The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tuesday, February 27, 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

ABOHAR
RELIEF SENT: Eight trucks carrying relief material were flagged off for Gujarat by Mr H.R. Gandhar, Principal, DAV College, here on Sunday. An eight-member team, including two students and six staff members, was also sent.

BARNALA
CAMP: The local unit of the Lions Club organised a blood donation camp at SD College on Friday. Mr Ajaib Singh Kaleka, SSP, inaugurated the camp. At least 80 units of blood were collected on the occasion.

BAN IMPOSED: Mr Anirudh Tiwari, District Magistrate, Sangrur, has banned the pasting of obscene posters on walls of the theatres, schools, colleges, chowks, bazars and government as well as non-government buildings in Sangrur district. Strict action would be taken against those violating the orders. The orders will remain in force from February 9 to April 7.

BATHINDA
EYE CAMP: The Divine Eye Research Foundation organised an eye camp at Seva Bharti Hospital in Amarpura Basti. This was stated by Mr Rakesh Kumar Narula, president of the foundation, here on Sunday.

STIR THREATENED: Mr Bhan Singh Bhaura, MP, said here on Sunday that an agitation would be launched if the district administration shifted the General and Children Hospital to a new location at the main Civil Hospital of the district.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district unit of the Class IV Government Employees Union, Punjab: chairman — Mr Ram Badal; president — Mr Sukhpal Singh; and secretary — Mr Ram Lakhan.

SEMINAR: A seminar on Canadian immigration was held at the Desh Bhagat Dental College, Muktsar. It was presided over by Mr P.S. Kahlon, director of the World Wide Immigration Consultancy Services.

DEMANDED: Mr Bhoj Raj, vice-president of the Punjab State Pharmacists Association, has demanded that the services of more than 170 pharmacists working on 89 days, daily wages and work-charge basis be regularised.

SHIFTING OPPOSED: Activists of the Mazdoor Union have urged the authorities concerned not to shift the Patwarkhana and the rickshaw stand from the Arya Samaj Chowk. This was stated by Mr Chand Singh in a press note issued here on Saturday.

FARIDKOT
AGITATION: The indefinite agitation by lawyers of the district in protest against the alleged indifferent attitude of the Punjab Government to extend the boundaries of this district entered into 50th day on Monday. This was stated by Mr Kulinder Singh Sekhon, president of the bar association.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
LOK ADALAT: A Lok Adalat regarding bank loan cases will be organised on March 4 at the District Judicial Courts, here under the chairmanship of Mr Justice H.S. Bedi of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. This was announced by the District Sessions Judge, Mr M.L. Malhotra. In the adalat pre litigative and litlgative bank loan cases will be settled.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Bassi Pathana unit of the BJP: president — Mr Surinder Kumar Babba; senior vice-presidents — Mr Ved Parkash Gaur, Mr Ram Saran Vashisht, Mr Mahant Gopal Dass and Mr Subash Chand; general secretary — Mr Tekchand Prasher; secretary — Mr Pawan Kumar Pammi; secretary — Mr Bharat Bhushan Jogi; secretary — Mr Rajinder Kumar Raju; and cashier — Mr Ajay singla.

FAZILKA
NO SALARY: As many as 638 senior laboratory attendants working in high and senior secondary schools of Punjab have not been paid their salaries for the month of January as the budgetary sanction for these posts for the months of January and February has not been granted. Mr Raj Kishore Kalra, spokesman of the Government Teachers Union, Punjab, has urged the government to release the salaries.

GURDASPUR
ONE HELD: The police on Saturday arrested Harpreet Kaur of Rohini (New Delhi) for exorting money from the people on a plea of sending them abroad. Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, said a case has been registered.

HOSHIARPUR
2 ASSAULTED: Four persons broke open the doors of a religious dera on Saturday at Tajpur village, about 22 km from here. They assaulted mahant Mohinder Kumar and Bhagwan Dass who were later admitted to the local Civil Hospital. A case has been registered.

SEIZED: Mr Jaswant Singh, SHO, seized 30 kg of poppy husk from the containers of Dalbir Singh Billa, a milk vendor of Badla village, at the Session Chowk on Saturday. About 20 kg of poppy husk was also seized from Gurdev Singh of Jagraon at the Bullanwari Chowk. Both accused have been arrested and cases registered against them.

CONVOCATION: The annual convocation of the local DAV College took place here on Sunday. Prof Paramjit Singh, Registrar, Punjab University, Chandigarh, presided over the function and conferred degrees on more than 750 students of the college. The annual convocation of the SD College was held here on Friday. Mr Charanjit Singh Channi, MP, presided. About 1,000 graduates and other students of the college participated in the function. Mr Channi announced Rs 2 lakh for the development of the college.

CASE REGISTERED: On a complaint of Sarup Singh of Bassi Umar Khan, a case has been registered against Lal Chand of Rasoolpur village of Jalandhar district. he alleged that Lal Chand had taken Rs 2.80 lakh for sending him abroad. He was sent to Dubai on October 20, 1999, from where he was shifted to Jordon and Syprus within a month. He was arrested at Syprus and deported to India. Since then he had been requesting Lal Chand to return his money back.

SNATCHING: Two persons allegedly snatched gold earrings from Satwinder Kaur at her residence in Khairabad village on Friday. When her husband Balkar Singh tried to resist they assaulted him with sword. The Dasuya police has registered a case.

FUNCTION: Agriculture technocrats and the AISSF (Mehta-Chawla) jointly organised a function at Kheti Bhavan here on Saturday to honour Mr Rajinder Singh Mehta, former President of the Federation and Working Committee member of the SAD and Mr Amarjit Singh Chawla, member, Lok Seva Commission.

JAGRAON
ROSHNI MELA: A large number of devotees, who came from far-off places, paid obeisance at dargah of Baba Mohkam Din Ala on Monday, which was the concluding day of the Roshni mela. The overflow from sewerage in front of the dargah was work of neglect of the authority concerned.

PARKING: Local courts san the parking facility for advocates visitors. In spite of the assurance of Mr S.K. Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, no efforts have been made in this direction.

SAHIT SHIROMANI AWARD: Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister of Punjab, bestowed the honour of Sahit Shiromani Award on Pandit Nath Shastri of this city in recognition of his services to Sanskrit language at a function held by the Language Department of the Punjab Government.

KAPURTHALA
FIRE: House hold goods worth Rs 8 lakh were destroyed in a fire which broke out at a cloth shop in the local Sadar Bazar on Sunday. Fire tenders of the local Municipal Council controlled the fire.

POPPY HUSK SEIZED: The CIA staff of the police has arrested Bachitter Singh of Maiteley village under Bholath police station and seized 80 kg poppy husk from his possession. Mr Tulsi Ram, SP (D) said a case under the NDPS Act had been registered.

LOK ADALATS: Nearly 160 cases were settled in four lok adalats organised here on Saturday. This was stated by Mr Gurdev Singh, District and Sessions Judge.

LUDHIANA
STATE AWARD: Mr Nirmal Jaura, Assistant Director, Public Relations, Communication Centre, Punjab Agricultural University, has been selected for Shahid-a-Azam Bhagat Singh State Youth Award. Mr Jaura has been chosen for this award for his involvement in youth development activities in the state.

MALERKOTLA
RETURNED: Constable Darshan Singh of the CIA staff has set an example of honesty by returning a purse containing Rs 1,720 to a woman. Mrs Habiban lost her purse in the local market, which was returned to her by Mr Darshan Singh.

DENTAL CAMP: The local unit of the Bharat Vikas Parishad organised a dental camp at Arya College, Dhuri, on Sunday. Dr Mohammad Shabbir, CMO (Dental), Civil Hospital, Malerkotla, along with his team, examined more than 600 patients. Medicines were distributed free of cost.

MANSA
GANG BUSTED: The Sardulgarh police has busted an interstate gang of vehicle thieves and recovered a .315-bore pistol along with cartridges, a Maruti car and a scooter from their possession. This was stated by the district police chief, Mr Yurinder Singh Hayer, here on Sunday.

MEDICAL CAMP: A medical camp was organised by the local Friends Club at Aggarwal Dharamshala, Bareta town in the district. Clinical tests and X-rays were done free of cost, said Mr Bhushan Singla, press secretary of the club.

SOUGHT: Residents of Budhlada in the district have urged the Railway minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, to provide a stoppage of the Intercity train at Budhlada railway station.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local unit of the Bharat Vikas Parishad: president — Mr Kashmiri Lal; secretary — Mr Rajnish Kumar Jindal; and treasurer — Mr Amrit Pal.

FLOWER SHOW: A flower show was organised on Sunday by the local Environment Society. Ms Raji P. Sirivastava, Deputy Commissioner, inaugurated the function.

NAWANSHAHR
MUSEUM OPENED: ABC Children Museum and Park at Khanpur village, about 20 km from here, was inaugurated on Sunday. Mr Swarna Ram, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister, was the chief guest.

SCHOOL FUNCTION: The local Kaushalya Devi Model School organised its annual prize distribution function here on Sunday. Mr Balramnath Laroyia, a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police and chairman of the Kaushalya Devi Vidhya Sagar Laroyia Trust, presided over the function.

PATHANKOT
SUMMONED: On a criminal complaint filed on behalf of two women of Tempo Stand, Sujanpur, Mr Karnail Singh, Judicial Magistrate (Ist Class), Pathankot, summoned three persons for allegedly outraging their modesty and causing hurt, under Section 354/323/34 of the IPC.

PATIALA
YOGA CAMP: Fifteen-days free yoga camp was organised by the Welfare Association here in guidance of Dr Baldev Raj Gupta, founder of the free yoga centre at Jammu. Some asanas were highly appreciated by the participants and they felt that yoga is indeed the best medicine for all ills and there is no need to consult doctors after taking yoga classes. Elaborating the camp, Mr Mohinder Singh Diwan, president of the association, said that various asanas were demonstrated by Dr Gupta including Padam asanas, Brahmari asanas, Bajra asanas, Ushter asanas, Gomukh asanas, shsshank asanas and pawan mukta asanas apart from other activities meant especially for the fat persons and those suffering from blood pressure and heart problems.

SAMRALA
RELIEF FUND: In the memory of Gujarat quake victims, an akhand path was performed at Gharkhana village, near here, on Sunday. A sum of Rs 10,000 was collected and handed over to Mr Sandeep Hans, the local SDM, for Gujarat Relief Fund.

CHANDIGARH

WORKSHOP: The two-day workshop on Skills in teaching of English concluded at Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector 36, on Saturday. Dr Birender Aulukh talked to the students about phenetics and communication skills. She outlined the technical aspects of the language and the importance of teaching spoken English in the correct manner. The students were made aware of the influence of culture on language and the method of teaching correct spoken English.

AWARENESS CAMP: The Mother India Education Welfare and Industrial Society on Saturday organised a general awareness camp with special emphasis on women empowerment in Maa Bharati Public School at Mauli Jagaraan village. Dr Supriya, a former director of the World Bank project, Haryana Health Directorate, was the chief guest. The camp was sponsored by the Chandigarh Social Welfare Advisory Board. Dr S. Shah, a former director of the Haryana Health Services stressed the need and role of women at home to keep the environment clean.

MEETING: A meeting of members of “Khayal”, the multi lingual group of writers, poets and intellectuals, in collaboration with the North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala, was held in DAV College, Sector 10, on Sunday. The meeting was arranged to celebrate the grant of Shiromani Sahitkar Awards to three members of the group which includes Mr R.D. Sharma Taseer, Dr Sultan Anjam and Ms Amar Jyoti. The meeting was presided over by well known poet Sabar Abohari, while Mr Ashwani Luthra, Income Tax Commissioner, Chandigarh, was the chief guest. Other than the three awardees about 15 poets regaled the audience with a feast of poetry. Madhav Kaushik compared the poetic symposium

LECTURE: A lecture on “Concentration and consistency” was delivered by Mr Gautam Jain to MCM DAV College students and staff here on Sunday. Mr Jain is a former disciple of eminent philosopher Swami Parthasarthi and has dedicated his life to the Vedanta Life Institute. He talked about the high ideals and the difference between intellect and intelligence. He talked about the ways to control the wayward mind.

KHARAR
CAMP: A free diabetes detection and treatment camp was organised at Kurali on Sunday in collaboration with Wallace Pharms who are pioneer in drugs for diabetes. Mr Gurjaspal Singh, advocate, inaugurated the camp. According to Dr Anil Gupta , blood sugar of 181 patients was checked and detected patients were given free medicines and treatment. This was the fifth camp of its type.

REMANDED: Ms Neelam Arora, Judicial Magistrate, Kharar, remanded Achar Singh of Kansala village in police remand till February 27, who was arrested by the Kharar police after registering a case under Section 307 of the IPC and under the Arms Act. Mr J.S. Punn, Assistant Public Prosecuter, appeared in the court on behalf of the state. It is worth mentioning that the accused came in Popna village in a marriage party and a girl Ms Manjinder Kaur, was seriously injured when she was fired at by the accused.

SAS NAGAR
CONDEMNED: The Samooh Sewak Jathebandhi Talmel Committee and various local religious bodies took out a rally to protest against killings of Sikhs in Kashmir on Sunday. A kirtan darbar in the memory of the deceased was also held at the Phase IV gurdwara here. The participants unanimously demanded a detailed probe in to the killings. Mr Hardeep Singh, member of the SGPC, alleged that the killings were part of the deep-rooted conspiracy to create a communal divide in the society. He said the Sikhs should evolve a strategy to come out of the crisis.

HARYANA

AMBALA
TESTED: The Health Department tested 5133 blood samples for malaria during January. The Deputy Commissioner of Ambala Mr D.D. Gautam, said last month, in different areas of Ambala 27,738 chloroquinne tablets had been distributed. He requested that to control malaria, people must ensure that water does not accumulate near their house and wherever water is accumulating, kerosene oil must be poured over.

MAZDOOR SANGH: The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh secretary, Mr Pawan Kumar, said on Monday that a major demonstration will be organised in Delhi soon to protest against the anti-worker policies of the government. Mr Kumar said that the effect of liberalisation over the last 10 years can been now, with the gulf between the rich and the poor having increased considerably. He said that while on one hand the government godowns were overflowing with grains, a number of people do not have food to eat, a release said.

CONTEST: Ambala Junior Chamber organised ‘Jaycee Essar Antakshri’ at Railway Auditorium, Ambala Cantonment on Sunday. Fifteen teams consisting of two persons each participated in the Antakshari. The anchors were Jagdeep Sodhi and Anu Garg. The winners were Ravi Sharma and Madhu Malhotra and runners up were Lalit Sachdeva and Manju Sachdeva.

TREES FELLED: Trees were felled by the Cantonment Board at the site where a commercial complex is going to come up. While the local residents alleged that the trees were felled in violation of rules, the Cantonment Executive Officer, Mr S.S. Chahal, stated that only after getting valid permission, were the trees felled. The area residents stated that five trees were felled on Monday including an old neem tree. The former general secretary of the HPYC, Mr Lovelesh Kaushal, said the healthy trees were felled without any permission. A total of thirteen trees are to be felled for the porject. Not only are we photographing the trees for the purpose of record, we are also keeping the tree trunks for reference, Mr Chahal said. He emphasised that most of the trees which are to be felled are old safeda trees.

CAMP: A workers training camp for Ambala division of Indian National Lok Dal is going to be held on March 1. A meeting to discuss about the camp was held here on Monday. Workers from the five districts falling in Ambala division are expected to attend the training camp. Among others, Mr Jasbir Mallour, Mr S.S. Sondha, Mr S.S. Badsami, Mr Pawan Dewan, Mr Balwant Singh and Mr Joginder Singh were present.

BHIWANI
STAFF SORE: Employees of the Haryana Roadways Charkhi Dadri depot are sore over reverting the depot to a sub-depot. The employees are holding demonstrations and gate meetings for the past four days.

TB SOCIETY: A TB society has been constituted in the district to provide better medical facilities to patients and eradicate TB under the National TB Control Programme. A meeting of its newly nominated members was held here on Sunday under the chairmanship of the President, Mr S.K. Joshi, Deputy Commissioner.

FATEHABAD
CONDUCTOR ROBBED: Miscreants robbed the conductor of a private bus at Musakhera village in the district on Saturday. The driver and conductor were injured in the incident. The bus was on its way to Ratia from Tohana.

DIRECTED: The Judicial Magistrate, Mr Mewa Singh, has directed the local police to arrest and produce before the court the husband, sisters-in-law and brother-in-law of a married woman, Mrs Sunita, for allegedly harassing her for dowry.

SONEPAT
MEDICAL CAMP: A medical check-up camp was organised by the local unit of the Rotary Club here on Sunday. Mr T.C. Alakh, president of the club, said free medical tests, including ultrasound, were carried out during the camp.

YAMUNANAGAR
URGED: The local Pensioners Welfare Association has urged the state government to grant family pension to the children of the physically handicapped or mentally retarded pensioners. This was stated by Mr C. Kathpalia, coordinator of the association, here on Sunday.