The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sunday, April 1, 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
FATAL MISHAP: Mrs Rajwinder Kaur (47) was crushed to death while her husband Baldev Singh (48) was injured seriously when a private bus hit their motor cycle near Truck Union here on Saturday. The couple belonging to Bullana village, was reportedly coming to the town when the bus hit their motor cycle. The injured was admitted to Civil Hospital here. The bus driver has been arrested and the vehicle impounded.

AMLOH
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Punjab State Bank Block Extension Educator Association: president — Mr Bhag Singh Bhadson; vice-president — Mr Brij Mohan Sharma; general secretary — Mr Kesho Ram; cashier — Mr Balwant Singh; press secretary — Ms Sunita Sidhu; advisers — Ms Rita Kumari, Mr Pawan Kumar and Mr Sukhwinder Singh.

BATHINDA
‘THIKRI PEHRA’: Mr Jaspal Singh, Deputy Commissioner, has ordered that ‘thikri pehras’ be arranged in the villages. The orders have been issued under Section 3 of Punjab Village and Small Town Control Act 1918, which will remain in force till September 27, 2001. The orders further said all healthy males in the villages should be asked to keep guard as could be arranged by the panchayat of that village.

PRIVATE SCHOOLS: Mr Chiranji Lal Garg, Minister for Science and Technology, said the role of private schools in the development and spread of education and literacy could not be underestimated. To improve the condition of the government school buildings the government would spend Rs 20 lakh in each Assembly segment of the state. Mr Garg was speaking at an inaugural function of a private school, here, on Friday.

FEROZEPORE
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Food and Supplies Department Ministerial Staff Union: patron — Mr S.S. Bawa; president — Mr Rajesh Sachdeva; senior vice-president — Mr G.S. Grewal; vice-president — Mr Kulwant Singh; general secretary — Mr J.S. Kahlon; finance secretary — Mr D.S. Neelon; and chief auditor — Mr C.S. Mann.

APPOINTED: Mr Ajaybir Singh Sodhi has been appointed President of the All-India Agro Forest Committee of the BJP. He is also an executive member of the state BJP unit.

HOSHIARPUR
CENSUS REPORT: The local population has increased to 1,79,860, according to the Census report of 2001. Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner, said in a press note issued here on Friday that population of the district now was 14,78,045 as compared to 12,98,185 in 1991. Out of the total population 7,63,753 were men and 7,14,292 were women. He said literacy rate in the district was 81.40 per cent.

BODY FOUND: The body of an unidentified person aged about 60 years was found in the forest area of Kakkon on Thursday. The Sadar police has registered a case.

ROAD TAX EVASION: The local District Transport Department on Thursday launched a special drive to check the evasion of road tax by the tourist buses. As many as eight tourist buses were checked by Mr Harminder Singh, District Transport Officer, who recovered a fine of Rs 33,000 from the owners.

KHAMANO
MARKET BUDGET: The local market committee passed the Budget on Tuesday. According to Mr Nirbhai Singh, Administrator, and Mr Sharnail Singh Gill in the current financial year the committee is expected to earn Rs 2.08 crore.

LUDHIANA
SHAHEEDI DIWAS: To commemorate the shahidi diwas of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev, a rally is being organised on Sunday at Guru Nanak Colony, Gill Road, from 12 noon to 5 p.m. The Gursharan Singh theatre group will highlight the day-to-day problems through plays.

CLEANLINESS CAMPAIGN: A meeting of the executive committee of the Maharishi Balmiki Nagar Welfare Association held here on Friday expressed concern over the callous attitude of the improvement trust authorities. The committee said in spite of repeated reminders the authorities had not made any arrangement for cleaning of roads and development of the parks in the locality. It was a disgusting fact that even the sewerage was not functioning properly and electricity wires in the locality were hanging dangerously at a number of places. The meeting also decided to hold a cleanliness campaign in the colony on Monday.

HAILED: The Shiromani Akali Dal (B) vice-president and several other activists of the party have hailed the Municipal Corporation proposal to provide free water supply and sewerage facilities to the residents. In a joint press note, they have expressed their gratitude to the councillors and have urged the state government to accord its approval to the proposal at the earliest, so that the decision could be given effect. Other signatories to the statement included Mr Pritpal Singh, president, Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran, Mr Parlad Singh Dhall, Mr Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Mr Jatinder Pal Singh Saluja, Mr Attar Singh Makkar, Mr Kirpal Singh Chauhan, Mr Maluk Singh, Mr Balwinder Singh Lyallpuri, Mr Surinder Singh Dang, Mr Avtar Singh Azad and Mr Sharanjit Singh Sibbal. In a separate statement, Mr Surjit Singh, president, Danga Peerit Association, Mr Vijay Danav, adviser to SAD-B, Mr Charanjit Singh Pannu, Mr Sarbjit Singh Kochhar, Mr Taranjit Singh Khurana, Mr Charanjit Singh Bajaj and Mr Harwinder Singh Lalli have also welcomed the move. Meanwhile, Mr Gian Chand Sharma, vice-president of the District Congress Committee, has termed the proposal as a political stunt.

MALERKOTLA
ENCROACHMENTS: The local Welfare Association has criticised the administration for not removing the encroachments from the bus stand road, Talian Bazar and Sirhandi Gate. Mr Arshad Dali, patron of the association, alleged that the encroachers were mostly shopkeepers, rehriwalas and vegetable sellers.

CAMP ORGANISED: The Lions Club, Sherpur, organised a Hepatitis-B vaccination camp at Sherpur village on Friday. According to Mr Surinder Goyal, Club president, Dr Gurpreet Singh Nagra and Dr K.C. Goyal were the in charge of the camp.

MANDI GOBINDGARH
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Assistant Education Officers Association, Punjab: president — Mr Paramjit Singh (Moga); vice-president — Mr Baldev Singh (Fatehgarh Sahib); general secretary — Kaur Singh (Bathinda); and organising secretary — Mr Gurmail Singh.

FOUNDATION STONES: The foundation stones of Guru Teg Bahadur Marg from Gurdwara Nau Lakha to Balpur village, will be laid by Mr Balwant Singh Shahpur, MLA, and road from Badouchi Kalan village to Dera Ghumna Road by Mr Nirmal Singh Kahlon, Rural Development and Panchayats Minister, on Tuesday, according to Mr Shahpur.

PATHANKOT
RESOLUTION PASSED: The local Brahmin Sabha has asked Mr Kishori Lal, Industry Minister, to apologise for his indecent remarks against the Brahmin community. In a resolution passed at a meeting held here on Saturday , the sabha urged Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal to force the minister to apologise failing which the sabha would launch a stir.

PHONE DISCONNECTED: The local police station (Division No 2) is executing all its routine messages through a PCO, as its telephone has been disconnected, due to the non-payment of the bill. People are also facing problem as the wireless set installed in the police station is only meant for inter-police workings.

TARN TARAN
OFFICE-BEARERS: Prof Lakha Singh and Prof Jathidner Kumar have been elected President and Secretary, respectively, of the Panjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU) unit of Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College, Sarhali.

COUNCIL BUDGET: The local Municipal Council has earmarked an amount of Rs 2.34 crore, 52 per cent of its total annual Rs 4.50 crore income, for different developmental works during its annual budget of the year 2001-2002. This was disclosed here on Friday by Mr Jatinder Kumar Sood. Mr Sood said the council had reserved Rs 2.06 crore for its establishment expenditure.

HARYANA

FATEHABAD
SHOT DEAD: The Crime Branch of the district police arrested a murder accused who had gunned down a resident of Rajasthan at Ramsaran village of the district earlier this month. According to police sources, the accused Gian Chand is a resident of Mehrana village in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan. He along with the victim, Om Parkash, of the same village had come to Ramsaran village to attend a marriage party. After an altercation, the accused shot Om Parkash. The police has recovered the licensed mouser of the accused alongwith five cartridges.

SHAHABAD
AMBULANCE PROVIDED: The local Aggarwal Welfare Society has purchased an ambulance which would be made available to the patients on no profit no loss basis throughout the day, according to the society president, Dr Bhaskar Gupta.

MASS MARRIAGES: Marriages of poor girls would be solemnised at a mass marriage function on the occasion of Ram Navami festival at the Rishi Markandeshwar mandir here on Monday. The temple body president, Mr Kesar Dass Gambhir, said here on Saturday that they had a target of solemnising 51 marriages on the occasion.

INAUGURATED: Mr Maha Singh, Commissioner, Ambala Division, inaugurated the computer system in the office of the Sub Registrar here on Friday. Earlier he also inaugurated computer work in the Sub Registrar’s office at Pehowa. He was accompanied by the Deputy Commissioner, Mrs Jyoti Arora, and the SDM, Mr N.S. Bangar. A deputation of the people led by a former MLA Dr Harnam Singh, presented a memorandum to the Commissioner.

SIRSA
DOWRY DEATH: The district police has arrested Inderjeet Singh of Durga Colony, Dabwali, for allegedly burning his wife, Kamaljeet Kaur, for bringing insufficient dowry. The district police chief said on Friday that Ujagar Singh father of Kamaljeet lodged a complaint against Inderjeet Singh, his younger brother Dheera and mother Darshan Kaur. Kamaljeet who was admitted to Dabwali Civil Hospital alleged that her in-laws had set her on fire. She was shifted to a Bathinda hospital where she died. A case has been registered.

DHARNA: The Kisan Sangharsh Samiti on Friday staged a dharna in support of the minimum support price of wheat and submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner. The leaders of the samiti said the minimum support price of wheat announced by the Central Government was insufficient and demanded that Rs 40 be given to the farmer as bonus by the state government. He urged the government to make procurement arrangements for the purchase of wheat from April 7.

SONEPAT
INAUGURATION: Mr Abhay Singh Chautala, MLA, will inaugurate the office of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) on Monday at Kharkhauda town of the district. Mr Padam Singh Dahiya, MLA, told mediapersons here on Saturday that Mr Chautala would give away the prizes to the players on the concluding day function of Circle Kabaddi Meet at Farmana village.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local unit of the All-Haryana Power Corporation: president — Mr Jai Bhagwan Gandhi; vice-president — Mr Krishan Kumar Ahlawat; secretary — Mr Mohinder Singh Chhikkara; assistant secretary — Mr Jagdish; and treasurer — Mr Lal Chand.

CONG LEADER DEAD: A veteran Congress leader Mr Shiv Nath Chopra died here on Saturday after prolonged illness. Mr Chopra was associated with a number of religious and social organisations of the city. Large number of people, including former MLAs, ministers and Congress leaders, attended the funeral procession.

BODY FOUND: The body of a woman was found hanging in her house at Seohati village, about 20 km from here, on Friday. The police believes it to be a case of suicide.

KILLED: Nahar Singh of Bichpari village was killed on the spot when his cycle was hit by a speeding truck on the GT Road near Kundli village, about 25 km from here, on Friday.

BODY RECOVERED: The Ganaur police recovered a decomposed body of a woman from a canal near Ahulana village, about 25 km from here, on Friday. According to the police, the body has been sent to Rohtak Medical College Hospital for the post-mortem.

BURN INJURIES: A housewife sustained serious burn injuries when a lighted candle fell on her while she was asleep in her house at Pio Munyari village, about 15 km from here, on Thursday. The woman was rushed to the local Civil Hospital. Later, she was shifted to Rohtak Medical College Hospital.