The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Thursday, May 29, 2003, 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
APPOINTED: On the directions of Mr H.S. Hanspal, president, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, Mr Pal Singh Sandhu, has been appointed president of the Block Congress Committee, Kot Baba Deep Singh.

BATHINDA
DEAD: Jiwan Singh, a resident of Paras Ram Nagar, who was admitted to the Civil Hospital after being run over by a train, succumbed to his injuries. The body was handed over to his family members after a post-mortem examination.

CAMP: The Society for SEWA held training and examination camps for women and expectant mothers at slum areas of the city. Mr A.P. Grover, district president of the society, said nearly 150 women were examined.

FEROZEPORE
ARRESTED: The police has apprehended one person in connection with the illicit distillation of liquor and registered a case under the Excise Act. The police raided Dhakka Basti and arrested Kashmir Singh, son of Pritam Singh, while distilling liquor. The alleged illegal liquor was being brewed right in front of the cantonment police station.

GURDASPUR
SATTA SUSPECT: The police has arrested Arun Kumar, a resident of the Behrampur Road, here and Raj Kumar, son of Prem Kumar of Arun Lottery, and Pummy Lottery respectively, and seized Rs 16,000 and Rs 450 from the lottery stores. Mr RPS Brar, SSP, has said that the suspects have been arrested for running ‘dara-satta’ stall.

HOSHIARPUR
VISITED: Mr Harnam Dass Johar, Minister for Higher Education, Punjab visited Government College, Talwara, 80 km from here, on Tuesday. He instructed the Principal to pay attention to the upkeep of the college. He also issued directions to reorganise the library.

DHARNA: Municipal Council employees led by Kulwant Singh Saini, general secretary Punjab Nagar Palika Karamchari Sangathan, staged a dharna and held a rally in front of the their office on Tuesday. They were protesting against the retrenchment of all those employees who were working in the council for the past 10 years under the URP scheme. ASSAULTED: As many as eight persons armed with sharp-edged weapons, came to a tubewell in the fields of Amarjit Singh on Tuesday night at Rajpur Bhaian village where Satpal Singh, son of Ishwer Singh working on a contract basis in the field was sleeping. The miscreants assaulted Satpal Singh and locked him up in the motor room of the tubewell.

KHARAR
SEMINAR: The SAS Nagar branch of the Software Solution Integrated (SSI), Chennai, and SLR Infotech (P) Ltd has tied up with Chandigarh Engineering College, Landran, near here for 100 per cent placement of its meritorious students. A seminar was held on the campus of Chandigarh Engineering College, in which the students of the MCA had extensive interaction with the officials of SLR Infotech. The students were curious and excited to gather information on the software development projects offered by the SSI.

DECISION: The Union Government has decided to widen the Chandigarh-Kiratpur section of the NH-21 on BOT basis and the construction work would start soon. This includes widening of Desu Majra to Kharar stretch including improvement of junction at Kharar. This information was given by Mr Bir Devinder Singh, MLA, Kharar, and the Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, while talking to mediapersons here on Wednesday.

LUDHIANA
B.Ed ADMISSION FORMS: As the last day for submission of B.Ed. admission forms is drawing near, students from all over Punjab are facing discomfort for submitting their forms. They have to stand in long queues to submit their forms. The entrance examination is being conducted by Panjab University and there is only one centre, Gujaranwala Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Ludhiana, where the students can deposit their forms. Till Tuesday, there was only one counter for depositing forms. Ramandeep from Haibowal said she had come in the morning and had to stand in queues till 3 pm for depositing her form.

APPEAL: Ms Maneka Gandhi Parliamentarian, animal rights activist and chairperson of the People for Animals, on Friday appealed to the people to make generous donations for saving endangered ‘dancing’ sloth bears. She made this appeal while addressing NRIs at a function here. Ms Gandhi has toured Perth, Melbourne, Coffs Labour and Sydney as a patron of the ‘Free the Bears Fund (FTBF)’, Australia, for raising funds for the purpose. The FTBF is a non-profit organisation founded by three-year-old Perth-based Mary Lutton, who was dismayed to see the plight of Asiatic black bears in a television programme.

DEMAND: The Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) Association has demanded a rational transfer policy for doctors, conducive to the needs of the Health Department. In a press note issued here, Dr Hardeep Singh, state president, and Dr Balwinder Kumar, district general secretary of the association, has demanded a rational transfer policy for doctors to avoid unnecessary wastage of manpower and to check undue harassment of doctors. The association has demanded that transfers should be minimum. There should be categorisation of posts and stations according to the seniority for the designated SMOs and CMOs. In case of any complaint, transfer should be done after proper ‘departmental inquiry.’

NAWANSHAHR
BUILDING: Mr Sanjay Kumar Sachdeva, Civil Judge (Senior Division) has directed the Secretary, Home Affairs, Punjab, District Collector and the SSP, Nawanshahr, to hand over the possession of the building housing Sadar Police Station at Karyam Road to its owner, Nawanshahr Central Cooperative Bank Ltd.

PATIALA
BOOK RELEASED: District police chief Paramraj Singh Umranangal and Managing Director, State bank of Patiala, together jointly released a book 'Let us learn how to move on road, a complete guide of traffic rules in a function organised by the Punjab police here on Wednesday. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Umranangal said many lives could be saved if we all follow the traffic rules. He stressed on the need to educate the people and school- going children about the traffic rules and regulations.

YOUTH CAMP: The International Institute of Gurmat studies (IIGS) will be organising the 61st Sikh International Youth Camp in India for Sikh youth at the Guru Ram Das Academy situated near Dehra Dun from June 18-28. Local coordinator for the camp Jagjit Singh Dardi said 11-day residential gurmat camp was open to youth between the age of 10-22 and would offer a unique experience in the 'Sikh way of life' to participants coming from all over the world. Among other activities planned for the camp are classes in personality development, art of public speaking, Sikh traditions and gurdwara etiquettes, kirtan, path and turban tying.

BOMB FOUND: A live bomb was found during cleaning of the ‘ganda nullah’ near the Police CIA staff headquarters here on Wednesday. The bomb was found during the annual cleaning exercise of the nullah.

CHANDIGARH

SOCIETY POLL: The president of the Blood Donors Cooperative House Building Society Ltd, Mr Gurvinder Pal Singh, said here on Tuesday that all members of the society has been informed about the election programme of the society scheduled for June 2, next month. He said a special general body meeting was called to discuss the election programme on last Saturday, which was attended by a majority of the allottee members. “Those who could not attend the meeting, they have been informed about the election schedule by post also”, said Mr Gurvinder Pal Singh.

FELICITATED: Akash Institute today felicitated one of its student, Vinay Kumar Saini, for securing the13th position in the all-India pre-medical entrance test conducted by the CBSE for admission into medical colleges. He was given a prize of Rs 11,000 by the institute’s principal, Mr M. L. Sayal. He had secured 87 per cent marks in Class, XII and is willing to get admission in Mullana Azad Medical College. Another student of the institute, Robin Gupta, got 133rd rank, while Supreet Sethi got 177th rank.

CAMP: For young innocents, a character building-cum-personality development camp being held at D.A.V. Senior Public School in Surajpur near Pinjore, is nothing less than an opportunity to learn different activities including music and drama. According to the organisers, other activities include public speaking, meditation, pot making and aero modelling. Camp co-ordinator Shashi Gupta added, ‘’The camp gives the students a rare opportunity to specialise in their hobbies and to opt for it as a profession.” She added that the camp was run under able guidance of experts from various fields.

HARYANA

AMBALA
DEMAND: The victims of rioting incident in Dudhla Mandi have demanded that the rioters should be immediately arrested. In an application addressed to the Director General of Police, Haryana, Mr MS Malik, four families which bore the brunt of the attack in Dudhla Mandi have demanded speedy action. The family members said they have been running from pillar to post for justice. Family members of Subhash Chand, Jitendra Kumar, Sukhdev and Ravindra Kumar said they have not got effective response in the case. "Those who have burnt and extensively damaged our houses should be brought to book. We also demand that suitable compensation should be paid to us so that we re-build our home," they said.

VAT BILL: The Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) has sought changes in the VAT Bill. In a petition to the Chairperson, Rajya Sabha, the HCCI has sought for review regarding adoption of Value Added Tax (VAT) in the forthcoming session. Senior vice-president of the HCCI, Dr N.C. Jain, said in case the consensus of the House was to introduce the VAT Bill, we propose certain suggestions which we have received from different sections of industry and trade. He said all rules should be simple so that the industry and trade could adopt it easily.

CERTIFICATES OF COMPLETION: The Urban Estates Welfare Association, Ambala, has urged the Administrator, HUDA, to issue the certificates of completion to the houses constructed in various sectors of Ambala City. The association in a memorandum submitted to the Administrator here on Wednesday stated that many owners of the houses had submitted the required papers of the completion of their houses with the Estate Officer but no decision was taken by the concerned authority in this regard even after the passing of several months. The house which have been completed in every manner can not be left vacant following a number of theft incidents had already taken place in many sectors recently.

KALKA
MEETING: A meeting of the district Shiv Sena, under the leadership of its president Sachin Jain was held here on Wednesday at the residence of Ms Sukhwinder Kaur, in which on the directions of the Haryana State Shiv Saina Chief Harkesh Sharma, Mahila Mandal of Shiv Sena was formed. Officer-bearers are: president — Sukhwinder Kaur; sr. vice-president — Harvinder Kaur; vice-presidents — Sunita Devi and Shna Devi; general-secretary — Neelam Sharma; secretaries — Krishna Devi, Suman Devi, Balwant Kaur and Sudha Devi; Organising secretary — Parveen Ratra, and adviser — Suman Devi.

SIRSA
TWO ARRESTED: The Dabwali police has arrested two youths with five sacks of poppy husk. An ASI of the Dabwali police found 200 kg of poppy husk in a Fiat car near Aboobsahar village in the district. The youths — Suraj and Paramjit — belong to Hari ke Pattan village near Amritsar. They were arrested under NDPS Act. Court has sent them in judicial custody for 14 days.

RUMOURS DENIED: Haryana Congress leaders have to discuss the outcome of Fatehabad by-election before taking any decision regarding the change in state leadership, senior Congress leader Ranjit Singh said addressing a press conference here on Tuesday at his residence. He denounced the propaganda regarding his joining the INLD.