The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tuesday, August 14, 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

AMLOH
CONG MEETING: A meeting of Congress activists of the Amloh block was organised here on Sunday. It was addressed by Mr Surinder Kumar, an observer of Fatehgarh Sahib district. Dr Sikander Singh and Mr Dilbag Rai Sood, president and general secretary of the District Congress Committee, respectively, and Mr Narinder Joshi addressed the meeting.

BATHINDA
SUICIDE: Dharam Singh, former secretary, Red Cross, allegedly committed suicide by jumping before a train on the Sirsa-Bathinda rail line here on Sunday. A case has been registered in this connection.

BUDHLADA
EFFIGY BURNT: Activists of district units of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and Shiv Sena staged a demonstration here on Monday in protest against the killings of innocent persons in Jammu and Kashmir. They raised slogans against Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and burnt his effigy. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Ravinder Goyal, a senior leader of the morcha, demanded the dismissal of the Jammu and Kashmir Government and imposition of the President rule there.

DORAHA
YOGA CAMP: A ‘Yog Sadhana Shivir’ was organised by the Bharti Yog Sansthan at the local Guru Nanak National College on Sunday. It was presided over by Mr Krishan Lal Gupta, president, Punjab Yog Sansthan, and was inaugurated by Mr Jai Singh, president, Khalsa School Managing Committee. Ms Savita Bector, running a Yog Sadhana Camp for women at Khalsa High School, here, said one’s personality underwent tremendous change after practising yoga.

TEEJ CELEBRATED: Staff and Students of Guru Nanak Model Senior Secondary School celebrated Teej with enthusiasm on Saturday. Rangoli, mehandi and various other competitions were held to mark the occasion.

FARIDKOT
CENTRE FOR SANSKRIT: The Central Government has set up a centre at the local Government Brijindra College for teaching Sanskrit free of cost. Ten groups of 20 to 25 students will be taught Sanskrit during a session. Stating this, Mr Chander Mohini Garg, Principal of the college, added that the government has granted Rs 1 lakh in this connection.

KHANNA
DEMONSTRATION: Various employees’ unions of the Municipal Council have jointly organised a demonstration in front of the SDM’s office here. Carrying black flags, employees raised ‘anti-government’ slogans against the proposal of the Punjab Government to abolish octroi in the state. Those who spoke on the occasion included Mr Rajinder Sharma, Mr Daljit Singh and Mr Madan Lal, all union leaders. Mr Onkar Rai Mehta, president of the Municipal Council, also opposed the proposal on the ground that instead of helping the traders, it would badly hit various development schemes in towns and cities of the state.

CHARGE ASSUMED: Mr Pardeep Kumar Sabarwal has assumed charge as SDM of Khanna. He will unfurl the National Flag at Government Girls Senior Secondary School here on Independence Day.

KHARAR
DEADDICTION: Mr Harminder Singh Gill, president, All-India Sikh Students Federation, has appealed to all political parties and their leaders not to use intoxicants, liquor, poppy husk, etc during the time of elections. He was addressing a gathering here on Sunday organised by the AISSF as Nasha Virodhi Samagam to launch a campaign against the increasing trend among the youth of Punjab towards addiction. He alleged that due to the policies adopted by various political parties and the use of liquor, etc during the time of elections, the youths in Punjab were being pushed into darkness. Mr Gill said an all-party meeting should be held soon to formulate a policy against the use of liquor, etc during elections and a code of conduct must be formulated. He alleged that such intoxicants were being sold under the shadow of the government and the police. He appealed to the federation workers to launch a campaign against it. Mr Sukhdev Singh Bhour, a leader of the Panthic Morcha, alleged that liquor vends were being opened near Gurdwaras, mandirs, schools and colleges by the government as it wanted to cash in from the sale of liquor.

LUDHIANA
TEACHERS’ MEETING: The Government Primary Teachers’ Union, Punjab, had organised a meeting at Government Senior Secondary School for Boys, Jawahar Nagar. Members expressed resentment about the decision of the Punjab Government to dissolve the primary directorate. In a press note Mr Pritpal Singh president of the union, said Mr Tota Singh, Education Minister, had been interfering with appointments and transfer orders passed by the Department of Education. He demanded an inquiry into the interviews being conducted for the posts of elementary teachers. The members said if the state government did not withdraw its decision to dissolve the primary directorate, the members will resort to agitation.

JANMASHTMI CELEBRATION: Students of New Senior Secondary School, Sarabha Nagar, celebrated Janmashtmi. Nearly 4,000 students of primary section were shown videos on the life of Lord Krishna which was followed by question-answer rounds. The school was illuminated and decorated by students. Students and teachers performed pooja. Teachers delivered lectures on the life of Lord Krishna. Mr H.C. Gupta, Principal, told the students to follow the path of truth and honesty.

EDUCATION LOANS: Punjab National Bank, Ludhiana, organised a seminar on education loans at Punjab College of Technical Education, Baddowal, here on Monday. The seminar was attended by students of MBA and MCA courses of the college. Addressing the students, Mr K.I. Singh, Senior Regional Manager, Ludhiana, said for studies within India the students could avail a loan upto Rs 7.5 lakh, while for studies abroad the loan limit could stretch upto Rs 15 lakh. The quantum of loan could be further increased on the basis of the need based requirement of the student, he said. The rate of interest on the loan varies from 11.5 per cent to 14.5 per cent depending upon the amount of loan, he said. The loan is repayable after two years of the completion of studies or after one month of joining the service.

TRAUMATOLOGY CAMP: A two-day course to discuss the latest developments in the field of Traumatology, was inaugurated here on Monday by Mr Prem Nath Gupta, Secretary of the managing society of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital. The topics for discussion included fractures of the upper limb, fractures of the lower end of humerus, complex fractures of the olecranon and the radial head, tibial pilon fractures and fractures with delayed presentation. The speakers included Dr J.L. Bassi, Dr M. Yamin, consultant orthopaedic surgeon, DMCH, Dr Thomas George from Chennai, Dr M.E from Switzerland and Dr A.P. Verheyden from Germany.

MANSA
SUICIDE: Badal Singh (22), a tailor of Ralla village in the district, allegedly committed suicide by consuming insecticide on Sunday. Members of his family found him dead in the morning and cremated the body on the same day reportedly without informing the police. Domestic problems were said to be the cause of suicide.

MOGA
TAP WATER UNFIT: Tap water being supplied to residents of various localities here has been found unfit for human consumption. The residents said here on Saturday that they had been getting water containing dust particles, oil and sometimes even mixed with sewage. Physicians of the area said several cases of jaundice had been reported due to the consumption of unfit drinking water.

INFLATED BILLS: A large number of power consumers of various localities here were shocked on Saturday when they received power bills amounting to several thousands of rupees. Many consumers in the town have been receiving inflated bills reportedly ever since the PSEB computerised its billing system. They have urged the department concerned to look into the matter.

NAWANSHAHR
NOMINATED: The issue of the freedom of Tibet is a sensitive issue for India as it is related with the security of the country. This was stated by Dr Kuldip Chand Agnihotri, national co-convenor, Bharat Tibet Sehyog Manch, here on Sunday. He added that Mr Suresh Kumar and Mr Amit Sharma had been nominated conveners of the Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr units of the manch respectively.

RALLIES: The Bahujan Samaj Morcha will organise a political rally at Isru (Ludhiana), on August 15. This was stated by Mr Satnam Kainth, president of the morcha.

ACQUITTED: Dr Javed Alam of Banga has reportedly been acquitted in a case of alleged medical carelessness which caused the death of Sukhwinder Kaur of Khankhana village in September 1998, by the Punjab State Consumers Disputes Redressal Commission. This was stated by him at a press meeting here on Sunday. He also provided copies of the judgement to mediapersons.

INAUGURATED: The local Arya Samaj organised a state-level Arya sammelan to mark Janmashtami and inaugurate the golden jubilee celebrations of R.K. Arya College here on Sunday. The sammelan was presided over by Mr Harbans Lal Sharma, president, Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Punjab, and Vice-Chancellor, Gurukul Kangri Vishav Vidyalaya, Haridwar. A havan yajna was also performed.

PATHANKOT
MURDERED: Sanjiv Kumar (22) of the local Rampura mohalla was murdered allegedly by Sunil Kumar, alias Sethi, of the same locality on Sunday. Old enmity between them was said to be the cause of the murder. A case has been registered under Section 302, IPC.

ACQUITTED: Mr Harish Anand, Judicial Magistrate, on Monday acquitted Buta Singh of Kapurthala in an accident case registered under Section 304-A, IPC, at the Shahpur Kandi police station. The magistrate held that the prosecution had failed to establish the case beyond reasonable doubt.

PATIALA
FUNDS ALLOCATED: As many as 233 new Focal Points have been constructed in the state while another 364 have been revived to provide basic comforts to the common man. The focal points comprise of agro services, health facilities, veterinary hospitals and grain markets, where the basic amenities are also available. This was stated by Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, Local Bodies, Labour and Employment Minister, while addressing a gathering at Bhedwal Jhungia village in Rajpura block, near here, on Monday. He added that a similar Focal Point was being constructed in the village at a cost of Rs 3 crore. Mr Tandon said the government had provided farmers with good quality seeds. A compensatory amount of Rs 54 lakh had also been given to farmers who had sold their paddy at low rates. He said Rs 126 crore had already been spent for the development purposes in Rajpura. Mr Tandon allocated Rs 1 lakh for improvement in drinking water, Rs 50,000 for a school building and Rs 50,000 for a dalit dharamshala.

BOY SAVED: Angadjot Paul Singh, studying in fourth standard, saved the life of a 15-year-old boy from drowning in a canal near Assandh in Haryana. Angadjot was playing on the bank of the canal with his friends when he found Gurmukh Singh, who was swept away by the strong currents of water, struggling for life. He jumped into the canal and rescued the boy from getting drowned.

DEMANDED: Dispensers have demanded equal recognition and selection grade as compared to Himachal Government, Haryana Government and Central Government. This was stated by the Government Ayurvedic Dispenser Union during a meeting held here on Monday. Issuing a press note, Mr Narinder Pal Sidhu, president of the union, said the designation of dispensers should also be changed with Ayurvedic Pharmacists. Apart from this, the other demands of the union comprised of creating a Chief Dispensers post, giving RMP designation after 20 years of service and starting on the ayurvedic course from the beginning. The union members said if their demands were not heeded, a dharna would be staged at the Chandigarh centre.

LIST RELEASED: The president (Urban) of the District Congress Committee (DCC), Mr Ved Prakash Gupta, released the list of block Congress Committee presidents and office-bearers of the DCC here on Monday. In a statement, Mr Gupta said the list was being released after approval from the Punjab Congress Committee president, Capt Amarinder Singh. The Block Congress Committee presidents are — Patiala 1: Mr Rajinder Modgil, Patiala 2: Mr Anuj Trivedi, Patiala 3: Mr Gian Chand, Patiala 4: Mr Sachdev Gautam and Patiala 5: Mr Nand Lal Garabha. The vice-presidents of DCC (Urban) are — Mr Amrik Singh Juneja, Mr Darshan Singh Ghuman, Mr Gurjit Singh Guri, Mr Gulam Saber, Mr Hardev Singh Bali, Mr Niranjan Dass, Mr Padam Jain, Mr Prem Puri and Mr Shiv Khanna. The general secretaries of the committee are — Mr Balwinder Bedi, Mrs Charanjit Kaur, Mr Kishan Chand, Mr Narinder Lali, Mr Narinder Sehgal, Mr K.K. Malhotra, Mr Pardeep Mittal, Mr Pawan Kumar Nagrath, Mr Suresh Mehra, Mr Harider Singh Bajwa and Mr Ved Kapoor. Mr Chaman Lal Bansal is the treasurer of the committee.

ROPAR
BANNED: District Magistrate Gurinder Singh Grewal, in an order issued under Section 144, CrPC, has banned the running of commercial establishments, like restaurants, pubs, wineshops, disco clubs and hawking of goods along the road and at public places between 12 am and 4.30 am in the district. However, the order will not apply to coffee shops and restaurants in hotels. The cyber cafes are also allowed to be opened up to 2 a.m. on all days, while restaurants, pubs and disco clubs are allowed to be opened up to 1 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.