R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
SURRENDER: Baljinder Singh and Harjinder Singh, residents of Kuttianwali village, who allegedly assaulted Mr Rakesh Rajput, a field officer at the Khubban branch of the State Bank of India, on Thursday, surrendered here before senior police officials of the subdivision. This was stated by the DSP, Mr Gurmeet Singh Randhawa.

AMRITSAR
BLOOD DONATION CAMP: The Amritsar Thalassemia Welfare Society organised a blood donation camp on the premises of the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital Blood Bank, at the local Government Medical College, on Monday. The Principal, Dr O.P. Mahajan, inaugurated the camp. Dr A.S. Negi, Deputy Medical Superintendent, and Mr Satnam Singh, president, Amritsar Thalassemia Welfare Society, were also present on the occasion.

VISITED: Rear Adm B.K. Ray, Additional Director-General, NCC, visited the local NCC group on Monday. He was received by Commander N.J. Singh, Commanding Officer, 2 Punjab Naval Unit, NCC, Amritsar. Rear Admiral Ray also paid a visit to the Golden Temple and was presented a siropa by the SGPC.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Mini Secretariat Ministerial Staff Welfare Association: chairman — Mr Rajinder Kumar Prashar; president — Mr N.K. Dhir; senior vice-presidents — Mr S.S. Pathania and Mr Kamal Kumar; adviser — Mr Ranbir Singh; vice-presidents — Mr Pushap Raj Goyal and Mr Sikander Singh; general secretary — Mr Jasdev Singh; joint secretaries — Mr Om Parkash Jindal and Mr Krishna Devi; finance secretary — Mr Pritam Singh; press secretaries — Mr Pritam Singh Nagra and Mr Jagneet Singh; cashiers — Mr Susil Kumar and Mr Rajesh Kumar.

FEROZEPORE
LOK ADALAT: The District Legal Services Authority, in collaboration with the District Bar Association, organised a lok adalat under the chairmanship of the District and Sessions Judge, Mr M.M. Bhalla. A total of 290 cases were taken up, of which 152 cases were settled.

HOSHIARPUR
TWO KILLED: Lakhwinder Singh and Balbir Singh, residents of Kollian village were killed when the tractor-trailer on which they were travelling overturned after being hit by a truck at Baba Manjpur, near Mukerian on Sunday. The Mukerian police has registered a case under Sections 304-A, 279 and 427 of the IPC.

DERA LOOTED: At least five persons carrying swords and lathis struck at the Udasian Dera in Lehli Kalan village near Chabewal, on Sunday night and decamped with a VCP, Rs 500, a wrist watch and clothes. The Sadar police has registered a case.

MEDICAL CAMP: Mrs Mohinder Kaur Josh, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Punjab, inaugurated a medical camp in the Sunder Nagar locality of the city on Sunday. Medicines were given free of cost to 866 patients.

KHAMANO
DEMANDED: Residents of various wards are not satisfied with the sanitation work being done by the nagar panchayat. They demanded an inquiry into the contracts entered into by the executive officer and councillors (including the president) with the contractors from time to time. Wards No 10, 6 and 2 are in ugly shape for the lack of necessary arrangements for drainage of stagnant water which has spoiled various roads and pavements, they said.

LUDHIANA
CHECK-UP CAMP: The seventh annual free eye and general medical checkup camp will be organised by Senior Sikh Budhiji Council on March 4 at Senior Secondary School, Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar. A team of senior medical experts in all disciplines will check up the patients. Medicines would be distributed free of cost.

KAVI DARBAR: Guru Amar Dass educational trust held Dardi Memorial Kavi Darbar in the memory of famous Punjabi poet Ram Narain Singh Dardi here on Sunday. Baba Gurjant Singh Salinaha (Moga) awarded the Ram Singh Dardi Memorial award of 2001 to Charan Singh Safari of Dasuha and Rachpal Singh Pal of Jalandhar. Among other poets who participated in the kavi darbar, were Pritam Singh Kasid, Balwant Singh Nirvair, Avtar Singh Tarri, Widhata Singh Komal, Prof Rabinder Singh, Chaman Singh Chaman Hargobindpuri and Kalyan Singh Panchi were also present.

VACCINATION CAMP: A hepatitis-B camp was organised by Pandit Chand Lal Memorial Trust at the clinic of Dr Diwakar Sharma in New Shiv Puri, Street No. 4 in the city on Sunday. The camp was inaugurated by Dr Meenakshi Sharma. According to Dr K.K. Ratan, secretary of the trust, more than 350 persons were vaccinated in the camp.

MEDICAL CAMP: More than 350 patients were examined at a free medical camp, organised at Bassi Hospital here. Mr K.K. Kapila, Commissioner of Income Tax, inaugurated the camp in which a team of doctors from Indraprastha Apollo Hospital provided medical consultation in gynaecology, orthopaedics and cardiology, while Dr Naresh Bassi examined the surgical cases.

LAUNCHED: The Municipal Corporation has launched a drive against stray pigs in the city localities. According to the MC Joint Commissioner, Mr Jasbir Singh Heer, a new piggery has been set up in an area of around 2 acre in Jamalpur and more than 60 pigs have been shifted from city area to the piggery so far. Mr Heer said, some resistance by those keeping pigs in city localities, notwithstanding, the MC would continue the campaign relentlessly and the city would be rid of the menace of pigs very soon.

CONCLUDED: “The globalisation of trade has given unstinted access to Indian textiles to the international markets which are highly competitive and quality conscious. The Indian textile units can enhance their competitiveness by value addition of fibres which could be done by their blending, finishing or eco-friendly processing,” said Dr O.P. Singh, Head of the Department of Clothing and Textiles, PAU, Ludhiana while making a presidential address at a two-day workshop on Design-cum-dyeing through eco-friendly dyes. The workshop was jointly organised by the Weavers’ Service Centre, Panipat and Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, in collaboration with the Department of Clothing and Textiles, PAU, Ludhiana, and was held at PAU from February 26 to 27. About 50 persons participated in the workshop.

MALERKOTLA
DENTAL CAMP: The Lions Club, Ahmedgarh, organised a dental camp at Poheer village on Monday. Dr Mohammad Shabbir, CMO, Dental Civil Hospital, Malerkotla, along with his team, examined more than 350 patients. Medicines were distributed free of cost at the camp.

RESIDENTS’ DEMANDS: Residents of the local Juggar Singh Nagar have forwarded a representation to the Executive Officer of the municipal committee, demanding basic amenities for the locatity. Mohinder Kumar, a spokesman of the locality, alleged that there were no sewers and streetlights in Juggar Singh Nagar.

MANSA
MEDICAL CAMP: A free magnetic therapy medical camp was organised on Tuesday by the Budhlada unit of the Bharat Vikas Parishad at Kala Mal Dharmshala, Budhlada, in the district.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the District Mansa Notary Public Association: president — Mr K.K. Bansal; secretary — Mr Ashok Kumar; and treasurer — Mr Vir Chand Jindal.

TEACHERS’ STRIKE: Students of Guru Nanak Dev College, Budhlada, on Tuesday locked the college gate and prevented teachers from going inside the college premises. They demanded the withdrawal of the strike started by the teachers on February 9 in support of their demands. Mr Bhagwant Singh, Principal of the college, intervened and controlled the situation by giving assurance to the students.

MOGA
GANG BUSTED: With the arrest of three persons, the district police claims to have busted a gang of vehicle thieves. Stating this here on Tuesday, the SSP, Mr Sharad Satya Chauhan, said Nidhan Singh, alias Dana and Ranjit Singh, alias Lalli, both residents of Dharamkot town, and Rup Singh, resident of Fatehgarh Korotana village, had been arrested near Singhanwala village, about 8 km from here. A scooter and a motor cycle had been recovered from them, he said.

PATIALA
FAMILY PLANNING CAMP: A family planning camp (Lapro-tubectomy) was organised at the Primary Health Centre, Bunerheri village, under the guidance of Dr Yogesh Marwaha, SMO, here on Monday. Sixtyeight cases were operated by a team led by Dr Sanjay Bansal, Surgeon. Laboratory, medical and gynaecological check-up was done by the medical officers before operation.

CONTRIBUTED: Ten quintals of ration comprising flour, rice, sugar, dals, mustard oils and candles were contributed by the Helping Hands Society to cater to the needs of the suffering families in Gujarat because of the still prevalent tremors of the month-old earthquake. The society president, Mr Vijay Kumar Gupta, said the society has also sent educational material to many schools falling in Bhuj district.

ELECTED: Mr Satnam Singh Ahluwalia has been unanimously elected as the president of the Punjab College Librarians Association (PCLA) in a meeting held at Central State Library here. The other members elected are: senior vice-president — Mr Iqbal Singh; vice-president — Mr Updesh Kumar Mangla; general secretary — Mr Barjinder Pal Dhiman; joint secretary — Ms Sudesh Vithal; and finance secretary — Mr Vinod Gautam.

DEMANDED: The Punjab College Librarians Association (PCLA) has demanded immediate implementation of the revised Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) and fixation benefit of Rs 14,940 to the Selection Grade College Librarians at par with teachers. The association put forth its demands in accordance with the written agreements reached between the Union Human Resources Development Ministry (HRDM), All-India Federation of University and College Teachers Organisations (AIFUCTO) and Federation of Central Universities Teachers Associations (FEDCUTA) on October 6, 1999 and July 12, 2000. At the general body meeting, the Punjab Government was urged to implement its various demands including filling of more than 30 vacant posts of college cadre librarians, relaxation in the condition of refresher courses till December 2002, counting of previous services for senior/selection grades as per the UGC recommendations and release of revised seniority list.

EXHIBITION: An exhibition of fossils will be held by Dr Vidwan Singh Soni, Principal of Government Mohindra College, from March 1 to 3, here on the college campus. The amassed structures comprise the fossils of animals, including much longer elephant teeth. The exhibition will be inaugurated by Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, apart from a lecture on the same delivered by Dr Vidwan Singh Soni.

DECIDED: At a meeting of the members of the Punjab State Employees Federation (PSEF), it was unanimously decided to disband the federation and merged it with the Punjab State Services Federation (PSSF) led by Mr Charan Jit Singh Walia as the differences between the two bodies were removed. It was felt that the PSSF was the main organisation that has fulfilled the demands of the employees for the past 30 years.

MEETING: At a meeting of the All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF), the unit president, Mr Jaspal Singh Manjhpur, put forth the demands of the federation to begin the student election with the start of the new session, stop the hike of any sort in fee structure, postpone the annual examination from the first week of April to the last week of the same month, immediate withdrawal of the debate on teachers evaluation scheme, provisions for cold water on the university campus and installation of the UGC centre on the campus.

INAUGURATED: A two-day science exhibition was inaugurated by Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, on the university campus here on Tuesday. Eight science departments of the university have put up various stalls and models displaying and depicting different functions and techniques of various natural and experimental sciences. These departments comprise of chemistry, physics, zoology, human biology, forensic science, sports science, geography, pharmaceutical science and computer science. In this exhibition, modern developments in the different fields of science such as non-conventional sources of energy, proper utilisation of domestic and other wastes, pollution and its control, radiational effects of household electronic gadgets, ozone hole and its consequences, latest finger print research and blood grouping from blood stains were the main highlights.

ANNUAL MEETING: “Doctors are at an increased risk of contacting AIDS through regular contact with contaminated blood, needles and surgical instruments,” said Dr Ajmer Singh, former DRME of Punjab, at an annual meeting of the Indian Medical Science Academy Conference (IMSACON) in Government Medical College here. Dr B.S. Babbar, Organising Secretary of IMSACON and Professor of Medicine of the GMC, spoke on endothelial functions and dysfunction and its relationship with heart attack. He said sometimes when arteries in the heart did not function properly, it resulted in heart attack or paralysis. He said that non drug-therapy was helpful in such cases.

PHAGWARA
BURGLARY: Valuables worth over Rs 1.5 lakh were looted from the house of Kailash Sharma in the local Ohrian Mohalla. The inmates, who were away to attend a marriage, found the house ransacked when they returned on Monday. The police has registered a case under Sections 457 and 380 of the IPC.

CHEATING CASE: The local police has registered a case under Section 420 of the IPC against Harmesh Lal, his wife Gogi and Gulzari Lal of Buta Mandi, Jalandhar, for defrauding Karnail Singh of Rs 3 lakh. Karnail had lodged a complaint that the three had taken the amount from him for sending his son abroad but had neither done so nor returned the money.

SAHNEWAL
FUNCTION HELD: The annual prize distribution function of the Kalgidhar Academy, Dugri, near Sahnewal, was held on Sunday. The function was inaugurated by Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Member of the Rajya Sabha. Mr Bharpur Singh Khalsa, member SGPC, Baba Sarbjit Singh Bedi, president, Gurmat Sidhant Parcharak Sant Samaj, Mr Sukhraj Singh, Principal, Kalgidhar Academy, Chaurwala, Mr Jora Singh, general secretary and Sant Hari Singh Randhawa, chairman of the academy, were also present. Vote of thanks came from Mr R.K. Parveen, Principal of the academy.

CHANDIGARH

DONATED: The Residents Welfare Society of Sector 61-B has collected Rs 21,000 from its members for the Gujarat Chief Minister Earthquake Relief Fund. This was informed by Mr Dayal Singh, general secretary of the society in a press note.

HARYANA

SOLVED: A meeting of the separated Army families of Ambala Cantonment was presided over by Mrs Gita Vij, President, AWWA. Brig N.D. Prasad, Station Commander, Lieut-Col K.K. Sharma, Officiating Administrative Commandant, and other officers, including that of MES staff were present during the meeting. As many as 225 families of officers, Junior Commissioned Officers and other ranks attended the meet. Informal discussion was held and all problems and difficulties faced by the families were discussed. Most of the difficulties were solved on the spot.

FARIDABAD
LOK ADALATS: As many as 47 pending cases concerning bank loans were settled at a special lok adalat held at the local judicial complex on Monday. Mr Pritam Pal, District and Sessions Judge, chaired the adalat.

FATEHABAD
RESENTMENT: Resentment prevails among farmers in the villages of the Bhattu Kalan area of the district over the non-release of water to the Kheri distributary. Farmers of Sulikhera, Chuli Bagrian and Kheri villages, fear that their wheat crop will wither away if irrigation water is not provided soon through the distributary.

HVPN CERTIFICATE: The Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) has stated that the condition of obtaining a no-objection certificate from its office does not apply to those who apply for loans under the District Rural Development Scheme or who want to get a new ration card, driving licence, vehicle registration certificate etc. According to a spokesman of the HVPN, the certificate is necessary only for those consumers who are defaulters of the HVPN.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Fatehabad urban unit of the All-Haryana Power Corporation Workers Union: president — Mr Jaipal Singh; vice-president — Mr Sandeep Dhamija; secretary — Mr Ram Swaroop; joint secretary — Mr Subhash Bishnoi; and treasurer — Mr Buta Ram. For the sub urban unit, the new office-bearers are: president — Mr Chhuar Singh; vice-president — Mr Om Parkash Chada; secretary — Mr Faqir Chand Sethi; joint secretary — Mr Harkishan Lal, and treasurer — Mr Kalu Ram.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Fatehabad unit of the Bharatiya Dalit Sahitya Academy: president — Mr Satbir Singh; vice-president — Mr Ram Phal Mann; general secretary — Mr Suresh Mehra; secretary — Mr Sunil Grover; organising secretary — Mr Jugti Ram; and treasurer — Mr Kanhya Lal.

KAITHAL
CAMP CONCLUDES: A four-day medical camp concluded at the local RK SD Senior Secondary School here on Monday. A team of doctors comprising Dr Kirti Garg, Dr Rakesh Chawla, Dr Raj Kumar Garg, Dr Vinod Gautam and Dr Charu Gupta examined 800 during the camp.

KURUKSHETRA
DELEGATION: A delegation of scientists led by Prof Timothy G. Reeves, Director-General, CIMMYT, Mexico, participated in a farmers’ field-day function organised by the Department of Agriculture, Haryana, at Jadaula village , 20 km from here, on Monday. The delegation is in Haryana to assess the impact of resource conservation technologies adopted by farmers of the state.

SONEPAT
KILLED: Parmod, a resident of the local Shastri Colony, was killed when his jeep collided with a tractor-trailer on the Sonepat-Gohana road near Barwasni village, about 5 km from here, on Monday. The police has registered a case in this connection. In another incident, a beggar was crushed to death by a vehicle when he was crossing the GT Road, near here, on Monday.

CHALLANED: The traffic police challaned 85 vehicles under the Motor Vehicles Act during a campaign here on Monday. According to official sources, most of the drivers who were challaned were not carrying licences, permits and other documents.

CAUGHT: Residents of Rishi Nagar caught five persons who tried to force into a house in the locatity on Monday night and handed them over to the police.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

MANALI
CHARAS SEIZED: The Himachal Pradesh police nabbed Tara Chand of Dhungry village under the Manali police station on Monday night and seized over 4 kg of charas from his possession. This was stated by the Kulu district police chief, Mr N.Venugopal.

PALAMPUR
ENTRY BANNED: The local administration has banned the entry of heavy vehicles into the town with immediate effect. Stating this here on Tuesday, Mr Tek Chand, SDM, said all heavy vehicles, including passengers transport vehicles, would now enter via the Kalu Di Hatti bypass. The step had been taken due to the increasing traffic congestion in the town, he said.