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 the local unit of the Punjab Medical Representatives Association: president — Mr TR Dogra; and vice-presidents — Mr KS Kakkar, Mr Kanwaljit Singh and Mr Sumeet Saini.

APPOINTED: Dr Kamlesh Singh Duggal, a reader in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Guru Nanak Dev University’s Regional Centre at Jalandhar, has been appointed Head of the department.

Batala
office-bearers: The following have been announced office-bearers of the district unit of the BJP: president — Mr Surinder Kumar; vice-presidents — Mr Harbans Lal Mahajan, Prof Madan Lal, Mr Charan Dass Bhatia and Mr Harvel Singh; general-secretaries — Mr Naresh Mahajan and Mr Salwinder Pal; secretaries — Mr Inder Jit, Mrs Suman Bala, Mr Vijay Kumar, Mr Bodh Raj and Mr Manohar Lal; press-secretary — Mr Rajinder Kumar; and treasurer — Mr Tarloki Nath.

Bathinda
YOUTH CONGRESS: Mr Paramjit Singh Dhillon, a resident of Kotfatha village of the district has been appointed president of the Punjab Youth Congress, district unit Bathinda, as per the press note issued here on Monday by Mr Nitin Sharma, Permanent Secretary, PYC.

Muktsar
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Youth Akali Dal (Badal), Muktsar district: senior vice-president — Mr Bhupinder Singh Babli Brar; vice-president — Mr Om Parkash Hakuwala; secretary — Mr Jasvir Singh Seera; joint secretary — Mr Makhan Singh; and treasurer — Mr Jaswinder Singh Jassa Kang.

Nawanshahr
STUDENTS SHINE: Arti Sengar and Arti Chawla, students of BLM College, here have won first and third prizes, respectively, at the state-level essay writing competition organised by the National Martyrs Memorial Committee at Desh Milap Bhavan, Jalandhar. Nisha Sharma has been selected to represent Punjab at the All-India level National Integration Camp to be organised at Master Tara Singh Memorial College, Ludhiana from December 21 to 27.

SCIENCE EXHIBITION: Sushant Pal, a student of Saraswati Public School, Balachaur, won the first prize in the theme No. 1 at the state-level Science Exhibition held at Fatehgarh Sahib. Mr Baldev Singh, Lecturer, Government Senior Secondary School, Nawanshahr, and Mr Rajesh Chandel, Lecturer, Doaba Arya Senior Secondary School, here won the third prize in the Teacher Extempore and Teaching Aids competitions, respectively.

PATIALA
PENSIONERS' DAY: The Punjab Pensioners Welfare Association will organise a function to mark Pensioners' Day at the PSEB Engineers Association Home on Wednesday. Deputy Commissioner Tejveer Singh will be the chief guest. Senior pensioners and active members of the association will also be honoured at the function.

LECTURE: Dr Kirpal Singh Sidhu of Michigan State University, USA, will deliver a lecture on 'Role of pollutants, environmental and social factors in causing shortage of drinking water: a global study with focus on India''. The Dean Academic Affairs, Dr U.C. Singh, said the lecture would be organised in collaboration with the Geography Department of the university.

Sirsa
CHAMAAR REGIMENT: The All-India Chammar Samaj Mahasabha has demanded reconstitution of the Chamaar regiment in the Army and 15 per cent reservation for the community in the private sector. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Chamba
POWER-SUBSTATION: The Chamba Welfare Association has urged the state government to instal a 132-KV substation at Karian to mitigate problems of frequent power-cuts and low-voltage being faced by consumers in the town and its suburbs. A memorandum was submitted to the Chief Minister by Mr Yog Raj Sehgal, secretary of the association in this regard.