R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AHMEDGARH
RALLY: The PCMS Doctors Union held a rally at the local primary Health Centre here on Monday. SMOs and in charges from Kanganwal, KupKalan, Abdulapur, Kothala and Sherwani Kote took part in the demonstration and urged the Punjab Government to review its decision to withdraw the NPA given to government doctors. While addressing the gathering, Dr Krishan Kumar Pilan, in charge PHC, said instead of withdrawing the allowance, the doctors be paid extra for preparing MLCs, performing post-mortem examinations and attending emergencies at odd hours.

AMRITSAR
2 LOOTERS HELD: With the arrest of two persons during a raid on Saturday, the police claims to have busted a gang of looters. The police seized one .12-bore rifle and two cartridges from each. Dr S.K.Kalia, SP, said on Sunday the police had arrested Lakhwinder and Ravinder who were planning a dacoity near the Bohru bridge here. He said the duo confessed to their involvement in various crimes.

BATALA
HONOURED: The Dainik Prarthana Sabha and the local Shri Ram Naam Prachar Samiti held a function here on Sunday on the premises of Saraswati Mandir to honour 101 persons who participated this year in the Ram Navami festival. The function was held under the presidentship of Mr Vinod Sachdeva while the chief guest was Mr Pawan Bhalla, president, Khatri Sabha, Batala. Kumari Brij Madhukari ji, a renowned preacher of the Jagat Guru Math, gave her blessings.

BATHINDA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district unit of the Indian National Trade Union Congress: president — Mr Pritam Singh Brar; general secretary-cum-treasurer — Mr Gurdarshan Singh Arora; press secretary — Mr Ganda Singh; assistant treasurer — Ms Usha Shastri; chief auditor — Mr Surinder Kumar; and chief adviser — Mr Kimti Lal.

SAD(B) MEETING: The SAD (B) held a meeting at the local Gurdwara Haji Ratan on Monday in view of the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections. This was stated in a press note of the party. A seven-member committee was formed under the chairmanship of former minister Chiranji Lal Garg to monitor the affairs of party during the elections.

SECURITY: Mr Mehal Singh Bhullar, Director-General of Police, held a meeting with officials of police and civil administration on Sunday, to take stock of security arrangements for zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections. Mr Anurag Verma, Deputy Commissioner, and Mr Ishwar Singh, SSP, were among others present at the meeting. The DGP asked the officials to ensure free and fair elections.

DERA BASSI
PROGRAMME: With a view to provide world class information and knowledge to the students the Central Institute of Engineering and Vocational Studies, launched e-learning programme through multi-media on Sunday. Wg. Cdr. P. Prabhakar, director of the centre, said the software for e-learning would help students in visual learning of mathematics, physics, automobile, aerospace and other subjects.

FEROZEPORE
HEALTH AWARENESS: Families and children of soldiers of the Golden Arrow Division of the Army have undertaken a drive to spread health awareness based on the WHO theme for 2002, “Move for health”. A 15-day training camp, focused on the significance of regular physical exercise, is being conducted at the General Hospital, Ferozepore. Inaugurating the camp, Mrs Kisan Nandrajog, president, AWWA, stressed the need for regular physical exercise for good health.

DOCTORS’ PLEA: The local PCMS Association, at a meeting held here on Monday, urged the state government not to dispence with the services of 850 medical officers and dental surgeons recruited during the tenure of PPSC Chairman Ravi Sidhu. Dr S.P.S.Khosa, spokesman for the association, said the decision, if implemented, would not only ruin the future of 850 doctors, most of whom were serving in remote villages, but would also cripple the health services in the state.

MEETING: The Director-General of Police, Mr M.S. Bhullar, presided over a high-level meeting of senior police and civil officials here on Monday and reviewed the arrangements made for the block samiti and zila parishad elections scheduled for June 9. He exhorted the officials to discharge their duties honestly to ensures free-and-fair poll.

HOSHIARPUR
MISHAP: Sital Singh of Gilgian village, who was hit by a car while he was on his way to an adjoining village, succumbed to his injuries at the Civil Hospital, Tanda, on Saturday.

LUDHIANA
FAREWELL: Hearty farewell was given to the transferred Additional Sessions Judges — Mr B.S. Mehndiratta, Mr B.K. Mehta and Mr G.S. Sran — by the office-bearers and members of the District Bar Association, here today. The bar president, Mr Harish Dhanda, vice-president, Mr Rana Surat Singh, secretary — Mr P.S. Ghumman, joint secretary, Mr Jagdeep Singh, and others welcomed the new Additional District and Sessions Judges — Mr Inderjeet Kaushik and Mr Jaspal Singh Bhatia.

CLUB FORMED: A new club, Pranayam and Laughing Club, has been formed, which would hold free classes in pranayam and fighting against social evils, according to the club chairman, Mr G.L. Brara, a retired divisional manager of UCO Bank. The club would also train people to laugh away mental and physical stress. It would raise funds to help needy students of government and aided schools under the Talent Hunt Programme. Eight students from four schools were honoured at a function. The office-bearers of the new club are: president — Mr G.R.Vig, vice-presidents — Mr Satish Malhotra and Mr N.T.S.Kohli, secretary — Mr Shyam Sunder Kapur, joint secretary — Mr Surinder Kapur, treasurer — Mr Arun Garg.

MEETING: A meeting of the District Valmiki Sabha, Ludhiana unit, was held here on Monday, which was presided over by Mr D.P. Khosla, a state-level BSP leader, and resolved to launch social campaigns against drug-addiction and dowry. On the occasion, elections were held unanimously for the executive committee of the sabha. The new executive members are: patrons — Mr Kala Hans, Mr Gajraj Prajapat, Mr Kishan Lal Rahela, Mr Gurkirpal Singh; chairman — Mr Valaiti Ram Moong; president — Mr Babu Ram Nahar; senior vice-presidents — Mr Raj Kumar Ghona, Mr Vijay Manchanda and Mr Joginder Pal; vice-presidents — Mr Manohar Lal, Mr Narata Ram and Mr Satpal Satta; general secretary — Mr Jug Lal Maan; secretary — Mr Nek Kumar; joint secretary — Mr Pravesh Sharma; cashier — Mr Bhag Ram; office secretary — Mr Parshottam Nahar; and press secretary — Mr Rakesh Ghai.

WORKSHOP: A workshop on ‘Achieving success in professional career’ was organised under the aegis of the Ludhiana centre of IMT, Ghaziabad. In the workshop participants were exposed to various techniques like presentation skills, communication skills, stress management, time management and group dynamic. Mr Rajeev Saxena spoke on the occasion.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local unit of the Punjab State Ministerial Services Union: president — Mr Harwant Singh Mangat; general secretary — Mr Dalip Singh; and finance secretary — Mr Harinder Singh. 

MOGA
POWER SUPPLY: Farmers of several villages in the district are facing water and power shortage. They lament that they receive power for only two to four hours a day which is not enough to water their fields sown with paddy. They have urged the Punjab State Electricity Board to provide uninterrupted power supply to them.

MURDER CASE: The police claims to have solved the murder of a PCO owner, Amrik Singh Sachdeva, who was murdered last year. The police has arrested the main suspects , Nachhatar Singh, a resident of Kishanpura, and Kuldip Singh, a resident of Chaudhariwala village, in this connection. The police has also recovered the pistol used in the murder. This was disclosed by the SSP, Moga, Mr Ravinder Kumar, here on Monday.

ARRESTED: The police has arrested Jagjir Singh, Surinder Singh, alias Chhinda, Sewak Singh and Ram Kumar, allegedly involved in the murder of Jarnail Singh on May 6 this year. This was stated by the SSP, Mr Ravinder Kumar, here on Monday. The body of Jarnail Singh was found in a tubewell.

ELECTROCUTED: Malkiat Singh, a farmer of Bilaspore village in the district, was electrocuted on Saturday when he touched a live wire lying in his field. According to reports, the wire had fallen from an overhead pole during a storm. A case has been registered and the body sent for a post-mortem examination.

MAN KILLS SON: Sarwan Singh (18) of the local Muradpur locality was allegedly killed by his father Nirmal Singh with a sword on Saturday night. The police has registered a case against Nirmal Singh. According to information , Sarwan Singh, a student of Class X, was advising his father to give up drinking to which his father took offence and attacked him with a sword. He died on the spot.

CHANDIGARH

PANCHKULA
MEETING: The monthly meeting of the Residents Welfare Association, Sector 12-A, was held here on Sunday under the chairmanship of Dr Y.K. Monga. The office-bearers and members of the association discussed the development works and problems being faced by the residents. The issue of mosquitoes caused by the sewage being thrown into the nullah running through the sector was discussed.

HARYANA

AMBALA
OPERATION CATCH: Arrest of two most wanted criminals was the highlight of a fortnight-long Operation Catch run by the district police from May 17 to May 31. Besides nabbing 72 bail jumpers, the police challaned 70 maxi cabs, four buses and three Tata Sumos for carrying passengers illegally. The police seized 4,970 pouches, 169 country liquor bottles and 5640 beer bottles. About Rs 9,397 were seized from 40 gamblers. While two cases were registered under the Arms Act, three cases were registered under the NDPS Act. The district police solved 14 robbery cases and recovered Rs 24 lakh worth of stolen goods.

FARMERS’ AGITATION: Former minister and Ambala Congress Committee (Rural) president Nirmal Singh blamed Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala for the ongoing farmers’ agitation on Monday. Mr Nirmal Singh said the broken promises to the farmers is the cause behind this agitation. The Chautala government should hold concrete talks with the farmers so that the previous mistake can be rectified, he added. Meanwhile, a meeting of the Lok Sanghrash Manch was held under the presidentship of Mr Brij Mohan Sarhadi to discuss the issue of farmers being shot and the hike in fuel prices, a release said.

BHIWANI
GRIEVANCES: Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala has directed government functionaries to listen to public grievances personally during their visits and try to solve them on the spot. He was presiding over the monthly meeting of the District Public Relations and Grievances Committee here on Sunday.

PINJORE
SAKURITI CAMP: A 14-day “Sakuriti-2002” camp which started on May 21 at DAV Public School, Surajpur, was concluded here on Sunday. After the ‘tilak’ ceremony, the function was started by lighting the lamp by Dr K.C. Bangar, Chairman, Haryana Public Service Commission. Chaudhary Pradeep Kumar, member, Haryana Public Service Commission, was the guest of honour on the occasion. While speaking on the occasion, Mr Bangar apprised the students with the main aim and purpose of Arya Samaj movement and appreciated the performance put up by the students. He called the school an ideal blend of East and West, keeping up a pace with time and at the same time keeping up the great tradition of Arya Samaj with such decorum and refinement.