The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Saturday, June 28, 2003, Chandigarh, India

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PUNJAB

GURDASPUR
ARRESTED: The police has arrested Major Singh and Kashmir Singh, residents of Bhattian village under Kahnuwan police station, under the Excise Act as part of a special drive launched by the district police to check smuggling and distillation of illicit liquor.

JALANDHAR
RAIDS: In a joint exercise, the Food and Civil Supplies and Weight and Measures wing of the Industries Department conducted raids on various petrol stations in the district and initiated action against seven petrol stations for not complying with the norms laid down by the departments concerned.

ARRESTED: The district police has arrested Surinder Pal for attempting to murder his dumb wife, Pappy, who was hospitalised with 35 per cent burns at the local Civil Hospital on June 24. According to the police, Pappy, a resident of New Adarsh Nagar, in her statement to the Duty Magistrate, revealed that her husband Surinder Pal had set her on fire after dousing her with kerosene.

LUDHIANA
DECISION HAILED: Mr Kartar Singh Garib, president, Shri Guru Gobind Singh Sewak Jatha, in a written statement has hailed the Central Government’s decision to recognise Punjabi as the second language in Delhi. The jatha has thanked Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, Ms Shiela Dikshit, Chief Minister, Delhi, the Punjabi Lekhak Sabha, and the Delhi Sikh Management Board for their efforts.

ALLEGATION: The Vishav Guru Ravi Das Mission on Friday alleged that different political parties were luring voters by offering them drugs. The national leader of the mission, Mr Shiv Ram Saroay, and Chairman, Mr Jaswant Kataria, said innocent Dalits were being made being targeted. They said country-made liquor and poppy husk were being distributed freely in villages.

CAMP CONCLUDES: A summer camp organised by the Lodhi Club will conclude on Saturday at the club lawns. Ms Shweta Verma, wife of the Deputy Commissioner, will give away the trophies and appreciation certificates to all participants.

BOOK RELEASED: A book on Vaastu Shastra written by Sunil Chadha, Vaastu and Feng Shui consultant was released here recently. Chadha said important aspects of Vaastu had been taken in the book in an easy manner. The basic points of Vaastu like water, fire, construction, selection of plot, remedies have been taken in the book in an informative manner.

MANSA
DHARNA: Under the banner of the Progressive Women’s Association, Punjab, a dharna was organised at Khokhar Kalan village bus stand in the district for the removal of a liquor vend from the village. Activists of the Punjab Radical Students Union, the Kirti Mazdoor Union, the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta) and residents of the village took part in the dharna.

PATHANKOT
KILLED: Mr P.K. Gupta, an employee of the Telecom Department here, was killed in a road accident at the Mission Road area here on Thursday.

SAMRALA
MEETING: A meeting of the Flood Control Committee was held here on Friday at the office of Nagar Council with Mr J.S. Jassi, SDM, Samrala, in the chair. Heads of Irrigation, Health, Forest, Animal Husbandry, Foods Supplies Departments and BDOs took part. A control room at the office of the SDM has been set up having a telephone No. 262331.

NOMINATED: Mr Kulwant Rai Sharma has been nominated chairman of the Brahamin Sabha, Samrala, for the term 2003-2005, according to Mr Behari Lal Saddi, president of the sabha. The general house meeting also authorised Mr Saddi to form the executive body of the sabha.

TARN TARAN
WOMEN HELD: Jasbir Kaur of Daliri village and Sarwan Singh of the same village besides Jatinder Singh of Patti have been booked under the NDPS Act for possessing smack by the local district police. In a press release issued here, it said Gursewak Singh of Mehmoodpura village and Sawinder Singh of Ghariala village had been booked under the Excise Act and the police had recovered illicit liquor, lahan and one illegal distillery from their possession.

CHANDIGARH

AWARENESS CAMPAIGN: Clutching banners and placards for creating awareness against malaria, mohalla committee members, along with Health Department officials, participated in a flag march and procession organised during a one-day camp in Dadu Majra Colony. The rally was a part of anti-malaria month being observed by the malaria of the Chandigarh Administration. Inaugurating the camp, Senior Regional Director of the Government of India’s Health and Family Welfare Department, Dr Subhash Chander, lauded “the efforts of the community in reducing the incidence of malaria to a great extent in their area”.

DATE EXTENDED: Considering the response to scholarships under Project Saraswati, the Fair and Lovely Foundation has extended the last date for receiving applications for the urban phase (postgraduation scholarships) to June 30. The application forms could be downloaded from the site www.hll.com. The foundation has identified education as one of its focus areas as part of its mission to empower women economically. Project Saraswati aims to provide women with scholarships for opening career avenues for them. It provides 20 scholarships for graduate women wanting to pursue postgraduation from urban areas and about 100 scholarships for rural women who have topped in Class X exams.

AWARENESS CAMPS: Two medical-cum-awareness camps were organised on Friday at Palsora and Janata Colony by the UT State AIDS Control Society. The camps were held in collaboration with NGOs as a part of the Family Health Awareness Campaign. Medicines and information brochures were also distributed. According to a press release, about 300 residents attended the camp conducted at Janata Colony in association with the Family Planning Association of India. About 124 patients were examined. As many as 67 cases of reproductive tract and sexually transmitted infections were detected. About 21 blood samples were also collected. At another camp organised at Palsora, with help of Nehru Yuva Kendra, about 100 residents were informed about HIV/AIDS.

SEMINAR: Relax — the message was clear to the teachers participating in the seminar on stress management organised at DAV Public School in Sector 8 on Friday. It was a part of the three-day orientation programme inaugurated on Thursday. Addressing a gathering, former Head of Panjab University’s English Department Pushpinder Syal highlighted the different ways of tackling stress with help of meditation and counselling. An insight into “performance enhancement in the classrooms” was earlier provided by school Principal Sarita Manuja. On June 30 — the concluding day of the orientation programme, classes on communication skills will be conducted by Director of Regional Institute of English Brinder Aulakh.

FUNCTION: Seeing them dancing to the thumping beats of famous number ‘Brazil’, no one could say that the young innocents were mentally challenged. Their participation in the valedictory function of a summer camp organised by the Government Institute of Mentally Retarded Children in Sector 32 was the only indication. As the parents watched, 45 students exhibited their talent on the last day of month-long camp. Fashion show, musical chair, and Radha-Krishan ras lila were the main highlights of the function. About 20 children from the institute and 25 from outside, between the age group of 8 and 20, participated in the workshop.

PANCHKULA
HEALTH CAMP: The five-day free medical camp for senior citizens organised by Kaiser Hospital here concluded here on Friday. Mr Devinder Singh, Managing Director of HAFED, was the guest of honour on this occasion. The programme began with the administrator of Kaiser Hospital, Mr Arshad Iqbal, highlighting the facilities available at the hospital , especially for senior citizens. He said the hospital now offered a separate ward for poor patients at the rate of Rs 100 per bed; free ambulance service for in-patient admission, free OPD on Saturdays in all fields other than super speciality fields, 20 percent discount on laboratory investigations on every Monday, discount upto 50 per cent on consultation for senior citizens, 20 per cent discount on investigations and 10 per cent on total bill.

VISIT: Mr Abhay Chautala, Indian National Lok Dal leader and son of Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, will come on a three-day visit to the township, beginning July 6. Stating this here on Thursday, state Secretary of the INLD Amardeep Chaudhary, said Mr Abhay Chautala would visit all wards of the municipal council here during his visit. He said the INLD leader would visit at least 10 wards on each day and assess the problems in order to ensure that adequate funds were released by the state exchequer for providing the best civic amenities.

HARYANA

AMBALA
INAUGURATED: The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, will inaugurate the extension drinking water scheme at Naraingarh on Saturday constructed with the cost of Rs 97.50 lakh. It would provide drinking water to 22,000 people of the area. A boosting pump station, an underground water tank and three tubewells have been constructed for this purpose. Later, Mr Chautala will inaugurate the 12-Feet high statue of Ch Devi Lal at Manav Chowk in Ambala City.

KAITHAL
SAPLINGS: To keep the environment free of pollution and increase the green area, as many as 15 lakh saplings will be distributed free of cost by the Forest Department during the current financial year. Giving this information here on Friday, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anurag Agarwal said besides this 1.32 lakh saplings would be planted on roadsides.

MISSING: A local business man has been missing from the town since Tuesday and has not returned. According to information, Mr Rajesh Kumar Jagga, partner of Jiwan Rice Mills here left his house in the afternoon on that day and did not return. His family members launched a search for him. Later in the evening, his scooter was found parked on the premises of the State Bank of India branch opposite the bus stand.

DHARNA: A dharna by anganwari workers and helpers outside the Mini Secretariat entered its fourth day on Thursday. They are protesting against the cut in their allowances by the government. Addressing the protesters, the district president of the Anganwari Workers Union, Ms Hardeep Kaur, and the secretary, Ms Sunita, said that if the government did not accept their demand and did not review its decision regarding the reduction in their allowances, they would be forced to intensify their agitation.

KALKA
OPEN HOUSE: The BSNL held an open house in Kalka to hear the grievances of the subscribers from Kalka and Pinjore on Thursday. This was the first open house for the year 2003-2004 of the Ambala circle of the BSNL. Mr L.K. Kakkar, GM, Ambala Circle, heard the problems. Senior citizens of the town demanded a separate window and billing arrangements as they face lot of inconvenience while depositing their bills. Residents of Himshikha colony of Pinjore also put forth the problems being faced in the local telephone exchange. The residents urged the BSNL authorities to start WLL services in Morni Hills and to release the connections immediately under the Barwala exchange.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
SENTENCED: The Judicial Magistrate (First Class), Miss Jyotsna Sumant Dhadhwal, has sentenced Ranvir Singh of Kurali to 15 months’ rigorous imprisonment and fined him Rs 1,000 under Section 379 of the IPC in connection with the theft of a car. In default of payment of fine, Ranvir Singh will have to undergo one month’s simple imprisonment.

CHAMBA
DAY OBSERVED: As many as 2000 students from various schools, including teachers and representatives from different walks of life, participated in International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking organised by the district police here on Thursday. A rally was held on this occasion and later a declamation contest on anti-drug abuse and HIV was also organised.

RELIEF: Guijars and shepherds of the Salooni block in Chamba district whose livestock has perished due to the outbreak of a mysterious disease have urged the state government to come to their rescue by providing them relief immediately so that they could recoup themselves for the losses incurred due to deaths of their buffaloes, goats and sheep.