R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
WORKSHOP HELD: More than 100 delegates from 17 branches of the Bharat Vikas Parishad participated in the regional workshop held here. The participants were imparted training on the different aspects of social service. This was stated in a press note of the parishad on Wednesday.

BATHINDA
FOUND DEAD: A 35-year-old woman was found dead on the Bathinda-Ferozepore rail section near Chandbhan village. In another incident a 22-year-old youth, Raj Kumar, committed suicide by jumping into a canal. Tara Chand and another person were injured in a road accident.

QUIZ CONTEST: A district-level quiz contest was organised by the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology at the local SSD Senior Secondary School on Tuesday. Mr Mohan Lal, District Science Supervisor, who supervised the quiz said 43 students from different schools of the district took part in the competition. Mr Major Singh Sandhu, District Education Officer (Secondary), was the chief guest.

FARIDKOT
MEETING CONVENED: The Punjab Government has convened a high-powered building construction committee meeting for May 26 at Chandigarh to approve the master plan of the local Baba Farid University of Health Science complex. This was disclosed by Dr J.S. Gujral, Vice-Chancellor of the university.

GURDASPUR
FLOOD PRONE: Mr B. Vikram, Deputy Commissioner, in a press release on Wednesday said 126 villages in the vicinity of the Ravi and 50 villages bordering the Beas had been identified as flood prone. He said flood-control rooms would be operational from June 1 at Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Batala and Dera Baba Nanak.

HOSHIARPUR
HUMAN TRAFFICKING: Mr Raj Kumar Niddar and Mr Balwant Singh Khera, both senior leaders of the Punjab Janata Dal alleged on Wednesday that ministers and office-bearers of the SAD and chairmen of various boards and corporations were involved in human trafficking. They demanded a CBI inquiry into the affair.

CAWA: Dr D.B. Kapur, president, Consumer Awareness and Welfare Association, (CAWA) objected to the Consumers Protection Act (Amendment Bill) saying that the provision to authorise the government to fix court fees in consumer courts was going to put an unnecessary burden on the consumer.

BOY KILLED: Mohit, six-year-old son of Devinder Kumar, of Milap Nagar mohalla, was killed and his brother, Sahil, injured when the boundary wall of a pine oil factory collapsed and fell on them on Tuesday. They were taken to the local Civil Hospital where Mohit was declared brought dead.

LOK ADALAT: A special Lok Adalat to settle criminal cases will be organised in the District Court complex here on May 20 at 10 a.m. This was stated by the District & Session Judge, Mr L.R. Roozam, here on Wednesday.

CRITICISED: Mr Raman Kapur, general secretary of the District Congress Committee, criticised the notification of the state government under which 0.5 per cent octroi duty had been imposed on life-saving drugs. In a press note here on Wednesday, he demanded the immediate withdrawal of octroi on these drugs.

KHAMANO
HEALTH MELA: ‘Health is wealth and we should be careful about it,” said Mr Vikas Partap, Deputy Commissioner, Fatehgarh Sahib, on the occasion of inauguration of a health mela at Mini P.H.C, Sanghol, near here. It was organised by Carrid-lip Project Block, Khamano. The DC lauded the role of this organisation for awakening people about health. While visiting the stall of books, the DC appealed to the organisers that these booklets should be in Punjabi so that people could read them easily. The District health officer, Mr K.C. Goel, the SMO, Dr Baldev Singh Sidhu, and the District Family Welfare Officer Mr P.C. Singla in their address gave information to the audience about health problems, mainly of children and pregnant women, and emphasised the need of balanced food. 

KHARAR
WATER SHORTAGE: The sarpanch, two panches and about two dozen residents of the nearby Sahoran village in a press note issued on Wednesday alleged that they were facing an acute shortage of drinking water for the past about one year. They stated that they were being supplied water from government tubewell in Allapur village and the water pressure was very low and about eight houses were not getting even a drop of water. The officers concerned were approached many times, but nothing had happened so far, they stated. 

LIGHTNING: Lightning struck in the nearby Peer Sohana village on Tuesday evening and killed an ox on the spot. 

LUDHIANA
READING CONTEST: The Sarabha Nagar New Senior Secondary School held a paper reading contest based on Indian culture and age-old heritage. The function started with the lighting of the flame by the Principal, Mr H.C. Gupta. There were 31 students who spoke on different topics. About 300 students took part in the contest. The speakers highlighted the importance of Indian culture and heritage and preached by great gurus of India. The sacrifices made by Bhagwan Shri Ram, Guru Gobind Singh, Veer Hakikat Rai etc., were also highlighted by the speakers. The judges were Ms Harman Sharma and Ms Gurkirat Sheena. The results were: Satbir Kaur 1, Ragini Khanna 2 and Simranjit Kaur 3. 

DR KALKAT: The progressive farmers, fruit growers and dairymen of the state honoured Dr G.S. Kalkat, former Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University, here on Wednesday for his contribution to the field of agricultural research. On behalf of the farming community, Mr Randhir Singh Rode and Mr Pushpinder Singh Sodhi presented a memento and a shawl to the former Vice-Chancellor. Speaking on the occasion Dr Kalkat said the development of agriculture was much more relevant in the context of the challenges posed by the globalisation of agriculture. Stating that the latest technologies in the field of agriculture was the need of the day, Dr Kalkat said in the absence of appropriate scientific technology, pro-farmer policies and appropriate marketing infrastructure, the agricultural economy would suffer and this would lead to social tensions. Dr K. S. Aulakh, Vice-Chancellor of the PAU, also spoke on the occasion. 

LEAGUE: Col C.S. Dhillon, president , Indian Ex-services League (Punjab and Chandigarh), said here on Wednesday in a press release that the Punjab Government had announced the implementation of the recommendations made at a meeting of the Rajya Sainik Board enhancing the ex-gratia grant to non-pensioner ex-servicemen from Rs 300 to Rs 800 but the same had not yet taken place. The government was active in doling out grants in a big way all over Punjab to other segments of society. It must be realised that all non-pensioner ex-servicemen are in the advanced stage of their age and the delay caused in the disbursement was not advisable as it would undercut the very purpose of the enhancement for the need, he added. Similarly, a decision had been taken to enhance the income limit for eligibility for marriage of daughter and enhancement of grant from Rs 5000 to 8000. This too has not yet been implemented. This was also against the very spirit of the decision and the welfare of ex-servicemen, he added. He appealed to the government that the above decisions should be speedily implemented . 

BUDHA JAYANTI: The Budh Dharam Parchar Samiti, Punjab is holding a big congregation on Sunday at 11 a.m. at Daresi Grounds in connection with the Budh Jayant celebrations, according to Mr Vijay Disavar, president of the samiti, Mr Sat Pal Gosain would be the chief guest on the occasion and a large number of Buddhist scholars would dwell on the life and times of Lord Buddha. A peace march would also be taken out in the evening which will culminate at the Ambedkar chowk on the Jalandhar bypass. 

PATIALA
ENTRANCE TEST: Punjabi University will hold a joint entrance test for admission to the first year of LL.B course on June 25. The test will be held on the Punjabi University campus, Patiala (morning shift), the Government Bikram College of Commerce, Patiala (evening shift), and at the Punjabi University Guru Kashi Regional Centre, Bathinda (morning shift). Giving this information, Dr Kuldip Singh Dhir, Dean, Academic Affairs, said that the last date for submission of applicants for the test was June 7. 

COURSE: The Department of Education and Community services of Punjabi University will organise a UGC-sponsored three-week refresher course on education from June 7 here. Dr Meenakshi, head, Department of Education, and coordinator of the refresher course said that the course was open to all college and university lecturers presently in service. Experts in the field of education would give the theoretical as well as practical training to the participants for updating their skills and knowledge. 

APPOINTMENT: Dr Tarlok Singh Anand, Professor in the Department of Correspondence Courses of Punjabi University, has been appointed as the Dean of the Faculty of Languages. Dr Anand took over his new assignment here on Thursday. 

PROFESSOR INVITED: Dr P.K. Chattopadhyay, Professor of forensic science, Punjabi University, has been invited by the International Association of Forensic Sciences to join as a member of the advisory board of the organising committee of the International Meeting of Forensic Sciences to be held at Montepellier, France, in September, 2002. He has also been invited to deliver a lecture on forensic science education at the Indo-Pacific Congress on Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences at Melbourne, Australia, in September this year. 

FODDER SENT: A train carrying fodder was flagged off to Gujarat by Mr Jasbir Singh Bir, Deputy Commissioner, here on Thursday. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Bir said that 2500 quintal of fodder was sent to Gujarat. He said that the people of Punjab were always ready to help others in a crisis. He said that earlier also blankets, utensils, clothes, medicines, water tanks, tarpaulins and tents worth Rs 74.38 lakh were sent for the Gujarat earthquake victims. 

ASSOCIATION: The Voluntary Retired Bank Officials Welfare Association on Thursday in a meeting held at Baradari Gardens discussed matters concerning the welfare of retired officials of the State Bank of Patiala. They discussed medical facilities after retirement, five- year benefit for taking premature retirement as admissible under the pension rules, pension for employees even after completion of 15 years of service.

SEMINAR: A seminar on “Accountability in democratic governance — role of media and public opinion” will be organised by the International Welfare Forum on Saturday here. Giving this information, the forum chairman, Mr Nawab Singh Manes, and the president, Mr Sahib Singh Dhindsa, said that Mr Ashwani Kumar, former Additional Solicitor-General of the Supreme Court of India, would be the chief guest on the occasion. 

SAMRALA
EYE CAMP: At Kot Gangurai village near here, a free eye operation camp was organised with the help of the gram panchayat on Wednesday, according to Dr G.S. Kooner Neelon. Thirty successful operations were performed by an eye specialist, Dr A.S. Nagpal of the Guru Angad Dev Charitable Hospital, Jamalpur. Free medicines and spectacles were also given to the needy.

CHANDIGARH

SAS NAGAR
ARRESTED: Two persons were arrested by the police for trying to extort Rs one lakh from a local industrialist, Mr Naresh Kumar. They were posing as ULFA militants. The two suspects, Ashok Kumar and Rajesh Kumar, who were employed with the industrialist, were threatening him over telephone. They were arrested after the police tracked down a telephone number of Sohana from where they used to make telephone calls. 

HARYANA

AMBALA
NEW POWER METERS: The District Congress Committee (Urban), Ambala Cantonment, has raised objections to the installation of new power meters in the subdivision No 2. The Congress Municipal Councillor and local leader, Mr Hira Lal Yadav, said that people were unhappy with the meters. He said the general perception was that the meters run fast. Even the cost of meters would have to be borne by consumers. He said that a meeting of the municipal councillors in the subdivision No 2 should be called so that doubts regarding the new meters could put to rest. 

REWARI
BAGS DESTROYED: Nearly 2,000 empty gunny bags were destroyed in a fire which broke out in a truck, loaded with the bags, here on Monday. The truck was reportedly on its way to the godown of the Food Corporation of India when the upper surface of the bags apparently touched an over-head livewire which caused fire.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
DROUGHT RELIEF: The Health and Family Welfare Minister, Mr Jagat Prakash Nadda, said the government would not allow any slackness in providing of clean drinking water to the drought-hit areas. He directed the authorities to ensure that the government subsidy was not misused. He was addressing a meeting of district officers on Wednesday and said adequate funds would be made available to fight the drought.