The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Friday, November 30, 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
WELCOMED: The SCBG Teachers Union has welcomed the 92nd Amendment Bill that has been passed to ensure the promotion of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe employees on seniority basis. Mr Gurmel Singh Chandhar, state president of the coordination committee, claimed that the decision had been taken due to persistent pressure built up by union struggle. Mr Darshan Singh Ballowal, organising secretary, Mr Mewa Singh Mehmi, Mr Harpal Singh, Mr Balwinder Latala, Major S. Kadan, Mr Surjit Singh, Mr Ram Singh and Mr Devender Singh (all office-bearers) demanded an immediate end to discrimination.

POLIO AWARENESS RALLY: A polio awareness rally and march was organised jointly by the local Rotary Club and State Bank of Patiala Grain Market branch. Students of Sacred Soul Public School and MG MN Senior Secondary School participated in the rally along with staff of the bank and Civil Hospital. The drops would be administered on Sunday at 13 centres, including Bus Stop, Railway Station, Civil Hospital, ESIC Dispensary, Food Supply Office, Amarpura, Sabazi Mandi, Islamia School, Ram Mandir, Jain Sathanak, Balmik Mandir Dharamsala Dhanak Basti and Vishavkarma Mandir, Mr Romesh Gupta, president Rotary Club, Mr V. P. Gupta, Manager SBOP; Mr D.R. Sharma Principal; Mr Pardeep Sharda and Dr Krishan Pilani were among others who spoke.

AMRITSAR
CAMPS: The Rotary Club, Amritsar, (midtown), will organise a free medical camp to test blood sugar here on December 1. The club will also organise a pulse polio camp on December 2. Polio drops will be administered to all children up to the age of five years.

PROGRAMME HELD: An awareness programme on environment protection and prevention of cruelty to animals was organised here at DAV College of Education for Women. An executive member of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals spoke on the animal rights and legal protection provided thereof to safeguard their rights.

BARNALA
STONE LAID: Mr Parmjit Singh Khalsa, general secretary, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), laid the foundation stone of a community hall of the Lions Club at Lions Bhavan here. Mr Satvinder Singh Jandu, president of the club, said on Wednesday that Mr Paramjit Singh Khalsa announced a grant of Rs 3 lakh from the MP Local Area Development Fund on behalf of Mr Simranjit Singh Mann for the construction of the hall.

BATHINDA
AWARENESS RALLY: The district Health Department organised an AIDS awareness and pulse polio rally here on Wednesday. More than 600 persons from the department, city hospitals, students and NGOs participated in the rally. The rally passed through the slum areas and provided information about AIDS and polio immunisation.

OFFICE-BEARERS: Mr Kuljit Singh Sharma has been appointed president of the district unit of the Punjab Law Forum. This was stated by Mr M.M. Behal, secretary of the forum, in a press note issued here on Wednesday.

POLIO CAMP: The Bhartiya SD Mahabir Dal and the Sahara Jan Seva, local NGOs, will organise a polio camp at the area hospital, Bhucho Mandi, on December 1. Mr Chiranji Lal Garg, Science and Technology Minister, will be the chief guest.

HOSHIARPUR
NCC DAY: The NCC Day was celebrated at Khalsa College, Garhdiwala, 28 km from here on Wednesday. More than 300 NCC cadets of 12 NCC Battalion, Hoshiarpur, from Khalsa College, and Khalsa and DAV Higher Secondary Schools of Garhdiwala participated in the parade. A cultural programme was also organised.

JALANDHAR
WORKSHOP: A workshop on “Problem of the Child Labour Special Schools” was inaugurated by Mr K. Shiva Prasad, Deputy Commissioner, here on Thursday. Mr Inderjit Singh, Assistant Labour Commissioner, Jalandhar, said 27 special schools for such children had been opened in the district.

KAPURTHALA
RALLY: Employees of the Health Department took out a pulse polio rally in the town on Thursday. Mr Niranjan Singh Suman, Civil Surgeon, flagged off the rally. He appealed to residents to get their children vaccinated against polio on December 2 and January 20.

LOK ADALAT: A Lok Adalat will be organised at Phagwara on December 1 to dispose of bank cases pending in courts, according to the District and Sessions Judge, Mr Gurdev Singh. The Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge Mr H.S. Bedi, will preside.

KHAMANO
PUBLIC MEETING: A public meeting was held at the police station here on Monday. The in charge of the station sought cooperation from residents for maintaining law and order. Mr Dharampal, president of the Nagar Panchayat, and other prominent personalities of the area assured him of their full support.

DEMANDED: Mr Jagtar Singh, state president of the United Teachers’ Front, has demanded that unemployed B.Ed. teachers, who were not called for interview earlier, should soon be given another chance again. He said while over 40,000 posts in primary, middle, high and senior secondary schools were lying vacant, around 70,000 trained teachers were unemployed in the state. He threatened that if the demands of teachers were not accepted soon, they would be forced to launch an agitation.

NEW APPOINTMENTS: New appointments are being made to replace 26 panchayat secretaries, whose services were terminated by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Five of these posts fall in Khamano area.

KHANNA
DECLAMATION CONTEST: A declamation contest on AIDS was held at the A.S. College for Women here. The SDM, Mr Pardeep Kumar Sabhrwal, was the chief guest and Additional Managing Director, of the State Bank of Patiala, Mr P.K. Bansal, was the guest of honour. A painting competition on AIDS and Pulse Polio was also organised on the occasion. Those present on the occasion included Dr Dharmpal, Dr P.D. Singla, Dr N.P.S. Virk, and Principal, Ms Rekha Bhardwaj.

TWO APPLY FOR CONG TICKET: Two persons have so far applied for the Congress ticket for the Khanna Assembly seat. They include Mrs Harbans Kaur Dullo, wife of Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, MP and a former Minister, Punjab; and Mr Amar Singh Chaunda, a retired Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Punjab; Mrs Dullo is the elected member of the PPCC while Mr Chaunda is a special invitee of the PPCC.

CAMP: A camp to issue Scheduled Caste, Backward Class and domicile certificate to the students and residents of nearby villages was organised at Rasulara village, 2 km from here, on Wednesday. Mr Parmjit Singh, Tehsildar, said 280 certificates were issued on the spot to students and other residents of the village and of nearby villages during the camp. He said more than 120 camps had been organised during the past two months and over 2,000 certificate had been issued during these camps.

MEETING: The newly-appointed officiating president of the local MC, Mr Nirmal Singh Jassal, held his first meeting with the employees of the council after taking charge at the Municipal Council town hall here on Thursday. Mr Jassal called on the employees to perform their duty with honesty. Mr Vijay Sharma, Mr Vijay Diamond, Mr Jaspal Lotey and Mr Mohinder Pal Jassal also spoke on the occasion.

CRITICISED: The former president of the Gobindgarh Steel Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Mr Surinderpal Singh, has criticised a decrease of mere 85 paise in the price of furnace oil by the Central Government even though the price of petroleum products had decreased remarkably in the international market. This, he said, was not helping the rolling industry. He further said the price of furnace oil in Ambala depot in March, 1999, was Rs 6.50 per litre, which had now increased to Rs 10.16 per litre. He demanded that the price be fixed at Rs 6.50 per litre else it would affect the production in mills. He termed the increase as a conspiracy to increase the commission of its dealers.

CONDEMNED: Mr Lakhbir Singh, president of the local unit of the SHSAD, has condemned the decision taken by the Council of Ministers to abolish octroi in the state by stating that it would affect urban development in the state. He said the government had not yet decided any alternate source of income for the municipal councils. He said it would affect the payment of salaries to the staff.

LUDHIANA
ANNUAL DAY: The annual function of Little Angels Nursery School, Salem Tabri, was organised here on Thursday. A fancy dress competition was organised in which kids dressed up as soldiers, brides, joker, Santa Claus, and bhangra artist took part. Prizes were distributed among the winners. First prize was bagged by Vanika who was dressed up as a bride. Second prize went to Ashna Bangia and Sahil Sondhi. Third prize was won by Manmeet and Abhi. Ms Sood, Principal, appreciated the efforts of the students.

ELECTION CONDEMNED: Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, former president, SGPC, has condemned the election of Mr Kirpal Singh Badungar as SGPC president, calling him a follower of Piara Singh Bhaniarawala. Mr Tohra said Mr Badal was violating ‘hukamnamas’ of Akal Takht. He added that by electing Mr Badungar, the CM had closed all doors of unity between various Akali factions. He expressed confidence that the people of Punjab would defeat SAD (B) in the coming Assembly elections.

NAWANSHAHR
CAUTION TO ACTIVISTS: Mr Balwant Singh, secretary of the state unit of the CPM, while talking to mediapersons here on Wednesday, urged its activists not to get misled by parallel delegate conferences being organised by the “so-called CPM leaders” owing allegiance to Mr Mangat Ram Pasla and Mr Harkanwal under the party banner.

LEPROSY CAMPAIGN: Mr Jagjit Singh, Deputy Commissioner, on Wednesday launched the third Modified Leprosy Elimination Campaign in the district here at a function. Dr H.S. Gill, District Leprosy Officer, said under the campaign, the District Leprosy Society would organise workshops for a survey to be conducted in the district for the detection of leprosy patients from December 10 to 14.

SEMINAR: The district unit of the National Neonatology Forum organised a seminar on neo-natal care to reduce mortality among newborns at the PHC, Balachaur, about 20 km from here, on Tuesday.

AIDS AWARENESS DAY: The NSS unit of the local government senior secondary school organised ‘AIDS awareness day’ on its premises here on Wednesday. A declamation contest, a quiz and painting competition were organised. Mr Gurmail Singh Sahlon, Deputy District Education Officer, presided over the programme, informed the coordinator, Mr Kuldip Singh.

POLIO VACCINATION: As many as 80,838 children up to the age of five years will be given polio drops on December 2 and January 20 in the district. The administration had planned to set up 504 immunisation camps and 17 mobile teams for the purpose, informed Mr Jagjit Singh, DC and Dr J.S. Bhullar, Civil Surgeon, in a press note issued here on Wednesday.

PATHANKOT
COUNCIL FOR SIKHS: A Shiromni Gursikh council had been formed to propagate Sikhism and bring together the Sikh community scattered in the Kandi area of the subdivision, said prominent eye surgeon K.D. Singh, who conceived the idea of the council. He said its aim was to see that the Sikhs of the area were given employment opportunities.

SWEATERS DISTRIBUTED: The local Help line organisation distributed sweaters and footwear's among 400 students at a function organised here on Wednesday. Mr Kunj Lal, a 'vaid', was the chief guest.

TARN TARAN
FIVE BOOKED: The city police has booked Sukhbir Singh and four members of his family under the dowry Act on a complaint lodged by his wife, Jaspreet Kaur. She alleged in her complaint that since her marriage on March 24, 1996, she was being harassed and tortured for more dowry by her in-laws. The police has registered a case against the suspects under Sections 498-A, 379, 406 and 506 of the IPC.

2 TYPISTS HELD: The Goindwal police has registered a case under Sections 420, 419, 418 and 417 of the IPC against two typists working at Goindwal on the charge of issuing fake Scheduled Caste certificates to people to enable them to get houses under the Punjab Government scheme in this regard. Police sources told this correspondent on Thursday that the typists, Major Singh and Bhupinder Singh, alias Bhinda, had been arrested.

HARYANA

FATEHABAD
FINANCIAL AID: The Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board, Fatehabad, gave financial assistance to 21 persons who had been victims of accidents related to agricultural equipment. About Rs 4 lakh was distributed among the victims. The Sub-Divisional Magistrate and Administrative Officer of the Market Committee distributed cheques.

DHARNA: The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and the Students Federation of India (SFI) staged a dharna outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner here for the second day on Thursday against the alleged anti-people policies of the Central and state governments. They gave a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner demanding the starting of postgraduate classes at Fatehabad, elections to the student unions, construction of hostels at the district headquarters and the filling of vacant posts of college teacher.

KURUKSHETRA
CAMP FOR VILLAGERS: A Post Office Rural Life Insurance (PORLI) camp will be organised at the Shiv Mandir grounds in Shahabad Markanda, 30 km from here, on December 12. The Superintendent, Kurukshetra Division post offices, mr Harbans Pal Sharma, said on Wednesday that the PORLI scheme had been started by the Central government to provide social security to villagers.

CYCLE RALLY: To celebrate the NCC Day, a cycle rally for cadets of Kurukshetra University was organised here on Tuesday. Dr Chand Datta, Principal, University College, Kurukshetra, flagged off the cyclists from the campus for Jyotisar, 5 km from here. The officer in charge, Major D.S. Sandhu, led the rally.

ROHTAK
KISAN CARDS: Nearly 65 Kisan Credit Cards worth Rs 3 crore were distributed among farmers by Haryana Kshetriya Gramin Bank at a function held here on Wednesday. Mr A. Ramnathan, Chief General Manager, NABARD, Chandigarh, was the chief guest and Mr Anil Malik, Deputy Commissioner, Rohtak, presided over the function. Mr M.L. Arora, Chairman of the bank, said since 1975 about 6,000 cards worth Rs 35 crore had been issued.

STABBED TO DEATH: A youth was stabbed to death at Balmiki Basti in Shivaji Colony here on Tuesday evening. The deceased has been identified as Ganeshi of Shivaji Colony who reportedly had a criminal background. The police has registered a case against Bittu, Sonu and Mona (brothers) and Ramu and Sunil in this connection but no arrest has been made so far.

KILLED: A person riding a motorcycle was killed on the spot when a Haryana Roadways bus collided head on with the vehicle near Kablana village on the Bahadurgarh-Jhajjar road on Wednesday. The deceased has been identified as Jaipal.

SUSPENDED: Nine policemen, including a sub-inspector and two women head constables of the Faridabad police, were suspended on Wednesday in connection with the escape of an undertrial from the police custody on Monday. Sanjay of Butana village had escaped by breaking the windowpane of the van in which the police was taking him to Rohtak.

EMPLOYEE ROBBED: Two motorcyclist on Thursday snatched Rs 1.51 lakh from an employee of the PGIMS. According to the police, Santosh, steno, and another employee, Anju, were carrying the amount for disbursement among employees when two youths waylaid them and snatched the money. A case has been registered.

SONEPAT
YOUTH DIES: A youth died in a road accident on the next day of his marriage on Thursday. Dinesh, a resident of Israna village in Panipat district, along with his wife and other relatives, was going to Delhi in a Maruti van when it was hit by a canter (Tata 407) on the G.T. Road near Larsauli village, about 15 km from here. The bride escaped unhurt.

BOOKED: The in-laws of Ms Ravita reportedly tried to strangulate her at Sisana village, about 25 km from here, on Wednesday. She was rushed to the PGI, Rohtak. A case of murderous assault has been registered against four members of the family, including her husband and mother-in-law.

SCHOLARSHIP GIVEN: The joint president of Atlas Cycle Industries, Mr Jaidev Kapur, gave away scholarship money to Priyanka, a student of Jankidas Kapur Public School at a function here on Wednesday. She had secured 90 per cent marks in the matriculation examination of the CBSE this year.

YAMUNANAGAR
EX-MLA ATTACKED: Mr Ramji Lal, a former MLA from Sadhura, was seriously injured when he was attacked by some persons on Tuesday. He was coming back from Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir near here. He has been shifted to the PGI, Chandigarh.

ACCIDENT: Three persons, Tirath Singh (45), his daughter Kawaljit Kaur (25), and his grandson were severely injured when a truck hit them near the ITI Chowk on Wednesday. While Mr Tirath Singh and his daughter, Kawaljit Kaur, later succumbed to their injuries at the local hospital, the grandson is stated to be out of danger. The truck driver has been arrested and the truck impounded.

LOK ADALAT: A lok adalat will be held at 10 a.m. on December 1 at the new judicial complex under the chairmanship of Mr Justice V.K. Bali.