R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

DERA BASSI
CAMP: Nearly 450 ex-servicemen and their family members were examined at a medical check-up camp organised by the Ammunition Depot at Dapper, near here, on Friday. The Regiment Medical Officer, Major Puneet Handa of the Ammunition Depot, said various laboratory tests were also conducted free of cost. Hepatitis B vaccines were also administered free of cost at the camp. Earlier, the Station Commander, Col V.K. Sehgal, inaugurated the camp.

FARIDKOT
ARREST CRITICISED: Mr Mantar Singh Brar and Mr Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon, SAD MLAs from Kotkapura and Faridkot, respectively, have criticised the Punjab Government for arresting the former Agriculture Minister and senior vice-president of the party, Mr Gurdev Singh Badal, from his residence here on Saturday under false corruption charges.

KAPURTHALA
FIRE IN BANK: Five ACs and furniture were burnt in a fire in the local branch of Bank of Punjab on the Mall on Sunday. Power short-circuit caused the fire. Security guard of the bank noticed the fire in the building. Fire tenders put the fire off.

LUDHIANA
SURJIT PATAR: Punjabi writer Surjit Patar was invited as chief guest in Shanti Tara College, Ahmedgarh, on Saturday. Patar recited his choicest poems and ghazals. He advised the students to work hard, to be diligent and industrious and never to lose sight of their goal. After his talk, guests and students asked him a few questions. A student asked him which day was cherished by him the most, Patar replied that the day was in Columbia when he read out a poem “Meri maan nu meri kavita samajh nahin aaondi”. Mr Arvind Malhotra, general secretary of the college, presented him a memento.

YOGA CAMP: A yoga camp organised by the Vishva Yoga Sansthan under the guidance of Dr Parmar and Mr Bahadur Singh at Sansthan Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School concluded on Saturday. Students and teachers of the school participated in the camp and the concluding ceremony. Principal Sadhana Sharma explained the benefits of yoga for keeping the body and the mind fit and expressed her desire to include yoga in the school curriculum.

DIVINITY COMPETITION: Guru Gobind Singh Public School, Model Town Extension, organised a divinity competition on the school premises. Mr Inderjeet Singh Rana, chairman, Gurmat Gyan Missionary College, was the chief guest. Mr Avtar Singh Makkar, chairman of the school, presided over the function. Principal Manjeet Kaur gave away the prizes to the winners. The results of the competition are: Group I (nursery and LKG) —Damanpreet Singh (nursery) 1, Kirat Kaur (LKG-A) 2 and Dilpreet Singh (LKG-A) 3. Group II — Amanpreet Singh I, Amiteshwar Singh 2, and Ramanpreet Singh 3. Group III — Amrit Kaur 1, Bhupinder Kaur 2 and Harleen Kaur 3.

NAWANSHAHR
ADOPTED: The Lions Club (City Smile) , Banga, has adopted the cremation ground of nearby Bhootan village and in cooperation with the residents of the village has constructed a shed and undertaken earth-filling work, informed Mr Harmesh Singh, president of the club, in a press note here on Saturday.

“SPECIAL TALKS”: The Shubh Karman Manav Seva Society, an SAS Nagar-based NGO, with a view to creating awareness and mobilising students to raise funds for providing assistance to the blind the orphans, the handicapped, the widows, the old and the destitute organised “special talks” at Government Senior Secondary School JSFH Khalsa High School and K.C. Public School, here on Friday. Lt-Col SPS Bajwa (retd), project director, delivered the talks.

PHILLAUR
MURDERED: A handicapped youth, Harjinder Singh, was allegedly murdered with sharp-edged weapons by some persons at Cheema Kurad village on Friday night. His body was found from his dera at the Mithadda road. The body was sent to the Phillaur Civil Hospital for a post-mortem. The police has registered a case under Section 302 of the IPC.

BODY FOUND: A disabled youth Harjinder Singh was found murdered at his residence at nearby Cheema Khurad village on the Mithadda Road on Saturday.

SAMRALA
CAMP FOR ANIMALS: A block-level animal welfare camp was organised at Barwali Khurd village, 10 km from here. The camp was inaugurated by Mr Amrik Singh Dhillon, MLA, from Samrala. Dr Ramesh Chander Punj, Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry Fatehgarh Sahib, advised the farmers to approach qualified veterinary doctors whenever they required any aid. Dr Navdeep Kumar, Veterinary Officer, Barwali Khurd, said nearly 600 farmers from several adjoining villages attended the camp and 780 animals were treated and medicines were distributed free of cost.

DISCONNECTED: The electricity supply to government offices here has been disconnected by the PSEB due to the non-payment of bills, said Mr C.S. Mann, Executive Engineer, PSEB, Ghulal (Samrala), here on Saturday. Mr Sofat, SDO, said that Rs 3,303 against the Sub-Registrar, Samrala, Rs 7,409 against a government poultry farm, Rs 27,354 against the Tehsildar, Samrala, and Rs 7,007 against Naib Tehsildar, Machhiwara, were still outstanding. Mr Mann appealed to the other defaulters to deposit their electricity bills to avoid power disconnection.

HARYANA

FATEHABAD
CAMP: A special camp on small savings was organised at Panchayat Ghar in Bhuna town on Saturday. The Deputy Commissioner, Dr R.B. Langyaan, the SDM, Mr Yogesh Bhardwaj, and the Block Development and Panchayat Officer, Mr Suresh Kaswan, were present. A sum of Rs 6.25 lakh was deposited at the camp.

KALKA
VEHICLES CHALLANED: The Traffic Police challaned drivers of 16 two-wheelers here on Saturday. A special check point was set up on the road going to railway station and Ram Bagh and persons found driving two-wheelers without helmets were issued challans.

KARNAL
7 MORE ARRESTED: Seven more persons were arrested on Sunday for involvement in the Dulina case make the total arrests 18. Mr Akil Mohammad, SSP Jhajjar, said here. The arrested persons, all from Surah village are Hans Raj, Basant, Ashok son of Fateh Singh and Ashok son of Saroop Singh, Satish, Jaswant and Vikram. The court remanded the arrested in judicial custody till November 28.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
CHARAS SEIZED: In the past few months, the police has seized 86 kg of charas in the district. Mr Ajay Yadav, Superintendent of Police, here said the charas was valued at more than Rs 5 crore in the international market. The quantity included 16 kg of charas seized from Harish Chand, a resident of Lohtikri Pargana of the district on Sunday.

DALHOUSIE
MEDICAL CAMP: As many as 140 patients were examined and given medicines at camps organised by the L.B.S. Amir Chand Charitable Trust, Dalhousie, at Dhura Sappar in Junta panchayat of Dalhousie tehsil. Air Cdr A.K. Mahajan, Chairman of the trust, said here today the focus of the camp was on the headache, vertigos and epilepsy cases.

HAMIRPUR
HEALTH CENTRE BUILDING: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal inaugurated the new building of the Primary Health Centre at Bhareri village of the district. Addressing a public meeting at Bhareri, he announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh for the Primary Health Centre and Rs 5 lakh for the building of Senior Secondary School, Bhareri.

KUMARHATTI
THEFTS: Thieves struck at three shops in the main bazaar of Subathu and decamped with cash on Friday night. According to information available here, the thieves broke open the shutters to commit the crime.

SHIMLA
YC PLEA: The Youth Congress said on Sunday that it would urge the Congress high command to field young candidates in the Assembly elections. Mr Kuljeet Singh Nagra, a youth Congress leader and in charge Himachal said that indiscipline in the YC would not be tolerated.

PARAMEDICS RESENT: The Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital and Kamla Nehru Hospital Paramedical staff held an emergency meeting on Sunday and resented to the remarks of the Health Department administration that no posts paramedical staff were vacant. The meeting decided to hold gate meetings from November 25 to November 27 and to apprise the Medical Council of India of the conditions in IGMC.

SOLAN
MEETING: A meeting of the Solan District Working Journalists Association was convened here on Saturday which was attended by scribes from various newspapers. Dissolving the present executive committee of the association, it was decided to convene the next meeting of the association on November 30 to elect the new committee.