The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Thursday, June 13, 2002, Chandigarh, India

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PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
DELEGATION: The AISSF led by Mr Harminder Singh Gill has demanded resignation from the SGPC chief, Prof Kirpal Singh Badungar, due to his alleged links with Baba Bhaniara. Mr Gill alleged that Prof Badungar had amassed property by misutilising his position and urged him to resign owning moral responsibility.

QUARTERLY: Dr S.P. Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, on Tuesday released a religious Punjabi quarterly “Anhad Naad” edited by journalist Harkanwal Korpal here. Korpal presented the first copy of the paper to the university.

BATHINDA
DUST STORM: A dust storm lashed the region on Tuesday causing traffic jams. The entire city was engulfed by a thick layer of sand. The district is known as the “dust bowl” of Punjab and witnesses frequent dust storms in the season due to variations in day and night temperatures.

BODY CREMATED: An NGO, Sahara, on Monday cremated a labourer who had died on a platform of the railway station at Malout. The Railway police had handed over the body to the NGO after a post-mortem examination. Meanwhile, a mutilated body was found from a distributary near Bhuchu Khurd village on the Bathinda-Barnala road on Monday. The body could not be identified.

BARNALA
ARRESTED: The Kotwali police has arrested 12 persons and the owner of a hotel, here. The accused were allegedly gambling in the hotel premises. The police seized Rs 20,720 from the spot. A case under Sections 3, 13 and 67 of the Gambling Act has been registered

HOSHIARPUR
CONGRATULATED: Mr Charanjit Singh Channi, Congress MP from here, congratulated Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on the landslide victory of the party in Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti poll in the state. In a press note issued on Wednesday, Mr Channi said with this win people of the state had reposed their faith in policies of the party.

JALANDHAR
SUMMER SCHOOL: A 10-day summer camp for children was inaugurated at Kids Public School in Hoshiarpur by Ms Vineeta Modi, Civil Judge Hoshiarpur on Wednesday. Ms Aarti Mehta, Principal of the school, said the camp was aimed towards personal development of the children.

LUDHIANA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The newly elected president of the Wire Drawing Federation of Punjab Mr V.P. Chopra focussed on the problems of small scale industrial sector, with particular reference to the wide drawing units at the annual general meeting of the federation here. Mr Harbans Singh, General Manager, District Industries Centre, was the chief guest and among others Mr R.K. Meena, Branch Manager, RINL, and Mr D.L. Kansal, Branch Manager, PSIEC, were present. The following were elected office-bearers: Mr V.P. Chopra — president, Mr Joginder Singh Sidana — vice president, Mr Badish Jindal — general secretary, Mr Kulwinder Singh — secretary, and Mr Krishan Thapar — finance secretary.

FLAYED: Members of the Democratic Teachers Front, (DTF) Mr Bhajan Singh, Joginder Azad, Amarjit Gill, Yashpal and Gurdeep Singh Duldhi have criticised the proposed decisions of the government to abolish 50,000 posts in government institutions. They said this decision would create havoc and increase unemployment among the educated young people. Speaking to the media, they said in the Education Department, more than 13,000 primary school teachers, 110 BPEOs, more than 5000 B.Ed. teachers , 1500 lecturers, 450 headmasters and 400 posts of principals will cease to exist by the implementation of this proposed decision of the Punjab Government. The DTF has appealed to the government not to implement this anti-people, anti-teacher and anti-education policy in the state.

MOGA
PROBE SOUGHT: Members of the Punjab unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union here on Monday demanded a probe into the working of certain officials of the Revenue Department who they alleged have been seeking bribe for completing land records. This was stated by a former president of the Punjab unit of the union, Mr Kuldip Singh Sandhu.

GAMBLERS HELD: Baljit Singh and Prem Kumar, residents of Kotkapura in Faridkot district were arrested on Sunday and a case registered against them under the Gambling Act. Currency notes valued at Rs 30,000 were seized from them.

NAWANSHAHR
RARE SURGERY: Dr Kulbhushan Gupta of Guru Nanak Mission Hospital, Dhahan Kaleran, has performed a rare surgery. He fixed the spine of a patient suffering from tuberculosis of spine with Moss Miami Instrumentation and bone grafting. The patient was brought to the hospital with severe pain in back which was radiating to both his legs, along with loss of urine control, said Dr Gupta.

APPOINTED: Mr Baldev Nayyar of Banga town has been appointed district chairman of the Lions Club.

PATIALA
TRAINING PROGRAMME: As many as 24 Secretariat officers shall work on various “Turn Around Projects” aimed at improving the working of the PSEB Secretariat under the second phase of PSEB Secretariat Training Programme inaugurated here on Wednesday. The programme was inaugurated by Mr S.K. Anand, Member Operation, PSEB.

PATHANKOT
ARRESTED: The police claims to have solved a dacoity case in which Rs 18.50 lakh were looted at gun point near Nangal Bhoor village and arrested two persons in this connection. The accused were identified as Janak Raj of Nangal Bhoor and Tarsem Singh of the Kathu Nangal area.

CHANDIGARH

DHARNA HELD: The Punjab University Non-Teaching Employees Federation in a press release here on Wednesday threatened the university that declaration of results of the examinations would be delayed in case increment to the ASOs was not released immediately. The federation staged a dharna in front of the Administrative Block after holding a rally. The increment to the ASOs has already been cleared by the university senate and the syndicate, it was pointed out.

MOURNED: The faculty, staff and students of Punjab University expressed shock over untimely demise of Dr Manjit Singh, a Reader in the School of Punjabi Studies, here on Wednesday. Dr Manjit Singh authored five books and a number of articles in Punjabi and English. He also published a collection of poetry titled “Man da Mausam”. A condolence resolution was passed in the department.

DHARNA: The Federation of Principals Associations will organise a dharna at Matka Chowk on Thursday against the Punjab Government for the non-payment of the grant for the period between December and February, 2001. Principal P.S. Sangha, general secretary, said the government was going ahead with the 10 per cent cut in the grants despite its commitment to the contrary.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Sri Sanatan Dharam Hari Mandir Sabha: president — Mr Raj Kumar Sharma, general secretary — Mr N.N. Prashar, cashier — Mr C.L. Sharma and chief patron — Mr Sube Singh.

PANCHKULA
GYAN BINDU: To keep shopfloor employees abreast of the changing economic, business and industrial environment, especially in the machine tools and allied areas, HMT Limited has established Gyan Bindu, a learning point, within its factory complex in Pinjore. Inaugurated by Mr CN Dhar, Executive Director of the HMT, the learning point will continuously update and disseminate information in helping the employees of to update their skills. The centre is also equipped with sufficient reading material, informed Mr Jatinder Vijh, Manager, Public Relations.