The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Friday, April 27, 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

ABOHAR
CONVENTION: A state-level convention of the Indian Federation of Trade Unions ( IFTU) will be held at the Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall, Jalandhar, on May 6 to force the Central Government to quit the WTO. This was stated by Mr Raj Singh, state general secretary of IFTU while talking to newspersons here on Thursday.

POPPY HUSK: The Sadar police on Wednesday night seized 665 kg of poppy husk packed in 19 bags from a truck entering the state from Rajasthan. The driver of the truck, Charanjit Singh of Dharamkot, fled the scene while cleaner Raj Kumar was arrested. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered.

BATHINDA
OFFICE BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the school committee of the Gurdwara Sangat, Civil Station: president — Mr Bhupinder Singh Khudian; secretary — Mr Harbans Singh Chhal; and vice-president — Mr Hakam Singh Dhillon.

FARIDKOT
MENTAL HEALTHCARE: Under the WTO programme a seminar on mental healthcare was organised by the local Government Guru Gobind Singh Medical College here on Wednesday. In his presidential address Dr P.S. Sandhu, Registrar, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, emphasised that it required pollution free environment, peaceful atmosphere and better law order conditions to ensure proper rehabilitation of the mentally challenged persons.

GURDASPUR
ACCIDENT: Mr Suresh Kumar, Municipal Commissioner, died in an accident near Purana Shalla here on Tuesday night when his scooter hit a standing tonga. The cremation of the deceased, which took place here on Wednesday, was largely attended. He is survived by his wife two sons and a daughter.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Rotary Club and the local Mid-town Rotary Club, respectively: Rotary Club: president — Mrs Navneet Duggal; and secretary — Mr Vinod Kumar. Mid-town Rotary Club: president — Maj S.S.S. Kondal; and secretary — Mr Dilbagh Singh Cheema.

LUDHIANA
BJP INDUSTRIAL CELL: Mr Khushbakhat Rai has been nominated elected as general secretary of the District Industrial Cell of the BJP. According to the BJP district president, Mr Harbans Lal Sethi, the cell will be headed by Mr Kanti Behl. The president of the cell has further been authorised to nominate the office-bearers and executive committee in consultation with the district leadership.

SANGH’S PLEA: The Ekta Sangh president, Dr Sanjiv Kashyap, and the general secretary, Mr Deepak Gupta, said in a press note issued here on Thursday that the matter of water and sewerage rates was pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court but the civic body was sending earlier bills to residents, unmindful of the fact that majority of the people were unable to pay. The sangh has drawn the attention of the government to the proposal of the MC for providing free water supply and sewerage facility which has no so far been approved by the government. It has demanded that the proposal for free water supply be accorded approval and the arrears be also remitted at the same time.

SWEETS DISTRIBUTED: Sweets were distributed by Mr Manjit Singh Toor, sarpanch of Bajra village, in a large gathering at the Rahon road octroi post to celebrate the acquittal of Ranjit Singh Talwandi, a son of Jathedar Jagdev Singh Talwandi, President, SGPC, in a murder case. Prominent among those present on the occasion were Mr Gurjit Singh Bittu, Mr Harpal Singh Bajra, Mr Gurdev Singh, sarpanch, Meharban, Mr Sham Lal, president, Shopkeepers Union, and Mr Joginder Singh Toor.

PARYAVARAN VAHINI: The Paryavaran Vahini, at its meeting held here on Thursday, decided to provide dustbins in the Rose Garden and the general bus stand in the city. Mr Ajay Kumar Sinha, Additional Deputy Commissioner, who presided over the meeting, also issued instructions to regulate the timing of traffic lights on the Sidhwan canal crossing on the Pakhowal road to tackle the traffic problem. Besides representatives of several NGOs, Maj S.S. Aulakh, Dr Arun Mitra, Mr Krishan Lal Malik, Mr Shekhar Gupta, Mr Anupam Nanda, Mr H.S. Randhawa and Mr Randhir Singh, Project Officer, Punjab Energy Development Agency, were prominent among those present at the meeting.

MANSA
INQUIRY ORDERED: The district police chief, Mr Yurinder Singh Hayer, has ordered an inquiry against Avtar Singh, ASI, who allegedly took Rs 5,000 from Mr Jaspal Singh for not registering a case against him. In an affidavit, Mr Jaspal Singh had alleged that the ASI took the amount from him but still registered a case under Section 25/54/59 of the Arms Act.

DEMANDED: The Laboratory Technicians Association demanded the implementation of the Supreme Court’s decision at its meeting held here on Wednesday. Mr Sikander Singh, president of the association, said the recommendation of the Pay Anomaly Committee had not been implemented by the state government.

WATER SHORTAGE: Residents of the Bhikhi town in the district have complained about the shortage of potable water alleging that the Water Works Department has failed to supply drinking water. This has forced them to take underground water, which had been declared unfit for consumption.

MEMORANDUM: Mini-bus operators met Mr Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum of demands. The state president of the Mini-Bus Operators Association, Mr Jatinder Kumar Agra, told mediapersons on Thursday that the Chief Minister had assured the association that the matter would be discussed at a meeting with the Transport Department on May 7.

WHEAT PROCUREMENT: Ms Raji P. Shrivastava, Deputy Commissioner, said on Wednesday, that 1,39,545 tonne of wheat had been procured in the district by various procurement agencies. Of which the Food and Civil Supplies Department had procured 19,103 tonne, Markfed 273,29 tonne, Punsup 20,186 tonne, Punjab Warehouse 13,160 tonne, Punjab Agro 14,940 tonne and the FCI 44,127 tonne. During the same period last year 2,27,898 tonne of wheat was procured, she added.

TRANSFER: Mr Ramesh Chand Jindal, who recently took over as the District Mandi Officer here, has been transferred to Muktsar within a week of his joining duty.

NAWANSHAHR
PROFIT DISTRIBUTION: Mr Jatinder Singh Kariha, MLA, and Mr Jagjit Singh, Deputy Commissioner, distributed cheques amounting to Rs 1,10,688 among 162 members of the Musapur Milk Producers Cooperative Society at a profit distribution function on Wednesday.

CROP DESTROYED: Sparks from the overhead electric wires gutted about 16 acres of wheat crop at Garh Padhana, 7 acres at Bazidpur and 20 acres at Shekhupura villages.

BODY FOUND: A badly decomposed body of a middle-aged man was found in the fields of Mr Mohinder Singh at Langroya village on Wednesday. The police identified the dead as Chaman Singh Saini, a resident of 201 Parkash Mohalla, Garhi Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi, from the passport recovered from him.

PATIALA
MAY DAY CELEBRATIONS: The Punjab State Service Federation has decided to celebrate May Day at Amritsar. Disclosing this here on Thursday, federation President Charanjit Singh Walia said that a conference would be held under the banner of the federation, the Punjab State Electricity Board Employees Federation and the Punjab Mazdoor Dal consisting of government, semi-government, agricultural and Industrial workers. Mr Walia added that the conference would deliberate on the problems and demands of the employees and workers.

OFFICE-BEARERS: Mr Harbhajan Singh was elected President of the Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Gobind Nagar, here on Thursday. The other office-bearers are Vice President — Mr Khajan Singh; Secretary — Mr Gurbaksh Singh; and Cashier — Mr Harbir Singh.

AWARENESS CAMP: Women need to fight for their rights if they are to stand in position in the male-dominated society. This is possible only if she raises her voice against the social problems such as foeticide dowry problem. This was stated by Ms Gurinder Singh Turna, at a women awareness camp organised by the Women and Child Development Department at Bhankhar village in Bhunerheri block here on Thursday.

PHAGWARA
THEFT: A boy snatched a bag from an NRI woman, Mrs Palwinder Kaur, near Blue-Bell Restaurant on Tuesday. The bag contained cash, ornaments and three passports. A case has been registered under Section 379, IPC. In another incident colour televisions and stereos worth Rs 90,000 were stolen from a store belonging to Mr Kuldip Rai, in the local Rattanpura mohalla on Tuesday.

SC WELFARE: An amount of Rs 543 crore will be spent this year on the social and economic uplift of the Scheduled Castes, said Punjab Tourism Minister Swarna Ram here on Wednesday. Of this Rs 27 crore will be spent on the shagun scheme. Last year the amount spent was Rs 382 crore.

TARN TARAN
ACCIDENT: Manjit Singh and Lakhwinder Singh, alias Lakha, of Bhorchhi Brahmnan village were killed when their motor cycle was hit by a private bus coming from the opposite side at Pannuan Naushehra village on Monday.

CASE REGISTERED: Following a complaint by Avtar Singh of Shahoara village the police has registered a case under Sections 377 and 511 of the IPC against eight persons of Chamba Kalan village on the charges of sodomy.

HARYANA

AMBALA
ROAD ACCIDENTS: One person was killed and another injured in road accidents here on Thursday. According to information, a resident of Ambala city died when a truck hit him on the GT Road, near Devinagar village. The truck driver fled. In another accident, Neeraj Bala was injured when she was hit by a motor cycle near Hisar road.

‘REPAIR DAMAGED ROADS’: MC chief: Municipal Council Ambala Sadar President Pandit Shankar Dass on Thursday expressed concern over lack of repair to damaged roads. Pandit Shankar Dass said that damaged roads in the area were not being repaired. “There are several roads which are damaged and once monsoon sets in, waterlogging will take place. It is important that the roads are repaired during this season so that people do not face inconvenience,” he said. He said that a project for diverting water from Babyal to the Tangri river had been pending for some time.

CASE SOLVED: The police in Ambala has solved a two-year-old robbery case. Superintendent of Police, Sandeep Khirwar said that Anuj Sharma and Sandeep, alias Kaloo, had been nabbed for committing a robbery at the resident of Mr Saxena. The police had recovered goods worth Rs 50,000 from their possession, a release said. He said that the detective staff, while working on a old case, were tipped off that two persons who had decamped with Rs 2 lakh worth of goods from the residence of Mr Saxena are present in Ambala. The two were nabbed on the basis of that information.

BHIWANI
SUICIDE: Twentyfive-year-old Mahavir of Kakroli Sardana committed suicide by consuming poison on Wednesday. He was to get married next month. A case has been registered at the Badhra police station.

RAIDS: In the wake of various complaints of the illegal sale of crop, the SDM, Dadri, conducted raids on various shops located in the grain market and a mill. Huge stocks of mustard and wheat were seized.

RECOVERED: The local police has recovered the roadways bus stolen from Jhojhu Kalan village under the Dadri Subdivision on April 21. The driver of bus, Mr Shamsher Singh, had reportedly parked the bus at the village bus, stand at about 8.30 p.m. and when he returned it was found missing.

NOMINATED: The ex-president of the local unit of the INLD, Mrs Shakuntla Sangwan, has been nominated member of the State Consumer Board while Mr Ranbir Singh Mandola and Mr Sajjan Singh Balali have been nominated presidents of the INLD’s district unit and the youth wing, respectively.

3 KILLED: Three persons were killed and 12 injured on Wednesday when the jeep in which they were travelling overturned while overtaking a private bus near Dulania village of Rajasthan. The deceased have been identified as Daya Ram of Moruwa and Amar Singh and Mahabir of Pipli. The injured have been admitted to Birla Hospital, Pilani.

KAITHAL
VISITED: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Fateh Singh Dagar, on Wednesday visited various grain markets and purchase centres in different parts of the district to expedite and supervise the procurement of wheat. He was accompanied by Mr J.P. Kaushik, ADC, other district officials and heads of various procurement agencies.

PANIPAT
FIRE: A tractor-trailer loaded with shoddy yarn caught fire when it touched the overhead electric wires on Wednesday. The fire also damaged a Matiz car and doors and windows of a nearby house. The fire was later brought under control.

ROHTAK
RELIEF: The district administration has started disbursing compensation of Rs 2.33 crore to the farmers whose crops were damaged by hailstorm and rain. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anil Malik, said on Wednesday four teams had been constituted under HCS officers to distribute compensation in the 15 affected villages.

SIRSA
SHOBHA YATRA: The Bhagwan Parshuram Jayanti was celebrated with fervour by the local Sri Brahaman Sabha here on Wednesday. A shobha yatra was taken out through the main bazars culminating at the local Geeta Bhavan, where a havan was performed.

SONEPAT
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Haryana Government Karamchari Union: chairman — Mr Virender Singh Dangwal; president — Mr Ram Kumar Kadian; senior vice-president — Mr Jai Bhagwan Dahiya; vice-president — Mr Jagan Lal; general secretary — Mr Sheelak Ram Malik; and treasurer — Mr Azad Siwach.