AMRITSAR
PROTEST RALLY: The Punjab State Warehousing Field Employees Union (PSWFEU) held a protest rally against non-acceptance of their demands. Their demands include “continuation” of increment in their TA/DA allowances and stoppage of illegal transfers. This was stated by Mr Jaspinder Singh, president, PSWFEU, here on Wednesday.

SEMINAR: The Innerwheel Club organised a seminar on breastfeeding at the local College for Women on Wednesday. Dr Karuna Thapar in her keynote address said the NSS volunteers should spread the message of the importance of breastfeeding among the rural women.

BATHINDA
APPOINTED: Prof Y.R. Handa of the local DAV College has been appointed convener of the DAV College Coordination Committee by the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU). Prof Handa in a press note issued here on Wednesday said the union would work for getting the demands of the teachers accepted and protect the interests of the students.

CONGRESS GRASS: The United Welfare Society, an NGO of the city, has organised a campaign to uproot congress grass from the Partap Nagar locality of the city. In a press note issued here on Wednesday, Mr Vijay Bhatt, president of the society, said the grass was causing skin diseases and breathing problems among the residents. He said about 50 volunteers of the association cleared the locality of the grass. Every part of the city would be covered under the drive.

FEROZEPORE
CLERKS SUSPENDED: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.R. Ladhar, has ordered immediate suspension of two clerks in the SDM’s office as they were allegedly indulging in corrupt practices. It is learnt that Mr Ladhar had instructed the SDM, Mr Gurtej Singh, to investigate a written complaint by Mrs Chinder Kaur and look into the charges levelled by the complainant against the two clerks, Mr Bhajan Singh and Mr Gurnam Singh.

ARMY RECRUITMENT: The Army is holding a recruitment rally on October 7 at Nehru Stadium, Faridkot, to recruit jawans, clerks, technical persons and nursing assistants. According to Col K.K. Marwaha, Director, Recruitment, the recruitment drive is open for youths irrespective of caste and religion. He said the candidates should be matriculates between the age group of 16 and 21 years.

WOMEN CONSTABLES: The recruitment drive for women constables in the Punjab Police has been stopped forthwith as per the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. According to Mr Hardeep Singh Dhillon, DIG, Ferozepore range, fresh dates for conducting physical tests and interviews will be advertised only after the high court lifts the ban on recruitment.

ARRESTED: The police has apprehended five persons on the charge of theft of vehicles and recovered two Bajaj motor cycles, a scooter and six mopeds from them. According to Mr H.S. Sidhu, SSP, a case has been registered against the accused and further investigations to arrest other members of their gang are on.

JALANDHAR
AIR FORCE ADVENTURE: As part of the Millennium Year celebrations by the Indian Air Force, representatives of the Directorate of Air Force Adventure will visit Kapurthala Sainik School and hold a rally there on September 25. The objective of the visit was to inculcate a spirit of adventure among the students, said Mr K. Ravinder, Principal of Sainik School. Mr Ravinder said the school would also host the All-India Sainik Schools Inter-Zonal Volleyball and Basketball Championships from September 25 to 27.

KHANNA
ONE KILLED: At least one person was killed and three were injured in a mishap here on Wednesday. The deceased, Parkash Batta, along with Anil Kumar, Davinder Singh and Rajinder Kumar, was returning home after attending a party in a Maruti car (PB 26 B 0171) when it was hit by a mini truck (HR 37 8751) at the Samrala chowk. The driver of the truck, Ajit Singh, fled the scene. One of the injured, Anil Kumar, was referred to a hospital at Ludhiana while Devinder and Rajinder were admitted to the local Civil Hospital. The police has registered a case.

BUSINESS DIRECTORY: V.K. Enterprises here has published a Jagnaik Business and Industry Directory. The directory covers all aspects of business and industry in the town and its surrounding areas.

ELECTIONS: The pro-Congress group has captured the managing committee of the A.S. High School trust and management society, which controls four institutions here. The group bagged 11 seats while the pro-BJP group won nine seats. Prominent among those who got elected were: Mr Onkar Rai Mehta, president MC, Mr Yoginder Sharma and Mr Krishan Murari Bedi. Prominent losers were: Mr Ashok Tiwari, president Block Congress and Dr Hansraj Sood, member of the state BJP executive.

PROCUREMENT OF PADDY: The arrival of paddy till Wednesday has been lower as compared to the last year. Around 7,720 tonnes of paddy has been reported till Wednesday as compared to 1,7700 tonnes last year. The rice shellers are purchasing the paddy between Rs 440 and Rs 535. The government is expected to start the purchase of paddy from Friday. Mr Pardeep Sabharwal, SDM, stated that necessary arrangements had been made for the procurement of paddy. The official procurement would start from Friday and necessary duties have been assigned to officials. OC

URGED: The general secretary of the All India Anti-terrorist Front, Mr Varinder Kaushal, has urged the US Government to take action also against the terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir, responsible for the killings of thousands of innocent people in Kashmir. He also asked the Indian Government to take action against the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid for speaking against the unity and integrity of the country.

THEFT: Thieves reportedly broke into an electronic shop on the Samrala road, near railway crossing, and took away two black and white TV sets, one VCR, two stereos etc. on Wednesday. The shop is located near a police post.

LUDHIANA
EMBROIDERY CONTEST: The students of DAV Public School participated in an embroidery contest organised by Vardhaman Threads. Nearly 22 students participated in which Rajni Suneja won the first prize, Ramneet Kaur was declared second, Anju Bhardwaj got third prize and Ashima Ahuja was declared fourth. Mr C.B. Sharma, Senior Sales Manager, said the contest was held to revive the old tradition of hand embroidery among youth. Mr R.S. Patial, Principal, distributed prizes and said such contests helped students in their overall development. Ms Nirmal Sharma and Ms Santosh Sharma, craft teachers, were also present on the occasion.

FANCY DRESS CONTEST: Tiny tots of DAV Public School, BRS Nagar, participated in a fancy dress competition held here on Thursday. Kids emulated Subhash Chandra Bose, Mother India, moon and pencil. Parents of the kids were invited to attend the contest. There were no prizes but the effort of all the students was lauded by the teachers and parents. Principal R.S. Patial said similar contests were being held regularly for students of different classes.

PARTY: Technofest-2001, a welcome party, was organised for the freshers of the GGN Institute of Vocational Studies. A cultural programme was held in which various items, including songs, dances and skits, were presented. A freshers’ contest was also held in which Manpreet Kaur, studying in PGDCA, was declared Ms Fresher, Karan from MSc (IT) course was chosen first runner- up and Rajni, also in MSc (IT) course, was selected second runner-up. Sameer Kaushal, studying in MSc (IT), was chosen Mr Fresher.

MANSA
INTERNATIONAL OZONE DAY: A declamation contest was held at the local SDKL DAV Centenary Public School to mark International Ozone Day on Wednesday. Seven students of the school took part in the contest. Isha Goyal, Navneet Janagal and Prachie Thakur were awarded the first, second and third prizes, respectively, by the Principal of the school, Mr Sudhir Singh Thakur.

MOGA
SANGAT DARSHAN: Out of 60 complaints received, 38 were settled at the sangat darshan programme held here on Tuesday evening. It was presided over by the Deputy Commissioner who was accompanied by the Additional Deputy Commissioner and other officials of the district administration.

PATHANKOT
APPOINTED: Ms Harkanwal Kaur, president of the Punjab Pradesh Mahila Congress, has appointed Ms Raj Dogra as president of the local unit of the Mahila Congress.

NABARD OFFICE: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development opened its 13th District Development Manager’s office at Gurdaspur on Wednesday. Mr Kuldip Singh Chandi, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), who was the chief guest on the occasion appreciated the role of Nabard in providing financial assistance for the development of the district.

PATIALA
EXPEDITION: The Indian Air Force proposes to conduct a three-day adventure expedition from Saturday at the Air Force Station, here. It will provide free para sailing and joyride on its microlight aircraft for all volunteers from school and college students. Sky diving skills will also be demonstrated during the expedition to foster a spirit of adventure among the youth. The local Air Force Station will coordinate the event.

WORKSHOP: A seven-day workshop conducted by Scientology Centre, Patiala, on ‘Development of communication skills in police personnel’ concluded at Police Lines here on Thursday. It was aimed at inculcating better communication skills in policemen in order to enhance their image among the public.

ROPAR
BURGLARY: In a daylight burglary, two unidentified persons barged into the house of Mrs Surinder Kaur, owner of Jyoti Gas Agency, here on Wednesday and looted cash. Mrs Surinder Kaur said the youths barged into her house at around 10 am and started beating her. They also tried to take her signatures on blank revenue papers. When some of her employees knocked at the door, the culprits fled with all the cash in the house. A case has been registered.

SAMRALA
DECISION WELCOMED: In a written statement here on Thursday the Punjabi writer, Prof Hamdardvir Nausheharvi, welcomed the decision by the Punjab Government to give pension and gratuity to non-government aided school employees. He urged the government to give pension and gratuity w.e.f. April 1, 1992. He said the act for the same had been passed and gazetted in April 1999 but the act for pension and gratuity must be implemented immediately as the Punjab and Haryana High Court had also asked the Punjab Government to implement the act by November 1, 2001.

SAD MEETING: A meeting of the local unit of SAD (B) was held here on Thursday under the chairmanship of the SGPC member, Jathedar Kirpal Singh Khirnian, at Gurdwara Sri Guru Granth Sahib. The workers of the Akali Dal and leaders of the constituency criticised the followers of Baba Piara Singh for burning the holy Guru Granth Sahib at Rattangarh village, near Morinda. The members also expressed concern over some incidents in the past, especially the attacks on Sikhs in USA. Among others who attended the meeting were Jathedar Kartar Singh Mehdoodan, member Telephone Advisory Committee and Jathedar Jagjeewan Singh Khirnian, chairman of the Land Mortgage Bank.

AWARD: For his outstanding achievements in the field of ENT, the GMCH Director-Principal, Prof S.B.S. Mann, has been awarded “Jewel of India Award” at a seminar held by the International Institute of Education and Management in New Delhi. In the same function, the GMCH was also adjudged as the best medical college and awarded “National Udyog Excellence Award” by the institute.

CHARGE ASSUMED: Mr Bhagwan Dass Bishnoi took over the charge of Tehsildar, Enforcement, in the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, on Thursday. A deputationist from Haryana, he is the first tehsildar to be appointed to this post which has been recently created.

DHARNA: Acting on a joint call given by employee unions of the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking, employees staged a dharna in front of the office of the Director, Transport, to press for their demands. The unions have been demanding payment of long-pending overtime payments, stop victimisation of trade union leaders and withdraw cases. The unions also demanded latest tools in workshops, besides filling of posts. A press note said if the demands were not met a two-hour token strike would be held on October 10.

OPENED: Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Ramnareshacharya of Shrimath Kashi (Varanasi) inaugurated Chandigarh City College in Sector 10 here on Thursday. Swamiji stressed the need of moral education for producing good students and citizens.

DELEGATION: A delegation of the Chandigarh Auto Mechanics Federation on Thursday called on the Assistant Estate Officer of the Administration, Mr S.P. Arora, against what it described as unfair policy adopted for the allotment of booths. The delegation regretted that the administration declined to issue possession letters to those who were successful in the draw of lots held on August 15 and 22.

PANCHKULA
CONTEST: An inter-district speech competition was organised at Government College here on Thursday as part of ‘chetna saptah’ being organised in Haryana to commemorate the birth anniversary of the late former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal. Thirteen teams from various colleges of the state participated in the competition. They highlighted different facets of Devi Lal’s personality and character. Vishal Dhawan, BA-II student of SD College, Ambala, was recommended for state-level speech competition.

BILASPUR
PHONE SERVICES: The local residents, traders and tourists have been facing a lot of difficulties for the past six weeks due to disruption of telephone services in the areas falling under the Jamali and Kallar telephone exchanges. Despite complaints to the Telecommunications Department, the situation has not improved. Village leaders have urged telecom officers to restore telecom services immediately.

ELECTED: Mr Kamla Sharma was elected president of the district unit of the HP State School Lecturers Association here on Wednesday. He defeated Santram in a straight contest. As many as 106 delegates drawn from 32 senior secondary schools attended the election meeting. Kanwar Vijaysingh was unanimously elected general secretary.

MANDI
CONG SEVA DAL: Mr Rajinder Rasrania, coordinator of the All-India Congress Seva Dal, on Wednesday said the AICC president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, had assigned the job of educating the common man about the policies and programmes of the party to the seva dal. Talking to the mediapersons here, he said 50 lakh additional members were being enrolled in the seva dal in the country of which one lakh would be from Himachal Pradesh.

SHIMLA
INQUIRY DEMANDED: The state unit of the Democratic Youth Federation of India has demanded a judicial inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the Himachal Administrative Services preliminary examination conducted by the State Public Service Commission in June. It expressed surprise that no FIR had been registered in connection with the leakage of one of the papers. The commission had only cancelled the paper, which was leaked in one of the centres in Kangra district.