The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, July 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

ABOHAR
DHARNA: Employees of the sanitation branch of the municipal council here staged a dharna inside the complex of the municipal council on Tuesday to express resentment over the non-payment of salary for the past two months. The agitating employees raised slogans against the president and executive officer of the council.

MAN KILLED: Amar Singh of Jodkian village in Rajasthan was allegedly killed by his name sake cousin at Jodhpur village in this subdivision on Sunday where he had come to participate in a marriage ceremony at the residence of his cousin. The latter suspected that Amar Singh was having illicit relations with his wife. The body was handed over to the family after a post-mortem examination at the Civil Hospital here. The Sadar police has registered a case under Section 302 of the IPC. No arrest has been made so far.

AMRITSAR
DOWRY DEATH: Mr Surinder Kumar of Paleywal village in Hoshiarpur on Monday alleged that his daughter Sunita had been killed for bringing insufficient dowry by her husband Raman Kumar and brother-in-law Rakesh Kumar. According to the police, the death had been due to strangulation. Both the accused were absconding.

SHOOTOUT : A minor argument over throwing some weeds in a field at Khayla Khurd village led to a shootout on Monday, injuring four persons. The police caught the accused, Gurpal Singh. A case was registered.

HOSHIARPUR
SYMPATHY: Mr Romesh Chander Dogra, Health and Family Welfare Minister, Punjab, on Monday expressed his sympathy with 400 selected multi-purpose health workers who had been agitating to get their posting orders. He regretted the Central Government’s refusal to provide finances for the scheme.

LUDHIANA
DENTAL HEALTH: In order to impart training in dental health education to school teachers and community leader, the Department of Community Dentistry of the Christian Dental College (CDC), Ludhiana, will organise a two-day training workshop on July 11 and 12. More than 400 school teachers and ‘sarpanches’ and ‘panches’ of Ludhiana and Pakhowla blocks will be participating in the workshop. During the workshop, emphasis will be laid on the methods of prevention of various dental diseases like dental caries, gum diseases, bad oral habits and irregular teeth. Special stress will be laid on the bad effects of use of various tobacco products, especially pan masala, gutka, chutki, zarda, khaini etc. which were a major cause of development of oral submucous fibrosis which was highly precancerous and in most of cases lead to development of a dangerous disease namely oral cancer. Stress will be laid to limit the use of these tobacco products. The participants will also be trained for conducting self-examination in respect of developing cancer specially the oral cancer so as to limit its spread by instituting early diagnosis and treatment. An exhibition depicting the onset and spread of various dental diseases and their effect on the general health and well-being of the individual will also be highlighted.

INDO-PAK CONFLICT: In a seminar on ‘Indo Pak conflict- its impact on South Asia’ held at the office of the Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) at Dhaka on July 7, doctors from various countries of South Asia warned that any nuclear holocaust would bring catastrophe for all South Asian nations. The doctors stressed on the need of complete elimination of nuclear weapons and restoring of mutual dialogue between India and Pakistan. They observed that nuclear weaponisation of India and Pakistan had not enhanced security deterrence but had rather posed further threat to the region because of inherent risks of a nuclear fall out. Dr Arun Mitra, general secretary, Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD), in a press statement here on Tuesday said the seminar was attended by member countries of the affiliates of the international physicians for the prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) including the Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD), Pakistani Doctors for Peace and Development (PDPD), Physicians for Social Responsibility Nepal (PSRN) and Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA). The speakers stressed the need to educate the people on the adverse effects of the nuclear bomb so that they were not swayed away by the crafty slogans of some politicians.

MOGA
BAIL REJECTED: The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Faridkot, on Saturday dismissed the anticipatory bail applications of Bhupinder Singh, Deputy Superintendent of Police, and Major Singh, Station House Officer, against whom a case of corruption and cheating was registered by the Faridkot police for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000 from an NRI Amarjit Singh for releasing his passport seized by the police in a case registered against him.

PROTEST HELD: Residents of the Dosanjh road in this town held a protest on Tuesday against the failure of the municipal council to repair the road which they alleged was in a dilapidated condition. They alleged that the potholes on the road were filled with sewage water which had been causing health problem. The residents said the sewage work which had been started by the local municipal council several months ago had not been completed.

SALARIES DEMANDED: Some home guards posted at Baghapurana town in this district on Tuesday complained that they had not received their salaries for the past five months. They have demanded that their salaries should be immediately released.

COMPLAINT: Swaran Singh of Charik village under Baghapurana police station in this district on Tuesday complained that his buffalow fell down after an injection was administered to her by an employee of the veterinary hospital in that village. He has demanded an inquiry into the matter.

ROADWAYS STAFF: The Punjab Roadways employee struggle committee has decided to launch a state-level agitation from July 11. The chairman of the Traffic Supervisory Staff Union, Mr Daljit Singh Bhullar, said the Punjab Roadways Karamchari Dal supervisory staff union, conductors and drivers unions would hold a protest rally on July 11 at Matka Chowk, Chandigarh. Mr Bhullar further said 150 posts of inspectors and supervisors were lying vacant in the department.

MUKTSAR
CONTRIBUTION SOUGHT: Mr Babu Lal, Deputy Commissioner, said on Monday that people should contribute 10 per cent share in the sector reforms scheme launched by the Union Government to improve drinking water supply to villages or else the Rs 40-crore grant issued by the Centre would lapse by September 30. Mr Baba Lal said this at a meeting of district officials, members of zila parishad, block samiti and panchayat here. He said people should come forward to construct water storage tanks in villages.

PATHANKOT
PRIZES DISTRIBUTED: Lions Club Greater organised a prize distribution function here on Sunday. Club members of Phagwara and Jalandhar were honoured by Mr Vinod Mahajan, district governor of the club, for their services to the society. Mr N.K. Grover was the chief guest.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Citizens’ Consumer Protection Association: president — Mr Ram Rattan Sharma; general secretary — Mr Anil Mehra; and treasurer — Mr P. Chand.

NOMINATED: Dr Rakesh Mohan Sharma, a Professor of A.B. College here, has been nominated member of the college development council of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.

BCA, MCA CLASSES: Mr S.K. Punj, chairman of the Sai College of Engineering and Technology, Badhani, said here on Tuesday that classes of B. Tech, BCA and MCA would start for the session on MET-2002 in this college as regular classes.

TARN TARAN
GANG BUSTED: The district police has busted a six-member gang of narcotics smugglers with the arrest of its two members. The police has recovered 10 quintals of poppy husk from their possession. Mr Narinder Kumar Bhargav, SSP, said this here on Sunday. He said a case under the NDPS Act had been registered at Harike police station.

CHANDIGARH

HEALTH CAMP: An NGO, Surya Foundation, in collaboration with the State AIDS Control Society, Chandigarh, organised a health awareness camp at Bapu Dham Colony on Monday. The aim of the camp was to make people aware about HIV/AIDS and methods to control spreading of STDs. Dr Ramneek Sharma, founder and director of Surya Foundation, spoke on the prevention of such diseases.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Haryana Government Pensioners Association: president — Mr Divakar Pathak; vice-president — Mr Sarup Singh Saaqi; secretary — Mr V.P. Arya and auditor — Mr O.P. Dhingra.

BIRD CARE CENTRE: The Animal Husbandry Department, here has opened a “Bird Care Centre” for providing treatment to sick and injured birds. The centre has started functioning at Government Veterinary Hospital, Sector 38. Any inquiry in this regard may be solicited from the Veterinary Officer in charge, of the hospital.

DIRECTIONS: The state government has directed heads of all departments to ensure that all officers/officials strictly observe the office timings from 9 am to 5 pm, including the lunch period. Inspections should also be carried out by a team consisting of senior officials of the department and action be initiated against erring officials.

DISPUTE ENDS: The long- standing dispute between residents of Radha Soami Satsang Beas at Bir Ghaggar village near here and the Forest Department over 35 bighas of forest land, evacuated from the dera residents earlier, seems to be over. A wall was constructed around this land by the dera residents, under the police and forest officials’ vigilance on Monday. It may be noted that earlier the fencing of this land had been carried out, but encroachments did not stop.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Chamba Welfare Association: President — Mr Mohinder Chand Merwaha; Senior Vice-President — Mr Harish Chander Sharma; Vice-President — Mr Vijay Kumar Vaid; General Secretary — Mr Tej Singh Jasrotia; Secretary — Mr Yog Raj Sehgal; Organising Secretary — Mr Behari Lal Bedi; and Cashier — Mr A.P. Bagalwan.

DHARAMSALA
DRIVERS’ RALLY: Drivers working with various government department here held a rally in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner on Tuesday to protest against the failure of the government to meet their demands. They also decried the lathi charge by the police on at Shimla.

KUMARHATTI
GRAM SABHA MEETING: The quarterly gram sabha meeting turned out to be a mockery as in most of the panchayats poor attendance was recorded on Sunday. The panchayat heads have expressed their helplessness in collecting people as “the government provides financial support for the publicity of such meetings.” At the Dharmapur panchayat, no work could be done for want of quorum. Similar was the case at the Barog, Bholi, Anhech and Chewa panchayats.

MANDI
LITERACY RATE: The Education Minister, Mr I.D. Dhiman, said on Tuesday that Himachal Pradesh had emerged as a pioneer in the sphere of literacy among hill states in the country. The literacy rate in the state had gone up to 77.33 per cent as against the national average of 65.68 per cent. He was speaking at a parent- teacher meeting.

CRIME RATE UP: Mr O.C. Thakur, DIG (Central Range), at a press conference here on Tuesday, said that there had been an increase in crime in 2002 as against the preceding year. As many as 23 cases of murder and 14 cases of attempt to murder had been registered. He expressed concern over the crime against women, saying that 20 cases of rape had been reported compared to 17 in 2001.

NAHAN
SELF-HELP GROUPS: As many as 1130 self-help groups have been constituted in Sirmaur district and a loan of Rs 23 lakh has been released to the groups to promote savings and mutual finance activities among members. This information was given by the Deputy Commissioner at a meeting held to review schemes undertaken by the District Rural Development Agency in the district on Tuesday.

NURPUR
APPEAL: All-India Hindu Shakti Sena on Tuesday appealed to the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir to press the state government to give exemption from toll tax and entry tax to passenger buses carrying pilgrims to the Amarnath cave and the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine. In a memorandum, it urged the state government to beef up security arrangements from Pahalgam to the cave and from Jammu to Khannabal.

SURRENDER: Pawan Kumar of Gagwal village in the subdivision, the main accused in the murder of his uncle Som Raj, surrendered before the police on Monday. He had been absconding after committing the crime.

UNA
RECLAMATION: The Himachal Pradesh Irrigation and Public Health Minister, Mr Ramesh Dhawala, on Tuesday said Rs 5 crore had been spent to reclaim 100 hectares from floods under the Rs 106-crore Integrated Swan River Flood Management Programme in the district. This was disclosed by him after he inspected the construction work on the embankments of the Swan.