The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Saturday, September 8, 2001, Chandigarh, India

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PUNJAB

BARNALA
STERN ACTION: Addressing his first press conference after assuming office, the Senior Superintendent of Police, Barnala, Mr Kanwaljit Singh, said here on Thursday that the police would deal sternly with antisocial elements. He told news persons that the police had arrested 12 “satta” players.

PROCUREMENT: Mr Ved Parkash Mittal Tallewalia, president, Kacha Arhtiya Association, has alleged that procurement agencies like Markfed, Punsup, the Punjab Agro Industries Corporation and the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation had formed a pool and were poised to take an undue share of Rs 1.50 per bag during the paddy procurement. Mr Tallewalia made this allegation in a letter to Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, a copy of which was released here on Thursday.

STRIKE: Mr P.L. Bansal, district secretary, Punjab Private Colleges Non-Teaching Employees Union, Sangrur, said here on Thursday that the non-teaching employees of private colleges of Sangrur district observed a one-day strike on Tuesday.

HONESTY: Ms Sarla Rani, a sweeper in the State Bank of Patiala, S.D. College branch, has set a rare example of honesty by handing over a packet containing Rs 10,000 to Mr R.K. Jindal, Manager of the bank. It was forgotten in the bank by Mr Bhagwan Singh of the local Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar. The bank staff, Mr Bhagwan Singh and customers of the bank were all praise for Ms Sarla Rani, Mr Jindal said on Wednesday.

BATHINDA
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Punsup Employees Union: president — Mr Krishan Sangruri; vice-president — Mr Daljit Singh; general secretary — Mr Vidhu Shekhar; and secretary — Mr Tarsem Singh.

MEETING: A meeting of the ‘Paindu Sahit Sabha, Dallianwali village, was held at the village on Thursday. It was unanimously decided at the meeting that the seventh “Kavishar samaroh” would be held on October 10, Mr Sukhdarshan Singh, general secretary of the sabha, said.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the All-India MES Civilian Engineers Association, Bathinda: president — Mr Harish Kumar Arora; vice-president — Mr Ram Khilari; general secretary — Mr Jagsir Singh; joint secretary — Mr Sita Ram; organising secretary — Mr Brij Mohan Sharma; treasurer — Mr Kulbhushan Hasija; and auditor — Mr S.P. Singla.

FARMERS’ DAY: A farmers’ field day was celebrated by the Regional Research Centre of Punjab Agricultural University in association with IFFCO at Dyalpura Bhaika village here. Dr J.S. Hundal, Head, Department of Vegetable Crops, PAU, said the CH-3 variety of chillies should be adopted as it had given good yield in the south-west regions of the state. Mr Sukhmander Singh, a chilli grower of the region, was honoured on the occasion.

NO TEACHER: Resentment prevails among students of the home science group at Government Senior Secondary School (Girls) in Goniana Mandi as the only teacher of the subject there has been transferred. There are about 300 students of the subject in the school. The post of the home science teacher was abolished on August 1. Mr Lajpat Goyal, joint secretary, Girls School Welfare Committee termed the decision as unfortunate.

SGPC ELECTION: Mr R. Venkatratnam, Deputy Commissioner, said on Thursday that the revision of electoral rolls for the SGPC election had started on Monday and would continue up to November 2. All eligible Sikh voters over the age of 21 could get their names registered in the respective blocks. The final lists would be made public on February 20, 2001.

CHARGE ASSUMED: Mr Darshan Singh Grewal and Mr D.P.S. Kharbanda, who were appointed here as the Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) and the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), respectively, took charge on Wednesday.

POLIO ERADICATION: Mr Shivinder Pal Singh, president, Rotary Club, Rampura Phul, said in a press note here on Thursday that the club was making efforts for the eradication of polio. Mr J.G. Vohra, member, Polio Eradication Project, WHO, said with the mass immunisation programmes for the eradication of polio, the number of polio cases had declined significantly.

BANNED: Mr R. Venkatratnam, District Magistrate, while imposing Section 144 of the Cr PC has ordered that the Army coloured uniforms and vehicles will not be used by civilians to prevent their misuse. He has also banned the use of unauthorised loudspeakers and other high-powered sound-producing devices at public places. The order will remain in effect till November 2.

BODY FOUND: Body of Raj Kumar, a youth working at a dhaba, was found on the Bathinda-Malout road here on Wednesday. The body was cremated by volunteers of Sahara Jan Seva after they received a telephone call regarding this, Mr Vijay Goyal, president of the organisation, said.

DORAHA
PROTEST RALLY: The employees of Doraha, Payal, Malout, Sahnewal and Khanna held a rally against the proposal to abolish octroi, on Friday. According to Mr Sukhwinder Singh, president, Doraha Municipal Employees’ Union, 12 unions, including the Electricity Board Employee's Union, Rickshaw Pullers’ Union, and various other trade unions, participated in the rally. The protest march began from the Municipal Council office, passed through the main market, the grain market, the railway station, and returned to the MC office.

FOUNDATION STONE: Mr Sadhu Signh Ghudani, MLA, Payal, will lay the foundation stone of various roads and streets here on Saturday. He will also issue cheques worth Rs 5,60,000 as an amount needed to complete the project.

FAZILKA
SALARIES DEMANDED: About 50 employees, including lecturers, of the local M.R. Government College have not received salaries for June, July and August. Mr Ram Krishan Gupta, spokesperson for college lecturers and employees, in statement here on Wednesday, expressed resentment that even though six months had passed, the government had not accorded regular budgetary sanction to these posts.

POSTS VACANT: The post of Additional Civil Judge, Senior Division, here has been lying vacant for the past three months after the transfer of Mr K.K. Kareer. Besides this, the post of a Magistrate suspended about two years ago has not been filled, Mr Anil Jain, former president of the Bar Association here, in a statement here on Wednesday demanded that both vacancies be filled immediately.

FEROZEPORE
CABLE OPERATORS: The Deputy Commissioner on Wednesday convened a meeting of cable operators of the region who have been on a strike against an order banning five cable TV channels. It was decided after the meeting that no cable operator would charge more than Rs 100 from the owners of black and white televisions and Rs 125 from those having CTVs.

HONOURED: As many as 38 officers and 32 head of institutions were honoured at a function organised by the district administration to felicitate those who had worked to organise the state-level Independence Day function.

GATE RALLY: On a call given by the state body of the Food and Supplies Department Ministerial Staff Union, Punjab, a gate rally was held on Wednesday in front of the office of the District Food and Supplies Controller in protest against the indifferent attitude of the authorities concerned. The demands include shifting of inspectorate staff working in district officers to field offices, promotion of clerks to the post of inspector grade I, adjustment of the ministerial staff posted at places away from their home districts, and filling of vacant posts of superintendent, senior auditor, AFSO and steno.

JAILED YOUTHS: Youths from Punjab who have been languishing in various jails in Baluchistan in Pakistan will be released soon. This information was given by the International Bhai Mardana Society which had been instrumental in the release of 12 youths from jails in Pakistan last month. According to a spokesman of the society, the 29 Punjabi youths who fell in the net of fake travel agents and ultimately landed in jails in Pakistan would be released by September 25.

GURDASPUR
CAMP: The local Rotary Club on Wednesday organised a multi-purpose camp at Khalsa High School here. The District Transport Officer was the chief guest. He donated five fans to the school. Mr Navneet Dugga, president of the club, also donated five fans on behalf on the club. A dental check-up was also held and all students were given a packet of toothpaste and toothbrush each.

HOSHIARPUR
EXCISE RAID: Officials of the Excise Department headed by Mr Balbir Sharma, Excise Inspector, conducted raids at Bassi Mustfa village on Wednesday and seized 36 litres of whisky from Raghubir Singh. In a press note Mr P.C. Piyasa, Assistant Excise and taxation Commissioner, Hoshiarpur, said the whisky was meant for sale in Chandigarh. he said Raghubir Singh was arrested under Section 61, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act.

BOOKED: On a complaint of Mr Mukhtair Singh, the Tanda police registered a case under Section 406 of the IPC against Ram Chand on Wednesday for cheating the complainant. Ram Chand took Rs 1,59,000 from Mukhtiar Singh for sending him abroad.

TRAVEL AGENT BOOKED: On a complaint of Mr Sucha Singh of Sahibazpur, the police registered a case under Section 420 of the IPC on Monday against Kamal jain of Tanda. Mr Sucha Singh had alleged that Kamal Jain took Rs 1 lakh from him for sending him to Germany in 1992, but instead sent him to Moscow where he had to spend Rs 50,000 from his own pocket.

JAGRAON
CAR STOLEN: A Maruti car (PB-10-AE-7558), belonging to Mr Parveen Kumar, has been stolen from Ram Nagar Mohalla. The local police has registered a case under Section 379’ IPC, on the statement by Mr Kumar. According to him, he had parked the car near his house at night and found it stolen in the morning.

KHARAR
ASSEMBLY SEAT: The Bharatiya Janata Party, Kharar unit, has decided to stake its claim on the local Assembly seat in the forthcoming elections to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. The decision was taken in a meeting of the Kharar mandal held here on Wednesday under the presidentship of Mr Om Parkash Aggarwal. The party has formed a 12-member committee for making further progress in this direction. It has been decided to give a memorandum to Mr Brij Lal Rinwa, President, BJP, Punjab, regarding the decision.

COW SHED: The local Municipal Committee, has decided to allot one acre for setting up a ‘gau shala’ here. A resolution regarding this was passed in the meeting of the committee held here last week. The committee has allotted the land at Khanpur village. The cow shed will be set up by a social organisation.

THANKED: The local Block Congress Committee has thanked Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, MP for allotting funds for the repair of all Harijan dharamshalas in the area.

ISSUE NOTIFICATION: Mr Balbir Singh, Sarpanch of Rasanheri village, has alleged that although he had been elected Sarpanch on July 29, yet the government had not issued a notification regarding that. He said he had not been asked to take the oath of his office by the department concerned.

APPRECIATED: Mr Ashok Kumar Sharma, Senior Operator in Swaraj Combine Division at Chappar Chirri village has been appreciated after he deposited a sum of Rs 5,700 with the Personnel Department. He had found the amount near the cash counter. An appreciation letter has been issued to him by his concern.

LIONS CLUB: The local Lions Club recently organised a meeting at Vikram Public School in which Dr S.S. Dhanoa, SMO, Kharar, was the chief guest. The meeting was organised to create awareness among the students about drug addiction.

ROTARY CLUB: The local Rotary Club organised a meeting of units at Kharar, Morinda and Kurali last week. The agenda of the meeting was to have a get together of all its members and to discuss various common projects.

IT CAMP: The Income Tax Department organised a special camp in the Press Room here on Friday to create awareness among local residents about the 1/6 scheme of the department and to receive the returns from the assessees. Ms Parneet Suri, Joint Commissioner of Income Tax, Range-6, Chandigarh, Mr Vivek Vardhan, Income Tax Officer Ward 6 (1), and Mr Adarash Kumar, Income Tax Officer Ward 6 (5), Chandigarh, were present at the camp.

LUDHIANA
WORKSHOP: The Punjab Control Board in collaboration with Tetra Tech, technical adviser of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will organise a workshop on the clean technology initiative programme here on Sunday. In a press note issued here on Friday, the Tetra Tech management said rather than pursuing the conventional route of command and control with stringent mandatory regulations that resulted in fines and closures, the industries in Punjab were looking forward to a proactive approach, like environment management system. The approaches would provide operational flexibility, significant opportunity for financial gains and reduce the pollutant load on the environment. The proposed project would be the first of its kind in India and could easily be replicated in other clusters located in different regions of the state. The key driving force of project was to create an environmental awareness among the small-scale industries to demonstrate improvement in their environmental management systems. Some of the expected benefits of the project were increased environment awareness among the industries, increased overall industrial productivity, reduced liability and improved image among stakeholders, cost reduction through pollution prevention programs and improved market acceptability and resource optimisation.

AWARENESS MARCH: The Dr Ambedkar Janhit Ekta Mission would hold an awareness march against the spread of intoxicants in the form of tablets, capsules and various syrups here on Saturday, according to a press note by the mission. Mr Surinder Happy, President of the mission, said the rally would start at 10 a.m. from Ramgharia Senior Secondary School, near Vishwakarma Chowk, which would pass various areas of the old city. Other organisations are also extending their cooperation to make the march a success.

MANSA
VOTERS’ ENUMERATION: The enumeration of voters for gurdwara elections which commenced in the district on Monday, will continue till November 2, according to a press note issued by Ms Raji P Sirivasatava, Deputy Commissioner, Mansa. Separate forms have been provided for Kesdhari and Sehajdhari Sikhs, the press note said.

DIRECTIONS ISSUED: The Deputy Commissioner, Mansa, has issued directions to all Subdivisional Magistrates in the district to listen to the complaints regarding old age, widow and handicapped pension on every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. They have been directed to dispose of the complaints immediately.

GANG BUSTED: The Bhikhi police has busted a gang of car lifters and three stolen cars were recovered from their possession. This was stated here on Thursday by Mr Dilbag Singh Gill, District Police Chief, Mansa. He said Hardeep Singh, Yadwinder Singh and Kewal Singh, owner of Vishvakarma workshop, Bhikhi, were arrested and three stolen cars recovered from them.

MOGA
MURDERED: Bant Singh of Rajeana village allegedly hacked to death his brother Darshan Singh at his house on Wednesday after an altercation. A dispute over property was stated to be the cause of the murder. The police has registered a case. The accused has absconded.

FARMERS COMPLAIN: Farmers of various villages in this district on Wednesday complained that paddy which was ready for harvest was being affected by a mysterious disease as leaves of the crop had started turning pale. Talking to mediapersons, they said if no measures were taken immediately, there would be heavy damage to the crop. The affected villages include Charik Langeana, Nawan Langeana and Purana Kothe.

NAWANSHAHR
DISPENSARY INAUGURATED: Dr Rattan Singh Ajnala, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries Minister, on Wednesday inaugurated veterinary dispensaries at Alachaur and Mubarakpur villages, a high school building in Karyan village and laid the foundation stone for a veterinary dispensary at Chhokeran village in the district.

CHEQUE PRESENTED: Mr Jatinder Singh Kariha, MLA, and Mr Jagjit Singh, Deputy Commissioner, presented a cheque of Rs 2 lakh to Mr Jaswinder Singh and Mr Shabdeep Singh, sarpanch and president of Bhagat Singh Sports Club, Khatkar Kalan village, respectively, at DC office on Wednesday for the construction of a gymnasium, an official press note said.

ARRESTED: Mr Tulsi Ram, SSP, in a press note issued here on Wednesday, said Jasbir Singh of Padrama village (Garhshanker) and Hardip Singh of Gunachaur village were arrested and 10 bags of poppy husk and 5 grams of smack were seized from them.

DHARNA HELD: The teachers under the aegis of the Government Teachers Union held a dharna and rally in front of the office of the District Education Officer here on Wednesday in support of their long-pending demands. Mr Diwan Singh, district president of the CTU, while addressing the dharna, criticised the government for not providing salaries to teachers regularly.

PATIALA
DATE EXTENDED: The District Congress Committee President, Mr Ved Prakash Gupta, on Friday said the date for the preparation of the voters list had been extended by 15 days. He said the time allotted earlier was from August 27 to September 3.

MEDICAL CAMP: A free-medical camp was recently organised by the Rotary Club (mid-town) in collaboration with the Rotary Club (Huber), Toronto (Canada), at Government Senior Secondary School, Rajpura Colony. The patients were given vaccination, against Hepatitis-B. As many as 950 girl students of the school were administered the vaccine. A Member of Parliament from Patiala, Ms Preneet Kaur, urged that the health of the students should be given top priority.

VANAMAHOTSAVA: Students and teachers of the Patiala Education Block celebrated vanamohatsava here at the Government Model Primary School under the chairmanship of Dr T.R. Sharma, former professor and dean, Education Department, Punjabi University. The central head teachers of Vajidpur, Gajjumajra, Roungla, Ablowal, Kalyan, Model town and Bakshiwala and about 100 students planted 200 saplings of Neem, Peepal, Banyan, Mulberry and Amaltas. Dr Sharma planted three saplings and named the trio as Urmil Triveni after the name of Ms Urmil Kumari, CHT, who will be retiring shortly. Students of Model Town School will take care of these plants.

NATIONAL AWARD: Ms Tripat Kaur Rahi, Principal of the local Government Model Senior Secondary School, has been awarded the National Award by the Vice-President of India on Teachers ‘ Day in New Delhi. She had been awarded State Award by the State Education Department last year.

REGULARISE SERVICES: The Punjab Home Guards Association has demanded the regularisation of the services of the jawans who had been serving the department since the past 17 to 18 years. The association president, Mr Gurmeet Singh Pradhan, said the jawans came from poor families and were serving far away from their homes and got only Rs 70 as allowance. He also demanded an increase in the allowance. He said the guards should be given perks according to the state police pattern and the family members of the jawans who had laid down their lives while serving the nation should be given jobs. Mr Hakam Singh, general secretary, Punjab, has called a rally in this context on September 26.

SAMRALA
DECLARATION OF ASSETS: Mr Hamdardvir Nausheharvi, a noted Punjabi writer, has appreciated the exchange of letters between Mr Amarinder Singh, president, PPCC, and Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, regarding their assets. In a statement issued to the Press, he said instead of exchanging their vast properties, both the leaders should donate these to the state. But before that, they should declare their assets in the form of buildings, lands, farmhouses, hotels, shares, FDs, bank accounts in Punjab and abroad, he added. He also demanded that all politicians should declare their assets before submitting their nomination papers for the Vidhan Sabha or the Lok Sabha elections.

MEETING HELD: The third meeting of the Public Grievances Committee was held at the Nagar Council office here on Friday. It was chaired by the local SDM, Mr S. S. Brar, who is also the president of the committee, and attended by all the heads of departments of the sub-division. Mr Kuldeep Khullar, Mr Joginder Singh Seh, Mr Ujagar Singh, Mr Jagmohan Singh Takkar and Mr Satish Luthra raised the issues of poor supply of electricity, bad condition of roads, bank officers’ misbehaviour with pensioners, etc. The SDM assured them that a meeting of bank managers would be called next week. Speaking on the occasion, Mr P. S. Batra demanded a room for lambardars in tehsil office, and an honorarium for attestation of sale deeds, etc. He also demanded that meeting of lambardars be called twice a year as per instructions of the FC (R), Punjab.

PENSION FORMULA: A new formula to commute the pension of a retired government servant of Punjab is under consideration with the law courts in Chandigarh and Delhi. This was stated by Mr Behari Lal Saddi, vice-president of the Punjab Government Pensioners’ Mahasangh. He said in a historic judgement, the Supreme Court had dismissed the special leave petition of the Punjab Government, thus paving the way for payment of arrears to the pensioners. Mr Saddi appealed to the state government to implement the decision of the court in totality and save the pensioners from further litigation and harassment. He also urged that the new pension formula should be applicable to all those retiring on or after January 1, 1996.

SANGRUR
PADDY PROCUREMENT: The district administration has set up 252 purchase centres for the procurement of paddy this season in the district. This was stated by an official spokesman here on Wednesday. He further said the FCI would purchase paddy in 90 centres while Punsup, Markfed and the Warehousing Corporation would procure paddy in 36, 35 and 33 centres, respectively. In 35 procurement centres, all agencies would purchase paddy while the state agency and Punjab Agro would purchase only in 17 and 6 centres, respectively, he added.