R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local unit of the Uttar Railway Mazdoor Union: president — Mr K.K. Singhal; vice-presidents — Mr Kuldeep Saxena and Mr Ravinder Dubey; secretary — Mr Sadhu Ram Garg; assistant secretary — Mr Raj Pal Singh; and treasurer — Mr Than Singh.

MEETING: The annual general meeting of the Uttar Railway Mazdoor Union affiliated to INTUC was held here on Sunday. Matters relating to restructuring of cadres, uniform policy, reduction in Railway staff, revised income tax rebate, reduction of interest on PF and other saving schemes were discussed.

SMACK SEIZED: Happy Dhuria of the Azimgarh road was arrested for being in possession of 3 gm of smack, sources said here on Monday. He was booked under the NDPS Act.

KIDNAPPING: The city police has registered a case against Lal Singh, his wife Kashmir Kaur, alias Saroj Rani, daughter Monika and son Daljit Singh for allegedly kidnapping minor daughter of Ram Kishan of Nai Abadi area here.

HOSHIARPUR
INJURED: Eleven persons were injured when a bus in which they were travelling overturned near Pandori village on Sunday evening. The bus was going from Binewal to Nawanshahr. The driver of the bus lost control when he tried to avoid hitting a car coming from the opposite direction.

RAID: The local police, in separate raids on Sunday, seized 15,180 ml of illicit liquor from Bikram Singh of Gulsian and another 4,500 ml of country-made liquor from Charan Dass of Gera village. About 37,000 ml of country-made foreign liquor was also seized from Ram Singh, alias Guddu, of Jahan Khelan. Cases have been registered under Sections 61, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act.

SUICIDE: Prem Singh, son of Santokh Singh, of Garhdiwala committed suicide by consuming poison on Sunday.

COMPUTERISATION: The Northern Railway, Ferozepore Division, has approved the computerisation of PRS at Dasuya in the district. In a letter to Mr Charanjit Singh Channi, MP, the Executive Director (PC) Railways, Mr G. Suman, has informed that computerisation for reservation facility will be started by next week.

JAGRAON
OPIUM SEIZED: Mr Surjit Chand, SHO, city seized 980 gm of opium from Pardeep Kumar of Sadul Sahir village in Ganganagar district. The police has arrested the accused and registered a case under Sections 18, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act. 

EYE OPERATIONS: Free eye operation camp was organised at a local nursing home here by the Jagraon Citizens Welfare Council. The camp was inaugurated by Dr Raj Kumar Garg, CMO, Civil Hospital, and was conducted by a Ludhiana-based renowned eye surgeon, Dr A.K. Bhadari. More than 300 patients suffering from eye ailments were examined at the camp. Fifty patients were operated upon and medicines free of cost were distributed to the patients. 

LUDHIANA
MEDICAL CAMP: A free medical check-up camp at Memhasinghwala village near Kila Raipur was organsied on Sunday by the Grewal Brotherhood. Mr Parmjeet Singh Grewal, general secretary, Grewal Brotherhood, in a press statement said over 500 patients were examined for various treatments. Dr Jagroop Singh Gill, Dr Jagdev Singh Grewal, Dr Mandeep Kaur Sidhu, Dr Sweet Kaur, Dr Sarabjit Singh, Dr S.S. Grewal, Dr Kuljasbir Singh Grewal, Dr Amarjit Singh Grewal, Dr Samreen Uppal, Dr I.P.S. Chabra, Dr G.S. Hara, Dr Balwant Singh and Dr Sukhwinder Singh examined the patients for various diseases. The camp was inaugurated by president of the Grewal Brotherhood Shamsher Singh Grewal. The patients were given free consultation and medicines free of cost. 

ELECTED: Dr J. L. Joshi, founder Principal, Christian Dental College, and Deputy Director, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana has been elected as the president of the Punjab Dental Council of India. Dr Harjinder has been elected as the vice-president and Dr Rajesh Sharma as the registrar. The main objective of the council, according to Dr Joshi, will be to regulate the standard of dental education in the state while ensuring that the norms and ethics of the dental profession are stringently adhered to. 

HONOURED: Dr T.S. Thind, Senior Plant Pathologist at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, has been awarded Fulbright Fellowship by the United States Educational Foundation in India (USEFI) for visiting University of California, Davis, for four months. He has been invited for a sabbatical visit to this university where he will work from June, 2001 to September, 2001, in a project on epidemiology and management of fungal disease of grapevine. During his visit Dr Thind will also spend two weeks at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York and participate in the experiments on population structuring in Phytophthora infestans (late blight of potato) under selection pressure of fungicides. The USEFI selects six Indian scientists from different fields every year for visiting universities and institutes in the USA for advanced research. Dr Thind, who is specialised in need-based use of fungicides in plant disease management, has also been nominated as member of the Chemical Control Committee of the International Society of Plant Pathology for five years. 

OFFICE-BEARERS: Mr Zabar Jang Singh (Bathinda) and Mr Navin Talwar (Ludhiana) were elected President and General Secretary of the All-India LPG Distributors Federation (NW Region), comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh. Among other new office-bearers of the body are: Mr Chander Mukhi Sharma (Panchkula) and Col R. C. S. Mann (Chandigarh) — vice-presidents; and Mr Anoop Jain (Mohali) — Treasurer. According to Mr Talwar, the new office-bearers of the federation, with a membership of more than 500 LPG distributors, had pledged to work for forging better relations between the distributors and the oil companies. Steps will also be taken for enhancement of distributors’ commission, which was meagre and inadequate to cover the mounting operational expenses. 

MOGA
ARRESTED: Kuldip Singh, alias Deepa, has been arrested for being in possession of 1 kg of contraband opium which he had concealed in his bicycle near the Dusanjh road, Moga. The information was given here on Monday by the Senior Superintendent of Police, Dr Sharad Satya Chauhan.

DROWNED: A teenager was reportedly drowned at Chandnawan village under the Baghapurana police station in the district when he slipped into a tank on Sunday. His body was later sent for a post-mortem examination.

DISTRIBUTED: An amount of Rs 29,500 was distributed among at least 45 marriageable poor girls at a function held here on Sunday which was chaired by the Punjab Education Minister, Mr Tota Singh, on the premises of the Block Development Office here.

PATIALA
CHARGE TAKEN: Dr Kuldip Singh Dhir taken charge as Head, Department of Correspondence, Punjabi University, on Monday. He discussed various issues relating to the department. 

TEACHERS’ PLEA: The Punjab Government College Teachers Association (PGCTA) has demanded withdrawl of show-cause notices issued U.C. Singh, Prof Sucha Singh Gill, Prof B.S. Khaira and Dr Balwinder Singh.

PHILLAUR
WELCOME STEP: The Bahujan Samaj Morcha national President, Mr Satnam Singh Kainth, has welcomed the Prime Minister’s initiative to restore cordiality between India and Pakistan. Talking to mediapersons after addressing the morcha meeting at Gurra village on Monday, Mr Kainth described it as a right step at the right time.

CAMPAIGN: The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Punjab, will soon launch a campaign against drug abuse among the youth. This was disclosed by the morcha president, Mr Sukhmidner Paul Singh Grewal, here on Monday.

INJURED: A truck driver, Tirlok Singh, sustained injuries when his truck rammed into a goods train at an unmanned railway crossing near Dhogrri village on the Jalandhar-Pathankot rail-section on Saturday. He was admitted to a hospital in Jalandhar.

LABOURER KILLED: A migrant labourer, Gauri Shanker, was killed when he was struck by lightning at Cheema Khurad village on Saturday. He was returning to his house on a cycle, when the incident occurred.

20 HURT: More than 20 persons sustained injuries when a state roadways bus collided with a Tata Sumo near Sagarpur village, on the Phillaur-Noormahal road, on Saturday. All injured were admitted to hospitals at Phillaur, Noormahal and Jalandhar. The police has registered a case.

SAMRALA
FIRE: The thatched cottage of a person of Gujjar community was destroyed by fire at Ladhran village, 5 km from here, on Sunday evening. The loss is estimated to be around Rs 50,000. The cause of fire has not been ascertained yet. The owner of the cottage, Mr Dulla, the community head, has been living alongwith his three sons, for the past 5 years or so. Mr Joginder Singh Seh, a senior Akali leader, and Mr Jagjiwan Singh Khirnian, Chairman of the Land Mortgage Bank, Samrala, demanded compensation from the local SDM, Mr Sandeep Hans. 

CHANDIGARH

WATER COOLER DONATED: A drinking water cooler with a water purifier was installed at Government High School at Sarangpur village on Monday. It was inaugurated by Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Punjab Finance Minister. The system was donated by the Rotary Club of Chandigarh (Mid-Town), through the Rotary Foundation of the Rotary International and the Rotary Club, Italy.

HARYANA

AMBALA
MASTERS’ ASSOCIATION: A district-level meeting of the Haryana Rajkiya Masters Association was presided over by the district president, Mr Ramkrishna Kalia. The association has demanded that they must be given a pay which commensurate with their seniority and capability. They have demanded a pay scale of Rs 6,500 to Rs 9,900. In middle school, the pay scale should be Rs 6,500 to 10,500 and science teachers must be paid practical allowances. 

TEAR PLEA: Technical Employees Association of Railways (TEAR) has submitted a memorandum to the Union Railways Minister to press for their demands. They have demanded that the TEAR must be provided offices at the branch level, changing the names of posts and to give pay of Rs 3,050 to Rs 4,590 to the technical group D employees, according to the mandal secretary, Mr Narsingh Kumar. 

LIQUOR SEIZED: A police team led by the SHO Baldev Nagar, Mr Jai Singh, has recovered 3600 country-made liquor pouches from Sohan Lal, alias Sonu, and Amit Kumar, alias Mittal, according to a press note. 

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: A weekly meeting of the Alcoholics Anonymous will be held at the primary school in church behind GPO Ambala Cantonment on Thursday at 6.30 p.m., according to a press note. 

TWO ARRESTED: The police has arrested two satta operators and seized Rs 1,430 from their possession. One of them belonged to Ambala City and the second belonged to Ambala Cantonment. The police has registered a case against them. In another incident, the police seized eight drums of black oil from a shopkeeper of Ambala Cantonment. 

CARS STOLEN: Three cars, including two Marutis, were stolen in the district on Sunday. Rajiv Kumar, a resident of Ambala City, lodged a complaint that his Maruti car was stolen from his residence. Similarly a Tata Sumo and a Maruti car were stolen. 

ELECTION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Urban Estate Sector 1 Welfare Association, Ambala City: president — Mr P.K. Ahluwalia; senior vice-president — Mr Naresh Bansal; general secretary — Mr Chaman Lal Gupta; secretary — Mr V.K. Chibbar; and cashier — Mr P.K. Khanduja. 

KAITHAL
ENCROACHMENTS: The district administration removed encroachments from the panchayat land at Nauch village on Sunday. The DRO and the DSP, accompanied by a heavy police contingent, reached the village and removed encroachments from the village cremation ground, ring road and a number of other places with the help of villagers.

BANK LOANS: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Fateh Singh Dagar, has exhorted bank officials to grant loans only to the deserving persons so that there were no problems at the time of recovery of loans. He was addressing a meeting of officials of Co-operative Bank, Land Development Bank and mini banks here on Sunday.

RESENTMENT: Residents of Dhand town, especially women, have expressed resentment over erratic water supply. The matter has been brought to the notice of the authorities concerned but no relief has been provided yet.

ROHTAK
AGITATION: The Haryana Sarv Karamchari Sangh has decided to launch a statewide agitation against government policies of privatisation, liberalisation, retrenchment and contract system. The decision was taken at the eighth biannual conference of the sangh that concluded here on Sunday. Mr R.C. Jagga, general secretary, said a state-level convention of women would be held here on July 15 as a part of the agitation.

EX-OFFICER DEAD: Chander Singh, a retired HCS officer, died after a brief illness here on Saturday. He is survived by a son and three daughters. He joined as Naib Tehsildar in 1955, in the erstwhile Punjab, and was promoted to the rank of an HCS in 1973. He retired from the service in 1993.

SONEPAT
ASSAULT: A person sustained injuries when he was allegedly attacked with a knife by a person belonging to his rival group at Khewra village, about 12 km from here, on Sunday. The police has registered a case.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the BSP, Baroda unit : president — Mr Chand Ram; vice-president — Mr Siri Niwas; general secretary — Mr Karambir; organising secretary — Mr Pardeep Kumar, and treasurer — Mr Mohinder Singh.

YAMUNANAGAR
EYE CAMP: The All-India Samaj Sewa Kendra, organised a free eye camp at Samta Ashram in Alipur village on Sunday. More than 200 villagers were examined and medicines were distributed free of cost. The visiting eye surgeon, Dr Raj Kumar Dua, recommended more than 20 cases for surgery. Dr Vinesh Kumar of Christian Hospital, Jagadhri, was also present.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
POWER SUPPLY: A prominent social organisation, the Bilaspur Nagar Vikas Sabha, criticised the local unit of the HP State Electricity Board for its failure to maintain regular power supply in Bilaspur. A resolution passed at a meeting of the sabha on Monday demanded that the power bills should be sent every month and if these were given for two or more months then the board should give a concession in electricity rates.

HEALTH CAMP: A women and children health awakening camp was organised by Chetna, a social organisation, at Kothi village, near Ghumarwin, 22 km from here, on Sunday.

SOLAN
SEARCH NOT RAID: The Superintendent of Police, Solan, has clarified that a search was carried out in a house in Subathu. Denying the report about a raid, appearing in these columns on May 13, he said no incriminating material was seized.