AHMEDGARH
VACCINATION CAMP: A hepatitis-B vaccination camp was organised by the Lions Club, Ahmedgarh, at the Makhan Memorial Hospital. The regional secretary of the club, Mr Jagdish Singh inaugurated the camp where 237 persons were vaccinated against the disease. 

GURDASPUR
3,000 CR FOR ROADS: The Punjab Government has raised Rs 3,000 crore for repair and widening of roads and construction of bridges in the state, Mr Natha Singh Dalam, Minister of Public Relations, said on Wednesday. He was addressing a public meeting at Tarkhana Wali village in Batala subdivision after inaugurating a link road. Mr Dalam said priority would be accorded to border the districts of Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Ferozepore in this regard.

HOSHIARPUR
ONE DEAD: Amrik Singh of Kaloya village died on the spot when a tractor hit his car near Allowal village on Tuesday night. The driver of the tractor fled leaving the tractor there. He was identified as Sarabjit Singh of Allowal village. The police has registered a case under Sections 304-A and 427of the IPC.

DC ORDER: Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, District Magistrate, has ordered starting of “thikri pehras” in all villages of the district under Section 3 of the Punjab Village and Small Town Patrol Act. The order will remain in force up to November 24.

JAGRAON
CAMP: A five-day awareness camp for women, organised by the International Council of Ayurveda at the community hall of Cheemna village, concluded with the selection of 60 women for the ‘self-help’ group. During the camp, speakers highlighted the status of women in society and also spoke about atrocities committed by men against them. Speaking on the concluding day, Dr Ashok Sharma, general secretary of the council, said more such camps should be organised in various villages for training women in large numbers. 

JALANDHAR
GOVT MOVE ASSAILED: The Punjab Market Committee Employees Union chief, Mr S.S. Johal, in a press note here on Wednesday alleged that the state government had adopted a different yardstick while promoting the employees to post of Market Committee supervisor who were being subjected to a departmental test, whereas there was no such condition in the case of Mandi Board Assistants.

LUDHIANA
TRIBUTES: The Eye Bank Mansuran will pay tributes to Charanjit Kaur of Dharamkot village at her bhog ceremony on September 2, according to a press note issued by the eye bank here on Thursday. Charanjit Kaur, wife of Mr Mohinder Singh, had donated her eyes to the eye bank at Mansuran. The cornea were transplanted by Dr Ramesh onto two patients from Moga and Patiala free of cost, added the press note. 

DENTAL EDUCATION: The state unit of Indian Dental Association (IDA), Dental Research Institute of Versatile Education (DRIVE), Department of Health and Family Welfare, Punjab, and the Lions Club, Jagraon Mid Town, will jointly organise Dr Vaninder Singh Education Programme on Friday at Swami Roop Chand Jain Senior Secondary School, Jagraon. Dr Puneet Girdhar, president of DRIVE, in a press note said here Thursday that the programme would be inaugurated by the Health Minister, Punjab, Dr Baldev Raj Chawla. “The project is dedicated to Dr Vaninder Singh Bakshi who died two years ago at the young age of 28”, he said. On the completion of the project inter-school beautiful smile competitions and on-the-spot painting contests would be held under the Oral Health Week celebrations.

TALK: Dr Rajeev Gupta a psychiatrist, delivered a talk on ‘Stress management’ to officers of Krishak Bharti cooperation Limited here on Wednesday. He explained the role of human mind in causing psychological and physical illnesses. He said acute and chronic stress could lead to anxiety, nerrosis, depression, impotence, headache, migraine, migraine, drug addiction and serious behavioural of abnormalities. He said the fast-rising stress levels in Indian society were responsible for sudden rise in number of cases of high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disorders. He stressed the need for early identification of stress-related problems and highlighted the role of regular yoga exercises and meditation in their control.

NAWANSHAHR
TARAKSHEEL CAMP: The district unit of the Taraksheel Society organised a one-day training camp at JSFH Khalsa High School here on Wednesday. About 70 activists participated. Surjit, editor, Tarak-Bodh, Mr Gurmail Singh Moga, Mr Gurmail Singh Ralha and Mr Sadhu Singh Dard, delivered lectures on the occasion, informed Mr Ajmer Sidhu, spokesman of the society.

ELECTED: Mr Hans Raj Sharma and Dr Gurmit Singh Sra, have unanimously been elected president and general secretary, respectively, of the district unit of the Punjab State Government Aided Privately Managed School Teachers and Other Employees Union.

FUNCTION: The local Lions Club (Nawanshahr city) organised a function dedicated to Mother Teresa at Tara Singh Kahma Memorial School here. Mr Iqbal Singh, president of the club, presided and distributed fruits among children. The club members also planted saplings on the occasion, informed Mr A.S. Bhatti, secretary, in a press note issued here on Wednesday.

RUN FOR FUN: Kirpal Sagar Academy here organised a “Run for fun” in which about 500 students participated, to celebrate the National Sports Day on Wednesday. Mr M. Ramachandran, principal of the academy, flagged it off.

PATIALA
ANTAKSHARI CONTEST: A tehsil-level Birji Memorial Antakshari competition was inaugurated by Mr Kharag Singh Cheema, District Education Officer (Secondary), at Government High School here on Thursday. The Principal of the school, Mrs Jaspal Kaur Sethi, welcomed the Red Cross Society, Birji Foundation, and students and teachers from 20 schools who had come to participate in the competition. In the competition, Rosy and Harpreet from Government Victoria Girls School stood first while Shakuntla Girls School stood second, followed by Rose Garden Senior School, Arya Girls and New Era School, which bagged the third, fourth and fifth positions, respectively. Meanwhile, a district-level Antakshari competition would be held at Baradari Gardens on September 7 to mark the death anniversary of Dasondhi Ram Birji Maharaj here. Mr Jasbir Singh Bir, Deputy Commissioner, would grace the occasion. 

COMPLEX INAUGURATED: The newly constructed Seth H.R. Modi Complex of Computer Sciences and Business Management on the premises of M.M. Modi College was inaugurated amidst traditional ceremonies here on Thursday. Giving the information, Mr Surinder Lal, Principal of the college, said the completion of the building and subsequent shifting of the department from its present location would provide quality education to the students opting for the related courses. He said the college would venture into new courses, like MCA and MBA. Group Captain B.P. Puri (retd) was also present on the occasion. 

PROTEST RALLY: The General Category Welfare Federation on Thursday said it would hold a protest rally from September 4 to 14 for the acceptance of its demands. A deputation of the federation would march from Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi on September 4 and proceed to the Prime Minister’s constituency on September 14. 

RESENTMENT: Resentment prevails among residents of Milk Colony, Dhanas (UT), here over the callous attitude of the Chandigarh Administration. They alleged that despite several requests, they had not been provided with cow dung pits. The only space that is used as a dumping ground for cow dung by the residents is being converted into a children park now. They are in a fix as to where they should throw the cow dung. The residents appealed to the administration to provide an alternative site for dumping cow dung until the permanent land is allotted to them as cow dung pits. 

ACCUSED RELEASED: An accused in a case of forgery managed to get himself released from the police custody with the intervention by a senior official here on Wednesday. In a complaint to the Senior Superintendent of Police, the complainant, Mr Jagir Singh, alleged that the accused, Ramoo, was released from the police custody in the morning with the intervention by a UT DSP. The accused was arrested on Wednesday in the morning. As per the complaint letter to the UT SSP, the case against the accused was registered under Sections 461, 467, 468, 471, IPC on June 15. 

TASK FORCE: The president of the Chandigarh Beopar Mandal, Mr Jagdish Arora, on Wednesday constituted a 10-member task force to help Mr Kamaljit Singh Panchhi, vice-president and chairman of the task force, to look into the day-to-day problems of the traders in the city. According to a press note, the task force members have been taken from various markets for the effective functioning and better coordination . The members are Mr Subash Sethi (Sector 7), Jagdish Kapoor (Sector 19), Mr Sewa Singh Rayat (Sector 34), Mr R.S. Bhalla (Sector 27), Mr Ashwani Sondhi (Mani Majra), Mr Arun Malhotra(Sector 37, Mr RP Gupta(Sector 18), Mr Sukhpal Singh (Sector 21), Mr Surinder Jagota(Sector 24) and Mr Ramesh Duggal(Sector 44). Mr Panchhi said the task force would coordinate with the Chandigarh Administration and the Municipal Corporation (MCC) to peacefully sort out the issues of the traders in various market. He urged the authorities to instruct the field staff to contact president and general secretary of the market concerned in case of any problem with shopkeepers. 

FAREWELL: Maj-Gen R.R. Oberoi, former chairman of Bhakra Beas Management Board, was given a farewell that was attended by senior officials from Punjab, Haryana Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chandigarh on Wednesday. According to a press note issued by the BBMB, the new Chairman Mr S. Duggal, delivered the farewell address. He emphasised that during the tenure of Major General Oberoi the work on renovation, modernisation and updating of power houses was done in a planned manner. Due to the motivation imparted by Major General Oberoi, the BBMB achieved highest ever recorded generation of power. 

BILASPUR
WOMEN’S CAMP: The eight-day “Mahila jagrookta shivir” concluded on Wednesday at Sagirthin, 15 km from here. It was organised by the Mahila Mandal, Jabbali in collaboration with the HP State Social and Women Welfare Board. The Mahila Mandal president, Ms Bimla Chaudhary, said more than 100 leaders from 10 gram panchayat areas participated.

BODY FOUND: The police found the body of Sheela Devi (20), from the Rail Nullah portion of Gobind Sagar near Government High School, Chandpur, on Wednesday. Sheela Devi was missing from her house in Chhatar-Ghungraad village since August 26.

CHAMBA
THAKUR JOINS CONG: Mr Ashok Thakur along with his supporters has resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party and joined the Congress. Stating this here on Wednesday, Mr Harsh Mahajan, General Secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee welcomed this step. He said there was resentment among the masses against the ruling BJP-led government.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC): president — Mr Kamal Raina; senior vice-president — Mr Roshan Chauhan; vice-president — Mr Roshan Thakur; general secretary — Mr Hem Raj Thakur; secretaries — Mr Bir Singh, Mr Dharampal and Mr Inder Kumar; press secretary — Mr Anil Sharma, and cashier — Mr Balkrishan Sharma.

SEMINAR: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.C. Mehta, has impressed upon the authorities of the Town and Country Planning Department to implement the Himachal Pradesh Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Act, 2001, in letter and spirit and called upon the people of the area to extend their cooperation in this regard. He was presiding over a seminar on mass awareness on town planning organised by the department under the NORAD (Norwegian Agency for Development) project at the local Bachat Bhavan on Wednesday.

KULU
GIRL COMMITS SUICIDE: Sushma Devi (18) of Kungu village, 5 km from here, has committed suicide by jumping into the Beas from the Seo Bag bridge on Tuesday. Mr N. Venu Gopal, Superintendent of Police, said in a press note on Wednesday that the body was retrieved near Tapu here and was sent for the post-mortem examination to the Zonal Hospital. The proceedings under Section 174 CrPC had been initiated to find out the reason of suicide, he added.

ONE ARRESTED: The Manali police has arrested Hem Raj of Old Manali village on Tuesday night and seized 300 gm of charas from him. During a special campaign against drug smugglers and peddlars, 57 cases had been detected in the past eight months in which 64 persons, including 20 foreigners had been arrested, informed the Superintendent of Police.

MURDERED: Bhagti, alias Jogu, (55), of Syal village, near Manali, was smothered to death by her tenants on Tuesday. Mr N. Venu Gopal, SP, said a couple had rented the house of the victim a week ago and told the family that they were working in a hotel at Manali, which was found to be incorrect on investigations. The couple tied her hands and feet and stuffed cloth pieces into her mouth and used two pillows to kill her.

KUMARHATTI
WOMAN INJURED: A woman sustained serious injuries while alighting from a private bus at Dharampur bus stand, 4 km from here, on Wednesday. Pushpa Devi from Bhojnagar lost her balance as the bus was not stopped properly, the police said. Her head hit the stone that was lying along the road. Later she was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. A case under Sections 279 and 337 of the IPC has been registered.

NURPUR
GOVT MOVE FLAYED: The Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) has taken a strong exception to the state government’s move to withdraw the policy of providing jobs to the next of kin of the government employees who died in harness. Mr Rajnesh Sharma, state general secretary of INTUC, in a statement here on Wednesday threatened to launch an agitation if the Dhumal government took this anti-employee decision.

SHIMLA
INQUIRY URGED: Mr Rameshwar Gupta, general secretary of the Himachal Pradesh State Housing Board Employees Association, has urged Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister to hold an inquiry into the fraudulent formation of a new employees body in the board at the instance of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh. In a statement issued here on Wednesday, he said the so-called federation was got registered without any constitution and in an illegal manner.