The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Friday, July 19, 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
ELECTED: At a general body meeting of the Defence Colony Welfare Association held here on Tuesday and presided over by Major-Gen D.D. Singh, the following were elected office-bearers. Colonel H.S. Pannu (Retd) — president; Mr S. Jasbir Singh vice-presidents and Mr S.R. Devgan — general secretary.

NOVEL RELEASED: A Punjabi novel, ‘Tarean da Jaal’ written by Gopal Singh Nirwair was released by Advocate R.S. Bindra at a function organised by the Maan Sarovar Punjabi Sahitya Akademi’ here on Tuesday. Eminent writers, scholars and intellectuals attended the function.

CONDEMNATION: The Punjab Tourism Employees’ Union on Tuesday condemned the state government for dissolving the Tourism Development Corporation. The Union president, Mr Mangal Singh, said instead of dissolving the corporation the government should provide more facilities to it.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following were elected as office-bearers of the Amritsar Pinjrapol Goushala’ at a meeting here on Tuesday. Mr Surinder Chander Mehra — president; while Mr Gopi Chand Bhatia and Mr Santosh Gupta — vice-presidents; and Mr Murari Lal Batra — general secretary, Mr Satya Narayan and Mr Vijay Kumar — secretaries.

BATHINDA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Bathinda Housing Complex Coop House Building Society: chairman — Mr Ranjeet Singh; and vice-president — Mr Sri Chand.

RALLY: Diploma engineers of the Public Health Department held a rally in the city on Wednesday to express resentment against some anti-employee decisions of the state government. The agitating employees, raised slogans and said the recent decisions of the government were a step towards the privatisation of many departments. The employees also said they would approach employees of other departments to get their support for launching a joint stir.

NEW BUSES: The PRTC will ply two new buses between Abohar and Chandigarh and another from Bathinda to Ludhiana. The bus will start from Abohar at 7 p.m. and reach Chandigarh via Bathinda, Barnala, Patiala. Similarly a bus from Chandigarh will leave at 7 p.m. for Abohar via the same route. Another bus will ply between Bathinda and Ludhiana. It will leave Bathinda at 8 p.m. for Ludhiana and likewise depart from Ludhiana at 8 p.m. for Bathinda.

BODY FOUND: A body was found from a water distributory near Khialiwala village, about 15 km from here. The police got a post-mortem of the body done and handed it over to the Sahara, an NGO. The body could not be identified and was cremated.

KAPURTHALA
SCIENCE CITY: Mr Avtar Henry, Minister for Science Technology and Environment, has announced that the first phase of Pushpa Gujral Science City would be inaugurated in December. Mr Henry on Wednesday visited the science city being constructed on the Kapurthala-Jalandhar road to review the progress. Mr Rakesh K. Sharma, Deputy Commissioner, said 2,000 ornamental saplings would be planted this season in the city. A 12MV sub-station had also been completed at a cost of Rs 2.6 crore.

MOGA
‘LAHAN’ SEIZED: The district police on Wednesday arrested Manjit Singh, a resident of Salina village, and recovered 40 kg of ‘lahan’ from him. The police also seized a working still where he was busy in the distillation of illicit liquor.

WATER SHORTAGE: Residents of various localities on Wednesday complained that they had not been receiving drinking water for the past one week and their taps remained dry. They were forced to fetch water from other localities. Several others also complained of contaminated water being supplied to them through the underground pipes laid by the Moga Municipal Council. They urged the council to make proper arrangements for safe drinking water.

PATIALA
PENSIONERS’ MEET: A meeting of the Punjab Pensioners Association, Patiala will be held in the lecture hall of the Central State Library at 10 am on Saturday. The pensioners will chalk out a plan to urge the state government to fulfil promises made in its manifesto.

MEETING: A meeting of the Truck Operators’ Union and industrialists was held under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner here on Thursday. The District Transport Officer and the SDM, Patiala, were asked to look into and settle the differences between the industrialists and the Truck Operators’ Union, Dera Bassi.

WORKSHOP: The North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala, will organise a week-long workshop from July 22 to 29 on Gujarati folk dances at Sheesh Mahal here. Students from various schools and colleges of the city are expected to participate in the workshop which will from 5 to 7 pm everyday. Mr Mohinder Joshi and Ms Daksha Joshi will instruct the participants.

CONDEMNED: The state president of the Punjab Nurses Association, Ms Jeewanpreet Kaur, has in a press statement condemned the recent lathicharge by the police on agitating employees at DMCH, Ludhiana, in which an employee lost his life. She has demanded compensation and benefits based on the pattern of the state government for the bereaved family.

GATE RALLY: A gate rally by the Universities and Education Board Employees Federation, Punjab and Chandigarh (UNEBEF), was held at Punjabi University here on Thursday. The Punjabi University Employees Union general secretary, Mr Rajinder Kumar Rohilla, criticised the state government for the “anti-employee” Budget. The president, UNEBEF, Mr Sukhwant Singh Sidhu, threatened that if the government did not withdraw its “anti-labour policies”, the employees would be forced to launch a stir.

CHANDIGARH

RESENTMENT: The recently announced rotational power cuts in the city has irked the Resident’s Welfare Association (Independent Houses), Sector 43, as the area will face two rounds of cut each evening. The Sectors 43 and 44 will be the two most hit southern sectors where the cuts have been imposed. Mr S.P. Sood, secretary of the association, complained that the Administration was discriminating with Sector 43 by imposing power cut at 10.30 pm and again 11.30 pm each day. The association also termed the Administration’s claim that there has been sudden increase in demand of power as ‘‘untenable’’ as only two years ago, a large number of residents had got their loads revised under a VDS scheme of the Electricity Department.

MEETING: The All-India Valmiki Yuvak Sangh at its meeting held on Wednesday condemned the Chandigarh Administration for its decision to disallow admission in Class XI in government schools to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students without a Chandigarh domicile. The largely attended meeting was held at Sector 25. During the meeting office-bearers of the sangh were also elected: chairman — Mr Santresh Kumar Rahi, president — Mr Dharam Veer, vice presidents — Mr Zile Singh, Mr Jodh Singh Chaudhary and Mr Bala Badhwan, general secretaries — Mr Rishi Pal and Mr Ashok Kumar and chief advisor — Mr Prem Chand Preuri.

PANCHKULA
VISIT: The Adi Shankaracharya of Sri Kanchi Kamkoti Peeth, Vijendra Saraswati visited the Sri Mata Mansa Devi temple here on Wednesday morning. Accompanied by the Chief Executive Officer of Sri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board, Mr S.K. Goyal, and the secretary, Mr Rajesh Jogpal, the Adi Shankaracharya paid obeisance at the temple and performed a small puja. He also appreciated the steps taken by the board in upgrading the facilities at the shrine. The Shankaracharya then asked about the expansion plans for the temple. He was informed that a theme museum and an eye hospital was being planned in the shrine premises. The priest then went to Chandigarh, where he was called upon by the Chief Minister, Haryana, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, and the Chief Secretary, Mr A.N. Mathur.

CABLE TRAFFIC ROW: Residents of Sector 20 here have asked the cable operators to disconnect their cable connections or accept the monthly tarrif of Rs 150. In a statement issued to the press, Mr P.K. Bansal, president of the House Owners Welfare Association, Sector 20, said they had a meeting with the cable operator yesterday to discuss the issue of cable tariff. However, with both sides adamant, they could not reach an agreement.

SAS NAGAR
EXHIBITION: The annual exhibition of the National Institute of Fashion Design, SAS Nagar, Grandeur wherein students will put on display their various creations will start on July 19. The various exhibits will include other than clothes, accessories, textiles, interior decorations displays also. The exhibitions is planned to be inaugurated by Nek Chand and will be on till July 21.

WELFARE ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Resident Welfare Association Sector 71 (North ): president — Dr H.S. Gheek, Senior vice-president — Lieut Col H. S. Chopra vice president — B.S. Sandhu; general secretary — Mr M.S. Rana. joint secretary T.S. Virdi; finance secretary — H.S. Dhillon; and press secretary — Lieut Col G.P.S. Dhillon.

HARYANA

AMBALA
VISIT TO BORDER: The president of the Haryana unit of the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front, Dr Viresh Shandilya, along with a couple of activists visited the border areas in Jammu and Kashmir. They met soldiers on the border and boosted their morale, Mr Shandilya said. Mr Kulwant Singh, Mr Rajendra Singh, Mr Hardip Saini and Mr Gulshan Gulati accompanied Dr Shandilya on the visit.

GUIDANCE WEEK: The Mandal Employment Office, Ambala cantonment, will organise a commercial guidance week for educated youth from July 22 to 26. The Mandal Employment Officer, Mr H.S. Dhull, said the week would be inaugurated at PKR Jain Girls Senior Secondary School, Ambala City. He said during the week, information regarding technical facilities and commercial guidance would be given at various senior secondary schools. He said information about self-employment schemes would also be provided.

BHIWANI
AUCTION: HUDA will auction commercial booths and shop-cum-office sites at Bhiwani on July 24. While stating this here on Thursday, a spokesman of HUDA said five double-storied booths and five single-storied booths would be auctioned in Sector 26. As many as nine shop-cum-flats, five double-storied booths, four shops and four single storied booths would be auctioned at Shopping Centre, Sector 13. He said one three-storied SCF and 11 booths would be auctioned at Panchayat Bhavan Pocket, Bhiwani. He said the auction would be held in Estate Office of HUDA in Bhiwani at 11 am.

SUICIDE: Jaina Ram (32) reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself to the roof of his house at Fartia Taal village on Wednesday.

LIVESTOCK: Livestock centres will be constructed in each district of the state by the Ministry of Agriculture where milch and best breeds of animals will be prepared and the necessary facilities, including the preservation of livestock, obtained, disclosed Mr Mohan Singh Ahluwalia, national member and Haryana incharge of the Animal Welfare Board of India, at a meeting held here on Wednesday.

POWER CUTS: Undeclared frequent power cuts in this town have hit the common man. Industries are the most hit. The power cuts have adversely effected the water supply schedule as well. Residents alleged that whenever the HVPN authorities were contacted, no satisfactory reply was given regarding the restoration of power. The areas like Bichla Bazar, Jain chowk, Bharatnagar, Durga Colony, Hanuman Dhani, Patran Gate, Halu Bazar, Lohar Bazar and Naya Bazar are the worst hit.

FATEHABAD
TRAINING PROGRAMME: SBP DAV Centenary Public School organised a four-day training programme for secondary school teachers. Dr Naresh Goel, District Malaria Officer, Fatehabad, inaugurated the programme. Welcoming the chief guest Mr R.K. Sethi, Principal, said the teachers were trained to create awareness about increasing population and HIV/AIDS. The chairman of the school, Mr Harbans Lal Kapoor, addressed the valedictory session.

RAID: A team of Vigilance Department on Wednesday raided Rattia Primary Cooperative Land Mortgage Bank and arrested its Manager, M.R. Brar, while accepting a bribe of Rs 2,500 from a farmer. According to reports, Mr Om Parkash of Alalwas village had lodged a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner in this regard. He had sought a loan of Rs 1 lakh from the bank. When he went to draw the last installment of his loan, the Manager allegedly demanded 10 per cent commission on the whole of loan amount. The complainant went to the Deputy Commissioner who referred him to the Vigilance Department at Hisar. A team of vigilance department raided the bank and arrested the accused.

4 ARRESTED: The local police on Thursday arrested four youth at Rattia in this district while they were conspiring to rob a petrol pump in the town. A country made pistol and some cartridges have been seized from their possession. Those arrested have been identified as Charanjit Singh and Sukhdev Singh of Surewala in Rajasthan, Ravinder Singh of Nangal Chowdhary and Sham Lal of Rania.

HISAR
POPPY HUSK SEIZED: The local police has seized 1,160 kg of poppy husk and arrested a person in this connection. According to the SP, Mr O.P. Kadian, a police team raided a house in Jakhod Khera village and nabbed Daljeet Singh of Sadalpur village. Two others, Krishan Kumar and Vinod Kumar of Jakhod Khera village, managed to escape. The police also seized a pistol and 22 cartridges from Daljeet Singh.

SUICIDES: Three persons, including two women, allegedly committed suicide on Wednesday. Rajpal of Bamla village committed suicide by consuming insecticides at Old Fort in Hansi. In another incident, a woman, Anita, committed suicide by consuming insecticide at Rampura village near here on Wednesday. According to the police, she was being harassed by her in-laws for not bringing sufficient dowry. The police has arrested Parmeshwari and Seema in this connection. Sudesh ended her life by hanging herself at her house in Umra village. A dowry death case has been registered against her husband, Babalu, mother-in-law, Ompati and sisters-in-law.

PINJORE
CAMP: A two-day income tax camp was inaugurated by Dr Simmi Gupta, Additional Commissioner, Income Tax Department, Panchkula, at HMT Pinjore on Wednesday. Mr C.N. Dhar, Executive Director of the HMT, along with other senior executives were present on the occasion. The camp has been organised to facilitate HMT employees to file their tax returns for the assessment year 2002-2003.

PROBLEMS DISCUSSED: A meeting of the local forest employees was held here under the presidentship of the Chief Forest Conservator. Mr Kartar Singh, president of the employees union and Mr Jeevan Singh, general secretary of the union, also attended the meeting. The long-pending problems of the employees were discussed at the meeting. The department assured the employees that their problems would be solved soon.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
WOMAN KIDNAPPED: The local police has registered a case of kidnapping a woman, Kamla Devi, on the complaint of her son, Arvind Kumar, a resident of Ahni village in the district. The police was on the lookout to nab the accused.

KANGRA
BUSES IMPOUNDED: Three private tourist buses were impounded and the drivers arrested on Wednesday for allegedly cheating the government by not paying the composite fee of Rs 12,000 for each bus by using fake receipts. A case has been registered against them. Mr Gain Singh Thakur, Regional Transport Officer said on Wednesday that a Delhi-based private travel agency having a fleet of buses which plied in Himachal Pradesh had duped the state government.

SHIMLA
RESENTMENT: The Shimla House Owners Welfare Association has expressed resentment against the inordinate delay in issuing no objection certificates, due to which the house owners were being denied basic amenities like water and electricity.

DECISION OPPOSED: The Himachal Pradesh State Housing Board Employees Association has opposed the decision of the government to post a Chief Engineer in the board on deputation from the State Public Works Department. The association alleged that on one hand the Chief Minister had announced reduction of 10 per cent posts at all levels and on the other, the board was being burdened by posting a Chief Engineer even though the work-load was not justified.

EMPLOYEES’ UNION: The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation Employees Union headed by Mr Sant Ram Sharma, got a boost when the staff unions of the Sarahan, Rampur Bushahar, Kalpa, Rohru and Narkanda tourism complexes of the corporation joined it. Mrs Preeti Sharma, general secretary of the union assured the entrants that the union would take their problems to the management.