R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMLOH
RAIDS ON CHEMISTS: On directions of the district police chief B. Chander Shekhar a raid was conducted by SHO Tarun Rattan and SMO Avtar Singh Bhullar on chemist shops on Monday. No ‘illegal’ drugs were, however, seized, said the SHO.

AMRITSAR
EXTENDED: Guru Nanak Dev University has extended the last date for admissions to various courses in arts, science and social sciences offered by colleges affiliated to it from July 27 to August 14 with a late fee of Rs 100. This was stated in a press note of the university issued here on Monday.

GND VARSITY PANEL: The youth welfare advisory committee of Guru Nanak Dev University will meet on August 12 under the chairmanship of the Vice-Chancellor, Dr S.P. Singh here. Besides finalising dates and venues for holding the inter-challenge youth festivals for men and women, it will discuss other matters relating to the welfare of the youth. This was stated in a press note issued here on Monday.

SIKH CONFERENCE: The 61st Sarab Hind Sikh Educational Conference will be held from October 4 to 6. The Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Dr Farooq Abdullah, and Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, Governor, Uttaranchal, will inaugurate the conference, said Mr Bhag Singh Ankhi, honorary secretary of the educational committee, Chief Khalsa Diwan.

CONCLUDED: A three-day observance of various activities held on the occasion of the 10th death anniversary of Bhagat Puran Singh, founder of Pingalwara, concluded here on Monday. Prominent national personalities, including Sunder Lal Bahuguna, Bhagwant Singh Dilawari, Tapowan Amravati and Gobind Singh Longowal, paid tributes to the founder of the institute. A kirtan programme and a blood donation camp were also held.

BATHINDA
HAILED: Mr Rampal Dhaipai and Mr Megh Raj Goyal, general secretary and former organising secretary of the PPCC, respectively, in a statement issued here on Monday welcomed the appointment of Mr H.S. Hanspal as the President of the PPCC. They claimed that Mr Hanspal would help energise already upbeat Congress workers.

CONDEMNED: Mr Ishtpal Singh Khialiwala, district president, Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal, in a press note issued here on Monday said the government was not giving due attention to problems of farmers. He said power cuts, drought and taxes on pesticides had made the agriculture non-profitable. Senior leaders of the party would be holding meetings in the district in a few days to devise ways to press for farmers’ demands, he added.

DISTRIBUTED: The Muktsar Deputy Commissioner, Ms Usha R. Sharma, distributed cheques totalling Rs 2.55 lakh among some persons under Shagun Scheme at a function held at Muktsar on Tuesday. Speaking on the occasion, the Deputy Commissioner said the government had formulated several schemes under which a self-help group for women had been formed to enable women to carry out small business. The government gave a grant of Rs 10,000 under the scheme, she added.

GURDASPUR
ARRESTED: With the arrest of Prem Kumar, Ramesh Kumar and Jagdish, alias Bittu, residents of Bariar, 3 km from here, on Monday, murder of Rachna of the same village has been solved. This was stated by Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP. A case under Section 302, IPC, was registered on a complaint by Vijay Kumar in this connection. Babbu of the same village, who is one of the accused, is on the run.

FATHER, SON HELD: The police has arrested Saadak Masih and his son, Palwinder Singh, residents of Kalyanpur village under the Dhariwal police station, for allegedly slaughtering cows and selling their skins in the market. This was stated by Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, on Monday. A case has been registered under Sections 3 and 4 of the Cows Slaughter Act.

JAGRAON
DOCTOR TRANSFERRED: Dr Arun Gupta, Orthopaedic specialist, who was earlier posted at Civil Hospital, here, and later to Saholi, has been transferred to CHC, Sidhwanbet.

LUDHIANA
AWARDED: Dr Jeyaraj D.Pandian, Reader, Division of Neurology, Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), has been awarded the prestigious Asian Oceanic Epilepsy Congress Fellowship for the year 2002. This fellowship is jointly given by the International League Against Epilepsy and the Asian Oceanic Epilepsy Congress Committee. This has been awarded to Dr Jeyaraj for the presentation of his paper ‘Ludhiana Registry and Pregnancy- a preliminary data’ in the forthcoming Asian Oceanic Epilepsy Congress to be held in Saitama, Japan, from September 11-14. The paper was selected for the ward by an international research committee comprising eminent epileptologists from all over the world. Dr Jeyaraj in a press release issued here on Tuesday that his paper was a programme to monitor the reproductive functions in patients with epilepsy and offer optimal care.

MEETING: A meeting of the district unit of the Inklabi Kendra, Punjab, was held here on Tuesday under the presidentship of its state secretary, Mr Kanwaljit Khanna. The leaders appreciated the efforts of all concerned who initiated the dialogues between the management and employees alleged Mr Jaswant Jeerath, district president, said MoU could not be signed due to the adamant attitude of the management and the ‘hush-up’ attitude by the district administration. Mr Jeerath alleged that the Deputy Commissioner and the Additional Deputy Commissioner, during the dialogues between the management and employees, threatened the new leaders. Mr Jeerath said that everything could be resolved if administration showed its patience.

PATIALA
DENTAL CAMP: A free dental check-up camp has been organised at Bir Dasaundhi Ram Community Centre, Model Town, here. Mr K.K. Prashar, patron, Satyadeep Dental Care Clinic, dwelt upon the proper care and treatment of dental problems. Dr Shally Prashar delivered a talk on the occasion in which 65 patients got their teeth checked. 

OFFICE-BEARERS: Mr Harbans Singh Ganda has been elected president of the Patiala Central Cooperative Bank Employees Union. Other office-bearers are Mr Rajinder Singh — senior vice-president; Mr Atma Singh — vice-president; Mr Bhagwant Singh — secretary; and Mr Parmod Kumar — cashier.

COUNSELLING: Counselling for B.Ed. Entrance Test — 2002 in the general open category will be held from August 17 to 21 for scheduled caste candidates from August 22 to 24 and other reserved categories from August 25 to 28 as per their Punjab Union Territory state options. The counselling will be held in the Arts Auditorium, according to a university note.

BREAST-FEEDING WEEK: The world Breast-Feeding Week under the theme ‘Healthy mothers and healthy babies’ at Ottalan village and at Chehalan village, was observed here on Tuesday by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Woman and Child Development and Community Food and Nutrition Extension, Ludhiana. On this occasion Dr Jaswant Singh and Dr Amita Arora explained about breast-feeding and its importance. Ms Sharanbir Kaur, CDPO, Samrala, gave a vote of thanks to all the participants and the chief guest.

HARYANA

COMPETITION: The Children Welfare Council of the district will organise a painting competition in the local Bal Bhavan on Wednesday. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr R.B. Langyaan, said children between 5 and 18 years of age would be eligible to participate in the competition. A competition for physically challenged children would also be organised.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
CALLED ON: A delegation led by the Nurpur MLA, Mr Rakesh Pathania, called on the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, here on Monday. Mr Dhumal assured the delegation that its demand for making Nurpur a district would be considered sympathetically at an appropriate time.

DHARAMSALA
LIQUOR SEIZED: The police has raided the premises of Malvinder Singh, a scrap dealer of Yol, and seized 1,62,000 ml of country liquor and 36,000 ml of IMFL from there. He has been arrested. During a naka near Ranital on the Una-Dharamsala road, it has seized 90,000 ml of country liquor from a vehicle. Rakesh Kumar of Bhadrol, Hamirpur, and Parveen Kumar of Nadaun have been arrested in this connection.

DALAI LAMA: The Dalai Lama on Tuesday left for a month-long visit to Ladakh. The Dalai Lama will give religious discourses to his followers there and attend social functions.

NURPUR
MOVE FLAYED: The Teaching Staff Association of Government College, Dehri, near here, has condemned the decision of the Himachal Government College Teachers Association to boycott classes on August 7 in protest against the government step to regularise services of ad hoc lecturers. Mr Sanjay Jasrotia, secretary of the association, in a statement on Tuesday termed the boycott call as irrational.

STUDY CENTRE: Indira Gandhi National Open University has set up a study centre at Government College, Dehri, near here. According to Mr V.K. Sharma, Centre Coordinator, the first academic session is being held from January 2003.