The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Thursday, January 10, 2002, 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
CASSETTES SEIZED: The police seized pirated audio and video cassettes on Monday after a recording company reported the matter to the authorities concerned. Mr Ash Kumar, manager of the Malhotra audio and video company alleged that Puran Singh, resident of Chowk Baba Bhorianwala area, was selling duplicate audio and video cassettes while using the name of the company. The police seized 37 audio and 125 video cassettes from him and has registered a case under Section 420 of the IPC, and the Copy Right Act, 1957.

CONDEMNED: Mr Sanjeev Kalia, president of the B.Ed Unemployed Teacher Union, has condemned the government’s for its indifferent attitude towards unemployed B.Ed degree holders. Activists of the union said their degrees were worthless vis-a-vis job opportunities. They also urged the authorities concerned to provide them jobs.

REIKI CAMP: A three-day Reiki healing camp is being organised by the Hayashi Reiki Centre from Thursday 10. Consultation and healing will be given to mentally depressed patients by reiki experts Harish Chhabra and Asha Chhabra.

BATHINDA
VOTERS’ LISTS: Mr R. Venkatratnam, Deputy Commissioner, said on Wednesday that electoral rolls, as per the Registration Rules, 1960, have been prepared. According to a press note, the last date for enrolments for the voters’ list was January 1 and the revised lists were available at the offices of district and tehsil officials.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the executive council of Punjab Agricultural University Employees Union, in Bathinda: chairman — Mr Atwar Singh; general secretary — Mr Dharam Singh; and treasurer — Mr Ashwani Kumar.

NOMINATED: Mr Rajinder Singh Kotfatta has been nominated general secretary of the District Congress Committee, said a letter by Mr Harminder Singh Jassi, president of the committee.

ROAD SAFETY WEEK: During the Road Safety Week, seminars and other functions are being held in the district to educate people regarding safety measures on the road. On Monday, the District Transport Department held an eye check-up camp for the drivers of the PRTC.

POLL DUTY: A teachers’ union, the Adhyapak Dal, in a press note issued on Wednesday, urged the authorities concerned to not assign poll duties to women teachers.

COMPUTERISED: The extension counter of the State Bank of Patiala, at the local SSD Girls College, was computerised on Wednesday. Mr S.K. Singla, Assistant General Manager, said that all branches of the bank in the city would be computerised by March 31, 2002.

FEROZEPORE
CRUSHED: Ramesh Kumar (15), was crushed to death under a train here on Tuesday. According to a report, Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Sansi basti, boarded the Bathinda-Ferozepore train from Faridkot. When the train was near the outer signal he tried to climb down, he however, slipped and was crushed under the train.

HOSHIARPUR
DEAD: Sanjogta Devi, wife of Ranbir Singh of Mansa village, succumbed to burn injuries, at Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, on Monday. According to the police, Sanjogta Devi set herself on fire after sprinkling kerosene on her clothes on January 2. She reportedly had strained relations with her brother-in-law Kulbir Singh, who was allegedly was not allowing her husband to construct a house on their joint property in the village. The Mukerian police has registered a case against Kulbir Singh under Section 306 of the IPC.

SUICIDE: Balwinder Kaur, wife of Kashmiri Lal of Narhupur village committed suicide by consuming poison on Monday. According to the police, the incident was a result of a misunderstanding within the family.

KHAMANO
DHARNA: The Panchayat Secretary and Samiti Karamchari Union will hold a state-level dharna in front of the office of Director, Panchayat, Chandigarh, on Thursday for acceptance of its demands. Stating this here, Mr Santokh Singh, treasurer of state unit, said workers of about 100 blocks have not been given salaries for the last 3-8 months. He warned that if the salaries were not immediately cleared then they will boycott election duty and even the ministers will be gheraoed in their areas by panchayat secretaries and samiti workers. He also said that workers from Machhiwara, Samrala, Ludhiana-II, Doraha, Khanna etc blocks would participate in the proposed dharna.

RALLY: The Fatehgarh Sahib unit of Democratic Teachers Front will participate in the proposed rally to be organised at Ludhiana against the bad behaviour of D.E.O. (S), Ludhiana, against their union. Stating this here, Mr Amarjeet Singh Gill, district president, and Mr Yashpal, secretary of the union, said the actions of D.E.O. (S) under political pressure are being ignored by higher education officials. They also said that the transfer of steno with the order of the Education Minister has also been cancelled which will worsen the situation more and D.E.O. (S) and higher officials will be responsible for this.

FENCING MEET: Ninth junior and sixth sub-Junior Punjab Fencing Championship will be held at Government Senior Secondary School, Khamano, from January 11-13, 2002. Stating this here Mr T.S. Dogra, Joint Secretary, of the association, said about 400 players from 13 districts will participate in this meet. The age limit for sub-junior and junior sections will be less than 14 and 18 years and the players have to submit date of birth proof. The players will be provided boarding and lodging by District Fencing Association.

KHARAR
RALLY: A traffic awareness rally was organised here on Wednesday by the Lions Club Kharar Top and the traffic police. Mr Lakhvir Singh, DSP (Traffic), flagged off the rally. The students participating in the rally wielded banners having traffic slogans. The rally passed through various parts of the town and ended in the grounds of Christian High School.

BLOOD DONATION CAMP: A blood donation camp was organised by the State Bank of Patiala, Kharar branch in association with the Rotary Club on Tuesday. The camp was held in the library of the Arya College for Women in which 65 donors donated blood. Mr Sahil Misra, DGM, Chandigarh zone was the guest of honour.

LUDHIANA
SEMINAR: A hair-care seminar by Godrej Hair Care Institute will be held here on Thursday. According to a release, India’s renowned expert on hair care, Firdaus Padamsee, will share important secrets on the occasion.

SURGICAL CAMP: Dewan Hospital and Laparoscopic Surgery Centre will organise the second concessional surgical camp at the hospital on Friday. Dr Livtar Singh Chawla, former Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University will inaugurate the camp. Dr Narottam Dewan said 20 deserving patients will be operated without any fees. Anaesthesia, ECG, lab tests and ultrasound facilities will also be provided free of cost.

ORIENTATION MEET: The distance learning programme on mother and child health started by the Indira Gandhi National Open University has one of its centre in Christian Medical College and Hospital where the students from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh have enrolled for the course. To mark the commencement of the current session, an induction meeting will be held on January 11 in the hospital auditorium. The main objective of the orientation meet was to facilitate the students with details of the programme, said Dr Sanjay Chand, Deputy Medical Superintendent, CMC.

SENIOR CITIZENS MEET: The All-India Senior Citizens Organisation, New Delhi, will organise a symposium on January 13 at Sita Mata Mandir, Daresi Ground. The Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, will be the chief guest and Col. C.S.Dhillon, senior vice-president of the organisation, will preside over the function.

MANSA
COMPENSATION: The state government has provided a compensation of Rs 42.78 lakh to five civic bodies of the district for the losses suffered due to abolition of octroi. An official press note, issued on Wednesday said cheques for Rs 20.47 lakh, Rs 9.90 lakh, Rs 2.47 lakh, Rs 5.54 lakh and Rs 5.21 lakh were handed over to the presidents and executive officers of the municipal councils of Mansa, Budhlada, Bareta, Bhikhi and Sardulgarh, respectively.

ROPAR
NOMINATED: The following have been nominated office-bearers of the district wing of the Punjab Nationalist Youth Congress: president — Rakesh Kumar Verma ; vice-president — Paramjit Singh Pamma; general secretary — Inderjit Singh Virdi and secretary — Atul Verma.

SAHNEWAL
ANNUAL FUNCTION: The annual function of Arya Samaj Senior Secondary School, Sahnewal, was held recently. The function was presided over by Jathedar Santa Singh Umaidpuri, Chairman, Market Committee, Sahnewal. Among others who attended the function were Dr Shamsher Singh Kaile, president, nagar panchayat, Sahnewal, Mr Ravinder Kapila, Mr Sadhu Ram Kaile, Baba Jagroop Singh and Baba Ram Sarup Sharma. The function began with a religious song and a shabad. In his address the school principal, Mr Jagdish Rai, said the school is 95-year-old and has been kept up till today by the honourable contributions of various prominent personalities of the area from time to time. As far as 150 woollens were distributed among the poor children of the school. The vote of thanks came from Pandit Ram Saroop Sharma, president of the management committee of the school.

MEETING: A meeting of the Rashtriya Lok Dal was organised at Sahnewal under the presidentship of Mr Gurdip Jassal. Among others who attended the meeting were Mr Sukhdev Singh, vice president, Ludhiana (Rural), Dr Jagdev Singh, general secretary, Punjab, Mr Hardeep Singh Happy, vice-president, Punjab youth wing, Mr Nirmal Chauhan, Mr Jagtar Singh, Dr Jugraj Singh Kaunke, Mr Kamlesh Singh and Mr Baldev Singh. At the meeting it was declared that the dal would contest 50 seats in the coming assembly elections. It was also decided to form a 11-member committee to chalk out the poll campaign.

SAMRALA
CLASS VIII EXAMINATION: The examination of Class VIII will start from February 18 according to Mr Jagjeet Singh Sidhu, Secretary, Punjab Education Board, here on Wednesday. While talking to mediapersons Mr Sidhu disclosed that English paper will be held on February 18, first language paper on February 19, second language paper on February 20, health and physique (written) on February 21, science (written) on February 22, maths on February 26 and social studies on February 28. Elective papers will be held on March 1, science practicals from March 2 to 4, physical practicals on March 5 to 7 and elective (practical) from March 9 to 10, Mr Sidhu added.

ELECTED: At a meeting of the LIC Agents Union, Samrala Branch, Mr Harpal Singh has been elected president and Mr Jasbir Singh vice-president of the union on Wednesday. Mr Sukhwinder Singh Gill was elected general secretary, Mr Buta Ram as cashier, Mr Jasmeet Singh as organising secretary, Mr Rajinder Parshad as press secretary and Mr S.K. Nehra and Mr Mehar SIngh Gogia as advisers.

SANGRUR
LOOTED: Three unidentified youths looted 20 tolas of gold and Rs 11,000 from a local goldsmith, Mr Karamjit Singh, near the Guru Nanak Colony, on Monday. According to the police, the scooter-borne youths also attacked Mr Karamjit Singh, who received minor injuries in the process.

TARN TARAN
GHERAOED: Hundreds of people gheraoed the local SSP office on Tuesday in protest against not arresting ASI Harbhajan Singh, in charge of the Jamarai police post . He is allegedly responsible for the custodial death of Pardeep Singh, a class X student and resident of Gandiwind Dhatta village. Pardeep Singh died in police custody on December 22, 2001 for which a case has been registered under Section 304 of the IPC against the ASI.

VIOLATION: Mr Sucha Singh, general secretary of the Government Teachers Union in a press note issued on Tuesday blamed Mr Tota Singh, Punjab Minister for Education, for allegedly violating the election code of conduct by transferring more than 200 teachers after announcement of the Assembly elections. Mr Sucha Singh urged the Election Commission to order a probe into the matters.

HARYANA

AMBALA
BAN ON VEHICLES: The Air Force authorities have decided to ban the movement of civilians and private vehicles on the Model Town crossing road from 7 pm to 7 am. The Air force station is also located on this road. The SP, Mr Sandeep Khirwar, said the order has come into effect from Wednesday. The people of Ambala City generally use this cantonment road to go Ambala Cantt. The step has been taken for security reasons.

DENTAL CHECK-UP CAMP: The NSS unit, youth club and women cell of MDSD Girls College, here on Wednesday organised a free dental check-up camp on the college premises. The camp was organised in association with Philadelphia Mission Hospital. The doctors examined teeth of students and staff members. The college Principal, Dr Kiran Angra explained to students the importance of cleanliness and personal hygiene.

DEPUTATION: A delegation of Haryana State STD PCO Holders Association on Wednesday met the state president of BJP and MP, Mr Ratan Lal Kataria, to apprise him of their various demands. Among others, association president Naresh Chadha, general secretary Naresh Garg, secretary finance Kulbhushan Bhasin and Mr Jatinder Singh were part of the delegation. The delegation also met the General Manager Telecom, Ambala SSA, Mr G.S. Daria. The association demanded that service charges be fixed at Rs 3, commission be increased up to 35 per cent, late fee charges be at Rs 2 per call after 8 pm, ISD call collect call charges be Rs 5, Rs 1 as service charge on local calls and minimum guarantee amount be waived off.

FATEHABAD
FUNCTION: To mark the Road Safety Week, Government Senior Secondary School organised a function on Tuesday. The chief guest on the occasion, SDM R. K. Chauhan, urged all to obey traffic rules so that road accidents could be minimised.

HISAR
TRAINING PROGRAMME: The Department of Farm Power and Machinery of Haryana Agriculture University conducted a three-day training programme for field investigators under the IASRI project for formulating a long term mechanisation strategy for each agro-climactic zone of the state. The programme which concluded here on Tuesday was attended by 19 field investigators from Kaithal, Sonepat, Bhiwani and Faridabad districts, who will conduct surveys on the status of farm mechanisation in 160 randomly selected villages.

YAMUNANAGAR
KILLED: A boy was killed and his father injured seriously in a clash. According to the police,Krishan Kumar of Rajheri village had a fight with Kuldeep Kumar in which the former received serious injuries with a sharp-edged weapon. He later succumbed to his injuries in a hospital. The police has arrested Kuldeep Kumar and his parents, who were also allegedly involved in the incident.