R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

GURDASPUR
POWER THEFT: Officials of the Punjab State Electricity Board, in a raid on offices and residences of government officials, detected more than 45 cases of power theft. Power connections of these officials have been disconnected.

MURDER ACCUSED HELD: The police has arrested Sukhdev Singh of Jethunangal in connection with a murder case. According to the SSP, Sukhdev Singh is accused in the murder of his brother’s wife, Sukhbir Kaur.

DIRECTIVE: Mr B.Vikram, District Magistrate, through orders issued here on Tuesday, has directed the dhaba and restaurant owners, bakers and sweet-shop owners to close their establishments by 11 p.m. Other traders have been asked to close their shops by 8.30 p.m.

KHAMANON
MEETING HELD: A meeting of the Akali Dal (A) circle, Khamanon, was held at Gurdwara Sahib Ranwan under the chairmanship of Mr Iman Singh Mann, son of Mr Simranjeet Singh Mann. In this meeting Satwinder Singh Manela was unanimously elected president of the youth wing of the Akali Dal (A) circle Khamanon. Jathedar Ravinderpal Singh Bagli, Ranjeet Singh Meenpur and Mohinder Singh, circle president, were also present at the meeting.

YOUTH KILLED: A youth Harpal Singh, alias Billa, of Barwali Khurd village, tehsil Khamanon, was killed in a road accident in Italy, in the town Nauvare, near Milan city. According to information received, Billa was returning home with his friends at night after finishing his day’s work , when a speeding car struck him from behind. Billa’s friends immediately called an ambulance, but he was declared dead on the spot by the health staff. The speeding car was reportedly driven by the owner of the farm where Billa was employed.

LUDHIANA
COMPETITION: In order to recognise and upgrade the skills of the industrial workers through skill development programmes, the Confederation of Indian Industry (Northern Region) organised the 13th Regional Work Competition here at the Advanced Training Institute (ATI), Ludhiana and ITI, Chandigarh. The competition was recognised by the Directorate General of Employment and Training (D G E&T), Ministry of Labour, Government of India. According to a press note, the competition provided the industrial workers a platform not only to enhance their skills in respective trades but also to interact and gain through sharing of experience and expertise of the workers from other leading companies. 35 participants from organisations covering the entire Northern region like, Dabur, Hero Honda, LML, New Holand Tractors, Ordnance Cable Factory, Denso India, Ind-Sphinx Precision, Bharti Telecom, Sandhar Locking Devices participated in the seven specialised trades of electrician, fitter, industrial electronics, miller, turner, welder and toll and dye maker in which competition was held.

FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: The Punjab NCC Directorate, Chandigarh, won for the third time the All India Inter Directorate Football Championship held from August 12 to August 23 this year at Pune. They defeated the Maharashtra Directorate, 1-0. Lt Col Manmohan Singh and Lt Col S.K. Kaul, trained and accompanied the team, respectively, while Mr J.S. Jaspal was the coach of the team.

NON PAYMENT: The district president of the Nationalist Congress Party, Mr Amar Talwar, on Wednesday attacked the Badal government for stopping the Rs 200 monthly pension to the elderly in the state. He said in a press note that while the Badal government was spending lakhs of rupees on different functions every day, it did not have the necessary finance to pay the monthly old age pensions.

KISAN MELA: Mr C.L. Bains, Financial Commissioner (Development), Government of Punjab, will inaugurate the regional kisan mela at Kandi Research Centre, Ballowal Saunkhri, on September 8. According to Dr J.S. Kolar, Director of Extension Education, this mela will be the first in a series of kisan melas to be organised by the PAU during September. Agriculture technology, according to the specific needs of the rainfed farms of Kandi areas, will be demonstrated in the melas. The main kisan mela at PAU campus will be organised on September 21 and 22. The kisan mela at Rauni (Patiala) will be organised on September 14, while those at Bathinda and Gurdaspur will be held on September 26 and September 19, respectively. Dr Kolar further said the major focus during these kisan melas will be precision farming for high profits. The arrangements for sale of improved seed and farm literature during these melas have also been made.

YOUTH CONGRESS: The Youth Congress has flayed former Union Minister Mr Sukhbir Badal for creating in himself an extra-constitutional authority and making false promises to the people at public functions. A prominent YC functionary Mr. Sarbjit Bunty, said in a press note here on Wednesday that just because Mr Sukhbir Badal happened to be the son of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, he had no constitutional powers to announce government grants and other concessions to the people as he had done the other day while presiding over a function on the concluding day of a rural sports tournament at Kot Gangu Rai village in this district. He criticised the government and the bureaucrats for giving undue importance to Mr Sukhbir Badal, who held no post in the government or the ruling party, and wasting funds on making security and other arrangements for Mr Sukhbir Badal’s visits all over the state.

THEEKRI PEHRA: The Kirti Kisan Union and the Pendu Mazdoor Union have urged the district authorities to withdraw the orders of ‘theekri pehra’ (voluntary watch) enforced in the rural areas. A joint deputation of the two unions, led by the state president of KKU, Mr Hardev Singh Sandhu, met the Deputy Commissioner here and termed the orders as discriminatory against the rural population. In a written memorandum, it was pointed out that those volunteering for the task were put to immense physical danger while there was no clear cut government policy for providing any compensation on police pattern in case of any mishap. Not only this, disturbing reports of misbehaviour by police personnel with the volunteers were also received from several places. The deputation suggested that rather than putting the poor peasants and working classes on this job, the administration should set up village protection committees and its members should be provided proper training and fire arms. The volunteers should also be paid atleast Rs 50 per day. The deputation made it clear that in case the administration persisted with its unjust decision of theekri pehra, the kisan unions, along with other bodies, would gherao the Punjab Assembly on September 5 and would resort to other agitational approaches thereafter.

NCP WARNS: The district president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Mr Rashpal Singh Gill, has warned certain party functionaries to desist from acts of indiscipline and anti-party activities, failing which stern steps would be initiated against them. He said in a statement here on Wednesday that some disgruntled elements were using the Dalit card for their selfish political motives and were raising non-issues just to further their own political careers. Mr Gill said the party workers should seek redressal of their genuine complaints within the party forum and not to tarnish the image of the party in public.

MALERKOTLA
DENTAL CAMP: A free dental check-up camp was organised by the local Rotary Club (Mid-town) at Chaunda village, 12 km from here, on Saturday. Dr Mohammed Shabbir, SMO at the local Civil Hospital, examined patients.

POWER CUTS: Resentment prevails among local residents against the PSEB over undeclared power cuts. Dr Satish Kapoor, president of the local Citizens Welfare Council, has demanded regular power supply.

APPOINTED: Mr Jagat Narain Kathuria, a local BJP leader, has been appointed trustee of the local Improvement Trust for a period of two years. The local Citizens Welfare Council congratulated Mr Kathuria on his appointment.

NAWANSHAHR
ANNUAL FUNCTION: Government Senior Secondary School at Sahiba, 25 km from here, organised its annual prize distribution function on the school premises on Monday. Mr Nand Lal, MLA, Balachaur , was the chief guest while Mr Surinder Mohan, SDM, Balachaur, presided over the function.

HOUSE TAX: Mr Vijay Kumar Nayyar, Executive Officer of the local municipal council, has said the house-tax defaulters have been given a chance to deposit their tax arrears without any penalty from September 1 to 30.

SAMRALA
KHARIF CROP: Reacting to the increase in the minimum support price of kharif crops announced by the Union Government, Mr Balbir Singh Rajewal, national general secretary of Bharti Kisan Union, said that the increase in the price of paddy from Rs 520 to Rs 540 was not only a cruel joke with the farmers but also a rebuke from the government to the farmers. Mr Rajewal said that the increase of Rs 20 in MSP of paddy did not in any way cover the increase in prices of fertilizers, HSD, mustard oil pesticides and weedicides after the paddy transplantation. This price was not justifiable scientifically, he said. Talking to pressman here at the local civil rest house, Mr Rajewal said that the relevance of this price was lost if it was not implemented right now instead of from October 1. If the government was not interested in purchasing paddy before October 1, the MSP would become meaningless because in its absence, the farmers would be compelled to sell their produce to the rice millers at the rate of Rs 300 and Rs 370 per quintal. Mr Rajewal alleged that 70% of the paddy crop would be “looted” for below the MSP till the end of September. Mr Rajewal warned that if the government failed to come to the rescue of the farmers by entering the markets immediately, the farmers of Sunam constituency, on behalf of the whole farming community would punish the ruling party in the coming by-election.

CHANDIGARH

SAPLINGS PLANTED: As many as 50 saplings were planted by the members of the Lions Club, Chandigarh Vishal, in the premises of Government Model Senior secondary School, Sector 35-D, during a tree plantation drive, here today. Mr Brahamjit Kalia, DEO, inaugurated the drive and advised the students to take care of the plants. Mr B.S. Garcha, Regional Chairman, Ms Baljit Modi, Zone Chairperson, Mr Chanchal Singh, Deputy DEO, Mr K.K. Anand, President of the Parent-Teacher association and Mr Khushinder Sharma were also present.

RALLY: The Dhobi Welfare Society has decided not to join the rally on August 30 on the call of Mr Ramesh Kumar Chandolia. In a press note, Mr Sham Lal, President of the Society, has alleged that Mr Chandolia is misusing the name of dhobies as they have no relations with him.

RUDRAPRAYAG: A meeting of the members of the Chamoli Parvatiya Vikas Parishad was organised on the issue of the formation of a new parishad, ‘‘Rudraprayag Vikas Parishad’’. Mr Harish Benjwal, General Secretary of the Parishad, said the members belonging to Rudraprayag are already the part of Chamoli district and there is no question of their separation from the district as well as CPVP, Chandigarh.

TAKEN OVER: Mr Justice K.K. Srivastava (retd) has taken over as the President, State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, UT. He will succeed Justice J.B. Garg who retired as president some days back. During the intermittent session, Dr P.K. Vasudeva, member of the commission, handled the charge of the President of the commission.

COACHING CLASSES: The Sikh Missionary College (Chandigarh Circle) will organise free coaching in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Commerce for the needy students of Classes X and XII. The classes are being organised in association with the Management Committee of Gurdwara Sahib, Sector 34-D. An entrance test for the admission to these classes will be held on September 3 and the classes would start from September 5 and would continue for three months, said Mr Gurbir Singh, In charge, Chandigarh Circle.

DIRECTORY RELEASED: The Mayor, Ms Shanta Abhilashi, released the directory of the Market Welfare Association, Sector 44-D on Tuesday. Later, in a memorandum to the Mayor, the association demanded the recarpeting of the parking area and fixing of tiles on the left out portion in front of the shops. Replacement of the water tank and electricity meter at the public toilet was also demanded. Clearing off the blocked sewerage of the bay shops and toilets, replacement of the defective streetlights, maintenance of the parks and regular cleaning of the market, were the other demands listed in the memorandum.

SENTENCED: A Mohali resident was sentenced to three months rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 500 by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Sant Parkash, in the case under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. The complaint had been registered against the accused, Kamal Kant, on May 10, 1988, after the recovery of the adulterated bottles of vibha orange sweetened carbonated water by the food inspector from his possession. The sample was found misbranded by the Public Analyst, Chandigarh.

SELECTED: The general body meeting of the Bahawalpur Panchayat, Chandigarh, elected Mr D.D. Sindhi its President for the year 2000-2001 on August 27. Mr R.B. Pahuja and Mr B.R. Verma were elected Vice-Presidents. Mr P.C. Chhabra General Secretary, Mr N.D. Pahuja Joint Secretary, Mr G.L. Pahuja Finance Secretary and Mr Suresh Kumar Publicity Secretary.

WORKSHOP: As part of the Raj Basha Hindi Golden Jubilee year, a three-day Hindi workshop was organised from August 28 in the office of Senior Quality Assurance Establishment, Ministry of Defence, to promote the use of Hindi in the official work. The workshop was inaugurated by Col Satish Kumar, Senior Quality Assurance Officer. The function was attended by a large number of officers and staff from HQs and various wings of SQAE. Dr Vinod Pankaj, Hindi Officer, All India Radio, a Hindi journalist, Mr Arun Aditya, and Mr J.L. Bahragava, Hindi Officer, delivered lectures on the Official Language Policy Act.

EKTA SAMITI: The delegate conference of Footpath Workers Ekta Samiti was held in Cheema Bhavan, Sector 30, on Wednesday. Speakers of every category raised the problems they faced while working on the footpaths. About 20 speakers of different categories participated in the debate.

CAMP ORGANISED: A 10-day NSS camp was organised in Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, under the guidance of the programme officers, Mr Labh Singh, and Mr Ramesh Shastri. About 100 students participated in the camp. Mr Shiv Kumar Sharma, Principal, Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 23, was the chief guest.

PROBLEMS HIGHLIGHTED: The Welfare Association, Sector 47, at a meeting held on Wednesday expressed great concern over the choked roads that convert the streets into streams after every spell of rain and the increasing threat of stray animals.

PANCHKULA
APPOINTED: Dr Vijay Garg was appointed SMO at General Hospital Sector 6 recently. He joined as the District Health Officer and replaced Dr Bhardwaj who has been posted to the Government Hospital at Naraingarh on Wednesday.

SAS NAGAR
CORRECTION: In the results of the SAS nagar Municipal Council elections published on Tuesday, the name of Mr Surjit Singh, who won from Ward No. 12 had been inadvertently mentioned as Ms Surjit Kaur and the name of Ms Amteshwar Kaur, who won from Ward No. 22 had been inadvertently mentioned as Amrik Singh.

HARYANA

AMBALA
GREETING CARDS: To commemorate the noble work of running a school for mentally and physically handicapped children and to highlight the Army Wives Welfare Association’s (AWWA) activities, President, Kharga AWWA, Ms Shivjot Sihota, will launch ASHA greeting cards. The school located in Ambala cantonment, which is a ray of hope for the special children, is appropriately called Asha. Asha school for special children started in 1995 and at present has 39 children, five teachers and a vast array of equipment. The AWWA has played a critical role in conceiving and nurturing this institution.

CAMP ORGANISED: A blood donation camp was organised in the MDSD Girls College, sponsored by NSS, NCC units and women cell of the college in collaboration with Rotary Club, Rotract Club and the State Bank of India. The Principal, Dr Kiran Angra, put forward the keen interest of students and members of the staff in eye donation. Mr Vishwas Verma, President, Rotary Club, and Mr A.K. Bhandari, Chief Manager, State Bank of India, on behalf of their club and bank gave refreshments and gifts to the donors.

KAITHAL
HONOURED: A programme to honour outstanding students and a group song competition was organised by the Bharat Vikas Parishad here on Monday evening. The local MLA, Mr Leela Ram, distributed prizes to the winners.

YAMUNANAGAR
TRAINING CAMP: A training camp was organised at the local Divisional Employment Office to motivate and equip the educated handicapped youth for self-employment and private jobs. Mr Raman Saluja, chairman of the Yamunanagar-Jagadhri Chamber of Commerce, presided over the function.