The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Monday, October 28, 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
INVITATION: Dr Nirmal Kajal and Dr Mohinder Parhar of the Department of TB and Chest, Government Medical College, here have been invited to the 68th annual international assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians to be held from November 4 to 8 at San Diego.

DERA BASSI
MEETING: Mr Amarjit Singh Dhindsa, Sub Divisional Magistrate, on Sunday held a meeting of seed, fertilizer and pesticide dealers and appealed them to provide good quality seeds and fertilizers at reasonable rates to the farmers.

HOSHIARPUR
SCHOOL SILVER JUBILEE: The Punjab Government will spend Rs 109 crore for the improvement of basic education under the Sarv Sikhiya Abhiyan Scheme. This was stated by Mr Khushhal Behl, Education Minister, Punjab, while addressing a gathering on the silver jubilee celebrations of Doaba Public School at Parowal near Garhshanker, 50 km from here, on Saturday. He honoured Ravneet Kaur, student of the school, for securing the first position in the annual examination of the Punjab School Education Board this year. He announced a grant of Rs 25,000 for the school.

KHARAR
LECTURE: Yogesh Chawla, head of the Department of Hepatology, PGI, gave a Lecture on various forms of Hepatitis at a regular meeting of the Rotary Club.

FRESHERS’ DAY: The GGS College of Modern Technology organised its first fresher’s day function on Saturday. Sharamjit Singh and Nidhi Pathak of the electronics and communication branch were declared Mr Fresher and Ms Fresher, respectively. Dr K.D. Manan, Pricipal, of the college welcomed new entrants and exhorted them to work hard.

BLOOD DONATION: The local Block Congress Committee is organising a blood donation camp on Thursday near police station in connection with the death anniversary of Indira Gandhi. Mrs Lakhwinder Kaur Garch, OSD to the Punjab Chief Minister, will be the chief guest and Mr G.S. Bhuller, SSP, Ropar, will preside over the camp.

DHARNA: SAD workers will hold a dharna outside the office of the SDM on Monday in protest against the alleged anti-people policies of the Punjab Government. According to Mr Prem Singh, president of the local unit of the SAD, the workers will march in a procession from gurdwara Akali Dafter before staging the dharna.

BONE DENSITY: More than 300 persons were examined at a bone density camp organised by the local Rotary Club in collaboration with the Elder Pharma Ltd here on Sunday. Mr J.S. Riar, a coloniser, was the chief guest who donated Rs 5,100 to the club. Dr Rajib Bhalla, orthopaedician at the Civil Hospital, and Mr Harpreet Singh Rekhi were among others who addressed the gathering.

LUDHIANA
DIVALI CELEBRATED: In wake of approaching Divali, Love Dale School organised a fancy dress competition and declamation contest at Students’ Home, PAU, Ludhiana, on Sunday. Around 110 students participated and came dressed up as characters of Ramayana. In declamation contest, students spoke on different topics like Divali, good manners and habits, health awareness, computer technology etc. Refreshment was provided to all the children. The judges were Dr Alka Satija, and Mrs Poornima.

PSA OFFICE-BEARERS: Mr Shivtar Singh Bajwa and Mr R.D. Trikha, both from Ludhiana, have been unanimously elected president and general secretary, respectively, of the Punjab Softball Association (PSA) at the general body meeting of the association held at Guru Nanak Stadium here on Sunday. Mr Bir Singh Pawar of Jalandhar and Mr S.P.S. Lubana of Kapurthala were elected senior vice-president and treasurer, respectively, of the association. The term of the new team would be four years. Mr Harpal Singh Kanwar, District Sports Officer, Ludhiana, attended the meeting as observer of the Punjab State Sports Council and the Punjab Sports Department.

FREE EYE CAMP: Dr Danial and Dr Chatterji, eye specialists, examined 315 patients with eye problems at a free eye camp arranged at Tutian Wala Bagh Temple, Shiv Puri, on Sunday. Out of these patients, 16 needed cataract operations. Dr T.S. Cheema, organiser of the camp, said these operations would be performed at B.L. Kapoor Hospital. The patients would be supplied medicines free of cost and food.

PATHANKOT
LOK ADALATS: Three lok adalats were held here on Saturday in the Civil Court complex under the guidance of Mr A.K. Sharma, District Sessions Judge, Gurdaspur. As many as 78 cases were taken up. Out of these, 28 were decided on the spot. A sum of Rs 24.91 lakh was distributed among clients.

PATIALA
SEMINAR: The local Red Cross Society and the Patiala Social Welfare Organisation today organised a ‘Diwali jagriti’ seminar urging the people to desist from burning crackers, besides urging them not to indulge in liquor and drug abuse on the occasion. The seminar, jointly organised by both organisations, was chaired by Red Cross honorary vice-president Vijay Kumar Goel.

PHAGWARA
HAWALA MONEY: A sum of Rs 10 lakh was recovered from a car being driven by Devinder Singh Bassi of Ludhiana near Chachrari on Saturday, according to a press note. Since the driver could not give a satisfactory explanation for the amount, it was declared ‘‘hawala’’ money and the case handed over to the Enforcement Department.

CHANDIGARH

DISTRIBUTED: School students of the Government Primary School, Kishangarh, were given free copies by the Sri Sathya Sai Organisation, Unit XI, Modern Housing Complex. Mani-Majra, in a small function held on Saturday morning in the school premises.

BANK EMPLOYEES’ PLEA: The joint action committee of employees of Haryana Co-operative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank has alleged that employees had not been paid bonus or ex-gratia for the past three years. A meeting of the committee, which was held recently, decided to meet the Chairman of the bank, Mr Nafe Singh, and its Managing Director J.P. Panjeta, on Monday to request them to release the amount.

ANNUAL FUNCTION: The annual function of the All India Rajput Students’ Aid Society was held at Maharana Pratap Hostel, Sector 25 (West), on Sunday. Mr Ramesh Rana and Mr Shashi Parmar, both MLAs from Haryana, were the chief guests. Mr Ramesh Rana lauded the efforts of the society. He donated a sum of Rs 1 lakh to the society and a similar amount was donated by Mr Shashi Parmar.

HEALTH CAMP: Over 200 residents of Hasanpur village in Patiala district were given treatment and free medicines at a health camp organised by the Jan Uddhar Sansthan on Sunday. A team of specialists including paediatricians and ENT specialists, gave free treatment to the villagers. The chairman of the sansthan, Mr Narinder Sharma, gave details of the social work being done by them for the social and economic uplift of the weaker sections of the society. Free books and stationery were distributed among 25 poor students of Government Middle School, Hasanpur, on the occasion.

PANCHKULA
HEALTH CAMPS: The local Rotary Club organised a multi-speciality health camp in collaboration with the district health authorities at Government High School, Morni. Doctors from the local General Hospital, and the club examined 515 persons. Medicines worth Rs 50,000 were distributed among needy persons free of cost by two Rotarians Mr. Ajay Batra and Dr G. Munjal. At another such camp, organised by the Residents Welfare Association, Sector 12, and Kaiser Hospital, Sector 21, around 500 patients were examined, said Lieut Col Surjit Singh, president of the association, The ADGP, Prisons, Haryana, Mr A.S. Bhatotia, was the chief guest

HARYANA

BHIWANI
MAHILA CONG PROTEST: Women activists of the Mahila Congress Committee staged a demonstration against the ‘‘apathetic’’ attitude of the administration and the Municipal Council towards sanitation here on Saturday. The activists had earlier announced to dump garbage outside the residences of civic and administrative officers. Police arrangements were made near the residences of the officials to avert any untoward incident.

FATEHABAD
COLLEGE FUNCTION: Government College for Women, Fatehabad, organised various competitions under the aegis of its Home Science Department. The college principal, Mr R.K. Sehgal, said in a press note that the girls did pot painting, rangoli, embroidery, cooking and knitting. The Deputy Commissioner, Dr R.B. Langyaan, gave away prizes to the winners of the competitions.

TREE PLANTATION: The Rotary Club here organised a plantation drive at the local Government Senior Secondary Model School on Saturday. Club members led by their president, Mr Anil Jaswal, and secretary, Mr Paramjit Singh Sidhu, planted as many as 100 saplings.

HISAR
ILLEGAL COLONIES: The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, on Saturday said that the government would not spend funds on the development of unauthorised colonies. Addressing a ‘‘sarkar apke dwar’’ programme here, he said the government had directed the district officials not to approve any development project for such colonies. He also asked local residents to deposit house tax on time and directed local officials to repair all main roads and streetlights.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

NAHAN
PULSE POLIO: A special pulse polio immunisation campaign would be launched, in Sirmaur district from November 21 to 23 for eradication of polio. This information was given by the Deputy Director, Health, Dr M.L. Mahajan, at a one-day workshop organised here on Saturday. Speaking to the participants, he said that polio drops would be administered to children in the age groups of 0 to 5.

SHIMLA
LAWYERS’ PROTEST: Advocates of Himachal Pradesh will boycott all functions to be held on November 9 in connection with the Legal Services Authority Day. Stating this here, Mr Ajay Kumar, Chairman of the State Bar council, said the advocates would also not participate in any Lok Adalat or matter pertaining to legal aid or legal services as per the decision of the National Bar Council. He said that action was in protest against the move to amend the Criminal Procedure Code.

AMBEDKAR MISSION: Dr Suraj Bhan, Governor, has exhorted the beneficiaries of the reservation policy to contribute their one-day salary in a year towards the welfare of their poor brethren. He said the policy had benefited nearly 50 lakh SCs and STs and this comprised only 2 per cent of their total population. Dr Bhan was speaking as the chief guest on the occasion of a series of lectures on Dr B.R. Ambedkar, organised by the Ambedkar Mission Society.