The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Saturday, June 7, 2003, 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
ORIENTATION COURSE: As many as 45 teachers from Punjab, J and K, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra are participating in a four week orientation course at the Academic Staff College of Guru Nanak Dev University here. Former Pro-Vice-Chancellor and noted scholar Prof Prithipal Singh Kapur inaugurated the course, which will conclude on July 2.

HOSHIARPUR
DHARNA: Members of six kisan organisations, including the Bharaitya Kisan Union, the Democratic Kisan Sabha, the Kirti Kisan Sabha, the Punjab Kisan Sabha, Mr Khetiwari Kisan Vikas Front and the All-India Kisan Sabha, jointly stated a dharna and in the front of district courts here on Thursday in the support of various demands of farmers. Their demands included fixing Rs 700 per quintal as the procurement price for paddy, the release of arrears of sugarcane at a rate of Rs 100 per quintal and free electricity and water supply.

SANGHARSH MANCH: The Yuva Sangharsh Manch, Hoshiarpur, will start an agitation against the recent hike in students fees, bus fares, drinking water tariff and sales tax etc, according to Mr Nipun Sharma, convenor of the manch, here on Thursday. He said a massive rally would be staged in front of the District Courts here on June 6 to lodge their protest in this connection. ACCIDENT: Mr Charanjit Singh of Jhingran village and his driver Jasbir Singh were seriously wounded when their Tata Sierra car (DL-9CA-1078) collided with a mini bus (CH-01G-1280) near the PSEB OFFICE at Hariana on the Hoshiarpur-Dasuya road on Thursday.

KHARAR
SARPANCHES’ PLEA: The sarpanches of five villages of Ropar district, namely Singh, Chaklan, Khabra, Bhagomajra and Solhkian, alongwith others, in a letter to the DPI (Schools), Punjab, have demanded that the commerce group in Government Senior Secondary School, Singh Bhagwantpur, which has been shifted to Ropar, should be brought back to the school. They have written that this group was shifted to Ropar although there were 15 students studying commerce subjects as on March 31, 2003, in the school in plus one and plus two classes.

LUDHIANA
YOGA CAMP: The Bharatiya Yog Sansthan, Ludhiana, is holding a yoga camp on Sunday at the Mela Ground, near Gate No. 2 of Punjab Agricultural University, from 5.15 am to 7.15 am. The instructors are going to teach ‘yog asanas’ that would help tackle diseases like diabetes and hypertension.

WORKSHOP: The Directorate of Extension Education, PAU, will organise a two-day workshop for horticultural officers from the state on June 9 in the Pal Auditorium. During the workshop, scientists of the university will make presentations related to improved practices of production and post-harvest operations of fruits and vegetables. The workshop will be inaugurated by Dr K S Aulakh, Vice-Chancellor, and will be presided over by Dr Jagtar Singh Mann, Director, Horticulture. Dr G S Nanda, Director, Research, will present new research findings in horticulture.

HONOURED: The Indian Vegetable Research Institute, Varanasi, has honoured Mr Balwinder Singh, a progressive farmer of Bhali Mansa village, Sangrur, with a bronze medal for his pioneering work in the hybrid seed production of chilli. Earlier, he was also honoured by the IVRI with a gold medal for adopting CH1 and CH3 hybrid seed production of chilli.

CHHABEEL BY PNB : Punjab National Bank, Zonal Office, Ludhiana organised a chabeel and langer on the occasion of martyrdom day of Guru Arjun Dev and arrangements were made for cold water and langer. Mr H.L. Arora, Deputy General Manager, Mr Chand Singh, Deputy Zonal Manager, and Mr A.K. Loomba, Senior Regional Manager, along with all the staff members of zonal office, Ludhiana, participated in the chhabeel. Chhabeel was started at 11 am and arrangements were made for cold and sweet water for the whole day. All staff members served the cold water to the public whole day.

PATHANKOT
DENIAL: Mr Shyam Chadha, a member of the Guru Nanak Dev University Senate, has said that the university had no plans to close or shift Shaheed Ram Singh Pathania Memorial GNDU College at Niari in Dhar block. Talking to mediapersons here on Thursday, Mr Chadha said vested interests were making false propaganda about the college.

POSTPONED: The elections of the board of directors of the Pathankot Hindu Cooperative Bank Ltd. have been postponed. Mr Suresh Gupta, Managing Director, and Mr Sanjeev Sharda, Vice-Chairman, of the bank said here on Thursday that the elections were scheduled to be held on Wednesday but had to postponed as the returning officer did not arrive.

PATIALA
PROMOTED: Dr Amarjit Singh Grover was on Thursday promoted Professor of Surgery at Government Medical College here. He is also Vice-president of the Association of Surgeons of India (North Chapter).

BLOOD DONATION: The Sikh Student Federation organised a blood donation camp at Panchayati gurdwara here on Thursday to mark the death anniversary of Guru Arjan Dev. Surjit Singh Rakhra, MLA Samana, was the chief guest. The Sikh Students Federation president, Mr Mahinderjit Singh and Guru Arjan Mandal President Jit Singh also presented a ‘siropa’ to Mr Rakhra.

APPOINTED: Mr. M.K Singh was on Thursday appointed Chief Vigilance Officer, State Bank of Patiala here. Earlier, he was General Manager (Banking) in the Reserve Bank of India. He has also worked as Alternate RBI nominee Director on the Board of State Bank of Indore.

CHANDIGARH

SIKH BODY’S PLEA: The Shiromani Sant Khalsa International Foundation has urged the Chandigarh Administration not to “uproot” its members in the name of saving the Sukhna Lake. In a press note, the foundation members asserted that the Administration was trying to get hold of the land next to the lake at Kaimbwala village. They claimed that a gurdwara or agricultural land could not cause environmental pollution. They alleged that pubs and restaurants at the lake were causing pollution.

WORKSHOP: “Laugh away the blues” was the highlight of the personality development workshop conducted by Anjali, Bhavna and Meenakshi Gulati at Sector 24 here on Thursday. While members of the Laughing Club made the children laugh, they also talked about the positive impact of laughter on health. At least 30 children in the age group of 5 to 14 years are taking part in the workshop.

PANCHKULA
SUMMER CAMP: A fortnight-long personality development summer camp is being organised at DAV Senior Secondary Model School. Activities like aerobics, music, craft , rangoli making, dramatics, cookery and communication skills are being taught to participants.

ADVENTURE CAMP: Hotel Red Bishop, managed by the Haryana Tourism, has organised an adventure camp at Solang Valley near Manali from June 1 - 30. The hotel has made arrangements for stay in tents for 110 persons. The camp will offer facilities of adventure sports like rock climbing, trekking , besides a camp fire each night. The hotel has already posted nine of its staff members in Solang to take care of the participants. The hotel authorities hope to net Rs 2 lakh from the camp.

WORKSHOP: A workshop on Modi care beauty products was held at NIFD, Panchkula, on Thursday. The workshop was conducted by Cosmetic Engineer, Mrs Indrani Mukherjee, who gave tips on beauty care and also gave a demonstration on the herbal beauty product range of Modi care.

HARYANA

AMBALA
SKATING CLASSES: Skating classes concluded at Kharga Nursery School here on Wednesday. Tiny tots displayed their skating skill. Races were conducted on the occasion. The race winners included Bhavleen Kaur, Iknoor Singh, Aditya Lakhanpal, Rennit Atri, Parikshit, B.P. Saini, Hritwik Verma and Vishal Rana. The school Principal, Ms Asha Agarwal, gave away the prizes.

KILLED: One person was killed in a road accident on the G.T. Road at Ambala cantonment on Thursday. According to information the deceased was identified as Diwan Chand. He was hit by an unidentified vehicle and sustained serious injuries. He succumbed to his injuries on the way to hospital.

LIQUOR SEIZED: The police on Thursday seized 15 boxes of liquor from a Tata Sumo on the G.T. Road near Ambala city. According to information, the police raided the vehicle on a tip-off. According to the police, Rajesh, who was carrying the liquor, fled away from the site. Rajesh belongs to Patiala.

TANKER FOUND: The police has recovered a tanker which was stolen by some thieves a few days ago from a dhaba near Mohra village at Ambala cantonment. Amarjit had lodged a complaint with the police that his driver parked the tanker containing 11,000 litres of diesel in the evening. In the morning the tanker was found missing.

CULTURAL WORKSHOP: A two-week cultural workshop for children began here on Wednesday. The workshop is being organised by Prerna. The children will be taught music, dance, drama and painting. The effort is to develop the overall personality of the child. Among others, Mr Ram Vinod, Ms Kamlesh Sharma, Mr Raj Kamal and Mr Budhram are imparting training to the children, a release said. Prerna members Mr Rajiv Sharma, Mr Pramod Pabbi, Mr Sanjiv Bhatia, Mr Rajesh Bharadwaj, Mr Rajesh Verma, Mr Pawan Chopra, Mr Jagdish Sharma and Mr Vinay Malik said that cultural development of kids was important.

MAN KILLED: One person was killed near Geeta Gopal Chowk on Thursday when a military vehicle hit him. The deceased has not been identified so far. The body has been sent to local Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

1 KILLED, 2 HURT: A member of a family was killed while two others were injured when the car in which they were travelling collided with a tanker on GT Road, near Kali Paltan bridge, here on Friday. According to information, Kailash Devi and her family members were returning to Ambala Cantonment from Vaishno Devi. Kailash Devi died on the spot while one of her grandsons sustained injuries and was admitted to the local Civil Hospital. The driver of the tanker fled the scene. The police has impounded the tanker and registered a case against the driver of the vehicle.

FIRE: A fire broke out in a house near Rambagh road here on Friday. Harjinder Garg, the occupant of the house said, he noticed the fire early in the morning and immediately informed the Fire Department. The fire was brought under control after an hour. The cause of the fire, however, could not be ascertained.

FATEHABAD
WATER PRESERVATION: The National Service Scheme (NSS) unit of the local Manohar Memorial College on Thursday organised a seminar on “Means to preserve water resources” on the occasion of the World Environment Day. Mr Jagdish Trer, District Forest Officer, Fatehabad, delivered the keynote address. He said population explosion was the biggest reason for the depleting water resources. The college principal, Dr K.K. Arora, suggested various methods to conserve natural water resources.

HISAR
WOMAN KILLED: A woman was killed in a road accident near the Civil Hospital here on Thursday. According to the police, Ms Sushila Devi, a teacher and a resident of Sector-14 here, was returning home from the market when a truck hit her. She died on the spot. The city police has registered a case against the truck driver.