The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Friday, September 1, 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

FARIDKOT
COTTON CULTIVATION: The district Agriculture Department has launched a programme to enhance the growth of cotton during the current kharif season. An area of 19,000 hectares has been brought under cultivation for the purpose, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr A. Venu Parsad said.

HOSHIARPUR
ARRESTED: The police intercepted a scooter (PH) 8D-6867) at a check post on Tuesday night and arrested Chander Bittu and his brother Raj Kumar, residents of Ali Mohala, Jalandhar. A 315-bore pistol and three cartridges were seized from them, Mr R.P. Mittal, SSP, Hoshiarpur, said.

HEAVY RAIN: After a long dry spell the city and its surrounding areas experienced heavy rainfall on Wednesday, causing considerable fall in the temperature. The entire city was flooded with rain water which entered houses and shops in low lying areas. All choes were also flooded.

KAPURTHALA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the employees union of the local Excise and Taxation Department: president — Mr Bakshish Singh; Senior vice-president — Mr Gopal Gera; general secretary — Mr Kulwant Singh Ratra; and cashier — Mrs Krishna Kumari.

CONSTRUCTION: A bridge will be constructed over the railway crossing at Wadala Kalan village on the Kapurthala-Jalandhar road. Talking to newsmen here on Wednesday, Mr V.K. Singh, Deputy Commissioner, said a sum of Rs 7 crore would be spent on the project.

LUDHIANA
PADDY: The Bharti Kisan Union (Lakhowal) on Wednesday has threatened to launch a state-wide agitation if the government did not start immediate purchase of paddy in the state. The union also outrightly rejected the support prices of paddy, cotton and oil seeds as recently announced by the government. At a meeting of the union held here on Wednesday under the presidentship of Mr Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, the union demanded that new prices be announced, after taking into account the price index with 1966-67 as the basis for the same, according to which paddy should be priced at Rs. 636 and cotton and oilseeds at Rs. 3000 per quintal. Through another resolution, the union castigated the government decision to start the purchase of paddy from October 1. It was stressed at the meeting that once paddy started arriving in the mandis, the government was duty bound to purchase the same.

PENSIONERS: A medical check-up camp for bank pensioners was organised here on Wednesday at the State Bank of India, Civil Lines branch. About 90 pensioners were checked-up for general diseases by Dr. Munish Goyal. Dr (Mrs) Meenakshi, inaugurated the camp.

BAN SOUGHT: Mr Pawan Dewan, President, Youth Congress, Ludhiana, today urged the Punjab Governor to ban the book ‘Sachi Sakhi’ brought out by the Institute of Sikh Studies, which had generated an unnecessary controversy regarding the martyr status of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Mr Dewan said such controversies were being generated as part of international conspiracies by imperialistic powers to divide India. He said it was a matter of regret that the intellectuals associated with the institute were trying to twist history. He added that it was entirely upto the people to decide as to who deserved to be called a martyr. Mr Dewan stated that Shaheed Bhagat Singh organised the Naujawan Bharat Sabha in 1926. He collaborated with the Kirti Kisan Party and the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association to launch a political movement, which did not disapprove of selected violence for the realisation of the goal of securing complete independence, Mr Dewan added.

JASWINDER TOPS: Jaswinder Kaur of Government College for Boys has secured first position in M A II (Economics) examination conducted by Panjab University, Chandigarh by securing 541/800 marks. It is after a gap of a decade that a student of this college has topped the university in the subject of economics.

MOGA
ARRESTED: The city police has arrested Prakash Masih , resident of Rampur district in Madhya Pradesh and seized from his possession two kilograms of contraband opium, Mr S.S.Chauhan , SSP, said here on Wednesday.

NAWANSHAHR
CHECK-UP CAMP: The district unit of the DYFI and the Samaj Bhaai Sanstha, Heon, organised a free medical check-up camp at Heon village, 15 km from here on Tuesday, in memory of Dr P.B.Paul, a communist leader Mr Jaswinder Singh Anokharwal, chairman , Market Committee, Banga, inaugurated the camp.

PATIALA
ABOLITION: Mr Chiranji Lal Garg, Minister of Law and Justice, Punjab, on Thursday assured the trading community that the demands made by the Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal would be brought to the notice of the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Soon. A delegation led by the vice-president of the mandal, Mr Surjit Singh Mehta, urged Mr Garg to abolish octroi, and save the trading community from unnecessary harassment by the Sales Tax Department.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The PSEB Women Welfare Association has unanimously elected Ms Surinder Pal Kaur Bains as president of the association. The other office-bearers are: Senior Vice-President — Ms Harjeet Kaur Walia and Ms Harminder Kaur Grewal; Vice-Presidents — Amarjeet Kaur and Chander Kanta; General Secretary — Ms Meena Sharma; and Finance Secretary — Ms Surinder Bath.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Manjeet Nagar Welfare Society: President — Mr Ram Paul Singla; Vice-President — Dr B.R. Bhandary; General Secretary — Mr J.R. Sharma; and Joint Secretary — Mr Parmod Chand.

BCA, BBA: Punjabi University has decided to adjust the students of the bachelor of computer application (BCA) and bachelor of business administration (BBA) courses of the institutes of Guru Amar Dass Business School, SAS Nagar, and Arctic College for Computer Sciences, SAS Nagar, the affiliation of which was withdrawn by the university. In a notification issued by the university, the affected students have been offered admission at the Punjabi University Library Extension Centre, SAS Nagar according to a press release issued here on Thursday. Applications to this effect have been invited up to Sept 11.

SANGRUR
POPPY SEIZED: The Sunam police has seized 50 bags of poppy husk weighing about 17.50 quintals and worth Rs 7 lakh from a truck. Giving this information on Wednesday, the police said the truck driver, Bachan Khan, and his accomplices, Angrez Singh, Dalwinder Singh and Ajay Sharma, had been arrested, while one of their accomplice, Balbir Singh had escaped by jumping from the truck. A case has been registered under Sections 15,61 and 85 of the NDPS Act.

SUNAM
OLD AGE PENSION: The Punjab Government organised a camp here at Shiv Niketan Dharamsala on Tuesday to provide old age pension to residents of the subdivision. Mr Gobind Singh Kanjhla, Minister for Social Security and Development, Punjab , who presided over the camp, said Rs 370 crore had been distributed among 650 lakh persons of Punjab under this scheme during the current year.

TARN TARAN
PROTEST RALLY: On a call given by the Mulazam Action Committee, Patti, employees of different departments on Wednesday organised a protest rally at Patti, demanding legal action against a representative of a Jalandhar- based daily, who had allegedly manhandled a teacher while on duty. The protestors also submitted a memorandum to the Patti SDM.

PISTOL SEIZED: The police has confiscated a 303-bore pistol along with 18 cartridges from the possession of Jeet Singh of Mehmoodpur village. A case under Section 25/54/59 Arms Act has been registered against the accused.

PENSIONERS' RALLY: Members of the local subdivisonal unit of the Punjab Government Pensioners Association organised a rally on Wednesday demanding the implementation of the recommendations of the Punjab Pay Commission. A memorandum was presented to the SDM.

CHANDIGARH

SAPLINGS PLANTED: As many as 100 saplings were planted by the NSS unit of Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, during a tree plantation drive organised in collaboration with the State Bank of India, Sector 7, on the college campus here on Thursday. Mr S.K. Gupta, Chief Manager of the branch, inaugurated the drive and Mr P.S. Sanga, Principal of the college, stressed the need for planting saplings and making the environment green.

EYE CAMP: A number of students and staff members of the Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector 36, pledged to donate their eyes at an eye donation camp organised here on Thursday. Organised as a part of the National Eye Donation Week, students were made familiar with the functioning of eyes and the need for eye donation by Dr Sushmita Kaushik, an ophthamologist of the PGI and her team.

SECURITY: Mr Satya Pal Jain, a former MP from Chandigarh, has urged the Haryana Government and the Railways authorities to ensure adequate security and safety of the passengers travelling between Chandigarh and Delhi in view of the recent incident of dacoity in an AC coach of the Kalka-Delhi train. Expressing shock over the dacoity, Mr Jain said that the incident has created panic among the residents of Chandigarh.

MUSIC CONTEST: As many as 100 students from 30 schools of the city participated in a three-day “millennium music contest” held here on Thursday. Various contest like shabad, bhajan, geet, ghazal, classical, instrumental and vocal competition were held in the programme which was organised by the State Institute of Education, Sector 32. St John’s High School, Sector 26, won the trophy for the best team, while, Preet of Shishu Niketan Model School, Sector 22, bagged the best singer award.

CISF: Contingents of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) today hosted a farewell party in the honour of Col M.S. Yadav, Group Commandant, CISF group headquarters, who retired after rendering 46 years of service in the Indian Army. Mr B.K. Mehta took over the charge of the Group Commandant of the CISF on the retirement of Colonel Yadav. Colonel Yadav was commissioned in the Army in 1963 in Corps of Signals and the later shifted to Dogra Regiment.

HARYANA

AMBALA
FATAL FALL: A lineman, Sohan Singh, was killed when he fell from an electric pole in Sector 9 of HUDA Colony at Ambala city yesterday. He was rushed to hospital in precarious condition where he su cumbed to his injuries. The deceased was a resident of Rajpura in Patiala district.

RETIRED: Mr M.L. Garg, State Drug Controller, Haryana, retired from service on Thursday. He served the drug control organisation of the state for 33 years in various capacities. He is the first independent and professionally qualified Drug Controller of the state, a joint statement issued by the President, Mr P.K. Gupta, and the General Secretary, Mr T.C. Kansal, of the Haryana Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, said. The association appreciated his role as a custodian of Haryana pharmaceutical industry.

FARIDABAD
LOK ADALATS: Pending cases of road accidents and claims under the Motor Vehicle Act of the district will be taken up by Special lok adalat from September 1. According to officials sources, at these lok adalats, two days each will be given to four main insurance companies to consider the cases.

SECURITY SEIZED: The security deposits of 97 fair price depots in the district have been seized in the current financial year. According to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anand Mohan Sharan, an amount of Rs 97,750 as security deposit of these depots , was seized after they were found to be "working unsatisfactorily.

FATEHABAD
STUDENTS' STRIKE: Students of the local Manohar Memorial College went on a strike on Wednesday demanding student union polls in the college. A spokesman of the students alleged the university authorities were denying the students of their right to form unions.

VOTERS' I-CARDS: The district election office has provided one more opportunity to those voters of the district who have yet not been able to get their photo identity cards prepared. The election office has now issued fresh dates to allow those voters to get their photo I-cards prepared.

MEDICAL CAMP: The Bharat Vikas Parishad will organise a Health Examination and Immunisation camp at Janata Dharamshala, Bhuna on September 3.

HISAR
CHAIN FAST : Students of the local colleges started a chain fast at Chhotu Ram Chowk here on Wednesday to press their demand for elections to students' unions. They threatened to intensify their agitation if elections were not held in colleges.

PANCHKULA
CATTLE EXPORT: The All-India Hindu Maha Sabha has condemned inaction on the part of the government against illegal cattle export centre which has been recently shifted from Kharar to Daonmajra. The sabha has said of cattle brought to the said centre, are generally weak and old and are not provided proper fodder and water. Sometimes the cattle receive serious injuries during transportation. Mr Swami Krishnanand, President of the sabha, has demanded a probe into the cattle export trade.

VACCINATED: As many as 437 students were vaccinated and given thorough dental check up at a free medical camp organised in Blue Bird High School, Sector 16, here on Thursday. Mr Bhatnagar, Principal of the school, lauded the services of the Health Department.

ROHTAK
GIRL KILLED: A minor girl was run over by a truck at Dubaldhan village, near here, on Wednesday. The complainant, Mr Rajkumar, stated in the FIR that Ritu, daughter of Manjit, died on the spot when a truck (HR 46-1652) ran over her. The police has registered a case under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC.

SIRSA
DIARRHOEA CASES: "Polluted " drinking water has allegedly caused diarrhoea in the area. According to information received on Wednesday six diarrhoea cases have been reported from different hospitals and nursing homes, out of which the serious ones have been referred to Hisar. Residents of the district have reportedly blocked traffic several times in protest against the apathy of the Public Health Department in this regard.

REHRIS REMOVED: The anti-encroachment drive in the city started with the removal of rehris around the old Civil Hospital on the orders of the Municipal Council. Members of the Rehri Association, in a complain to the Deputy Commissioner, demanded action against the council.

TRAINING CAMP: A three-day training camp for panchayat members is being held at the local Panchayat Bhavan by the State Community Development Training Centre, Nilokheri, and the district administration jointly. The camp was inaugurated by Mr K.K.Mayal, Block Development and Panchayat Officer.

SONEPAT
KILLED: A passenger, Narain Singh, was crushed to death by a running train while getting down from it at Rajlu Garhi railway station, 8 km from here, on Wednesday.

INJURED: At least eight persons, including a woman, were injured in a clash between two rival groups at Kurar village, 10 km from here, on Wednesday. A case has been registered.

DEMONSTRATION: Employees of the Haryana Roadways held a demonstration in front of the Roadways depot here on Wednesday, in protest against the state government's move to privatise the Roadways sector in the state.

RESIGNATIONS: The sarpanch and other panches of the gram panchayat of Bidhlan village in the district withdrew their resignation letters which they had earlier submitted to the Deputy Commissioner , Mr Sudhir Rajpal on Wednesday in protest against alleged non-cooperative attitude of the Block Development and Panchayat Officer, Kharkhauda.

ARRESTED: The Ganaur police arrested an employee of LPG agency on the charge of alleged blackmarketeering of the LPG cylinders on Wednesday following a complaint made by the officials of the Food and Supplies Department.

YAMUNANAGAR
SEMINAR HELD: A seminar on "Empowerment of panchayati raj institutions in Haryana" was jointly organised on Tuesday at the Mini-Secretariat by the Family Planning Association of India and the Population Foundation of India. Mr B.S.Malik, Additional Deputy Commissioner, was the chief guest on the occasion.

VOTER'S I-CARDS: A two-week voters' identity card drive will start in the district from September 17 for those voters who have not yet received their identity cards. Rajeev Sharma, Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer, said here on Tuesday.