R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
BUS STAND: Ms Laxmi Kanta Chawla, vice-president of state BJP, urged the state government not to shift the bus stand to Mall Mandi, about 10 km from here.  

INVITED: Dr N.S. Neki, professor, Medicine, Government Medical College and Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, here has been invited to chair two scientific sessions in the 59th annual conference of Association of Physicians of India from January 18 to 21 at Hyderabad. He has also been invited to chair the CME session (continuing medical education).

MAN SHOT AT: Madan Lal, a petrol pump employee, was seriously injured when two unidentified persons shot at him in an attempt to loot here on Saturday evening. However, the accused failed in his aim as people converged in. The bullet hit his right arm and was immediately rushed to the hospital. The police have registered a case under Sections 307, 34 of the IPC at Sadar Police Station here.

PAK YOUTH SHOT: An unidentified Pakistan national was shot dead by BSF jawans here on Saturday when he tried to cross over to India in the garb of darkness. According to reports, the youth crossed the fencing through the Railway track near naka No 32 and Burji No 103/23. The BSF jawans challenged and asked him to stop. However, the accused tried to flee.

Bathinda
MEDICAL CAMP: The district chapter of the Punjab Human Rights Organisation organised a medical camp at the Bharat Nagar on Sunday. A team of doctors comprising Dr J. K. Gupta, eye surgeon, Dr L.D. Goyal, cardiologist, Dr Aarti Aggrawal and Dr Rajinder Goyal, dental surgeons, examined more than 250 patients. The ECG tests and laboratory tests of the patients were also done free of cost. Students from various schools presented cultural programme on the occasion and the gathering was made aware of their rights.

Hoshiarpur
JDU CHIEF: Mr Inderjit Singh Saini has been appointed president of the Punjab state unit of Janta Dal United, according to Mr Ajay Sud Gora, member national executive of the party here on Saturday. Mr Saini was president of the Samta Party Punjab unit. Mr Saini will appoint office-bearers shortly.

Malout
CONDOLENCE: Reporters of different dailies being published from Delhi, Chandigarh and Jalandhar, and other prominent figures of the region held a condolence meeting on Sunday to express grief over the sudden death of Mr Dalbir Singh, correspondent, Punjabi Tribune, on January 10. During the meeting, the participants dubbed Dalbir Singh as a brave, intelligent and justice-loving journalist, who took firm stand for the right things in all spheres of life.

Patiala
BLOOD DONATION CAMP: The local mandal of the Vishava Jagriti Mission Yuva Manch organised a blood donation camp at Hira Auto Mobile here on Sunday. Deputy Commissioner Tejveer Singh was the chief guest on the occasion. As many as 350 members of the mission donated blood. While appreciating the efforts made by the Vishav Jagriti Mission, Mr Tejveer Singh said there was a need to spread health awareness among people. Speaking on the occasion, the secretary of the Mission, Mr A.K. Gupta, urged the citizens to join hands with them and contribute towards the development of society. On the occasion a satsang and kirtan was also organised by the organisation.

SEMINAR: As part of the 15th National Road Safety Education Week a seminar on various topics, including road safety, first aid to the injured, traffic sense and AIDS awareness was held at Red Cross Bhavan here recently. As many as 100 drivers and conductors participated in the seminar. The seminar was inaugurated by Deputy Commissioner Tejveer Singh. While appreciating the initiative and efforts made by the Red Cross Society and the Traffic Police Road Safety Education Cell, he urged the drivers to drive with patience following traffic rules and regulations. He said the Red Cross Society would also impart life saving training to police personnel so that during accidents and mishappening the injured and victims were given proper first aid and rescue services. District Transport Officer Dharam Pal Garg thanked the society for holding the seminar. Mr K.R. Verma, Mr Gurdeep Singh, H.S Kreer and Mr Anil Kumar also spoke on the occasion.

FUNCTION: The Bharat Vikas Parishad organised a function to celebrate the festival of Lohri at Prem Dham Sarvhitkari School here on Sunday. On the occasion, a cultural programme was also organised by school students. Speaking on the occasion, the vice-president of Punjab (East), unit of parishad, Dr N.K. Sharma, highlighted the importance of the festival. The eminent members of the parishad distributed blankets among poor and needy people of the city.

Phagwara
FOUNDATION DAY: SD Putri Pathshala Senior Secondary School, Hadiabad, on Saturday celebrated its 70th foundation day. Santosh Chowdhary, MP, was the chief guest Punjab Social Welfare Minister Joginder Singh Mann presided over the functiion and gave Rs 1 lakh grant to the school. 

HARYANA

Ambala
Science seminar: Shruti Gupta, a student of SA Jain senior model school, has represented Haryana at the national level in a science seminar. School Principal Anima Jain said Shruti Gupta represented Haryana in the seminar on science of children. She said the school team comprising Shruti and Mayank Jain was the only team selected from Ambala for participation at the national level. The team was selected at a state level competition held at Rohtak. The team guided by Ms Neelam Rawal presented their project on food habits of adolescent children.

Hisar
SCHEMES FOR POOR: Haryana Goernor Babu Parmanand on Sunday expressed concern over the tardy implementation of government schemes meant for the poor and the deprived. Addressing the second annual sammelan of the All-Haryana Yuva Kumhar Federation here, he said though the government had announced hundreds of schemes for the betterment of the poor and the deprived in the country after Independence, these sections had not benefited from these policies so far. He held politicians and bureaucrats responsible for this. He said corruption was also the other main reason for this situation.

SENTENCED: A local court on Saturday sentenced three members of a family, including two women, to one-year imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 500 each on them on the charges of injuring a woman. According to the prosecution, Om Parkash, his wife, Premo Devi, and mother, Ganga Devi, residents of Barwala near here, had attacked Krishna Devi of the same town with sticks three years ago when she was alone at her house. The court sentenced Om Parkash, his wife and mother in this connection.

Jind
POLL ALLIANCE: Addressing a public meeting at the local grain market on Sunday, President of the Haryana Vikas Party and a former Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Bansi lal, said the INLD government had implicated several of its political opponents in false cases with the help of some government officers. He said after coming to power, the HVP would take action against such officers. Referring to electoral alliance, Mr Bansi Lal said the HVP would not have an electoral alliance with any other political party and would contest the coming elections alone.

Karnal
BAR ELECTIONS: Elections to the local District Bar Association for 2004 will be held on January 17. Mr S.S. Chauhan and Mr Vijay Pal have been nominated as returning officer and assistant returning officer, respectively, for the elections. Mr Pal said the filing of nominations would start from January 12 and the last date for these was January 13 (3 pm). Scrutiny of nominations would be held on January 14 while the last date for withdrawal of nominations would be January 15.