The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tuesday, February 20, 2001,
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

BARNALA
SEMINAR ORGANISED: The NCC unit of Guru Gobind Singh College, Sanghera (Barnala), organised a blood donation camp and seminar on “Aids prevention awareness and de-addiction” in college campus on Saturday. Group Captain R. Bhattacharya, Station Commander of the Air Force Station, here was the chief guest.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
BLOOD DONATION CAMP: The NSS unit of the Mata Gujri College organised a blood donation camp in the college campus on Monday. According to Prof Harshwinder Singh, in charge of the NSS unit, more than 110 units of blood was donated to the PGI team led by Dr Krishna Rao.

LUDHIANA
EMBROIDERY TRAINING: Students of Param Sewing Institute were given training in stitching and embroidery by a sewing-machine company on Monday. A demonstration of the working of various machines was given by Mr S.K. Vyas and Mr Rawat, engineers of the company. Mr Amarjit Singh, Chairman of the company, and Ms Parminder Kaur, Principal of the institute, were also present on the occasion.

HOMAGE PAID: The New Punjab Welfare Society organised a function in Jawahar Nagar here to mark the birth anniversary of a former Punjab Chief Minister, Beant Singh. Mr Harpreet Singh Dang, Patron of the society, and Mr Neel Kamal Sharma, its Chairman, paid tributes to Beant Singh. The others who were present there including Mr Satish Kumar Bhagat, President of the society, and Mr Gurdev Bhagat, its General Secretary. Mr Vatrinder Gandhi, General Secretary of the District Congress Committee, and Mr Bhag Singh Deogan, its Secretary, also attended the function.

EYE-CARE CAMP: A free eye-care camp will be organised in the I Block gurdwara of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar here on Tuesday. Dr Ramesh of Mansooran village will examine the patients here. According to the managing committee of the gurdwara, the operations will be conducted using innovative technique that did not require pads or bandages. An exhibition on eye donation will also be put up by the Mansooran Eye Bank on this occasion.

ORGANISED: The Ludhiana Cultural and Social Welfare Club and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd organised a seminar on Safe use of the LPG in Government Polytechnic College of Rishi Nagar here. Mr Rajnish Vaid, Senior Sales Officer of the HPCL, told students about using the LPG safely. Ms Santosh Aneja, Deputy Mayor, was the chief guest and Ms Harwinder Kaur, Principal of the college, attended the function. Dr Sunil Mitoo, President of the club, proposed a vote of thanks.

MACHHIWARA
ELECTED: The following have been elected the office bearers of the local unit of the Tarksheel Society Punjab: Mr Nachhatar Singh — President; Mr Sukhwinder Singh — Secretary; Mr Manjit Singh — Vice-President; Mr Kanwaljit Singh — Cashier; and Dr Harinder Pinky — Press Secretary.

EMPLOYEE UNION: The following have been elected the office-bearers of the Malwa College Bondli Unit of the Private Colleges Non-Teaching Employees Union: Mr Gurdev Singh Dharni — President; Mr Lal Ram — Secretary; Mr Mohan Singh Malhans — Vice-President; Mr Rachhpal Chand — Joint Secretary; and Ms Urmila Devi — Cashier.

COOPERATIVE SOCIETY: The following have been elected the office-bearers of the Milk Producers' Cooperative Society of Bhaman Khurd village: Mr Lachhman Singh — President; Mr Jaswant Singh — Vice-President; and members — Mr Gurmeet Singh; Mr Sewak Manjit Singh; Mr Charan Singh, Mr Chanchal Singh, Mr Prakash Singh, Mr Karnail Singh and Mr Balwant Singh.

MALERKOTLA
CHILD CRUSHED: A four-year-old child was crushed to death by a truck near Amargarh village on Sunday. According to information, Raju (4) was crossing the road with his mother Suneeta Rani when the truck crushed him. A case has been registered.

NOMINATED: Prof D.D. Bhatti, a distinguished litterateur, has been nominated as member of the Senate of the London Diplomatic Academy, England, for his contribution to modern literature. This was conveyed by Prof Dr Alfonso Roldan More, president of the academy, in his recent letter.

PENSIONERS ASSOCIATION: Resentment prevails among pensioners of Punjab-aided schools in connection with disparity in pension. Mr Kirpal Singh Chattha, spokesman of the Pensioners Association, said here on Monday that the government was giving a step-motherly treatment towards their genuine demands. He demanded parity in pension with government pensioners.

MANSA
NURSING INSTITUTE: In a press note issued on Monday, Mr Naginder Singh Harika, chairman and managing director of the Khalsa Rural Nursing Training Institute and Hospital Trust, Nangal kalan in the district, alleged that regular students of 1998-99 batch had not paid any hostel, tuition and mess fee till date whereas they had already been promoted to BDS II and BDS III year since July 16, 2000.

MEDICAL CAMP: The local People Welfare Society would organise its 22nd free medical camp here on Thursday in which a team of doctors would examine patients suffering from problems of prolapse inter vertibral disc (PIVD), arthritis, cervical spondylitis and migraine.

ALLEGED: Mr Karanjit Singh Gehri, president of the state unit of the Dalit Sena, Punjab, alleged the union government that the column of Schedule Castes and Backward Classes had not been included in the Census-2001 forms. A memorandum in this connection was sent on Monday to the President of India, Mr K.R. Narayanan, Mr Gehri said.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district unit of the Students Federation of India (SFI): president — Mr Swarnjit Singh; senior vice-president — Mr Kulwinder Singh Uddat Bhagatram; vice-presidents — Mr Vinder Paul Bareta, Mr Kulwant Singh Kotli, Mr Ranjit Singh; general secretary — Mr Rajwinder Singh Lalluana and treasurer — Mr Gurvinder Singh Raipur.

PROBE SOUGHT: Mr Prem Sagar Bhola, general secretary of the local unit of the SAD, Mr Balwinder Singh Kaka, former president of the Youth Congress, Mrs Amarjit Kaur, district secretary of the All- India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA) and Mr Harpal Singh Palli, all municipal councillors, have demanded a high-level probe into the alleged misutilisation of lakhs of rupees received by the local municipal council under the Development of Small and Medium Town scheme.

QUAKE RELIEF: The District Bar Association has sent a draft Rs 36,000 to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for the earthquake victims of Gujarat, according to Mr Ajit Singh Bhangu, president of the bar.

MOGA
RELIEF MATERIAL: As many as 28 trucks of relief material have been despatched from the district to Gujarat. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Kanwalbir Singh Sidhu, here on Sunday.

NAWANSHAHR
ELECTED: The following have been elected members of the board of directors of the local Punjab Cooperative Agriculture Development Bank: chairman — Mr Jagjit Singh Musapur; vice-chairman — Mr Jasbir Singh and directors — Mr Ram Lal Jania, Mr Rawal Singh, Mr Ajit Singh and Mr Pritpal Singh.

PATIALA
SEMINAR HELD: Dr Bhai Harbans Lal, a renowned Sikh scholar from the USA will deliver a lecture on “Inter-faith dialogue: The Sikh Perspective” at the Senate Hall of Punjabi University on February 22. Giving this information, Dr Prithipal Singh Kapoor, Editor-in-chief of Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, said the lecture is in quest for peace and it is aimed at giving a fillip to the inter-faith movement which has now become a world phenomenon.” Dr Kapoor hoped the seminar would build strong links between various faiths and highlight the commonality between them.

LAUNCHED: Punjabi University has started the publication of a fortnightly bulletin “Punjabi Darpan” from Monday which will reflect academic, educational, cultural and sports activities of the university including different seminars and lectures of various departments of the university. The thrust is to encourage the students of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication to contribute their write-ups including features and to build confidence in them so as to join the leading newspapers in near future.

ELECTED: Mr Vikramjeet has been elected branch President of the Income Tax Employees Federation (Group-C), North West Circle, for the third year in succession. The other office-bearers are: vice president — Mr Sat Pal Goyal; secretary — Mr Jasbir Singh Saini; assistant secretary — Ms Gurjeet Kaur; treasurer — Mr Jagdish Rajoria.

ORGANISED: Punjabi University will be celebrating bi-centenary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s coronation in April. In its multi-pronged programme, an International Seminar will be organised at New Delhi and it will cover different aspects of the life and contributions of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. A university press note said over 100 historians, writers and scholars from abroad besides 400 delegates from India will participate in the three day conclave. The university authorities have decided to approach the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, to inaugurate the seminar with the Chief Minister, Punjab, to preside over the session.

OFFICE BEARER: Mr Dilip Singh Bikar, president of the Rashtriya Ekta and Akhandta Forum, unanimously elected the following members at a meeting held here on Monday.They are: vice-presidents — Mr Harjinder Singh and Mr Madan Lal Arora; general secretary — Mr Ascharan Singh Anand; secretaries — Mr Jarnal Singh and Mr Balwinder Singh Baba; finance secretary — Mr Surinder Singh; and joint secretaries — Mr Jaswinder Singh and Mr Gurdeep Singh.

SAMANA
EYE CAMP: A free eye camp was organised by the Ananth Ghaushala here on Sunday. A team of doctors from Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, examined 825 patients and operated upon 90 others. Medicines were also distributed free of cost.

TARN TARAN
DONATED: The management, staff and students of the local Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School has donated Rs 40,100 for Gujarat quake victims. The amount has been sent to the Chief Khalsa Dewan, Amritsar, for onward transmission to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for Gujarat victims.

DOCTORS ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Electro-Homoeopathic Doctors Association, Punjab: president — Dr Manjit Singh; general secretary — Dr Tarsem Singh; vice-president — Dr Harjit Singh; and treasurer — Dr Rajinder Kumar.

TRANSFERRED: Mr Yadwinder Singh, principal officiating Government Senior Secondary School, Bath has been transferred to Government Senior Secondary School, Dutarawali ( Ferozepore), on administrative ground with immediate effect. The members of the village gram panchayat, Democratic Youth Federation of India and other public organisations of the area had alleged misutilisation of school funds by the official.

CHANDIGARH

ORGANISED: The Department of Advertising and Sales Management, Government College, Sector 46, organised a presentation and a poster making contests. Sheetal won the first prize in the presentation, while Harleen and Ravi came second and third, respectively. In the poster making contest, Ashish, Manjeet and Sukhbir won the first, second and third prize, respectively.

RALLY: The Punjab Vikas Manch will hold a rally on Tuesday in protest against the refusal of the Chandigarh Administration to allow dealings with the market committees in Punjabi.The decision to hold the rally was taken here on Sunday during meeting convened by members of the manch, representatives of Chandigarh gurdwaras and Sikh intellectuals. The rally, to be held at the Sector 17 Plaza, will be addressed by Jaspal Bhatti. The Lok Gayak Kalamanch, Punjab, and the Northern Zone Film and TV Artistes Association will also participate in the rally.

INAUGURATED: The Community Centre at Sector 46 was inaugurated by Ms Neeru Nanda, Advisor to the Chandigarh Administration, here on Monday. Mr A S Oberoi, general secretary of the MIG Residents Welfare Association,Sector 46,said in a press note. The association has alleged that no office-bearers of the association and other social organisations were invited to attend the function. The association has urged the Administration to involve local people for the management of the centre.

SEMINAR HELD: A seminar on Indian Tourism and Ayurveda was organised by the Institute of Tourism and Future Management Trends (ITFT) here on Monday. The Chandigarh Administration was urged to popularise Ayurvedic rejuvenative and therapeutic programmes (as done by the Kerala government) which have the potential to attract large number of foreign tourists also. Dr D.R Kaushal emphasised that like the Kerla government the Chandigarh Administration could start ayurvedic health holiday packages.

CHECK-UP CAMP: A dental check-up camp was organised at the government model school,sector 21,on Saturday. The camp was organised by the Lions Club Rose.Dr Puri who examined students upto class 5 and stressed the need for proper care of teeth and proper brushing technique.

COMPETITION: JPA Public School bagged two gold, four silver and four bronze medals at the inter-school choi-kwang-do competition at Lohia International School at Mani Majra recently. The host school won six gold, six silver and three bronze medals.

HEPATITIS-B CAMP: The Rotary Club, Chandigarh, organised a hepatitis-B camp at Government Model Middle School, Sector 42, Chandigarh, on Saturday. In the camp, 180 students were vaccinated by Dr Narinder Mahajan, said Mr Bhag Singh, Headmaster of the School.

EMPLOYEES FEDERATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Backward and Minority Samaj Employees Federation: president — Mr Waryam Singh Khizra; vice-president — Mr Madan Lal Hans; general secretary — Mr Sawaran Singh; cashier — Mr Pala Ram; joint secretary — Mr Suchha Singh; chief auditor — Mr Harbhajan Singh; auditor — Mr Bhupinder Singh Khuda; chief adviser — Mr Harbans Dass; adviser — Mr Ram Singh; and legal adviser — Mr Banta Singh.

LECTURE DELIVERED: Sociology is the science of unanticipated consequences stated Prof Andre Beteille, sociologist, and ex-professor, Delhi School of Economics, while delivering a lecture in the Department of Sociology, Panjab University, here on Monday. The professor was speaking on “Materialistic Interpretation of History”, and stated that Marxist writings pointed to a paradox. Being a rationalist, Marx wanted to show that life was law governed, not chance determined, and in spite of this, he preferred the activist attitude in life to a contemplative one. Since these two did not go along, there was an inherent tension in his concepts. Marx’s ideas being ambiguous, ended up being interpreted again and again.

PANCHKULA
FREE EYE CAMP: About 13 patients were operated upon at the second annual free eye operation camp organised at Raggipur near Surajpur by the Parmeshwari Sehgal Memorial Trust, Mani Majra, on Sunday. Mr D.S. Verma, managing trustee, informed that the New Youth Club, Raggipur, actively participated in the camp.

SAS NAGAR
SHSAD SESSION: A general delegates’ session of the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD) would be held on March 9 at Anandpur Sahib to elect the new president of the party. Addressing a press conference here on Monday the general secretary of the party Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra, said 400 delegates would take part in the session. They would comprise 350 delegates from Punjab, 15 from Haryana, 10 from Delhi, 10 from UP, five from Rajasthan, two from Himachal Pradesh, two from Bengal, two from the USA, two from Canada and two from the UK. Apart from these delegates SGPC members and zila jathedars would also take part in the session. Mr Chandumajra said after the election of the president, a party conference would be held. He said the first round of the party’s “Panthic chetna jagao, Punjab bachao” stir which started from Muktsar on January 3, would end at Anandpur Sahib on March 9.

PROBE DEMANDED: Two employees of the Municipal Council on Sunday demanded an inquiry by an outside agency into a case in which they claimed that they had been falsely implicated. Mr Suresh Kumar, junior assistant, and Mr Bhupinder Singh, clerk, said in a statement that the letter issued by the Deputy Director, Local Government, holding them guilty, had been done under some pressure and the step was unjustified. They said they had presented 11 witnesses in their favour while the complainant, Ms Satinder Kaur, was able to produce only one or two. Ms Satinder Kaur had lodged a complaint against her two colleagues a few months ago, accusing them of harassing her. An inquiry was going on in this connection.

MAHASHIVRATRI: Nowadays everyone is engaged in a mad race for materialistic pleasures. There is need to slow down. By knowing oneself one can be successful in life. These views were expressed by Mr Jai Pal Singh, SDM, as chief guest at a function organised by the local unit of the Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya on Sunday in connection with Mahashivratri. In his keynote address, B.K. Amir Chand, national vice-chairman of the social service wing of the Rajyoga Education and Research Foundation, said science and technology could not give mental satisfaction. Presiding over the function, Rajyogini B.K. Achal said Mahashivratri inspired us to lead a simple and pure life. Mr B.K. Prem, claimed that rajyoga could help us regain our lost inner powers. Children presented a group dance on the occasion. In the morning, Brahma Kumaris and Brahma Kumars took out a peace procession.

HARYANA

AMBALA
SEIZED: The Ambala Range police has seized 80 kg chura post from Kalianpur Rodan village. One person, Amar Singh was nabbed from the spot and a case has been registered.

CLEANLINESS DRIVE: While the Hathikhana drain has been cleaned during the ongoing cleanliness drive by the Municipal Council, Ambala Sadar, the drain running through the Sadar area is being cleaned with the help of JCB machines. On the directions of the Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, Mr D.D. Gautam, a clanliness drive, specially of the major drains, is currently on. The JCB machines will be used next to clean the Gurguria nullah. “Whereas the JCB machines cannot be used, the work for cleaning will be given on contract to the cleaners,” according to a press note.

ORGANISED: A mini philately exhibition to increase knowledge of students about stamps and stamp collection was organised at Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1 Ambala Cantt by the Officer Commanding, PH & HP (I) Sub Area SDS units. Principal of the school, Dr O.D. Sharma, inaugurated the exhibition. Among others, original ordinances, old coins, postage stamps, post cards and envelopes of 18th century were displayed. Maj (retd) R.N. Kaushal exhibited his collection and explained the development of philately and communication. School students also displayed their collection. The first prize was bagged by Aman Sahni, second prize by Rahul Mahendrakar and Harmandeep Singh was third. The consolation prizes went to Harminder Kaur, Rajni Bihan, Nikhil Malhotra, Robin Alam, Prakash Gurang and Gurpej Singh.

WORKSHOP: Attitude of an individual towards life plays a significant role in his success or failure. This was stated by a management expert, Mr Promod Batra, who was invited to conduct a one-day workshop at Shri Atmanand Jain Institute of Management and Technology, Ambala City, on “Manage your attitude, time, goals, employees”. The Commissioner of Ambala division, Mr Maha Singh, was the chief guest and Mr T.R. Sharma, chief post master general, was the guest of honour. Mr Kirti Prasad Jain, general secretary of the managing committee, and Mr Kuldip Kumar Jain, president of the management committee, also attended the workshop. Mr Mukesh Sehgal, director (Dy), presented the vote of thanks. He said the purpose of the programme was to provide a platform to polish the personality of students.

HISAR
BODY FOUND: The police on Saturday night found the body of Jagdish, a farmer of Balsmand village, near here, from a field of the village. A case has been registered under Section 304-A of the IPC.

SEIZED: Officials of the Agriculture Department seized hundreds of litres of spurious pesticides from a local seed store on Saturday. The police has registered a case under the Essential Commodities Act.

TWO KILLED: Joginder and Baljit Singh were killed and Jaibir was seriously injured when the scooter on which they were travelling collided with a car near Nehla village, about 40 km from here, on Saturday, the police said on Sunday. Jaibir was admitted to a private hospital in Barwala. His condition is stated to be serious.

JHAJJAR
GANG BUSTED: With the arrest of two persons from Gwalison village under Beri police station on Saturday, the district police claims to have busted a gang involved in the circulation of fake currency notes. The police has reportedly seized fake currency amounting to more than Rs 12,000 from their possession.

PANIPAT
HIT-AND-RUN CASES: Prabhu Dayal (60) of Noorwala village was hit by a vehicle on Saturday. He was taken to Civil Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. In another case, Shanker of Palri village was knocked down by a vehicle in front of Shingla Palace Hotel on the GT Road. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.

SONEPAT
BURGLARY: Four armed miscreants struck a house at Lalehri Kalan village, about 15 km from here, on Saturday night and decamped with cash, ornaments worth thousands of rupees and a motor cycle. According to a report, Azad Singh, the owner of the house, was watching TV along with another man when the youths entered the house and started beating up the inmates. They tied up the two men and locked them in a room before fleeing on the motor cycle. The Ganaur police has registered the case in this connection.

CASE REGISTERED: The Ganaur police has registered a case under Sections 376 and 120 (B) of the IPC against four youths of Khubru village on the charge of raping a minor girl of the same village.

ROAD BLOCKED: Traffic on the Sonepat-Rohtak road near Fatehpur village, about 15 km from here, remained blocked for a few hours on Sunday due to a large number of tractor-trolleys. According to a report, the cars of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Mr Satbir Singh Kadias and some legislators of the INLD remained stranded during the jam as the police had failed to make arrangements for the security of Mr Kadian who was on his way to Fatehpur village to address a public meeting there.

CLASH: Five youths were injured, one of them seriously, in a clash between cricket players in the Shiva Shikhsha Sadan here on Sunday. According to a report, the seriously injured youth was immediately hospitalised. A case has been registered. However, no arrests have been made.

INJURED: At least 15 persons belonging to two rival groups were injured in a quarrel over loud sound of a tape-recorder at Barwasni village, about 5 km from here on Sunday. A case has been registered in this connection. However, no arrests have been made.