R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
PENSIONERS' DAY: Punjab pensioners of the local district will celebrate Pensioners' Day on December 17, Mr Avtar Singh Afat, president and patron of the Punjab State Pensioners and Senior Citizen Welfare Association said here on Sunday. He said Prof Darbari Lal, Deputy Speaker, Punjab Assembly, would be the chief guest and Mr Baljit Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner, the guest of honour.

APPEALED: The Folklore Research Academy here on Sunday passed a resolution and appealed to the Government of India, Pakistan and the United Nations to condemn partition of India. Mr Ramesh Yadav, president of the academy, said partition had left a trail of destruction and thousands were killed in both countries. He appealed to both countries to pass a resolution and condemn the killings in their respective Parliaments.

Batala
HOMAGE: A public meeting was held at Abhi Palace here on Monday to pay homage to martyrs who sacrificed their lives while fighting terrorists who attacked Parliament on this day three years ago. Mr Mohan Singh Saggu, ex-Municipal Councillor, and other prominent citizens were present.

LUDHIANA
RELIEF: The Shri Gyan Sthal Mandir Sabha organised a function on Sunday at the Gyan Sthal temple near the Subhani Building at which ration and other items of daily use were distributed among 651 widows of the town. Marriages of two poor couples were also solemnised on the occasion. The married couples were blessed by the gathering and they were also given household goods by the temple management. Mr Deepak Mittal, Manager, Sonalika Tractors, Hoshiarpur, who was the chief guest at the function, donated Rs 31,000 to the sabha for carrying out its social work. 

Nawanshahr
MARRIAGE CEREMONY: The local police, in collaboration with the Friends Club, solemnised a marriage ceremony of a poor girl, Kulwinder Kaur, daughter of Pakher Singh of Pirni Mazara village, at the Balachaur police station, 20 km from here, on Sunday. Mr M.F. Farooqui, SSP, and other prominent citizens were present on the occasion.

NOMINATED: Mr Subhash Chander Bhucher has been nominated chairman of the local managing committee of Ralla Mall Bhucher DAV Public School.

CHANDIGARH

Mohali
NOMINATED: Dr Pannalal Mustfabadi has been made the secretary-general of the Academy of National Literature and Culture, India at the national level. Balkar Sidhu and Mr Amar Virdi would be the secretaries and Ms Meenakshi Sharma and Mr Manmohan Sehgal would be the members of the advisory board. Dr Darshan Singh Kaul would be the senior vice-president while Mrs Poonam Sharma and Mr Joginder Singh would be the vice presidents. At the state level, Dr Narayan Singh Arfi would be president, Punjab state, Mr Rohtas Singh would be the president, Haryana state and Mr Ranmaya Ram would be the president Rajasthan state.

Swami Atma Trust: Mr Jagan Nath Gupta has been chosen as president of the Swami Shiv Swaroop Atma Dharth Trust, Kurali. Mr Gurjaspal Singh would be the senior vice-president, Mr Dharam Pal Singla would be the Vice-President, Mr R.L. Kalsia would be the general secretary and Mr Sanjiv Kumar Rama would be the cashier. Executive members are: Mr Sarvshri Nath Chand, Girdhari Lal, Bharat Bhushan, Surjit Singh, Kamal Kishore, Parvin Kumar, Pandit Sant Lal and Joginder Kumar.

Medical camp: A medical camp on TB and AIDs awareness was organised by the Shri Balaji Helplinel at the Garg Hospital, Sector 70 here on Sunday. Dr Ravi Garg and Dr Geetanjali Garg examined more than 180 patients suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes etc. As many as 169 persons were given free laboratory facilities at the Balaji Charitable Laboratory for checking blood sugar.

Sweaters distributed: Members of the Sri Sukhmani Sahib Association here distributed sweaters among 50 needy students of the Dashmesh Khalsa Public Senior Secondary School phase 3B2 here yesterday. Mr Tirlochan Singh Sidhu, the school principal thanked the members.

PANCHKULA
BLOOD CAMP: A blood camp was organised by the District Red Cross Society at the Mini Secretariat on Monday. It was inaugurated by Deputy Commissioner, Neelam P Kasni. Officers and other staff in the Secretariat donated blood , and 36 units were collected.

Voters List: Deputy Commissioner, Neelam P. Kasni on Monday urged the residents to get themselves enrolled in the voters list by December 15, if they are above 18 years of age. She said that the preparation of electoral rolls for the forthcoming Panchayat and Block Samiti elections was on at full swing, and eligible voters can get themselves enrolled.

Training Programme: A one-day training programme for small savings agents of Panchkula was organised here today. Mr M.K. Malhotra, Regional Director, National Savings Institute, Chandigarh, and Mr Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal gave lectures on small savings schemes.

Students Awarded: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has awarded two students of Satluj Public School — Fatehjit and Bhanu Khetarpal who have shown good results in CBSE examinations 2004. Fatehjit scored 100 per cent marks in mathematics, Bhanu had scored 97 per cent in Business Studies.

HARYANA

AMBALA
FUNCTION HELD: The Shastri Colony Welfare Society organised its annual function “Milan” last night. About 200 children from the colony participated in the colourful programme. A number of events, including healthy baby show, lucky couple draw, dance, skits, poems and ghazals, were held. The society president Dr Harprakash Sharma, said Ambala Cantt MLA Anil Vij, who was the resident of the colony, was the chief guest. Mr M.L. Monga was the coordinator of the function. 

Kaithal
INAUGURATED: The local MLA, Mr Leela Ram, has inaugurated the construction work of a two-storeyed shopping complex building of the local Municipal Council. A havan was organised on the occasion. Mr Kamal Chodhry, chairman of the council, and Mr Dharam Veera Bhola, Municipal Councillor, were present on the occasion. Mr Ram said this complex would be ready in next six months.

AGITATION: Mr Bharat Singh Behniwal, president, Joint Action Committee of the Minor Irrigation and Tubewell Corporation (MITC) Employees Union, said here on Sunday that if the Haryana Government failed to take all retrenched employees back in service by December 19, then they would be forced to intensify their agitation. He said from December 20, they would organise dharnas and procession at all district headquarters in support of their demands.

Sonepat
PROCESSION: The Lok Jan Shakti Party organised a procession in support of its demands here on Monday. The procession panel through the main bazars of the city and reached the Mini-Secretariat where the processionists held a demonstration in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner. Leaders of the party presented a memorandum listing demands of the party to the DC for forwarding it to the Governor. Mr Anand Tur, vice-president of the state unit of the party, claimed that similar demonstrations were held at each district headquarters in the state.

STRIKE: Jeep drivers of Kharkhauda town observed a strike, in protest against the police highhandedness and indiscriminate challans by the police, on Monday. They alleged that they were being harassed by the police on one pretext or the other in a bid to mint money from them. If any one failed to oblige the police he is challaned and his vehicle is impounded.