The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Monday, August 14, 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

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
RAIDED: A brothel was raided by the Majitha police on a tip-off and two women and a man were arrested here on Saturday. A case under Sections 3/4 of the Immoral Traffic Act has been registered.

DEMANDED: The Shiromani Youth Akali Dal ( Kahlon) on Saturday demanded that the facilities proposed to be granted to those who had undergone imprisonment during different agitations be extended to their children and wives as many of them were dead.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Truck Operators’ Union, Bassi Pathana: president — Mr Balbir Singh Ganduan; secretary — Mr Malkiat Singh; and treasurer — Mr Sewa Singh.

FEROZEPORE
WEBSITE: The local DC Model Group of Schools launched its own worldwide web, domschools.com. on Saturday. This was the first school in the region to go in for its own website. Mr Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Minister for Irrigation, Punjab, inaugurated it.

GURDASPUR
ELECTED: Mr Darshan Singh Baba has been unanimously elected president of the local unit of the Punjab Jail Guard Association. He has been authorised to constitute his team.

NATIONAL GOVERNMENT: Mr Khushal Bahl, former minister and senior Congress leader, in a press note here on Saturday demanded the formation of a National Government at the Centre under the President. He alleged that the Central government had failed to handle properly the situation in Kashmir and protect Amarnath yatris.

KAPURTHALA
ARRESTED: The Vigilance police on Saturday arrested Partap Singh, a junior engineer, Punjab State Electricity Board, posted at Khera Dona substation on the charge of accepting a bribe of Rs 1000 from Bakshish Singh of Marrypur village for the restoration of an electric metre.

INSTALLED: The following have been installed office-bearers of the local Rotract Club: president - Mr Rajan Walia; secretary - Mr Vishal Ahuja; vice-president - Mr Rajesh Verma and joint secretary - Mr Gurpreet Sahai.

LALRU
INJURED: Mr K.K. Diwan, Sub-Inspector in the Central Reserve Police Force, lost his one leg and received many other injuries in an accident when his scooter collided with a truck on the Chandigarh-Ambala highway at Dapper village, near here, on Sunday. Police sources said that the scooterist was going towards Ambala when a truck (HYX-4495) collided with it. The truck driver fled the scene. After impounding the vehicles involved in the accident, the police has registered a case under Sections 279, 338 and 427 of the IPC.

NAWANSHAHR
CUSTOMERS’ MEETING: A customers’ meeting was organised at the local Nawanshahr Cooperative Bank Limited on Saturday to inform people about various schemes of the bank. This was stated by Mr M L Sunda, manager, in a press note here on Saturday.

PATIALA
SEMINAR: Mr Dewan Chand, Registrar of Companies, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, appealed to the chartered accountants to take advantage of the Company Law Settlement Scheme, 2000, by filing all the pending documents of their client companies by August 31. He was addressing a seminar organised by the Patiala branch of the Northern India Regional Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. The seminar was attended by chartered accountants from Patiala and Rajpura.

LIONS CLUB DISTRICT GOVERNOR: Mr D.K. Sood has been installed the new Vice District Governor of District 321-F for the lionistic year 2000-2001. The various service projects initiated by the Lions club included the literary national programme, TB detection programme and eradication of blindness by 2020.

DISTRICT EDITORS GUILD CHIEF DEAD: Mr Surinder Singh Kohli (53), President of the Patiala District Editors Guild died at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences after prolonged illness. Mr Kohli's body was brought to Patiala and was cremated on Sunday afternoon. Hundreds of people from all walks of life attended the cremation. Prominent among those who attended the funeral were Mr Rahul Gupta, Assistant Commissioner, Mr Surjit Singh Kohli, MLA, Patiala city, Mr Manmohan Singh Bajaj, Chairman of the Patiala Improvement Trust, Mr Sardara Singh Kohli, former minister, and Mr Ramesh Singla, former MLA.

EYE CAMP: The Bharat Vikas Parishad (BVP) organised a free eye and ENT check-up camp at the civil hospital at Sanaur, near here, on Sunday. Mr B.B. Sirhindi, press secretary of the BVP, said that more than 1,200 persons from nearly 50 villages attended the camp. Mr Rameshwar Chander, Civil Surgeon, who presided over the camp, said that the BVP should organise family planning camps, camps relating to polio and other diseases.

CHANDIGARH

CONDEMNED: The District Bar Association has condemned Saturday's bomb blast at Ludhiana sessions court. A press note issued by the President, Mr N.K. Nanda, said that it was shocking to know that the blast had occurred in the high-security area of the city having the residences of the senior Superintendent of Police and judges. He added that security must be tightened in the district courts, Chandigarh, to avoid such type of incident.

'DECLARE GORKHAS OBC: The government should provide employment to the youth in this era of high prices, said Mr J.B. Karki, President of the All-India National Gorkha Front, while addressing a convention in Sector 47 here on Sunday. He demanded that the Gorkha community should be declared as other backward class by the Union Territory of Chandigarh on the pattern of other states like Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.

BARSI BHANDARA: The Ruhani Satsang Society will be organising a three-day barsi bhandara in respect of Sant Kirpal Singhji Maharaj from August 19 at Manav Kendra, near Mata Mansa Devi temple, Panchkula. Sant Thakur Singh will be delivering the holi satsang in the morning and evening on all three days. namdaan will be given to new entrants on August 22.

FLOOD RELIEF COUNTERS: To provide help to the flood affected people of the Himachal Pradesh, the Punjab State Red Cross branch has opened a relief counter. The counter at the Punjab Red Cross Bhawan will collect relief material, both in cash and kind. On the appeal of the Punjab Chief Minister, the State Red Cross has opened counters at the district level.

AIDS AWARENESS CAMP: The Indian Council of Social Welfare in association with the state AIDS Control Society organised an AIDS awareness camp for the inmates of the Central Jail, Burail, here on Saturday. Around 40 inmates attended the camp. The programme included awareness lectures by Dr Wadhera, Dr Chandrakant, Dr Ajit Saroha, Ms Shrestha Mehta besides a play, directed by Mr Zulfikar Ali.

SAS NAGAR
FALSE CASE: The PUDA Employees Association (Class III) at an emergency meeting held here on Sunday said that a false case had been registered against a Superintendent and an Assistant of the Estate Office of PUDA. The association President, Mr Shiv Kumar Sharma, in a press note said the employees had refunded the money as per the approval of the higher authorities. Mr Gurdeep Singh, a Superintendent in the estate office, who has been named in the FIR, said the amount had been refunded to the original owner as per a decision of a Accounts and Finance Committee meeting of PUDA. He said that at the time of the refund he was at the post concerned.

DRAWING COMPETITION: The City beautiful Club of Chandigarh and the local Harryson Public School organised an on-the-spot drawing competitions here on Sunday. The winners in different age groups are as follow: Group A: Gunjeet Kaur 1, Manpreet Kaur 2 and Simmi 3; Group B: Upinder Kaur 1, Santosh Kumari 2 and Harkirat Singh 3; and Group C: Pawan Preet Singh 1, Manjit Kaur 2 and Yadwinder Kaur 3.

HARYANA

FATEHABAD
ACQUITTED: The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr B.M. Bedi, on Saturday acquitted all seven accused in the Rajan murder case, giving them the benefit of doubt.

YOGA CHAMPIONSHIP: The District Yoga Association organised a Yoga championship at the local Bal Bhavan on Sunday. A social worker, Mr Murari Chowdhary, inaugurated the championship.

HISAR
CASE REGISTERED: The Social Welfare Minister, Haryana, Mr Rishal Singh, on a complaint made by villagers of Nara, has ordered the registration of a case against secretary of the Nara Cooperative Society, Dharambir, salesman Ramesh Kumar, clerk Subhash Chander and a bank manager of Khori Lochan village, Bhim Singh, in connection with the embezzlement of society money.

KAITHAL
CRIME GRAPH: The local police registered 57 cases under the Excise Act and seized five working stills, 229 pouches and 220 bottles of illicit liquor and 1885 kg of Lahan during July. This was stated by the Superintendent of Police, Mr P R Deo, here on Saturday. Eight cases under the NDMPS Act were also registered following the seizure of 4 kg of opium and 1277 kg of Lahan, he added.

REVENUE COLLECTED: The Municipal Council, Kaithal, earned Rs 3,67,595 as house tax and Rs 8,28,998 as the rent for commercial buildings till July, the Deputy Commissioner, Dr Mahavir Singh, said here on Saturday.

PANIPAT
OPEN DARBARS: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr M R Anand, will hold open darbars on August 17 and August 30 at the Block Development and Panchayat Office, Samalkha, and Government High School, Noorawala, respectively. This was stated in a press note issued here on Saturday.

RECRUITMENT: Mr Kuldip Singh Sihag, Superintendent of Police, told mediapersons here on Friday that the recruitment of 80 constables would be made only on the merit basis. The selection process would start at 8 a.m. on August 19, and only those who passed the physical test would be called for the interview.

SIRSA
ARRESTED: The police arrested Tota Singh and his two sons Jagdev and Gurmeet in a murder case of Ghookanwali village here on Saturday. Boota Singh and his brother Makhan were shot dead and their nephew, Jagmeet, was injured by the duo on Wednesday.

SONEPAT
ENQUIRY: On a directive of the SP, the DSP (Headquarters), Mr Hardeep Singh Doon, has initiated an inquiry into the alleged police excesses on a halwai and his wife of Bagaria Mohalla in the Lal Darwaza area here. It is alleged that some policemen forced their way into their house at night and beat them up. Thereafter, the halwai was taken to the police post, where he was again beaten up.

PROTEST: Members of the District Bar Association called on the Superintendent of Police here on Saturday and protested against the maltreatment of a local lawyer by some policemen.

WATER SHORTAGE: The city remained waterless on Saturday following a disruption in the water supply system. However, no reason has been given by officials of the Public Health Department in this regard. Meanwhile, the local Residents Welfare Association and the Sonepat Citizens Forum on Sunday urged the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to order the suspension of the erring officials of the Uttar Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (UHVPN) and the Public Health Department.

ENQUIRY ORDERED: The Superintendent of Police, Mr A.S. Chawla has ordered an inquiry into the alleged rape of Ms Roshni Devi, of Kami village by some policemen here. Mr Hardeep Singh Doon, DSP headquarters, will conduct the enquiry.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
RALLY: The All India Postal Employees Union (class-III and class-IV), including the E.D. staff, held a rally outside the Head Post office here on Saturday in protest against the failure of the Central government to implement the written agreement on demands.

DHARAMSALA
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Himachal Government College Teachers Association: president — Mr R P Chopra; senior vice-president — Mr P C Verma; vice-president — Ms Tripta Tandon; general secretary — Mr Anil Jarial; joint secretary — Mr Rajesh Sharma; and treasurer — Mr Rajesh Chauhan.

PARWANOO
UCO BANK COMPUTERISED: The computerised Parwanoo branch of UCO Bank was inaugurated by Mr S.D. Uppal Deputy General Manager of the bank. Mr Uppal said that UCO Bank would computerise 15 branches in Himachal Pradesh by September. Mr Uppal informed that the bank had launched a special settlement scheme for the recovery of no-performing loans both in the priority and non-priority sectors up to Rs 500 lakh. He announced that bank had launched three more schemes called UCO cash, UCO rent and UCO pension.