R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of Indian Medical Association ( Amritsar unit ): president- Dr Rakesh Madaan; secretary- Dr Jasdip Singh; financial secretary- Dr Inderbir Nijjar.

COLLEGE PROSPECTUS: delegation of the Junior Doctors Association of Government Medical and Dental Colleges here presented a memorandum to the principal of the medical college here. They have decided the omission of stipend for direct entry students and the fee structure.

EDUCATION POLICY: The Government school lecturers Union, Punjab, has sought the implementation of the National Education Policy, 1986, and the Punjab education policy, 2002. According to these policies, plus one and plus two classes should be shifted from colleges to schools. .

SEMINAR: A member of the US branch of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), Dr Andrew Kanter, spoke on “Medical Consequences of Nuclear War” at a seminar organised here by the Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Amritsar, in association with the Indian Doctors for Peace and Development.

PSEB WORKSHOP: A one-day workshop was organised by the Punjab School Education Board, SAS Nagar, on the Guru Nanak Dev University campus on multi-dimensional development of open school education system’. Dr S.P. Singh, Vice- Chancellor of the university inaugurated the seminar.

LECTURE: Lord Williams, leader of House of Lords, Britain, will speak on “Indians in Britain and the British in India” on the university campus tomorrow.

BATHINDA
POWER SUPPLY: The power supply to some areas of the city will remain suspended on April 25 between 8 am to 6 pm due to repair work on 33 kv MES grid substation and at the Fauji Chowk feeder. The affected areas will be Shiv Colony, Ajit Road, Ganesha Basti, Bharat Nagar, Kamala Nehru Colony, Bibiwala Road, Rose Garden, Chandsar Basti, Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar, Jhujar Singh Nagar.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Residents’ Welfare Society (150 yards) of Phae-II of the Urban Estate: convener — Mr M.S. Judge, co-convener — Mr B.R. Malik; secretary — Mr Shanker Garg; treasurer — Mr Mahesh Chander; and Auditor — Mr P.R. Ahuja.

SCHOOL RESULTS: Harpreet and Ramandeep Kaur of the local Little Flower Public High School have secured second and third positions respectively, in the district in class V examination, according to a press note issued by the Principal of school, Ms Kuldeep Kaur.

INJURED: Hari Chand, a tea stall owner, was injured on Tuesday when a scooter hit him in the Sadar Bazaar area of the city. Volunteers of an NGO, the Aasra Welfare Society, admitted him to a private hospital.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
PLOTS FOR SCs: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Vikas Pratap, has directed all BDPOs to check development projects thoroughly in the villages that fall in their respective blocks, and if they find any deficiency that should be dealt as per norms. He was addressing a development meeting of district officials at Bachat Bhavan here on Tuesday. He said Rs 63 lakh would be earmarked to provide plots measuring 10 marlas to each houseless SC family free of cost along with a grant for the construction of houses. Mr V.K.Ohri, ADC, Mr B.S.Shergil, ADC (D), Mr Navjotpal Singh Randhawa, Assistant Commissioner (G), Mr Darshan Singh, SDM, Fatehgarh Sahib, Amarjeet Singh Sahi, SDM, Amloh, Mr Ravinder Kumar, SDM, Khamano, were also present.

MONITORING COMMITTEE: To review the progress of Centrally sponsored rural development programmes, the vigilance and monitoring committee has been reconstituted at the district level under the chairmanship of Mr Shamsher Singh Dullon, MP. Mr Gurcharan Singh Ghalib, MP, is the vice- chairman of the committee. The first meeting of the committee will be held on April 26.

LOK ADALAT: As many as 2,021 cases have been disposed of, out of a total of 3,728, at quarterly lok adalats held from 1998 to April ,2003, and claims worth Rs 7,27,29,803 have been settled. This was informed by Mr Mohinder Pal, District and Sessions Judge-cum-Chairman, District Legal Services Authority, while presiding over a district-level quarterly lok adalat at Judicial Complex. Five Division Benches were set up. As many as 127 cases, out of 246, were disposed of on the spot and claims worth Rs 8.24 were settled.

WHEAT PROCUREMENT: As much as 1,82,930 MT of wheat has been purchased at various purchase centres in the district till April 20, which is 18,491 MT more than as compared to the wheat purchased during the corresponding period last year. This was stated by Mr Vikas Pratap, Deputy Commissioner, here Tuesday. He said a target of 33 per cent for the FCI, 20 per cent for Markfed, 10 per cent for Punjab Grain, 18 per cent for Punsup,10 per cent for Ware housing and 9 per cent for Punjab Agro, of total purchase in the district had been given. Against this FCI had purchased 4,6649 MT, Markfed 30,656 MT, Punjab Grain 23,299 MT, Punsup 41,304 MT, Warehousing 8,988 MT, Punjab Agro 29,764 MT and traders had purchased 2,260 MT till last evening.

HOSHIARPUR
REBELS MEET CM: Municipal Councillors — Mr Ajay Mohan Babbi, president, Mrs Krishna Saini, Mrs Kamaljit Kaur, Mrs Sukhwinder Kaur, Mr Baljit Singh and Mr Arvind Sharma led by Mr Naresh Thakur, met Capt Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister, at Chandigarh and pledged their loyalty to the Congress party. The Councillors had been expelled from the party for six years for opposing the official Congress nominee, Mr Brij Mohan Batra, in the election of president Municipal Council.

BAN ON COMBINES: Mr Kirandeep Singh Bhullar, Deputy Commissioner, has banned wheat threshing with combines from 7 p.m. to 8.30 a.m. in the district. These orders will remain in force up to May 15.

TRISHUL DIKSHA: The Shiv Sena, Punjab, has decided to organise a big sammelan of Shiv Sena workers at Hoshiarpur on May 17 for Trishul Diksha, Mr Vikram Kumra, Shiv Sena leader, stated in a press note here.

JALANDHAR
LEPROSY: Mr Prem Singh, a renowned anti-leprosy activist spoke about cures available for leprosy during a seminar organised at Labhu Ram Doaba School here on Tuesday.

LUDHIANA
CAMP: The local chapter of the People for Animals organised an animal welfare camp at the Gaushala Daresi grounds, here on Sunday. A team of veterinarians headed by Dr B.S. Gill, honorary director, PFA (Jeev Kalyan Kendra and Bhagwan Mahavir Abhayshala), examined more than 60 stray animals. The PFA has urged the Municipal Corporation to shift the stray animals to animal pounds. Dr Sandeep K. Jain, Mr Sanjeev Kundra, Mr Surinder Jain, Mr M.R. Singhal and Mr Gurcharanjit were present at the camp, among others.

ELECTED: Dr R.S. Bhatia, a consultant physician here, has been elected to the governing body of the Indian Chest Society. The society, which has its secretariat in Mumbai, is involved in research, education and dissemination of knowledge about chest diseases. Dr Chowgule, secretary general of the ICS, informed that services of Dr Bhatia for the year 2002-2003 will help further progress in research in the field of respiratory medicine.

MANDI GOBINDGARH
INTER-COLLEGE CONTEST: Various inter-college competitions were organised at ‘Tech Disha’, a tech fete, on the campus of Punjabi University, Patiala. Kartik Sood, Narinder Kumar Aggarwal and Anil Kumar of MCA (II) of the Desh Bhagat Institute of Management and Computer Sciences won second position. This was stated by Ms Shalini Gupta of the institute in a press note here on Tuesday.

NAWANSHAHR
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Rotary Club, Banga: president — Mr Rajesh Verma; vice-president — Mr Varun Bedi; secretary — Mr Dilbagh Singh; finance secretary — Mr V.P. Bedi; joint secretary — Mr Davinder Bhagra; director community services — Dr Buta Ram Gill, chairman RVC — Dr Javed Alam; director vocational services — Mr Jagan Nath.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Old Students Association, Amardeep Singh Shergill Memorial College Mukandpur - president — Mr Ram Pal Banga; senior vice president — Ms Kuldip Kaur, vice presidents — Mr Ashok Sareen, Ms Sonia Bajaj, general secretary - Mr Gurmit Singh; secretaries — Mr Kamaljit, Mr Ram Chander, Ms Manjit Kaur and treasurer — Ms Kanchan.

PATIALA
EN MASSE TRANSFER: The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) Council of Junior Engineers has condemned the en masse transfer of field employees. In a statement here, Council general secretary Davinder Singh said the large scale transfers during the paddy season were not in public interest.

HARYANA

AMBALA
PROMOTION: The Civil Surgeon, Dr Shyam Lal Kaushik, has been promoted as the Director, Health Department Haryana. He relinquished charge on Wednesday will join his new posting on April 30. Meanwhile Ms Avinash Sharma has been appointed as the Civil Surgeon.

CONFERENCE: The seventh All-India Homoeopathic Congress is being organised under the auspices of the Indian Homoeopathic Organisation, Ambala Cantonment unit, here from Friday to Sunday. According to the organising secretary, Dr Harprakash Sharma, the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, will inaugurate the conference on Saturday, while Dr S.P.S. Bakshi, chairman, Central Council of Homoeopathy, New Delhi, will be the guest of honour. Discussions will be held on tuberculosis, hepatitis, diseases of endocrine glands and homoeopathy.

KALKA
DEMAND: In the absence of a direct bus service between Kalka and Zirakpur, residents of Kalka have to waste a lot of time and face inconvenience in reaching Zirakpur. INLD district secretary Dwarka Dass, on behalf of the residents of this township, has demanded that a direct bus service be introduced between Kalka and Zirakpur.

WATER SHORTAGE: In order to tackle the drinking water problem in the township, SDM Devinder Kaushik on Tuesday held a meeting with officers of Public Health Department of Kalka and Pinjore in which an Executive Engineer of the district also participated. Areas where an acute shortage of water is experienced during the peak of summers were also identified. The SDM also urged the public to stop wasting water and avoid watering lawns and washing vehicles.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Haryana Patarkar Ekta Manch: president — Tarsem Narayan; chief patron — M. Bhandari; senior vice-president — Surinder Mehra; vice-president — Jitender Kumar; general secretary — Komal Chand; secretary — Madan; press secretary — Sunil Kumar; treasurer — Mukesh Malik; and executive member — Mukesh Dinkar.

COMPLAINT BOXES: According to Mr Isham Singh Rana, SHO of Kalka, the police will install two complaint boxes, one at Gandhi Chowk and the other at the local bus stand to facilitate residents to send their complaints. The SHO said this being done to keep a check on anti-social elements. The SHO added that teams had been formed and night Vigil increased in the township.

PINJORE
STREETLIGHTS: The Secretary of the Pinjore Municipal Committee, Mr Raj Kumar Nagpal, said Rs 13 lakh have been earmarked for providing additional streetlights in the town and the surrounding colonies. He said five electricity meters would be installed at the various places for these streetlights

VRS: As many as 60 employees of the HMT, Pinjore, have opted for VRS. According to sources, about 212 employees availed themselves of the VRS on March 31. They said the HMT authorities had fixed 58 years as the upper age limit for VRS benefits. However, the HMT Employees Union urged the authorities to consider 60 years as the retirement age, but the authorities did not accept their demand.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

HAMIRPUR
OUSTER DECRIED: Mr Prem Kaushal, former Mewa Mandal Congress chief, has denounced the decision of the HP Congress Committee to expel him from the party. He said the Hamirpur DCC chief, Mr Balak Ram Sharma, was playing in the hands of those who were trying to weaken the party in Hamirpur district.

PARWANOO
WELCOMED: Members of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) have welcomed the assurance given by the Government of India regarding no reduction in the interest rate of the EPF Daljeet Singh, a local leader of industrial workers, said steps being taken by the government to provide medical facilities, social security, pension and other benefits to workers of the unorganised sector were appreciable.