The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tuesday, August 21, 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

AMRITSAR
TREATMENT: The Citizen’s Forum has launched a programme for the treatment of drug addicts. Mr Brij Bedi, president of the forum, said drug addicts would be examined by Dr A.K. Sharma, a homeopathic specialist. Mr Bedi could be contacted at 0183-258403.

MEETING HELD: An emergency meeting of the Retired Teachers of Aided Colleges Forum held here on Saturday condemned the dilly-dallying attitude of the state government towards their demands. The demands include the implementation of the Pension and Gratuity Act.

BARNALA
STONE LAID: Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, Governor of Uttaranchal, laid the foundation stone of the Pucca Chabutra shopping centre at Bajwa Patti here on Sunday. Mr Rupinder Singh Sandhu, Chairman, Improvement Trust, said the centre would comprise 13 shops at a cost of Rs 14 lakh.

BATHINDA
VACCINATION CAMP: A vaccination camp against hepatitis-B was organised by the Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Youth Welfare Club of Maiserkhana village, Health Department and the village branch of the State Bank of Patiala on Sunday. Mr P.Verma, SMO (D), Talwandi Sabo, said during the camp 650 persons were vaccinated.

PROMOTED: Mr S.C. Chhatwal has taken over as the new Director of National Fertilisers Limited from August 16. The following employees have been promoted recently. Mr B.M. Ritolia as Executive Director of Vijaipur I & II units, Mr S.K. Mehta as Executive Director of Nangal unit, Mr O.P. Kaviraj as Executive Director (Mktg.) and Mr A.K. Singhal as Executive Director (F&A) corporate office.

TSU’S MEETING: A meeting of all units of the western zone of the Technical Services Union (TSU) was held here on Monday under the presidentship of Mr Pal Singh, vice-president of the TSU. All members decided to take part in the protest march by the BKU (Ekta) to be held at Chandigarh on August 22.

KHARAR
TRAFFIC DISRUPTED: Employees of the Municipal Committees of Ropar District sat on a dharna and blocked vehicular traffic on Kharar-Kurali National Highway, in front of the office of the Municipal Committee, Kharar, here on Monday to protest against the government proposal to abolish octroi in state. Speakers on the occasion said the abolition of octroi was not in the interest of the municipal employees. A state-level rally will be held in Chandigarh on Thursday to protest against the proposed action, said the press release.

NOTICE ISSUED: Mr Roshan Lal Chauhan, Civil Judge, Kharar, has issued notice to Gurmail Singh, Naib Tehsildar, sub-tehsil Majri (Tehsil Kharar), for August 31 in a contempt petition filed by Mr Shiam Lal and others. The petitioners said their civil suit was decreed on May 4, 2001 by a court but the Naib Tehsildar had refused to execute the said sale deed.

LUDHIANA
SCHOOL UPGRADED: Government High School, Gidderwindi, 15 km from here, has been upgraded to the senior secondary level. It’s newly constructed Kartar Singh Bill Block was inaugurated by Mr Tota Singh, Education Minister, here on Sunday. Speaking on the occasion, he praised Mr Jaswinder Singh, an NRI from the village, for contributing Rs 3,30,000 forwards the school. Mr Tota Singh said government intended to providing higher education to all and asked the teachers and parents to create a congenial atmosphere for the same. He added that illiteracy was the cause of increasing population, unemployment and crime. He said the introduction of English from Class I was the need of the hour. Mr Bhag Singh Mallah, MLA, too, addressed the gathering. Many prominent personalities, including panches and sarpanches, were present on the occasion.

COMMUTERS FACING DISCOMFORT: Mr Sunil Dutt Darapuri, vice-president, Daily Passenger Lohian- Ludhiana Union, told Ludhiana Tribune that departure of passenger trains for Lohian was invariably being delayed due to the late arrival of one mail train or the other. Similarly, the arrival of passenger trains from Lohian was being unnecessarily delayed on flimsy grounds. On account of this indifferent attitude of the railway authorities, nearly 2,000 labourers were being affected. Labourers who reached their respective factories late were denied entry by the employers, he added. Mr Dutt demanded that the morning train arriving from Lohian must reach on time so that workers could reach their respective places of work on time. He also demanded that the return train to Lohian in the evening must not be delayed after 6.35 pm as most of the labourers had to further travel to reach their homes on time.

FUNCTION HELD: The Labour and Employment cell of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee held a function here on Monday to commemorate the birthday of late Rajiv Gandhi. Mr K.K. Bawa, chairman of the cell, said the Gandhi family made sacrifice for the unity and integrity of the country. Both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi raised India’s status in the world but the ruling politicians were giving a bad name to the country, he added. Paying tributes to the slain Prime Minister, he said more rights to panchayats and the induction of computers and information technology were the legacy of Rajiv Gandhi. Mr Surinder Dawar said sacrifice made by Congress leaders during the period of militancy could never be forgotten. The gathering took a resolve to work for the realisation of Rajiv Gandhi’s vision.

SCHOOL UPGRADATION CEREMONY: The Government Middle School, Indirapuri, was upgraded as high school, in a ceremony held here on Monday. The school children performed kirtan and sweets were distributed among them. Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal, Speaker, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, laid the foundation stone and emphasised on the need to have good and affordable education. Mr Jagdev Singh Tajpuri, former Minister, said students of the area who belonged to economically weaker section of the society would benefit from the upgradation. He said the school was upgraded from primary to middle level in 1989 and efforts would be made to raise it to the senior secondary level soon. Mr Mohinder Singh Rana, president, PTA, and Mr Parveen Sood, general secretary, PTA, were also present on the occasion.

GRANT ANNOUNCED: Mr Sat Pal Gossain, Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, announced a grant of Rs 21,000 to Dr D.N.Kotnis Health and Education Centre and also promised to help the institution to recognise the acupuncture system of medicine in Punjab. Dr Inderjit Singh, medical superintendent of the hospital, in a press note on Monday said Mr Gossain visited the hospital and praised the working of the hospital and the treatment being provided to the patients. He also visited the de-addiction centre run by the hospital and talked to the addicts who were undergoing treatment in the centre. Dr Inderjit Singh explained that the accupuncture system had already been recognised by two states i.e. West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. He said Tamil Nadu and Department of Health and Family Welfare Punjab had recommended the case of recognising the system in Punjab. Others present on the occasion included Mr K.L.Malhotra, Mr Vimal Tondon, Mr Rana Surat Singh, Mr S.S.Bawa, Mr Joginder Singh and Mr Neel Pandhi.

INAUGURAL SESSION: The Partap College of Education, Humbran road, organised its second inaugural session here on Monday. Students presented a cultural programme in which ghazals, folk songs, solo dances and group songs were presented. Dr Balwant Singh, Principal, read out the annual report while highlighting the achievements of the college. Mr Sucha Singh Lungah, Minister for Public Works Department, was the chief guest. While appreciating the performance of the students, he said they should aim at achieving even better results next year and work for the welfare of the nation. Mr J.P. Singh, chairman of the managing committee, was also present on the occasion.

MANSA
ELECTROCUTED: Dalip Kaur (65) and her grandson Kuldeep Singh (18) of Bachhoana village in the district were electrocuted on Sunday when they suffered electric shocks while moving a pedestal fan.

CHAIN STRIKE: A chain hunger strike of the Punjab Radical Students Union and Punjab Students Union at the Shaheed Sewa Thikri chowk near bus stand entered its 11th day on Monday. The students alleged that the police didn’t allow them to meet Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, when he happened to pass by the venue of their strike.

MOGA
ENCROACHMENTS: Residents of the town on Monday urged the Municipal Council to check encroachments here. They said almost all main bazars here were encroached by rehriwalas leaving no place for shoppers. They also demanded that the Gandhi road and several other roads of the town should be repaired soon.

ACUPUNCTURE HOSPITAL: The Deputy Speaker of Punjab Assembly, Mr Sat Pal Gosain, has urged the state government to give recognition to the Acupuncture Hospital and College, Ludhiana, which was inaugurated by the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal. This was stated by Dr Inderjit Singh, in charge of the hospital, at a press conference here on Monday. The Deputy Speaker had also donated Rs 21,000 to the hospital, he added.

MOTORS STOLEN: A large number of electric and diesel motors of the farmers of various villages in the district have been stolen during the past few days. Stating this here on Monday, Mr Gurbachan Singh of Bheha village in the district added that thieves removed the motors during night and sold them to kabariwalas. The farmers have demanded that their motors should be recovered.

POWER CUTS: Frustrated over undeclared power cuts the businessmen of the town have decided to hold dharnas in front of the offices of the PSEB soon. This was stated here on Monday by Mr Kalwant Singh who headed a deputation of the businessman.

PATIALA
CREMATED: Bhai Ashinder Singh, father of Prof Manjit Singh, Jathedar Takht Keshgarh Sahib, was cremated here on Monday. He was 78 years of age and died of cardiac arrest. Prof Manjit Singh lit the funeral pyre, while, Giani Kewal Singh performed the last prayers. Mr Kirpal Singh Badungar, OSD to Punjab Chief Minister, Ms Parneet Kaur, MP, and Mr Brham Mohindra, former minister, Bibi Kamlesh Kaur, member SGPC, Deputy Commissioner, Mr Jasbir Singh Bir, Director, Language Department Mr Madan Lal Hasija, Head Granthi of Gurdwara Dukhniwaran Sahib, Bhai Sukhdev Singh, Chairman of Punjab School Education Board, Mr Kehar Singh and Dr Prithipal Singh Kapoor were present on the occasion.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of Shri Radha Krishan Shiv Mandir: president — Mr Sanjeev Sharma; senior vice-president — Mr Raj Kumar Malhotra; vice-president — Mr Ashok Goel; general secretary — Mr Ram Kumar Tandon; secretary — Mr Chander Shekhar Sharma and; Cashier — Mr Sandeep Agarwal.

TRAINING CAMP: A five-day training camp on first aid treatment has started at the DCW here. The camp was inaugurated by the Medical Superintendent of Railway Hospital, Mr Mool Narayan. About 100 officers and employees of the organisation took part in the workshop. Speaking on the occasion, Mr S.S.Sodhi, Incharge of DCW Workshop Training Centre, stressed the importance of first aid help. District Officer of Red Cross Society, Mr K.R.Verma and Senior lecturer, Mr Gurdeep Singh, said training programme will teach how to stop the flow of blood, keep the heart working, and enable the lungs to breathe till proper medical aid was available.

PHAGWARA
CALLED UPON: The Railway Passengers Welfare Association on Sunday called upon the Punjab Chief Minister to take up with the Union Railway Minister the issue of starting two express trains between Amritsar and Ludhiana in view of the rush of passengers on this section.

CASE REGISTERED: The local police on Sunday registered a case against Pankaj Ghulati, husband, Raj Ghulati, mother-in-law, and Dimple, sister-in-law, of Ms Rama for harassing her for more dowry. They are residents of the local Palahi gate.

SAMRALA
LAWYERS’ STRIKE: The lawyers of the local Bar Association observed a full-day strike here on Monday in protest against the failure of the police to arrest the robbers who had looted a sum of Rs 50,000 at gunpoint from Satpal Singh and Gurinder Singh, son of Mr H. S. Diwa, a senior advocate, on Saturday in front of the State Bank of Patiala branch. A meeting of the association was also held under the presidentship of Mr M. G. Prasher, vice-president. It gave an ultimatum to the police to nab the guilty within seven days, failing which the lawyers would chalk out their future course of action.

SCHOOLS UPGRADED: Thirteen schools in Samrala constituency have been upgraded, according to Mr Kirpal Singh Khirnian, a member of the SGPC. Talking to mediapersons at the Civil Rest House here on Monday, he said that primary schools of Kishangarh, Daudpur, Sarwarpur and Mal Majra villages had been upgraded to middle level, and middle schools of Salaudi, Harpalon, Rajewal-Kulewal, Jatana Uncha and Raipur Rajputan villages had been upgraded to high schools. Girls High Schools at Daheru, Lalauri Kalan, Kubbe and Faraur villages had been upgraded to senior secondary level, he added.

PARKASH UTSAV: The historic gurdwara at Masand Patti here, which is dedicated to Bhai Gulab Rai and Bhai Punjab Rai, followers of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, celebrated the parkash utsav of Sri Guru Granth Sahib with religious fervour. The devotees were told about the greatness of the sacred book. Prominent among those present on the occasion were Mr Amrik Singh Dhillon, MLA; Mr Harnail Singh Kooner, retired SE; Mr Kamaljit Singh Benipal, a field officer of Land Mortgage Bank; Mr Gurdev Singh Mushkabad, a senior Akali leader; Mrs Malan Lotey and Mr Karmajit Singh Harbanspura. They made donation worth lakhs of rupees for the extension of gurdwara premises.

DEMANDED: The ITI Employees Association has demanded the implementation of court orders regarding the increase in pay scales of employees, to promote the Class IV employees to Class III and to fill up 500 posts lying vacant since long ago. At a meeting held here today, Mr Navjot Singh Dhoot, state general secretary, ITI Employees Association, condemned the anti-workers policies of the state government. He urged the government to increase their scale to 5800-9200 and to implement the court order at the earliest. The employees appealed to the Punjab Government to solve their problems keeping in view the resentment among the ITI employees.

MOBILE PHONES NON-FUNCTIONAL: All the mobile phones in the Machhiwara town, 9 km from here, are non-functional. The people have fed by listening the voice “the phone is either out of range or switched off.’’ Mr Anil Sood, president of the Municipal Committee, Machhiwara, said here on Sunday that since the tower at Samrala had started functioning, no mobile phone was functioning in the area between Machhiwara and Samrala. But the mobile phones became functional once one comes to Garhi Bridge or Bhattian village, three km from here.

SANGRUR
INAUGURATED: Mr Sarvjit Singh, Deputy Commissioner, inaugurated a community hall at Badbar village, 18 km from here, on Sunday. A function was organised by the Goyal Biradari Organisation (Badbariea). Mr Fakir Chand Goyal, president of the organisation, presented the Deputy Commissioner with a ‘samman patra’. A grant of Rs 50,000 for further development of the community hall was announced by the Deputy Commissioner.

SUNAM
SCOOTERIST KILLED: One person was killed when his scooter hit a road divider near the Patiala railway crossing here on Monday. The deceased was identified as Gurtej Singh, alias Teja, 28, of Chhahar village, about 20 km from here. A case has been registered under Section 174 of the Cr P.C.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been installed office-bearers of the local Bharat Vikas Parishad: president — Mr Yash Pal Mangla; vice-presidents — Mr Prem Gugnani and Mr Anil Singla; secretary — Mr Pankaj Dogra; joint secretary — Dr Malvinder Bhardwaj; and treasurer — Mr Jagdeep Bhardwaj.

TARN TARAN
BOOKED: Dr Manjit Singh, Medical Officer at a primary health centre, along with Amarjit Singh of Kotli village and Wasawa Singh were booked under Sections 420, 511 and 120B by the police on Friday for making an attempt to get a forged medico-legal report. The case was registered on a complaint of Mr Sarbjit Singh of the same village.

6 BANGLADESHIS HELD: The Border Security Force arrested six Bangladeshis who were trying to cross over to Pakistan at Amarkot village on Friday. A case has been registered under Sections 3, 34 and 20 of the Indian Passport Act. They have been identified as Mussakaran, Mohammad Nadeem, Mohammed Surian, Mohammed Abdul Sagar, Mohammed Alam and Maroom Vilal.

PISTOL SEIZED: Mr Jagdish Kumar Mittal, Senior Superintendent of Police, in a press note issued here on Saturday said the local CIA staff had seized a .12-bore pistol and 12 cartridges from Paramjit Singh of Varpal village at a naka. A case has been registered under Sections 25, 54, and 59 of the Arms Act.

HARYANA

AMBALA
JAN ADALAT: Former Bahujan Samaj Party State President, Mr Aman Kumar Nagra, on Monday addressed a ‘Jan Adalat’ in Ambala City. Mr Nagra while condemning the “atrocities on Dalits” criticised the party leadership for his ouster. He said his more than two decade long association with the party was not taken into consideration while he was ousted. Supporters of Mr Nagra later took possession of the BSP office in Ambala City. The supporters said the office had been given to Mr Nagra when he was an MP and he had the right to use the office.

CANCER CHECK-UP: Ms Gita Vij, president, Army Wives Welfare Association, on Monday inaugurated a cancer check-up camp at Military Hospital, Ambala Cantonment. Ms Vij also released a booklet “Know about cancer”. She emphasised the need for spreading awareness among women about early detection of diseases like cancer of breast and cervix. Brig A.K. Sinha, Commandant, Military Hospital, said on the first day of the camp, 200 women had been examined and response to the medical check-up was encouraging. About 600 women are expected to be examined for cervix and breast cancers.

SCHOLARSHIPS: Scholarships were awarded to the toppers of Guru Harkishan Public School, Ambala Cantonment, at a function held on Monday. The students who received scholarships for academic excellence in class X include Parul Dogra, Ajay Pal Singh and Priyanka Dogra. In class IX scholarships were awarded to Pankaj Chauhan, Parikshit and Sapna Sethi. In class VIII scholarships were awarded to Gaurav Byas, Konika Gupta and Manisha Jaiswal, a press release said. Among others, Naggal MLA, Mr Jasbir Mallour, Ms Amarjeet Kaur and the Principal Mr P.C. Kalra were present at the function.

SHAHABAD
PROCESSION HELD: Led by the former Haryana Kisan Sabha chief and former CPI MLA, Dr Harnam Singh, a march was taken out on Friday in protest against the replacement of power meters by electronic ones. A memorandum urging the state government to provide regular power supply in rural areas, to fix the lower slab for power charges at 100 units and not to replace the meters was submitted to the Executive Engineer, UHBVN.

SONEPAT
GROUP CLASH: At least eight persons, including three women, were injured in a clash that took place between two groups at Rajpur village near here on Sunday. The clash occurred when a youth allegedly attempted to molest a village girl who was going to college. Lathis, iron rods and swords were used in the clash. The injured persons were immediately hospitalised.

ASSAULT: Mukesh sustained serious injuries when he was allegedly attacked with knives by his in-laws’ family here on Sunday. According to a report, the youth belonged to Basodi village and he was married to a girl of Dewru village. His wife had allegedly deserted him and left the house along with the dowry goods.

HERBAL PARK: Mr Dev Raj Dewan, an independent MLA, Inaugurated a herbal park in the Model Town area here on Sunday. This park is stated to be the first of its kind in the state of Haryana.

TRUCK IMPOUNDED: The police intercepted a truckload of 175 sheep at the boundary of this district and seized it on Sunday following a complaint by Mr Naresh Kumar Kadyan, chairman of the People for Animal Protection Council. According to a report, the sheep were being taken to Jammu and Kashmir for killing. The truck driver was arrested and the sheep were impounded.

DOWRY DEATH CASE: The police has arrested the husband and mother-in-law of Mrs Veena in a case of dowry death registered against them. According to a report, the victim was married to a youth Vinod of Chhotu Ram Colony in this city on January 17 and she was allegedly burnt to death by the culprits for not bringing sufficient dowry.