R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMLOH
MEETING: Poor people in the state cannot afford medical treatment. As a result of which many lives are lost, said Mr Dalip Singh Pandhi, a senior Akali leader and former minister, at a meeting of SAD activists here on Saturday. Dispensaries in villages were in shambles and did not have many facilities, he said. He urged the government to introduce health insurance scheme and suggested that migrant labourers be medically examined before they entered the state.

BATHINDA
CLOTHES DISTRIBUTED: Volunteers of the Sahara Jan Seva on Friday gave new clothes and blankets to mentally challenged for Divali. This was stated by Mr Pankaj Singla and Mr Sham Murari, Chairpersons of the NGO.

DERA BASSI
TALENT HUNT CONTEST: A two-day “talent hunt competition” organised by Government Degree College, Dera Bassi, concluded here on Friday. Over 100 college students took part in the contests. Ms Gurdev Kaur, Principal of the college, had inaugurated the competitions on Wednesday. 

FEROZEPORE
DA INSTALMENT: The district unit of the Punjab Government Pensioners Association has demanded another instalment of DA. At a meeting held here on Saturday, it was unanimously resolved to urge Cap Amarinder Singh to release the DA instalment w.e.f. July 1. Mr Mohinder Singh, general secretary of the association, said a memorandum has been sent to the Chief Minister.

HOSHIARPUR
ASI KILLED: Sangat Singh, an ASI, was run over and killed on the spot at Jahura village on the Tanda-Jalandhar road on Friday. According to the police, as soon as the ASI alighted from the vehicle, a truck coming from behind crushed him and killed him on the spot. A case has been registered.

CHEQUE PRESENTED: Mr Kirandeep Singh Bhullar, Deputy Commissioner, presented a cheque for Rs 5 lakh to Mrs Mohinder Kaur, widow of Kuldip Singh, a government employee who died in J&K while performing election duty. BUSTED: The police busted an inter-state gang of thieves with the arrest of four of its members during a raid at Kot Fatuhi village on Thursday. A police party, led by SHO Manjit Singh, arrested Balbir Singh, alias Balla, Kabul Singh and Jagir Singh, all residents of Kot Fatuhi village and Satnam Singh of Fatiyabad village and recovered a stolen truck.

BOOKED: Charan Singh on Thursday got a case registered under Section 429, IPC, against Ram Parkash of the Tharoli village for allegedly lacing milk with poison to kill him while he was away from his house. When he returned to the house he got suspected and instead of consuming the milk, he served it to a dog who died soon.

BSNL STAFF RALLY: The National Federation of Telecom Employees (BSNL), stayed a rally in front of the office of the General Manager, Telecom, here on Friday in protest against inadequate honorarium being granted to the staff and the exclusion of most of the staff from the entitlement criteria.

JALANDHAR
SOWING TIPS: Hundreds of farmers from all over the state thronged Daduwal village near here, on Friday to find out about the economical methods of sowing crops like wheat and basmati. Addressing the gathering, Mr Amarjit Samra, Punjab Agriculture and Revenue Minister, said bed sowing was the best method to save power, water and pesticides and it gave higher yield.

KAPURTHALA
SC CERTIFICATE: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Rakesh Verma, has cancelled an SC certificate issued to Ms Kiran Bala, daughter of Mr Som Nath, by the Tehsildar. An inquiry into the matter was ordered by Mr Verma following complaints that she had secured admission to an ETT course by producing a fake SC certificate.

KHARAR
PROPOSAL REJECTED: The local Municipal Council in its meeting held here on Thursday rejected by majority vote a proposal to shift two cremation grounds of Mundi Kharar and Desumajra villages from their present location. Mr Natrajan Kaushal and Mr Om Parkash Aggarwal, both members of the MC, had strongly objected to the proposal.

LUDHIANA
PLASMA 2002: PCTE students stood first by bagging maximum number of prizes at Plasma 2002, inter-college information technology festival, held at Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, on Thursday and Friday. The PCTE students won two first prizes, two second prizes and a third prize. As many as 23 teams from GNDU, Amritsar, Punjab University, Chandigarh and Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, participated in the festival.

ANNUAL-DAY FUNCTION: Joseph’s School, Dugri Dhandra Road, celebrated its annual prize distribution function on Friday. Ms Jaspal K. Brar, Principal, Khalsa College for Women, Sidhwan Khurd, was the chief guest. On this occasion, a cultural programme was presented. Bhangra by class X, Naga Dance by class VII and Rajasthani Dance by class VIII were appreciated the most. Prizes were given to meritorious students who had excelled in different subjects in Punjab School Education Board Examination 2001-2002. Amartej Singh, Parmjit Kaur and Brijpal Yadav, who had qualified for a state-level competition in athletics, were also given awards.

SABHYACHARAK MELA: The second phase of Devki Devi Jain Yaadgari Sabhyacharak Mela was presided over by Ms Bhawna Garg, SDM, Ludhiana (East) and was attended by members of the managing committee, including the president, Mr Narinder Kumar Jain, Mr Hira Lal Jain, Mr Baldev Raj Jain, Mr Raj Kumar, Mr Surinder Kumar and Mr Ajit Kumar Jain. Ms Garg also saw the exhibition organised by the Punjabi Department. The cultural programme began with ‘Namokar-Mantra’ and ‘Deh Shiva Var Mohe’, following by ‘Dhee Punjab Dee’ contest.

DISTRIBUTED: Cotton suits, sweaters and sweets were distributed by Ms Sunil Aggarwal, chairperson on the Indian Red Cross Society, to students of Bal Bhavan for Divali on Saturday. Ms Papoo Avinash Singh, Mr Ruby Frenandes and Ms Parveen Narang, social activists, were also present.

DIVALI CELEBRATIONS: Divali was celebrated with enthusiasm on the campus of GMT Public School here. The classrooms were tastefully decorated. Staff and students of the school exchanged sweets. Directors, G.S. Thind and K.S. Thind shared their views on the Indian culture and festivals. Speaking on the occasion, the school Principal, Ms Heema Jassal, insisted on celebrating a pollution-free Divali. Safety should be observed while enjoying Divali, she said. A party was arranged to celebrate Divali and the day ended with the distribution of sweets.

CELEBRATED: Divali was celebrated by students of Shanti Niketan Adarsh Vidayala. The day started with a ‘havan’ in which all students participated. The students also held an exhibition of hand-made candles.

FUNCTION: The Arya Youth Sabha and its women wing organised a function at Dayanand Public School, Deepak Cinema Road, to pay homage to Swami Dayanand on his death anniversary. The programme started with a ‘Vedic havan’. Children presented a colourful cultural programme on the occasion. The chief guests were presented with a copy of ‘Satyarth Parkash’, a book authored by Swami Dayanand.

CAMP: The Central Council of Students of Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle organised a ‘gurmet camp’ at Gurdwara Gur Hargobind Sahib at Sidhaw Kalan recently. More than 300 students of 12 schools participated. A ‘gurmet’ quiz was also organised on the occasion. Guru Hari Gobind Hari Prakash College of Education for Women bagged the first prize.

PENSIONERS’ ASSOCIATION: The Government Pensioners Association has urged the Punjab Government to grant instalment of DA to more than 5 lakh employees and pensioners as had been done by the Union Government. The DA instalment, due from July 2002, would be paid in cash, along with arrears, said Mr Yash Pal Ghai, additional general secretary of the association.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The district president of Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Mr Kamal Chatley, has appointed the following office-bearers in consultation with the district chief of BJP, Mr Harbans Lal Sethi: Mr Rajneesh Dhiman — general secretary (organisation); Mr Sarbjeet Singh Kaka — secretary; and Mr Rakesh Vohra — president (east mandal). The following have been nominated office-bearers of the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (south mandal): Mr Ravinder Verma — president; Mr Amar Pal Sharma, Mr Tarlochan Sharma and Mr Parmod Arora — vice-presidents; Mr Sewa Singh — general secretary; Mr Nitin Goyal — organising secretary; Mr Parveen Thakur, Mr Sunil Kumar, Mr Dilbag Singh and Mr Deepak Gosain — secretaries; Mr Krishan Chand — press secretary; and Mr Suresh Kashyap — treasurer.

EPF GOLDEN JUBILEE: To provide better service to contributors in its golden jubilee year, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation has settled all pending applications received till October 15. Giving this information, the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner said those who had not received any intimation about their pending complaints, could contact the PRO in the Sub Regional office, here.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Organisation of Young Lawyers: Rana Harjasdeep Singh — Chairman, Mr Malwinder Singh Ghumman — President; Mr Sandeep Kumar — convener; Mr S.K. Bawa — senior vice-president; Mr Dinesh Katyal and Mr Jaspreet Singh Gill — vice-presidents; Mr Rustam Pal Singh Sandhu and Mr Sham Sunder Ahuja — joint secretaries; Mr Balshi Dwarka Nath — finance secretary; Mr Jyoti Swarup — organising secretary; and Mr K.K. Dhawan — propaganda secretary.

NOMINATED: Dr T.S. Anand, Coordinator, Postgraduate Department of English, Gujranwala Guru Nanak Khalsa College, has been nominated to the Contemporary Hall of Fame. The American Biographical Institute Inc. chooses individuals who have shown extraordinary talent and dedication towards their profession. Induction to the Hall of Fame is the highest accolade one receives through biographical listing. Dr Anand has to his credit a number of research papers and more than 12 creative and critical works on various facets of American and Indian fiction in English.

ZIRAKPUR
CULTURAL FUNCTION: The Vishkarma Committee, Chhat, will organise a cultural function on the occasion of Vishkarma Day at Chhat village near here on November 5. Mr Harnam Singh, president of the committee informed that former Finance Minister of Punjab and the local MLA, Capt. Kanwaljit Singh will be the chief guest.

HARYANA

AMBALA
CELLULAR SERVICE: BSNL’s Excel pre-paid cellular service for Ambala and Kalka was inaugurated here on Friday. The inauguration took place at the office of Chief General Manager, Haryana telecom circle. The CGMT, Mr A.K. Nagpal, made the first call to Mr R.K. Gupta, ex-adviser, Department of Telecom, Government of India, according to a press note.

FUNCTION: The festival of lights was celebrated with gaiety by students of DAV School, Model Town, here on Saturday. Card making, diya decoration and thali decoration competitions were held. The prizes went to Dimple, Neha Kohli, Sakshi and Mallika. A Divali fete was organised on the school campus, according to a press note.

ELECTION DATES: The elections to the Haryana Vigyan Adhyapak Sangathan will be held in a phased manner from November 10 to December 8. The state president, Mr Devendra Gautam, said on November 10, elections will take place in Ambala, Jhajjar, Rewari and Bhiwani. On November 17, elections will be held in Mahendragarh, Hisar, Panipat and Panchkula. On November 24, elections will be held in Kaithal, Gurgaon, Yamuna Nagar and Jind. On December 1, these will be held in Kurukshetra, Rohtak, Sonepat and Fatehabad. On December 8, elections will be held at Sirsa, Karnal and Faridabad.

AYURVEDA CAMP: An Ayurveda camp was held at the Elders’ Home on the Ram Bagh road here on Saturday. A number of patients visited the camp which was organised by the Elder’s Forum, Inner Wheel Club, Ayurveda Department and Rashtra Bhasha Vichar Manch.

FATEHABAD
SCRIBES SORE: Resentment prevails among local journalists over the distribution of photocopies of a Patiala-based newspaper for allegedly publishing objectionable report against certain Sirsa-based scribes. The newspaper had also reportedly published controversial articles regarding Hindu Dharam Gurus.

HISAR
LOOTED: Three car-borne youths on Friday looted cash from an employee at gunpoint at Kheri Village near here. According to the police, Ramdia, a health employee posted in Sirsa district, was returning to his village Narnaud when the car driver, Shamsher Singh, stopped the vehicle and his friend took out a pistol. They snatched Rs 14,000 from him and pushed him out of the car. A case has been registered.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

SHIMLA
CONDEMNED: The state unit of the Youth Congress has condemned the remarks of Prof P.K. Dhumal against Mrs Sonia Gandhi and said the Chief Minister, who had been baffled by the success of the Mandi rally, was trying to discredit the Congress President. Mr Naresh Chauhan, spokesperson for the Youth Congress, said the large turnout at the rally was a clear indication that the BJP-HVC government was on its way out and hence Prof Dhumal was making misleading statements.