Tribuneindia...Regional Briefs

	REGIONAL BRIEFS	Friday, November 20, 1998
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BATHINDA

Murdered: Bachitar Singh of Mehma Serja village was murdered on Tuesday allegedly by four persons armed with sharp-edged weapons and firearms. The police has registered a case.
Two arrested: Ranjit, a munshi of police chowki, Vardhman, has been arrested by the Vigilance Bureau for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 600 from Tara Singh of Amarpura Basti. In another incident Harjinder Singh Cheema, an Inspector grade II of Punsup, has been arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a commission agent of Bhai Rupa.

FEROZEPORE

Function: The local office of Kribhco organised a function here on Wednesday in connection with its 45th cooperative week. The Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Mr V.K. Bansal, was the chief guest.

HOSHIARPUR

Ban: Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, District Magistrate, has imposed a ban on the sale of lottery tickets and lucky draws by the public and model schools in the district. He has warned that legal action would be taken against schools that failed to comply with the order.
Order: In order to check black marketing and hoarding, the District Magistrate has ordered the shopkeepers and rehriwalas to display the rate lists of their goods in front of their shops and rehris. He said committees had been constituted at the district and subdivisional-level to ensure compliance of the order.

JALANDHAR

Ban: The District Magistrate, Mr Som Parkash, has banned the movement of vehicles carrying voters, except the authorised vehicles. The ban has been imposed keeping in view the forthcoming byelection in Adampur assembly constituency.
Blood donation camp: The Military Hospital organised a blood donation camp here on Wednesday. Lt-Gen K. Davar, General Officer Commanding, Vajra Corps, inaugurated the camp and complimented the officers and jawans of Sky Archers, 47 Air Defence Regiment, for their participation in this noble cause. As many as 250 units of blood were collected at the camp.

KAPURTHALA

Bus stand gheraoed: Students of various colleges and schools gheraoed the local bus stand on Wednesday in support of their demands. The students alleged that bus conductors harassed the bus pass holders travelling in PRTC buses from Kapurthala to Jalandhar.

KHANNA

Dead: Gurnam Singh, a former Principal of the local SGGS Senior Secondary School, died on Tuesday following a heart attack. He was cremated here on Wednesday.

MANSA

Case registered: A case has been registered against Rajinder Bansal, Gian Chand Puri and Bhushan Kumar, octroi contractors, under Section 382 of the IPC for allegedly taking away compressors belonging to a firm and beating the driver.

NAWANSHAHR

Committee: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district-level Dowry Prevention Committee: Chairman — Dr Roshan Sunkaria; Member Secretary — Mrs Lilly Chaudhary; and Members — Mr S.S. Sodhi, Mr Narinder Singh Rathour, Mr A.P. Gupta, Mr Dinkar Sharma, Dr Vishav Mohini and Mrs Harjinder Kaur.

PATHANKOT

Cycle expedition: To educate people to keep the environment clean and pollution free the 4th Gorkha 'Punarmilan' cycle expedition was flagged off on Friday by Brig Sheel K. Trikhaat some where in the northern sector.
Medical camp: The local Lions Club (Greater) will organise a free eye operation camp at Ram Bhavan on Friday, according to Mr V. Sagar Verma, President of the club.
Urged: The local Civil Hospital is without a orthopaedic doctor due to which people face difficulties in getting their patients checked and treated. Mr Indu B Bhatia, Joint Secretary, Youth Congress, Punjab, has urged the Punjab Chief Minister to appoint a bone specialist at this 100-bed hospital.

PATIALA

Camp: The Lions Club, Bahadurgarh, will organise a free eye check-up camp on Sunday at Daun Kalan village near Bahadurgarh. Dr Sukhdip Singh Boparai will examine the patients and perform operations. Medicines and spectacles will be given to the patients free of cost.
Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Patiala Colonies Welfare Federation: President — Mr Avtar Singh Brar; General Secretary — Mr Tarlok Singh; and Secretary — Mr Harpal Singh.

PHAGWARA

Arrested: The CIA staff arrested a proclaimed offender Rajan Vij at the Paper Chowk on Wednesday. He was wanted under Sections 323, 324 and 34 of the IPC.

TARN TARAN

Four arrested: The local police has arrested four persons of a gang who were allegedly involved in car lifting in the border area. The police has recovered two cars, one scooter, two country-made pistols, six cartridges and fake currency notes from their possession.

SAS NAGAR

Nagar kirtan: The president of the local Gurdwara Coordination Committee, Mr Ishar Singh Lang, said on Thursday that a nagar kirtan procession would be held here on Novemebr 23 in connection with the Shaheedi gurpurb of Guru Tegh Bahadur. It would start from the Phase IV gurdwara and culminate in Phase IX.
Octroi: The president of the Oxygen Gas Entrepreneurs Association, Punjab, Mr G.S. Riar, on Wednesday welcomed here the government's order bringing the octroi charged on oxygen on a par with that levied on other gases.
PTA association: The Parent-Teacher Association of the local Government Senior Secondary School on Thursday appreciated the successful holding of the state science exhibition. It sought the appointment of a safai sewak and a gardener for the school.

FARIDABAD

Cultural festival: Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the well-known santoor player, kept the audience spellbound at the Kartik cultural festival being held at Raja Nahar Singh Palace at Ballabhgarh on Tuesday. Mr Jim Alvin, Ambassador of Ireland, and Mr Peter Walker, High Commissioner of Canada were the chief guest of the evening.

FATEHABAD

Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district unit of the Van Karamchari Sangh, Haryana: President — Mr Hari Ram; Vice-President — Mr Puran Singh; Secretary — Mr Balbir Singh; and Cashier — Mr Mange Ram.

SIRSA

Camp: As many as 52 units of blood were collected in a blood donation camp organised by the local Nehru Yuva Kendra at R S D School here on Tuesday. The camp was inaugurated by Mr Kulwant Singh, City Magistrate.
Two arrested: Two proclaimed offenders, Vijayender Singh, a resident of Shinshar village in Rohtak district, and Vazir Chand, a resident of Natar village, were arrested on Wednesday, Mr B.S. Sandhu, SP, said here on Thursday.
Fire: Fire broke out in a cotton factory here on Tuesday. The fire engines took more than two hours to control the fire. It is reported that cotton worth Rs 3 lakh was destroyed.
Two injured: Dr Shanti Verma and her husband, Dr O.P. Verma, of Agroha were injured in a road accident in this district on Tuesday.

SONEPAT

Arrested: The CIA staff has arrested Pawan Kumar of Arya Nagar on the charge of possessing a country-made pistol. A case has been registered under the Indian Arms Act.
Resentment: Resentment prevails among residents of Murthal and Kundli subdivisions against the erratic power supply. The residents alleged that power had been diverted to selected industrial units, thereby resulting in power shortage.
Cases registered: The city police registered cases against two gas agencies, Nitan Enterprises and K.P. Service, on Wednesday on the charge of allegedly violating the parallel market gas control order and the Essential Commodities Act. The police has taken the action on the complaint of officials of the Food and Supplies Department.
Strike: Students of the local colleges abstained from their classes for the second day on Thursday and took out a procession in the city in protest against the hike in tuition fee by the management.

YAMUNANAGAR

DAV School: Mr I.S. Uppal, a social worker, laid the foundation stone of the junior wing of Shrimati Vidyawati Anand DAV Public School, Yamunanagar. Mr J.N. Kapur, president of the school, Principal T.R. Vaid, regional director, lauded the role of the DAV movement. Deputy Commissioner Suriha Rajan presided over the function.

CHAMBA

Fishing scheme: The Himachal Government has started the Chamera Reservoir Fishing Development Scheme in Chamera lake in this district. An official spokesman said here on Wednesday that Rs 40 lakh had been earmarked for the scheme during this financial year.

KULU

Shopkeepers jailed: Mr Pritam Singh, Chief Judicial Magistrate, has awarded six months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000 to two shopkeepers, Deshraj of Jari village and Vinod Kumar of Bhuntar, for selling adulterated iodized salt.

SHIMLA

Punjabi society: Mrs G.B. Singh has been elected President of the International Punjabi Society, Shimla. A world convention of the society will be held at Chandigarh from January 2 to 4.

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

Handicapped denied opportunity

Balkar Singh of Nathana village, near Bathinda, is a disappointed man today as a string of happenings has made his life a hell.

First, he was born handicapped in a poor family. His father took pains to educate him and he succeeded in passing matriculation. However, fate decided otherwise. His father was killed by terrorists a few years back.

After the death of his father he and his mother have been living in penury with no means of earning a livelihood. They are keeping their life going on with the help of others.

Having faith in the promise of the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, for providing a just and stable rule in Punjab, Mr Balkar Singh applied for the post of helper advertised by the Punjab School Education Board.

He came in for a rude shock when the board did not issue him a roll number for the examination held on September 13 for recruiting helpers. Owing to poverty, he is not able to go to court for getting justice.

Holder of a 60 per cent handicap certificate by the state medical authorities and a certificate for wards of terrorist victims, Balkar Singh says that in the SAD-BJP government the principle of "might is right" is relevant.

He points out that on one hand, handicapped candidates were being denied government jobs despite the fact that there was the police to accommodate them on the other undeserving persons were being given responsible and prestigious posts.

Mr Amritpal Singh Brar, president of the Punjab Young Farmers Federation, who is taking up the case of Balkar Singh with the higher authorities, has demanded that the education board should be dealt severely as per law for destroying the career of a handicapped person.

First media yearbook

Via Media Network, a communication business group, and Newsman International, an academic media organisation, have brought out India's first media yearbook. The book which has media-related information also serves as a directory and is entitled "National Media Directory". It is the first of its kind and has been brought out by Mr Baljit Singh Brar, a Jalandhar-based newspaper publisher, who has taken six months to compile it.

The 300-page book is a serious effort towards being a help to journalists and mediapersons. It contains the views of noted mediapersons regarding technology and its problems. The most important part of the yearbook is the chapter on imparting experience to fresh journalists in fields such as photo-captions. Addresses of Indian and foreign-based photograph-related and media-teaching institutions have also been given.

The directory has addresses of film, radio and TV personalities, as well as Indian and foreign journalists.

According to officials of the group, this directory-cum-yearbook will be updated every year with new portions being added. In the second edition, information regarding Indian and Asian media will be incorporated, according to a spokesman of the group.

The CEO of the group, Mr Raji Habib, says that this is an effort to highlight media-related problems and serve as a platform for mediapersons.

Mr Brar, the editor, said next year a similar book will be brought out regarding Punjabi journalism. He is a law graduate and is at present doing Ph.D. from Panjab University.

State patronage to magic lacking

Fatehabad residents were astonished to see a blindfolded man donning the attire of a "samrat" driving a motorcycle on the busy roads of the town.

The man, who had tied his eyes with a ribbon and his face was covered with a black bag, drove through the busy bazars of the town with a finesse that could put those with vision to shame. He was none other than the famous magician Jadugar Samrat Shankar. The magician started his performance at the local R.K. Palace cinema house earlier this month.

The magician started his 5 km-long mobike stunt from the R.K. Palace.The moment the local S.P., Mr Rajbir Deswal, showed a green flag to the magician, he set the mobike in motion. People watched with surprise, as the magician drove through the narrow roads of the market waving at the crowd.

Earlier talking to the media, Shankar said magic was an ancient Indian art that needed a lot of concentration. One could do better tricks provided one had more sophisticated equipment and full dedication to the art.Besides financial backing, a proper organisational set-up played an important role in making the magic show a success. He regretted that the apathetic attitude of state governments had handicapped the development of the magic. This ancient Indian art, he added, needed state patronage for its conservation and development. The government should consider the magic as a fine art and abolish entertainment tax on magic shows. This would go a long way in propagating this art.

During the interface, Shankar displayed a sample of his tricks. He rubbed his finger on the palm of a scribe and much to the surprise of the "pen pusher" a cashewnut emerged on the palm! Then the magician tore a piece of paper and rubbed that with his fingers only to convert it into a 100-rupee note. He repeated the exercise with that currency note and many currency notes appeared in his hands.

(Contributed by Chander Prakash, Paramvir Singh Bains and Sushil Manav)