The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Saturday, February 23, 2002, 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

HOSHIARPUR
TRAVEL AGENTS BOOKED: Rongi Ram of Jalowal on Thursday complained to the police that travel agent Malkiat Singh of Bhoolpur had taken Rs 3.5 lakh from him to send him abroad. He neither send him abroad nor was returning his money. According to another complaint, travel agent Gurdip Singh of TTN, Amritsar, took Rs 1.50 lakh from Jaswinder Singh of Rajpur Gahot for sending him to the USA. The Tanda police has registered cases under Sections 420 and 406 of the IPC against both travel agents.

CONSTABLE DIES: CRPF constable Karamjit Singh of Garhshanker succumbed to his injuries at CMC on Thursday night. He had received head injuries in an accident on February 16.

KAPURTHALA
BAR ASSOCIATION: Mr Raghbir Pal Singh Bajwa was elected president of the District Bar Association today. He defeated Mr Virender Sharma. Mr Bajwa got 129 votes while Mr Sharma got 21 votes.

KHARAR
VILLAGE PANEL: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Gram Sudhar Sabha, Popna village, Kharar block: president — Mr Parvinder Singh; vice-president — Mr Avtar Singh; general secretary — Mr Gurnam Singh; secretary — Mr Basesar Nath; press secretary — Mr Amrik Singh; joint secretary — Mr Kaka Singh; and cashier — Mr Paramjit Singh.

LUDHIANA
ID NAMAAZ: About one lakh Muslims are expected to take part in the ‘namaaz’ to be performed at the local Jama Masjid in Field Ganj in connection with the Id-ul-Zuha celebrations on Saturday morning. Maulana Habib-ur-Rehman Ludhianvi, the masjid’s Imam, would also address the gathering. A prayer for peace in Punjab and elsewhere in the country would also be offered on the occasion. A large number of political leaders of all parties are also expected to reach the Jama Masjid in order to greet the gathering, according to Mr Mahmud Hassan, secretary of the Jama Masjid committee.

OFFICER PROMOTED: The General House of the Municipal Corporation, in its meeting held on Thursday, adopted a unanimous resolution to give effect to promotion and revised pay scale to Mr Ashok Bajaj, Legal Advisor-cum-Vigilance Officer. Mr Bajaj has been promoted to the rank and pay of Assistant Commissioner (Corporation Services) with effect from Nov 11, 1998.

BLOOD DONATION CAMP: Hero Group of Industries, Ludhiana hosted a voluntary blood donation camp organised by the department of Transfusion Medicine, Hero DMC Heart Institute for registered Thalassemic children. Mr Satya Munjal, MD Hero Group, coordinated the proceedings, under the guidance of Dr Amarjit Kaur, reader and in charge, Department of Transfusion Medicine assisted by Dr Rohit Mehra and Dr Pavneet Kaur. Dr Parveen Sobti from Pediatrics also supervised. The medical team comprised doctors and laboratory technicians. The camp started at 11 am and concluded at 5 pm. The donors who were administrators, supervisors and workers from the Hero Group, participated enthusiastically for the noble cause. As many as 96 units of blood was donated. These units will be screened for transmissible diseases (Hepatitis-B, Hepatitis-C, HIV and Syphilis) and the units free from them will be utilised for manufacture of components.

MANDI GOBINDGARH
LITTLE FOCUS ON FOCAL POINT: Basic amenities have not been provided to the industrial focal point on G.T. Road. Postal services of focal point area are inadequate as the postal authorities have attached this area with Kumbh village branch post office. Daily delivery and collection of mail lips, not even a single letter box was installed after repeated requests made by industrialists to the Senior Superintendent Post Offices, at Patiala. According to Mr Anil Suraj, Vice-President, Focal Point association Punjab, PSIEC, is unable to provide civic amenities which included drinking water facilities, adequate street lights, parks and ESI dispensary. In the absence of any commercial centre, commuters have to travel seven kilometers to meet their basic needs.

NEW WING FOR AKALI DAL: Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) in a meeting held here on Thursday chaired by its President Simranjit Singh Mann has recognised “Samaj Sudhar Sabha, Punjab” as a wing of Akali Dal, according to Mr Avtar Singh, senior vice-president Youth Wing and Mr Jagtar Singh vice-president (rural) in a joint press note. Among others Mr Charanjit Singh Rupana, president, Samaj Sudhar Sabha, Punjab; Jathedar Jaswant Singh Rajindergarh, member Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee; Jathedar Kishan Singh Salana, president Akali Dal, Amloh circle and Dr Lakhbir Singh were also present in the meeting.

PIMT WIN BIZ-QUIZ: Punjab Institute of Management and Technology (PIMT), an institute of Gobindgarh Educational and Social Welfare Trust, has been declared overall winner of BIZ-Quiz-2002 organised by Gyan Jyoti Institute of Management and Technology, Mohali. Mrs Gagandeep Kaur Lecturer at the PIMT, who accompanied her institute team, informed that of the 16 teams, which participated, four teams, representing PIMT, University Business School, PCTE Ludhiana and CMTR Mohali, reached the final round of the competition. The PIMT team, comprising Chetan Sharma, Dapinder Jit Singh and Randeep Singh Kalsi was declared over all winners. Dr O.P. Sahni, Director of the institute, said that PIMT was one of the pioneer institutes in Management and Computer Education, affiliated to Punjab Technical University and known for its academic performance in the MBA, MCA and BCA programmes, as well as in extra curricular activities.

MANSA
2 KILLED: Ramesh Kumar (20) was killed while his companion Gurpreet Singh (19) of Mansa seriously injured when a Tata Sumo coming from the opposite side hit the motor cycle they were riding on near the local Government Nehru Memorial Postgraduate College on Friday. The Tata Sumo driver absconded. A case has been registered.

CATARACT OPERATIONS: The local Rotary Club has started the registration of patients suffering from cataract who are desirous of undergoing operation to get intraocular lenses (IOLs) fitted. This was disclosed here on Friday by Mr R.C. Goyal, president of the club. He said the club would provide lenses and treatment free of cost to the patients.

MOGA
STIR CALLED OFF: Following an apology from Congress workers, doctors and paramedical staff at Moga Hospital called off their indefinite strike on Thursday. They had gone on strike on February 16.

HOME GUARDS: Resentment prevails among the Home Guards of Punjab over the non-payment of the hike in their wages which have been raised from Rs 70 to 90 per day w.e.f. January 4, 2001. They have demanded that they should be paid their increased salaries immediately.

PATIALA
SURVEILLANCE: The Civil Surgeon’s office here, under the guidelines of the Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, Punjab started surveillance in the area due to the suspected cases of plague in Himachal Pradesh. Several teams of the department were doing a survey in the district to ascertain that there were no cases to plague here.

EMPLOYEES’ UNION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Government Ayurvedic College Employees’ Union: president — Dr Ashwani Sharma; senior vice-presidents — Dr Kali Ram and Dr R.K. Singla; vice-president — Mr Joginder Pal; joint secretary — Mr Hari Dev; and cashier — Dr K.K. Chopra.

APPOINTED: Keeping in view the services rendered by Dr J.P.S. Walia, consultant and orthopaedics surgeon, Government Medical College and Rajindra Hospital, during the National and International School Games, the President of the School Games Federation of India appointed him medical adviser to the federation.

INVITED: Punjabi University’s English Department has invited the Principal of St Stephen’s College, New Delhi, Mr Anil Wilson, to speak on ‘Liberating education’ during the Rao memorial function.

BOOKS RELEASED: Three books of National Award winning writer and Head of the Punjabi University’s Hindi Department, Dr Chaman Lal, were released at the recently concluded World Book Fair. He had been awarded a national prize for translating poet Surjit Patar’s Punjabi book in Hindi.

YOUTH FESTIVAL: The three-day Inter-Zone Youth Festival, being hosted by Punjabi University, concluded on Friday. A team from the Government College for Women, Patiala, bagged the overall championship trophy. DAV College, Bathinda, was declared the runners-up and Government Mohindra College, Patiala, won the third position.

BASANT PANCHMI: The staff and students of Blossoms School here celebrated Basant Panchmi on the campus on Monday and organised kite-flying, turban-tying, singing and other competitions. The Principal of the school, Ms Ravi Singh, appreciated the response of the nursery students and encouraged all students to participate in extra-curricular activities.

PATHANKOT
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Shree Ram Welfare Society: president — Mr Kamal Kishore Sharma; general secretary — Mr Mohan Lal Gupta; and treasurer — Mr Ashok Sharma.

TARN TARAN
REGISTERED: On a complaint by Gurbachan Singh, the Patti police has registered a case of theft. According to the report, Gurbachan Singh’s house was broken into and Rs 16,000 and some gold ornaments stolen.

CHANDIGARH

CREMATED: Mr A.S. Mann, a social worker, on Thursday cremated an unidentified body at the Sector 25 cremation ground. The person was admitted to the PGI on February 18 and had succumbed to his injuries.

NANDA’S VISIT: With a view to help hundreds of daily visitors at the District Courts who had been facing a lot of inconvenience due to the non-availability of lift facility, the UT Adviser to the Administrator, Ms Neeru Nanda, accompanied by other senior administrative officials, on Wednesday visited the complex. They also discussed the problem with the UT District and Sessions Judge, Mr H.S. Bhalla.

SEMINAR: A seminar on career guidance was organised by the Career Guidance Cell of Government College, Sector 46, here on Thursday. The seminar was addressed by Mr Anil Bhanot from Self Confident Institute, Sector 46 and Mr Vinod Kumar Sharma, regional employment officer from Employment Information and Guidance Bureau. Topics discussed during the seminar included “successful studying” and career planning. The Principal of the College, Mr S.C. Nijhawan, also spoke.

FAREWELL: The class X students of the KB DAV Centenary School, Sector 7, here on Wednesday were given farewell. A cultural bonanza, including Pop Bhangra, along with various dance performances and group songs such as ‘vidayi’ geet, were sung by the teachers. Ms Madhu Bhal, principal of the school gave a surprise to students when she brought a person dressed up Charlie Chaplin. Mr B.S. Bahl, chairman of the school, also blessed children.

PLAY STAGED: DAV Students Council presented a Punjabi play ‘Chiragan Di Lau’ at the Mini-Auditorium in Sector 10 here on Friday. The lead characters were played by Navalpreet Singh Rangi, who was also the writer and director, Ashish Sharma and Navneet Kaur. The play was followed by the release of the novel ‘Gith Muthiye’.

TEACHERS’ VISIT: Thirteen teachers from Wandsworth Borough, South London, interacted with students of St John’s High School on Friday. They had visited five schools of the region during the tour under the League of Exchange for Commonwealth Teachers Programme.

MARKET COMMITTEE: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Sector 47-D Market Committee: president — Mr Harbans Lal Sharma; vice-president — Mr Surinder Kumar; general secretary — Mr Surjit Singh; joint secretary — Mr Dinesh Chander; and cashier — Mr Harvinder Singh.

PANCHKULA
DELEGATION: A delegation of the Citizen’s Welfare Association on Thursday met the UT Administrator, Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob, in order to discuss issues related to both Chandigarh and Panchkula. Mr S.K. Nayyar, its president, said, “As per the Reorganisation Act, Panchkula is to be maintained by Haryana and is to be kept on a par with Chandigarh”.

SPRINKLER SETS: The Haryana Agriculture Department would install 70 sprinkler sets in the district, said Mr Rajiv Arora, Director of Agriculture, Haryana, on Friday. The Deputy Commissioner, Ms Jyoti Arora, said farmers belonging to general categories were being given a subsidy of Rs 7000 on these sets while women farmers and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe farmers would be given a subsidy of Rs 10,000.

STRIKE POSTPONED: The District Chemist Association on Friday decided to postpone its one-day strike, called for Saturday, after being given an assurance by the State Drug Controller. The Assistant State Drug Controller, Mr R.M. Sharma, assured the chemists that an inquiry had been marked into the alleged forcible closure of chemist shops by Inspector Puri in an inebriated condition.