The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Monday, November 26, 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
MEETING: A meeting of the local unit of the Khatri Sabha was held at Janta College here. After a brief ceremony of fellowship, the annual report of the sabha was read. It resolved that expenditures on the functions should be minimised. Mr Dev Raj Sofat, president of the unit, spoke on the occasion.

FAIR: Thousands of devotees attended a three-day mela at Baba Tota Puri Mandir at Ram Garh Sardaran village. Baba Gajjan Puri presented shawls to distinguished persons of the area.

HONOURED: Residents of Pohir village honoured Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, Minister for Technical Education. Mr Charanjit Alamgir, president, Internal Dhadi Jatha, Mr Satwinder Singh Khalsa, Mr Ranjit Singh, Mr Darshan Singh and Mr Chamkaur Singh were presented siropas, among others.

FLAYED: Mr Jitender Bhola, councillor, and member of the district committee of the CPI, presided over the meeting held at the Jandiali road here. The meeting condemned the state government for ignoring interests of urban residents. Ward-wise committees were constituted to gear up pre-elections activities. Mr Ravinder Nandi, Mr Hari Datt, Mr Bhag Singh Kup, Mr Malkiat Singh Jandiali and Mr Madan spoke on the occasion, among others.

BATHINDA
GANG BUSTED: The police claims to have busted a gang of vehicle thieves by arresting three alleged members of the gang Ranjit Singh, Amandeep Singh and Parminder Singh and recovered a stolen motor cycle from their possession. Cases have been registered against them, a press note issued here on Sunday said.

FEROZEPORE
SEMINAR: Mr Kuldeep Singh, Chief Construction Manager, NTPC, while presiding over a seminar on ‘‘Electricity For All’’ said about 59 per cent of the total electricity produced was pilfered due to which most of the boards were in deficit.

KHAMANO
DHARNA: A dharna was organised at the BDPO office by the Panchayat Secretary and Samiti Karamchari Union to demand release of salaries for the past four months. Speakers alleged that panchayat secretaries, tailoring teachers and samiti employees had not been given salaries. The dharna was also addressed by Mr Santokh Singh, block president, Khamano, Mr Lachman Singh of Khanna, Mr Gurmel Singh of Machhiwara, Mr Harnek Singh, Chamkaur Sahib, and Mr Amarjeet Sharma sarpanch of Shamaspur.

RALLY: The 38th delegate session of the Employee Federation, Punjab State Electricity Board, will be held at the Rotary Club, Ferozepore road, near office of the Chief Engineer, Central Zone, Ludhiana, on November 29 and 30. Disclosing this here, Mr Rajwinder Singh Mullanpur, press secretary of the union, said that opening of the delegate session would be done by Power Minister Sikander Singh Malooka. The demands of the employees, that include privatisation, bonus, LTS, etc., would also be discussed at the session.

KHANNA
SKETCH: According to Mr Ishwar Singh, SSP, computerised sketches of miscreants, who robbed Mr Satinder Kumar, a local commission agent, of Rs 2 lakh on Saturday, will be prepared soon. He said those involved in thefts in Model Town and the Samrala Road areas would soon be arrested.

LUDHIANA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Indian Youth Club, Urban Estate, Dugri: Mr Narinderpal Singh — president; Mr Munish Singla, Ms Preeti — vice-presidents; Mr Rajiv Gupta — general secretary; Ms Pooja — secretary; Mr Amit Verma — joint secretary; Mr Pankaj Sehgal, Mr Deepak Sharma — organising secretaries; Mr Tarun Jindal — public relations secretary; Mr Lalit Jain — treasurer; and Mr Umesh Khanna, Mr Lalit Masun, Mr Hardip Singh, Mr Kamaljit Singh, Mr Harminder Singh, Mr Pardeep Jain, Ms Ramita, Ms Sarbjit Kaur — executive committee members.

MACHHIWARA
HANS RAJ TO BE HONOURED: Renowned Punjabi singer, Hans Raj Hans, would be awarded with the ‘Punjabi Gaiki Da Taj’ here on November 30, by the International Punjabi Sabhyacharak Kendra. According to the director of the Kendra, Mr Dharampal Singh, a local councillor, Mr Sanjiv Anand, a Punjabi lyricist would also be honoured on the occasion which was being organised by the kendra. Others who are likely to participate in this mela include, Balkar Sidhu (Khand-Mishri fame), Kuldip Manak, Satwinder Bitti, Kuldip Paras, Mankit Roopowalia, Ajay Deol, Suman Datta and Faqir Chand Patanga, Ranjit and Sonia.

SWEARING-IN CEREMONY: Lions Club Machhiwara’s swearing-in ceremony was held at Bharati Palace Samrala on Friday. Er D.K. Sood, Governor District 231 F presided over the function, whereas past district governor Mr Swranjit Singh, District cabinet secretaries S.K. Mittal and Ved Parkash Goyal and District Cabinet Treasurer O.P. Mangla made their appearance as special guests. All office-bearers took an oath to adhere the constitution of the clubs. A six-member cabinet of the Machhiwara unit was also installed on the occasion, which includes Satwinder Mohan Singh advocate — president; Hartej Paul Singh Aujla — vice-president; Rupidner Singh Benipal — secretary; Jarnail Singh Saini — treasurer and Gurdip Singh Kooner — joint secretary, according to Hurnam Singh Nagra, PRO. On December 6, the club would distribute winter dresses to the needy students of Government Primary Schools of Indira Colony, Ratipur and Chakli Adal villages, according to Satwinder Singh. Club members Gurnam Singh Nagra and Guljinder Singh Gill were also honoured for donating blood. Mr Rajvir Singh Mangat, president, Lions Club, members and family members of the above, also attended the ceremony.

MANSA
REMOVED FROM POST: N.K. Arora, Quality Control Inspector, FCI purchase centre, Nangal Kalan, has been removed from his post by Mr Sandeep Deora, District Manager, FCI, Bathinda, for not mentioning the name of a grower in the bidding register.

SUSPENDED: Rice stocks stored at the godowns under the jurisdiction of the Food Storage Department, FCI, Mansa, were found to be ‘‘beyond rejection limit”. The Senior Regional Manager, FCI, Chandigarh, has suspended at least 27 officials of Punjab in this regard.

NAWANSHAHR
PROHIBITED: Mr Jagjit Singh, Deputy Commissioner, in an order issued here on Friday under Section 144 of the Cr PC, has prohibited the manufacture and use of polythene bags made of virgin plastic or recycled plastics having thickness of less than 20 microns. He has also prohibited the use of carry bags or containers made of recycled plastics for storing, carrying, dispensing or packaging of foodstuffs in the district. The order will remain in force till February 2, 2002.

IDENTITY CARDS: Mr Jagjit Singh, Deputy Commissioner, in a press note issued here on Friday, said photo identity cards of voters belonging to the Balachaur Assembly segment in the district would be prepared from Tuesday to Sunday.

ESSAY COMPETITION: The Punjab State Council for Science and Technology organised a district-level essay writing competition at the local Government Co-Education Senior Secondary School on Saturday. While Harpreet Kaur (Adarsh Bal Vidyalaya), Ravneet Bains and Annie Jain (Shivalik Public School) won first three positions, respectively, in the English section, Anita (Government Co-Education Senior Secondary School), Harpreet Kaur (Government Senior Secondary School, Kariha) and Harpreet Kaur (Baba Wazir Singh Khalsa Girls High School) won the first three positions, respectively, in the Punjabi section. Mr Gurmail Singh Sahlon, Deputy District Education Officer, gave away the prizes.

SAMRALA
MEETING: In a joint statement to the press Mr Prem Sagar Sharma (president), Mr Ajit Singh Bagri (general secretary), Mr Jarnail Singh Dhillon (cashier), and Mr Bihari Lal Saddi (vice-president ) of the Punjab State Pensioners Mahasangh, said that the main demand of old age allowance to Punjab Pensioners had been accepted vide which a 5 per cent and 10 per cent raise in the basic pension would be granted to those pensioners who attain the age of 65 and 75 years respectively. A notification to this effect had been issued by the Punjab Government . The leaders thanked the Punjab Government. The government has also issued orders to raise the D.A. to 45 per cent for pensioners. Other leaders who have expressed satisfaction in respect of the above decision of the Punjab Government include Mr Darshan Singh, Parduman Singh, Prem Sagar (Sangrur), Darshan Singh, R.L. Verma, Chaudhri Bharat Singh, Sahil Pal Singh, Santokh Singh, Niranjan Singh Toba, Labh Singh, Ved Parkash Sharma, Joginder Sodhi, Joginder Josh, Naginder Singh, Balvir Singh and Balwant Singh Sodhi.

SANGRUR
MASS CASUAL LEAVE: Members of the district unit of the Punjab State Veterinary Officers Association will go on mass casual leave on Tuesday in protest against the allegedly adamant attitude of the state government towards their long-standing demands, which include providing non-practising allowance and conveyance allowance to veterinary doctors.

CHANDIGARH

CANDIDATES’ PLEDGE: Seven candidates of the local Shiromani Akali Dal Panthic Morcha for the coming Municipal Corporation elections, on Saturday, pledged that if elected, they would try to get more powers by the corporation. The candidates on Saturday held a meeting under the presidentship of Mr Joginder Singh Sawhney, convener of the unit.

UNIFORMS DISTRIBUTED: Free uniforms were distributed to about 60 students of the night school held at the premises of the Government High School, Sector 40, on Saturday. The uniforms were donated by the Bal Vikas Seva of Sai Organisation. A cultural function was held on the occasion. Mr Bahadur Singh, headmaster of the school, was also present at the function. Mr Mahajan of the Sai Organisation was the chief guest.

ELECTION OFFICE: Mr Yash Pal Mahajan, convener of the Bharatiya Janata Party Ad hoc Committee, Chandigarh on Saturday, inaugurated election office of the party’s candidate, Mr Amrit Lal Mahajan, candidate for Ward No. 4, for the Municipal Corporation elections. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Mahajan appealed to the BJP workers to work for the candidate and ensure his victory. Mr Satya Pal Jain, former Member of Parliament, and sitting councillor, Ms Kamla Sharma, were also present on the occasion. Meanwhile, Mr Desh Raj Kayasth and Mr Radhey Shyam Garg, withdraw their names in favour of the party’s official candidate Mr Amrit Lal Mahajan. This was stated by Mr T.R Kapoor, office secretary of the party.

YOUTH FESTIVAL: The three-day Zone B Panjab University Youth Festival would begin on Monday at Government College, Sector 11 with the Dean, College Development Council, Panjab University, Dr Ramesh Kapoor, scheduled to preside over the inaugural session. With six boys’ and co-educational colleges slated to participate in the events, the festival would begin with the inter-college singing contest along with drawing, music and creative writing. The closing day would see quiz preliminaries and finals as well as dance contest on Wednesday in the college grounds.

RALLY: The NSS volunteers of Government Postgraduate College, Sector 46, organised a rally on women empowerment under the command of the Chief Programme Officer of NSS, Prof Hans Raj, here on Sunday. In a rally consisting of over 400 students, the Principal, Maj D.P. Singh (retd), while addressing the students said women needed to be awakened to their rights and women empowerment was the need of the hour to build a healthy society. Students who spoke on women empowerment included Roma Paul of M.Com I and Chandan Suri of BA III. Prof Bikram Rana, Prof Harinder Kaur and Prof Sahib Singh, among other faculty members, were also present at the rally that passed through the residential area of the sector and the market place.

AWARDS GIVEN: The following officers have been awarded Sanchar Sewa Padak and Sanchar Sarthi Awards by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for the year 2000-01 and 2001-02. Mr K.S. Saini, Divisional Engineer Phones (Customer Service); Mr Jatinder Mahajan, Sub Divisional Engineer Phones; Mr Kuldeep Mann, Assistant Accounts Officer — awarded with Sanchar Sewa Padak for 2000-01. Mr Tilak Raj , Chief Section Supervisor; Ms Kuldeep Kaur, Senior Telephone Supervisor; Mr Ajit Ram, Phone Inspector; Mr Bahadur Singh, lorry driver and Mr B.P. Saini, Telephone Operator; — presented with Sanchar Sarthi Award for 1999-2000. The awards were presented by Mr R.C. Vaish, Principal General Manager Telecom, and carried a cash prize of Rs 11,000.

BAHA’I CONFERENCE: A state Baha’i conference gave finishing touches to the one-year plan of Baha’is of Punjab here on Sunday. The Baha’i community, representing some 5,000 believers in Chandigarh and Punjab, decided to hold regular prayer meetings, children moral classes and spiritual education classes. The community further pledged to make renewed efforts to spread the message of Bahau’llah, Founder Prophet of the Bahai faith, centring on unity of mankind, unity of religion and unity of God. The conference also elected a nine-member executive committee: Mr Gulshan, Mr R.L. Arora, Mr B.P. Gupta, Mrs Manju Sarwal, Mr Rajnesh Gupta, Mr Nand Kishore, Mr Sudhir Kumar, Mr Vikash Chhetri and Mr Harpreet Singh.

SEMINAR: The International Association of Lions Club , District 321F. Region III, on Sunday organised a region seminar, called “Prerna”. The topics for the seminar were “Retention of membership in an organisation” and “Evaluate leadership within you”. Speaking at the seminar, Dr R.S. Bedi and Lieut Col Gurmeet Sethi emphasised on improving the quality of the organisation, which would automatically increase the membership. He stressed on the focus on vision, importance of communication and involvement of all members. Summing up the discussion, the chief guest Dr N.G. Grover, focused on introspection. The region chairman, Mr Sanjeev Gupta, appreciated all participants for organising the seminar. Mr K.S. Sandhu, past district governor, also spoke on the occasion.

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.

KANGRA
ARRESTED: A student was arrested allegedly for passing unsavoury remarks on a girl student at Icchhi village, near here, on Saturday the police said here on Sunday. A case has been registered under Section 294 of the IPC.

KULU
CHALLANED: As many as 132 vehicles were challaned by the local police in two days under a special drive to create awareness about the Motor Vehicle Act. This was stated by Mr N. Venu Gopal, SP, in a press note here on Saturday. He said four police officers had been deputed at Bajaura, Kulu, Manali and Ani in the district to keep tabs on minor offenders.

NAHAN
AWARENESS CAMP: An awareness camp for mahila and yuvak mandals was organised at Rama Serta here on Friday in connection with the National Integration Week celebrations. Speaking on the occasion, District Manager, Scheduled Castes Tribe Corporation, Mr S.K. Goel, asked SCs to come forward to avail the benefit of various schemes. District Public Relations Officer, Mr D.S. Thakur, also spoke on the occasion.

PAONTA SAHIB
CELEBRATIONS: The birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Ji will be celebrated here at Gurdwara Paonta Sahib. Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Mr Suraj Bhan, will participate in the celebrations. A nagar kirtan will be organised on November 29. A kirtan darbar and a ‘‘kavi sammelan’’ will be organised on November 30.

COMPETITION: The local Rotary Club will organise a painting competition on Thursday in connection with the National Immunisation Day.

SHIMLA
DEMANDED: The Research and Welfare Organisation has demanded the withdrawal of user charges imposed in Indira Gandhi Medical College. Mr Sanjay Thakur, president of the organisation, has threatened to launch an agitation if users charges were not withdrawn.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Irrigation and Public Health Engineers Association: president -— Mr R.N. Sharma; senior vice-president — Mr B.R. Sharma; vice-presidents — Mr R.K. Malhotra, Mr Rajesh Bakshi and Mr Mahesh Sharma; and general secretary — Mr Sushil Justa.