, Labh Singh Janjua, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhi will participate in the function.

commission: While common man is pleased with cut in the rates of STD calls, the PCO owners are not very pleased with it. A retired teacher and PCO holder, Mr Mohinder Singh, said the government should increase the commission paid to PCO holders.

SANGRUR
SWEATERS DISTRIBUTED: About 50 sweaters and 36 pairs of shoes were distributed by the district Red Cross Society among poor students of the local government primary schools at Bazigar basti, Dhebar Basti, Bhaala Basti and Sunder Basti on Friday. This was stated by Mr Rajesh Dhiman, Assistant Commissioner (General).

TARN TARAN
RALLY: On a call given by the All-India State Government Employees Federation, workers of the Punjab Subordinate Services Federation and the Punjab UT Employees Joint Action Committee organised a rally here on Thursday. They flayed the government’s policy of privatisation and presented a memorandum to the local SDM.

CHANDIGARH

screen tests: Third Eye Creation, an association formed by artists coordinators who are involved in producing Punjabi serials, is going to hold its first screen test of the artists here in Sector 35 on Sunday. The main objective of the association is to bring forward the hidden talent of the youth in this region of the and is also going to tackle various problems plaguing the film and TV industries. Besides, providing the track to stardom, the association will also handle budgetry problems, non-availability of locations and monopoly of limited artists.

launched: Archies music has launched Nitin Bali’s Akkha Nal Akkhian Milaija, a collection of three Bhangra numbers and five romantic Hindi ballads at 26 carat Event Centre in Sector 26 here on Saturday. Nitin Bali who established his name in the world of pop music with his first album Na Jaane is well known for his simple and uncomplicated music. “Music has one language” said the artiste. “Though keeping in mind the popularity of fusion music, western instruments are being liberally used, but at the same time an ernest attempt has been made in this album to keep the true Punjabi and Rajasthani folk alive,” said Nitin. The artiste who visited in the city in connection to promote his album later performed at a city discotheque.

Lohri: Alpha TV Punjabi is going to celebrate Lohri by organising Mann Punjab De, an event which will bring famous singers, Gurdas Mann and Gursevak Mann, comedian Bhagwant Mann, and Babu Singh Mann, the lyricist on stage together for the first time. The event will be recorded on January 8 at the University Ground here and will be telecast on January 13.

Punjabi programme: As part of Lohri celebrations, Tara Punjabi will present a Punjabi music programme at 7 p.m. on January 13. According to release of the channel, the programme will feature noted pop singers Harbhajan Mann, Shibani Kashyap, Vipin Aneja and Gursewak Mann.

MANI MAJRA
Sweaters given: As many as 100 needy students from various city schools were given sweaters and shoes by the Bharat Vikas Parishad, Mani Majra Branch at the 10th annual function organised in Kila Ground in Mani Majra, here on Saturday. Apart from it, over 100 blankets were also distributed among poor and needy people by Mr Arun Singhal, Chief Manager of Ferticam Limited, a Chandigarh based factory, to mark the day. Mr Gurcharan Dass Kala, Senior Deputy Mayor of Chandigarh, who presided over the function appreciated the parishad for the noble cause. He said that other social organisations should also come forward to help the needy and poor students.

PANCHKULA
Cassette released: An audio and video cassette of the new year programme, Khand Mishri, which was aired on DD Punjabi on New Year Eve, was released at a function, here on Saturday. Those featuring in the programme included Sardool Sikander, Gurpreet Chugi, Balbir Takoo, Avtar Tari, Surjit Khan, Janky Jutt, Jeeta Jutt, Buta Muhammad, Preet Rajasthani, Supriya Pathak and Amrik Hans. The programme was produced by Pramod Kalia while video direction was given by R.P. Singh and music by Surinder Bachan, Kuljeet and Ashok Pandit.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Lok Manch formed: To protect the interests of the people, a social organisation Lok Manch has been formed in Ambala Cantonment here on Saturday. The general secretary of the newly formed organisation, Dr Ram Nath Sharma, named Mr Lalit Sud as its president. The vice-presidents are Mr Naresh Chaddha, Mr Raj Singh and Mr Gurdial Singh Sandhu, organising secretary is Mr S.K. Bhatia, secretaries are Shakti Talwar, Mr Subhash Dhiman and Mr Joginder Khurana, treasurer is Mr Suresh Gupta and press secretary is Mr Ramesh Bansal, a release said. Dr Sharma said that the list of the working committee members will be released shortly.

office-bearers: The annual election of the National Federation of General Insurance Employees was held here on Saturday. The new office-bearers are: president Mr Rakesh Singhal; vice-president — Mr Ashok Kumar; secretary — Mr Ved Prakash; associate secretary — Mr Surendra Kumar Gupta; treasurer — Mr Gurmukh Singh, and local secretaries — Mr Ram Yadav and Mr Prem Sagar Vashisht; a release said.

Rally: The Lions Club is going to hold a rally on environment on Sunday. The Lions Club International District 321 A-2 region chairman, Mr Narinder Goel, said here on Saturday that the rally on ecology will draw attention towards increasing polluting due to the use of plastic bags. A number of students from SD Public School are expected to participate in the rally, a release said. The rally will start from S D Public School, pass by Civil Hospital, Sadar Bazar Chowk, Vijay Ratan Chowk, Rai Market, Gol Chakkar and culminate at the Gandhi Ground.

ELECTED: The new office-bearers of the Khatri Sabha Ambala Cantonment were elected at a meeting held in Subhash Colony. These are president — Mr Arun Vig; senior vice-president — Mr Navin Gulati; vice-presidents — Mr Ravi Sehgal; Janak Oberoi, Mr Srikant Malhotra, Mr Praveen Sukheja; general secretary — Mr Sunil Chopra; additional secretary — Mr Gopinder Nayyar, treasurer — Mr Devinder Chaddha; press secretary — Mr Kewal Bindra; organising secretary — Mr Joginder Sablok, Mr Kapil Malhotra, Mr Rakesh Chura, Mr O.P. Khanna; auditor — Mr S.M. Mehta, and advisers — Mr J.S. Nandra and Mr Anil Verma, a release said.

DEMANDED: The Anganwadi Karamchari Sangh demanded that they should be declared as government employees here on Saturday. In the district conference presided over Ms Suresh Bala, the sangh pointed out that they get a paltry sum as honorarium, which should be increased. “The anganwadi workers should be covered under the Payment of Wages Act and they should also be given timely salary,” the BMS state secretary, Mr Pawan Kumar, said. Besides giving time bound promotion, increment should also be given to the anganwadi workers, he added. He pointed out that the government should increase the rent for buildings in rural as well as urban areas. Mr Kumar said that the anganwadi workers will be holding demonstration in the district headquarters from February 1 to 15. From March 5 to 7, the anganwadi workers will hold dharna in front of the HRD Ministry in Delhi and March 8, anganwadi workers from all over the country are going to gherao the HRD Ministry to press for the various demands.

KALKA
ROAD SAFETY WEEK: More than 400 vehicles were challaned for different violations as the police carried out a special drive in the Kalka subdivision on the suburbs of the district here on Saturday. According to the police, the drive was a part of the Road Safety Week being observed by the police since January 1. Police sources revealed that during the drive, four wheelers and heavy vehicles were in larger number among the challaned vehicles. A large number of tourists going towards Shimla to enjoy the snowfall were caught unaware. Mostly the vehicles were challaned for incomplete papers, not wearing the seat belt and the absence of pollution certificate.

KURUKSHETRA
VISITED: The new Commissioner, Ambala division, Mr Maha Singh, visited the mini-secretariat and the tehsil campus here on Friday. After acquainting with the district officers, he laid stress on maintaining efficient and clean administration.

FOUNDATION STONES: The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, will hear public grievances under the “Sarkar Aap ke Dwar” programme at the Civil Rest House, Pehowa, 25 km from here on Sunday. The Deputy Commissioner, Ms Jyoti Arora, said here on Friday that after the programme the Chief Minister would lay the foundation stone of the extension work of a new vegetable and additional grain market. She added that Mr Chautala would also lay the foundation stone of 33 kv-substation at Morthali village on the same day.

SONEPAT
LABOURER DEAD: A labourer of a factory (under construction) died on Friday near Bahalgarh village, about 10 km from here. According to the police, the victim belongs to Dhanbad district in Bihar. The cause of the death is unknown.

THEFTS: Three cases of theft were reported in the city and from nearby villages on Friday night. According to one report, a coloured TV and some cash were stolen from an electronics shop on the Sonepat-Kabirpur road. In the second case, electronics goods worth thousands of rupees were stolen from an electronics shop at Khanda village. In the third case, thieves stole three buffaloes from a house at Jharot village.

CYCLE THEFTS: Resentment prevails among residents of the city over a series of bicycle thefts in the city. They alleged that the police had not registered FIRs in this connection.