The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Friday, August 18, 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
PROTEST RALLY: The PWD Workers’ Talmel Sangharsh Committee held a rally at the railway station here on Wednesday in protest against the non-acceptance of their demands. They demanded that the state government should frame a policy regarding the regularisation of the daily wage staff. They also demanded enhancement in the pay scales of the field employees.

MEETING: Ms Geetika Kalha, Commissioner, Jalandhar division, presiding over a meeting of revenue officers of the district exhorted them to scrutinise and identify even small cases of recovery. She said no leniency in this regard would be tolerated. Mr Narinderjit Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Mr Baljit Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner, all SDMs, Mr Jatinder Singh Luna, District Revenue Officer, tehsildars and naib tehsildars of the district attended it.

DERA BASSI
COMPETITION: The Child Welfare Council, Patiala, will organise a painting competition in Ram Mandir on August 21. According to Ms Preet Pal Kaur, Child Development Project Officer, the competition will be organised to mark Children’s Day. A large number of students from different schools of the subdivision are expected to take part in this competition. The first three winners would be awarded and sent for the state-level competition which would be held in Patiala, she said.

FEROZEPORE
HARIKE SANCTUARY: Mr Surjit Kumar Jiyani, Forest Minister, Punjab, accompanied by Ms Gurbinder Kaur Chahal, Secretary, Forests , Punjab , visited the Harike bird sanctuary on Wednesday to select a site for the construction of a log hut. Maj-Gen L.M. Tiwari, GOC, Golden Arrow Division, and Mr S.K.S.Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner , Ferozepore , proposed two sites. Mr Jiyani said the site would be finalised soon after consultation with the WWF-India and the Bombay Natural History Society.

GURDASPUR
RIOT VICTIMS: Mr V.B. Vikram, Deputy Commissioner, said on Wednesday that the 1984 riot victims, who wanted to file affidavits before the G.T. Nanawati Commission, were advised to contact the office of either the Deputy Commissioner or the subdivisional magistrates of their respective subdivisions. They would be assisted in making the drafts of the affidavits, the last date for the filing of which was August 25.

KHARAR
SAMMELAN: About 1 lakh people, including thousands of saints, are expected to participate in the Sodsi Sammelan of Swami Ji Nadi Paar Kurali Wale which is being organised on August 20, in his ashram. The Swami Ji died on August 4. Mr Lal Chand Seth, a spokesman of the Dharam Arth Trust, Swami Shiv Swaroop Atma Nadi Paar Kurali Wale, said here on Wednesday that community food would be served throughout the day.

MALERKOTLA
SAPLINGS PLANTED: As part of vanamahotsava, a function was organised by Government Senior Secondary School, Bhogiwal, 7 km from here, on Tuesday. Saplings were planted by the Principal, Mr Gurtej Singh Grewal, and the NSS volunteers. Mr Tara Singh, sarpanch of the village, presided over the function.

STUDENTS UNION: Mr Sukhwinder Pappi, president, Punjab Students Union, on Monday condemned the Punjab Government for a big hike in the fees. He disclosed that a two-day session of the union would be held at Sangrur on August 18 and 19 in which about 200 delegates from the state would participate.

CHANDIGARH

RALLY: A rally of Municipal Corporation workers was held in Sector 36 to mobilise workers to participate in a relay fast following a call given by the co-ordination committee of the government and MC employees and workers of the city. Leaders of the trade union said the Chandigarh Administration and MC had not implemented the agreement worked out in January, this year. Demanding the implementation of the agreement, it was decided that the workers would go on strike on August 29. Their other demands include the treatment of transferred employees as deputationists, release of a bonus of two years and daily wage workers be brought into the regular cadre.

CRITICISED: The President of the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee, Mr B.B. Bahl, has criticised the functioning of the Telecom Department for the non-working of the STD for the past few days. Mr Bahl said this had caused losses to the business community and the Telecom Department as well. He demanded that the subscribers and STD owners be exempted from the rent of the phones for that particular period. Meanwhile, the organisation threatened to begin an indefinite fast in front of the office of the DGM if the fault was not rectified within 24 hours.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been appointed office-bearers of the Gurdwara Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji, Sector 40: President — Mr Mohinder Singh; Senior Vice-President — Mr Gurbachan Singh; Vice-President — Mr Charanjit Singh; General Secretary — Mr Jasbir Singh; Secretary — Mr Satinder Vir Singh; Joint Secretary — Mr Didar Singh; and Treasurer — Mr Sukhdev Singh.

APPOINTED: Mr Joginder Singh (Minta) has been appointed General Secretary of the District Nationalist Congress Party, District II. He has been assigned the duty of looking after the affairs of Industrial Areas I and II and Sectors 21 to 40.

CAMP: Students of Little Flower Primary School celebrated Independence Day with the Rotarians of midtown at a special medical check-up camp organised in the school. The Rotarians were welcomed with patriotic songs and the former District Governor, Mr Yoginder Dewan, and Ms Kanan Dewan hoisted the flag. The President, Ms Vanita Gupta, distributed sweets to the students. Medicines and vitamin supplements were also distributed free of cost to the children.

SCHOLARSHIPS: Members of the Rotary Club presented books, playground equipment and planted saplings at Government Model Middle School, Sector 26, here on Thursday. The club also gifted books to the children. The President of the club also announced scholarships, books and uniforms for students securing more than 80 per cent in the middle school examination.

MOHALI
PROTEST: A protest march by the Punwire Employees Coordination Committee was organised in different parts of the township in support of its demand of release of salary for 16 months. Other demands include a CBI enquiry into the affairs of Punwire and immediate arrest of the culprits who have misappropriated crores of rupees of Punwire. A chain fast is already under way in front of Udhyog Bhavan in Sector 17 for the past 60 days.

PANCHKULA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The new office-bearers of the Panchkula Consumers Forum elected at a meeting held here on Thursday are as follows: President — Mr V.P. Dubey; Senior Vice-President — Mr Vinod Kapoor; Vice-Presidents — Mr K.D. Sharma and Mr P.K. Bhandari; and General Secretary — Mr Jagdish Saini.

REMOVE ENCROACHMENTS: The President of Citizens Welfare Association, Mr S.K. Nayar, in a press note here urged the Haryana Urban Development Authority to remove all encroachments from covered spaces in front of all SCFs and booths for safe walking of the customers. He urged HUDA to take stern action in case the shopkeepers repeat the act of encroaching on the passage. He maintained that the shopkeepers are not paying anything extra for encroaching upon the government land.

HARYANA

AMBALA
DHARNA: The MES Workers Union (Area Committee), Ambala branch GE (Air Force), on Thursday held a dharna in front of the GE office to press for their demands. The demands include speedy payment of night-duty arrears from 1986 to 1993, payment of cycle allowance from July, 1999, and providing torch batteries to valve men and FGM, a note said.

SAPLINGS PLANTED: As part of green Ambala campaign, saplings were planted in the Topekhana Bazar area of Ambala cantonment. Among others, the saplings were planted by CEO, Mr S.S. Chahal, Conservator of Forests, Mr R.K. Sapra and Col Adm Surendra Mishra. About 1,200 saplings were planted. Mr Chahal said during this season about 6,000 saplings will be planted within the cantonment board area along the Mall road, Park road, Alexander road, Staff road, Jagadhari road and other areas. In district Ambala, green Ambala campaign will run from August 16 to 30 in the rural areas, a note said.

OPPOSED: GMN College, Ambala cantonment units of the Haryana College Teachers Union and Haryana Private Colleges Non-Teaching employees Union have resolved in a meeting that they are opposed to the concept of autonomous colleges. They rejected the idea of making GMN College an autonomous college.

RESOURCES: The Polytechnic institutions in the state will be made financially self-dependent within three years, said Mr M.P. Gupta, Director, Technical Education, Haryana, here on Thursday. He was here to address a meeting of the principals of various polytechnics of the state. He said consultancy and latest machines and other equipment available in the polytechnics would be provided to the private industrialists on a payment basis which may bring a handsome income to the institutions. He added that he had directed the principals to make close contact with the industries of their area to know their demand of jobs. So that the students after getting their diplomas could be absorbed there.

KAITHAL
COURT VIOLATION: The Excise and Ministerial Association , Haryana, has alleged that its Chandigarh head office is violating the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, issued in July, 1997, regarding the maintenance of a service rules register. The state convener of the association said this had adversely affected the promotion avenues of a number of employees.

RAKSHA PARTY: The president of the Haryana Raksha Party , Mr Ragbir Singh Chauhan toured a number of villages of the district and informed people about the policies and programmes of the party on Wednesday. The district convener, Mr Tarsem Singh, said during his tour Mr Chauhan was informed by the villagers about the deserving old people, deprived of the old-age pension. They also told him that owing to shortage and irregular supply of power the crops were suffering.

SONEPAT
SUICIDE: Rudra Partap Singh, a teacher, allegedly committed suicide by taking an insecticide at Asawarpur village, about 15 km from here, on Wednesday. According to the police, a family quarrel was stated to be the cause of the suicide.

BOMB RUMOUR: A rumour about a bomb in a Chandigarh-bound Haryana Roadways bus created panic among passengers. According to a report, the bus was taken to the Rai police station for a search but no bomb was found. The bus journey was, delayed by about three hours.

INJURED: Mr N.S. Tanwar, Joint Secretary, Health, Haryana, and Mr S.S.Chauhan, Assistant Labour Commissioner, Haryana, were injured when their car was hit by a jeep on the GT Road, near Murthal Chowk, about 10 km from here, on Wednesday. They were taken to the local civil hospital. A case has been registered.