The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, June 5, 2002, Chandigarh, India

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

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
SUBSIDIES SOUGHT: The Focal Point Industries Association on Monday presented a memorandum to Industries Minister Ashwani Shekri, in which they sought to give the subsidies due to the industrialists on a priority basis. The association also demanded to abolish the octroi and surcharges on sales tax.

ARRESTED: The anti-smuggling staff of the Customs Department here has arrested the proprietor and manager of a Ludhiana-based export company for having procured DEPB (duty-exemption pass book) scrip through forged documents to evade custom duty. The Customs Department has detected three cases of duty evasion involving an amount of Rs 31 lakh, according to an official press note issued here.

BAN ORDERS: In view of the forthcoming panchayat and zila parishad elections, Mr S.S. Puri, District Magistrate, on Monday banned the carrying of firearms, weapons, explosives and ammunition by the general public. He also declared June 9 to 11 as dry days.

BATHINDA
POPPY HUSK SEIZED: Mr Ishwar Singh, SSP, on Monday said Paramjeet Singh and Amarjeet Singh had been arrested and 180 kg of poppy husk seized from their possession. He said Gurmail Singh and Gurdial Singh of Bhadaur in Sangrur district had also been arrested and 70 kg of poppy husk and Rs 1.73 lakh seized from their possession. A case under Sections 15, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered.

MALERKOTLA
WOMAN KILLED: Amar Kaur, widow of Bachan Singh of Faridpur Khurd village, has been killed, allegedly by her relatives. DSP Rajbachan Singh said she had been killed with a sharp-edged weapon while she was working in her fields. The DSP said the murderers wanted to grab her land. A case under Section 302 of the IPC has been registered in this regard. The body of the deceased was handed over to her parents after a postmortem examination on Monday.

MOGA
3 HELD: The police on Tuesday arrested Paramjit Singh Pamma of Rasulpur in Ludhiana district and Pritpal Singh of a village in Moga district. SSP Virender Kumar said both accused had confessed that they had attempted to loot a petrol station and a liquor vend.

ARRESTED: The police has arrested Gurjant Singh of Daulatpura in the district following the seizure of a huge quantity of poppy heads and illicit liquor from his possession. This was stated by SSP Virender Kumar here on Tuesday.

LECTURER BOOKED: The police has registered a case against Gurmel Singh Sidhu, a lecturer at Guru Nanak College here, for allegedly duping a student, Sukhwinder Singh son of Jarnail Singh of Talwandi Bhai village in Ferozepore district. SSP Virender Kumar said here on Tuesday that the lecturer had taken Rs 4,50,000 from Sukhwinder on pretext of sending him abroad.

DAMAGED: Huge stocks of wheat bags belonging to government procuring agencies which had been lying in the open since last month have been damaged due to heavy rain which lashed the region twice during the past four days. The stocks had been lying uncovered, according to reports.

BAD SANITATION: Sanitation of the town has been completely neglected due to the apathy of officials of the Moga Municipal Council. Heaps of garbage have been lying here and there breading mosquitoes. The local residents have alleged that the council has failed to redress their grievances.

PATIALA
PROTEST: The Punjab State Veterinary Officers Association (PSVOA) has threatened to launch a state-wide agitation in form of protest marches to protest against the present government’s move regarding scrapping the entire selection of veterinary officers selected during the tenure of Ravi Sidhu. In a statement here, the President of the PSVOA, Mr Ashok Sharma, said this move of the government would be against the interests of the farming community which was availing specialised services from the veterinary officers. He further said the affected officers would constitute almost half of the total strength of veterinarians working in the field and several state and national level programmes including mass vaccination against diseases and artificial insemination programmes would be adversely affected.

HONOURED: The Deputy Commissioner of Patiala, Mr Tejveer Singh, awarded the Bhagwan Swarup Goyal award to Dr S.P.S. Banga, a renowned cardiologist, on Tuesday. Dr Banga is the first cardiologist in Patiala to receive this award. The Red Cross society here, also honoured Dr Harbir Kaur Rao, professor of medicine; Dr Adarsh Chopra, skin specialist; Dr Harjinder Kaur and Dr Satwant Grover.

APPEAL: The Punjab College Librarians Association recently presented a memorandum to the Chief Minister of Punjab, Capt Amarinder Singh, and appealed to him to take into consideration that the recruitments of college librarians were made on the basis of National Entrance Test (NET) conducted by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and claimed that no foul play took place while recruiting the librarians. The president of the association, Mr Satnam Singh Ahluwalia, claimed that in 1997, out of 18 advertised posts, only 12 eligible candidates were selected and in 1998, only two candidates were selected although six posts were advertised.

ROPAR
MEDICAL CAMP: More than 250 patients were examined at a heart check-up camp organised by the local Rotary Club at Shivalik Public School here on Sunday. Stating this on Monday, Prof S.K. Bhatia, president of the club, said a team of cardiologists from Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, New Delhi, led by Dr Sanjay Mittal, examined the patients.

TARN TARAN
ANTI-MALARIA CAMP: An anti-malaria camp was organised by the Health Department at the Community Health Centre, Naushehra Pannuan, on Monday. Dr Surat Singh Mahia, SMO in charge of the Primary Health Centre, Kairon, presided. Those present on occasion were told about the precautionary measures about malaria, dengue fever and other diseases common in the rainy season.

DE-ADDICTION CAMP: A drug de-addiction camp was organised at the Patti sub-jail under the supervision of Mr R.K. Sharma, Superintendent of the jail, on Monday. Representatives of various NGOs advised the jail inmates to avoid drugs to lead a healthy life.

CHANDIGARH

MC FORMS COMMITTEE: The municipal corporation has set up a five-member committee under the chairmanship of the Congress Councillor, Mr Pardeep Chhabra, to survey all taxi stands in the city to fix their separate parking fees. Mr Chhabra has called the first meeting of the committee on June 6 to initiate the process of visiting all taxi stands and decide the criteria for deciding the fee. The other members of the committee are Mr Balraj Singh, Deputy Mayor, Mr Sohan Lal, Dr. K. S. Raju and Mr. Vijay Rana.

GUIDANCE CENTRES: The Panjab University Students Union (pusu) and the Students Organisation of the Panjab University (SOPU) have opened guidance centres in front of the PU Administration block to help those seeking admission to the university. PUSU has also started a helpline on numbers 892804 and 892933 for city students in case they want any information regarding admissions.

SUKHNA SILT: The UT Administration announced on Monday that silt would be allowed to be lifted by the government, semi-government organisations and private contractors from bed of the Sukhna Lake before the rainy reason sets in. Loading, unloading and carriage shall be undertaken by the concerned parties. Interested parties may contact either site in charge of the Sukhna Lake or Executive Engineer, C.P. Division No. 2, Sector 9-D, Deluxe Building, Chandigarh, on any working day between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m, according to a press release.

AGITATION: Agitated over the management’s alleged inaction , the Groz Beckert Asia Workers Union has decided to intensify their struggle. The workers will hold a demonstration which will be converted into a rally near the office of the Assistant Labour Commissioner. The demonstration will cover Sectors 29, 30, Industrial Area Phase I and Phase II, stated a press release. “Instead of resolving the matter or negotiating with us, the management is holding meetings with leaders who were rejected by the workers in the previous elections “, said Mr Shyam Bhandari, general secretary of the union.

RIMC TEST: A total of 109 candidates appeared in the entrance examination held for admission to one seat (reserved for candidates appearing from Punjab) to Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun. Interview of the candidates, who will qualify in the written examination, will be conducted by the State Selection Board. The state government will be informed about the successful candidates by the Army Headquarters, stated Brig. K.S Kahlon, (retd.) Director, Sainik Welfare Punjab.

DEMAND: The central coordination committee of all gurdwaras and Sikh institutions have demanded a holiday in the Union Territory of Chandigarh on the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev which falls on June 14. The committee is asking for a holiday in order to enable the employees in Chandigarh also to observe the martyrdom day. In a memorandum submitted to the Deputy Commissioner of Chandigarh, they have stated that a holiday should be declared in the city as in Punjab, keeping in view the religious sentiments of the Sikhs.

COURSE: The Institute Art of Living has designed a young adult course for the age-group of 15 to 21 years to introduce them to breathing techniques which will help them fight stress, anxiety, boredom and various other ailments. This course, a blend of yoga, meditation and inculcation of human values will be held from June 4 to 9 from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Sector 9.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

DHARAMSALA
PROTEST MARCH: Students of Government Ayurveda College, Paprola, on Monday took out a protest march and raised slogans against the college administration for not fulfilling their long-standing demands. Rakesh Thakur, president of PG Scholars Association of the college, alleged that the college lacked basic facilities for education and research.

HAMIRPUR
SERVICES HIT: Telecom services remained paralysed in Barsar subdivision of the district on Monday, causing inconvenience to thousands of subscribers. Mr Sunil Sharma, General Manager, BSNL, here, admitted that services had been affected in the area. He said efforts were on to locate the fault.

KUMARHATTI
ALLEGED: Mr Gurdev Singh, secretary of Solan unit of the CPI, has criticised the state government for not providing adequate facilities at the sub-market at Dharampur, the major market of the area. The commission agents at the market lifted the produce without any auction, he alleged, adding that the innocent growers were forced to sell their hard-earned produce at throwaway prices.

MANDI
CAR RECOVERED: An Indica car belonging to Mr Fula Singh of South Vihar in New Delhi, which was stolen from Grand View Hotel of Manali on February 18 this year, has been recovered by the police from Baldwara Road in Sarkaghat subdivision of the district. A police spokesman told mediapersons on Monday that the car was lying by the roadside. The thieves had changed its number platesand colour.

JAUNDICE CASES: Fifteen persons are reportedly down with jaundice at Lujhagi village in remote Khalwan Panchayat of sub-tehsil Bali Chowki in the district. The lone health sub-centre in the area is locked for want of staff. A former Panchayat Pradhan, Mr Sant Ram, said on Monday that there was no drinking water supply scheme for the village due to which people were forced to consume contaminated water from an open channel flowing through the village.