R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
PHONE CONNECTIONS: About 5,600 mobile connections, 6,516 new telephone connections, 501 Internet connections, 22 ISDN connections and about 730 PCOs have been added between April 1, 2002, and November 30, 2002, in the Amritsar telecom district. This was disclosed by Mr G.S. Daria, General Manager, Telecommunication, at the first meeting of the newly constituted Telephone Advisory Committee here on Friday.

DEFAULTER: The Punjab Government has become the biggest defaulter of petroleum dealers with Rs 18 crore pending as payment towards petrol and diesel procured from them. This was disclosed by Mr J.P. Khanna, president, Punjab Petroleum Dealers’ Association, in a press note here on Friday.

INVITED: Dr Balwant Singh Dhillon, Head, Guru Nanak Studies Department, Guru Nanak Dev University, has been invited to present a paper on “Bhakti literature” at the ninth international conference on early devotional literature in new Indo-Aryan languages to be held at Heidelberg University of Germany.

SEMINAR: The Batala district police, with the help of the Red Cross Society and de-addiction centre, will organise a de-addiction camp and a seminar on Monday. Drug addicts will be examined and given medicines free of cost.

BARNALA
HAILED: The faculty, students and the managing committee of Lal Bahadur Shastri Arya Mahila College here have hailed the appointment of Mr Sudarshan Kumar Sharma as Punjab Arya Pratinidhi Sabha chief and president of the Punjab Arya Vidya Parishad.

BATHINDA
DEAD: Mela Singh, a resident of Ronda village in Moga district, who was admitted to the De-addiction Hospital here died on Friday. The body was handed over to his kin, after the registration of a case under Section 174 of the CrPC.

POLIO DROPS: Mr Anurag Verma, Deputy Commissioner, on Friday said efforts would be made to eradicate polio from the district. Mr Verma, in an official press note, said special camps would be organised on January 5 and February 9 to give polio drops to children between the 0-5 age group.

YOUTH KILLED: An unidentified youth, who was injured in a road mishap at Sangat mandi, 12 from here, on Thursday died in the local Civil Hospital. The Sangat police has registered a case under Section 304-A of the IPC.

FEROZEPORE
WORKSHOP: As a special campaign against the menace of drugs, the police organised a workshop on the NDPS Act in collaboration with the Narcotics Control Bureau, Chandigarh. As many as 140 police officials, including Inspectors, SIs, ASIs and other field level investigating officers, participated in the workshop. Mr Praveen Sinha, SSP, who coordinate the workshop said the aim of the workshop was to highlight the provisions of the NDPS Act which empowered the enforcement agencies to tackle the menace of drugs in a comprehensive manner.

KAPURTHALA
MASS MARRIAGE: The marriages of nine poor girls were solemnised at a function organised at the dera of Kadir Pir at Mander Bet village on Friday. Mr Santokh Singh, Social Welfare Minister, and Mr Sukhpal Singh Khaira, General Secretary, PPCC, were among those who participated in the function and blessed the newly-wed couples. All expenses of the marriages were borne by the dera.

KHAMANI
RURAL SPORT: A rural sports tournament will be organised at Kotala village, near here, by the youth Sports Club and Gram Panchayat Kotala on January 9, 10, 11 and 12,2003. During this meet, various competitions will be held. Member Parliament Gurcharan Singh Galib will give away the prizes to the winners.

SUPPORT: The Democratic Teachers Front Punjab Unit, District Fatehgarh Sahib have expressed support to the agitating B.Ed teachers and expelled panchayat secretaries. Giving details of a meeting held in this regard under the chairmanship of district president Amarjeet Singh Gill, general secretary of the District Yashpal Khamano said that the present Congress Government was acting against its election manifesto and against the interests of the common people. He said that hundreds of posts were lying vacant but there is no recruitment. He also said that the removed panchayat secretaries had been deceived by false promises. In the meantime joint action of employees coordination committee Khamano has also expressed their support to the agitating teachers and panchyat secretaries.

DEMAND: A large number of passengers, who often go to Chandigarh, has demanded an over-bridge on Morinda Railway crossing, because it often remains closed, resulting in long queues of cars and buses daily on both sides of the crossing. They alleged that the gangman closed the gate of railway crossing a long time before the arrival of trains. Ajmer Singh Bath of BKU said that there had been rumours many times that this overbridge would be constructed soon but nothing had been done in this regard despite the fact that this Chandigarh-Ludhiana Road was very important road of Punjab and many VIPs daily pass through this railway crossing. Many injured serious persons often died on way to the PGI Chandigarh or other big hospitals, because it took about half an hour to cross this crossing. The people demanded immediate overbridge on this railway crossing and also demanded timely closing and opening of this railway crossing gate.

LUDHIANA
SPECIAL DEWANS: The martyrdom day of Sahibzada Zoravar Singh and Fateh Singh was observed at Shri Guru Kalgidhar Singh Sabha here on Friday. Special dewans were held on the occasion under the supervision of Mr Gurcharan Singh, manager of the gurdwara. Among the prominent raagis who presented devotional renderings were Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa, Bhai Zoravar Singh Khalsa, Bhai Ajmer Singh and Bhai Gurdip Singh Khalsa. Among the eminent religious scholars who gave discourses on the occasion included Giani Pinderpal Singh and Jasbir Singh Khalsa. The poets, who recited their compositions dedicated to the young martyrs, were Rachhpal Singh Pal, Harbhajan Singh Sajan, Sujan Singh ‘Sujan’, and Joginder Singh Kang. A langar was held on the occasion.

BALAK NATH MELA: The Siddh Baba Balak Nath Parchar Sangh would hold the Baba Balak Nath Mela at the Hari Om Mandir in Moti Nagar from April 11 to 15 next year. Mr Bal Krishan Thapar, chairman of the sangh, said in a press release here on Friday that a jagran dedicated to Baba Balak Nath would be held on April 11 and 12, a cultural mela would be held from April 13 to 15 in which swings and stalls etc would be put up.

ELECTED: Mr Roshan Lal Arya was unanimously re-elected as president of the Arya Samaj, Dal Bazar, at the general convention held on Friday. He was also empowered to nominate and form various committee and sub-committees. Mr Roshan Lal Arya announced an executive committee comprising three patrons, six vice-presidents, one general secretary, eight secretaries and a cashier. The new office bearers are: Patrons — Swami Shobhanand, Swami Sumanamati and Mr Narinder Singh Bhalla; vice-presidents — Mr Jagjivan Pal Sood, Mr Mahinder Sood, Prof Vinay Sofat , Mr Mahinder Pal Vig, Mr Rajinder Gupta and Mr Ashok Vaidya; treasurer — Mr Atma Ram Arya; deputy treasurer — Mr Ajay Batra. Other members of the executive are Mr Surinder Arya, Mr Ramakant Mahajan, Mr Pardip Pahwa, Mr Mahinder Partap Arya, Mr Shravan Arya, Mr Rajinder Dewan, Mr Ranvir Bhatia, Mr Ayodhya Parkash, Mr Sat Pal Narang, Mr Ved Parkash Bhandari, Mr Vinod Bajaj, Mr Om Parkash Chawla, Mr Charanjit Pahwa and Mr Kapil Dev Sharma. A meeting of the newly-constituted executive committee would be held on Sunday.

MARRIAGE PROCESSION: A divine marriage procession was taken out in Sandip Nagar on Friday in connection with the Shrimadbhagwat Katha being held by the Shri Banke Bihari Sewa Parivar at the Shri Ram Dham Mandir in the locality. The marriage procession, which was led by Saint Shri Ramesh and was taken out before a symbolic marriage of Thakur and Rukmani was solemnised at the katha site, was showered with floral petals by the residents. The streets of the locality had been decorated with rangoli at several places. Among those participated in the marriage procession were Mr Surinder Garg, Mr Pappa Mahajan, Mr Varinder Kumar, Mr Dimpy Garg and Mr Rajiv Duggal.

MELA: The three-day historic Jor mela in connection with the birthday celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh got under way at the historic Manji Sahib gurdwara at Alamgir near here on Saturday. The celebrations started after the conclusion of an akhand path in the morning. A nagar kirtan was taken out later from the gurdwara which was led by the traditional Panj Piaras. According to Giani Jagjit Singh, manager of the gurdwara, several dewans would be held on all three days of the mela in which prominent raagis and religious scholars would be participating. Special lighting arrangements have been made at the gurdwara. Meanwhile, an annual Jor mela would be held at gurdwara Falahi Sahib on the banks of Sirhind-Abohar canal on December 31. The mela is held every year to commemorate the visit of Guru Gobind Singh to the place. According to Mr. Santokh Singh, a nagar kirtan, a dewan and amrit sanchar would be held on the occasion.

DANCE PARTIES: VLCC and Stan Autos organised a dance-cum-dinner bash at Basant Resorts on Friday night wherein many women club members, young people and many well known people participated. The host of prices included prizes for the oldest couple on the dance floor, made for each other, best male/female dancer, best child dancer,best hand made ‘bindi, girl in black , girl with long hair, and non-stop dancer. The winners were very excited and a spirit of festivity marked the dance.

GET-TOGETHER: The Neva Club had arranged for the employees family a get together to welcome the New Year at Friends Regency last evening. The director of the club, Mr Vishal Jain, offered his greetings for the coming New Year. He thanked the members for working sincerely and assured them that in coming year the company would launch new products. The gifts were presented to the members of the club at the close of the function.

MEETING: The office-bearers of state unit of Janata Dal (United) have virtually risen in revolt against the state chief of the party, Mr Jaspal Singh Kapoor. In a meeting held here on Friday with Mr Sukhchain Singh Tuli, chairman, Parliamentary Board in the chair, the party functionaries resolved that Mr Kapoor be replaced with Mr Amrtibir Singh Gulati in order to revive the party in Punjab and to prepare for forthcoming civic elections. The meeting urged the Central leadership of the party to take appropriate action in this regard without any further delay. Besides Mr Tuli, Mr Amrtibir Singh Gulati, vice president, Mr Rajinder Kumar, Mr Ranjha Singh, Mr Om Dutt Sharma, Mr Partap Singh Rana, all general secretaries and Mr Mehar Singh Devgun, secretary attended the meeting.

MARTYRDOM DAY: The martyrdom day of Baba Jiwan Singh would be observed at a function to be organised by Amar Shaheed Shiromani Baba Jiwan Singh Sahit Sabha at Mohalla Guru Har Rai Nagar, Near Jalandhar Bypass here on December 29. Stating this, the chairman of the sabha, Lala Jiwan Kumar said that Mr Santokh Singh, Minister for Welfare, Punjab will be the chief guest. The City Mayor, Mr Nahar Singh Gill, and Senior Deputy Mayor Mr Prem Mittal would be the guests of honour. Mr Gurcharan Singh Galib, MP would preside over the prize distribution ceremony.

MANSA
SUSPENDED: Mr B.R. Banga, Director, Local Government, Punjab, has placed Varesh Kumar, Superintendent of the Municipal Council, Mansa, under suspension under Rule 4 (2) of the Punjab Civil Services (Punishment and Appeals) Rules, 1970, with effect from December 5, as he remained in police custody for more than 48 hours in a bribery case.

ARRESTED: The Sardulgarh police has registered a case against Gurtej Singh, a resident of Bhupal village in the district, under Sections 363 and 366 of the IPC for abducting a minor, Manpreet Kaur, from Barnala village. The police arrested the suspect and produced him before the Deputy Magistrate on Saturday, who remanded him in judicial custody till January 11.

PIRATED CASSETTES: The city police has booked seven persons dealing in pirated CDs and X-rated video cassettes. The police has seized pirated CDs and X-rated video cassettes from them. While four of them — Harish Kumar, Raj Kumar Raju, Koshik Kumar and Sonu — have been arrested, the remaining three — Satpaul, Vijay Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar — are at large. The arrested were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate on Saturday, who remanded them in judicial custody till January 11.

NAWANSHAHR
HELD FOR MURDER: The police has arrested Surjit Kumar of the nearby Sloh village in connection with the murder of Parkash Singh, a migrant rickshaw-puller, which took place on November 16, 1997.

OLD STUDENTS: The Sikh National College, Charan Kanwal, Banga, 12 km from here, organised an old student meet on the college premises on Friday in connection with the golden jubilee celebrations of the college. About 200 old students participated. Mr Amrik Singh Pooni, a former Chief Secretary of Punjab, was elected president of the Old Students Association.

RALLY: Mr Bant Singh Brar, secretary, All-India Trade Union Council (AITUC), and Mr Bhupinder Sambher, secretary, Punjab Kisan Sabha, addressed a rally at the bus stand here on Friday with a view to mobilising activists of trade unions and employee organisations, and farmers and labourers for the countrywide “rasta-and-rail-roko” programme and gherao of Parliament scheduled for January 8 and February 26, respectively.

TARN TARAN
SEIZED: The Khemkaran police has seized 3 kg of poppy husk from Beera Singh, a resident of Mastgarh, at a police naka on Thursday. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered.

BAR ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Bar Association: president — Mr Hakam Singh Sandhu; vice president — Mr Inder Pal; secretary — Mr Bikram Arora; joint secretary — Mr Manjinder Singh.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Parents Association: president — Mr Darshan Singh Gill; vice president — Mr Jaswant Singh Sandhu; joint secretary — Mrs Sarabjit Kaur; organising secretary — Mr Gurcharan Singh Gulati and treasurer — Mr Kewal Singh.

HARYANA

AMBALA
KILLED: One person was killed on the GT road near the Kali Paltan bridge. According to the police, the deceased had not been identified so far. The police suspected that some unidentified vehicle might have hit him. A case has been registered in this regard.

FUNCTION: The Akhil Bhartiya Sangmeshwar Sewa Dal will organise a function in Prem Mandir Dharmshala, Ambala City, on Sunday in which tricycles and woollen clothes would be given to the needy persons. The managing director of Crystal Pharmaceutical, Mr T.C. Kansal, will be the chief guest on the occasion.

FATEHABAD
CAMP ORGANISED: The district administration on Friday organised a small savings camp at Kirdan village. The SDM, Mr Yogesh Bhardwaj, exhorted people to invest more in various small savings postal schemes as these not only fetched more interest but also helped in the development of the nation as money invested in these schemes was used for a number of welfare schemes.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

DALHOUSIE
COMPUTER CENTRE: A computer centre was opened on the premises of the Yog Manav Spiritual Trust, Banikhet, about 6 km from here, on Saturday. According to Mr S.K. Dodeja, founder of the trust and Managing Director of the Narmada Hydroelectric Power Corporation, the centre will go a long way in imparting training to the poor.