Tribuneindia...Regional Briefs

	REGIONAL BRIEFS	Thursday, January 14, 1999
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BATHINDA
Exhibition: The Army authorities will organise a three-day exhibition of weapons and equipment from January 15 at the local Rajendra Government College grounds. According to a press note issued here the event is being associated with the Army Day and Lt. Gen G.K. Duggal, will inaugurate the exhibition.

FARIDKOT
Health services: The Punjab Government, with the aid of the World Bank, will spend Rs 421.88 crore to rejuvenate 155 civil hospitals in the state. The scheme has been launched and will be completed by the end of 2000. The hospitals will be equipped with the latest equipment and blood banks set up in most of the institutions. Nearly 480 more doctors will also be appointed by February-end under the scheme.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
Senior citizens' council: The following have been elected office-bearers of the newly formed senior Citizens Welfare Council president — Mr Devinder Singh Panag; vice-president — Mr Rup Chand; secretary — Mr Nachhatar Singh; and cashier — Mr Krishan Chand.

FEROZEPORE
Urged: The local Senior Citizens Welfare Association has urged the government to treat the senior citizens on a par with NRIs and ex-servicemen regarding protection of their properties. It said the senior citizens had to face a lot of difficulties in getting repossession of their properties after retirement.

JALANDHAR
Dharna: Teachers working in non-government aided colleges in the district staged a dharna in front of the Principals' office in their respective colleges, on a call given by the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers' Union (PCCTU) here on Tuesday. Prof Jaspal Singh Randhawa, President of the district PCCTU, criticising the attitude of the government towards the demands of teachers, said the agitation would be intensified by holding a rally in the constituency of the Finance Minister, Punjab, on January 19.

LUDHIANA
Small-scale manufacturers: Mr D.S. Chawla was elected President of the Jammu colony Small Scale Manufacturers Association on Monday.

MOGA
Marriage ceremony: Marriage ceremony of seven poor girls was performed here on Monday at Chokha Place by the People Seva Fund Society. The couples were given household items like utensils and clothes. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Kulbir Singh Kang, was also present on the occasion.

Plea: Staff and students of the local institutions urged the district administration on Tuesday to make changes in the school timing in view of the foggy and inclement weather in the region. They have suggested that the timing be changed from 8.30 a.m to 3 p.m to 10 a.m to 3 p.m.

Bus overturns: Twentyone passengers travelling by a mini bus belonging to the Khera Transport Company were injured on Monday when it overturned near Samadhbhai village under Baghapurana police station in the district. The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital.

Use of loudspeakers: Parents of school and college students here urged the administration on Wednesday to impose a ban on the use of loudspeakers at religious places in the district. They also requested the managements of religious places to cooperate.

PATIALA
Celebrated: The local Aggarwal Sabha celebrated Lohri milan here at Chiranjiv Ashram, according to a press note issued by the sabha on Tuesday. As many as 140 pairs of shoes were distributed among the poor and needy school students.

Distributed: The local Basant Ritu Youth Club, Tripuri, distributed 123 dresses to poor and needy students of five schools. The President of the club, Mr Rajesh Sharma, said here on Tuesday that scouts of Government School, Tripuri, were also honoured on the occasion.

ROPAR
PSEB engineers: The Executive Council of the PSEB Engineers Association of Ropar Thermal Plant region has expressed resentment over the PSEB's indifferent attitude and its failure in granting Rural Area Allowance to the engineers and employees working in the plant with headquarters at Nuhon village, near here. According to Mr Charanjit Singh, Regional Secretary of the association, the allowance had been granted to all other similarly situated employees of the board from May last year. He said the association had also expressed resentment over the non-implementation of revised payscales of assistant engineers and assistant executive engineers.

Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Zila Likhari Sabha: Patrons — Mr Gurbachan Singh Kanwal and Dr Gurcharan Singh Saki; president — Dr Jaswant Kaur Saini; senior vice-president — Mr Jaswinder; vice-presidents — Mr Hemkiran and Ms Surinder Kaur Kharal; general secretary — Mr Gurinder Singh; secretaries — Mr Baldev Singh Kore and Mr Raghbir Samanavi; and auditor — Mr Sudhir Gulati.

K.L. Sehgal anniversary: The 43rd death anniversary of legendary playback singer K.L. Sehgal will be observed by the Environment Society of India on January 18 at the Sector 10 Government Museum and Art Gallery here. According to the president of the society, Mr S.K. Sharma, a packet of two audio cassettes, containing devotional songs, will be released on the occasion.

KVS teachers: The Rashtriya Kendriya Vidyalaya Adhyapak Sangh (J) Chandigarh Regional Executive Committee held a meeting at Panchayat Bhavan, here on Tuesday where problems of Kendriya Vidalaya teachers were discussed. The meeting unanimously resolved to start a peaceful agitation till demands of teachers were met. It also decided to observe a chalk down strike on January 15, and hold a rally at New Delhi on February 26.

BHIWANI
Polio operation: Under the polio eradication programme, 60 operations will be performed at the General Hospital here from January 19 to 21. Mr K.S. Yadav, Deputy Commissioner, told mediapersons here on Wednesday that a team from Medical College Rohtak would perform the operations. The district Rehabilitation Centre, Bhiwani, will bear the expenses and medicines will be given free of cost to the patients.

FATEHABAD
Salaries not paid: Resentment prevails among the employees of the local General Hospital as they have not received their salaries for December. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, clerical staff and Class-IV employees, have not been paid salaries as the "budget has exhausted". Meanwhile, the employees of Civil Surgeon's office have already withdrawn their salaries.

Two arrested: The police has arrested two proclaimed offenders at Bhattu Kalan in the district. According to the SP, Mr Rajbir Deswal, those arrested were wanted under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act since 1997. The two, Sukhwinder and Malkiat, both residents of Potichhana village in Nabha district were arrested on Tuesday.

Dr O.P. Arya: Dr O.P. Arya, Principal of the local Manohar Memorial College, died here on Wednesday of a massive heart attack. He was 57. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. Prominent citizens of the town attended the funeral procession. All educational institutions here were closed for a day as a mark of respect for the departed soul.

GURGAON
Science exhibition: A three-day State Schools' Science Exhibition organised by the SCERT, Haryana, was inaugurated here by the Financial Commissioner and Secretary, Haryana Government, Mr Vishnu Bhagwan, on Tuesday evening. The main theme of the exhibition is Science, Technology and Environment. Nearly 400 students are displaying about 190 exhibits at the exhibition.

Bar Association: Members of the local Bar Association observed a strike to protest against the deteriorating law and order situation in the city. Members of the association headed by Mr Ram Avtar Gupta, a member of the Punjab and Haryana Bar Council, met Mr Charan Dass Shorewala, Finance Minister, Haryana, and the Senior Superintendent of Police in this regard.

HISAR
Training camp: The state-level technical backup unit of the Integrated Rural Energy Programme, Haryana, organised a two-day training camp on repair and maintenance of domestic solar appliances at CCS Haryana Agriculture University, here on Tuesday. Dr Rakesh Yamdagni, Director of Extension, inaugurated the training camp and laid stress on the need to popularise the non-conventional energy appliances.

REWARI
Looted: Seven armed youths looted about Rs 75,000 and gold and silver ornaments from a bus passenger on the Delhi-Jaipur highway near Behror, about 50 km from here, on Monday morning. The youths got down from the bus near the railway crossing at Rudh village, near Bawal police station, and escaped. The Bawal police has registered a case.

ROHTAK
Cases solved: The district police claims to have solved 19 cases of theft and snatching in December last. According to the SSP, Mr P.K. Agarwal, a sum of Rs 33,100 was recovered from the robbers. The police seized 84 bottles and 2,356 pouches of illicit liquor during the period.

SHAHABAD
Annual function: The annual function of the Gita Vidya Mandir was held here on Sunday evening. Kanwar Suraj Pal Singh, Revenue Minister, Haryana, who was the chief guest, commended the achievements of the institution and announced a grant of Rs 61,000 for its development. The founder president of the school, Vaid Kapur Chand Sharma, MLA, also spoke. Students of the school presented an impressive cultural programme.

Junior Chamber: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Junior Chamber of Shahabad: president — Mr Pawan Sachdeva; secretary — Mr Manohar Sharma; and treasurer — Mr Subhash Bawa.

Bala Sundri Temple: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Prachin Devi Bhagwati Bala Sundri Temple here: patron — Mr Brij Bhushan Gupta; president — Mr Pawan Kumar Garg; vice-presidents — Mr Bharat Bhushan Gupta and Mr Raj Kumar Gupta; general secretary — Mr Virender Kumar Singhal; press secretary — Mr Ranjit Kumar Gupta and treasurer — Mr Sanjiv Gupta.

SIRSA
Sentenced: Mr Krishan Kumar of Kaulana village was sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000 by the Additional Sessions and District Judge, Mr A.K. Bimal, on Tuesday for abducting and raping a minor.

Two arrested: The local police arrested Kuldeep Singh of Bhirdana village and Bagicha Singh, alias Baggi, of Dhani Majra and a home-guard of Fatehabad under Section 392 of the IPC and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act and seized a pistol and a cartridge from them. They had also stolen a jeep at gunpoint from the Khairikan village railway crossing on January 7.

SONEPAT
Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Medical Representatives Association here: president — Mr Lalit Munjal; vice-president — Mr Harish Gosain; secretary — Mr Rajesh Mudgil; joint secretary — Mr Navin Sood; and treasurer — Mr Gaurav Munjal.

Traffic blocked: Trade shopkeepers and resident of the Mamoon Bhanja Masjid area blocked traffic on the Sonepat-Bahalgarh road, near the Mamoon-Bhanja chowk, here on Wednesday for several hours in protest against the killing of two teenaged boys Sonu and Pawan of Ganda Nullah Basti by a truck on Tuesday evening.

Protest march: A large number of farmers participated in a procession organised by the BKU here on Monday in protest against the state government. The protesters were carrying placards and raising anti-government slogans. They marched through the main streets of the city and reached the mini-secretariat where they staged a dharna in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office to press their demands. The leaders of the farmers warned that if the State Government failed to accept their demands the union would intensify its agitation.

Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district unit of the Haryana Valmiki Maha Sabha: President — Mr Prem Singh Anand; Vice-President — Mr Baljit Singh; General Secretary — Mr Ishwar Singh; Treasurer — Mr Umed Singh Anand; and Adviser — Mr Ram Pal Sauda.

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

Widening of Cart Road

The Himachal Public Works Department has been widening the Cart Road within Shimla town in short stretches over the past so many years. One such widening has been in progress in between Himland Hotel and St. Edwards School for quite some time.

Recently one such widening work was observed progressing briskly opposite the gate of St. Edwards School. All keen observers were under the impression that the new construction was being undertaken by the PWD for widening the Cart Road like the adjacent portions done up earlier.

The supervising engineer of the up-coming new approach road, however, says the job in hand is a private one on private land.As per the Road Side Land Control Act a 15-metre wide strip measured from the centre of the drive-way is vested in the state.

Whether the ownership of the land under this particular case is in conformity with the said legislation or not can be known to the Revenue authorities only.However, what is important in the case is that this particular bend of the Cart Road, being opposite the gate of the popular educational institution required to be widened as a public way and not as an approach road for one particular private individual.

Further, the portion being the worst bottleneck of the important artery of the town, some individual have already lost their lives here merely because of the restricted width of the road. Widening of the Cart Road at this point is important.The private party concerned should allow an overhead bridge for the school children to cross the Cart Road safely while coming to school or leaving it.

Police-public ties

“We want to give a new direction to the police-public relationship with a view to achieving mutual trust and cooperation. “Setu” is a step in this direction,” said Mr V.B. Singh, D.I.G. Hisar Range, while addressing a gathering at the inaugural function of Setu, a local social organisation at Krishi Gyan Kendra. The purpose behind the inception of ‘Setu’ is to bridge the gap between the police and the public.

Mr Singh said in pre-independent India the police force was created to curb anti-government feelings. Although after Independence the function of the police was changed to maintain law and order, the “baton” was still given to the police which prevented them from shaking hands.

Hence the role of the police seems unfriendly and negative. He admitted there were flaws in police behaviour but mainly held their working conditions responsible for it. He said the police was an instrument in the hands of the District Magistrate to punish any violator of law and establish his authority. It is, therefore, his prime duty to check wrong-doings of both the public and the police. He congratulated the S.S.P., Sirsa, Mr B.S. Sandhu for his efforts in bringing the police closer to the public through ‘Setu’.

He stressed on the need to involve every section of society in this inter-action, by spreading the activities of ‘Setu’ to the village level.The Deputy Commissioner, Sirsa, and patron of ‘Setu’, Dr. Avtar Singh, said the police enjoyed maximum powers and there was a need to channelise that power for making the police force better and for evolving a closer police-public relationship.

Mr. B.S. Sandhu, chairman of ‘Setu,’ welcomed the guests and reiterate his assurance for providing more cordial relations between the police and the public.

Balle Balle 99

Residents of Simbal Majra, near Kharar in Ropar district, and surrounding villages never had it so good. Their long-standing demand for a quality cultural programme with top singers of Punjab was fulfilled on January 3 when a day-long cultural bonanza — Balle Balle ‘99 — was organised in the village.

Organised jointly by the Youth Welfare and Cultural Club, Simbal Majra, the Chandigarh Art and Cultural Journalists Association and Cultural Affairs Department of the Punjab Government, renowned singers of the state, including Hans Raj Hans, Sardul Sikandar, Mohammad Sadique, Harbhajan Mann, Sunita Bhatti, Faquir Chand Patanga, Amar Noori and Kamaljit Nerru, enthralled the audience the whole day.

It was for the first time that the top singers performed in this backward area of Punjab, informs the president of the association, Mr Jarnail Singh Basota. And it was for the first time in many years that the two top singers of the state, Sardul Sikandar and Hans Raj Hans, considered to be heading two rival factions of artistes, came on one stage.

Two lyricists were honoured by Mr Gobind Singh Kanjla, Youth Services Minister, Punjab. A cheque for Rs 50,000 on behalf of Daler Mehndi was presented to Janga Nandpuri, who penned Daler’s chart-buster, “Bolo tara ra ra....” Babu Singh Mann, a noted folk lyricist, was also honoured.

— Contributed by K.L. Noatay, Bhupinder Dharmani and Pradeep Sharma.