The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sunday, January 19, 2003, 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

BATHINDA
MEDICAL CAMP: The Aasra Welfare Society an NGO here will organise medical camp at the Bhana Mal Trust in the city on Sunday. Medicines will be given free of cost. The society also distributed sweaters among students of Government Schools of Jivi Nagar, Ganesha Basti, and Lalsingh Basti on Saturday.

VAT MEMBER: Mr R.D. Gupta, Senior Vice-President of the Bathinda Unit of the Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal, has been made a member of the Advisory Committee for the Value Added Tax (VAT), according to a letter received by Mr Gupta from Mr Mukul Joshi, Financial Commissioner Taxation and Secretary Punjab Government, Department of Excise and Taxation.

CBI PROBE SOUGHT: The Indian Medical Association city unit has demanded a CBI probe into the kidney scam. The IMA also condemned the arrest of Dr Mahajan and Dr Sareen.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
SCHOOL TIMINGS: With the continuance of inclement weather conditions, Mr Vikas Partap, District Magistrate Fatehgarh Sahib, through fresh orders has extended the date of changed school timings till January 31. The school timings for all government and private elementary schools will remain from 10 am to 2 pm and for middle, high and senior secondary schools from 10 am to 3 pm.

AID TO FARMERS: Mr Vikas Partap, Deputy Commissioner, on Saturday said Rs 3.5 crore would be spent on overall development for rural areas of the district. While presiding over a meeting, the DC said as per the new scheme of the state government, villages would be provided with maximum facilities. While reviewing the work of the Social Security Department, the DC said 90 per cent pension cases had been found correct so far, while 3 per cent cases were yet to be verified. He said Rs 68 crore would be disbursed among these farmers whose crop had been affected by hailstorm on October 13 last year. He said drought-hit farmers would be paid Rs 5.76 crore at the rate of Rs 20 per quintal.

HOSHIARPUR
CREMATED: Vidyawati, 82-year-old old mother of Mr Dharampal Sabbarwal, former Minister of Punjab, was cremated at the local Bahadurpur cremation ground on Thursday. Hundreds of supporters of Mr Sabbarwal attended the cremation. Vidyawati had died on Wednesday evening.

LUDHIANA
‘PARKASH UTSAV’: Guru Nanak Khalsa College for Women, Gujjarkhan campus, here celebrated ‘Parkash Utsav’ of Guru Gobind Singh with devotion this morning. Several competitions were organised on the day. The results of the competition are: Embroidery competition: Sonia 1, Sonia 2, Rupinder and Manpreet 3; rangoli: Rachna 1, Jaswinder 2 and Inderjit 3; flower arrangement: Kanwaldeep 1, Amanpreet 2 and Jyotika 3; tie and dye: Amarjyoti 1, Nidhi 2 and Deepika 3; poster making: Pooja 1, Tinki 2 and Simta 3; life drawing: Sumeet 1, Amrita 2 and Paramjeet 3; composition: Rajwant 1, Mamta 2 and Satwinder 3; still life: Kanwaldeep 1, Naina 2 and Davinder 3.

GENITALS SEVERED: In a shocking incident, a four-year-old boy severed the genitals of his younger brother at Kaunke-Kalan village near Jagraon this afternoon. The victim aged three was admitted unconscious to the Civil Hospital, Jagraon, from where he was rushed to a hospital here.

MANSA
PATWARI SUSPENDED: Mr S.K. Ahluwalia, Deputy Commissioner, Mansa, has placed Mr Bazz Singh, Revenue Patwari, Halqa Saidewala in Budhlada tehsil, under suspension and ordered a departmental proceeding against Raj Kumar Sharma, registry clerk of Mansa tehsil. This was announced here on Friday by Mr Ahluwalia.

PATHANKOT
TWO HELD: The police on Thursday arrested Parveen Kumar and seized 265 gm of charas from his possession. In another case, the police arrested Jaspal and seized 2 kg of poppy husk.

PATIALA
ELECTED: Mr H.S. Sodhi was today unanimously elected president of the Punjab Pensioners Welfare Association on Saturday at a general body meeting of the association in the Central Library here. Mr Dayal Singh Bajaj was elected general secretary while Mr D.P. Kaushal was elected finance secretary.

LECTURE: The Lions Club, Patiala Central, organised a special lecture on body care by Dr B.K. Chopra, Professor and Head of Medicine of Government Medical College, Patiala, at the general body meeting of the club. District Governor Darshan K Monga was the chief guest on the occasion. Dr Chopra stressed the need to maintain the body through regular exercise and nutritious diet.

PHAGWARA
SEVEN INJURED: Seven persons were injured in a group clash at Thakarki village, near here, on Friday. Those who were seriously injured were hospitalised.

PHILLAUR
DOSANJH’S VISIT: Former Premier British Columbia Ujjal Dosanjh spoke about functional autonomy in the Canadian law enforcement and justice system at a special function organised by the Punjab Police Academy here on Friday. Academy Director Dr G.S. Aujla also spoke.

TARN TARAN
COPS BOOKED: Two policemen, Prem Singh and Dawinder Kumar, were on Saturday booked and suspended for negligence. Rattan Singh, alias Rattoo, who had been booked under the Excise Act, fled from police custody on Friday when he was brought to court.

CHANDIGARH

DIED: Dr K.B.S. Dhillon, husband of Dr Satinder Dhillon, Principal of the Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector 36, died following a massive heart attack here on Friday evening. He was a practising doctor at Zirakpur and was also involved in organising medical camps for the needy.

VACCINATION CAMP: The BBMB Workers Welfare Society organised a free vaccination camp against hepatitis - B for its members on Saturday at the BBMB Dispensary, Sector 35, under the patronage of Mr Rakesh Nath, Chairman, BBMB. To complete the course of three vaccinations, two more vaccination camps would also be organised after the gap of one month and six months. Such camps have already been organised at different project stations of the BBMB like Nangal, Ganguwal and Kotla. So far 800 members of the BBMB and their spouses have been immunised.

DEMAND: The Housing Board Welfare Association, Sector 29-B, has urged the area councillor to install tubelights instead of bulbs in the area falling between H.No. 1651 to 1812. Mr Amritpal Singh Chadha, president of the association, while expressing thanks for the work done by the Municipal Corporation in the area in the past, demanded that remaining promises made by the councillor in the election manifesto should be carried out at the earliest. The association urged the MC to take more interest towards sanitation, roads and beautification of parks.

BLOOD DONATION CAMP: Swaraj Mazda employees organised IVth Blood Donation Camp at its corporate office here on Saturday. Employees of other Swaraj Group companies, including Punjab Tractors Ltd and Swaraj Engines Ltd also participated in the camp. According to Mr Arun Malhotra, organiser of the camp, 81 volunteers donated blood.

SEMINAR: The Saraswatam, a local non-profit organisation, is organising a one-day seminar on “Language and human consciousness: An Indian perspective” at Panjab University on Sunday, a press note said here on Saturday. The organisation is attempting “preservation and propagation of the eternal values of Bharatiya Sanskriti through publication, seminars and workshops”.

ELECTED: The managing committee of the Chandigarh Chapter of the NIRC of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India at its meeting elected the following office-bearers for the year 2003 for managing the Chandigarh Chapter: chairman — Mr Atul V. Sood; vice-chairman — Mr Anil K. Aggarwal; secretary — Mr R.K. Gupta; and joint secretary-cum-treasurer — Mr Parveen Gupta.

DISTRIBUTED: School uniforms including shoes and jerseys were distributed to the needy students of Government High School, Raipur Khurd, at a function held here on Saturday. A donation of Rs 21,000 was given by the chairman of the Panchayat Samiti, Chandigarh, for the welfare of the students. The in charge of the school, Ms Rajwant Kaur, highlighted the achievements of the students. The function was presided over by the District Education Officer, Ms Rajesh Chaudhary.

ADMISSION SCHEDULE: With admission having ben finalised yesterday, the Department of Correspondent studies, Panjab University released the academic schedule for the B.Ed course on Friday. Introductory lessons, syllabus content, details of lesson units and other related information would be organised on February 5 The first installment of study material will be despatched on February 28, while the second will be despatched on April 5. Contact programmes are scheduled to be held from May 15 and June 15, while receipt of assignments will be in March and May. Teaching practice will be carried out in August while examinations are scheduled to be held in September-October.

INAUGURATED: A fully computerised post office was inaugurated at Punjab Engineering College by the Post Master General, Punjab, Ms Manjula Prashar, on Friday. College Principal Baljit Kapur was also present on the occasion. This is the fourth fully computerised post office in the city, the other three being at Sector 20, Sector 30 and the Modern Housing Complex.

HARYANA

AMBALA
JUDICIAL CUSTODY: A tantrik of Ambala known as ‘Topiwala Baba’ was sent to judicial custody by a local court here on Saturday. Baba was arrested on the complaint of a resident of Kurukshetra, Ranjit, who had brought his son to baba for the treatment of stomach pain. Ranjit alleged in his complaint that baba had demanded a handsome amount from him. A large number of villagers use to visit baba’s ashram for last several months. One of the social organisations demonstrated against the irrational activities of baba.

TWO HELD: The police nabbed two persons stealing ATF oil of an oil company at Ambala Cantonment. The police has recovered 2,000 litre of ATF at Ambala Cantonment costing around Rs 40,000. The police has registered a case against four persons in this regard. According to the Superintendent of Police, Mr Hardeep Singh Doon, the persons involved in the incident hired a tanker for filling the ATF by breaking the main oil pipeline. The police raided the spot after getting a tip off. Two of the persons succeeded to flee from the site.

DHARNA: The Class IV employees of the Animal Husbandry Department have threatened to stage state-wide dharna to protest against the non-payment of salary to 60 employees of Ambala for last five months. The union of the employees expressed concern over the attitude of the Director of the department. According to the state president, Mr Kishan Lal Sagar, general secretary Balwant Saini, district president Rajesh Kumar of the union had also organised gate rally in front of the office of the Deputy Director of the department at Ambala.

16 INJURED: As many as 16 persons, including six women were injured in an accident on Friday when the bus in which they were travelling overturned due to dense fog on Saha-Sahjadpur road near Dhkola village. The passengers were coming from Chintpurni and they were on the way to Delhi. The injured were admitted to civil hospital at Ambala Cantt.