The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Thursday, June 29, 2000,
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

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
ARRESTED: Luxmi Devi (52), who had been arrested by the police under the NDPS Act for carrying 2 gm of smack, was remanded in judicial custody on Wednesday.

HELD: The police arrested Babu Singh of Kattianwali village, Malout subdivision, on Tuesday for carrying a .12 bore pistol.

ASSAULT: The police on Wednesday arrested Balwinder Singh under Section 307, IPC, for allegedly assaulting Gurraj Singh of Killianwali village near here following some land dispute. The condition of Gurraj Singh was stated to be serious.

INJURED: Dula Ram, Ami Chand and Surender Kumar, who were riding a motor cycle, were injured when a truck hit their vehicle on the outskirts of the town, the police said they were admitted to a hospital.

AMRITSAR
CAMP: Leaders of various labour organisations affiliated with AITUC attended an AIDS awareness camp organised by the International Forum for Education and Development at Ekta Bhavan, Chheharta, on Monday. Veteran Communist leader Sat Pal Dang presided.

PRESENTED: Prof Harjit Singh of Guru Nanak Dev University has been awarded the first CRSI silver medal in recognition of his contributions to research in chemistry. He is working as Professor Emeritus in the Department of Chemistry of the university. The medal will be presented to him at the annual meeting of the Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI) at Panjab University, Chandigarh.

BARNALA
SANGAT DARSHAN: A sangat darshan programme to redress the grievances of the rural people was held on Tuesday at Mahal Kalan, Shehna and Gehlan villages under the chairmanship of Mr Rahul Bhandari, Sub Divisional Magistrate.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
PLAY STAGED: “Court Martial”, a Hindi play directed by Sudesh Sharma, was staged at Punjab Theatre, Sirhind, on Tuesday. The play was organised by the Fatehgarh Sahib Roller Skating and Recreation Club and was inaugurated by Mr B. S. Sudan, Deputy Commissioner.

PESTICIDES: The flying squad of the Agriculture Department in a raid conducted on Tuesday seized 195 lt of substandard pesticides being prepared and marketed by an unauthorised company Ajantes Crop Care Ltd, Delhi. Dr Karnail Singh, Chief Agriculture Officer, said a campaign had been launched to check the sale of substandard pesticides.

GARSHANKAR
INAUGURATED: The Minister of State for Excise and Taxation, Mr Tikshan Sood, inaugurated a computer centre here on Wednesday. He urged the students and others to join computer courses.

DEMANDED: The roads from Garshankar to Pahlewal and Rampur to Jaijon are in a pathetic shape. People, who use the road, have demanded their repair.

MURDER: Dhannu Ram was found murdered in his house at Nagdipur village on Tuesday. His neck and stomach bore injury marks. A case has been registered.

JALANDHAR
MISHAP: A Ludhiana resident was killed, while another was wounded when a motor cycle they were riding was hit by a getaway vehicle on the national highway near Goraya Town on Tuesday, the police said. Ravinder Singh of the Power House Colony on the Hukam road died on the spot. A case of causing death by rash and negligent driving has been registered.

LUDHIANA
OCP CERTIFICATION: Techno School, a local authorised institute of Oracle, has started an oracle certified professional programme (OCP). Whereas earlier the students had to move to Chandigarh or Delhi, they will now be able to appear in Ludhiana itself. Under the programme, the students will have to appear for a set of five tests. One test costs $125, but the centre will offer 64 per cent discount to its students. The centre also offers an e-commerce course which includes Java and Oracle in addition to the networking part.

MEETING: Prominent astrologers of the city will hold a meeting here tomorrow to discuss and finalise the holding of a two-day maha sammelan on astrology September next, according to information available here on Wednesday. It would be for the first time that the city would be hosting such an event.

PHAGWARA
VOTERS' ID CARDS: The photo identity-cards of voters of the Phagwara Assembly constituency will be made from July 1 to 11, which was decided at a meeting here on Tuesday. These cards will be made on the basis of the voter list of 2000 as released by the Election Commission of India, an official press note said.

STRIKE: A meeting of the Brick-Kiln Owners Association here on Tuesday threatened to go on an indefinite strike from July 1 in case the Punjab Government did not withdraw the hike in sales tax and amend royalty tax/bonded labour factory Acts. No sale or supply of bricks would be done from July 1 to 7.

HARYANA

AMBALA
SUICIDE: A youth committed suicide in a local hotel here on Tuesday. The police is trying to establish the identity of the youth. The police said the youth checked-in at about 12 noon on Tuesday and went straight to the room in the hotel located at Ambala Cantonment. At about 9 p.m., when no orders were placed, the hotel staff checked up and found that no one was responding. The staff then called up the police who saw the youth lying on the bed. After entering the room, the police found tablets lying near the body.

KILLED: One person was killed and another injured in a road accident near Maharana Pratap National College, Mullana, on the Ambala-Saharanpur road on Tuesday. According to information, Sham Dass Baba from Hardwar travelling in a car with Resham Singh was killed on the spot after his car was hit by a truck coming from opposite direction. The injured Resham Singh was admitted to the Health Centre, Mullana.

PROTEST: Members of the BSP staged a dharna in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office here on Wednesday in protest against the policies of the state government. Mr Aman Kumar Nagra, state president, BSP, the imposition of ban on recruitment in government jobs would adversely affect the poor section of society. He demanded that the accused of the Bilaspur firing incident should be arrested immediately.

STUDENTS IN FIX: Students, who have to appear in the entrance test of MBA of Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, and the Common Engineering Entrance Test (CEET) of Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar, are in a fix as the date of both the tests are scheduled to be held on July 9. Meanwhile, the students of Ambala have sent a memorandum to the Vice-Chancellors of both the universities requesting them for a change in the dates.

NARNAUL
ARRESTED: The Mahendragarh police has arrested Surender Singh, a constable, in connection with the rape of a resident of Podli village. A case under Section 376 of the IPC has been registered. According to Mr Manjit Singh, Superintendent of Police here on Tuesday.

REWARI
REMANDED: Mukesh Yadav, husband, Bhagwati, mother-in-law and Naresh Yadav, brother-in-law, of Babli were remanded in judicial custody on Tuesday in connection with the alleged dowry death of Babli and burning of her son Kamal.

SIRSA
SONS KILL FATHER: The CIA police here arrested a person for the murder of his father. According to a police spokesman, Nand Kaur of Desu Malkana village in the district had alleged that her husband was killed by her sons Mander Singh and Bhola Singh over a land dispute. Earlier, a case under Sections 302/34, IPC, was registered.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
GHERAO: The district unit of the HP Government Teachers Union has warned the District Education Officer here that it will stage a dharna and gherao his office if the functioning of the Education Department here is not properly streamlined and all pending service matters of teachers are not settled at the earliest.

WARNED: The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad unit here has started the “new students admission guide service” here in the college complex and has warned all those who indulge in ragging. It also threatened to launch an agitation if their demands were not met.

DHARAMSALA
CAMPAIGN: Medical aid will be provided free of cost to residents of 28 village in the Chowari subdivision of Chamba district during the five-day awareness campaign launched by the SSB at Chowari on Tuesday. The campaign was inaugurated by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Chowari, Mr G.S. Rana.

MANDI
CONFERENCE: A three-day state-level regional training conference organised by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation began here on Tuesday at the conference hall of the mini secretariat to impart training to field investigators.

SHIMLA
THREATENED: The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad here has threatened to disrupt the meeting of the executive council of Himachal Pradesh University scheduled for June 29 in protest against the hike and other charges effected recently. A spokesman of the parishad said the members of the council would be gheraoed and prevented from reaching the venue of the meeting.

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

Tourism potential of Chamera

THE dam and underground power houses at Chamera hydroelectric project (Stage-I) and the under-construction underground power houses at Chamera hydroelectric project (Stage-II) on the Ravi has increased the tourism potential of the area.

Picnic spots can be developed around the Chamera reservoir (Chamera Lake — see picture). Steps could be taken to start boating in the reservoir. This can create a lot of self-employment potential for the locals.

The Himachal Government has also started launching water sports in Chamera Lake and organising water sports.

Ferries are being run by the locals without any safety measures.

There is a need to extend the provisions of the Ferry Act to Chamera Lake.

Dr Sharma for Korea

Dr Rajan Sharma, son of Dr J.P. Sharma, Congress MLA from Yamunanagar, who was working as orthopaedic surgeon at PGI, Chandigarh, has been invited to South Korea and Japan for fellowship. In South Korea he will be going to Gyaong-Sang National University Hospital, Chinju and in Japan to Kyushu University in Fukkokawa, and Tohoku University in Sendai. The fellowship will be in the field of joint replacement and paediatric orthopaedics.

Thirty two-years-old Dr Sharma is married to Dr Meenakshi, a qualified gynaecologist working as senior resident at the PGI. Dr Sharma did his MBBS from Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana. He also did 3-year residency in orthopaedic surgery at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana.

At present Dr Sharma is senior resident in orthopaedics at PGI.

He has attended various conferences and workshops which include AO basic course conducted by Professor Trentz at Peerless Hospital, Calcutta, in September, 1996, International Spine Congress at Apollo Hospital, New Delhi, in February, 1997, second AO Alumni Symposium on Fracture Management at Amritsar in November, 1997 Western Indian Regional Orthopaedic Conference held at Mumbai in December, 1998 and North Zone IOA Conference held at PGI, Chandigarh, in March, 1999.

Dr Sharma is life member of North Zone Chapter of Indian Orthopaedic Association, Indian Orthopaedic Association, Taruma Society of India, Indian Medical Association and Ludhiana Orthopaedic Association.

Ambulance services

For the first time in India free emergency ambulance services to all hospitals in Amritsar are being provided equipped with mobile phones. Any person in emergency may contact the ambulance providers on mobile 9814-102020. Whereas Aklakha Hospital will provide the ambulance services, Spice Telecom is providing free mobile services and Siti Cable is launching a publicity campaign for this social cause.

The special features of this service are that the drivers will be equipped with mobile phones and can be contacted 24 hours. It is often found that people are stranded on roads without any help for a long period of time. It is this period of time that is most crucial in saving a life. The service is expected to bring relief to patients of accident, burns, heart attacks and other emergencies.

The ambulance service will be available 24 hours for emergencies to be carried to any hospital from roads or from people’s home. However the ambulance will not carry patients from hospital to patient’s homes. These services are available to residents of Amritsar with immediate effect.

(Contributed by Balkrishan Prashar, Ashwini Dutta and TNS)