The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Saturday, October 11, 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

AMLOH
DHARNA:On the call given by the Punjab Revenue Patwar Union, a dharna was organised at Tehsil Complex here on Thursday. It was chaired by Tehsil president Gurmeet Singh. The Kanungo Union also participated in the protest. Speaking at the occasion, district president Gursewak Singh flayed the government, which in the light of the recent decision of Supreme Court, for curtailing benefits accorded by the government after agitations of the employees. Now it would become difficult for the employees to protest against the government for the acceptance of their genuine demands. It would be a step towards dictatorship, he said.

PADDY PROCUREMENT: Paddy procurement in the state has been going on smoothly, said Mr Sant Ram Singla, chairman, Marketing Board, Punjab, at a meeting with farmers, arhtiya association and official of the market committee, after his visit to the local grain market here on Thursday. He was on a tour of the grain markets in the state to supervise the arrangements of procurement, payments and lifting of paddy.

AMRITSAR
SEMINAR: The Punjabi Language Academy and the Punjab Academy of Social Sciences, Literature and Culture, Jalandhar, will hold a one-day seminar on media and social change in collaboration with Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Guru Nanak Dev University. The seminar would be held on October 14 at the GNDU Regional Campus at Ladhewali (Jalandhar.)

BARNALA
PROTEST: The Revenue Patwar Union, Punjab’s subdivision (Barnala Unit) on Thursday staged a dharna in the local Courts Complex against the anti-employees policies of the Punjab Government under the presidentship of Mr Darshan Singh Sidhu, the president, Revenue Patwar Union, Barnala subdivision.

Mr Inderjit Singh, vice-president, and Mr G.L. Jogi, general secretary of the Sanchar Nigam Executive Association address the open session in Ludhiana on Thursday.

LUDHIANA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The general body of the district unit of the Sanchar Nigam Executive Association (SNEA) elected Mr Harbhajan Das and Mr Sanjeev Kumar Gupta as its president and district secretary, respectively. The meeting held under the chairmanship of Mr Inderjit Singh, national vice-president, was attended by more than 250 delegates. Mr G.L. Jogi, general secretary, SNEA, addressed the open session. The following are the other office-bearers: Mr Mohinder Singh, Mr Sukhminder Singh, Mr Harinderpal Singh, Mr Baljinder Singh — vice presidents; Mr Jasbir Singh, Mr Harinder Singh, Mr Karamjit Singh, Mr Amarjit Sharma, Ms Seema Gupta — assistant secretaries; Mr Chawla and Mr Nayyar — organising secretaries; Mr Deepak Kumar — cashier; Mr Rathore, Mr Satish Kumar — assistant cashiers and Mr Sheesh Kumar — auditor.

FAREWELL: Ms Inderjit Gill Vashisht was given a warm farewell at a function organised at the Guru Nanak Sports Complex here on Thursday. Ms Vashisht retired as the Principal of the Government College for Women, Ludhiana, on September 30 after putting in more than 30 years of service before joining here in May, 2000, she had been the Principal at Government College, Amritsar, and prior to that she headed the college at Kapurthala. The function was organised by the Punjab Sports Department where Ms Inderjit was felicitated for her contribution and co-operation in conducting various sports tournaments in the city during her stint at Ludhiana.

HAILED: Senior educationists of Punjab have hailed the appointment of Dr Manmohan Singh, as Principal Secretary of Higher Education in a joint statement here. Mr K.B.S, former president, PCCTU, Principal Tarsem Bhaiya, convener, Punjab State Education Forum, Principal Manjit Singh Khatra, Director, GHG Khalsa Institute, Sudhar, stated that his appointment at a juncture when higher education in the state was facing a plethora of financial and organisational problems is appropriate.

FETE: A fete will be organised by the SBI Ladies Club at the parking lot in front of Civil Lines Ludhiana branch, for collection of the fund for the benefit of destitute, handicapped and poor here on Saturday. Mr Samir Saran, Deputy General Manager, State Bank of India, Zonal Office, Ludhiana, will inaugurate the fete. The fete will continue till evening. Prizes will also be given to the ‘lady of the day’, ‘gentleman of the day’ and ‘teenager of the day’.

MEDICAL CAMP: Students of Pearls Nursery School, Gurdev Nagar, underwent medical check up during a camp organised by Khosla Nursing Home here on Friday. Kids were accompanied by their parents and Dr Deepika Khosla, general physician, checked for proper growth and development of all children. Parents asked the doctor various questions on giving nutritional diet, additional care during changing weather conditions and tips to tackle behavioural problems.

QUIZ CONTEST: Conducting a quiz contest and seminar, the students of GRD Academy celebrated the National Postal Day here on Friday. In the quiz competition, five teams of two members each, participated. Nearly 10 rounds were held with questions based on postal services. During the speech session, the House Master of Pine House said over 6 lakhs students were employed in the Postal Department, out of which 3 lakh persons were working in villages and remote areas.

MANSA
FOUR HELD: The Bhikhi police has arrested four persons — Jasbir Singh, Mandeep Singh, Jagmohan Singh, all local residents, and Gurdial Singh of Patiala — under Section 420 of the IPC for collecting cash, foodgrains, wheat flour and other articles in the name of a charitable institution.

PATIALA
MEETING: The Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor, Mr Swaran Singh Boparai, held a meeting with the director of T-Series Musical Company, Mr Darshan Kumar, and the chairperson of Guru Gian Parkash Foundation, New Delhi, Ms Jasbir Kaur Khalsa, in connection with organising 400-year celebrations of Guru Granth Sahib on the varsity campus here on Friday. The head of Gurmat Sangeet Chair, Dr Gurnam Singh, said a gurmat sangeet festival would be organised on the varsity campus on November 18 and a dhadi darbar would be held at Damdama Sahib. Mr Darshan Kumar said T-Series would provide recordings of gurmat sangeet.

RALLY: The Bahujan Samaj Party organised a rally in protest against the policies of the Central Government here on Friday. The general secretary of the party, Mr Joga Singh Panoudian, said the NDA government was ‘anti-Dalit’. They submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, Patiala, appealing the President to ensure that the interests of Dalits were protected. Mr Amarjit Singh, Mr Sabih Singh and Mr Darbhan Singh Kamboj also spoke on the occasion.

STUDENTS’ DEMAND: Students of the Fine Arts Department, Punjabi University, have demanded the revocation of the suspension of their former Head of the Department, Dr Saroj Rani, here on Friday. They have urged the Vice-Chancellor, Mr Sawran Singh Boparai, to reinstate Dr Saroj Rani claiming that the research and academic work of the department is suffering.

FARMERS’ PROTEST: Various farmers associations of the state observed black day in protest against the death of Gurdev Singh, member of the Kisan Union, who died on September 30 during a protest at Bathinda against the policies of the Central Government. They organised a protest rally and blocked traffic on the Mall Road. The leaders alleged that the NDA government at the Centre was responsible for the ‘poor’ economic condition of the farmers. Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra, Akali leader, was also present on the occasion.

PHAGWARA
CLUB POLL OFF: Elections to the prestigious City Club here slated for October 9, have been postponed. The Kapurthala DC Mr Rakesh Verma, who is president of the 380-member club, has postponed the elections following a report from the Returning Officer and local Tehsildar.

TARN TARAN
NSS CAMP: A 10-day NSS camp was organised by volunteers of the local Mata Ganga College at Piddi, village 6 km from here. Streets and the drains of the village were cleaned by the volunteers and illiterate women were taught the Punjabi alphabet.