R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
ELECTED: The All-India Brahmin Pratinidhi Sabha (North), Amritsar elected the following members in a meeting: The Advisory Panel consists of Mr Raghbir Sharma, Mr Manmohan Lal Sharma, Mr Vijay Devgan, Mr Prem Nath, Mr Om Parkash and Mr Ramesh Sharma. The other office bearers are: vice-presidents — Mr Harivansh Sharma, Mr Jagmohan, Mr Jiwan Lal Sharma and Mr Rakesh Sharma; secretaries — Mr Surinder Joshi, Mr Ajay Pathak, Mr Kamlesh Tewari and Mr Vinod Sharma; legal advisors — Advocate Subhodh Vyas and Mr Arun Davesar.

BARNALA
TRIBUTES PAID: Mr Bhan Singh Bhaura, Member Parliament and CPI leader, on Saturday paid tributes to late Baba Arjan Singh, MLA and CPI leader, on the occasion of his 20th death anniversary. The Bhadaur unit of the CPI organised a function at Government High School, Bhadaur, 25 km from here, in his memory. On the occasion, seven veteran freedom fighters of the region — Mr Ranjit Singh Nainewalia, former MLA, Mr Rattan Chand, Mr Prithi Chand, Mr Gurbux Singh Rahi, Mrs Mahinder Kaur, Mr Chain Singh Chain and Mr Sarwan Singh — were honoured for their services in the freedom struggle.

BATHINDA
SCHOOL INAUGURATED: The Science and Technology Minister, Punjab, Mr Chiranji Lal Garg, on Saturday said the state government has been making efforts to provide higher education to students near their dwellings. Mr Garg, who inaugurated Guru Hargobind Public School at Deon village in the district, said for this task, the Punjab Government had started the process of upgradation of 1,404 schools in the state.

MEDICAL CAMP: The Divine Eye Research Foundation (DERF) organised free eye and general health check up camps at various slums of the city from June 4 to 9. Mr Rakesh Narula, President of the organisation said that camps were held at slums near the Sepal Hotel on Monday and Tuesday, Indra Colony near Model Town, Alam Basti near Paras Ram Nagar, Dhobiana Basti and Beant Nagar on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday respectively. Dr N.K. Bansal (heart specialist), Dr P.K. Bansal and Dr Kuldeep Gandhi examined the patients.

FARIDKOT
SCIENCE BLOCK: Dr Kehar Singh, Chairman, Punjab School Education Board, inaugurated the Sushma Devi Memorial science block in MRSD Senior Secondary School here on Friday.

HOSHIARPUR
LOK ADALAT: As many as 133 cases were disposed of in the Lok Adalat held here on Saturday. Mr L.R. Roozam, District and Sessions Judge, Hoshiarpur, said in all 211 cases were taken up at the 5 counters of the Lok Adalat. He said a compensation of Rs 26,24,354 had been awarded to the aggrieved parties.

ARRESTED: The police has arrested Pritam Singh Rana of Ram Titwali and his son-in-law, Gurmit Singh of Bullath, in connection with case of assault on Dr gurdial Singh, SMO, Chakowal. Both were produced before the Duty Magistrate on Saturday who sent them to the Judicial custody till June 22. Their accomplice, Joginder Singh of Thanna village, is still at large.

SUICIDE: Kamaljit, wife of Parminder Singh of Chuck Khelan village committed suicide by consuming poison allegedly due to severe torture by her husband and mother-in-law. The Hariana police registered a case on Friday under Section 304-B of the IPC against Parminder Singh and his mother Harjinder Kaur on a complaint by the father of the deceased.

HEALTH COMMITTEE: Members of the District Health Advisory Committee can visit any of the Government hospitals, check its working, and make an inquiry about the treatment being given to any of the patients there. This was disclosed by Ms Mohinder Kaur Josh, State Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Punjab. She was addressing the first meeting of newly constituted District Health Advisory Committee here on Thursday. She said that on the recommendations of the members, free medical check up camps would be organised even in the remote areas. Dr Kiranjit Kumar, Civil Surgeon, Hoshiarpur, said identity cards would soon be provided to the members of the committee.

POPPY HUSK SEIZED: The Mahilpur police arrested Karnail Singh, son of Lal Chand, of Magopatti village and seized 15 kg of poppy husk from him on Thursday evening.

KHAMANO
JAGRAN HELD: A jagran was held in the Grain Market here on Saturday. Neetu Chanchal and party from Kaithal sang bhajans. Mr Dharampal, president of nagar panchayat, and other prominent people were present on the occasion.

MEETING: A meeting of SAD-BJP office-bearers and workers will be held at Gurdwara Akalgarh Ranwan, on Tuesday. The meeting would be attended by Capt Kanwaljit Singh and the district leaders, said the circle president, Prem Singh Mandi.

THANKED: Mr Ajit Singh Sokhey and Mr Sunil Kumar, executive members of district BJP, thanked the Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, and state president of BJP, B. L. Rinwa for nominating Ms Gurcharan Kaur as the member of the Rajya.

LEVY SUGAR UNAVAILABLE: The levy sugar is ‘out of stock’ in the local ration depots for the last three months. Besides, kerosene oil is allegedly sold in the open market by the depot holders.

LOCAL GIRL IN MERIT: Ms. Rekha Rani has bagged second position in Class XII (commerce group) in Fatehgarh Sahib district by securing 327 marks out of 450.

DEAD: Ajaib Singh of Barwali Kalan village, near here, died due to a snake bite. According to the information available, Ajaib Singh was working in his fields when he was bitten by a snake. He cried for help, hearing which the persons working in the nearby fields came for his help but he died on the way to hospital.

DEATH TOLL RISES: One more migrant labourer, who was admitted to the PGI, two days ago, for the treatment of food poisoning, died here on Saturday in the early hours. With his death, the toll has risen to two. The remaining six labourers are still lying unconscious. The Khamano police is trying to ascertain their identity, according to the SHO of Khamano police station, Mr Rajwinder Singh.

LUDHIANA
ANNUAL MELA: Mr Jagjit Singh, leader of Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Mr Gurcharan Singh Ghalib, Congress MP, and Mr Surinder Dawar, president, District Congress Committee, were the chief guests at the function to mark the beginning of the annual mela and bhandara of Pir Baba Giarwein Wale ji here on Sunday afternoon. A large number of devotees thronged Damoria bridge to listen to various singers who sang sufi poetry in praise of the Pir. In spite of the hot weather, the stage was overcrowded with artistes and dignitaries. The mela was organised by the Akhil Bhartiya Safai Mazdoor Congress in the memory of Master Gurbanta Singh, a former minister of Punjab, who championed the cause of the Dalits.

AXIS LASER TECHNIQUES: To overcome the painful process of surgery, hospitalisation, interruption in daily routine and expenses, the cosmetic surgeons in the city are now adopting the latest space-age laser technology. The inauguration of Axis Cosmetic Laser Centre and G.N.Diagnostic laboratory was held here at Model Town. Explaining about the technique, Dr Manoj Johar, one of the doctors at the centre, said lasers basically worked with high intensity light energy. When targeted on to the skin, they start a chain of actions to achieve the desired goals. In such way, different blemishes of the skin could be easily corrected. Out of several lasers available, the commonly used ones in cosmetic and plastic surgery were carbon dioxide laser, Erbium YAG laser and others to tackle different skin problems.

MALERKOTLA
CLEARING HOUSE: The industrialists here are facing problems due to the non-availability of clearing house in banks on Saturdays. They alleged that if they deposited their cheques for clearance on Thursday, they received the payment on Monday due to which their business suffered. Mr Vinod Jain, spokesperson of the Manufacturers and Suppliers Association, and Mr Munish Jindal, president of the Malerkotla Welfare Association, said they had written a number of times to the State Bank of Patiala to start the clearing house on Saturday as well.

MOGA
CIGARETTE HOARDINGS: Residents of the Civil Lines area here on Saturday urged the district administration to immediately remove the hoardings of cigarettes at the Param Dharam road here. They said putting up such billboards at places named after religious bodies had not been liked by the residents.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Punjab Jail Guards Association: president — Mr Gurdeep Singh Uppal; senior vice-president — Mr Jaspal Singh Ball; and treasurer — Mr Hakim Singh Sekhon.

PATHANKOT
BAR ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Bar Association: president — Mr Inderjit Verma; vice-president — Mr Anil Mehra; and general secretary — Mr Kulbhushan Manhans. The information was given on Sunday by Mr Jagdish Chowdhry, Returning Officer.

PATIALA
CAMP: A free check-up camp of eyes and teeth was organised by the Nishkam Sewa Club here on Sunday. Mr S.K. Ahluwalia, IAS, inaugurated the camp. Nearly 430 patients were examined by Dr Hardev Singh, Assistant Professor, Eye Department, Rajindra Hospital. As many as 12 cases of operation were detected.

HONOUR: The local Rotary Club has decided to honour military personnel and other employees with batches of honour to encourage their work for the construction of the cycle path between the Thikriwala chowk and the Major Manvendra Singh chowk. The work is being carried under the guidance of Brig Chiranjiv Singh Harika.

PHILLAUR
COURSE CONCLUDES: A three-day course on ‘‘Office Procedure and Account Matters’’ for gazetted officers being conducted at the Punjab Police Academy, Phillaur, concluded on Sunday. Various issues related to the office procedure, office record, account matters and powers of the DDOs were discussed in the course. The valedictory address was delivered by the academy’s Director, Mr D.R. Bhatti.

INJURED: A young boy, Dashmesh Anand, was injured in a group clash at Goraya on Saturday night. Personal enmity was said to be the cause behind the clash, the police said. A case has been registered under Sections 323,324 and 34 of the IPC.

FUNCTION: Function was organised on the upgrading ceremony of Government High School, Kotala to Senior Secondary School on Sunday. The Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal, was the chief guest on the occasion. Besides, other items, a drama “Us nu kahin” was staged by AKS Rang Manch, Samrala. The programme of Narinder Happy, Kamaljit and Vinod Sharma was highly appreciated by the audience. Director of the drama Rajwinder was also honoured on this occasion for his contribution to the Punjabi theatre. Memontoes were presented to Jathedar Kirpalsingh Khirnian, member SGPC and Mr Sushil Kumar, DSP, Samrala.

CHANDIGARH

OFFICE-BEARERS: A meeting of the executive body of Chandigarh Veteran Tennis Players Association held here on Sunday under the chairmanship of Dr A.S. Ahluwalia, decided to hold a tennis tournament shortly. The following were elected officer-bearers: Sr vice-president — Mrs Bhupinder Banta Singh, joint secretary — Shri O.P. Narang.

SAS NAGAR
ELECTED: The following have been unanimously elected office-bearers of the state committee of the Cuncil of Junior Engineers, PSEB: president — Mr Sukhdev Singh; general secretary — Mr Davinder Singh; senior vice-president — Mr Pal Singh Mundi; finance secretary — Mr Swaran Lal; secretary — Mr Shyam Parkash Sharma; chief organiser — Mr P.S. Bhati; chief adviser — Mr P.K. Alipuria; auditor — Mr T.L. Pantlya; and advisers — Mr Harjit Singh, Mr H.R. Bhatia, Mr Charan Singh Gill and Mr P.K. Sharma.

HARYANA

CLASH AVERTED: A clash between two groups of Chaudhary Chhotu Ram Smarak Society was averted here on Sunday by the police during a meeting of the society.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
CRITICISED: Mr Shiv Lal, general secretary, and Mr Deepak Sharma, joint secretary, Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC), talking to mediapersons on Sunday decried the decisions of Dhumal government regarding closure of various offices of the state departments and enhancement of electricity and water tariff. The leaders said the HVC had decided to launch a ‘jan jagaran’ campaign.

ELECTED: Mrs Jan Dei has been elected to the Purthi zila parishad ward in the Pangi tribal subdivision of Chamba district, reserved for Scheduled Tribe women, where elections were held on June 5 and 7 in two phases. This was stated by Mr R.D.Nazeem, Deputy Commissioner, here on Sunday.

KASAULI
WATER SHORTAGE: Resentment prevails among residents of Jagatjitnagar panchayat due to an acute shortage of water. The condition is acute, particularly, in the valley. The residents allege that the contractors sell water to hoteliers and builders. They have expressed their dissatisfaction over distribution of water which lies with the IPH. Residents alleged that sometimes they waited for water all through the day only to know that the water tanker was not coming.

NALAGARH
PROTEST: Residents of this area have protested against the decision of the local Municipal Committee regarding the construction of a shopping complex and car parking in the residential area of the town. A former Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner and social activist, Mr D.C. Dwivedi, has criticised the construction of the complex. In a memorandum submitted to the SDM, Mr K.C. Chaman, residents have demanded to review the decision and suggested that the proposed complex should be shifted to Shitawala Toba or some other place.

WOMAN KILLED: A woman was killed and five other family members injured when the maruti car in which they were travelling hit a tree near Nagni on Saturday. The accident victims were from nearby Bagni.