The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tuesday, September 26, 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

BATHINDA
RALLY: Activists of the district unit of the Multi-Purpose Health Employees Union (MPHEU) on Saturday organised a gate rally at old TB hospital to express their dissatisfaction with the authorities concerned. Mr Subhash Chander, spokesperson for the union, said they would organise a dharna on October 5, if their demands, including demands for local travelling allowance (LTA) and rent free accommodation for the emergency staff, were not met.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of Gobindgarh Club Limited, Mandi Gobindgarh: president — Mr Ashwani Joshi; vice-president — Mr Kuldeep Goyal; secretary — Mr Narain Singla; and joint secretary — Mr Sunder Lal Goyal.

FEROZEPORE
LOK ADALAT: A lok adalat was organised in Zira subdivision of the district under the supervision of the District and Sessions Judge, Mr M.M. Bhalla. Two Benches were formed, which were presided over by Mr M.S. Randhawa, Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division) and Mr K.S. Dhaliwal, Civil Judge (Junior Division). Of the 78 cases put up, 51 were decided on the spot.

GARHSHANKAR
PADDY ARRIVAL: Paddy has started arriving in the local market, but farmers complain of its insufficient lifting. Farmers allege that more than 1000 quintals of paddy is lying in the open, awaiting purchase by agencies.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Government Teachers Union: president — Mr Rajinder Singh; senior vice-president — Mr Hans Raj; vice-presidents — Mr Ram Dass and Mr Hans Raj; general secretary — Mr Balbir Singh; and joint secretaries — Ms Balwant Kaur and Mr Mukhtiar Chand.

SHORTAGE: Residents of Nainwan village are facing an acute shortage of water for the past 10 days. The authorities admit that there is a scarcity of drinking water, but express their inability to solve the problem.

DEMANDED: The local unit of the Punjab Subordinate Services Federation has demanded fixed time scale promotions after four, nine and 14 years of service and opposed the privatisation of the power and transport sectors.

NOMINATED: President of the local unit of Yuva BJP, Pardeep Rangeela has nominated Mr Amarjit Singh as vice-president; Mr Parveen Rana as general secretary and Mr Daljit Singh as treasurer.

HOSHIARPUR
CONDEMNED: The local branch of the Indian Medical Association, in a press note issued on Sunday, has condemned the alleged assault on the Civil Surgeon by a former MP, Mr Kamal Chaudhry on September 22.

MEETING: A customers' meeting was organised by the Mahilpur branch of Punjab National Bank on Sunday. A function was organised on the occasion, in which 14 loans amounting to Rs 50 lakh were distributed to customers.

TRAINING CAMP: A training seminar for agents of Life Insurance Corporation, Hoshiarpur branch, was organised on Sunday. Mr Prem Kumar, Marketing Manager, Jalandhar division, was the chief guest.

JALANDHAR
SEMINAR: A seminar on “Poona pact — significance and Dalit politics” was organised by the Ambedkar Mission Society, Punjab at Guru Nanak Dev Library here on Sunday. Dr S.K. Thorat, Professor in Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi, addressed the gathering.

LUDHIANA
POWER BILLS HIKE: Upset over the hefty increase in power bills on account of the repeated “unjustified” hike in power tariff and the recent increase in monthly minimum charges for industrial units, the Federation of Punjab Small Industries Associations has threatened to resort to an agitational approach in case the government failed to come to the rescue of the industrial sector. The federation president, Mr V.P. Chopra, has said in a statement here on Monday that they had expressed their resentment and anguish over power tariff hike to the Chief Minister and the chairman of the PSEB, without any tangible result. The government, however, chose to maintain its callous and indifferent attitude towards the industrial units and continued to neglect the most important sector of the economy, which contributed the maximum revenue to the state exchequer. The state government had failed to take steps to provide relief in electricity charges and other supportive measures for the survival and growth of industry in Punjab.

MEETING: The meeting of the Urological Society was held here with a view to promote and improve urological services in Ludhiana. The meeting was attended by all the urologists of the city, including Dr Kim Manwen, Professor and Head, Urology Unit, Christian Medical College; Dr R. Rakhriwala, CMC; Dr Sandeep Sharma, Head, Urology Unit, Dayanand Medical College; Dr Umarayia; Dr Baldev Aulakh, Head, Transplant unit; and Dr Nitin Aggarwal, Deep Hospital. Various recent developments in urology were discussed on the occasion. The meeting will be held every month and various modalities for urinary stone treatment and the role of new generation electro-magnetic lithotripsy was discussed on the occasion.

ELECTED: Dr Gurinderjit Singh, Skin Specialist, Mohan Dai Oswal Cancer Hospital, Ludhiana, has been elected president of the Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Laprologists, north zone.

COMEDY PRESENTED: Art Theatre, Ludhiana, organised a Punjabi comedy ‘Neem Hakeem’ at Balraj Sahni open art theatre, Punjabi Bhawan, on Sunday evening. Based on the French comedy ‘Dr Mock’, the play was directed and written by Mr H.S. Randhawa. The play was inaugurated by Mr Apinder Singh Grawal, Mayor, and Dr S.S. Johl was the chief guest on the occasion.

AWARD: Dr Faqir Chand Shukla, Professor of Food Technology at Punjab Agricultural University, and a renowned writer has been awarded the Millennium Award, for his contribution to Hindi literature, at the World Hindi Conference held at New Delhi. The award carries a gold medal and a citation. Dr Shukla has written 21 books of Foods and Nutrition, short stories, plays and children literature and each book has fetched an award for him. Dr Shukla is also the founder Secretary of Punjab Sahitya Kala Manch — an organisation committed to the twin cause of inculcating an interest in the performing arts and helping the needy and deserving students. He has also written plays on scientific themes of general interest ranging from environment awareness to AIDS. His plays have also been broadcast by All India Radio and Doordarshan.

MOGA
CONVENTION: The third convention of the International Farmers Movement will be held in Bangalore from September 29 to October 6. This was stated here on Sunday by Mr Bhupinder Singh Maheshari, press secretary of the Punjab unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union.

NAWANSHAHR
CHECK-UP CAMP: The Guru Nanak Mission Medical and Educational Trust, Dhahan Kaleran, organised a free medical check-up camp at the Government Primary School for Boys, Rahon, about 7 km from here, on Sunday. This was stated in a press note issued by the trust here on Monday.

PATHANKOT
LOK ADALAT: Three lok adalats were organised at the Civil Courts complex here on Saturday, which were presided over by Mr Bhajan Ram, Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division), Mr Harish Anand and Mr Karnail Singh, Civil Judges (Junior Division), Pathankot. As many as 28 cases were disposed of on the spot and some settled by mutual consent.

PATIALA
MEETING: The main agenda at the meeting of the Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal (PPBM) held at Patiala was abolition of octroi and inspector raj, which were creating a terror in the trading community and resentment in the traders of Punjab. Mr Surjit Mehta, Vice-President of the PPBM, condemned the Punjab Government for not fulfilling any of the promises made to traders during the assembly elections and urged the traders of Sunam to unite on one platform to support that candidate who comes forward in their aid. Mr Vijay Kapoor, Senior Vice-President of the PPBM, too called for the unity of the traders and asked the political parties to clear their strategy towards them.

COURSE: A three-day refresher course on the ‘Problems of historiography in Punjabi literature’ was inaugurated at the Punjabi Department by the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia. The course is financed by the UGC and will continue till October 15. During the refresher course over 70 lectures will be addressed by the experts and scholars participating from various universities and colleges, on the subjects related to the theme, said Dr Jaswinder Singh, head of the Punjabi Department.

RAJPURA
SAMAGAM: The week-long IXth Bhakti Samagam was jointly organised by the Dharmik Seva Samiti and the Katha Young Club at Jhanda Ground here. A large number of devotees thronged the discourse. A langar was also organised on Monday.

SAMRALA
ACCEPTED: Mr Prem Sagar Sharma and Mr Ajit Singh Bagri, president and general secretary, respectively, of the Punjab State Pensioners Mahasangh, in a joint statement issued here, have said the major demand of pensioners and employees for outdoor medical reimbursement of chronic diseases has been accepted by the state government.

CHANDIGARH

SURVEY: A recent B School survey conducted by the AIMA-Business India has grouped University Business School, Panjab University, Chandigarh, in the A+ category. The University Business School maintains the distinction of being the second best university management school in India. Prof R.P. Gupta, Chairman, UBS, says, “We encourage our students to be innovative and flexible in the knowledge acquired through curriculum and experience.” Prof Dinesh K Gupta, Chairman, Placement Committee, UBS, adds, “Being a part of Panjab University, which has a century old tradition of imparting quality education, UBS is making an enviable contribution to the corporate world. We are happy that the survey has reinforced the same.”

ELECTED: Following have been elected the office-bearers of Sri Sanatan Dharam Sabha, Sector 45, Chandigarh: President — Mr M.P. Bhardwaj; Senior Vice-President — Mr Rajinder Gupta; Vice-President — Mr P.K. Pushkarna; General Secretary — Mr Shiv Kumar Kaushik; Joint Secretary — Mr H.P. Dutta; Organising Secretary — Mr Harsh Kumar and Office Secretary — Mr Rajeshwar Gupta.

ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected the office-bearers of the Resident Welfare Association, Sector 46-D: President — Mr Ramesh Kumar Chandolia; Vice-President — Mr Chuni Lal Rana; General Secretary — Mr Om Prakash and Treasurer — Mr Jag Ram.

RALLY: Members of the Chandigarh UT Subordinate Services Federation held a rally in front of the maintenance booths of Sectors 10 and 18 against the negligent behaviour of the Chandigarh Administration on Monday. They appealed to the employees and workers of the federation to join the dharna and rally to be held on September 28 at Matka Chowk. The UT Building Maintenance Workers Union also organised a gate rally in Sector. Meanwhile, the CITCO Workers Union has decided to support the federation and join the rally and dharna on September 28. The decision was taken at an executive body meeting held on Saturday.

SUSPENDED: The Central Warehouse Corporation Workers’ Union has decided to suspend the agitation temporarily following the assurances by the CWC Management. In a press statement, the Regional Manager of the CWC Panchkula, said union would intensify the agitation if the management did not accept their demands in time.

CRTICISED: The Social and Welfare Society, Sector 38, has criticised the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation for its indifferent attitude towards the repeated complaints about the non-functional streetlights. Mr B.M. Khanna, President of the Society, stated that residents of the sector were facing the problem for the last two weeks.

TEACHERS HONOURED: Teachers were honoured in a function organised to mark the Teacher’s Day by the Lions Club, Chandigarh, on Sunday. Mr Tarun Kapur, District PRO of the club, informed that the five teachers, Ms Khushinder Sharma, Principal of GMSSS, Sector 35, Ms Kamla Bains, Ms Jaswinder Kaur Rana, a teacher of GMSSS Sector 35, Ms Vijay Kumari Sharma, a teacher of GMSSS, Sector 32 and Ms Kanta Sekri, a teacher of KV Sector 31, were given best teacher awards.

DEMANDED: A 51- member delegation of the Manimajra Joint Action Committee, met Ms Shanta Abhilashi, Mayor of Chandigarh, on Monday and demanded the cancellation of orders of the shifting of Manimajra office to Chandigarh, informed Mr Surinder Singh, spokesman of the committee.

HARYANA

AMBALA
INAUGURATED: The Commissioner of Ambala Division, Mr Chander Singh, inaugurated two rooms in Government School at Kola village on Monday which were constructed at a cost of Rs 2.14 lakh under the Sarkar Apke Dwar programme. Mr Chander Singh also inaugurated the village chaupal built at a cost of Rs 1.25 lakh. Speaking at the function, Mr Singh said special stress would to be laid on education so that the people residing in the rural areas can benefit from the various programmes being run by the state government. The Deputy Commissioner of Ambala, Mr Ram Niwas, said in the first phase of the Sarkar Apke Dwar programme, 645 announcements had been made, out of which 90 per cent work had been completed.

MEETING: A meeting of the Ambala unit of the Haryana School Lecturers Association was held here under the chairmanship of local unit president, Mr Sudhir Kalra. Mr Kalra said the association was planning to put across its various demands to the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, by holding a seminar in October. The speakers at the meeting demanded that their grievances should be redressed at the earliest. They said despite the year having started, the assurances given by the Haryana Education Minister regarding filling up of the posts is yet to take place.

CAMP: The Ambala Roller Skating Association, Ambala, will be holding a month-long training camp for skating enthusiasts. The General Secretary of the association, Mr Vikas Kalra, said the skating camp would be held from October 10 to November 10 at S.A. Jain Senior Secondary School in the evening from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. “The students will be given certificates on completion of the training camp. A roller skating team of Ambala will be set up from the students drawn from those who attend the training camp,” he said. Mr Kalra said age limit for the training camp is 18 years. The association has till now held 12 skating competitions, he said.

NSS CAMP: The S.D. College, Ambala cantonment, unit of the National Service Scheme held a day-long camp here. In the first session, 10 teams of NSS volunteers cleaned up the college complex and main gate and watered the plants. Among others, the NSS volunteers teams were led by Rajeev, Namita, Karamjit, Jaswinder, Ritu, Brijpal, Sunil, Lalit and Kanwarpal. In the second session, Prof Neil Sen exhorted the NSS volunteers to inculcate human values and develop self-confidence and self-esteem, a release said.

FATEHABAD
CAMP: The Bharat Vikas Parishad organised a free medical camp near Rajiv Gandhi Park here on Sunday. Dr Viney Singla, a local cardiologist, was the chief guest.

SIRSA
MURDERED: The police has registered a murder case against Hansa Singh of Rori village for allegedly killing his wife with a sharp-edged weapon on Wednesday. The case has been registered on the complaint of the deceased’s son, Ram Singh, who alleged that his father used to suspect his mother’s character and often had a quarrel with her on the issue.

SONEPAT
EYE CAMP: The All-India Ex-servicemen Coordination Committee, in collaboration with the Hindu Manch, will organise a free eye camp on October 14 in Gita Bhavan mandir, Model Town, here. According to the organisers, medicines will be provided to patients free of cost.

EXTENDED: Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, has extended the last date for depositing the admission fee for the B.Ed. correspondence course to September 29.

DROWNED: Kartar Singh (45) drowned in a well at Murthal village, about 8 km from here, on Sunday. The police has sent the body for a post-mortem.

STIR CALLED OFF: The local Residents Welfare Association and the Sonepat Citizens Welfare Council on Monday called off the demonstration and gherao of Public Health Department officials, following the restoration of the drinking water supply in the city.

SUICIDE: Two cases of suicide were reported in nearby villages on Sunday. According to the police, the victims have been identified as Mukesh Kumar (24) of Garhi Bala village and Bal Krishan (30) of Biswaan Meel village. Both victims had consumed poison.

MEETING: The Bharatiya Grameen Aanchal Samiti will organise a state-level meeting here on October 2 to finalise the dates for holding district and state-level conventions. This was stated here on Monday by Mr Bhagat Singh Balhara, convener of the samiti.

KILLED: A scooterist was killed after being hit by a vehicle on the Sonepat-Rohtak road near Kharkhauda town, about 18 km from here, on Sunday. The deceased has been identified as Tej Ram of Jharot village. The police has registered a case.

MEDICAL CAMP: A medical camp was organised by the Nav Jagriti manch at Akbarpur Barota village, about 8 km from here, on Sunday. The patients were given medicines free of cost. Small industries threaten agitation