The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sunday, December 10, 2000,
Chandigarh, India

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R E G I O N A L B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
CHEQUES DISTRIBUTED: Mr Gulzar Singh Ranike, Punjab Minister for Agriculture, distributed cheques worth Rs 13 lakh among dependents of Kargil martyrs on the occasion of Army Flag Day celebrated were on Friday. A cheque for Rs 11,500 was also presented to the Army Fund.

BATHINDA
ORDERS ISSUED: Mr Jaspal Singh, District Magistrate, in a press note issued here on Friday, said certain employees of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) had been creating undue hurdles in the maintenance of regular power supply in different parts of the district. Imposing Section 144 of the Cr PC, the magistrate ordered that no employee of the PSEB shall cause any hindrance. The order would be in force till December 6, 2001, he added.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
HIKE CRITICISED: The District Cement Dealers Association has criticised the recent hike in cement prices. In a press note issued here on Friday, Mr Gulshan Arora, president of the District Cement Dealers Association, alleged that for the past one week, cement companies had stopped supplying cement to dealers and had stored it in their godowns. Now with the increase in the rates of cement, they were releasing the supply on the new rates causing inconvenience to the dealers as well as to the public.

SWEATERS DISTRIBUTED: The Lions Club, Sirhind Aam Khas Bagh, at a function organised at Sirhind on Friday, distributed 150 sweaters and uniforms to needy students in government primary and high schools. According to Mr Ashwani Kaura, secretary of the club, the club had also organised a medical check-up camp and provided financial assistance to the needy. Mr Rakesh Mitter, a social worker, was the chief guest.

ELECTED: The following were elected office-bearers of the Friends Welfare and Sports Club here: president — Mr Rajesh Kumar Sharma, senior vice-president — Mr Devinder Singh Chakal, vice-president — Mr Narinder Kumar Sarvan, general secretary — Mr Avtar Singh Jassal and treasurer — Mr Ramesh Kumar Sharma.

KAPURTHALA
CONVICTED: Mr Jagroop Singh Mahal, Additional Sessions Judge, on Friday convicted, Paramjit Singh of Shivpuri Mohalla falling under sadar police station of Phagwara, under Section 376 of the IPC for raping an 11-month-old girl Kamaljit Kaur of Nagal Khera village here and sentenced him to a rigorous imprisonment for seven years and a fine of Rs 5,000.

KILLED: Ram Lubhaya (36) and his wife Disho (32), were killed in a road accident near Khojewal village on the Kapurthala-Jalandhar road on Thursday. According to police reports, the couple was returning after attending a marriage ceremony in Jalandhar on a cycle and when a Jeep coming from Kapurthala hit them. They died on their way to the hospital. A case has been registered against Yadhwinder Singh, driver of the jeep, who is missing.

Ludhiana
Sweaters donated: The SBI Ladies Club, set up by the spouses of senior officers of the State Bank of India, lent a helping hand to poor and needy students, when they distributed sweaters to all the 150 students of the local Nishkam Sewa Mandir, Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar in the city. The school, run amidst a big cluster of huts of beggars and labourers, is imparting education to these downtrodden street children. Lauding the efforts of Nishkam Sewa Ashram, the president of the club, Mrs Deepak Bengali, informed that the club had been undertaking various social service projects. Last year a fete was organised and Rs 55000 were collected to create a corpus fund of the club in order to generate income to help the poor children, destitute women and older people.

vaccination camp: Lions Club, Ludhiana North, in collaboration with Santa Biotechnic of Hyderabad, organised a vaccination camp against Hepatitis-B in Bagga Hospital, Urban Estate, Dugri in the city on Saturday. The zone chairman of the club Mr Jatinder Pal Singh Saluja, informed that there was an enthusiastic response from public which came in large numbers to get there children vaccinated against the dreaded disease. The manufacturer had provided the vaccine at subsidized rates and the benefit was passed on to the people. Besides senior officers of the company, Dr Bagga, Mr G.S. Bansal, Mr S.P. Shahpuri, Mr K.S. Bawa, Mr Gurwinder Singh, Mrs Dapinder Kaur and Mrs Kuljit Kaur were present at the camp.

Petitions: The board of the Ludhiana Stock Exchange (LSE) has decided to file winding up petitions against those companies who had failed to pay their listing fee despite repeated reminders and notices. Presently, the action is being taken against those companies whose arrears are in excess of Rs 2 lakh. Mr H.S. Sidhu, General Manager and Company Secretary of the LSE in a press note on Saturday informed that petitions were filed against 15 companies, which included Oswal Spinning and Weaving Limited (Rs 2,24,000), Usha India Limited (Rs 8,25,150), Oswal Chemicals and Fertilizers (Rs 4,81,600), Arihant Cotsyn Limited (Rs 3,36,000). The other defaulting companies are Asian Alloys Limited, AVI Exports India Ltd., Cepham Milk Specialities, Diamond Agro Inds, Krishana Engineering Works, Majestic Inds. Ltd., Mukerian Papers, Rom Industries, Spic Organics, United Diamonds and Vee Kay Fibres Limited. Mr Sidhu pointed out that the LSE had earlier filed a winding up petition against Harpreet Steel Limited which had not paid annual listing fee for four consecutive years amounting to Rs 4,06,000. However, later on the company agreed to pay the entire amount in 10 equal installments.

condemned: A senior Youth Congress leader and former secretary of Punjab Youth Congress, Mr Sukhwant Singh Dugri, has taken strong exception to the plea made by the Punjab Finance Minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh that the government should provide subsidy to paddy and wheat producers while the price for the food grain might be fixed at Rs 400 per quintal. Mr Dugri, in a statement here, on Saturday, lashed out at the Finance Minister, saying the remarks amply projected the pathetic plight the farming community was doomed to face in days to come, apart from indirectly paving the way for implementation of GATT and WTO regime. He said rather than towing the line of the centre to the utter ruination of farmers, the Punjab Government should come forward to safeguard the interests of the peasantry. He further rued that more than 75 per cent of Punjab farmers, whose land holdings did not exceed 5 to 7 hectares, would not be able to survive in the near future when the farming sector stood open to global players and developed countries. Even now, a large number of debt ridden farmers were forced to sell their tractors, farm machinery and cattle heads, while some others had to resort to suicides. The YC activist condemned the proposed 5 paise per unit cess on electricity. He said the state government had given an undertaking to the people at the time of power tariff hike in July this year that there would be no upward revision for quite some time in the future. But going back on its word, the Punjab State Electricity Board had, once again, come out with yet another increase in power rates, putting more burden on the hapless consumers.

camp held: The Democratic Employment Front, Ludhiana, organised a trade union schooling camp at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Jawahar Nagar, here on Saturday. During the camp, discussions were held on various challenges being faced by the employed class, present scenario of the employees’ movement and changes necessary to streamline the movement. Mr Harbhajan Singh Deol, chairman, Linguistic Minorities Commission, was the chief guest. Mr Sukhdarshan Natt, general secretary of the front, Mr Ramanjit Sandhu from the Elementary Teachers’ Union, Mr Davinder Chahal of the Workshop Workers’ Union were also present.

best athletes: National player Divya Dhanda was adjudged as the best athlete in the annual athletics meet of Sacred Heart Convent School, Sarbha Nagar, here on Saturday. Divya clinched the gold in the long jump, high jump, 100m, 200m, 100m hurdle and 4x400m relay events. Sachin Dhanda, brother of Divya, was crowned as best athlete in the boys section. Sachin clinched two golds in the long jump and 100m. Green House was declared as the best while Red and Gold remained the first and second runners up, respectively.

MOGA
ARRESTED: Som Dutt Gupta, resident of Civil Lines here, was arrested on Thursday for being in possession of a scooter stolen a few days ago. He is member of a gang that operates in this town, according to SSP, here at a press conference here on Friday.

THEFT: Gurditta Mal, a resident of the Civil Lines area, was arrested on Saturday following the recovery of a stolen scooter from his possession. He has reportedly confessed to the crime.

SEWA BHARATI: As many as 131 persons in this district have regained their vision following operations organised here by the Sewa Bharati during the current year, the general secretary, of the association, Mr Vishva Mitter Dada, said on Saturday.

GANG BUSTED: The district police claims to have busted a gang which had committed robberies three days ago in different parts of the town. Cash and gold ornaments have been recovered, the SSP said on Saturday. Some weapons were also recovered.

NAWANSHAHR
AIDS AWARENESS PROGRAMME: The SCERT and NSS unit of the local Government Senior Secondary School jointly organised an AIDS awareness programme in the school premises here on Friday. Mr Gurmail Singh Sahlon, principal of the school, presided over the programme.

PROTEST MARCH: The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU) would organise a protest march from the local R.K. Arya College to the DC office and held a dharna and rally there on Monday to press the state government to implement the already accepted demands which include release of pension-cum-gratuity payment and salary grant. Privately-managed government-aided colleges of Nawanshahr, Banga, Phagwara, Garhshankar, Mahilpur, Hoshiarpur, Hariana and Bullowal would take part in the rally, said Mr G.S. Sandhu, District President, PCCTU, here on Friday.

SANGRUR
INAUGURATED: Mr Ranjit Singh Ballian, Punjab’s Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, on Friday, inaugurated building of the office of District Transport Officer (DTO), built at a cost of Rs 7.5 lakh, in the District Administrative Complex here . Mr Ballian also announced a grant of Rs 50,000 for the building of DTO’s office.

CHANDIGARH

MEETING: In an urgent meeting organised by the Punjab Board Corporation Employees Maha Sangh held in Udyog Bhavan, Sector 17, here on Saturday, the indifferent attitude of the Punjab Government towards the demands of the Punwire employees, who are fast for the last six months, was condemned. Giving this information Mr K Sivadasan, Secretary of the maha sangh said to press the government for the fulfilment of demands, a protest march will be organised from the Udyog Bhavan to the Secretariat on December 20. Representatives of the affiliated organisations including PSIEC, Markfed, Co-operative Bank, Tudwel Corporation and Scheduled Caste Corporation attended the meeting.

Polio awareness rally: The Citizen Awareness Group in collaboration with the Family Welfare Bureau organised a polio awareness rally in Government High School, sector 40- A, here on Saturday. About 500 students carrying banners chanted slogans for the eradication of polio. Mr M.P. Manovha, chief guest, flagged off the rally. Earlier, Mr Surinder Verma, Chairman of the Citizen Awareness group, made an appeal to the students to bring maximum number of children at the polio centres. Mr Bahadur Singh, Principal of the school, welcomed the chief guest.

launched: To put together the best of Indian prime minds for the first time on television, Jain TV launched a programme called Prime Biz on giving this information Mr J. M. Phutela, In charge of the North Western states, here on Saturday, said the programme will include discussions on topics like advertising, marketing, consumer rights, finance, investments, careers and management. The programme will be telecast from Monday to Friday, he added.

Pulse polio drive: The Rotaract Club in collaboration with the NSS unit of Punjab Engineering College organised a rally to generate awareness about the need to eradicate polio, here on Saturday. The rally which covered Sectors 11, 15, 16, 23, 24, 25 and Kumhar Colony, terminated at Matka Chowk . A lecture on polio was also organised by the club on this occasion.

polio campaign: Ms Vinita Rai, Adviser to the Administrator, Chandigarh, kicked off the polio campaign with the representatives of the UT Health Department and the Rotarians from her residence here on Saturday. Ms Rai also administered polio drops to the children. All the five clubs of Chandigarh including Rotary Club of Chandigarh, Chandigarh Midtown, Chandigarh Central, Chandigarh Shivalik and Chandigarh Plaza took part in the campaign.

elected: During an executive meeting of the Chandigarh Public Health Worker Union (Meter Section) held under the chairmanship of Mr Bikaramjit Sharma here on Saturday following have been elected the office-bearers of the union; President — Mr Ram Nath, Sr. Vice President — Mr Balbir Singh, Vice President — Mr Rajinder Singh, General Secretary — Mr Avtar Singh, Secretary — Mr Janak Raj and Joint Secretary — Mr Sham Lal.

treatment camp: A week-long yoga and ayurvedic treatment camp is being organised at Sh Dhanwantry Ayurvedic College and Hospital, Sector 46-B, from December 10 to December 17. During this camp, Mr Balwinder Kumar, lecturer in yoga, will provide lessons on yoga asanas, Pranayam, yogic relaxation and meditation for the physical, mental and spiritual development of the participants. During this camp, doctors and experts in the field of ayurveda and naturopathy will also provide tips on good health.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Entry stopped: The Executive Officer of Municipal Council, Ambala city, Mr A. Kumar, said on Saturday that on the directions of the Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, the entry of heavy vehicles has been banned at seven places during the day from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The places where entry has been banned includes Jagadhari Gate Patel Road, Old Civil Hospital Chowk, Chowki no. 4, Manji Sahab Gurdwara Chowk, Shukl Kund Road near local bus stand, Jain college road Chowk and Meera chowk near railway station. Six places have been temporarily identified for the parking of vehicles in town. The places include in front of TB hospital, in front of old Civil Hospital, in front of bus stand, Ghas Mandi, behind Kotwali police station and near old Anaj Mandi gurdwara.

Computer training: The officers of the district administration, Ambala, will undergo computer training for a period of ten days. The Deputy Commissioner of Ambala, Mr D. D. Gautam, while presiding over a meeting held in Panchayat Bhavan, said the training period could be extended from 10 days to 15 days depending upon the need. The training will commence from December 8 and will be imparted free of cost by the Tata company, Ambala Cantonment, a release said.

open on Sunday: For the convenience of the people, all the head post offices in Haryana will remain open on Sunday even as the strike by postal employees entered the fifth day on Saturday. Today more than 600 post offices in rural areas of the state were covered by hiring vehicles. “During this process, facility of clearance of letter boxes, sale of stamps and stationary has been provided to the rural population served by post offices visited,” a release issued by the Chief Post Master General, Haryana Circle, Mr T. R. Sharma said. The dak meant for the post offices and attached villages has been arranged to be delivered either by the officials accompanying the vehicles or through the sarpanch gram panchayat, of the village visited. Efforts are being made to cover the remaining rural post offices within the next couple of days, the release added.

‘Personality development: The women cell of the SD College, Ambala Cantonment, organised a talk for students on personality development in the 21st century on Friday. Delivering the talk, Dr Sushil Kansal of the Department of English, stressed on the need for developing appropriate skills, making positive attitudinal changes and increasing one’s knowledge in every field of human activity. He spoke at length on topics including communication skills, time management, assertiveness, team and confidence building. Speaking on the occasion, the Principal of the college, Dr Desh Bandhu, said the college was planning to start a one-year certificate course in computer applications. He said during the summer vacation, a number of need-based hobby courses including a course on personality development shall be organised.

Film shows for children: Six films for children, produced by the Children Film Society of India, will be shown in theatres here. The Deputy Commissioner of Ambala, Mr D. D. Gautam, said the CFSI has recently produced six films — Malli, Kabhi Pass Kabhi Fail, The Goal, Ek Ajooba, Pehle Aap and Nandan. He said each theatre will hold one show daily for a continuous period of six to seven days. The film shows will be held simultaneously at all the cinema houses, a release said. Mr Gautam said the District Education Officers will fix up the convenient dates for the film shows and will also arrange date wise and theatre wise allotment. The CFSI will supply one film programme of about two hours duration for screening at each theatre.

Separated families meet: A meeting of Army separated families of Ambala Cantonment, presided over by Lt Col (Mrs) Shashi Prasad, wife of Station Commander, was held here on Saturday. Col Suresh Gupta, Station Staff Officer, Ambala Cantonment, and other officers including that of MES staff, concerned with separated families accommodation were present during the meet. A total of 250 separated families of officers, junior commissioned officer and other ranks attended the meet. An officer said certain essential points were conveyed to all women regarding their welfare as well as conduct. Thereafter, informal discussion was held and all the problems and difficulties faced by the separated families were discussed. Most of the difficulties were solved on the spot and remaining were noted for the future action.

BHIWANI
ADMITTED: Bijender, one of the two injured in a motorcycle accident which took place here at Rohtak gate on Thursday, has been referred to Pt B.D. Medical College, Rohtak. The other injured Roshan Lal (22) has been admitted to the Civil Hospital here.

NOMINATED: Mr Surender Jain, president of the Annuvrata Samiti, Haryana, has been nominated member of the mahasamiti constituted for the celebrations of the 2600th birth mahotsav of Lord Mahavira. The committee will organise a number of functions from April 6, 2001 to April 6, 2002.

SONEPAT
OPEN DARBAR: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Sudhir Rajpal, received as many as 81 complaints at an open darbar held here on Friday. The Deputy Commissioner directed the authorities concerned to dispose of the complaints on priority basis.

TWO HELD: Raju of Mohalla Kalan and Sohan Lal of Kot Mohalla were arrested on Saturday for gambling. A case has been registered against them, the SP said.

GRAM SAMITIS: The district administration has set up 159 gram vikas samitis in rural areas of this district, the Deputy Commissioner said here on Saturday. The block-wise samitis constituted are — Sonepat (39), Ganaur (34), Kharkhauda (30), Rai (22), Mundlana (14), Gohana (13) and Kathura (7).

STRIKE: The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), Haryana unit, has decided to extend support to the proposed nationwide strike on Tuesday in protest against privatisation, Mr S.N. Solanki, president of the state unit of the union, said here on Saturday.

SEIZED: Officials of the Excise Department impounded a truck on the Kharkhauda-Bahadurgarh road, 25 km from here, on Friday and seized 58,000 pouches of liquor worth Rs 10 lakh. Narinder, truck driver from Amritsar, has been arrested.

RAIDED: On the directive of the Deputy Commissioner, officials of the local municipal council conducted a raid on a marble factory in Sikka Colony and sealed it on Friday. According to official sources, the owner of the factory was running his business without a licence.

SUICIDES: Surinder, a driver with the DTC, reportedly committed suicide by consuming an insecticide in his house at Khewra village, 13 km from here, on Friday. A dispute with his colleagues is reported to be the cause of the suicide. According to another report, a young housewife allegedly tried to commit suicide at her house in Chitana village, 8 km from here, on Friday. She has been hospitalised and her condition is stated to be serious.