R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

BARNALA
BAN ORDERS: Mr Anirudh Tiwari, District Magistrate, Sangrur, has imposed Section 144 in the district with effect from November 5. Assembling of five or more persons at a public place, taking out of processions, and carrying of fire arms has been banned. The order will remain in force till December 30.

BATHINDA
THREATENED: Congress workers here have threatened to start a series of dharnas in the state if the government did not order a CBI probe into the murder of their party leader Harmesh Kumar Mukhija. This was stated by Mr Kewal Krishan Aggarwal, general secretary of the District Congress Committee, here on Friday.

DORAHA
DRIVING LICENCES: According to a press note issued by Mr Amarjit Pal, SDM, a camp would be held at truck union building , Doraha, on November 22 in order to issue driving licenses. The camp would be inaugurated at 10 a.m. by Mr Sadhu Singh Ghudani, a local MLA . Those who wanted to get their driving licenses issued must bring a copy of their ration card along with the attested copy of their date of birth certificate and photographs. 

GURDASPUR
BOOKED: The police has booked Sunil Kumar a junk dealer of Prem Nagar at Pathankot, for his alleged involvement in preparing forged documents of vehicles purchased by him in an Army auction. Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, said here on Friday that the action had been taken on the basis of a complaint lodged by Ranjit Singh of Dheera village in Pathankot subdivision.

JALANDHAR
MURDER CASE SOLVED: The police has solved a murder case of a migrant labourer of Bihar with the arrest of one of the two suspects. Mr Gaurav Yadav, SSP, in a press note issued here on Friday, said the suspect, Sikander Kumar, was arrested by the police on Thursday. The SSP claimed that the suspect had confessed his involvement in the crime.

Kharar
Man found dead: Mr Jarnail Singh of Kubha village Heri of Kharar sub-division was found dead in the semi hilly area of Mianpur Changar village on Thursday. The Kurali police has registered a case under section 302 IPC after taking possession of the dead body. According to the FIR lodged with the police, the deceased along with two other persons has gone for hunting towards Mianpur Changar village on Sunday. He did not return home and a search was started by his family members but they could not locate the deceased. Meanwhile, the police was informed about the dead body which had bullet injuries and was in very bad condition. The police has registered a case under Section 302, 34 IPC and the Arms Act against Jarnail Singh and one another Jaswant Singh, both of Khanna and has started the investigations. 

eye camp: As many as 135 eye operations including 30 intracular lenses were performed in a free eye operation camp which concluded in Kurali on Friday. According to Mr Rajesh Goel, president, Kurali Chemists Association, the camp was jointly organised by the Project Ophthal Care Society, SAS Nagar and Kurali Chemists Association, and was inaugurated by Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Punjab on Wednesday. He added that more than 600 patients were examined in the camp and eminent doctors led by Dr J.P. Singh performed the operations. 

unearthed: The local police has recovered some live cartridges buried in a earthern pot in a farm in Bhagomajra village on Friday. According to the FIR registered with the police, Mr Randhir Singh of Bhagomajra village saw this pot when he was doing some digging around a tree. The police has registered a case under the Arms Act and has started the investigations. 

LUDHIANA
PRIZE DISTRIBUTION: More than 20 students and nearly 25 teachers received prizes at the annual prize distribution function held at Arya Senior Secondary School here today. The students of Classes VIII, X and XII who had secured first, second and third positions were given away prizes. Besides those students who had brought laurels to the school by getting prizes in various state level sports events this year were also given prizes. Students also presented various cultural items which included a dance item on the number Sabse aage honge Hindustani by Sandeep and Deepali. Devinder of class XII danced on the Punjabi number, Rangla Punjab. Sunny and group presented a song item Damadam mast kalandar. The chief guest on the occasion was Lala Lajpat Rai, MP. The Principal, Mr B.K. Verma, told the students to work hard. 

MEETING: The executive body meeting of the Ophthalmic Officer Association was held under the presidentship Mr Jatinder Kotoch at the Medical College, Amritsar. The executive body has appointed Harpal Singh, Ophthalmic Officer as Chairman of the election board of the association and Jaswinder Singh, Mohanjit Singh of Amritsar and Manjit Singh of Ludhiana, as the members of the election board. The elections will held on December 17, 2000, at Jalandhar. 

GPF PASSBOOKS: The women wing of Shri Guru Valmiki Sabha, Punjab, has urged the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, to provide general provident fund (GPF) pass books to all MC employees, and should be updated regularly to show the current balance in the GPF accounts of the employees. A meeting of the sabha, presided over by Ms Suman Devi, also demanded that the arrears of wages for work done on Saturdays should be paid in cash to safai workers. The meeting further called upon the MC administration to put an end to the contract system, open new recruitment and pay wages to daily workers in accordance with the Supreme Court's decision.  

SEWERMAN SUSPENDED: The Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Dr S. S. Sandhu, has placed Mr Sohanvir, a sewerman of the civic body, under suspension for remaining absent from the duty, without informing his superiors. While asking the senior civic officials to conduct surprise checking periodically to observe punctuality and regularity of the employees, Dr Sandhu has warned the employees to perform their duties diligently to avoid action. 

APPROVED: The municipal corporation has approved the renaming of Haibowal locality as 'Shankaracharya Nagar'. The Shankaracharya Nagar Sudhar Samiti, headed by Mr Vijay Mahajan, has decided to install a gate at the entrance of the colony. According to Mr Mahajan, the Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Punjab, Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, will lay the foundation stone of the gate on November 23 and Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Madhwanand Ji will shower his blessings. The function will be presided over by Mr Sat Pal Gosain, Deputy Speaker of Punjab Vidhan Sabha, and city Mayor, Mr Apinder Singh Grewal will be the chief guest. 

SEWERAGE PROJECT: Mr Sat Pal Gosain, Deputy Speaker, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, laid the foundation stone of a storm water sewerage project in Janakpuri locality here on Saturday. Speaking at the occasion, Mr Gosain said that with the completion of Rs 20 lakh project in the next six months, the problem of rain water disposal in the areas like Janakpuri, Kidwai Nagar, Hargobind Nagar and other adjoining colonies will be solved. Among those present at the function were Mr Parveen Bansal, the area councillor, Mr Harish Bedi, former president of the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha and Mr Anil Walia, besides many other BJP activists. 

MACHHIWARA
CULTURAL PROGRAMME: The students of the Nankana Sahib Public School, Fatehgarh Jattan Bet , will perform a PT show and a cultural programme on November 20, in the school premises. The Director of the Nankana Sahib Educational Trust, Ludhiana, would preside over the function . 

PSEB: The Punjab State Electricity Board Association (PSEB) employees Association threatened to launch an agitation against the abolishing of 6778 vacant posts of JEs and Class IV employees. Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, the President, Mr Nirmal Singh, and the Secretary , Mr Randhir Singh of Machhiwara sub-division unit, said that the decision of the management was in tune with the planning of privatisation which would not be tolerated at any cost. The association has decided to take part in a state level demonstration against privatisation and victimisation, on December 1, at Patiala.

CONDEMNED: The local Congressmen, Mr Mohinder Singh Chauhan, Mr Surinder Singh, Mr Avtar Singh Virk and Mr Narinderpaul Singh have strongly condemned the killing of the State Congress General Secretary, Mr Harmesh Makhija, and demanded the arrest of the accused immediately . 

DEMANDED: The Sarpanch Union of the Police Chowki, Koomkalan area, has urged that the Government High School, Chaunta, be upgraded to a senior secondary school. In a press release, the president of the union , Mr Rajinder Singh, said that village was a backward area and the students, especially the girl students, could not reach the far flung areas for further study. The union also demanded the widening of the area on both sides of the road to avoid damage to the repaired road. They were thankful to Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal , Speaker, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, for getting the roads repaired.

CHANDIGARH

ELECTED: Mr Ashok Malik and Mr Amarnath Vashisth were elected president and vice-president of the Chandigarh Journalists Association. The following have been elected as the office-bearers of the association; vice-presidents — Mr Vinay Sharma and Mr Mehdi Abdi; secretaries — Mr Rajendra Dhawan and Mr Nathu Ram Sharma; and treasurer Mr Avtar Singh. 

grievances: A team of Chandigarh Nationalist Congress Party (CNCP) under the leadership of Mr Gurbachan Singh, president of CNCP visited colony no 5 to hear the grievances of the residents here on Saturday. According to a press note issued by the secretary of CNCP the residents of the colony are being deprived of essential civic amenities including drinking water, electricity, proper roads and sewerage system. The visiting team comprised of Mr Sham Lal Kanoujia, secretary, CNCP, Mr Kulhit Singh Mintoo, district president and Mrs Asha Gupta, general secretary, district Mahila Wing. 

Office-bearers: The following were elected the office-bearers of the Traders Association, Sector 22 B: vice presidents — Mr Arjun Das, Mr Baljeet Singh and Mr Sudesh Chawla; general secretary — Mr Bharat Bhusan Jain; finance secretary — Mr Kishan Lal; press secretary — Mr S K Chadha; and joint secretary — Mr Ravinder Singh. 

visitED: Mr Maninderjit Singh Bitta, chairman of the All India Anti Terrorist Front, along with Mr Pardeep Chhabra, president of its local unit, visited the house of Capt Atul Sharma who was killed by terrorists at Baramula in Jammu and Kashmir. He condemned the killing and urged the government to take strict action against the terrorists. He appealed to all the political parties to unite in the fight against terrorism. 

Blood donation camp: The NSS unit of M C M D A V College for Women, Sector 36 held a blood donation camp in the college premises, here on Saturday. 120 units of blood were donated. Dr J G Jolly, professor emirate PGI and consultant, blood transfusion unit, GMCH, Sector 32, inaugurated the camp. Ms Usha Gupta, principal of the college, announced the formation of a blood donation cell which would train the girls to spread awareness regarding voluntary blood donation among people. 

Integrity pledge: ‘National Integration’ pledge was taken by the NSS volunteers of the Government College for Girls, Sector 11, here on Saturday. The volunteers took pledge to work with dedication to preserve and strengthen the freedom and integrity of the nation. The oath was administered to NSS volunteers by Dr Om Kumari Patial, NSS programme officer. 

challenged: The Lions Club of Region II, sponsored a northern region cricket tournament for the intellectually challenged at Panjab University. The tournament was organised by the Central Institute of Mentally Retarded, Sector 32. 

Vikas Parv-2000: The concluding function of Children's Day week was held here on Saturday at Bal Bhavan Sector 23, Chandigarh. Various competitions of salad dressing, fun games competition, quiz, chart making and fancy dress were held under Vikas Parv, the Indian Council for Children's Day. The chief guest on the occasion was Ms Kamla Sharma, Chairperson, Chandigarh State Advisory Board. She turned the page for the new children’s calendar year, Vikas Parv-2000, and lauded the efforts of the children. She further encouraged the children to participate in competitions to build a competitive edge in them in a play-way atmosphere. 

Indo-Finnish meet: With a view to promote the social cause by spreading the message of brotherhood across borders, a joint cultural programme will be staged by Indian and Finnish children here on Monday and Tuesday. The show will be dotted with theatrical and cultural performances by the children who are getting together on the occasion of Indo-Finland Children’s Cultural Meet which is being organised in the city by the Institute of Performing Arts. The show, to be held at Bal Bhawan, will stage Aini Ja Vaino by the children of Finland. This play is based on the Finnish national epic Kalevala. The troupe is camping in New Delhi where the members are already participating in the International Children Theatre Festival being organised by the National Institute of Progressive Arts under the aegis of International Amateur Theatre Association. 

Seminar: A two day national seminar on “Engine corrosion and its prevention” is being held by No. 3 Base Repair Depot (BRD) in collaboration with the Chandigarh chapter of the Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI) on Monday and Tuesday. Air Officer Commanding, 3 BRD and Chairman of the local AeSI chapter, Air Commodore Arvinda Agrawal said the seminar was being held to debate, deliberate and exchange views on the problem of corrosion in aeroengines and to find ways to prevent it. Experts from all over the country, including those from research and development institutes as well as from academic institutions will be participating in the seminar, which will be inaugurated by the AOC-in-C, Maintenance Command, Air Marshal S.S. Gupta. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

SHIMLA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Himachal Pradesh Irrigation and Public Health Department Employees Association: president — Mr Deep Ram Garg; senior vice-president — Mr Prem Lal Verma; vice-president — Mrs Nirmala Sharma; and general secretary — Mr Rajesh Kumar Sharma.