The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sunday, May 4, 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

AMRITSAR
FELLOWSHIP: Dr Kulwant Singh Bhatia, Professor, TB and Chest Diseases Department, Government Medical College here, has been elected for fellowship of the American College of Chest Physicians (FCCP). He has been invited to attend a convocation to be held in Orland, Florida, in October where he would be conferred the fellowship.

WARNED: Mr Jasbir Singh Bir, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, has warned all traders in electronic items to prominently display photocopies of octroi receipts of the items sold or stocked by them. In a press note on Friday he stated that those showing laxity would be proceeded against under the MC Act, 1976.

KAPURTHALA
SEIZED: The district police has arrested Karnail Singh, a resident of Lattian village, following the recovery of bags of poppy husk from him. Dr R.N. Dhoke, SSP, in a press release on Friday said a case under Sections 15/61/85 of NDPCS Act had been registered.

FUNCTION HELD: A function was organised by the Red Cross Society at the Senior Secondary School for Girls here on Friday to create awareness among girl students of maintaining good health and against female foeticide. Mrs Asha Verma, chairperson, District Red Cross Society, inaugurated the function.

KHARAR
RESENTMENT: Resentment prevails among some villagers of Kharar tehsil over the decision of the railway authorities not to set up railway crossings over some of the link roads through which the proposed Chandigarh-Kharar-Morinda Railway line is crossing. According to a joint press release by sarpanches of Sakrullapur, Gharuan, Batta, Sill and Rora villages, the proposed railway line, linking Chandigarh and Morinda, is crossing through many link roads but the railway authorities are not installing railway crossings on many of these roads.

VACCINATION CAMP: A vaccination camp for hepatitis B was organised at the Jyoti Sarup Kanya Society here on Saturday. The camp was organised by the Rotary Club, Kharar. President of the Club Harpreet Singh Rekhi informed that 25 orphan girls were vaccinated free of cost.

LUDHIANA
STUDENTS EXCEL: Students of Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, BRS Nagar, brought laurels to the school during the state-level National Science Day celebrations held at Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Engineering College, Fatehgarh Sahib, on Friday. A team of 16 students from the school took part. Jaspreet Singh Sidhu and Raghav Aggarwal won first prize in paper presentation on “Non-conventional sources of energy”. A model on “Awareness of diabetes” prepared by Vandana Kochhar of Class XI won second prize and Harneet Sehgal of Class XII won second prize in group discussion.

FUNCTION: The Shri Parshuram Book Bank Society will organise the 13th annual books distribution function on Monday. Mr Mohinder Singh Kaypee, Minister for Technical Education, will be chief guest. Dr Kehar Singh, Chairman Punjab School Education Board, will give the Gems of Jagraon Award.

POPPY HUSK SEIZED: The local police arrested Bikkar Singh of Machhike and seized 140 kg of poppy husk contained in four bags. The accused has been booked under Sections 15,61 and 85 of the NDPS Act. In other incidents, the Sidhwan Bet police arrested Amar Singh of Patti Multani and Dalip Singh of the same village and seized 24.5 kg and 35.5kg of poppy husk, respectively. Cases have been registered against the two.

NAWANSHAHR
SUICIDE: Hari Ram, a resident of Nai Abadi here, reportedly committed suicide by swallowing some poisonous substance after attacking his wife, Mohinder Kaur, with a sharp-edged weapon here on Friday. Mohinder Kaur, who received severe injuries was admitted to the local Civil Hospital.

CONDEMNED: Mr Sham Sunder Jadla, district president, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, in a press statement issued here on Friday condemned the Congress government for its decision to hike college fee and opening casinos in the state.

PATHANKOT
SMUGGLERS HELD: The Punjab Excise Department on Friday arrested two persons engaged in the sale of illicit liquor here. More than 90,000 ml of liquor was recovered. Giving this information Mr Baldev Singh, ETO, said the arrested had been identified as Anil Kumar and Avdesh Kumar.

PHAGWARA
KILLED: Tirath Singh a civil contractor, died on the spot when his Jeep met with an accident on the GT Road near Chachoki village on Friday. Tirath Singh belonged to Karnail Singh Nagar, Ludhiana.

TARN TARAN
THREATENED: Mr Jaskaur Singh, Mr Jasbir Singh and Mr Baljit singh, president, general secretary and senior vice-president, respectively, of the Central Co-operative Bank Employees Union, here have condemned the state government for issuing orders to bring employees of the public sector undertakings at par with the government employees and have threatened the state government with agitation in case it failed to withdraw the letter within 10 days.

INAUGURATED: Mr Chander Shekhar, IG, border range, inaugurated a block of 32 residential quarters at Patti on Thursday. Mr Narinder Bhargav, SSP, presided over the function.

CHANDIGARH

RAMAYAN PATH: Ramayan path, organised at Bhagwan Valmiki Mandir in Sector 24, concluded on Saturday. President of Valmiki Yuvak Sangh Santosh Rahi asked the entire community to work together as one.

CAMP: The Chandigarh Yog Sabha is organising a special yoga therapy camp for the treatment of cervical spondylitis, back pain and knee problems at Yog Divya Mandir in Sector 30. The 10-day camp will start from May 20. Patients can get themselves registered for treatment from May 10. Meanwhile, sabha’s senior vice-president G.S. Verma said Mr Purshotam Mahajan and Mr A.P. Srihan have been re-elected president and general secretary of the sabha, respectively. According to him, Mr Roshan Lal was the new vice-president, Mr M.L Vairagi and Mr Sarwan Kumar secretaries and Mr D.C. Grover was the treasurer.

PAINTING CONTEST: On-the-spot-painting competition, besides quiz and declamation contest for children, was organised by Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation as part of “Eswaramma Week” for paying homage to mother of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Her anniversary falls on May 6. According to a press release, bhajan rehearsals by bal-vikas children, besides children-parent contact programme will be held.

TOUR: A free of cost religious tour for about 50 aged people was organised by Helpage India and Aashiana in Sector 40 on the silver jubilee celebration of Helpage India. Trip was taken to Mata Naina Devi temple, Gurdwara Sri Anandpur Sahib, Kiratpur Sahib and other religious places.

SEMINAR: Lack of tolerance, nuclear families, TV serials and frustration due to high standards of living were cited as some of the reasons behind suicides at a seminar on ‘’Suicides why’’ organised by the Indian Council for Women entrepreneurs in Gandhi Samarak Bhavan, Sector 16. A skit was also presented by the students blaming the government policies and parents for suicides. Addressing a gathering, chairperson and organiser Ved Nanda said the children should be imparted with religious education to overcome their tensions.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Shri Sanatam Dharam Sabha, Sector 8: chief patron — Mr Kashmere Lal; president — Mr Madan Arora; senior vice-presidents — Mr Radhey Sham and Mr B.K. Malik; general secretary — Mr Satish Suri; and cashier — Mr Roshan Lal Bansal.

PANCHKULA
CONTEST: An inter-house paper reading contest was held at Satluj Public School here on Saturday in order to polish the oratory skills of pupils. The students were judged in two categories — from senior secondary class and from middle class. Rahat Inder Gill of Andhra House was first and Nidhi Garg of Punjab House was second in senior secondary category, while Priyanka Singh of Andhra House was first and Priyanka Sharma of Punjab House was second in middle section category.

PAINTING CONTEST: An on- the- spot painting competition was held in DAV Senior Secondary Model School on environment conservation on Saturday. The prize winners from Classes I to III were Arzu Singh, Shubham and Sahil Verma, while Shivani Desai and Viren Sood were the prize winners from Classes IV to V.

CONFERENCE: An annual sales conference of JK Cement Works for sale promoters, stockists and dealers from all over Punjab was held here on Saturday. Mr R.C. Shukla, vice-president, marketing, addressed the gathering and informed them that the plant at Mangrol, Rajasthan, with a capacity of 3. 10 million tonnes per annum was now complete. Officials of the company also said the company sale in Punjab region had increased by 26 per cent last year. Prizes and mementoes were also given to sale promoters and stockists.

SAS NAGAR
YOGA CAMP: A 15-day yoga camp, jointly organised by the 3rd and 4th CDO battalion ended at the Commando complex, Phase XI here on Saturday. The camp was organised for the Commandos to help them tackle stress and keep healthy. Mr Narinder Singh, Inspector General of Police, presided over the closing ceremony. Muni Viney Kumar Alock addressed the participants and briefed them on the importance of yoga.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

MANDI
ACID THROWN: Raj Kumar a resident of Suhra Mohalla here seriously injured his former wife, Sunita, by throwing acid on her Thursday. She was admitted to the regional hospital here with acid burns on her face, arms, back and breast. A case has been registered.

PALAMPUR
SUICIDE: Mr J.S. Chauhan, Law Officer, Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University, here allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.

NAHAN
SURVEY: The Sirmaur Deputy Commissioner, Mr Onkar Chand Sharma, said here on Friday that below the poverty line survey would be conducted in the district, from May 12. As many as 254 enumerators had been deputed to cover all panchayats. The entire district had been divided into 22 zones with each zone headed by an officer of the rank of BDO, Tehsildar, CDPO or Naib Tehsildars to oversee the work.

SHIMLA
SEMINAR HELD: A seminar on SARS was held in the local Indira Gandhi Medical College here on Friday by the Department of Medicine. It was attended by faculty members, resident doctors, students and members of the paramedical staff of medical and dental college. The session was chaired by Professor IS Pal, and information regarding SARS was given by Dr Sanjay Mahajan, Registrar, Department of Medicine and Dr S. Kashyap, Professor and Head Pulmonary Medicine.

CONDEMNED: The state Youth Congress here on Friday condemned the goondaism perpetrated by the Independent MLA from Theog, Mr Rakesh Verma, and his supporters in the Dehra-Balsan area. Mr Sanjay singh Chauhan, state spokesperson of the Youth Congress, said the Independent MLA and his supporters tried to stall Congress workers from participating in the function organised to honour Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister.

STUDENTS MEET KALAM: Five students from the state led by Mrs Kiran Thakur, Lecturer, Senior Secondary School, Solan, and Mr Pratap Singh Thakur, Government Primary School, Sunni, called on Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India at New Delhi. The students, who met the President were Harish Kumar of Class X, Government Senior Secondary School, Kandaghat, Monika Sharma and Surekha Negi of Government Senior Secondary School, Solan and Neelam Kalsi and Divanshu of Government Primary School, Sunni.

YOUTH CONGRESS: Mr Sanjay Chauhan “Commando” has been appointed spokesperson of the state unit of the Youth Congress. This was stated in a press note issued here on Thursday.

SOLAN
ONE ARRESTED: The Barotiwala police arrested Manoj Kumar, a neighbour of Saraswati, on Friday in connection with her murder at Baddi on Thursday. He was working in the same factory as the husband of the deceased. Police officials claimed that the accused had confessed his crime.