The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Monday, March 25, 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

AMRITSAR
EXHIBITION INAUGURATED: The Mayor, Mr Brij Mohan Kapur, inaugurated the Tamil Nadu handicrafts exhibition here on Saturday at a hotel here. The exhibition included exquisite bronze statues, brass lamps, woodcarvings, Thanjavur picture paintings, pure silk and cotton saris. The exhibition will continue till March 31, according to the spokesperson of the Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Corporation.

BARNALA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Engineers Club: president — Mr Ram Singh; senior vice-president — Mr Jaswant Rai; vice-president — Mr Bahadur Singh; general secretary — Mr M R Goyal and treasurer — Mr Naresh Kumar Bansal.

BATALA
MEDICAL CAMP: A free medical camp on heart diseases was organised here on Sunday on the premises of Batala Club by the Lions Club Smile, Batala, under the chairmanship of Lion Mr V. M. Goel, president of Lions Club Smile. About 300 patients were examined.

BATHINDA
EYE CAMP: A free eye check-up camp was organised at Baja Marar village in Muktsar district on Friday during which 339 patients were examined . Dr Jagjit Singh Sidhu, Deputy Medical Commissioner, Muktsar, said in a press note issued on Saturday that 39 persons suffering from cataract were operated upon.

FEROZEPORE
POPPY HUSK SEIZED: Nearly 20 quintals of poppy husk worth Rs 5 lakh was seized at a barrier near Mansoorwala Khurd village on Friday. The poppy husk was being smuggled in a truck. During the checking, the police found 50 bags containing 40 kg of poppy husk in each. One person, Paramjit Singh, alias Pamma, of Tarn Taran was arrested on the spot where as his accomplice, identified as Punjab Singh, managed to escape. A case has been registered.

KAPURTHALA
WOMAN STRANGLED: Jaswinder Kaur (42), a married woman of the local Arafwala mohalla, was found murdered in her house on Saturday. According to the police, she was reportedly strangled by robbers when she was alone in the house. A case has been registered.

KHARAR
HONOURED: Ms Lakhwinder Kaur Garcha, OSD, Chief Minister, Punjab, was honoured by the Pendu Vikas Manch in a special function held at Gharuan village on Sunday. Ms Garcha assured villagers that she would try her best to solve various problems faced by them. Speakers thanked Capt Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister, Punjab, for appointing Ms Garcha on the post. Besides Ms Garcha, Mr Kuljit Singh Bedi, president, Block Congress Committee, Mohali, Mr Paramjit Singh Bainipal, president, Block Congress Committee, Kharar, Mr Sukhdev Singh Mangat, Mr Balraj Singh Gill, Mr Sudarshan Verma and Mr Surinder Verma were also honoured on the occasion.

SEMINAR: The Shanti Sarup Memorial Educational Society, Chamkaur Sahib, organised a seminar on ‘sustainable development in environment’ on the premises of Sri Dashmesh Public School, Tehsil Road, Chamkaur Sahib, under its annual programme of National Environment Awareness Campaign-2002. The Punjab State Council sponsored the programme. Mr Surinder Pal Singh, Superintendent of Police (Detective), presided over the function, while Mr Bhag Singh, advocate and Ex MLA was the chief guest. Dr S.K. Sexana, Senior Scientific Officer, Punjab State Council for Science and Technology, was the guest of honour. Mrs Raksha Dhand, president, Mahila Samaj Kalyan Samiti, Chamkaur Sahib, and Principal of Sri Dashmesh Public School, presented a paper on the occasion. Dr S.K. Saxena cautioned farmers against excessive use of pesticides. Mr Ranbir Singh, District Manager, NABARD, Ropar, asked women groups to come forward to adopt vermi composting units. Prof R.C. Dhand, chairman of the society, thanked the participants. Others who spoke on the occasion were Dr Suresh Kumar, Mr Mahinder Jain, and Mr Surjit Singh Garcha.

MANSA
BLACKENED: The face of Kulwinder Singh of Faridke village in the Boha police station area of the district was blackened and he was paraded through the streets of the village on Friday. According to information, Kulwinder Singh had misbehaved with a 17-year-old Dalit girl of the village when she had gone to the fields to bring fodder. The matter was reported to the village panchayat by the elder brother of the girl which instead of lodging a report with the police decided the above action.

MOGA
GRIEVANCES: The Deputy Commissioner here directed all Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) on Saturday to hold meetings at their respective subdivisional headquarters on every Wednesday to listen to the grievances of the people. He said he himself would be listening to the grievances of the people at Dharamkot on March 27, at Bhagapurana on April 3 and at Nihalsinghwala on April 10.

FOUNDATION STONE: The residents of the district urged the government on Sunday to complete all projects in the district for which the foundation stones were laid by the SAD government. A large number of such projects had not been completed due to the apathy of government officers and paucity of funds.

NAWANSHAHR
GOVT CRITICISED: Mr Gurdish Singh Jhikka, president of the district unit of the Berozgar B.Ed Adhiyapak Front, in a press note issued here on Sunday criticised the state government for not taking steps to provide jobs to unemployed B.Ed teachers in the state. He said out of 7,230 ETT posts advertised about 475 teachers were to be recruited in the district but still as many as 73 B.Ed teachers had not received appointment letters against ETT posts in the district.

PAYMENT OF SALARIES: Mr Shiv Pal Singh, general secretary of the Punjab Pensioners Welfare Association, in a press note issued here on Sunday criticised the state government for stopping the payments of salaries and pensions from the treasury.

EX-SERVICEMEN: The district unit of the ex-servicemen cell (PPCC) at a meeting held here on Sunday at Punjab Mata Vidhyawati Bhavan urged the Chief Minister to appoint Col Zoravar Singh (retd) as state president of the cell as OSD of Minister of Sainik Welfare. The information was given here in a press note by Lt Col Jernail Singh, president of the district unit of the cell.

WATER SUPPLY: The residents of mohalla Sharda and Lallian here have been facing inconvenience due to the erratic supply of piped water for about a month. Repeated complaints to the concerned authorities in this regard have been made, but no action has been taken, the residents alleged.

BLOOD DONATION CAMP: The local Blood Donors Council and Civil Hospital, Banga, jointly organised a blood donation camp at nearby Khatkar Kalan village to mark the Martyrdom Day on Saturday. The Civil Surgeon, Dr J. S. Bhullar, inaugurated the camp in which as many as 50 units of blood were collected.

FUNCTION HELD: The Shaheed Bhagat Singh Memorial Manch, Punjab, organised “Pranam Shaheedan Nu” at Khatkar Kalan village to pay tributes to martyrs. Prof Jagmohan Singh, nephew of Bhagat Singh, was the chief guest and Mr Jagjit Singh Anand, Editor, Nawan Zamana, presided over the function. The artistes of Pragati Kala Kendra, Landheran, staged plays on the occasion.

TARN TARAN
MEETING HELD: The Health Department, Punjab, and the IMA, Patti, have decided to stand against the Prenatal Diagnostic techniques to implement the PNDT Act to control the decreasing male-female ratio in the society. A meeting in this regard was organised on Saturday at Patti under the presidentship of Dr Harjit Bharti, SMO, in charge, Civil Hospital, Patti, in which members of the IMA, Patti unit, were represented by Dr Jasbir Singh Cheem.

CHANDIGARH

REIKI HEALING CAMP: Over 250 patients visited a three-day Reiki healing camp organised by the Reiki Healing Foundation Institute, Northern Zone, at the Shri Sathya Sai Old Age Home, Sector 30, which concluded here on Sunday. In a press release, Capt R.P Nayyar, founder general secretary of the institute, said the institute has planned to organise three-day camp every month in future. Mr A.S Khokhar, Deputy Accountant General, Punjab and UT was the chief guest. Mr A.K Ummat, Chairman of the Sri Sathya Sai Old Age Home, was also presented on the occasion.

HOLI MILAN: A cultural programme and Holi colours marked the ‘Holi Milan’ celebrations of the Purvanchal Welfare Association at Government College, Sector 46, here on Sunday. Over 2,000 members of the association attended the function. The general secretary of the association, Mr Rajinder Singh, announced the formation of an ‘Emergency Service Committee’. The association demanded that a train linking the city with Ballia, Chapra, should be started. The programme was presided over by Mr M.P. Rai, Chief Conservator of Forest, Punjab.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Lions Club Chandigarh Shivalik: president — Mr D.V Sharma; secretary — Mr Jaswant Singh, treasurer — Mr Anjay Kumar; and first vice-president — Dr. J.C Kochhar.

PANCHKULA
ELECTED: Col Surjit Singh (retd) was elected president of the Residents Welfare Association, Sector 12, here on Sunday. He defeated the outgoing president, Wg Cdr H.L. Ratta (retd) by 68 votes. He has been empowered to select his team.

MEETING: The House Owners’-cum-Plot Holders’ Association, Sector 15, in its general body meeting held here on Sunday decided that the payment of house tax and fire tax bills will not be made till the High Court decided on the civil writ petition filed by the association. Mr M.S. Cheema, president of the association, said the Punjab and Haryana High Court had issued a notice of motion in this regard.

OFFICE-BEARERS: Mr Surinder Goyal has been elected district president of the Akhil Bharatiya Yuva Aggarwal Sammelan. Other office-bearers are: vice-president Mr Vikas Bhojia; office-secretary — Mr Bharat Bhushan; secretaries — Mr Surindra Mittal and Mr Mohit Bansal. Mr Munish Aggarwal has been elected president of the Pinjore block, while Mr Ravi Prakash Singla has been elected president of the Raipur Rani block.

HARYANA

AMBALA
CAMPAIGN: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Mahender Kumar, will inaugurate ‘Ayurved Upchar Aapke Dwar Campaign’ at Dehar village in Naraingarh on Tuesday. According to Dr Naresh Saini, media in charge of the campaign, the SDM, Naraingarh, Mr Maheshwar Sharma, will preside over the inaugural function. Dr Balwant Singh Mehla, Dr Prithi Singh and Mr Ram Phal Singh would be the guests of honour on this occasion. Mr Jai Pal Singh, Chairman, Block Samiti, Naraingarh, will also inaugurate an exhibition of medicinal herbs and a free ayurvedic camp on this occasion. The sarpanch of the village, Mr Surender Singh Rana, will be the convener of the function.

DISPLAY of FABRICS: Siyaram Silk Mills Limited organised a display of fabrics at Ambala City through its wholesale dealer, Rohit Trading Company, here on Sunday. The company has come out with a special range of fabrics for marriage occasions. The regional sales manager of the mill, Mr R.K. Ganeri Lal, and the managing director of Rohit Trading Company, Mr Rajnish Jain, were present on the occasion.

BHIWANI
JUDICIAL CUSTODY: The court of HS Dahiya has sent all 22 suspects of Loharu violence into judicial custody till April 5. Earlier, elaborate police arrangements had been made in the judicial complex before producing them in the court.

HISAR
KISAN CREDIT CARDS: The State Bank of Patiala will issue Gold Kisan Credit Cards to farmers with a good track of banking during the past five years. This was stated by the General Manager (Operations) of the bank, Mr J. R. Devgun, while presiding over a function held at Ratia, near here, on Friday.