The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Monday, June 18, 2001, Chandigarh, India

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R E G I O N A L B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AHMEDGARH
TRIBUTES PAID: A statue of martyr, Ajmer Singh, who laid down his life for the nation during Kargil war, was unfurled on Sunday by the Cabinet Minister, Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha. After unfurling the statue Mr Garcha paid tribute to the martyr. He said similar statue would be built up at the Dhulkot chowk here and the approach road would be named after Ajmer Singh. He said the staff strength of the school would be increased as per norms. Mr Hira Singh Gabria, MLA, and Mr Isher Singh, sarpanch, also paid tributes, among others.

ASSURANCE: The Cabinet minister, Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, said the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, had ordered the DIG, Ludhiana, during a sangat darshan on Friday that Devinder Singh of Dhulkot village would be given job in the police. Devinder’s father, Gurmeet Singh, was killed in an accident during Thein Dam rally.

AMLOH
MEETING: A joint meeting of nambardars and chowkidars of Amloh sub-division, presided over by its president, Mr Sohan Lal Abrol, was held in tehsil complex here on Saturday. The meeting urged the government to raise the salary of chowkidars and make provision for the supply of uniforms to them.

AMRITSAR
ALLEGED: The president of the Parish Council, Mr Micheal Gill, in a press note alleged that the Chief Minister had reneged from his promise to construct a Christian community hall here. The promise was made in January after which the community had extended support during canvassing for the Shiromani Akali Dal candidate, Mr Raj Mohinder Singh Majithia, he added.

HOSHIARPUR
ARRESTED: The police on Friday arrested Lakhbir Singh of Barian Kalan village under Sections 15/61 and 85 of the NDPS Act and seized 30 kg of poppy husk from him on.

POISONED: Joginder Paul and his wife Surjit Kaur of Pur Hiran village allegedly poisoned Tarsem Lal, alias Sema, of the same village, to death on Friday. A case under Sections 302 and 341, IPC, had been registered.

BURGLED: A sum of Rs 7,800 and gold ornaments weighing 21 gm were stolen from the house of Mohinder Kumar of Pahari Gate, Hariana, on Friday. A case had been registered. In another incident 781-metre wire was stolen from the PSEB complex, Bhangala. A case had been registered.

SUPPORTED: The local Government Primary Teachers Association has supported the proposed indefinite fast of unemployed ETT teachers from June 20. Mr Mohinder Singh Heer, president of the association has urged Mr Tota Singh, Education Minister, to fill 7, 230 vacant posts of ETT teacher.

JALANDHAR
DEMANDED: The Agriculture Technocrats Action Committee, Punjab, has urged the state government to take steps to safeguard the interests of the farming community in view of the implementation of the GATT treaty. Dr Satnam Singh Pardhan, general secretary, of the committee, while addressing a rally of farmers and technocrats at the local Desh Bhagat Yaadgar Hall here on Saturday said the state government should allocate special funds for research and extension services in agriculture.

KAPURTHALA
NOMINATED: Mr Malwinder Singh Chahal, senior vice-president of the Punjab Youth Congress and president district unit of the Human Rights Commission, has been nominated member of a 55-member farmers committee formed by Capt Amarinder Singh, president, PPCC, to look after the welfare of the farmers of the state.

LUDHIANA
INAUGURATED: Cyber-Connect and Multimedia Centre was inaugurated by Mr Kapil Kumar, Associate Vice-President, HFCL Group at Surya Arcade here on Sunday. According to a press note, Connect has planned to increase its share in the public Internet access market through a chain of branded Internet centres providing high quality low cost public access to the cyber world. Mr Kumar said in order to boost e-commerce activities on the net, dedicated connectivity and high speed would be ensured through leased on ISDN lines at Cyber Connect.

SELECTED: Bindiya Paul, Ms Lux International 2001, has selected five finalists for the talent and beauty contest, Nazakat and Ms Teen Ethnic, which will be held on June 30 at Nehru Siddhant Kendra. The finalists are: Sani, Anu, Chinajit, Rima and Amrita. They have been selected from the workshop on modeling and beauty organised by Infotrac International. Mr Rahul Prashar of Pragati India Group in a press statement said the workshop was attended by more than 20 girls of the city. The selected girls will be given special training for the proposed event.

MANDI AHMEDGARH
THEFT: Jewellery and cash worth Rs 60,000 was stolen from the house of Mr Pardeep Kumar, a local resident, on Saturday. A complaint has been lodged with the police.

MANDI GOBINDGARH
KHATRI SABHA: Mr Pawan Kumar Sofat, president, Khatri Sabha, in a press note released here on Sunday said that all arrangements had been completed for the 6th state-level conference of the sabha to be held in Ram Bhavan here on June 24. He added that delegates from all districts of the state will elect the office-bearers of the sabha.

BODIES FOUND: The local police recovered two bodies, one was found from near the local cremation ground on Saturday, while another body of a man was found from the steel yard, near the Battan Lal road, on Friday. After the post-mortem examinations the bodies were handed over to the municipal council for cremation.

PATIALA
THEATRE WORKSHOP: The 11th Annual Patriotic Theatre Workshop entitled ‘Vande Mataram’ is being conducted by the National Theatre Arts Society (NTAS) here at Central State Library Hall and SDSE Senior Secondary School. A cultural programme was organised by the children and comprises of a month-long production oriented theatre workshop. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Pran Sabharwal, Director, NTAS, said the workshop aimed at imparting training in acting, speech, make-up and other aspects of theatre. He added that the workshop will create confidence and awareness about the sacrifices made by the youngsters during the freedom struggle movement.

NOMINATED: Dr R.N. Pal, former Professor in the Department of Political Science, Punjabi University, has been nominated to the Court of University for a period of five years by the President of India, in his capacity as a visitor to the Banaras Hindu University. Earlier, the President had nominated Dr Pal to the Court of Assam University, ICSSR and NIEPA.

PSEB FUNCTION: A function of the delegates of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) was held here on Sunday where members addressing the function said that soon a meeting of the leaders of the Karamchari Dal would be set with the PSEB members and the pending demands of the employees would be discussed. Stating this in a press release, Mr Surjit Singh Bhatti, General Secretary, PSEB, said the chief delegates who addressed at the function were Mr Kirpal Singh Badungar, OSD to Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Sikander Singh Mauka, Punjab Electricity Minister, Mr Baldev Singh Mann, Member (administration), PSEB and Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, Technical Education Minister apart from other delegates.

FREEDOM FIGHTER DIES: Bawa Bhupinder Singh, a freedom fighter, who passed away on Sunday due to brain haemorrhage, was cremated with full honours. He was 80-year-old and had actively participated during in the freedom struggle. Mr Manjit Singh Narang, SDM, Patiala, laid wreath on his body. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Narang said Bawa Bhupinder Singh took part in the Quit India Movement as well as various other activities to free the country from the foreign rule.

PHAGWARA
NABBED: The police nabbed Mangat Ram, alias Manga, a proclaimed offender of Behram, wanted under Section 263, IPC and 61/1 and 14 of the Excise Act since 1985, near Mauli on Friday.

2 ARRESTED: Deepak Kumar of Dhanbad, Jharkhand, and Mandu Kumar of Purnia, Bihar, were arrested on Friday under Section 420, IPC, and various Sections of the Copyright Act of 1957, and 658 pirated audio cassettes were seized.

2 BOYS KILLED: Navdip (14) was crushed to death by a tractor, which was being driven by his father, at Bhanoki village on Friday. He was helping his father in the field. In another incident Charanjit (9) was run over and killed by a vehicle near Rawalpindi village on the Phagwara-Hoshiarpur road on Friday.

IMA APPEAL: The Indian Medical Association (IMA), Punjab, on Sunday appealed to medical professionals who are running ultrasound centres, genetic laboratories and counselling centres to abide by the provisions of the Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994, and refrain from doing prenatal sex determination tests which ultimately lead to female foeticide, thereby causing an imbalance in the male-female ratio.

SAMRALA
FATHER’S DAY: A function was organised to celebrate Father’s Day here on Sunday in the Kavita Bhavan under the chairmanship of Punjabi writer Prof Hamdardvir Nausheharvi. Many intellectuals and well-known personalities participated. A kavi darbar was also organised on the occasion.

CHANDIGARH

MINISTER CLARIFIES: The Minister for Technical Education, Punjab, Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, in a press note has stated that neither any ITI nor any trade of any professional course is either being shifted or closed on the instructions of the Chief Minister, Punjab. The press note further said that these are mere rumours being spread by unscrupulous persons for their petty benefits. Mr Garcha said all the incomplete buildings of the ITIs had been completed and job-oriented courses are being introduced from August 1, 2001 in the 10 ITIs in the state.

THREATENED: The non-teaching employees of SGGS College, Sector 26, have in a press note stated that they have written to the college management to release their pay for the month of May 2001, failing which they will be compelled to take action.

OFFICE-BEARERS: Mr Joginder Singh has been elected as the president of the Technical Teachers Training Institute Employees Union. Mr Labh Singh will be the vice president while Mr Tara Singh Kashyap will be the general secretary. Mr Tara Dutt Joshi will be the joint secretary while Kuldeep Singh will be the treasurer. Mr Natwar Singh has been elected as the organising secretary and Mr Sehdev Singh along with Mr Mukhtyar, Mr Mubarak Hussain will be the propaganda secretaries. Mr Prakash Chand Dogra will be the chief adviser and Mr Bidhi Chand as the adviser to the union.

DANCE CONTEST: The following are the results of the dance contest, titled Jhoom jhoom ke nacho re, organised on Saturday at Tagore Theatre by the Chandigarh Institute of Performing Arts (in order of merit): Category A (5 to 10 years): Paramdeep Singh, Moon Sharma, Gayatri Chadha; consolation prizes for Rajeshwari Chadha, Deevanshi Mishra and Aneesh Kumar; Category b (11 to 15 years): Shikha Rana, Adirti Chawla, Manisha Madaan; consolation prize for Amarinder Singh; Category C (16 to 25 years): Rupinder Saini from Nangal, Mansi Saxena from Patiala, Harpreet Kaur and consolation prize for Nazia Khan and Bhawna Narang; and Category D (group dance): Poonam group, Rahul and Raman group, Silver Streak group; consolation prize for Bhanu and group.

INVITED: PGI Assistant Professor, Dr Baljinder Singh from the Department of Nuclear Medicine has been invited to attend the 48th annual society meeting of the nuclear medicine at Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dr Singh will be reading two research papers during the conference which will be held from June 23 to 27. He has also been invited as the visiting faculty at the nuclear medicine, Stony Brook University Hospital and Medical Centre, Stony Brook, New York.

JOINED: A number of persons, led by Mr Sachin Lohtiya, a leader of teh Balmiki Samaj, and Mr Corneilus, a Christian leader, joined the BJP at the party office in Sector 33 here on Sunday. While welcoming the workers into the party fold, Mr Dharam Paul Gupta, local BJP chief, said the future of the minorities and the Dalits was safe in the BJP hands. A former Mayor, Mr Gian Chand Gupta, claimed that there had not been even a single communal riot in teh country during rule of teh NDA government during the past over two-and-a-half years.

HARYANA

AMBALA
CORNER MEETINGS: The Van Majdoor Sangh, Haryana, organised corner meetings at various places in Ambala city on Saturday to press upon their demands. Members of the sangh have been staging a dharna before the office of the Division Forest Officer for the past five days. A deputation of the sangh also met the Deputy Commissioner. The president of the state body of the sangh, Mr Brij Mohan, said that the dharna would be continued till their demands were accepted. They have been demanding action again a forest officer who has allegedly molested two female workers of a nursery.

VEERTA DIVAS: A ceremony to observe the third death anniversary of Major Rohit Sharma, an officer of the 8 JAK LI (Siachen), was held at the Arya Samaj temple in Sector 9, here on Sunday. Children paid their homage by singing devotional songs and those of valour on the occasion, observed as Veerta Diwas, while a havan was also held for peace of the departed soul. It maybe recalled that the officer laid down his life in Poonch district of J and K while leading an ambush team. His parents said that working on a tip off that three terrorists were hiding in at nearby village of Surankot, the officer, with his team, left for the spot. In the village, he managed to kill two of the three terrorists while the third one fired at the officer who died on June 17, 1998.

ELECTED: Mr RC Puri was elected president of the Private House Owners’ Welfare Association, Sector 11, at a meeting held, here on Sunday. The other office-bearers include: Mr V. K. Kapoor — general secretary; Mr Arora — Finance Secretary; and Mr R. S. Rakha — joint secretary.

JHAJJAR
FOUNDATION STONE: The foundation stone of the building of Jhajjar Central Cooperative Bank Limited, built at an estimated cost of Rs 1 crore, was laid by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala on Saturday. The bank will provide loans to villagers and unemployed youths to help them in starting their own occupation.

JIND
THREE ARRESTED: The police on Friday arrested Lakshmi of Uchana village and her paramour Ram on the charge of murdering Raj Kumar, husband of Lakshmi . According to reports, following a quarrel Lakshmi along with Ram strangulated Raj Kumar. They reportedly chopped off the head and the arms and threw the body in a forest on the local Hansi Road. The police also arrested Billu for his alleged involvement in the crime.

MAN SHOT AT: Mr Karan Singh, of Jind town was allegedly shot at by Randhir at the local Patiala Chowk on Saturday. He had been admitted to the local General Hospital. A case has been registered.

PANIPAT
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE: A financial assistance on a subsidised rate of interest amounting to Rs 1 crore was announced by the National Minority and Finance Development Corporation for the economically backward weavers of the district. This was announced by the Chairman of the corporation, Mr Kaari Mohammad Mian Majhari, while inaugurating a one-day awareness workshop jointly organised by the corporation and the Haryana Backward Classes and Economically Weaker Sections Corporation here on Friday.

SONEPAT
CHILD KIDNAPPED: Ashish, an 18-month-old-child, was reportedly kidnapped by a couple from his house in Rajeev Colony, here on Friday. The woman took the child away on some pretext and did not return and later went missing along with her husband. A case of kidnapping has been registered.