The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Monday, September 15, 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
MEETING: A meeting of the Shiromani Akali Dal and other Panthic bodies will be held at Gurdwara Sahib at Chogawan on September 28 to discuss the issue of Noormehalias and their activities in the Chogawan area.

RESOLVED: The Punjab Scheduled Caste Vikas Manch on Saturday resolved to take up welfare projects. The projects include arranging marriages, providing education, including giving free books, and distributing free blankets among poor families, widows and old persons.

SURGERY CAMP: A family welfare free surgery camp was organised here on Saturday. The camp was inaugurated by Dr K.K. Sharma, Director, Health Services.

GURDASPUR
BAN ORDER: Mr KAP Sinha, District Magistrate, has banned the burning of straw within a radius of 500 metres from the fields where the crop has not yet been harvested. He also banned the use of combines for harvesting between 6 p.m. and 9 a.m. in the district. Both orders will remain in force till November 14.

KHARAR
LAWYERS’ PLEA: The Ropar unit of the All-India Lawyers’ Union has urged the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Punjab Government to increase the number of judges in lower courts in Punjab for the speedy disposal of cases. Mr Rachpal Singh and Mr Darshan Singh Dhaliwal said a resolution was passed at a union meeting, urging the government not to appoint retired judicial officers as presiding officers in lok adalats. The resolution said lawyers should be appointed to these posts.

LUDHIANA
SCHOLARSHIPS GIVEN: A scholarship distribution function for needy and deserving girl students of seven Girls Senior Secondary Schools of Ludhiana was organised on Sunday at Devki Devi Jain Memorial College for Women, Kidwai Nagar, Ludhiana. An annual scholarship of Rs 1000 each was given by the Bharat Vikas Parishad to 75 girl students. Mr J.S. Nagpal, vice-president, Bharat Vikas Parishad Punjab-North, was the chief speaker. Mr Jagmohan Sharma, president, Congress Samiti, Ludhiana, was the chief guest and Mr Ashwani Sharma, Mr Prem Jain, Mr Narendra Jain (president D.D. Jain College), Mr Rakesh Kalra and Mr Ajay Kalra were the guest of honour.

PROTEST: Activists of the Muslim Aman Society on Sunday staged a demonstration against the terrorist activities in the country. The demonstration was led by the president of the society, Mr M.S. Ansari. The demonstrators raised slogans against the terrorists and Pakistan for abetting terrorism. Mr Ansari condemned Pakistan for trying to subvert peace in the country. He urged people to exercise restraint and not to get carried away with the provocative propaganda of vested interests. He also condemned the killing of innocent people in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country.

BEREAVED: Mr Udhay Singh Gill, father of hockey Olympian, Jagdeep Singh Gill, died following a cardiac arrest here on Saturday. Mr Udhay Singh (85) is survived by three sons and a daughter. He was cremated at the Model Town cremation ground. A large number of people attended the cremation. Mr Rajdeep Singh Gill, ADGP, and president, Basketball Federation of India; Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal, honorary general secretary, Punjab Basketball Association; Mr H.S. Randhawa, vice-president, Ludhiana District Hockey Association; Mr Balkar Singh Brar, general secretary, Punjab Handball Association; Sanjeev Kumar, a former Olympian; Gundeep Kumar, a hockey player; Mr Balraj Sharma, vice-president, Swimming Federation of India; and Mr Raj Kumar, general secretary, Punjab Volleyball Association, have expressed grief.

MANDI AHMEDGARH
MEETING: The Sanatan Dharam Sabha, Raekot, has announced to suspend all public celebrations, including Dasehra, in order to mourn the death of Master Navi, a son of Mr Sudarshan Sharma Darshi. Dr Balraj Sharma, a spokesman for the sabha, said the decision had been taken a public meeting held at Ved Bharti Mandir on Sunday.

NAWANSHAHR
INAUGURATED: The Medical Education Minister, Chaudhary Santokh Singh, inaugurated the Integrated Rural Development Programme at Raipur Dabba village, about 20 km from here, on Friday. Addressing a gathering, the minister said the Congress government had earmarked Rs 500 crore for rural development under the scheme.

ORGANISED: The Lions Club (City Smile), Banga, organised a dental care camp at Government Elementary School, Gosal, about 15 km from here, on Saturday. As many as 62 students were examined. Tooth brushes, pastes and medicines were given free of cost to 40 students.

PATIALA
ART CARNIVAL: At least 200 students of Yadvindra Public School students, on Sunday participated in the second Child Art Carnival organised by the institution. The schoolchildren, who were accompanied by their parents, were encouraged to paint their dreams and fantasies. School Principal R.P. Devgan said the intention was to let students express their thoughts and feelings.

PROGRAMME: A performance enhancement programme for teachers of nine DAV Public Schools concluded at Nodal Centre, DAV Public School, here on Sunday. The programme was inaugurated by the Regional Director, Kurukshetra and Patiala Zone, Mr K.L Manuja, on Friday.

ROPAR
FUNDS RELEASED: The district jail, whose building has been lying unfinished since long, might become functional in the near future after the Punjab Government releasing Rs 41.25 lakh for the project. The Deputy Commissioner, Ms Seema Jain, in a press note issued here on Sunday, said Rs 3.21 crore had been spent on the jail. The PWD Department is likely to take up the job of making the jail functional. OC

BUFFALOS DISTRIBUTED: The Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), Bhaddal, has donated 26 buffalos to needy widows residing in the areas in the vicinity of the institute. The buffalos were distributed by the Minister for Agriculture and Village Development, Punjab, Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, at a function organised on Saturday. Ms Bhattal also announced a grant of Rs 1.25 lakh for the Kandi Area Friends Trust formed by the institute.

ZIRAKPUR
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Shopkeeper Welfare Association, Zirakpur: advisers — Mr Dharam Pal Gupta, Mr Mohan Lal Arora and Dr Gurmeet Singh Bhardwaj, president; Jathedar Harbansh Singh, vice-president — Mr Gurvinder Singh Longia, general-secretary — Mr Pradeep Kumar, secretary — Mr Harjinder Singh Dhiman.

CHANDIGARH

MOTOR CYCLE TOUR: Fifteen city youths, who are members of the Chandigarh Bullet Club, will go on a seven-day tour to promote bike touring. The youths will be taking seven motor cycles, all Royal Enfields, to Hemkunt Sahib, Valley of Flowers, Badrinath, Vashu Dhara, Kedarnath and Auli. The group departs on Monday and will return on September 21.

TEACHERS HONOURED: The Lions Club Vishal honoured seven city teachers at a ceremony held on Friday at a Sector 35 hotel. The Principal of Sector 7 DAV School, Ms Madhu Bahl, and the Principal of MDAV School, Sector 22, Ms Rekha Arya, were presented with mementos. Dr Vinod Khera of the Chandigarh Coaching Centre, Sector 35, Sanskrit scholar Vishnu Pandey and Ms Rashi Khullar of Saupin School were also honoured, along with Dr Ranbir Singh Bawa, founder director of Panjab University’s Academic Staff College. Ms Kiran Bala of Century Public School, Naya Gaon, was also honoured.

ORIENTATION COURSE: The State Institute of Education, Sector 32, organised a five-day orientation course for mathematics teachers for Class VII. Nineteen teachers from various schools took part. Problems relating to the change in the mathematics syllabus were also discussed.

BJP ELECTION: As part of the organisational election of the local unit of the BJP, the election of the district No. 2 has concluded. Mr Chetan Mittal, state election in charge, said Mr Kanhya Lal Sharma had been unanimously elected President of district No. 2. The others who were elected unanimously as members of the state council are Mr Kamla Sharma, Mr Kewal Krishan Adiwal, Mr Jagdish Rohilla, Mr Bhim Sen Aggarwal and Mr Krishan Mahajan. The BJP spokesman said district No. 2 consisted of mandals No. 5,6,7, 8 and 9.

TEACHERS DAY: The Lions Club Chandigarh Supreme on Sunday celebrated the Teachers Day at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sector 29, and honoured 11 teachers. The Assistant Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghtan, Chandigarh, Mr D.K. Saini, appreciated the role of the club for undertaking such projects. The following teachers were honoured Ms Bharati Sood, Ms Moni Malhotra, Ms Kusum Lata, Ms Chander Ummat, Ms Anita Pathak, Ms Archana Sharma, Ms Malti Iyer, Mr MP Mahajan, Ms Parkash , Mr Nirmal Kumar and Mr Ashol Kumar.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Chandigarh Territorial Janta Dal (U): president — Mr Anil Kumar; general secretaries — Mr Suresh Kumar and Mr Ravi Vir; secretaries — Mr Mohinder Kumar, Mr Bal Kishan, Mr Gullu and Mr Jaswant Singh, and treasurers — Mr Rinku and Mr Satish Kumar.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Physically Handicapped Association, Chandigarh branch: president — Mr Balkar Singh; vice-president — Mrs Sunita Dogra; secretary — Mr Bachittar Singh; assistant secretary — Mr Harmesh Kumar; treasurers — Mr Anil Sehgal; and office secretary — Mr Rakesh Kumar.

PANCHKULA
COMPETITION: A national song competition was organised by Bharat Vikas Parishad at Aggarwal Bhawan on Saturday. A total of 33 teams from various schools of the township participated in the competition, which was held in two categories — group song and solo song. Saket High School stood first while Army School, Chandimandir, got the second prize in the group song categories, In the solo song competition, Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 6, and Army School, Chandimandir, won the first and second prizes, respectively.

‘JHILMIL DAY’: Rhymes, Vedic mantras and prayers were recited by students at the annual “Jhilmil Day” celebrated by the kindergarten section of Bhavan Vidyalaya in Sector 15. The secretary of the Bhavan Kendra Committee, Mr Ram Pal, was also present on the occasion. Parents of tiny tots were enthralled to see them reciting rhymes and presenting dance numbers.

CAMP: A multi-speciality free medical camp is being organised at Morni by the Health Department on Monday. Patients will be examined for ENT ailments, gynaecological problems, dental and orthopaedic problems, and paediatric diseases. The camp will be inaugurated by Mr Abhey Singh Chautala. The Health Minister, Mr M.L. Ranga, will also participate in the camp.

ARRESTED: The Kalka police has arrested Ram Chander from near Railway Bridge, Kalka for consuming liquor at a public place. He has been booked under the Excise Act. T

HINDI DIVAS: Hindi Divas was celebrated by the Hindi Society of Government College, Panchkula, on Saturday. A creative writing competition was organised. The results are: First-Saleem (BA III), Second-Saroj (BA III), Third-Jyoti (B.Sc III).

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
EXPEDITION: A 10-day sailing expedition of 34 NCC (Naval wing) cadets from Amritsar and Chandigarh started in Gobind Sagar here which would traverse 420 km in eight days.

HAMIRPUR
LAUNCHED: The Health and Family Welfare Minister, Ms Chandresh Kumari, on Saturday launched hepatitis-B immunisation programme for children under one year age group. She immunised a child and declared the programme open. Mrs Anita Verma, MLA, chaired the function. Hamirpur is the second district of state where this programme has been started.

KULU
DEMANDED: Mr Yudh Chand Saklani, president, Himachal Pradesh Kisan Union, has criticised the highhandedness of the truck union , Banjar and sought the intervention of the state government for regularising tariff of trucks from Banjar to other markets.

NAHAN
KILLED: Sandev Kumar (23), was killed when his vehicle rolled into a gorge, on the Haripur Dhar-Korag road on Thursday. The vehicle was on its way to Haripur Dhar.

SEIZED: The Paonta police has arrested Baldev Raj, a resident of Ludhiana with 21 kg of poppy husk. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered and the SHO, Paonta, has been nominated inquiry officer of the case.

CELEBRATION: A one-day inter-school competition of DAV Schools to make the ‘Hindi Day celebrations’ concluded here on Saturday. Students from five DAV Public Schools of Sirmour and Solan participated.

SHIMLA
PROBE SOUGHT: The ABVP has demanded an inquiry into irregularities in Himachal Pradesh University since 1990. Mr Sanjay Sharma, president of the university campus unit of the parishad, welcomed the probes ordered by the Chancellor and the vigilance inquiry against the Vice-Chancellor but said these should not be used to undermine the autonomy of the institution. He called upon all students bodies to join hands to protect the autonomy of the university.