AMRITSAR
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Patti district unit of Akali Dal: president — Mr Surjit Singh Asal; vice-presidents — Mr Sukhwant Singh and Mr Joginder Singh; and general secretary — Mr Paramjit Singh Sandhu. Mr Sukhdev Singh, Mr Pargat Singh, Mr Balbir Singh and Mr Balwinder Singh have been elected presidents of the Khalra, Khem Karan, Valtoha and Patti circles, respectively.

BATALA
SHOPS AUCTIONED: An auction of shops was held here on Monday in the office of Mr Lakhbir Singh Lodhinangal, chairman, Improvement Trust, Batala. The auction was held for shops at Shastri Nagar and the Leakwala Tank areas and for booths at Shastri Nagar.

DERA BASSI
HEALTH CAMP: About 110 patients were examined in a heart check-up camp organised by the Mukat Hospital and Heart Institute, in association with Dera Bassi Bharat Vikas Parishad, on Monday. The aim of the camp was to make the residents aware that Mukut was going to start out patients’ department every Saturday on “charitable basis” at the Parishad premises in Dera Bassi. A charitable lab has already been started at Pandit Kesho Ram Bharat Vikas Parishad Bhavan. The patients were examined by Dr Pratik Soni and Dr A N Ghosh of Mukat Hospital. The hospital, it was added, had decided to provide discounts to the needy patients requiring further investigation and treatment.

FARIDKOT
STUDENTS’ PLEDGE: More than 1000 students of various rural high schools pledged to work for strengthening moral values and to serve the humanity at a World Youth Day function organised by the Major Ajaib Singh Educational Society at Jiwanwala village on Saturday.

FAZILKA
CRUSHED TO DEATH: Raj Pal, a teacher of Government School, Roopnagar, was crushed to death on Saturday evening when the tractor he was driving turned turtle. He is survived by his two minor children and wife.

AWWA RAISING DAY: The Lalgarh chapter of Gandiv AWWA celebrated 24th raising day of Army Wives’ Welfare Association at Lalgarh Military Station on Saturday. Mrs Usha Panjikar, wife of Brig P.C.Panjikar, who was the chief guest, inaugurated an exhibition of the handicrafts prepared by the Army wives. Women were examined for breast cancer at a free medical check-up camp organised during the raising day celebrations week. Mrs Neelama Jaiswala, president, Gandiv, AWWA, Mrs Preeti Puri, president, Chetak AWWA and Mrs Madhu Mehta, president, Western Command, AWWA were also present.

CME ON CANCER: A continuous medical education (CME) seminar was organised by the Indian Medical Association, Fazilka branch, in collaboration with Adesh Charitable Cancer Hospital here on Sunday. Dr Y.N. Soni and Dr Narinder Sethi, president and general secretary, respectively, of Indian Medical Association, Fazilka branch said that Dr C.M. Sehgal, of PGI Chandigarh and Dr H.S. Gill of the Cancer Hospital, Muktsar, were the main speakers on the topic Cancer trends and management.

SAMRALA
BOOK RELEASE: Punjabi short storybook “Daachi Walia Mor Muhaar” by a Samrala-based writer, Prof Hamdardvir Nausheharvi, will be released at the Green House Sanghol on August 31. Papers on the book will also be read by Dr Sudarshan Gasso, Dr Gurdarpal Singh, Dr Gulzar Mohd Goria and Mr Darshan Mitra. A kavi darbar will be held and Dr Romesh, an eye specialist, honoured on the occasion. The function would be held under the directorship of Mr Rupinderjit Singh, Mr Babu Singh Chauhan and Mr Baldev Poholopuri, Prof Baldeep said.

EYE CAMP: A free eye check-up camp at Herian village, 5 km from here, is being organised by the Malwa Youth Welfare Club and the gram panchayat on Wednesday, according to its president. Dr J P Singh SMO, Samrala, Dr J M Singh, Dr V P Soni and Dr I S Bagga will attend the camp. The camp will be inaugurated by Mr Narinderjeet Singh Gulu, a former sarpanch of Powat village, and presided over by Mr Rajwant Singh Kooner, a Congress leader.

PARKASH UTSAV: Parkash Utsav of Baba Sri Chand would be observed in Gehlewal Dera Bhora Sahib village on September 2,3 and 4, said Baba Bharpoor Dass, chief of the dera. On this occasion, a kavi darbar and religious programmes would be staged and a free kitchen organised.

SALES TAX ON CSD ITEMS: Various ex-servicemen’s organisations belonging to Patiala and Ropar today districts held meetings at S.A.S. Nagar, Zirakpur, Ropar and Kharar under the aegis of the All-India Defence Brotherhood on the issue of imposition of sales tax on items sold through CSD canteens in Punjab. According to a statement issued here, ex-servicemen condemned the move of the Punjab Government to impose sales tax on CSD items as well as non-fulfilment of the provision of filling up 13 per cent vacancies in government departments from ex-servicemen category. A coordinating meeting is also scheduled to be held at S.A.S. Nagar on September 6 in which the further course of action would be announced. 

CONTEST: Students of classes IV, V and VI participated in a general knowledge contest at CL Aggarwal DAV Model School in Sector 7 on Monday. Team “A” of Class IV, comprising Jeetinder, Deepak and Rajat, emerged winners. Team “B”of Class V, comprising Varnica, Nikhil and Khushank, finished second. Prizes were handed over by the school Principal. Ms Harpreet Kaur was the coordinator of the event.

AWARENESS CAMP: Around 65 inmates participated in an AIDS awareness camp organised by the Indian Council of Social Welfare at Burail Jail here on Monday. The camp was held under the “Target Intervention Project for jail inmates — awareness and sensitisation camps” funded by the UT State Aids Control Society. The honorary general secretary of the local chapter of the council, Ms Sharestha Mehta, emphasised the need for holding such camps. The resource person of the camp, Dr Rajiv Vadhera, delivered a lecture on transmission and prevention of HIV and AIDS. Pamphlets were also distributed among the inmates.

CLINIC INAUGURATED: A free eye-testing clinic was inaugurated at Bapu Dham Colony in Sector 26 on Monday. The clinic has been set up by the Rotary Club in association with Grewal Eye Institute. Mr Pramod Vij, District Governor Elect, inaugurated the clinic. Doctors from the institute will conduct regular eye check-up at the centre. Those suffering from cataract will be implanted with lenses free of cost, according to the Rotary Club president, Mr Vijay Wadhawan. The club along with the Inner Wheel Club will appoint two gynaecologists to conduct a weekly gynae clinic.

PANCHKULA
GRAMEEN ROZGAR YOJNA: Rs 1.30 crore has been spent as part of Sampooran Grameen Rozgar Yojana in different parts of the district during this financial year. This was stated by Ms Neelam Pradeep Kasni, Chief Executive Officer of the Zila Parishad, while presiding over a meeting of the parishad on Monday. She said that Zila Parishad was given 292.8 quintal wheat and Rs 36.20 lakh, while the panchayat samitis have been given 439.2 quintal of wheat and Rs 54.30 lakh in cash for distribution in Food For Work scheme. 

OFFICE-BEARERS: The newly elected president of the All-India Goyat Samaj, Mr Rati Ram Goyat from Ismailpur, declared the first national executive body of the samaj on Monday. Mr Rati Ram Kungarh has been elected as chief patron, while Mr Rajinder Singh Goyat has been elected as senior vice-president. Other office-bearers of the samaj are: Mr Randhir Singh Badhran as vice-president, Dr Jaidev Singh as organising secretary, Ishwar Goyat as general secretary, Mr Jai Prakash Jaijaiwani as cashier, Mr Balwinder Singh as press secretary and Mr Parveen Goyat as president of the Yuva Goyat Samaj.

ORIENTATION CAMP: An eight-day teachers orientation camp on “ Value orientation to our present day system of education” was inaugurated by Mr Rajinder Singh, state president of the Sri Sathya Sai Sewa Organisation at DC Model Senior Secondary School on Sunday. As many as 79 teachers from different parts of Haryana and Chandigarh are participating in this seminar. The main emphasis in the seminar was to focus on day-to-day problems of teachers, handling students unrest, their attitude and behaviour were brought to light and find out solutions to ease their tension.

DENTAL CAMP: A free dental camp was organised by the Upkaar Society at Bal Niketan, a home for destitute children. All inmates of Bal Niketan, including the staff were examined by a team of doctors from BRS Dental College, Kot Billa. The inmates were treated for various dental ailments, and some of them were also asked to come for referal ailments.

AMBALA
MEETING: The General Manager, Northern Railway, Mr R.R. Jaruhar, held a meeting with Chief Secretaries of Punjab and Haryana on Monday. Divisional Railway Manager Keshav Chandra, who accompanied Mr Jaruhar, said the meetings were fruitful. Mr Keshav Chandra said the issue of Chandigarh-Morinda and Abohar-Fazilka rail lines were discussed. “The emphasis was on cooperation between the Railways and the states. Mr Jaruhar stressed during the meeting that cooperation enables faster movement of projects,” he said.

DEMONSTRATION: The Uttariya Railway Mazdoor Union (URMU) held a demonstration on Monday at Divisional Railway Manager Complex to press for their demands. The union office-bearers and other railway employees participated in the demonstration. Among others, Mr S.N. Bharati, Mr Dharam Singh Saini and Mr Ashok Lahiri were present. They opposed the “anti-employee” and “anti-rail” policies of the government. Mr Ashok Lahiri, unit secretary, URMU, said they opposed the privatisation of some railway projects. The demands included 50 per cent dearness allowance as per the Vth Pay Commission to be included in basic pay, upgradation report to be published, pay scale of 3050-4590 to Class IV employees and the right to go on strike.

CONDEMNED: The National Coordination Committee of farmers movements member secretary, Mr Yudhvir Singh, said on Monday that BKU leader Ghasi Ram Nain has been wrongly put in jail. Talking to mediapersons here, Mr Yudhvir Singh said they would soon launch a national-level movement over the issue. “We will discuss the matter with Mr Ghasi Ram Nain. Incidentally, we have been trying to meet him for the last two days, but to no avail,” he said. He condemned Mr Nain being put behind bars. “No government should try to prevent a democratic movement. This is a clear example of dictatorship. It shows that nobody has a right to speak,” he said. 

DRUGS IN JAILS: The drug and intoxicants may not be easily accessible outside but it is available inside a number of jails in the state with no trouble. It was disclosed in a recently published book ‘Prison administration in India’. Mr Rohtas Kumar was awarded the degree of Ph.D by Kurukshetra University, on this thesis. The author had conducted a sample survey on various aspects of the Haryana jails last year, in which he included central jails, district jails and borstal — juvenile jails at Hisar, Rohtak, Jind, Sonepat, Kaithal and Kurukshetra. According to a sample survey, 68.57 per cent of the jail officials have acknowledged that a large number of prisoners are addicted in the jail. Only 30 per cent of them contributed the contrary view. Only 1.43 per cent did not express any comments at all.

CONDEMNED: President of the Haryana unit of the BJP and Ambala MP Ratan Lal condemned the bomb blasts in Mumbai on Monday. Mr Kataria said they would never allow the nefarious designs of Pakistan to succeed. “It is an unfortunate incident, as innocent lives have been claimed by the deadly bombs,” he said.