The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tuesday, April 2, 2002, 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
STRIKE OBSERVED: The Amritsar and Tarn Taran Bar Association observed strike here on Monday in protest against police inaction in arresting those who were allegedly involved in assaulting, Mr Rakesh Raman Arora and Mr Bikram Jit Arora, members of the association.

BATALA
MEDICAL CAMP: A free medical check-up camp was organised here on Sunday by the Parjapat Sabha. According to Mr Gian Chand, president, Municipal Council, Batala, nearly 650 patients were examined by a team of doctors and also given medicines free of cost.

BATHINDA
HONOUR FOR XEN: Mr Jagvir Goyal, Senior Executive Engineer of the Punjab State Electricity Board, has been invited to attend an international conference on “Challenges in concrete construction” to be held in Scotland in September this year. Mr Goyal, who is currently posted at the Lehra Mohabbat Thermal Plant in the district, has written many articles on the topic.

MEDICAL CHECK-UP CAMP: The local Rotaract Club organised a medical check-up camp for the mentally retarded children in the city on Sunday. As many as 118 patients were examined. The medicines were also distributed free of cost.

HOSHIARPUR
JAWAN CREMATED: The mortal remains of Lance Naik Balwinder Singh of 19 Punjab (33 Mountain Brigade), who was killed in an IED blast on Friday in Rajouri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, were consigned to the flames with full Army honours at his native village, Kangwan, about 18 km from here, on Sunday. Thousands of people from the surrounding villages attended the funeral.

KHANNA
ELECTED: Mr K.L. Sehgal was elected president of the local Cloth Merchants Association here on Sunday. Mr K.L. Sehgal got 95 votes while his rival Jaswant Singh Kalsi secured 86 votes.

LUDHIANA
CONTESTS: Debate, collage and poster-making contests were organised by the NSS wing of the Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology, Model Town, on Sunday. The topics of debate were ‘Role of women in eradicating dowry’ and ‘Men have failed, let women try’. In collage and poster-making, students expressed their creativity on the topic ‘Changing role of women in the new millennium’. Dr A.S. Bansal, director-cum-principal of the institute, gave away prizes to the winners.

PRIZE DISTRIBUTION: The annual prize distribution function of Punjab English Model High School, Janta Nagar, was held on Monday. The programme began with shabad kirtan, followed by distribution of prizes to the students who had excelled in academics, sports and cultural activities. Addressing on the occasion, Mr Amrik Singh Pannu, president of the school, said more emphasis would be laid on computer education in the coming session. Mr Sukhpal Singh, principal, was also present on the occasion.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following were elected office-bearers of the local unit of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union for the session 2002-03 in a meeting held at Kamla Lohtia Sanatan Dharam College: president — Prof Bimlesh Kumar Gupta; vice-president — Prof Rajesh Marwaha; general secretary — Prof Dinesh Malik; joint secretary — Prof Mahesh Joshi; and finance secretary — Prof Ashok Kumar.

ELECTED: Prof Barinderjit Singh Birdi of Gujranwala Guru Nanak Khalsa College has been elected a member of the Undergraduate Board of Studies of Panjab University in the subject of Physics for two years. This information was given by Mr Gurdip Singh, officiating principal of the college.

TALENT SEARCH: Gaurav Gupta of New SMD Senior Secondary School has secured 49th position in the All India Student’ Talent Search Promotion Examination conducted by the Children Welfare Trust of India. Giving this information, Mr R.C. Goyal, Principal, said 28 other students of the school, including Piyush and Ekta Dixit, bagged merit certificates and were placed in the list of top 300 students at the national level.

IMA E-MAIL ID: The Ludhiana chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has launched the group e-mail ID for interaction among doctors. The email ID ‘ima-ludhianayahoo@groups.com’ was launched today. According to IMA Ludhiana president, Dr Gursharan Singh, the doctors have been asked to enroll themselves in the group for mutual interaction and sharing of latest information and ideas about their profession.

MANDI GOBINDGARH
CAMP: A free eye operation and check-up camp organised by the Om Namo Shivai Sewa Samiti in Prabhatpuri Charitable Hospital concluded here on Sunday. The camp was inaugurated by Mr Prem Chand Bansal, industrialist. A team of doctors comprising Dr G.C. Bansal Dr Neelma Sodhi, Dr Manmohan Kaushal, Dr Sanjeev Maheshwari and Dr J.P.S. Sodhi examined 430 patients. Ninety lens were installed, 110 operations of cataract were performed while 195 persons were recommended spectacles. Mr Parkash Chand Garg, Mr Rajesh Sharma, Mr M.K. Bansal, Mr Deepak Sapra, Mr Dharam Pal, Seth Ghanaya Lal Bardeja, Mr Ran Singh Kalsi, Mr Subhash Satija, Mr Kesar Singh and Mr Yash Pal Talwar worked for the success of the camp.

MANSA
VENUE SHIFTED: The venue of the annual examination of Punjabi University has been changed from Government Nehru Memorial Postgraduate College, Mansa, to Gymnasium Hall. This was disclosed by Mr Ashok Shekhar, Deputy Commissioner of Mansa, here on Monday. This has been done in accordance with the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court as the existing college building has been found unsafe.

NAWANSHAHR
PHONE SUBSCRIBERS: Telephone subscribers here have been facing inconvenience due to erratic functioning of the local telephone exchange for the past couple of weeks. The system often remains down. Subscribers have also complained of disturbance in their telephone sets.

‘JAN KALYAN DIVAS’: The local Shivalaya Atma Devi Talab Ralla Mal Bhucher Jan Kalyan Committee organised its 13th “jan kalyan divas” here on Sunday. The committee, with the help of local philanthropists, distributed pension (Rs 1,800 per annum) to 18 needy women, sewing machines to three widows and honoured 20 students of the local Ralla Mal Bhucher DAV Public School. A sum of Rs 11,000 was donated to the Banke Bihari Gaushala by Mr Sunil Bhucher, NRI.

PATIALA
THEATRE FORUM: Several theatre personalities of Patiala, including Sudesh Verma, Gian Gakhar, Gulzar Pawar and Pran Sabharwal, met Mr M.L. Hasija, Director, Department of Languages, here on Sunday in order to strengthen the theatre movement in Patiala. They also decided to revive the Punjab Theatre Forum.

DR SAROJ RANI: The in charge of the Fine Arts Department, Dr Saroj Rani, who was arrested a few days ago on the charge of causing mental trauma to Saru Rana, a student of her department, broke her fast on Sunday. Dr Rani was on a hunger strike since March 27 in protest against her arrest. In a press note issued here, Dr Rani said she broke the fast following repeated appeals from her students.

SAMRALA
PRESS CLUB OFFICE-BEARERS: The following were elected office-bearers of the Samrala Press Club, in a meeting held under the presidentship of Mr Ram Gopal Sofat, in the civil rest house, on Sunday: president — Mr Ravi Inder Singh; general secretary — Mr Jagdish Dhillon; vice-president — Mr J.P. Sethi; chairman — Mr S.P. Kalra; and chief patron — P.S. Batra.

DHARNA: More than 30 Punjabi writers, including senior Akali leader Jathedar Jagjiwan Singh Khirnian and Jathedar Joginder Singh Seh, sat in dharna in front of the courts of Capt S.S. Brar, SDM, Samrala. They were protesting against non-implementation of the Punjabi Language Act (1960). Later they submitted a memorandum under the leadership of Mr Bihari Lal Saddi, president of the Punjabi Sahit Sabha, Samrala, to the Tehsildar, Mr Rashpalchand Sharma. They demanded that use of Punjabi should be made compulsory in the Assembly and government offices.

TARN TARAN
MASS MARRIAGE: Six marriages of the poor were solemnised at the local Sri Chintpurni Mandir on Sunday. The function was organised under the presidentship of the head priest of the mandir. Mr Balwinder Sharma, an office-bearer of the managing committee of the mandir, said the couples were given household articles, besides silver ornaments as gifts.

HOSPITAL GRADING: The Civil Hospital, Patti, has secured the first position in the core quality indicator report and grading of hospitals, according to a report released by the Punjab Health Systems Corporation. Sources said here on Sunday that the hospital secured 131 out of 150 points, while the Civil Hospitals at Sri Anandpur Sahib and Barnala secured the second position by getting 124 points each. The Civil Hospital, Khanna, with 123 points, secured the third position.