The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Friday, August 30, 2002, Chandigarh, India

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PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
3 HELD FOR MURDER: Three persons have been arrested in connection with the murder of Kulwinder Singh, whose half-burnt body was found in a haystack at Naushehra village 10 months ago. The arrested are Gurvinder Singh and his two nephews Gurmeet Singh and Balwinder Singh. According to the SSP, Mr Narinder Pal Singh, Gurvinder Singh suspected that Kulwinder Singh had illicit relations with his wife Harjeet Kaur and therefore killed him. he threw the body in the haystack and set it on fire to destroy evidence.

PROCESSION: The Shaheed Bhagat Singh Naujawan Sabha, Punjab, took out a procession from Jallinwala Bagh in protest against the “anti-youth policies” of the government. Mr Lal Chand, district president of the sabha, said the government’s policies had led to joblessness among the youth, which would push them into anti-social activities.

BARNALA
INSTALLED: Dr Rajan Chopra was installed as president of the local Lions Club at an installation function held at Gupta Palace here on Wednesday. Mr Darshan K. Monga, district governor of the Lions Club, was the chief guest while Mr Paramjit Singh Khalsa, General Secretary of the Akali Dal (Amritsar), was the guest of honour on the occasion.

BATHINDA
FOUR HURT: Four persons, including two schoolchildren, were injured when an Army vehicle hit a car near Bhuchu Khurd village 10 km from here, on Wednesday. As per reports, Mr Jaswant Singh, manager of a public school, along with his daughter Hardeep Kaur and son Manjit Singh was going in their car to the school around 8 am when the accident occurred. Kuldeep Singh, driver of the Army vehicle was also injured. They have been hospitalised.

RALLY HELD: The District Blindness Control Society, to spread awareness among people about eye donation, held a rally here on Wednesday. The rally passed through various bazaars of the city. Mr Anurag Verma, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chairman of the society, said all over the country a fortnight ‘pledging your eyes’ was being observed, which would continue till the September 8.

TRAINING CAMP: Kendriya Vidyalaya No 4 organised a three-day training camp for Scouts and Guides from various schools of the district here on Wednesday. More than 400 students participated. They were given training in physical fitness techniques and social service at the camp.

BOOK EXHIBITION: The National Book Trust, Delhi, will organise a book exhibition from September 15 to 17 at various places of the city, including the Punjabi University Regional Centre. The mobile exhibition will be held on the public library premises from 5 pm to 8 pm, according to a press note issued here on Wednesday.

HOSHIARPUR
DRIVER KILLED: Des Raj, a Canter driver, died on the spot while a fruit merchant, Jai Singh, and a labourer, Shingo Ram, both residents of Cher, Hem Singh of Sahai, and Santosh Pande and Sandhu Singh from Kolkata were seriously injured when a truck coming from the opposite direction hit their loaded Canter at Musarihpur, near Mukerian, on Tuesday. All injured were admitted to the Civil Hospital, Mukerian. The police has registered a case.

LUDHIANA
OFFICE-BEARERS: Mr Paramjit Singh Khullar has been elected president of the Parbhat Nagar Welfare Sabha. Following are the other office-bearers: Mr Piara Singh Sehmbi and Mr Ajit Singh Riat — patrons; Mr Surjit Singh Rahi — senior vice-president; Mr Balbir Singh, Mr Kashmir Singh and Mr Gian Chand Sood — vice-presidents; Mr Satnam Singh, Mr Raj Kumar and Mr Amarjit Singh — secretaries and Mr Ajmer Singh — treasurer.

APPOINTED: Mr Balwinderjit Singh Gorkhi has been nominated district (urban) president of the Janata Dal (United) by the state president of the Party, Mr Jaspal Singh Kapoor. Mr Gorkhi has been authorised to nominate office-bearers to the district unit in consultation with Mr M.S. Devgan, state secretary and in charge of the district.

AWARD: Darshan Ashat, a noted writer, will be awarded Mata Jaswant Sarv Shresth Bal Pustak Puruskar for the year 2000 for his book ‘Gautam Bal Geet’ by the Punjabi Sahitya Akademi. Prof. Ravinder Bhattal, general secretary of the Akademi, has stated that the award will carry a prize money of Rs 1,000 and a citation. The award has been constituted by noted Punjabi scholar Prof Pritam Singh and his brother Kulwant Singh in the memory of their mother Jaswant Kaur. A Pakistani writer, Sultan Khan’s book “Bal Balonge” has been adjudged second best. The akademi has also decided to translate this book in Gurmukhi script.

BHAI KIRPAL SINGH AWARD: Mr Karamjit Singh Aujla, president of the Sirjan Dhara, and its general secretary Mr Kulwant Jagraon, on Thursday stated that the famous Punjabi poetess, Ms Niranjan Kaur, would be given Bhai Kirpal Singh award on Saturday at 4 pm at Punjabi Bhavan by the Sirjan Dhara. The award had been constituted by Mr Teg Bhadur Singh in the memory of his father Kirpal Singh. The award carries a cash award Rs 1,100 and a citation.

BOOKS DONATED: A prominent Punjabi writer, Prof Surinder Singh Narula, has donated 2,000 rare books to the Reference Library of the Punjabi Sahitya Akademi, Ludhiana. Principal Pritam Singh Bajaj, Director of the library, said the total strength of books had gone up to 33,753 with the arrival of the books. He said Dr Parminder Singh had earlier donated 3,500 books to the library.

TALK: a talk on “Cancer Awareness” was organised at DAV Public School on Thursday. Dr Rishikant from the Cancer Aid Society, Lucknow, delivered a talk on the detection of cancer. In his talks, he highlighted the causes and symptoms of disease. He cautioned the students about the harmful effects of cigarettes and tobacco.

MANDI GOBINDGARH
URGED: Mr Surinder Singhi, national executive member, All-India Steel Re-Rollers Association (AISRA), has urged the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) authorities, through a representation to suspend the policy of minimum charges for the power supplied to the industry sector till frequent power cuts exists. Mr Singhi further stated that raising the limit of minimum charges of bills from the industry was only justified on regular supply of power.

POOR TELEPHONE SERVICES: Mr Rakesh Kumar, president, Yuva Sangathan of the Amloh unit, in a press statement has urged the Telecom Department to provide better services to the customers. At present the telephone exchanges of Amloh and Mandi Gobindgarh are lacking the facility to provide STD services.

MOGA
THEFT: Thieves entered the house of a businessman in Gobindgarh Basti, near the GT Road, here on Wednesday and decamped with currency notes and jewellery. According to information, more thefts were being reported during the period of power cuts.

SEMINAR: As many as 200 students of the local Dayanand Mathura Dass College pledged to abstain from intoxicants at a seminar held on the college premises on Wednesday. Mr Shiv Kumar Sharma, SSP, presided over the seminar.

PADDY ARRIVES: Over 1,000 bags of paddy arrived in the market on Tuesday. Paddy was sold for Rs 435 to Rs 460 per quintal against the government fixed price of Rs 560 per quintal. There are at present as many as 80 purchase centres in the district. A government spokesman said here on Thursday that all necessary arrangements had been made for the procurement of paddy.

NAWANSHAHR
SEMINAR: The Employment and the Education Departments jointly organised a seminar on “educational and vocational guidance” at S.D. Senior Secondary School here on Thursday to create an awareness among school children about various courses and career opportunities. About 250 students of different schools participated in the seminar. Ms Sunita Kalyan, Mr Jatinder Kumar Sareen (both employment officers). Mr Narinder Singh, district guidance counsellor, Mr Kuldip Singh, Ms Usha Mehta (career teachers) and Ms Krishna Joshi, Principal of the school delivered lecturers.

NRI SABHA: Mr Ashok Kumar Gupta, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chairman of the district unit of the NRI Sabha, Punjab, while presiding over a meeting of the executive body of the sabha here on Thursday appreciated the role of NRIs in infrastructural development in the field of education and health in the district.

STUDENTS’ FRONT: With a view to bringing students on a single platform, the All-India Students Organisation, the Punjab Students Union, the All-India Students Federation and the Punjab Students Federation have joined hands and constituted the Joint Students Front to intensify the stir in support of students’ demands. The front has decided to hold rallies throughout the state from September 1 to 15 to mobilise students to raise their voice against the new education policy. This was stated by Mr Kulwinder Singh Chahal, general secretary, Punjab Students Union, in a press note issued here on Thursday.

PATHANKOT
HONOURED: Mr Rakesh Mohan Sharma, a Professor of AB College, was honoured by Dr Harbans Lal, Forest and Civil Supply Minister, Punjab, here at a vanamahotsava programme organised by the District Forest Office, Gurdaspur division, on Wednesday for his cooperation to social organisations in planting saplings.

HARYANA

AMBALA
SENIOR CITIZENS: Priority will now be accorded to senior citizens for registration work and issuing of licences from 12.30 pm to 1.30 pm daily at the Sub-Divisional Magistrate office. The SDM, Mr M.K. Ahuja, said during the allotted time, photographs for driving licence, depositing and accepting registration papers, residential papers and problems would be dealt with on priority basis, a release said. He said necessary instructions had already been issued to the staff in this regard.

CONDEMNED: Elder’s Forum, an organisation of senior citizens, condemned the “passive” approach of the Central and state governments towards their problems on Thursday. Members of the forum deplored the attitude of all political parties for doing little to ensure social security of the senior citizens. A memorandum addressed to the President of India demanded that all citizens should be considered senior citizens after 60 years of age, railway fare concession to senior citizens should be enhanced of 50 per cent, senior citizens should be allowed 50 per cent concession while travelling by state-owned buses and once in two years, senior citizens should be allowed free travel to a place of pilgrimage.

PAINTING COMPETITION: A district-level painting competition was held at Bal Bhavan, Ambala City, on Thursday. As many as 400 students from different schools participated in the competition. The secretary, Bal Bhavan, Mr V.S. Narwal said in the general category, there were three age groups while in the other category, there were two age groups. He said the selected students would participate in the state-level competition.

BHIWANI
ASSAULT ON 6: More than 24 jeep and motor cycle-borne youths attacked six persons with lathis and iron rods on the premises of the Board of School Education, Haryana, on Wednesday. The assailants had reportedly beaten one more boy on the Government College premises before the incident. The injured, Deepak, Mahipal, Satish, Bhim, Vinod and Kuldeep, all residents of Tigrana village, were later admitted to the Civil Hospital.

MC TAX RECOVERY: In a bid to meet the salary expenses of the municipal council’s safai karamcharis, the House tax recovery move has realised Rs 5 lakh. The council had launched the move a week ago, but could not pacify the irate employees, who have not been paid salary for the past four months. The employees had agreed to accept one month’s salary on the assurance of the Deputy Commissioner.

DHBVN: The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has decided to keep all cash collection centres open to enable consumers to pay their electricity bills on Saturday, August 31, which is otherwise a holiday. Stating this, a spokesman for the nigam said the area of the nigam included Bhiwani, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Mahendragarh, Rewari, Gurgaon and Faridabad districts.

DROWNED: A person drowned in a tank of the Public Health Department near the Mela ground here on Wednesday. The deceased has been identified as Rajpa, a resident of the Bhojawala area. He was working as a helper with a bus and at the time of incident had gone to the tank to wash the bus when suddenly he lost balance and drowned.

KALKA
LIGHTNING: Lightning struck this town on Wednesday morning. As a result a number of TV sets and refrigerators of residents went out of order and electricity bulbs fused.

PLANTATION DRIVE: A tree plantation campaign was started here on Wednesday under Vanmohotosava programme. The Chairman, Market Committee, Kalka, inaugurated the campaign by planting a sapling on the premises of Anaj Mandi. Market Committee members Mangat Ram, Devi Chand Gupta, Surinder Kumar, who accompanied the Chairman, also planted saplings.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
FAST-TRACK COURTS: The District Bar Association here has welcomed the setting up of two fast-track courts in Himachal Pradesh, stating that these would help clear the huge backlog of cases, pending since years. However, the association has demanded that these courts should be based at the district Headquarters in Bilaspur and not at the subdivisional headquarters in Ghumarwin. The demand was made at a meeting of the association presided over by its president, Mr R.K. Handa, on Tuesday.

VOTER CARDS: The District Electoral Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner on Wednesday asked voters of the Bilaspur Sadar and the Kotkehloor Assembly constituencies to get their photo identity cards made from September 9 to 15. He said details in this regard would be available at the respective polling stations, “patwaar khanas” and panchayat offices. He said any mistakes in the identity cards made earlier would also be corrected while in case of soiled, destroyed and lost cards, a fee of Rs 25 would be charged for a duplicate card.

CHAMBA
PHOTO ID CARDS: Mr Rahul Anand, Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer of Chamba, has said that photo identity cards of the left-out electorate of the Chamba and Bharmour Assembly constituencies will be made at 39 centres identified as polling stations. He said the cards would be made from September 7 to 30.

NAHAN
SAPLINGS PLANTED: Thousands of saplings were planted during a campaign on the complex of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya here on Tuesday. Mr Onkar Sharma, Deputy Commissioner, Sirmaur, presided over the function and distributed prizes among winners of the debate and poetry competitions on environment protection, organised on the occasion. Students from Jawahar Navodaya Vidayalaya and other schools of Nahan took part in the competitions. Mr Sharma sanctioned Rs 1 lakh for the construction of a stadium on the Navodaya complex.

SOLAN
SUICIDE: Mr Kusum (30) allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison at her residence in Sector 4, Parwanoo, on Tuesday. Investigations by the police indicated that Kusum took the extreme step after getting fed up with her husband’s alleged habit of gambling, resulting in heavy debts.

SUNDERNAGAR
KINNER KAILASH: A 10-member team of the Puratatav Chetna Sangh, Mandi, has scaled the 19,000-ft Kinner Kailash peak in Kinnaur district.

SANSKRIT VARSITY: Mr Lila Dhar Vatsayan, secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Sanskrit College Lecturers Association, has urged the government to open a sanskrit university at Sundernagar.