The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Thursday, May 17, 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

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

Ishani is Shimla May Queen
Cop who loves animals

PUNJAB

GURDASPUR
DEMANDED: Mr Ranjit Singh Padda, president of the Diet Students Association, on Tuesday demanded the immediate declaration of the result of IV semester of the ETT, session 1998-2000. He expressed concern over deterioration in primary education and appealed to the Education Minister to take steps in this regard.

HOSHIARPUR
ATTACKED: Davinder Singh, son of Jarnail Singh, a tempo owner of Gondpur village, received bullet injuries when two persons fired at him, about 18 km from here, on Tuesday. The assailants fled on their motor cycle. The police has registered a case.

ARRESTED FOR DOWRY: The city police on Tuesday arrested Sohan Singh and his wife Sharmjit Kaur, both residents of Jodhewal, Jalandhar, under Sections 498-A and 406, of the IPC, on the complaint of their daughter-in-law, Chandermani, for allegedly harassing her for dowry.

CASE REGISTERED: On a complaint of Sewa Singh of Kamalpur mohalla, the police registered a case on Monday against Jatinder Kumar and Vipan Kumar under Sections 363 and 366, of the IPC, for allegedly abducting his teenaged girl, Kamaljit Kaur, on May 10.

SCOOTERIST KILLED: Manpreet Singh died at the local Civil Hospital after a car hit his scooter on Monday. The occupants of the car fled after the incident. The police has registered a case.

JALANDHAR
DEAD: Yudh Narayan (34), Nepali labourer, died of a snake bite at Jagrawan village, near here, on Monday. He had been working at the farm of Mr Sawaran Singh, for the past five years.

LUDHIANA
INSTITUTE INAUGURATED: An institute of folk dances, led by international Bhangra artistes Mr Manpreet Singh Kittu and Mr Sant Partap Singh Bajwa, was inaugurated by folk singer Mr Paramjeet Singh at Pink Plaza, Model Town, on Wednesday. “This is the first institute of its kind in the city which would impart training of Punjabi folk dances to students in a qualitative and professional style,” said Mr Manpreet Kittu and Mr Sant Partap Singh Bajwa, directors of the institute.

MALERKOTLA
DENTAL CAMP: The Youth Welfare Club organised a dental check-up camp at Bodain Kalan village, 8 km from here, on Tuesday. Dr Mohd. Shabbir, CMO, Dental, along with his team examined more than 500 patients. Medicine was distributed free of cost.

CONDEMNED: To promote and develop integrated system of medicine, the National Integrated Medical Association, Punjab, held a meeting on Tuesday. About 40 delegates participated in the meeting and debated in details about the various professional aspects to make the worth of integrated practice for the benefit of suffering humanity.

PATIALA
PWD WORKERS: The PWD Workers Joint Action Committee on Wednesday decided to hold a rally in protest against the non-acceptance of their demands. Issuing a press note, Mr Sukhdev Singh, convener of the committee, said four months had passed since the government issued a notification regarding regularising the services of ad hoc employees but nothing had been done.

SYMPOSIUM: The Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (TIET) will organise a national-level symposium on ‘The R&D challenge before the Indian industry: Time to have a look at our universities’ on Saturday and Sunday here. Mr K.K.Nohria, Chairman, Crompton Greaves, will be chief guest. Ms Rama Luthra, Managing Director, will preside over the function and Prof P.V. Indiresan, Ex-Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, will deliver a keynote address.

PHAGWARA
POWER CONDUCTOR: The power conductor on link feeder was augmented from 25 mm square to 48 mm square on Tuesday. Mr Ajit Singh, senior Xen, PSEB said owing to augmentation and its allied work, the duration of power cut in certain areas, including Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, went beyond the declared time.

TRUCK IMPOUNDED: On a complaint of the local Telecom authorities against a private company for damaging its underground cable resulting in huge losses, the police, on Tuesday, impounded a truck loaded with material of the company and nabbed its driver.

SAMRALA
FOUNDATION STONE: The foundation stone of the Dalit Dharamshala at Gagar Majra village near here, was laid by Jathedar Kirpal Singh Khirnian, member, SGPC, on Wednesday. Rs 1 lakh as grant for this dharamshala was sanctioned by the District Planning Board, said Mr Khirnian. On the occasion the construction of the verandah at Government Primary School, Kot Sekhon, also began.

CONTEST: How to save electricity and why to save electricity? Will be the topic for the paper reading contest to be held on May 18 in the local Government Senior Secondary School, according to the Principal, Mr Bachittar Singh Barn, on Wednesday. The contest will be in Hindi or Punjabi and the participants have to speak for 5 to 7 minutes. Winners will be awarded with certificates, he added.

QUAKE RELIEF: Twenty trucks of fodder were collected on Tuesday evening by the local Tehsildar, Mr Hari Singh, for Gujarat earthquake victims, said Mr Sandeep Hans, SDM, Samrala. The trucks were sent to Ludhiana and the Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, Mr S.K. Sandhu has been informed.

SHAHEEDI DAY: It is unfortunate that the Damdami Taksal has decided not to observe the ‘Shaheedi Day’ of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’ said Mr Rupinder Singh Mundi, district president of Sarb Hind Youth Akali Dal, while addressing a press conference here on Wednesday. Talking to mediapersons in the local Civil Rest House, Mr Mundi asked Damdami Taksal that if Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was still alive, then it should be clarified where he was now-a-days?”

PROTEST RALLIES: Agriculture technocrats from the Departments of Agriculture, Horticulture, Soil Conservation and Animal Husbandry would hold zonal-level ‘kheti technocrats kisan’ rallies from May 19 onwards to lodge protest against anomalies in the pay scales. According to Dr Satnam Singh, President and Dr Chaman Lal Vashist, General Secretary of the Plant Doctors Association, Punjab, the agitation would commence with a rally at Fatehgarh Sahib on May 19, followed by Muktsar on June 2 and Jalandhar on June 16. They said they were enjoying the professional pay parity with medicos and veterinarians till the release of Fourth Pay Commission Report in 1998. The state government had further lowered their status, instead of restoring pay parity, while completely ignoring their importance in the wake of globalisation and liberalisation of the economy. Meanwhile, activists of the Agricultural Technocrats Action Committee (AGTAC) have claimed there was enthusiastic response from amongst the technocrats and the farmers in the region for participation in the protest rallies. They made a fervent appeal to the farmers to make the agitation a success so that the government was forced to fulfil the demands of both the agriculture technocrats and the farmers.

SENTENCED: Ravinder Singh, Proprietor M/s Sukhchain Medicine Centre, Dehlon, has been sentenced for rigorous imprisonment of three years and a fine of Rs 5,000 under Section 27C of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 for selling trimethoprim and Sulphamethaoxazole tablets manufactured by M/s Ekanth Pharma Bilaspur, which were declared spurious by the Government Analyst, Punjab. Dr Rajinder Kaur, Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, in a press statement issued on Wednesday said the decision was taken in the court of Mr A.K. Mehta, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ludhiana. She added that the accused has also been sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for six months under Section 28 of the Drugs and Cosmetic Act 1940.

REHRIS CONFISCATED: Several rehris of cut fruit and open eatables outside schools and other areas of the city were destroyed keeping in view the spread of contagious diseases like typhoid, cholera, jaundice and gastroentritis in the city. Dr Rajinder Kaur, Civil Surgeon, in a press statement said on Wednesday that the shops and rehris with uncovered food and cut fruit were confiscated by a team of health officials led by District Health Officer. The Civil Surgeon also said people should use boiled water for drinking purpose and eatables should be properly covered.

PATHANKOT
MEETING HELD: The Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Krishan Kumar, said flood control measures had been completed in the district, while addressing a meeting of senior officials of the district on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by the SDM, Gurdaspur, Mr P.K. Goel; SDM, Pathankot, Mr K.K. Garg; SDM, Batala, Mr Pardeep Sabbarwal and other senior officials.

BRIBERY CASE: Vigilance officials caught Varinder Kumar, secretary, Housefed, while taking a bribe of Rs 2,000 from Mr Kuldip Singh. The accused was produced the court of Mr Bhajan Ram, Subdivisional Judicial Magistrate, who remanded him to judicial custody.

BARNALA
NDA SET TO ‘COLLAPSE’: In the wake of the Assembly poll results, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee will not be able to keep his National Democratic Alliance (NDA) flock at the Centre together anymore and the NDA is bound to collapse, making the days of the Union Government numbered. These views were expressed by Mr Gurcharan Singh Dadhahoor, member of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) and former MP from Sangrur, while talking to newspersons here on Monday.

BATHINDA
GRANTS FOR SCHOOL: The school for deaf and dumb and blind children, being run by the district Red Cross Society in the city, has received Rs 9.12 lakh from the Planning Department, Punjab, for its development. Mr Jaspal Singh, Deputy Commissioner, while presiding over a meeting of members of the society, said the school had also received Rs 5 lakh from the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

MANSA
LEADERSHIP CRISIS: The Punjab unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is facing a leadership crisis, according to Mr Kanshi Ram, chief of the BSP. Talking to mediapersons in Budhlada on Sunday, he said Mr Ravi Inder Singh would be the next Chief Minister of Punjab as no one from his own party, the BSP, wanted to be the Chief Minister.

CHANDIGARH

WELFARE SOCIETY: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Residents Welfare Society, Sector 42-B, here: honorary chairman — Mr M. Batra; president — Mr Shiv Kumar; vice-president — Mr J.C. Sharma; general secretary — Mr Madan Lal; joint secretary — Mr V.K. Sood; and treasurer — Mr N.R. Saini.

NAGAR KIRTAN: A nagar kirtan will be taken out from Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Sector 7, on the eve of martyrdom day of Guru Arjun Dev on may 22. The kirtan will start at 2.30 p.m. and pass through Sector 7, gurdwara of Sector 8, Press Chowk (Sector 17-18 traffic lights), Sector 18, Sector 19, Gurdwara of Sector 19, Sector 20, 21, 22 and Sector 23. This was stated in a press note of Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha.

MAZDOOR SABHA: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Mazdoor Sudhar Sabha: chairman — Mr Surinder Bhatia; president — Mr Ram Avtar; vice-presidents — Mr Balbir Singh and Mr Kushid Ahmed; general secretary — Mr Lalit Mohan; joint secretary — Mr Hari Ram; and cashier — Ms Neelam. The executive members are: Mr Shyam Sunder, Mr Raghubir Singh, Johnson, Mr Kashmir Singh, Mr Dalip Kumar, Mr P.S. Chadak, Mr Yaspal, Mr Harbans Chawal, Mr Kirpal Singh and Ms Parkashwati.

ESSAY WRITING CONTEST: As part of its first anniversary, the British Library organised an essay writing competition on ‘India in the new millennium’ on Tuesday. As many as 38 persons in the age group of 15 to 65 participated. An extempore competition will be held on Thursday.

SHRAMDAN: The shramdan at the Sukhna Lake regulator end entered 11th day on Tuesday. As many as 110 NSS voluteers of Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 37, under the leadership of programme officers — Mr Jaswinder Singh and Mr Rajinder Kumar — performed shramdan. As many as 50 NSS volunteers of Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 40, and Chandigarh police personnel also performed shramdan. Mr Sham Lal Singal of the Grain Market, Sector 26, who has been taking part in the shramdan since 1988, also participated. Till date about 3,77,000 cubic feet silt has been removed.

RALLY: The executive body meeting of the Market Welfare Association, Sector 37, has decided to hold a protest rally in the market on May 26 against issuance of notices to certain shops by the Chandigarh Administration. In a press note, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hira, general secretary of the association, said they had already met the Adviser, the Finance Secretary and the Chief Architect of Chandigarh but in futile.

INCOME TAX CASES: The Income Tax Commissioner, Chandigarh, has assured that the pending income tax refund case would be promptly dealt with and the senior citizens were free to seek redressal at his level in case of any problem. This was stated by Mr V.S. Sodhi, Secretary, Public Relations, Chandigarh Senior Citiziens Association, in a press note.

COUNCIL INVITES MP: The Common Cause Council, Sector 47, has invited Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, MP, Chandigarh, and Mr Raj Kumar Goyal, Mayor, MCC, on Thursday to present the charter of demands regarding the maintenance of Sector 47. Mr B.B. Behl, president of the CTCC; Mr Pawan Kumar Sharma, a senior Congress leader; and Mr Kesar Singh, chairman of the Market Committee, Chandigarh, will also be present at the function. This was announced by Mr G.S. Sabharwal, president of the council, in a press note.

BHARGAVA SABHA: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Bhargava Sabha, Chandigarh: president — Mr Ramesh Bhargava; vice-presidents — Dr Pushpa Bhargava and Mr J.L. Bhargava; secretary — Mr Kapil Bhargava; joint secretary — Mr Sanjay Bhargava; treasurer — Mr Ashok Bhargava; and auditor — Mr Rajiv Bhargava. The executive members are: Mr R.K. Bhargava, Mr R.C. Bhargava, Dr Poonam Bhargava, Ms Kirti Bhargava and Mr Mansish Bhargava.

HARYANA

AMBALA
CATTLE KILLED: Nearly 17 head of cattle were killed in an accident at Mullana on Wednesday morning. The incident took place when a truck carrying the cattle met with the accident with another truck on the Ambala-Jagadhari road. The driver of the truck carrying the cattle absconded after the accident.

ICICI HOME LOANS: ICICI home loans are now available in Ambala and Patiala. The major focus of the loans has been to offer personalised service at no extra cost. Apart from offering attractive interest rates, ICICI also come up with flexibility and high quality of service with the objective being to provide convenience to customers at their doorstep, a press note said. The loans are available in the range of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore. The maximum duration for which the loan is available is 30 years. The loans for NRIs are for a maximum duration of 10 years.

BHIWANI
ARRESTED: The police has arrested Ram Kumar Dhanak, and Amarjeet Dhanak for gambling near Lohar Primary School and seized playing cards and Rs 190. In another case Vijay Mahajan, and Hemraj were also caught on the same charge. A case has been registered, under Section 13A-3-65, of the Gambling Act.

DATE EXTENDED: The date for the receipt of applications for the recruitment of 120 men and 5 women constables in the Haryana police has been extended from May 12 to May 20 for men and June 2 for women. This was stated in a press note of the department.

VOTERS’ LIST: The preparation of voters’ list for gram panchayat for the seats fallen vacant till April 30, 2001 in the district has started. The District Election Officer ( Panchayat), Mr H.S. Malik, said on Tuesday that the work of preparing wardwise electoral list would continue till May 21.

KALKA
ROOF COLLAPSES: The roof of a school building constructed by the Sanatan Sabha, caved in on Tuesday. However, no one was injured.

KURUKSHETRA
MEDICAL CAMP: A free diabetes check-up camp will be organised by the Haryana Civil Pensioners’ Welfare Association at Naya Udaseer Akhara, Kacha Gher here on May 20. Mr Gobind Aggarwal, general secretary, said the check-up would be conducted by a team of specialists.

PANIPAT
RECORD WHEAT: Wheat arrivals in different purchase centres of the district have surpassed all records, Mr M.R. Anand, Deputy Commissioner, said. In a press note on Tuesday he stated that wheat arrivals till May 14 were 2,10,090 MT against last year’s 1,65,282 MT during the corresponding period.

SONEPAT
HOTELS RAIDED: The city police conducted a raid on the premises of well-known hotels and restaurants in different parts of the city on Tuesday and apprehended three pairs of boys and girls. They were, however, let off after the reported pressure by certain powerful politicians. This has been resented by various social organisations.

DECIDED: The Public Health Department has decided to disconnect all illegal water and sewerage connections in the city from June 1.

PROCUREMENT: Officials of the procurement agencies had to flee the scene when a group of farmers started raising slogans against the buying of wheat brought from UP for sale in the new grain market here on Tuesday.

CHALLAN DRIVE: The traffic police challaned as many as 60 persons on various charges of violation of the traffic rules on Tuesday. According to the SP, the campaign will continue.

YAMUNANAGAR
CAMP HELD: The local All India Samaj Sewa Kendra, and Dayanand Dental Hospital organised a free dental check-up camp at Jathlana village, 15 km from here, on Monday. A large number of villagers were examined at the camp. Mr Gulshan Vinayak, president of the Punjabi Sabha, inaugurated the camp.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

KULU
WASHED AWAY: Pranya, a tourist from Delhi met with a tragic end at Manali on Tuesday when she slipped while taking photographs near Club House and was washed away by waters of the Beas, official sources said.

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

Ishani is Shimla May Queen

AT a a glittering and well-contested function held on May 12 at Shimla’s Gaiety Theatre, 17-year-old Ishani was crowned the ADC May Queen 2001. With that she joins the league of celebrities like Kalpana Kartik, Sadhna, Priya Rajvansh, Prema Narain, Poonam Dhillon (popular film stars), TV anchor Manveen Dhanda and Saudi Airlines Senior Air Hostess Tuhina Bannerji. She shared the honours with Shelly Bhoil and Divya Gangwani, of St Bedes’ College, who were declared the first and the second runner-up, respectively, among the five finalists after a snap question round. Earlier they were evaluated in their looks, personality, dress, intelligence and poise in two gruelling and challenging rounds where eight participants struggled hard to get into the top-five bracket.

Ishani, a reluctant participant who was coaxed by her friends, now finds it as a beautiful experience. “The crown is not the criteria, it is the feeling of being a part of this prestigious event, going through a rigorous selection to prove yourself is quite exciting”, says, 5’-4” tall May Queen, 2001, with black-brown sparkling eyes flawless rosy complexion and vital statistics to match, making it a sure win combination. To top it all Ishani has the mental calibre to sail through any interview with the minimal effort, which had helped her bag the distinguished title of St Bedes’ Miss Fresher-2000, last year.

The beaming winning trio were crowned by the chief guest and the president of the club, Lt-Gen S.S. Mehta, and Sashed by Mrs Madhu Mehta. Maj-Gen S.K. Awasthi, Executive President of the Shimla ADC and Mrs Norbu Awasthi, Brig Gonsalves, a former Chairman of ADC’s Entertainment and Theatre Promotion Committee and his wife and the Secretary ADC, Col G.K. Bhandhari, and Mrs Nishi Bhandhari were also present on the occasion.

It is appropriate to add that Shimla ADC May Queen title has a history behind it. The first vice-regal dance in honour of the Queen’s birthday was held at Shimla’s Annandale Race Course Club on May 24, 1839, and was called Queen’s Ball. Subsequently it came to stay as May Queen Ball and became the most popular event of Shimla ADC during British India days.

The ADC Princess-2001 crown went to 14-year-old Ruhani Chohan of Sacred Heart High School, Tara Hall, Shimla, who was selected out of four participants since the contest is open to ADC members’ wards only. Not so long ago, Bollywood darling Shimla’s own Priety Zinta, was ADC - Princess 1992. Other participants Rohini, Chandani and Sehaj were also impressive.

At the dance-competition later held at the historic ‘Tavern’, a 114-year-old heritage complex of Gaiety Theatre, Mr Rakeshawar Lal was adjudged ADC-King, Jasmine Gill ADC-Queen and H. Jawanda ADC-Prince.

Neena Padamvir Singh, Protima Dadwal, Brig Mohan Panday, Brig S.S. Sidhu and Mr Pritinder Singh aptly judged the show whereas Miss Simrat Sawtantra Singh, a senior student of Shimla’s Convent of Jesus & Mary, and Col Ricky Sareen conducted the stage like professionals. Incidentaly Simrat was the winner of ADC Little-Princess crown in 1992.

The two-week long ADC anniversary celebrations will come to an end on May 30 with the staging of the club’s annual English play.

Cop who loves animals

He is not a burly “Danda” yielding cop, but a good human being and a multifaceted personality.

Mr Gaurav Yadav, the Jalandhar SSP, has more than one distinction to his credit, primarily for his keen interest in different spheres of life, including academics and animal welfare.

A Masters degree holder in Police Administration, Mr Yadav was adjudged the best probationer and awarded the Prime Minister’s Baton in 1994. And what shows that he is a good human being is his passion for animals, a number of which roam about in his official residence. Moreover, he was the force behind-”Pashupalika”, India’s first round the clock animal rehabilitation centre at Jalandhar, run by the Punjab Police.

For setting up this unique centre. Mr Yadav got commendation certificates from Union Minister Maneka Gandhi and the Animal Welfare Board of India.

(Contributed by Rama Sharma and Varinder Singh)