The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tuesday, November 7, 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

GURDASPUR
LOK ADALAT: A lok adalat was organised by the district legal services authority at the courts complex on Saturday under the supervision of Mr M.R. Batra, District and Sessions Judge. Four Benches decided 101 cases.

FAREWELL: Maj-Gen A.J. B. Jaini, General Officer Commanding, 9 Infantry Division, was given a farewell by the Pine Division at Tibri military station here on Monday. He has been transferred to Tejpur as Chief of Staff, 4 Corps.

JALANDHAR
NAGAR KIRTAN: An environmental organisation, Dharat Suhavi, will organise a nagar kirtan from Ludhiana to Sultanpur Lodhi on November 7.

FORGERY: The district police has registered a case on the complaint of the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Punjab, against its former general secretary, Ashwini Kumar, for allegedly committing forgery.

EXHIBITION: The local Guru Amar Dass Public School recently organised its second annual exhibition. About 1500 models prepared by the students were displayed. The exhibition was inaugurated by Mr Inderjit Singh Grewal, Joint Commissioner, Transport Department, Punjab.

KAPURTHALA
KAVI DURBAR: A kavi durbar was organised at Nawab Jassa Singh Ahluwalia Government College here on Sunday in connection with the celebration of Punjabi Week by the Language Department. Prof Kulwant Singh Aujula, Ajaib Singh, Prof Gurbax Bhandal, Harwinder Bhandal, Surinder Paul Singh Sandhu, Jang Bahadur Singh Ghuman, Roop Daburji , Ashwani Tibba and Prof Surinder Gill participated.

SUICIDE: Amanjit Kaur (17), a resident of Khalu village, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her home. The reason for taking the extreme step is said to be her failure in the matriculation examination twice. A case has been registered.

KHANNA
THEFT: Goods worth Rs 50,000 were stolen from OP Trading Company situated near the GT Road, here on Sunday. According to the report, the thieves broke into the shop and stole the goods. The owner, Mr Krishan Gupta, came to know about the theft in the morning when he opened the shop. The police has registered a case.

Pulse polio camp: Under a special drive for the eradication of polio, a pulse polio camp was organised at different parts of the city. The main camp organised at the local civil hospital was inaugurated by the local MLA, Mr Bachan Singh Cheema. The SDM, Khanna, Mr S.S. Gill, informed that 49 teams along with three mobile teams participated in the immunisation programme. They were assisted by the representatives of social organisations and school students.

LUDHIANA
CONTEST: The Ludhiana Junior Chamber (Jaycees) in collaboration with Hero Cycle Limited is organising ‘Kaun banega hero’, a public speaking contest on ‘Every Indian is a hero’ in English and Hindi for students of 16 to 21 years. The inter-college district-level contest will be held at Government College for Women on Monday, according to Mr Sunil Aggarwal of the Jaycees. He said the first two winners would participate in zonal-level contest to be held at Jalandhar on November 18 and the national-level contest will be held at Pondicherry between December 27 and December 30.

FLAYED: The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) general secretary Mr Nahar Singh Gill and secretary Mr Krishan Kumar Bawa, have expressed serious concern of the party over deteriorating law and order situation and the resultant sense of insecurity among the people of the state. In a joint statement, they said that the police had failed to apprehend the criminal gangs, responsible for a spate of robberies in Mullanpur, Jagraon and Sahnewal in this district so far. They urged the state government to tone up the law enforcement machinery and to take effective measures to ensure safety of life and property of the citizens.

INAUGURATED: A computer centre has been inaugurated at Green Land Senior Secondary Public School by Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, Minister of Technical Education, and Mr H.S. Guram, Vice-Chancellor, Punjab Technical University. Also present on the occasion, among others, were Mr Rajesh Rudra, director, and Ms Baldeep Pandhar, Principal of the school.

BMS biennial session: The biennial session of the district unit of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) will be held at Cheema Park in the Industrial Area-A on November 11. The session will be presided over by district president of BMS, Mr Vir Abhimanyu, while the state president Shravan Kumar, general secretary Kartar Singh Rathore, secretary Ramesh Palta will be among the distinguished guests. According to Mr Nageshwar Singh, the session will deliberate upon pending demands of the workers, including the payment of bonus to all salaried workers without any upper ceiling, regularisation of ad hoc employees, streamline provident fund accounts and checking its misuse, scrupulous implementation of labour laws and grant of due facilities to factory workers, provision of residential colonies for workers and allotment on liberal terms, upward revision of minimum wages and time bound disposal of pending court cases in labour courts.

HAILED: The Ludhiana Traders and Manufacturers Association (LTMA) has hailed the appointment of Mr Amarjit Singh Chawla as member of the Punjab Public Service Commission. According to the LTMA president, Mr Dhiraj Rai Gupta, a meeting of the association held here on Monday adopted a resolution, expressing gratitude to the Punjab Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal, for appointment of Mr Chawla, who is also one of the patrons of the association, to the coveted post. It was also decided to hold a special meeting of the association soon to honour Mr Chawla.

MACHHIWARA
CAMP CONCLUDED: The first phase of the hepatitis-B vaccination camp was organised by the Punjab Youth Club Organisation’s local unit, on Sunday. The camp was conducted on the premises of the Government Senior Secondary School, Machhiwara. According to the chairman of the club, Mr Harpreet Singh Mangat, more than 700 persons including children, were vaccinated by Dr Ranju Sharma at nominal charges. The next phase would be organised on December 10, he added.

hailed: Mr Chanan Singh, chairman, Primary Agricultural Development Bank, Hasanpur, along with the local leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal, hailed the appointment of the senior Akali leader, Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, as the Governor of the newly formed state of Uttaranchal.

STIR: The brick kiln owners’ prolonged strike is affecting labourers and residents of the nearby villages. According to the residents of the area, about 2700 brick kilns had not been working for the past four months. Due to the strike more than three lakh labourers were sitting idle.

MANSA
LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT: The Language Department, Punjab, organised a kavi darbar on Sunday in which poets like Kamal Netar, Devneet Singh, Amrit Samtoj and Gurpreet Singh participated.

PULSE POLIO: Polio drops were administered to as many as 77,896 children in this district at 416 camps on Sunday, according to Dr Kamaljit Suman, coordinator of the district pulse polio immunisation programme.

MOGA
LOK ADALAT: As many as 115 cases were settled by lok adalat held here on Sunday.

SUGAR QUOTA: Resentment prevails among local consumers over the delay by the Civil Supplies Department in the distribution of monthly quota of sugar to them. They have urged the department concerned that the quota of sugar should be distributed to them regularly and on time every month.

PROTEST: About 240 PCO and STD owners on Monday protested against the decision of the Telecommunication Department directing them to install coin-operated public phones in front of their offices.

NAWANSHAHR
SCHOOL FUNCTION: GNM School, Mubarakpur, organised its annual function on Sunday. Mr Gurpal Singh Bhatti, ADC, was the chief guest. He gave away prizes to meritorious students. A cultural programme was presented by students.

PSEB COMPETITIONS: The Punjab School Education Board, SAS Nagar, organised a three-day long district level educational competitions here at JSFH Khalsa High School. Mr Santokh Singh Ranu, District Education Officer, gave away the prizes to the students on the concluding day.

PATHANKOT
CREMATED: Manav Kumar (25), son of Mr Purshotam Arora, Chairman, Improvement Trust, here, who died on Saturday in a road accident was cremated on Sunday. A large number of citizens attended the funeral.

SAMRALA
haemorrhoids: Haemorrhoids is a very common problem these days and more than 20 per cent people in India are suffering from this disease, according to Dr Rakesh Kumar, who is the recipient of the Medical Excellence Award and the Millennium Award. Dr Rakesh Kumar said the main reason for haemorrhoids was chronic constipation, hereditary predisposition and sedentary lifestyle. In first stage of the haemorrhoids, doctors used cryo surgery. The latest technique was to use a special type of thread to cut through the mass of piles. This painless procedure was done in a single sitting, Dr Rakesh Kumar informed. He advised the patients to take liquid diet and vegetables.

CHANDIGARH

Nutritional benefits: Nutritional benefits of soyabean have once again been revealed and confirmed by a recent study conducted by the Food Science and Nutrition Department of Avinash Lingham University, Coimbatore. Measurements of growth, physical and cognitive development, morbidity, clinical symptoms and nutritional anaemia were evaluated before, during and following the nutritional intervention. The findings demonstrate that the groups that received the SPI food mix showed significant improvements in growth and also reduction in clinical symptoms, morbidity and nutritional anaemia.

CASES SETTLED: Twenty disputed cases of loans worth Rs 10 lakh were settled by Mr Salil Mishra, Deputy General Manager, and Mr Chatter Singh, Assistant General Manager, of the Chandigarh zone of the State Bank of Patiala, here on Monday. The cases pertained to the Kulu and Panchkula branches of the bank.

HAILED: Members of the North Indian Federation of School Lecturers have hailed the decision of Mr O.P. Chautala, Chief Minister of Haryana, to grant class-II gazetted status to school lecturers. The federation has resented the delay on the part of the Punjab Government to remove the anomaly in the pay scale of school lecturers from the present Rs 6,400-10,500, which is lower than that of Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and other union territories and central schools.

CAMP: As many as 250 students of the GMSSS, Sector 47, were examined in a free blood group testing camp organised by the Lions Club Chandigarh Vishal, on the school premises here on Monday. Mr S.P. Singh, zonal Chairperson of the club, graced the occasion, according to a press note.

convention planNED: The local unit of the Federation of UT Employees and Workers has decided to organise a convention at Bal Bhavan in Sector 23 on Tuesday noon. Mr Bhag Mal Ranam, General Secretary of the federation, said that different issues, including stopping of privatisation of electricity, transport, CITCO and other public sector organisations would be discussed in the convention.

RALLY: Members of the UT Building Maintenance Workers Union held a rally in Sector 7 on Monday and appealed to the members of the public health, electricity and building maintenance wings to join the dharna to be held on November 14.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office -bearers of the New Capital Rehri Workers Association: Chairman — Mr Gurbachan Singh; Vice-Chairman — Mr Surjit Singh; President — Mr Nathu Ram Sharma; Vice-Presidents — Mr Ram Lal and Mr Balkar Singh; General Secretary — Mr Hari Chand Kukreja; Joint Secretaries — Mr Harish Chawala and Mr Satpal Singh; and Secretaries — Mr Bhag Singh, Mr Hari Karan and Mr Ranvir Singh.

office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Shri Shiv Mandir, Sector 30: Chairman — Mr Gian Chand Gupta; President — Mr Vishal Bharti; Vice-Presidents — Mr Ashwani Kumar Vij and Mr Shiv Kumar Sharma; General Secretary — Mr Lalit Khurana; Joint Secretary — Mr M.P. Rana; Cashier — Mr Madan Lal Sharma; and Auditor — Mr Vijay Sharma.

CAMP: As many as 145 employees of the Bhakra Beas Management Board, Chandigarh, donated blood at a camp organised at the BBMB rest house in Sector-35, here on Monday. Organised to mark the death anniversary of Maj Gen B.N. Kumar, a former Chairman of BBMB, it was the 19th such camp organised in association with the Department of Transfusion Medicine, PGI. Maj Gen R.R. Oberoi, chairman of the board and Ms Sushila Kumar, wife of the late Maj Gen Kumar, also donated blood.

KHARAR
Committee: The Punjab Government has constituted a high-level committee headed by the famous economist, Prof Y.K. Alagh, to submit a report about how to save trade and agriculture in Punjab when the agreement of the World Trade Organisation is implemented next year. This was disclosed by Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister, Punjab, while addressing a gathering at Wadali village of Kharar subdivision on Monday on the occasion of the death anniversary of Lance Naik Saudagar Singh who sacrificed his life during the Indo-Pak war of 1965. He paid rich tributes to martyrs and declared that the link road to Wadali village would be named after him. He distributed cheques worth Rs 11 lakh to 17 panchayats for various development works.

PANCHKULA
E-FAMILY: A Delhi-based company will set up Kool School, a complete e-family centre, for the children of different age groups in Sector 5, Panchkula. According to a press note, the centre will be inaugurated by Mrs Suchita Jain, Executive Director of the Varadhman Spinning and General Mills, on Friday.

Tax meet: A meeting of “Taxila”, an NGO group of retired senior IRS officers, was convened at the Aaykar Bhawan, Sector 2, to chalk out future strategies for spreading the message of voluntary tax compliance amongst tax payers and the public at large. It was unanimously decided to call the body “Taxila” (Society for Tax Information and legal assistance) and resolved that the group should interact with members of trade and industries associations, members of the bar association, local chapter of chartered accountants, and associations of tax payers. A seminar on the ‘Tax regime in the new millennium: changing strategies and concepts’, with special emphasis on voluntary tax compliance, was organised with varied participation from departmental officers, among others.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Misprinted note: Prof J.P. Kansal of GMN College today said that he has a misprinted Rs 100 note. Prof Kansal said that he spotted the misprinted note in a bundle of Rs 5,000. “I was surprised to see it. Actually, three with different serial numbers with a gap of 100, starting with last three digits being ‘477’ seem to have been printed on the same note,” he said. “The rest of the notes in the bundle are fine,” he said.

LOK ADALAT: A special Lok Adalat is going to be held on November 9. District and Sessions Judge, Ms Kiran Anand Lal, said on that day at the Sessions court, labour court and others courts, different cases, including motor vehicle accident, marriage related cases, rent related cases, traffic related cases and electricity theft cases would be taken up. She said that the special Lok Adalat would be held on Legal Aid day, which was observed to generate awareness among people. Under the legal assistance programme, those people whose annual income was less than Rs 25,000 would get free legal assistance. There is no bar on income for SC/ST, women and children below 21 years of age.

DIRECTED: The Deputy Commissioner Ambala, Mr D.D. Gautam, directed the Municipal Council, Ambala City, to engage 20 sweepers on contract basis to silt out drains, said the Executive Officer of the City Municipal Council on Monday. He directed the Municipal Council authorities to repair damaged drains and street lights immediately. He also directed a register to be maintained at the council office where the complaints of the people could be registered. He urged shopkeepers to vacate encroachments along their shops within seven days, otherwise legal action would be taken against them. He said that the District Administration tried its best to provide facilities to citizens. After taking charge as Deputy Commissioner, it was Mr Gautam’s first visit to the city.

SONEPAT
TAX LEVIED: The local Zila Parishad has decided to levy a tax of Re 1 per bottle on the sale of liquor by the contractors in this district. According to official sources, it will also impose a tax of Rs 10 per tractor-trailer and Rs 30 per truck loaded with sand.

CLASH: One person was injured in a clash between members of a family at Pipli Khera village, 13 km from here, on Monday. According to the police, a dispute over canal water is stated to be the main cause of the clash.

FOOT SEVERED: A woman’s foot got severed while trying to board a moving train at the railway station here on Monday. According to the railway police, she made an attempt to board a moving train bound for Panipat when she slipped and fell down. She was immediately hospitalised.

CANAL WATER SUPPLY: Representatives of various farmers’ organisations on Monday urged the state government to take immediate and concrete steps for ensuring adequate and regular canal water supply to the farmers of Gohana subdivision in the district. They threatened to launch an agitation if their demand was not accepted. The representatives also demanded the transfer of the Executive Engineer and the SDO concerned.

BRAHMIN SAMAJ: As many as 120 activists were honoured at the annual session of the All-India Paliwal Brahmin Samaj which concluded here on Sunday. Several hundred delegates from all over the country participated. Ms Vijay Luxmi, the president of the samaj, presided over the session.

INJURED: Two persons sustained serious injuries in a clash between two groups during a meeting regarding elections for the president of Janata Charitable Hospital here on Sunday. The city police has registered a case.