R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Solvent Extractors Association, Punjab: patron — Mr Naresh Anand; president — Mr A.R. Sharma; vice-presidents — Mr Vijay Bansal and Mr Sanjeev Nagpal; general secretary — Mr Harish Devgan; financial secretary — Mr AS Chatha; and joint secretary — Mr Mohan Singh Dhillon.

DISCUSSION: The Rotary Club of the local cantonment organised a panel discussion on drug abuse, the president of the club, Mr KR.S. Sobti, said here in a press note on Wednesday.

CONVENTION: A convention of the Punjab Pensioners Union, which was held here on Wednesday under the presidentship of Mr Avtar Singh Afat, criticised the Punjab Government for not implementing the demands agreed on April 17 and recommendations of the Fourth Pay Commission.

EXPEDITION: Lt Gen K. Dawar, GOC 11 Corps, flagged off a 16-member white water rafting expedition on Wednesday. The expedition, led by Lt Abhishek Koushik, will raft in lower ridges of the Himalayas in the Himachal region.

OBSCENE POSTERS: Mr Narinderjit Singh, Deputy Commissioner, on Wednesday directed the Municipal Corporation to remove all obscene posters from the city. He said action would be taken against the city contractor responsible for the act.

BATHINDA
SEMINAR: The Medical Service Centre will organise a seminar on “Commercialisation of Health Services” on September 25 at the Teachers’ Home. This was stated by Dr Ajit Paul Singh, president, PCMS Association, Bathinda, in a press note issued here on Wednesday.

FEROZEPORE
RESENTMENT: Resentment prevails among local lawyers over the reported move to merge 117 villages of Abohar subdivision with Muktsar district. The president of the District Bar Association, Mr Hari Chand Kambhoj, said the proposed move would result in a loss of lawyers’ clientele. He said lawyers had boycotted the courts here on Wednesday as a mark of protest. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Kulbir Singh Sidhu, however, expressed his ignorance of the issue.

JALANDHAR
ARRESTED: The district police arrested Bhupinder Singh on Tuesday and seized a briefcase containing 17 wads of fake currency notes of Rs 100 denomination and a .315bore pistol with two cartridges from his possession. This was stated by Mr Gaurav Yadav, SSP.

KAPURTHALA
CASE SOLVED: With the arrest of two persons, the district police claims to have solved the murder case of Balwinder Singh, alias Bindi, of Mehmadpur village under Bholath police station. Mr Iqbal Singh, SSP, said on Wednesday the arrested, Tarsem Singh, alias Padda, and Karamjit Singh, alias Ghula, had confessed to their crime.

KHARAR
SEIZED: The Kurali police arrested Ravinder Singh, alias Ashoke, of Hoshiarpur on Tuesday and seized 20 boxes of IMFL from his possession. Mr Rupinder Singh, DSP, Kharar, said the police stopped a Maruti van (DL-3CA-8176) which was coming from Chandigarh on the Siswan road and seized boxes of liquor from it. The police has registered a case under the Excise Act. In other case, the local police registered a case under the Excise Act against Jagat Ram of Kharar on Tuesday on the charges of offering liquor in an unauthorised place in the town. 

LUDHIANA
COMPETITION: The Aar Cee Ladies Club organised a salad and pudding competition on Thursday. About 21 club members took part in the competition. The competition was divided in two categories, salad and pudding making. Colourful fruit salads, sprouted salads and variety of green salads were prepared by the participants. About 14 members made a variety of deserts. Ms Ruby Arora was declared first in the salad-making competition, while Ms Kiran Aggarwal and Ms Pinky Kalra were judged second and third respectively. Consolation prize in this category was given to Ms Jaspreet Bajaj. Mouth-watering puddings were the centre of attraction topped with cherries, pineapple and chocolate. Ms Kulwant got first prize, Ms Navita Goel took the second prize and Ms Tiny Sehgal bagged the third prize. The consolation prize was given to Ms Surinder Baweja. 

CONFERENCE: The XI annual conference of the Punjab and Chandigarh Psychiatry Society, “PUNCIPS-2000”, which has been organised by the Department of Psychiatry, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, will be held on September 23 and 24 at the Dumra Auditorium. About 100 delegates from all over the region will discuss the latest developments in the field of psychiatry and allied disciplines. Dr Viney Gupta, Organising Secretary, said the main objective of the event was to provide a forum to exchange views, debate on relevant issues and to provide continued medical education to the professionals so that they could update their knowledge about the new findings on the subject. The conference will feature a panel discussion on the “Future of psychiatry - some emerging issues”, by senior and experienced psychiatrists. A special website, www.puncips.com, will also be launched by PUNCIPS. 

AWARENESS CAMP: A health awareness camp was organised by the Department of Community Medicine, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, at Rurka village. The second dose of hepatitis-B immunisation was given to 410 children and adults. About 80 per cent of people took the second dose against subsidised payment. According to the doctors who attended the camp, motivation and awareness was observed among people, which led to a high 80 per cent coverage of the population with the second dose. People were ready to even pay for the preventive and promotive services. 

DELEGATION: Delegations of the Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Laghu Udhyog Bharti led by Mr P.D. Sharma and Mr Vinod Jain respectively, called upon the PSEB Chairman to decide the minimum charges for industrial consumers on Tuesday. In a press note Mr Sharma said a consensus had been reached at the meeting according to which, minimum charges for all categories of industrial consumers had been fixed at very reasonable rates without requiring any further change. However, the rates finalised are expected to be announced by the Chief Minister in the near future. The matter of obtaining a no-objection certificate from the Municipal Corporation for getting benefit of the VDS or small and medium consumers was also discussed. The local bodies department will be requested by the industry to waive off this condition. VDS for large scale units will also be announced shortly. 

RATH YATRA: The Bhagwan Jagannath Rath Yatra will be taken out in the city on Saturday, headed by Prabhusakshi Gopaldassji of Iskcon, Kurukshetra. After passing through various parts of the city, the yatra would culminate at the Gyan Sthal Mandir near Subhani building in the evening. The temple management today appealed the citizens to take part in the “maha aarti” of the holy rath in the evening. 

CAMP: A free psychiatry check-up camp will be organised on Saturday, at Tootian Wala Mandir, Shivpuri, from 9 am to 2 pm. The 34th free camp has been organised by Mr Hari Kishan Jain and Mr Dharam Paul. Dr Gurvinder Sachdeva, Psychiatrist at the Dr B.L. Kapoor Memorial Hospital will check patients and free medicines would be provided to the needy on the occasion. 

PENSION SCHEME: The 38th Widow Pension Programme would be held on October 1 under the guidance of Mr Som Nath Maini at the Gyan Sthal temple. Mr Jagdish Bajaj, President of the sabha, said ration would be provided to 301 widows. 

EYE CAMP: A free eye-operation camp will be held at the Acharya Atma Ram Jain Hospital near Jamalpur power station on Chandigarh road here on September 27, according to Mr Mohinder Paul Jain, Secretary of the hospital. Dr J.M. Singh will perform the operations. Medicines, meals, boarding and spectacles would be provided free of cost to the patients, who are required to bring only a bedding with them. 

MALERKOTLA
BODY FOUND: The body of Karamjeet Singh (30), son of Surjit Singh and resident of Sadopur village, was found near a well in Himtana village. It was sent to the local Civil Hospital for a post mortem. A case has been registered.

FLOUTED: Obscene posters continue to be displayed all around the city in blatant violation of the Deputy Commissioner’s orders. Cinema hall owners who show adult movies are allegedly the primary violators. Mr Bimal Pahuja, president, Malerkotla Welfare Association, said he had written to the administration to take action against them but to no avail.

MOGA
DEMOLISHED: The dilapidated building of Zira police station in Ferozepore district has been razed following the administration’s decision to construct a new building. The construction has started and is likely to be completed within six months.

ELECTED: Mr Surjit Singh of Kot Isa Khan in the district was elected president of the local Government Teachers Union on Wednesday. The following were elected block presidents: Mr Manjit Singh (Dharamkot-I); Mr Balwinder Singh (Dharamkot-II); Mr Sarabjit Singh (Moga-I); and Mr Shingara Singh (Moga-II).

PATIALA
CAMP: Lion’s Club Citizen and Rotary Club, in collaboration with Shantha Biotechnics Private Limited, are organising vaccination camps against hepatitis-B on Saturday and Sunday. Stating this in a press note released here on Thursday, Mr Kishan Dhiman of Lions Club Citizen and Dr K.S. Ahuja of Rotary Club said, the world class vaccine SHANVAC-B would be given at a subsidised rate of Rs 50 for a child dose and Rs 100 for an adult dose. The camps will be held at Ahuja Nursing Home in Ragho Majra, Ashok Laboratories on Badungar Road, Gurudwara Khalsa Mohalla, Vir Haqiqat Rai School of Rajpura Colony, Ram Ashram near Mai Ji Saran, Kashmiri Gurdwara in Tripri town, German Clinic and Maternity Home in Ranjeet Nagar, Milk Food at Bahadurgarh, Apollo Public School in Urban Estate, Aggarsain Charitable hospital near Rajpura Road, Bhai Ram Kishan Gurdwara near Sheran Wala Gate, Sikh Religious Study Centre in Model town, Chetna Kendra opposite Sat Narain Mandir and Gurudwara Sahib at Guru Nanak Nagar. 

BOOK RELEASED: The Punjabi Sahit Sabha will release Punjabi Dian Sarbotam Mini Kahanian, a book edited by Harpreet Singh Rana and Sudhir, on October 1 at Dhudial Khalsa Senior Secondary School here. Dr Kuldeep Singh Dhir, Dean of Academic Affairs, Punjabi University, will release the book and Mr Karamvir Singh will read a paper on the book, according to a press note issued here on Thursday. 

AIDS AWARENESS: A seminar on AIDS awareness was organised on Tuesday at Manochahal Kalan village by the State Health Department. Dr Lehmbar Singh, SMO, Primary Health Centre, Chabal, presided.

CHANDIGARH

CONTEST: A paper reading and writing competition was organised by the Women Study Wing of Government College, here on Thursday. The topics were, ‘Are beauty contests dignified’, ‘Promotion of national language is the basis of development’ and ‘Student unrest’. Mr Vinod Saini secured the first position. Ms Nidhi Sharma and Mr Sumit Chaudhary shared the second position. Presiding over the function Mr R.L. Madan, Principal of the college said this competition was organised to create awareness and respect for the rich cultural heritage of our country. 

HARYANA

CASE REGISTERED: The Rai police has registered a case under Sections 323, 384, 506 and 34 of the IPC against three police constables of the Bahalgarh police post who have already been suspended for allegedly beating up a car owner and his associates and snatching money from them on September 16.