R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Abohar
GUTTED: A kiryana shop was completely gutted in the fire that broke out around 10.30 pm on Thursday in the Mukherji Market area here. As Earlier someone had made hoax call to the police and the fire control station about fire in a house in Street zero in Nai Abadi locality so both the agencies took some time to verify the information received at night about the fire in the shop. By the time the fire extinguishing operation was launched the stock in the shop and wooden
structure had been reduced to ashes.

Amritsar
URGED: Mr Phul Chand Gandhi, vice-president, Aman Committee, on Thursday urged Capt Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister and Mr Tej Parkash Singh, Transport Minister, to launch a special bus service to Hardwar for Kumbh and Ardh Kumbh fair. In a press release issued here, Mr Gandhi pointed out the all state governments had started this bus service.

DIRECTED: Mr Raminder Singh, Deputy Commissioner and returning officer for the parliamentary constituencies of Amritsar and Tarn Taran, has directed Assistant Returning Officers to ensure the strict implementation of the model code of conduct announced by Chief Election Commissioner during poll campaign.

Jalandhar
SET UP: The PSEB authorities here have set up a round-the-clock control room to redress the grievances of the consumers of the agriculture sector. Mr U. C. Saroa, Superintending Engineer, in a press release here on Thursday, said that the agriculture consumers could lodge their complaints at special phone No 2235615 and the same would be rectified on a priority basis as three teams of technicians had been deputed in shifts.

Moga
COP HELD: Vigilance Bureau sleuths on Wednesday laid a trap and arrested a police head constable posted at the Mehna police station of this district for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1,500 from poppy husk addict Randhir Singh. DSP Vigilance Bureau Surjit Singh said Gurmeet Singh demanded Rs 2,000 from the addict and threatened that otherwise he would register a case against him on the
recovery of poppy husk. 

Phagwara
APPOINTED: Mr H. S. Ghuman, president, Aarhti Association, Phagwara, has appointed the following office-bearers: vice-presidents: Mr Naresh Kumar Bhardwaj, Mr Kulwant Rai Pabbi; general secretary — Mr Tarsem Singh Bhogal; secretaries — Mr Ram Singh, Mr Sukhbir Singh Kinra, Mr Dharamvir, Mr Rakesh Parbhakar, cashier — Mr Inderjit, and special invitees—Mr Sarwan Singh Kular, Mr Mohinder Singh and Mr TD Sharma.

CHANDIGARH

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Chamber of Chandigarh Industries: president — Mr Pawan Manchanda; vice- president — Mr Inderjit Setia; general secretary — Mr Naveen Manglani; finance secretary — Mr Sunil Aggarwal and joint secretary — Mr Pawan Aggarwal. The following have been nominated as chairmen of the subcommittees. Mr Surinder Gupta — Raw material; Mr A.L. Aggarwal — Direct/Indirect taxes (Central Excise, Sales Tax and Income Tax); Mr Sunil Gupta — Utilities (Power and Water); Mr Prithpal Singh — Labour, ESI and PF; Mr Sanjeev Singla — Hospitality and Mr Vinod Mittal — Anti-Corruption cell.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Rajasthan Parishad: president — Mr Gopal Das Bagri; vice-president — Mr Sanjay Singhal; general secretary — Mr Deepak Bhandari; secretary — Mr Mahesh; and treasurer — Mr S.B. Sharda.

PUBLICATIONS RELEASED: The UT Aministrator, Justice O. P. Verma (retd), on Friday released “Statistical Abstract-2003”, “Chandigarh in Figures-2003”, “Census of Government Employees of Chandigarh Administration 2003” and “Census Public Sector Undertaking and Local Bodies Employee of Chandigarh Administration”, publications brought out by the Directorate of Economics & Statistics (Statistical Cell).

MOHALI
APPEAL: The state president of the Indian Institute of Homoeopathic Physicians, Dr B.S. Chandhok, on Friday appealed to homoeopathic doctors in the state and new entrants to the profession to stick to the principles of homoeopathy, laid down by its founder, Sir Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann. The 249th birth anniversary of Sir Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann falls on Saturday.

WEBSITE: Mohali now has its own website. Developed as an amateur effort by employees of Semi Conductors Limited (SCL), here, the website — sasnagarinfo.com — will have information about Mohali, its history and important places. The website has been developed by Gurinder Pal Singh, Navtej Rana, Kewal Rana, Harjinder Singh, Harpinder Singh, Kushal Dev and Niraj Thakur.

HARYANA

Ambala
Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the P&T Employees Welfare Association, Ambala Cantt. President — Dr Jagdish Chander, vice-president — Mr Jarnail Singh, secretary — Mr Anil Arora, joint secretary — Mr Ajay Sharma and treasurer — Mr Piar Singh. The convenors are Mr Vijay Kumar, Mr Tara Singh, Mr Raj Kumar, Mr Naresh Kumar and Mr N.K. Ahuja. 

Journalists’ function: The Chairman of the Press Council of India, Justice K Jayachandra Reddy, has suggested the formation of a welfare board for journalists. Addressing journalists at a function organised by Haryana Patrakar Sangh here on Friday, Mr Reddy observed that anything could happen to journalists in situations like war and riots. “Insurance is a social and welfare measure for journalists,” he added. Mr Reddy opined that different unions of journalists must come together and collectively fight for their rights. “Collective bargaining helps. You should fight for your rights in a disciplined manner,” he said. 

Poll meeting: A meeting of representatives from different political parties was held at the Deputy Commissioner’s office here on Friday. The Nodal Officer for the Lok Sabha elections for Ambala constituency, Mr H.S. Malik, presided over the meeting. Representatives of the BJP, Congress, INLD and other political parties were present. Mr Malik said that the political parties must adhere to the model code of conduct. Mr Mohammad Akil, SP, said during this period, there was a ban on carrying of arms and violators would be strictly dealt with.

Seminar: A two-day seminar on Changing Paradigms of Management began at MM Institute of Management on Friday. The seminar was inaugurated by Dr V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice-Chairman, University Grants Commission. Dr V. Raghunathan, president ING Vyasya Bank Ltd, Bangalore, delivered the keynote address.