R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
NOMINATION: Dr Sukhdayal Singh Shergill was nominated president of the North Zone Ophthalmological Society. This was informed in a press note by Dr Baljit Singh Dhillon, spokesperson of the society.

Barnala
PROCUREMENT: As many as 1030450 tonnes of paddy has been procured of 91 procurement centres of Barnala said Mr Zora Singh Thind, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Barnala on Tuesday. The 1030450 tonnes of paddy procured in five market committees of Barnala region come to 85 per cent of the procurement of paddy in this area.

GURDASPUR
TEACHERS’ UNION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district unit of the Elementary Teachers Union: president — Mr Lakhwinder Singh Sekhon; vice-president — Mr Harpreet Singh Parmar; general secretary — Mr Ashwani Kumar; joint secretary — Mr Malkiat Singh Kahnuwan; and treasurer — Mr Rakesh Mahajan.

Hoshiarpur
HOUSE NUMBERS: The Social Democratic Party demanded a probe into the fixation of house number plates in some villages of Hoshiarpur district by one Uttam Kumar Gupta of Ward No 1 of Bhabua District Tamoor of Bihar. In a press note released on Tuesday it was alleged number plates were being fixed for which he was charging Rs 10 each from the house owners. Uttam Kumar had fixed such number plates on the houses in many of the villages and had earned huge money.

KHARAR
BAIL GRANTED: A local court has granted bail to two of the three youths, in their mid-twenties, who were arrested by the police on Saturday for allegedly firing on the police party in Chaharmajra village, near here. The court, however, sent one of the accused on transit remand to Ludhiana in a case of attempt to murder registered at Dehlon police station in July this year.

RAID: A team of Vigilance Bureau, led by Mr Jora Singh Brar, DSP, here on Monday conducted a raid on the office of the municipal council and inspected the records of work carried out during this year. The team took into possession records pertaining to these works for further investigations.

Mansa
OPIUM SEIZED: The Boha police recovered 1 kg of opium from Hamir Singh, Manjit Singh, Nirbhay Singh and Amrik Singh, all residents of Hakamwala village of the district said Mr Satish Kumar Asthana, Senior Superintendent of Police Mansa on Tuesday.

PATIALA
DHARNA: The Patiala Rural Rice Millers Association on Wednesday organised a dharna in front of the office of the District Manager of Markfed in protest against the manner in which the paddy was being stored by it. The president of the association, Mr Surinder Pal Mittal, alleged that district officials were favouring particular shellers situated in urban areas. They alleged that these shellers were procuring paddy from areas that were not under their jurisdiction.

APPEAL: The Punjab State Medical and Dental Teachers Association appealed the state government to fill the vacant posts of medical and dental teachers, here on Tuesday. The president of the association, Dr Janak Raj Arora, said the delay in filling the posts was harming the future interests of the medical students. The association also demanded time scale placement i.e. four, nine and 14 years placement on the pattern for PCMS doctors as promised by the government in its 1999 notification.

ROPAR
TRIBUTES PAID : The Punjab Police personnel of the district who laid down their life while fighting terrorism were remembered on Tuesday at a function organised at the Police Lines. The SSP, Mr G.P.S. Bhullar, and other senior police officers of the district laid wreaths at the memorial of the martyrs. The SSP also distributed blankets among widows and dependents of the martyrs.

Sangrur
2 ARHTIYAS FINED: Two purchase centres at Kalsian and Lohat Badi villages, under Ahmedgarh Market Committee, were checked and two arhtiyas fined Rs 1,000 each for faulty weighing of paddy said Mr Sarvjit Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Sangrur, on Tuesday. Baldev Raj and Company, and Raj Kumar Raman Kumar, Ahmedgarh were fined.

CHANDIGARH

SAS NAGAR
EYE CAMP: The local Senior Citizens (Pensioners) Council celebrated International Older Persons Day in Balongi village, near here. A free eye check-up camp for senior citizens was orgainsed, which was inaugurated by Mr H.L.Dhami, member of the National Commission of Older Persons. He also released a directory of life members of the council. According to a press note, nearly 300 persons were examined at the camp.

HARYANA

AMBALA
PENSION CASES: The Kharga Ex-servicemen Helpline has succeeded in settling 52 pension cases in the past six months. The helpline Director, Lt Col Sarabjit Singh, said during the past six months, more than 2,500 ex-servicemen from the Army, Navy and Air Force visited the helpline. Their problems pertained to pension, rehabilitation, medical aid and latest schemes launched by the Government of India for their welfare.

NCC CAMP: The NCC training camp organised by the 2 Haryana Battalion concluded here on Wednesday. Col Manohar Singh, Group Commander of Ambala group and in charge of the NCC training in Northern Haryana, was the chief guest at the closing ceremony. At least 594 cadets participated in the camp. SD College won the overall trophy. In inter-college drill competition, SD College came first, while in inter-school drill competition, Army School, Chandi Mandir, finished first. In inter-college guard mounting, SD College came first, while for overall best discipline, JD contingent Army School, Chandi Mandir, bagged the honours.

PROTEST: The HUDA Public Health Workers Union held a dharna in front of the Estate Office here on Wednesday to press for their pending demands. The union has been demanding the payment of arrears of the bonus, regularisation of ad hoc employees, lifting of ban on the recruitment of daily wage and ad hoc employees and allotment of plots to HUDA employees on "no profit, no loss" basis.

OPIUM SEIZED: The police impounded an abandoned Contessa car (DL3CG 3628) near Saha on the Ambala-Jagadhri road on Tuesday. Some shopkeepers noticed the car and informed the police. According to information, the police recovered Rs 80,000 and seized 10 gram of opium from the car.

DEMAND: The Elders’ Forum on Monday demanded the manning of the railway reservation window for senior citizens so that they did not face problems. At a meeting held here, members of forum observed that even though there was a window earmarked for senior citizens, it was not manned. Consequently, they had to stand in the long queues at the general window. They added that the house tax bills being received by them needed correction.

ENCEPHALITIS DEATHS: The Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee on Monday expressed concern over deaths due to Japanese encephalitis. The deputy spokesperson, Dr Pradeep Chauhan, said the disease had claimed a number of lives in the state. He alleged that the Health Department was not taking disease management seriously. He threatened that if the situation did not improve soon they would be forced to take action.

PADDY PROCUREMENT: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr D.D. Gautam, on Tuesday claimed that this year’s paddy crop has been a bumper one in the district. Mr Gautam said compared with last year, 50,000 tonne more paddy had arrived in different grain markets of the district. He said the grade ‘A’ paddy was being bought up to Rs 611 per quintal, while ordinary grade paddy was being bought between Rs 550 and Rs 576 per quintal . Sarbati paddy was being bought between Rs 625 and Rs 754 per quintal and Muchal variety was being bought between Rs 761 and Rs 857 per quintal, according to a press note.

ESSAY CONTEST: Punjab National Bank, DAV College branch, held an essay competition here on Monday. The senior manager of the bank, Mr Chetan Sethi, said the senior regional manager, Mr S.S. Bhandari, was the chief guest. Mr Bhandari stressed the importance of Hindi. He said students must strive to achieve their objectives.

BODY FOUND: The body of a man was found near a Naullah in the Maheshnagar area here on Tuesday. the body was packed in a gunny bag. The unidentified body was noticed by some rag-pickers. The police has sent the body to the local Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

CASE ADJOURNED: The BKU Haryana chief, Mr Ghasi Ram Nain, who was arrested by the police a few months back, was produced in the court of Additional Sessions Judge, Mr Sanjiv Kumar, here on Tuesday. The hearing in the case was adjourned for February 17, 2004. The police had arrested Mr Nain and a few other BKU activists on November 25 last year when they attacked police personnel during blockade of the National Highway near Shahjadpur.

ANNUAL DAY: The students of Chaman Vatika celebrated their school’s annual day here on Monday. Haryana minister Subhash Goel, MP Ratan Lal Kataria and Air Cdr L.K. Malhotra were the special guests. The students enthralled the audience with a variety programme.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

SHIMLA
2 CHARGESHEETED: Mr G.S.Bali, Himachal Transport Minister, on Tuesday ordered the transfer of two employees and chargesheeting of three other staff members of Regional Transport Office at Hamirpur. They were found absent from duty in a surprise raid conducted by him on Tuesday.