R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AHMEDGARH
TRIBUTES PAID: Tributes were paid to BSF jawan Karamjit at his native village, Baurhai Khurd. Mr Nusrat Akram Khan Bagga, Sports Minister, Punjab, announced Rs 1 lakh grant for the family of the martyr. Mr Munshi Ashraf announced Rs 50,000 grant from the MP discretion fund of Mr Simranjit Singh Mann. Mr Nirmal Singh, Chairman, Market Committee, Mr Gurloveleen Singh SDM, Mr Kulchhinder Singh, DSP, and Manmohan Kaushik, Executive Magistrate, were among others who paid the tributes.

BATHINDA
REPRESENTATION: Residents of the town in a representation submitted to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr R. Venkatratnam, said most of the roads of the town had developed potholes making the flow of traffic difficult. They alleged that the municipal authorities had been ignoring the bad condition of the roads.

MEETING HELD: The Punjab Government should make arrangements for the rehabilitation of employees of Municipal Councils and Municipal Corporations engaged in octroi collection before abolishing octroi in the state, otherwise they would resort to gheraoing all MPs of Punjab, said Mr Ashok Kumar, president of the local Municipal Employees Union, at a meeting of the union held here on Sunday.

CREMATED: The mortal remains of senior Congress leader Khushi Ram Mehta were consigned to flames at the local cremation ground on Sunday. Mr Anil Bhola, president of the local unit of the Congress and elder son of the deceased, lit the pyre.

FARIDKOT
SEMINAR HELD: A seminar on ‘Rotary’s global quest’ was organised by the local Rotary Club at Tara Palace on Sunday. Mr Hemant Ahuja, membership coordinator of Rotary International said the club had fixed a target of enrolling more than 3 lakh members during this year at the international level. Mr Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Minister for Irrigation, Punjab, presided over the seminar.

HOSHIARPUR
INFLATED BILLS: Resentment prevails among local residents against the PSEB over inflated power bills received by them for domestic connections. Surinder of the Bari Lehli locality here said on Saturday that there had been an average increase of Rs 200 per month in each bill. Mr Sunder Sham Arora, member PPCC, while condemning the PSEB, said hike in power tariff should be withdrawn.

LOOTER CAUGHT: Sunil Kumar of Giljian village (Tanda) was caught while he was trying to escape along with his two accomplices Sonu and Deepu of the same village after looting jewellery from the shop of Surinder Kumar and Chaman Lal in the Sheesh Mahal bazar on Saturday. They beat him up and later handed over him to the police. A case has been registered in this connection.

ARRESTED: Jagdish Chander Kansel, proprietor of Endowment Forests India Limited, has been arrested for cheating people. Stating this in a press note issued here on Saturday Mr Sanjeev Kalra, SSP, stated that the company used to lure persons with high rates of interest, but they were not paid the amount on maturity. A case has been registered under Section 409, IPC.

KHARAR
POLICE REMAND: Mr Roshan Lal Chauhan, Judicial Magistrate, Kharar, on Saturday remanded Kartar Singh Hothi, former Managing Director of Constofed, Punjab, in police remand till August 19. Hothi was arrested by the Vigilance Department, Punjab, on the charges of corruption and criminal breach of trust. A complaint against him was lodged by Mr Mohinder Singh, general secretary, Constofed Punjab Workers Union, Chandigarh. A loss of Rs 2 crore was suffered by the government when certain purchases were made without the permission of the board of directors. A case under Section 409 of the IPC and the Anti-Corruption Act has been registered against him.

MANDI GOBINDGARH
CAMP: Several thousand youth Congress volunteers from Punjab would participate in the All-India Blood Donation Camp being organised on August 20 at New Delhi on the birthday of late Rajiv Gandhi. The camp would be inaugurated by Ms Sonia Gandhi, president, All-India Congress Committee (AICC), and would be presided over by Mr Randeep Singh Surjawala, president, All-India Youth Congress. This was disclosed by Mr Devinder Singh Baboo, president, Punjab Youth Congress, and Mr Pawan Dewan, president, All-India Youth Congress Committee (Urban Development Cell), in a joint press conference here on Saturday.

NAWANSHAHR
PUBLIC OPINION: The Punjab State General Category Welfare Federation has decided to mobilise public opinion to struggle against the injustice being done to the people, especially the employees belonging to general castes by almost all political parties just to woo the Dalit vote bank. This was stated by Mr Vijay Kumar Dutta, president of the district unit of the federation in a press note here on Sunday.

INSTALLED: Mr Om Parkash Chopra and Mr Gurinder Singh Toor were installed president and secretary, respectively, of the local Rotary Club at a function organised here on Saturday.

NSS CAMP: The Amardeep Singh Shergill Memorial College, Mukandpur, about 20 km from here, organised an NSS camp on the college campus on Saturday. The management of the college has decided to build a hostel in the memory of a college student, Amarjot Kaur, who died in an accident a few days ago, said Dr Surjit Singh Bhatti, Principal.

BJP COMMITTEES: The district unit of the BJP at a meeting held here on Saturday has constituted booth-level committees to mobilise party workers for the ensuing assembly poll to the Nawanshahr, Banga and Balachaur assembly segments. This was stated by Dr Shiv Kumar Tejpal, general secretary of the unit.

PATIALA
INAUGURATED: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Jasbir Singh Bir inaugurated a block of four rooms and a hall at the Govt Girls College, here. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Bir said the college swimming pool would be made operational soon. He said sufficient funds would be released for the hostel building of the college. Mr Bir stressed the cordiality between the teachers and the students to make education more worthwhile.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Mohindra Complex Residents Welfare Association: president — Mr Satinder Singh Sandhu; senior vice-president — Mr G.S. Dhanjoon; vice-presidents — Mr Manmohan Kaushik and Mr Gurbinder Singh; cashier — Mr Darshan Singh; and general secretary — Mr Bhim Chauhan.

ONLINE BANKING: The HDFC Bank on Sunday announced the On Line Demat facility at the bank to facilitate the customers dealing in stock market shares. Mr Branch Manager, Mr Rajinder Babbar, disclosed that under the demat account customers would not be charged for the first year. Paperless trading of shares would help in preventing mutilation, loss and misplacement of the certificates, he said. Mr Babbar said telebanking facility had also been started in the bank.

BEOPAR MANDAL: The Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal President, Mr Surjit Mehta, on Sunday passed a resolution during a meeting held here and said a fast unto death would be observed in all district headquarters of Punjab in front of the offices of the Deputy Commissioner on October 2 to protest against the non-abolition of octroi. The members of the mandal expressed resentment against the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, for not making any announcement regarding the abolition of octroi on August 15. Mr Vijay Kapoor, senior vice-president of the mandal said the traders were expecting the CM to make some announcement in this regard which the SAD-BJP alliance had promised during the last elections.

ELECTION: Mr Balwant Singh Chahal was elected as president of the Bajwa Colony Jagtar Nagar Welfare Association at a meeting held here on Sunday. The other-office bearers are: Mr Mahendra Kumar — general secretary and Mr Santokh Singh Arsi — cashier. After the meeting the association met the Municipal Commissioner along with Mr Surjit Singh Rakhra, senior Akali leader, and placed before him problems associated with the colony residents.

CONFERENCE: The organising chairman of the Silver Jubilee Conference of AOI North-West Zone, Dr S.K.Verma, said the conference of ENT surgeons would be held on October 27 and 28 at Government Medical College here. Giving this information, Dr Verma said various ENT surgeons would be presenting their papers on the occasion. He added that Dr S.B.S. Mann award for best free paper would also be given on the occasion. Mr Manoranjan Kalia, Minister for Medical Education and Research, would inaugurate the conference, while, Mr Balbir Singh Maini, Minister of State for Medical Education, would be the guest of honour. A cultural programme would also be presented by deaf and dumb students of the city on the occasion.

CHANDIGARH

GRAIN MARKET: The Grain Market Subzi Mandi Joint Action Committee has decided to provide one dustbin to each shopkeeper in the local Grain Market. The decision to this effect was taken at the meeting of the action committee. It was also decided to appoint two sweepers for the proper cleanliness of the grain market, according to a press release. The press release urged the shopkeepers to remove encroachments in front of their shops.

PANCHKULA
VERKA MEET: The Verka Distributors Association has decided to approach the Managing Director, Verka, to complaints against the high rates of Verka products at a meeting held in the Industrial Area, on Sunday. The president of the association, Mr J.P. Garg, said the government had appointed a distributor to oblige certain politicians who was carrying out his business from a government office and was directly selling to the retailers, and sidelining them completely. The association said despite a three-day strike by the distributors, the government had not invited them to talks to end the strike.

BLOOD DONATION: As many as 450 units of blood were collected at a special blood donation camp organised by the Sant Nirankari Mandal at the Bhavan premises, Sector 9, on Sunday. The Deputy Commissioner, Ms Jyoti Arora, inaugurated the camp. The president of the local unit of the mandal, Mr Kuldip Singh, highlighted the social welfare activities of the Nirankari mission.

IMMUNISATION CAMP: A Hepatitis-B immunisation camp was organised at Saket Hospital, Chandimandir, on Sunday. Organised by the Rotary Club in collaboration with the district health authorities and Haryana Saket Council, 42 persons were immunised on the occasion. The Civil Surgeon, Dr HC Nagpal, chief guest at the camp, distributed sweets and directed the doctors to carry out a complete medical check up of the children and provide medicines and other help free of cost.

SAS NAGAR
WASTE TREATMENT: The Senior Citizens Welfare Forum has urged the local civic body to take steps to treat bio-medical waste being generated by the government and private hospitals in the town. Mr N.S. Sodhi, honorary president of the forum, said the hazardous bio-medical waste should be separated from the other category of waste. The forum urged the civic body to place dustbins at earmarked places along the roads for regular removal of the garbage. Issuing of I-cards to the senior citizens by the district administration has been demanded by the forum.

HARYANA

BHIWANI
ELECTROCUTED: A mechanic, Suraj Bhan, was electrocuted when he touched a high tension wire while working at a newly constructed shop at Chang village, 7 km from here, on Saturday.

COMMITTEE FORMED: The following are the office-bearers of a committee constituted by the Sanskrit Bharati and Sri Niwas Shashtri Kharkia Ved Mandir Trusts to promote the Sanskrit language: local convener — Mr Brij Mohan Shashtri; president — Mr Shiv Narain Shashtri; secretary — Dr Rameshwar Dutt Sharma; and convener — Dr Rameshwar Dutt Shashtri.

ROHTAK
LOK ADALAT: As many as 1058 cases were settled and a compensation of nearly Rs 49 lakh was given to the affected parties at the Lok Adalat held under the chairmanship of the District and Sessions Judge, Mr R.S. Madan, here on Saturday. Deputy Commissioner Anil Malik, SSP A.S. Ahlawat, and orthopaedist R.C. Siwach were also present.

SIRSA
PRESS CONFERENCE: The Congress will not tolerate the harassment of its workers who are being politically targeted and implicated in concocted cases by the present Haryana Government. This was stated by the All-India Congress Committee secretary and a former Union Minister, Ms Seilja, at a press conference at the local Congress Bhavan on Saturday. She was accompanied by secretary of the Legal Cell of the AICC Ranji Thomas.

SONEPAT
MEMORANDUM: Residents of Bhagat Singh Colony on Sunday submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner demanding immediate removal of encroachments in a street. They alleged that the residents had been facing hardships due to the encroachments.

LAND VACATED: The police has vacated the land of the Gita Bhavan police post and handed it over to the authorities of the Municipal Council. According to a report, the land was illegally occupied by the police.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

PHONE DIRECTORY: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Office here on Friday released the millennium issue of its telephone directory. Mr B.R. Kashyap, General Manager, said arrangements were being made for distribution of directories at the DET Office, Jodha Niwas, the GMTD office, the SDO office, Boileauganj, and the DET office, Sanjauli. Outside Shimla it will be made available in respective SDO offices.