2 foetuses removed from infant's body
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 24 — In a rare feat, a team of doctors at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGI) here has removed two dead foetuses from the body of a 23-day-old girl.

The surgery was performed on Muskan hailing from Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh, who was discharged today. The operation was possible through the joint efforts of Dr K.L.N. Rao, Dr K.L. Narasimhan and Dr S.K. Chowdhary, all from the Department of Paediatric Surgery, Prof S. Katariya, Department of Radiology, and Prof Y.K. Batra from the Department of Anaesthesia.

According to the doctors, the foetus in fetu is a rare pathological condition presenting as a congenital tumour. It consists of a malformed parasitic twin that is found within the body of its sibling.

However, in the case of Muskan, it was a case of double foetus in fetu which is one of the rarest of the rare cases — the only other recorded case in the history of medical science being in the Division of Paediatric Surgery, University of Padua, Italy, in 1994. The rarity of foetus in fetu can be judged from the fact that only about 100 cases have been reported till date.

The doctors highlighted that it was nature's attempt to form triplets which went awry. Had the developments been right, triplets would have been born. It was a rare case in which parasitic twins found their way into the body of their sibling.

Born on April 16 to Vinta Devi, the girl exhibited signs of swelling in the abdomen and inability to feed well. According to the father of the baby, Mr Rakesh Kumar, she contracted jaundice and her abdomen area became very hard after a few days of the birth.

They took the baby to doctors around their native village. When there was no improvement in her condition following check-ups at a hospital in Nagrota Bhagwan of Kangra district, she was taken to a hospital in Baijnath where a doctor, Dr Nirdosh Gupta, referred her to the PGI following an ultrasound test. She was admitted to the institute on May 3.

Once in the PGI, various tests were done on the patient to confirm the foetus in fetu. The X-rays and the ultrasound tests diagnosed a "big sack" in the abdomen and contents in it suggested "half-formed" foetuses having bones, liver, gall bladder and spines. To confirm the diagnosis, a CT scan was done which showed that some of the abdominal organs were normal, Professor Katariya, who did various tests, told The Tribune.

Showing the video-filmed operation performed on May 11 and lasting over two hours, Dr Rao informed that the abdomen of the baby was cut open after she was administered anaesthesia by Professor Batra. The "sack" was dissected to remove the foetuses, he said, adding that it was only after removing the first foetus that they noticed the other one —slightly shorter than the the first — which made job more difficult.

Since the "sack" was surrounded by vital organs of the body, extra care was needed as any damage to any of the vital organs could have proved fatal.

Dr Rao hoped the child would lead a normal life. Since the operation has been of such a magnitude that the whole anatomy is disturbed, they would monitor the health of the child for a year or so, he added.

He said he had performed a similar operation on a boy having a single foetus in fetu from Haryana about eight years back and he was leading a normal life.

A visibly grateful Mr Rakesh Kumar said contrary to rumours he and his wife did not face any problem in the PGI and doctors went out of the way to help them.

Missing Shatabdi coaches
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 24 — The summer holidays rush notwithstanding, the Northern Railway has been making last-minute cancellations of additional and even Tatkal coaches in the Shatabdi Express running between Chandigarh and New Delhi, for the past few days.

Yesterday afternoon (arrival time of the 12.40 p.m. train), a large number of passengers with confirmed tickets for additional coach (C-8) and Tatkal coach were left fuming at the station here as the train that came from Delhi in the morning had only eight coaches, including the Executive Class coach.

The announcement about the non-availability of the additional and the Tatkal coach was made just before the scheduled departure time of the train. This led to strong resentment, besides a long queue for cancellation of tickets and refund of ticket money. Among those stranded were old and sick passengers. Some of them got the refund only after the train, by which they would have travelled, had reached New Delhi, its destination.

Yesterday was not the first day of cancellation. On May 22, there was no additional coach from Delhi. Since there was hardly any booking for Tatkal coach, those who had been booked for additional coach were accommodated in this coach.

The stranded passengers maintained that their harassment was avoidable. The reservation persons here should have known that the rake that left the union capital in the morning at 7.30 was without Tatkal and C-8 coaches.

No reservation should have been made for these coaches, at least in the morning.

They said since a similar thing had happened a day earlier, authorities should have made amends rather than making the same mistake for the second successive day yesterday.

Most of them accused Indian Railways of lack of coordination between commercial and operational staff.

"What has been happening for the past two days corroborates our impression," said an 80-year-old passenger who had to miss the journey because she was to travel in the C-8 coach.

Some of the stranded passengers were also critical of the Northern Railway for making announcements in haste without making proper assessments beforehand. "In case, they do not have sufficient number of spare bogies or coaches, authorities should not announce introduction of additional coaches to clear summer holidays rush," they added.

Those getting reservation in the additional coach of the Shatabdi Express were sceptical about their intended journeys tomorrow.

If the authorities were unable to provide an additional coach, they should put more staff for quick refund of confirmed tickets, they suggested. Until late this evening, the booking staff at the railway station did not know whether the Shatabdi Express from the union capital, late in the evening, was carrying additional and Tatkal coaches or not.

"Please call us at 9.15 p.m. to know whether additional and Tatkal coaches will leave tomorrow morning from here or not," said an official sitting in the booking office.

Monsoon catches MCC on wrong foot
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 24 — Even as the monsoon is round the corner, the Public Health Circle of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) is not prepared for the disposal of rain water.

In fact, the first major rainfall of the year yesterday caught the MCC on the wrong foot as it had started the cleaning of road gullies and chambers only on May 22. As a majority of road gullies and chambers were not cleaned, large parts of the areas, particularly in sectors and around the roundabouts, were flooded, putting the general public to inconvenience.

Though the civic body has acquired machines for the clearance of the road gullies and chambers, they do not seem to have been fully utilised. And the lack of coordination between the sanitation staff and the Public Health staff have worsened the situation.

The solid waste, including leaves, left near the road gullies, blocks them, with the result that the rain water takes a lot of time to drain out. As the existing drainage system has been designed for a rainfall of the intensity of half an inch, it takes a longer time for the water to drain out in case of heavy rainfall.

Since the work on one of major projects — from the Government Press Chowk, Sector 18, to N-choe near the Sectors 51-52 — to augment the storm water drainage is unlikely to be completed before the onset of the Monsoon, the draining of rain water is expected to be no different from the past years.

It may be recalled that the area such as the roundabouts near the Inter-State Bus Terminus, the All-India Radio building, Hotel South End, the roundabout separating Sectors 43 and 44, and Sector 21, 22 and 34 are among the flood-prone areas of the city.

Rain hits city phones
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 24 — Yesterday's rainfall combined with the downpour this morning led to a sharp rise in humidity levels while the maximum daytime temperature dropped further and was recorded at 6 degrees Celsius below normal. On the other hand, the underground telephone cables in the city developed faults at several places.

The humidity level was recorded at 100 per cent today, making the city residents sweat. Yesterday the humidity level was recorded at 81 per cent, meteorological authorities informed while adding that it would go down in the coming days. nterestingly the maximum temperature of 32.8 degrees Celsius was 6 degrees below what should have been the average. Even yesterday the maximum temperature was 35.2 degrees Celsius. In normal circumstances the temperature should have been 39 degrees Celsius.

Till 8 a.m. today, a total of 29 mm, or 3 centimetres , of rain had been recorded. Keeping in mind the dry spell in the past few months the rain was welcome . So far, in the month of May , the city has received 37 mm of rain. In comparison , there had been no rain in April, while the city received only 5.8 mm and 9.5 mm of rain in March and February, respectively.

In January the city had received 47. 6 mm of rain, according to records available with the met office. The met office informed that the rain had occurred as an outfall of the cyclone that partially hit the costal belt of Gujarat and led to widespread damage in adjoining Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the first major showers of the year in the city left the communications system in a shamble. Thousands of phones are lying dead as underground cables have developed a problem.

Several telephone subscribers in the city were harassed due to dead phones as they could not contact friends or relatives in the pouring rain. Some of the damaged cables were laid recently while the others had been laid a couple of years ago.

The teleprinter lines carrying information to The Tribune were also damaged.

The Telephone Department, in a press release, said that work to localise the faults and repair of faulty cables was on . The department has admitted that telephone cables in Sectors 5, 11, 15, 16, 26, 35 and 36 had been affected. The department has requested that subscribers should not make individual complaints till rectification of the cable faults.

Rain brings slush in slums
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 24 — Even as the rain has lowered the temperature in the city, those residing in colonies have little to cheer about as the downpour vividly brought out the shortcomings in the civic amenities in these areas.

The worst affected were the low-lying areas of the colonies which are prone to flooding in the monsoons and in the words of a resident, "Monsoon is the season everybody dreads as one can be sure of flooded roads, non-functional storm water and drainage system. People in many areas are practically marooned."

The worst affected after the heavy rainfall is Madrasi Colony, adjacent to Bapu Dham Colony, Ram Darbar, Phase II, Indira Awas Yojna, Kajheri rehabilitation and Colony Number four.

A cross section of residents while talking to TNS said it is the same old story every year. Every year they petition the authorities that something has to be done about the storm water drainage and every time the stock answer is: things would be perfect during the next monsoons.

Mr Ram Kumar of Colony Number four, who lives in a tenement built on a piece of land just above a nullah, says a little more rain and the water would have entered the house. Pointing towards a small concrete bundh, he said it was built to keep out the dirty water of the nullah which had entered the house during the heavy rains last year.

His views are seconded by many neighbours who said they have been impressing on the authorities to at least raise the embankments of the nullah or cover it at places which have a large concentration of people. One has to be careful about children in case they fall into it, they added.

Mr Banarsi Dass of Ram Darbar said in the absence of regular cleaning of storm water drainage, the water gets accumulated on the the roads and movement becomes difficult in view of the slush. In addition to this, the roads are in bad shape and even a spot of rain is enough to disrupt normal life.

The condition is worse in Indira Awas Colony which is a low-lying area of Ram Darbar. Water from the Industrial Area, Ram Darbar, Phase I, and the adjoining fields gets accumulated here due to the low gradient. In the absence of clean storm water drainage, the water remains stagnant for days together.

A large number of water-borne diseases and malaria stalk the residents during the monsoons, Mr Nanhe Ram rued.

The Kajheri rehabilitation colony is another area which is beset with rain-related problems. The colony which was recently shifted from Ram Darbar is witnessing a lot of construction activity as a result of which a majority of the storm water gullies are blocked.

Mr Irshad Khan said they have urged the authorities to clean the gullies, but to no avail. The water remains stagnant for days, hampering construction activity. The poor condition of roads ensures that vehicles cannot ply for the next few days.

Similarly, low-lying areas of Madrasi Colony remain inundated for days together. Last year, a large number of jhuggis were damaged in the rains that lashed the city and the fire brigade had to drain out the water, a resident remarked.

Choked sewers bane of villages
From Our Correspondent

PERCH (Kharar), May 24 — Choked sewers and virtually no arrangement of drainage of storm water. This picture of neglect is apparent at Seonk, Perch, Mullanpur-Garibdass and villages of Zirakpur Nagar Panchayat.

Even as the area witnessed the first rain of the season, it tells the tale of negligence by the authorities. Stagnant pools of water have been formed in lanes and roads leading to various villages.

According to Mr Bhag Singh, Sarpanch of Perch, the area has been in neglect for the past several years. Villagers complain that it becomes very difficult to even walk when it rains as water stagnates from the overflowing drain pipes.

The road leading to Seonk village gets inundated, making it accident- prone.

Mrs Sita Devi of Mullanpur-Garibdass village said the streets overflow with dirty water as the open sewer pipes are not cleaned. "Sweepers come only after more than a month and heap the waste material in the lanes. Whenever strong wind or rain occurs, the garbage again flows into pipes", she added.

Residents of several villages said that despite several requests to the authorities, nothing has been done to improve the situation. They fear the breaking out of an epidemic if some preventive measures are not taken in this direction.

"Cow dung and other waste material are thrown in the streets in the absence of any garbage disposal system. The indifferent attitude of the local panchayat has further compounded the problem," said Mr Puran Chand of Mullanpur.

Another problem is lack of arrangement for garbage disposal which leads to choking of the sewer system. Mr Rajinder, a local resident, said that polythene bags have choked the drains, resulting in foul smell in the villages.

Rain water enters houses
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, May 24 — The first major rain of the season has exposed the lack of preparedness on the part of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) to drain out rain water in the township.

Residents of different sectors complained the periodical cleaning of curve channels and road gullies had not be undertaken, resulting in cesspools of water. The worst hit were the residents in a pocket of Sector 10 who complained that rain water entered their houses.

The road gullies in Sector 10 were chocked resulting in rain water rising to a level of two feet in the houses ( from house No. 477 to 487) before finally receding., according to the General Secretary of the House Owners Welfare Association of Sector 10, Mr M.L.Gupta.

Similarly residents of other sectors complained about the road gullies not being cleaned on time.

Voluntary Disclosure Scheme amended
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 24 — The Electricity Wing of the Engineering Department of the Chandigarh Administration has made some amendments to the simplified Voluntary Disclosure Scheme (VDS) for the regularisation of unauthorised load extension for domestic and non-residential supply (NRS). The scheme is valid until May 31.

After the expiry of the scheme, the Electricity Wing has threatened to charge Rs 750 per KW in the case of single-phase connection and Rs 1500 per KW in the case of three phase-connection on all unauthorised load extension. In such cases, even power supply can be disconnected.

According to certain amendments announced now, in case where the owner in whose name power connection stands, has died, the legal heir shall be eligible to avail the VDS benefits by furnishing an indemnity bond along with the A&A form. Besides, the legal heir has to establish his or her credentials either through a succession certificate or a registered will.

By another amendment, in cases where property has been sold, the purchaser in whose name the property has been transferred shall be eligible to avail the VDS benefits by submitting the proof or documents of such transfer in the name of the buyer from the Estate Office along with the A&A form.

In the case of the tenant who is not having a connection in his name, he or she shall be eligible to avail the VDS benefits by submitting the consent of the landlord along with the A&A form. Besides, the owners shall give his request for disconnection of the existing connection in his name.

Plea to CJI on foreign origin issue
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 24 — A former Chairman of the Haryana School Education Board, Dr D.C. Saxena, has written a letter to the Chief Justice of India raising certain issues about the citizenship of the country in the context of recent controversy over the foreign origin of Mrs Sonia Gandhi.

In his letter Dr Saxena, who is the Professor and Chairman of the Department of English, Panjab University, has referred to certain questions raised by the former Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Mr P.A. Sangma, at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee on May 15 regarding the alleged retention of Italian citizenship by Mrs Gandhi even after she had acquired Indian citizenship.

The letter, which has been termed by Dr Saxena as a petition under Article 51(A) (C) of the Constitution, has raised certain questions of "grave urgent constitutional significance".

The issues raised by Dr Saxena are:

"Whether a person can acquire citizenship by naturalisation, without renouncing his or her foreign citizenship;

"Whether acquisition of such citizenship would not be an ab initio, nulity in law, disqualifying such a person from holding any public office;

"Whether holding of a foreign passport amounts to disloyalty to the Constitution of India, and if so, what a legal consequences flow from it;

"Whether enrolment of such a person as a voter amounts to serious dereliction of duty by the Election Commission, and if so, what legal remedy can be enforced against it;

"Whether acquisition of citizenship of India, concealing the factum of a subsisting foreign citizenship amounts to fraud and if so, what are the penal consequences thereof".

Dr Saxena urged the Chief Justice, Dr A.S. Anand, in his letter today that a Constitution Bench should be set up immediately because these issues of "grave national significance should be urgently and decisively resolved in the "paramount interests of national security and integrity, which are likely to be gravely imperilled by delay".

Two held for rape
From Our Correspondent

DERA BASSI, May 24 — The local police has arrested two persons on charges of rape in two different incidents during the past five days.

Dharamveer Singh, a resident of Gholu Majra village, who was a frequent visitor to the house of Mr Balvir Singh of the same locality, took his 11-year-old daughter to accompany him to a marriage party along with his wife. He allegedly outraged the modesty of the girl in a house near Sarseeni village in the absence of his wife.

On the complaint of the girl's father, Mr Balvir Singh, the police has registered a case under Sections 366-A, 376 and 506 of the IPC against him .

In an another incident, 22-year-old Vinod Kumar, a resident of Bhatt village near Lalru, allegedly trespassed the house of Mr Brig Bihari in his absence and raped his 40-year-old wife. The police has registered a case under Sections 376, 452, 506 of the IPC against the suspect.

Meanwhile, relatives of Mr Balvir Singh and residents of Gholu Majra have demanded the registration of a case against the wife of Dharamveer, who was present during the incident, they alleged.

Dance dept in PU proposed
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 24 —A significant decision with regard to opening department of dance in Panjab University and starting MA classes in the subject is likely to be taken at a meeting of the academic council, scheduled to be held on June 4. They will also consider the provision of a doctorate degree in the subject of dance.

The university has been without this department till date and the subject at the postgraduate level is presently being taught at Government College for Girls, Sector 11. The recommendation of a sub-committee, constituted by the Vice-Chancellor, with regard to making arrangements for introducing classes in tabla in the Music Department at the postgraduate level will also be taken up. There are chances of MA (tabla) classes starting from the session 1999-2000.

The academic council, which is the apex body on various academic matters, will also discuss the issue of making a provision for introducing a five-year integrated postgraduate course in the subjects of German, French and Russian in the next academic session, 2000-2001.

A decision is also likely to be taken to consider the Shastri examination as a recognised degree. The faculty of languages had earlier recommended this during one of their meetings in December 1998.

The members of the council will also take up the issue of whether Hindi, Sanskrit and other languages should be taught at B Com III as an optional subject. This issue is likely to generate heat, for some of the members are not in its favour.

A decision will also be taken to start M Phil in Guru Granth Acharya course with effect from the session 1999-2000 and attach the same to the Punjabi Department. The sub-committee has already sent its recommendations in this regard.

Workers protest retrenchment
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, May 24 — To protest against their removal from service, 49 workers of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) held a dharna in front of the institute here today.

The workers were protesting against the way they were retrenched by the management of the institute which allegedly did not give any prior information to them before doing it.

The workers, who braved heavy rain this morning, alleged that the management was totally indifferent towards their plight and was not even allowing them to enter the premises. "What has shocked us is that all of a sudden, we were told on May 14 that our services were no more required in spite of the fact that we had been working as gardeners, peons and lab attendants for the past five to six years," said Mr Raj Narain, a worker. He claimed that there was no provocation on their part.

"The management has recruit 15 persons in our place. It is adopting double standards, as on one hand, it is not allowing us to enter the premises and on the other, officials claim that they are ready to take back the striking employees," alleged Mr Harbilas, another worker.

Earlier, the employees tried to enter the premises in the morning, but their effort was thwarted by security staff of the institute.

3 injured in group clash
From Our Correspondent

DERA BASSI, May 24 — Three members of a family, including a women, received injuries in a fight on the issue of widening and stone-carpeting the village circular road, between two groups of residents of Kurranwala village, 2 km from here.

The injured woman, Raksha Devi, was rushed to the Government Medical College and Hospital Sector -32, Chandigarh, in a critical condition. The lady allegedly got injured while defending her father-in-law, Sarwan Kumar, and brother-in-law, Mohinder Singh, who were allegedly attacked by the Sarpanch of the village, Atma Ram, along with Ranjeet Singh, Rakam Singh, Major Singh, Raghubir Singh and Shyam Lal. After an exchange of heated arguments over the issue of widening and carpeting the road, both groups came to blows.

All this reportedly happened in the presence of the Additional SHO, Mr Sampuran Singh, who was at the scene with some police personnel to prevent any untoward incident. The carpeting work began after Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister of Punjab, inaugurated the road on May 21.

Niranjan Singh, husband of the victim, who is serving with Punjab police as an ASI, alleged that the sarpanch had started the work without demarcation of the land on which the road was to be built. In stead of restraining them from fighting, the police personnel themselves indulged in it and beat members of his family, he further alleged.

Residents of the village alleged that some of the villagers had constructed houses on government land meant for the road. "Fearing that their houses will fall within the government land, they do not want the land to be demarcated," they alleged.

Atma Ram, Sarpanch of the village, said that the land had been demarcated and some villagers were not in favour of the road being widened as its foundation stone was laid by Capt Kanwaljit Singhm, who belonged to the Shiromani Akali Dal, whereas they were loyal to some Congerss group.

Mr H.S. Bhullar, DSP of Dera Bassi, said the police was called by the the aggrieved party. He denied the indulgence of police personnel in the fight. "The case will be registered against defaulters only after receiving a medical legal report from the hospital," Mr Bhullar added.

Judge issues notices
From Our Correspondent

KHARAR, May 24 — Mrs Neelam Arora, Additional Civil Judge, Kharar, today issued notices to the State of Punjab through Collector, Ropar, Executive Engineer, (Link Roads, B&R Ropar) and SDO, Link Roads, Chandigarh, in a public interest litigation filed by Mr Jasbir Singh, President Naujwan Sabha of nearby Kurda village for June 7, pleading for directing the defendants to repair the road leading from Tangauri village to Kurdi village and to construct culvert on the said road.

The plaintiff had pleaded that the road in question was constructed in 1972 and was repaired once up to 1999. However it needed repair after every five years. The defendants had thrown "gatka" in 1997 on the road and it was creating problems for the residents of the area. He has written that the defendants were under statutory obligation to provide these amenities to the plaintiff.

He has pleaded that directions should be issued to repair/re-metal this road on the priority basis.

SNIPPETS

17 appointed jail visitors
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 24 — The Chandigarh Administration has appointed 17 eminent citizens of the city non-official visitors to Central Jail, Burail.

Those who have been appointed are Mr Satya Pal Jain, Mr Venod Sharma, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, Mr Harmohan Dhawan, Mr Jagan Nath Kaushal, Mr Kewal Krishan Addiwal, Ms Daya Chaudhary, Dr R.S. Bedi, Ms Upneet Lalli, Prof S.L. Sharma, Dr Vidhu Mohan, Mr S.N. Aggarwal, Dr Pam Rajpur, Mr T.N. Gupta, Mr Joginder Singh Bhogal, Ms Sneh Mahajan and Mr Milkha Singh.

These non-official members will exercise powers and perform functions which are prescribed in Chapter VI of the Punjab Jail Manual. They will be entitled to out of pocket expenses for travelling to the jail and back. Official transport will also be arranged for their visits to the jail in case intimation of their visit to the jail is received in advance.

CM to lay stone of bridge
From Our Correspondent

KHARAR, May 24 — Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, Punjab, will lay the foundation stone of a bridge to be constructed on Neholka river near Kurali on May 29.

Giving this information today, Mrs Satwinder Kaur Dhaliwal, member of the dissolved Lok Sabha from Ropar, said the bridge would fulfil the long-standing demands of the people of this area

Sarabjit Kaur wins school prize
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 24 — Sarabjit Kaur bagged the overall prize for excellence in academics and co-curricular activities at a prize distribution function in which 18 other students were honoured at Government High School, Sector 41, here, today.

The students were given books, uniform and shoes on the occasion, besides trophies, by the Parent-Teacher Association of the school. About Rs 5,000 was contributed by a non-resident Indian, Mrs Madhu Sharma, while the Principal, Mrs Santosh Gupta, contributed Rs 1,100 to the fund for the prize money.

The District Education Officer, Mr Brahmjit Kalia, gave away the prizes. He emphasised the need of cultivating moral values which would stand the students in good stead.

Mr Kalia praised the efforts of the school in promoting all-round development of the students and encouraging participation in co-curricular activities, besides concentrating on the academic aspect of the curriculum.

The students presented a group song and dance while the Principal presented the vote of thanks.

The prize winners are : Class X : Supriya 1, Isha 2, Poonam 3. Class IX : Geeta 1, Payal 2, Kapil 3. Class VIII : Renu 1, Priyanka 2, Nisha 3. Class VII : Charanjit Kaur 1, Sonia Sharma 2, Shalini 3. Class VI : Sudhir 1, Rekha 2, Neha 3.

Co-curricular activities : Sandeep Kumar-Class VII, Jagdeep Singh-Class IX, Lovely, Sarabjit Kaur.

One remanded to police custody
From Our Correspondent

KHARAR, May 24 — Tejpal Singh, who was arrested by the SAS Nagar police after the seizure of smack worth about Rs 1.50 crore on May 22, has been remanded to police custody till May 25. He was produced in the court of Mrs Neelam Arora, Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Kharar, yesterday.

The prosecution pleaded in the court that information was yet to be collected from him about other members of the gang. He was asked to be produced again in the court on May 25.

‘Art of living’course endsTribune News Service ChandigarhMay 24 — The promised “art of living “ course for police personnel ended at the police lines. A total 44 cops attended the course. Those habitual of alcohol, smoking and tobacco gave up the same and discovered means to find even more joy within . Group support was provided to such persons desiring to change their lives. The families of the policemen were also involved in the programme and support groups were formed, the organisers, Vyakti Vikas Kendra, said. The next course will be held from June 14 to June 18. This will be open for all serving policemen and their families.