The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Saturday, December 8, 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
GARCHA LAYS FOUNDATION STONES: Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, Minister of Higher and Technical Education, laid the foundation stones of three bridges at Jhammat, Balowan and Bool in Qila Raipur assembly constituency. Addressing mammoth gatherings at all three places, Mr Garcha thanked Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, for sanctioning the Rs 1.25-crore project. Among others who spoke on the occasion were Mr S. K. Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana; Mr Nirmal Singh Cheema, Chairman, MC, Ahmedgarh; Mr Gurjit Singh Majri, Chairman, MC, Qila Raipur and Mr Gurdev Singh, Executive Engineer, Canal Department. The bridges will benefit the residents of around 60 villages, who had been demanding these for a long period. The condition of the old bridges had been deteriorating continuously for the past two decades, and construction of new bridges had been announced at regular intervals. The CM had promised their construction during the by-election of Qila Raipur constituency.

FRAUDSTERS SURRENDER: All three people, accused of defrauding Anand Isher Public School of Rs 14.69 lakh, surrended themselves before Mr Sikander Singh, SHO, Dehlon police station, on Wednesday in the presence of prominent personalities of the area. It is learnt that an Akali leader, close to CM, played an instrumental role in making the accused surrender. The police have not yet arrived at any conclusion about their modus operandi. A case against Baldev Singh of Rachis, Jagjeet Singh of Shankar, and Kulwant Singh of Ghungran village was registered under sections 467, 468, 471, 406, 408 and 420 of the IPC.

AMRITSAR
MEDICAL CAMP: A medical camp was organised by the Flaming Arrow Brigade at Khasa village here on Thursday. Brig Sansar Chand Verma inaugurated the camp. Treatment and medicines were provided to the poor free of cost.

INJURED: A policeman caused serious injures to an old man, Jagtar Singh, of Ghariala village, while the latter was crossing a road. The victim suffered head injuries and his legs got crushed in the accident. The policeman was also injured. A case has been registered.

BATHINDA
DHARNA STAGED: Members of the Punjab and Chandigarh Teachers’ Union (PCCTU) and teachers of the local DAV College, SSD College and BAS Girls College staged a dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner here on Thursday. They were protesting against the callous attitude of the state government towards their demands.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Mahashwari Sabha: President (Haryana and Punjab) — Mr Pawan Holani; President (Youth wing of the Sabha) — Mr O.P. Rathi.

CASE REGISTERED: A case has been registered against Gurjant Singh and Rajbir Singh under Sections 420, 465, 468, 471, and 34 of the IPC at Maur police station for allegedly making fake dependent certificates. According to an inquiry made by district police on a complaint of Ms Rani Kaur and Ms Bhoori kaur, it was found that the accused prepared fake certificates in the name of the family of members of Sampooran Singh and deposited them in the office of the DC.

JALANDHAR
PAINTING EXHIBITION: An exhibition displaying 21 original paintings of late Sobha Singh was organised at the art gallery of the Apeejay College of Fine Arts here on Thursday. It has been organised jointly by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Punjab, and the Punjab Lalit Kala Academy, and was inaugurated by Dr Brajendra Singh, Secretary, Cultural Affairs Department.

LUDHIANA
EYES TRANSPLANTED: Parkash Singh, a police inspector became the first employee of the Punjab police to have his eyes transplanted. He had donated them to the eye bank, Mansuran. Originally belonging to Nawan Shahr, he had been bed-ridden for a long time. He was motivated to pledge his eyes by Mr Balwinder Singh, another cop of the Punjab police, who actively campaigns for the cause of eye donation. The eyes of Parkash Singh have successfully been transplanted to two persons hailing from Jalandhar and Ludhiana districts.

MEDICAL CAMP: The Punjab State Government Pensioners Association has appreciated the State Bank of India for organising a free medical camp for pensioners. Mr Surjit Singh, president of the association, in a press note on Friday said that the pensioners were thoroughly examined by Dr Pradeep Kumar Gupta during the camp organised at Aggar Nagar on December 4. Mr Ajit Singh Arora, press secretary, thanked Mr H.S. Mangat, Chief Manger, Mr J.S. Bagha, Mr S.S. Toor, staff officers and staff members of SBI for organising such a camp. The bank had also arranged to give free medicine to the pensioners.

EYE CAMP: The Guru Angad Sewa Society, Ludhiana, organised an eye camp at Kooner Clinic at Neelon village. About 150 patients were examined and medicines free of cost given. The camp was sponsored by HelpAge India.

MALERKOTLA
TWO WOMEN ARRESTED: The police has busted a flesh trade racket with the arrest of two women who were arrested from the house of a jail official at Thandi Sadak here. The DSP Kulchhinder Singh said officials posing as customers were sent following which a police party raided the house and the two were arrested under various sections of the Immoral Trafficking Act.

NAWANSHAHR
STONES LAID: Mr Swarna Ram, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister, and Mr Ajit Singh Kohar, Jails, Justice and Sainik Welfare Minister, laid the foundation stone of platforms and roads to be constructed at a cost of Rs 53 lakh at the new grain market. They also inaugurated a vegetable market having ultra modern facilities, constructed at a cost of Rs 72 lakh in the nearby Banga town. Punjabi folk singer Hans Raj Hans was also awarded a gold medal by the minister on the occasion.

PATIALA
AGITATION BY TEACHERS: Non-Government-aided college teachers of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union PCCTU on the fourth day of their agitation held a protest rally at district courts on Friday. Addressing the rally, the national secretary of the All India Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisation (AIFUCTO), Dr V.K. Tiwari, criticised the NDA government for imposing ‘anti-national’ and ‘anti-student’ educational policy on the country. Prof Balvir Singh, finance secretary of PCCTU, demanded immediate implementation of the pension-gratuity scheme, release of arrears and full implementation of UGC notification.

TRAINING FOR DOCTORS: As part of the leprosy week being organised all over the state, 30 doctors were imparted training in ‘prevention of disabilities’ at the district headquarters here. Three new leprosy cases have been detected by skin specialists, who are holding special camps at Civil Hospitals.

MEMBERS ELECTED: Twenty two members were elected for the Patiala Division Sales Tax Advisory Committee, which include the president of Patiala Trade Circle, Mr Harnek Singh, here on Friday.

CELL INAUGURATED: Canara Bank inaugurated its retail lending central at its Leela Bhavan branch on Thursday. The retail lending cell will cater to loan proposals comprising housing finance, education loans, car loans and will also offer trading finance. Speaking on the occasion, Senior Manager of the bank, Mr A.K. Verma, highlighted the education loan scheme under which loans up to 4 lakh can be sanctioned without furnishing any security.

INTERACTION: A national award winning artist, Nand Katyal, recently visited Panjabi University’s Department of Fine Arts and held interactive sessions spreading over three days with art students. He gave a comparative value of masters like Van Gogh, De-Kooning, Kirchner, Nolde, Picasso and Matisse. Discussing the latest trends in Indian art, the noted artist, who is actively involved with the ‘unknown’, a group of artists from Delhi school, also enlightened the students on the technical differences between a painting, poster and illustration.

ASSURANCE: The Department of Correspondence Courses, Punjabi University, on Thursday organised a function to felicitate the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, on the ‘five star’ status conferred to the university. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Ahluwalia assured the extension of PhD registration facility to the faculty of the Department of Distance Education and clearance of their pending promotion cases.

PHAGWARA
ENVIRONMENT RALLY: The Phagwara Environment Association, along with 12 voluntary organisations took out an environment rally here on Friday for creating an awareness among masses towards an eco-friendly environment. Ms Jaswinder Kaur, MD of the local Swaran Hospital, flagged off the rally.

SAMRALA
CONDOLENCE MEETING: The local ‘dangal’ committee held a meeting under the chairmanship of Mr Tarlochan Singh Kang at the Circuit House here on Friday to condole the death of Mr Dharam Singh, former hockey Olympian (senior). Mr Prem Sagar Sharma, president, Punjab Pensioners’ Association, and Mr Jagdev Dhillon, national weight-lifter, also attended the meeting. A two-minute silence was observed in the meeting to pay homage to the deceased.

SANGRUR
LETTER TO PM: More than 500 students of the local Adarsh (Model) High School have sent a letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, to close the factories, producing tobacco products. Giving information here on Thursday, Mr Dinesh Goyal, president of the managing committee of the school, said the letter had been despatched on Wednesday in the wake of an order issued by the Supreme Court with regard to prohibition of smoking at public places.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longowal, faculty association : president — Mr Jatinder Madan; vice-president — Mr Ajay Pal Singh; secretary — Mr Birmohan Singh; joint secretary — Dr D.C. Saxena, and finance secretary — Mr Gulshan Kumar Jawa.

CHANDIGARH

RESULTS DECLARED: The results of the inter-college on-the-spot essay contest held to mark World AIDS Day on Saturday at Government Colleges Girls, Sector 11, were declared, here on Thursday. The participants of the host college, Gurneet Tej and Vandana Misra, bagged first two positions in the English essay category, while the third position went to Sapna Sodhi of the Government College of Education, Sector 20. In the Hindi language category, Vibha and Nishtha of GCG-11 secured the first and second positions, respectively, while Rajwinder Kaur of the Dev Samaj College for Women, Sector 45, finished third. Similarly, Amarjeet and Surinder Kaur of GCG-11 came first and second, respectively, in the Punjabi language category and Prabhjot Kaur of the Government College of Education, Sector 20, came third. TNS MEMORANDUM: The All India Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (AIFUTA) submitted a memorandum to the Chairman, UGC, Prof Hari Gautam, urging him to issue clarifications sought from the HRD Ministry and UGC on issues that have caused concern amongst the teaching community. Teachers said undue delay in proper implementation of revision of pay scales, non-implementation of arrears, refusal to enhance age of superannuation from 60 to 62 had led to a lot of resentment. A copy of the memorandum was also given to Prof H.P. Dixit, President of the Association of Indian Universities, demanding the participation of teachers in management of universities, consultative mechanisms at the national and state level, review of anti-research work schedule, equivalence of active research with participation in refresher courses, proper implementation of revised pay scales and rectification of wrong fixations of pay in revised pay scales.

MEDITATION SESSION: A three-day Vishvas meditation session would be organised at Parade Ground in Sector 5, Panchkula. Swami Vishvas Ji would give discourses on meditation from Saturday to Monday. The session on Saturday would start in the evening at 4 p.m. and would continue till 7.30 p.m. and on Sunday morning at 6.30 a.m. till 8 a.m. Another session would start in the morning from 10.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and in the evening from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The last session would be held on Monday morning from 6.30 a.m. to 8 a.m. and in evening from 4 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.

FACE HUNT: Aspiring models performed in front of a jury and mediapersons as famous Punjabi pop singer Shankar Sawhney along with his brother Vivek Sawhney hunted for a new face for Vivek’s new album “Chandni Raaten” at DAC Acting Lab in Sector 35 here on Thursday.

HARYANA

AMBALA
BODY FOUND: The body of a middle-aged man was found from the compartment of a train here. The body was recovered by the Railway Police from a coach of Shalimar Express and is yet to be identified. Besides other clothing, the man was found wearing a white vest with ‘Golden Gun’ written in red ink and ‘Kabeetha’ written in green ink.

INTERVIEW POSTPONED: Superintendent of Police, Mr Sandeep Khirwar, on Friday said the interview for women constables had been postponed. He said the interview would now take place on Thursday (December 13) instead of Saturday (December 8) due to administrative reasons. The candidates concerned must reach the office of the Superintendent of Police, Ambala, along with original certificates, according to a press note.

SUPPLY SUSPENDED: The supply to a Public Distribution Depot has been suspended following alleged irregularities. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr D.D. Gautam, said the irregularities were detected by the Food and Supplies Department during an inspection. He said under the PDS, in November 108.9 metric tonnes of sugar had been disbursed. He stated that 369 fair price shops were operating that included 138 in urban area and 231 in rural areas. He said there were 2.17 lakh ration card holders in the district.

FATEHABAD
ADVOCATE AWARDED: A local advocate, Mr Ramesh Joiya, has received the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Fellowship Award, 2001. The award was conferred on him at the Dalit Sahityakar Sammelan held at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday by the Chairman of the Dalit Sahityakar Academy, Mr Sohan Pal Sumanakshra. The award comprises a gold medal and a citation.

ARRESTED: The police arrested Jaswant Singh, of Burjrahi village, Mansa district a drug trafficker, and seized 205 kg of poppy husk worth Rs 1 lakh from him on Thursday. The Ambassador car that was being used to carry the contraband has also been impounded. This was stated by the SP, Mr Hanif Qureshi, at a press conference here.

HISAR
COTTON DESTROYED: Cotton, cottonseeds and machinery worth Rs 5 lakh were destroyed in a fire which broke out in Durga Oil and General Industries in Hansi town, about 26 km from here on Friday, sources in the Fire Department said. The fire started around 6 a.m. and it took nearly three hours to control the blaze. Two labourers were rescued from the mill.

ROHTAK
DEMONSTRATION HELD: In response to a call given by the RSS various Hindu organisations held a demonstration here on Thursday to protest against the recent attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh. A memorandum addressed to the Union Government was submitted to the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr T.K. Sharma.