Tribuneindia...Regional Briefs

	REGIONAL BRIEFS	Thursday, September 9, 1999
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AMRITSAR
Research paper: Dr Jasbir Singh Sabar, a Professor at Guru Nanak Dev University, has been invited to present his research paper in London during the Sixth World Hindi Conference, to be held from September 14 to 18 under the auspices of School of Oriental and African Studies York University.

BATHINDA
Medical report: Mr Harbaj Singh, SP, in a press note issued here on Wednesday said Mr Balbir Singh Romana, advocate, and his brother Rajinder Singh, who were arrested by the police on September 3 for indulging in hooliganism and later released on bail, were in an inebriated state. He said the medical examination of the duo had confirmed this.

JALANDHAR
Agitation threatened: Helpline, a local welfare organisation, has threatened to launch an agitation to protest against the alleged non-functioning of the municipal corporation if steps were not taken to "remove encroachments and carry out development work".

LUDHIANA
Honoured: Dr G.S. Nanda, Head of the Department of Plant Breeding, PAU has been honoured with Dr Gurdev Singh Khush Distinguished Professor Award. Dr Nanda had developed the PBW-343 variety of wheat which resulted in an increase in its production last year.

MOGA
Warders protest: Staff of the local police station and warders of the sub-jail here on Sunday protested against the failure of the municipal committee to make proper arrangement for draining out rain from the jail premises. They have urged the committee to solve the problem immediately.

PATIALA
Elected: Mr B.S. Malhotra, manager of the Leela Bhavan branch of Canara Bank, has been elected District Secretary of the local Canara Bank Officers Association.
Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Field Supervisory Staff Association, Irrigation Department, Patiala: President — Mr Didar Singh; Vice-Presidents — Mr Shadi Ram and Mr Parampal Singh; General Secretary — Mr Jaswinder Singh Mongot; and Treasurer — Mr Makhan Singh Kahlon.
Appointed: Mr Bhushan Goyal, President of the Lehra, Municipal Committee, has been appointed Organising Secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee.

PHAGWARA
Coordinator: Dr Raman K. Aggarwal, Honorary Secretary, College of General Practitioners, IMA, Punjab has been nominated national coordinator of the World Congress of Family Medicine (WOCON) to be held in Tamil Nadu from October 6 to 10, according to a press note issued here on Wednesday.
Imposter: A man posing as a DSP, on Monday bought "kulfis" and cold drinks worth Rs 100 from a shop in Hargobind Nagar when asked to make in payment, he sped away his in his Maruti car. A case has been registered.

ROPAR
Population control: The district health authorities have sought the cooperation of non-government organisations to control population explosion and educate migrant labourers to adopt non-scalpel vasectomy. Addressing a social orientation camp here on Tuesday, Dr Rajinder Singh, Civil Surgeon, said the non-scalpel vasectomy operation was painless and simple.

SAMRALA
Lawyers' strike: On a call given by the Bathinda Bar Association, lawyers here observed a strike here on Wednesday. Earlier, a meeting of the Bar was held under the chairmanship of Mr L.S. Rai, in which it was decided that the strike would continue till Thursday.

Meditation camp: The Divine Life Society, Chandigarh and Panchkula branch, will organise a five-day yoga sadhna meditation camp from September 12 at Plot No 2, Sector 29-A, Mr Mohinder Bhalla, Secretary of the society, said here on Wednesday. The land has been allotted to the society for spreading spiritualism and propagating the yoga vedanta culture. Mr Justice N.K. Sodhi of the Punjab and Haryana High Court will inaugurate the camp, while Mr Rajan Kashyap, principal Secretary, Punjab, will be the guest of honour.
Workers' union: The following have been elected office-bearers of the General Hospital Class IV Workers Union: chief adviser — Mr Somnath; chairman — Mr Baldev Singh Khalsa; senior vice-president — Ms Satya Thakur; vice-chairman — Mr Ramesh chand; and general secretary — Mr Ramjeet Singh.
Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Panjab University Staff Home Provision Associates Cooperative House Building Society: president — Mr Girish Kumar Gulati; vice-president — Mr Tirlochan Singh; secretary — Mr R.K. Kashyap; and treasurer — Mr K.S. Verma.

PANCHKULA
Fire incident: A minor fire broke out in house No 1056, Housing Board Colony, Sector 19, here on Wednesday. The fire was brought under control within 20 minutes. a few kitchen items were damaged in the fire. Leakage from an LPG cylinder is suspected to be the cause of the fire.

KAITHAL
Liquor seized: The police on Monday seized 100 pouches of liquor each from Kamal and Jarnail at Sangham and Budhakhera villages, respectively, and 50 pouches from Parveen at Sangatpura village. The accused have been arrested and cases under the Excise Act registered against them.
Allowance not paid: Home Guard jawans who were on election duty have protested against the non-payment of daily allowance as per specified norms. They met the Deputy Commissioner who assured them that he would look into the matter.
Stolen: A motor cycle belonging to Sultan Singh of Teek village was reportedly stolen from his house on Monday. The police has registered a case.

ROHTAK
Resentment: Resentment prevails among candidates who were selected for the posts of revenue patwari on May 29 but have not been called for training so far. The candidates will meet on Sunday to decide the future course of action.
First prize: Janet Malik, a class X student of the local Model School got the first prize in the inter-school essay writing competition held at M.D.M. School here on Independence Day. The results were declared on Tuesday.

SONEPAT
Havildar cremated: The mortal remains of Havildar Mahavir Singh of Bhanderi village in the Gohana subdivision of the district were cremated with full state honours in his native village on Tuesday.
Traffic blocked: Residents of Pipli village blocked traffic on the Kharkhauda-Delhi road for a few hours on Tuesday in protest against the electrocution of a buffalo. The blockade was lifted after an assurance by the police that the HVPN would compensate the owner of the buffalo.

BILASPUR
Murder case solved: The police on Tuesday claimed to have solved the murder case of Leela Dutt, a teastall owner, with the arrest of Mansha Ram and Sanjay Kumar, alias Onkar Singh of Sunhani. The accused have confessed to the crime which took place on Sunday.

KULU
Anti-drug rally: More than 1,600 students from various schools participated in an anti-drug rally organised by the police here on Tuesday. Speaking on the occasion, the district police chief, Mr Zahur H. Zaidithe, said the drug menace could be eradicated only with the participation of people.
Workshop: A four-day research workshop was organised here with the cooperation of the NCERT from Friday. Mr H.P. Sharma, District Education Officer, said the teaching in school should be linked with the local environment. He also stressed on quality education.

SOLAN
Media centre: The District Election officer, Mr R.D. Dhiman, has set up a media centre at the office of the District Public Relations Officer (DPRO) here to provide election related information. The DPRO here, Mr Pradeep Kanwar, has been made in charge of the centre.
Employees' union: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Deputy Commissioner's Office Employees' Union: President — Mr J.N. Sharma; Senior Vice-President — Mr Suresh Sharma.; Vice-Presidents — Mr Om Prakash, Bina Chandel and Mr Sees Ram; General Secretary — Mr Hari Dutt Sharma; and Joint Secretary — Mr Chaman Lal.

Regional Potpourri

Town hall planned for Hamirpur

THE Himachal Pradesh Government has planned a town hall at Hamirpur town. Financial approval of Rs 87.36 lakh has been given by the state government for this project.

The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, laid the foundation stone of this project in May. The project consists of a town hall, a library and a statue of the late Jagdev Chand, the former minister and a senior BJP leader who represented the town in the state assembly.

Since Hamirpur town had no place for holding public meetings and other indoor activities, the authorities mooted this plan. The new complex would be located in the heart of the town just adjoining the tehsil complex, police station and rest-house. At present the Animal Husbandry Department office is located at this spot.

There is also a provision for construction of booths along the bazaar road without disturbing the trees to accommodate petty goods sellers working at present on the outer side of the proposed complex. As many as 11 rehriwallas would be accommodated on a no loss, no profit basis in these booths.

Behind these booths on the northern and southern sides, a parking lot is to come up. People of Hamirpur town find it difficult to park vehicles for want of a proper lot.

The three-storey block of the library-cum-town hall would occupy an area of 2027 sq metres. For the benefit of children, there is provision for the installation of a fountain, see-saw and other recreational facilities.

The Department of Public Works would be responsible for the construction and undertaking of all other activities under the project. The Town and Country Department would monitor it from time to time so that there was no deviation from the proposed plan. A sum of Rs 30 lakh has been released by the state government for this project which has been given to a private contractor.

Once the project was complete, it would be handed over to the local Nagar Palika Parishad. Being a multi-purpose project, it will go a long way in solving the problems of parking in the heart of the town and provide a library-cum-town hall complex. The new complex would be able to organise socio-economic activities and the parking lot would mitigate the traffic problem in the town.

Best citizen award for Abohar teacher

Mr Om Parkash Setia, nicknamed "Gandhi", who had been honoured by the Prime Minister with national youth leadership award last year, has now been included in the list of best citizens of India. The other personalities selected for the award included Nagaland Chief Minister, S.C. Jamir, matinee idol Dev Anand, actor-turned parliamentarian Sunil Dutt, architects Feroz Kudianwala and Hafiz Contractor, industrialist Vijay Mallaya, Lord Swraj Paul, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and cardiovascular surgeon Dr Naresh Trehan.

Mr Setia, born and educated in Abohar, is now posted at a senior secondary school in Sangrur district as a lecturer. He drew inspiration from Mr Anirudh Tiwari, Deputy Commissioner, for carrying on his social welfare activities which used to consume most of his time in Abohar sub-division and had bagged the state award earlier.

The citation on his selection for the Best Citizen of India Award said he was chosen for his interest in spreading education and literacy among the rural people (which prompted him to open a rural library) for his philanthropic approach and timely assistance in food, funds and clothes to the victims of national calamities like floods and famine.

Mr Setia has been described as an ardent promoter of literacy campaigns who opened literacy centres in Sangrur district, had chosen his own way of promoting literacy by organising cycle rallies, had been promoting sadbhavna rallies which united people from different religions and speaking various languages.

He had been advising the rural people to maintain health and hygiene and participated in a big way in the national integration programmes. The citation has lauded Mr Setia for protecting the environment by popularising van mahotsav and bringing awareness about the use of polythene bags which harmed cattle.

Yoga popular in Sirsa

With the importance and popularity of yoga in modern life being recognised the world over, more and more people are adopting yoga in Sirsa too. The Divya Yog Sadhna Mandir on the Old Kachehri Road is a centre for yoga lovers. Since its inception it has helped numerous people through training and literature.

Keeping in line with their previous efforts, two books on yoga entitled "Divya Parkash Punj" and "Ram Mulkh Dayal Sewa Satsang Wani" were released by the Deputy Commissioner Dr Avtar Singh. These books were written by the chairman of Delhi's Yog Sadhana Institute, Yogacharya Satish Abbi. "Divya Parkash Punj" is an attempt to acquaint the reader with the pious life and work of the Yoga Ashram founder, Yogeshwar Devi Dayal, while the other book is a collection of the Guru's teachings.

The release of these books was part of the function to commemorate the first death anniversary of Yogeshwar Devi Dayal. Kirtan and brahm bhoj were also held.

The chief guest, Dr Avtar Singh, appreciated the efforts of those who make available the teachings and messages of Guru's for the welfare of humanity. He cited his own example of positive effect of yoga which rid him of his problem of nausea.

Yogacharya Guru Sewak Raghuveer, explaining the Guru's teaching, said the master had the ability to draw the hidden talent of his disciple. While expressing his concern over the commercialisation of yoga, he said, this was part of the country's cultural heritage which had to be spread as a free service. Citing the Guru's example, he pointed out the Guru had dedicated his whole life to teaching yoga without charging a paisa. Guru Devi Dayal wanted to create a disease-free society which, according to him, was possible only through yoga.

— Contributed by Chander Shekhar Sharma, Raj Sadosh and Bhupinder Dharmani