The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, May 22, 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

ABOHAR
FIRE: Three cases of fire were reported from Azeemgarh Panjkosi and Sardarpura villages on Tuesday, but the local fire brigade found themselves helpless as it was having only one vehicle at its disposal and that too was in a poor condition. People extinguished the fire and some minor loss of property was reported.

AMRITSAR
FRENCH CLASSES: The Department of Foreign Languages of Guru Nanak Dev University will organise a three-week elementary course in French from June 3 for children and adults on the university campus here. This was stated in a university press note here on Sunday.

PRAISED: Dr J.P. Mittal, Director of Chemistry and Isotope Group, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, praised the contributions of the Chemistry Department of Guru Nanak Dev University. He visited the university as a nominee of the UGC advisory committee to assess the contribution of the department under a special assistance programme of the UGC.

BOOK RELEASE: At a state-level literary function organised by the Man Sarovar Punjabi Sahitya Academy here on Sunday a book on Punjabi poetry written by Sudarshan Singh Minhas was released by Dr Harbhajan Singh Soch, former Vice-Chancellor. The function was presided over by Mr R.S. Bindra.

BARNALA
SCHOOL: Under the aegis of the Educational Society of Bethany Sisters, the city will have a convent school from the current academic session. The school was opened on Saturday. Prominent among those who attended the inauguration ceremony included Rt. Rev Dr Gerald Mathias, Bishop of Shimla-Chandigarh, Mr Rajinder Gupta, Managing Director of the Trident Group of Industries, and Mr N.S. Walia, Subdivisional Magistrate, here.

JAGRAON
SAMMELAN: The Shri Hari Sharnam Sewak Mandal is organising a Birat dharam sammelan from May 23 to 25 from 8 pm to 11 pm at Gita Bhavan here. Rath yatra will be taken out on Wednesday at 4 pm. Mr Rakesh Arora of the mandal said there would be religious discourses.

LUDHIANA
DRIVE: As part of the on-going drive by Shri Gobind Gaudham to save footloose cows from the current heat wave, 16 ailing cows have been brought so far to the gaushala being run by it, according to Mr Rajiv Duggal, a spokesman of the Gausewa Samiti. He appealed to the residents to contact at phone No. 808090 and inform about stray cows so that they could be provided shelter.

TRIBUTES: Rich tributes were paid to Pandit Jagdish Chander Komal on the occasion of his 82nd birthday anniversary at a function held at Shri Siddh Peeth, Civil Lines, here on Tuesday.

SEMINAR: A seminar on ‘Empowerment’ was organised for commerce students of Class XII of New Senior Secondary School, Sarabha Nagar, on Tuesday. Addressing the students, Mr Sanjay Bhandari, resource person, said all-round development of a student required self-confidence, concentration and discipline. A video movie on the topic was also shown to the students.

STUDENTS’ TOUR: As part of the students exchange programme, six students along with their teachers from Wylie Memorial High School, Brown Road, will visit the Dornoch Academy, Scotland. Mr Sunil Pillay, school manager, said the group would leave India on Sunday. Certain projects would also be planned for mutual benefit, he said.

ADVICE FOR FARMERS: Experts of Punjab Agricultural University have advised farmers to protect honeybee colonies from excessive heat. They have advised the farmers to place bee colonies under thick shade of trees. Earthen pots should be kept under the hive stand, they said. The mushroom experts of the PAU have advised the mushroom growers to procure wheat straw and store it in dry place for composting in September.

COIN MELA: A coin mela will be held at Indian Overseas Bank, Pakhowal Road, in collaboration with the Reserve Bank of India, Chandigarh. The purpose of the mela is to distribute coins of Rs 1, 2 and 5 to general public and also to facilitate the exchange of mutilated notes of these denominations.

MALERKOTLA
BURIED ALIVE: Parkash Singh (45), resident of Lohgarh village, was buried alive while digging a tubewell at the village on Sunday. The body was taken out of well with the help of police and sent for a post-mortem examination.

INJURED: Municipal Councillor Abdul Waheed Aziz was seriously injured when he was attacked by certain persons with a sharpedged weapon outside the municipal council office here on Sunday. A case has been registered.

ANNUAL FUNCTION: The annual prize distribution function of the local DAV Centenary Senior Secondary School was held here on Sunday. Mr K.L. Manuja, Regional Director (PS2), presided over the function. A cultural program was also organised.

MANSA
GAMBLING: The Mansa city police has registered a case against nine persons, including a local municipal councillor, who were gambling. The accused are Harpal Singh Palli, municipal councillor, Surinder Paul Singh, Bal Krishan Baggu, Harmesh Kumar, Krishan Kumar lotterywala, Dr Prem Chand, Sonu, Sat Pal, all residents of Mansa, and Ram Kumar Aggarwal of Thuthianwali village in the district.

FOLLOW-UP: A follow-up eye operation camp was held here on Monday when Dr Rajesh, eye specialist from Government Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, removed stitches of 181 patients who had undergone eye operations at a camp organised by the local Rotary Club.

MOGA
NO WATER: Resentment prevails among farmers of the district over the non-availability of canal water for the past several years. The farmers told mediapersons here on Monday that Kingwan canal was still without water, which was urgently needed for paddy sowing operations.

DISTINCTION: Government Middle School at Bhekha village under Baghapurana police station in the district, has been achieving 100 per cent result for the past three successive years.

THREE DEAD: Three persons have died here during the past 24 hours. According to reports, two persons were killed in a mishap involving a Maruti car and a scooter near Ajitwal village on the Moga-Ludhiana road on Sunday. The deceased were identified as Paramjit Singh and Atma Singh, who were travelling on the scooter. In another accident an ice-cream vendor died near here when his rehri was hit by a vehicle. A case has been registered.

TRANSPORTATION OF GOODS: Truckers in the district who used to transport vegetables and other goods to Jammu and Kashmir have decided to stop goods’ transportation in view of the escalation in tension there. They said the authorities there were not allowing them to proceed further because of security measures.

PLASTIC BAGS: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr G. Ramesh Kumar, on Sunday asked all SDMs, SDOs and pollution control board to ensure that recycled plastic bags were not used to carry foodstuff. He was addressing a meeting of officers and wholesale dealers of plastic bags in the district here.

NAWANSHAHR
EARMARKED: The Social Security and Welfare Minister, Chaudhary Santokh Singh, while presiding over “apki sarkar apke dwar” programme at Dudala village, about 10 km from here, on Monday said the state government had earmarked Rs 62 crore for the education of the Dalits and other backwards castes during the current academic session. He announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh for the Balmiki dharamshala at the village.

WORKSHOP: The district administration and the Institute for Development and Communication organised a workshop here on Monday with a view to creating awareness on female foeticide. Mr Ashok Kumar Gupta, DC, inaugurated it while Dr K.S. Purewal, Civil Surgeon, presided.

DHARNA: The district unit of the Government Teachers Union staged a dharna here in front of the office of the District Education Officer on Monday to protest against the vigilance raids in schools. It also demanded an end to political interference in the transfers of teachers.

BLOOD DONATION CAMP: The local Blood Donors Council and Dashmesh Club, Kahma, organised a blood donation camp at Kahma village on Monday. Mr Hardev Singh Kahma, an industrialist, inaugurated the camp.

PHAGWARA
REMEMBERED: Congress activists observed the death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi here. Local MLA and former Punjab minister Joginder Singh Mann, Block Congress Committee (Urban) president Ashok Prashar and other leaders paid tributes to Rajiv Gandhi.

ROPAR
RAJIV GANDHI: Anti-terrorism day was observed under the presidentship of Deputy Commissioner, Seema Jain at the mini secretariat. Officers and employees of various departments attended the function.

RALLY: The Raj Mistri Mazdoor Union held a rally in collaboration with the local unit of the All-India Forward Block in front of the Vishva Karma Mandir here on Sunday. Mr V.P. Saini, member, central secretariat of the bloc, presided.

YOGA SANSTHAN: The local unit of the Bharatiya Yoga Sansthan organised a function in connection with its completing two years of existence at the main park of Giani Zail Singh Nagar here on Sunday. Mr Krishan Lal Gupta, president of the Punjab unit of the Bharatiya Yoga Sansthan, was the chief gust.

CHANDIGARH

NSS CAMPS: Concern for unsafe drinking water has been the main theme of camps organised by the NSS of Panjab University in collaboration with the affiliated colleges during the ongoing summer break. Dr C.L. Narang, programme coordinator, said more than 1000 volunteers were participating in various camps. Water crisis and pollution have been highlighted by the volunteers, programme officers and college principals at the camps.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office- bearers of the Shree Sanatan Dharam Sabha, Subhash Nagar, Mani Majra: president — Mr Vinay Kaura; vice-presidents — Mr Om Prakash Saini and Mr Surinder Kumar Rathi; general secretary — Mr Anand Sheel Sharma; finance secretary — Mr Parmod Ahuja and auditor — Mr R.L Verma.

KUNDI CONNECTIONS: An industrialist of Industrial Area, Phase I, has alleged that jhuggi dwellers of Colony No. 4 are drawing power through kundi connections from his power supply line. He has urged the Chief Engineer of Chandigarh to take action against them.

BUS SERVICE DEMANDED: Various residents’ welfare associations of the Modern Housing Complex, Mani Majra, has urged the Chandigarh Administration to set up a water supply bill collection centre in the area. The associations have also urged the administration to start CTU bus service from the complex to SAS Nagar and Zirakpur. They have also demanded setting up of bus stop shelters in the area.

PANCHKULA
LOK ADALAT: To give a fillip to the Lok Adalat movement, the Executive Chairman of the Haryana State Legal Services Authority, Mr Justice V.K. Bali, will visit the district Secretariat on May 25. He would settle civil and criminal cases besides cases under the Hindu Marriage Act and recovery suits, said Mr R.S. Virk, Member Secretary of the Authority. He said 1,457 lok adalats had been organised in the state so far, in which 3.58 lakh cases had been settled and Rs 104.14 crore awarded as compensation against 19,027 cases of accidents.