The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sunday, April 14, 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
EMPHASISED: Prof H.H. Ropers, a geneticist from Germany, has emphasised the need for a global collaborative initiative for research on mental retardation. He was delivering a lecture on molecular genetics of mental retardation at the Centre for Genetic Disorders at Guru Nanak Dev University here on Friday.

PROTEST BY TEACHERS: The district unit of the Government Teachers Union, Punjab, led by Mr Paramjit Singh Gandhri, General Secretary, held a protest rally in front of the office of the District Education Officer here on Friday. They were protesting against the indifferent attitude of the government towards state government teachers. Their demands included time-bound promotional scale and new appointments against vacant posts.

BATALA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Bar Association : president — Mr Surinder Pal Bhagowalia; senior vice-president — Mr Dayal Singh Sandhu; vice-president — Mr Karnail Singh; general secretary — Mr Gurdeep Singh Randhawa; and secretary — Mr Piara Lal.

HOSHIARPUR
FIVE ASSAULTED: A group of 10 to 12 persons, who appeared to be members of the Kala Kachhewale gang entered the dera of Kulwant Singh and Nirmal Singh at Jalala village on Wednesday night and assaulted Kulwant Singh. They also injured his wife Harbhajan Kaur and snatched two gold rings and a pair of earrings from their daughter Paramjit Kaur. Later they entered the house of Nirmal Singh and assaulted him. They looted Rs 2000 and beat up his wife and mother.

ADVISORY PANEL: The following have been nominated members of the local Police Advisory Committee: Ms Pushpa Sharma, Ms Rajinder Kaur Chokha, Ms Tarnjit Sethi, Ms Shashi Ohri, Ms Swarn Kaur, Dr Subhash Jalali and Mr R.K. Dhand. The first meeting of the committee was held here on Friday.

JALANDHAR
CONVOCATION: The annual convocation of Dayanand Ayurvedic College was held here on Friday. Degrees were conferred upon graduates of the past three years. Mr Ramesh Dogra, Punjab Health and Medical Education Minister, presided.

KAPURTHALA
PATWARI SENTENCED: Mr Jagroop Singh Mahal, Additional Sessions Judge-cum-Special Judge, on Thursday convicted Sukhjit Paul Singh, a revenue patwari of Dhaliwal Bet village for taking Rs 100 as bribe from Dilbagh Singh, a farmer of the same village, on the pretext of getting the mutation of his land sanctioned in his favour.

MURDER CASE: The city police has solved the murder case of a married woman, Jaswinder Kaur of the local Arafwala Mohalla, with the arrest of two persons, including her paramour, who is working as a granthi at a local gurdwara. In a press note issued here on Saturday, Mr R.N. Dhoke, SSP, said the accused were produced in a judicial court which remanded both in police custody till April 16.

RAPE: The Bholath police has arrested Kamaljit Kaur, her husband Joga Singh and Shinder Kaur on the charge of abducting and raping a minor girl of Nangal Lubana village. Their fourth accomplice Charanjit Singh has absconded. This was stated by Mr R.N. Dhoke, SSP, here on Saturday.

LUDHIANA
DCC MEETING: A meeting of the District Congress Committee (Urban) will be held at Congress Bhavan here on Sunday. According to the DCC (U) president, Mr Krishan Kumar Bawa, all office-bearers of DCC, block and ward-level office-bearers and party councillors would attend the meeting, which would discuss , among other things, the ensuing civic elections and the programme given by the PPCC about incidents in Gujarat. He said senior party leaders, including ministers, legislators and MPs would address the meeting.

DMCH MANAGEMENT FLAYED: The Dayanand Medical College and Hospital Employees Union has condemned the hospital management’s statement of giving separate entity to Hero DMC Heart Institute. The union members at a meeting here on Saturday alleged that the management was trying to privatise HDHI. Mr Chander Mohan Kalia, president of the union, in a press note said that the management’s claims to take the two hospitals (DMCH and HDHI) separately were totally baseless as the heart centre was constructed inside the DMCH building. He said that the money spent on the construction of the HDHI was of the DMCH and various tests of the patients of HDHI were being conducted at the DMCH. The president said that the entire equipment of heart centre was purchased under the name of the DMCH because management saved the octroi and custom tax like this. Moreover the management of both the hospitals was the same. The management said the contractual labour at the HDHI had been appointed as per labour laws but the union refuted this by saying that the contractual labour had not been appointed by the management but by the contractors.

NAGAR KIRTAN: A nagar kirtan procession was taken out here on Friday by the Veer Khalsa Dal from Shaheed Darshan Singh Pheruman gurdwara in Dholewal in connection with the celebrations of the birthday of Khalsa. Led by Guru Granth Sahib and the ‘panj piaras’ the nagar kirtan passed through Partap Chowk, Basant Park, Bhagwan Chowk, Jaimal Singh Road, Janta Nagar Chowk, Gill Road, Campa Cola Chowk, Miller Ganj and the Vishwakarma Chowk before culminating at the starting point. A large number of Sikh organisations, Sukhmani sewa societies, bhangra and gatka parties participated in the nagar kirtan. Schoolchildren, attired as little Khalsas, also participated. The whole route of the nagar kirtan had been decorated with colourful strings.

STONE LAID: Ms Maneka Gandhi laid the foundation stone of an animal shelter at Khwajke village near here on Friday which would be built by the Ludhiana chapter of the PFA. In her address on the occasion, Ms Gandhi exhorted the people to be kind towards animals and raise their voice against cruelty to animals and birds. The function was attended among others by the office-bearers of the PFA, Ludhiana.

IDOLS INSTALLED: Idols of Lord Shiva, Ganesha and other members of the Shiva family were installed at the Hari Om temple in Moti Nagar by Baba Balak Nath Sewak Sangh here on Friday. A shobha yatra was also taken out. According to Mr Roshan Lal, a spokesman for the sangh, a three-day cultural programme, including a jagran, would be held in connection with the Baisakhi festival.

MACHHIWARA
FOUNDATION STONE: Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, Minister for Public Works Department, Punjab, would lay down the foundation stone of a bridge across the Sirhind canal at Garhi Tarkhana village, 3 km from here, on Sunday. This was stated by Mr Simar Singh, Executive Engineer, PWD (bridges), Ludhiana. The bridge is a part of Sutlej Bridge Project worth Rs 31.84 crore.

WHEAT PURCHASE: A total of 3,342 quintals of wheat has been purchased by the various procurement agencies in the local grain market till Saturday, according to Mr Nachhatar Singh, secretary, Market Committee , Machhiwara. He said due to non-arrival of wheat at various purchase centres, including Panjgrain, Sherpur, Hedon Bet, Koomkalan, Burj Powat and Bassi Gujran, the procurement could not be started at these places. He also informed that on the instructions of state government a six-member dispute redressel committee had also been set up in the local market committee. Mr Nachhatar Singh, AFSO Amarjit Singh, Mr Nirmal Singh Nagra, president Arhtiya Association, vice-president Rakesh Kumar Nehra, Mr Arun Kumar and Mr Jagdev Singh, would be the members of this committee. Any complaint regarding sale of wheat could be forwarded to the committee, he further added.

PATHANKOT
EXPELLED: The Gurdaspur district president of the Shiv Sena (Thakeray), Mr Ashok Sooden, has expelled outgoing district general secretary Yog Raj Sharma, vice-president Ramesh Nayyar, and Parveen Minhas, Dhar block president for six years for indulging in anti-party activities. This was stated in a press note issued here on Saturday.

ELECTED: Mr Raj Sharma has been elected President of the Gurdaspur district unit of Shiv Sena (Bal Thackeray) in place of Mr Ashok Sooden. Mr Romesh Nayyar and Mr Jagdish Raj Baba have been elected senior vice- president and joint secretary respectively. Mr Parveen Minhas, Mr Sat Pal Majotra, Mr Madan Lal, and Mr Vineet Lada have been elected presidents of the local units of Pathankot, Narot Mehra, Sujanpur, and Dinanagar, respectively.

CHANDIGARH

INVITED: Mr G.S. Rosha, Superintending Hospital Engineer and Head, Department of Hospital Engineering and Planning, PGI, has been invited to participate and present a technical paper at the 17th International Congress in Hospital Engineering scheduled to be held in Bergen, Norway, from May 12 to 16, 2002. Mr Rosha is on deputation with the PGI from the Chandigarh Housing Board. Mr Rosha has recently attended the medical architecture workshop held in New Delhi and the ISO 1400 training held in Jaipur.

CELEBRATIONS: Students of Ajit Karam Singh International Public School started the new academic session with a prayer in the heart, song on the lips and dance in the footsteps to celebrate Baisakhi. The concept of creation of Khalsa on this day was presented by the students of senior classes in their speeches. Prabhleen, Gargi, Ananya and Shreya paid tributes to the Khalsa. The school also decided to observe Red Colour Day by celebrating with toddlers of pre-nursery and nursery.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Kavita Kendra, Chandigarh, for the year 2002-03: chief patron — Santokh Singh; patron — Jagat Ram; president — Sevi Rayat, senior vice-president — Manmohan Dost; vice-presidents — B.K. Pannu Parwaj and Rajinder Raji; general secretary — Pal Ajnabi; assistant general secretaries — Kewal Manakpuri and Harnam Singh Dalla; finance secretary — Ahir Hoshiarpuri; press secretary — Karam Singh; and auditor — Manjit Kaur Mohali.

GOVERNOR’S APPEAL: On the eve of the birth anniversary of Baba Saheb B.R. Ambedkar, the Punjab Governor and Administrator of Chandigarh, Liaut-Gen J.F.R Jacob (retd), called upon the people to make concerted efforts in realising the dreams and aspirations of the main architect of the Indian Constitution. The Governor urged the countrymen to fulfil the dreams of Baba Saheb by eradicating illiteracy and poverty.

KUMAON SABHA: The Kumaon Sabha will organise a cultural programme on Sunday evening at Bal Bhavan, Sector 23-D, Chandigarh. Mr Gyan Chand Gupta, Ex-Mayor, MC, Chandigarh will be the chief guest. Mr Ajit Singh Parmar, Janata Dal (S) leader, Mr Vijay Singh Rana, Councillor, MC, Chandigarh, Dr K.R.K. Raman along with Mrs Rachna Pandey will also be present, according to a press note received here on Saturday.

PANCHKULA
SCHOOL FUNCTION: The annual function of Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 2, Chandi Mandir, was held here on Saturday. The chief guest, Brigadier S.C. Sharma, Commander, 12 Signal Gp and chairman Vidyalaya Management Committee, gave away the prizes. A cultural programme was also presented on the occasion.

HARYANA

AMBALA
APPOINTED: Mr Paramjit Singh Sodhi, a resident of Ram Nagar, Ambala City, has been appointed secretary of the minority department of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee. Among others, Mr Dharam Pal Chaddha, Mr Dharam Pal Kalia, Mr Bittoo Chawla, Mr Balwant Gupta, Mr Malkit Singh, Ms Amarjeet Kaur Sodhi and Mr Narendera Pali have welcomed Mr Sodhi’s appointment.

ELECTED: Mr Devendar Bansal has been elected president of the District Bar Association, Ambala Cantonment.

VIKRAMI SAMVAT: Members of Gita Gopal celebrated Vikrami Samvat new year with enthusiasm. A procession was taken out on this occasion. It started from Gita Gopal chowk. passed through different markets and culminated at Anaj Mandi.

CYCLE RACE: Brigadier N.D. Prasad, Commander PH&HP (I) Sub Area, flagged off a cycle race of schoolchildren in Ambala Cantonment on Saturday morning. The cycle race started from the Kharga Stadium and concluded at the office of the Station Health Organisation, Ambala Cantonment. In the first category (classes VI and VII), Balram of KV No. 1 stood first among boys and Jyotsna of KV No IV was first among girls. In the second category (Classes VIII and IX)Manish of KV No. II was first among boys and Arshdeep of KVNo IVwas first among girls in the third category Ashish of KV No. I was first among boys and Harpreet of Army School was first among girls.

HISAR
SHOT DEAD: Car-borne persons shod dead Satbir Singh Sindhu, an Inspector in the Agriculture Department, on Thursday while he was buying a cold drink at a restaurant in Sector 15 here. The deceased was brother of Mr Rajbir Singh Sindhu, leader of the Haryana Roadways Employees Union. After this, they went to Urban Estate and opened fire at Daya Ram Malik who was seriously injured in the incident. The police has registered a case but no arrests has been made so far.

YAMUNANAGAR
BAISAKHI CELEBRATED: Many disciples took a holy dip in the Yamuna here on Saturday to celebrate Baisakhi. A function was also organised at the Gurdwara Thara Sahib.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

DHARAMSALA
ARRESTED: The Vigilance Department has arrested a field assistant, Fisheries Cooperative Society, Guglera, Jwali tehsil of Kangra district, for accepting a bribe of Rs 1,000. According to the SP, Mr K.K. Indoria, it was on the complaint of Mr Pushpender Singh, a fishery contractor, that the vigilance staff caught Mr Amar Singh red-handed. The official had allegedly been demanding a bribe in lieu of supplying fish. A case has been registered.

HAMIRPUR
GUTTED: The first floor of a two-storeyed building of a trader of Nadaun in Hamirpur district was destroyed in a fire that broke out due to a short-circuit on Saturday. Property worth Rs 6 lakh was reportedly reduced to ashes. The Nadaun SDM visited the place and gave cash relief of Rs 10,000.

NURPUR
TUBEWELLS SANCTIONED: NABARD has sanctioned 17 tubewells for the Nurpur Assembly segment for providing irrigational facilities to the farmers of the area. According to an official information, NABARD would extend a loan of Rs 462 lakh for sinking these tubewells. It has also sanctioned Thora-Bhaloon bridge, which is to be built at a cost of Rs 330 lakh.

NON-FUNCTIONAL ICU: The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the local 100-bedded subdivisional Civil Hospital, which was inaugurated about two years back, has been kept locked since then by the health department. This only highlights the apathy of the authorities concerned.

PALAMPUR
LECTURE DELIVERED: Prof G.K. Chadda, Chairman Agriculture Cost and Prices Commission, Government of India, while delivering a lecture on “Globalisation and its impact on India Agriculture” at C.S.K. H.P. Agricultural University emphasised that keeping in view the high cost of food grains in the country there is an urgent need for diversification in the cropping system.

UNA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following were elected office-bearers of the District Bar Association, Una on Thursday: president — Mr S.N. Bali; general secretary — Mr Sanjiv Lath; and vice-president — Mr Vijay Krishan Sharma.

SHIMLA
BAISAKHI CELEBRATED: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal felicitated the people of the state on the occasion of Baisakhi on Saturday. He visited the bus stand gurdwara, where he was honoured with a siropa.

AYURVEDIC PHARMACIES: Mr Mohan Lal, Minister of State for Ayurveda, said here on Friday that Rs 2.67 crore would be spent for strengthening the departmental ayurvedic pharmacies of Majra and Jogindernagar. The money has been sanctioned by the Centre to strengthen the government ayurvedic pharmacies in the state.