The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Monday, July 23, 2001, Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

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

PUNJAB

DHURI
JUDGE VISITS COURTS: Mr Justice Amar Dutt of the Punjab and Haryana High Court paid a visit to the local courts on Saturday. Mr R.M. Gupta, District and Sessions Judge, Sangrur, also accompanied him. Mr Justice Dutt was given a warm welcome on his arrival here.

HOSHIARPUR
TRAVEL AGENT BOOKED: The Garhshankar police registered a case under Section 420, IPC, against Surinder Bhatia, a travel agent of Mazara, on Friday on a complaint of Gurdeep Singh of Kapoor village. He alleged that the agent took Rs 4 lakh to send him abroad, but he neither sent him abroad nor returned the money.

THEFT CASE: Gold ornaments, cash and watches worth Rs 19,500 were stolen from the house of Mr Som Nath Chopra at Surajan Chowk here on Friday. The police has registered a case.

ROAD CONSTRUCTION: The Punjab Government has constituted the Infrastructure Board for the maintenance and improvement of roads in the state. This was disclosed by Mr Sohan Singh Thandal, State Minister for Food and Supply, Punjab, while inaugurating the link road at Nanana village, about 20 km from here, on Saturday.

BATHINDA
‘STOP PAYMENT SEATS’: Mr Mangal Singh, general secretary, All-India NFL (SC, ST, BC and minorities) Employees Welfare Association said in a press note here on Saturday that the payment seat system in the engineering colleges of the state for the candidates of the reserved classes should be stopped. The students belonged to the underprivileged sections of society and could not afford to get admission under the paid seat system, he said.

CREMATION: An unclaimed body was found from the platform of the railway station at Rama Mandi, about 40 km from here, by volunteers of the local Sahara Jan Sewa on Sunday. The local railway police accompanied the volunteers and brought the body to the Civil Hospital here. The deceased was identified as Dev Singh, a resident of Sangat.

KHARAR
PANCHAYAT UNION: Sarpanches of the Kharar block have decided to form Panchayat Union, Kharar. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held here at the local Civil Rest House on Friday which was attended by sarpanches and panches of 15 villages. Problems faced by panchayat members at various police stations and government offices were discussed and it was decided that only after forming a union these problems could be solved. A meeting of all sarpanches of the Kharar block have been called on Saturday at the Civil Rest House, Kharar.

TRANSFER DEMANDED: The sarpanch and some panches of Kurdi village of Kharar block have demanded that the entire staff of the Government High School, Kurdi should be transferred keeping in view the bad results of the school in the matriculation examination. According to a press note issued here on Saturday only four students of the school had been declared successful in the examination out of a total of 44 students. They alleged that future of village students was at stake and the entire staff of the school should be transferred immediately.

LUDHIANA
DESIGNER CONTEST: The local branch of the National Institute of Fashion Design (NIFD) has been declared “the best NIFD centre” in the country, out of the 110 branches across the country. Annual a Designer Contest, regular feature of the institute, is held every year in which national and international models display garments created by budding designers of the institute. The contest will be held on Tuesday at Magnet Resorts. Famous models, like Aditi Govitrikar, Nethra Raghuraman, Fleur Xavier, Cadice Pinto, Priyadarshini Pradhan, Tejaswini Kohlapure, Flavia Fonseca, Namita Vankawala, Sandhya Shett and Anjali Lavania, will walk on the ramp and display outfits of various designers. Bhangra stars Bhupi and Dharna will perform live at the mega show “Fashion Fantasies”.

KAVI DARBAR: A kavi darbar would be jointly organised by Bhai Ghanaiya Charitable Hospital and the Public Sewa Society Trust on Friday at the Bhai Ghanaiya Society, Baddowal. The darbar will be dedicated to Punjab, Punjabis and its culture. Sant Baba Jaspal Singh, the administrator of the trust, in a press statement on Sunday said renowned poets and literary figures, like Surjit Patar and Santokh Singh would be honoured with ‘Sahit Sewa Puraskar’ on the occasion. Mr Nirmal Jaura would be the convener of the programme. The participants would include Surjit Patar, Sardar Panchi, Inderjit Hasanpuri, Ravinder Bhattal, Gurbhajan Gill, Hardev Dilgir, Jalaur Singh Kheeva, Sukhwinder Amrit, Kulwant Jagraon, Dharam Kammeana and Trilochan Lochi.

OPPOSED: The Punjab State Electricity Board employees posted at Khanna have opposed the recent departmental circular asking them to tag their identity cards on their uniforms while on duty. Rejecting the idea of displaying their I-cards as “modern school kids”, the PSEB staff, particularly those on field duty, said the tagged I-card could prove dangerous while climbing poles. An amount of Rs 25 per head, which had been deducted from the salaries for the purpose of making new I-cards, has been refunded in the wake of protests by the technical staff refusing to obey the circular.

ILLEGAL TRANSPORTATION: Truck operators at Khanna are reeling under the effect of tractor-trailers engaged in illegal transportation of goods in the area, which are operating without paying any taxes. The police, for reasons best known to it, does not take any action against these trailers even though these are loaded with goods far exceeding their carrying capacity. These illegal trailers, bearing private registration numbers, are neither stopped at traffic checkpoints nor in front of the police district headquarters, from where these pass frequently. These trailers are also a traffic hazard as these cannot be stopped instantly by applying brakes. The truck operators have drawn the attention of the authorities on several occasions to check the menace but to no anvil.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Indian Society of Communication Technology: president — Dr Avtar Singh; vice-president — Mr G.S. Atwal; general secretary-cum-treasurer — Mr K.M. Chopra; editor — Mr A.P. Singh; and executive members Mr Subhash Singal, Mr H.S. Mangat, Mrs Parminder Kaur, Mr Nirmal Jaura, Mr Mohinder Singh Grewal, Mr Amarjit Singh Grewal, Dr D.S. Dhillon, Dr Rajinder Kalra and Dr R.P.S. Kang.

PATIALA
BANK OFFICERS’ BODY: Mr Ashok Arora of the Punjab National Bank, Ludhiana, has been elected president of the All-India Bank Officers Confederation (Punjab State) during a meeting held here on Sunday. The other office-bearers are: secretary — Mr Amar Singh of the State Bank of Patiala; vice-presidents — Mr K.K. Mehra of the State Bank of India, Mr R.P. Singh of Punjab and Sindh Bank, Mr Ashok Handa, UCO Bank, Mr Vijay Mohan, Punjab National Bank and Mr Sudhir Sharma of Canara Bank; organising secretaries — Mr Chaman Lal Singla of the State Bank of Patiala, Mr Rajiv Puri of Punjab National Bank and Mr M.L. Gupta of UCO Bank; and treasurer — Mr Parmod Sharma of the State Bank of Patiala.

APPOINTED: Mr Raghbir Singh has been appointed adviser of the Berojgar Naujwan Union, Punjab. He is also the president of the FCI Employees and Workers Union, India. This information was given by Dr Dharminder Singh, members, PPC Economic and Planning Cell and convener of the Berojgar Naujwan Union, during a meeting held here on Sunday.

TUBEWELL REPAIRS: Mr Jaspal Singh Billing, general secretary of the Diploma Engineers Association (DEA) on Sunday said that no collection would be made from zimidars for repair of tubewells as the Punjab Government had released funds for the purpose.

CHANDIGARH

SAPLINGS: As many as 100 silver oak saplings were planted by students of Kailash Bahl DAV Centenary Public School, Sector 7, delegates of the Lions Club and staff members here on Sunday. Over 50 delegates from the Lions Club participated in drive. The club decided to honour the caretaker child of the best maintained tree.

MEETING: A meeting of the executive committee and special invitees of the Gujjar Raj Vikas Board was held at Gujjar Bhavan here on Sunday. The meeting was chaired by the former Haryana Minister, Mr J.S Chaudhari. It was unanimously decided at the meeting to constitute state bodies of the board in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh also. Mr Shiv Raj Singh Bhandari, Mr M.C Chhokar and Mr Mohinder Singh Bainsla, were nominated vice-president, press secretary and member on the occasion. Among others who attended the meeting were Mr R.P Singh, Mr Ram Saran Devigash, Mr Desh Raj Bahrev.

SAPLING PLANTATION: Lions Club Shivalik organised a sapling plantation drive on Sunday. Club members planted saplings to combat environment pollution under supervision the club president, Mr R.S Vasdev. The club also donated for fodder and medicines for sick and injured animals of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on the occasion as a part of animals welfare camp.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the managing committee of the Shri Radha Krishna Mandir, Sector 14: president — Mr G.P. Bansal; senior vice-president — Mr Deepak Kaushik; vice-presidents — Mr M.L. Narang and Ms Laj Batra; secretary — Mr Rakesh Gupta; organising secretary-cum-auditor — Mr S.P. Chauhan; store in charge — Mr Lalit Chauhan; and cashier — Mr O.P. Jindia.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the executive committee of The Association of Retired Officers of Indian Audit and Accounts Department, Chandigarh: president — Mr M.L. Panghotra; general secretary — Mr Gurdial Singh; and finance secretary — Mr P.K. Bansal.

RATH YATRA: The All India Confederation of SC, ST and BC Organisations (Haryana) held a meeting under the chairmanship of Mr Ram Raj and constituted a committee to extend its welcome to “Dham Chakra Rathyatra” on Sunday. A press note issued by the confederation said the rathyatra would reach Chandigarh on July 30 and the welcome committee would consist of Mr Maam Chand, Mr Ram Prashad, Mr Lal Chand, Mr Khushal, Mr Tulsi Ram Saroya, Mr Miyan Singh, Mr Kansi Ram, Mr Mam Chand Basia, Mr Vijay Sonamane.

STRIKE: The indefinite strike launched by auto mechanics in Chandigarh entered its 26th day and tool-down strike sixth day on Sunday. A press note issued by Mr Hazari Lal, vice-president of the Auto Mechanics Federation, said Mr Ravinder Singh and five other mechanics sat on fast this afternoon. The press note further stated that the president of the National Congress Party, Principal Gurbachan Singh, along with his companions came to meet mechanics. He assured the mechanics that his party would support their demand. The president of the federation, Mr Mohinder Singh claimed that the ongoing tool-down strike was a complete success.

TELEPHONE ADALAT: The 26th telephone adalat was held under the chairmanship of Mr R.C. Vaish, Principal General Manager, here on Saturday. According to a press note, 11 cases were received. Five subscribers attended the adalat and their cases were settled on the spot. The rest of the cases were also settled and the subscribers informed, the press note added.

BANK: The foundation day of Punjab National Bank, branch office, Sector 28-C, Chandigarh, was celebrated on Saturday. The branch had started functioning 22 years back. In the afternoon, a meeting was held, where Mr K.C. Gupta, Assistant General Manager of the branch, gave details of the bank’s deposit schemes.

PANCHKULA
INSTALLATION CEREMONY: Mr Radhey Shayam Bansal, Ms Saroj Kathuria and Ms Savindra Chopra, were installed presidents of the Lions and Lioness clubs (Mid-Town) Panchkula and Lions Club Chandi Mandir, here on Sunday evening. The office-bearers were installed by Mr M.R. Sharma, the chief guest and installation officer for the function. The president for the Lioness Club was installed by Ms Shashi Kuthiala while Mr Subhash Batra, vice-district governor, was the guest of honour.

HARYANA

AMBALA
NOMINATION FILED: Mr Narendra Bangali filed his nomination papers as candidate of the Vikas Parishad for the byelection of the Municipal Council, Ambala Cantt, on Sunday. He was taken in a procession from ward 24, where the byelection would be held following the death of the sitting councillor.

MAN WASHED AWAY: One person was reportedly washed away in the Ghaggar river, near Ghel village, three km. from here, on Saturday noon. According to information Lachman Dass, a resident of Ghel village, was crossing the river, when a gush of water took him away. His body could not be located till Sunday evening.

BHIWANI
FIVE ARRESTED : With the help of villagers, the police has arrested five miscreants involved in over 18 cases and seized two pistols of .12 bore, two of .315 bore, one revolver, 11 cartridges and a mobile phone from them. Disclosing this here the SP, Dr Suman Manjri, said evidence had also been detected in the case of loot and murder of a cashier that took place in the local New Grain Market last month, with the arrest of this gang headed by a teenager.

INDUSTRIALIST HELD: The police arrested industrialist Gautam Kumar Hada and produced him in the court on Saturday. Hada was arrested on Friday under Section 411 of the IPC for buying stolen goods. The court of Ms Sangeeta Rai, Judicial Magistrate, later released him on bail. The industrialist is the Managing Director of Century Tubes Ltd, and is suspected to be involved in the Mohta Electro Steel Ltd theft case, in which goods worth crores of rupees were found stolen.

FATEHABAD
GANG BUSTED: The police has busted an inter-state gang of car thieves and recovered three Maruti cars and a Yamaha motor cycle from them. Four persons have been arrested. The district police chief, Mr Hanif Qureshi, told mediapersons on Sunday that Inspector Mohinder Singh of the CIA staff, Tohana, nabbed them while they were allegedly trying to finalise a deal to sell these vehicles. Those arrested are Bablu, Pankaj and Manoj, all residents of Muzzafarnagar in UP and Sanjiv Kumar of Hisar.

SONEPAT
ONE KILLED: Jai Kumar was shot dead and his son sustained bullet injuries when they were allegedly attacked by a group of persons at Teha village, about 15 km from here, on Saturday. According to a report, a dispute over a ‘Will’ is stated to be the main cause of the attack. The police has registered a case.

SIX INJURED: Six persons, including a woman, were injured when they were allegedly attacked by eight armed persons at Mallaha Majra village, about 7 km from here, on Saturday. The police has registered a case. The injured, Harish Chander, alleged he along with his family members was taking tea when Samsher, a contractor of Kheri Manajat village, forced his way along with his supporters into the house and fired shots at them indiscriminately.

INSPECTION VISIT: Mr Justice S.S. Sudhalkar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court made an inspection visit of the district jail here on Saturday and directed officials to speed up the construction work of the building. The Judge was accompanied by the DC, SP and other officials of the district.

CHEMISTS’ STRIKE: Chemists and druggists of the district observed a complete strike and took out a procession here on Saturday in protest against the alleged high-handedness of the police in getting two shops of chemists vacated forcibly in spite of the stay orders issued by the local court. They held a demonstration in front of the camp office of the Deputy Commissioner. They also sat on a dharna for three hours and wanted to submit a memorandum to the DC, but he declined to accept it.

SEVEN ARRESTED: The Kharkhauda police arrested seven persons of Matindu village on charges of alleged harassment of a married youth and forcing him to commit suicide on Saturday. According to a report, this followed a report lodged by the parents of the victim. The arrested persons include three women of the village.

TWO ROBBED: Mr Bhagwan Dass, a trader of Subzi Mandi, was reported to have been robbed of Rs 50,000 while he was on his way home at Gohana, 35 km from here, on Saturday night. According to a report, Mr Dass was waylaid by armed persons who snatched the bag containing cash from him and escaped. According to another report, Rajpal, a teacher of Rehmana village, was also allegedly robbed of his motor cycle at gunpoint between Sitawali and Kailana villages by two persons on Saturday.

SIRSA
EDUCATION FOR ALL: The Government of India has launched a Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan to make education available even in the rural and backward areas. Under this scheme, every child will be provided education facilities by 2003. This was disclosed by the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi here on Saturday. He was addressing a gathering after inaugurating a new building of the local Kendriya Vidyalaya No 2 on Kanganpur road constructed at a cost of Rs 2 crore.

COMPENSATION: The District Consumer Redressal Forum has instructed the New India Assurance Company to give a compensation of Rs 10,000 against a dead cow. According to information received on Thursday, Mahavir Singh of Beharwala Khurd village in the district lodged a complaint with the forum against the company which refused to pay him the compensation for the death of his cow insured with the company.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BADDI
Installation: The Baddi Rotary Club held an award distribution-cum-installation ceremony at Auro Club, Baddi on Sunday. Mr Hemant Arora, District Governor elect of the Rotary Club 3080 was the chief guest. A press note issued by the club said Mr Dhian Chand, Assistant District Governor, Zone-I and Mr K.C. Chaman, SDM, Nalagarh, were also present at the ceremony. Charter president, Mr R.K. Rewari, distributed awards to members of the club for their outstanding contribution during the last year. Four district-level awards were given to club members by the District Governor elect.

HAMIRPUR
IMMOLATION THREAT: Mr Dhani Ram Shukla, a Dalit leader of Balh village, has served a notice on the district administration to either give him justice or he will set himself ablaze on July 28. In a statement to the press here on Saturday, he charged the district administration with protecting two former police officers of Hamirpur who had registered a false case against him.

NAHAN
MARKET YARD: Mr Jagmohan Bhardwaj, president, District Market Committee, Sirmaur, said here on Saturday that the sub marketing yard constructed at a cost of Rs 33 lakh at Sarahan, 40 km from here, would be dedicated to the people of the area on Monday by the Agriculture Minister, Himachal Pradesh, Mr Vidya Sagar.

APPEAL TO CHEMISTS: Dr Prahalad Singh Chaudhary, president, District Chemists and Druggists Association, Sirmaur, in a press note appealed to all chemists and druggists in the district not to sell medicines of Schedule ‘H’, especially to the youngsters without the prescription slip of a qualified doctor. He said the association had also resolved to appeal to all private practitioners in the district not to purchase duplicate medicines.

RENUKA LAKE FUNDS: A sum of Rs 16.5 lakh would be spent on the treatment of 10 nullahs in the catchment area of the historic Renuka Lake by erecting bio-engineering and engineering structures. This information was given by the Additional Deputy Commissioner Mr Sharabh Negi, while presiding over a meeting of the Renuka Vikas Board at Renuka Ji, 45 km from here, on Saturday.

KISAN PASSBOOKS: As many as 410 kisan passbooks were distributed to farmers of 18 circles of Rajgarh subdivision at a function organised at Rajgarh by the Subdivisional Magistrate, Mr S.P. Rolta.

ROAD CONSTRUCTION: A sum of Rs 5.4 crore will be spent on the construction of six roads by NABARD under the Rural infrastructure development fund in Sirmaur district. This was stated by zila parishad chairman Chander Mohan Thakur while presiding over a meeting of the district-level officers and members of zila parishad at Panchayat Bhavan on Friday.