R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
PROTEST RALLY: Members of the Amritsar Customs Group ‘D’ Officers Association held a rally here in front of the Customs Commissionerate’s Office on Friday. They were opposing the cadre restructuring move and seeking the review of promotion criteria etc.

TALENT SEARCH: The BBK DAV College for Girls here organised a talent search competition here on Friday. Students participated in various events including fabric design, pottery, glass painting, rangoli, embroidery, flower arrangement and posters making. The Dean, College Development Council, Guru Nanak Dev University, Dr Manjit Kaur Sodhia, presided over the competition.

BATHINDA
5 ARRESTED: The police has unearthed an illicit distillery and seized 22 litres of country liquor, and 15 litres of ‘lahan’. Subhash Chander, Kewal Singh, Jit Singh, Gurmail Singh and Labh Singh, have been arrested under the Excise Act in this connection.

RAIL PASSENGERS: The Northern Railway Passengers Association in a letter to the Divisional Railway Manager, Ambala, among other things has demanded that the monthly seasonal tickets should be issued round the clock as 9 am to 5 pm timings did not suit daily commuters.

FAZILKA
SCHOOL VACANCIES: Mr Raj Kishore Kalra, spokesperson for the Secondary Teachers Union, Punjab, has disclosed that out of 831 senior secondary schools and 468 newly upgraded senior secondary schools, 850 posts of principal are vacant. Besides no post of principal has been sanctioned in the upgraded schools. He demanded that vacancies should be filled immediately for the smooth functioning of these schools.

HOSHIARPUR
CAR RECOVERED: The city police recovered an Esteem car (PB-08-0321) on Thursday. The car reportedly belonged to a timber merchant was stolen from Hariana a few days ago.

CRUSHED TO DEATH: A Tata Sumo (HR-01-2199) reportedly crushed a young boy, Harwinder Singh, to death at Badesron village on the night of Thursday. The driver of the Sumo fled away from the scene. The police has registered a case.

LIQUOR SEIZED: The Mukerian police arrested Baldev Singh of Panwan village and seized 6750 ml of illicit liquor from his possession on Thursday.

RECRUITMENT RALLY: The Directorate, Recruitment Jalandhar, will organise a rally for the recruitment of Majhbi, Ramdasia and Dogra youths for technical and general duty at Outdoor Stadium here from August 21 to 26. This was disclosed by Commander Varinder Iqbal, Director, Recruitment here on Friday.

DC’S ORDER: Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner, here has instructed the district revenue authorities not to make girdawari of panchayat lands in favour of any person even if he has taken it on lease. Addressing a meeting, he said it was necessary that girdawaris should be on the name of panchayat to avoid encroachments.

JALANDHAR
PENSIONERS’ PLEA: Members of the Government Pensioners’ Welfare Association assembled at the local Nehru Garden on Friday and wore black badges to register their protest against the “indifferent” attitude of the ruling SAD-BJP government towards them. They demanded that the state government should implement the recommendations of the Fourth Pay Commission without delay.

KHARAR
PROCEEDINGS INITIATED: The court of Mrs Harinder Sidhu, Judicial magistrate, initiated proceedings under Section 182, IPC, against Om Parkash and others of Kurdi village on Friday for lodging a false complaint against Mr Ujjagar Singh, etc of the same village. The court fixed the next date of hearing on Oct 25. According to information Om Parkash had lodged a report with the Sohana police on August 18, 1999, against Mr Ujjagar Singh and others. After the investigations, it was later found out to be incorrect by the police.

DC INAUGURATES BLOCK: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Jasbir Singh Bir, inaugurated a block comprising of four rooms and a hall constructed by the PTA at the cost of Rs 16 lacs at Government Girls College here on Friday. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Bir assured that a swimming pool lying unused since years would be restored by providing Rs 5 lakh from the Development Board. He also added that sufficient funds and provisions would be generated for the hostel building of the college to provide more facilities to the hostel girls. He stressed on the need for establishing more cordial relationship with the students. He said the teachers needed to aim at improving the overall personality of the students. He emphasised on evoking honesty and dedication among students. Speaking on the occasion, the Principal of the college, Mrs Gurcharan Kaur Jaggi, said during the past two years, the PTA had been capable of installing a complex, a generator and a submersible pump. She said the college had always scored high rating during the cultural activities and functions. Mr Bir distributed certificates to over 215 girls who performed gidha during the Independence Day celebrations. The Director Youth Welfare, Mr Daljit Singh, and Honorary Senior Vice President of the Red Cross, Mr Vijay Kumar Goel, were also present on the occasion.

STRIKES IN COLLEGES: The Private Colleges Non-teaching Employees Union observed strikes at Modi College, Khalsa College and P.M.N. College, Rajpura, on Saturday. The strikes were against the Punjab government’s decision to pay arrears under new pay scale, which was in accordance with the fourth pay commission, in six annual installments. There was also no improvement in house rent allowance (HRA) although the teaching staff of the private colleges had been paid arrears as well as given increment in the HRA.The pension and gratuity had also not been applied. They said the union would resort to agitation if the government did not take necessary action.

LUDHIANA
VACCINATION CAMP: Lions Club Ludhiana North organised a hepatitis-B vaccination camp at Bagga Nursing Home and Hospital on Saturday. According to a press note, the camp was inaugurated by Mr Amarjit Singh Bhatia, vice-president, Shiromani Akali Dal. Mr S.P.S.Shahpuri and Mr H.S.Lamba talked about the disease.

PAINTING CONTEST: Bangiya Samsad, a Bengali socio-cultural organisation organised an on-the-spot painting competition at Parkash Nagar, Jawaddi, on Friday. According to a press note, students of various schools participated in the contest. Garima from B.C.M.Arya Model Senior Secondary School stood first in the competition. Rajan Chaterji and Manjit Singh Bedi, from Bangiya Samsad and Blossom English High School, Shastri Nagar, respectively, won the second and third prizes. The consolation prize was won by Monica from School for Deaf Children, Haibowal Kalan.

TALK ON DEPRESSION: Cases of depression are rising fast in urban and rural society and women patients outnumber men. This was stated by Dr Rajiv Gupta, a consultant psychiatrist, during his talk to the members of Ramgarhia Ladies Club, Dugri, on Saturday said it was important to identify depression at an early stage. He suggested rational use of medical treatment, yoga, regular exercise, adequate sleep and rest in controlling-to-day anxiety and stress.

EXHIBITION: Students of Alpine International School organised its annual exhibition at Barewal campus here on Saturday. Students of Classes IV to XI displayed working as well as non-working models of science and art and craft. The science models included those on evaporation leading to rainfall, working burglar alarm, traffic signal, soil erosion and effects of pollution. Art and craft models included candles, soft toys and paintings with water and oil colours on canvas, glass and tin foil. Parents were invited to view the exhibition.

TEACHERS’ SHORTAGE: A shortage of more than 50 teachers in over 56 government primary schools falling under the office of the local Block Primary Education Officer No. 1 is causing great inconvenience. Four schools in Kambo, Kamalpur, Doblian and Saraidivana villages have no teachers and temporary arrangements have been made to run these schools.

CHANDIGARH

NOTICE ISSUED: A local court on Friday issued a notice to the UT Administration for September 24 on the appeal application moved by a Dakaut pandit challenging the order passed by a lower court here. The Dakaut pandit caste, which has traditionally been collecting alms as per Hindu norms, had challenged a lower court’s decision to book them under the Begging Act of the Municipal Corporation saying it was a violation of their “fundamental right to earn a livelihood”. The appellant, Mr Thara Ram, had moved an appeal in the court of Additional Sessions Judge, Union Territory. A Judicial Magistrate (first class) had held Mr Ram guilty under the Begging Act of Municipal Corporation. He alleged that the case against the applicant was falsely registered on June 16, 2001, in the Industrial Area Police Station. It was alleged that the trial court while convicting the accused under Section 151 of the Municipal Corporation Act had failed to take into consideration the fact that accepting offerings to pacify the negative effects of the three ominous “Grihas” was allowed in the Hindu religion.

HARYANA

PDS KEROSENE: Ration card holders have alleged that they were not being given their monthly quota of kerosene oil by certain depot holders. They have demanded a probe and stern action against the erring depot-holders.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
FLASH FLOODS LOSS: The loss caused to the life, property and crops due to recent flashfloods in the district has been put at Rs 7 crore, Mr S.C. Mehta, Deputy Commissioner, said here on Friday that the revenue agencies had been directed to provide relief to the affected families according to the relief manual.

KUMARHATTI
WATER SHORTAGE: The failure of the Irrigation and Public Health Department to provide adequate water supply to the Dharampur railway station, 4 km from here, has led to resentment among the station staff. In a complaint to the authorities, the Station Master has said due to lack of sufficient water they had closed the station toilets and drinking water is also not available to passengers. About two months ago, the department replaced a one-inch water pipe to the station with a half-inch pipe which reduced the water supply, he said.