The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sunday, March 4, 2001,
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

BALACHAUR
DOWRY CASE: The Balachaur police has registered a dowry case against Sital Singh of Mojowal Majara village in the subdivision on the complaint of his wife Manjit Kaur of Parowal village in Garhshankar. Sital Singh was produced before the SDM, Mr Jai Karan Mattu, on Thursday.

HOSHIARPUR
CITU DHARNA: Members of the district unit of the CITU led by Mr Gurmesh Singh, Mr Amarjit Singh, Mr Ganga Parshad, Mr Ajit Singh and Mr Mohinder Singh staged a dharna in front of the district courts here on Friday in protest against the WTO and GATT agreements, due to which lakhs of industrial units in the country have been forced to close. They presented a charter of demands to the President of India through the Deputy Commissioner, Hoshiarpur.

DRAFT SENT: The district administration has sent a bank draft of Rs 21 lakh to Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, Punjab, for the earthquake victims of Gujarat on Friday. Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner, Hoshiarpur, said various philanthropists and voluntary organisations of the district contributed to the collection.

BAN IMPOSED: Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, District Magistrate, Hoshiarpur, has reimposed Section 144 Cr PC in the district till April 26. He has banned the assembly of five or more than five persons, shouting of slogans, carrying of fire and sharp-edged weapons and taking out procession in public places.

KHAMANO
INCREASE RANGE: The demand for widening the range of power transformer at PSEB, Khamano, is being raised by the people of this area for a long time, but nothing has been done in this connection. Stating this kisan leaders Bhinder Singh Ranwan, Sarpanch Ravinder Singh Manela and Balvir Singh Nambardar also alleged that a large number of villages of this area had remitted required money for 24-hour supply of electricity but no village had got it till now. They also alleged that the brakers fitted at branch Khamano are working for the last 24 years and are outdated. They said the power supply was often disrupted due to this mostly in this paddy season.

KHANNA
KISAN CAMP: A kisan credit card and animal check up camp was organised by Canara Bank in association with National Insurance Company at Bhamdi village, 10 km from here, on Saturday. 85 kisan credit cards were distributed to the farmers at the camp. More than 100 animals were also checked up in the camp and medicines were given free of cost. The camp was inaugurated by Mr Balbir Chand, Divisional Manager, Canara Bank, Mr J.S. Bhandal, Manager, Canara Bank, Khanna, Mr Ashok Dhand, Manager National Insurance Company and Mr Ram Mohan Puri were among the prominent speakers on the occasion.

KHARAR
KANSHI'S BIRTHDAY: The Bahujan Samaj Party had decided to celebrate the birthday of Mr Kanshi Ram, the BSP chief, by organising a rally in Ludhiana on March 15. This was disclosed by Mr Maan Singh Manheda, Secretary, BSP Punjab, on Saturday. He said the BSP would release its menifesto for the coming Punjab Assembly elections soon. He said that the party would launch an agitation against forcible possession of land in towns and villages.

LUDHIANA
SHO SUSPENDED: The SHO of the Sahnewal Police Station, Mr Raj Balwinder Singh, has reportedly been placed under suspension with immediate effect. The orders to this effect were issued on Friday. Although the reasons for his suspension could not be known, the orders were issued reportedly on the basis of some old enquiry pending against him. Meanwhile, in a minor reshuffle the SHO Focal Point, Mr Balwinder Singh Sekhon, was transferred to the Economic Offences Wing. In charge of the EO Santokh Singh has been posted as SHO Focal Point.

MACHHIWARA
MEETING: To reactivate, the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh, a non-political organisation, a meeting will be held at Janjh ghar, Machhiwara, at 11 O’ clock on March 4 under the chairmanship of Mr Ram Kishan Thakur, the state president. Mr Pawan Sharma Sihala, the district president, told that the globalisation process and farmers would on the agenda.

EYE CAMP: A free eye operation camp is being organised by the Malwa Welfare Club, Machhiwara, at Primary Health Unit Machhiwara on March 12, 13. On the first day the patients will be checked up and the next day, they will be operated upon.

MALERKOTLA
CRITICISED: Mr Raminder Singh Patiala, president of the Punjab Students Union, has criticised the state government for its “anti-student” policies. Addressing a meeting of the union at Ghanori Kalan village, he blamed the Badal government for making education costlier and flayed its policy regarding the fee structure in schools and colleges.

ROAD MISHAP: Gurjeevan Singh (23) of Patran village was killed and four persons were seriously injured when the car in which they were travelling collided with a jeep at Rotalan village, 4 km from here. The injured were rushed to Civil Hospital, Malerkotla, and later referred to CMC, Ludhiana.

MANSA
WOMAN KILLED: A woman was killed and nine persons were injured, two of them critically, when a jeep collided with a tractor-trailer on Friday near Kotra village on the Mansa-Bhikhi road. The jeep carrying 19 passengers was on its way to Sunam in Sangrur district when the accident occurred. The injured were admitted to a hospital.

NAWANSHAHR
QUAKE RELIEF: The Lions Clubs City Smile and Banga Mehak handed over Rs 11,000, 300 blankets, 500 suits and some bedsheets for the Gujarat earthquake victims to Mr Kuldip Singh, district governor, Lions Club (321-D) at a function organised at Banga, about 13 km from here, on Saturday.

BLOOD DONATION CAMP: Shivalik Agro Chemicals, Chandigarh, organised a blood donation camp at Anand Seeds and Nursery Farm, on Friday. Mrs Parneet Kaur, wife of Mr Adesh Partap Singh Kairon, Excise and Taxation Minister, inaugurated the camp. This was stated by Mr Tarlok Singh Sethi, organiser of the camp.

PATIALA
INCREMENT SOUGHT: Employees of the Club Karamchari Union, at a meeting here, have urged that their demands are not being met. The union head, Mr Panna Lal, said the demands included 10 per cent annual increment, workshop dresses, minimum wages and permanent allotment of temporary workers.

SCHOOL DONATES: Rs 20,000 has been donated by the Principal, staff and students of Lucky Modern High School and Lucky Public School for the Gujarat Earthquake Relief Fund.

PHAGWARA
GRANTS: Various grants, amounting to Rs 19.54 crore, have been released by the government for non-government aided colleges. This was stated on Friday by Prof Charanjit Chawla, general secretary, Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union.

SAHNEWAL
RURAL SPORTS: Baba Mahima Shahi Annual Sports of Lopon village would be held on March 8, 9, 10 and 11. Mahant Mohinder Singh, the chief sewadar of Baba Mahima Shahi Society told that the diwans of sants and langar would be arranged on the occasion. The main events of the sports meet would include bullock-cart races, kabaddi 32, 37, 42 52 kg and kabaddi club. The first club would be awarded Rs 7,100, second would be awarded Rs 5,100. Prizes will be distributed by Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, member Rajya Sabha and Mr Sukhdev Singh Libra, Member Parliament. this information was released by Mr Sukhjinder Pal Singh, club president and Mr Inderjit Singh, Sarpanch, Lopon.

SAMRALA
KNIFE SEIZED: The local police has recovered an illegal knife during nakabandi from Raghbir Singh a resident of Bondli village and a case has been registered. Mr Sushil Kumar, DSP, Samrala said the knife was recovered by the SHO, Gulzar Singh.

ZIRAKPUR
OFFICE BEARERS: The following have been elected the office-bearers of the Harmilap Nagar ward of Bartana village: President — Mr K.K. Verma; Vice-President — Mr Surinder Syal; Secretary — Mr K.P. Singh; and Mr Naginder Singh, Mr B.K. Singh and Mr Kishan Nath executive members.

CHANDIGARH

PRIZE DISTRIBUTION: The annual prize distribution ceremony (academic) of the PU Department of Correspondence Studies will be organised on Monday, according to a press note issued here. Top three position holders, besides winners of essay, short-story and poetry-writing contests will receive the prizes.

MR HOSTEL: Varun Jain of the local DAV College was chosen Mr Hostel at the annual-day celebrations of the college hostel here. In a colourful function organised by the students council on Saturday hostel inmates presented a variety of songs, dances and mimicry items. Ravi and his group played mouth organ, while Tejinder, Sachin and Santa sang songs in English and Punjabi. The principal, in his speech, wished students good luck. From the four finalists — Amit, Nagendra, Tariq and Varun — the panel of judges, including Ms Jaishree Roy, Prof Dinesh Talwar and Prof S.K. Khanna, chose Varun Mr Hostel. More than 100 residents of the hostel also received prizes from the Vice-Principal of the college. The BTC hostel was declared overall best in the inter-hostel sport competitions. Rohit and Kunal were comperes. “The highlight of the function was the DJ system installed for dinner and dance,” said Nishu Dubey and Gurpreet Brar, both of the students council of the college.

HOLI MILAN: The Purvanchal Welfare Association of Chandigarh will organise Holi Milan Samaroh here on Sunday in the Sector 46 Government Model Senior Secondary School. The Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University, Prof K.N. Pathak, will be the chief guest on the occasion. The Director of the CSIO, Mr R.P. Bajpai, the Joint Finance Secretary of Chandigarh, Mr K.A.P. Sinha, and the Chairperson of the Social Welfare Advisory Board of Chandigarh, Ms Kamla Sharma, will also participate in the samaroh.

MC POLL: The Chandigarh Nationalist Congress Party will contest the forthcoming elections of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) independently. This was stated here by Mr Gurbachan Singh, party chief, after a meeting with the National General Secretary of party, Mr Tariq Anwer, in Delhi. Mr Gurbachan Singh had met Mr Anwer in connection with the Kisan rally to be organised in Delhi this month. The sub-election committees will be formed soon, following which, the election campaign will begin in colonies and villages here.

HARYANA

AMBALA
RELAY RACE: SD College women relay race team consisting of Mala, Radha, Sonika, Anuradha. Sarala and Rashmi has won the KU (women) relay race championship second year in running. The team has won all the six races - 4 x 100 metre, 4 x 200 metre, 4 x 400 metre, 4 x 800 metre, 4 x 1600 metre and medley relay. The team bagged a total of 24 gold medals, securing sixty points in the championship held at the KU grounds.

HELP NEEDED: Mr I.S. Joginder Singh a resident of Brout village near Ladwa, who is suffering from cancer, has sought financial assistance for treatment. Mr Joginder Singh has been dignosed with “deposits of lymphomanus pathology (NHL) ” and he is being treated in Rajindra Hospital, Patiala. The total cost of 12 doses will be about Rs 72,000. “I was dependent on my daily labour work, but had to stop due to my illness. I am not in a position to afford costly treatment,” he said in a press note issued here.

TEACHERS’ ORGANISATION: The Haryana Rajkya Adhyapak Sangharsh Samiti was formed at a meeting of different teachers organisation in Kurukshetra. Mr K.K. Joshi, president of the Haryana Rajkiya Adhyapak Sangh, said the body would hold demonstrations in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office and submit a memorandum to him. He said that if the government did not consider their demands, a state-level rally would be held in Rohtak on April 29 where these demands of teachers would be raised.

BUDGET CRITICISED: A gate meeting was held here by the Sarv Karamchari Sangh of Haryana to protest against the government. The gate meeting was addressed by Mahavir Dahiya. He said workers had been specially targetted in the Union Budget and the reduction in the interest rates had adversely affected the salaried class. He said the government had promised an increase in employment, but the downsizing of the government had led to more unemployment.

CONG RALLY: A meeting of the District Congress Committee (urban) was held under the chairmanship of its Vice-President, Mr Ashok Jain, where the role of activists in the rally being organised by Mr Bhajan Lal was discussed. Councillor Mr Hira Lal Yadav, demanded that the Ambala Cantt MLA, Mr Anil Vij, should make his position on the increase in taxes clear. He said there had been an increase in power tariff, minimum electricity charges and the house tax that had affected the common man. Two minutes of silence was observed to mourn the death of councellor Sanjiv Kumar. Mr Shyam Manchanda, Mr Darshanlal Dua and Mr Narendra Pal were also present at the meeting.

CONVOCATION DATE: The joint convocation function of SA Jain postgraduate college and the AIMT of Ambala will be held on March 11. According to the principal of the college, the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Mr Suraj Bhan will be the chief guest on this occasion.

GAME SHOW: The Postgraduate Department of Economics of SA Jain College of Ambala organised a game show, Kaun Banega Hajarpati here on Saturday to create an interest in current affairs among students. Mr Mukesh Sahgal, Deputy Director of the AIMT, was the chief guest. Ms Suman Luthra conducted the quiz.

NARNAUL
GUJARAT RELIEF: The Narnaul Mechanic and Spare Parts Association has contributed Rs 51,000 to Gujarat earthquake victims. The Yadav Kalyan Sabha, Narnaul, has contributed Rs 11,000 to the Gujarat Earthquake Relief Fund.

SONEPAT
SHOT DEAD: A youth reportedly shot dead his grandfather, Dharam Singh, at his house in Ganaur, 16 km from here, on Friday. The Ganaur police has registered a case against the youth.

MEDICAL CAMP: Dr Savita Ranjan, in charge of Jawaharlal Nehru Community Health Centre, Badkhalsa village, examined 117 patients at a medical camp organised at Palri Kalan village, about 15 km from here, on Friday. The patients were provided medicines free of cost at the camp.

DISPOSED OF: The local Jagriti Manch disposed of four out of the 14 family dispute cases heard at a meeting here on Friday.

MEMORANDUM: Representatives of various farmers organisations on Saturday sent a memorandum to Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala demanding a high-level probe into farmers’ complaints about the alleged bungling of public funds meant for desilting and deweeding of canal in the district.

STOLEN: Currency worth Rs 20,000 was stolen from the boot of a motor cycle parked in front of Shiv park on the railway road at Ganaur town, 16 km from here, on Friday. According to a report , the owner of the motor cycle, Subhash of Garhi Jhinjhara village, parked his vehicle and went to purchase goods from the market. When he returned, he found the currency stolen.

SUICIDE ATTEMPT: A young woman reportedly attempted suicide by consuming insecticide tablets at her house in Chhatehra Majra village, about 10 km from here, on Friday, following a quarrel with her husband. According to a report, she was immediately hospitalised . Her condition is stated to be serious.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the legal cell of the Haryana BJP executive committee: vice-presidents — Mr Nardev Sharma and Mr Rajpal Suhag; general secretary — Mr Vijay Pal; secretaries — Mr Mukesh Sharma and Ms Savitri Devi; and treasurer — Mr Jagan Nath Mittal.

ERRORS: As many as 58 errors were detected in the Sanskrit question paper for Class IX students of government schools in the district and elsewhere in the annual examination held on Friday.

CLASH: Two youths sustained injuries when they clashed with each other at Salimsar Majra village, about 15 km from here, on Friday. Both were hospitalised.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

KUMARHATTI
TWO INJURED: Two persons were injured when the car in which they were travelling collided head-on with an Army truck near Koti on the Kalka-Shimla national highway, about 16 km from here, on Friday. According to the police, the car was damaged badly while its occupants, K.L. Juneja and Kulwant, the driver, sustained minor injuries. The driver of the Army truck reportedly fled the scene. A case has been registered.

LOW VOLTAGE: Residents of Dhillon, Anji and Roundan Ghuron villages under Barog panchayat have complained of low voltage, especially during the evening hours. They have alleged that their efforts to draw the attention of the Electricity Department to the problem have been in vain.

PARWANOO
QUAKE RELIEF: Employees of Gabrial India Ltd and Purolator India Ltd have donated their one-day salary for the Gujarat Earthquake Relief Fund. According to Mr Sansar Chand, manager of the local Anand Welfare Centre, a cheque for Rs 65000 would be handed over to the local Parwanoo Industries Association and deposited in the Gujarat Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. He said a cheque for equal amount from the employer’s side hadbbeen sent to the Anand Corporate Services office in Delhi from where the donation would be sent to Gujarat.

NAGAR PARISHAD: The oath ceremony for the newly nominated members of the Nagar Parishad of this town will be held on March 7 in the Nagar Parishad Office. According to Mr Sanjay Sharma, Assistant Commissioner of Parwanoo, three new members, who are residents of this town, have been nominated by the Himachal Government. The members are Mr Samer Chaudhary, Mr Bagria and Mr Kaul.

SHIMLA
HPMC ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the HPMC Officers Association: president — Mr R.M. Sood; senior vice-president — Mr G.S. Thakur; vice-president — Mr R.S. Chauhan; general secretary — Mr H.C. Chauhan; joint secretary — Mr H.S. Guleria; press secretary — Mr L.D. Sharma; and treasurer — Mr S.S. Chauhan.