The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tuesday, September 4, 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
FAREWELL: The Primary Schools Association on Sunday gave a farewell to Mr Naranjan Singh Khurana, Deputy DEO (Primary). Mr Davinderpal Singh Dhillon, DEO (Primary), was also present. Mr O.P. Thakur, Mr Sucha Singh, and Mr Salag Ram, patron, vice-president and general secretary, respectively, of the association honoured the outgoing officer, Mr O.P. Sareen, president of the association, said.

COW SLAUGHTER: Mr Arun Khanna, president of the Bajrang Dal, in a press note here on Sunday, warned against the killing of cows in Punjab. He urged the Christians and Muslims to respect the feelings of Hindus and desist from such practices.

RALLY HELD: A rally against the use of drugs was organised by the Sikh Students’ Federation here on Friday. Giani Kewal Singh, Jathedar of Takht Damdama Sahib, led the rally that started from Gurdwara Manji Sahib. This was stated by Mr Jaswinder Singh Jassi here on Friday.

DEMANDED: The Fruit and Vegetable Commission Agents Union has demanded the enhancement of commission from 5 per cent to 6 per cent. In a letter to the Secretary of the Punjab Mandi Board and the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Mr Harish Taneja, general secretary of the union, said the commission agents in other states were getting commission up to 10 per cent.

CONCLUDES: A five-day national workshop on the management of university administration organised jointly by the Association of Indian Universities, New Delhi, and Guru Nanak Dev University concluded here on Friday. Dr B.S. Dahiya, former Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, highlighted the autonomous status of the universities.

REVISED: Rates of monthly commission of STD and PCO franchisees of the local exchanges have been revised with a commission of Rs 0.24 per unit up to 4,000 call units, Rs 0.25 for 4,001 to 8,400 call units and Rs 0.27 and Rs 0.30 for up to 16,700 call units and above, respectively. The revised rates will be applicable from September 1. Mr Rakesh Kapoor, General Manager, Telecom, informed here on Friday.

INSTALLED: A Phaco emulsifying machine, which is used in cataract surgery, was installed in Government ENT Eye Hospital here on Saturday. Dr Mahajan, Principal of the Medical College, inaugurated the machine.

LOK ADALAT: A lok adalat was organised here on Saturday under the directions of the Punjab State Legal Services Authority, Chandigarh. Thirtysix cases were taken up at the lok adalat, of which 20 were settled. Mr Rajinder Aggarwal, Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division), presided over it.

AMLOH
CLARIFICATION SOUGHT: As per the reports published in a section of the Press in May this year, Education Minister Tota Singh had assured students failing in one subject in Class V examination of being declared pass, but the Education Department has failed to issue any letter in this regard to the schools, resulting in confusion. Mr Sat Paul Goel, president, Punjab Private Schools’ Organisation, has urged the Director, State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT), Punjab, to issue a necessary clarification. He said in case of middle standard and matriculation examination, a candidate failing in one subject (other than the compulsory subject) was declared as ‘pass’, but it was not so in the case of fifth class.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
REPORT CONDEMNED: The Nav-Nayukt Teachers’ Union has condemned the report submitted by the Assembly Committee to the State Assembly terming certain teachers as ineligible. The district unit of the union on Monday in a meeting at Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib termed the report as politically motivated. Mr Tejinder Singh Tiwana and Mr Sanjiv Kumar, president and secretary of the union, respectively said the report was illegal as the state Assembly had itself passed an ordinance to recruit the teachers and the high court had also approved the selection list of the teachers and the matter was subjudice as the case was lying pending in the court. They said the government wanted to draw political mileage by publishing such reports. They demanded to scrap the report else teachers would be forced to launch an agitation.

HOSHIARPUR
BOOKED: The Sadar police has registered a case against Suman Kumar of Dakoha in Jalandhar district for taking Rs 1.15 lakh from Mr Kuldeep Singh of Khanoor village in Jalandhar district for sending him to Italy. But Suman Kumar neither sent him to Italy nor returned the money. The police has registered a case against Kamal Kumar Jain of Tanda for cheating Mr Arjun Singh of Raikot in Ludhiana district. The Dasuya police has registered a case against Santokh Singh of Adamwal for taking Rs 4.50 lakh from Mr Gurmukh Singh for sending him abroad but he did not fulfil his promise.

SUCCUMBED: Mohan Singh of Barota Randhawa village succumbed to his injuries at Sant Charitable Hospital, Kathar, on Saturday. He was seriously injured when a scooter hit him at Mandiala.

JALANDHAR
THREATENED: The Jodhpur Detainees Rehabilitation Committee has threatened to launch a statewide agitation to expose the SAD government. This was stated by Mr Balwinder Singh Jethuwal, president of the committee, in a press note here on Saturday.

KAPURTHALA
TELEPHONE SERVICES: The telephone services in the local Adarsh Colony, near Devi Talab, have been out of order for the past 10 days. In a written complaint to the Chief General Manager (Telephone), Jalandhar, Mr Surjit Lal Sharma, president of the Adarsh Colony Cooperative House Building Society, has alleged that in spite of several written complaints lodged by residents of the colony with the exchange, nothing has been done so far.

LUDHIANA
MEMORIAL FUNCTION: The Punjabi Sabhyacharak Academy organised a memorial function to honour the renowned literary figure, Dr Banjara Bedi, at Punjab Bhavan on Tuesday. The function was attended by noted literary figures, intellectuals and principals of local colleges. The function was chaired by famous Punjabi writer, Mr Surjit Patar. Dr S.N.Sevak, Ajaib Chitarkar, Dr Parminder Singh and Dr Pritam Singh Cambo from London paid tributes to Banjara Bedi. Dr Gulzar Pandher read a special paper on the literary works of the author. Prtof N.S. Tasneem called Mr Bedi the “Doyen of Punjabi Literature” and called him the “poet of the century.”

LOK BHALAI PARTY: The Lok Bhalai Party, led by Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, has planned to hold demonstrations, hunger strikes and dharnas outside all district headquarters in the state against the failure of the Akali Dal (Badal) to safeguard the interests of the state regarding the division of river waters and the state’s failure to grab the proposed oil refinery. In a press note here on Monday, Mr Avtar Singh Mullanpuri, chief spokesperson for the party, said the date for the one-day agitation programme would be announced shortly. He said the party was keen on making or joining a third morcha while maintaining equal distance from the Congress (I), the BJP and the Akali Dal (Badal). The party had even appealed to the BSP and the leftist parties to forge ahead under a common banner, he added. Mr Mullanpuri said the people of Panjab were keen on keeping Congressmen and Akalis out of power.

CM CRITICISED: The Indian Youth Congress has criticised the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, for allegedly encouraging terrorism and using communal tactics for garnering public support. Addressing the party workers at Shimlapuri here on Monday, the district youth Congress president, Mr Parminder Mehta, alleged that Mr Badal had lost the confidence of people and was now desperately using divisive tactics. Mr Mehta cautioned the people to beware of his designs as he had helped people like Wassan Singh Zaffarwal and Dr Jagjit Singh Chohan to get back into the country and were being treated like state guests here. The Youth Congress leaders said the Chief Minister had forgotten all promises made to the people of the state before coming to power.

NAWANSHAHR
MARTYRDOM DAY: A ‘‘sharadhanjli samaroh’’ to commemorate the 70th martyrdom day of Babbar Karam Singh Daulatpuri (editor) and his associates was organised by the Babbar Karam Singh Memorial Trust at the nearby Daulatpur village on Saturday. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Jagjit Singh, presided. He announced a grant of Rs 4 lakh for the memorial and named the Balachaur-Nawanshahr road as Babbar Karam Singh Road.

BUILDING INAUGURATED: Mr Jatinder Singh Kariha, MLA, inaugurated a newly constructed building of the Nawanshahr Central Cooperative Bank’s branch at Behloor Kalan, about 15 km from here, on Saturday.

CHARGE TAKEN: Mr Tulsi Ram, SSP, took charge here on Saturday. Earlier, he was SP(D), Kapurthala.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Sikh Students Federation (IITT College of Engineering), Pojewal: president — Mr Hardip Singh; vice-presidents — Mr Gagandip Singh Aujla and Mr Amanvir Singh Shergill; general secretary — Mr Rajbir Singh Kahlon; and secretary — Mr Akashdip Singh Aulakh.

FAZILKA
HOME GUARD DEAD: Harbhajan Singh (25), a Home Guard was hit by a Jeep on the Fazilka-Abohar road on Sunday evening. He later succumbed to his injuries. The deceased belonged to Patiala district. The Jeep driver absconded leaving the Jeep at the accident site. The police has registered a case and impounded the vehicle.

MANSA
SDM TAKES CHARGE: Ms Indu Malhotra has taken over as the Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM) here. She took over from Mr Krishan Chand Chowdhary, who has been promoted as the Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) here.

MEDICAL CAMP: An ENT and general check-up camp was organised on Monday by the Bharat Vikas Parishad at Vidya Bharti School, Dullowal village in the district. As many as 162 students were examined by a team of doctors including Dr Suresh Singla, Dr Sunit Jindal and Dr Arihant of the local Civil Hospital, Medicines were distributed free of cost, according to Mr Rajnish Kumar Jindal, advocate, general secretary of the parishad.

MASS CASUAL LEAVE: On a call given by the Private Colleges Non-Teaching Employees Union (PCNTEU), Punjab and Chandigarh, the non-teaching staff of S.D. Kanya Mahavidyala here will go on mass casual leave on Tuesday to press for their demands, stated Ms Murti Devi, president of the PCNTEU, Punjabi University.

MOGA
PADDY PROCUREMENT: The district administration has set up 87 paddy purchase centres in the district. This was informed here on Monday by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Kanwalbir Singh Sidhu. He hoped that no inconvenience would be caused to the farmers bringing their produce to these centres.

EMERGENCY MEETING: An emergency meeting of panches, sarpanches and lambardars, belonging to the Scheduled Castes, from all over the state was held here on Sunday. It was presided over by Mr Awtar Singh, who urged the state government to ban the entry of migratory labour from states, particularly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, into Punjab as they were causing great inconvenience. He further urged the government to supply foodgrains free of cost to poor. He said the grain had been rotting in the government godowns for the past several years.

THREE INJURED: Three persons were seriously injured when the Jeep in which they were travelling collided head on with another Jeep, coming from the opposite direction, near Rajeana village in the district on Saturday.

SAD (B) SPLINTER GROUP: Rift in the district SAD (Badal) over various issues has led to the formation of a splinter group, which has reportedly decided to field its own candidate during the forthcoming Assembly election from the Baghapurana constituency. A meeting of this group, namely Barnala group, was held at Mughal Patti in Baghapurana town on Saturday. It was presided over by Mr Sewak Singh.

PHAGWARA
INAUGURATED: Sophisticated Medical apparatus and ventilator were installed at the upgraded local Civil Hospital on Saturday. The Punjab Tourism Minister, Mr Swarna Ram, inaugurated the apparatus. A modern x-ray plant was also inaugurated by the minister.

PHILLAUR
7 ARRESTED: The Phillaur police, led by the DSP, Mr Satinder Singh, has seized 660 kg of poppy husk and arrested seven narcotic smugglers. The SSP, Jalandhar, Mr Gaurav Yadav, on Sunday identified the arrested persons as Jasbiri Ram of Mandi, Benarsi Dass, Raju, both of Kang Jagir, Darshno, her husband Mohinder, both of Bhungarni village, and Ranbir and Rajinder Singh, both of jallowal village.

PATIALA
MEDICAL CAMP: To mark the birth anniversary of late Krishan Gopal, the Gayatri Parivar held a medical camp here. According to a press note, more than 180 eye patients were examined by a medical team headed by Dr S.S. Boparai, an eye surgeon and a social worker. About 80 patients were provided spectacles free of cost and nearly 20 patients were operated upon.

GASTROENTERITIS: Patients suffering from gastroenteritis at Samana have been showing improvement, said civil surgeon, Patiala, in a press note. The civil surgeon said steps had been taken to curb the spread of the disease. Use of publicity van has been made to make people aware of the disease and they were motivated to use boiled and chlorinated water.

DHARNA: The Shiromani Akali Dal, Akali Jatha (rural), has decided to hold dharnas in front of the offices of the Deputy Commissioners, all over Punjab, to protest against corruption, rates of paddy and biased behaviour of the government. In Patiala, dharna would be organised on 14th September and would be presided over by Jathedar Rajinder Singh Tohra. At other places, dharnas would be held from 7th to 10th of the month.

DANCE COMPETITION: The folk dance team of Punjabi University has won the runners up position in the All-India Inter-varsity competition of folk dances, organised by Kerela University at Trivandrum. Giving this information, Prof Daljit Singh, Director, Youth Welfare said teams from various universities across India had participated in the competition.

SEMINAR: A seminar on the applications of True Spiral CT Scanner was held here on Sunday in auditorium of Central Library. Dr Narula highlighted the major characteristics of the scanner machine. He said patients would now be less exposed to radiation due to this safer testing apparatus. The scanner exposed the patients to minimum radiations as compared to other scanners, thus reducing the harmful effects of radiations. Its high speed is effective in scanning any hollow organ and is also effective in three-dimensional reconstructions and angiography.

FEMALE FOETICIDE: The Dedicated Brothers Group on Sunday organised a seminar here on ‘female foeticide’ at Prabhat Parwana Trade Centre in Baradari. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Amrit Lal Dhingra, Civil Surgeon, said the sex ratio has deteriorated. He stressed that the alarming decline in the sex ratio was a cause of serious concern.

AID RECEIVED: The local Rotary Club has received an aid of Rs 4 lakh from the Rotary Club, Toranto, Humber, Canada, for holding a free Hepatitis ‘B’ vaccination camp for weaker sections.