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50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

Lohri celebrations
PM’s special gift of Rs 40 lakh for orphans
Ferozepur, January 12
Sharing love and compassion with those less fortunate, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sanctioned a special gift of Rs 40 lakh from his discretionary quota on the eve of Lohri to 125 orphans being brought up here in the Arya Anathalaya, one of the oldest orphanages of the country.

Hump & pump marks Lohri
Bathinda, January 12
Staff members and students of Malwa College, Bathinda, celebrated the Lohri function with full hump and pump. Kulwinder Singh Sidhu, principal of the college, addressed the students and gave his views about the celebrations of Lohri.

Bonfire was lit to celebrate Lohri in a city locality on Monday night. Tribune photo: Kulbir Beera

Grievance panel meet a non-starter
Bathinda, January 12
The monthly grievance committee meeting which was held here after a year seems to have become a non-serious show as neither the MLAs nor the senior members consider it important and even the government officials take little or no interest in solving problems of the citizens.

Know India symposium ends
Fazilka, January 12
On the concluding function of 8th All India Bharat Ko Jano (Know India) symposium organised by the Bharat Vikas Parishad, Fazilka, the public relations minister Bikramjit Singh Majithia attended the programme as chief guest. The prgramme was dedicated to martyrs Armymen of Indo-Pak war of 1971 in Fazilka sector.

On-the-spot fine for traffic offences
Cong holds rally

	‘BJP firm on 3 Lok Sabha seats’ Rajay Deep Tribune News Service Bathinda, January 12 To mark the National Youth Day, a statue of Swami Vivekanand was installed in the city near the Rose Garden today. The chief guest, minister for local bodies, Manoranjan Kalia, unveiled the statue, while the Mayor of the Bathinda Municipal Corporation, (BMC) Baljit Singh Bir Behman presided over the function. C.S. Talwar, additional secretary, health was the guest of honour along with the senior deputy mayor, Tarsem Goyal and deputy mayor Guinder Pal Kaur Mangat. The initiative was taken by Swami Vivekanand Study Circle and Vigilant Citizens' forum. Students of KV number 1 recited patriotic songs and while noted personalities of Bathinda spoke about the life and achievements of Swami Vivekanand. It may be mentioned that according to information received from sources in the BJP, bureaucrats of the BMC were not ready to install the statue but following the strict orders of the minister, it was finally done. When asked about it, Manoranjan Kalia said he was awarene of it and said, "With the installation of the statue, bureaucrats would now have got the answer about the supremacy of the public elected representatives." Later, while talking to the media, Kalia said, "Besides the industrial policy, the state government is soon going to launch the Information Technology (IT) policy to provide maximum employment to the youth of the state, but the details will be disclosed at a later stage." He announced that all the five Municipal Corporations in the state would be fully computerised phase-wise so that every detail would be just a click away. When asked about the long-pending issue of Improvement Trust chairmanship, he parried the query saying, "Very soon, the names will be announced." About the declaration of the third seat of the BJP for the forthcoming parliamentary polls, he said, "As of now, the seat has not yet been decided, but we are firm that we have to contest three seats. It is now a matter of exchange within the alliance. So, after the talks, we will get the deserved seat." When he was apprised about controversies over the ongoing development projects in Bathinda, he said, "I do not want to get involved in such issues. If the Mayor or his other colleagues have a problem, only then will I look into it." About his absence from while Sukhbir Badal's foundation stone laying visits in Bathinda, he said, "I do not want to comment on the issue. People should think about development not such petty issues." To avoid a query related to his desire to become the deputy chief minister, he said, "I am not the right person to answer as the party is supreme." When asked about the ongoing tussle between the councillors and BMC officials, he said, "There should be no doubt that elected representatives are in a higher position." About non-availability of fund generation sources with local bodies, he said, "We have asked the persons concerned to come up with proposals. The rest would be decided at a later stage."
	Lohri celebrations PM’s special gift of Rs 40 lakh for orphans Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service Ferozepur, January 12 Sharing love and compassion with those less fortunate, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sanctioned a special gift of Rs 40 lakh from his discretionary quota on the eve of Lohri to 125 orphans being brought up here in the Arya Anathalaya, one of the oldest orphanages of the country. Hoping for better living conditions, it was a moment of joy for these destitute children, when Parminder Singh 'Pinki', general secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, better recognized as a social worker in the area, handed over a cheque of Rs 10 lakh as the first instalment of PM's gift to Santosh P.D. Chowdhry, manager of the Anathalya, in a simple function organised on the premises of the orphanage here, today. Chowdhry is an octogenarian who has dedicated her life to wipe off the tears of orphans by providing them shelter, food and education. These children have come here from various parts of the country including Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and other states, besides, Punjab the home state. Her husband P.D. Chowdhry after retiring from the post of principal of the local DAV College in 1981 started offering his services to the orphanage as a volunteer but after his death in the year 1990 his wife who earlier used to assist her husband took up the challenge on her shoulders and continued running the orphanage by collecting donations with her own efforts. Although, the orphanage has 21 acres of land on its name and most part of the land is leased out every year for cultivation to earn money for the children but money earned out of it hardly meet the day-to-day expenses. While talking to The Tribune, Santosh revealed that the day-to-day expenses on these children go up to at least rupees one lakh per month apart from the maintenance of building. The building has not been repaired for the past many decades and if the PM had not sanctioned the money for this orphanage, the glorious institution would have lost its presence in the days to come, she said. This orphanage was set up here with the blessings of Swami Dayanand, the founder of Arya Samaj, on October 26, 1877. The Swami was invited here by Rai Sahib Mathra Das, an engineer to lay its foundation stone. Lala Lajpat Rai had visited this orphanage many a times and called it 'the pride of the nation'. Lord C.R Attlee, a member of the Simon Commission, who visited the institute on August 17, 1928, observed: 'I was most favourably impressed by the excellent work by this orphanage which is an honour to society'. The institute, which has given shelter to thousands of orphans and destitute children during the past many decades, grew slowly until the famines of 1890. In response to Christian relief measures that saved both starving children and converted them, Lala Lajpat Rai, a leading moderate in the Arya Samaj, announced that the Samaj would shelter any orphan sent to them. In February 1897, he began to collect funds for this orphanage. And, since then, this institution has become an inspirational source of nationalism without any discrimination with the children, no matter, from any part of the nation they come here for shelter and studies.
	Hump & pump marks Lohri Tribune News Service Bathinda, January 12 Staff members and students of Malwa College, Bathinda, celebrated the Lohri function with full hump and pump. Kulwinder Singh Sidhu, principal of the college, addressed the students and gave his views about the celebrations of Lohri. He also informed the gathering that the time has come when people had also started celebrating Lohri festival for the girl child. Students of the college also organised a cultural programme on the occasion. Eastwood International School celebrated Lohri with great pomp and show in the true Punjabi style here. Beena Rao, Dean of the school, congratulated and greeted all the students and staff on the occasion of this joyous festival, wishing them good luck and cheer in the forthcoming year. Bonfires were lighted on the occasion. Beena Rao, lighted the bon-fire and groundnuts, revaries, and other savouries were distributed to all the students and staff. While everyone munched the sweets, the girls performed the zealous folk dance of Punjab, the 'giddha'.
	Grievance panel meet a non-starter Anil Jerath Tribune News Service Bathinda, January 12 The monthly grievance committee meeting which was held here after a year seems to have become a non-serious show as neither the MLAs nor the senior members consider it important and even the government officials take little or no interest in solving problems of the citizens. According to sources, 16 out of the 33 members were absent from the meeting. The MLAs who are the members of the committee had appointed other members to attend the meeting. Besides it, the two MLAs from the region were also not present in the meeting. Even Bikram Singh Majithia, chairman of the committee, was also absent from the meeting. In a meeting of the committee headed by the Rahul Tiwari, Deputy Commissioner, today, he directed the Bhucho Mandi nagar council to launch a special drive to lay sewerage pipelines in the Guru Arjan Dev Nagar, The reasons for non-compliance of many decisions of the grievance committee are attributed to lack of planning by the administration to give priority to public grievances.