The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Saturday, May 26, 2001, Chandigarh, India

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50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

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

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
FAKE PASSPORT: Mohammad Yamin of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh was caught with a fake passport while travelling on Samjhauta Express bound for Pakistan.

EX-GRATIA GRANT: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Narinder Jit Singh, and the Chairman of the District Sainik Welfare Board, on Thursday disbursed ex gratia grant worth Rs 1 lakh each to the next of kin of 19 martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the Jammu and Kashmir sector. Sewing machines were given to three widows.

ABOHAR
KILLED: Mukhtiar Singh of Nanak Nagari, here, was crushed to death by a bus near the octroi post on the Abohar-Fazilka road on Thursday. The police has registered a case against the bus driver who has absconded.

DEAD: Bhaga Ram who was injured while doing some construction work at Sayyedwala village died at the Civil Hospital on Thursday. The police has registered a report under Section 174.

BARNALA
ARRESTED: Mr Ajaib Singh Kaleka, SSP, said here that the police arrested, Amarjit Singh and Paramjit Singh at Harigarh village and seized 3 kg of opium from their possession. A case under Sections 18, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered. Seven persons were also arrested for illegally carrying some cows on a truck. A case under Sections of the Cow Slaughter Act has been registered.

DORAHA
COUPLE INJURED: A couple travelling on a scooter from Ludhiana to Khanna was injured when their scooter slipped at Doraha. The injured have been identified as Varinder Sharma and his wife, Chanchal Sharma, of Khanna.

GURDASPUR
ARRESTED: The police on Thursday arrested Satish Kumar of Philpur and Rajesh Kumar of Taragarh for stealing scooters. The SSP said a stolen scooter was recovered from their possession. A case under Sections 379 and 411 of the IPC has been registered.

HOSHIARPUR
POPPY HUSK SEIZED: The police seized 8 kg of poppy husk from Pushpa of Tanda on Wednesday. It also seized 9000 ml of illicit liquor from Ujjagar Singh of Bagiari village. Dev Dutt, a satta operator of Mohalla Bahadurpur was arrested and Rs 1,650 recovered from him.

SUICIDE: Kamaljit Kaur (25) of Hajipur reportedly committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance on Wednesday.

PROTESTED: Mr Charanjit Singh Channi, Congress MP, has protested against the non-supply of sugar to ration depots under the public distribution system. He urged the Punjab Government to supply sugar and increase the quota of kerosene according to the previous allotment.

JALANDHAR
EYE SCREENING: The District Blindness Control Society has started a school eye screening project under the national programme for control of blindness. Dr Tajinder Singh Goindi, member secretary of the society, stated this in a press note here on Friday. He said spectacles would be provided to poor students free of cost.

KAPURTHALA
NOISE POLLUTION: The local Jan Jagran Manch organised a rally on Wednesday to educate people about the growing noise pollution in the town. Students, social workers and voluntary organisations participated in the rally. Mr S.S. Bains, Additional Deputy Commissioner, flagged off the rally.

KHAMANO
FLAYED: Ms Kulwant Kaur Mehta, president, BSP’s Mahila wing, Fatehgarh Sahib district, has criticised the lathicharge on lawyers at Sangrur. She has demanded action against the policemen involved in lathicharge on women and villagers at Khanpur village, near Kharar, and expressed her solidarity with the people who were lathicharged. She has also demanded to withdraw cases registered against women and other persons and the guilty should be punished.

MEETING: A meeting of the Lok Bhalai Party, Samrala and Machhiwara circles, will be held at Sarwarpur village at the residence of the working committee member, Mr Malkit Singh Ghuman, on Monday. At the meeting the units of Samrala and Machhiwara will be reconstituted. Mr Paramjit Singh Sidhwan, general secretary of the party, will be the in charge of the meeting. This was stated by Dr Jagroop Singh Barwali here.

LUDHIANA
HOMOEOPATHIC CAMP: The Shri Gyan Sthal Mandir Sabha will hold its 46th monthly widow pension distribution function on June 3, according to Mr Naresh Goyal, press secretary of the sabha. In a press note issued here on Friday Mr Goyal said the sabha would also hold free homoeopathic camp on the temple premises from May 30 to June 7 in which chronic arthritis patients would be given medicines.

TELEPHONE BILLS: The BSNL has decided to issue the telephone bills on the basis of calling pattern. According to a press note, issued on Friday by the Divisional Engineer (Public Relations), the schedule of billing will depend on the calls made in a month. For over 50,000 calls, the bill will be issued fortnightly on seventh and 22nd of every month. For the calls between 3001 and 50,000 the bills will be issued every month on seventh. For 76 to 3000 calls (for urban exchange), the bill will be issued bimonthly on 18th and for calls between 126 and 3000 (for rural exchanges) bills will be issued bimonthly. The subscribers making up to 75 calls (urban exchange) and up to 125 calls (rural exchange) will get their telephone bills after every four months on 18th of the month.

MEETING: A state level meeting of various association of the Punjab Health Department will be held on Saturday, under the chairmanship of Mr Sukhwinder Singh, president, Ministry Staff, Punjab. Mr Harpal Singh, press secretary, Punjab Ophthalmic Officers Association, in a press statement issued on Thursday said that the associations, including the POOA and Punjab Nursing Association, would participate to discuss their demands.

MANSA
DEMONSTRATION: Students of the Industrial Training Institute, Budhlada, under the leadership of the Students Federation of India, staged a demonstration against the Punjab Government and the Director of Technical Education and Industrial Training on Thursday. They also burnt an effigy of the director. Mr Sawaranjit Singh Dalewon, state secretary of the federation.

LAWYERS’ STRIKE: Lawyers of the city observed a strike on Thursday to register their protest against the police lathi charge on advocates in Sangrur. Mr Ajit Singh Bhangu, president of the local District Bar Association, while talking to mediapersons condemned the brutal lathi charge on the agitating lawyers.

MACHHIWARA
EYE CAMP: As many as 200 patients have been examined at an eye check-up camp held at Poly Eye Clinic here. According to an organiser, Dr Ashok Gupta, patients were provided medicines free of cost.

VISIT: A local MLA and Speaker, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, visited the Sutlej bridge at nearby Ghumana village. He supervised the construction work. He said widening of the Samrala-Machhiwara road would be started soon.

CHETNA MANCH: The Sikh Chetna Manch, Punjab, has criticised the statement of the Chairman of the All-India Anti-Terrorism Front Mr Maninderjit Singh Bitta, on ‘ghallughara divas’. Mr Bitta had demanded ban on, ghallughara divas’ functions. Manch leaders appealed to the Chief Minister Punjab Mr Parkash Singh Badal, not to take any step to impose ban on these functions.

NAWANSHAHR
BANK SECURITY: Mr Ishwar Singh, SSP, on Thursday organised a meeting of bank officials with a view to mobilising them to strengthen security at banks. He said the police had formulated a plan to provide training to bank security guards.

GANG BUSTED: Mr Ishwar Singh, SSP, in a press note issued here on Thursday said the police had busted a gang of miscreants with the arrests of Tarlochan Singh, alias Tochi, Satvir Singh, alias Kaka, Purshottam Kumar, alias Kala. A .12-bore pistol, sword and iron rods were seized from them at Pathlawa village. Their accomplices Baljinder Singh, alias Kala, Lakhbir Singh, alias Laddi, Teja and Daljit, alias Jeeta escaped. They were involved in a number of incidents of extortion and murder.

PATHANKOT
SUICIDE: Renue (17) of Mamoon village allegedly committed suicide by eating some poisonous substance on Thursday.

PHAGWARA
MURDERED: Joginder Kaur (50), a widow of Magowal village, was found murdered on Thursday near the distributary of Kotrani village. The police has registered a case under Section 302 of the IPC.

PHILLAUR
DHARNA: Residents of Samrarri village held a dharna on Wednesday in front of the Phillaur police station in protest against the alleged police misbehaviour with the villagers who were demanding an inquiry into the death of Paramjit Kaur. The dharna was lifted after the police assured the villagers that they would get justice.

SAMRALA
STRIKE BY LAWYERS: On a call given by the Bar Association, Sangrur, lawyers of the local Bar Association observed full day strike and boycotted civil, criminal and even executive courts. At a meeting held under the chairmanship of Mr M.G. Prasher, the lawyers demanded action against the guilty police officials.

CHANDIGARH

Probe demanded: The Lawyers for Human Rights International demanded an independent probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the incident of assault on Sangrur lawyers by the police. The body also released a seven-page report on the incident. A team comprising members of association, Mr Amar Singh Chahal, Mr Balwant Singh Dhillon, Mr J.R Khattar, Mr Tejinder Singh Sudan, Mr Gurdial Singh, Mr Mohinder Singh, Mr Mohinder Kumar, Mr Arvind Sandhu, Mr Sukhdeep Singh Sandhu, Mr Preet Kawal Singh Gill, Mr Kulbir Singh Bains visited Sangrur on Monday for the investigation.

IT DESTINATION: “Chandigarh can be an ideal information technology destination”, said the UT Director of Information Technology, at a symposium organised by the PHDCCI in SAS Nagar on Friday. The Program Director of the CICST, Mr Geoff Dalton, said India held a key position in software development. The DIG Vigilance of Punjab police, who is also Secretary General of the Cyber Affairs Council, told industrialists about certification authorities, the implication of cyber crimes and cyber laws.

SCHOOL FUNCTION: Students and teachers of KB DAV Centenary Public School of Sector 7 organised a programme called ‘Ham Sab Ek Hain’ on the last working day before the summer vacations, here on Friday. In the morning session of inter-house competitions, Lotus House won the House Motto and the Best House Song awards’ while Tulip House got the General Presentation award. The Best Performance in a Week award, went to Jasmine House and the Best Dress Code award to Rose House. There was also flower-arrangement and salad-decoration contests.

ENVIRONMENT WEEK: The week-long functions on ‘Awareness of Environmental Balance’ organised by the Vasumati Environment Club of Government Model Senior Secondary School of Sector 33-D concluded here on Friday. After giving away the prizes, the chief guest, Mr Ishwar Singh, Director, Environment, Forest and Wild Life of Chandigarh, urged teachers and students to plant trees and avoid using polythene bags. Mr P. S. Dadwal, a guest of honour, talked on pollution.

TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR: A one-day technology seminar on IT Awareness and Computer Hardware will be organised by the Secretariat for Information Technology of Haryana in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre of Haryana and HCL Infosystems Limited on Monday in the Knowledge Centre for E-governance of the Haryana Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh.

PANCHKULA
BURGLARY: Burglars struck again in an unoccupied house in Sector 15 here on Thursday. This was the sixth, such incident here in less than 25 days. According to the police, the house of Mr J.C. Prashar, a former general manager of Haryana Roadways, was burgled and the thieves decamped with a camera, a wrist watch and pair of gold earrings. Mr Prashar was in Delhi when the burglary took place. An FIR has been registered.

HARYANA

AMBALA
FALSE ALARM: The hooter of the Baldev Nagar branch of Punjab and Sindh Bank at Ambala City went off on Thursday. Residents of the area, presuming that robbers had entered the bank, alerted the local police. The police surrounded the bank and called its officials who entered the bank in its presence. The strong room was in tact and there was no sign of a break in. A short circuit might have set off the alarm.

PARKING RESTRICTIONS: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr D.D. Gautam, has ordered that vehicles parked in busy markets in restricted hours will be impounded. While a parking space has been provided behind Rai Market in Ambala Cantt, in Ambala City, a parking space has been provided in front of the local bus stand.

Development works: The Ambala MP, Mr Ratan Lal Kataria, at a function in Mahesh Nagar, said Rs 3.50 crore had been spent on 535 development works. He said that the money was part of the MP Local Area Development Fund.

BHIWANI
ARRESTED: The Charkhi Dadri police claims to have solved the murder of Sundra Devi (50) of Khanpur Khurd with the arrest of her son-in-law Rajender of Chelwa. A family dispute is said to be the cause of murder.

INAUGURATED: Mr Ajay Singh, MP, inaugurated the drinking water scheme at Ranila village, near here. He said the scheme would provide 70 litres of water per person in the area.

POWER THEFT: The Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam has imposed a penalty of Rs 12.20 lakh on consumers found indulging in the theft of power. The department has recovered Rs 5.85 lakh from them. Nearly 100 cases have been registered under the Power Theft Act.

GURGAON
ARRESTED: The district police chief, Mr Kuldip Singh Sihag, said here on Thursday that Ravi, a local resident, had been arrested on the charge of stealing a vehicle. A stolen motor cycle was also recovered from his possession. A case has been registered.

KAITHAL
SENTENCED: The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr R.C. Bansal, has sentenced Ishwar Singh of Sirsal village to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000 for murdering the chowkidar of a mini bank in 1998. In case of failure to pay the fine, the accused will have to further undergo an imprisonment of six months.

KALKA
WORKSHOPS CONDUCTED: As part of Sukriti-2001, various workshops were held in ACC DAV Senior Public School at Surajpur. At a workshop on drug awareness, Ms Neerja Anand, Project Director for Drug Awareness informed the students about the evils of drug abuse. At a workshop on civil defence, participants learnt to operate rifles and handle live cartridges.

NARNAUL
REMANDED: Mr Vijai Singh, Judicial Magistrate, has remanded Subai Singh of Palra village and Naresh of Ahrod village in police custody till Saturday in connection with an elopement case. Another accomplice of theirs is, however, still absconding.

PINJORE
TOWN BEAUTIFICATION: The ancient Pinjore town is all set to get a facelift as Rs 70 lakh have been earmarked for its development and beautification. Mr Sandeep Singh, the SDM of Kalka, said this at a press conference here. This is 70 per cent of the total budget of Rs 1.06 crore for the project.

SONEPAT
MINISTERIAL STAFF: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local District Health Department Ministerial Staff Association: president — Mr Ashok Kumar Chandna; vice-president — Mr Ram Dhari Malik; assistant secretary — Mr Nafe Singh; and treasurer — Mr Satbir Singh.

PROBE ORDERED: The SP, Mr Paramjit Singh Ahlawat, will conduct a probe into the allegations of atrocities levelled against the Kundli police by Ms Vimla Yadav whose husband was allegedly murdered by some persons last month.

ARRESTED: The police arrested a youth and two girls from the Government Hostel for Working Women in the Model Town area on Wednesday. Three youths fled after scaling the wall of the hostel. A case has been registered under Sections 452, 186, 353, 506 and 34 of the IPC.

RAIDS CONDUCTED: The police raided some shops on the Railway Road, old DC road and Atlas road here on Thursday and arrested Ashok Kumar Dhingra of Mashad Mohalla, Sanjay of Shanti Nagar and Subhash of Bhatgaon village in the district for gambling. An amount of Rs 4,945 was recovered from their possession. A case under the Gambling Act has been registered.

VIGILANCE PROBE: The Vigilance Department on Friday initiated a probe into the allegations levelled against the SDO of the Samalkha Water Service and recorded the statements of certain employees in this regard. The Haryana PWD Mechanical Workers Union and others had alleged misappropriation of public funds allocated to his subdivision.

RESENTMENT: Resentment prevails among the people living below the poverty line in the district against the non-supply of subsidised rationed commodities by the department concerned. They have demanded a probe into it.