R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

BATHINDA
EMPLOYEES SACKED: Mr G.K. Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum-Administrator, Improvement Trust, in a press note issued here on Wednesday said the services of 22 contract employees recruited by the then IT Chairman, Mr Mohan Lal Garg, had been dispensed with. He said the Punjab Government issued orders in this connection after improvement trusts were dissolved in March this year.

FARIDKOT
REPORTS REFUTED: Mrs Paramjit Kaur, daughter-in-law of Mr Gurdev Singh Badal, a former Agriculture Minister, has categorically refuted reports published in a section of the press which alleged that she had taken Rs 1 lakh from a former policeman, Ravinder Singh, for getting him a government job. She said at a press conference at her residence on Wednesday that this was part of a slanderous campaign launched by political opponents of her father-in-law to tarnish latter’s political image.

HOSHIARPUR
VISIT: Mr H.S. Brar, President, State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Punjab, is visiting Hoshiarpur from June 2 to June 4 in connection with the inspection of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, according to Mr H.P. Handa, President of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Hoshiarpur.

LUDHIANA
TRIBUTES PAID: A meeting was organised in Punjab Agricultural University to pay tributes to Prof Sant Singh Sekhon, eminent Punjabi writer whose birthday falls on Thursday. Speaking on the occasion, Dr K.S. Aulakh, Vice-Chancellor, said the writer gave a new direction to Punjabi literature as well as social and cultural life of Punjab. Dr Sekhon worked as Professor Emeritus in the Communication Centre, PAU. He translated Waris Shah Zahir in English that was published by the Alumni Association of the College of Agriculture of the university.

WORKSHOP: A workshop on career development and goal setting will be organised by the Bull’s Eye at Alpha Tutorials on Sunday. Mr Jasminderjeet Singh, director of the centre, said the workshop would be conducted free of cost with an aim to help school and college students to decide their career. He said the programme would be conducted in three phases which would include an interview with the participants, followed by an exercise to help them realise their hidden talent and post-programme counselling in which participants would be evaluated for the progress made.

RESENTMENT: Resentment prevails among government college teachers who have been assigned duties of Presiding Officers in Block Samiti and Zila Parishad elections to be held on June 9. The President of the Government College Teachers' Union, Punjab, Mr Jaipal Singh, said a Returning Officer was a BDPO (Block Development Presiding Officer) and was much below in pay scale as compared to the government teachers. He said it was a violation of the rules of the Punjab Government and the Election Commission. It violated the protocol of the government. There was a resentment among teachers on this account. Mr Jaipal said the teachers might be forced to boycott elections if their status, their seniority and pay scale were not kept in mind. 

STREET PLAYS: With an aim to spread awareness about Indo-Pak tension, the Bharat Jan Gyan Vigyan Jatha will hold street plays and distribute leaflets in the Nehru Rose Garden on Wednesday. The plays would also be staged later at Mini Rose Garden in Kidwai Nagar on June 9. Giving this information, Dr Arun Mitra, general secretary of the jatha, said the plays would help in spreading the message that war between the two countries would lead to unprecedented damage to life and property while causing immense degradation of the environment.

MEDICAL CAMP: The 40th medical check-up camp by the District Cooperative Milk Production Union and the Guru Teg Bahadur Charitable Hospital will be held at Alampur Chhapra village on Friday. Dr Waheguru Pal Singh, medical superintendent, GTB Hospital, said the National Dairy Development Board had spent Rs 45 crore to organise such camps and to bring awareness among the masses regarding healthcare. Patients would be examined by a team of doctors of the GTB Hospital.

FELICITATED: The Block Congress Committee (No 5) President, Mr Jasbir Singh Chadha, was felicitated at a function for being elected councillor from Ward No 58. Mr Surinder Dawar, Congress legislator from Ludhiana East segment, was also present on the occasion. Mr Dawar expressed gratitude to the electorate for expressing their confidence in the Congress and assured that the party functionaries would do their best to come up to the expectations of the people. He reiterated the commitment of the party to provide a clean and transparent governance and to strive for welfare of all sections of society. Mr Chadha vowed to carry forward the development work in the area.

SUNDER KAND: A week-long ‘path’ of Sunder Kand, oranised by the Shri Hanumant Sewa Samiti at Shri Rang ji Mandir, New Shivaji Nagar, concluded here on Wednesday. It was musically rendered by a number of musicians prominent among whom were Vijay Takkar on the Harmonium, Master Ravi Kumar on the Tabla and known flutist Rakesh Jasotra. Among the prominent personalities present on the occasion included Mr Ramesh Anand, Mr Krishan Kumar Malik, Mr Parveen Bhandari, Mr Deepak Vashisht, Mr Ashwini Rana, Mr Vipin Malhotra, Mr Viresh Vij and Pandit Narinder Sharma. After ‘Sunder Kand path’, ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ was recited and a ‘Hanumant’ flag was hoisted and an ‘aarti’ performed.

SAMAGAM: A non-stop recitation of Sukhmani Sahib for seven hours marked the conclusion of the Jap Tap Samagam held at the Guru Nanak Simran Kendra on the Ferozepore Road on Wednesday. Renowned ‘ragi jathas’ regaled the audience by their devotional rendering of ‘shabads’. Sant Lal Singh of Jalandhar delivered a discourse on the occasion. Baba Sukhbir Singh, head sewadar of the Simran kendra, thanked the gathering.

FUNCTION: Shri Gyan Sthal Temple Management will hold its 58th monthly relief distribution function on Saturday, according to a spokesman of the temple management. Mr Rohit Chaudhery, DIG, Ludhiana range, would preside over the function. Mr Mohinder Singh, Technical Education Minister, Punjab, would light the flame to inaugurate the function at 9 am, added the spokesman. 

MANSA
NO POWER, WATER: Mansa city is without water since Monday midnight when the area was lashed by a severe dust-storm. Since then many parts of the city especially the Civil Hospital road is without electricity also. The hospital, water works road and the clinics and nursing homes situated on the road and the adjoining residential areas are without electricity.

UNDERBRIDGE: The Deputy Commissioner on Thursday sent a demand draft for Rs 3,21,705 to the Divisional Office, Northern Railway, New Delhi, as preliminary charges for survey and estimation of underbridge at L-Xing No 206, Mansa. According to a communication to the Deputy Commissioner by Mr A.K. Shaiwal, Divisional Superintending Engineer, Northern Railway, the estimated cost of the proposed underbridge would be Rs 2 crore.

ADVOCATES’ PLEA: Mr Ajit Singh Bhangu, a former president of the District Bar Association, and other senior advocates in a press note issued here on Thursday urged Capt Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister, to issue 30 days’ notice to all IAS and PCS officers besides former and present state ministers to give details of their properties.

MOGA
LOOTED: Two car-borne youths looted Rs 2.18 lakh from Mr Dharam Singh of Khukharana village in the district at gunpoint on Wednesday. In a complaint lodged with the police, Mr Dharam Singh said the youths snatched the bag containing money from him as he alighted from the bus.

WOMAN KILLED: Karamjit Kaur received serious burn injuries on Wednesday when her clothes accidentally caught fire while working in the kitchen at her house at Marimustafa village under the Baghapurana police station in the district. She was taken to a local hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. The body has been sent for a post-mortem.

VETERINARY HOSPITAL: The construction of the building of a veterinary hospital, the foundation stone of which was laid by former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal five years ago at Gill village in the district, has not so far been completed. Residents of the village on Thursday demanded a special grant for the hospital building.

TRAIN ROUTE: Residents of the town on Thursday urged the Railway Ministry that the new Janshatabdi train which was being introduced to link Ferozepore with New Delhi should be routed through Moga as at present there was no other train linking it with New Delhi.

NAWANSHAHR
TRAINING CAMP: A 20-day first-aid training camp organised by the Kirpal Sagar Academy, about 14 km from here, in collaboration with St John Ambulance and the Red Cross Society concluded on Wednesday.

PATHANKOT
CAMP HELD: The local units of the Rotary Club and the Innerwheel Club jointly organised a camp for issuing driving licences to students here on Tuesday. Mr Gurmukh Singh, ADTO, Gurdapsur, who is the licensing authority, was the chief guest. Mr Sanjeev Kumar, Traffic in charge, said 580 licences were issued at the camp.

VETERINARY CAMP: A veterinary camp was organised here at Keeri village on Wednesday. Dr Tarsem Mahajan, senior veterinary officer, said at least 365 animals were vaccinated against diseases.

PHAGWARA
STOLEN: A bag belonging to Hardip Singh of Dhadda village containing Rs 2 lakh was stolen from the local Gur Mandi on Wednesday. The police has registered a case.

SAMRALA
MEETING: A meeting of the Punjab Ministerial staff was held on Thursday in the tehsil complex under the presidentship of the President (Health Department), Mr Sukhvinder Singh. Mr Harbant Singh Mangat, President (Treasury Department, Punjab), Mr Dalip Singh, general secretary of Ludhiana District of the PSMU, Mr Amarjit Singh, President (Department of Cooperative Societies, Punjab), also participated in the meeting. Problems faced by the union were discussed in the meeting. On this occasion, the following were elected office-bearers of the Samrala unit: president — Mr Baldev Krishan; general secretary — Mr Sat Pal; and cashier — Mr Sukhdev Singh, according to Mr Nachhattar Singh, senior assistant, Teshil courts, Samrala.

CAMP: Under the presidentship of Mr V.P. Honda, District and Sessions Judge, Ludhiana, who is also the chairman of the District Legal Services Authority, a camp will be held in the Teshil complex on Saturday at 10 am. Aim of the camp will be to make people aware of the free legal services, lok adalats, banks loans and resolving of family disputes regarding divorce etc. This was stated by Ms Asha Condal, Additional Civil Judge-cum-chairman of the Samrala subdivision of the Legal Services Authority, here on Thursday. Ms Mehta appealed panches, sarpanches and lambardas of the area to participate in the camp.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

SOLAN
SELF-DEFENCE DRIVE: The Solan police launched “saamarth yojana”, a project for training women, especially young girls, in the art of self-defence, here on Tuesday.