The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Saturday, July 26, 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
VANAMAHOTSVA: Lions Club Amritsar Golden Temple and Leo Club, Amritsar jointly celebrated Vanamahotsva at Tungbala Government High School here on Thursday. Mr Sunil Dutti, Mayor who inaugurated the function, said there was a target to plant 50,000 saplings. Lions Club president Prof Lion H.S. Walia, Secretary Principal Jagjeet Singh, Councillor Paramjit Singh and members of the Leo Club also planted saplings. The club will also held a dental check-up camp on July 30 at Shanti Niketan High School, Amritsar.

FARIDKOT
CONTRACT FARMING: The Punjab Government plans to bring 25 lakh acres under contract farming to activate the crop diversification programme to improve the economic condition of the farmers in the next five years in the state. Under the scheme certified seeds, insecticides and pesticides will be supplied to farmers. This was stated by Mr Kirpa Shanker Saroj, Managing Director, Punjab Agro Foodgrain Corporation while addressing a district-level farmers training camp organised here on Wednesday.

GRANT DISTRIBUTED: Various NGOs engaged in the eye protection and blindness control schemes would be given financial help through the District Blindness Control Society under the National Blindness Control Programme of the Central Government. This was stated by Mr Vikas Pratap, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chairman, District Blindness Control Society, after distributing a grant of Rs 7.43 lakh to those NGOs, who had organised eye operation camps.

GURDASPUR
BODY FOUND: The police on Thursday recovered a body from the bushes near here. The police also recovered intoxicating injections and syringes from near the body which after a post-mortem examination was handed over to the Municipal authorities for cremation under Section 174 of the IPC.

LUDHIANA
SEMINAR: GNA Udyog Limited conducted a seminar on ‘Value of Engineering Services in Modern Industry’ here on Friday. The seminar explored solutions for manufacturers in search of new ways to deliver higher quality products to market in less time at reduced cost. Mr Koji Oe from Yamazaki Mazak Corporation, Japan, gave a talk on latest trends in CNC Technology. This was followed by Mr Neeraj Sood, who demonstrated the value of engineering services and the services available at GNA Engineering Services division, which included high end solutions in 3D Modeling, CNC machining, analysis, reverse engineering etc. Aimed at not just providing the latest technology to the industry, GNAs strong engineering background would also be leveraged to ensure that the expected returns were driven home. The division also represented EDS PLM solutions, US for Punjab, Haryana, J and K and Chandigarh regions for the various MCAD, CAM, CAE and reverse engineering software tools.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Ludhiana Unit of the Punjab State Veterinary Officers Association. president — Dr Chatinder Singh, vice-president — Dr Jugal Kishore Uppal, general secretary — Dr Suraj Bhan, joint secretary — Dr Vijesh Bhatnagar, and treasurer — Dr Parminder Singh.

CELL SHIFTED: The prosecution cell of the district police, which had been operating from Room 24 on the first floor of the police complex in the Police Lines, was shifted to the new courts complex on Thursday. The cell is now housed on the third floor near Court No 19.

NEW OFFICERS: Over 500 teachers from various government schools of the district assembled at the District Education Department office to welcome the three Education Officers who took over on Thursday. The new officers include Ms Harvinder Kaur, District Education Officer (Elementary), Mr Major Singh, Deputy District Education Officer (Elementary), and Ms Sudesh Bajaj, Deputy District Education Officer (Secondary). The teachers presented bouquets to the officers. Sweets were also distributed among the employees of the department. Mr Ajit Khanna, a member of the Punjab Pradesh Teacher Union, also welcomed the new officers.

URGED: The Old Courts Typists and Stamp Paper Vendors Union has urged the district administration to provide adequate space at the new courts complex. Mr Ravinder Pal Singh, president of the union, said the courts were shifted a few days ago but the authorities had overlooked the fact that the typists and stamp paper vendors performed an essential function and had to be accommodated at the complex. He said they had been selling stamp papers and typing the documents of the litigants for the past several years, adding that 159 members of the union had not earned a single penny after the courts were shifted.

MANSA
POPPY HUSK SEIZED: The local police has seized 132 kg of poppy husk from Jagpal Singh of Ghuman Kalan village in this district. His two accomplices, Joginder Singh and Mandeep Singh, managed to escape. Similarly, CIA staff has seized 66 kgs of poppy husk from Baltej Singh. In another case, 500 gm of opium was recovered from Joginder Singh of Mansa. The police has registered cases under various sections of the NDPS Act.

ORDER: Mr Raj Kamal Chowdhary, District Magistrate, Mansa, has issued orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code that the dealers of fertilisers, pesticides and other agriculture inputs, chemists, general karyana merchants and other traders not to sell the goods of value Rs 100 or above without issuing a bill of sale to the customer.

MEETING: The PCMS Association of the district on Thursday organised a meeting in response to the state government’s decision to abolish Non Practice Allowance. Doctors condemned the decision and urged the government to review its decision.

PATHANKOT
ELECTED: Under the chairmanship of Mr P.R. Passi, president of the city Congress Committee. The following have been elected office-bearers of the Pathankot Congress Block: vice president — Mr Janak Raj Berri, Mr Ramm Lal Sahotra and Mr Jugal Kishore; general secretaries — Mr Roshan Lal Khosla, Mr Vibhuti Sharma; and Shashi Kohli, treasure — Mr Ramesh Suri.

LIONS CLUB: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Lions Club (Greater): president — Mr Bhupinder Mahajan; general secretary — Mr Ashok Raina; and treasurer — Mr Kishore Dogra.

CHANDIGARH

ERRATIC POWER SUPPLY: A resident of sector 44 B suffered a loss due to erratic power supply here on Thursday evening. According to Mr A.P.S. Gill, an employee of Punjab Tractors Limited and resident of House No. 1131, his computer broke down because of the erratic supply. “There were repeated fluctuations between 6 pm and 10 pm”, said Mr Gill. Officials of the electricity Department could not be contacted for comments.

SCHEME INTRODUCED: The State Bank of Patiala has introduced a new scheme, “SBP-RAIL”, to cater to the needs of railway employees. The scheme was launched by Mr Keshav Chandra, DRM, Ambala, and Mr J.R. Devgun, General Manager (Operations) of the bank, at Kalka on Wednesday. Facilities for construction and repair of house, purchase of two-wheelers, cars and other personal loans will be available to railway employees at concessional rates of interest and margin. A cultural programme was also presented by students of various schools. Mr F.C. Singla, AGM of the bank, proposed a vote of thanks to the guests.

PLANT-TREE RALLY: About 150 students of Government High School, Sector 26, with banners and placards in their hands marched through the streets to spread the message ”plant trees, protect trees”. The rally was led by Mr Karuna Kansra, teacher and in charge of the school eco-club, and flagged off by Principal S. Lamba. Later the students and teachers led by Mr S.K. Sharma, president, Environment Society of India, planted 60 saplings of neem, amaltas, ashoka and gulmohar.

CANNED FOOD: Bindra Agro-Industries Corporation (BAIC), a member of Hi-Tech Group of Companies, on Friday signed a contract worth $ 25 million with Oberoi Group Holding Western Australia to supply canned meals, basmati rice and some other herbal products to Australia. Addressing a press conference here, Dr A.S. Bindra, chairman, BAIC, said this 10-year contract of $ 25 million would have an average take off of 2.5 million cans per annum. He claimed that this would be the single largest contract of canned food from India and would include setting of DrBindras’ kitchen recipes on worldwide basis.

PANCHKULA
NEW HOTEL: Hotel KC Cross Road, Sector 10, has entered into an affiliation with Best Western, the world’s largest hotel chain. The hotel, now rechristened Best Western KC Cross Road, has 49 furnished deluxe centrally airconditioned rooms with modern amenities, besides a multi-cuisine restaurant, a fast food joint, and a Chinese restaurant.

TREE PLANTATION: As many as 50 saplings of ashoka were planted in the school compound as part of the tree plantation drive at Delhi Public School, Himshikha, Pinjore, on Thursday. The chief guest on this occasion was Mr R.K. Kakkar, Head of the Geology Department, Panjab University, while Mr B.L. Dubey from University Business School was the guest of honour.

LAUDED: In an open letter to Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the founder of People’s Voice God’s Voice, Dr B.L. Tandon, has welcomed the Supreme Court judgement in favour of uniform civil code. He expressed the hope that the politicians would rise above their political gains and lend support to this judgement for bringing legislation in Parliament.

FPAI FOUNDATION DAY: The local chapter of the Family Planning Association of India observed FPAI Foundation Day on Friday by organising a health check up camp and counselling session for adolescents of Azad Colony. As many as 125 women and adolescents were examined and free medicines were distributed.

ELECTED: Mr C.L. Bansal has been elected chairman of the Chandigarh- Panchkula Chapter of Institute of Cost and Work Accountants of India for 2003-04.

TEAMS OF DOCTORS: The health authorities on Friday constituted teams of doctors for preventing the spread of seasonal diseases like cholera, jaundice and dengue. The District Health Officer, Dr BD Chugh said that a special campaign had been launched to collect samples of eatables and water. So far 20 samples of water and eatable items had been collected from different parts of the district and sent for a chemical analysis.

HARYANA

AMBALA
VANMAHOTSAVA: A “vanmahotsava” that was oganised at DAV Public School, last week culminated here on Friday. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr D.D. Gautam, planted a sapling on the school premises. A variety of saplings were planted in the week-long programme, according to a press note.

KAITHAL
SEIZED: The Guhla police has seized 15 kg poppy husk from two different persons and booked them under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. The police also arrested Dalsher of Manas village, who, along with Arjan, allegedly attacked Bharat Singh and his son on Thursday. Both have been booked under Sections 323, 506 and 34 of the IPC.

DEAD: A farmer was suffocated to death in a tubewell on Thursday. According to information, Lachman Singh (50) of Lal Pura village in Guhla tehsil had gone down in the tubewell pit to repair the motor, but fell unconscious due to a poisonous gas in the pit.

KALKA
RAIDS CONDUCTED: During a raid conducted by the CM’s flying squad here on Thursday on the Government Civil Hospital, a number of staff members were found absent or coming late to the hospital. The squad was led by DSP Phul Kumar. The SMO was found late by 40 minutes, a steno and a nurse reached late by 20 minutes, whereas another nurse was found absent. Later the squad conducted a raid on Senior Secondary School at Bargodam village of the sub division and found three teachers coming late to the school, while another teacher absent. The village squad also raided schools at Kiratpur and Bassolan villages of the sub division.

YOUTH DIES: A married youth who was injured in a road accident on Wednesday night, succumbed to his injury at the PGI Chandigarh, on Thursday. The deceased, who was married just a year back, was travelling in a Maruti Zen car when it collided with a truck near Mani Majra.

YAMUNANAGAR
ACCIDENT: Twenty-year-old Vipin Kumar died in a accident here on Friday. According to reports, Vipin Kumar had gone to purchase wood in the timber market. When he was inspecting wood his foot slipped and he fell on the road and was crushed by a tractor-trolley. He died on the spot.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

DHARAMSALA
BANNED: The Dehra SDM has banned the carrying of firearms from July 29 to August 9 in the Jwalamukhi Nagar Panchayat area. According to the SDM, the decision has been taken keeping in view Shravan Ashtami melas at the Jwalamukhi temple. Carrying of all types of firearms, ammunition and explosives has been banned to ensure public safety.

SHIMLA
CHEQUE PRESENTED: A delegation of newly-elected executive committee of NGOs federation of Hamirpur district led by Mr Laxmi Singh Machhan, a senior leader of the state federation and accompanied by district president, Mr P.C. Verma, presented a cheque for Rs 21,000 to Mr Virbhadra Singh, the Chief Minister, towards the Chief Minister Flood Relief Fund here on Wednesday and apprised him of various demands of the federation.

TRAINING COURSE: Himachal Pradesh University will organise a psychology programme for police personnel stating this here on Wednesday. Dr SD Sharma, Vice-Chancellor, said the course would be conducted by the Psychology Department from August 11. He said two more course on man management and behaviour management would be organised in September and October.

BEAUTIFICATION PLAN: The Jakhoo Temple Trust has drawn up a plan to beautify the Hanuman Mandir complex and construct a ropeway to connect the highest point of the state Capital with the Ridge. The trust which met here under the chairmanship of Mr Sushil Negi, Deputy Commissioner, decided to install a grand idol of Lord Hanuman in the temple. The road from St. Bedes Chowk to the temple would be repaired and proper lighting arrangements would be made to illuminate the complex.