The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, May 31, 2000,
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
INQUIRY SOUGHT: A special meeting of the Shiromani Akali Dal ( Urban) presided over by jathedar Baldev Singh Ratan, demanded a “high-level enquiry” to be instituted into the fire incident at the Jathedar Pradeep Singh Walia’s residence in Daimganj area on Saturday.

GURDASPUR
THEFT: Some unidentified persons on Tuesday reportedly scaled the boundary wall of Mr Jaswant Singh on Kahnuwan Road and decamped with jewellery and cash after injuring Jaswant Singh, his wife Kailash Kaur, daughter Simranjit Kaur and son Harpreet Singh.

WATER SHORTAGE: There is shortage of drinking water in Gharota village under Dinanagar Development block. The village has one tubewell which does not function properly. The Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, who visited the village on May 5 had announced a grant to install another tubewell and repair the old one. But nothing has been done so far.

NAWANSHAHR
PROTEST MARCH: Activists of the Pendu Mazdoor Union on Monday stage a march in protest against the cutting of subsidies on items being supplied through the public distribution system (PDS). They also submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner regarding their demands.

ORGANISED: The district unit of the Government Teachers Union organised a dharna in front of the office of the District Education Officer here on Monday in support of its demands.

DRUG AWARENESS: Mr Ishwar Singh, SSP, delivered a lecture on drug addiction at Shivalik Public School here, on Tuesday. He called upon the students to come forward with information about their drug addict friends and persons living in their surrounding. He said the police would take stern action against the drug traders. The police in collaboration with the Health Department would also provide counselling and medical treatments to the addicts.

PATIALA
ORGANISED: The local Rotary Club (Mid-Town) and the S S Jain Mahavir Sangh organised a blood donation-cum-grouping camp here on Monday. Mr H S Sidhu, Senior Superintendent of Police, inaugurated the camp. As many as 53 donors donated blood.

PRESENTED: Students of Yadavindra Public School presented a cheque of Rs 29,000 to Deputy Commissioner Jasbir Singh Bir on Monday for the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. The cheque was presented by Mallika Gupta, head girl and Virender Singh Bhullar, head boy.

WITHDRAWN: In view of the non-compliance and violation of the terms and conditions of affiliation, Punjabi University has withdrawn the temporary affiliation given to Guru Amar Dass business school, Mohali. Giving this information, Dr Jodh Singh, Dean, College Development Council, said the students of this school had been provided a special opportunity to appear as private candidates though ordinarily the students of professional courses were not allowed to appear as private candidates. He said this unprecedented step had been taken by the university for the sake of the career of the students.

URGED: Seven deputations, under the umbrella of the Bijli Mulazam Front, urged the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) management to reconsider its transfer policy for 2000-2001. In a press note, the front said the transfer policy formulated by the PSEB was biased against its own employees. It threatened that if the PSEB management did not take a second look at the transfer policy, the front would have no other option but to resort to dharna and other means to see to it that the transfer policy was re-drafted or totally changed.

PHILLAUR
TWO KILLED: Darshan Singh and his wife Parkash Kaur of Rajewal village were killed on the spot when a speeding truck hit their scooter near Kakkar Kalan village on Monday. The police has registered a case and the bodies have been sent to the civil hospital for the post mortem examination.

ROPAR
ELECTED: Mr Boopinder Nath Dewan has been unanimously elected as the president and Mr Kamal Nyan as the general secretary of the district unit of the BJP.

ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Zail Singh Nagar Welfare Association: president — Mr Ram Murti, vice-president — Mr Dayal Singh, secretary — Mr Jaswant Singh, treasurer — Mr Joginder Singh and joint secretary - Mr Nirmal Singh Nirmal.

CHANDIGARH

NOMINATED: Mr Gurbachan Singh, President, Chandigarh Nationalist Congress Party, has nominated Mr Darshan Kumar Garg as President of the Chandigarh District (Rural) committee of the party. Mr Garg will look after party affairs for Sectors 31 to 56. Mr Garg has also been authorised to constitute his district unit.

PROTEST RALLY: The Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC) has decided to organise a massive protest rally here against the “anti-people policies” of the NDA government at the Centre. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the CTCC held under the chairmanship of the new President, Mr B.B. Behl.

ELECTED: Mr P.H. Vaishnav, a former Chief Secretary of Punjab, has been elected President of the Chandigarh Senior Citizens Association. Other office-bearers are Secretaries — Col S.S. Bedi, Ms Santosh Walia, Mr R.P. Puri, Mr A.S. Sidhu, Capt V.P. Chaudhary, Mr S.S. Sethi, Dr K. Vasudeva, Mr A.S. Sodhi, Mr V.S. Sodhi and Mr D.R. Gupta. Mr C.L. Ohri will be the chief coordinator.

COMPLAINT: The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha on Tuesday complained of low and inadequate water supply and poor power supply on account of unauthorised kundis in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Colony. A deputation of the morcha met the Adviser to the Administrator, Mrs Vineeta Rai, and submitted to her a memorandum containing the demands of the residents of the Mauli Jagran and nearby colonies. The residents have been demanding provision of basic civic amenities in their colonies.

SUCCUMBED TO INJURIES: Twenty-year old Amolak Singh, President of the local unit of the All-India Sikh Students Federation, who had met with a road accident on Saturday succumbed to his injuries at the PGI on Monday. The AISSF president, Mr Karnail Singh Pir Mohammed, condoled the death of Amolak Singh and said that he was an innovative and energetic activist of the organisation.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Bilaspur District Cooperative Truck Operators Sabha: president — Mr Ram Dass Thakur; vice-president — Mr Chandu Ram Thakur; general secretary — Mr Shamsher Chand Gautam; and treasurer — Mr Tulsi Ram Chadha.

NURPUR
CHARITY SHOW: The 11-day-long magic show of the world famous Samrat Shanker concluded at Bachat Bhavan here, on Monday. Shanker performed this charity show to help the district Red Cross Society. Mrs Krishna Mahajan, President, Municipal Council, presented mementos to him and five other members of his troupe. Mementos were also presented to the local SDM, Mr Naresh Lath and the DSP, Mr Jaipal Singh.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Himachal Pradesh Government Teachers Union of Fatehpur unit: president — Mr Ramesh Sharma and general secretary — Mr Karnail Singh; and of Raja Ka Talab unit: president — Mr Akshey Chowdhary and general secretary — Mr Pawan Sharma.