The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, August 13, 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
SAINIK BOARD: As much as Rs 25 lakh was given as grant to the District Sainik Welfare Board under various schemes by the district administration here on Monday. The grant was given at the quarterly meeting of the board held under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner-cum-president of the board, Mr Raminder Singh. Senior civil and ex-army officials, including Brig M L Chadha (retd), vice-president of the board, listened to the grievances of ex-servicemen and their families.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
OFFICE-BEARERS: The followings were elected office-bearers of the District unit of the Government Teachers Union, Punjab, in an election meeting held here on Monday: President — Mr Gurbachan Singh Virdi; president (Sirhind block (I) — Mr Rishi Pal — president (Block Sirhind-2) — Mr Gulam Hussain — president Block Sirhind-3, Mr Nirmal Singh — president (Block Bassi Pathana-1) — Mr Chatarpal Singh; president Block Bassi Pathana-2, Mr Vashisht Kumar — president Block Khamano Mr Jagtar Singh.

HOSHIARPUR
MEETING: At a meeting of the District Planning and Development Board, Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, Minister for Public Works Department, Punjab, said Rs 552.13 lakh had been released for various development works in the district. He said of the 40 railway overbridges to be constructed in Punjab, work on 20 had been started on a priority basis.

JALANDHAR
SCHOLARSHIP: The Sahara group of companies has launched a scholarship for NCC cadets who excel in academics with an aim to encourage bright students to join the NCC. At a function here on Monday, officiating Group Commander, Lieut-Col R.P. Singh, gave away a cash prize of Rs 15000 to cadet Gurjit Singh of the 2 Punjab Battalion and students of DAV College, Jalandhar, while cadet Pawan Chandha and cadet Lovepreet Singh of the 1 Punjab Air Squadron ( students of Government Senior Secondary School, Hoshiarpur) bagged the prize of Rs 5000 each.

INJURED: Three members of a family were injured when a bus hit their scooter near Noorpur village on the Jalandhar-Pathankot road on Monday. According to the police, the injured were identified as Jaswant Singh, his wife Kamlesh Kaur and daughter Paramjit Kaur. They were admitted to the local Civil Hospital and a case has been registered.

LUDHIANA
ROAD SHOW: The local branch of Jayecees organised a road show at Surya Kiran Building, Mall Road, here, on Sunday. The show started at 6 pm and went on till 9.30pm. The questions related to the city and culture were asked from the audience. Manvinder Kataria told mediapersons that the show was organised during the ongoing Jaycees Week (August 9 to 15) which was being celebrated all over India. Coolers , tube lights, and fruits were donated at the Bal Bhavan, Sarabha Nagar, on Sunday. Among others who were present during the show were J.P. Aggarwal, Kiranjit Kataria, Vanit Bansal, Didarjit Singh, Kiranjeet Kaur, Reena Bansal and Neeraj Dhamija.

VANAMAHOTSAVA: The city Mayor, Mr Nahar Singh Gill, planted saplings at the community centre in Shaheed Karnail Singh Nagar, Phase II, to mark vanamahotsa va here on Monday. The function was organised by the Welfare Society. Mr Satwinder Singh Jawaddi, councillor, Maj Sher Singh Aulakh, president of the society, and Mr Harkirat Singh, former member of the PSEB, also planted saplings. Addressing the function, Mr Gill stressed the need for planting trees. He assured that pending development works of the colony would soon be undertaken. Major Aulakh said the area residents would plant more than 200 saplings in the colony. Among others, Mr B.S. Gill, secretary of the society, Col Harbans Singh, Mr M.S. Brar, Mr Sohan Singh Arewala, Mr B.S. Dhaliwal, Maj Kuljit Singh Sidhu, Mr Hardev Singh, Mr Amarjeet Singh, Mr Atma Singh Kler, Mr Sajjan Singh and Mr Naurataq Singh attended the function.

CHEMIST SHOPS: Retail and wholesale chemist shops in Pindi Street would observe a holiday on Friday to mark the Independence Day. According to Mr Lalit Verma, general secretary of the District Chemists and Druggists Association, the decision was taken at a meeting of the Pindi Street Chemists Association, held under the leadership of Mr Dalip Singh Tikka. Others present were Mr Mikki Miglani, Mr Sarbans Singh and Mr Harish Kapila.

ALLEGATION: The Khalsa Panchayat has alleged that bureaucracy was creating hurdles in the smooth functioning of professional colleges run by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). In a joint statement, Mr Bhupinder Singh Nimana, Mr Charanjit Singh Channi, Mr Apandeep Singh Khalsa and Mr Sucha Singh Ghasman observed that following the reduction in the admission fee to medical and dental colleges on the directions of the Punjab Government, the government institutions were entitled to a compensatory grant of Rs 3 crore. They pleaded for a similar grant to the SGPC-run dental college in Amritsar. They asked the government to stop its discriminatory attitude towards the SGPC-run educational institutions.

MOGA
DAIRIES RAIDED: Officials of the Health Department, Chandigarh, on Monday conducted raids on the premises of local dairies and milk-chilling plants to check adulteration. They also raided the stockists of Verka on the GT Road, Moga, and took samples.

PATIALA
SEMINAR: A seminar on ‘Indian university libraries in information technology (IT) environment’ was organised by the Department of Library and Information Science of Punjabi University here on Tuesday. Speaking on the occasion, Dr R.G. Prasher, a former Professor and Dean at Sagar University, said libraries have a great role to play in discoveries and literary and scientific outputs. He added that advances in hypermedia and multimedia has facilitated the information communication and information retrieval. The Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, Mr Swarn Singh Boparai, said library was the heart of community. He also urged the teachers to encourage the students to visit library regularly.

ELECTED: Mr Jaspreet Singh, Mr. Navdeep Singh, Mr Jaspreet Singh Doel and Mr Harpreet Singh has been elected as president, chairman, senior vice-president and secretary, respectively, of the Khalsa College Students Union here on Tuesday.

PHAGWARA
KILLED: A 65-year-old migrant labour, Sita Ram Parsad, was killed after being hit by a vehicle in a hit-and-run case on the GT Road near Chachoki village on Monday. He had come to meet a relative. Meanwhile, a body was found near the office of the local SP in Town Hall. The deceased appeared to be a beggar. Both the bodies have been sent for a post mortem.

SAMRALA
CHECK-UP CAMP: The local ahrtia association organised a free medical check- up camp on the premises of grain market here on Tuesday. Dr Gurpreet Singh Wander, Head, DMC Institute ,Ludhiana, and Dr S. Kumbhakrni, sugar specialist, Dr Naveen Mittal , Dr Tejinder Sidhu, Dr Gurmeet Gill, Dr Jaswinder Singh, child specialist, Dr Tarkjot Singh, Dr Harpal Singh checked more than 950 patients on the occasion. Mr Balbir Singh Rajewal, National General Secretary, Bharti Kisan Union, Mr Harpal Singh Dhillon, president , Ahrtia Association, state executive member of the association, Mr Raj Thapar, Mr Jagjeewan Singh Kheernian, chairman of the land mortgage bank, helped in organising the camp.

TARN TARAN
DEMONSTRATION: More than 100 workers of the local unit of the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front on Monday demonstrated to demand a ban on soft drinks carrying insecticides and pesticides.

CHANDIGARH

GGDSD COLLEGE: Keeping up with its tradition of producing toppers in the commerce stream, the GGDSD College, Sector 32, has 17 of the top 30 positions in the fourth semester of the M.Com. course being run at the college. In a press release issued here on Tuesday, the Principal, Dr A.C. Vaid, said besides bagging the first three positions from among colleges affiliated to Panjab University, the college had also secured the fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, 10th, 12th, 15th, 17th, 18th, 19, 24th, 26th, 27th, and 30th positions. He added that 19 of the 22 students secured first division with distinction.

KRANTI JYOTI YATRA: The “Kranti Jyoti Yatra” launched by the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee to commemorate the Quit India Movement entered the fourth day on Tuesday. A long procession led by the CTCC chief, Mr B.B. Bahl, was taken through the rural belt of union territory comprising Vikas Nagar, Mauli Jagran colony and other areas. Mr Pawan Bansal, MP, addressed the processionists and highlighted the sacrifices made by the Congress in the pre-Independence years. He said the exemplary sacrifices made even by the common man during those times were unparalleled in the world history.

SAS NAGAR
SCHOLARSHIPS: Sree Ayyappa Seva Samiti, SAS Nagar, has announced scholarships for Malayalee students residing in Chandigarh and SAS Nagar. Two students each from Class X and Class XII will get the scholarships. Class X students will be given the Smt Karthiayani Amma Memorial Scholarship and Class XII students will get Shri C. Krishnanunni Nambiar Memorial Scholarship. The student should have passed the examination in March, 2003. An application along with the attested copy of the of the mark list may be submitted to the president, Sree Ayyappa Seva Samiti, HB-126, Phase I, Mohali, through any of its members. The last date is August 31.

HARYANA

AMBALA
MEETING: A meeting of the District Congress, Ambala Cantt unit, was held under the presidentship of Mr Ashok Jain on Tuesday. Mr Jain spoke about the Kranti Jyoti Yatra being held from August 9 to August 15. It was decided at the meeting to hold the yatra in Ambala Cantonment on August 14. Activists will congregate at the Congress Bhavan and in the evening, they will walk through main markets of Sadar bazar with “mashaal” and flags.

CAMPAIGN: A unique campaign has been initiated by the president of the District Congress, Ambala Cantonment, Mr Ashok Jain. The impact of the ‘Gaali chhodo abhiyan’ started in Ambala in April this year. Mr Ashok Jain said the ‘don’t abuse’ campaign was started on April 11, which is the birth date of Kasturba Gandhi. “We had kept the campaign low-key as we wanted to see the impact of the effort. We are pleased with the results and the encouragement shown to us by people from all walks of life,” he said. Forms have been distributed in different places and the feedback form have begun to come back.

FATEHABAD
OPEN DARBAR: The Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr M.L. Kaushik, presided over a weekly “open darbar” of the district administration at the local Patwar Bhawan on Monday. The SDM, Rattia, Mr S.B. Lohia, the Executive Engineer, DHBVN, Mr V.K. Singla, and the City Magistrate, Mr Jag Niwas, were present. He said that grievances regarding the issuing of yellow cards, pink cards and loans under the Indira Awaas Yojna would be redressed in the ADC’s office itself. In all, 68 grievances of various government departments were conveyed in the “open darbar”.

KAITHAL
RESENTMENT: PCO owners at Dhand Mandi, 18 km from here, expressed resentment against deterioration in the services by locking three members of the staff inside the telephone exchange there on Monday, according to information received here. The local police reportedly freed the staff after breaking the lock after half an hour. Later, the PCO owners threatened to start a dharna outside the telephone exchange, if the situation did not improve.

YAMUNANAGAR
KILLED: A cyclist died in a road accident here on Tuesday. According to information. Imran and Suner were going on a bicycle on the Yamunanagar-Saharanpur highway when they were hit by a car. The injured were taken to private hospital where Imran succumbed to his injuries.