The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, May 2, 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

AMRITSAR
AIDS CONFERENCE: An AIDS and skin specialist from Government Medical College, Dr Arvi Saini, has been invited to address and present a paper on the first international AIDS conference in HIV pathogenesis and treatment being held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in July. He will present a paper on screening of blood.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Indian Medical Association: president — Dr Hardeep Singh Deep; vice-presidents — Dr Bhola Singh Sidhu and Dr Prem Arora; and honorary secretary — Dr Rakesh Madan.

ORIENTATION CAMP: An orientation camp on career prospects for women in the Indian armed forces was jointly organised by the BBK DAV College for Women and the Rotary Club here. The GOC of the Panther Division, Major-Gen Ashok Kapur, highlighted job opportunities for women in the armed forces.

BATHINDA
VACCINATION CAMP: A camp to vaccinate people against hepatitis-B was organised at five places simultaneously on Sunday in the city by Wockhardt Limited. Mr Manoj Sharma and Mr Rajpal Singh, medical representatives of the company, said in a press note issued here on Monday that 800 persons were vaccinated and the vaccine was supplied at subsidised rates.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following were appointed office-bearers of the local unit of the Bharat Vikas Parishad: president — Mr Kashmiri Lal Garg; vice-president — Mr Mohinder Kumar Bansal; secretary — Mr Rajnish Kumar Jinda and treasurer — Mr Amrit Pal Goyal.

DORAHA
CONFUSION MARKS EXAM: More than a hundred private candidates of BA IInd year, had to return from the examination centre without appearing in the environment paper conducted by Punjabi University in the evening session on Tuesday. The students claimed that they had already submitted the examination fees separately for the paper but their roll numbers were not included in the centre statement issued by the university to the college. As the number of answer sheets and question papers were sent by the university according to the cut-list provided, we were helpless on our part to make the candidates sit and appear in the exam, said Mr Jaswant Singh Gill, Chief Coordinator, Examinations at Guru Nanak National College, Doraha. He further added, “In the morning session, too, the roll numbers of more than 200 private candidates were not in the centre statement of the university. However, the college authorities allowed the students of BA I and BA III to appear provisionally as the question papers and answer sheets were in sufficient to accommodate these candidates.” The students on their part were resentful over the casual attitude shown by the university. They have demanded a special chance to be given to appear, without charging any additional fees for the purpose.

PROCESSION: Activists of the Jagriti Manch took out a ‘Jagriti March’ in Jawahar Nagar Colony here last evening in which hundreds of youth, carrying candles, protested against brutal killing of BSF jawans by the Bangladesh Rifles. The protesters also burnt an effigy of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Haseena. Later addressing a rally, Mr Sushil Malhotra, General Secretary, Punjab Youth Congress called upon the youth to fight against social evils and to create a society in which people were not discriminated against on the basis of caste, creed and religion. Stressing the need to channelise their energy in constructive activities, he asked the youth to refrain from using drugs and other intoxicants. Mr B.K. Rampal, Vice President, District Congress Committee, speaking at the occasion, urged the younger generation to work unitedly for maintaining peace, normalcy, communal harmony and unity and integrity of the country.

KHAMANO
CELEBRATED: Labour Day was celebrated here by in Joint Talmel Organisation. Flag unfurled by Mr Pal Singh, President, Palledar Union. After this they held a gate rally at the FCI gate in which all spokesmen appealed to the viewers for unity and help another in emergency. Those addressed the gathering were Mr Yashpal, Mr Jagtar, Mr Harjinder Singh, and Mr Chhajju Ram.

CAMP: A camp was organised here by the red cross, Chandigarh by the help of the Physically Handicapped Association, Punjab, in the Government Senior Secondary School premises. Experts from Fatehgarh Sahib examined and identified 39 for trickle, 10 for operations, 2 for wheel chairs and 3 for clippers. Mr Ramesh Aggarwal, Deputy Director, Red Cross, said to Ludhiana Tribune that the material would be supplied before one and a half month. The needy persons from three districts reached to attend this camp. Mr Aggarwal said the material goods worth Rs 1 crore have been distributed among the needy people by the Red Cross.

KHARAR
WHEAT BURNT: Wheat crop in about one acre of land belonging to Mr Harjit Singh of Lakhnaur village of Kharar block was reduced to ashes due to a fire on Monday. Mr Harjit Singh reported to the police that a short-circuit was the reason of the fire. He said that his crop in the adjoining four acre of land was saved due to timely action by the villagers.

LUDHIANA
OPERATION CAMP: A three-day free eye operation camp organised by the Sahara Welfare Club concluded here at Satluj Public School. About 250 patients were checked and a total of 12 eye operations were performed during the camp. Six lens were fixed in the eyes of 6 patients. The patients were given free medicines. The operations were performed by Dr Naresh Chauhan, an eye specialist posted at Government Hospital Bhari. The opening ceremony of the free eye operation camp was performed by chairman Gurdial Singh Bhangu, who also gave Rs 2100 to the club as help.

MALERKOTLA
SUICIDE: Jawala Singh (50), a farmer of Gawara village, 10 km from here, reportedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his .12-bore rifle, on Monday. The police has registered a case in this regard.

ACCIDENT: Four persons were seriously injured when the car in which they were travelling collided with a truck at Bhasour village, 8 km from here, on Monday. The injured were rushed to the Civil Hospital. The police has registered a case in this connection.

MANSA
CLARIFICATION: Regarding registration of a case against Ms Bhupinder Kaur, District Education Officer (Secondary), she has clarified that no findings have been given against her by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. She claimed that the commission never issued directions for registration of the case. She was never associated with any inquiry, she added. Mr Ranjeet Singh Dhillon, president of the Association of Gazetted Officers of the Punjab Education Department, condemned the registration of a criminal case against the DEO.

SCHEME FOR SCs: The district administration is preparing lists of homeless families belonging to the Scheduled Castes to provide them plots for construction of houses. Stating this here on Tuesday, Ms Raji P. Shrivastava, Deputy Commissioner, said such families would be identified within 15 days. The Scheduled Castes, Rai Sikhs and Christians would be provided plots of 5 marlas each.

ORDERS: The District Magistrate, Mansa, has issued orders to the schools in the district to reduce morning assembly to singing of the National Anthem. The duration of the assembly has been reduced in view of the hot weather conditions. The order, which is applicable to all schools, will remain in force for two months.

NAWANSHAHR
SAD (A): Mr Parminder Singh Kahlon, advocate and vice-president of the Rahon Municipal Council, and Mr Kashmir Singh, Sarpanch, have joined the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar). Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, MP and President, SAD (A), has welcomed them into the party.

PHONE SUBSCRIBERS: More than 33,000 telephone subscribers of the Nawanshahr subdivisional calling area are facing inconvenience regarding the settlement of their disputed bills and disconnection of telephones due to the absence of the Telephone revenue account branch in the local telephone exchange. Various representations to the authorities have failed to elicit any response.

NO ROAD: In memory of martyrs Shanker Dass and Gian Chand of Nawan Garan village who had sacrificed their lives during the Indo-China and Indo-Pak wars, respectively, the foundation stone of a link road was laid on June 12, 1973, by the then Irrigation Minister, Mr Gurmail Singh, but work on the road has not started as yet.

PHAGWARA
SURPRISE CHECK: Mr Jarnail Singh Dogranwala, Director of the Punjab Mandi Board, on Monday paid a surprise visit to markets of Phagwara block to oversee wheat procurement and listen to problems of farmers. He warned arhtiyas of action in case of any irregularity in procurement or harassment of farmers.

SAHNEWAL
RECOVERED: A truck (PCS-9377) which was stolen on Friday night, has been recovered the Sahnewal police. According to the SHO, Sahnewal, Mr K.S. Bajwa, “The truck was recovered at Tedewal chowk on the Machhiwara road. It was being driven by one of the accused, Malkit Singh alias Bittu and Jora Singh was sitting by his side. We stopped the truck and asked for the papers , which they failed to produce . Both have been arrested and the truck has been taken into custody.”

TARN TARAN
DEAD: Mr Ram Nath Kapur (82), manager of the local Sanatan Dharam Management Board Trust, died here on Sunday. His funeral was largely attended.

CHANDIGARH

DEMANDED: The Residents Welfare Organisation of Sector 38 A and B has urged the Chandigarh Administration and UT Health Department to upgrade the civil dispensary of the sector into a polyclinic. The organisation demands that facilities like ENT, dental treatment and clinical laboratories be added to the dispensary. This was stated by Mr Surjit Singh Bakshi, vice-president of the organisation in a press note.

FAREWELL PARTY: The officers and the staff of the Telecom department held a farewell party for Mr A.K. Kanojia, Area Manager, Telecom (South). Mr Kanojia has been transferred to Lucknow. He served in the city for five years. Also, the staff members welcomed Mr K.K. Sarangal, who joined as General Manager of Chandigarh Telecom District.

RESIDENTS ASSURED: Ms Kamla Sharma, chairperson of Chandigarh Social Welfare Advisory Board, listened to the problems of the residents of Badheri village here on Monday. Ms Sharma assured villagers that the problem caused by the loose hanging electricity wires would be solved soon. This was stated by Mr S.L. Bahri, Secretary of the Chandigarh Social Welfare Advisory Board, in a press note.

FUND HIKED: The State Executive Committee of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU) has decided to enhance the Bereaved Family Fund for its members from the current Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000. The decision was taken at R.K. Arya College, Nawanshahar, last Sunday. This decision of the EC would be placed before the General house of the PCCTU, which would meet on the coming Sunday at Ludhiana.

STUDENT EXCELS: Megha Sharma, a student of Government Model Senior Secondary School , Sector 16, has got the third position in the school in the UT annual middle standard examination scoring 91.4 per cent marks.

ANNUAL FUNCTION: The annual function of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sector 31, was held here on Tuesday. Air Cmdr, Amrish Kumar, VSM, AOC, 3BRD, was the chief guest. The Principal, Ms S.P. Shergill, presented a brief report of the academic, sports and cultural activities of the school. There were many cultural items presented by the students. The items included a dance from Uttranachal and a Haryanvi dance by primary students. The highlight of the programme was a bhangra. A total of 251 prizes were awarded to students for outstanding achievements in various activities by the chief guest. Manish Triparthi was given the best (boy) student of year and Simran was awarded best (girl) student.

JEWELLERY STOLEN: Gold jewellery worth Rs 50,000 was stolen from the house of a bank manager in Sector 45-B on Tuesday morning. The unknown miscreants had forced their way into the house between 10.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. Mr A.C. Dhawan, the manager of the Sector 17 branch of the State Bank of India, complained that the burglary took place when all the family members were away for work. The burglary was discovered only around 11.30 a.m. when his daughter, Ms Deep Shikha, returned from her hour-long computer class. Mr Dhawan says that he left home for work at about 9.30 a.m. and his daughter and son-in-law left home at 10.30 a.m. It is learnt that the burglars broke the lock of the steel almirah and decamped with a pouch containing the gold jewellery. Luckily, some cash lying in the almirah failed to catch the attention of the accused.

PANCHKULA
FODDER DISTRIBUTION: The district administration would begin distribution of fodder for drought-affected areas of Morni within the next two to three days. Stating this, here on Tuesday, the Deputy Commissioner, Ms Jyoti Arora, while presiding over the officers’ meeting, said that 30,000 quintal of fodder from Ambala and Yamunanagar district would be provided for 10,466 cattle for two months. She said that the administration had made arrangements for distribution and 10 teams of officers had been constituted for survey of cattle. While one veterinary doctor had been included in each team, panchatyats, gram sachivs and elected representatives would assist in survey work. She added that 18 centres had been set up in the area and the fodder distribution operations would be monitored by the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Goyal.

SAS NAGAR
DIRECTORY RELEASED: The President of the SAS Nagar Municipal Council, Mr Kulwant Singh, released a directory of members of the Housefed Complex Residents Welfare Society at a function on Tuesday. Mr Naurang Singh, president of the society, said due to paucity of funds, the society was not able to maintain essential services in the complex. He urged the President to ask the maintenance wing of the civic body to maintain essential services.

SANITATION ARRANGEMENTS: Sanitation of residential areas of the town, including sectors 70 and 71, which was to be handed to a private contractor from Tuesday has been delayed at least by a week. The privatisation proposal had been approved by the civic body in its meeting scheduled for March 15. The sanitation of the industrial area, located on the North-west and South-west side of the town, would be looked after by the sanitation staff of the civic body. An annual expenditure of around Rs 76 lakh had been earmarked by the local civic body for the privatisation of sanitation. An annual contract of around Rs 40 lakh for maintaining sanitation of a major part of industrial area, certain residential areas, Shahi Majra and Mohali villages ended on March 31 last. The Local Government Department has been insisting on the civic bodies in the state to privatise the maintenance of basic amenities. Mr Kulwant Singh, President of the civic body, said the sanitation would be handed over to a private contractor by the end of this week. As per the terms and conditions, the contractors would also have to clean the kerb channels.

HARYANA

BHIWANI
SUICIDE: Surender (20) of Sanjharwas village reportedly committed suicide by consuming poison at his home on Monday. He was rushed to a hospital here, but could not be saved. His body was handed over to his family members after a post-mortem examination.

ATTACK: Three persons, Hanuman, Lala and Randhir, reportedly in an inebriated state, allegedly attacked Lacchu (40) at Manhera village. Lacchu was injured in the attack and has been hospitalised. A case has been registered on his complaint.

NARNAUL
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Bharat Vikas Parishad, Narnaul: president — Mr Hari Ram Yadav; Vice-presidents — Mr Ajai Gupta, Sardar Santokh Singh and Mr Sanjai Bansal; secretary — Mr Ashwin Kataria; and treasurer — Mr Devender Soni.

SONEPAT
BOY KILLED: Gaurav, a 12-year-old boy, was killed in a road accident near Gohana town, about 40 km from here, on Monday. The boy was returning home on a bicycle when he was hit by a tractor. The police has registered a case against the driver of the tractor.

SUICIDE ATTEMPT: A youth reportedly attempted suicide by taking celphos tablets in his house at Baroli village, about 15 km from here, on Monday. He was hospitalised by his family members and was stated to be out of danger.

RESENTMENT: Resentment prevails among farmers of hailstorm-hit villages due to the non-payment of the compensation announced by the district authorities on Monday.

NOMINATED: Mr Bhagat Singh, president of the District Congress Committee, here on Tuesday nominated Mr Dharam Singh Rana of Kami village as the propaganda secretary of the party in the district.

WOMAN ASSAULTED: A woman sustained injuries when she was allegedly attacked with an axe by the brother of her husband at Bindrauli village, about 10 km from here, on Tuesday. She was immediately hospitalised and was stated to be out of danger.

URGED: The local Aggarwal Sewa Mandal, on Tuesday, urged the state government to allow it to install a statue of Maharaja Aggarsein at the municipal park near Kalupur octroi post here. They also demanded the park be renamed after Maharaja Aggarsein.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
3 SHOPS GUTTED: Property worth Rs 5 lakh was destroyed when three shops were gutted in a fire at Dangaar Chowk near Ghumarwin, 30 km from here, on Sunday. Two of the shops belonged to a local journalist, Jagdish Sethi.

421 CASES SETTLED: Out of the total 469 cases of grievances of the villagers, 421 cases were settled on the spot by the district officials at a one-day district-level “Prashasan janta ke dwar” camp organised at Bassi village in Naina Devi area, about 80 km from here, on Sunday. The Subdivisional Magistrate, Mr Vinod Kumar, said the remaining 48 cases were handed over to the departments concerned for quick disposal.

HEALTH AWARENESS CAMP: A health awareness camp was organised by Chetna, a social organisation in collaboration with the Health Department at Talyana, 40 km from here, on Sunday. It was attended by more than 400 villagers. Mr Anil Sharma, coordinator, said villagers were provided with necessary information and were treated by expert doctors.

KANGRA
KILLED: A private bus conductor, Sudhir (35), was killed in a road accident at the Matour Chowk, near here, on Tuesday. The additional district police chief, Mr N.D. Sareen, said Sudhir came under a wheel of his own bus. He was rushed to hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. The bus driver, Anil Kumar has been arrested and a case registered in this regard..

NAHAN
ELECTED: Mr Bharat Bhushan has been elected president of the local unit of the Non-Gazetted Employees Federation. He defeated the previous president, Mr Rajender Babbi, by 40 votes.

PARWANOO
ELECTIONS HELD: The elections of the Parwanoo unit of the HP Gazetted Employees Federation were held here on Monday. Om Prakash Thakur of the Health Department was unanimously elected president of the local unit. Tek Chand Thakur was elected Senior Vice President. The rest of the office bearers are: Rattan Singh vice-president; Baldev Singh Thakur — general secretary; S.N Malhotra — treasurer; Virender Chaudhary — joint secretary; Prem Roch — chief advisor; Pratap Singh Kanwar — press secretary; Amar Lal Sharma — propaganda secretary; Ashok Sharma — organising secretary; Smt Rakesh Bala — convener. Om Parkash Thakur, the newly elected president of the local unit, said that he, along with the executive members of the unit, would protect the rights and claims of the employees.

SHIMLA
OFFICE-BEARERS: Mr Sanjeev Pandit has been elected president of the Himachal Pradesh State Chemists and Druggists Association. Mr Bihari Lal Gupta and Mr D.N. Dhawan were elected general secretary and chief adviser, respectively.