The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

NEWS AND VIEWS

PUNJAB

HARYANA

JAMMU & KASHMIR

HIMACHAL

REGIONAL BRIEFS

NATION

OPINIONS

LETTERS

BUSINESS

SPORTS

WORLD

SPECIAL COVERAGE

CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI

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

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
Elected: Gauri Shankar Mittal was unanimously elected as president of the local unit of the National Integrated Medical Association (NIMA) during a meeting held here on Sunday night. The meeting was presided over by former state president Subhash Nagpal. Dr Mittal on Monday appointed Harbans Singh Popli as general secretary and Kanwaljit Kaur Tinna as treasurer. Vijay Gupta, Inderpal Singh and Vishav Bandhu Batra have been nominated as vice-presidents, a press release said.

Barnala
DPRO bereaved: District Public Relations Officer Gopal Singh Dardi, who hails from Barnala and is presently posted at Nawanshehar, was bereaved after his elder brother Karnail Singh died late on Sunday night. He was 55 years old. The joint secretary of the Progressive Press Club here, Jagsir Singh Sandhu, has expressed his condolence to the bereaved family.

Bathinda
Membership drive by BJP: The Bharatiya Janata Party, Bathinda, (Urban) has launched a campaign to increase membership in view of coming elections.They held a meeting in this regard on Sunday. Office-bearers said they had set a target of 10,000 members till May 30. Gulzar Singh has been appointed as the in-charge of the campaign.

Medical camp: Taking note of the plight of countless people suffering from diseases of bones and joints, the Inner Wheel Club, Bathinda, an all women organisation, organised a free orthopaedic check-up camp on Sunday at Mahabir Hospital. Garima Singh, Joint Commissioner, Income Tax, inaugurated the camp. Deepak Mehta, from Medicity Hospital, Ludhiana, examined more than 250 patients. Calipers and Jaipur Foot were provided to patients of polio and other deformities of lower limbs. P.D. Sekhsaria Charitable Hospital, Bathinda, helped in the endeavour. Versha Sethi, president of the club, said this was the first project of its kind. Usha Bansal, district chairperson of the club said follow-up camps should be organised for the beneficiaries. Raji Garg, secretary, highlighted other projects of the club.

‘Shun rhetoric’: The General Samaj Party has criticised the tendency of the politicians for rhetoric saying politicians wear blinkers when confronted with problems. It is only elections that open their eyes, the party said in a press release on Monday. The party’s president Suresh Goyal said that efforts to get justice for the common man get thwarted by politicians who are a hurdle in the aim of securing justice.

Traders piqued: The Punjab Yuva Beopar Mandal has criticised the SAD-BJP ruling combine saying the constitution of the boards for trade and industry has been entrusted to their sympathisers. President of the Mandal Ashok Garg has said that the CM has reneged on his promise and politicised the boards by appointing three chairmen from its ranks and two from the BJP ranks.

Jalandhar
ICA’s city chapter: The Institute of Computer Accountants (ICA) has opened its chapter at Lotus Tower, Civil Lines, on Sunday. IG Sanjeev Kalra was the chief guest on the occasion. Abinash Agarwal, regional manager, said they had come a long way after opening their first center in Kolkata in 2000 and they presently run over 300 centers across the country. He said the institute offers a 20-month certificate course in certified industrial accountancy, four months course in stock business and three months course in stock career.

Nawanshahr
Deaddiction centre opens: The local Prajapati Brahmakumari Seva Kendra organised an exhibition on drug de-addiction here at the SSP office. It was inaugurated by SSP Shashi Prabha Dwivedi. The activists of the Seva Kendra - Kanta, Divya, Ram Bhai, Varinder Ummat, in their spiritual lectures, made the police officials aware of the ill effects of drug addiction on the society as well as about their role in curbing the menace of drug-addiction.

Helping hand: A UK-based NRI Pargan Singh has given a financial assistance of Rs 2.5 lakh to the Guru Nanak Mission Hospital, Dhahan Kaleran, being run by an NGO, Guru Nanak Mission Medical and Educational Trust, for providing food to the poor and needy patients. Dr Budh Singh Dhahan, president of the trust, said the trust had been successful in providing better healthcare and education facilities in the rural area for about three decades. The NGO has also received a donation of Rs 1 lakh from a US-based NRI Kartar Singh.

Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Blood Donors Council - president, Gurinder Singh Toor; general secretary, Pushap Raj Kalia and treasurer, Sulakshan Kumar Sareen.

PATIALA
Illegal ads banned: The Director (Ayush) and Chairman of the Board of Ayurvedic and Unani Systems of Medicines, Punjab, Dr Ashwani Kumar said a decision had been taken to ban illegal advertisements being taken out by certain quacks. Dr Kumar said the decision had been arrived at a meeting he held with the vice-chairman and registrar of the Board here on Monday.Advertisements which guaranteed with certainity the birth of son and other such ads would be banned.

Painting competition: The ninth annual painting competition was organised by the Rotary Club Patiala Mid Town at Gymkhana Club. About 125 students from 13 schools were participated in this competition. The function was organised in the memory of B.S.S. Bedi. D.S. Grewal, deputy commissioner, Patiala, was the chief guest and Vinod Dhundia, general secretary of the Gymkhana Club, was the guest of honour on this occasion.

Power shutdown: Due to some urgent repair work of 11 KV Power feeder at Partap Nagar, the power supply in Kallar Colony, Kak Colony, Ekta Vihar, Partap Nagar, Dhamo Majra, Gurdarshan Nagar, Majithia Colony, Centuary Enclave, Krishna Colony, Bharat Nagar, Nabha Road, Navrattan Kunj and Engineers’ Enclave will be suspended from 10 AM to 5 AM on April 22.

TARN TARAN
VB nabs headmaster: A team of Vigilance Bureau (VB) has arrested Hardev Singh, headmaster of Government High School, Sarli Kalan, 30 km from here, while taking a bribe of Rs 20,000 to withdraw a retired teacher’s salary arrears. Ashok Kumar, DSP, said retired teacher Harjit Singh, in his complaint to the VB, alleged that the accused had been demanding a bribe of Rs 30,000 to withdraw his eight-month salary, but he agreed to give him Rs 20,000.

CHANDIGARH

PANCHKULA
Elected: Madan Sharma Sarhali and Manmohan Aggarwal were elected as the president and general secretary of Kalka Press Club on Monday. Others elected members include Harjeet singh Jaggi, senior vice-president; Brij Bushan Mangla, vice-president; T.S. Gujral, secretary; Hemant Sharma, press secretary; Pinki Syali, organising secretary; Komal Ramola, cashier; Raj Kumar, joint secretary and Parveen Aggarwal, adviser.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Child killed: One child was killed and 6 persons injured on Monday at Patrihri village close to Ambala Cantt after a tractor-trolley suddenly over turned. The deceased was identified as Vinod. The injured Anguri, Neha, Priya, Prem Singh and Shekhar were admitted to the Civil Hospital at Ambala Cantt. A case has been registered.

FATEHABAD
30 vehicles impounded: The police on Monday impounded 30 vehicles and challaned 128 others for violating traffic rules on the first day of the traffic week being observed by it. Naripjeet Singh, DSP, said the police had observed traffic week from April 21 to 27, under which three wheelers, light and heavy vehicles were checked for observance of the traffic rules.

REWARI
I killed in road mishap: Desh Raj, resident of Karawara village, was killed when a truck reportedly hit his motorcycle at the Maharana Pratap Chowk here on Sunday. The truck driver reportedly fled the spot, abandoning the vehicle. The Model Town police has registered a case under Sections 279, 304-A of the IPC in this regard.

YAMUNANAGAR
Women duped: Several women of Ramnagar colony on the Kansapur road here had complained to the police that they were cheated of Rs 300 each by a private company. The women alleged that the company assured them an interest free loan of Rs 25,000 and took Rs 300 from each of them as file charges. Hirwati, Sangeeta, Rajani Chauhan, Harsha, Mamta and many other women alleged that they had been cheated. Most of the victims were illiterate and hence agreed to pay. They thought the executives were agents of the government. The police had started its investigations.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
Freedom fighter dead: Gorkhu Ram (82), a prominent Praja Mandal freedom fighter in erstwhile state of Bilaspur, died at his home in the Raura sector here on Sunday. Representatives of various organisations and political parties paid homage to Gorkhu Ram at his largely attended funeral here on Monday. The Bilaspur sadar tehsildar presented a floral tribute on behalf of the government while a police contingent reversed the arms and fired a volley of bullets as the last salute to the freedom fighter.

Chamba
Chamba awaits DPRO: The post of district public relations officer (DPRO) of the state government has been lying vacant for the past about two months. According to official sources, DPRO Mahesh Pathania was transferred from Chamba to Kinnaur and was relieved of his duties on March 3. But his successor has not joined duty at Chamba so far.

NURPUR
Four held with illicit firewood: The police intercepted a tractor trolley loaded with illicit firewood at Gangath near here on Sunday evening and arrested Surjeet, Kamal, Mahinder and Rashpal. A case under Section 379 of the IPC and 41/42 of the Forest Act was booked against the accused. They were produced in the judicial court on Monday and were given two-day police remand. The police also impounded the tractor.

SHIMLA
Five shops gutted: Five shops were gutted in a devastating fire at Junga, about 25 km from here, on Sunday night, fire sources said on Monday. The fire, which began from the adjoining state sports director office, soon engulfed a vegetable shop, a beauty saloon and three general provisional shops at 2 am, they said. The sources said no loss of life was reported. The cause of the fire is not known. A loss of Rs 5 lakh had been reported in the incident, they added. A case has been registered.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
3 officers transferred: The state government today transferred three officials in the civil administration. Additional commissioner, Jammu, Abdul Majid, joint agrarian reform commissioner, Jammu, Tasneem Maajid and Kamla Devi are the persons transferred.

SRINAGAR
Karra inspects Dal area: Minister for finance, housing and urban development Tariq Hameed Karra inspected the clearance of the Nowpora channel undertaken by the lakes and waterway development authority (LAWDA). He instructed them to expedite the clearance drive. He also directed them to remove the encroachments and floating gardens on the banks of Brarinambal channel. Karra also inspected the functioning of the sewerage treatment plant (STP) at Brarinambal.

Bridge opened: R&B minister Jugal Kishore Sharma threw open the Sandran bridge for traffic constructed over the Sandran nullah near Panzoo Butagund in Anantnag district on Monday. The bridge constructed at a cost of Rs 1.41 crore has mitigated the problems of the local people and reduced the distance for tourists visiting Verinag.

Tourist found dead: A tourist was found dead in a hotel room on the banks of the Dal Lake on Monday, a police spokesman said. The body of Amit Aggarwal, a resident of Dehradun, was found dead in his hotel room by the staff at Gagribal on the Boulevard road in Dalgate. Preliminary investigations revealed the tourist died due to some illness, the spokesman said.

1 killed, 3 hurt: A person was killed and three others were injured, while a house was gutted, in separate incidents in the Kashmir valley on Monday, official source said. They said three passengers were injured, one of them critically, when a vehicle in which they were travelling skidded of the road and fell in a nearby field at Watibugh Kunzar in Baramulla district. The injured were admitted to hospital where one Farooq Ahmad Shah died. In another incident, a motorcyclist was injured when a vehicle hit him at Kupwara in north Kashmir. The injured was hospitalised. Meanwhile, a house was gutted in a devastating fire at Wonpora, Kulgam, in south Kashmir.

3 suspected militants held: Three suspected militants were arrested from Awantipora town IN Pulwama district, the police said. Abdul Rashid Sheikh, Assadullah Ganie and Ashiq Hussain Bhat were apprehended from Padgampora area. Four grenades were recovered from them.