The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, December 27, 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

BALACHAUR
COMMEMORATION DAY: A havan yajna-cum-commemoration day was organised on Sunday at D.A.V. Senior Secondary School, Kathgarh, 10 km from here, in the memory of Lakhpat Rai, an advocate. Those present on the occasion were Major-Gen (retd) Rajinder Kumar, Mr Ravinder Talwar, Principal, DAV School, Chandigarh, ex-MLA Master Dalip Chand, Thakur Yash Pal Singh, ex-president Municipal Corporation, Balachaur.

GURDASPUR
ARRESTED: The police arrested Bholi, wife of Des Raj of Awankha, near Dinanagar in the district, on Tuesday on the charge of stealing cloth from shops in Jammu. The police recovered cloth worth Rs 4000 from her on Tuesday. A case under Section 379/41, IPC has been registered.

LUDHIANA
vaccination camp: A hepatitis-B vaccination camp was organised on the premises of Jyoti Kendra Charitable General Hospital here on Monday. At the camp, 808 patients were administered the vaccine by doctors of the kendra. The second phase of the camp would be held on January 28, 2001.

contest: A mehndi contest will be held on December 29 at Param Institute, Ranjit Nagar. In a press release of the institute, the Chairman has informed that besides a mehndi contest, maintenance of machines and cultural contests will also be held on the occasion. Mr Jarnail Singh will be the chief guest. The judges are Prof Kanwaljit Singh, Mr Sarabjit Kaur and Ms Karamjit Kaur. This decision was taken at a meeting in which Mr Amarjit Singh Riat, Principal Parminder Kaur Riat and project in charge Akhilesh Mishra and Mr Kewal Singh Mathadoo were present.

celebrated: To mark Christmas, the Roopika Ladies Club organised a cultural programme for the children of the members. Christmas carols were played and children danced to the tunes of jingle bells. Children presented a play on the birth of Jesus. Later Santa Claus distributed packets of sweets among the kids.

invited: Dr K.S. Gill, Professor and Head, Department of Journalism, Languages and Culture, has been invited to address a symposium on ''Nirwan for agnostics — Aldous Huxley in the Asian context''. The symposium would be held at Singapore from December 28 to January 2, 2001. Dr Gill is an internationally known Aldous Huxley specialist and is one of the 12 curators of the Centre for Aldous Huxley Disease Studies at Munsters University, Germany. Dr Gill is the only Asian on the board of curators of the centre.

MACHHIWARA
Bereaved: Mr Surinder Kundra, President, Block Congress Committee, Machhiwara, was bereaved when his mother, Ram Rakhi (85), died in the early hours on Tuesday. Her cremation took place in the afternoon. Representatives of various political parties and social organisations attended the funeral procession.

Youth stabbed: A youth, Sandeep Singh, was allegedly stabbed by three persons outside his residence, near the post office, here on Monday. Sandeep was rushed to the CMC Hospital, Ludhiana. He is stated to be out of danger. The police has registered a case against Jagdip Singh of Powat village and Talwinder Singh of Machhiwara. The culprits are still at large.

Christmas celebrated: The local Christian community celebrated Christmas with traditional fervour. A function was organised by a local preacher, Mr Karamjit Singh. Mr Anil Sood, President, Nagar Panchayat, Machhiwara, inaugurated the function. Mr J.P. Singh Makkar, a bank unionist, presided over the function.

MALERKOTLA
FLAYED: The Punjab Students Union has flayed the state government for its anti-student policies. In a press note issued here on Tuesday, Mr Lakhwinder Singh, spokesman of the union blamed the SAD-led government for making education costlier and criticised its indefinite policy regarding the fee structure in schools and colleges.

SEIZED: The police has seized 24 bottles of illicit liquor from Bhag Singh of Ahmedgarh village, about 15 km from here. A case under various sections of the Excise Act has been registered.

ART CLUB: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Tagore Fine Art Club of India: chairman -- Mr Daljit Singh; president -- Mr Mohammed Rafi; general secretary -- Mr Ashok Joshi; secretary -- Mr Asif Ali Khan; and treasurer -- Mr Iftkhar Hussain.

ARRESTED: The Ahmedgarh police has arrested four persons and seized 28 bottles of country-made liquor from them. According to information received on Tuesday, the arrested have been identified as Gurmel Singh, Jai Singh, Pappu and Amrik Singh. A case has been registered under various sections of the IPC.

MANSA
CULTURAL PROGRAMME: The City Club here staged a cultural programme on Saturday at Surya Residency. Mr Yurinder Singh hayer presided over the function, while Mr Raj Kamal Choudhary, Additional Deputy Commissioner, inaugurated it. The club president, Mr Parsotam Goyal, said the proceeds of the show would be used for the benefit of the poor and mentally challenged children.

BAR ELECTIONS: A meeting of the district Bar association took place on Saturday, where it was decided that elections would be held on January 15. Nominations can be filed till January 10 and the date of withdrawals will be till January 12.

MOGA
SBI STRIKE: Despite a call given by the State Bank Staff Association to its members to hold a strike on December 26 and 27 at its zonal office, Ludhiana, against the transfer of the chargesheeted employees, all branches of the State Bank of India here remained opened and functioned normally. Meanwhile, a small group of bank employees held a demonstration in front of the office of the SBI on the Court road.

DEVELOPMENT WORK: The district administration has spent Rs 2.35 crore on the construction of grain markets at Lopo, Nihalsinghwala and Baghapurana villages in the district and the entire work has been completed in the stipulated period This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Kanwalbir Singh, on Tuesday. He further said a substation would also be constructed at Dhaleke village in the district.

PATIALA
VISITED: The Deputy Director General (DG), NCC, Chandigarh directorate, Brig Ranjit Singh Kalha, visited the pre, RDC and combined annual training camp being organised by the local Multipurpose Senior Secondary School from December 19 to December 30 here. Competitions in drill and firing and various other cultural items were pre-sented on the occasion. Deputy DG was of firm notion that the contingents selected from this camp would give appreciable performance on the Republic Day parade at Delhi.

Office-bearers elected: The following office-bearers have been elected in the Anjuman-E-Ahel-E-Qualam here: president — Mr Ramesh Chaudary; assistants — Dr Ravi Bhushan, Babu Singh Rahal; general secretary — Mr Harsh Kumar Mr Harsh and secretary — Hari Singh Chamak.

PHAGWARA
MOVE WELCOMED: The Indian Medical Association, Punjab, on Tuesday welcomed the move of the Union Government to legislate an Act for banning tobacco and its products and smoking at public places. Dr Raman Aggarwal, chairman, State College of General Practitioners, academic wing of the IMA, also hailed the decision.

SANGRUR
BAR ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district Youth Lawyers Taxation Bar Association : president -- Mr Rajan Kumar Jindal; secretary -- Mr Narinder Kumar Singla; and treasurer -- Mr Yash Paul Bushra.

SABHA: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Arora Khatri Sabha : president -- Mr Raj Kumar Arora; senior vice-president -- Mr Nand Lal Gandhi; general secretary -- Mr Om Parkash Arora, joint secretary -- Mr Pardeep Kumar Babbi; and treasurer -- Mr Nathu Lal Dhingra.

CHANDIGARH

CONTEST HELD: About 150 tall and handsome guys will be contesting for the Chandigarh phase of the northern regional round of the 7th Grasim Mr India 2001 title at Hotel Mountview here on Wednesday. Out of the total 150 contestants, 49 will be selected for representing the north in the final phase of the contest which will be held in Calcutta on February 24. For this preliminary regional round about 333 participants have been shortlisted all over India, 150 from north, 31 from east, 101 from west and 50 from the south. Grasim Mr India, which has been conceptualised as a tribute to the Indian male, is a search for the most perfect male with looks, personality, grace and charm in combination with wit, humour and brain to match.

OFFERED: Famous spy Roop Lal has been offered office space in Sector 17 by the Presidents Police Gallantry Awardees Association of India to open a detective agency. Mr S.K. Madan and Mr D.S. Romana, president and general secretary of the association, respectively, said the offer had been made after reading Roop Lal’s statement in the newspapers that he was keen on opening a detective agency. Apart from Mr Madan and Mr Romana, Mr Ashok Kataria have offered to help in establishing the agency.

TRIP ORGANISED: The primary section students of the Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sector 31, were taken on an excursion for five days to different places. They were taken to trekking experience at Jayanti Devi Temple (Kharar), Art Museum, Sector 10, Cactus Garden and some other places. Community lunch and games were organised during the trips. This was stated in press note by the principal of the school.

RALLY ORGANISED: The NSS unit of the GGDSD College, Sector 32, organised a AIDS awareness rally, here today. The rally started from the college and moved in Sectors 45, 46 and Colony No. 5. Mr M.P. Manocha, English lecturer, flagged of the rally.

ELECTED: The following were elected office-bearers of the MIG Group-I Agency, Sector 38(West): president — Mr Chitranjan Singh; general secretary — Mr Ravinder Chadha; treasurer — Mr Mahesh Chander Sharma and vice-president — Mr O.P. Virmani. This was stated by Mr Ravinder Chadha in a press note.

Christmas celebrated: Aanchal Preparatory School, Sector 35-A, Chandigarh, and Phase XI, Mohali, wore a festive-look as tiny tots were having Christmas celebrations. The enthusiasm with which they participated was a treat for all. The teachers explained to the children the significance of these celebrations. The school captain, Tanmay Batra, cut the cakes shaped like a Christmas Tree and a star. The best part of the fun-filled day was when Santa Claus came to their class rooms to distribute gifts and sweets. Children danced around a decorated Christmas Tree. They sang the Christmas carols happily and wished all a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

HARYANA

AMBALA
KILLED: A woman was killed in a road accident on the Ambala-Jagadhri road, near Mulana, on Tuesday. According to information, Mrs Shakuntla (65) was crossing the road when a truck hit her. She was rushed to the Civil Hospital, at Ambala city, where she succumbed to her injuries. The police has registered a case against the truck driver. In another accident, a resident of Baldev Nagar was crushed by the Shatabdi Express on the Ambala-Chandigarh rail section, near Ambala city, on Tuesday. The deceased was identified as Pappu (35).

GAMBLERS ARRESTED: The police has arrested four gamblers in Ambala city on Monday evening. According to the police, the gamblers were playing at a public place. The police also recovered an amount of Rs 796 from their possession.

NOMINATED: Mr Kulwant Singh has been nominated as president of All-India Anti-Terrorist Front of Ambala District. According to a press note issued by the state president of the front, Mr Viresh Gupta, Mr Singh has been authorised to constitute his executive body.

training programme: A training programme on the topic ‘Managing stress without stress’ was organised by the Ambala Junior Chamber at Dri-in-22 tourist complex. The 7-hour programme was conducted by Dr Sushil Kansal and Dr Anil Jain, both the national trainers of Indian Junior Chamber. Mr Lalit Sachdeva, president of the Chamber, said that this was the 8th training programme of the year.

KALKA
power tariff: The power tariff hike announced by the state government has met with widespread criticism from various sections of people, small-scale industry and industrial workers. Mr Chander Mohan, MLA from the Kalka constituency, said the party would stage demonstrations at the district-level against the hike. He termed the hike as ‘anti-people’ and ‘anti-farmers’. Mr S.S. Nanda, president, Punjab block, and municipal councillors of the Kalka Municipal Committee, said the hike exposed the government of its tall promises of giving relief to the people by providing round-the-clock supply of electricity. Shopkeepers of Kalka have also condemned the hike. They said the hike would lead to increase in the prices further.

SIRSA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Haryana Police Employees Sangh : district president -- Mr Kapur Badala; and general secretary -- Mr Rajbir Singh.

SONEPAT
SMUGGLING OF COWS: The Rai police foiled an attempt to smuggle cows when they intercepted a truck near Jagdishpur village on Monday. Four persons were arrested. Two of them belonged to Muzzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, and the remaining two belonged to Patiala district. A case has been registered against them.

BODY FOUND: Randhir Singh, a wireman, was found dead on the premises of the local cooperative sugar mill on Monday. According to the police, the victim had joined duty after the marriage of his two sons at Pinana village of this district. A case has been registered.

WATER SHORTAGE: Farmana village is facing an acute shortage of drinking water for the cattle although the village has five ponds. According to residents, officials of the Irrigation Department have failed to fill the ponds with water in spite of repeated representations made to them in this regard.

SCOOTERIST KILLED: One person was killed and two others injured when their scooter was hit by a tanker on the Sonepat-Murthal road near here on Monday. According to a report, the victim was identified as Sunil of Bagru village. A case has been registered.

CATTLE PERISHES IN FIRE: Three head of cattle reportedly perished in a fire in a house at Khanpur Kalan village, about 30 km from here, on Monday. According to a report, the house was set afire by certain persons and this led to the mishap. A case has been registered.