The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Thursday, July 24, 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
SELECTED: Quark, Chandigarh, a multinational American software company, has selected nine students, five from MCA and four from B. Tech computer sciences of Guru Nanak Dev University, through campus recruitment. These students would get a salary package of Rs 2.27 lakh per annum along with other incentives and performance-based rewards.

FORTIS HOSPITAL: The Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, will inaugurate Fortis Multi Speciality Hospital here on Sunday. A spokesman for the Ranbaxy-sponsored hospital said after the success of their Mohali hospital the management had decided to open a new hospital for providing best health care to the people of the state.

CONDEMNED: The Sikh Students Federation ( SSF) has condemned lathi charge on students participating in a peaceful march at Malerkotla on Tuesday against the unprecedented hike in fee.

JALANDHAR
FARMERS' STIR: To protest against the alleged failure of the state government in implementing the ‘accepted’ demands of farmers, six farmers’ organisations have decided to hold a statewide stir on July 31 at Desh Bhagat Yaadgar Hall here, said Mr Kulwant Singh Sandhu, general secretary of the Jamhoori Kisan Sabha, Punjab, on Tuesday.

LUDHIANA
MEDICAL CAMP: The New Shivpuri Ekta Club in association with the Vishva Yog Sansthan and the Ma Vaishno Club would organise a free medical check-up camp on Sunday at Shastri Model School, Near Durga Mata Temple. Mr Deepak Arora, one of the organisers, said Dr Ramesh, Dr J. William, Dr Charanjit Kalra and Dr R.K. Mehta would examine the patients and free medicines would be given to the needy.

PROGRAMME: A continuing education programme (CME) was organised at hotel Mariot here recently to launch Megapime injection — a life-saving product by Alkem Company. Dr J.S. Sekhon delivered a lecture on febrile neutropaenia, Dr Rajesh Mahajan spoke on antibiotic selection in septic shock case, while Dr Urmil Mohal discussed emerging trends in bacterial resistance. Mr Amarjit Singh, zonal manager of Alkem Laboratories, also spoke on the occasion. Mr R.K. Duggal, regional manager, extended a vote of thanks.

COLLEGE FUNCTION: Ramgarhia Girls College, Millerganj, Ludhiana, began the academic session 2003-2004 with the bhog ceremony of the Sehaj Path. Giani Bhagat Singh and Mr Jagtar Singh, president and general secretary of the Ramgarhia Educational Council, respectively, addressed the students and asked them to begin the session by taking a pledge to work hard. The College Principal, Ms Harmeet Kaur, also spoke on the occasion. The day was also observed as World Population Day and an on-the-spot poster-making competition was organised. Harpreet Kaur (BCA III), got the first prize, Navjot Kaur (BA III), and second, while Jaspreet Kaur (BA II), got the third prize. Taruna Khannba (BCA III), and Harpreet Kaur (BA II) got special prizes. The NSS unit of the college and the Central Students Association (SSA) organised a blood donation camp on the occasion. About 100 students donated blood in the camp.

PU REGIONAL CENTRE: Prof Rajinder Bhandari, Senator, Panjab University, and General Secretary of the BJP unit, has welcomed the starting of Panjab University Regional Centre in Ludhiana. “Ludhiana is not only an industrial city but also is an educational Centre. It was lacking in a law college and opening of a law college has met a long-standing demand of the people of the city,” he said.

CAMP: An animal welfare camp was organised by the Department of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry Extension, PAU, at Bhaini Arayiaun village on Wednesday. A team of experts demonstrated correct management practices like milking and application of drugs for ticks. Farmers were advised to feed a balanced ration to animals. Vaccination against HS and regular deworming of animals was also suggested. As many as 150 animals were examined.

PPCC SECY: A veteran trade union leader of Khanna and president of the Punjab Trade Union Federation, Mr Dharam Pal Angrish, has been appointed secretary of the Panjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC). Mr Angrish has served the Congress and the labour movement for almost four decades. Several party leaders have hailed the appointment.

PATIALA
DEMONSTRATION: The Joint Action Committee of the Punjab PWD(B&R) branch employees union on Wednesday held a demonstration outside its office situated on the Mall in protest against the consent given by the local MLA and the Chief Minister, Punjab, Capt Amarinder Singh, for shifting of secretary-level office of the Chief Engineer, Punjab PWD(B&R) to newly constructed Mini Secretariat. Addressing the joint rallies, Mr Darshan Singh Lubana said the present government has demolished the face of the city in the name of development and maintain buildings for heritage purposes.

STRIKE: Employees of the Patiala Central Bank on Wednesday observed one-day pen down strike to protest against the forcible implementation of pay parity letter issued by the state government. Additional general secretary of the state federation Malinder Singh Malhi said the cooperative banks are registered under the Cooperation Societies Act and the Punjab Government does not provide any financial assistance to these banks. He added that the nature of job, qualification, holidays, the pay structure of the employees were different from that of Punjab government employees.

NOMINATED: Dr D.S Bhullar Medicolegal consultant from Government Medical College and a senior PCMS leader has been nominated as co-chairman of the State Supervisory Committee on female foeticide and the PNDT Act of the state branch of the Indian Medical Association for the year 2003-04.

VANAMAHOTSAVA: The Lions Club, Patiala Supreme celebrated Vanamahotsava at Budha Dal Public School here on Wednesday. Speaking on the occasion, president of the club Deepak Malhotra said around 100 saplings were planted in the school. Mr A.K. Malhotra said more schools and public places would be selected for planting the saplings to increase greenery in the town. Principal of the school said the school management was thankful to the club for selecting their school for Vanamahotsava.

YOGA CAMP: A 10-day yoga camp, meant for officers of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), concluded here on Wednesday. The camp, which was conducted by Mr Kuldip Singh, a former PSEB officer and a yoga exponent, was held under the auspices of Dr Iqbal Memorial Yoga and Therapeutic Centre. The highlights of the camp were empowering participants to experience a sense of calmness, enhancing creativity to get better results, reduced stress levels, improving general health and meditation.

GATE RALLY: The students and teachers of Women Polytechnic, Patiala, on Wednesday organised a gate rally to protest against the state government’s move to privatise government polytechnics and around 94 ITI’s by giving them on lease for 35 years. Speaking on the occasion, president of the Patiala Unit Punjab Polytechnic Engineer Association Ravinder Singh said the state government should provide education to the people at reasonable rates but unfortunately the state government has made education a mere business.

CHANDIGARH

WELCOMED: The Akhil Bharatiya in a press note here on Wednesday welcomed the decision of the Punjab Government to roll back the “excessive” fee hike. Saurabh Joshi, secretary, said the UT should also consider revision of the proposed fee structure in the local colleges. He warned the Administration to be prepared for an agitation in case the fee hike was not rolled back.

PANCHKULA
AUCTION: An auction of all official condemned vehicles will be held at the Mini Secretariat here on July 30. An official press release said that all condemned government vehicles in the district with the relevant papers pertaining to the vehicles will be available in the auction.

WORKSHOP: A workshop for developing study skills as an ongoing teachers' orientation programme was organised at Doon Public School. The workshop was conducted by Wg Cdr Sabbharwal and its aim was to hone the teaching skills of staff so that they could get the best out of students.

MEDICAL CAMP: A free medical check-up camp was organised by the Swechhik Raktdata Sangh at Gramin Sanatan Dharamshala on Tuesday. As many as 212 patients were examined in the camp and free medicines were distributed among them. Specialists from the field of medicine, eyes, ENT and gynaecology from General Hospital, Panchkula, examined the patients. The camp was sponsored by the Trust Mandir Thakurdwara in memory of late Tikka Jagjit Singh.

SAS NAGAR
FOUNDATION DAY: The 54th foundation day of the Family Planning Association of India was celebrated at the local office in Phase II here on Wednesday. Mr Balbir Singh Khandpur, president of the local unit of Rotary was the chief guest. He appreciated the activities related to sexually transmitted diseases, prevention of female foeticide carried out by the local branch of the association. The president of the local branch, Dr Surjit Kaur Sandhu, presided over the function.

HARYANA

AMBALA
TRAINING CAMP: District Congress Ambala Cantonment unit president Ashok Jain said a special training camp for block presidents and workers will be held here on August 1 and 2. Mr Jain presided over a meeting of the Ambala Cantonment unit held at the Congress Bhavan. The block presidents of Ambala Cantonment, Ambala city and Ambala rural will participate in the camp. He said Kalka MLA Chandra Mohan and HPCC vice-president Vivek Chandra Sharma will address the training camps. The camp coordinator will be HPCC general secretary Phool Chand Mullana.

INTERACTION: The chairman of the Delhi Public School Society, Mr Narendra Kumar, interacted with the students and faculty of Delhi Public School, Chandigarh, during his visit to know their inspiration. During his visit to the school, he was received and escorted by the Principal, Ms Sunita Tanwar. The chairman assured them of the vast support and resource base available to DPS, Chandigarh. He also delivered a informative and inspiring lecture to staff members.

CONDEMNED: The Anti-Terrorist Front of India president, Dr Viresh Shandilya, said the attack on the Army camp in Akhnoor sector is the first “gift” from Pakistan on the Indo-Pak bus service. Dr Shandilya said a Brigadier and seven soldiers lost their lives even as a DSP was killed in a separate incident. “I fail to understand the reason why Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee is tolerating such serious incidents,” he said.

FATEHABAD
HERBAL PARK: The first ‘herbal park’ of the district will be set up at Pilimandori village in this district. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner, Dr R.B. Langyan, here on Tuesday. He said under the project, the administration had planned to set up herbal parks in five villages of each block of the district. Addressing a gathering he said farmers should adopt those crops which ensured better produce on smaller land-holdings.

YAMUNANAGAR
ELECTROCUTED: Satpal, a resident of Bel Chhappar, was electrocuted when he went to cattle field to operate a tubewell on Monday. His body was handed over to his family after postmortem at Civil Hospital, Jagadhri.

HELP FOR POOR: Mr Om Parkash Chautala, Chief Minister, has sanctioned Rs 40,000 for the poor and down-trodden said Mr Vijayender Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Yamunanagar. Mr Vijayender Kumar said four persons of the districts had appealed to the Chief Minister for help in meeting medical expenses Ms Man Kaur, and Ms Kala Devi got Rs 5,000 each while Mr Sarik got Rs 20,000 and Mr Sachdev Singh got Rs 10,000.

TEACHERS' DEMAND: The Haryana College Teachers’ Union (HCTU) has expressed concern at the non-payment of dearness allowance on pension to the teachers of the aided colleges. Mr Pawan Sharma, general secretary said here on Tuesday that a meeting of the office-bearers of the union was held at T.R. College for Girls, Sonepat to discuss issues affecting the teaching community as well as higher education in the state. The HCTU appealed to the Chief Minister to grant DA on pension to the aided college teachers like the university and other teachers.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
DEMANDED: The Chamba Welfare Association has demanded from the Himachal Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to constitute a Manimahesh trust for the better management of the Manimahesh pilgrimage. In a memorandum submitted to the Chief Minister, the association members demanded the opening of the pilgrimage for about four months from June to September instead of merely for 11 days from Janmashtami to Radhashtami.

NURPUR
NSS CAMP: A week-long camp of the NSS unit of the local Government Senior Secondary School concluded on Monday. Mr R.K. Mahajan, president, Nurpur Municipal Council, presided over the function. As many as 50 volunteers participated the camp. The volunteers planted 300 saplings on the school campus.

BODY FOUND: The body of an unidentified person was found on the railway track at Kandi in the subdivision on Monday. He was cremated after the postmortem.

NAGNI FAIR: The district-level Nagni fair of Nurpur subdivision is being celebrated on Saturday. It was decided by the Nagni Fair Committee at its meeting held on Monday under the chairmanship of the SDM, Dr N.K. Lath.

SURVEY SOUGHT: The Himachal Government has launched a survey to identify poor families under the integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) for the rural areas. Inquiries reveal that no government agency has been asked to start the survey in the urban areas, Mr R.K. Mahajan, president, local Municipal Council, has urged the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to direct the authorities concerned for undertaking the IRDP survey in the local MC area.

PARWANOO
MEETING: Keeping in view the law and order situation, members of the Resident Welfare Association of Sector 4, organised a meeting with the DSP and the Assistant Commissioner of Parwanoo on Tuesday. The residents said there was no control on underage drivers who drive two-wheelers without helmets and too at a high speed. The residents pointed out that the local nagar parishad has not made any arrangements to control cattle, pigs and monkey menace.

IMMUNISATION: Keeping in view the best immunisation coverage provided by the health authorities of Solan. It has been decided by the Health authorities to start a free immunisation programme of hepatitis-B as pilot project from September 1, said Dr Harmohinder Singh, SMO, ESI Hospital at Parwanoo. Dr Harmohinder said special type of stringes which cannot be reused will be used for immunisation.

SUNDERNAGAR
ACCIDENT: One person was killed and another injured when a tree fell on a scooter on national highway at Kanaid, about 6 km from here, on Monday. The deceased has been identified as Ram Pal. According to information Ram Pal was coming from Ner Chowk to Sundernagar as pillion rider on the scooter. When the scooter reached near Kanaid a tree fell on the scooter and struck the deceased on his head. He died on the spot.