R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
VIOLATION: Violating the prohibitory orders enforced by the District Magistrate, Ferozepore, regarding carrying weapons and resorting to firing in the air at marriage parties, a relative of a bridegroom allegedly opened fire from his licensed rifle at a marriage at Mammukhera village near here on Monday. Thakar Ram, son of Prithvi Raj, a resident of Kerakhera village, who was accompanying the marriage party was injured. He was rushed to the local Civil Hospital.

BAIL PLEA REJECTED: The anticipatory bail plea of Mr Babu Ram Sharma, former SHO here, was rejected by the Special Court for Crime against Women, Sriganganagar, on Monday. Official sources said on Tuesday that the GRP had registered a case against Mr Sharma, a former ASI and seven others, including the Editor of a local daily, on June 21, 1999, on the complaint of Mr Shanti Lal Bajaj, former NCO of the Army.

AMRITSAR
MATHEMATICS CONGRESS: Dr Pammy Manchanda, Head of the Mathematics Department of Guru Nanak Dev University, has been invited to participate in the Third European Congress of Mathematics to be held at Barcelona (Spain) from July 10 to 14. She will also attend and present her research paper at the Third World Congress of Non-Linear Analysts (WCNA-2000) to be held in Catania, Italy, from July 19 to 26.

BATALA
PHOTO-IDENTITY CARDS: Photo-identity cards of the voters in the subdivision will be made from July 10, according to Mr Pardeep Sabharwal, SDM. He told mediapersons here that a meeting of panches and sarpanches of nearby villages and the local municipal councillors was held here on Tuesday in this connection.

BATHINDA
VANA MAHOTSAVA: The Punjab State Electricity Board celebrated the 51st Vana mahotsava on Tuesday at the Lehra Mohabbat thermal plant. Mr G.S. Sohal, Chairman, PSEB, planted a tree to start the plantation campaign.

FAZILKA
POWER DISRUPTED: Power supply in the town remained disrupted for 48 hours due to heavy rain and storm which lashed the town and its surrounding areas on Monday. Official sources of the PSEB said that 35 electric poles were uprooted. The telephone system was restored after about 20 hours.

UNPAID SALARIES: Nearly 80,000 teachers of the Education Department, Punjab, working in primary, middle, higher and senior secondary schools under the non-plan temporary (recurring) scheme have not been paid their salaries for June, 2000. The reason attributed is that the government had not sanctioned these posts. However, 20 per cent of the teachers working under the non-plan permanent scheme have been paid their salaries.

FEROZEPORE
POPPY HUSK SEIZED: The district police seized more than 8 quintals of poppy husk from a truck in Kular village here on Tuesday. Gurdev Singh, resident of Jaitu, Faridkot district and Bhola Singh, resident of Dhuri, Sangrur district were arrested in this regard. The police has registered a case.

GURDASPUR
ARRESTED: The police on Tuesday arrested Ashwani Kumar for manufacturing spurious grease. According to Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, the suspect used crude grease, acid and limestone for manufacturing spurious grease. The SSP said the Station House Officer at police station division number 1 on a tip-off raided the premises of the suspect near the local SDM’s court and seized 12 tins of spurious grease, a drum containing 80 litres of acid and two bags of limestone. The SSP said the suspect had been manufacturing spurious grease for the past more than 4 years.

SUSPENDED: Mr U.S. Saroa, Superintending Engineer, in a press note issued here on Tuesday said Jeevan Singh, Junior Engineer, had been placed under suspension on charges of corruption. The action had been taken in view of the allegations levelled against him at an open darbar held at Kalanaur on June 29.

ARRESTED: The police has detected a case of land grabbing by tampering with revenue records in connivance with the patwari of the area. Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, in a press note issued here on Tuesday said that Rattan Singh and his nephew Jaswinder Singh, alias Jinda, both residents of Lakhanpal, had been arrested in this connection while Surjit Singh, son of Rattan Singh, and the patwari of the area are still at large.

HOSHIARPUR
KILLED: Mr Ram Dass, a retired teacher and circle president of the BSP, was shot dead at his STD-PCO booth at Shamchaurasi, 18 km from here, early this morning. Mr R.P. Mittal, SSP, said three to four persons came in a Tata Sumo to the PCO at 5.20 am and shot Ram Dass dead. A case under Section 302, IPC, has been registered.

JALANDHAR
PROTEST: To lodge their protest against the attitude of the government towards the box-manufacturing industry, the city-based box manufacturers kept their factories closed on Tuesday. The main grudge of the box manufacturers is that while paper prices of hand-crafted paper were being hiked by paper mills, government has allowed its export resulting in double loss to the industry. Mr Vikas Arora, an office-bearer of the Box Manufacturers Association of Punjab, and the government had also imposed sales tax which had added to their woes.

KHARAR
AUCTIONED: Fruits of about 200 mango trees in a disputed land of nearby Manakpur Sharif village, where Mr Devinder Singh, Subdivisional Magistrate of Kharar, has imposed Section 145 of the Cr PC, were auctioned on Monday. The auction was supervised by Mr Malkiet Singh, Tehsildar of Kharar, who was appointed the Receiver by the court in the presence of Mr Balwinder Singh, Naib Tehsildar of Majri, and many prominent persons. After the imposition of Section 145 Cr PC, the possession of this land was taken by the Receiver and the police was deployed there.

ALLEGED: The Indian ex-servicemen League of Punjab and Chandigarh in Kharar Block, has alleged that the Union Government is discriminating against the JCOs and ORs in case of pension and other benefits. It has alleged that arrears are paid to officers only and JCOs and ORs are ignored. “Officer pensioners who attain the age of 80 are given a special grant of Rs 20,000, which was not given the JCOs and the ORs.

INTRODUCED: The community Polytechnic Wing of the Government Polytechnic Institute at Khuni Majra near here introduced a cutting and tailoring course in Maujpur village on Wednesday. According to a press note issued here by Mr B.R. Gupta, Principal and Project Officer of the wing, this course has been introduced a scheme of the Union Government for providing free training to unemployed girls of the village. Ms Balwinder Kaur, Sarpanch of the village, Mr Kaka Singh, panch and many other prominent persons were present on this occasion.

DEMANDED: Residents of Ram Bag Colony behind Panipat Wollen Mills in War Number 5 of the Kharar Municipal Committee are facing a lot of problems due to a lack of drinking water, sewerage and pucca road. About 15 residents, in a letter to the local Municipal Committee have said that there is no pucca road to this colony. When it rains, the kuccha road gets cracked and it becomes difficult to cross it. Residents said the construction of a road had begun some time ago, but, had not been finished.

MALERKOTLA
KILLED: Darshan Singh (35), son of Meet Singh, a resident of Immamgarh village, was crushed under a train at the local railway station on Tuesday. According to the Station Master, Darshan Singh was coming to attend duty here. A case has been registered.

SEMINAR: For the eradication of tuberculosis a seminar by voluntary organisations was held here under the presidentship of Dr C.P. Bansal, Civil Surgeon. Different cures for tuberculosis were discussed at the seminar. It was largely attended by non-governmental organisations. The Civil Surgeon requested the NGOs to form a subdivision-level association for the eradication of tuberculosis.

MOGA
STAMP PAPERS: Black marketing in revenue stamp papers is flourishing here due to an acute shortage of these papers. Litigants here are forced to buy stamp papers of small denominations at higher prices. Sometimes litigants have to buy revenue stamp papers of Rs 30 when they actually require stamp paper worth Rs 3 only. The litigants on Tuesday urged the district administration to make arrangements to reduce the shortage of these papers.

PATIALA
DEADDICTION CENTRE: Mr Amar Singh Kamboj, a social worker, inaugurated the Amrit Drug Deaddiction Centre near Karah Wala Chowk here on Tuesday.

ORGANISED: The ICICI and the Patiala Marketing and Services Pvt Ltd organised a Car Carnival to mark the advent of the ICICI in Patiala. The carnival concluded here on Tuesday. The two-day carnival was to promote the brand image, said Mr Geetash Dua, Territory Head of the ICICI. The carnival attracted more than 300 visitors.

DEMONSTRATION: In response to a call given by the All-India Punjab and Sind Bank Officers’ Union, a demonstration was held in front of the zonal office of the bank here on Wednesday. Speaking on the occasion, Mr G.S. Khera, President of the union, demanded a CBI inquiry in the corruption charges against the bank management. The union also demanded time-bound promotions, fair and rational transfer policy and waiving of loans in case of the death of an employee. Mr R.P. Singh Organising Secretary of the body, said those responsible for more than Rs 1 crore of bad loans should be fined. Later, a memorandum was submitted to Mr Tarlok Singh, Zonal Manager of the bank.

DEMOLITION DRIVE: Initiating a drive against illegal encroachments, the Improvement Trust demolished some structures on construction sites encroached upon by Canara Bank and Cal-Computer Centre at Chotti Baradari here on Wednesday. All illegal constructions near Gurdwara Dukhniwaran Sahib, Sai Market and Sewa Singh Tikriwal Nagar are to be demolished in the next 15 days.

PHAGWARA
PHOTO-IDENTITY CARDS: Photo-identity cards of the voters of this assembly constituency will be made at the local Guru Nanak Library from July 5 to 15, according to a press note issued by the SDM, Mr Pritam Singh. 

HARYANA

HISAR
BLOCKED: Hundreds of daily rail commuters from Uklana Mandi and Tohana stopped a Hisar-Ludhiana passenger train at Daulatpur railway station near here on Tuesday. They were demanding the extension of the Ludhiana-Jakhal train up to Hisar and more coaches in all the passenger trains running on the route. Due to the blockade, the traffic on this route remained suspended for more than one hour.

JIND
FLOOD CONTROL: The district administration has made elaborate arrangements to control floods. Stating this here on Wednesday Mr H.S. Dhankhar, Deputy Commissioner, said 23 permanent pump houses had been set up to pump out the rain water from flooded areas. He said Rs 37 lakh had been spent on strengthening and repairing bundhs.

REWARI
REMANDED: Dr Ram Avtar Gupta, Medical Officer at the local Civil Hospital, who was caught red-handed by a special anti-graft squad while accepting bribe from a patient on Monday has been remanded in judicial custody by the court till July 17.

SONEPAT
MARKET FEE EVASION: The district administration has taken a series of steps to check the evasion of the market fee by arhtiyas and retailers in the vegetable and fruit market in the city. According to official sources, the authorities have ordered immediate transfer of two mandi supervisors who were said to be in league with some arhtiyas and retailers involved in the evasion of the market fee.

DEMONSTRATION: The Haryana unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has decided to organise a state-level demonstration on July 10 at Panchkula in protest against the “anti-people” policies of the government and the anti-encroachment campaign launched by the Chautala government.

SEIZED: The police has seized 300 bags of spurious cement and arrested Vinod of Kaystpura (Rajasthan) in this connection on the charge of violation of the Essential Commodities Act. The Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr K.P. Singh, told mediapersons here on Wednesday that the cement bags were marked with the brand of a well-known cement company of Rajasthan.

ARRESTED: With the arrest of three persons, the Murthal police on Wednesday claimed to have solved a case of looting in the area. The SSP, Mr K.P. Singh told mediapersons here that the arrested persons have been identified as Vinod, Suni and Ravinder, all residents of Pipli Khera village. Ravinder, he said, had already been involved in a car theft case and was released on bail by a judicial court. The suspects had confessed to looting Mr Sidhu Ram, a clerk at a brick-kiln unit, of Rs 5,400.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
HRTC SERVICES: Mr Dharam Singh Pathania, Chairman of the Salooni Development Block in the district, has urged the state government to resume the Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus services on the Chamba-Pantah, Chamba-Dandi, Chamba-Sanghni and Chamba-Langera routes. Bus services on these routes were suspended recently.

DALHOUSIE
SUBMITTED: The Lecturers Welfare Association of the DAV college, Banikhet near here, on Tuesday passed a resolution demanding the implementation of new pay scales. It was submitted to the President, All-India DAV Managing Committee, New Delhi, for necessary action.

KULU
DEADDICTION DRIVE: The Department of Public Relations organised a ‘nashanivaran samaroh’ at Government Senior Secondary School, Haripur, in the district on Monday. Manjula, District Public Relations Officer, said in a press note that the Himachal Pradesh Government had proposed many programmes to create awareness among the masses about the bad effects of consuming drugs, smoking and drinking

KUMARHATTI
INJURED: A woman from Chandigarh was seriously injured when her scooter collided head on with a car coming from the opposite direction on the Kalka-Shimla national highway near here on Monday. According to an eyewitness the collision took place when the woman was trying to overtake a truck. A man who was riding pillion sustained minor injuries. The police has registered a case.

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

 Where is the martyr’s statue?

Almost all important roundabouts except Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk have been given a facelift during the past six months. The roundabouts which have been given a facelift include Udham Singh Chowk, Shershahwali Chowk and the DC residence chowk.

Multani Gate Chowk was named after Shaheed Bhagat Singh in 1997 to mark the 50th anniversary of the country’s freedom.

According to the local Municipal Council decision, a statue of Bhagat Singh was to be installed at the roundabout. A project of Rs 40,000 was sanctioned. The roundabout with a pedestal for the martyr’s statue is in bad shape. (See picture)

At places bricks have been removed. The plaster has peeled off. The paint has faded.

The pedestal for the statue has become a point for sticking bills. A framed photograph of Bhagat Singh has been placed in front of the pedestal. Mr Jagdish Lal Gakhar claims that he has done this patriotic act.

A large number of “rehriwalas” have encroached upon the area near the chowk.

Seeing light of day

Until the age of 47 Mr Gurdial Singh, a resident of Jakhwali village, had not seen the light of day. That was true also of Ms Sukhwinder Kaur, a resident of Lambe village in Kapurthala district, till the age of 20. They had been blind since their childhood and there seemed to be no hope for them.

Call it a godsend or sheer luck, Mr N.K. Dutta, a resident of Bishan Nagar in Patiala, prevailed upon Mr V.P. Dutta, to donate his eyes, which he did through a will.

On the donor’s death, it was a matter of chance that Mr N.K. Dutta ran into Gurdial Singh and Sukhwinder Kaur. He decided to get one eye each transplanted to these persons.

He took them to Dr R.S. Gill, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Rajindra Hospital Patiala, to request him to perform the operation. Dr Gill readily agreed. Now both of them can see the world.

This information was sent to The Tribune office by Mr V.D. Shorie, Regional Chairman of the International Association of Lions Clubs, Patiala.

Mr Shorie says NGOs at Patiala always come to the aid of poor and needy persons.

Developing skills

The Tilak Raj Chadha Institute of Management of Technology (TIMT), Yamunanagar, conducts a two-year full-time MBA programme and is affiliated to Kurukshetra University. It is duly approved by the All-India Council for Technical Education.

By naming the institute after Tilak Raj Chadha, a great teacher and veteran freedom fighter , Seth Ashok Kumar, a prominent philanthropist of northern India and chairman of Seth Jai Parkash Mukand Lal institutions, has honoured the teaching fraternity. The institute , which is not even one year old, enjoys a pride of place in the chain of more than 30 Mukand Lal institutions spread over Haryana, Punjab and UP.

TIMT offers unique opportunities to students who are aspirants to a management career and look forward to developing their managerial and professional skills, creativity and leadership.

TIMT invites consultants and professional experts from industry and encourages its faculty and students to interact with them.

Designed by Dr Rajesh Arya and built at a cost of over Rs 50 lakh, the building has architectural beauty and grandeur. It houses well-furnished classrooms, an exclusive room for discussion , a seminar hall, a library and a computer centre.

Dr R.C. Sharma, Director of the institute, says TIMT also provides the hostel facility for boys and girls.

The institute plans to introduce MCA, BBA and BCA classes.

Contributed by Manoj Dhiman, Rajendra Sharma and Ashwani Dutta.