R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

BATHINDA
TRUCK OPERATORS: Truck operators of the city have urged Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh to make arrangements so that the documents of their vehicles are checked once a year and they did not face harassment at hands of officials of the Transport Department. The operators said they should be issued slips after the papers of their vehicles were examined once a year.

LUDHIANA
RELIEF: Wg-Cdr S.S. Randhawa , Deputy Director, Sainik Welfare, along with other staff members of the department, visited the local CMC Hospital to meet ex-servicemen Amritpal Singh and Harjit Singh, who are undergoing treatment after being injured during rescue work in the Khud Mohalla fire. They were given Rs 5000 each out of the Flag Day Fund.

SUBMERSIBLE PUMP: A submersible pump has been energised in New Shivaji Nagar locality of Ward No. 58 by a resident of the colony, Mr Gopal Krishan Wadhwa. Speaking on the occasion, area councillor Jasbir Singh Chadha said with the commissioning of the pump, the problem of water scarcity in the colony and surrounding areas would be solved to a great extent. He said approval had been granted for the installation of two more submersible pumps in the area and work would soon be started.

LEGAL CELL: The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee Legal Cell has expressed its gratitude to Punjab Finance Minister Lal Singh and Higher Education Minister Harnam Das Johar for taking the initiative for the completion of the new courts complex and the release of Rs 1.4 crore for the completion of the lawyers’ chambers by end of August. Addressing a meeting of the cell, its district chairman, Mr Dharamjit Singh Khera, said it was heartening that the construction of the lawyers chambers would be completed by August 31 to coincide with the death anniversary of Beant Singh, who had laid down the foundation stone of the complex. He said the PPCC Legal Cell would invite Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to inaugurate the lawyers chambers.

BANDA BAHADUR: The Bairagi Mahamandal, Punjab, will observe the martyrdom day of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur at a state-level function at Guru Nanak Bhavan here on Monday. This was stated by the state president of the mandal, Mr Krishan Kumar Bawa, after a meeting here on Friday. He said the mandal had asked the Union Government to hand over the charge of the site where Banda Bahadur was slain in Delhi so that it could be developed as a memorial to the martyr. The mandal asked the government to declare a public holiday on June 9.

TALHAN INCIDENT FLAYED: An executive committee meeting of Dr Ambedkar Mission (Employees Federation), Ludhiana, was held on Saturday to discuss the alleged atrocities being committed on Dalits of Talhan village of Jalandhar district. While presiding over the meeting, Mr Joginder Lal Rai, president of the committee, condemned the incident. Mr Karamjit Singh Kainth, general secretary of the federation, demanded stern action against the culprits, erring police officer under the SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Act. Mr Hussan Lal chief organising secretary, and Mr Resham Sidhu, additional general secretary, demanded a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the aggrieved family of Vijay Kumar, who died in the police firing.

WORKSHOP: A workshop for students aspiring for various entrance test was organised by the Top Careers and You, a coaching centre, here on Saturday. Students who had recently passed the tests for MBA, MCA, GMAT, GRE and CAT were invited to share their experiences with the aspiring students. Topics such as time management, effective preparation, positive attitude and determination to succeed were discussed. The faculty of the centre talked about good reading, quality TV viewing, enhanced communication skills and healthy discussions. Mr Kamal Wadhera, CEO, said the workshop was aimed at creating a social bond with the students.

SUMMER CAMP: The Lodhi Club would organise a summer camp on its premises from June 9 to 30. Mr B.M.Mahajan, vice-president of the Club, in a press note issued on Saturday, said the camp would include various activities like aerobics, western dance, glass and mask painting and theatre workshop for children of different age groups. Yoga classes would be held for the members of the club and their spouses. A beautician course would also be available for women and girls above 15 years. Coaching for lawn tennis and squash would be imparted by trained instructors. Each activity would be for six days a week. Each batch would have a maximum number of 50 participants. The admission would be on the first-come-first-serve basis.

YOG SADHNA CAMP: The Arya Samaj , Maharishi Dayanand Bazaar (Dal Bazaar) is organising an eight-day Yog Sadhna camp that will end on Sunday. A large number of people are attending the camp and learning asanas and techniques of pranayam. The asanas are being taught by famous Yogacharya Arun of Dehra Dun. The camp is being held from 5.30 am to 7 am and 6 pm to 7.30 pm. Acupressure techniques are also being used at the camp to cure diseases. A three-hour function starting at 7 am will mark the conclusion of the camp. A special yajna will also be performed. Acharya Arun will address the congregation.

PATIALA
CAMPUS PLACEMENT: The campus placement interview was organised by the Sri Guru Harkrishan College of Management and Technology for students of BMIT and BCA here on Friday. The interview was conducted by various companies, including ICICI Bank, Strategic Marketing Pvt. Ltd, Hira Automoblies, Patiala Marketing Pvt. Ltd and Mahima Telecom System. About 35 students appeared in the interview and around 20 of them got selected for various posts in these companies.

ELECTED: In the annual general meeting of Patiala Chapter of Cost Accountants new office bearers have been elected to the Managing Committee of the Chapter for the year 2003-04. Mr. Sushil Jain has been appointed as Chairman, Mr H.S. Arora as Chairman Coaching Committee, Mr S.C. Arora as Chairman Professional Development and Mr V.K. Jain as Vice Chairman.

INVITED: Dr Lakhwinder Singh, Reader, Department of Economics, Punjabi University, has been invited to participate in the Third International Convention of Asia ( ICAS3) which is being hosted by the National University of Singapore from August 19 to 22. This conference is aimed at deliberating the issues specially related to Asian countries. Dr Lakhwinder Singh will be presenting his paper on Technology Progress, Structural Change and Productivity Growth in Manufacturing Sector of South Korea.

DELEGATION FOR PAK: A delegation of the Malta Boat Tragedy Probe Mission will visit Pakistan in July led by its Chairman Balwant Singh Khaira. The delegation will also visit Sri Lanka in this regard and meet the officials concerned and families of the victims. Mr Rajkumar Nidder, general secretary of the mission, said the mission was probing the case for the past six years in coordination with the governments concerned and NGOs.

CHANDIGARH

PUNJABI SERIAL: New Sai Production is launching a Punjabi serial “Jamana Thaggan Da” for Alpha Punjabi. It is a comedy serial based on the theme of unemployment. The serial is being directed by Mehfooz Khan while the story is written by Bhagwan Chand. The shooting for the serial will commence from the third week of June in Morni Hills, Panchkula and Mohali.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Resident Welfare Association, 13 Type House, Sector 29 A: president — Mr Rakesh Kumar, senior vice-president — Mr Sona Ram, vice-president — Mr Tarsem Lal — general secretary — Mr Ram Avtar Yadav, treasurer — Mr Mahma Singh, office secretary — Mr Paras Ram, press secretary — Mr Radhey Shyam, joint secretary — Mr Jagdish Singh and auditor — Mr Ranjit Singh.

PANCHKULA
SPECIAL CLINICS: The Haryana Health Department will conduct special clinics for various chronic diseases at General Hospital, Sector 6. In a press note, Dr B.S. Dhaiya, Director General Health Services, said STD and psychiatric clinics would be held every Monday, diabetes mellitus clinic every Tuesday and menopause clinic every Wednesday. Senior citizens would be examined on Thursdays while asthma and backache clinics and infertility clinic would be held on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

HARYANA

AMBALA
APPOINTED: Lieut Col B.N. Bali (Retd) was appointed general secretary of The Model Town Welfare Society here on Friday. He was appointed the general secretary at the annual general body meeting of the society held under the presidentship of Mr Rajinder Pal.

CRITICISED: Naggal MLA Jasbir Mallour criticised the Congress at a public meeting held at Matherishekhan on Friday. He said Congress leaders were trying to mislead the people. He said during the present government, a number of development projects had been undertaken in Naggal area.

STRIKE ENDS: The three-day relay strike by the Ambala unit of the Haryana Medical and Sales Representatives Union ended on Saturday. Mr Sanjay of the union said the relay strike was being held all over the country in support of their demands.

DEMAND: Federation of welfare societies/associations on Saturday demanded the assessment of house tax every five years instead of three. The federation said as the freeze on house tax had been made effective from 2001-2002, the increased house tax paid for 2002-03 should be adjusted in the house tax bills for 2003-04. They also demanded the abolition of fire tax.

2 YOUTHS HELD: The Baldev Nagar police has arrested two youths for threatening a doctor of Mission Hospital here and creating nuisance on the hospital premises. The police had earlier booked Rupinder, Rahul and Rinku under Sections 452, 323 and 506, IPC, on the complaint of Dr Sunil Sadik, director of the hospital. The police nabbed two of the youths, Rahul and Rupinder, today. They were produced in a local court, which remanded them in judicial custody.

2 ACCUSED HELD: The police arrested two persons allegedly involved in the murder of Jai Pal, a resident of Ugala village on Saturday. The two, Balkar and Sanni, also belong to the same village. The SP, Mr Hardeep Singh Doon, said the elder brother of the deceased, Mr Sham Lal, had lodged a complaint with the Barara police that Balkar and Sanni had taken Jaipal on June 2 on their motor cycle. Later, the body of Jai Pal was recovered under a bridge on Markanda river, near Shahbad. The accused will be produced in the local court on Sunday, the police added.