The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

NEWS AND VIEWS

PUNJAB

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JAMMU & KASHMIR

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REGIONAL BRIEFS

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R E G I O N A L B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
FOUNDATION STONE: Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, president, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, will lay the foundation stone of Guru Hargobind Sahib Bhavan, auditorium of Khalsa College here, on Monday. Informing this in a press release on Saturday, Dr Jaswinder Singh Dhillon, Principal, Khalsa College, said the auditorium would have 1300 seats and would be built in one year.

CHARITY EXHIBITION: The Arpana Trust, committed to the uplift of rural women and slum dwellers, will exhibit the wares of over 1750 women belonging to 13 villages of Karnal district here from March 18. The proceeds from the four-day exhibition, will go towards charity said Ms Indu Dayal, a representative of Arpana Trust.

FEROZEPORE
BANGLA NATIONAL HELD : The BSF apprehended a Bangladeshi national while he was trying to enter Indian territory from Pakistani side near Satpal border outpost on Wednesday night. Jawans of 14 battalion of the BSF were on patrol and spotted some movement near the Satpal BOP along the Ind-Pakistan international border on Wednesday night. BSF personnel challenged the intruder and later, arrested him without much resistance. He was identified as Mujib son of Lal Mia, resident of village and PO Skipur of Sharatpur district in Bangladesh.

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

CHANDIGARH

AWHO OFFICE-BEARERS: The following were unanimously elected office-bearers of the Army Welfare Housing Cooperative and Maintenance Society, Sector 47-C, on Sunday; president — Wg Cdr R.P. Saini; vice-president — Mrs Sukhminder Kaur Grewal; treasurer — Lieut-Col G.S. Takhar; and executive members — Lieut-Col Avtar Singh Bajwa; Lieut-Col J.P. Singh; and Maj S.P. Trehan.

ISKCON GURU: The local chapter of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) condoled the death of Sridhar Maharaj, a spiritual master and one of the governing body commissioners of ISKCON, here on Sunday. He joined ISKCON in 1969 and was initiated as sanyasi in 1975. Harinam sankirtan was held at ISKCON temples all over the world for several hours following his death.

WOMEN’S DAY: Chandigarh Senior Citizens Association celebrated Women’s Day by organising a cultural show at the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Sector 10 here on Saturday. The programme included a devotional song, classical and pop numbers, a qawwali, a skit, recitation of poems and monoacting.

MEDICAL CAMP: Bharat Vikas Parishad organised a free medical-check up camp for testing blood sugar and haemoglobin in Sector 38-D here on Saturday. Dr Grewal from the USA and Dr Chugh from Sector 38 West provided free medical consultation.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Department of Hospital Engineering and Planning of Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research: president — Mr I.C. Verma; general secretary — Mr Sanjeev Sharma; senior vice-president — Mr Rajiv Bansal; vice-president — Mr Narinder Malik; joint secretary — Mr Parveen Gupta; treasurer — Mr Gurnam Singh; and convener — Mr P.S. Dhingra.

SCHOLARSHIPS: The Council for Promotion of Young Talent announced on Sunday the launch of scholarships for meritorious students who had secured 90 per cent marks and above in the Class X examinations conducted by the CBSE. The council will conduct special classes for Class XI and Class XII students at its office at 188, Sector 19-A here from April 5.

CELEBRATED: Under the aegis of Manav Vikas Samiti, at least 500 slum-dwelling women of Chandigarh and nearby areas assembled at the Diocesan Pastoral Centre, catholic Church, Sector 19, to celebrate International Women’s Day on Sunday. The Sachet Manch staged the play ‘Samaj’ on issues like domestic violence and dowry.

PANCHKULA
FUNCTION: Marriage of 14 poor girls was solemnised at a mass marriage function organised jointly by the Lions Club Plaza of Chandigarh and the Arya Samaj, Sector 12. Several items, including utensils, silver ornaments, dresses and household items, costing about Rs 10,000, were given to each couple. The function was attended by over 2,500 persons. It was presided over by Acharya Naresh Dohar, Rajgarh (HP). Mr Moti Ram Sharma, Mr Ravinder Talwar, Principal, DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, Chandigarh, were special invitees. Mr Bhaskar Arya, president of the Aya Samaj, Mr Om Aggarwal, president of the Lions Club and Mr Anil Gupta, project chairman of the club, were also present.

MEDICAL CAMP: Over 1,300 patients were examined at a medical camp organised by the Sri Shiv Mandir Nav Durga Charitable Trust at Mahadevpur (Saketri), near here, on Sunday. A team of doctors from the local General Hospital led by the Civil Surgeon, Dr Satvir Chaudhary, examined the patients. Deputy Commissioner Satwanti Ahlawat inaugurated the camp.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
RESIGNS: Roshan Lal, president, gram panchayat, Dobha, has resigned from the BJP along with his supporters and decided to join the Himachal Vikas Congress. Addressing mediapersons here on Saturday. Mr Roshan Lal said the BJP had failed to deliver goods and had ignored the Dalits, the SCs and the weaker sections of the society.

PALAMPUR
CHARGE DENIED: Mr Shanta Kumar, former Union Minister and senior BJP leader on Saturday denied the charge levelled by the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, that the state government was not getting due financial assistance from the Union Government. He said the state government had been given over Rs 3000 crore as financial assistance by the Centre in the past five years.

SHIMLA
APPOINTED: Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, the state BJP chief, has appointed Dr Dhani Ram as convener of the Pradesh BJP University Teachers’ Cell. He also appointed Mr Chander Bhushan Nag as convener of the Pradesh BJP Parivadhan cell and Mr Gobind Ram as convener of the Pradesh BJP Karamchari cell.

UNA
WORKSHOP HELD: The Composite Rehabilitation Centre under the Ministry of Social Justice and Employment, Sundernagar, organised a workshop for parents of mentally retarded children at Prem Ashram, home for retarded children, run by Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary, here on Sunday.