The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Saturday, January 4, 2003, 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
INVITED: Prof N.S. Neki, In charge the Department of Medicine, Government Medical College here has been invited by the Geriatric Society of India to chair the scientific session on ‘symposia on anti-biotic prescribing in elderly’ in the annual conference of the Association of Physics of India conference (APICON).

DHADI SABHA: Mr Sawinder Singh Bhangu, senior vice-president, Shri Hargobind Sahib Shiromani Dhadi Sabha, at the general meeting held here, unanimously decided not to include Mr Gurmej Singh Badal and Mr Gurmukh Singh Valtoha in their sabha.

HOSHIARPUR
SEIZED: In its drive against anti-social elements, the district police seized 30,000 ml of illicit liquor from Soma wife of Jagdish and 5250ml of illicit liquor from Sita wife of Vishanu, both residents of Ghasitpur village on Wednesday. Both have been booed under Section 61/1/14 of the Excise Act.

WELCOMED: Dr K.K. Prashar, patron, and Dr Harmanjit Singh, president, Punjab Ayurvedic Medical Services Association, have welcomed the recent statement of Mr Ramesh Chander Dogra, Health and Family Welfare Minister, Punjab, regarding the setting up of an independent ministry for ayurvedic and homeopathic systems of medicine in a joint press note here on Friday. Dr Prashar and Dr Harmanjit Singh described the present state of affairs of both wings of the Health Department as pitiable.

CEILING FANS: The NRI Sabha, Hoshiarpur, will provide 814 ceiling fans to 510 government primary schools’ during summer. This was disclosed by Mr Kirandeep Singh Bhullar, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chairman, NRI Sabha, at a special meeting here on Thursday. He said 314 NRIs of the district were life members of the sabha who were actively working for the development of their respective villages.

RALLY: Mr Kirandeep Singh Bhullar, Deputy Commissioner, flagged off the pulse polio rally of schoolchildren at the Zila Parishad Ground here on Friday in connection with the pulse polio programme. More than 1,000 students of various schools participated in the rally.

DEAD: Giani Wattan Singh, former President of the District Congress Committee, Hoshiarpur, died at his residence in Khanpur Sahota village on Thursday evening. He was 96 and is survived by a daughter. He also remained Chairman of the Zila Parishad, Hoshiarpur. He was cremated here on Friday.

KHARAR
SDM CLARIFIES: Mr Sukhwinder Singh Gill, SDM, Kharar, has clarified that the reports in the media about bogus votes in some parts of the town for the coming MC elections are baseless. He said all preparation for the voter list has been going on as per the directions of the State Election Commission. He said in the total 15 wards of the committee, 924 claims for the registration of new votes and 780 objections for the deletion of votes has been received and the matter was being investigated into. He said all the claims and objections would be disposed of and the final list will be published on January 15. In case anybody had objections, they should have given their objections in writing to him instead of going to the media, he said.

LUDHIANA
FUNCTION: A religious function was held at Shastri Public School in New Shivaji Nagar on Thursday which was presided over by Swami Ved Bharti. In her address, she said religious education in educational institutions had become a necessity. She condemned the increasing vulgarity on various TV channels. Among others who attended the function were Mr Pritam Shukla, Mr Ramesh Dutt, Mr Bal Mukand, Mr Om Parkash Nayyar and Mr Harjinder Sharma.

YAJNA: A ‘jap mahayajna’ for the purpose of ensuring peace and prosperity in the country got under way in Green Park, Civil Lines, on Friday. The seven-day yajna, which has been sponsored by Shri Ram Sharnam Ashram, Kitchlu Nagar, will conclude on January 9 at the ashram.

NAGAR KIRTAN: A nagar kirtan will be taken out from Gurdwara Shri Singh Sabha in New Subhash Nagar on Sunday in connection with the birthday of Guru Gobind Singh, according to Mr Jaswinder Singh Khalsa, manager of the gurdwara.

OBSERVED: The Sahibzada Welfare Society observed the martyrdom day of Guru Gobind Singh’s sons at a gurdwara in Ram Nagar on Thursday. Among others who attended the celebrations were Mr Jagtar Singh Matharoo, Mr Bhag Singh Devgun, Mr Mohan Singh Goga, Mr Parveen Goyal, Mr Pritam Singh Matharoo, Mr Maan Singh, Mr Sewa Singh, Mr Jagtar Singh, Mr Surjan Singh, Mr Prem Bhardwaj, Mr Jaswant Singh, Mr Tejinder Singh, Mr Ranjit Singh, Mr Ajaib Singh, Mr Rana Janak Chandel, Mr Atam Singh and Mr Inderjit Singh.

MEETING: The Shivaratri Mahotsav Committee will take out its 15th annual shobha yatra in connection with Shivaratri on February 28. The first meeting of the committee will be held on Sunday at the Sanglan Wala Shivala to review the preparations, according to Mr Sunil Mehra, president of the committee.

FOUNDATION STONE: Mr Gurcharan Singh Ghalib, MP, laid the foundation stone of the casualty and trauma centre at Dr B.L. Kapur Memorial Hospital here on Friday. In his address, Mr Ghalib said the hospital, being the oldest one in the city, had been serving the poor at nominal charges for the past several years. He announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh for the construction of the centre. He appealed to the social organisations to come forward with financial help for this noble cause. The function was presided over by Mr Madan Lal Bagga, councillor, who appreciated the efforts of the staff and management of the hospital in upgrading the hospital. Mr Mohan Lal Jhanji, chairman, welcomed the chief guest, while Mr Kundan Lal Malhotra, honorary secretary, read the report about working of the hospital. Among other present on the occasion were Dr T.S.Cheema, Medical Superintendent, Mr Mohinder Singh, Mr Pramod Dada, Mr Brij Lal Goel, Mr Bharat Bhushan, Dr Jai Prakash and Mr Balkar Singh.

MANSA
SIX ARRESTED: Mr S.S. Srivastava, SSP, Mansa said on Friday that 250 grams of sulfa was recovered from Daljit Singh of Mansa. A case under the NDPS Act had been registered against him. About 420 kg of lahan was recovered from Birbal Singh and Gurjant Singh of Buraj Harike village, Harvinder Singh of Nangal Khura village, Kulwant Singh of Saharna village and Leela Singh of Biroke village of the district. They had been booked under the Excise Act.

ENCROACHMENTS: In a meeting chaired by Mr S.K. Ahluwalia, Deputy Commissioner, Mansa, at Budhlada town in the district, the citizens complained about the encroachments and insanitary conditions in the town in presence of the SDM, the Executive Officer, the President and municipal councillors. Mr Ahluwalia directed the Executive Officer, Budhlada, to place before him the complete list of encroachments within 15 days.

CULTURAL FEST: A cultural programme was organised by the District Cultural Society in the local Kamboj cinema on Thursday. Manpreet Akhtar, singer, enthralled the audience. The Deputy Commissioner-cum-president of the society said the next cultural programme would be staged on January 16. Mr Dharam Singh, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mansa, was the chief guest.

PATIALA
APPOINTED: Dr Gurcharan Singh Arshi has been appointed Dean, Faculty of Languages, by the Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, Mr S.S. Boparai here on Saturday.

MEETING: At a meeting of the office-bearers and party workers of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) held here on Friday, it was unanimously decided to oppose the ongoing challaning of Sikh women for not wearing helmets. Legal Advisor and spokesperson for SAD (Amritsar) Barjinder Singh Sodhi stated that at a meeting of the dal presided over by Mr Harbhajan Singh Kashmiri, members decided to toughen their stand against the use of helmets by Sikh women and warned the district administration of dire consequences unless the challans were stopped at once.

CONFERENCE: The 22nd North Zone Conference of Indian Orthopaedic Association will be held at Government Medical College here on March 22 and 23. Dr Ravinder Singh, head of Orthopaedic Surgery, will be the organising secretary. Eminent speakers of international and national fame are expected to take part in the conference which will be preceded by a workshop on total knee replacement.

CONDEMNED: The Association of Punjab State Pharmacists condemned the ‘untimely’ mid-term transfers of pharmacists by the Director Health Services, Punjab. While also condemning the proposed privatisation of health services, the association demanded that transfers effected mid-term be cancelled.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following were appointed office-bearers at a meeting held by the Patiala branch of the Class 1V Government Employees Union, PUNSUP. President — Mr Jarnail Singh; senior vice-president — Mr Amar Singh Saini; assistant vice-president — Mr Bharpur Singh; secretary — Mr Gurdev Singh; and general secretary — Ms Ajaib Kaur.

PHAGWARA
ECO PANEL: An environment improvement committee will be set up to assess the progress of the green belt project and to visit local parks for overseeing their upkeep. This was decided on Thursday at a meeting of the Green Belt Committee with local SDM Pritam Singh in chair.

MEETING: The Subdivisional Sakhrata Committee on Thursday met the SDM-cum-Chairman, Mr Pritam Singh, in chair. Directions were given for the opening of all cluster centres by January 15 an official press note said.

NRI SABHA: Mr Ashwani Kohli, MD, Bawa Industries, has been nominated member of the Central Executive Committee of the NRI Sabha, Punjab. This was conveyed to Mr Kohli by Mr Balbir Singh, MP and sabha’s vice patron.

ROPAR
BAN ORDERS: The District Magistrate, Ms Seema Jain, has banned the movement of vehicles without reflectors in the district. The orders will remain in force till February 26. Business establishments, including shops, restaurants, liquor shops and discotheques, have been asked to remain closed from midnight to 4 a.m. Cyber cafes, however, have been allowed to operate till 2 a.m. The orders will remain in force till February 28.

CHANDIGARH

FANS DISHEARTENED: Fans of a much awaited Bollywood release ‘Talaash’ scheduled for a release on Friday at Neelam theatre had to return with heavy hearts because of no film for the first three shows. The reason was that the print of the ‘much-hyped’ release did not reach the city. A number of the affected people had booked the tickets in advance. The cinema staff said the print had not arrived from Delhi “because of the bad weather”. They said the city was likely to have the print by the last show or by Saturday. The cinema had to make-do with the ongoing print of ‘Ek stree’.

FUN GAMES: Gypsy’s Events Promoters is organising fun games at the third phase of Rock Garden. The main attraction of the event is “Chor ban gaya mor” which is similar to the game of musical chair. A DJ system has also been installed for the dance enthusiasts who wants to put their dancing shoes for a while as a retreat from daily stress and strains. Besides attractive prizes, the participants and audience also gets to interact with Nek Chand, creator of the garden. The event which started on January 1 will conclude on January 5.

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY: The 114th birth anniversary of Krantiveer Vishnu Ganesh Pingle, a martyr during the Gadar Movement, was celebrated by Maharashtra Mandal on Thursday. Advocate M.J.S. Waraich also participated as a special invitee on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, Mr K.R. Chirwatkar, treasurer of the mandal, gave details of how the martyr moved from Maharashtra to Punjab to join hands with nationalist youths who “devoted their everything for the pride of nation”. Another speaker, Mr K.M. Deshmukh explained the importance of celebration of anniversaries of great Indian nationalist martyrs.

BOOK RELEASED: The Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University, Prof K.N. Pathak, released a book, “Physics of particles, nuclei and materials — recent trends”, brought out by the Indian Association of Physics Teachers, here on Friday. This is the first volume under the series, “New horizons of physics”. It has been titled by Prof Raj K. Gupta of the Physics Department, Panjab University, and published by Narosa Publishing House, New Delhi. It contains review articles on topics of current research trends in physics.

TAILORING COURSE: A centre for running course on cutting and tailoring for women living below the poverty line was inaugurated by SDM (South), Ms Madhvi Kataria, in Palsora Colony on Friday. This is the second centre to be started by the Adult Education Unit of the UT Administration in collaboration with the municipal corporation. So far about 30 women have been selected for training, who will also undergo literacy classes besides vocational training. They will also be paid Rs 100 per month as stipend. The programme is being run under the Swaran Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojna.

WORKSHOP: The Punjab State Council for Science and Technology is organising a workshop on demonstration of usage of Karanj Oil (Pongamia pinnata) as diesel substitute on January 6 and 7 in the conference room of Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26 here. The use of Karanj oil will ensure reliable supply of water and electricity in the rural areas of Punjab and is expected to bring improvement in the quality of rural life. Prof Udipi Srinivasan, an expert and Chief Programme Officer from SUTRA, will throw light on the use of oil in place of diesel and also the prospect of producing larger quantity of oil in the rural areas. The workshop will be inaugurated by Mr S. D. Kalha, secretary, Science, Technology and Environment.

BRITISH LIBRARY: The British Library, Chandigarh, is planning to extend the number of its working days from five days a week to six days from January 6. The Library will remain open on Mondays as well from 11am to 7 pm. The decision has been taken on popular demand from the library members. This is the second time there has been a change in the library working hours. Earlier, within six months of the opening of the library in Chandigarh, the timings were changed from 10 am to 6 pm to 11am to 7 pm.

PANCHKULA
INAUGURATION: The Haryana Governor, Babu Parmanand, will inaugurate the state-level Louise Braille birthday celebrations here on Saturday. The convention was being organised by state unit of the National Handicapped Welfare Council at Bharat Vikas Parishad Bhavan, said Mr S.S. Shukla, general secretary of the council. Mr Rattan Lal Kataria, Member of Parliament, will preside over the function.

BLOOD DONATION CAMP: A blood donation camp was organised by the State Bank of India at its Staff Training Centre. The camp was inaugurated by Ms Hameda Z. Agha, DGM and Circle Development Officer, State Bank of India. Over 20 officers and staff members donated blood for Command Hospital, Chandi Mandir, and the camp was conducted by a team of doctors from Command Hospital led by Col R.S. Shah. A literacy camp going on in the training centre for the past fortnight also concluded here last evening.

SAS NAGAR
COMPETITION: The Punjab School Education Board will be organising three-day long state-level educational competitions of secondary and senior secondary classes from January 8 at Bal Bhawan, Sector 23, Chandigarh. The toppers of the regional level competitions held earlier in shabad gayan, vaar gayan, kavishri and poetry will be conducted on the first day of the competitions. Mr Khushal Behal, Punjab Education Minister, will preside over these competitions. On the second day, ‘ghatka’, one-act play and painting competitions will be held. Mr K.K. Bhatnagar, Principal Secretary, School Education, will be the chief guest on the second day. Declamation contests, geet/folk singing, bhangra and creative writing competitions will be held on the last day of the competitions. Mr Harijai Singh, Editor, The Tribune, Chandigarh, will be the chief guest on the concluding day of the competitions.

LECTURE: Prof S.N. Sharma, Emeritus Professor Hamdard University, New Delhi, will be delivering the Professor Mahadeva Lal Schroff Centenary Commemorative lecture on Monday. Organised by the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), the lecture will be held at NIPER’s Convention Centre at 11.45 am and will be presided over by Prof P.D. Sheth, President, IPA. Prof Sharma will be talking about the “Hallmarks in the genesis and evolution of modern pharmacy in India”.