R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMLOH
Cultural mela: The District Cultural Society, Fatehgarh Sahib, and the Youth Club, Amloh, will organise a cultural mela in the municipal complex here on Saturday. Mr Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, MLA, will be the chief guest. 

Camp: A farmers’ training camp on basmati crop will be organised by the District Agriculture Department of Fatehgarh Sahib at Rajinder Nagar village on September 23, said Mr Tarsem Singh, Chief Agriculture Officer, here on Friday. The camp will be inaugurated by Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats. It will be presided over by Dr Ajmer Singh, Director, Agriculture, while the Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Ahluwalia, will be the guest of honour. Mr Sadhu Singh and Dr Harbans Lal, both MLAs, will also address the farmers. 

Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the sub-unit of the PSEB Employees Federation, Bhadson: president —Mr Som Nath Khoji; vice-president — Mr Jasveer Singh; secretary — Mr Dewan Singh; joint secretary — Mr Malkit Singh Tiwana; and cashier — Mr Ram Karan. 

Amritsar
EMPLOYEE HONOURED: Mr Kirpal Singh, retired jamadar from CTO, was honoured by Mr S.C. Chourdhry, Chief General Manager, Telecom, Punjab Circle, as part of celebrations of 150 years of telecom in India for being the oldest living retired employee of DOT/BSNL of the circle. Mr Kirpal Singh was presented with a memento, a shawl and a cheque for Rs 11,000.

Ferozepore
MEDICAL CAMP: The Punjab Health Systems Corporation under its Outreach Programme organised a medical camp at Basti Ramlal along the Indo-Pakistan border on Thursday. According to Dr B.B. Sharma, Deputy Medical Commissioner, who supervised the camp along with a team of specialists, 315 patients turned up at the camp. Eighteen were referred to the Civil Hospital, Ferozepore. He said more such camps would be organised in remote areas and free medicines given and tests conducted.

Ludhiana
Contest: Mehar and Shruti, both students of SDP College, have won first prize in essay writing competition held at the MTS Memorial College for Women here on Thursday. The contest was held with the assistance of Panjab University. The topic was ‘Rajiv Gandhi’s contribution in development of modern India.’ Mehar was adjudged first among the English participants, whereas Shruti was first among Hindi speakers. Both will now participate in the state-level essay writing contest to be held on September 24. 

Hindi Divas: The Hindi Parishad of Arya College observed Hindi Divas here on Thursday. The chief speaker was Prof Yashpal Verma, a former head of the Sanskrit Department. 

Programme: The Punjabi Sahit Akademi, Ludhiana, will present ‘Gargi the Great’, a programme on the life of Balwant Gargi, at Punjabi Bhawan on Sunday at 2.30 pm. Mr Jaswant Zafar, secretary of the akademi, said eminent film personality from Mumbai Amrik Gill would highlight the interesting aspects of Gargi in a unique dramatic style. 

Observed: Hindi Divas was observed by the Hindi Sahitya Parishad of Shanti Tara College, Ahmedgarh, on Thursday. A former Principal of Government College, Malerkotla, Mr Dev Dutt Bhatt, was the chief guest. Rajinder, Feroz, Sonia, Ritesh and Dixie charmed the audience by reciting poems. 

Medical camp: The Bhai Ghanayaji Sewa Sanstha will organise a medical camp at Bhai Ghanaya Charitable Hospital on Sunday. Medicines will be given free of cost. 

Homage: Hundreds of members of the Technical Employees Association of Railways paid homage to the martyrs of September 19, 1968, by holding a gate rally at the diesel shed here. Mr Rajesh Sharma, its secretary, said various speakers criticised the Railways for not paying any attention to their demands. Glowing tributes were also paid to other martyrs who laid down their lives at Pathankot, Kalka and Bikaner. 

Mandi Gobindgarh
Importers’ association: The following have been elected office-bearers of the North India Importers Association: president — Mr Ved Dewan; vice-president — Mr Naresh Joshi; secretary — Mr Rakesh Singh; assistant secretary —Mr Parveen Gupta; cashier — Mr Rajan Gupta; and executive members — Mr Nirmal Bassi, Mr Bhushan Goyal, Mr Rajesh Gupta, Mr K.V. Gupta, Mr Tarsem Garg, Mr Rajesh Bansal, Mr Amin Chand Garg and Mr Sanjay Chaudhary. 

Seminar: International Certification Services Private Limited organised a seminar for furnace and rolling mill owners here on Thursday. It was addressed by Mr Robin Barachi of the National Institute of Secondary Steel Technology; Mr Sanjay Dutt of Kisko Castings; Mr Anil Chaudhary of Bhiwani Industries; Mr Vikram Dutt of Punjab Hammers; and Mr Karam Singh of Vimal Alloys. 

Nangal
EFFIGY BURNT: Employees of the Nangal depot of Punjab Roadways on Thursday burned the effigy of the Secretary, Finance, to protest against the poor state of buses. They alleged that the Finance Department had neither released funds for new buses nor for their repair.

Ropar
RELEASED ON BAIL: All 21 officers of Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Plant (GGSSTP) here accused in the EPF scam were on Thursday released on anticipatory bail by the Additional Sessions Judge, Ropar, Mr Karamjit Singh, in a case registered against them along with labour contractor Deepak Chadha. They were told to join police investigations and prohibited from leaving the country without the permission of the court.

HARYANA

Fatehabad
CREDIT CARDS: All eligible farmers in the district will be issued ‘Kisan Credit Cards’ by the end of the current financial year, the Deputy Commissioner, Dr R.B. Langyan, said here on Thursday. He said the scheme launched by nationalised banks has received a good response. Dr Langyan said farmers could get loans at an interest rate of 9 per cent per annum through these cards up to Rs 50,000 under the scheme.

SELF-HELP GROUP: A self-help group of women from Bighar village in this district and involved in manufacturing durries will represent the district at the annual ‘Handicraft Mela’ to be organised at Surajkund from October 4 to October 12. The Deputy Commissioner, Dr R.B. Langyan, told mediapersons here on Thursday that the group named ‘Dhan Dhan Satguru’ had been doing a fine job in raising the economic status of its members through manufacturing quality durries.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Chamba
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Bhattiyat unit of the Himachal Pradesh Non-Gazetted Employees Federation president - Mr Surinder Chambiyal; senior vice-president — Mr Vikram Verma; vice-presidents — Mr Rajesh Kaundal, Mr Pritam Singh and Ms Mukesh Kumari; general secretary — Mr Ashok Kumar; and assistant secretary — Mr Baboo Ram.

EMPLOYEES’ UNION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Deputy Commissioners’ Office Employees Union. president — Mr Brij Mohan Bedi; senior vice-president — Mr Dinesh Marwaha, vice-presidents — Mr Ram Prasad Sharma, Mr Jeevan Kumar, Ms Vimla Thakur and Ms Parkasho Thakur; general secretary — Mr Dalbir Chauhan; joint secretary — Mr Sandeep Bhambhota; organising secretary — Mr Narender Mahajan; press secretary — Mr Jeet Singh; and finance secretary — Mr Raj Kumar Pathania.

Hamirpur
OATH CEREMONY: Dr Lalit Mohan Sharma, Principal NSCB Government Degree College, here on Thursday administered the oath of office to the newly elected office-bearers of the Students Central Association at a function attended by hundreds of students and teachers.

Shimla
PRESS CLUB: Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, has announced that the government will provide adequate space in the Padam Dev Shopping Complex on The Ridge for the local press club. He told a deputation of the club that the government would purchase the property from the Municipal Corporation and renovate it to suit the requirements of the club.