R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

• She launched crusade in face of expulsion

• Oldest scribe whose pen refuses to stop

• Women cops have 75 pc success rate

AMLOH
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Rice Millers Association, Bhadson, unanimously: president — Mr Karam Singh Matorda; general secretary — Mr Suba Singh Jatiwal; vice-president — Mr Makhan Singh Laut; cashier — Mr Madan Lal; secretary — Mr Narinder Singh Jatiwal; and members — Mr Parveen Kumar and Mr Lakhbir Singh Laut.

POETRY RECITATION: An inter-house poetic recitation competition was organised at Sanatan Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School on Tuesday. Students of primary classes participated in the competition and recited poems on humorous, educational and patriotic themes. Ms Pooja Sehgal and Dr (Ms) Madhu Bassi, the judges, gave away the prizes to the winners and appreciated the talent of the up- coming artists. Ishan got the first prize while Divya got the second prize. Ms Sadhna Sharma, Principal of the school, presented a vote of thanks on behalf of the school management and encouraged the students to participate in such competitions to develop a competitive spirit and self-confidence.

HOSHIARPUR
ASI CAUGHT: The DSP, Mr Gurmukh Singh caught ASI Davinder Singh incharge Police Chowki, Miani, red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 3,000 from Kala Singh of Miani on Tuesday. A case has been registered against the ASI under Section, 7, 13 (2) and 88 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

JAGRAON
WOMAN KILLED: Ms Manjit Kaur wife of Mr Gurdas Singh of Sukhana village was hit by a car (No Pb-13H-8129) while she was cleaning wheat on the roadside, and died on way to the hospital. A case under Section 304, IPC, has been registered at Raikot police station.

BSP MEETING: A meeting of the tehsil unit of the BSP was held here on Wednesday to take stock of the preparation for a conference to be held at Dalana village, near here on May 12 under the Dalits’ awareness campaign launched by the party. The meeting was presided over by tehsil president of the party Parkash Singh Salani. Mr Mann Singh Manhera state general secretary of the BSP was also present at the meeting. Various committees were formed to make the conference a success. According to Mr Salani, they have covered about one dozen villages in the area and the response of Dalits was encouraging.

KHARAR
POWER CUTS: Residents of many villages, namely Sacrulapur, Simble Majra, Bajheri, Batta, Rora, Garangan, Sill and Bibipur were facing a lot of problems because of erratic supply of electricity for the past many days. Giving this information here on Wednesday, Mr Balbir Singh Sidhu, Organising Secretary of PPCC(I), said that power cuts had been going on for about 20 hours out of 24 hours for the past many days. He threatened to gherao the office and to block the traffic if the officials failed to restore supply.

LUDHIANA
COP BOOKED: ASI Gurbinder Singh, posted at Kailash police chowki, was on Wednesday booked under Sections 342 and 323 of the IPC for torturing a migrant couple, who were suspected of having committed a theft at their employer’s house in Upkar Nagar. The DSP city directed the registration of the case against the guilty cop, who had ignored the legal process and resorted to inhuman torture of the couple.

HOUSE BURGLED: A house in Luxmi Nagar was reportedly burgled on Monday night. The owner Mr J.S. Sikri in a complaint to the police said valuables worth Rs 1 lakh had been stolen from his house. While the police has registered a case of burglary. According to sources some armed persons burgled the house when the family was away to attend a marriage. According to the police Mr Sikri and his family discovered the incident when they returned to their house on Tuesday.

MANSA
POLYTHENE BAN: Ms Raji P. Shrivastava, District Magistrate, has banned the use of polythene bags in the district and also prohibited the use of loudspeakers without prior permission. The orders will be effective till July 7.

DRIVER HELD: The Bhikhi police on Tuesday nabbed the driver who had caused the death of Mr M.L. Garg, SDO of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) in an accident. The police has recovered the Jeep involved in the accident.

NAWANSHAHR
CASE REGISTERED: The Pojewal Police has registered a case against Gulab Singh and Biker Singh of Begampur village on a complaint by Puran Singh that the two had made a bid to kill him and his family by poisoning the water of the handpump.

PATIALA
ELECTED: In a general body meeting of the Organisation of Punjabi University Students (OPUS) held here on Tuesday, Mr Akashdeep Singh Aulakh was elected as the president of the organisation. The other members elected are: senior vice-presidents — Mr Manmeet Dhillon and Mr Gurparsad Singh; chief advisor — Mr Hardev Singh; general secretaries — Mr Amritpal Singh and Tony. 

CAMP CONDUCTED: The Rotary Club conducted a free Lens Implant Camp for cataract patients at the Saronwala Eye Hospital here on Tuesday. The operation was conducted by Dr Naveen Saronwala and Dr D.S. Virdi. Free medicines were also distributed to the poor.

KANOJIA MAHA SABHA: Mr Vijay Kumar Kanojia has been elected as the Chairman of the Kanojia Maha Sabha in a meeting held here on Tuesday. The other-office bearers are: president — Mr Kishori Lal Kanojia, senior vice-president — Mr Amrit Lal; vice-president — Mr Nanak Chand and general secretary — Mr Ashwani Kanojia.

ORIENTATION COURSE: A five-day Orientation Course was inaugurated by the North Region Language Centre for the secondary school teachers of Punjab here on Teusday. About 30 teachers have taken part in the programme. The centre is located at the Punjabi University campus. The centre is a part of the Bhartiya Bhasha Sansthan, Mysore, and is related with the Educational Department of the Manav Sansadhan Vikas Mantrayala. The Course Director, Dr Narinder Kaur, told teachers about the Course as well as the Sansthan/Assistant Co-ordinator of the course, Mr Devinder Singh shared the methods employed in teaching language with the teachers. He said that during the course duration, teachers would be told about the latest technology to be used in the language survey.

HAILED: The Citizens Council for Common Causes in a meeting held under the Presidentship of Prof Gursewak Singh here on Tuesday appreciated the decision taken by Mr Jasbir Singh Bir, Deputy Commissioner, for imposing the ban on vehicles between 5 a.m. to 8 a.m.

DIRECTORY RELEASED: Mr Manjit Singh Narang, SDM, released a Telephone Directory of Patiala district at a function organised by the Dedicated Brothers Group here on Wednesday. Mr Narang appreciated the social activities being undertaken by the group, particularly those relating to helping the poor and the downtrodden.

FUNDS: An amount of Rs 33.52 crore would be spent on various developments activities in this district out of which Rs 27.68 crore had already been disbursed to different departments for various schemes. This was disclosed by Mr Jasbir Singh Bir, Deputy Commissioner, during a meeting of the Development and Roads Committee held at Red Cross Hall here on Wednesday. In another meeting with the District and Sub divisional authorities, he said that Rs 8 crore would be spent on the laying of 110 kilometre of roads while another Rs 5.16 crore would be spent on the recarpeting of 130 kilometre.

TRANSFERS: Mr Surjit Singh Basrama on Wednesday took over as Assistant Registrar, Coop, Societies. Mr Rajinder Singh Chawla was transferred to Fatehgarh Sahib as CEO. Mr Basrama would also look after the charge of Khanna and Payal stations.

HARYANA

AMBALA
DEMAND: Ambala Cantt Traders Federatioin has demanded that immediate steps must be taken for the construction of a new grain market for Ambala Cantt. During the season, the whole grain market and the roads leading towards it are blocked due to the storing of paddy and other grains. “There are times when the grain is lying on the roadside day and night, waiting for buyer. There is also a major traffic problem and the unloading and filling of grain in the bags creates air pollution,” a release said. The Federation has pointed out that an alternative arrangement must be made where the farmers could unload their produce without worrying about the weather.

UNION: The elections for the Carpenter’s Workers Union was held here on Wednesday. The newly-elected office-bearers are president — Mr Mohan Lal Dhiman; general secretary —Mr Madan Lal Dhiman; treasurer — Mr Rajkumar; vice-presidents — Mr Jai Singh, Mr Raj Kumar, Mr Madan Lal and Mr Pankaj Kumar; publicity secretary — Mr Shiv Kumar; additional secretary —Mr Raj Kumar; auditor — Mr Surendra Kumar. The working committee members include Mr Mohan Lal, Mr Surendra Kumar, Mr Pawan Kumar, Mr Chandra Kumar, Mr Shiv Kumar and Mr Haricharan.

BHIWANI
SUICIDE: Rajender, a resident of the local Bag Kothi area, committed suicide by consuming sulphos on Wednesday. In another incident, Rajbala, wife of Satyvir Singh of Gagarwas, was admitted to the PGIMS, Rohtak, on Tuesday, when a cooking stove burst. She was stated to be in a serious condition.

RAPE: The police has registered a case against Balraj of Dhana Ladanpur for raping a 13-year-old girl of the same village.

FATEHABAD
NO POWER: Local residents have been facing an acute shortage of power and drinking water. Unannounced cuts and non-supply of canal water to the local waterworks was said to be the main cause.

JIND
DOWRY CASE: The Narwana police on Monday arrested Ghanshyam and Permaswari, husband and mother-in-law, respectively, of Sonia, a young housewife, who had received burn injuries at her in-laws’ house at Narwana on May 4.

KAITHAL
CRIME DECLINE: Mr A.S. Chawla, SP, said on Tuesday that due to steps taken by the police, crime in the district had declined. He informed that five organised gangs had been busted in the recent past.

NURPUR
TELECOM CENTRE: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has decided to close down the lcoal telecom centre. BSNL sources reveal that the facilities are being shifted to Jassur in the new customer service centre set up on telephone exchange premises.

PANIPAT
NO TELEPHONE: The police post in the local industrial sector 29 despite having a computer networking facility is working without it due to non-availability of a telephone with the post.

SONEPAT
DEMONSTRATION: A large number of residents of Barwasni village held a demonstration in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office here on Tuesday to register their protest against the inaction of the police in tracing a 13-year-old girl, Sapna, who was allegedly abducted on April 2.

PROCESSION: A large number of brickkiln workers held a procession here on Tuesday in protest against the failure of the state government to increase wages and enforce the labour laws in the industry. Stern action against the owners of the brickkilns who were violating the Minimum Wages Act and exploiting the workers was demanded.

ARRESTED: The Ganaur police said to have arrested nine persons including, two women, on Tuesday in connection with a clash and burning of wheat crop in the village on Sunday.

DISCONNECTED: Mr Jeet Singh Mehra, SDM, Ganaur, on Wednesday ordered the disconnection of 78 allegedly illegal water connections to maintain regular supply.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

SHIMLA
SEMINAR: A 21-day-long seminar on “potato improvement and seed research production technology” is being organised by the Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) here from June 15. Scientists from research organisations all over India will participate.

She launched crusade in face of expulsion

TO seek an immediate ban on the use of landmines and impress upon the Indian Government to sign the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) the 1997 Nobel Peace laureate Jody Williams had come to India to participate in the two-day national conference on landmines, which was held at Delhi’s Indian Institute of Environment and Peace on May 3 and 4.

Ms Jody Williams was in Dharamsala later to attend the peace jam conference organised at the Tibetan Children’s Village which was inaugurated by their patron, the Dalai Lama.

During an encounter with this writer, Ms Williams observed that what makes anti-personnel mines so abhorrent was their indiscriminate destruction. Mines could not be aimed: these lie dormant until a person or animal detonates these. Anti-personnel mines cannot distinguish between the foot of a soldier and that of a child, she added.

She was prompted to launch this crusade by the pathetic condition of landmines victims and the alarming landmine toll in Vietnam right from 1980. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) was launched by her in 1992 which now is a network of 1400 NGOs spread over 139 countries.

Ms Williams said till now 139 countries had signed the MBT, of which 112 countries had ratified it.

Though an American, Ms Jody Williams was once asked to quit the country if she did not desist from crusading against the use of landmines in Vietnam by her native country but added that she accepted the US threat and refused to relent.

She claimed that the ICBL had brought about tremendous change in a short period and added that in Ottawa in December 1997, 122 countries had signed the MBT that banned the use, production, sale and transfer of anti-personnel landmines.

She recalled that in its announcement, the Norwegian Nobel Committee had pointed out that the campaign had changed a ban ‘‘from a vision to a feasible reality’’. It also observed that by working with small and medium sized countries “this work has grown into a convincing example of an effective policy for peace that could prove of decisive importance to the international effort on disarmament”, Ms Jody recounted.

Giving details, she said landmines were a threat in Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, Iraq, Lebanon and several other countries. In Cambodia alone over 35,000 people had been maimed by mines. (Photo shows a campaign against mines by Cambodian monks.) She took cognisance of the fact that about 180 people had till now fallen victim to landmines in militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir.

Oldest scribe whose pen refuses to stop

At the age of 92, B.P. Sharma has found entry in the Limca Book of Records this year as the oldest living journalist.

Mr Sharma remained an active journalist for 71 years and became reporter of The Tribune in 1931 and is known as a “walking encyclopedia” on Jammu and Kashmir.

He wrote his first newsletter at the age of 17 in The Ranbir, Jammu’s first newspaper, in 1924. He launched J&K’s first English weekly, “Kashmir Times” from Srinagar in 1934 for which he wrote beyond the age of 88. He has worked for many prestigious newspapers and news agencies like Reuters, Associated Press of India, Civil and Military Gazette (Lahore), Hindustan Times, Times of India, and Amrit Bazar Patrika.

He loves literature and manuscripts and his latest assignment was as chairman of the J&K Archives Committee a post to which he was appointed by Dr Farooq Abdullah, J&K Chief Minister, in recognition of his knowledge of the state’s history.

He became the first director of the radio at Jammu which was set up to counter Pakistani propaganda in 1947. Thereafter he became Principal Information Officer and worked on various assignments.

He recently contributed a lot of inputs to a book on the ancient postal system of J&K published by the Collectors Club, New York. His contribution has been acknowledged by the author, Frits Stall of California University, who has said in the preface that Sharma inspired and helped him in bringing out the book on the postal system introduced about 150 years ago by Maharaja Ranbir Singh.

Women cops have 75 pc success rate

Established in July 1995, an all-women’s police station of Sonepat has been rendering yeoman’s service to womenfolk and checking various crimes against women in this district.

This police station is functioning in a separate building equipped with a telephone and other facilities. There are a number of rooms where policewomen sit and dispose of cases like dowry harassment and dowry deaths, kidnapping, abduction and rape.

Mrs Luxmi Devi, a Sub-Inspector, was appointed the first Station House Officer of this police station. She was transferred last year when she reportedly roughed up a sarpanch who had come to the police station to resolve a dispute.

Now Ms Asha holds charge of the women’s police station and is satisfied by and large with the functioning of it. She stated that the first FIR was lodged at this police station on April 23, 1999, and thereafter, the people of the area started coming to it to lodge complaints on crime against women. Most of the complaints related to the dowry harassment and dowry deaths. Other cases including rape, kidnapping and abduction were also investigated and culprits booked.

The SHO also disclosed that during the current year as many as 96 complaints were received. Of these, 76 cases — about 75 per cent — were disposed of in accordance with the law. At least 55 cases were settled by compromise.

She said the police station comprised one sub-inspector of police, two assistant sub-inspectors, five head constables and five constables, all women. However, there were two male head constables and one constable who investigate cases outside the police station. At least 20 cases are still under investigation, she added.

Contributed by Raj Kumar Prashar, Ranjna Sharma and R.D. Sapra