The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sunday, September 23, 2001, Chandigarh, India

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50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

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R E G I O N A L B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
DRAW HELD: The Improvement Trust here on Friday conducted a draw of lots for the allotment of plots at subsidised rates in its 340-acre New Amritsar scheme. The function was presided over by the Minister for Local Bodies, Mr Balramji Das Tandon.

RAIDS CONDUCTED: Raids were conducted by Dr Ajaib Singh Sandhu, Civil Surgeon, assisted by Mr Mohan Singh, District Drugs Inspector, Amritsar-I, and Mr Gurbinder Singh, District Drugs Inspector, Amritsar-II. One unlicensed chemist shop was unearthed and a large quantity of drugs were seized from Satnam Singh of Pritam Medical Store, Guru ka Khu, Tarn Taran.

HINDI DIVAS: Guru Nanak Dev University has planned five projects relating to Hindi literature produced by the Hindi writers of Punjab. This was announced here on Friday by Dr S.P. Singh, Vice-Chancellor of the university, while inaugurating Hindi Divas on the university campus. The Hindi Divas, organised by the Hindi Department of the university, was presided over by Prof Luxmi Kanta Chawla, local MLA.

PSEB SANGAT DARSHAN: The Chief Engineer, Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), will organise a “sangat darshan” here on Tuesday.

DANCE PERFORMANCE: Hundreds of children enjoyed the performance of Padamshri kathak dancer, Shovana Narayan, at a function organised by SPIC MACAY at Senior Study School here on Thursday.

BATHINDA
SC EMPLOYEES: the local unit of the SCs and STs Railway Employees Association alleged that the officials were giving stepmotherly treatment to them. Mr Parlahad Rai, Assistant Branch Manager, in a press note issued here said the authorities were not paying any need to their problems. He added that they would start agitation if their demands would not fulfilled.

DHARNA: Members of the Punjab Municipal Workers Union staged a dharna at Rampura municipal office on Thursday to press the government against the abolition of the octroi. Mr Swaran Malsia, president of the Rampura Phul unit of the union said in a press note issued here on Friday that many employees would be rendered jobless after the abolition.

WOMAN RUN OVER: A woman was killed on Friday when she accidentally fell on the railway track before a moving train near Bathinda Cantonment railway station. About 40-year-old woman could not be identified. The volunteers of the Sahara Jan Seva took the body to the Civil Hospital where the post-mortem examination was conducted. The volunteers later cremated the body as it was not claimed by anyone.

FARIDKOT
PADDY PROCUREMENT: Mr A. Venu Prasad, Deputy Commissioner, has deployed all PCS officers posted in the district to supervise the procurement of paddy at 51 purchasing centres, including four grain markets, in the district from Friday. According to a press note issued here on Thursday, the Deputy Commissioner has directed all officers of the state agencies, including Markfed, Warehousing, Punsup, Food and Supplies, besides the FCI, to start purchase of paddy on Friday from 10 a.m. at all centres positively. He has also appealed to the farmers to bring dry crop for its timely purchase.

HOSHIARPUR
IN-LAWS BOOKED: On a complaint of Ms Sunita Devi of Model Town, Talwara, the police registered a case under Sections 498-A, 506 and 406 of the IPC against her husband, Sanjiv Attari, her mother-in-law, Krishna Devi, father-in-law, Bal Krishan and sister-in-law, Navdeep, on Wednesday for demanding dowry from her.

EMBEZZLEMENT: On a complaint of Ms Sneh Lata of the local Dal Bazar, the police registered a case against Romesh Kumari of Shastri Nagar here under Section 406 of the IPC on Wednesday. She had alleged that Romesh Kumari took Rs 1,00,000 from her and embezzled the amount.

SUICIDE: Jugal Kishore, aged around 40 years, of the local Bassi Khawaja mohalla committed suicide by consuming a poisonous substance on Wednesday.

SUCCUMB TO INJURIES: Kamla Devi of Janauri succumbed to her burn injuries at the local Civil Hospital on Wednesday night. She was burnt when a stove exploded while she was preparing food at her house on Tuesday. In another incident, Tajinder Kaur, aged about 20 years, of Argowal also succumbed to her burn injuries at the Civil Hospital.

LUDHIANA
ANNUAL CME: The Young Physician Forum will organise 111 Annual CME on Gastroenterology on Sunday at Park Plaza. According to an information, recent trends in viral Hepatitis will be discussed in session 1, while session 2 will include recent trends in portal hyper-tension. Dr S.B. Khurana, former Principal, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, will be the chief guest on the occasion, while the session will be chaired by Dr Rajoo Singh Chhina, Head, Gastro-Intestinal Unit, DMCH. The doctors will include Dr Pramod Mittal, Dr Sandeep Sidhu, Dr Karamvir Goyal, Dr Vikas Loomba, Dr B.K. Gupta, Dr Kulwant Singh and Dr H.S. Pruthi.

SEMINAR: Grace Beauty Institute will organise a two-day seminar on beauty and skin treatments on September 24 and 25 for beauticians. Mr Indira Ahluwalia, director of the institute, in a press statement said Mr Oscar Pereira, director, Cheryl’s International School of Beauty, Hair-dressing and Cosmetology, Mumbai, will teach latest techniques in facials and skin treatments. Ms Ahluwalia will demonstrate bridal make-up andhair-styles to the beauticians.

DHARNA: The district unit of the Retiree Cooperators Association will hold a dharna and rally at the District Administrative Complex on October 1. Mr B.R. Kaushal, president of the association, in a press statement on Saturday said the pensioners will present their charter of demands to the Punjab Government through the Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Sandhu. Mr Kaushal appealed other pensioners’ organisations to join hands with them for early implementation of their demands regarding pension and pensionary benefits. He said similar rallies and dharnas were held at Amritsar and Gurdaspur.

MEETING: The 261st meeting of the Rotary Club and Inner Wheel Club was held at New Senior Secondary School, Sarabha Nagar, on Friday. Over 350 children were given doses of Hepatitis-B vaccine. Dr Harbans Singh, former president, was the chief guest. Distinguished guests included Mr Sanjiv Sethi, president of the Rotary Club; Ms Manjula Jain, president, Inner Wheel Club; Mr K.K. Chadda and Ms Taru Vohra. Dr B.S. Bal was the project chairman on the occasion.

NOMINATED: Mr Ashok Bhakri, advocate, has been nominated convener of the district unit of legal cell, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. The appointment letter has been issued by Mr Shamsher Singh Shergill, chairman of the legal cell, with the approval of Capt Amarinder Singh, President, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee.

JATHA TO VISIT PAK: The Guru Gobind Singh Sewak Jatha would organise the visit of a jatha of devotees to Pakistan to pay their obeisance at historic gurdwaras on the occasion of gurpurb of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The members of jatha, according to Mr Kartar Singh Garib, mukh sewadar of the jatha, would visit Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Panja Sahib and Gurdwara Dehra Sahib, among other places of worship.

FLAYED: Mr Amrit Lal Aggarwal, National President of the Bharat Ekta Council and advisor of Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), has flayed the Congress leadership and PPCC President, Capt Amarinder Singh, for resorting to gimmicks and propaganda against the ruling coalition government. In a statement here on Saturday, he said Capt Amarinder Singh, who has been hopping from one political party to another and has been changing loyalty frequently, could not be taken at face value.

QUIZ CONTEST: The Geetanjli Ladies Club organised a quiz contest on the club premises here on Saturday. Over 125 club members participated in the contest. Ms Roshan Gupta, president of the club, said quiz was divided into four rounds. In round 1 10 ladies were shortlisted, who played in the other three rounds. The other rounds included question/answer round, visual round and riddle solving round. The contestants were chosen on the basis of their general knowledge. The club had arranged several prizes for members in each round. Ten prizes were given in round 1, five in round 2 and finally two ladies got through to the final round.

MANSA
CREDIT CARDS: The Bhikhi branch of Punjab National Bank in the district distributed 350 credit cards to farmers on Thursday. Mr Gurdarshan Singh Deol, Manager of the Agriculture Development Branch of the bank, explained various schemes launched by the bank for the benefit of the domestic requirements.

BANNED: Ms Raji P. Srivasatava, District Magistrate, in exercise of the powers conferred upon her under Section 144 of the Cr PC has banned the movement of harvester combines on the roads and harvesting of the paddy crop with harvest combines between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. The order will remain in force till November 16.

STRIKE: Members of the Punjab and Chandigarh Aided College Teachers Union (PCCTU) of the local SD Kanya Mahavidyalaya have been observing a strike for two hours daily from September 12. It will go on till September 22. The struggle is against the dilly-dallying tactics of the Punjab Government in the implementation of the pension and gratuity scheme. The non-teaching employees of the vidyalaya are also observing a stay-in strike for three houses daily and the whole day on every Wednesday to press the government to accept their demands.

AGRICULTURE POLICY: In view of the starvation deaths in Orissa and rotting foodgrain in godowns of various food agencies in the country, the Shiromani Akali Dal has urged the Union Government to review its agriculture and food policy. Mr Balwinder Singh Bhunder, the party’s general secretary, said following the challenge posted by the WTO, any decision to slash the subsidies to the agriculture sector would imperil the future of small and marginal farmers. He was addressing mediapersons here on Friday.

NAWANSHAHR
COMPETITIONS: The Punjab School Education Board organised subdivision-level education competitions here at JSFH Khalsa High School. As many as 125 students from up to the senior secondary classes took part in various competitions which concluded on Wednesday.

PROCUREMENT: The district unit of the Punjab Food Grain Agencies Coordination Committee in a memorandum submitted to the Deputy Commissioner here on Thursday has demanded that the market committees and commission agents be directed not to let paddy with more than specified moisture level unloaded in the mandis, informed Mr Tarsem Singh Bains, spokesman of the committee, in a press note.

MEDICAL CAMP: The Guru Nanak Mission Medical and Educational Trust, Dhahan Kaleran, in collaboration with the NRIs, Mr Jagat Singh, Mr Piara Singh and Mr Jarnail Singh, organised a medical check-up camp at the nearby Dadyal village on Thursday.

ONE KILLED: Sagar died on the spot and his cousin Govinda was seriously injured when a Tata-407 hit them while they were crossing a road near Dana Mandi at Rahon on Wednesday. Paramjit Singh, driver of Tata-407, has been arrested.

KISAN CREDIT CARDS: Punjab and Sind Bank organised a “Kisan credit card camp” on the bank premises here on Thursday. Mr Manmandir Singh Chhatwal, Chief Manager of the bank, presided over and distributed the credit cards amounting to Rs 1.25 crore among 30 farmers.

PATHANKOT
COMPETITION: An essay writing and painting competitions will be held on September 29 on the premises of KLM International School here, said the Principal of the school on Friday. The competitions would be held for students in the age group of 9-15 years, the Principal added.

MEDICAL CAMP: The Lions Club organised a two-day medical check-up camp which concluded here on Thursday. More than 200 patients were examined during the camp free of cost.

CONVICTED: A Judicial Magistrate here on Thursday convicted Parshotam Lal and narotam of Narote Mehra village and sentenced them to one-year imprisonment and imposed a fine under Sections 354, 323, and 324 of the IPC for outraging the modesty of Rani of the same village.

PATIALA
REVISED: The State Bank of Patiala will revise its interest rates on domestic term deposits from Monday on deposits worth less than Rs 15 lakh. An official press note said that rate for a period of 15 days to 29 days has been revised to 5.25 per cent per annum, from 30 days to 45 days to 5.25 per cent per annum, from 46 days till 90 days to 6.50 per cent. Changes have also been made in other term deposits. The statement said that senior citizens would continue to enjoy the benefit of one per cent additional rate for the deposits below Rs 1 crore under the Senior Citizen’s Suraksha Deposit Scheme.

APPOINTMENTS: The Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor, Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, has appointed Dr Tarlok Singh Anand, a Professor in the Department of Correspondence Courses the new Dean of Academic Affairs of the University. Dr Gurpal Singh, a Professor in the Department of Laws, has been appointed the Dean Research. Both the Deans took over their charges, respectively, here on Friday. While, Mr O.P. Popli and Mr C.M.Bhatia have been appointed Deputy Registrar and Assistant Registrar, respectively.

TRAINING CENTRE: A production-cum-training centre to help entrepreneurs market their products effectively will soon be set up by the Industrial Services International. This was said by Mr Inderjeet Singh Wariach, Director, Industrial Services International, at the concluding function of the Women Entrepreneurs Development Programme organised by the organisation in association with the Small Scale Industrial Development Bank here on Friday. Ms Preneet Kaur, MP, who presided over the function, said it was a major step towards women empowerment. She said self-employment would go a long way in redress of various social and economic disparities being faced by the women nationwide.

PHAGWARA
IMA APPEAL: The Indian Medical Association, Punjab, has appealed to the Punjab Health Minister, Dr Baldev Raj Chawla, to revive the Punjab Medical Council which has been dormant for the past 18 years. The minister on Thursday assured Dr O P S Kande, President, IMA, Punjab, that he would positively consider the issue.

ROPAR
RALLY: Employees of Punwire organised a rally here on Friday to protest against the closure of their unit. About 50 employees of the closed unit gathered at the bus stand and marched through the city. They also submitted a memorandum of their demands to the Deputy Commissioner.

SAMRALA
PENSIONERS’ RALLIES: Addressing a press conference at the Civil Rest House here on Sunday, Mr Behari Lal Saddi, vice-president of the Punjab Government Pensioners’ Mahasangh, deplored the state government for not implementing the recommendations of the Punjab Fourth Pay Commission. He said the mahasangh, along with other pensioners’ bodies, would organise protest rallies and demonstrations in front of the district treasury offices from October 1.

HARYANA

AMBALA
PLEA: The Ambala Cantonment Traders Federation has demanded that the district administration should make alternative arrangement for farmers to unload their paddy in open instead of the congested grain market. The federation suggested that temporary shelters, tea and food stalls should be provided and there should be ample parking space for tractor-trailers. “It is also demanded that the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr O.P. Chautala, should expedite the shifting of Anaj Mandi from its present location to a location near the GT Road, the land for which has already been earmarked,” chairman of the federation, Mr N.C. Jain said.

MAZDOOR UNION: In the divisional council meeting of the Uttariya Railway Mazdoor Union, Ambala division, the divisional office-bearers were elected. divisional president — Mr Vijay Chopra; vice-president — Mr M.L. Kashyap and Mr Sadhoo Ram; divisional secretary — Mr S.N. Bharti; assistant divisional secretaries — Mr Rahat Ali Ansari, Mr Indrajeet Paul, Mr Inder Singh and Mr B.J. Singh; divisional organising secretary — Mr Natha Ram; and divisional cashier — Mr Dharam Singh. The union has decided to hold protest meetings, rallies and demonstrations from September 24 to 28, to press for their various demands.

CAMP: A blood donation camp was organised under the aegis of the Air Force Wives Welfare Association (AFWWA) at the Air Force Station, as part of the Air Force Day celebrations. The camp was inaugurated by Air Commodore V.R. Iyer, Air Officer Commanding of Air Force Station, Ambala. About 105 units of blood were collected.

PRAYERS OFFERED: Students of Lord Mahavir Jain Public School, Ambala Cantonment, offered prayers for the victims of terrorism. A press note said two minutes’ silence was observed by staff and students of the school.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Science Apparatus Manufacturers Association: president — Mr Gian Chand Aggarwal; senior vice-president — Mr Gurcharan Singh; vice-president — Mr Parduman Kumar Goel; general secretary — Mr Bal Krishan Thakur; secretary — Mr Kailash Chand Dhir; joint secretary — Mr Anil Kumar Dhir; cashier — Mr Subhash Chander Gupta; and auditor — Mr Chaman Lal Mittal.

CANARA BANK: A function was held at Canara Bank, Ambala Cantonment branch, to mark the conclusion of the Hindi month. Employees and their wards from bank branches at Ambala City and Panjokhra participated in the function.

TALENT SHOW: A talent show competition was organised recently at M.D.S.D. Girls College, Ambala City, by the cultural society of the college. It was sponsored by Kurukshetra University. More than 100 students participated in different contests and exhibited their talents. Dr Kiran Angra, Principal, presided over the function.

JOINT FRONT: The NSUI, Haryana unit, will try to make a joint front of student unions to press upon the state government to conduct the student union elections in the state. It was stated by Mr Vijay Bansal, in charge of Haryana NSUI, here on Saturday. He said the student union elections had not been held in the state since 1995.

JHAJJAR
ARRESTED: The district police has arrested a proclaimed offender involved in several cases of murder, dacoity and kidnapping from Matan village on Thursday night and seized a .12 bore country-made pistol and a cartridge. A police spokesman said on Friday that Satbir of Matan village was arrested under the Arms Act. He said Satbir was also an accused in the Jaideep murder case of 1995.

KURUKSHETRA
GIRDAWARI CAMPAIGN: A special month-long girdawari campaign will be launched in the district from October 1. Stating this here on Thursday, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Abhilaksh Likhi, said the patwaries had been instructed to complete their girdawari work by visiting their respective areas.

DATE EXTENDED: The Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Mr R.S. Chaudhry, has extended the date for submission of application forms against NRI seats for admission to MBBS and BDS courses in Pt B.D. Sharma Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) and Dental College here till September 26.

COUNSELLING: The third counselling for admission to Master of Computer Applications (MCA) course will be held on September 26 in the university Senate hall. This was stated by the Chairperson of the Computer Science Department of the university, Dr Ashok Kumar, here on Thursday.

LINK ROADS: The repair work on the link roads falling within the 8 km radius and leading to the grain markets in the district has been completed on priority basis so that the farmers bringing their produce to the grain markets may not face any difficulty. This was claimed by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Abhilaksh Likhi.

SHAHABAD
MP’s TOUR: Ms Kailasho Saini, Member of Parliament, Kurukshetra, toured 34 villages in the Shahabad Assembly constituency and announced a grant of Rs 16 lakh for various development works in 17 villages out of her MP local area development fund.