Sunday, August 1, 1999
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P U N J A B | |
Sunday, August 1, 1999 |
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SAD-BJP
govt ‘trying to politicise Kargil’ ‘Shamianas’ruin turf
pitches |
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Mittal:
third front no threat to SAD Octroi post or cinema hall NRI adopts martyr's family 17 criminals held during
nakabandis Walking reduces heart attack risk Nation unsafe with BJP: Kanshi Manifesto on Aug 5: Tohra 4 killed, 30 hurt in road mishaps Tohra loyalist sacked Martyrdom day of Udham Singh
observed Former Home Guard held |
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SAD-BJP govt ‘trying to
politicise Kargil’ CHANDIGARH, July 31 — Mr Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, general secretary of the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal in a statement here today said the SAD-BJP Government headed by Mr Parkash Singh Badal was trying to politicise the sacrifices made by jawans in the Kargil sector recently. Opposing the holding of a rally at Ludhiana on August 7 in the name of paying tributes to the martyr jawans, Mr Bhaur said in fact the rally was being held by the SAD-BJP Government to take political advantage. Such functions were being organised by the SAD-BJP Government to hide the blunders committed by the BJP-led government at the Centre with regard to Kargil. The country would have never faced such a situation if the BJP Government had remained alert as far as protecting the borders was concerned and in stopping the intrusion in the Indian side in Kashmir. Urging the Election Commission of India to take action against the Punjab Government in this connection, Mr Bhaur said he would send written complaint to the Commission soon. All countrymen bow their heads before the jawans who laid down their lives for the country but the Vajpayee Government was responsible for such a heavy loss of lives in the Kargil sector. The jawans paid the price with their lives for the negligence on the part of the Vajpayee Government. He said the Sarb Hind
Shiromani Akali Dal held martyr jawans in high esteem but
would not allow political parties like the BJP and the
SAD to use their sacrifices for getting ballot boxes
filled with votes. |
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PM’s rally LUDHIANA, July 31 — The sports fraternity is unhappy at the "misuse" of the S.D. Government College ground as venue for the election rally of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on August 7. It is for the first time that the college ground will be used as a public meeting place. Earlier such rallies were held at the Daresi Ground, Government College for Women and the open space near Vardhman Mills on the Chandigarh road. During the last parliamentary elections, Mr Vajpayee and Mrs Sonia Gandhi addressed public meetings at Government College for Women as the college ground was not being used for any sports activity. A visit to the S.D. Government College grounds today revealed that four turf pitches laid down there by the Ludhiana District Cricket Association (LDCA) had been ruined. The "shamianas" and different enclosures being erected there for the proposed rally had damaged these pitches beyond repair. With the dates for the Punjab State Inter-District Cricket Championship and inter-state matches being already announced by the Punjab Cricket Association, 15 matches are stated to be organised at the S.D. Government College ground. There is no other ground where these matches can be held. The LDCA office-bearers led by its senior Vice-President and Mr Chaman Lal Malhotra met senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member from Ludhiana Lala Lajpat Rai, who is the convener of the PM's rally, and Mr Balramji Das Tandon, Local Bodies Minister, today. The delegation urged the two leaders for compensation and for alternative arrangements for the forthcoming cricket matches. The two leaders promised
the LDCA that compensation would be given for the damage
caused to the cricket pitches. |
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Homoeopathic colleges CHANDIGARH, July 31 — The Council of Homoeopathic System of Medicine, Punjab, has passed a resolution, paving the way for the affiliation of the homoeopathic colleges in the state with Baba Farid Medical University, Faridkot. Mr Bhupinder Singh, newly appointed chairman of the council by the Punjab Government, told TNS here today that the council had taken some important decisions to streamline the functioning of the homoeopathic colleges. He said the council had approached the Vice-Chancellor of the Medical University for affiliation of the homoeopathic colleges of Punjab. The VC told the council that it should pass a resolution in this regard before the process of affiliation could be started. Revealing other important decisions taken by the council, Mr Bhupinder Singh said "carry on" system had been introduced in the homoeopathic colleges. Those students who fail in one or two subjects were earlier not allowed to be promoted to the next class but now they would be promoted. Of course, they would have to clear the subjects in which they had failed. The council has allowed three colleges — Lord Mahavira College, Ludhiana; Homoeopathic College, SAS Nagar; and Guru Nanak College, Ludhiana; to enhance seats from 26 to 50. Other three colleges — Homoeopathic College, Hoshiarpur; Homoeopathic College, Tarn Taran; and Guru Tegh Bahadur College, Patiala have been allowed to increase seats from 16 to 30. The Chandigarh Homoeopathic College has been granted affiliation by the council. Mr Bhupinder Singh said the council was trying to sort out most of the disputes pertaining to students out of court. With the efforts of council, a number of court cases had been withdrawn and the council redressed the grievances of the students concerned. He said the council would try to avoid unnecessary litigation. Asked what was the reason for allowing colleges to enhance seats, Mr Bhupinder Singh said all homoeopathic colleges in the state were being run privately and the government was not providing any financial help. With less number of seats such colleges had sunk in deep financial crisis and some of these colleges were on the verge of closure. For keep them running, seats had been increased. The chairman said the council had issued a directive to all colleges affiliated with it to have adequate staff in all subjects. Colleges had also been asked to remove the deficiencies within six months. A new examination system was being evolved to ensure fairness in the examinations. There were a lot of complaints that during examinations teachers favour certain students. There were also reports of giving less marks deliberately to some students. All such malpractices would be eliminated in the examination system which was conducted under the supervision of the council, Mr Bhupinder Singh claimed. Mr Avtar Singh, general
secretary of the Indian Institute of Homoeopathic
Physicians, and other homoeopathic bodies have supported
the steps taken by the council and thanked Mr Manpreet
Badal for getting an elected member appointed as chairman
of the council by taking up the issue with the Chief
Minister. |
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Mittal: third front no threat to
SAD NANGAL, July 31 — The third front comprising the AISAD and the BSP will not affect the winning prospects of SAD-BJP candidates in Punjab," said Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Punjab, while talking to newsmen here today. The third front was regional in nature while in the coming Lok Sabha elections the national issues were going to dominate, he added. On being asked about the election agenda of the SAD-BJP alliance, Mr Mittal said the alliance would concentrate on projecting Mr Vajpayee as the Prime Ministerial candidate vis-a-vis Congress President Mrs Sonia Gandhi, who has foreign origins. "We will also highlight the performance of the Vajpayee government and it’s successful handling of the Kargil crisis," he added. While criticising the Congress for making Kargil an election issue he said only the Congress was trying to extract political mileage out of it by criticising the government. The Congress’ efforts to capture power by unfair means, first by toppling the Vajpayee’s government and burdening the nation with another mid-term election and then by stabbing the HVC government in Haryana, had exposed it before the people. Earlier, Mr Mittal, on a
tour of his constituency held rallies at Bhangla,
Mehatrur, Lower Majari, Khera Kalrote, Shelma, Clatu,
Boothgarh and Kankuki villages. Mr Mittal also held a
meeting of SAD and BJP workers at Nangal to motivate them
to participate in the August 7 rally of the Prime
Minister at Ludhiana. |
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Octroi post or cinema hall AMRITSAR: Don't mistake octroi posts or other government buildings here for ticket windows of cinema halls. Film posters (most of them vulgar) could be seen pasted everywhere in the city, the ban on such activities by the district magistrate notwithstanding. An octroi post opposite the railway station on Amritsar-Wagah road which was opened by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, in March has virtually been converted into a place where movies could be publicised through posters (see photograph). The orders issued by the authorities concerned from time to time remain only on paper. At a public function held here recently Ms Kiran Bedi IPS, had flayed the local administration for its "callous" attitude towards such vulgar cinema posters on the walls in the city. Her criticism resulted in the issuance of prohibitory orders and nothing more. So much so that the posters of all kinds could be seen on boards put up as historical markers on the Wagah road. Mr Brij Bedi, Chairman, Citizens Forum, which has launched a crusade against the "poster war" by the cinema owners in this holy city has criticised the authorities concerned for adopting an "indifferent" attitude towards those who violated the prohibitory orders. He said, "Perhaps our administration believed in the Gandhian theory of "see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil". He added that an administration who claims to be efficient was totally unaware of this nuisance. "Whenever a problem is brought to the notice of authorities concerned their reply is either they are not aware of it or they say they will look into the matter...," he added. Another such nuisance is
large hoardings of big sizes installed on rooftops of
private buildings and cinema halls. These could be seen
on the main roads and footpaths. However, Mr Surjit Singh
Rajpur, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, said many of
the hoardings had already been removed as part of the
campaign launched by the corporation. He also claimed
that the corporation had launched a campaign to remove
encroachments from the main roads etc. |
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NRI adopts martyr's family LUDHIANA: In a touching gesture, a city-based NRI, Mr Avinash Sharma, has adopted the family of Naik Nirmal Singh who was martyred during the fight for Tiger Hill in the Kargil sector earlier this month. Mr Sharma announced his decision to do so in the presence of the Punjab Governor, Lt-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber, and Maj-General Kamal Dawar at a "charity concert" held here on July 22 in aid of the Army martyrs' families. He later visited the family of martyr Nirmal Singh at Johlan village near Raikot and told the villagers that he would look after the family for as long as they wanted. "I was deeply moved by the plight of the martyr's family", said Mr Sharma in an interview with TNS. "Naik Nirmal Singh was just 28 at the time of his death. He is survived by his aged parents, a young widow, Jaswinder Kaur, who is just 24 years old, a younger brother and a three-year-old son. Although the government has given a grant of Rs 2 lakh and the villagers of the area collected Rs 51,000 for the family, is this enough to take care of them for the rest of their lives?" he queried. On hearing the news of the death of Naik Nirmal Singh, his wife had gone into shock. "She had withdrawn into herself. She would neither cry nor speak. And when I went to the village and told her through her family members that I will adopt them all, she burst into tears. The first thing I did was to take the three-year-old son away from the sombre atmosphere of the home and to a public school at Raikot and get him admitted there. Luckily, Principal H.S. Ghuman of the school was not only sympathetic but very helpful and went out of his way to admit the child in no time even though the academic session had begun four months ago....," recalls Mr Sharma who is himself a psychotherapist. They had a small party to celebrate his first day in the school. Everybody, including the martyr's family, students and staff of the school joined in. Jaswinder, who is just a matriculate, wanted his help to secure employment as a teacher in the government primary school in the village but Mr Sharma told her that she could be easily employed in a diagnostic hospital in the city where he was a director. She could also be trained a nurse. Similarly, he undertook to have the martyr's brother, a plus two student, admitted to any vocational course of his choice. A Canadian citizen who has been in Ludhiana for the past three years, Mr Sharma says he always wanted to be helpful and be a role model for others. And when the Kargil war broke out, there was such an upsurge of patriotic feelings and, like others, he too was swept by them. But he was sorry to say that most people thought that their duty ended with giving away money to the Army Welfare Fund. Even at the Kargil concert where he announced his decision to adopt the martyr's family, no one else came forward to emulate his example despite the fact that the city's rich and mighty in the corporate world were present there. "We must realise
that while the Kargil war may be over for us it has just
begun for the families of the Kargil martyrs which they
will have to fight for the rest of their lives. And the
least an indebted society can do for them is to assist
them in every possible way to make life less harsh for
them. The soldiers don't need our charity. They need to
live with honour and dignity. We can help them do it in
so many different ways," Mr Sharma asserts. |
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17 criminals held during
nakabandis FEROZEPORE, July 31 — The Ferozepore district police has arrested 17 alleged criminals, including robbers, extortionists and arms smugglers during nakabandis held in different areas of the district. Giving details at a press conference here today, the SSP, Ferozepore, Mr Gurcharan Singh Pherurai, added that five extortionists, namely Ikattar Singh, Satpal Singh, Nachattar Singh and Jasmel Singh, all residents of Fidde village, and Visakha Singh, a resident of Mudki were arrested near a bridge, near Fidde village. The SSP said the arrested persons had been extorting money from people by writing threat letters. They were being further interrogated, he added. He said another gang of four extortionists was arrested. They have been identified as Bakhshish Singh, Chhinderpal, Jaspal Singh and Balkar Singh, he added, saying four pistols and eight rounds were seized from them. The Ghall Khurd police arrested four alleged thieves and seized stolen clothes worth Rs 2 lakh along with two pistols and some ammunition, said the SSP, adding that the arrested persons were identified as Mangal Singh, Udeek Chand, Krishan Kumar, Harjinder Singh, Sube Singh and Jagtar Singh. Mr Pherurai said the Ghall Khurd police had also arrested a proclaimed offender, Bakhshish Singh, a resident of Muthianwala village from Rattakhera village during a nakabandi. A 9 mm pistol along with two rounds were seized from him. Bakhshish Singh had brought 18 kg of RDX, two AK56 rifles and some ammunition from Pakistan about seven months ago, he added. The SSP said another proclaimed offender, Gurcharan Singh, a resident of Kaliasakattra, had also been arrested by the Ghall Khurd police. A 12 bore gun was seized from him by the police. The accused was wanted by the Amritsar police, he added. Regarding a robbery committed by five armed robbers at petrol stations, one each at Sherkhan and Khosa Dal Singh villages on Thursday night, Mr Pherurai said the police had found some clues about the culprits. He said a study was
being made to make security arrangements for holding
peaceful Lok Sabha elections in the Ferozepore
constituency. |
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Walking reduces heart attack
risk LUDHIANA, July 31 — Elderly men who walked about 2 miles a day had half the risk of a heart attack then who walked a quarter mile, says Dr Alex Zachariah, Professor of Medicine and a former Principal, Christian Medical College, quoting a study published in the July issue of an American journal, Circulation. The study of 2,678 men, ranging from 71 years to 93, also found that the risk of the first heart attack dropped by 15 per cent for every additional half-a-mile walked everyday. These men were enrolled in the Honolulu Heart Program and were participating in a study of men of Japanese ancestry, living in Oahu, Honolulu, USA. "Encouraging older people to walk and to become active could have important health benefits," Mr Robert Abbott, Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and one of the study's authors said. This is especially important because walking can be easily incorporated into a person's lifestyle and daily routine, he added. Researchers ranked the distance walked by these men under the programme into three ranges: Less than quarter-a-mile a day, one-quarter to 1.5 miles a day and more than 1.5 miles a day. The risk of heart attack
for those who walked less than quarter-a mile a day was 5
per cent compared to 2.5 per cent of those who walked
more than 1.5 miles per day. Men who had walked
one-quarter to 1.5 miles per day had a 4.5 per cent risk
of developing heart disease. |
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Manifesto on Aug 5: Tohra MOGA, July 31 (UNI) — The all-India Shiromani Akali Dal will release its election manifesto on August 5, according to its President Gurcharan Singh Tohra . Mr Tohra, who was talking to mediapersons here yesterday, said party candidates for Bathinda, Taran Taran and Amritsar Lok Sabha seats would be announced within the next two to three days. The Dal which had left three seats out of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state to its election partner, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has already announced its candidates . Mr Tohra claimed that his political outfit was secular and people of all castes and creeds would be welcomed to join it. The former SGPC President alleged that at the instance of the Punjab Government his party office-bearers and supporters were being harassed. The Akali leader held
the ruling alliance responsible for the prevailing
financial crisis which had adversely affected the pace of
development in the state. He said there were many other
reasons for the "financial bankruptcy." |
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Nation unsafe with BJP: Kanshi FEROZEPORE, July 31 — The country was not safe in the hands of the BJP, said the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSF) chief, Mr Kanshi Ram, here today. Condemning the BJP, Mr Kanshi Ram said the fall of the BJP-led government at the Centre within 13 months and its failure on the Kargil issue had proved that the party had failed to fulfil its promise of providing an able and stable government. He said the Vajpayee government did not take timely action against intruders and now it wanted to encash on the issue in the ensuing Lok Sabha poll. He said the BSP would
contest 350 seats with seat adjustment with regional
parties. "The BSP never has an alliance with any
national party. The BSP itself is the fourth national
party," he declared. |
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4 killed, 30 hurt in road
mishaps PHILLAUR, July 31 — Four persons were killed and 30 sustained injuries in four different road accidents near here on the GT Road today. A private bus, one Tata Sumo, one Armada four wheeler and a truck were damaged in these accidents. The injured persons were
admitted to hospitals in Goraya and Phillaur. One person
returning from Vaishno Devi was among the four deceased.
The bodies have been sent to the Civil Hospital, Phillaur
for postmortem examination, the police said. |
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Tohra loyalist sacked LUDHIANA, July 31 — The SGPC chief, Bibi Jagir Kaur, has given the marching orders to another Tohra loyalist, Mr Amarjit Singh Grewal, Information Officer, Golden Temple. According to reports, Mr
Grewal who belongs to nearby Narangwal, was sacked on
July 28. He had been with the SGPC for the past 21 years. |
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Martyrdom day of Udham Singh
observed SUNAM, July 31 — The Punjab government organised a state-level function here today to observe the 59th martyrdom day of Shaheed Udham Singh who took revenge for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre at Amritsar by killing General O’ Dyer. The function was largely attended by the public. Among the prominent persons who attended the function were Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister, Dr Upinderjit Kaur, Technical Education Minister, Mr Gobind Singh Kanja, Youth services and Social Welfare Minister, Mr Nusrat Ali Khan, Sports Minister, Mr Sukhbir Singh Dhindsa, MP, and Mr Surjeet Singh Rakhra, SAD-BJP candidate for the Lok Sabha election from the Patiala constituency. Elaborate security arrangements had been made to avoid any untoward incident. Prominent visitors first laid wreaths at the memorial of the martyr in Olympic Stadium here and then spoke on the various events of his life. No grant was announced
in keeping with the model code of conduct in the coming
Lok Sabha elections. |
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Former Home Guard held AMRITSAR, July 31 (UNI) — The city police today arrested a former Punjab Home Guard jawan and in the process claimed to have foiled an attempt by the jawan to form an armed gang and commit robberies. Disclosing this here, Senior Superintendent of Police P.P.S. Sindhu said Baljit Singh, a former Home Guard jawan, was arrested by a patrol party in the city. A revolver and some rounds were seized from his possession. Further investigations led to cops to the house of the former jawan on Yasin Road from where a carbine along with three magazines, a pistol, a revolver, a .12 bore gun and about 150 rounds of ammunition were seized along with a telescope, he added. Mr Sidhu said the
weapons had been collected by the alleged culprit over a
period. He said the carbine seized appeared to be a
service weapon belonging either to the police or the
Army. |
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