The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Monday, July 21, 2003, Chandigarh, India

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

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
CASE REGISTERED: The Majitha police has booked four persons allegedly for entering the village gurdwara under the influence of liquor and defiling the place of worship.

OPPOSED: The Shahpur Kandi Dam (Thein Dam) will not be allowed to be given to a foreign company on contract, said Mr Natha Singh and Mr Harinder Singh Randhawa, president of state unit of CITU and the general secretary, Thein Dam Workers Union, respectively, in a faxed message received here on Saturday. Mr Natha Singh said the Congress government had earlier also decided to give the project to a South Korean company. It was withdrawn later after agitation by the employees and labourers working on the dam.

MEDICARE: HelpAge India, an NGO, has started ‘mobile medicare’ services. Mr Davinder Aujla, said the mobile unit would daily visit various parts of Amritsar and Patti to extend help to aged and needy persons.

GURDASPUR
DRAINS: The Punjab Government has sanctioned Rs 1.34 crore for digging drains in Gadrian village under Kahnuwan development block in the district, according to Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, PWD B&R Minister. He was addressing a public meeting at Pasnawala on Sunday, after laying the foundation stone of a link road from Pasnawala to Dera Bhumbli. He said the village would get a veterinary hospital soon.

HOSHIARPUR
DEPUTATION: A deputation of PCMS doctors led by Dr Hardeep Singh and M.L. Puri, called upon the Punjab Health Minister, Mr R.C. Dogra, on Saturday evening at Dasuya to apprise him about the effects of the abolishing of the non-practicing allowance (NPA) of government doctors. In a press note issued here on Sunday, Dr Ajay Bagga, press secretary of the PCMSA said the deputation brought to the notice of the minister that the government couldn’t allow doctors to open private clinics as it would be a violation of the civil services rules.

LUDHIANA
LAUNCHED: LG Electronics has introduced the first Linux-based personal computer (PC) in India. The “My PC” package includes complete range of PCs, including Intel Pentium, celeron and AMD plus models. According to Mr Vipul Shah, head of the Punjab branch, the company had made sure that the service reached every corner of Punjab. He said freebies being given to the customers are the main highlights of the new line of PCs.

PARCEL SERVICES: United Parcel Service (UPS) has announced the launch of its operations in Ludhiana. According to Mr Jeffrey Fairbairn, Director and CEO of UPS Jetair Express Private Limited, the move is part of the UPS’ long-term goal to enhance its services in India and to serve the export industry in Ludhiana better. He said, “Ludhiana being the commercial capital of Punjab, is an important export market for UPS. It is one of the largest package delivery companies in the world. Having its headquarters in Atlanta, UPS serves almost all countries in the world. It is a listed company at the New York Stock Exchange.”

DONATED: The Rotary Club, Ludhiana Midtown, has donated a modern digital endoscopy unit, costing about Rs 16 lakh to Krishna Charitable Hospital, Model Town. The endoscopy centre was inaugurated by Mr G.S. Bawa, District Governor Rotary 3070. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Bawa lauded the efforts of the Rotary Midtown in making the project a reality. He observed that the club has been playing a pivotal role in providing high quality medical facilities in the town for poor sections of the society. Mr Mahesh Munjal, president of the club, said for endoscopy, the hospital would charge about half the charges than other private hospitals in the city.

DEMAND: The Agricultural Un-employed Union demanded here on Sunday that the Punjab government should employ those unemployed students in the horticulture and agricultural department who could not get justice because of Ravi Sidhu, who ignored merit while filling various posts during his tenure as Chairman of Punjab Public Service Commission. A meeting of the union was held here on Sunday which was attended among others by Mr Bhupinder Singh, president, Mr Harjit Singh and Mr Gurpreet Singh. The meeting decided to submit a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner in this regard. The union said in future appointments , these students must be given preference.

LAUDED: The Welfare Society, Shaheed Karnail Singh Nagar, Phase-II, Pakhowal road, on Sunday lauded Mr Ashok Singh Garcha, the newly appointed the chairman of the Improvement Trust, Ludhiana, for his corruption-free methods and appealed to all anti-corruption forces to strengthen his hands. In a press release , the society president, Major Sher Singh Aulakh, said would also give a fillip to the Chief Minister’s crusade against corruption.

CONDEMNED: Prof Rajinder Bhandari, the general secretary of the Punjab unit of the BJP, has criticised the Punjab Government for imposing various taxes on the people in the state. He said the hike in sales tax on petrol was undesired and unnecessary. In a statement issued here on Sunday, Professor Bhandari said while the Union Government was trying to stabilise the prices of petrol by decreasing the excise duty, the state government was negating these moves by “unnecessarily contributing to tax burden.”

NAWANSHAHR
PHARMACISTS’ PLEA: District units of the Be-Rozgar Registered Pharmacists Association and the Punjab State Pharmacists Association here on Saturday criticised the withdrawal of orders of the Director, Health and Family Welfare, on the enforcement of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. They urged Capt Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister, Punjab to ensure the implementation of the orders issued on June 10 to stop exploitation of unemployed registered pharmacists. Mr Nachhatar Pal and Mr Jaswinder Singh Patti, presidents of the associations addressed the meeting.

REVOKE SUSPENSION: The Government Teachers Union, Punjab on Saturday urged the Punjab Education Department to revoke suspension of non-teaching employees of government schools in the district. The employees were suspended after they were found ‘absent’ from duty during a vigilance raid on May 2. The union said that Mr Balwinder Singh, clerk, posted at Saidpur Kalan Government High School, was suspended for being ‘absent’ but he had been put on deputation duty by the District Education Officer, Nawanshahr from September 21, 2001.

AFFORESTATION DRIVE: Mr Surinderjit Singh Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner, presiding over “Green the Shivalik” function at Kandi Research Centre, Bullowal Saunkhari, 30 km from here on Friday said that afforestation drive would be launched in the Kandi area and 10 lakh saplings would be planted. Also for irrigation in the Kandi area, the Kandi canal, estimated to cost Rs 150 crore, would be dug from Hoshiarpur to Balachaur.

PATHANKOT
THEFT: Thieves entered the house of Aman Deep, a resident of Green Avenue, here on Saturday, and took away cash and household goods. According to information received the owner was not at home at the time of theft. The police has registered a case.

REMANDED: The Sadar police arrested Indu, a resident of Chawari in Chamba district and recovered stolen gold ornaments from her possession. The police on Saturday produced her in the court of Mr Ranjit Singh, Judicial Maigstrate, who remanded her in police custody till Monday.

PATIALA
NEW BUILDING SOUGHT: The Bar Association Labour court lawyers on Sunday apprised judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court of the dilapidated condition of the complex from which they were functioning at present. Members of the Bar Association met Mr Justice J.S. Kher and Mr Justice S.S. Nijjar and told them that the premises from which they were functioning had been declared unsafe by the state PWD Department for the past 15 years and demanded that the building be shifted to the new judicial complex of the civil courts.

PHAGWARA
THIEF HELD: The police on Friday night claimed arresting Bhag Mall alias Dani and recovered from him a stolen Maruti van and valuables. His accomplice Bittu escaped. The Maruti van numbered (PID 917) was stolen on July 16 from the local Hoshiarpur road here. The valuables were stolen from a house at Khothran village. Owner of the house Jarnail Singh identified the valuables as his. Bhag Mall belonged to Alahabad village of Hoshiarpur district and was running a shop.

DSP HURT: DSP Jail Vinod Bhatia and his wife Ms Santosh Bhatia were injured near the Chaheru bone mill on the GT Road after the scooter they were riding was hit by a car on Saturday afternoon. The couple has been hospitalised here. The DSP fractured his leg. A case has been registered.

FIRE: A fire broke out in two cloth shops in the Bansanwala bazaar on Saturday. Short circuit is said to have caused the fire in Kalra Silk store and Tuli Cloth House. The fire engines here put the fire out.

TWO-CHILD NORM: The Indian Medical Association, Punjab, today hailed the move of the Central Government to bring in a legislation on a two-child norm in order to check the population growth. Dr Kuldip Singh and Dr J.S. Virk, president and senior vice-president of the state body said in a press note that persuasive measures to check population explosion had failed and the two per cent population growth would have far-reaching effects if not checked in time.

CHANDIGARH

SECURITY THREAT: Residents of Sector 44 and 45 have opposed the construction of a separate track for padestrians and cyclists along their boundary walls. They said with the height of the walls being six feet, it would affect the security in the sectors. They suggested that the height of the boundary wall should be raised to 8 feet; trees planted and the track for padestrians should at least be 7 feet away from their boundary walls.

DEMAND RENEWED: The Sector 18C Social Welfare Society on Sunday renewed its demand for the removal of the meat market alleging that the Chandigarh Administration despite carrying out a demolition drive had not done anything to remove the market from the green belt. It decided that a delegation of the society members would meet the Administrator in this regard.

TRIBUTES PAID: Bhisham Sahni, who took literature to great heights by expressing himself in various languages, was committed to the people and the Leftist line of thought. This was the focus of the tributes paid to Bhisham Sahni at a function organised by the Kendri Punjabi Lekhak Sabha in collaboration with the Punjabi Lekhak Sabha at Punjab Book Centre here on Sunday. Harbhajan Singh Halwarvi, Editor, Desh Sewak, Mr Mohan Bhandari, the Secretary of the Punjab unit of the CPI, Dr Joginder Dayal, Dr Harcharan Singh, Prof Rabinder Sharma, Prof Randhir Singh, Mr Devinder Daman, Dr Prem Singh and Prof H.S. Mehta also spoke on the occasion.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local unit of the Dr Ambedkar Study Circle: president — Mr Inder Raj; senior vice-president — Mr Kulwant Singh Sandhu; vice-president — Mr M.C. Suman; general secretary — Mr Anil Kumar Lamdharia; joint secretary — Mr C.B. Choudhary; assistant general secretary — Mr Babu Ram; organising secretary — Mr Bhag Singh; and treasurer — Mr Anant Ram.

PANCHKULA
AWARENESS PROGRAMME: Mukat Hospital and Heart Care Centre organised a Community Medical Education programme, in association with the Senior Citizens Council at Day Care Centre on Sunday. The purpose of the programme was to make people aware of the recent advances in cardiology and cardiac surgery. Dr Prateek Soni, senior consultant, spoke on the recent trends in heart diseases. Senior cardiac surgeons Dr Shashi Jindal and Dr Amarnath Ghosh also spoke on the occasion.

TREE PLANTATION DRIVES: A tree plantation drive was organised by the Chandrawati Goel Memorial Trust in Sector 16 park on Sunday evening. Mr Hardeep Malik, Executive Engineer, Horticulture, HUDA, was the chief guest. As many as 100 saplings of neem, jamun and amla were planted on the occasion. Another tree plantation drive was organised by the residents of Sector 7 at Royal Park on Sunday. The Chief Administrator, HUDA, Mr N.C. Wadhwa, was the chief guest. Among others present on the occasion were Dr S.K. Chabbra, president, Sector 7 Residents Welfare Association and the local councillor, Mr C B Goel.

HARYANA

AMBALA
POLL PROMISES: The newly formed Ekta Manch has announced that the old-age pension in the state will be enhanced to Rs 500 from Rs 200, if it comes to power. The convenor of the party, Mr Virender Verma, while talking to mediapersons said if his party come to power the fire tax, confectionery tax and hike in the house tax imposed by the present government would also be withdrawn. He said his party would organise a rally on July 25 in Pundri in this regard.

FATEHABAD
COMPETITION: The Tohana branch of the Bharat Vikas Parishad on Sunday organised a group song competition of patriotic songs. Dr R.B. Langyan, Deputy commissioner, Fatehabad, was the chief guest on the occasion.

SIRSA
ONE INJURED: Ramesh, a resident of Mangala village, was travelling in Jeep along with his family when it was hit by a tractor-trailer near Ram Nagaria village in the district on Sunday. Ramesh, who received injuries on the head, was admitted to the local Civil Hospital.

YAMUNANAGAR
ELECTED: Mr Mewa Ram has been unanimously elected president of the Yamunanagar District Brick-Kiln Association.

PACKAGE: The Bhartiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) has said the Rs 609 crore package for sugarcane growers of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttranchal was a joke. Dr Shamsher Singh Tyagi, president, BKS, Haryana, in a press note said the Central Government should allocate a minimum of Rs 100 crore to the farmers of Haryana.

SUGAR POLICY: The Haryana Pradesh Congress alleged that the recently announced sugar package by the Central Government was incomplete, indicating wrongful intentions and policies of the government. Mr Sat Pal Kaushik, secretary, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, said on Sunday the government should issue a white paper immediately regarding the allocation of the sugar development fund of about Rs 609 crore as compensation to farmers who had suffered losses.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
LANGAR: The local Citizens Progressive Council has decided to organise a ‘langar’ under the aegis of the local Lakshman Club for Manimahesh pilgrims on the last day of the week-long Minjar Fair. Major S.C. Nayyar, senior vice-president of the council, requested the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Rahul Anand, not to remove exhibition stalls raised during the fair as these stalls could be used by the pilgrims to shelter from rain.

PRIVATE SCHOOLS: The Himachal Government Teachers’ Union (HGTU) has demanded that the state government cancel the recognition of private educational institutions being run without the requisite infrastructure and which were charging exorbitant fees. In a note issued here on Sunday, Mr Suman Kumar Minhas, member, state executive of the union, said most of the private schools were functioning in inadequate rented buildings without sufficient teaching staff, playgrounds, laboratories and computers network but still charged huge sum of money.

SUBSIDY: The Himachal Government has decided to cover 6,000 fishermen under a scheme providing subsidy for various purposes to youths of the economically weaker sections, particularly the backward and Scheduled Castes during the current year. Mr Harsh Mahajan, Minister for Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, said the fishermen would be provided with a premium-free insurance cover of Rs 50,000 and an insurance cover of Rs 25,000 for any casualty or permanent injury. This would help boost fishery activities amongst the poor, he said.

DALHOUSIE
NEW SCHOOLS: The Himachal Government has decided to open 270 schools, which include 200 middle schools, 50 high schools and 20 senior secondary schools besides seven degree colleges in the state during the current year. Announcing this here on Sunday Mrs Asha Kumari, Education Minister, said the schools would be opened in the areas where the number of students justified it.

DHARAMSALA
LIQUOR SIEZED: The police has arrested four persons and seized illicit liquor from their possession. According to the police, Kamla, a resident of Gagowal, was arrested with 10 l of liquor while Shamsher Singh of Chhanni village was held with 40 l of liquor. Sadhu Ram of Batbalud village had 50 l of liquor and Ramesh Chand of Jwalamukhi had 30 l of liquor.

MANDI
NOTIFICATION: The delay in notification of approved ‘dhabas’ on the national highways by the Himachal Pradesh transport authorities has left the passengers at the mercy of the drivers and the ‘dhaba’ owners. Some dhaba owners also reportedly serve alcoholic beverages to the drivers.

CRITICISED: The Income Tax Bar Association, at its emergency meeting held here on Sunday, strongly opposed the proposal to transfer the jurisdiction of Sundernagar subdivision to Bilaspur. Describing the move as ‘ill-conceived’, the association said the income tax complex constructed at the divisional headquarters after spending crores of rupees was still non-functional as most of the posts had not been filled.

PAONTA SAHIB
REPRESENTATION: The Himachal Pradesh State Akali Dal has written to the Chief Minister, Himachal Pradesh, demanding proper representation for the Sikhs in the civil services in the state. In 1999, the BJP government had ordered that Punjabi be taught in the schools but no proper action had been taken so far, they said. They also requested the government that Punjabi should be started in government schools immediately.

SHIMLA
BJP MEETING: Office-bearers of the Himachal unit of the BJP will meet at Parwanoo on July 27 to discuss issues related with organisational poll. The meeting will be presided over by Mr O.P. Kohli, National Secretary of the party and in charge of Himachal affairs.

FLAYED: Mr G.S. Bali, Transport Minister, while addressing mediapersons here on Sunday, criticised BJP leaders for discrimination against Kangra and said those who failed to protect the interest of the region during their own rule were now making a hue and cry to show their existence. He said the BJP ministers and legislators from Kangra levelled allegations against the Dhumal government following which they were sacked from the Cabinet. However, they compromised on the issues they had raised and rejoined the ministry.