R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMLOH
STRIKE: Lawyers suspended work in the courts here on Wednesday on a call given by the Bar, Association, Sangrur, said Mr Ashok Kumar Bansal, President of the Bar Association, Amloh. 

CELEBRATED: The annual Urs was celebrated at “Durgah of Kadri Pir Baba” at Amloh on Thursday. Mr Gurchain Singh DSP Amloh, Mr Sukhwant Singh DSP (D), Fatehgarh Sahib, and Mr Jagbir Singh, SHO, Amloh, Presented “chadar” on the holy durgah. Shokat Ali, Sabar Ali Matoi, Ashak Ali (Patiala) and Ranjit Alballa presented “qawwalis.” Mr Baldev Sedha, President, Municipal Council, Amloh, and several other persons including panches and sarpanches were present on the occasion. 

GARHSHANKAR
POWER CUTS: People living in and around Garhshankar are having tough time due to unannounced electricity cuts by the PSEB. These cuts adversely affect the water supply. People remain without electricity for 12 hours a day, inspite of the fact that the area is covered under the 24-hour electricity supply scheme.

GRANTED: Congress MP from Hoshiarpur Charanjit Singh Channi has granted a sum of Rs 18.15 lakh out of his Member Parliament Local Area Development Scheme Fund to 59 villages of the Garhshankar Assembly segment for various development schemes. The ADC (D) has ordered the BDPO of Garhshankar and Mahilpur to distribute cheques to the villages.

HOSHIARPUR
CASE REGISTERED: On a complaint of Capt Bansi lal (retd) of Mohalla Bansi Nagar, the police here registered a case under Sections 420, 406, 408, 380 and 120-B of the IPC, against A.L. Syal, R.K. Syal, Paromila Syal, H.K. Sharma, Ashok Walia and Mr Kamboj of the Golden Forest (India) Ltd on Tuesday for criminal breach of trust and misuse of 10 blank but signed cheques.

CONSUMER AWARENESS: Dr Dharam Vir Kapur, president of the Consumer Awareness and Welfare Association, Punjab, said in a press note here on Wednesday that all unemployed youth were entitled to 50 per cent railway concession in India whenever they travelled for any interview. Further, women above 60 years were entitled to 30 per cent concession while trade nurses and midwives going on leave were entitled to 25 per cent concession. He said relevant documents were required to avail such concessions.

LAND DISPUTE: The Haryana police has registered a case on Tuesday against Gurdev Singh and Niranjan Singh for allegedly giving land belonging to the SGPC on contract for cultivation at Kangmahi village in the district. According to the FIR, the two suspects had prepared false documents of the land on the SGPC letterhead.

THEFT: Some miscreants stole copper wire and electric oil from the transformer of the PSEB at Jhanowal village on Tuesday. The Mahilpur police has registered a case under Section 379 of the IPC.

JALANDHAR
ELECTED: Dr Sanjiv Sharma, an ENT specialist and president of the local ENT forum, has been elected honorary secretary, Public Relations of the Indian Medical Association, Punjab, for 2001-2002.

KHANNA
MEETING: A meeting of municipal councillors and mediapersons was held in the local municipal complex on the call of the SSP, Khanna, Dr Rajindra Nam Deo Dhoke. The road safety and growing numbers of the accidents on the GT road were discussed at the meeting. On the occasion the SSP announced that a Traffic Advisory Committee will be formed soon. Encroachments on the GT road were also discussed.

KHARAR
MC WARNING: The local Municipal Committee has asked the residents not to fix water pumps directly to the water pipes, otherwise their water connections would be disconnected without giving any notice. The committee has distributed handbills in the area in this regard.

NOMINATED: Mr Natrajan Kaushal, an advocate and member of the local municipal committee, has been nominated as a member of the Ropar Telephone Advisory Committee by the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited stated an appointment letter received here on Wednesday.

COMPLAINT: Some residents of the nearby Tewar village, including Capt Bakhshis Singh and Mr Hardev Singh in a letter written to the Punjab Chief Minister on Wednesday have alleged that although an amount of Rs 20,000 was deposited in 1997 with the Punjab State Electricity Board for ensuing 24 hour supply, but till today nothing has happened in this regard.

LUDHIANA
CONVENTION: The five-member preparatory committee for the state-level Sarb Hind Shiromani Youth Akali Dal convention, to be held here on July 15, met at the residence of Mr Sukhwinderpal Singh Garcha on Wednesday evening. Besides Mr Garcha, the senior vice-president of the party, Mr Narinderpal Singh Bajwa, district president (Urban), Mr Sohan Singh Goga, district president (Rural), Mr Rajinder Singh Sandhu, and Mr Sukhwant Singh Chak Kalan, attended the meeting. According to Mr Garcha, the meeting took stock of the arrangements for the convention and entrusted various duties to the party activists to make the event a great success. The convention would focus on the problems being faced by the youth and would deliberate to evolve an effective programme for their welfare. The convention would be addressed by the SHSAD President, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, other senior party leaders and intellectuals. Earlier, the party functionaries accorded a rousing reception to senior vice-president Narinderpal Singh Bajwa on his arrival to the city. 

HAILED: The Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Punjab, has hailed the state government decision to strictly enforce the Supreme Court’s verdict against foeticide and has urged the government to take stern action against doctors and nursing homes, conducting pre-natal sex determination tests as well as the couples going for these tests. In a joint statement here on Thursday Diwan Rajendra Kumar, senior vice-president, Mr Roshan Lal Arya, general secretary, and Mr Om Parkash Passi, secretary, of the sabha have observed that the menace of female foeticide had led to alarming decrease in female population and the situation was bound to turn into a major social problem. 

MALERKOTLA
FAREWELL: The Bar Association, Young Lawyers Association, Bar Clerk Association, and the Malerkotla Welfare Association have organised a farewell party in honour of Mr S.K. Sachdeva, Senior Civil Judge, Malerkotla, who has been transferred to Nawanshahr as Chief Judicial Magistrate. Mr Baldev Singh Mann, president, Bar Association, Mr Nirbhay Singh, president, Young Lawyers Association and Mr Munish Jindal, president, Malerkotla Welfare Association, has presented mementoes to him.

PRINTERS’ ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Malerkotla Printers Association: president — Mr Janesh Jain; vice-president — Mr Rajiv Jain; general secretary — Mr Kiran Kumari, and treasurer — Mohammad Shehzad.

MANDI GOBINDGARH
NOMINATIONS: Forty candidates have filed their nomination papers for 26 seats of Steel Chamber for the elections for the years 2001 to 2003, which will be held on June 30. Mr M.P. Verma, Executive Officer of the chamber, disclosed the classification of voters. The main contenders for the presidentship are Mr Surinder Singh and Mr Bharat Bhushan, while in the outgoing term Mr Surinder Singh was elected as the president of the chamber unanimously. 

MOGA
APPROVAL: The Punjab Government has approved the mini-secretariat to be built here to bring all government offices under one roof. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Kanwalbir Singh, here on Wednesday. Mr Parkash Singh Badal would lay the foundation stone on June 23, he added.

NAWANSHAHR
CELL CONSTITUTED: Mr Jagir Singh Bhullar, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Industry), while presiding over a meeting of officials and industrialists here on Wednesday said the Punjab government, with a view to combatting threats posed by the WTO, had set up a special cell in the Industries Department to mobilise industrial units of the state to produce quality products.

DRIVE LAUNCHED: The district administration, in collaboration with the NRIs and social organisations, has launched a drive to provide electric fans to all government primary schools in the district. Mr Jagjit Singh, DC, inaugurated the drive at Government Primary School, Bhangal Kalan, 5 km from here, on Wednesday.

BLOOD DONATION CAMP: The local Blood Donors’ Council organised a blood donation camp in the memory of freedom fighter Dhanna Singh Sujjon at the BDC Complex here on Wednesday. As many as twenty persons donated blood on the occasion.

LINK ROAD: Mr Swarna Ram, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister, inaugurated a newly upgraded Government Middle School and the Kataria-Banga link road at Kataria village, 20 km from here, on Wednesday.

UNIFORMS DISTRIBUTED: Mr Ishwar Singh, SSP, distributed school uniforms among students of the local Parsinni Devi Jain Model School on Wednesday.

PATIALA
TREKKING EXPEDITION: A trekking expedition, ‘Barhte Kadam’ was launched here on Thursday by the 4 MECH INF (1 Sikh). The expedition consisting of one officer, two JCOs and 20 soldiers was flagged off by Brig D.S. Grewal. Giving details of the expedition, the Commanding Officer of the unit, Col Anurag Gupta, said the team would visit Kalka, Kasauli, Shimla and Morni during the next 20 days. Thereafter, the expedition will move towards Solan on July 3.

RECRUITMENT RALLY: A recruitment rally for soldiers belonging to the Sikh Ramdasia and Sikh Mazbi category will be organised from June 20 to 24 at Sangrur. The candidates will be screened from Punjab.

SAMRALA
DHARNA: The All-India Telecom Employees Union staged a dharna here on Thursday in front of the office of the DET, Phones. Mr Rachhpal Singh, president, Mr Balwant Singh Sandhu, branch secretary, and Darshan Singh, assistant branch secretary, also participated in it. The employees said the SDO, Phones, was not implementing the agreement arrived at with the union leaders and had a rigid anti-employee attitude. The union decided to continue the dharna for an indefinite period, said Mr Sandhu. 

CHANDIGARH

SHOW: The People for Animals, Chandigarh unit, will host the premier show of Walt Disney’s 102 Dalmations’ at Kiran Theatre, Sector 22, on Friday at 10 am. The aim of the organisers is to promote a series of animal features and animated films, especially targeted for the youth and children of the city. The event is being collaborated with Columbia Pictures, India (North), and has been sponsored by Coca Cola, Yellow Pages and PFA.

HARYANA

2 PISTOLS SEIZED: The police has arrested constable Sushil Kumar, a wireless operator, and seized two pistols and five cartridges from him. The district police chief, Mr Manjit Singh Ahlawat, said a case under the Arms Act has been registered against the accused.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BOYCOTT: The Himachal Pradesh State Journalists Federation has declared that the boycott of Himachal Pradesh Agriculture Minister Vidya Sagar still continues as the minister has not yet apologised for his ‘‘misbehaviour’’ with mediapersons on September 24 and November 3 at Kangra. The federation president, Mr Jai Kumar, stated this while addressing mediapersons here today.

SHIMLA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the State Agriculture Department Ministerial Staff Association: president — Mr S.S. Mandhotra; senior vice-president — Mr Krishan Singh; general secretary — Mr Ranjit Singh Verma; vice-president — Mr Narpat Ram; finance secretary — Mr Raj Kumar chauhan; joint secretary — Mr Naresh Kumar and organising secretary — Mr Bhupinder Singh.