AMRITSAR
QUIZ COMPETITION: The local Khalsa College won an inter-college quiz competition organised by the Rotaract Club here on Saturday. The spokesman for the club, Mr Anantdeep Singh Dhillon, said four teams from different colleges participated in the competition.

COACHES: The local unit of the Shiv Sena has expressed concern over the reduction of coaches of the DMU train shuttling between Amritsar and Pathankot. This was stated in a press note issued by Mr Raman, president of the local unit of the party, here on Saturday.

BATHINDA
ELECTED: Mr Manohar Lal, an advocate, was elected president of the SSD Sabha here on Sunday. He polled 89 votes while his rival Mr Rattan Lal Mittal secured 70 votes.

ORGANISED : The Punjab Health Systems Corporation and the District Red Cross Society organised a voluntary blood donation camp to celebrate the “World Blood Donation Day” at the children hospital here on Sunday. Mr Jaspal Singh, Deputy Commissioner, inaugurated the camp. Fiftyone units of blood were collected.

FEROZEPORE
CHRISTIANS’ FORUM: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Joint Action Christians Forum, Ferozepore cantonment: president — Mr Samson Gill; senior vice-president — Mr Samson Shammi; — vice-president — Mr Anwar Masih; general secretary — Mr Alexander; joint secretary — Mr Victor Masih; press secretary — Mr Ashok; and treasurer — Mr Om Parkash Gill.

MURDERED: Randhir Singh of Mana Singh Wala village was murdered on Saturday allegedly by his servant Raju, a resident of Orissa. The victim was sleeping in his farm when Raju reportedly hit him on the head with a heavy stone. A case has been registered and the body sent for post mortem.

LUDHIANA
SUSPENDED: Major Singh, Assistant Consolidation Officer (Naib Tehsildar), and Parveen Kumar, Revenue Patwari, have been placed under suspension by the government for unlawful transfer of land owned by the Central Government to a private individual. According to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Sandhu, the accused Naib Tehsildar had sanctioned a mutation whereby a piece of land measuring 6 kanals in Rishi Nagar Colony in the city was transferred to Bupinder Singh, son of Mr Amolak Singh. When the matter was brought to his notice, the Deputy Commissioner sent a report to the state government. The Commissioner, Ferozepore Division, ordered suspension of the two officials.

SEMINAR: The Punjab State Electricity Board Engineers Association is organising a state-level seminar on ‘the state of electricity management and challenges it faces’ at Punjabi Bhavan here on Monday. Mr N.S.Vasant, Power Adviser to the state government, will deliver the keynote address, while the Chairman of the PSEB, Mr G.S. Gosal, besides prominent industrialists, progressive farmers and experts from various other fields, will participate.

NAWANSHAHR
EYE CAMP: The local SS Jain Sabha organised an eye camp here at Jain Upasara on Saturday. As many as 530 patients were examined and 72 operations done free of cost. This was stated by Mr Rattan Jain, spokesman for the sabha.

AWARENESS CAMPAIGN: The District Literacy Society and the Health Department on Friday organised an awareness programme at Karyam village, near here, as part of a campaign aimed at creating awareness regarding population control, AIDS, drug addiction and general health. Dr Roshan Sunkaria, DC, presided.

PATIALA
PROBLEMS DISCUSSED: The need for the development of a national policy for the aged to tackle the challenges faced by the growing number of ageing population was highlighted during the valedictory function of the two-day joint conference of the Geriatric Society of India and the second annual conference of the north zone chapter of the API here on Sunday. Earlier, inaugurating the conference, on Saturday, the Principal of Government Medical College, Dr Ravinder Singh, stressed the need for the tender care of the elderly in the society. During this two-day conference various problems like constipation, stroke, tuberculosis, respiratory problems, diabetes, anaemia and urinary infections were discussed by the participants. More than 200 delegates from all over the country attended the conference.

ACTION DEMANDED: The co-ordination committee of para-medical and health employees, Punjab on Sunday, condemned the attack by Member Parliament Kamal Chowdhary on the residence of the Civil Surgeon, Hoshiarpur, and demanded disciplinary action by the party high command. Stating this in a press note here, the convener, Mr K.K. Singla, and chairman, Mr Mahesh Inder Gupta, said that a case should be registered against Mr Chowdhary for assaulting the officer publicly. They further said if action was not taken against Mr Chowdhary, a state-wide agitation would be launched.

BEREAVED: Mr Harbhajan Singh Chahal, 90, father of Mr Bharat Inder Singh Chahal, Deputy Director, Press, died here on Sunday after a prolonged illness. The cremation will take place near the Rajpura Road cremation grounds at 10 a.m.

GANDHI JAYANTI: All the Lions Clubs of the city have decided to organise a peace march on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2 at 8 a.m. The peace march will terminate at Gandhi’s statue on the Mall Road.

CELEBRATED: Sahyog, a social welfare society, celebrated Gandhi Jayanti at Chandi Kusht Ashram, Sector 31 here on Sunday. Floral tributes were paid to Mahatma In a joint message, the participants appealed to the people to follow the ideals and teachings of Gandhi. Later a bhandara was organised.

MARRIAGE ORGANISED: The Lions Club, Chandigarh Vishal, organised the marriage of a poor muslim girl at Maloya village, here on Sunday. Items worth Rs 15,000 were gifted to the bride by the club. Lion B.S. Garcha, region chairman, Sarpanch Ms Surjit Kaur and Lion R.K. Joshi, president of the club, along with other members blessed the newly wed.

MEETING: Saheed Udham Singh Memorial Bhawan Society will hold its general body meeting on Monday at Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafer Hall, Sector 24, here. Construction of a memorial building on the land given by the UT Administration to the society will be discussed. The sustained struggle and sacrifices made by the freedom fighters under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, father of the nation, will also be remembered.

CAMP: The Lions Club, Chandigarh Supreme, in collaboration with S.K. Clinic lab and Morning Association organised a free diabetes detection camp for senior citizens, at the Terrace Garden, Sector 33, here on Sunday. A total of 100 patients were examined, out of which 40 persons were detected as diabetic. Lion Sanjay Mehndiratta, president of the club, informed that more such camps will be organised at different places in the city.

DEMANDED: The executive body of the Himachal Janhit Sabha met to discuss the situation arising from the non-payment of compensation to the family of Roop Lal, who was killed in a dacoity at a liquor vend in Sector 24, here. Ms Kanta Devi, widow of the victim is here in the city for the last 20 days. The sabha is demanding compensation from the liquor vend owner and has also urged the Chandigarh Administration to intervene. They threatened that if in the next three days reasonable relief is not provided to the family of the deceased, the sabha will resort to rallies or hunger strikes.

CUSTOMER MEET: A customer meet “Do it yourself ” to trouble-shoot small problems designed by Hyundai Motor India Limited Industrial Area, Phase I, here on Sunday. It was the first meet of its kind by the company. More than 20 couples participated in the meet. Fuel saving and other maintenance tips were given to the participants.

INAUGURATED: As many as 400 patients were examined and given free treatment on the first day of a 3-day eye camp organised by the Rotary Club and the Inner Wheel Club, Chandigarh, at Sector 45 dispensary, here on Saturday. Over 60 patients were admitted for surgery. They will be provided free boarding and lodging and will be discharged on the October 2. Ms Vineeta Rai, Advisor to the UT Administrator, inaugurated the camp. Among others present at the camp were Dr Joginder Singh, Director of Health Services and Ms Vanita Gupta, president of the Rotary Club.

DEBATE: “Computers can replace teachers” was the subject of debate among participants at the Vishnu Kumar Gupta Memorial Debate organised by the Rotary Club of Chandigarh Midnight, and the Rotract Club of Chandigarh Midtown, here on Saturday. The occasion marked the celebration of September as the New Generation Month by the Rotarians. The Chief guest, District Governor, Rotarian J.P.S. Siba, said during the month the Rotarians covered activities related to health, education, human values etc. The president of the club, Rotarian Vanita Gupta, and members of the Inner Wheel Club presented a harmonium to the music center of Rajasthan Parishad Bhawan. The winners of the debate were: first — Pavit of Rotaract Club, Chandigarh; second — Simrat of Rotaract Club, Mohali; third — Rohat Khanna. The Vishnu Kumar Gupta Memorial Trophy was bagged by Rotaract Club Chandigarh.

AMBALA
TALENT SEARCH: Shri Atmanand Institute of Management and Technology organised ‘Talent Search 2000’ here on Saturday. Addressing the students Mr Ram Niwas, Deputy Commissioner, said the students of management have to market themselves for better placement. Mr Mukesh Sahgal, deputy director of the Institute informed the students that as per a latest survey by a business magazine, the institute has been graded as B+ and has ranked 88th in the country. On the occasion different cultural competitions were held. Gulshan Khurana, Ms Anuradha, Ms Payal Bhandari were declared first in declamation contest, poetry competition and painting competition, respectively. Harprit and Deepika were jointly declared first in the rangoli competition and Aman was declared first in mimicry.

INAUGURATED: The Education Department will not allow the colleges in the state to provide sub-standard education in different courses running under the self-financing scheme. This was stated by Ms Anuradha Gupta, Director, Higher Education, Haryana, after inaugurating a seminar organised by Haryana Library Association at S.A. Jain College, Ambala City, here on Saturday. She said that she had got some complaints that some of the colleges were not having sufficient staff and other infrastructure to teach different courses under the self-financing scheme. She said the department will withdraw its permission wherever it received complaints. She also said that there were reports that the college teachers had not stopped taking private tuitions even after a direction by the department not to do so.

KAITHAL
PADDY PROCUREMENT: The state government has appointed senior officers of the administration to regulate and supervise the procurement of paddy in mandis of the district. This was stated in an official press note issued here on Saturday.

POWER THEFT: The UHVPN authorities have launched a campaign against power thefts. Of the 14,698 connections checked, 453 cases of power theft were detected and a fine of Rs 32.85 lakh was imposed on the defaulters.

REWARI
URGED: Congress legislator Ajay Singh Yadav has urged the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala to declare south Haryana, comprising Rewari, Mahendergarh and Gurgaon districts, as a drought-affected region. He has also demanded compensation of Rs 4,000 per acre for farmers.

SHAHABAD
PURCHASE PROCEDURE: With a view to checking the purchase procedure of paddy, the Deputy Commissioner, Ms Jyoti Arora, visited various mandis in the district last week. In Shahabad Grain Market she checked paddy and listened to the problems of farmers. She urged the ‘Arhatias’ to cooperate with the government agencies.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Rice Dealers and Millers Association: chairman — Mr Pawan Kumar Garg; president — Mr Mohinder Prakash Kansal; vice-president — Mr Virender Dawar and Mr Navin Garg; secretary — Mr Gurwinder Singh Kalra; and treasurer — Mr Virender Kumar Singhal.

SONEPAT
STABBED: Umed Singh, former sarpanch of Chitana village, was allegedly stabbed to death by three persons on Saturday. The police has registered a case against Sukhbir Singh, Jagbir, alias Biloo, and Mahabir Singh under Sections 302 and 392 of the IPC.

HIKE CONDEMNED: The General Secretary of the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) Mr Rajiv Jain, on Sunday condemned the hike in prices of petroleum products and said it would affect prices of other essential commodities. He threatened that the HVP would launch an agitation if the government did not roll back the hike immediately. The state unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union and the state committee of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions have also criticised the hike.

BILASPUR
CONDEMNED: The Himachal Pradesh State Journalists Federation has criticised the BJP leader who allegedly threatened and abused Ved Sharma, a journalist based at Sundernagar in Mandi district. The federation has urged the Chief Minister and the district administration to take action against the leader.

KULU
BODY FOUND: The body of Tara Chand (35) of Talogi village was found in the Beas river near Mohal on Friday, the police said. He was reportedly mentally challenged and missing for the past three days. The body was handed over to his parents after a post-mortem.