The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, February 26, 2003, 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
HINDI CONFERENCE: The Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Prayag, will host its 55th conference for the first time since Independence in the holy city. The three-day conference will be attended by 1,200 novelists, poets, writers and other literary figures from all over the country. The conference will commence on March 28 at Gol Bagh here.

MANUSCRIPTS: Noted gynaecologist Dr (Mrs) Surinder Kaur Sandhu, wife of famous orthopaedic Rashpal Singh Sandhu, donated a set of 39 volumes of original handwritten manuscripts of the complete translation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib to Dr S.P. Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, at a special function at Bhai Gurdas Library here on Monday. The translations into simple Punjabi and English were done by her father Manmohan Singh.

BATHINDA
PROTEST: Members of the Oriental Bank Employees Union and the Oriental Bank Officers Association organised a demonstration in front of the regional office of the bank, here on Tuesday. Mr J.S. Sidhu, a spokesman for the employees, said the Chairman of the bank had adopted ‘anti-officer’ and ‘anti-union’ policies to victimise the employees.

FAZILKA
2 DIE IN MISHAPS: Two persons, including a child, were killed in two different road accidents while four of a marriage party were injured. According to sources, Karaz Singh (40) and Rasal Singh (42), residents of Kandhwala Hazarkhan, Boota Singh (45), and Jagge Ram resident of Tirath (Talwandi Sabo), Gurdev Singh (45), a resident of Raniwala (Malout) and Lakhwinder Singh (40) of Latewala (Sultanpur) were returning to Kandhwala Hazarkhan after attending the marriage of Karaz Singh’s nephew on Sunday at 10 pm in a Maruti car when it collided with a truck, 20 km from here, resulting in the death of Karaz Singh on the spot. In another accident, Gurmeet (4) was crushed to death by a speedy truck in Sabuana, 5 km from here.

KHANNA
MC PRESIDENT PASSES AWAY: The President, Municipal Council, Khanna, Onkar Rai Mehta, died after a long illness at a hospital in Delhi on Monday night. He served three terms as the MC President. He was under treatment in Delhi. He is survived by his wife, three daughters and a son. He was cremated here on Tuesday.

LUDHIANA
CASE ADJOURNED: Mr Inderjit Kaushik Additional Sessions Judge, Ludhiana, on Tuesday adjourned the case of former Agriculture Minister Gurdev Badal to March 12. The former minister is facing allegations of amassing property disproportionate to his known sources of income by misusing his position. He was booked by Vigilance Bureau. The bureau had already filed challan against him. He is still in the custody.

STATEMENT HAILED: The Indian Medical Association (IMA), Ludhiana has welcomed the statement of Mr Brij Lal Goyal, vice-president of the Punjab Pardesh Congress Committee that the authorities should desist from harassing and arresting doctors for “unintentional mishaps while performing their sacred duty of treating the patients”. Mr Goyal had stated that the human body was so complex that doctors could not cure all patients even if they desired so. The IMA urged Mr Goyal to influence the government to bring in Acts to protect the rights of the doctors.

PATIALA
DHARNA: Members of the Punjab Bank Employees Federation on Tuesday staged a dharna in front of the Regional Office of the Oriental Bank of Commerce against the vindictive attitude of the management towards the genuine demands of the employees. According to the president of the federation, Mr Yog Raj Gupta, a large number of employees of all local banks participated in the dharna. While addressing the gathering the secretary of the federation, Mr G.S. Dhillon, appealed to the management to settle the issues amicably.

WORKSHOP: A two-day workshop on spoken English and personality development was inaugurated at Mohindra College by the Dean Academic Affairs, Punjabi University, Dr U.C. Singh, here on Tuesday. The workshop is being organised in collaboration with the local management association. Speaking on the occasion, Dr U.C. Singh, exhorted the participants to improve their spoken English while giving equal importance to their mother tongue and the national language. The Principal of Mohindra College, Dr R.K. Sharma, while welcoming the chief guest stressed on the need of improving communication skills. Dr Sangeeta Handa, professor Indu Dogra and Principal of M.M. Modi College also spoke on the occasion.

SPECIAL LECTURE: A special lecture by Mr Hardayal Singh, IAS (retd), on “gurmat and miracles” was organised by the Department of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Studies, Punjabi University, here on Tuesday. The Vice-Chancellor, Mr S.S. Boparai, presided over the function and released a book written by Dr Gurdev Kaur. Dr Gurnam Kaur introduced the topic of the lecture and Dr R.N. Pal, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the university welcomed the guests.

EMPLOYMENT GENERATION: A two-day educational programme on rural employment generation for unemployed youths will be organised by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission in collaboration with ITI Patiala at the Government Industrial Training Institute from February 27. The focus of the programme will be on rural industrialisation and allied issues.