The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sunday, March 25, 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

ABOHAR
NABBED: A proclaimed offender who has been facing trial since 1990 in connection with alleged recovery of an illicit weapon and stolen goods from him was nabbed by the police from Bathinda on Thursday.

POPPY HUSK SEIZED: Mr Nishan Singh, SHO, Railway Police, nabbed Jaswant Rai of Shahbad Markanda while he was boarding a train for Ambala here on Thursday and seized 4.5 kg of poppy husk from him. A local court remanded the culprit in the judicial custody.

AMRITSAR
ARRESTED: The local police arrested two persons, Manjit Singh and Bhupinder Singh, on Friday at the Chabal area and seized 1 kg of opium each from them, according to Mr Amit Prasad, SP (City).

BATHINDA
YOUTH SHSAD: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Kotfatta circle of youth wing of the SHSAD: president — Mr Ajit Pal Singh Kotfatta; senior vice-president — Mr Varinder Singh; vice-presidents — Mr Gurjant Singh and Mr Gurpreet Singh; general secretary — Mr Jatinder Singh; and treasurer — Mr Kashmir Singh.

PWD WORKERS: The PWD Field and Workshop Workers Union will stage a dharna on March 29 in front of office of the Superintendent Engineer of the Sewerage Board for pressing the authorities to implement orders of the state government in which it had stated that the services of those daily-wage employees be made regular who have served for three years. This was stated here on Thursday in a press note issued by the union.

PHARMACIST UNION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Veterinary Pharmacist Association, Bathinda: president — Mr Jagvinder Singh; vice-president — Mr Bikker Singh; treasurer — Mr Surinder Pal Bhinder; organising secretary — Mr Chinder Singh Dhillon; and press secretary — Mr Jaswinder Singh.

TRIBUTES PAID: The city committee of the Communist Party of India (CPI), on Friday paid tributes to Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev. Mr Joginder Singh Bhasin, state executive, CPI, garlanded the statue of Bhagat Singh.

DERA BASSI
POLICE-PUBLIC MEET: To make the people aware of the traffic rules, the police organised a police-public meet, here on Saturday. While interacting with public, Mr. Harcharan Singh Bhullar, DSP of the Dera Bassi police, appealed the gathering to handle monetary transactions vigilantly. The religious institutions were asked to play the loudspeakers at slow volume. Strict action would be taken against the violators. Mr Bhullar also asked the industrialists and residents to submit particulars of their workers and tenants with the nearest police stations. He advised the officials of the local Truck Union to conduct regular eye check-up camps for drivers. The DSP asked the residents to hold thikari pehras regularly. He said that night patrolling would be intensified in the villages of the subdivision. He warned ‘‘helpers’’ against gathering outside the examinations centres to help their friends in coping. Those found gathered outside these centres would be booked under Section 188 of the IPC.

GURDASPUR
TRUCK RECOVERED: The police on Friday arrested an inter-state highway robber and recovered a truck from him. According to Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, the accused Sarmukh Singh of Talwandi Shoba Singh village in Amritsar district had stolen the truck from near Delhi.

HOSHIARPUR
LOOTED: Four robbers armed with iron rods attacked a dera of eunuchs at Hajipur town on Wednesday and took away Rs 32,000 and gold ornaments. A case has been registered.

MEDICAL UNION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local unit of the Indian Medical Association: president — Dr S.N. Tiwari; senior vice-president — Dr Rajinder Sharma; secretary — Dr B.S. Ahuja; and treasurer — Dr Arun Tugniyat.

JAGRAON
SEMINAR: The Nehru Youth Centre, Ludhiana unit, organised a seminar at the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET), Jagraon, to highlight the harmful effects of drugs on the youth. The seminar was attended by about 200 ETT students. Mr Baldev Singh, a Lecturer in English (DIET), explained how drugs created an illusion of well-being. He said these were used by the people who lacked any aim or had fallen in bad company. The students of the institute, Ravneet, Yuvray, Renu, Avtar and Amandeep, brought home the idea of mental and physical loss due to the use of drugs, through a play ‘Another death’. The DIET, Principal, Mr Jagjit Singh, also gave the message of drug-free life. Mr Balbir Singh, in charge, gave away the mementoes to the distinguished speakers and students and thanked the DIET administration.

GIRL ABDUCTED: A 14-year-old girl, Balbir Kaur, was allegedly abducted by Pritpal Singh son of Basant Singh along with two other persons of the same village. Mr Ajit Singh, father of the girl, has stated before the police that his daughter has been allured on the pretext of marriage by the accused and in spite of his best efforts, he could not trace her. A case under Sections 363, 366 of the IPC has been registered at Sidhwan Bet police station.

EYE CAMP: The Rotary Club is going to organise a free eye operation and check-up camp at the Civil Hospital on Tuesday. The patients will also be provided free medicines on the occasion. Dr H.S. Sandhu, eye surgeon, will operate upon the patients.

KAPURTHALA
POPPY SEIZED: The district police has arrested two persons and seized six bags of poppy weighing 6.30 quintal from a truck at Dayalpur village under Subhanpur police station, according to Mr Iqbal Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police. The arrested persons have been identified as Jaspal Singh and Parshotam Dass.

MARTYRDOM DAY: The Martyrdom Day of Shahid Bhagat Singh was observed by students of the local Saint Soldier Senior Secondary Public School on Friday. Mr Milkhi Ram Rattan, a Congress leader, presided over the function.

LUDHIANA
HOMAGE: Several social, religious, political and industrial organisations have condoled the death of Mr Tara Singh, chairman of the Vishwakarma Group of Industries, who passed away on March 16. Paying tributes to him the representatives of these organisations said with his death the city had lost an industrialist with a vision who made outstanding contribution towards the industrial growth of the country. The bhog ceremony will be held on Sunday at Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Model Town at 2 p.m.

PHOTO-EXHIBITION: To mark the silver jubilee of Tagore Vidya Mandir, a photo-exhibition was organised here on Saturday in which more than 500 photographs highlighting achievements of Nek Chand, Kirpal Singh and others were displayed. Mr Gurbhajan Gill and Mr Kulwant Jagraon, poets, were present on the occasion. Mr Malkiat Singh Aulakh, honorary director of the school, said that district-level cultural contests would be held in the school from Sunday.

MANSA
OFFICE BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Medical Practitioners Association Budhlada: president — Dr Raghbir Singh; vice-president — Dr Nachtar Singh Sekhon; general secretary — Dr Gian Singh; joint secretary — Dr Mahesh Kumar and treasurer — Dr Pawan Jain.

RALLY: More than 2,000 members of the District Congress Committee took out a procession at Baran Hatan Chowk here on Friday raising slogans against the Union Government. They demanded that the government at the Centre should step down in view of the exposure by the tehelka.com.

BLOOD DONATION: The Mansa Milk Dairy Union organised a blood donation camp at Gaushala Bhawan here on Friday. The camp was inaugurated by Ms Raji P. Shirivastava, Deputy Commissioner, Mansa. About 22 persons donated blood.

ROPAR
KISAN CREDIT CARDS: On the instructions from the Reserve Bank of India, the Kisan Credit Card programme has been launched in Ropar, under which Rs 29 crore would be given to farmers against credit cards in the current financial year. The Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, Mr G.S. Grewal, stated this at a function organised by Uco Bank to distribute the credit cards among farmers at Ambedkar Bhavan on Thursday.

SAMRALA
TRIBUTES PAID: Rich tributes were paid to Gautam Kumar, ex vice-principal of the local ITI, at his native village of Rajewal, near here, on Saturday. Mr Gautam died after he was injured in a road accident on Friday. His wife who was ill, also died after hearing the news, on the same day. Mr Bhupinder Singh Benipal, former chairman of the Block Samiti, highlighted the services of Mr Gautam and his wife.

INCOME TAX : The awareness camp organised by the Income Tax Department at Samrala and Machhiwara got a good response. This was stated by the ITO, B.S. Chauhan, and Mr Karnail Singh, here on Saturday. Mr Chauhan said that more than 450 persons submitted their income tax returns at the camp. Both the officers thanked Mr Anil Sood, president of the Nagar Council, Mr Naresh Aggarwal, an advocate, and Mr Gambhir for their cooperation.

SANGRUR
LIQUOR VENDS: Liquor vends were auctioned for the year 2001-2002 for Rs 90.74 crore in Sangrur district (except liquor vends of Barnala circle) here on Thursday. The auction of Barnala circle liquor vends with licence fee of Rs 10.45 crore was kept pending.

MEDICAL CAMP: Launching its diabetes detection drive here on Friday, the local Lions club organised a camp at the Mandir Sri Naina Devi complex. Nearly 125 persons were examined for diabetes at the camp.

ZIRAKPUR
BHAGWATI JAGRAN: The Zirakpur Market Welfare Association will organise a three-day bhagwati Jagran at Zirakpur Chowk from March 25 to 27. Mr Ravinder Singh Sohi, a former chairman of the Patiala Zila Parishad, will inaugurate the jagran, according to Mr Sunehari Lal, president of the association.

HARYANA

AMBALA
ARHTIYA ASSOCIATION: Mr Suraj Bhan Saini was elected president of the Sabji Mandi Arhtiya Association here on Friday. The former president, Mr Mohanjit Singh, was nominated as the chairman of the association. The other office-bearers include: vice-president — Mr Vijay Kumar, secretary — Mr Dalbir Singh, joint secretary — Mr Paramjit Singh, and cashier — Mr Tarsem Lal.

KILLED: One person was killed in a road accident in Ambala City. The deceased was identified as Rajpal. The police has registered a case in this regard.

GIRL ABDUCTED: A minor girl was abducted from a Naggal village on Friday. On the complaint of her mother the police has registered a case against Satpal. According to police no arrest has been made so far in this regard.

MANDIR ELECTIONS: The election process for the managing body of Arya Samaj Mandir, Swami Dayanand Marg, Ambala Cantonment started from Friday. The list of voters has been put up in the vicinity of the mandir and the objection to the list can be filed with the secretary till April 15. The subscription, if unpaid, can be paid to the cashier till April 22. The election will be held on April 29 at 3 p.m.

MERCHANTS' ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the General Merchants Association: president — Mr Vishwa Prakash Walia; senior vice-president — Mr Satpal Singh Oberoi; vice-president — Mr Brij Lal Gupta; general secretary — Mr R.P. Gupta; joint secretary — Mr Gian Chand Gulati; cashier — Mr Ramesh Madaan; joint cashier — Mr Rajender Kumar; auditor — Mr Jagdish Sethi; and project directors — Mr Ashok Sabharwal, Mr Karam Singh and Mr Rakesh Chadha.

BJP MEETING: The tehelka.com issue came up during a meeting of the BJP mandal held here on Friday. The mandal president, Mr Shish Pal Bhola, while addressing the party activists, claimed that tehelka.com chief, Mr Tejpal, had good relations with a senior Congress leader, Mr Arjun Singh, and this incident took place at his behest. Mr Bhola said the Congress during its tenure had been involved in several scandals. He urged the activists to strongly object to this attempt of Congress to tarnish the party’s image.

ACCIDENT: One person was killed in an accident in Ambala cantonment on Saturday afternoon. The accident took place when the scooterist was going to pick up his daughter from the school. The scooterist is suspected to have been hit by a vehicle and his body was shifted to the rear of a building.

SHOT AT: The servant of a well-known doctor of Ambala city sustained bullet injuries late last night. The incident took place at about 1.30 a.m. when the servant, Rajesh, hailing from Bihar, rushed up to the doctor and said that he had been shot at. A subsequent check of the house revealed the country made revolver and some pellets. However, the servant claimed that three persons had entered the house.

STOLEN: Electronic goods were stolen from a shop in Saha. The incident took place early this morning when thieves decamped with colour TVs, electric press, B/W TV and wall clocks.

OPIUM SEIZED: The police, in a coordinated operation, has recovered 20 kg of opium from five persons on Friday night. Acting on a tip-off, teams from police station Mahesh Nagar and Baldev Nagar nabbed Jaswant Singh from whom 15 kg of opium was seized. Three kg of opium was seized from Ram Swaroop and one kg of opium was seized from Shambhu Dayal. The police recovered 500 gm each of opium from Bhanwari Lal and Lakhwinder Singh.

CLOTHES DISTRIBUTED: The Ambala city branch of Canara bank distributed clothes in Sanatan Dharam Blind School, Ambala Cantonment on Saturday. The clothes were distributed by the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Mahinder Kumar, Mr Kumar said that the Sanatan Dharam organisation is working for the welfare of physically challenged children. Mr K.L. Vig. Senior Manager of the Canara bank, Ambala city branch, said the bank has always been working towards the uplift of the society. He said that every year, the Canara bank branches all over the country including the Ambala city branch holds programmes for the needy people.

JHAJJAR
LOOTED: Suresh Kumar was robbed of Rs 32,000 by some scooter-borne youths on the Bahadurgarh-Badli road on Friday. According to sources, Suresh was travelling in his Maruti car when some youths on two scooters forced him to stop near a poultry farm. They snatched the bag containing money from him and fled. A case has been registered.

KALKA
REHRI MARKET: The local administration has decided to built up a rehri market in the town in which 100 booths will be constructed. During the meeting held here on Saturday between the SDM Mr Sandeep Singh, and Mr Sushil Kumar, President, Municipal Committee, and other Municipal Commissioners, green signal was given to this proposal. The SDM told that this decision has been taken to reduce congestion on the main highway. The SDM informed that those rehri owners, who were having license, will be given a booth in the rehri market. The booths will be constructed by the Municipal Committee. Initially an earnest money of Rs 20,000/- per booth will be charged from the allottees and after the allotment of booth they will pay monthly rent of Rs 500.

FUNDS: The Kalka Municipal Committee has earmarked a sum of Rs 51.08 lakh for undertaking development works in the township in the next financial year. A proposal to this effect was approved at a special meeting held at the committee office recently under the chairmanship of Sushil Kumar, president of the committee, and was attended by 12 councillors. Out of the proposed amount, Rs 29.40 lakh was likely to be spent on maintenance and construction of new lanes and maintenance of old public streets within the municipal limits. In an another meeting of the municipal councillors, which was held here on Friday, under the chairmanship of the SDM, Kalka, regarding the development works in Kalka township, it was decided that about Rs 50,000 will be spent on the widening of Gandhi Chowk and a statue of Gandhi will be installed here. Rs 1 lakh will be spent to beautify the Ravinder Nath Tagore Children park and 100 booths will be constructed behind the meat market.

SIRSA
RECOVERED: The district police recovered stolen goods worth Rs 4 lakh during the last month. This was stated by the district police chief, Mr Alok Roy, on Friday.