The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tuesday, September 12, 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

BARNALA
EYE CAMP: A two-day eye camp, organised by the local Lions Club at the Baba Gandha Singh complex, concluded on Sunday. Dr Dhanwant Singh, an eye surgeon, operated upon patients during the camp.

INSTALLED: Mr Bawa Dutt was elected president of the local Brahmin Sabha at a meeting of the sabha held at the Brahmin Sabha complex were on Sunday.

BATHINDA
INAUGURATED: The new building of the city post office was opened in the post office bazaar on Monday. Mr J.P. Kalia, Post Superintendent, inaugurated the new post office.

MEDICAL CAMP: A free medical camp was organised here on Sunday by the local Lions Club (supreme) and the Lions Club (fort). The camp was inaugurated by Mr Chiranji Lal Garg, Minister of State for Science and Technology, Punjab.

FARIDKOT
LOK ADALAT: A district-level Lok Adalat was held here on Saturday where the District and Sessions Judge presided. 42 of the 94 cases were decided on the occasion.

GARHSHANKAR
POPPY HUSK SEIZED: The police has arrested Chuharh Singh and Mohinder Kaur, alias Mindo, along with 48 bags of poppy husk weighing 1,680 kg worth Rs 5 lakh. The police has also arrested Kamaljit Singh and Darbara Singh and seized 35 kg poppy husk from them.

GURDASPUR
LOK ADALAT HELD: A Lok Adalat, held here on Saturday, decided 54 of the 79 cases presented before it. Compensation to the tune of Rs 1.41 crore was decided to be paid to various claimants.

KHAMANON
NABBED: The local police nabbed a petrol pump operator on Monday for filling less petrol. The operator was caught red-handed when he filled less proportion of 5 litre petrol in the vehicle of Mr Ravinder Singh of Ward 2. On examination, the police found only 4.5 litres had been filled instead of 5. There were many complaints from people that petrol and diesel were being filled in less proportion. People demanded serious action against the culprits.

LUDHIANA
WEBSITE: Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle (GGSSC), a socio-religious and academic organisation, has recently launched its website, gurugobindsinghstudycircle.org. The site was formally launched by Bibi Jagir Kaur, president, SGPC. The site will give information on activities, publications, membership and a brief history of the organisation. Online subscription of monthly journals and donation facilities will be shortly introduced.

WEBSITE BY A KID: Divjot Singh, a Class VI Student of Guru Nanak Public School, has designed his own web pages after taking training from a computer education centre for kids. The web pages have been hosted on a free server.

AWARD: Dr O.P. Singh Professor and Head Department of Clothing and Textiles, PAU, has been awarded a certificate of excellence by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, for his contribution as national coordinator in planning, coordinating, executing and monitoring the research programme of the All-India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on value addition of agro and animal-based fibres by dyeing with natural dyes and other technologies. This project is operating in the PAU and eight other state agricultural universities under his guidance.

WASIFUDDIN DAGAR: Wasifuddin Dagar, rendered Dhrupad at Ramgarhia College for Women on Monday. He sang with great intensity and displayed through his singing unbelievable dynamic qualities of Dhrupad. The Dagar ji possesses a theatrical art which enabled him to communicate with tremendous ease with each and every audience. He has exceptional qualities that has made him a roving ambassador of Dhrupad. The programme was organised by the SPIC MACAY.

LENSMEN UNION: Mr Harinder Singh Kaka has been unanimously elected as chairman of the Ludhiana Photo Journalists Association. A meeting of the association was held here in which Mr Rajesh Bhambi was elected as president, while Mr Inderjeet Verma was elected as senior vice-president. Mr Dharamveer and Mr Paramjit Singh Happy were elected as vice-presidents, while Mr Amrik Singh Prince and Mr Sunil Kumar were elected as general secretary and joint secretary, respectively. Mr Gurmeet Singh has been elected as treasurer. Four executive members namely Mr Pawan Singh, Mr Ajay Nepal, Mr Trikeshwar and Mr Mohinder Singh, were also nominated.

MALERKOTLA
CONTEST: A declamation contest was organised by the local Youth Club here on Saturday. Mr Mohammad Bashir, an executive member of the SAD (A), was the chief guest. Kharak Singh, Government High School, Mohammed Zahid, Islamia High School and Mahnaz, Madersa Tul Banat, were declared first, second and third, respectively in the senior group and Tahira Parveen, Islamia High School, Oila, Ruhi, Paradise Muslim Model School, and Mohammed Shehzad, Government Middle School, Jamalpura, were declared first, second and third, respectively in the junior group.

PRESENTED: The local Citizens Welfare Council has presented three ceiling fans to the Government Middle School, Hussain Pura, 6 km from here, on Saturday. Mr Harjeet Singh, Headmaster of the school, thanked the council.

PATIALA
EXTENDED: Punjabi University has allowed the principals of the colleges affiliated to the university to fill the vacant seats in various courses. The last date has been extended to September 15 to give another opportunity to those who could not avail of the admission process earlier. Giving this information, Dr Jasnak Raj Gupta, Dean, College Development Council, said these admissions would be subject to a late fee of Rs 1,500 and to the fulfillment of eligibility conditions laid down by the University.

MAN OF THE YEAR: Dr Gurcharan Singh Arshi, a senior professor of Punjabi University, has been selected by the American Biographical Institute (ABI), USA, as the “Man of the Year”. In a message received from Mr J.M. Evans, President of the ABI, Dr Arshi has been chosen for the award for his overall accomplishments and contributions to the academics and society. This was stated in a press note issued by the university here on Monday.

EYE CAMP: A free eye camp was organised by the Manav Kalyan Sewa Sangh, Pehowa, here on Monday. More than 750 patients were examined and 70 cataract operations were conducted by Dr Maan Singh Bhatia, Professor and Head of Rajindera Hospital, and his team. Free food and medicines were also distributed by the organisers.

FOLK DANCE: A workshop organised by the North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC) on the famous Andhra Pradesh folk dance, Banjara, was inaugurated by the NZCC Director, Mr R.Suresh Kumar, here on Monday. More than 60 girls attended the workshop on the opening day.

PHILLAUR
COURSE FOR COPS: Mr Sarabjit Singh, Director-General of Police, Punjab, inaugurated a special course on personal effectiveness for police personnel at the Punjab Police Academy, Phillaur on Friday. Ten DSPs from various parts of the state participated in the course and 20 newly appointed tehsildars who are attached with the Academy, also took part in the programme.

SAMRALA
CLUB CONSTITUTED: Mr Surinder Singh Dhillon and Mr Sukhbir Singh Pappy have been appointed as president and general secretary, respectively, of the Samrala Midtown (Junior Chamber). The club has been constituted under the chairmanship of Mr Amrik Singh Dhillon, MLA.

DHARNA: Members of the Class IV Government Employees Union, Samrala, held a dharna in front of the local SDM’s office on Monday in protest against non-acceptance of their demands. On this occasion, Mr Jagtar Singh, general secretary, Mr Tarlok Chand, Mr Sagar Mohammad, Mr Khem Singh, and Mr Pheru Ram addressed the gathering.

CHANDIGARH

DHARNA: A massive joint dharna and a rally was organised by the bank employees here on Monday under the twin banners of Punjab bank employees Federation and Haryana Bank employees Federation. The dharna was organised against the policy of the Central Government to privatise the public sector and also introduction of VRS in the public sector banks. The bank employees threatened to go on a nationwide strike within 72 hours if the government refused to accept their demands. The rally was headed by Com. Krishan Lal, Vice-President, AIBEA.

ELECTED: The annual election of the National Integrated Medical Association (NIMA), UT was held and the office-bearers were elected, Patron — Dr S.P. Singla; President — Dr Subhash Mehan; Vice-President — Dr G.D. Mehta; Joint Secretaries — Dr D.V. Yadav and Dr Achal Singhal; and Treasurer — Dr Ashwani Malhotra.

CONTESTS: The Council for Promotion of Young Talent, UT a national trust to promote science talent in the age group 12 to 21, holds every year Science Talent Contests for Class X students. The students are also given handsome rewards including first prize of Rs 5000. It also includes the NTSE workshops for these children. The council provides scholarship to meritorious students upto postgraduation in deserving cases.

MEETING HELD: All the officers and staff members of the State Bank of India, local Head Office, held a condolence meeting for the departed soul of Mr Rajinder Singh Virk, who had been working as the control room operator at the local head office of the SBI.

DISCUSSED: A panel discussion on “General awareness for adolescents to common health problems” was inaugurated by Dr Joginder Singh, Director, Health Services, UT at the Government Polytechnic for Women, Sector 10. It has been organised with a view to educated and create awareness among the students relating to their general health and fitness. Dr R.K. Marwaha head of the Paediatric Haematology, PGIMER, and Dr M.P. Manocha, Director, Family Welfare, UT, constituted the panel for the discussion. Dr Joginder Singh emphasised that general awareness about ills of smoking, drug abuse and alcoholism among adolescents and also explained the need for prevention of AIDS.

CONDEMNED: A batch of 51 leaders of the UT Subordinate Services Federation and the Federation of UT Employees and Workers sat on a dharna in support of the agitation of the Super Bazar employees. Addressing the gathering leaders condemned the UT Administration and the management of the Super Bazar for their move to disband the Super Bazar and the retrenchment of its employees. They informed that the Super Bazar was opened to provide ration and medicines to the residents at reasonable rates.

AGITATION: The agitation launched by the students of Central Craft Institute (Stenography course), Sector 11, entered its 12th day here on Monday. The students are demanding for re-scheduling of teaching hours. The students protested and blocked the road near the Matka Chowk under the leadership of Mr Amarjot Singh, Secretary, ABVP, Chandigarh.

COMMITTEE: The general body meeting of Shri Ramleela Committee, Sector 32 D, was held here under the Presidentship of Mr Subhash Kataria. It was decided to celebrate the Dussehra in the grounds of Sector 32 D market. The office-bearers were also elected during the meeting Chairman — Mr G.S. Walia; President — Mr Sabar Singh Bisht; Senior Vice-President — Mr R.K. Aggarwal; and Vice- Presidents — Mr K.C. Singla and Mr Bal Krishan.

POOR CONDITIONS: A general body meeting of the Residents Welfare Forum, Sector 46 D, was held to discuss the problems faced by the residents here. They complained that there are no streetlights on the main road, no regular sweeping in the area despite repeated requests, nuisance of stray dogs and cattle.

CAMP: Third blood donation camp is being organised by Shree R.R. Social Welfare Association at City Heart - 2 Pub and Restaurant SCO 1019, Sector 22 B, in association with the Guest House Social and Welfare association Chandigarh and Blood Bank Society PGI on Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

SCHOOL: In order to meet out the rising demand of school education for rural and semi-urban areas near Pinjore, the management of the Sapient Public School has decided to expand its infrastructure and to increase the basic facilities. Mr R.C. Thakur, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the institution, said here on Monday that five more rooms and two toilets would be added very shortly to the existing 30 rooms and five toilets. Mr Thakur also informed that a personal file of every student will be maintained to record their academic as well as extra co-curricular activities.

BLOOD DONATION CAMP: The Baba Shiekh Farid Blood Donors Council will organise a blood donation camp in the community Centre, Phase II, SAS Nagar, on September 14, according to Mr Balwant Singh, Press Secretary of the council. Those who have donated blood over 100 times would be honoured by the council.