R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
POWER CUTS: The local Shastri Market Association, in a letter to the Chief Engineer, PSEB, has complained that since last month, the area has been facing frequent power cuts and voltage fluctuations, leading to break down of transformers and electrical appliances. The association has urged the PSEB to announce the cuts through newspapers

LOK ADALAT: The District legal Authority has announced that a Lok Adalat will be held under Mr S.P. Bangar, Additional District and Sessions Judge-cum-Presiding Officer at labour court here on September 22. All industrial workers who want to settle their dispute should contact the authorities concerned.

CONDEMNED: Dr Pritam Singh Randhawa, president of the local unit of the Punjab Veterinary Officers Association, has condemned the attack on driver Hans Raj, a driver, while on duty on the premises of a hospital by certain persons. The association has also demanded action against the culprits.

INVITED: Dr Jasmeet Sandhu, Reader, Department of Sociology, Guru Nanak Dev University, has been invited to participate in the Fifth Asia Pacific Social Sciences and Medicine Conference to be held at the Centre for Intersectoral Community and Health Studies, Kandy (Sri Lanka) from September 24 to 28. She will present a paper on “Gender Inequality, Contraceptive Use and Reproductive Health: The Case Study of Punjab,” according to a press note issued by the university.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Newspaper Sellers Union: president — Mr Ramesh Kumar Sharma; and general secretary — Mr Karam Chand Sharma.

FARIDKOT
WORKSHOP: A four-day painting workshop held to celebrate the Aagman Purab of Baba Sheikh Farid concluded here on Monday. Many renowned artists, including Mehar Singh, president, Punjab Lalit Kala Academy, participated in the workshop.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
MEETING: A high-level meeting was held here on Monday at the Deputy Commissioner’s office to review the progress of the voters’ identity card campaign. Dr Barjinder Singh, Chief Electoral Officer, presided.

HOSHIARPUR
SENTENCED: Mr R.L. Roozam, District and Sessions Judge, has sentenced Ramu of Udhopur village to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on him for murdering Parmatma Singh of Bassi Maruf village on May 18, 1999.

CULTURAL MEET: Folk songs were presented at a cultural programme, “Lashkara-2000”, organised by the Sher-e-Punjab Youth Club at Bure Jattan village on Sunday. Mr Balbir Singh, Minister of State for Higher Medical Education and Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner were among those present.

KAPURTHALA
RALLY: A recruitment rally was organised at the local Guru Nanak Stadium to select jawans for the Army from Sikh Ramdasia and Sikh Majhbi communities of Punjab. Brig M.P.S. Bajwa, Station Commander, was among those who addressed the rally.

PADDY PROCUREMENT: A deputation of five farmers’ unions on Monday met Mr V.K. Singh, Deputy Commissioner, and urged him to ensure the entry of government agencies for the procurement of paddy on September 21.

LUDHIANA
SUPPORT: The Republic Party of India will support Prem Singh Chandumajra, the Sanjha Morcha candidate, in the Sunam byelection. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the party office-bearers at Khanna on Monday which was chaired by Mr Mukhtiar Singh.

JAGRATA: Singers of Janseva Durga Bhajan Mandali sang hymns in praise of Ma Bhagwati at a jagrata held on Monday night at Ashok Nagar. An audio cassette titled jai jai maa di bole by Surinder Jindal of Patiala was released by Mr Sushil Malhotra, President, Lal Bahadur Shastri Forum. Prominent citizens who were honoured on the occasion were Mr Ashok Kumar, councillor, Mr Kailash Babbar, Mr Sanjiv Kumar, Mr Jaswant Singh, Mr Bihari Lal, Mr Amar Nath and Mr Harbans Lal.

WEBSITE: Justpunjab.com, a site on Punjab and its culture, has distinguished itself in online directory of a company, Snap Live Directory, at www.edition.snap.com. after being reviewed by the online editors of the directory. Mr Satinder, one of the directors of the site, claims that the site achieved a hit rate of nine lakh within the first month of its launch. He also informed that the site is also listed in the popular search engines of Yahoo and Altavista.

PROGRAMME: The Malwa Central College of Education for Women, organised a talent search programme to mark the beginning of the new academic session of B.Ed and M.Ed at the college premises. The objective of the programme was to short list the students for the youth festival to be held in November. Mr Jaswant Singh, Vice-Principal of the college, presided over the first session of the competitions. He appreciated the efforts of the students and emphasised that they must view the things in present context, keeping in mind the changing realities of life. The students presented ghazals, songs, folk songs, group dance and skits in the afternoon session. Mr K.K. Bhatia, Director, Malwa Institute of Professional Studies, presided over the session. He said it was essential to unravel the hidden talent of students for their allround personality development. Dr (Ms) Ravinder Kaur, Principal of the college, was the guest of honour on the occasion.

SUPPORT: Mr Kuldip Singh Mundian, office secretary, Lok Bhalai Party, said here on Tuesday that the party would extend its support to Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra in the Sunam byelection. He said the Akali Dal (B) had lost base in the state because of corruption indulged in by its leaders at all levels. He accused Mr Talwandi of hobnobbing with the past Congress governments for personal gains. Referring to Mr Talwandi”s penchant for name-calling in his speeches, he said such leaders had no right to be called as Panthic leaders.

CAMPAIGN: The District Akali Jatha (urban) acting President, Mr Avtar Singh Makkar, who has just returned from Sunam, along with other office-bearers and activists of the party, has claimed that the SAD (B) candidate, Mr Parminder Singh Dhindsa, was gaining strength and was all set for a grand victory in the byelection. According to Mr Makkar, the party chief, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, had entrusted the duty of local Akali Dal functionaries to canvass support for the party candidate in Maujewal, Bhaini Ganduan, Daule Singh Wala, Mandewas and Ugraha villages and he himself, along with circle jathedars and activists of the Istri Akali Dal, had went from door to door to seek vote and support for Mr Dhindsa. The village-level meetings were still on. Meanwhile, Ms Charanjit Kaur, President of the Istri Akali Dal, who has switched over from the faction led by Mr Amarjit Bhatia to that of Mr Makkar, was felicitated in a function held at Jassian Road. Speaking on this occasion, she said a big jatha of the Istri Akali Dal workers would soon leave for Sunam to take part in the SAD (B) election campaign.

CAMP: A free vaccination camp for hepatitis-B was organised at Gurdwara Mastuana Sahib, Dugri Road, in the city under the patronage of Sant Shamsher Singh Jagera, President of International Sant Samaj. 90 persons were vaccinated at the camp by the team of doctors comprising Dr Tarsem Jindal and Dr Ashwani Bhatia. The people were also educated on the need for vaccination against several diseases like liver cancer, jaundice and others.

MALERKOTLA
SEIZED: The local police has seized $ 1 million and arrested Hari Narain and Ram Vilas Malah of Mehraj Ganj, Uttar Pradesh, in this connection. A case has been registered under Sections 420, 511 and 34 of the IPC.

DEMANDED: Teachers in various government schools in Sangrur district working under the Central Black Board Scheme have not been paid salaries for the past three months. They have demanded the immediate disbursement of the salaries.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Government Treasury Officers Association of Punjab: president — Mr Sudershan Kumar Seth, general secretary — Mr Rachhpal Singh, and press secretary — B.M. Mittal.

PROCESSION: Activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) took out a silent procession here to press for their demand for holding elections to the Students Central Association. The activists also urged the Central Government to take steps to improve the quality of education in the country.

MOGA
PURCHASING CENTRES: Deputy Commissioner Kanwalbir Singh Sidhu said here on Monday that the district authorities had set up 87 purchasing centres for the procurement of paddy. He was addressing a meeting of heads of government departments.

PATHANKOT
AWARD: Mrs Rewa Sharma, Principal, Senior Secondary Girls School, was presented the state award by her husband, Mr Mohan Lal, Minister of State for Higher Education, at a function organised by the National and State Award Association, Gurdaspur, here on Sunday.

COMPENSATION: A camp was organised by the authorities to distribute compensation cheques to Ranjit Sagar Dam oustees at Pataralwan village on Sunday. Mr Mohan Lal, Minister of State for Higher Education, distributed the cheques. While the camp was on, activists of the Shiv Sena raised slogans against the authorities and demanded adequate compensation for the oustees.

PATIALA
SUPPORT: Mr Charanjit Singh Walia, ex-MP and president of the State Services Federation announced the decision of the Federation to support Paraminder Singh Dhindsa, the joint candidate of SAD-BJP in the coming election to the Sunam Punjab Assembly constituency. Mr Walia said a big convention of workers would be held at Sunam on September 27 in support of the candidature of Parminder Singh Dhindsa, the SAD candidate. Mr Walia has appealed to all employees to vote for Mr Paraminder Singh Dhindsa. 

PHILLAUR
SECURITY COURSE: On the direction of the DGP, Punjab, a six-day specialised course on VIP security for police officers was started at the Punjab Police Academy, here on Monday. Officers of the Punjab Police and CISF would participate in the course.

ROPAR
BAN ORDERS: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr G.S. Grewal, banned the taking out of processions, organising rallies, use of loud speakers and gathering of more than five persons at a place in the district till November 12 under Section 144 here on Monday. The order also directed house owners to submit details of tenants and servants at the nearest police station.

TARN TARAN
ANNIVERSARY: The birth anniversary of poet Santokh Singh was celebrated on Monday at his native village, Noordi Sarai. A function was held on the occasion.

CHANDIGARH

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Sahit Sabha: president — Mr Manmohan Singh Daon; senior vice-president — Mr Kartar Singh Panchi; vice-presidents — Mr Shabdish and Puran Singh Kirti; general secretary — Mr Sanjeevan Singh; joint secretary — Mr Babu Ram Diwana; finance secretary — Ms Rajinder Rosy; chief adviser — Mr Dharam Pal Upashak and legal adviser — Mr Karam Singh. 

HARYANA

REWARI
PRIZE DISTRIBUTION: A prize distribution function was held jointly by the Dorian Yates Charitable Gymnasium and the Young Men’s Association at the Astha Kunj, (Home for destitute children) here on Sunday. Mr D.P. Yadav, a member of the Rajya Sabha, was the chief guest.

ROHTAK
DEFERRED: The week-long dharna by the Non-Teaching Employees Association of Maharshi Dayanand University was deferred on Monday following assurances by the Vice-Chancellor regarding their demands, which included payment of arrears as per the revised pay scales.

INAUGURATED: Mr A.S. Bhola, General Manager (Finance), Telecom Circle Office, Ambala, inaugurated a 2,000-line telephone exchange here on Monday.

SONEPAT
SEALED: Officials of the Haryana Pollution Control Board on Monday sealed a chemical factory situated on the G.T. Road near Bahalgarh village, 10 km from here, on the charge of violation of norms, official sources said.

KILLED: Rajanand, a Bihari labourer, died from a snake-bite on Monday while working in a field at Sandal Kalan village, 5 km from here, the police said.

CLASH: Nine persons were injured in a clash between two groups which were travelling in a private vehicle on the G.T. Road near Qumashpur village, 12 km from here, on Monday. The injured were hospitalised.

ASSAULT: A prisoner, Satish of Kilohrad village, sustained serious injuries when he was allegedly attacked by another prisoner, Dharminder, alias Kala, and his accomplice, at the district jail here on Monday. Satish was taken to the Civil Hospital and is stated to be out of danger.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

SHIMLA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Himachal Pradesh Accounts Employees Association: president — Mr K.L. Negi; senior vice-president — Mr Rakesh Kumar Sharma; general secretary — Mr Anil Mehra; and treasurer — Mr S.D. Minhas.