R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

BATHINDA
MEETING: Members of the Chandigarh Region Insurances Employees Union, at a meeting here on Tuesday expressed concern about the liberal economic policies of the Central Government. A press note issued by the union said the government’s economic policies posed a threat to the employees of the insurance sector.

FARIDKOT
SEMINAR: On the eve of nine-day Agman Purab celebrations of Baba Sheikh Farid, a seminar on his life and teaching was organised here on Wednesday. Many renowned scholars and educationists, including Dr Dharam Singh, head of the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, Punjabi University, Patiala, and Dr Lal Chand, Senior Professor, Hindi Department, Kurukshetra University, participated in it.

FEROZEPORE
KILLED: Rupinder Singh ( 22) of Saeeda Ravela village died in a road accident near Jhohe Harihar. He was going to his village on a motor cycle when it was hit by a canter killing him on the spot. A case has been registered.

LUDHIANA
SCHOOL MANAGEMENT: New Senior Secondary School, Sarabha Nagar, expanded its managing committee recently. With the election of three new members at the recently held general body meeting, the numbeer of managing committee members has risen to 19. The three new members of the body are Mr R.K. Talwar, a senior advocate of the town, Dr K.K. Dhir, Registrar, Technical University and Mr Chander Monga, a freelance journalist.

"DONATE EYES": Shri Hari Ram Attri Seva Niketan, Sham Nagar, has undertaken the task of spreading the message of eye donation in the far flung area of Uttranchal including Dehradun, Hardwar and Paonta Sahib with the help of a help van donated by Punjabis settled in England. Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal, Speaker, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, flagged off the van on September 13 while Dr Dinesh Garg, eye specialist in Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, briefed the van team on the mission which will be carried on till September 25, according to Mr Arun Attra, founder president of the seva niketan. 

BLOOD DONATION: About 75 units of blood was collected during a blood donation camp which was organised by the Lions Club, Ludhiana at the Government College for Boys, on Tuesday. The college Principal, Dr S.S. Sooch, staff members and students voluntarily took part in this laudable venture. Dr Sooch, Mr Ajmer Singh and Mr Rajdeep Singh Gill were among the first donors on the occasion. Mr R.K. Jindal and Mr S.K. Sood, the president and Project Director of the Lions Club, organised the camp with the help of other club members. Mr Sood donated blood for the forty third time. The blood collected during the camp was presented to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital from where a team of doctors headed by Dr (Ms) Vineeta Malhotra did the blood grouping test free of charge.

PATHANKOT
ACCIDENT: Nanak Chand of Patel Nagar was killed on the spot when the vehicle in which he was travelling collided with a canter near Chhatwal village, 10 km from here, on Monday. Five persons were injured. A case has been registered.

TRUCK OVERTURNS: Twentytwo labourers who were working at Ranjit Sagar Dam, were injured at Shahpur Kandi near the dam site when their truck overturned. All injured were rushed to the Civil Hospital. Five of them were stated to be in a serious condition.

PATIALA
ELECTED: Mr Tejinder Singh Dhaliwal has been elected patron-in-chief of the Patiala District Yoga Association.
The other office-bearers are: patrons— Mr Kharag Singh Cheema, Mr Gurcharan Singh, president — Mr Harbans Singh Dakala, general secretary — Mr K.C. Sood, senior vice-president —Mr P.K. Bhardwaj and vice-presidents — Mr Kanwaljit Kaur Bajwa, Prof T.S. Sandhu and Mr Jagdeep Singh. Renowned yoga exponent Mr Munni Lal Kumar and Mr Gurmail Singh will be advisers. 

CRISIS: The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) is driving itself to bankruptcy by taking further loans to pay interest on loans already taken by it earlier, the PSEB Substation Station Staff Technical Union claimed here on Wednesday. Union General Secretary Harjit Singh Sethi in a statement here alleged that the state was passing through a financial crisis and the PSEB was facing the brunt. He said to strengthen its vote bank the present Akali Dal government was providing free electricity to some villages. This he stated was in strict violation of the provisions of the Electricity Act 1948. 

INAUGURATED: The Commissioner, Patiala division, Mr R.N. Gupta, inaugurated a computer education centre for its first session, 2000-2001, at the State College of Education here on Wednesday. A book written by Dr Kanwaljeet Singh, principal of the college, was also released. Others who spoke at the function were Mr S.S. Walia, Mrs Jagdeep Kaur and Mrs Indira Bagha. A cultural programme was presented by the students of the college. 

CONTEST: A national group song competition will be organised at Raj Kamal Palace Patiala on September 24 by the Bharat Vikas Parishad to promote nationalism and patriotism among the students. Participants are likely to come from 40 different schools. Om Prakash Bhardwaj, Chairman, Punjab Khadi Board, Chandigarh, will be the chief guest. The president of the parishad, Mr Harinder Singh, said at a meeting in the city that the parishad would donate an artificial limb to a rehri-puller who lost his hand in an accident and would also distribute sewing machines among handicapped women.

CHANDIGARH

NOMINATED: The following have been nominated office-bearers of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Panchkula block: president — Mr Deepak Sharma; vice-president — Mr Inderjit; general secretary — Mr Kumar Chander Shekhar; secretaries — Mr Rajesh Arora and Mr Gaurav Gupta and treasurer — Mr Amit Attri.

HARYANA

JAN SABHA: Jan Kalyan Sabha, an organisation representing 20 colonies build behind Banarsi Dass Mill in Ambala cantt, has demanded better roads connecting their colonies. Mr D.S. Negi of the Jan Kalyan Sabha, talking to newspersons, said the road leading to Hathikhana Mandir is in a bad condition. “Garbage is dumped near Dashera Maidan which makes it difficult for people on foot to traverse the area specially during rainy season,” he said. He said repeated pleas of the organisation for improving the road conditions seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. “Our demand is that the road should be improved at the earliest,” he added. 

QUIZ: Dr Jyoti Chandra of History Department, Arya Girls College, Ambala cantonment, organised a quiz show in the college hall on Wednesday. There were three teams — Raziya Begum, Lakshmi Bai and Sarojini Naidu. The first position was bagged by Sarojini Naidu team comprising of Bindu, Dimple, Reena, Monica, Lalita and Anshu. The second prize went to Lakshmi Bai team. While Reena of BA-II was declared Quiz Queen, Dimple of BA-I was the first runner up, a release said. Among others, principal Ms Bajaj and Mrs Shobha Dhawan were present. 

CAMP:  Uttam Bharat Vikas, Panchkula, organised an AIDS awareness camp at the Ambala city bus stand. Drivers and conductors of the Ambala depot were given information regarding AIDS and the measures for preventing the disease. Ambala Civil surgeon, Dr R.K. Patnaik, said all efforts must be made to generate awareness regarding AIDS. The organisation distributed free tablets at the camp, a release said. 

HISAR
MELA: The Farm Darshan mela began at the CCS Haryana Agricultural University here on Tuesday. The mela was inaugurated by the Vice-chancellor, Mr Vijay Kumar. Farmers were taken around various field demonstrations at the university’s research farm where they were apprised of techniques used by experts in harvesting bumper crops.

ELECTRICITY BILLS: The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam has decided to provide the facility of paying electricity bills in banks at Bhiwani and Sirsa, an official spokesman said here on Wednesday. He said the facility was mainly meant for the consumers whose bills exceeded Rs 1000. The bills could be paid through cheques, demand drafts or local pay orders.

ROHTAK
SUSPENDED: The District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Mr Rajesh Khullar, on Tuesday suspended three sarpanches on a charge of contesting the election of sarpanch by concealing the fact that they were having more than two children, which was against the provisions of the Panchayat Raj Act. Those suspended included Rajpal, Devendra and Rajpal, sarpanches of Bhaiyapur Mungan and Garhi Sampla villages, respectively in the district.

SONEPAT
NABBED: Four persons, Jasbir, Suresh, alias Sheesha, Satbir and Kuldeep, all residents of Lath village, were arrested by the Gohana police, when they were planning a dacoity near Katwal village, about 45 km from here, on Tuesday. However, one of their accomplice, Surinder, alias Deelu, managed to escape. A case has been registered.

WATER CRISIS: The Residents Welfare Association and the Sonepat Citizens Council on Wednesday threatened to hold a massive demonstration on September 25, if the Public Health Department authorities failed to restore the evening supply of drinking water in the city.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

DALHOUSIE
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Chamba unit of the Himachal Pradesh Journalists Federation: president — Mr Yogesh Mahendroo; senior vice-president — Mr Anil Oberoy; vice-president — Mr Shiv Sharma; general secretary — Mr Sanjay Kaushal; and treasurer — Dr Surender Bhadral.

PALAMPUR
ROADS: The Pathankot-Mandi and mator-Shimla national highways, in Kangra district are in bad shape making it difficult for vehicles, particularly army vehicles going to Leh and Kargil via Manali, to pass through.

PARWANOO
MARCH: To collect funds for the victims of the recent floods in Himachal Pradesh, the students of Eicher School, Parwanoo will hold a march. The march will start from Mata Sheetla Mandir on the Kalka-Shimla Highway and end at the Assistant Commissioner’s office, Sector 1, Parwanoo.