R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
ESSAY COMPETITION: ‘Awantika’ — a group of contemporary artists will organise a national level function to give prizes to students excelling in ‘Awantika essay competition’ on October 8 at Alexandra School here. Nearly 60 students from various schools will be given awards besides principals and teachers for excellent performance.

SEMINAR: The Young Legislators’ Forum, Punjab, in collaboration with Guru Nanak Dev University will organise a one-day seminar on Punjab vision-2020-education and employment with a special thrust on human resource development and employment generation on Monday.

SEMINAR: The Amritsar Consumers Welfare Forum will organise an awareness camp cum seminar for principals, headmasters and headmistresses of the senior secondary , high and elementary schools at government girls senior secondary school here on October 6 Monday. Prof Darbari Lal, Minister of State for Education will preside over the function.

DHARMI FAUJIS: The SGPC has announced October 8 as the date for the interview of Dharmi Faujis’ for employment as sevadars (SGPC security staff). Secretary SGPC Dilmegh Singh said only those who had applied for these posts would be called for interview.

MIGRANT LABOUR: The Punjab government would give soft loans for the downtrodden and migrant labour from other states, said Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, Minister for Labour and Employment and Local Bodies Minister, at the 23rd foundation day of the Uttar Pradesh Kalyan Parishad here on Friday. The minister said the government would also given shops at subsidised rates to migratory labour of agricultural sector. He gave Rs one lakh for the parishad’s guest house.

RETIREMENT: The Executive Committee of the Council of Junior Engineers, Punjab State Electricity Board, border zone criticised the policy of compulsory retirement. The meeting presided over by Mr J P Singh Aulakh, president of council condemned harsh decision taken by the board authorities and demanded withdrawal of the policy.

HOSHIARPUR
FOUNDATION STONE: Lala Lajpat Rai, MP, laid the foundation stone of a 2.51- km-long Chack Natha-Jaijor link road, connecting Chack Natha village with the main road on Friday. Mr Avinash Rai Khanna, president of the BJP unit (Punjab) who belongs to the area, said the village was located in the remotest area of kandi adjoining Himachal Pradesh. Mr Lajpat Rai had agreed to provide Rs 19.09 lakh from the MP’s fund for the purpose.

KHAMANO
ROAD CONDITION: The condition of Mr Mansurpur road here is very bad. The stretch from the GT Road up to the electricity board, office remains filled with muddy water. Many accidents involving motorists and schoolchildren have occurred on this stretch. People of about 15 villages use this road to go to distant places. There are three public schools situated along this road and about 600 schoolchildren use this stretch to go to their school and back home. Children of nearby villages have to pass through this area while going to senior secondary schools and colleges elsewhere. Those residing along both sides of this road are forced to live amid stench of stagnant water. People of the area and the Nagar Panchayat are blaming each other for this state of affairs.

KHARAR
SANCTIONED: The Punjab Government, under the programme to improve the condition of the roads, has recommended Rs 2.25 crore to strengthen and widen the Kharar-Banur road. The PWD minister, Punjab, Mr Pratap Singh Bajwa, will inaugurate the beginning of the work on Monday at 11 a.m. This information was given by the Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Mr Bir Devinder Singh, at a meeting of the officers of the PWD here. 

KHANNA
PROTEST RALLIES: The Revenue Patwar Union, Punjab, will organise protest rallies all over Punjab on Thursday in protest against anti-employees polices of the state government. Mr Gurmail Singh president of the Punjab Patwar Union, said the union would hold rallies at all tehsil complexes in the state. He said the aim was to protest against various decisions of the government, like pension scheme, leave incashment and appointment on compassionate ground etc. He said the union would also lodge its protest against the Supreme Court decision on strikes. He said all district presidents would supervise the rallies in their respective districts.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION: The alumni association of AS College Khanna organised a programme to honour brilliant students of the schools and colleges of the AS High School Trust and Management Society at AS High School on Saturday. Mr Raman Goyal, Additional Commissioner, Income Tax, Chandigarh, was the chief guest and Mr Rajiv Dutta (FCA), was the guest of honour. A cultural programme was also presented during the function. Principal Tarsem Bahia highlighted the working of the alumni association. The chief guest presented mementoes to students. Mr J.S. Lotey, president of the managing committee, Mr Vijay Sharma, general secretary of the management, Mr Kamaljit Singh manager of the school, Mr Rajesh Dally, joint secretary, Mr Vinod Gupta, President of the association, Mr Buta Singh, Commissioner, Income Tax Bombay, and founder president of the association, Mr Ashwani Bansal, secretary of the AS Modern School, Mr Bajwa, Principal of AS Modern School, Mr Shashi Goyal, secretary of AS College, Khanna, were present at the function.

LUDHIANA
DASEHRA CELEBRATIONS: Tiny tots of Child Heart Day Boarding School, Jamalpur, celebrated Dasehra on Friday. A fancy dress show was also held for students. Kids came dressed up like various characters of Ramayana. Ajay came dressed up as Hanuman. Lord Rama’s character was highlighted by Himanshu as he presented a mono-acting.

CONFERENCE: The Save Primary Education Front, Punjab, will hold a convention on November 1 at Ludhiana. Mr Piara Singh Dhillon, convener of the front, said the decision was taken at a meeting held here on Friday. He said during the convention, the members would protest against the new elementary education policy introduced on April 1. He said the members were satisfied with the decision of the government to defer control of panchayats over government schools falling in their villages. He said in case the decision was revoked, the members would hold a protest at Jalandhar carrying black flags.

DIVALI OFFER: LG Electronics Private Limited has come up with an exclusive Divali offer. The “Pataka Ghumao Inaam Pao” offer is designed to make consumers open up to the world-class products from LG. The offer will be valid up to October 31. Mr Vipul Shah, branch manager, said the offer could be availed of at all exclusive LG shoppes and LG authorised counters. Mr Maninder Singh of Excelsior, said, “The gifts include Flatron televisions, semi-automatic washing machines, frost-free refrigerators, window ACs (with remote), microwave ovens, home theatres MY PC, branded T. shirts, bags and emergency lights. Besides, there are 80 bumper prizes to be won worth Rs 1 lakh, each which would include a basket of all LG products called LG Healthy Home Jackpot. All in all, the company is offering more than 7.5 lakh gifts as part of this festive offer.

LOANS DISBURSED: Punjab National Bank disbursed retail loans of Rs 263 crore during the first half of the year in Punjab zone. It translates into a growth of 75 per cent over the corresponding period last year. This was stated by Mr U.S. Bhargava, general manager, Punjab National Bank, Punjab zone, in a statement issued here today. Out of above mentioned amount, loans to the housing sector alone amount to Rs 118 crore.

FANCY DRESS SHOW: Tiny tots of SKSK Educational Institute participated in a fancy dress show on Saturday. As many as 32 students from Classes Nursery and LKG, participated in the competition. From Class LKG, Nitin, Jatin and Mandeep got the first, the second and the third prize, respectively. Consolation prizes went to Rubarjot and Hrithik. From Class Nursery, Amreet, Ishant and Simranjeet got the first, the second and the third prize respectively. Ms Maninder and Ms Gurpreet, teachers, were the judges.

FUNCTION: The Valmiki Samaj will celebrate the birthday of Bhagwan Valmiki on October 10 at Old Dayanand Hospital, Dandi Swami Road. Mr Subash Sondhi, in charge said, the preparations were on for the function. “Path” of Ramayan will be organised and free langar will be served on the occasion,” he said.

CONDOLED: The Alag Shabad Yug has condoled the death of Prof Puran Singh Dhami, a writer, scholar and chief patron of the Alag Shabad Yug Trust. Mr Sukhinder Pal Singh Alag, general secretary, said Prof Dhami had written many books on zoology.

RAMAYAN GYAN: The nine-day Ramayan gyan — yajna will conclude on Sunday morning with the ‘ Puran-ahuti’ ceremony taking place from 8 am to 10 am in Rishi Nagar, near the Kali Mata temple, Haibowal, according to a spokesman of the Ram Sharnam Ashram. The yajna has been going on since September 26 under the supervision of Bhagat Hans Raj .

SAPLING PLANTATION: The Bhagvan Valmiki Gyan Yog Prachar Samiti organised sapling plantation function at Mahavir Centre for Handicapped at Haibowal here on Friday. 50 saplings of neem, peepal, arjun, kaner and silver oak were planted. The founder of samiti, Mr Veer Subhash, organised the programme. Mr Jagan Nath Jain Shah, Mr Sushil Kaura, Mr Dalip Bharati, Mr Gyan Chand Singla, Mr Roshan Lal Jain, Mr Ram Lobhaya, Mr Gogna, Mr Sanjeev Kumar Gupta participated in the drive. 

TARN TARAN
ELECTED: Mr Dhawan Kumar was elected president of the local Safai Karamchari Union on Friday. He demanded that strength of the safai karamcharis in the municipal councils should be increased.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
INDUSTRIAL AREA: A mini-industrial area is proposed to be set up at Behal in the Kotkehloor Assembly constituency here. This was stated by the Himachal Industries, Youth Services and Sports and Information Technology Minister, Mr Ramlal Thakur at Behal while presiding over the annual prize distribution function of Government High School.

KULU
FUNCTION HELD: A week-long function on wildlife was organised by the Wildlife Forest Division in the district in which various competitions among schoolchildren were held. The Divisional Forest Officer, Mr H.V. Kathuria, in a press release here said that on-the-spot painting, essay writing, slogan writing, quiz and declamation contests were held.

MANDI
CAMP FOR FARMERS: The Himachal Pradesh Excise and Taxation Minister, Mr Rangila Ram Rao, called upon scientists to help farmers adopt modern techniques of agriculture. Mr Rao, who was presiding over the two-day farmers’ training camp at Baldwara in Sarkaghat subdivision on Friday, said 12,000 quintals of improved wheat seed was being distributed to the farmers through cooperative societies in the district.

INAUGURATED: Mr Kaul Singh, Irrigation and Public Health Minister, on Friday said that Rs 1010.70 crore would be spent on education during the current financial year in the state. Addressing a public meeting after the inauguration of a middle school in the interior of Chuhar valley, he said 500 schools in the state were being provided three additional rooms each.

NAHAN
ORGANISED: The Information and Public Relations Department on Thursday organised a district-level competition on ‘nasha nivaran’. Eighty students from different parts of Sirmaur district participated in the competition. The chairman zila parishad, Mr Rajinder Thakur, called upon the students to keep away from the menace of drugs.

PAONTA SAHIB
SHARAD MAHOTSAV: The Yamuna Sharad Mahotsav will be celebrated from Wednesday in the municipal ground here. Ghazal singer Chandan Dass Mumbai, Punjabi folk singer Gurmeet Bawa will regale the audience. Mr Rajinder Tiwar, president culture committee, said the programme would be inaugurated by Mr CRB Lalit, Managing Director, HPMC.

PARWANOO
NON-FUNCTIONAL STREETLIGHTS: The residents of Sector 6 here have complained about non-functional of streetlights in the sector. The residents said the housing board was charging maintenance charges regularly but the board was not paying any attention on the maintenance work in this sector. The residents added that the condition of the roads too was very bad. The residents said the housing board had promised to start the work to repair the road but this has not been started yet. The residents added that even the cleanliness work was not done property and heaps of garbage could be seen on the roadside.