R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
CAMP CONCLUDES: A month-long camp preaching Sikhism undertaken by Akal Purukh Di Fauj concluded here on Sunday. More than 1260 students participated in it. SGPC secretary Harbeant Singh gave away the certificates to the participants.

DELEGATION: A delegation of headmasters of high schools met the District Education Officer, Mr Gurpartap Singh Guri, under the presidentship of Mr Joginder Singh here on Sunday. The delegation apprised him of the problems faced by the teachers such as duties given to them during the elections and the abolition of the posts of teacher.

FEDERATION: Mr Ajaib Singh and Mr Nishan Singh Johal have been elected president and general secretary, respectively, of the Fire Brigade Karamchari Federation.

BATHINDA
BLOOD DONATION CAMP: As many as 51 units of blood were collected at a blood donation camp organised by the Goodwill Society at Goodwill Hospital here. In addition, 10 volunteers were nominated to donate blood during any emergency. The local MP, Mr Bhan Singh Bhaura, was the chief guest. A statement issued here said that the local Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anurag Verma, also donated blood on the occasion. The chief guest also gave away mementos to the blood donors as well as to the outstanding students of Goodwill Public High School.

SEMINAR: A seminar on “Accountant Standards” was organised by the local branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Members as well as students of the Malwa region attended the seminar, which was presided over by Mr Shiv Jindal, chairman of the local branch of the institute. The thrust of the seminar was on upgrading the skills and knowledge of chartered accountants and their students.

FARIDKOT
VOTER LISTS: Following a directive of the Chief Election Commissioner, the revision of voter lists in the district will start from July 15. Under the programme, invigilators will visit each house and register the names of new voters. They will also verify the identity cards of old voters and delete the names of bogus voters. The process will continue till August 14. In a press note issued here today, Mr A. Venu Prasad, Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer, said the list would be published on October 16.

KHANNA
ELECTED: The annual election delegates meet of the Class IV employees of the Punjab State Warehouse Corporation , Ludhiana district, was held at Machhiwara, 25 km from here on Sunday. According to a press release of the union issued here on Monday, the meet was organised under the joint leadership of Saradara Singh and Sathi Kamal Dev. All the office-bearers were elected unanimously: Sathi Surinder Pal Singh — president, Dilbag Singh — senior vice-president; Darbara Singh — general secretary; Vijay Kumar — cashier and Kashmir Singh — chairman. The function was addressed by Jit Ram Virdi, general secretary, Punjab Unit, Pal Singh of Machhiwara and Sathi Amarjit Singh. A resolution against the anti-employees policies of the state government was also passed at the meeting.

KHARAR
DRIVE: Mr Sukhwinder Singh Gill, SDM, Kharar, kicked off a drive to get rid of the congress grass and other weeds at the banks of the historical Maharaja Ajj Sarovar here on Sunday. The drive was launched by the Kharar Football Association and headed by its president, Mr Rajwant Singh Kapoor and secretary, Mr Gurbachan Singh.

BRIBERY CASE: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau caught Harvinder Singh, a field officer working in Primary Cooperative Agriculture Development Bank, Kharar, red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 2000 from a farmer of Shampur village, Mr Balak Ram, on Monday.

LUDHIANA
RELIEF TO WIDOWS: The Shri Gyan Sthal Mandir Sabha distributed ration among 561 widows at its 59th monthly relief-distribution function here on Sunday which was presided over by Mata Manju Deva. The Senior Deputy Mayor of Ludhiana, Mr Prem Mittal, who was the chief guest on the occasion, lauded the temple management for undertaking various social service projects. A large number of prominent businessmen of the city and representatives of other social service groups were present at the function.

ABHINANDAN SAMAROH: Jainacharya Muni Shri Vinay Kumar Alok arrived in the city to a rousing welcome here on Sunday. An ‘abhinandan- samaroh’ was organised by the Terapanthi Jain Samaj to welcome the Muni on his arrival for his Chaturmas sojourn in the city. Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Muni exhorted the Jain Samaj to maintain unity and keep the flame of religion burning. He revealed that he had to traverse about 2,500 km on foot to reach the city via various areas of UP, Rajasthan and Haryana. Sadhvi Raviprabha, in her address, expressed the hope that Muni would create a new awareness in Punjab. Among those who welcomed Muni were Mr Rakesh Pandey, Printing and Stationery Minister, Punjab, Mr Tilak Raj Jain, Mr Pardeep Kochar, Mr Surya Parkash, Mr Bansi Lal, President, Terapanthi Jain Sabha, Mr Ajay Jain, Mr Rattan Lal, President, Terapanthi Shwetambar Jain Sabha, Punjab, Mr Hemant Parikh, President, Jain Yuva Sabha, Mr Rakesh Jain, Mr Rupesh Jain, Mr Pankaj Jain, Mr Samir Jain and Ms. Manju Devi Jain, head of the Jain Mahila Mandal.

CONDEMNED: The Bharti Kisan Union condemned the state government on Monday for its proposed burden of Rs 300 crore on farmers which is to be realised as arrears of water charges and termed the decision as part of a well-hatched conspiracy to compel farmers to say goodbye to farming. Mr Ajmer Singh Lakhowal and Mr Manjit Singh Qadian, president and general secretary of the BKU, respectively said in a joint press statement that the BKU would give a befitting reply to the governmental proposal. The leaders said thousands of farmers had committed suicide due to the failure of cotton crops in the recent past. They further maintained that already 33 per cent of agricultural land of the state had passed into the hands of moneylenders and if the government levied more burden on the farmers, they would be further debt-ridden and compelled to give up agriculture.

DEMAND: Supporting the employees of the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, the Medical Practioners’ Association has demanded that the management should concede to their demands and strive to end the three-week long agitation. Mr Magh Singh, district secretary of the association, said the demands of the employees were genuine and the management should not suppress them. He said hundreds of patients were being affected due to the agitation which should be ended at the earliest.

MEETING: The PPSC Selected College Lecturers’ Association held a meeting under the convenorship of Prof Antar Jyoti Ghai. The Punjab Government was urged not to scrap all the 3,446 selections made during the tenure of Ravi Sidhu. Ms Ghai said the government should take appropriate action against those found guilty while the rest should not be denied their rightful due.

NOMINATION SOUGHT: The Public Cause, a forum for voicing problems of the people, has urged the Deputy Commissioner to nominate its one member in the special committee being formed for redressing public grievances. Mr Yash Paul Ghai, director of the forum, has recommended the name of Mr Pawan Aggarwal, legal adviser, for the panel of committee which would comprise members of political parties, NGOs and social welfare bodies.

RALLY: Demanding implementation of their long pending demands, the Democratic Employees’ Front has decided to hold a rally outside the Mini Secretariat on Tuesday. At a meeting held on Monday under the chairmanship of Harwant Singh Mangat, the members decided to form a common platform for addressing grievances including abolishing of act to dissolve 29 government departments, boards and corporations, withdrawal of certain issues in the budget affecting employees and privatisation of PRTC and the Punjab Roadways.

MANDI GOBINDGARH
LIONS CLUB: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Lions Club, Mandi Gobindgarh ‘Supreme’ district 321-F, for the year 2002-2003: president — Dr Manmohan Kaushal; secretary — Mr E.P.S. Chopra and treasurer — Mr V.P. Sahi.

PATHANKOT
CHARAS SEIZED: The city police seized 20 kg of charas from a truck at Balsuha chowk, 10 km from here, on Sunday. Mr Bachan Singh Randhawa, SP, said here on Monday that on receiving a tip-off, a naka was laid at Balsuha chowk near Jakholari on the Jammu-Amritsar national highway. A red-coloured truck coming from Jammu and Kashmir was signalled to stop and a search was conducted. Javed Ahmed Sofi and Nissar Ahmed, both residents of Anantnag, were arrested and 20 kg of charas was seized from the tool box. An FIR under the NDPS Act has been registered.

PATIALA
BEREAVED: Baldev Raj Bhagat (56), father of the local UNI representative, Ms Bindu Sharma, expired a few days ago after a prolonged illness. He is survived by his wife and three daughters. The bhog ceremony will take place at Dashmesh Academy Gurdwara here on July 12.

HARYANA

JIND
KILLED: One person was killed and five were injured in an accident near Manoharpur village on the Jind-Safidon road on Saturday. According to reports, a canter going from Budhakhera to Satroad village in Hisar district collided against a tree, killing Pyare Lal on the spot and injuring Krishan Pal, Kanwar Pal, Nai Pal, jai Singh and Pratap. The injured were admitted to the local hospital.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
KILLED: One person was killed when a tipper rolled down the road into the Chamera hydel power project reservoir at Taleru on the Chamba-Khairi road in the district on Sunday. The deceased was identified as Subhash Kumar, the driver of the tipper. The police has registered a case and launched a search for the body.