R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

BALACHAUR
ELECTED: In the election of the nagar panchayat, Balachaur, Ms Kashmir Kaur Suba of the Akali Dal was elected president, while Ms Chander Kanta Tikka of the BJP was elected as the vice-president, unanimously.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
EYE CAMP: The Leo Club, Bassi Pathana, organised a free eye check-up camp at Bassi Pathana on Monday. Dr Harbans Lal, MLA, inaugurated the camp. The doctors from Civil Hospital, Fatehgarh Sahib, examined more than 250 patients and performed 30 operations. Medicines and spectacles were given free to the patients.

FAZILKA
NO SALARIES: As many as 100 teachers working in 50 primary schools of Punjab, have not been paid salaries for June and July, as the sanction for these posts of teachers is still awaited. Mr Raj Kishore Kalra, spokesman, Government Teachers Union, Punjab, in a statement here on Tuesday urged the Education Secretary to release the salaries immediately.

KHARAR
WARRANTS ISSUED: Mrs Neelam Arora, Judicial Magistrate Kharar, on Monday issued production warrants of Sarup Singh and Jit Singh, who were identified by the local police for allegedly snatching Rs 60,550 from a local gas agency on May 30. The accused are in the Ludhiana jail in connection with an other case registered against them and the court has ordered that they be produced on or before August 24. According to the police, Mr Mohan Behl complained that a youth with his face covered had snatched the amount from him and run away with another person standing on the roadside with a motor cycle.

CASE REGISTERED: The police has registered a case against two brothers and their mother for allegedly taking goods our of a rented shop forcibly and then taking possession of the shop. The incident occurred on September 14, 1999, but the police took about 11 months to register the FIR. According to the FIR, the complainant, Mr Purshotam Kumar, reported to the SSP, Ropar that on September 14 night last year, the accused took away the goods and the signboard of his shop. He came to know about the incident the next morning when he came to the shop. When he asked the reason for this from the accused, he was threatened by them. The chowkidar disclosed the identity of the accused to him.

MOGA
TELEPHONE DIRECTORY: Residents of Moga on Tuesday urged the Telecommunication Department to release the telephone directory for the current year. They complained that they had not received any directory for the past several years.

PATHANKOT
ARRESTED: In a drive against drug-trafficking, the Shahpur Kandi police arrested Sohan Singh and seized 60 bottles of liquor from him. A case under the Punjab Excise Act has been registered against him.

NOMINATED: Ms Manisha Verma, member, District Consumer Forum, has been nominated as the joint secretary of the Bar Association, Pathankot.

CONDEMNED: In a meeting, the Rashtriya Chetna Parishad, Punjab under the presidentship of Mr Ravi Bhushan Puri, on Sunday condemned the recent killings in Jammu and Kashmir. They also condemned the killing of Pradeep Bhatia, photo-journalist of The Hindustan Times.

PATIALA
MEDICAL CAMP : On the eve of the fifth death anniversary of Danveer Seth Chiranji Lal Ji, former President of Sanatan Dharam Kumar Sabha a free medical camp was organised at the Aggarsain Hospital here on Monday. Presiding over the function, Mrs Praneet Kaur, MP announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh from the discretionary fund to the hospital. Seth Shankar Lal Aggarwal, President of the Chuhia Mal Trust, also donated Rs 1 lakh to the hospital. About 730 patients were examined and giver free medicines and underwent various laboratory tests.

PROTEST: Responding to a call given by the All-India Federation of University Teachers Association (AIFUTA), Punjabi University teachers wore black badges as a mark of protest against the non-fulfilment of various demands, including raising of a retirement age to 62 years, release of arrears on account of pay revision and implementation of career advancement scheme, 1996. The Secretary of the Punjabi University Teachers Association, Dr Hari Singh Boparai, praised Dr J.S. Ahluwalia, Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, for releasing the arrears out of the university’s resources. He also appealed to the state government to release the arrears of the teachers for three years.

PHAGWARA
HAILED: The Indian Medical Association, Punjab, on Sunday hailed Punjab Government’s new policy to provide plots at concessional rates to private medical institutions for super speciality health care facilities. They also demanded that apart from the tertiary medical care through private sector, the government should also lay stress on affordable health care facilities for the masses.

CHANDIGARH

BPCL CELEBRATION: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited celebrated Independence Day at its outlets in the city. The corporation distributed sweets among its customers, particularly children accompanying their parents to the outlets. It was a festive look at the outlet in Sector 21. The Territory Manager (Retails), Ambala, was among those who celebrated the occasion.

RALLY : The Akhil Bharatiya Jodo Sangathan, along with other organisations, organised a rally on Independence Day here on Tuesday. The main aim of the rally was to enlighten the people about the population explosion, degradation of the environment and the unhygienic sanitary conditions. The rally was flagged off by Prof S.K. Sharma, Director, PGI. The rally, which was organised by the president of the sangathan, Mr R.R. Gill, passing through the various sectors before culminating at the Rose Garden in sector 16.

CAMP : A ''how to live'' camp was organised by the Yagoda Satsanga Society on its premises in Sector 28. As many as 29 children from different schools of Chandigarh, Panchkula, Patiala, Parwanoo and Jalandhar participated in the three-day camp. The activities included energisation exercises, bhajan recitation and meditation.

GOLDEN JUBILEE : The Government College of Art, one of the premiere institutions of the country, will be celebrating the golden jubilee year of its existence here on Wednesday. The celebrations will begin with the plantation of 50 saplings on the college campus. The UT Adviser, Ms Vineeta Rai, will plant the first sapling.The function will be attended by distinguished artists who have been associated with the college for a long time. Students will also take part in the plantation drive. The day has also been chosen to release the college magazine.

LECTURES: The Punjab Environment and Heritage Society has started a series of extension lectures by eminent experts for creating awareness and concern for Punjab’s heritage and environment. The first lecture in the series will be delivered by Dr Kirpal Singh, a former professor and head of department of Punjabi University, Patiala, on “glorious heritage of Punjab” at Punjab Kala Bhavan, Sector 16, on August 25.

BHANDARA : The Ruhani Satsang Society is organising a three day barsi bhandara in honour of Sant Kirpal Singh here from August 19 at the Manav Kendra, near the Mansa Devi complex. Sant Thakur Singh will deliver a holy satsang in the morning and evening on all the three days. Naam-daan will also be given to new entrants on August 22.

RISHI TARPANI : Shri Brahmin Sabha, Ambala cantonment, observed Rishi Tarpani with fervour on Tuesday. A yagna was performed in the morning and all the members changed their yagopavita. Mr Tarsem Lal Sharma and Mr Om Prakash Sharma, President and General Secretary of the sabha, respectively, paid homage to the Amarnath pilgrims who died in the terrorist attack and strongly condemned the incident.

SAS NAGAR
CRITICISED: The Ghar Bachao Committee of Nayagoan has criticised the demolition drive undertaken by the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) at Kansal village on Sunday. Mr Balbir Singh, spokesman of the committee, said the Punjab Government had been urged to direct the PUDA authorities to desist from such drives in the future. Enraged residents had tried to attack the demolition staff with bricks and stones. The drive was called off when stay orders from a court were shown to the officials.

HARYANA

SONEPAT
TRUCK RECOVERED: The Rai police arrested two persons, Sunil of Sonepat and Ram Bhaj of Rubra village, following the recovery of a truck from them on Tuesday. Mr A.S. Chawla, SP, said the truck belonged to Mr Attar Singh of Panipat.

ARRESTED: The Baroda police on Tuesday arrested four members of a family of Bhawar village in connection with the alleged murder of Jaipal of the same village on August 10. Mr A.S. Chawla, SP, said the arrested persons had been identified as Dayanand, Naresh, Rajesh and Subhash. The police has recovered a pistol and sharp-edged weapons used in the murder from them.

SMUGGLERS HELD: The city police has arrested two youths of Meerut on the charge of liquor smuggling. The police has seized 330 bottles of English wine from them. The police has registered a case under the Excise Act.

KILLED: One person was killed by a vehicle near Shahzadpur village, about 8 km from here, on Monday. The driver managed to escape, leaving the vehicle behind. The police has registered a case.

ELECTED: Dr Puran Mal Gaur, a lecturer of Hindu College, was unanimously elected president of the local unit of Youth Hostelers Association for the fifth time here on Monday.

YAMUNANAGAR
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Haryana College Teachers’ Union, Yamunanagar zone: president — Dr T.P. Singh, Sadhaura; vice-president — Mr S.K. Sharma, Yamunanagar; and secretary — Prof S.K. Mahenderu, jagadhri.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
SUICIDE: Devi Ram (41), a vegetable vendor of Barthin, 42 km from here, has allegedly committed suicide. It is alleged that family circumstance compelled him to take the step.

RALLY: The students of Government Postgraduate College, led by the ABVP leaders, Mr Mukesh Thakur and Mr Pankaj Thakur, boycotted their classes and organised an anti-Pakistan rally here on Monday. They shouted slogans against Pakistan, burnt the flag and warned it against supporting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

NCC CAMP: The combined Annual Training Camp (Naval wing) of the NCC started here on Sunday. Senior and junior cadets from Government Postgraduate College, Bilaspur and Sarkaghat, and Regional Engineering College, Hamirpur, are participating in the camp. Addressing the inaugural function, Commander D.R. Sharma said the cadets would be given training in parade, weapons, sailing, ship-modelling, firing and the social service.