The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tuesday, June 26, 2001, Chandigarh, India

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

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
SUICIDE BY FARMER: Ranjit Ram, a farmer, reportedly committed suicide at Jandwala Hanvanta village on Saturday. Family sources alleged that a feud with a neighbouring farmer over damage to the crops was the cause of the suicide. The body was found hanging from a tree. The police has registered a case under Section 306 of the IPC.

AHMEDGARH
NOMINATED: The Sports Minister of Punjab, Mr Nusrat Akram Bagga, has been included in the managing committee of Afro-Asian Games, scheduled to commence from November 1 in New Delhi. Disclosing the details of his meeting with the Union Sports Minister, Ms Uma Bharti, Mr Bagga informed that it was for the first time that India was hosting Afro-Asian Games. Other sports ministers included in the committee were from Haryana and MP, he said, adding that the games would be managed jointly by the Central Government and the Indian Olympics Association.

HELD: A satta operator, Varinder Kumar, a resident of Khanna, was arrested by the Khamano police from Ria village, near here, under Section 13A -3/67 of the Gambling Act, when he was inciting people to gambling. Another satta operator, Ashok Kumar, also a resident of Khanna, was arrested from Barwali bridge, near here, and was booked under the Gambling Act.

AMLOH
DEAD: Mr Narpinder Singh (36), a former Sarpanch of Jalla village, near here, died of heart failure. He has left behind his wife and a three-and-a-half year-old son. He was the son of the late Mr Ajmer Singh, a former Chairman of the Block Samiti, Sirhind, and former Chairman of the Block Samiti, Sirhind, and brother of Mr Gursatinder Singh Jalla, a former president of District Youth Congress, Fatehgarh Sahib. Bhog and antim ardaas will be held at his residence on June 29.

BATHINDA
APPOINTED: Mr Rimple Midha has been appointed president of the youth wing of the Punjab unit of the All-India Sonia Gandhi Association. This was stated in a notification issued on Thursday.

FARIDKOT
FARMERS COMPENSATED: The district administration held a function here on Monday to give compensation to the farmers who suffered a loss in the sale of paddy below the minimum support price. Mr A. Venu Prasad, Deputy Commissioner, presided over the function and distributed cheques worth Rs 1.75 crore among 3298 beneficiaries.

FAZILKA
RENOVATION WORK: Mr S.K. Singla, SDM, on behalf of Mr Surjeet Kumar Jyani, Forest Minister, Punjab, inaugurated the renovation work of the century-old local Arya Samaj Building on Sunday. He announced a grant of Rs 50,000 for the purpose from the minister’s discretionary fund.

JALANDHAR
DHARNA: A group of railway employees and passengers held a dharna against the alleged misbehaviour with two railway employees by a booking clerk at the local railway station here on Saturday. The protest ended with the intervention of the Station Superintendent, Mr Jagdish Lal, who assured the protesters of taking action against the erring employee.

CAR ROBBERY: Three miscreants took away the car of a resident of Phillaur here on Friday night. In a complaint Mr Suraj Mani alleged that three persons stopped him while he was returning from his factory and requested for help since their car had broken down. As he alighted from his car, the three fled away in his car.

KHAMANO
GRANT: Rs 72.48 lakh will soon be distributed among those farmers, who have sold their paddy at a rate lower than the MSP. Out of the total amount, Rs 1.41 lakh will be distributed in Khamano sub-division. This was stated by district officials, who asked the farmers to approach their respective SDMs for getting the compensation.

TRESPASSING ALLEGED: Bhupinder Kaur of Bathan Khurd village has accused sarpanch Sher Singh and his companions, Balwinder Singh, Surjit Singh, Avtar Singh, of trespassing into her house on the midnight of June 7 and 8, taking benefit of her husband’s absence Alleging that the panchayat has failed to come to her rescue, she has demanded strict action against the accused from the district administration, the Panchayat Minister and the Chief Secretary, Punjab.

MANDI GOBINDGARH
MEETING: The quarterly meeting of Life Insurance Corporation agents, divisional council, Chandigarh, was held here at Mandi Gobindgarh. It was chaired by Mr K. K. Vohra, president of the council. Releasing the proceedings of the meeting, Mr Sushil Bassi, the joint secretary of the council, informed here on Monday that the star agents of Chandigarh division were honoured by the president in the meeting. Mr K. K. Marwaha, general secretary, placed the council’s account upto March 31 this year before the house, which was passed unanimously. It was decided to hold the next meeting at Ropar and the annual general meeting in Chandigarh in November this year.

CONFERENCE: The All-India Steel Rerollers will hold a conference in New Delhi on June 26, which will be inaugurated by Union Steel Minister Mr B. K. Tripathy. The conference would be attended by steel rerollers from all over the country, stated Mr Anil Suraj, honorary general secretary, Steel Rerollers’ Association, in a press release issued here on Monday.

MANSA
MILL WORKERS RALLY: The agitating workers of Budhlada Cooperative Sugar Mills Limited gheraoed the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Mansa, on Monday. The rally was addressed by Mr Hardev Singh Arshi, MLA, Budhlada, Mr Ram Sarup Ankhi, President, Spinning Mill Workers Union, Mr Vijay Kumar Jain, district chairman, All-India Anti-Terrorist Front and Mr Shiv Charan Dass Suchan, state convener, Youth Action Front. The fasting workers and employees of the sugar mill are demanding the restarting of the mill and their wages for 54 months.

ATTEMPT FOILED: An attempt to commit a theft in Punjab National Bank, Bhikhi branch, was thwarted by the alert watchman of the bank. The culprits gained entry to the bank by cutting iron rods of the roof and gate with the help of a gas cutter. The watchman raised the alarm and the culprits escaped. Mr Balwinder Singh Romana, DSP, and Mr Manmohan Singh, DSP (D), reached the scene.

PATIALA
ELDERS’ BODY: Mr B.R. Soin has been elected president of the Elders Welfare Society. The other office-bearers are: vice-president — Mr Ranjit Singh Thakur; general secretary — Mr R.K. Kataria; secretary — Mr R.K. Dhanda; and joint secretary — Dr Vijay Sharma.

SONIA THANKED: The District Congress Committee (Urban) has thanked Ms Sonia Gandhi, Congress President, and Capt Amarinder Singh, President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), for renominating Mr Ved Prakash Gupta president of the Patiala district committee. In another press note, Mr Hardial Singh, president, District Congress Committee (Rural), thanked Ms Sonia Gandhi and appreciated the announcement of office-bearers and executive members of the PPCC.

OFFICE-BEARERS: Mr Satish Kumar Billa has been elected president of the Mohalla Sudhar Committee, Sangrur Road, Nabha. The other office-bearers are: vice-president — Mr Vijay Thakur; and general secretary — Mr Anil Kumar Joshi.

PATIALA BANDH: On a call given by the Youth Akali Dal, a two-hour Patiala bandh was held on Monday. A rally was taken out through the bazaars of the town. The dal thanked the shopkeepers for their cooperation.

GRANT: The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, has sanctioned a grant of Rs 11.0l lakh to conduct coaching classes for Central Civil Services Examination, Combined Defence Service Examination and other professional courses. Giving this information, Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, Vice-Chancellor, of the university said the scheme would ensure coaching to candidates from weaker sections with a focus on minority communities. The proposal was put forward by the IAS and Allied Services Training Centre of Punjabi University.

AWARENESS CAMP: More than 200 factory workers were informed about various safety measures to be undertaken for the prevention and control of various diseases and at the time of accidents. This was stated by Mr M.P.Singh, Managing Director, Co-operative Sugar Mill, Rakhra, during the one-day first-aid and calamity prevention training camp held at the Red Cross Hall here on Monday. The Labour Welfare Officer, Mr K.M. Garg, and the Chief Engineer, Mr Kawaljit Singh, lauded the efforts initiated by the Deputy Commissioner regarding cleanliness, education and public safety measures.

SAMRALA
DISPUTE SOLVED: The dispute regarding the post of principal in the local Nankana Sahib Public School has been solved and Ms Kuldeep Kaur will continue as a Principal of the school for further one year. This decision was taken on Sunday evening at a meeting of the school management committee (general body) which held under the chairmanship of Mr Jagjit Singh Gill, Additional Secretary of the Nankana Sahib Educational Trust, Ludhiana. Mr Amarjit Singh Balion was appointed president of the school in place of Dr Pritpal Singh Benipal, Mr Jagjit Singh Gill said.

RESENTMENT: There is a resentment in the Balmiki community as no member of the Balmiki Sabha has been taken in the executive of the PPCC by Capt Amrinder Singh, President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Talking to mediapersons here on Monday Mr Mohan Lal Kalyana, deputy chairman of Punjab Pradesh Valmiki Sabha Centre Committee, Punjab, said the Balmiki Community always stands with the Congress but none of the members have been taken in the executive.

HARYANA

AMBALA
TRAINING PROJECT: The Ambala Junior Chamber organised training project on latest trends in effective public speaking here on Monday. It was attended by about 30 participants. Mr Krishan Goel and Mr Rishab Bhardwaj won the best participation award. Dr Sushil Kansal informed the participants about the latest trends in public speaking and how a person could become an effective speaker. Mr Parag Goel was project director of the programme, a press note said.

PEACE MARCH: Mr Tanveer Jafri, an activist working for the national integration in Ambala, will organise an Indo-Pak peace march on July 14 on the eve of the meeting between the Pakistan President and the Prime Minister of India at Agra. Mr Jafri said the students of different schools would participate in the march.

AMOUNT SPENT: A sum of Rs 14.46 crore was spent on old-age pension, handicapped pension and stipend offered to students in the district during the last financial year. According to a press note issued by the Deputy Commissioner out of which Rs 11.4 crore was spent for old-age pension.

SONEPAT
SUICIDE: Sudesh (40), is reported to have committed suicide by sprinkling kerosene and setting herself ablaze at Saidpur village, 20 km from here, on Sunday. According to the police, she was a cancer patient and took this step to get rid of the sufferings.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Sonepat Hawkers Union of Newspapers: president — Mr Chandra Bhan Misra; vice-president — Mr Bhagwan Dass Gupta; secretaries — Mr Parveen Chhabra and Mr Om Parkash Saroha.

INAUGURATION: Mr Lalit Sharma, leader of the Yuva Nationalist Congress Party, inaugurated the office on the Sonepat-Bahalgarh road here on Sunday.

YAMUNANAGAR
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Lions Club: president — Mr Deepak Bakshi; vice-presidents — Mr Varinder Arora, Mr Vinod Jalhotra; and Mr Luxmi Puri; secretary — Mr D.P.S. Bhatia; and treasurer — Mr B.B. Bansal.