R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

JALALABAD
7 BOOKED: The Sadar police has booked seven persons for not abiding by the order of the Deputy Commissioner, Ferozepore, regarding removing their encroachments on link roads. Those booked are Ramesh Singh, Laxman Dass, Dev Raj, Hans Raj, Ramesh Singh, Patla Singh and Mohar Singh.

LUDHIANA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The annual general-body meeting of the Sahyog Samiti of Rajinder Nagar in Civil Lines was held at Basant Restaurant here on Sunday, during which, Mr Brahm Dev Moula, Mr S.P. Sood and Mr Naveen Seth were elected president, general secretary and treasurer, respectively, of the samiti. Mr Sood read out the annual report and the samiti members appreciated the work done by the samiti.

BLOOD DONATION CAMP: A blood donation camp was organised by 45 AD Regiment (SM) on behalf of the Ludhiana military station near the Jagraon bridge, here on Saturday. Brig Sunil Dhawan inaugurated the camp. Over 160 persons donated blood.

HONOURED: The Punjab Crime Prevention Bureau honoured Shiv Bhardwaj on the release of his new devotional cassette ‘Ghar Aao Maa’ by T-series. The cassette includes bhajans in praise of Lord Shiva and Hanuman apart from the traditional ‘Bhets’ in praise of ‘Maa Sheranwali.’ The Punjab Crime Bureau President, Mr Gurinder Sood, on Sunday formally released the cassette in Ludhiana and the CD which will be available in the open market in a couple of days.

FUN DAY: Tiny tots of Little Wonder School, Sunder Nagar, celebrated Fun Day on Saturday. It was a day when the students made everyone laugh by striking ‘funny poses’ and performing antics that amused everyone. They dressed up as clowns, little bunny rabbits, pussy cats and even Junior Mehmood and stylish Ramola Sikand of a popular soap opera. Ms Mona Jain, Principal of the school, praised all the students for their efforts.

JOKE COMPETITION: In a joke competition organised by the Asian Club International, 25 students participated. Karan Singh of class X stood first, Raina Dalip of class IX and Gaurav Munjal of class XII were declared second and third, respectively. The judges were Mr Gurjit Singh Bajaj, Mr Nirmal Jaura and Mr Sukhminder Singh. Mr Darshan Singh was the chief guest.

MEMORANDUM: A deputation of the International Sikh Dharam Parchar Manch submitted a memorandum to the Punjab Governor drawing his attention towards various religious and social issues facing the people of the state. Led by manch chief Gurdeep Singh Leel, the members said the mushrooming of deras in the state was a serious problem and was hurting the religious sentiments of the people. The government should do something to disallow them since they were promoting superstition and fleecing people of their hard earned money. The manch also drew the attention of the Governor towards the tremendous increase in the population of migrants in the state and said if the migration from other states was not stopped we would undergo a demographical change in the coming years which will increase social tensions.

CULTURAL NIGHT: The Government College Commerce Alumni Association will organise its annual cultural night at Mehar Meadows, Ferozepore Road, on May 24 at 8 p.m. Mr Kuldip Singh, president of the association, informed that all alumni members would participate in the cultural night along with their families to rejuvenate their friendship with their batchmates. Renowned ghazal singers would regale the audience. The students/ex-students, who are desirous of joining the association, can contact Mr Mannu Sood at 94170-00912, 2871270 and Mr Charanjit Singh at 98140-01860. 

MANDI GOBINDGARH
ANNUAL FUNCTION: The Regional Institute of Management and Technology (RIMT), Mandi Gobindgarh, organised a cultural programme on the occasion of its second annual day on Friday. Mr Hukam Chand Bansal, Chairman of Shri Om Parkash Bansal Educational and Social Welfare Trust, was the chief guest. As many as 100 students participated in various cultural programmes, including Punjabi songs and bhangra.

MANSA
ARRESTED: The local CIA staff has arrested Manjit Singh of Mansa for being in possession of intoxicants. He was arrested near Tinkoni. Giving this information here on Monday. Mr S.S. Srivastava, SSP, said a large quantity of intoxicants, including tablets, capsules and injections, were recovered from his bag. A criminal case under the NDPS Act has been registered.

NAWANSHAHR
ELECTED: The following have been elected members of the District Cooperative Union (Ltd.): Mr Paramjit Singh Jandiala, Mr Kulwinder Singh Kangrorh, Mr Makhan Singh Ratendra, Mr Dalbir Singh Shahabpur, Mr Sohan Singh Uladhani, Mr Malkeet Singh Sahadha, mr Jarnail Singh Palli Jhikki, Mr Harjit Singh Mubarakpur, Mr Iqbal Singh Kariha, Mr Lekh Raj Banga and Mr Randhir Singh Atari.

FEDERATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local unit of Punjab Bank Employees Federation: president — Mr Parminder Singh, senior vice president — Mr Sohan Lal; vice-presidents — Mr Nazar Ram and Mr Dev Raj, general secretary — Mr Jai Pal Sunda; and treasurers — Mr Sat Pal and Mr Jaswinder Singh.

DIST COOP UNION: The following have been elected members of the District Cooperative Union: Mr Paramjit Singh Jandiala, Mr Kulwinder Singh Kangrorh, Mr Makhan Singh Ratenda, Mr Dalbir Singh Shahabpur, Mr Sohan Singh Ulladhani, Mr Malkeet Singh Sahadha, Mr Jarnail Singh Palli Jhikki, Mr Harjit Singh Mubarakpur, Mr Iqbal Singh Kariha, Mr Lekh Raj Banga and Mr Randhir Singh Atari.

BANK STAFF PANEL: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local unit of the Punjab Bank Employees Federation: president —Mr Parminder Singh; senior vice-president —Mr Sohan Lal; vice-presidents — Mr Nazar Ram and Mr Dev Raj; general secretary — Mr Jai Pal Sunda; assistant secretary — Mr Ram Murti; joint secretary — Mr S.P. Singh; organisation secretaries — Mr Gulshan Sharma and Mr Madan Lal; treasurer — Mr Sat Pal; and joint treasurer — Jaswinder Singh.

MISSING BOYS FOUND: Two brothers, Harnek Singh and Mehar Singh, who had been missing since May 15, have been found in Anandpur Sahib. They have been reunited with the families, it was learnt.

PATIALA
APPOINTED: Mr S.S. Boparai, Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, has appointed Dr Kataria, Dean, Faculty of Languages, as Head of the Department of Foreign Languages, and Dr H.S. Bhatti, Reader in Sociology Department, as Provost for one year, according to a press note.

PHAGWARA
CAMP ON HEART: At a seminar organised by the Rotary Club Central here, Dr Sushant Srivastava, Chief Cardiac Surgeon of the Jalandhar-based BBC Heartcare Pruthi Hospital, said to combat the growing menace of heart diseases it was important to recognise "silent" risk factors such as smoking and high blood pressure.

SAMANA
UPGRADED: Mr Paramraj Singh Umrangal, SSP, Patiala on Monday inaugurated police post upgraded as police station. He said motor cycles would be provided to policemen for the maintenance of law and order. He also heard complaints of people and assured that the police officials found guilty of misconduct would be dealt with sternly. 

SAMRALA
TAKES OVER: Mr Baljeet Singh has taken over as Block Development and Panchayat Officer, Samrala, here on Monday, while Mr Charanjot Singh Walia has been transferred to the Amloh Block. Mr Baljeet Singh’s arrival has been welcomed by Mr Bhupinder Singh Benipal, former Chairman of the Block Samiti and Mr Ajmer Singh Purba, Vice-Chairman of the Panchayat Samiti Samrala.

SANGRUR
TWO POs HELD: The local police has arrested two proclaimed offenders, Prem Kumar, director, Surperfine Agro Private Limited, Rajpura, and Vijay Grover, a partner in Superfine Agro Limited, Rajpura. Mr A.S. Rai, SSP, said both had been declared proclaimed offenders on March 11 this year by a local court in connection with a complaint filed against them.

WORKSHOP BY PNB: A workshop on “Customer-relationship management” was conducted by Dr Pardeep Jain, Assistant Professor, Management Department, at Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology (SLIET) at the Punjab National Bank (PNB) branch at Longowal on Saturday. 

HARYANA

AMBALA
CONSUMER PROTECTION COUNCIL: A meeting of the general house of the Ambala Urban Estate Consumer Protection Council was held here on Monday. The meeting was held in Sector 7, Ambala City, to elect office-bearers. Mr R.D. Bedi was unanimously elected president of the council, a press note said.

MAN KILLED: A man was killed and another injured when a tractor-trolley collided with a tanker at Ambala cantonment on Monday. According to information, Dharmpal was killed, while Sohan Lal sustained injuries in the accident. A case has been registered.

MEMORANDUM: The Non-Affiliated Schools Association, Ambala, submitted a memorandum to the Additional Deputy Commissioner here on Monday. The memorandum is addressed to the Chief Minister, Haryana. According to the association, the new rules notified on April 30 under the Haryana School Education Act were unjustified and contrary to the constitutional rights to occupation. The memorandum said some of the conditions like the minimum land area could not be imposed on these schools as they had limited resources. The association has requested the Chief Minister to direct the Education Department to allow these schools to function as earlier.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
PEACEFUL PROTEST: Members of the ousted families of Chamera hydro-electric project on the third day on Sunday assembled in front of the office of the General Manager of the Chamera hydroelectric project (Stage-II) and held a peaceful demonstration. They raised slogans in protest against the “delaying” tactics of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) in releasing a financial package for them.

DHARAMSALA
TIBETAN FUNCTION: A two-day concluding function of yearlong celebrations of the 360th anniversary of Gaden Phodrang government established in Tibet ended with a cultural show at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts on Saturday. It was on this day in 1642 that Mangolian Emperor Ghursh Tenzin Cheogyal handed over the political sovereignty of Tibet to the fifth Dalai Lama.

WELFARE DEPT: The Welfare Department spent Rs 6.6 crore on various pension schemes benefitting 31,402 persons in Kangra district during the year 2002-3. This was stated by Deputy Commissioner Prabodh Saxena after reviewing the working of the Social and Women Welfare Department here on Saturday.

HAMIRPUR
WORKSHOP: A daylong workshop on rainwater harvesting through watershed management was organised at the NIT here on Sunday. Seventyfive delegates from nearby villages took part in the seminar. The seminar was organised by the Applied Science Department of the NIT. Various experts in their fields delivered lecturers and also field demonstrations to farmers.

PALAMPUR
ONE DEAD IN MISHAP: One person was killed and three were injured when a private truck fell into a gorge near Malag village on Friday night. The driver of the truck died, while being taken to the Zonal Hospital at Dharamsala. The injured have been admitted to the local Civil Hospital.