The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tuesday, November 27, 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

AMRITSAR
INAUGURATED: Mr Brij Mohan Kapoor, Mayor, inaugurated a memorial to martyr Udham Singh here on Saturday. He also inaugurated a project of laying pre-mix on the Sain Das road.

YUVA SHAKTI: The Yuva Shakti Sangathan has decided to field its candidate in the forthcoming Assembly elections. This was stated by Mr Surinder Sharma, general secretary of the sangathan.

COLLEGE FUNCTION: The NSS unit and the cultural association of the DAV College of Education for Women organised a “communal harmony and corruption eradication day” here on Sunday. The function was presided over by Master Mohan Lal, Minister for Higher Education Punjab. The Principal of the college, Ms Aruna Anand, thanked the minister for donating Rs 1 lakh to the college.

NCC WEEK: The NCC Group HQ celebrated the NCC week here. Col H.S. Shahid, Commander, NCC group, said the cadets undertook social welfare-oriented programmes during the week, which included karseva at Chheharta gurdwara, service at Andh Ashram (blind home) and Pingalwara (orphanage), community service in villages, besides traffic control duties. An ‘eye donation pledge’ camp was also organised in collaboration with the local Rotary Eye Bank. A total of 204 NCC cadets, officers and staff took the pledge.

LOK ADALAT: A Lok Adalat was organised at the District and Sessions court here by the District Legal Services Authority under the supervision of Mr V.B. Handa, District and Sessions Judge. Twelve benches were constituted to settle 383 civil, criminal, matrimonial, MACT, rent and other cases. Social workers and advocates were inducted as members to assist the benches. Around 200 cases were disposed of by way of compromise and Rs 33.36 lakh was awarded as relief.

‘PUNJAB BACHAO’ RALLY: The District Youth Congress (DYC), urban, held a ‘Punjab bachao’ rally at Katra Karam Singh here on Sunday. It was led by Mr Sanjay Kumar, president of the DYC. Among those present at the rally were the All-India Youth Congress general secretary, Mr Anil Bhardwaj, president of the Punjab Youth Congress, Mr D.S. Babbu and Mr R.L. Bhatia, MP and former Foreign Minister.

KHARAR
PULSE POLIO RALLY: An impressive Pulse Polio car rally was flagged off by Dr Rajinder Singh Saggu, Civil Surgeon Ropar here on Sunday. The rally was jointly organised by the Rotary Club and the Health Department. Dr Saggu and the Rotary Club, Kharar, President Rtn K.S. Mundi, appealed to the public to bring all children between the ages of 0 to 5 years to the nearest polio booth on December 2 and January 20 for administering polio drops, so that this dreaded disease could be eradicated completely.

KAPURTHALA
LOK ADALATS: Eighty one cases of various categories, including civil, criminal, matrimonial and road accident claims, were settled at six lok adalats organised here on Saturday, according to Mr Gurdev Singh, District and Sessions Judge. A total of 144 cases were taken up at the lok adalats. An amount of Rs 25.46 lakh was awarded as claims.

CREMATED: Ved Parkash Prashar (80), District and Sessions Judge (retd), who died following cardiac arrest in Delhi on Friday was cremated here on Saturday. His cremation was largely attended.

PATHANKOT
SENTENCED: Mr Naginderjit Singh, Special Judge, Gurdaspur, on Saturday sentenced Sikandar of Buda Kho Beas village to one year imprisonment and also imposed a fine of Rs 1000 on him for possessing 4 kg of poppy husk.

HARYANA

AMBALA
GOLD MEDAL AWARDED: Aparna Bansal, a former student of SD College, Ambala Cantt, has been awarded the Mahasha Benarsi Dass Gupta gold medal, 2001, for securing the highest marks in BA/BSc of Kurukshetra University.

MATRIBHASHA VISTAR MANCH: A poetry recitation competition was held at Vedic Industrial High School, Ambala Cantt. Students of Musaddi Lal Arya Kanya Vidyalaya participated in the competition. Rohini was declared first, Aman was second and Bharti was third. The consolation prize was won by Vandana Verma. Among others, Mr Brij Mohan Kohli, vice-president of the manch, Principal Upma Soni, Mr Santosh Kumar Gupta, Ms Neelam Suri, Mr Shyam Sundar Verma and Mr Sushil Gupta were present according to a press note.

CITIZENS COUNCIL: The Citizen’s Council has expressed concern over the deteriorating civic conditions in Ambala Sadar. In a memorandum addressed to the Governor, Chief Minister and Chief Secretary of Haryana, the Council has drawn the attention of the state administration to “deplorable and fast deteriorating civic conditions in Ambala Sadar”. Chairman of the council, Mr N.C. Jain said that despite submission of repeated requests and memoranda to the authorities concerned, no action had been initiated to improve sanitation, drainage and roads in the town. “The residents live under the constant threat of diseases,” he said.

BEST ACADEMY AWARD: Dr Reeta Jaspal, a leading gynaecologist of Ambala, was awarded ‘Best Academy Award’ by the Academy of Medical Specialists in recognition of her contribution to the field of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. According to a note, the award was given at the zonal conference of medical specialists at Gurgaon on Sunday.

GOVT IGNORING MASTERS: Haryana Government Masters Association has expressed concern over the ignorant attitude of the Department toward teachers of master cadre. Mr Davender Gautam, president, Haryana Science Masters Association and Mr Ram Krishan Kalia, president of Haryana Government Masters Association in a joint press note said, that not only the government but even other teachers’ associations had given step-motherly treatment to this cadre. He said that the posts of science teacher should be declared a technical posts.

ONE KILLED: One person was killed and another injured in a road accident near Matheri village on the Ambala-Hisar road late on Sunday evening. According to information, the incident occurred when a Tata-407 and a motor-cycle collided. The police registered a case and impounded the vehicle.

KAITHAL
NCC DAY: A function was organised to mark National Cadet Corps (NCC) Day at R.K.S.D. College here on Saturday. Major (retd) K.K. Sirohi, Principal of the college, presided over the function. Tributes were paid to late Assistant Commandant, BSF Vikas Bhardwaj, a former student of the college, who lost his life fighting with militants in Jammu and Kashmir. Sandeep Berwal and Sanjay Verma were declared best cadets.

DENTAL CAMP: The local Rotary Club organised a dental check-up camp at Nanak Pur Basti here on Sunday. About 160 persons were examined by Dr R.K. Goel and Dr Dinkar Garg and were given medicines free of cost. Mr Kishore Lal, local Councillor and Vice-Chairman, Municipal Council, inaugurated the camp. The camp was organised to create-awareness among the people about the dental diseases, said the president.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
PAINTING CONTEST: A social organisation, ‘chetna’, organised declamation and painting contests for schoolchildren on “Addictions are a curse” at Government Boys Senior Secondary School here on Sunday. Children from 10 schools took part. Ajay Chandel, Rini Jagota and Sunil Kumar were declared first, second and third, respectively, in the painting competition.

CHAMBA
COMPLAINTS: Several organisations here demanded probe into the encroachments on the houses, shops and land belonging to the historic Lakshmi Narayan temple. According to the complaints, some people had encroached upon the land of the temple and made constructions over it. The encroaches are reportedly influential people of the town.

UNION’S DECISION: The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) Employees Union has decided to move court to expose the corrupt officials of the corporation. In a statement issued here on Sunday, Mr Kamal Kishore Raina, president and Mr Hem Raj Thakur, general secretary of the district unit of the union, criticised the self-styled leaders.