R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
CELEBRATIONS: The alumni association of Government Dental College here has decided to celebrate the college’s golden jubilee on Saturday. The principal, Dr Amarjit Singh Gill, at a press conference here on Thursday, said the association had decided to start a special fund for the welfare of poor students and patients and a regular community dental health care programme as part of its celebrations.

PULSE POLIO: Dr Gurbinder Singh, member, World Health Organisation, at a meeting of the district coordination committee on Wednesday, said pulse polio camps would be held on January 5 and February 9, 2003, in Punjab. Dr K.K. Sharma, Civil Surgeon, said 4, 76,275 children in the age group of 0-5 years would be immunised in 2,090 booths.

BATHINDA
BANNED: The District Magistrate, Mr Anurag Verma, in his orders issued here on Wednesday has banned the use of olive green clothes by the civilians. Mr Verma in the orders uder Section 144, CrPC, said olive green vehicles, including motor cycles and jeeps, could be used by anti-social elements and the practice needed to be stopped. In separate orders issued here on Wednesday, the DM also banned till February 21, 2003, the digging of bore wells in the villages to prevent any mishap.

HOSHIARPUR
FORMS SUBMITTED: The local Chapter of the IMA, in collaboration with the Punjab Pollution Control Board regional office, organised a camp on Thursday for the submission of authorisation forms by private nursing home owners of Hoshiarpur and adjoining areas to the board authorities, under the Biomedical Waste rules, 1998, much before the deadline of December 31, 2002.

TWO ARRESTED: The Mukerian police arrested two proclaimed offenders who are members of the Kale Kachhewale gang on Wednesday. They were identified as Rakesh Kumar of Kangra and Puhari, alias Purha Lambardar, of J&K.

TWO KILLED: Nasib Singh of Hajipur was crushed to death when his tractor trailer turned turtle after its hook broke. In another accident, a labourer, Inder Singh of Chhattisgarh, also died on the spot when a stone hit his head while he was unloading stones at Randhawa Sugar Mill on Wednesday evening.

BOOTLEGGERS HELD: Bhupinder Singh of Ahlowal, Ashok Kumar of Roop Nagar and Parminder Singh were arrested and 1,080 bottles of whisky seized from their vehicles, near Piplanwala, on Wednesday evening. The Tanda police also seized 3 kg of poppy husk from Santokh Arora of Raipur Rashulpur.

LECTURER BOOKED: On the directions of Mr K.C. Gupta, Judicial Magistrate, (First Class), Dasuya, the police has registered a case against Joginder Singh, lecturer at Karamjot College for Women, Miani. Mr Ajit Singh, secretary of the college managing committee, alleged that Joginder Singh had produced fake degrees for getting the job.

JAGRAON
MAN CONVICTED: Jora Singh of Raikot was today convicted by the court of Mr H.S. Grewal, JMIC Jagraon, and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year along with a fine of Rs 1,000. He was found guilty under Section 411, IPC, for being in possession of a stolen Bajaj Chetak scooter (PB-56-5759) belonging to Manoj Jain and Co. of Jain Mohalla, Raikot. The scooter was stolen from the house of Mr Jain.

MEETING HELD: The Punjab Lamberdars Union in a state-level meeting held here under the presidentship of the state president, Mr Pritam Singh Hans, on Thursday decided not to collect the “chowkidara” till the state government did not reimburse 10 per cent of “panchotra”. According to a press note released here by Mr B.S. Hans, press secretary of the union, they have discussed the matter with the commissioner Patiala and Mr Amarjit Singh Samra, Revenue Minister Punjab. They demanded Rs 1,000 per month as honorarium from the state government.

LUDHIANA
BHAJAN SANDHYA: The Shivratri Mahotsav Committee held a bhajan sandhya dedicated to Lord Shiva at the Gaughat Shiva Mandir on Wednesday evening and was presided over by Pandit Purshottam Sharma. An idol of Lord Ganesha was also installed in the temple by the committee under the supervision of its president, Mr Krishan Chand Gupta. Among those who rendered devotional compositions were Harish Sitara, Gurpreet Singh, Veena Malhotra, Saroj Verma and Neelam Dhawan.

SHOBHA YATRA: An impressive shobha yatra was taken out on Wednesday from Shri Hanuman Mandir in Naulakha Bagh Colony in connection with the 16th Manav Kalyan Sammelan that got under way at the temple. Several women carrying water pots on their heads lead the shobha yatra. Students of Mahavir Model School also took part in the yatra. The “kalash-poojan” ceremony was performed by Mr Tilak Raj Sawhney.

MUNI WELCOMED: The Shri Baba Gajja Jain Sabha accorded a warm welcome to Jainacharya Shrimad Vijay Ratnakar Suri ji Maharaj on his arrival at the community centre hall in Sunder Nagar on Wednesday. Among those who welcomed the muni were Mr Kashmiri Lal Jain, Mr Shri Pal Jain, Mr Parduman Kumar Jain, Mr Parveen Jain, Mr Sushil Jain and Mr Devinder Jain. A religious congregation was also held on the occasion. The Jainacharya also gave a discourse and later recited the mangal paath.

JAGRAN: A Bhagwati jagran was held on Tuesday night at the Shri Satya Narayan Temple in Purana Bazar in connection with the installation of an idol of Mata Vaishno Devi in the temple. A poojan ceremony was held under the supervision of Pandit Tirlok Chand. The bhavan was inaugurated by Mr Mohinder Singh Pali, a Congress leader. Members of the Kamali Vaishno Bhajan Mandli presented hymns during the night-long programme.

X-MAS MARCH: A special X-Mas march was held in various wards of the CMC Hospital on Wednesday in connection with the Christmas celebrations. A number of doctors, medical students and other employees of the hospital went on a round of various ward of the hospital and met the patients. Prayers were offered for those who were suffering from serious disorders. The marchers were led by father V.K. Masih, father John Mull, Dr T.M. Jason and Dr Basant Pawar.

BHANDARA: A bhandara would be held at the Swami Dheerajanand Dharmarth Aushdhalya, Neelkanth Mahadev Shivalya, Subhash Nagar, on Saturday in connection with the death anniversary of Swami Dheerajanand, according to Swami Jagannath Swarup.

MANSA
SUSPENDED: The Deputy Commissioner here has placed Mr Gurvinder Singh, registry clerk, and Mr Harjinder Singh, revenue patwari of Halqa Ullak, Sardulgarh tehsil in the district, under suspension following a complaint by Mr Jantta Singh of Ullak village. The complainant, in his application addressed to the tehsildar, Sardulgarh, stated that Ms Angrej Kaur, alias Gurdev Kaur, wanted to sell land out of a joint khata beyond her share. He requested that the sale deed of Ms Angrej Kaur be not registered in his absence. The registry clerk was directed to put up the application at the time of execution of the sale deed which was not put up by the registry clerk.

BAIL GRANTED: Ms Harjit Kaur, district president of the BJP Mahila Morcha and a resident of Sardulgarh who was arrested by the Sardulgarh police in a case registered against her by the police under Sections 8 and 9 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, on November 8, 2002, was granted bail by Mr Jaspal Singh, Special Judge, Bathinda, on Wednesday. It was alleged in the FIR that she had received Rs 1,100 for getting a matter settled which was pending before the DSP, Sardulgarh, Mr Amarjit Singh.

PANCHAYAT SECRETARIES: Dismissed panchayat secretaries held a demonstration here on Wednesday to demand their reinstatement. The demonstrators, including women, who were wearing black badges raised slogans against the Punjab Government and the Chief Minister of Punjab, Capt Amarinder Singh. They presented a memorandum to Mr S.K. Ahluwalia, Deputy Commissioner.

BLOOD DONATION CAMP: At a blood donation camp held at Red Cross Bhavan here on Wednesday, 16 persons donated blood. The Deputy Commissioner here while inaugurating the camp announced that the donors who had donated blood more than 25 times would be honoured in the first week of January 2003.

PATIALA
MEDICAL CAMP: A medical camp for the benefit of college students was organised by the State College of Education here on Thursday. Around 200 students were examined. Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Director (Colleges), Prof C.S. Virk, called upon the students to realise the ill-effects of the drug abuse.

PHAGWARA
TRAVEL AGENT BOOKED: A case has been registered against a travel agent, Makhan Singh of Dhak Pandori village, for defrauding another resident Gurmel Ram of Rs 3 lakh on the promise of sending the latter to Italy.

TARN TARAN
DHARNA STAGED: Employees of the Community Health Centre, Chabal, staged a dharna on the Amritsar-Khemkaran road at Chabal on Wednesday for four hours to protest against the alleged indifferent attitude of the naib tehsildar in accepting their bills for November’s salary.

2 POLICEMEN BOOKED: Daler Singh, a head constable and constable Bhupinder Singh, of the local police station have been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act for demanding a bribe of Rs 5,000 from Kuldeep Singh of Palasaur village. Daler Singh has been arrested, while Bhupinder Singh is absconding.

HARYANA

AMBALA
ANNUAL DAY: A colourful programme was presented by the tiny tots of Kharga Nursery School here on Thursday. Lieut- General B.S. Thakur was the chief guest. The students displayed their talent through a variety of programmes. The audience was captivated by the dance and music in Kharga auditorium. The show was compered by Nalin Singh and Anupreet Kaur. Ms Asha Aggarwal, headmistress, highlighted the progress and achievements of the school in the annual report.

BLOOD DONATION CAMP: Lions Club Ambala Central and District Red Cross Society jointly organised a blood donation camp at MDSD Girls College, Ambala city, on Thursday. Assistant Commissioner under training Vijay inaugurated the camp while regional chairman Ashok Mehta was the guest of honour. President Jasbir Malhotra said 50 units of blood collected in the camp. Mr Dahiya appreciated the effort of the Lions Club, Red Cross Society and college students for organising such camps. The college Principal, Dr Kiran Angra, said along with academics, social service projects are part of the curriculum in the college. 

SELECTED: Kamaljeet Kaur, a class XII student of KV No. 1, has been selected for he prestigious international jamboree of Scouts and Guides. The international jamboree will be held in Thailand from December 26 to January 10. The national headquarters of Bharat Scouts and Guides has invited her to attend the preparatory camp at Kolkata. She is one of the participants of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan. Bharat Scouts and Guides, who have been selected the international jamboree. The school Principal, Dr O.D. Sharma, said Kamaljeet Kaur was the recipient of “Rashtrapati Puraskar”.

FATEHABAD
HEALTH CAMP: A two-day ‘Vishal Swasthya Mela’, organised by the Haryana Health Department at Nagpur village on Wednesday, was inaugurated by Finance Minister Sampat Singh.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

FACILITIES: In order to improve facilities for pilgrims at Bala Sundri temple in Trilokpur, the temple complex would now have a satsang hall, godown, toilets, library and a multipurpose hall according to Deputy Commissioner Onkar Chand Sharma.