The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, January 24, 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

BATALA
CAMP ORGANISED: The Batala Sahara Club organised a camp on Monday at Dera road here. Mr Pardeep Sabharwal, PCS, and SDM, here, presided over the function and gave away 50 blankets to the poor and needy.

LOK ADALAT: A special lok adalat on bank loan disputes, both pre-litigative and pending, was organised here by the Subdivisional-level Legal Services Committee under the supervision of Mr M.M. Ratra, District and Sessions Judge, Gurdaspur, and Chairman, District Legal Services Authority, Gurdaspur.

FEROZEPORE
OFFICE-BEARERS: Following have been elected office-bearers of the Plant Doctors Service Association: president — Dr Mukhtiar Singh Bhullar; vice-president — Dr Jaspal Singh and Dr Sarwan Kumar; secretary — Dr Gurvinder Singh; and treasurer — Dr Iqbal Singh.

HELD: The Vigilance Bureau here has arrested Vijay Kumar, bill distributor in the office of the SDO, PSEB, Ferozepore city, for accepting bribe from Chana Singh of Dana Mandi Hira Nagar, Ferozepore city. A case has been registered with Police Station Vigilance Bureau, Ferozepore range.

KHARAR
MUSHAIRA: A mushaira in the memory of J.N. Kaushik, a former president of the Municipal Committee, Kharar, will be held here on Thursday. Dr N.C. Raina will be the chief guest and Mr Jaswant Singh will preside over it.

TAILORING COURSE: A free cutting and tailoring course was inaugurated in a nearby village by Mr J.K. Sharma, Principal, Government Polytechnic College, Khnui Majra, on Tuesday.

LUDHIANA
CELEBRATED: Students of Rajindra Model Senior Secondary School, Shakaracharya Nagar, received prizes for their performance in academics, sports and cultural activities on Sunday. The cultural programme began with Saraswati Vandana which was followed by patriotic dance and song show Vande Mataram. A skit, Kissa kursi ka, was performed by students of Class XII. Mr Sat Pal Gosain, Deputy Speaker, Vidhan Sabha, was the chief guest. Mr Ravi Nandan Sharma, Director, and Ms Nirmal Sharma, Principal, appreciated the efforts of the students.

FREE CAMP: The Labour Department, Punjab, in collaboration with the ESI Hospital, organised a free medical camp for industrial workers at the Metro Tyres here on Monday. The camp was inaugurated by Mr Man Singh, Chairman, Metro Tyres. According to Mr Navneet Chabra, working director, the camp aimed at diagnosing, testing and providing required medicines and treatment free of cost to industrial workers. During the camp, about 1,000 workers were examined and checked for chest, skin and other health problems. Medicines worth Rs 40,000 have been provided for the use of ailing workers. Mr Man Singh appreciated the efforts of the Labour and Health Department, Punjab, for bringing medical and other facilities at the doors of factory premises. Amongst present on the occasion included Dr S.P. Jagat, medical superintendent, ESI, Dr Jatinder Kaur and Dr Parveen Sikka.

ANNIVERSARY: State Bank of India, Personal Banking Branch, Sarabha Nagar, observed its second anniversary. The city Mayor, Mr Apinder Singh Grewal, presided over the function, while the SBI Deputy General Manager, Mr D.S.Bengali, was the chief guest. Mr H.S.Mangat, Chief Manager of the branch, speaking at the occasion, said that the branch had crossed the business level of Rs 21 crore. Mr Bengali informed that the SBI was all set to provide customer service which would be comparable to the best in the industry. The bank had targetted a level of 10 lakh ATM cards by end of March this year. Other services on the anvil were online banking and networking of the ATM's. Mr Bengali, the Mayor, Mr Grewal, and Mr S.P.S.Bawa, AIG, Punjab police, distributed winter uniforms to 35 brilliant but poor school children of Government Primary and Middle School, Sarabha Nagar. Prominent among those present at the occasion were Dr S.N. Sewak, Dr Manjit Singh Mehram, Dr P.K.Sharma, Dr Subhash Duggal and Mr N.S. Puri.

SAD CLAIM: Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (B) leader, Mr Amarjit Singh Bhatia, claimed that the Assembly elections in Punjab would be held at the scheduled time and the SAD led by Mr Parkash Singh Badal will score a thumping victory on the basis of its performance. Addressing a function of M/s. GSB Finance Company at Kismat Complex here, he expressed confidence that voters will not be misled by the propaganda of opposition parties and would give their mandate in favour of the SAD-BJP coalition so that the ongoing development works were not affected in any manner. Speaking at the occasion, Mr Jatinder Pal Singh Saluja, General Secretary of District Akali Jatha, said that the party workers would mobilise public opinion in favour of the SAD(B) by propagating major achievements of the Badal government like oil refinery at Bathinda, Ludhiana-Chandigarh rail link, international airport at Amritsar and other development projects in rural and urban areas.

MANSA
TARKSHEEL MELA: The Tarksheel society will organise a Tarksheel mela, based on scientific thought, at Ralla village on Sunday. A magic show will also be organised and artists of the Lok Kala Manch will stage various programmes.

NAWANSHAHR
INAUGURATED: Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, MP and President, SAD (Amritsar) while talking to mediapersons here on Monday, said to resolve the Ayodhya issue, Babri Masjid should be constructed at the disputed site and the Ram temple constructed near it. Mr Mann was here to inaugurate the office of the district unit of the SAD ( Amritsar).

MEETING: Dr Roshan Sunkeria, Deputy Commissioner, while presiding over a meeting of agriculture officers here on Monday, asked them to create an awakening among farmers to minimise expenditure and improve quality of their produce by adopting latest techniques of farming. He said farmers should use quality seed, fertilisers, pesticides and insecticides. A subsidy of Rs 3.22 lakh had been given to farmers in the district under the rural development fund for purchasing machinery under the quality control programme, he added.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Mair Rajput Sabha: president — Mr Shamlal Saraf; senior vice-president — Mr Rajpal Saraf; vice-president — Mr Ramsawaroop Gogna; general secretary — Mr Baldev Krishan Verma; and treasurer — Mr Harmesh Chander Gogna.

BOYCOTTED: Students of the local ITI, under the aegis of the Punjab Students Union, boycotted their classes on Monday to protest against the decision of the Technical Education and Industrial Training Department to implement double shift time-table in the ITIs. Satnam Singh, Kulwinder Singh Saroya, Dharampal, Jasbir Jassi Bharta and Anil, PSU leaders, while addressing a rally, demanded immediate withdrawal of the time-table.

CHEQUES DISTRIBUTED: Mr Jasbir Singh Mahi, Naib Tehsildar, distributed as many as 20 cheques amounting to Rs 1 lakh to 20 beneficiaries under the “ shagun” scheme here at a function organised at Baradari garden on Monday.

ARRESTED: Mr Ishwar Singh, SSP, in a press note issued here on Monday said under a massive drive launched against narcotics smugglers, the Banga police, during nakas at different places, had arrested Manjit and Rano, both residents of Khablke village in Nakodar, Meet Ram of Bhaura village, Swarna of Ladhana Jhikka Moh village, Inderpal of Longeri village and Jasvir Ram of Thandian village and seized 50 kg of poppy husk from them. A case under the NDPS Act had been registered against them.

STUDENTS TOUR: A group of 25 students of the Government Senior Secondary School, Aur ( Nawanshahr) was taken on a plant tour to the Cama Milk Private Limited, Kahma village , 9 km from here on Monday under educational and vocational guidance programme, informed Mr Narinder Singh, District Guidance counsellor, here.

REPUBLIC DAY: Mr Nirmaljit Singh Kahlon, Rural Development and Panchayat Minister and Ms Mohinder Kaur Josh, State Minister for Health and Family Welfare, would unfurl the National flag at Nawanshahr and Balachaur, respectively, on the occasion of Republic Day, informed Dr Roshan Sunkeria, Deputy Commissioner, in a press note issued here on Monday.

PATIALA
CONFERENCE: The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Drug Research of Punjabi University is hosting an international conference on pathophysiology and drug therapy of cardiovascular disorders in the Science Auditorium on the university campus from January 24 to 26. Giving this information, Dr Manjit Singh, conference chairman and Head of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Drug Research, said scholars from abroad and from all over India would present their papers and share the research findings. Dr Singh said this conference assumes significance as despite recent advances in the prevention and treatment of heart diseases, cardiac ailments continue to rank as the most frequent cause of mortality.

POLIO DROPS: The third round of the nation- wide pulse polio camp concluded here on Tuesday in Shutrana block. As many as 36,295 children up to the age of 5 were administered drops under the supervision of Dr I.D.Goyal, SMO.

PHAGWARA
TELEPHONE SERVICES: Telephone services here are in a disarray these days. Several telephones are either dead or keep producing rustling sound much to the chagrin of the subscribers. The local Telephone Subscribers Association on Monday demanded satisfactory service of telephones.

FUNCTION HELD: Mr Satpal Gosain, Deputy Speaker, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, while addressing at a function at the Saint Soldier Divine Public School as chief guest on Monday, called upon teachers to develop discipline among students. He also underlined the importance of learning mother tongue. he also gave away prizes to meritorious students.

PHILLAUR
APPEALED: The national president of the Bahujan Samaj Morcha, Mr Satnam Singh Kainth, while addressing Doaba zone-level morcha workers meeting here on Monday appealed to dalits, small farmers, employees and traders to come together under the banner of the Bahujan Samaj Morcha as neither the Congress nor the SAD-BJP Government had done anything to safeguard their interests.

CHANDIGARH

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Railway Senior Citizens Welfare Society, Chandigarh, S A S Nagar and Panchkula: president — Mr Harbans Singh; senior working president — Mr M S Batra; vice-presidents — Mr Parkash Chand and Mr H D Sharma; honorary secretary — Mr Pritam Singh; joint secretary — Mr Harbans Singh; treasurer — Mr K S Bhandari and auditor — Mr H S Sachdeva.

WELFARE ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Customs and Central Excise Pensioners Welfare Association, Chandigarh: president — Mr H S Dhillon; senior vice-president — Mr B K Bhandari; general secretary — Mr Hardev Singh; finance secretary — Mr S S Chawla; organising secretary— Mr S N Kochhar; joint secretary — Mr J C Sachdeva; and auditor — Mr S C Kanvar.

SAMITI: The election of the executive committee of the Nepali Jansampark Samiti will be held on February 4. This was announced by the secretary of the samiti in a press note.

DONATED: The HelpAge India has issued a cheque for Rs 1,67,578 under its “Adopt — A — Granny Programme” to Chandi Kusht Ashram, here. Mr H.S. Bakshi, Joint Director, HelpAge India, said the organisation had adopted 119 inmates of the ashram. This was informed by Ms Purnima Chauhan, Assistant Programme Adviser of the organisation, in a press note.

LECTURE: Dr R.A. Mashelkar, Director-General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and Secretary, Government of India, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, will deliver the Institute of Microbial Technology 17th foundation lecture at IMTECH on Wednesday. Dr Mashelkar will talk on “Intellectual property rights and economic development: new Indian challenge.” The lecture will be presided over by Prof K.N. Ganguly, Director-General, ICMR.

OFFICE-BEARER: The following have been elected office-bearers of the National Eye Donor Council, Chandigarh: president — Mr Ashok Karwal; general secretary — Mr SK Jindal; vice-president — Mr Kuldeep Singh; senior vice-president — Mr MC Karwal; finance secretary — Mr Ravinder Gautam; joint secretary — Mr Pawan Kumar Verma; and patrons — Mr Naranjan Mitha, Mr SP Karwal and Mr PK Verma.

R-DAY FUNCTIONS: Mandal No 14 of the local unit of the BJP will organise the Republic Day function at Bapu Dham Colony, Phase III, Sector 26. Mr Dharam Pal Gupta, president of the unit, will unfurl the National Flag and Mr Shingra Singh, district president of BJP, will preside over the function. This was announced by Mr Dilip Sharma, mandal president, in a press note. Ward No 19 of the local unit of the BJYM will organise the Republic Day celebrations at Mauli Complex. Mr Satinder Singh, president of the unit, will unfurl the flag.

ARTISTES' PLEA: Pran Sabhar-wal, a theatre activist and international coordinator for the World Punjabi Theatre movement, G.S. Kakkar and Sunita Sabharwal, the president and secretary of the National Theatre Arts Society (NAS), Patiala, respectively, have appealed to the Department of Cultural Affairs Punjab, and the Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi to revive the Punjab State Cultural Affairs Advisory Board, District Kala Parishads and theatre groups. Mr Sabharwal said that they had also met Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister, to spare funds to keep theatre alive in the state.

PANCHKULA
LECTURE: A series of lectures on ‘‘Urdu in the 21st century’’ was inaugurated at the Haryana Urdu Academy, Government College, Sector 1, here on Tuesday. In his lecture, Prof Mohammad Iqbal, head of the postgraduate department, Government College, Maler-kotla, highlighted the need for linking Urdu with computers and information technology. He also stressed that Urdu should be used for promoting world peace and understanding and that it should be taught at all levels. Dr Chander Trikha, the newly appointed director of Sanskrit Academy, was the chief guest. Dr Mohamad Habib, secretary of the Haryana Urdu Academy, welcomed the invitees.

HARYANA

AMBALA
STOLEN: A Maruti van was stolen from Mahesh Nagar. The five-seater white van (HNA 8462) belonged to Mrs Gita Surpal. The van was parked in front of her residence. An FIR has been lodged.

HISAR
DEMONSTRATION: The killing of a deer provoked angry demonstrations in front of the Adampur police station on Sunday. According to information, some persons shot Chinkara deer in the fields of Adampur village. On hearing the gunfire, some farmers rushed to the spot but the miscreants managed to escape. Later, the farmers, alongwith members of the Akhil Bharatiya Bishnoi Jeev Raksha Sangathan, took out a procession in the main markets of the town.

AWARDED: The Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers (ISAE) has awarded Dr yogendra Kumar Yadav, a scientist of the Haryana Agricultural University, with a distinguished services certificate. Dr Yadav, who is also project coordinator of the Haryana State-Level Backup Unit of Integrated Rural Energy programme, has conducted research on renewable energy. He has published 40 research papers on this subject.

THEFT: Cash amounting to Rs 8000 and goods worth Rs 4000 were stolen from a general store at Mayar village on Sunday, Udhesh Kumar, owner of the store, informed. The thieves entered the shop by breaking open locks of the front gate.

KAITHAL
CENSUS TRAINING: Members of the supervisory staff to be deployed for census duties from February 9 to 28 were given training at the mini-secretariat here on Monday and provided necessary kits to be used for the purpose. This was stated in a press note issued here.

TRICYCLES DISTRIBUTED: Mr Ajay Chautala, MP, distributed 132 tricycles and 45 wheel chairs and artificial limbs at a function organised by the District Red Cross Society at the local Panchayat Bhavan here on Sunday. The camp was started on January 11.

NARNAUL
ADMINISTRATION URGED: Residents of the Nasibpur Housing Board Colony are sore over the increasing road accidents on the state highway in front of the housing board colony here. This was stated by the state member of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) here on Monday. The residents of the colony and the BJYM state members urged the district administration to construct a speedbreaker, on the road in front of the colony.

PANIPAT
THREE ARRESTED: The district police arrested, on Tuesday, three of the five miscreants who were allegedly involved in extracting “chauth”, eve-teasing and damaging shops in the local Vikas Nagar behind national fertilizers township last week. Those arrested include Rajesh alias Kala, sunil and Kuldeep, all residents of Sewah village.

SONEPAT
ATTACKED: A salesman sustained bullet injuries and another was beaten up by hockey when they were allegedly attacked by two armed persons in the area of Kundli village along the Haryana-Delhi border, about 25 km from here, on Monday. A case has been registered. No arrests have been made so far.

TRIBUTES PAID: Rich tributes were paid to Netaji Subhash Chander Bose, a veteran freedom fighter, at a function organised by the Shaheed Yaadgar Sangathan here on Tuesday.

DISPENSARY: The local Samaj Seva Samiti will open a free ayurvedic dispensary on Sunday in the city. According to a report, it will also organise a blood donation camp and 350 members of the samiti will donate blood.

BODY FOUND: The body of a youth, Sonu, was found hanging in his house at Bahalgarh village, about 10 km from here, on Monday. The cause of the suicide was not yet known.

KILLED: One person was killed and a woman seriously injured when a Tata-407 collided with a jeep on the Sonepat-Bahalgarh road, near Fazilpur village, 3 km from here, on Monday. According to a report, the injured woman was immediately hospitalised.

SIRSA
ILLICIT LIQUOR: As many as 13 persons have been arrested for smuggling illicit liquor and ‘lahan’ and a large quantity of illicit liquor was seized from them. Giving this information, the district police chief said the police arrested Jagga Singh of Theri Mohan Singh and seized 200 kg of ‘lahan’ whereas Kantu Singh of Surtia village, along with 11 others, had been arrested under the Excise Act.

PASSENGER TAX: The Haryana Auto Welfare Sangh has warned that it would go on strike if the state government failed to accede to their demand of withdrawal of recent hike in passenger tax, the Union State Cashier, Mr Jasveer Singh, said here while addressing autorickshaw owners here on Sunday.