R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

BATHINDA
MOVE RESENTED: Employees of Central Cooperative Bank have expressed resentment against the decision of the Registrar of cooperative societies to cancel the facility of festival and wheat loan given to the bank employees, Mr Parampal Singh Sidhu, president, of the local unit of the Central Cooperative Bank Employees Union, said in a press note issued here on Thursday.

DORAHA
ANNUAL FUNCTION: The annual day and prize distribution function of Guru Nanak Model Senior Secondary School, Doraha, was held on Thursday. Mr Rajinder Namdev Dhoke, SSP, Khanna, was the chief guest. The function was presided over by Mr Sadhu Singh Ghudani, local MLA. 

KAPURTHALA
SUICIDE: Meenu (22), a newly married girl of the local Kesari Bagh mohalla, who was admitted to the local Civil Hospital with serious burn injuries on Wednesday, succumbed to her injuries. A case has been registered against Ashwani Kumar, her husband.

KHANNA
ANTI-ENCROACHMENT: An anti-encroachment drive was launched by the Municipal Council Khanna, under the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, here on Friday. A team of municipal officials removed the khokhas and rehris from the GT Road. Mr Yash Raj Goel, EO, Municipal Council, Khanna, said that no one would be allowed to encroach the national highway. 

LUDHIANA
HONOURED: Newly appointed member of the Punjab Public Service Commission, Mr Amarjit Singh Chawla, was honoured at a special function organised by Citizens Welfare Forum here on Friday. Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, Technical Education Minister, Punjab, presided over the function and presented a shawl and memento to Mr Chawla on behalf of the Forum. Addressing the function, Mr Garcha said that Mr Chawla, in the capacity of general secretary Sikh Students Federation, had fought against injustice and mobilized youth to safeguard the interests of the state and the people. 

BAIRAGI SAMAJ: The Bairagi Samaj has hailed the appointment of Mr Nityanand Swami as the Chief Minister of the newly created state of Uttaranchal. Mr Swamy is the first member of the Bairagi community to have been elevated to the post of chief minister. A delegation of the Samaj, led by its president Mr Krishen Kumar Bawa, met the Chief Minister in Dehradun and extended greetings and said, it was a historical occasion for the entire Samaj. Mr Swamy while expressing his gratitude to the Samaj assured that he would try do his best to ensure that every section of the society, including the Bairagis got their rightful due. 

CEREMONY: The unveiling ceremony of the memorial stone of Professor Mohan Singh Marg will be done on November 19 by Mr Apinder Singh Grewal, Mayor, Municipal Corporation at Ferozepore Road. To pay a tribute and mark the day as the 96th birthday celebrations of Prof. Mohan Singh, Yug Kavi of Dhan Pothohar, the prominent artists will recite their poems and present cultural items on the occasion.The chief guest of the function would be Mr Surjit Singh Ahluwalia. 

RALLY: The Republican Party of India will hold a Save Constitution Rally opposite to the bus stand at Faridkot on November 19 at 10 a.m., according to the party general secretary, Mr Subhash Disavar. Top brass of the party including the President, Mr Ram Dass Athavale, will address the rally. The party is holding rallies, seminars and demonstrations throughout the country to protest the Constitution review by the NDA government. 

MALERKOTLA
DATES CHANGED: The dates for training census workers have been changed by an order of the Punjab Government. Mr Amarjit Singh Sekhon, in charge census-cum-executive officer, local municipal council, told mediapersons here on Friday that the training would be held on December 21, January 11 and January, 23, 2001.

TRANSFERRED: Mr Kulshinder Singh joined as Deputy Superintendent of Police here on Thursday. He has been transferred from Patiala while Mr Surinder Singh Saini has been transferred to the IRB, Chandigarh, from here.

NAWANSHAHR
HELD: Mr ishwar Singh, SSP, in a press note issued here on Thursday informed that under a special drive launched against anti-social elements, Karnail Ram of Kamam village was arrested for being in possession of seven bags of poppy husk and Sahil Kumar of the local Bhucheran mohalla was held under the Gambling Act.

PATIALA
ACCOUNTANTS CLUB: Mr G.K. Chopra, zonal accounts officer, in the Income Tax Department, has been elected as chairman of the newly constituted Accountants Club of Patiala. Mr Rajinder Khanna, Assistant Accounts Officer AAO of Punjab State Electricity Board [PSEB] has been elected as the general secretary of the club. 

TEACHERS UNION: Mr Gurpartap Singh was elected president of the Patiala district of the Elementary Teachers Union (Patiala block-2). The other office bearers are: vice president Davinder Singh; general secretary Bhupinder Singh; organising secretary Jiwan Miglani, propoganda secretary Narinder Kaur; press secretary Kuldeep Singh and adviser Baljinder Singh. Mr Amarjit Singh was elected president of the Bhunerheri block of the association. The other office bearers are: vice president Satpal; general secretary Ravinder Singh; organising secretary Harshdeep Kaur; treasurer Meenakshi; press secretary Jyoti Rani and propoganda secretary Parminder Kaur. 

FREE EYE CAMP: As many as 582 patients were examined at a free eye check-up camp organised by Patiala Eye Hospital and laser centre at Bhunerheri village, near here on Friday. A team of doctors, headed by Dr S.S. Boparai, examined the patients. 

PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT: The Bharat Vikas Parishad, at its executive meeting held here on Friday, decided to organise a ‘personality development camp’ at Prem Dham Sarv Hitkari Vidya Mandir at Sanauri Adda on November 26. In a press note, Mr B.B. Bhushan, press secretary of the parishad, said the camp will be held for students of Classes VIII, IX and X of various schools of the district. 

LIONS CLUB: Mr Anand Khosla has been elected as the president of the Lions Club, Quila Mubarak, for the year 2000-2001. The other office-bearers are: Secretary; Mr Rajiv Bansal, Treasurer; Mr Narinder Bansal. 

LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS: Present day librarians must adapt themselves to the use of information and communication technologies in order to assert their role in a technology and knowledge based society. These views were expressed by Dr P.B. Mangla from the Department of Library and Information Science, University of Delhi in his presidential remarks on the occasion of the inaugural function of the Punjab Library Association (PLA) held at the Central State Library here on Friday. Over 150 delegates from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh participated in the seminar. 

DASTARBANDI: The Dastarbandi competition of the school children was held in the premises of Nankana Sahib Public School, here on Friday. This was to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev. 

TARN TARAN
SWEATERS DISTRIBUTED: As many as 300 children from different primary schools of the town were given sweaters and shoes at a function organised by the local Sanatan Dharam Children Welfare Society here on Tuesday. Mr Tarlochan Singh Tur, MP, presided over the function and Mr Surinder Singh Kairon, former MP, was the chief guest.

COOPERATIVE WEEK: A function was organised by the Cooperative Department on Tuesday, the first day of the Cooperative Week at Jeobala village. Mr Ranbir Singh Sandhu, Deputy Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Amritsar, was the chief guest and Mr Harbans Singh, local Assistant Registrar, presided over the function. More than 200 persons participated in the function.

TWO KILLED: Lakhwinder Singh and Lakhwant Singh were killed and Paramjit Singh and Rasal Singh, injured seriously in a firing incident in Manawan village on Tuesday when a clash took place among relatives. A case under Sections 302, 307, 34 of the IPC and 25, 27, 54, 59 of the Arms Act has been registered against Partap Singh and his father Gurbax Singh. A land dispute is said to be the cause of the incident.

LABOURER KILLED: A labourer from Bihar, Mohammad Farid (25), was killed in a road accident on Tuesday near Naushehra Pannuan village. The Sarhali police has registered a case in this regard.

CHANDIGARH

PANCHKULA
BANK'S FOUNDATION: The State Bank of Patiala (Haryana Zone) celebrated its 84th foundation day here on Friday. Three oldest customers — Mr SS Surjewala, Dewan Sham Sunder Lal and Mr Ajit Singh — of the bank in its oldest branches in Haryana were also honoured for their continued support to the bank. Apart from honouring three branch managers who effected highest reduction in non-performing assets in the state, 11 branch managers were also honoured for achieving ‘efficiency run’ audit rating for the branches during the current year. A cultural programme was also organised on the occasion. 

HARYANA

AMBALA
OLD AGE HOME: Mr Faqir Chand Mullana, MP, will lay the foundation stones for five vridh ashrams in five villages. The Deputy Commissioner of Ambala, Mr D.D. Gautam, said, Mr Mullana will lay the foundation stones for the vridh ashrams at Gelri, Hemamajra, Kalpi, Nahoni and Haldri on Sunday. An estimated sum of about Rs 2.5 lakh will spent on each vridh ashram. Mr Mullana will be accompanied by Haryana minister Risal Singh, a press note said. 

FUNCTION: Enthusiasm and gaiety marked the 26th annual day function of the Air Force Public School, Ambala cantonment, which was recently adjudged the best Air Force School. The chief guest of the function, held last night, was Air Commodore V.R. Iyer, Air Officer Commanding, Air Force Station, Ambala and the guest of honour was President AFWWA (L) Mrs Bala Iyer, a press note said. The joy and innocence of childhood were beautifully portrayed by the tiny tots, while the students of the middle school put up the dramatised version of stories from the Panchtantra and Kabuliwala. The senior students of the school took the audience on a magnificent ‘Walk through women’s history’ where they informed about the lives of famous women through a innovative fashion pageant. 

HISAR
SEMINAR HELD: The Population Foundation of India has decided to strengthen the panchayat institutions in Haryana for rural development. This was announced by Mr O.P. Taseen, Executive Director of the foundation, while addressing a seminar on Panchayati Raj at Panchayat Bhavan here on Thursday.

JIND
SEMINAR ORGANISED: The Public Relations Department organised a seminar at the local DRDA conference hall on thursday to celebrate the National Press Day. About 25 journalists from the district participated. Mr H.S. Dhankhar, Deputy Commissioner, was the chief guest.

PANIPAT
CHECK-UP CAMP: To conduct laparoscopic operations on concessional rates and free check-up of ailments relating to kidney, neurology, ENT, etc, a super-speciality check-up camp will be organised by Maharaja Aggarsein Hospital here on Sunday.

SPECTACLES DISTRIBUTED: The Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.C. Goyal, distributed spectacles free of cost to 252 students in a school in Israna, 20 km from here, on Wednesday. As many as 1437 students were examined on the World Health Day and 252 of them were found having a weak eyesight.

SONEPAT
TANKER OVERTURNS: A tanker, loaded with diesel, caught fire when it overturned on the GT Road near Murthal, about 10 km from here, on Friday. The driver of the tanker sustained burn injuries and was hospitalised.

KILLED: A motorcyclist was killed when a jeep hit him on the Sonepat-Rohtak road, near Kalupur octroi post here, on Friday. The victim has been identified as Masnish Kumar of the local Ashok Vihar. A case has been registered against the driver who managed to escape.

STRIKE: Workers of a cable factory went on an indefinite strike at Bad Khalsa village, about 15 km from here, on Thursday to press for their demands. According to a report, the owner of the factory has locked the main gate.

STABBED: Ankush (27) of Tara Nagar was allegedly stabbed to death and his associate, Kuptaan, sustained multiple knife injuries in an attack by three youths here on Thursday. The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination and the injured admitted to a private hospital. A case has been registered.

THREE HELD: Surinder, Deepak and Meenu were arrested by the Civil Lines police on Friday for stealing two-wheelers. According to the police, the arrested youths confessed to their involvement in a number of thefts of scooters and motorcycles.

LIQUOR SEIZED: As many as 72 bottles of country-made liquor and 394 liquor pouches were seized following a raid near a field at Raipur village in this district. The suspect, identified as Devinder of Raipur village, however, managed to escape.

INAUGURATED: Mr Sudhir Rajpal, Deputy Commissioner, inaugurated the crushing work for the season at Cooperative Sugar Mills here on Friday. A yajna was also performed on the occasion.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

KANGRA
DEPRIVED: Graduate junior engineers of the I&PH Department in the state have alleged that due to frequent amendments in the recruitment and promotion rules of the Department, they have been deprived of promotion to the cadre of Assistant Engineer for the past 15 years, Mr K.K. Kapoor, spokesman for the HP Graduate JE’s Association, said this in a statement here on Thursday.

SHIMLA
TRAFFIC JAMS: To avoid traffic jams in the Sanjauli area, local traders have demanded that all long-route buses and other heavy-duty vehicles should be diverted to the bypass. In a statement issued here on Thursday, Mr Shivender Batish, president of the Sanjauli Beopar Mandal, said the traffic jams, were caused by buses stopping at Sanjauli Chowk.

SOLAN
ANNUAL FUNCTION: The Governor, Mr Vishnu Kant Shastri, presided over the annual prize distribution function of Swami Chinmay Senior Secondary School at Nauni, near here, on Wednesday. He called upon the teaching community to work with devotion and dedication. The Union Minister of State for Rural Development, Mr Subhash Mahria, also attended the function.