R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

DORAHA
CHECK-UP CAMP: An orthopaedic camp will be organised at Sidhu Hospital on Sunday. Dr R.S. Sidhu and Mr D.S. Jaggi, president and secretary, respectively of the Rotary Club, Doraha, said a team of doctors including Dr R.S. Sidhu, Dr Bikram Singh, and a doctor from Mumbai, Mr Manoj Wadhwa would provide medical assistance to the patients suffering from orthopaedic problems. The camp would start from 9 am and continue till 4 pm. 

FATEHGARH SAHIB
CALENDAR: A delegation led by Mr Pavitar Singh, Secretary, National Association of Canadian India, Origion, on Thursday met Mr Kirpal Singh Badungar, President, SGPC, at Fatehgarh Sahib Gurdwara and urged him to implement the Nanakshahi calendar from January 1, 1469.The SGPC president was here to preside over the meeting of Dharam Parchar and the sub committee formed for the celebrations of the centenaries of the Gurus. Talking to mediapersons Mr Badungar said the 400th anniversary of Guru Granth Sahib would be celebrated. The SGPC would set up a charitable dispensary at Sarai, Naga village, the birthplace of Guru Anged Dev. 

HOSHIARPUR
VAID PANEL: The following office-bearers of District Vaids Mandal, Hoshiarpur, have been elected: President — Vaid Ravi Kant Khaulia; patron — Vaid Suman Kumar Sud; chairman — Hakim Krishan Gopal Narad; senior vice-president — Dr Vinod Kumar Sharma; secretary — Vaid Tarsem Singh and cashier: Vaid Rajinder Aggarwal.

GRANT: Mr Harminder Singh, District Transport Officer, on behalf of the local District Red Cross Society, disbursed Rs 5000/- as ex-gratia grant to the kin of deceased Ashwani Kumar of Nainowal Jattan on Friday. Ashwani Kumar was killed in a collision between Tata Sumo and truck on Sunday on Hariana Bhunga road.

CELEBRATED: Punjabi Day was celebrated here on Friday. A function was organised and presided over by Mr Mohinder Singh Musafar, District Public Relations Officer, at the District Language office in which officials of various government offices participated. Mr Mohinder Singh Musafar explained the importance of mother tongue and emphasise the need for use of Punjabi language in daily routine work. A cultural programme was staged by the trainees of the Language Department to mark the celebration.

MEETING: A district-level SGSY Committee and standing committee meeting was held under the chairmanship of Mr H.P.S. Garcha, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Dev.) here on Friday. Mr Garcha said that there were about 463 self-help groups in the district out of which 208 are under the SGSY Scheme. So far 132 groups have been linked with bank finance. He observed that the pace of linkage was quite slow and stressed the participants about the need to link only quality groups. Mr D.K. Meena, AGM (RBI), Mr Raghubir Singh (AGM NABARD), and Mr V.K. Malhi, Lead Manager (PNB), also participated.

JALANDHAR
HONOURED: Mr Pritam Singh, SDE, Telecom project, Jalandhar, was presented the Vishist Sanchar Sewa Padak, 2002, for meritorious service at a function in the General Manager’s office on February 18.

KHARAR
CAMP: Mr S.S. Gill, SDM, Kharar, has put a ban on the organising of free eye operation camp, which was to be organised on Sunday at the Arya College for Women. The step has been taken keeping in view the forthcoming municipal elections. The camp was to be organised by a close NRI relative of Mr Om Parkash Aggarwal, president of the managing committee of the college. Mr Aggarwal is a prospective candidate for the elections. Mr Gill has written a letter to Mr Om Parkash Aggarwal that election code of conduct has come into force and hence the camp should only be organised after the election. 

LUDHIANA
WORKSHOP: About 60 mathematics teachers of schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) participated in a workshop held at BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, here on Saturday. The workshop was based on ways of making mathematics interesting for the students and focussing on some new changes made in the syllabus from Classes IX to XII. The resource person for workshop, Mr Ravi Parkash, who is a lecturer of mathematics at Delhi University, discussed topics based on Boolean algebra, logarithms, ratio proportion, banking and sales tax. Later, there was an interactive session in which the teachers put forward their queries before the resource person. 

FUNCTION: Plus Two students of New Senior Secondary School, Sarabha Nagar, were bid adieu at a function organised here on Saturday. The Class XI students entertained the outgoing batch. A group dance based on the song 'Kudi sohni lagdi' was performed, followed by a skit titled ' Ik dukh hor sahi'. The Principal , Mr H.C. Gupta ,wished the students good luck for the examination. 

EDUCATIONAL TRIP: The GGN College of Pharmacy on Saturday organised an educational trip to Franklin Industries for diploma students. The students got an insight into the procedures, processes, manufacturing equipment and working of a pharmaceutical industry. The students were accompanied by Ms Ravinder Dang, head of the college, Ms Gaganjot Kaur, senior lecturer, and Ms Priyanka Modi, lecturer. 

WORKSHOP: A personality grooming workshop is being organised in Ramgarhia girls College from February 13 and will continue till February 27. Ms shelly , the resource person, said the aim of the workshop was to build confidence, to hon conversational skills and develop positive mental attitude. 

CERTIFICATE: Harsimrat Singh sandhawalia, a class XII student of GNPS , appeared in the National Standard Physics Examination 2002-2003 at Higher Secondary level which was conducted by IAPT(Indian Association of Physics Teachers). He has been awarded the certificate of merit. 

EXHIBITION: An exhibition was organised on Saturday by the Home Science Department of Devki Devi Jain Memorial College for Women. The articles prepared by Home Science students of class XII and BA II were exhibited on the occasion. The articles like stuffed toys, tie and dye, embroidery articles were also appreciated by the chief guest, Mr Surinder Dawar,MLA. 

DISCOURSES: The discourses on Bhagvad Gita which was organised on Saturday at Shri Sita Mata Mandir will continue till February 27. swami Gopal Mani in his discourse arranged by Shri Ram Leela Committee ( regd) said the people of today were wandering aimlessly. They would have to look into their hearts and develop good qualities if they want to attain God. 

RURAL LIBRARIES: Mr Gurbhajan Singh Gill, Editor of monthly magazine, “Changi Kheti” of Punjab Agricultural University and senior vice-president of the Punjabi Sahit Academy, said here on Thursday that there was an urgent need of establishing rural libraries having the farm literature produced by Punjab Agricultural University which could help in the diversification of agriculture. He said this while addressing trainees of a training programme organised by the District Cooperation Department of Punjab Agricultural University. 

DE-ADDICTION DRIVE: To check the rising trend of the abuse of intoxicants and drugs among youths, a de-addiction campaign will be launched in coordination with religious, social and voluntary organisations in the district. The addicts will be given medicines free of cost. This was stated by Mr Anurag Agarwal, Deputy Commissioner, while addressing a seminar on de-addiction organised by the Health Department and district administration at Jagraon, 40 km from here, on Friday. 

KNITTING CONTEST: Vardhman Spinning and General Mills Limited organised a knitting contest for the members of the Ramgarhia Club. About 25 women participated in the knitting contest organised at Nagpal Regency. The competition is part of the Vardhman Group’s commitment to promote the age-old art of hand knitting. Ms Jaspal Ushan, president, Ramgarhia Club, while expressing her views on organising such competitions said, “Our constant endeavour is to improve the lives of our members by providing them opportunities to enhance their skills and knowledge. We appreciate the support extended by Vardhman in enriching the lives of the women of Ramgarhia community.” Mr V.K. Goyal, Chief Executive, Vardhman Spinning and General Mills Ltd also expressed his views on the occasion. 

DHYANI FUNCTION: Chaman Lal Chaman, a U.K-based radio commentator, lyricist and compere will be the guest of honour at ‘Parchhaiyan’ - a programme being organised by Dhvani in the memory of late Sahir Ludhianvi. Chaman, who left India at the age of 19 for Kenya, closely witnessed the freedom struggle of Kenya and it had an impact on his multifarious personality. Disclosing this, Randhir Kanwal, informed that the programme will be held on Monday at Punjabi Bhavan at 6 pm. 

APPOINTED: Mr Harpreet Sandhu, Assistant Advocate General, Punjab, has appointed as Law Officer with the Vigilance Bureau, Punjab. Mr Sandhu has been assigned the job to deal with important/sensitive legal cases within the High Court and with the Vigilance Bureau pertaining to Ludhiana and Jalandhar. 

COMPETITION: Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle, Model Town Extension, organised inter-college fine arts competitions at Ramgarhia Girls College, Miller Ganj, Ludhiana to promote the feeling of universal brotherhood. The results of the competition are as follows -:Still life: Navneet Jain of Ramgarhia Girls College 1, Varinder Kaur of GCW 2 and Shweta Sharma of DD Jain Memorial College 3. Design: Ashminder Kaur of Ramgarhia Girls College 1, Neetu Verma of DD Jain Memorial College 2 and Neha Bhasin of DD Jain Memorial College 3. Poster Making: Supreet Kaur of GCW 1, Preeti Devgan of GCW 2 and Penny Dhawan of DD Jain Memorial College 3. Composition: Manpreet Kaur of DD Jain Memorial College 1, Gurasis Kaur of G.N. Khalsa College for Women 2, Harpreet Kaur of DD Jain Memorial College 3. Collage making : Dalwinderjeet Kaur of Ramgarhia Girls College 1, Geetika Gang of Government College for Women 2 and Manpreet Kaur of Ramgahia Girls College 3. 

NSS CAMP: The NSS Department of SDP College for Women will organise a one-day camp at Government High School, Mangat village on February 23 under the water conversation and sapling plantation campaign. Mr Dharampal Sharma, Chief General Manager, State Bank of Patiala, inaugurated the camp by planting a sapling of eucalyptus. The camp was organised under the supervision of programme officer, Ms S. Bhalla, and Ms Nivedita Arora. 

BHOG: At the closing of the academic session of Ramgarhia Girls College, the bhog ceremony of Sri Akhand Path was performed in its auditorium on Saturday. On this occasion, Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle organised several inter college competitions. These competitions included shabad gayan, poetry recitation competitions and fine arts competitions. The number of participants in these competitions were: 13 in poetry recitation, 10 in declamation contest, 31 in fine arts and 20 in shabad gayan. Dr Harbhajan Singh Soch, former Vice- Chancellor of GNDU, Amritsar, was the chief guest. The following students were given prizes in different competitions: Shabad gayan : Guru Nanak Girls College 1, Ramgarhia Girls College 2 and SDP College 3. Poetry recitation : Harsimrat Kaur of Ramgarhia Girls College 1, Riti of DD Jain College 2 and Amandeep Dua of Government College for Women 3. Declamation contest : Mai Bhago College at Ramgarh 1, Guru Nanak Girls College and DD Jain College 2 and Ramgarhia Girls College 3. 

SANGRUR
BAR BODY: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district Young Lawyers Taxation Bar Association: president — Mr Rajan K. Jindal; secretary — Mr Narinder K. Singla and treasurer — Mr Rajiv K. Garg.

CHANDIGARH

CONTEST: Students of Sector 26 Dutt Vishesh School recited poems in the annual elocution contest held on Friday. The trophy for the best class was won by class VI and the trophy for the best house was bagged by Newton House. Students studying in classes pre-nursery to eighth participated in the contest. The contest was judged by school director Sharda Dutt, Ms Sangeeta Vardhan and Secretary to Haryana Governor Vijay Vardhan. The results: the first prize in the pre-primary category went to KG-B. In the primary category, it was bagged by Class III-A. In the junior and middle category, the first position went to class VI, while the second position was bagged by Class V. In the junior school category, Vikas and Vaishali got the first position in English and Hindi, respectively, while in the middle school category, Sparsh and Aarish bagged the first position in English and Hindi, respectively. 

PANCHKULA
FAREWELL: A farewell party was organised for students of class XII of Satluj Public School here on Saturday. The students were welcomed by the Director, Mr Pritam Singh Serai. A cultural programme was also organised on the occasion. Harleen was selected Ms Satluj , while Jaspreet Pannu was selected as Mr Satluj. Anothr farewell party was organised for the students of classes X and XII of DC Model Senior Secondary School. A havan was performed in the school auditorium. In the evening, a cultural programme was also organised. 

BLOOD DONATION: Forty persons donated blood at a camp organised by the District Red Cross Society and the Punjabi Sabha, Pinjore, in Hotel Batra Pinjore, on Saturday. The camp was inaugurated by the SDM, Kalka, Mr Sushil Sarwan. A team of doctors from the General Hospital, Panchkula, conducted the camp. 

MEDICAL CAMP: A medical and eye check-up camp was organised by the Ramakrishna Mission Ashram and the Department of Ophthalmology, Gynaecology and Obstetrics, PGI at Nandpur village, Pinjore, on Saturday. As many as 384 patients were given medicines free of cost and more than 30 patients were selected for intra-ocular cataract operations. 

FIELD FIRING: A unit of Infantry Brigade will carry out field firing of infantry weapons in the Naraingarh firing range, near Raipur Rani, from Monday to Friday. Residents of Mandlaiu, Dandlawar, Jabar, Sultanpur, Mashumpur, Raina, Narainpur, Truckawala, Gubinaur, Patiba, Darka, Gadhaud, Manopa, Mirpur, Rampur, Rajewala, Bana, Dhagain, Bhaurauli, Boyad, Ganault, Fatehpur, Bhojrajpura, Jubiyal, Ananda , Nangal , Balak, Maou, Samlautha, Man, Bhogpur, Jaboaur, Bharail, Laswal, Shamgudha , Dharda and Masiyum villages have been advised to avoid the danger zone. 

HARYANA

AMBALA
DECISION WELCOMED: The decision of the Haryana Government to establish separate health centres for women was welcomed by BJP MLA Ms Veena Chibbar, here on Saturday. The district president of the INLD, Ms Kamlesh Sharma, and other leaders of the women cell, Ms Shashi Kesri and Saroj Gauri, said it would be beneficial, especially for the rural women. Ms Sharma said that government had spent Rs 29 crore for improving health services in Ambala during the past one year. 

SARKAR AAPKE DWAR: The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, will visit Ambala city on Thursday to hear the grievances of the people of the constituency under the third phase of Sarkar Aapke Dwar programme. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr D.D. Gautam, said the darbar would be organised in the Panchayat Bhavan at Ambala City at 2 p.m. 

SCHOOL FUNCTION: Lord Mahavira Jain Public School, Ambala Cantonment organised its annual function on Saturday. The president of the All India Progressive School Federation, Mr S.D. Jain, was the chief guest on the occasion. The schoolchildren presented cultural items on this occasion. The Principal of the school, Ms Sudha Mathur, spoke about the achievements of the school. The president of the school management committee, Mr Narender Kumar Jain, and the manager, Mr S.K. Jain, also spoke on the occasion. 

HISAR
RAPE: The Hansi police on Friday booked two youths for raping a minor. According to the police, Ishwar Singh and Vijay Kumar, residents of nearby Mirchpur village, had raped a girl of the same village last week. The victim’s mother had filed a complaint with the Sadar police station, Hansi, in this connection.

ELECTION: Mr Jagmahender Singh and Mr Rameshwar Singh have been elected as president and secretary of the local unit of the All-Haryana Power Corporation Worker’s Union, respectively. The other office bearers are: Mr Gian Singh and Mr Jai Parkash- vice presidents, Mr Bhagat Singh-joint secretary and Mr Ved Parkash Mehta- cashier.

ACCIDENT: An unidentified woman was injured in a road accident at Kinner Nada village near here on Friday. The injured was admitted to the Hansi Civil Hospital. According to the police the woman was going to her fields when a Maruti car hit her from behind.

KALKA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The Kalka-Pinjore three-wheeler Auto Union held an emergency meeting on Thursday in which old union was dissolved unanimously. Mr Pawan Sareen was removed from the post of president. The meeting was presided over by Mr Satish Citu and Mr Ramandeep Sharma. More than 200 auto operators participated in the meeting. Officer-bearers are: president — Mr Shiv Kumar; senior vice-president — Mr Ravinder Kumar; vice-president — Mr Kalka Parshad; secretary — Mr Jaspal Singh; cashier — Mr Kamal Kant; chairman — Mr Deepak Dimpy. 

YAMUNANAGAR
COMPLAINT: Mr Vijayendra Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, said that he had written to the Drug Control Officer of the Maharashtra Government to lodge a complaint against Hindustan Level Ltd. for sale of its product of Lux without licence in the district. He said that it was violation of the Drug & Cosmetic Act, 1940 & 1945 to sell any product without obtaining licence from the authorities concerned.