The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Friday, October 6, 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
SERIAL INAUGURATED: A Punjabi TV serial, “Aakhir Kad Tak” was inaugurated at the Circuit House here on Wednesday by Mr Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Minister for Revenue and Rehabilitation, Punjab. The serial produced by Climax Films, focuses on social issues.

HOSHIARPUR
HIKE CONDEMNED: At a meeting held here on Thursday the district unit of the Janata Dal condemned the BJP Government at the Centre for the recent hike in the rates of petroleum products, due to which the monthly budget of the common man was badly affected.

MALTA BOAT TRAGEDY: To enable the release of compensations to the parents of the deceased of the Malta boat tragedy, a special meeting would be held here on October 10, Mr Balwant Singh Khera, Chairman, Malta Board Tragedy Probe Mission, said here on Thursday. He said the parents who had not applied to the mission for compensation so far should file their affidavits which would be sent to Italy where a case was already in progress in a court.

JALANDHAR
VISIT: Lieut-Gen Surjit Singh, who recently assumed charge of the Western Command, visited the Vajra Corps headquarters here on Wednesday. He was briefed on various military and administrative matters by the Corps Commander , Lieut-Gen Kamal Davar.

LUDHIANA
FOR KIDS: If elders wear branded clothes like Van Heusan or Louis Philips, kids too are not behind. Little Tomatoes — the Delhi-based company for kids wear, has opened its branch at Calibre Plaza here. The company offers exclusive dresses for new-born babies up to children of 12 years. According to Mr Keshav Berry, "you cannot find these dresses all over Punjab except for Chandigarh." The ''kids special'' showroom offers baby sets, trousers, denim and cotton shifts, jackets, leather belts, decorative toys, colourful variety of caps and handbags for children. The caps cost up to Rs 400. The ''Tomato'' toys cost between Rs 280 and Rs 500, depending upon the shape, size and material.

RALLY: The Punjab State karamchari dal president, Mr Hari Singh Tohra, has urged the state government to concede the long-pending genuine demands of the employees. Addressing a meeting of the district unit of the dal in Chatar Singh park here, Mr Tohra demanded bonus on the central pattern for the past three years, grant of a kandi and border area allowance, regularisation of the services of daily wagers and work-charged employees and grant of enhanced pension of 5 to 10 per cent for retired employees between the age of 65 and 75 years. He was here to review the preparations for the October 12 rally of the employees at the Mini secretariat here in which a noted British trade unionist, Mr John Mcdonal, among others, would participate.

VALMIKI JAYANTI: An emergency meeting of the Bharatiya Dalit Congress, held here with Mr Jodha Ram Zakhmi in the chair, discussed the problems faced by the dalits in the state and also reviewed the arrangements for celebrating Valmiki Jayanti on October 12. Giving details, Mr Telu Ram and Mr Banwari Lal Sankhla, general secretaries, informed that a shobha yatra would be taken out to observe Valmiki pargat divas which would start from Jawahar Nagar. Mr Sushil Malhotra, general secretary of the Punjab Youth Congress (PYC), who was the chief guest, stressed the need for imparting education to the Dalit children. Education alone could make the Dalits aware of their rights, he added.

RETIRES: The President of the State Bank of India (SBI) Staff Association and Director of the Central Board of the SBI, Mr Suresh Mehra, was given a touching farewell by the branch area office of the SBI, Ludhiana. Mr Mehra, who retired after 42 years of service, was praised for his dedication. Mr D.S. Bengali also honoured Major Deepak, son of Mr Mehra. Major Mehra had fought against the militants during the Kargil conflict and his name has been announced for this year's Kirti Chakra. The farewell ceremony was also attended by Mr Bandlish, Chairperson of the All-India State Bank of India Staff Foundation.

MALERKOTLA
STRIKE: The Punjab Students Union will observe a strike on October 11 against the decision of the state government for not allowing students holding passes to travel in buses under the kilometer scheme. This was stated by Munish Kumar, spokesman for the association.

MOGA
VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT: A sum of Rs 2 lakh has been spent on laying drains and streets at Dhaleke village in the district and a sum of Rs 5 lakh has been spent during the second phase for the purpose by the government. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Kanwalbir Singh Sidhu, at the village on Wednesday.

NAHAN
SPORTS TOURNAMENT: The Minister of State for Urban Development, Mr Roop Dass Kashyap, inaugurated a district- level sports tournament for girls here. He announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh for a basketball ground.

NAWANSHAHR
PWSSB MEETING: Mr Satpal Mahajan, Chairman, Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB), while presiding over a meeting of senior officials of the PWSSB and local municipal councillors at the municipal council office here on Wednesday cleared HUDCO-assisted water supply and sewerage projects in certain areas of the town. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 7.75 crore.

PHAGWARA
PADDY PROCUREMENT: Mr V.K. Singh, DC, Kapurthala, visited various purchase centres on Wednesday to oversee paddy procurement and asked officials of purchasing agencies to step up the pace of the purchase and make arrangements to transport the purchased paddy. He disclosed that 1,60,116 metric tonnes of paddy had arrived at 44 purchase centres of the district till Tuesday.

ROPAR
LIQUOR SEIZED: The police has seized 12.75 litres of illicit liquor from Bahadur Singh of Charian village in Ropar district and Rajesh Kumar of Saharanpur district. Cases under the Punjab Excise Act have been registered.

PISTOL SEIZED: Satpal Singh, an ex-serviceman of Baduan village in Una district has been arrested by the Ropar police for possessing an illegal weapon. Mr G.P.S. Bhullar, SSP said a .315-bore pistol and five cartridges were seized from the accused.

SAMRALA
EDUCATIONAL TRUST: An educational trust in the memory of Balbir Singh Khattran has been constituted here, according to Mr Gurmakh Singh, teacher, Senior Secondary School, Samrala. The trust will give prizes to the students of the rural schools in the Khanna Tehsil who secure first five positions in the school examinations.

TARN TARAN
RAPE CASE: Gurcharan Singh of Bhikhiwind village has been booked for allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl of the same village. The case was registered on complaint of the elder sister of the victim who alleged that the accused had detained her sister for the past two years and raped her.

CERTIFICATES GIVEN: Mr Jatinder Kumar Sood, President of the local municipal council, distributed certificates to 25 girl candidates who completed their 45-day training in tailoring under the Central Government’s Swarn Jayanti Shahri Rojgar Yojna. A stipend of Rs 200 was also given to each candidate.

CHANDIGARH

PROTEST: A delegation of the Himachal Maloya Niwasi Sudhar Sabha, on Thursday met the Commissioner of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation to protest against the hike in water tariff. The delegation, under the leadership of Mr HGS Dhadwal, president of the sabha, stated that the residents of Maloya Colony used to pay Rs 50 as water charges for two months which had been increased to over Rs 300. They criticised the corporation for taking the decision which has put an extra burden on their pockets. The Sabha has demanded that the water tariff should be withdrawn.

WORKSHOP: As many as 25 participants representing 17 employers attended the third workshop on ESI held at the Regional Office of ESI Corporation in Sector 19, Madhya Marg, on Wednesday. Working of the ESI Scheme, benefits available under the ESI Act, obligation of employers, ambit of wages and procedure of inspection were discussed in details. Mr BC Bhardwaj, Regional Director of the ESI, informed that officers of the corporation who were implementing various provisions of the ESI Act delivered talks on the related subjects.

DHARNA:The dharna organised by the Super Bazar Employees Joint Action Committee, on Thursday, entered its 32 nd day. The employees of the committee were agitating against the policy of the UT Administration for not releasing their salaries for the past two months, not making adequate arrangements for purchases and transfer of the present General Manager. Mr Kamaljit Singh, general secretary of the committee, informed that the employees would be forced to start a chain fast if the administration did not take necessary steps.

YOUTH CONG: Members of the Chandigarh Territorial Youth Congress on Thursday, burnt the effigy of Mr Atal Bihari Vajpaee in protest against the price hike of petroleum prices in Sector 32 market. Hundreds of Youth Congress workers gathered in the market and raised slogans against the BJP government. They also took out a procession throughout the market against the price hike.

MEETING: Employees of the Electricity Wing of the Engineering Department, on Thursday, organised a gate meeting before the office of the Assistant Executive Engineer, Electricity Maintenance and Protection subdivision at Ram Darbar, Phase -II, to call for a 4-hour strike on October 18. The meeting was addressed by different union leaders.

SOBHA YATRA: The Sobha Yatra Management Committee, Chandigarh, constituted by various social and religious organisations of Valmikian Samaj has decided to organise a sobha yatra on the eve of Valmiki Jayanti. Mr BR Tisawah , general secretary of the Bhagwan Valmiki Sobha Yatra Management Committee, Chandigarh, disclosed that the yatra will start from Sector 25 on Wednesday.

CONTEST: As many as 17 students of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 35, were given prizes for excellence in slogan writing and painting competitions on the theme of Drug and Alcoholism. The competition was organised by the Drug Awareness and Counciling Centre under the auspices of the Servants of the People Society, Lajpat Rai Bhawan, Sector 15. Mr Onkar Chand, secretary of the society gave away the prizes.

PUBLICITY: To enhance public awareness about census in general and the ensuing Census of India-2001 it has been proposed to organise a publicity campaign on the Internet also. The quiz contest had started from August 15 this year and will continue till March 15, 2001. Now, it has also been proposed to organise the publicity campaign on the Internet as well.

HARYANA

AMBALA
CAMP: A blood donation camp was organised in Arya Girls College, Ambala Cantonment here on Thursday. NSS and NCC cadets of the college participated the camp. As may as 85 girls donated blood in the camp. The camp was sponsored by Inner Wheel Club, Ambala and the District Red Cross Society offered active support to the organisers.

FARIDABAD
GRANT PROVIDED: Members of 32 families living below the poverty line were provided a grant of Rs 2.35 lakh under the National Family Benefit Scheme at a function organised by the District Social Welfare Office here on Tuesday. The City Magistrate, Mr S.S. Dalal, presided over the function.

KAITHAL
CONDEMNED: Employees of the Haryana Roadways, Kaithal depot, at a gate meeting held here on Tuesday, expressed concern over the plying of unauthorised vehicles in the area, causing revenue loss to the department. They criticised the authorities for their “failure” to check the illegal practice.

KURUKSHETRA
ENCEPHALITIS DEATH: Rimpal (5) of Bhootmajra village near here died of encephalitis at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital here on Wednesday. With this the death toll due to this disease during the past three weeks in the district has risen to eight.

ROHTAK
GIRLS’ HOSTEL: The Haryana Governor, Babu Parmanand, inaugurated Sri Baba Mastnath Girls’ Hostel, constructed at a cost of Rs 2.7 crore here on Tuesday. The Governor also laid the foundation stone of a nursing school on the premises of the same institute.

SONEPAT
CELLPHONE SEIZED: Officials of the district jail seized a cellphone from a prisoner, Vijay, here on Wednesday. According to official sources, the action was taken following complaints from other prisoners.

BODY FOUND: The Railway police recovered the body of an unidentified person lying in a compartment of a Panipat-bound passenger train here on Wednesday.

THEFT: Thieves reportedly broke into a shop in the Hem Nagar area here on Wednesday and decamped with Rs 1,000 and a colour TV set. The owner of the shop has lodged an FIR with the Sikka Colony police post.

SECTION 144: The District Magistrate, Mr A.K. Yadav, on Thursday enforced prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Cr PC within 200 metres of the examination centres set up by Maharshi Dayanand University in the city. The orders will come into force with immediate effect and continue till the examinations are over.

NOMINATED: Mr Amreshwar Bhushan Sharma has been nominated general secretary of the state unit of the Brahmin Sabha. This was stated by Mr Raghbir Singh Bhardwaj, president of the sabha, here on Thursday.