The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Saturday, June 21, 2003, Chandigarh, India

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50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

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R E G I O N A L B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
INCOME TAX STAFF: The Income Tax Employees Federation, led by Mr Parwinder Kumar, has sought intervention of the Chairman, CBDT, to settle their demands. A resolution to this effect was passed at a meeting of the federation, according to a press note here on Wednesday.

BATHINDA
STORE GUTTED: A fire that broke out in a plastic furniture store on Wednesday in the Afimwali street in the city damaged goods worth lakhs of rupees, no casualty was however, reported. The fire that engulfed the store at around midnight could be brought under control only at around 5.30 a.m.

FEROZEPORE
SUSPENDED: Mr Tirath Singh, panchayat secretary of the Zira block has been suspended for tampering with records and alteration in the voters’ list for the gram panchayat poll. His headquarters have been shifted to Mansa. Stating this Mr Vikas Pratap, Deputy Commissioner, said all officials deputed for the elections had been instructed to be impartial and honest.

HOSHIARPUR
UNEARTHED: The police unearthed a flesh trade racket by arresting 5 persons, including three women here on Wednesday. According to police sources the police raided a house in Street No. 20 of the local Mohalla Roop Nagar where flesh trade was being run. A case under Sections 3, 4, and 5 of the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Woman and Girl Act, 1956, has been registered.

FARMER CREDIT CARDS: As many as 49,937 farmer credit cards have been prepared in this district, Mr Kirandeep Singh Bhullar, Deputy Commissioner, said while presiding over a meeting of officers of various bank branches and government departments here on Thursday. CAR STOLEN: Some miscreants stole the Maruti car No. CH-01D-9268 of Vijay Kumari, wife of Rajinder Kumar of Badoan village, from outside the District Jail here. A case has been registered.

JALANDHAR
3 HELD: Three members of a family, including a woman, have been arrested following allegations of their involvement in getting their son re-married without going in for divorce with his first wife. The arrested persons have been identified as Sarabjit Singh, his wife Harjit Kaur and his son Jasmeet Singh even as the main accused Jaspal Singh has absconded. Tajinder Kaur, second wife of Jaspal Singh, has complained to the police in this connection.

NAWANSHAHR
HELD: Mr Charanjit Singh, DSP, in a press note issued on Wednesday said the police had arrested Ashwani Kumar Chopra of Rahon and Shanker of Bihar for possessing 500 bags of wheat belonging to PUNSUP. The other accused were at large. A case has been registered.

PATIALA
DAIRY SCHEME: The State Bank of Patiala organised a seminar on SBP- Dairy Scheme here today. The Branch Managers of the Milkshed area of Nestle Nabha, Smalakha and Smithkline Beecham, participated in the seminar. Speaking on the occasion General Mananger Operation J.R. Devgan said to provide employment to the rural youth a target of financing 6300 commercial dairy units amounting to Rs 65 crore would be financed by the bank during the current year

ELECTED: Mr Randeep Singh has been elected president of the Taxation Bar Association, Fatehgarh Sahib District. Mr R.C. Theraja has been elected as cashier and Sat Pal Garg as secretary of the association, according to a press release here on Thursday.

CAMPAIGN: Patiala National Small Industries Corporation Ltd in collaboration with Small Industries Service Institute organised an industrial motivational campaign here on Thursday. The main purpose of this campaign is to motivate the educated unemployed youth to start their own small business units. Speaking on the occasion CDM NSIC A.K Verma said that financial, technical and marketing support will also be provided to the existing small scale industries in the complete district.

PHAGWARA
THREATENED: Residents of Bhagatpura on Thursday threatened to block traffic and stage dharna outside the offices of the SDM and the nagar council if their long-pending demand for proper sewerage was not looked into.

CHANDIGARH

ESIC STAFF ELECTION: The following have been elected office-bearers of Chandigarh ESIC Employees Cooperative House Building First Society ltd., president—Mr Bhushan Kumar; vice-president—Mr Tarsem Lal; secretary—Mr K.S. Rawat; joint secretary—Mr K.D. Chaudhary; and treasurer— Mr Sukhdev Lakhanpal. The elected executive members are Mr K.S. Katoch and Mr Dalbara Singh.

ELECTED: Elections to the Kisan Union Apni Mandi were held in Sector 46 under the supervision of representatives of the Bharti Kissan Union (Lakhowal), Ropar, Mr Shamsher Singh Gharum Gill. The following office bearers were elected: president — Mr Rajinder Singh Mansa; vice president— Mr Joginder Singh, Mr Surmukh Singh; general secretary — Mr Amrik Singh Mastgarh; cashier — Mr Prahlad Singh Bhagian; press secretary — Mr Sukhdev Singh Gharuan; members — Mr Sohan Singh Teoli, Mr Kuldeep Singh, Mr Shangara Singh, Mr Balbir Singh and Mr Raghubir Singh.

PROGRAMME: A colourful cultural programme marked the conclusion of the month-long training workshop for first year students at the Punjab Engineering College here on Thursday. The Advisor to the UT Administrator, Mr Virendra Singh, was the chief guest. Starting off with the Saraswati vandana, folk dances, solo and group songs, skits, mono-acting, mimicry and western dances kept the audience in the packed auditorium captivated. A brief overview of the training workshop and activities undertaken by the students, which forms a part of the curriculum for all first year students was also presented by Dr V. P. Singh, the workshop superintendent.

URGED: For organising “organic compost and manure sector”, which is the back bone of organic farming, “Vermicompost and Worm Farms Association” has been formed and registered. The association’s area of operations will be entire India and abroad. The association will also work for employment generation at the rural level for the un employed youth. According to a press release, Mr B M Monga has been elected association president. Mr Trilochan Singh is the vice-president, while general secretary is Ms Harjeet Kaur. The post of Joint Secretary will be held by Dr Sudha Jain. Ms Jasbinder Kaur is the treasurer. Ms Pooja Sharma, Ms Harjot Kaur and Ms Parmod Bansal are the executive members.

MEETING HELD: A deputation of the Residents Welfare Association of Sector-45 led by its president, Mr B.S. Bajwa, met the UT Administrator, recently, to apprise him of the problems being faced by the residents of this sector. The residents’ association demanded from the administrator to withdraw notices of demolition of hedges, gates etc., till the committee of UT Administration that has been constituted to look into need-based problems of the residents prepare its report. The association demanded to solve this problem amicably. Mr Mani Singh, vice-president of the association said they had brought into the notice of the administrator that their V-6 roads have not been recarpeted for the last 7-years. The other demands include the immediate completion of construction work of the Community Centre of Sector-45C and provision of a major park at par with other Sectors.

LAUNCHED: Electronic Primer “Ek Kadam Saksharta Val” in Punjabi and “Him Chetna” in Hindi have been launched under the Saarthi project for the adult learners of the city. The adult education primers, which are to be tested in adult education centres of Maloya and Dhanas, were on Friday launched by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Arun Kumar, who is also the Chairman of the District Literacy Council. The Deputy Commissioner, also awarded prizes to the winners of mehndi application and reading and writing competition organised the 6400 participants, during the month of April and May.

PANCHKULA
URGED: The All India Physically Challenged Association has urged the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) to allow the physically challenged persons to user a part of their residential premises for earning their livelihood. They have pleaded that as in neighbouring Punjab, the authorities should give them interest free loans/subsidy to enable them lead a dignified life. They have demanded waiver of the fees (Rs 50,000 for five years) for grant of running their professions from their residences.

WATER WOES: Mr. Gian Chand Goel, a social worker in Sector 15, has lamented the poor water supply provision in his sector. In a statement issued here on Thursday, he said that there was no water pressure in the northern side of Sector 15, which was on a higher altitude than the southern side.

APPOINTED: Mrs Daya Chaudhary, former president of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association, has been appointed as Chairperson of the Haryana Congress Legal Aid Cell. Speaking to mediapersons, she said that she would reactivate the cell , which would provide free legal aid to the party workers and also to needy persons. Mrs Sunita Dhariwal, President of Congress Sanskritik Prakoshth, too, said that she would activate Congress workers and they would spread the party’s programmes and policies at different places by way of street plays.

PUNJABI WELFARE SABHA: The President of Haryana Pradesh Punjabi Welfare Sabha will preside over the meeting of Punjabi Welfare Sabha at Old Age Home, Sector 15 here on June 22. This was stated by the President of Punjabi Welfare Sabha , Mr S.K. Nayar.

VISIT: The Chief Administrator, Haryana Urban Development Authority, Mr N.C. Wadhwa, on Thursday visited the areas across the Ghaggar along with the five Executive Engineers and other officers of HUDA, Panchkula, He asked the officers to ensure that the bridge over Nadda choe, linking to National Highway 73 was completed soon so that they could float the plots in Sectors 23 and 24. He also visited other sectors in Panchkula Extension and asked the officers to expedite development works. Mr Wadhwa later inspected the construction of the road dividing Sector 17 and Rajiv Colony, which will link to Railway Light point in Chandigarh.

SAS NAGAR
FIRE: A fire broke out in a house in Phase III BI here on Thursday destroying a number of household items apart from causing damage to doors and windows. The fire broke out on the first floor of the building around 4 p.m. which was first noticed by neighbours in the area. A TV set, sofa set, beds, cupboards were destroyed by the flames. Fire brigade officials said the fire was caused due to a short circuit and they estimated that the loss was around Rs 1.50 lakh. It took about 45 minutes to bring the flames under control.

HARYANA

AMBALA
BAIL GRANTED: The Duty Magistrate, Mr Rajesh Sharma, granted bail to the two partners of HMM Coaches, a bus body-building factory located on the Naraingarh road near Ambala City here on Friday. The two partners of the factory Bhupinder Goel and Ramnik Goel were arrested by the Panjokhra police three days ago for allegedly pilfering power by tampring the seals of the meter of the factory. The UHBVN officers along with the police force had raided the factory and imposed the penalty of around Rs 40 lakh for illegally consuming the electricity.

INAUGURATED: The Inspector General of Police, Ambala range, Mr Alok Joshi on Friday inaugurated a newly developed park in Police Line Colony especially made for children while speaking on the occasion, he said, environment had an important role to play in the life of people. He said that by developing this green park the environment of this police colony would be improved. He asked the residents of the colony to maintain the park at their own. He assured them that the problem of sewerage and roads would also be solved soon.

KILLED: A child was killed in a road accident near Bihita village on Thursday. According to information a tractor trailer hit Aman Kumar (11), near Bihita chowk who died on the spot. The police has registered a case.

CONG MEETING: The HPCC chief, Mr Bhajan Lal, will address a meeting of the office-bearers of Block Congress Committees of the district at Congress Bhavan at Ambala city on Friday. The general secretaries of IIPCC, Mr Phool Chand Mulana and Satpal Kaushik will also participate in the meeting.

FATEHABAD
URGED: The ‘Anubandhit Adhyapak Sangh’, a union of government teachers working on an ad hoc basis, has said the services of members who had completed 6 to 9 years of service should be regularised in view of the Punjab and Haryana High Court directives. This was stated by Mr Ved Singh Bura, state president of the sangh, while talking to mediapersons here on Thursday.

KALKA
JOB SOUGHT: The local unit of the Himachal Kalyan Sabha at a meeting here on Wednesday, demanded job for the widow of an employee of Himachal Tourism Department, who had died in a road accident a few days ago. The annual report of the sabha was also read out at the meeting.

PINJORE
DIRECTED: The Panchkula police has directed the Pinjore Municipal Committee to demolish the toll tax booths constructed on the National Highway No 22, near Surajpur as these booths are proving hindrance to the free of traffic on the national highway specially at night. Source in the Municipal Committee said the area where the booths had been constructed, do not fall under the jurisdiction of the committee.

MEETING: The state executive of the BJP will organise a 2-day meeting on June 28. The meeting will be held at Old Shiva Temple in Sector-9 at Panchkula. The source added that all office-bearers and executive members will participate in the meeting.

COMPLAINT: A female Class IV Employee of Municipal Committee, Pinjore, complained to the Superintendent of Police against three councillors of the MC. In her complaint she has alleged that three councillors of the committee came to her house on May 28 and about 8 pm and misbehaved with her and threatened her of dire consequences. She further said in her complaint that the three fled away when she started screaming. She has demanded strict action against the councillors. According to sources the Kalka DSP has started investigations into the matter.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
REMOVAL SOUGHT: Members of the Himachal Government Teachers Union has sought the removal of Mr Vikas Labroo, Secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education. Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Mr Rattan Chand Sharma, district president of the union, and Mr Suman Minhas, member of its state executive, urged the state government to cancel the “arbitrary” decision taken by the previous BJP government with regard to the appointment of Assistant Secretaries.

DHARAMSALA
REMANDED: A woman bank employee of the Kangra Central Co-operative Bank Ltd, Ms Vandana Sood, was on Thursday remanded to police custody till Saturday. The woman, who was working as a clerk in the main branch here, had fraudulently transferred more than Rs 6 lakhs from the Profit and Loss Account of the bank to her personal account.

KUMARHATTI
FALL TO DEATH: A dentist, Dr Nand Kishore Behal of Kangra, was killed after falling down a 200-m-deep gorge on the Barog bypass, near here, on Tuesday. He was going from Shimla to Parwanoo along with two colleagues in a car after completing a refresher course. They stopped the car for answering a call of nature. The doctor, apparently in a tipsy condition, could not hold his balance and fell into the valley and was killed on the spot, said the police.

NAHAN
THEFT: Mr Jagmohan Lal, cashier of the Manthapal Gram Cooperative Society has reported to the police that on Wednesday a window of the office of the society at Kala Amb had been broken and Rs 17,000 had been stolen. A case has been registered.

SUNDERNAGAR
KILLED: Arun Kumar (19) of Bhojpur was killed in an accident near Jawahar Park here on Wednesday. According to the police, he was going on a scooter when a vehicle hit him. A case has been registered.