The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Thursday, October 19, 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

Regional Potpourri

A college with 8 varsity toppers

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
FUNCTION: The installation ceremony of the Students Council of the local BBK DAV College was held here on Tuesday. Dr R.S. Bawa, Registrar, Guru Nanak Dev University, was the chief guest. The college Principal, Mrs J. Kackria, also addressed the students.

BAN ORDERS: The District Magistrate, Mr Narinderjit Singh, has imposed a ban on the use of loudspeakers, bursting of crackers and other activities causing noise pollution. The orders will be in force till December 8.

BARNALA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the handiaya Cooperative Agriculture Service Society: president — Mr Gurcharan Singh; vice-presidents — Mr Harpal Singh and Mr Bant Singh.

BATHINDA
ARRESTED: The police has arrested three persons, Om Parkash, Jagraj Singh and Amar Singh, in separate cases of drug trafficking, and seized 2 kg of charas and 13 kg of poppy husk from them. This was stated by Dr Jatinder Kumar Jain, SSP, here on Tuesday.

RESTRICTION ON CRACKERS: Mr Jaspal Singh, District Magistrate, has imposed a restriction on the storage and display of crackers in the city. A press note issued here on Tuesday said the orders would be in force till October 31.

LUDHIANA
MEETING: A general body meeting of the Sutlej Club will be held on October 29. The agenda of the meeting would be the approval of balance sheet for the year 2000-2001. According to Mr A. S. Chawla, Secretary of the club, the issue that the tenure of office-bearers of the club should be according to the financial year and would also be discussed in the meeting. The annual report would be submitted and the queries of the members would also be answered on the occasion.

CELEBRATED: The management, staff and the students and parents of the students, of the senior section of Kundan Vidya Mandir assembled for the founder’s day celebration in the school on Wednesday. A cultural programme was presented by students on this occasion. The chief guest of the function was Mr S.K. Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner. Principal, Ms I. Kumar, read out the annual report of the school. Others present on the occasion were Mr Lajpat Rai, President of the school management, Mr Sunder Lal Gupta, Manager, and Mr Rajinder Verma, former Principal of SD Government College. Students and parents of primary and middle sections were invited to the function yesterday when Mr Alok Shekhar, Registrar, Punjab Agricultural University, was the chief guest.

LOK ADALAT: A lok adalat to settle disputes between the general public and the municipal corporation will be organised in the sessions court here on November 6. Giving this information, the District and Sessions Judge, Mr S.S. Arora, said that litigants, interested in settling their pending cases with the civic body, could submit their applications to his court or in the court of civil judge (senior division) at the earliest so that the cases could be taken up in the lok adalat and settled with mutual consent of both the parties. Meanwhile, the Assistant District Attorney (legal aid), Mr Surjit Singh, informed that lok adalats would also be convened on October 21 at Khanna, on November 4 at Jagraon, on November 18 at the Ludhiana and on Dec 16 at Samrala courts complex.

NOMINATED: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) district president Mr Rashpal Singh Gill, has reorganised the district executive and has nominated new office bearers of various wings of the party. According to Mr Ramesh Nanchahal, senior vice-president, Subedar Mohan Singh will head the Dakha assembly constituency unit of the party while Mr Hardeep Singh Teji (Koom Kalan), Mr Gurmukh Singh (Ludhiana Rural), Mr Jaswant Singh Grewal (Kila Raipur) and Mr Darshan Singh (Payal) would be the presidents of their constituency units. Other office-bearers are: President, Senior Citizens’ Wing — Mr Amrit Lal; President, District Women Wing — Ms Paramjit Kaur Sidhu; President, Women Wing, Dakha — Ms Inderjit Kaur; Secretary — Mr Jarman Singh; Joint Secretary — Mr Paramjit Singh Saini; Vice-Presidents, Ludhiana North Constitutency — Dr Rajinder Choudhary and Mr Deepak Puri; and Press Secretary, Youth Wing — Dr Sanjay Sharma.

DEMANDED: The United Nations Youth Organisation (UNYO), Punjab has called upon the district administration and the state government to launch a drive to check rampant adulteration of food products. Mr Shiv Kumar Gupta, president of UNYO has said in a statement that as a result of inadequate staff, available with the civil surgeon’s office, the unscrupulous elements were having a field day and the general public was the sufferer. He urged the government to entrust the responsibility of checking the food items and taking samples to the health branch of the municipal corporation so that effective measures could be initiated to curb the menace of adulteration in food stuff and other essential items. Mr Gupta also flayed the abnormally high prices of sweets in the city and asked the district authorities to fix the rates of sweets so that over-charging and exploitation of the masses could be put to an end.

MEETING: The District Tuberculosis (TB) Control Committee and the District Media Committee met under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Sandhu. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Sandhu emphasised the need to create awareness about the disease, which was completely curable. He said the NGOs should join hands with the district and health administration so that the disease could be completely eliminated. Besides, civil surgeon Dr Rajinder Kaur and district TB Officer, Dr Anil Verma, a large number of representatives of the NGOs and service clubs, including Mr Rajinder Sohi, Dr Walia and Dr Chauhan from the Lions Club, Mr Suresh Chaudhry (Rotary Club), Mr Sarwan Kumar (Nishkam Sewa Ashram), Mr K.R. Sood (Satya Sai Sewa Ashram), Mr Gursharanjit Singh and Dr Nagpal (Apex Clubs) attended the meeting.

MOGA
CONDEMNED: A general body meeting of the local unit of the Indian Medical Association, held here on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Dr Manpreet Singh Dhaliwal, condemned the civil surgeon for allegedly harassing certain doctors.

NAWANSHAHR
PADDY PURCHASE: Mr Sohan Singh Thandal, state Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, while presiding over a meeting of the officials of procurement agencies on Tuesday, said 56, 81047 lakh metric tonnes of paddy had been procured in the state till October 16. This was stated by Dr Roshan Sunkaria, DC, in a press note issued here.

PHAGWARA
DHARNA: On a call given by the JEs Council, Punjab, the power JEs today held a dharna against the alleged stagnation in promotions and implementation of the wage formulation committee report. Mr Raj Kumar Chaudhary, president of the north zone of the council, addressed the gathering.

PHILLAUR
OPD TIMINGS: The OPD timings at the government hospital and dispensaries have been changed. According to official sources, the OPDs will now be opened from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on working days.

THEFT: Miscreants allegedly broke into the house of Prof S.K. Bhanot in local Hargobind Nagar locality and decamped with Rs 10,000 in cash and gold ornaments. The police has registered a case in this regard.

RAJPURA
SEIZED: 276 pouches of liquor being sold illegally were seized by the police in different raids, on Tuesday, under the DSP Rajpura, Mr R.K. Sharma. The practice of smuggling local whisky brands in to the town seems to be on an increase. Police has caught large quantities of liquor being sold illegally, in and around Rajpura, in the past few days. On Tuesday the team of Mr Willian Jojo, SHO, city thana, seized 36 pouches of liquor from Keshuram, 100 from Pawan Kumar, 40 from Prakash Chand and 50 from Kishor Lal, all residents of Rajpura. The SHO, Sadar Thana, Mr Amarjeet Singh and his team caught Ms Nirmala Devi of Sahal village with 8 bottles of Hero Whisky and seized 50 liquor pouches from Dharampal of Damheri village. All of them have been fined under Excise Tax laws.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Rajpura section of the Shiv Sena: president — Mr Naresh Papneja; vice president — Mr Pawan Sharma; treasurers — Mr Raj Kumar Chabra, Mr Anil Mittal; secretary — Mr Pawan Babbar; join secretary — Mr Lalit Kapur; legal advisor — Advocate Prem C. Khanna.

ROPAR
CRACKERS’ SALE: The Deputy Commissioner, invoking the provisions of Section 144, has banned the manufacturing, storage and sale of crackers having a high degree of explosives in the district. The shopkeepers can sell the allowed categories of crackers only at the places marked by the district administration for the purpose, as per the information available with the SDMs of the area.

TARN TARAN
MURDER: Shinder Singh of Ghariala village allegedly killed his brother Mohinder Singh on Monday. The Valtoha police has registered a case under Section 302 of the IPC against the suspect.

CHANDIGARH

sammelan: To spread the message of national unity, integrity and world peace, a three-day “10th Sri Harinam Sankirtan Sammelan” will be held from Sunday in Sector 45-D, here, according to Amrit Sharma, an organiser of the sammelan.

EXAMINED: Over 500 children (up to 6 years) enrolled in anganwari centers were examined at a one day medical camp organised by Jan Shikshan Sansthan, at Colony No 4, here on Wednesday. The camp was held in collaboration with Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, under the SJSRY scheme. Another similar camp for the children enrolled in panchyat schools will be held October 20.

Return of Malkit: A leading Punjabi pop star Malkit returns centre stage with the release of Kudi patoley vargi by Times music. The Tutak tutak tootiyan and gur nallon ishk mitha star will address a press conference here on Thursday evening, an official press note of the Times Music said here on Wednesday. Kudi patoley vargi comes after a gap of seven years since Malkit’s last release. Malkit has to his credit performances in at least 28 countries.

RUHANI SATSANG: The Chandigarh Ruhani Satsang Society will organise a two-day satsang at Sector 20 on October 20 and 21. Sant Thakur Singh, head of the Manav Kendras will give discourse on both days.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the House Owners’ Welfare Association, Sector 21: patron — Mr H.S Pannu and Mr V.M Sahijpal; president — Mr D.P Gautam; general secretary — Dr Brij Lal Manju; senior vice president — Mr P.C Prasher; vice presidents — Mr Sudarshan Sharma, Mr S.K Goyal and Mr Shreedhar Sharma; joint secretary — Mr M.S Wadhawan; finance secretary — Mr Ram Kishore Sharma; press secretary — Mr M.L Sharma; adviser — Mr R.K Aggarwal.

SEMINAR: A seminar ‘Swadeshi versus globalisation’ was organised by Vishwa Samvad Kendra, here recently. The discussion centered around that the Central Government’s failure in framing any policy relating to the operational areas of multi national companies. Those who took part in the discussion included Mr Rajinder Gupta, an advocate, Mr Baldev Pandey, a chemical engineer, Mr Amitabh Dwivedi, professor and Mr Tulsi Dass, a social activist.

CONTEST: The city will witness a fun filled beauty pageant which will star stalwarts of the modelling and fashion world as it hosts Miss Punjab contest, a Rs 1.5-core event. The contest will not only award cash prizes in lakhs to the winner and the two runners-up, but it will also provide scholarships to girls who are pursuing vocational and professional courses and facing problems on the account of financial constraints.

PANCHKULA
MEETING: A meeting of the District Blindness Control Society was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner S. K. Monga, here on Wednesday to review the activities of World Sight Day observed on October 10. The Civil Surgeon, Dr H.C. Nagpal, informed that 85 teachers of the district were imparted training by specialists He added that 201 children were found defective of refractive error and would be provided spectacles free of cost.

TWO-DAY FETE: A two-day grand annual fete of Satluj Public Schools, Sector 2 and 4 will start on Saturday at Satluj School Stadia, Sector 4. Mr Krit Serai, principal of the school, said the aim behind organising the fete was to inculcate enterprise and encourage students to enhance their interpersonal skills. Meanwhile the principal led a group of 32 senior citizens of the town for a one-day picnic to Fossil Park, in Sirmaur district.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Kirtan darbar: Sri Guru Granth Sahib Sewa society, Prem Nagar, Ambala city is going to organise the 17th Kirtan Darbar on Sunday at Ram Lila grounds from 7 pm onwards. Noted ragis including Bhai Mohinderjit Singh, Bhai Jaswant Singh, Bhai Devinder Singh and Bhai Onkar Singh will perform on the occasion. A nagar kirtan will be organised at 3 p.m before the Kirtan Darbar, a note said.

MSc INTRODUCED: Gandhi Memorial National (GMN) College, Ambala Cantonment, is going to introduce MSc in Information Technology, which is a two years course. The principal of the college, Mr Shukla, said that the college will be the only one here to have such a course in information technology. “We are planning to start the course from this academic session and the initial nod has been received from Kurukshetra University,” he said. Mr Shukla said that to begin with, 15 students will be enrolled for the course. “However, we have requested the authorities concerned to allow us to enroll atleast 30 students,” he said. “We are planning to have half of the seats as paid seats and the other half is going to be filled up, purely on merit,” he added. He said that the idea behind introducing the course in information technology is to give an opportunity for the students to undertake a course which will bring them in step with the current fast-changing environment. Mr Shukla observed that they will have to pay a fee of Rs 2 lakh provisional affiliation fee to the Kurukshetra University for starting the course. “Only two colleges in the region have been granted permission to start MSc in Information Technology by Kurukshetra University and ours is one of them,” he pointed out.

Federation of blind: The National Federation of the Blind, Haryana Branch, has decided to hold a demonstration against the Haryana Government for “its negative attitude towards demands of handicapped persons.” According to spokesperson, Sukhbir Singh, the demands of the federation include implementing the PWD (Act) 95 in true spirit, implementing 3 per cent reservation for handicapped persons, equal pay for teachers in GIB Panipat and exemption to serve in rural areas for handicapped persons.

Aloo Gyan Divas: Potato, the multi-utility food article which is always used but never acknowledged, got its due when the Krishi Gyan Kendra, Ambala, organised a ‘Aloo Gyan Divas’ here for the benefit of the farmers. The experts recommended that the farmers should harvest potato varieties including Kufri Chandramukhi, Kufri Jawahar, Kufri Badshah, Kufri Sindoori and Kufri Satluj. The experts also advised the farmers on the methods for getting a better yield, a note said. Among others, Dr D.K. Bhatnagar, Dr H.P. Sahi, Dr Suleiman Mohammad and Dr Sunita Ahuja participated in the programme.

PANIPAT
WITHOUT TICKET: As many as 242 persons were found travelling without ticket at Panipat railway station during a surprise raid conducted by Railway Magistrate Krishan Kant and Chief Ticket Inspector Indu Shekhar on Tuesday. Fines amounting to Rs 39,000 were collected from them.

SIRSA
DOWRY CASE: Five members of a family were booked in a dowry case on the basis of a complaint lodged with the police by a woman, Nirmala, against her in-laws. On her complaint, a case under Sections 498-A, 406 and 506 has been registered against her husband, Naresh, his parents, brother and his wife.

CASE REGISTERED: The police has registered a case under Sections 376, 450 and 511 against Ishwar Singh of Pahodkan village of the district on a complaint of Bugli Devi of the village. She had alleged that the suspect had tried to rape her.

POLIO CAMP: A polio camp was organised in the city by the Lions Club. Around 250 patients were examined and some of them operated upon by a polio surgeon, Dr M.M. Gupta.

SONEPAT
SANCTIONED: The Haryana Government has sanctioned a grant of Rs 20 lakh for the completion of the ongoing water supply schemes in rural areas of the Ganaur subdivision in the district. According to official sources, the schemes would benefit the residents of Lalehri, Shekhpura, Naya Bans, Atayal and Bhakharpur villages in the subdivision.

MARCH: Congress workers held a protest march here on Tuesday in protest against the hike in the prices of petroleum products and the alleged non-purchase of paddy by official agencies. Carrying placards and raising anti-government slogans, they marched through the main bazars of the city and held a demonstration in front of the DC’s office.

BODY FOUND: The police recovered the body of a 40-year-old woman from the fields at Baroda village, about 40 km from here, on Tuesday. The body has been sent to the medical college at Rohtak for a post-mortem.

CAMP: More than 200 patients were examined by a team of specialists at a medical camp organised by the Mehar Singh Samark Samiti at Barona village in the district on Tuesday.

DEMONSTRATION: Class IV employees held a demonstration in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office here yesterday in support of their long-standing demands. They also raised slogans against the state government.

PROHIBITORY ORDERS: The District Magistrate, Mr Sudhir Rajpal, has imposed a ban on the sale of crackers in the residential areas of the district. However, some open places have been specified for the sale.

RESENTMENT: Resentment prevails among farmers of Khanpur Kalan and other villages of Gohana subdivision in the district against the non-reaching of the canal water at their fields. Many farmers alleged that their repeated complaints in this regard had fallen on deaf ears.

YAMUNANAGAR
BANNED: The District Magistrate, Mr Rajeev Sharma, has banned the sale of crackers in the thickly-populated bazars in the district under Section 133 and 142 of the Explosives Act, 1884. The orders, passed on Wednesday, will remain effective till October 28.

Regional Potpourri

A college with 8 varsity toppers

STUDENTS of the DAV College, Amritsar, cornered glory during the current academic session with eight of its scholars topping in various subjects ranging from mathematics, economics, computer application and science examinations conducted by Guru Nanak Dev University.

Its Principal, Mr M.L. Aeri, said the college, established in 1955, had carved a niche for itself in academics and various professional fields.

Realising full well that the academic regimen requires change, the college had broken grounds for a switch-over.

Mr Aeri pointed out that with IT as the in-thing, the institution had created new ways to repackage the courses to meet the growing Internet craze. To harmonise the instructions at the under-graduate level for subjects such as English, mathematics and economics, the college provides IT courses like B.Sc/BA in computers, Bachelor of Information Technology, Computer Application, PG Diploma in Internet, e-commerce besides, and the recently started Bachelor of Computer-aided Management.

For providing a global reach to students in the new world order, the college had developed world-class IT logistics with around 100 systems. Besides, three hi-tech computer labs, website, permanent Internet connectivity, cyber-cafes, ISDN line, and video-conferencing facility had been set up.

During the current year, about 80 students of the college are in the process of getting admitted to prestigious courses like engineering, medical, management, information technology, commerce, civil and defence services at state and national institutes.

In the final exams, the college has bagged as many as eight first positions and five second positions.

The college has set new records by making in BCA-I & II and BIT-I. By providing quality education in IT, the college has earned the sobriquet of being the “silicon college” of India.

Key bridge in dire need of repairs

THE Dagroh bridge, two km away from Dharampur on the Subathu road, is the oldest link that connected Shimla with the rest of the world in the 19th century. Viceroys used to cross it on their way to the summer capital before the Kalka-Shimla road was built in 1856. This neglected bridge requires immediate repair as it carries traffic of the 14 Gorkha Training Centre, vehicles transporting cement from Darlaghat, besides tourists. This 15-km road has 349 curves which hardly allow the driver to drive straight even for a 25-metre stretch. The road is too narrow to negotiate oncoming traffic and has several blind curves. It has countless potholes that make driving risky and it is accident prone in the rainy season.

This road is also used as a shortcut to Solan and Shimla when the main highway between Dharampur and Solan is blocked due to landships or snow.

The bridge as well as the road has remained neglected for a long time despite the ever increasing traffic. The width of the road remains the same as it was in 1814.

Fruit shops with a difference

THESE are twin fruit shops — but what is so special about it? Well, it is a puzzle and at first sight nobody can make out where these fruit shops are housed. Now get ready to bear the shock of your life! It is in a public toilet and that too of the Shimla Municipal Corporation.

This toilet, located hardly 10 yards from the Inter-State Bus Terminus, stands testimony to the abysmal hygiene that the ‘‘queen of the hills’’ faces. The baskets and wooden boxes containing all varieties of fruits are tastefully decorated on the roof-top of the toilet while heaps of reserve goods, worth thousand of rupees, are stacked inside the verandahs around this spacious toilet. Three locks outside the doors of the urinals and flush latrines welcome passers-by who rush to this toilet in the event of an emergency. As a result, scores of people can be seen answering the call of nature in the open. No doubt, womenfolk have to face embarrassment.

Emboldened by this daring feat of running their shops from inside a public toilet the owners, to sustain the tempo of their roaring business, have further encroached upon about three sq. yards of the space on the main road leading to the ISBT entrance. This leads to traffic jams during peak hours.

Such improvised shops indicate a complete breakdown of the authority of the municipal officials and councillors for the reasons best known to them. Residents blame the traffic police, which has closed its eyes to this gross violation of the law right under its nose.

Contributed by Ashok Sethi, Madan Gupta Spatu and Som Kirti