R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
BLOOD DONATION CAMP: On the ninth death anniversary of Bhagat Puran Singh, founder of the All-India Pingalwara Society, a blood donation camp was held here on Saturday. The camp was inaugurated by Mr Bhagwant Singh Dilawari and Mr Sunder Lal Bahuguna. Members of the Punjab Youth Forum also donated blood at the camp.

BARNALA
SANCTIONED: The Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry has sanctioned Rs 470.66 lakh for widening National Highway No 71 from here to Ramgarh on the Barnala-Moga road. This information was given here on Saturday by Mr Paramjit Singh Barnala, General Secretary of the SAD (Amritsar). Mr Barnala further said the decision had been conveyed to Mr Simranjit Singh Mann by Major-Gen B.C.Khanduri, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Road Transport and Highways, through a letter.

INCENTIVES: The local Lions Club has decided to offer incentives to students securing first position in their class in the annual examination of Government primary school, Narain Nagar, Barnala in the form of fee, uniform, books and stationery items. The information was given here on Saturday by Mr Rupinder Singh Sandhu, director, Lions Club, Barnala, at a function of the club held at Government Primary School, Narain Nagar.

BATHINDA
SAPLINGS PLANTED: The Central Government has given Rs 60 lakh for the plantation of trees throughout the district so that more green belts could be created. This information was given by Mr R.Venkat Ratnam, Deputy Commissioner, while presiding over a tree plantation function organised at Adarsh Senior Secondary School, Nandgarh village on Saturday.

FARIDKOT
REGISTRATION ORDERED: Mr A. Venu Prasad, Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Magistrate, on Saturday ordered all migrants to get their names and addresses registered in the police stations of their respective areas.

HOSHIARPUR
THIEF HELD: The police arrested a vehicle thief Kishori Lal of Arjun Nagar, Nakodar, here on Saturday and seized the motor cycle he was driving. He reportedly tried to escape when the police party signalled him to stop near the local railway station. However, he was overpowered by the policemen and the motor cycle was seized, which was later found to be a stolen one.

BREAST FEEDING: To create awareness among people about the importance of mother’s milk and breast feeding, a special campaign is being launched by the Health Department in the district. This was stated by Dr Kiranjit Kumar, Civil Surgeon, in a press note issued here on Sunday. He said teams had been constituted to visit rural areas in this connection.

CASE REGISTERED: On a complaint by Mr Inderpal Singh of Central Town, Jalandhar, the Tanda police has registered a case under Sections 363 and 366, IPC, against his brother-in-law Kulbhushan Maadan for allegedly kidnapping his 14-year-old daughter from his sister’s house at Tanda on July 25.

KHANNA
MANAGEMENT ELECTION: The AS High School Management Committee and Trust, which has over 3,800 members, would elect 20 members to its managing committee on September 16. It was decided at the general house meeting of the trust. The prospective candidates and various groups were making efforts to form committees — one led by the Congress party and some other independents and the other panel by the BJP-Akali alliance.

LUDHIANA
ELECTED: The following have been elected members of the newly-formed SS Jain Sabha Shankracharya Nagar, Haibowal Kalan: president — Mr Subhash Chander Jain; senior vice-president — Mr Tarsem Kumar Jain; vice-president — Mr Balvir Singh; general secretary — Mr Sanjiv Kumar; assistant secretary — Dr Jugesh Jain; treasurer — Mr Asok Kumar Jain; and organising secretary — Mr Ramesh Kumar Jain.

FUNCTION: Master Mohan Lal, Minister for Higher Education, has asked the women to recognise their strength and try to be independent in their family and social life. He was speaking on “Strength for Women year — 2001” at a function organised by the Saish Dhawan Government College for Boys here on Saturday. He said its main aim was to give right place to women in society so that they could contribute the progress of the country. He stated that the government was determined to give 33 per cent reservation to women. He announced to a grant of Rs 50,000 for building a Common Room for girls in the college. The Member of Rajya Sabha, Mr Lala Lajpat Rai, also announced Rs 4 lakh for the purpose.

PATIALA
RE-ELECTED: Mr Hardev Singh Rosha was re-elected as president of the Food and Supplies Inspectors (I) Union, Punjab, here on Saturday. Union members lauded the efforts taken by Mr Rosha for the upliftment of Inspectors Grade from II to Grade I. 

CYCLE RALLY: A cycle rally was taken out by the Punjab Eco Friendly Association (PEFA) on the Punjabi University campus to mark Environment Day here on Saturday. Before starting the rally, a function was held in front of university library, which was presided over by Dr Dalbir Singh Dhillon, Dean, Students Welfare. Mr Rajdeep Dhaliwal, general secretary, highlighted the activities of the association. The rally passed through Urban Estate, Arya Samaj Chowk, Anardana Chowk, Modi College, 22 number Phatak and finally reached the residence of the Deputy Commissioner where the association submitted a memorandum to the DC regarding cleanliness of the city. 

FOUNDATION STONE: Raja Narinder Singh, Minister of State for Public Health, laid a foundation stone of link road between Shamala village and Thangera village, falling under the Nabha subdivision, on Sunday. He assured the villagers of providing a special grant for the repair of a panchayat house and the village dharamshala apart from repairing narrow lanes. A cultural show was presented by schoolchildren. 

OFFICE-BEARERS: A district convention of the Punjab State Services Federation, the PSEB Employees Federation and the Punjab Mazdoor Dal was held in the auditorium of State College of Education here on Sunday. During the convention, Mr Surinderjit Singh Walia was elected as president, Trade Union Coordination Committee. The other office bearers are: Mr Jagjit Singh — president, Punjab State Services Federation (PSSF), district unit; Mr Kultej Singh — president, PSSF, city unit; Mr Rattan Chand Mattu — president, Ministerial Staff Association; Mr Ram Kumar Sharma — president, Government Teachers Union; Mr Pawan Kumar Jindal — president, PSEB Employees Federation; Mrs Jaswinder Kaur — president, PSSF, Women Wing; and Mr Gurdip Singh Ashmanpur — president, Tempo Union for Punjab Majdoor Dal. 

FUNCTION: The State Language Department observed ‘Sanskrit Day’ here on Saturday. Mr Bhagat Singh, chief secretary, Higher Education and Language, Dr Madan Lal Hasija, Director of the department, and Prof Dev Datt Bhatti spoke on the occasion. 

SAPLINGS PLANTED: The Bharat Vikas Parishad celebrated vanamahotsava by planting about 100 saplings at Agarsen Hospital here on Sunday. Speaking on the occasion, Mr R.C. Modi, in charge of the programme, stressed the masses to plant more saplings as this would be a great advantage in the near future when the increased pollution level would be a great hindrance in normal routine life. Mr Harminder Gupta, president of the parishad, said they would set up a “tree bank” in which anyone who wishes to donate specially on their birthdays or anniversaries could do so to the bank. The parishad plans to plant more than 1000 saplings in this year. 

CPM CONFERENCE: Mr Rattan Singh Randhawa, Amritsar district secretary of the CPM, in a press statement issued here on Saturday said Mr Harkishan Singh Surjeet, all-India general secretary of the CPM, would address a conference being organised on the first death anniversary of Darshan Singh Chabal, former MLA and a party leader, on August 25 at Adda Chabal.

CHANDIGARH

FOUNDATION DAY: The Uttarakhand Yuva Manch, Chandigarh celebrated its eighth Foundation Day on Sunday, by organising a sapling plantation camp at St Xavier’s School, Mohali. N.P. Amoli and Mr Satish Badola, president and general secretary, respectively, of the manch emphasised upon the importance of protecting environment. 

HARYANA

KALKA
ELECTION: The Kalka-Pinjore Three-wheeler Union was dissolved on Friday and Mr Pawan Sareen has been again elected as president of the union. The other office-bearers are: Ms Ujjala Bakshi — chairman; Mr Susheel Garg — legal adviser; Mr Sanjeev Chaudhary — vice-president; Mr Ram Kishan — secretary; and Mr Randeep Toni — cashier.

SONEPAT
MINISTER GHERAOED: The Haryana Local Bodies Minister, Mr Subhash Goel, faced the wrath of the shopkeepers whose unauthorised structures had been demolished by the district administration when the minister arrived here on Saturday to address members of the Aggarwal community. The angry shopkeepers reportedly gheraoed the minister and told him that the district authorities had demolished the structures without giving any prior notice to them.

SUICIDE: A youth was found hanging in his home here in Sector 14, a residential colony of HUDA, on Saturday. The police believes it to be a case of suicide and has sent the body for a post-mortem examination.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

SHIMLA
BLOOD DONATION CAMP: The local Sirmaur Manch organised a blood donation camp here on Sunday to pay tributes to Dr Y.S. Parmar on his 95th birth anniversary. Mr Suneel Grover, general secretary of the manch, said their motto was to promote the cause of the downtrodden. He said students from colleges also donated blood.