R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
FIR LODGED: The Health Department on Tuesday lodged an FIR at the Islamabad police station against Narinder Singh of Kot Hariaan for possessing 4,000 tablets each of tetracyclin and amoxycillin. Dr Ajaib Singh, CMO, said the durgs could be spurious as the suspect had sold previous consignments at half the rates.

BATHINDA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Goniana block of the PCMS Association: president — Dr Kundan Paul; vice-president — Dr Gurjeet Singh; general secretary — Dr Santokh Singh; cashier — Dr Ajay Kumar; and press secretary — Dr Munish Kumar.

MEETING: A meeting of the district unit of INTUC was held here on Tuesday to review the preparation for the rally of the union to be organised on Saturday at Ludhiana. Mr Gurmeet Singh, general secretary of the district unit of the union, said in a press note issued here that national leaders of INTUC would address the rally.

BLOOD CAMP: A blood donation camp will be organised here by the local Tarksheel Society on Sunday to mark the birth anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, stated a press note of the society issued here on Tuesday.

FARIDKOT
WELFARE SCHEMES: Mr Sarwan Singh Phillaur, Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes, released an amount of Rs 2.26 crore for welfare and development schemes during the current financial year in the district. He was presiding over a meeting of the District Planning Board here on Wednesday. Out of the released amount, Rs 1.04 crore will be utilised under the shagun scheme. The minister urged the senior district officers to utilise the funds in a proper way.

HOSHIARPUR
STUDENTS’ STRIKE: Students of Hoshiarpur Homeopathic Medical College went on an indefinite strike in protest against the college authorities and the Council of Homeopathic System of Medicine for not solving their problems. In a joint affidavit filed by 16 students, it was alleged that the college authorities were not adhering to a minimum standards of a medical institute and were taking undue advantage by collecting money from students in the shape of fine without any reason.

APPOINTED: Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner, said in a press note issued on Tuesday that the Election Commission of India, through a notification, has appointed the Assistant Commissioner (Grievances) as Assistant Returning Officer for the Garhdiwala segment of the district in place of the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) for the coming elections in the state.

HEALTH WORKERS: Multipurpose women health workers, who have been trained as staff nurses at the Departmental Training Centre, will be recruited against vacant posts and 25 per cent posts have been reserved for them after amending service rules. Meanwhile, the Director, Health and Family Planning, has regularised the services of 55 multipurpose male health workers from February 28, 1969, and of 151 workers from January 1, 1973.

KHAMANO
CONDEMNED: Mr Janak Singh Uppal, president, Truck Union, here, has condemned the formation of a new union by some truck operators on Tuesday. Mr Balbir Singh Uppal, patron of the union, alleged that some Congress supporters were creating differences among members of the union.

LUDHIANA
CONDOLENCE MEETING: The Soil Conservation Officers Association ( Punjab) held a meeting here on Wednesday to condole the death of Jagir Singh, Soil Conservator, who was posted at Jalandhar. Presiding over the meeting, Mr Balwant Singh Butahari said the department had lost an expert and successful officer. Jagir Singh was survived by his wife and a son.

MACHHIWARA
DEAD: Gajinder Singh, a former Sarpanch of Garhi Bet village and father of Mr Satwinder Mohan Singh, president, Lions Club, here, died on Wednesday. The funeral was attended by a large number of advocates, councillors, politicians and social workers. 

RESENTMENT: Local customers of Spice Telecom have expressed resentment over non-installation of a tower in the town. Feeling that their mobile sets are just like toys, they said, “We have lost a lot due to this breach of trust.” They threatened to move to a consumer court if the company did not install a tower at the earliest.

MANSA
TRAFFIC BLOCKED: Students of the local Government Nehru Memorial Postgraduate College blocked traffic in front of their college on Wednesday. They were protesting against the failure of the police to arrest the accused involved in the shootout incident which took place last week and in which Gurmeet Singh, a student of the college was injured.

CPM DHARNA: On a call given by the central committee of the CPM, a dharna was staged here on Wednesday to protest against the anti-people policies of the Vajpayee government. Mr Avtar Singh, district secretary of the CPM, said the Central Government had adopted the policy of privatisation and disinvestment under the WTO pressure and it would prove disastrous for the country. he said tehelka.com had exposed the real face of the BJP.

MANDI GOBINDGARH
RESIDENTS’ PLEA: Residents of Street No 9, Gandhi Nagar, here, have urged the Local Bodies Minister to remove unauthorised platforms constructed by shopkeepers on the municipal land. Earlier, they had submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, Fatehgarh Sahib.

MALERKOTLA
IN-LAWS HELD: The Amargarh police has registered a case and arrested four persons of Hepatpur village in Kapurthala for torturing Ms Satwinder Kaur of Amargarh village, near here, for dowry. Those arrested have been identified as Jaspal Singh, husband, Baldev Singh, father-in-law, Ramesh Kaur, mother-in-law, and Kirandeep Kaur, sister-in-law, of Satwinder Kaur.

THEFT: Some unidentified persons entered four shops at Sherpur, near here, on Tuesday and decamped with Rs 45,000 and other valuable things. According to information available, the thieves entered M/s Achra Ram Surinder Pal, Vijay Karyana Store, Purshotam Karyana Store and Kala Bulla Pesticides. A case has been registered in this regard.

NAWANSHAHR
INAUGURATED: The local MLA, Mr Jatinder Singh Kariha, on Wednesday, inaugurated the newly constructed block of the local Government Co-Education Senior Secondary School. He lauded the efforts of the Principal of the school, Mr Gurmail Singh Sahlon, and staff members for mobilising donations for the development of the school. He announced a grant of Rs 1.25 lakh for the school. Mr Santokh Singh Ranu, DEO, Mr Chamkaur Singh Kauri, president, municipal council, Mr K.S. Purewal, Deputy Medical Commissioner, were among others who spoke.

PATIALA
EMPLOYEES’ RALLY: The Punjabi University Employees Association (non-teaching) has threatened to effect a lock-out of the Audit Department on October 3 unless the Finance Department of the Punjab Government decides to implement the decision of the Supreme Court declaring universities as autonomous bodies. Speaking at a gate rally, president of the association, Mr Malkit Singh, demanded that the Punjab Government should adhere to the Supreme Court’s guidelines regarding universities and that employees be paid as per the Secretariat pattern with immediate effect. Failing which the association would hold dharnas in front of the Vice-Chancellor’s office and the Audit Department from October 4 to October 12. The association also demanded 15 per cent House rent allowance for employees residing in the city besides an allowance of Rs 40, 80 and 120, respectively, for C class employees, Senior Assistants and Desk Assistants. Vice-president Navdeep Singh and general secretary Tarlochan Kaur also addressed the employees.

WELCOMED: The Patiala Wholesale Cloth Merchants Association’s president, Mr Indermohan Singh Bajaj, on Wednesday appreciated the Punjab Chief Minister’s proposal for giving an assurance regarding the abolition of octroi in the state. He said the abolition would lead to development in trading business. 

LOK ADALAT: A state-level lok adalat related to bank loan cases would be taken up under the counsel of Mr H.S. Bedi, Acting Chairman of the Punjab Legal Services Authority, and Judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court on October 13. Giving the information, Mr S.N. Aggarwal, District and Sessions Judge, said all such cases along with those cases already being heard would be taken up.

STATUES CLEANED: The Hind Kisan Kamgaar Sena’s President, Prof K. L. Bhatia, along with his team members have spruced up various statues of national leaders in the city. The sena has also demanded that the district administration should ensure regular maintenance of the statues besides posting security personnel near the vicinity. Prof Bhatia stated that the sena had also cleaned the Sardar Thikriwala statue, Mahatama Gandhi statue and Beant Singh’s statue. Others members involved in the cleaning-up are: Mr Manvinder Singh Kohli, Mr Iqbal Singh, Mr Hira Singh Balmiki and Mr Lucky.

RIOT-AFFECTED PERSONS: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Jasbir Singh Bir, on Wednesday announced that riot-affected persons who could not submit their applications till now should do so by September. He added that Red Cards would be issued to all those who migrated to Punjab from other states before December 11, 1985 and thereafter were staying in the state.

CYCLE RALLY: The district in-charge of the Kisan Vikas Front, Mr Gurdarshan Singh Kaidupur, stated that the Kisan Chetna Cycle March was carried out in around 15 villages here on Wednesday with a joint effort by the front leaders and Punjab Kheti Bari members. He said the rallies were carried out in various villages falling in Nabha tehsil. The other front leaders present on the occasion were president Mr Maggar Singh Kulrian, general secretary, Mr Sukhdev Singh Bhupal; and Treasurer, Mr Karnail Singh Jakhepal.

YOGA CAMP: A 15-day yoga training camp has been organised on the campus of the Bikram College of Commerce here. Mr Muni Lal Kumar, a renowned yoga expert, is imparting training to yoga enthusiasts in the camp, which has been organised by the Youth Welfare Department of Punjabi University.

CERTIFICATES ISSUED: More than 200 certificates, including Scheduled Castes, backward and economically backward classes and domicile certificates, were issued to residents of surrounding villages at Government High School, Manki, 7 km from here, on Wednesday. This was stated by Mr S.S. Brar, SDM. Mr Raj Pal Sekhon, Naib Tehsildar, Samrala, said the certificates would be issued till everybody seeking them got them. 

CHANDIGARH

DHARNA: In pursuance of the decision by the central committee of All India Bank Employees Association, a day-long dharna was organised in front of the Indian Bank, Sector 34 branch, here on Wednesday. The protesters were demanding arrears of 7th bipartite settlement due since November 1, 1997, to the employees of Indian Bank. This was stated by Mr N.K Gaur and Mr N.P Munjal, general secretaries of the Punjab Bank Employees Federation and Haryana Bank Employees Federation, respectively, in a press note.

HARYANA

AMBALA
CHECK-UP CAMP: The Lioness Club (Host) on Wednesday organised a free health check-up camp at Government Senior Secondary School, BC Bazar. Dr Kamlesh Dutta, Dr Phool Jaiswal, Dr Sushil K. Jaiswal and Dr Surinder Sharma examined the students. Free medicines were distributed among school students. Among others, Mrs Sunita Gautam, Mrs Kanchan Nagpal, Neelam Puri, Sweety Khanna and Principal, Mr Jain, were present.

FATEHABAD
ARRESTED: The police arrested a drug trafficker and seized 2.1 kg of opium, worth Rs 3 lakh, from his possession on Tuesday. The SP, Mr Hanif Qureshi, told mediapersons that Inderjeet of Pirthala village was arrested and booked under the NDPS Act.

HISAR
DAMAGES SOUGHT: The Haryana Vikas Party on Tuesday demanded a compensation of Rs 10,000 per acre for those farmers whose cotton crop had been damaged by the American bollworm. Addressing mediapersons here, Mr Kanwal Singh, former minister and chairman of the parliamentary board of the HVP, said farmers of Hisar, Fatehabad, Sirsa, Bhiwani, Mahendragarh and Jind were facing a difficult time as they could not save their cotton crop even after spraying pesticides several times.

ROHTAK
ADMISSION OPEN: Admission to various distance education courses being conducted by Maharshi Dayanand University here is open till September 28, with a late fee of Rs 1,000. The courses include B.Ed, PG Diploma in Pharmaceutical Marketing, LL.M, BA, B.Com and MA (Hindi, English and Sanskrit).

SIRSA
CROP DAMAGED: About 50 per cent of the cotton crop has been destroyed by American bollworm, as a result of which the cotton production is expected to reduce to about 24 lakh bales this season. According to reliable information received here on Tuesday, a high-level committee of officials and scientists had visited the cotton fields of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan to assess the damage caused by the worm.

YAMUNANAGAR
ELECTORAL LIST: Following directions by the Election Commission of India, a detailed special revision of electroal rolls has been undertaken in all constituencies of Yamunanagar district to prepare a list under the photo-identity card programme. Mr Rajiv Sharma, Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer of Yamunanagar, said here on Tuesday that the revision started on September 13 and would continue till October 14.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
CLASS IV STAFF: All deserving part-time class IV employees in the Education Department will be soon promoted. The class IV employees will be given uniforms. This assurance was given by the District Education Officer, Mr C.R. Chauhan, while presiding over a district-level grievances committee meeting with the District Education Department and the Class Four Employees Union led by its president Amar Singh Chandel.

KULU
SENTENCED: Mr T.N. Vaidya, District and Sessions Judge, has announced four years rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 each under Section 498-A of the IPC on father-in-law, mother-in-law and brother-in-law of Naina of Bashing village who, along with her three minor children, committed suicide.

MANDI
SCHOOLS: The Himachal Pradesh Minister for Primary Education, Mr Karan Singh, said on Tuesday that Rs 126-crore plan to provide at least three rooms in each of the 13612 primary schools in the state would be completed by end of next year. He was speaking at Bhangrotu village after inaugurating the regional school sports for girls upto senior secondary level. He said all vacant posts would be filled under the Gramin Vidya Upasak Yojna.

‘VIKAS YATRA’: A BJP leader and in charge of the Dharampur constituency, Mr Ajai Rana, said here on Tuesday that the BJP would launch a mass awakening programme from November 3. He said Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Union Minister for Consumer Affairs Shanta Kumar would undertake a ‘‘vikas jyoti yatra’’ to apprise people of the development works carried out by the BJP government.

NAHAN
INSPECTION: The Vice-Chairperson of the State Planning Board, Ms Shyama Sharma, directed the officials to inspect the sites of illegal mining in Shillai area and review cases of short permits given in the area. She was replying to a question raised by Mr Sita Ram and Mr Jagat Singh Negi on illegal mining in and around Samahan village at a district level grievances redressal meeting held here on Tuesday. She also asked the authorities to look into the pending work of construction of Ayurvedic Health Centre at Jakhal and report back to her within 15 days.

SHIMLA
SFI: The state committee of the Students Federation of India has urged Himachal Pradesh University to immediately resolve all controversies regarding B.Ed students in the subsidised and non-subsidised categories and prevent private institutions from fleecing them. The private institutions raised over Rs 4 crore from students admitted against 900 subsidised non-subsidised seats.

RALLY: Employees of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board on secondment with the NJPC on Tuesday held a rally at the project site in protest against the decision of the management to repatriate them. They also served a 15-day notice on the management for the settlement of their demands failing which they would start an agitation.

SYMPOSIUM: A week-long international symposium on ‘‘Signification in Buddhist and French traditions’’ began at the Indian Institute of Advance Study here on Tuesday. Inagurating the symposium, Prof V.C. Srivastava, Director of the institute, emphasised the importance of dialectical relation between different civilsation and intellectual traditions.

SUNDERNAGAR
SUICIDE: Jai Ram (28) of Bhor village in this subdivision allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling on Tuesday. According to the police, family dispute was the reason behind his suicide.