R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
KNITTING CONTEST: Rimpy Gupta of the city has won Tanishq gold jewellery worth Rs 1 lakh in a knitting contest organised by the Vardhman Spinning and General Mills limited. Sunita of Kathmandu and Vandana Kumari of Ludhiana have jointly won the second prize, whereas Gudia Malhotra of Lucknow, Nidhi Sharma of Jammu, Triptha of Kaithal, Omvati of Kurukshetra and Kusum of Almore have won the third prize.

BATHINDA
GENERAL MANAGER: Mr CM Nagpaul took over the charge of the General Manager of the local unit of the National Fertilisers Limited on Saturday. Mr Nagpaul has been associated with the fertiliser industry for past 32 years.

FLAG MARCH: Members of the PWD Field and Workshop Workers Union, Punjab, organised a flag march on Saturday. Mr Ranjit Jiti, president of the Sangat unit of the union, in a press note issued here said the flag march started from Sangat Kanchiya village in the district and passed through various villages. He said the employees were demanding permanent employment to daily wagers, pension scheme in the Sewerage Department, promotion after fixed time span and bonus for four years.

KHAMANO
MEETING: A meeting of joint committee of Khamano, Fatehgarh Sahib, Morinda and Mohali units of the PWD Field and Workshop Workers Union, was held under the chairmanship of Mr Kulwant Singh Mehtabgarh. Giving details of the meeting, Mr Malagar Singh Khamano, secretary of the committee, said members had decided to sit on a dharna in front of the office of Mr Vijay Kumar, Mandal Engineer (II), Public Health, on December 14.

KHANNA
MEETING HELD: A meeting of the Shiv Sena (Bal Thackerey) was held at Sanghol, near here, under the chairmanship of Mr Kamaljeet Puri, district vice-president of the party. The meeting expressed concern over the increasing number of illegal nursing homes in the Fatehgarh Sahib district, which employ untrained nurses and mainly deal with cases involving abortion of female foetuses. They threatened to launch an agitation if no steps were taken to close down unauthorised nursing homes. They also demanded that full staff strength should be ensured at government health centers. The meeting was addressed by Mr Balvir Singh, president, Sanghol unit of the Shiv Sena, and other party leaders.

SANT NAMDEV DAY: The 732nd birthday of Sant Namdev Maharaj was observed on Lalheri road here with great fervour. Shamsher Singh Dullo MP gave a Rs one lakh grant to Sant Namdev Mandir for constructing a community hall on this occasion. He also honoured the Emergency Blood Donors Association, Khanna. Those present on the occasion included Master Shamsunder, Raj Kumar Mauroo, SMO Dr Dharampal, Dr N.P.S. Virk and Dr Sudhir Sethi. 

KHARAR
ONE ARRESTED: The local police has arrested Harbans Singh of village Halsabad following the recovery of 10 bottles of liquor kept in his scooter. The liquor was meant for sale in Chandigarh. The police has registered a case under the Excise Act.

WELCOMED: The local units of the BJP and SAD in a meeting held here on Saturday welcomed the decision by the Punjab Government to abolish octroi in the state. According to a press note the meeting thanked the Punjab Government for accepting the long-pending demand of the traders.

MALERKOTLA
INSTALLATION CEREMONY: The installation ceremony of Lion Kewal Krishan Jindal (President Elect) and his Board of Directors for the lionistic year 2001-02 of the Lions Club has been held at the Malerkotla Club under the supervision of installation officer M.J.F. Lion Rajiv Lochan Mahajan. Lion Darshan K. Monga, Vice-District Governor, has been the chief guest.

FOUNDATION STONE: Mr Paramjit Singh Gill, ADC to the Punjab Governor, has laid the foundation stone of the building of the Information Technology Complex at Desh Bhagat College, Bardwal, 8 km from here. An ‘akhand path’ has also been organised at the function.

MANSA
SUSPENDED: Mr V.K. Singh, Senior Regional Manager of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), has placed Mr Ashok Sapolia, Technical Assistant of the Mansa FCI Depot, under suspension for dispatching “beyond rejection limit” rice stocks to Mumbai. Mr Sapolia has been shifted to Dehra Dun.

SPECIAL INVITEE: Capt Amarinder Singh, President, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), has appointed Dr Surinder Singla, general secretary, District Congress Committee, Mansa, special invitee to the PPCC.

MOGA
INFLATED BILLS: Residents of the town have been receiving inflated telephone bills. Dr M.L. Madaan of the Civil Lines area has received a bill of Rs 10,000, while his bill generally does not exceed Rs 300. Residents have urged the department concerned to look into the matter.

KILLED: A person was killed and two others were injured when the car in which they were travelling collided with a truck on the Moga-Ludhiana road about 20 km from here, on Saturday night. A case has been registered.

PATHANKOT
FOUNDATION STONE: Mr Mohan Lal, Minister for Higher Education, Punjab, on Sunday laid the foundation stone of a circular road. The minister said the construction of the road from the Kath ka Pool to the Khanpur chowk would cost Rs 3.15 crore.

PHAGWARA
LOK ADALAT: A special bank lok adalat on Saturday settled 245 cases and awarded Rs 1,00,20,255 as compensation. An official press note said District and Sessions Judge Gurdev Singh, Chairman, district Legal Aid Authority, Kapurthala, inaugurated the adalat.

CHANDIGARH

SAS NAGAR
FUNCTION: A function to celebrate the birth anniversary of second Imam, Hazarat Imam-e-Hasan Alaihissalam, was organised by the Hussainy Association at Phase IIIB2, here on Sunday. The function was attended by various poets, including Dr Nashir Naqvi, Mr Hamid Mangalori, Mr Kausar Kairanvi, Mr Panchhi and Mr Ved Deewan. Molana Zaffar Mehanid of Malerkotla talked about Hazarat Imam-e-Hasan to a large number of people who had gathered from various parts of the Punjab and Chandigarh and its surrounding township. This was stated by Mr Anees Haider, president of the association.

HARYANA

KAITHAL
PULSE-POLIO DRIVE:The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, administered polio drops to a child Rahul Goel at a booth set up by the Rotary Club and the district administration at the local Rest House here on Sunday.

The Chief Minister urged people to make the campaign a success. He appreciated the role of the Rotary International in the campaign.

The CMO, Mr V.D. Bhardwaj, said a target to administer polio drops to 1.50 lakh children was fixed and 500 booths and 15 mobile teams were set up to achieve it.

Mr Ram Pal Mazra, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Leela Ram, MLA, Mr Phateh Singh Dagar, Deputy Commissioner, Mr A.S. Chawla, SP, and Dr R.C.H. Sachdeva, Director, Health Services, Haryana, were present on the occasion.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

MANDI
CHARAS SEIZED: The police seized 10 kg of charas worth Rs 1 crore, in the international market, from a bus (HP-49-3684) belonging to the Sukhdev Travels. Ten packets of 1 kg each of charas were found from the bus which was coming from Kulu. However, the smuggler managed to escape.

NURPUR
SEMINAR: A seminar was organised for farmers at Fatehpur in Jawali subdivision on Saturday. The Minister of State for Revenue and Biotechnology, Mr Rajan, presided over the seminar. On the occasion, a biotechnology programme was introduced in the Fatehpur development block.