The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

damage to road by Sewage
Ferozepur residents disrupt traffic on Zira road in protest
Ferozepur, August 28
The traffic on the Ferozepur city-Zira road remained disrupted for over two hours today in the morning after the residents along with auto-rickshaw and van drivers blocked the road in protest against the failure of the authorities to repair the road and solve the sewerage problem.

Residents protesting against the district administration on the Ferozepur city-Zira road on Tuesday. Tribune photo

Gutkha makers take aerial route to promote their products
Faridkot, August 28
So what if the Punjab government has banned the manufacturing and sale of gutkha and pan masala? The companies manufacturing chewing tobacco have found a new medium to promote their brands, particularly among the children and teenagers.
Huge stock of kites promoting many brands of gutkha and pan masala has reached the market in Faridkot. A Tribune photograph

Huge stock of kites promoting many brands of gutkha and pan masala has reached the market in Faridkot

Retreat ceremony at Sadqi border observation post
Pak Rangers now on equal footing with BSF men
Fazilka, August 28
The Pakistani Rangers at the Sulemanki border observation post (BOP) across Sadqi in Fazilka have finally climbed down the high pedestal on a hillock to perform the retreat ceremony daily on an equal footing with the BSF soldiers near the Zero Line on the international border.

BSF soldiers and the Pakistani Rangers have come closer at the Sadqi BOP in Fazilka for the daily retreat ceremony. A Tribune photograph

Three arrested for cheating people over ‘Nanhi Chhan’
Barnala, August 28
The Tapa police yesterday arrested three persons for allegedly “cheating” people by selling them the application forms of a fake scheme offering a financial assistance of Rs 3 lakh through the Nanhi Chhan Scheme, to families that have three girls.

Revision of voters’ list
CEO Sidhu meets election staff in Barnala
Barnala, August 28
The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Kusumjit Sidhu today held a meeting here with the election staff, including returning officers (ROs), in connection with the revision of voters’ list, which is to start next month.

Official caught taking bribe
Chandigarh, August 28
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today arrested a superintendent with the Punjab Home Department for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a Muktsar resident. The CBI arrested Tejvir Singh Walia from Sector 9. He will be produced in court tomorrow.

	Students block road after clash with bus operators Balwant Garg Tribune News Service Muktsar, August 28 The students of Government College, Muktsar, today blocked the Kotkapura-Muktsar road and raised slogans after some of them were allegedly beaten up by private bus operators. The students accused the police of supporting the armed goons of the private bus companies as these buses are owned by influential political leaders of Punjab. The main reason for the tension between the students and the private bus operators is that while the students want the bus operators to allow them to travel on their monthly concession passes, the operators demand the fare, saying these concession tickets are valid only for the government-owned buses. In one such clash between the operators of a private bus and students, some students of the Government College were allegedly beaten up today and it led to the protest and road blockade. As the road blockade led to a huge traffic jam, the district administration and the police convened a joint meeting of the students and the bus operators at the bus stand in Muktsar. The students alleged that when they reached the bus stand to sort out the issue, armed goons of the bus operators surrounded and threatened them With the police silently watching the proceedings, the students proceeded towards the Deputy Commissioner’s Office to begin a dharna and raised slogans against the police and the bus operators. After some time, Dalwinder Singh, SDM, Muktsar, arrived to pacify the students and assured them of necessary legal action against the bus operators who had roughed up the students. Gagan, a student leader, said the police and the administration supported the bus operators as most private buses are owned by politically influential persons. “If the district administration does not provide us with justice this time, we would be forced to start an intensive agitation,” said the students. Reacting to these clashes between the students and bus operators, a senior cop in Muktsar said the police was caught in a difficult situation. If it takes action against the bus operators, there will be a lot of political pressure to bail them out and in case no action is taken, the police will have to face protest from the students, he said.
	damage to road by Sewage Ferozepur residents disrupt traffic on Zira road in protest Anirudh Gupta Ferozepur, August 28 The traffic on the Ferozepur city-Zira road remained disrupted for over two hours today in the morning after the residents along with auto-rickshaw and van drivers blocked the road in protest against the failure of the authorities to repair the road and solve the sewerage problem. Sewage has accumulated on this stretch of the road, infested with potholes, for the last many months. Ironically, the road was recently carpeted by the PWD. But within a few days, it started withering away due to the overflowing sewage causing a huge loss to the state exchequer. In the morning today, hundreds of schoolchildren, besides the daily commuters, faced great convenience as the agitators refused to lift the blockade till their problem was heard. Later, Gurmail Singh, ADC and Ashwani Grover, MC president, arrived along with the police officials to pacify the agitators. The ADC assured that remedial action will soon be taken and the problem will be sorted out at the earliest. Baldev Singh, a van driver, said it is difficult to travel through this road as the potholes pose a danger to the safety of the school kids. Another resident, Resham Singh, said many times, auto-rickshaws and school vans have faced the danger of overturning at this spot. But despite all the requests, the issue has not been resolved. “The problem is getting worse with every passing day,” said Bhupinder Singh and added that the district administration was probably waiting for a major incident to take place before it actually acts.
	Gutkha makers take aerial route to promote their products Balwant Garg Tribune News Service Faridkot, August 28 So what if the Punjab government has banned the manufacturing and sale of gutkha and pan masala? The companies manufacturing chewing tobacco have found a new medium to promote their brands, particularly among the children and teenagers. Worryingly, this new medium to promote the sale of gutkha is the kite (patang), flown for recreation in the region for long. This medium of promoting the sale is not only cheaper for the gutkha and pan masala manufacturing companies but also more effective in attracting the teenagers towards these products which are a health hazard. Even a month before the start of the kite flying season, shops are flooded with kites which are printed with the advertisements of various pan masala and gutkha manufacturing companies. The kites made of printed polysheet have bold advertisements of many gutkha brands. The sale of these kites is more among the children as their retail price is just Re 1. “The shopkeepers are supplied these kites almost free-of-cost as the main motive of the gutkha manufacturing companies is to reach their potential buyers, riding these kites,” said Parveen Kala of Sahara Jan Seva, a voluntary organization in Faridkot. “The kite is an effective and cheap medium for promoting gutka brands for these companies, especially among the children,” said Vikas Arora, a teacher. This practice of ‘surrogate’ advertisements and publicity of tobacco is going on without any fear of law, said Parveen Kala. Kites are attractive and a convenient medium for the tobacco companies to give their prospective customers an exposure to their brands, he said. “Like the low price of the kite, which is Re 1, most of these gutkhas advertised on the kites are also available for Re 1 in small sachets,” he pointed out.
	Retreat ceremony at Sadqi border observation post Pak Rangers now on equal footing with BSF men SP Sharma & Praful C Nagpal Tribune News Service Fazilka, August 28 The Pakistani Rangers at the Sulemanki border observation post (BOP) across Sadqi in Fazilka have finally climbed down the high pedestal on a hillock to perform the retreat ceremony daily on an equal footing with the BSF soldiers near the Zero Line on the international border. With the barbed wire fencing in between, men of the border forces of the two countries perform the retreat ceremony in their respective territories on either side. The BSF parade is performed at the Sadqi BOP, while the Rangers do it at Sulemanki. However, the latest development is that the Rangers, who were earlier performing the retreat on the hillock, have now filled up the nullah on the border and have started doing the daily drill at the ground level of the Indian BOP. The retreat at Sadqi is somewhat different from that at Hussainiwala in Ferozepur and Wagah in Amritsar as the soldiers here on both sides do not come in close contact due to the barbed wire fencing. Members of the families divided due to partition of the country come on either side of the border fencing, particularly on national holidays, to have a glimpse of their relatives. The Inspector General of BSF, AK Sharma, said there was no proposal at the moment to remove the barbed wire for the retreat ceremony. The Sadqi BOP has now started registering a good rush of people to witness the retreat. More than 25,000 people witnessed the ceremony on the Independence Day. The Malwa region of Punjab has to its credit of daily hosting the retreat at two places, Sadqi and Hussainiwala. Sadqi enjoyed importance during the pre-partition days when the Delhi-Hissar-Sulemanki (DHS) road passed from here. The road was closed after the partition of the country and now a demand has been raised to reopen the trade route with Pakistan.
	Three arrested for cheating people over ‘Nanhi Chhan’ Sushil Goyal Tribune News Service Barnala, August 28 The Tapa police yesterday arrested three persons for allegedly “cheating” people by selling them the application forms of a fake scheme offering a financial assistance of Rs 3 lakh through the Nanhi Chhan Scheme, to families that have three girls. The police said it had initiated action against these three persons as there is no such scheme being run by the government. According to the police, it registered the case under Sections 420 and 120-B of the IPC against Ajay Kumar and Satnam Singh (both run photostat shops) and Jagmail Singh (a typist). They run their business outside the Tehsil complex at Tapa, the police added. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Barnala, Surjit Singh told TNS over the phone that the Tapa police arrested these three persons when it was noticed that some persons were cheating people in the name of a fake scheme that did not exist. The SSP said these persons were selling forms to the people to apply for getting a financial assistance of Rs 3 lakh if they had three girls in the family. They were misguiding the people that this scheme was being run by the Punjab Government under the “Nanhi Chhan” scheme, he added. The SSP said the police had also recovered several application forms from the possession of the accused, which they sold to the people by receiving a good amount of money from them.