Panel on Khalsa celebration

Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 29 — The Chandigarh Administration has constituted a 33-member state-level committee for the celebration of the tercentenary of the birth of the Khalsa. The committee will have 12 official and 21 non-official members.

The committee will be headed by the Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber(retd), while the Adviser to the Administrator, Mrs Vineeta Rai, will be the Vice-Chairperson.

Among the notable omission from the list is the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee chief and former MP, Mr Venod Sharma, while three of the former members of the Lok Sabha from the city, Mr Satya Pal Jain, Mr Harmohan Dhawan and Mr Pawan Bansal, have been nominated on the committee. Also nominated on the committee is the present Mayor, Mr K.K. Addiwal. ...

Ludhiana rail link gets underway

The Tribune
SAS NAGAR, June 27 — One of the most prestigious railway projects in Punjab in the past 50 years — the Chandigarh-Ludhiana rail link providing a direct link from Chandigarh to all cities of the state besides the Jammu region — finally got underway today.
The Railway Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, formally laid the foundation stone of a new railway station here as part of the massive Rs 248 crore project. ...
...Among those present on the occasion were Mr Tota Singh, Mr Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Mr Sarwan Singh Phillaur and Mr Swarna Ram (all ministers of Punjab, Mr Balwinder Singh Bhunder, a Rajya Sabha member, and Mr Satya Pal Jain, a former MP from Chandigarh. ...

11 Congressmen stake claim for UT Lok Sabha seat

Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 11 — Nine candidates have staked their claim for the Congress ticket for the lone Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat. They are Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, Mr Venod Sharma, Mr Munish Tewari, Mr S.P. Kaushal, Mr Roshan Lal Batta, Mr Chaman Lal Sharma and Mrs Manjit Kaur. ...

Mr Bansal had lost the last two elections to the sitting BJP MP, Mr Satya Pal Jain. ...

Constitution of Zila Parishad may be delayed

Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 11 — The constitution of the Panchayat Samiti and the Zila Parishad are likely to be delayed in view of the changes brought about in the Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, as extended to the Union Territory, the notification of which was formally done by the Chandigarh Administration.

... Mr Satya Pal Jain, a members of the dissolved Lok Sabha , says that he has been taking up the matter since 1996 with the UT Administrator and the Adviser, urging them to hold the elections at the earliest. He has also written a letter in this context some days ago, he added. ...

'Issue I-cards to footpath vendors'

The Tribune
CHANDIGARH, June 1 — Mr Satya Pal Jain, local member of the dissolved Lok Sabha, has urged the Chandigarh Administration to start issuing photo identity cards to footpath workers whose names appear in the survey conducted by the Administration a couple of months ago.
In a written statement, Mr Jain expressed his concern over the delay in issuing the cards. Mr Jain said that he met the Administrator, Lieut-Gen BKN Chhibber (retd), and the Adviser to the Administrator, Mrs Vineeta Rai, today and discussed the issue with them separately. He also submitted a detailed letter to Mrs Rai.
Mr Jain said that in spite of this decision, the officials of the Administration and the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation had been harassing footpath vendors, removing their belongings and imposing heavy fines on them, besides not releasing their goods for days together. In the absence of any job avenues in government departments, these vendors were engaged in self-employment and the Administration should encourage them rather than harass them, Mr Jain said.
He said the Administration should not go back on its commitment. Some vested interests, he said, were trying to sabotage the earlier decision of the council."I shall be going to Delhi shortly and apprise the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, of the whole affair," he concluded.