The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Saturday, May 10, 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
RELIEF SENT: A batch of 10 trucks of wheat meant for the drought-hit areas of Rajasthan was flagged off by Congress MLA, Dr Raj Kumar and Mayor Mr Sunil Datti. The wheat has been donated by the District Youth Congress, Amritsar (Rural). This was informed by Mr Karamjit Singh, president, District Youth Congress (Rural), in a press release.

SCREENING CAMP: A free-check-up and screening camp for children will be held on Sunday at Dr Kamal Mahajan Children Hospital here. This was informed in a press release on Thursday.

SEMINAR: As many as 200 NCC cadets along with eight officers participated in an AIDS awareness seminar organised by 11Pb Bn of NCC, Amritsar group headquarters, here on Thursday. Group Commander, Colonel G.S. Ghuman, inaugurated the seminar. The seminar was conducted by Lt Col S.K. Mahapatra.

NURSES DAY: International Nurses Day will be celebrated on the premises of Mental Hospital on Monday. Dr B.L. Goel, Director, Mental Hospital will be the chief guest.

REQUEST: Communist leader Satya Pal Dang has requested the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, to intervene in the matter regarding the payment of salaries to the SPOs and Home Guards. In a letter to the Chief Minister, Mr Dang said he had lost the hope of ever getting justice for the SPOs and Home Guards, the Chief Minister could atleast ensure that the salaries were paid in time.

APPOINTED: Mr R.K. Sharma, a retired IPS officer, has been appointed by Member Secretary of the Punjab State Law Commission. The commission has been constituted to suggest ways and means to improve the administration of justice in the state.

BATHINDA
PROTEST: Class IV employees of the Giani Zail Singh College of Engineering and Technology here on Thursday wore black badges during duty hours to show resentment against the alleged adamant behaviour of the college administration towards their demands. The employees alleged that despite repeated requests to the authorities concerned no heed was paid towards their demands.

FINED: As many as 147 passengers were fined for travelling without tickets, during a surprise raid by the Divisional Manager (Commercial), Mr Mahinder Singh Meena, and a team of 20-ticket-checkers. A press release on Wednesday by the Northern Railways authorities said about 10 trains were checked and those travelling without valid tickets fined. The press release said besides collecting fare of Rs 4,837 a fine of Rs 7,350 was also collected from the erring passengers.

WORKSHOP: Mr Ashok Gupta, state president of the Bharat Vikas Parishad (South), in a statement issued here on Friday, said a state-level workshop for imparting training to its members in social service would be held here on May 10 and 11. He said various activities, including undertaking social service projects, their monitoring and implementation, would be discussed at the workshop.

PLEA TO HANSPAL: Mr Yashpal Bansal, a Congress leader, and Mr Raj Bhupinder Singh Sidhu, a former president of the District Bar Association, have urged the PPCC President, Mr H.S. Hanspal, to appoint press secretaries of the District Congress Committee. In a press note issued here on Friday, Mr Bansal and Mr Sidhu hailed the decision of the PPCC to appoint Mr Raj Pal as its media secretary.

BATALA
THEFT CASE: Some miscreants entered the house of Mr Rakesh Kumar, alias Kulla, in the Gopal Nagar area and took away Rs 1,65,000 along with gold jewellery worth about Rs 1 lakh. The police has registered a case.

FAZILKA
KILLED: Mushtaq (25), a labourer, was crushed to death by a truck on the outskirts of the town on the Fazilka-Ferozepore road on Friday. According to reports, Mushtaq was a resident of West Bengal. A case has been registered. The truck has been impounded.

CONTROVERSY: The auction of hadda rori by the Municipal Council here has raised a controversy over the value of the contract. According to sources, the site has been auctioned for Rs 3.15 lakh against Rs 6.23 lakh last year. Normally an increase of 10 to 15 per cent in the auction rate is seen every year. The practice of conducting the auction thrice in event of it being lower than the previous contract price has been dispensed with. Moreover, the approval of the higher authority of the local self government has also not been secured while giving the contract at lower rate.

KHARAR
JAGRAN: The Punjabi singer, Sardool Sikandar will take part in the Bhagwati Jagran organised by the Jai Ma Vaishno Club, Kharar. The jagran will be held at the local Dushera ground, near Sri Ram Bhawan Community Centre at 9 pm, on May 10.

KHANNA
POPPY HUSK SEIZED: The police has seized three bags of poppy husk, 100 gm of opium and 300 bottles of liquor at two different places during surprise checking. The SSP, Mr Parmjit Singh Sarao, said here on Friday that a naka was laid near Boundli village where the police seized three bags of poppy husk from an Ambassador car. Car owner Ram Pal Singh was arrested. Another person, Gurdev Singh, was arrested at the naka with 100 gm opium. The Machhiwara police seized 300 bottles of liquor from a smuggler.

CASE AGAINST CONTRACTOR: Mr Jagmohan Singh, a local advocate and ex-president of the Khanna Bar Association, has alleged that the case filed to recover Rs 27 lakh from the contractor of bus stand, in the local court of SDM Jaspal Mittal, is an eye wash. He said he had already filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the local municipal council for not recovering the among which is fixed for hearing on May 13.

LUDHIANA
MOTHERS’ DAY: It was a special day for the mothers of children studying in Pumpkins Kindergarten, Malhar Road. The mothers were invited to a party and dance, music, games and several competitions were arranged for them. They had lunch with their children at the school and went home with their kids. Ms Belie Kler, Principal, said it was the first time that the children had hosted a party for their mothers.

SCHOOL CABINET: The cabinet of Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, BRS Nagar, was formally constituted at a ceremony held here on Friday. The oath-taking ceremony was administered by Sister Sobel, Principal of the school. The cabinet included Harneet Sehgal as Head Girl, Varun Sehgal as Head Boy, Mehak Joshi as Secretary, Jaspreet Singh and Jatinder Brar as Sports Captains and, Gaurav Aggarwal, Vivek Tingloo, Ishmeet Kaur and Japjit Singh as captains of the school.

PUNJABI PLAY: “Saka Sirhand”, a religious-historical Punjabi play based on the life history and martyrdom of the sons of Guru Gobind Singh will be staged at Balraj Sahni Open-Air Theatre, Punjabi Bhavan, on May 11 and 12 at 7.30 p.m. The play is directed by Vipan Sharma and has a cast of 60 artistes. The main roles are played by Jasdev Singh, Mota, Purshottam, Kishen Joshi, Amarjit Kaur, Swapan, and Trilochan. The play is being supported by the Rang Manch Sansthan and the Punjabi Sahitya Akademi. The play is dedicated to memory of eminent theatre personality Balwant Gargi who died recently.

SAMRALA
NEW TEHSILDAR: Mrs Balraj Kaur Grewal took over as Tehsildar of Samrala here on Friday. Mr Ram Singh, the former Tehsildar, has been transferred to Barnala. Meanwhile, the joining of Mrs Balraj Kaur has been welcomed by Mr Nasib Singh, general secretary of the Chaukidara Union, and Mr Gurmeet Singh, general secretary of the Lambardara Union.

RESULT: The result of class VIII of Government High School, Ottalan, 3 km from here, was 100 per cent. Out of 46 students, 35 got first division and 11 second division, according to Headmaster Parkash Singh.

CRITICISED: Mr Kuldeep Khullar, secretary of the Samrala Akali Dal, has criticised the hike in telephone bills as well as water charges. He along with Akali leaders Jeevan Singh Kheernian and Joginder Singh demanded the withdrawal of the charges and threatened to launch on agitation if it didn’t happen.

NON-JUDICIAL PAPERS: Non-judicial papers from Rs 50 to Rs 500 have not been available in the local sub-treasury for the past over three months. People have urged the SDM to issue orders to the Treasury Officer, Samrala, to issue non-judicial stamp papers after affixing stamps.

CHANDIGARH

SEMINAR: Chartered accountants can now act as insurance consultants, brokers and even agents. They can also take up third party assurance cases. This was stated by the chairman of the Committee on Insurance of the Institute of Chartered Accountant of India, Mr S. Gopalakrishnan, here on Friday. He was addressing a seminar organised by the local branch of the Northern India Regional Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) on “Insurance and Emerging Opportunity”. The Associate Director of Pricewater House Cooper, Mr Bimal Baghnani, was the guest of honour.

HEALTH CAMP: About 110 patients were examined at a two-day free heart and health check-up camp organised by The Tribune for senior citizens at Mukat Hospital and Heart Institute. According to the Medical Director, Dr Ravi Inder Singh, 30 patients required further investigations. It was done at concessional rates. Consultation and ECG were done free of cost.

ELECTED: Mr S.D. Bansal has been elected president of the Debt Recovery Tribunal for the third consecutive year. Mr Atul Mahajan has been elected vice-president and Mr Baltej Singh is the new Secretary. Ms Sunita Kaushal has been elected Joint Secretary and Amit Rishi treasurer.

PANCHKULA
WATER ACTIVITIES: The management of The Gurukul, Sector 20, has found a way to beat the heat. Throughout the week, a number of “water activities” were organised in the school for children of Pre-Nursery and Nursery. The plastic water pools were set up on the school campus and children were allowed to splash and play around in these pools. Water games for students of senior classes were also organised. Children enjoyed dancing on a unique dance floor of water filled balloons.

WORKSHOP: The local branch of the Family Planning Association of India conducted a workshop for members of the local voluntary group, Panchayati Raj institutions and representatives of NGOs at Youth Hostel here on Friday. This workshop was organised under the Adolescent Health Care project and 62 persons participated. Ms Usha Siungla, Honorary Joint Secretary, gave a talk on adolescent health care and related issues. Dr B.S. Chaudhary, Civil Surgeon, Panchkula, was the chief guest.

BLOOD CAMP: A blood donation camp was organised at the Staff Training Centre, State Bank of India, on Friday. Over 30 units of blood were collected in this camp, which was inaugurated by Mr Anup Bannerjee. The camp was conducted by Dr Neeraj from the PGI, Chandigarh.

TRANSPORT OFFICE: A sum of Rs 78.54 lakh has been collected by the District Transport Office during the month of April. The Deputy Commissioner, Ms Satwanti Ahlawat, said while Rs 66.15 lakh was received as road tax, Rs 6.46 lakh as composition fee, Rs 4.36 lakh as permit fee and Rs 1.47 lakh as registration fee. As many as 139 vehicles were also challaned last month, she added.

VOTERS’ I-CARDS: The district administration will begin issuing voters identity cards in different parts of the Kalka Vidhan Sabha constituency from May 16. This work will carry on till June 18, it is learnt.

AWARD: Mr Krit Serai, Principal of Satluj Public School, has been awarded the Pace Award for exemplary contribution to education today. He has been involved in the field of education for the past 14 years.