R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AHMEDGARH
REGULARISED: Around 10,000 regular work charge employees of the PWD and Water Supply and Sewerage Department would now enjoy the status of regular employees of the Punjab Government. Mr Inderjit Sharma, state president, Punjab PWD Mulazim Dal, and acting president, Punjab Raj Mulazim Dal, said the Principal Finance Secretary had ordered the examiner Local Fund Accounts, Punjab, to give benefits of Assured Career Progress scheme to all regular work charges employees. A union leader said an assurance to confirm other employees in service who had been working on contract-basis for at least three years had been given. He documented a Punjab Government Finance Department memo no. 14 (340/Vol/148) 4029 vide that had been sent to the MD, Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board. It would enhance the list of around 40,000 employees of B&R, Public Health, who were earlier regularised in a meeting on December 21, 1999.

BATHINDA
PSEB FEDERATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Bathinda unit of the Employees Federation of Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB): president — Mr Birbhan; vice-president — Mr Surinder Pal; secretary — Mr Mohinder Singh Rana and treasurer — Mr Harbans Singh.

EYE CAMP: The local Goodwill Society, an NGO, will organise an eye check-up camp at New Basti here on October 6. Mr K.K.Garg, general secretary of the organisation, said Dr G.S. Randhawa along with other doctors would examine patients. The patients would be provided medicines and spectacles free of cost, he added.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district unit of the Congress Seva Dal: organisers — Mr Ramesh Sharma, Mr Parkash Sahota, Mr Madan Lal Bansal, Mr Vijay Kumar, Mr Gopal Krishan, Mr Munshi Singh, Ms Tripata Sharma and Ms Devki Sharma; organising secretaries — Ms Basant Kaur, Ms Raj Kumari, Ms Gurmit Kaur, Mr Mander Singh, Mr Nahar Singh, Mr Darshan Singh, Mr Vimal Aggarwal, Mr Kulwinder Singh and Mr Mukesh Kuamr; and block chief organiser — Mr Girdhari Lal Sharma (Bathinda), Mr Bhim Sen (Bathinda rural), Mr Meghraj Goyal ( Maur), Mr Sohan Lal Verma ( Rampuraphul) and Mr Jaggar Singh (Sangat).

HEALTHCARE CAMP: The Punjab Health System Corporation held a health care camp at Gurusar Jodhan village in Muktsar on Friday. Mr Jagjit Singh, Deputy Medical Commissioner, Muktsar, said on Saturday that the camp was a part of the health campaign launched in the rural and backward areas. As many as 549 patients were examined in the camp. They were also provided medicines free of cost.

DERA BASSI
BURN VICTIM DIES: After fighting for life for over a week, Manju Rani, a resident of Shakti Nagar colony, succumbed to burn injuries in the government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh, on Sunday. She was admitted to the hospital with 95 per cent burn injuries which she had sustained in a stove burst. The body was cremated this evening.

FARIDKOT
PENSION ANNOUNCED: The Punjab Government will disburse pension worth Rs 100 crore among 10 lakh aged, handicapped and widows during the next five months. This was stated by Mr Gurdev Singh Badal, Minister for Agriculture, while addressing a gathering at Bhana village on Saturday. He inaugurated a dharamshala for Dalits earlier in the day. Mr Badal announced a grant of Rs 1.5 lakh for the augmentation of drinking water supply and maintenance of the dharamshala.

HOSHIARPUR
PADDY PURCHASE: About 19,71,475 tonnes of paddy were procured at various centres in Punjab up to September 28. This was stated by Mr Madan Mohan Mittal Minister for Food and Supplies, Punjab, while talking to mediaperons at PWD Rest House, here on Saturday. About 3,73,763 tonnes were procured on Friday. Out of the total arrival, 24.6 per cent had been procured by the FCI and 75.4 per cent by state agencies. Payments were being made to farmers regularly, he added.

JALALABAD
ELECTROCUTED: A migrant labourer hailing from Bihar was electrocuted on the rooftop of a bus when he came in contact with a 132-kv live overhead wire near the grain market on Friday. The bus got stranded in a traffic jam on the Ferozepore-Fazilka road and passengers started alighting. Mohinder Singh, while trying to left his luggage, touched the wires overhead. He was rushed to the local Civil Hospital where he was declared brought dead.

KHARAR
INAUGURATED: Ms Satwant Kaur Sandhu, Cabinet Minister, Punjab, inaugurated the Maharaja Palace at B.M. Resorts at Suwara village situated on the Landran-Chunni road on Saturday night. She hoped that the palace would solve the problem of arranging social functions and marriages.

LUDHIANA
CULTURAL FESTIVAL: A six-day inter-class cultural festival, ‘‘Koshish -2001 ’’, got off to a colourful start on the Punjab College of Technical Education (PCTE) campus. Competitions in fine arts, like mehandi, sketching, cartooning and photography, were organised on the first day of the festival. Nearly 70 students from various classes participated in the events. The concluding function would be attended by Mr Sikander Singh Maluka, Punjab Power Minister, on Friday and Mr Baldev Singh Mann, executive member, PSEB, would preside over the function. The prize distribution function will be organised on Saturday. Over 300 students of the PCTE would participate in the festival. Eleven teams from MBA, MCA, BBA and BCA would compete for 32 literary, cultural and fine arts events, like clay modelling, painting and collage making. Various literary events like debate, quiz, sell it, pictionary, etc. would be organised during the festival.

CAMP ORGANISED: A Viklang Sahayta Camp was held at Lions Bhavan, Udham Singh Nagar, on Sunday. A total of 212 patients were provided with artificial limbs (legs, arms), polio calipers and hearing aids free of cost. Mr S.K. Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner, was the chief guest. Lala Lajpat Rai, MP, presided over the function. The artificial limbs were sponsored by the SS Jain Sabha Sangh, Civil Lines. Mr Ram Kumar Jain, president of the celebration committee to commemorate the 2,600th birth anniversary of Lord Mahavira, Mr Ram Kumar Jain, Mr Janaki Das Jain, Mr Hira Lal Jain were the guests of honour. The Lions club hosted the camp by offering Lion Bhavan and its premises. The patients were provided with breakfast, meals and tea, free of cost.

INTERACT CLUB FORMED: The Rotary Club, Ludhiana, has formed a new Internet Club in New Senior Secondary School, Civil Lines, here. Ms Aadesh Kundra, Principal of the school, in a press statement on Saturday said Mr Arun Jindal became the president of the club while Mr Harish Goel was chosen the secretary.

IMA OFFICE-BEARERS: The district unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has appointed its new office-bearers: patron — Dr O.P. Aggarwal; vice-presidents — Dr N.D. Awasthi, Dr Rajinder Singh, Dr Satish Nauria and Dr Rajinder Singh Chawla; honorary secretary — Dr Rajesh Sharma; finance secretary — Dr B.S. Sekhon; and press secretaries — Dr Rajiv Gupta, Dr Anurag Goswami and Dr Paresh Dhall.

MANSA
BLOOD DONATION CAMP: The Youth Services Department, Punjab, in coordination with the district police, gram panchayat and the Parent Teacher Association of Government Senior Secondary School of Phaphere Bhaike village in the district organised a blood donation camp at the village on Saturday. As many as 125 volunteers of the NSS got their names registered for donation. About 15 units of blood were collected . The Deputy Commissioner announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh for the development of the village. 

PHAGWARA
RESIDENTS’ DHARNA: The residents of Chahal Nagar and Green Park staged a three-hour dharna on Thursday in front of the Municipal Council office in protest against the denial of basic civic amenities in these colonies. They served a seven-day ultimatum to the council and threatened to block traffic if their demands were not met, according to Mr Harbax Singh, president, Colonies’ Welfare Association.

PATHANKOT
SEMINAR: A seminar on the importance of lok adalats was held here on Saturday. Additional Civil Judge Bhajan Ram while presiding over the seminar said that people got speedy justice through lok adalats because many cases were disposed of on the spot, compensation given and free legal aid provided to the poor.

PATIALA
INAUGURATED: Public Health Minister Raja Narinder Singh on Sunday inaugurated 24-hour power supply to Kishangarh village falling in Nabha subdivision, 23 km from here. He also inaugurated the 2.5-km-long link road from Kishangarh village to Kansooha Kalan. The minister also distributed five sewing machines each to Women cell of 45 villages.

POWER SUPPLY: More than 2,354 villages of the state have been provided with the facility of 24-hour power supply by the Punjab State Electricity Board. This was stated by Mr Baldev Singh Mann, Administrative member of the PSEB, while addressing a gathering after inaugurating the 24-hour power supply to Ladh Banjara village here on Sunday. He said another 4,000 villages would be covered under the project in the near future.

ANNUAL FUNCTION: Daffodils Public High School on Sunday organised the annual prize distribution function and a cultural programme at the Central State Library here. The function was presided over by Ms Jasbir Kaur, Circle Education Officer, Nabha, while Dr Kehar Singh, Chairman of the Punjab School Education Board, was the chief guest. A skit ‘Bengan da Muraba’ was also staged. The Managing Director of the school, Mr Tarjit Singh, thanked the guests and parents for attending the function.

WORKSHOP: Medical Practitioners must keep abreast of the latest developments in the field and for the purpose they must attend the CME programmes on a regular basis. This was stated by Dr M.Sachdeva, Secretary, Medical Council of India, while delivering the speech at the inaugural ceremony of the CME and Workshop held here on Sunday. The function sponsored by the Medical Council of India and was inaugurated by the Principal of Government Medical College, Dr Ravinder Singh. Lectures were delivered on the occasion by Dr M.Sachdeva, Secretary, MCI, Dr S.Bhardwaj, Advisor, National Board of Examinations, and Dr Chandrama Anand, former President of the Anatomical Society of India.

LOK ADALATS HELD: Three lok adalats were organised here on Saturday in the court complex. As many as 115 cases were taken up. Out of these, 95 were settled with mutual consent. A seminar on free legal aid was also held.

ANTI-CORRUPTION FRONT: The following have been elected office-bearers of the All-India Anti-Corruption Front , Gurdaspur: president — Mr Sanjiv Mehta; vice- presidents — Mr Manoj Chauhan and Mr Ashok Kumar; general secretary — Mr Charanjeev Singh; and joint secretary — Mr Arvind Kumar.

SAMRALA
YOUTH CLUB: At a cultural fair held at Government High School, Jatana, 8 km from here, on Saturday, the Malwa Youth Club in collaboration with the Gram Panchayat Jatana Neewan, honoured three teachers of the region, namely, Mr Devi Dayal of Charri village, Mr Amar Aftab of Dayalpura and Mr Bharpur Singh of Manupur. A play; Chanan De Venzare; was also staged under the direction of Master Tarlochan Singh of the Art Centre, Samrala. On the occasion, Jathedar Kirpal Singh Khirnian, member SGPC, inaugurated the newly-upgraded school of Jatana.

SAS NAGAR
PUNWIRE STAFF: Families of Punwire employees on Sunday took out a rally in support of the fasting members of the Punwire Employees Union. The participants carrying placards and banners moved through different markets from Phase I to VI. They demanded that the pending salaries of the employees should be released and efforts be made to revive the company. 

RELAY FAST: The relay fast by members of the JCT Electronics Employees and Workers Union entered its 17th day on Sunday.

JAGANATH YATRA: The Vaishno Seva Mandal here took out the Jaganath yatra from Laxmi Narayan Mandir in Phase XI to Hunuman Mandir in Phase IIIB2 here on Sunday. A large number of devotees took part in the yatra.

TARN TARAN
MEMORANDUM: Mr Sukhdev Singh Pakhoke, state president of the Diploma Holder Multipurpose Health Workers body, Punjab, in a memorandum sent to the Health and Family Welfare Department, Punjab, has demanded that the designation of multipurpose health workers and multipurpose health supervisors be changed to health development officers, of grade II and grade I, respectively. It also demanded that the pay scales of multipurpose health workers and supervisors be brought on a par with that of their counterparts working for the Union Government.

HARYANA

AMBALA
EMPLOYEES ATTACKED: Two employees of a sweet shop were reportedly attacked by a person on Nicholson Road in Ambala Sadar on Sunday evening. The incident took place after a verbal altercation over cashew nuts. the person damaged the display refrigerator and allegedly took away cash from the counter. The two employees were taken to Ambala Cantt Civil Hospital.

HOUSE TAX COMMITTEE: Residents of Prem Nagar in a meeting held on Sunday have opposed the new house tax policy. They said they would hold demonstration if an attempt was made to send them house tax notices. The residents pointed out that the new house tax policy was not a success since the proforma had been sent to them repeatedly. They sought an inquiry into the matter.

PANIPAT
ILLEGAL CONSTRUCTION: At the monthly District Public Relations and Grievances Committee meeting here on Saturday, Urban Development Minister Subash Chand Goyal ordered for administrative action against those officers during whose period unauthorised construction was done by a shopkeeper in Phase II of HUDA, Sector 11-12. Advocate Rajendra Gupta had alleged that the width of the sweet shop was 1 foot more than the prescribed size and the owner had illegally constructed a room on the shop.

SONEPAT
NINE ARRESTED: The police has intensified its Operation Night Vigil in the city and other parts of the district. Mr Paramjit Singh Ahlawat, SP, said here on Saturday that four persons had been arrested for violating the Indian Arms Act and five others for satta gambling in the district during the past 24 hours.

STUDENTS LOCK SCHOOL: A large number of irate students locked Jawahar Navodya School at Butana village, about 40 km from here, on Friday to press for their demands that included the transfer of the Principal and dismissal of a mess helper. Mr D.C. Misra, Deputy Director, Education Department, assured the students that the Principal would be transferred within a week.

DEMOLISHED: Officials of the demolition squad continued the campaign for the removal of enchroachments and unauthorised structures at Ganaur town, 16 km from here, on Saturday. Enchroachments on public and municipal land were also removed.

YAMUNANAGAR
SGPC POLL: The preparation of electoral rolls for the ensuing SGPC election has started and will continue till November 2. This was stated by Mr Rajiv Sharma, Deputy Commissioner, here, on Saturday. Registration forms were available with patwaris in the rural areas and secretaries of the local authorities in the urban areas. The prospective voters could obtain these forms free of cost, he said. Both Kesdhari and Sehajdhari Sikhs could get the forms, he added.

DEFERRED: Members of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh have deferred their agitation after the announcement by the management of Saraswati Sugar Mill, Yamunanagar, to release the balance payment of Rs 8 crore against the supply of sugarcane. Earlier, the sangh had decided to stage a dharna in front of the mill gate because the total payment had not been made.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

DHARAMSALA
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Teachers Association of Medical College, Tanda: president — Dr M.L. Sharma; vice-president — Dr Suresh; secretary — Dr Bhanu Awasthi; joint secretary — Dr J.R. Azad; treasurer — Dr S.R. Mazta and executive members —Dr U.K. Singh, Dr Kumud Gupta, Dr Sanjeev Sharma, Dr Ashok Sharma and Dr Sudershan Sharma.

NURPUR
PARENT TEACHER BODY: The local Government Senior Secondary School has constituted a Parent Teacher Committee. The following have been elected its office-bearers: president — Mr Vipon Lohtia; and members — Mr Sudharshan Mohan, Ms Suneeta Soga and Mr Sudharshan Mahajan.

SHIMLA
BEOPAR MANDAL: Mr Tula Ram Verma has been elected president of the Beopar Mandal, Baldian. The others elected are Mr Devinder Sood (vice-president), Mr Anil Rathore (secretary), Mr Arvind Goel (assistant secretary) and Mr Madan Singh (treasurer).

DENTAL CAMP: According to Dr N.C. Rao, Professor and Head, Department of Preventive Community Dentistry of Government Dental College, a dental camp was organised at Senior Secondary School and Primary School at Ganahati. The students were treated free of cost.