The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tuesday, October 23, 2001, 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

AHMEDGARH
HONOURED: Members of the SC BC Teachers Union have honoured Mr Gurmel Singh Chandar, state president of the SC BC Employees Coordination Committee, on his election as state president, according to Mr Darshan Singh Ballowal, president, Ludhiana district unit.

PLEA: Mr Ramesh Kumar Sharma, a local leader, alleged that the Municipal Council authorities have ignored the development of Ward No 15 of the town. Drains and streets have been requiring repairs for past three years.

BATHINDA
CHAPTER INAUGURATED: Old students of Punjab Public School, Nabha, inaugurated the Malwa chapter of their organisation under the patronage of Mr K.C. Tandon, chairman of the local Silver Oaks School at a meeting here on Sunday. Mr G.S. Gill, president of the chapter, said on Monday that more than 100 old students of PPS, Nabha, from the Malwa region attended the meeting. The following have been elected office-bearers of the Malwa chapter: president — Mr Gurdarshan Singh Gill, secretary — Mr Arvinder Singh Sidhu and treasurer — Mr Jagjit Singh Sidhu.

CONSUMER FORUM: Mr H.S. Sidhu, president of the District Consumer Forum, in a press note issued here on Monday, said Mr H.S. Brar, president of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chandigarh, would visit the city on October 25 in connection with the annual inspection of courts of the District Consumer Forum.

ARRESTED: Nine persons have been arrested for various offences in the district and about 8 kg of poppy husk, 24 litres of illicit liquor and 40 kg of lahan seized from them. Jaspal Singh and Karamjit Kaur had been arrested from Talwandi Sabo for possessing 8.2 kg of poppy husk and a case under Sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS registered, the SSP said on Monday.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Akashwani Doordarshan Retired Employees Welfare Society: president — Mr M.G.Gautam; vice-president — Mr Ragubir Singh Vasudev; general secretary — Mr Udham Singh; joint secretary — Mr S.S.Gobindpuri and treasurer — Mr Raghbir Singh.

GURDASPUR
UNTRACEABLE: Majinder Singh of Ghot Pokar, here, a class V student of a local private school has not been traced since he was allegedly kidnapped on Thursday while he had gone out to play. Mr Sukhdev Singh, SSP, said the family has been receiving threatening calls in this connection.

HOSHIARPUR
APPOINTMENTS: The following have been appointed office-bearers of the district unit of the district Mahila Congress: president — Ms Taranjit Kaur Sethi; vice-presidents — Ms Baldev Kaur, Ms Shakuntla Devi and Ms Meenakshi Gupta; general secretaries — Ms Raj Kanwar, Ms Asha Kataria and Ms Asha Verma; and secretaries — Ms Santosh Saini, Ms Vidhya Rani, Ms Asha Sharma and Ms Ravinder Kaur.

JALANDHAR
INAUGURATION: The Deputy General Manager of the State Bank of Patiala, Mr S.P. Mittal, inaugurated a fully computerised branch of the bank at Mahilpur in Hoshiarpur on Monday.

KHANNA
MAZDOOR UNION: Mr Charanjit Singh, Mr Sant Ram and Ms Ajmer Kaur, office-bearers of the Mazdoor Union, alleged that the SDM, Khanna, had not come to the village in connection with the implementation of labour welfare scheme. However, some officials of the BDPO had visited the village. The leaders, including Mr Amar Singh, sarpanch of Bhattian village, alleged that some persons had forcibly occupied plots of 40 families. The union would not protest in front of the SDM’s office on Monday. Meanwhile, SDM Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal said he had directed Tehsildar Paramjit Singh and Naib Tehsildar to visit Bhattian village in connection with the problems of the labourer.

GRANT: The annual function of the Ambedkar Youth Front was organised at Ravidass Mandir here. Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, M.P., addressed the function and announced a grant of Rs 1lakh. Among others who present on the occasion were Mr Amar Singh Chounda, Special invitee, PPCC, and Nirmal Singh Jassal, vice-president, Municipal Council.

LUDHIANA
JAGRAN: Bhagwati jagran will be organised at Shiv Mandir Sant Ashram, Mundian Kalan, on the Chandigarh road, under the supervision of Baba Kirti Giri Ji Maharaj on October 23 in which jagran parties led by Ashok Pataka and Kumar Shammi would participate. A bhandara would be held the next day on the occasion of Ashtmi.

PATIALA
DRUG AWARENESS CAMP: Over 500 persons attended a drug awareness camp organised by the Jan Hit Samiti under the aegis of the Drug De-addiction Centre at Government Senior Secondary School, Dakala, here on Monday. Dr Asa Singh, Director, Drug De-addiction Centre, said around eight lakh patients died in India alone every year because of diseases caused by tobacco. Stress was laid on giving up the use of intoxicants, like cigarettes, tobacco and various forms of opium. Visual aids, banners, pictures, placards and slogans were used for the purpose.

FANCY DRESS COMPETITION: Students of pre-nursery to tenth standard participated in the annual inter-house fancy dress competition at Blossoms School here on Monday. Mrs Daisy Grewal, Director of the school, gave away prizes to the winners. Chirag Kapoor and Sagar Megi of pre-nursery and nursery in group A bagged first and second positions, respectively. Gursimran Kaur and Kajol of prep one and prep two were adjudged first and second, in group B. In group C, Anshul Bawa, got the first position followed by Bhupinder Singh on second. From group E Damanpreet and S. Parsona got first and second positions and in group F, Preety and Nikhil students of ninth and tenth class bagged the first two positions, respectively.

TOPPERS: Mr Sanjeev Kumar Bansal stood first in MSc (Mathematics) examination conducted by Punjabi University securing 681 out of 800 marks. Ms Sandeep Kaur Bhandohal stood first in BSc (Home Science) securing 575 out of 800.

RAJPURA
FANCY DRESS CONTEST: Mukat Public School, here held a fancy dress competition and group dances on Monday. Ms Gaitri Kaushal, school principal, inaugurated the function. The winners of Group A were Radhika, Ankita Saini, and Jasleen Kaur. In Group B (Class III & IV) Sanjana Saini stood first followed by Harneet Bhatia and Avi Chawla. Group C winners were Isho Apoorva, Madhuri Sibbal and Preetinder Kaur. In group dances, class Nursery-B bagged the first prize, KG-B second and UKG-D third.

SAMRALA
BKU MEETING: A meeting of BKU workers was held here on Saturday under the presidentship of Mr Netar Singh Nagra, president of the Ludhiana unit, to discuss the political and economic situation in the state and the plight of farmers. It was decided to hold a seminar on “Baba Politics and present issues of people” here on October 27. This was stated by Mr Balbir Singh Rajewal, national general secretary of the BKU. He said Dr Gopal Iyer a renowned sociologist, Dr Kaisatha and Prof Dr P.S. Verma of Political Science Department of Panjabi University and Dr Ranjit Singh Ghuman of Punjabi University, Patiala, would participate.

MEETING: A meeting of the Punjabi Lekhak Manch Samrala was held here on Saturday. Members of the manch expressed happiness for the Nobel Prize given to English writer V.S. Naipaul. Prof Baldeep has given a lecture on the literature of Naipaul. Among others who attended the meeting were Dr Gulzar Mohamad Goria, Mr Surjit Vishad, Prof Parminder Singh, Mr Ashwani Bhardwaj and Prof Hamdardvir Nausheharvi.

SANGRUR
MEDICAL CAMP: The local Government Pensioners Welfare Association organised a free medical check-up camp for dental and eye diseases here on Sunday. Mr Vinay Kumar, president of the association, said 265 patients had been examined. Free medicines were provided to the patients at the camp, he added.

CHANDIGARH

DHARNA: The All India Postal Employees Union (postmen and group D), Punjab circle, on Monday started a two-day dharna outside the office of the Post Master General, in support of its demand. The demands include cancellation of transfer orders of union representatives of Gurdaspur division, stoppage of victimisation of trade union office bearers, restoration of trade union facilities, separate zones for speed post delivery and supply of kit items of uniforms. Mr Dharam Paul Dutta, spokesman for the union, said a rally was also held in support of their demands.

ELECTED: Mr Satpal Bhardwaj and Mr Dev Raj have been elected general secretary and organisation secretary of the PGI Residential Complex Welfare Society, respectively. Their election was held following the resignations of Mr Satish Gupta and Mr G.S. Kumbra. A press note issued by Mr Subhash Chander, president of the society, stated that the general body meeting of the society expelled Mr Subh Karan from the post of joint secretary for his alleged anti-party activity. He was replaced by Mr Subhash Bhatia by the general body. He said the general body authorised the governing body to take appropriate action if any resident tried to indulge in anti-society activity.

TEACHERS HONOURED: The Governor of Haryana, Mr Babu Parmananda, honoured Mrs Sangeeta, a Hindi teacher, and Ms Gauri, a science teacher of Swami Ram Tirtha Public High School, for good performance, during a prize distribution function of the school recently.

ORIENTATION PROGRAMME: An orientation programme for principals and teachers of UT schools on monitoring the procedures of evaluation in adult education programme was held at Panjab University, here on Monday. Organised by the Regional Resource Centre for Adult and Continuing Education, the programme was presided over by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr M. Ramsekhar, who highlighted the impact of adult education programmes, including decline in population, awareness on health matters and self-employment opportunities. The Deputy Director, Adult Education, Ms Sudesh Kalra, gave a detailed account of all programmes of adult education as well as support needed in improving these programmes.

DANCE SHOW: Four-year-old Simran Lishu was among other participants who took part in a dance show organised by the Chandigarh Institute of Performing Arts at Bal Bhavan in Sector 23 here on Sunday evening. The show, based on Punjabi folk, was organised as part of the CIPA carnival, which is a regular weekly feature of the institute. Around 15 participants below the age group of 15 displayed their dancing talent in front of a packed auditorium. Those who participated included Renu Walia, Ritu Walia, Gaurav Rana, Ankur and Shakeel.

PANCHKULA
BHAJAN PROGRAMME: A bhajan sandhya programme was organised by the Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board on Sunday night at the Satsang Bhavan to mark the ongoing Navratra fair. The programme began with the lighting of traditional lamps by the Chief Secretary, Mr L.M. Goyal. Mr B.S. Bali, a musician of Kirana gharana, presented devotional songs. He was accompanied by Purshottam Kumar, Niraj Gandhi, Arvind Kumar, Tanya Gupta and Binditya Bali. Mr Manik Sonawane, Commissioner and Secretary, Local Government, Mrs Jyoti Arora, Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Goyal, ADC, and other senior officials were also present. Nearly one lakh devotees had visited the shrine during the fair. An exhibition of hand embroidered and traditional dresses would be organised at Kalagram. A workshop on embroidery was also organised.

WORKSHOP: A two-day training workshop for Ayurvedic practitioners of Panchkula was organised by the Piya Sharma Foundation. Twenty two persons participated in the workshop. The workshop aimed at motivating the participants to practice the Indian system of medicine and to shun the modern system of medicine in their practice. Lectures were also delivered on common medicinal plants.

FETE CONCLUDES: The two-day annual fete “Satluj Splendour”, of Satluj Public School concluded here on Sunday. The proceeds from this fete, organised by school students, would be used for setting up an IT library in the school. Over 25 food and game stalls were put up by the students. A fashion show, antakshri competition and a musical extravaganza were the highlights of the function. Rose stall, request song stall and the JAM sessions were the main highlights of Saturday’s fete.

SAS NAGAR
RALLIES ALLOWED: Punjab School Education Board authorities have allowed the holding of rallies by candidates in the fray for the October 24 election to the Punjab School Education (non-teaching) Employees Union. However, the employees have been prevented from raising slogans. An official of the board said holding of election rallies had earlier been prohibited in light of the Section 144 of the CrPC.