The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sunday, February 24, 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

AHMEDGARH
SPORTS FESTIVAL: Shri Guru Hargobind Stadium of Gujjarwal will host the 29th sports festival from February 25 to 27, courtesy the Gujjarwal Sports Club and the Gram Panchayat. The festival is being dedicated to Mr Amarjit Grewal.

HOSHIARPUR
EXEMPTION LIMIT: A meeting of representatives of chemists, merchants and traders was held here on Saturday under the presidentship of Dr Dharmbir Kapur. The meeting demanded that the exemption limit for income tax be increased to Rs 75,000. It demanded that income tax slab should be 10 per cent up to Rs 1 lakh, 20 per cent up to Rs 2 lakh and 30 per cent above Rs 2 lakh. Besides, interest rate for senior citizens who were not getting any pension should be increased.

MEETING HELD: A joint meeting of the advisory committee and owners of local ultrasound scanning centres was here held on Saturday under the presidentship of Dr Kiranjit Kumar, Civil Surgeon, here. All 18 registered centres had been asked to submit the reports of every scanning being conducted in their centres. It was decided to start a complaint centre at the office of the Civil Surgeon here.

ARMS FOUND: Three pistols, a stengun and commando uniform were found from a bag in a rickshaw, opposite bus stand here, on Friday night. According to police sources, a person, who had been carrying the bag, left it in a rickshaw on seeing a police party and escaped. Later, the arms were seized when the police party went to the rickshaw puller and searched the bag.

KAPURTHALA
CASE REGISTERED: The Sadar police station, Phagwara, has registered a case under Sections 420, 406, 506 and 120-B of the IPC against three travel agents — Amrik Singh, Som Nath and Charan Dass of Jalandhar — for duping Harbhajan Kaur of Rs 1.15 lakh by promising to send her son abroad. This was disclosed by Mrs Gurpreet Deo, SSP, in a press note issued here on Saturday.

LUDHIANA
PNB SAVINGS FORTNIGHT: Punjab National Bank, Ludhiana region, will celebrate “Saving Fortnight” from February 25 to March 9 in all branches in Ludhiana district. During the fortnight 10,000 fresh accounts under various deposit schemes of the bank will be opened. This was stated by Mr K.I. Singh, Senior Regional Manager, Ludhiana Region on Saturday. Mr Singh informed that PNB has also decided to offer certain value additions/facilities to the premier saving fund and current account customers. Saving fund account holder maintaining a balance of Rs 20000/- or above will be designated as premier saving fund customers. Current account holder maintaining a balance of Rs 1 lakh and above will be designated as premier current account customers. Many facilities have been allowed to these type of customers such as facility of free remittances, free cheque book facility and free ATM cards facility.

ICICI EXHIBITION: ICICI Home Finance Company (HFC) has launched the Apna Ghar Utsav — a “total home solutions” exhibition in Ludhiana. The three-day event started at Guru Nanak Bhawan (Ferozepore Chowk) and will be open from 10.30 am to 9 pm every day.

MANSA
JUDICIAL COMPLEX: The construction of a new judicial complex here has been completed and the district courts will start functioning in it soon. This was disclosed by Mr B.C. Rajput, District and Sessions Judge, Bathinda and Mansa, while presiding over a meeting of the District Free Legal Services Authority here on Saturday. He further said a court of sub-judge would be set up at Sardulgarh in the district.

MALERKOTLA
ID CELEBRATED: More than one lakh Muslims performed namaz and greeted each other on the occasion. Maulana Hashim Shah Shahib, Shahi Imam of the local Jama Masjid, led the namaz at the Idgah. SDM Gurlavleen Singh Sidhu while addressing a huge gathering at local Idgah extended warm greetings and good wishes to the people. The namaz was also offered in different mosques of the town and adjoining area like Binjoki Kalan, Dalergarh, Matoj, Amargarh and Ahmedgarh etc.

MOGA
DONATED: Gurbux Singh, resident of Langeana Purana village under Baghapurana police station in the district, presently residing in Singapore, has donated his bungalow in the village built at a cost of Rs 35 lakh to Sant Karnail Singh of Jalal Akalia village, owner of a dera, according to reports here on Saturday. He also donated Rs 30 lakh to a hospital.

PROTEST: Residents of Mahasari village in the district held a protest against the railway authorities on Saturday over the delay in trains between Ferozepore and Ludhiana section of Northern Railway. Former president of Punjab unit of the BKU, Mr Kuldip Singh, said here on Saturday that trains on this section usually got late by an hour.

TRAIN DEMANDED: Residents of the border district of Ferozepore have demanded the introduction of a fast passenger train from here to New Delhi via Moga. This was stated by some businessmen here on Saturday.

PATHANKOT
ACTION SOUGHT: The Punjab Employees’ Federations Ranjit Sagar Dam unit has demanded stern action against two electrical engineers of the dam for harassing residents of the staff colony at the dam site. Mr Gurmit Singh and Mr Narinder Singh Bawa, president and senior vice-president of the federation, have alleged that the engineers had misbehaved with the leaders of the federation.

PHAGWARA
CELEBRATED: Over 10,000 Muslims celebrated Id with zeal here. Namaz was offered at various places, including Idgah and Dargah on the Palahi road. Syed Nazir Ahmed, President Anjumane Dawtey Islamia Committee, addressed devotees.

TARN TARAN
LOOTED: Four scooterists allegedly looted Rs 20,000 from Sudhir Kumar, a businessman and resident of Amritsar, on Friday while he was on a business tour here. A case has been registered.

CHANDIGARH

TRAINING PROGRAMME: Tata Infotech Education yesterday organised ‘MindSpan Level-II’ for its students undergoing career programmes like G-Tech. It is conducted by senior management of the institute who invest 200 days in a year in training the students for business skills, various behavioural skills, personality development, interpersonal skills, customer orientation, values, business ethics and related topics to help them succeed in their careers.

PUNJABI LEKHAK SABHA: The election of the Punjabi Lekhak Sabha, Chandigarh, held on February 3, 2002, was not in consonance with the constitution of the sabha, according to a press note issued by the sabha. As such members of the sabha passed a resolution on the February 10 for re-election which held on Thursday. The following members were elected office-bearers unanimously under the chairmanship of Bhag Singh: president — Ram Arsh; vice-president — Dr Swaraj Sandhu; senior vice-president — B.S. Dhillon and Sudarshan Walia; general secretary — Joginder Singh Rankh; secretaries — Avtar Singh Patangh and Prof M.S. Bajwa; and finance secretary — Dr Sharanjit Kaur.

LIVING WITH DIABETES: The Himachal Governor, Dr Suraj Bhan, today inaugurated a two-day fair on “Healthy living with diabetes” jointly organised by the Diabetes Education Society and the PGI at Bhargava Auditorium PGI here today. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Bhan said advancement in the medical field had helped in controlling diabetes effectively. He said such medical education camps for common man would go a long way in improving human life. The Governor said controlled diet and regular exercise is must for diabetic patients, besides doing yoga. He also released a booklet “Madhuneh Ke Sath Jeena Sekhen” authored by Prof R.J. Das. The Professor and Head of the Department of Diabetes, Mrs Sudha Khurana, explained the relevant food items to the diabetic patients. The Professor and Head of the Department of Endocrinology, Dr R.J. Dash, highlighted the preventions required for diabetic patients enabling them to lead a normal life. Earlier, Dr S.K. Sharma, PGI, welcomed the Governor, while Dr O.N. Nagi proposed the vote of thanks.

MEETING: The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation Public Health Union held a gate meeting in front of the Public Health office, sector 4, on Saturday to mobilise workers for the rally to be held on February 26. A call for the February 26 rally was given by coordination committee of the Government and Municipal Corporation Employees.

WORKSHOP: A stuffed toy workshop was organised in Shishu Niketan Public School to give students an opportunity to express themselves. The children of Classes VI and VII were provided requisite material like old towels, left over sponge pieces for the toys. The workshop had been organised by teachers of the school. It was a day filled with thrill and adventure for the children.

MEETING: A meeting of the House Owners Association, Sector 11, was held on Saturday to discuss the problems of the sector including, maintenance and development of parks, carpetting of B and C roads, appointment of a female doctor in the dispensary in the sector etc. The meeting was chaired by Mr Uggar Sain Sharma, president of the association. It was also decided to convene a general house meeting of the association on March 17.

SAS NAGAR
PROPERTY DEALERS: The local Property Dealers Association on Saturday decided to move court against a notification of the Punjab Government, necessitating payment of stamp duty at time of registering of a general power of attorney. A spokesman of the association said as per the notification, a person would have to pay stamp duty at a rate of six per cent of the value of the property at the time of registration of the general power of attorney, but registration fee of one per cent of the value of the property was payable at the time of registration of sale deed.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

MANDI
CHARAS SEIZED: Sukhvinder Singh of Una was arrested for being in possession of 5 kg charas on Saturday during a special naka set up at Pandoh. Mr J.R. Thakur, SP, said the accused had been travelling from Kulu to Chandigarh in a bus when it was intercepted. A case under Section 20 of the NDPS Act has been registered against him.

PARWANOO
WORKSHOP: Awareness-cum-educational workshop was organised here on Saturday. It was organised by the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Shimla. Nearly 50 participants from Parwanoo, Solan, Kasauli and nearby areas attended the workshop at Eicher factory. Mr P. Bhaskaran, Regional Provident Commissioner, said the workshop had been organised mainly to educate employees of the area regarding procedures and various documents to be completed correctly at the time of joining of the employee so that the employee did not face any problem at the time of withdrawal of the provident fund. He explained the pension scheme and its benefits to them.

SHIMLA
ID CELEBRATED: Dressed in their colourful bests, Muslim men, women and children offered prayers at mosques and shrines, exchanged greetings and distributed sweets. Members of other communities also greeted their Muslim brethren on the occasion. Reports of Id-ul-Zuha celebrations were also received from Bilaspur, Chamba and Nahan.