Tribuneindia...Regional Briefs

	REGIONAL BRIEFS	Thursday, June 17, 1999
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AMRITSAR
Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Allahabad Bank Employees Union, north zone: President — Mr Sudesh Kumar; Senior Vice-President — Mr Kuldeep Singh Bal; General Secretary — Mr V.K Sood; Deputy General Secretaries — Mr Patel Kumar Arora and Mr A.K. Mahindru.

BATHINDA
Appointments cancelled: Mr Jasmel Singh, Chairman of the SC and ST cell, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, on Tuesday cancelled all appointments made by presidents of the Amritsar (rural) and Faridkot units of the SC and ST cells in their respective districts. In a press note, he said these appointments were made without his permission.

FARIDKOT
Power breakdowns: Frequent power breakdowns and a heavy cut in the power supply, particularly in Mohalla Baba Farid, old Jail Road, Dogar Basti, Quila Mubarik, Bajigar Basti and old and new cantonment roads, have been causing great inconvenience to more than 30 per cent population of the town for the past many days. The situation worsens during the night when power supply remains suspended for several hours.

FEROZEPORE
Dharna: The district unit of the Coordination Committee of Paramedical and Health Employees Union, Punjab, staged a dharna outside the Deputy Commissioner's office here on Tuesday. Addressing the gathering, the union leaders demanded immediate implementation of the Anomalies Committee's report. In a resolution, the union expressed support for the ongoing agitation of staff nurses and patwaris.
Protest march: Members of the local District Bar Association on Tuesday took out a march through the main markets of the cantonment area here in protest against the merger of nearly 150 villages of the Dharamkot area into Moga district. They raised slogans against the Punjab Government and demanded stoppage of division of Ferozepore district.
Telephone subscribers: An open house session to redress the grievances of telephone subscribers was held in the office of Mr Gautam Lal, General Manager, Telecommunications, here on Tuesday. Mr Lal said the capacity of the local telephone exchange was being increased. Regarding publication of the new telephone directory, he said the higher authorities had been asked to permit its publication without the yellow pages as no offer had been received in response to a tender to publish the directory with yellow pages.

LUDHIANA
Pensioners memorandum: On a call given by the Northern Zone States Pensioners Confederation, the Punjab State Pensioners Confederation submitted a memorandum to the Central and the State Governments on Monday through the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Arun Goel. The pensioners have urged that the Central and the State Governments should provide representation to their nominees in various committees and bodies and make provision for reservation of seats for old persons in the state transport and the railways. They have asked for 50 per cent concession in bus and railway fares and setting up of a National Pension Fund as recommended by the Fifth Central Pay Commission.

SANGRUR
Patwaris: A number of retired patwaris from the district met Mr Anirudh Tewari, Deputy Commissioner, on Monday and offered their services to the Punjab Government to avoid any inconvenience to the public on account of the ongoing strike by the patwaris.

Telecom officers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Junior Telecom Officers Association (India), Chandigarh: President — Mr Amarjit Singh; Vice-Presidents — Mr Sher Singh and Mr D.J. Singh; Secretary — Mr Y.J.S. Sodhi; Assistant Secretary — Mr Ashok Sharma; Organising Secretaries — Mr A.K. Rana and Mr Om Bir; Cashier — Mr Vinod Kumar; and Assistant Cashiers — Mr Sanjay Mahajan and Mr J.D. Saini.
Samiti activists: Activists of the local unit of the Rashtriya Suraksha Samiti will on Thursday visit the soldiers wounded in Kargil, who are recuperating in Command Hospital, according to Mr Vishal Bharti, regional secretary of the samiti.
Anniversary observed: Members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Welfare Association on Wednesday observed death anniversary of Prof Yashwant Rai, a former Punjab minister and founder president of the All-India Safai Mazdoor Congress.
Religious programme: The ninth annual bhagwati jagran of Shri Durga Mandir, Sector 41-A, will be held on June 19, according to a press note here on Wednesday.

PANCHKULA
Action initiated: On the basis of an inquiry conducted by Senior Superintendent of Post Offices, departmental action has been initiated against a postmaster of a sub-post office in Sector 15 for allegedly vacating the rented accommodation, housing the sub-post office, in connivance with the owner of the house.

GURGAON
Standing committee: The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has constituted a Standing Committee under the chairmanship of the Administrator, HUDA, Mr Ankur Gupta to solve the problems of the industrial sector.

HISAR
Killed: Two women were killed and 15 others injured in two separate accidents in the district on Tuesday. A woman was killed and 15 others, including seven women, were injured in an accident between a truck and a tractor trailer, near Mundhal village on the Delhi national highway. The victim has been identified as Kamla (27), a resident of Sorkhi village. In another incident, Omi (50), was crushed to death by a private bus near Uklana.
Suicide: A married woman, along with her six-month-old daughter, committed suicide on Tuesday by jumping before a Ludhiana-bound train. The victim was identified as Dholi (27), a resident of Bugana village, near here. The incident took place near Bugana railway station, the Railway police said. A case has been registered.

PANIPAT
Power connections: The Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam, suburban region, has released 150 power connections during May, 1999, in the suburban areas of the district to provide more electricity to consumers. These connections include 140 general, six industrial and four tubewell connections. This was stated here on Tuesday by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anurag Rastogi.
Raids: Securities of eight depot holders were forfeited and the supplies of four depots and the licence of one depot holder were suspended following the detection of irregularities in their records during raids conducted by the District Food and Supplies Department in May, 1999. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anurag Rastogi.

ROHTAK
Blood donation camps: The local District Red Cross Society has organised 14 blood donation camps and collected 1,217 units of blood for the wounded Indian soldiers in the Kargil and Dras subsectors. Mr J.N Gahlaut, Secretary of the society, said 96 students of the local ITI donated blood at a camp here on Tuesday. The society will organise more such camps at Meham on June 18 and 19, at Bahadurgarh on June 20 and July 11, at Rohtak on June 26 and July 11 to collect more blood for the jawans.

SIRSA
Arrested: Babu Singh, his father, Gurdev Singh, and brother, Balwinder Singh were arrested by the district police in connection with the death of Babu Singh’s wife. The police said on Tuesday that Bhupinder Singh of Rama Mandi in the district had complained that his sister Malkeeyat Kaur was tortured and turned out of her home by her in-laws with a demand for Rs 20,000. The sarpanch of the village, along with some other elders, took Malkeeyat Kaur to her in-laws' house and gave them Rs 20,000. When Bhupinder went to his sister's house after a fortnight, he found her dead and her in-laws absconding. The police has registered a case.

SONEPAT
Train services disrupted: Train services on the Sonepat-Delhi section of the Northern Railway remained disrupted for several hours on Tuesday stranding thousands of passengers here and at other nearby railway stations. According to official sources, the disruption followed the derailment of eight wagons of Delhi-bound goods train near the Badli railway station, about 40 km from here. As a result, the 303 UP-Delhi-Kalka passenger train was cancelled and the 4 DKM shuttle was diverted from Holembi Kalan to Panipat.
Security measures: The police has tightened security measures here and in other parts of the district following the stepping up of activities by Pakistan’s ISI and other militant groups. Mr K. Selvraj, SSP, told reporters on Wednesday that people had been advised not to touch any unclaimed article found anywhere. Instead, they should inform the police immediately. The residents should also inform about their tenants at the nearest police station.

YAMUNANAGAR
Resolution suspended: The District Bar Association, Jagadhri, has suspended an earlier resolution temporarily for boycotting all government functions following a confrontation between the Bar and the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, on his visit to Yamunanagar on June 5. In a resolution passed on Tuesday, the Bar decided to take up the matter with the Chief Minister to resolve the issue.

HAMIRPUR
New Sessions Judge: Mr Om Parkash Sharma on Tuesday took over as the new Sessions Judge here. He was earlier posted in the same capacity at Rampur Bushahr. He replaced Mr Vinod Kumar Sharma who has gone to Rampur Bushahr.
Elected: Mr Abtar Chand Dogra has been elected new President of the local District Bar Association. He defeated Mr Ransingh Jaggi by nine votes. Four votes were declared invalid.

JAWALAMUKHI
Injured: At least 12 persons hailing from Nagpur in Maharashtra were seriously injured on Tuesday in a road accident at Balugaloa village on the Dharamsala-Shimla highway. They were coming to the famous Jawalamukhi shrine from Vaishnodevi in a chartered mini bus. The bus fell into a gorge as the driver failed to control the vehicle. All injured were admitted to the Jawalamukhi hospital.

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Regional potpourri

Celebrations by Canadian Sikhs

FOR Sikhs in Canada, April 19 turned out to be a historic day. The Canadian Prime Minister, Mr Jeane Chertian, not only released a special commemorative stamp in connection with the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa but also met top leaders of the community who also hold key positions in the federal and provincial governments of his country. All the Sikh members of House of Commons — Mr Herb Dhaliwal, Mr Gurbax Malhi and Mr Gurmant Grewal — besides others were present. Also present was Mr Inderpaul Singh, the first Sikh to be appointed Justice of the Peace for the province of Ontario, more than 19 years ago. Mr Herb Dhaliwal and Mr Gurbax Malhi belong to Jalandhar and Faridkot districts while Mr Grewal belongs to Ludhiana. Also from Ludhiana is Mr Inderpaul Singh.

This was also a special occasion for Mr Sarup Singh Alag, also from Ludhiana, and a former Director of Public Relations of Punjab State Electricity Board. The deluxe editions of his three books were also released by the Canadian Prime Minister inside the parliament building that day.

Mr Alag presented copies of his books to Mr Chertian and thanked him for showing keen interest in the celebration of the mega event of the Sikhs. Earlier, Mr Gurbax Singh Malhi gave a brief introduction of Mr Alag's writings.

The Sikhs constitute the largest South Asian ethnic group in Canada. They are more than 2.5 lakh.

Mahila Mandals

The ‘‘Mahila Mandal movement has inspired us to lead a new life with self respect, better understanding and socio-economic awareness.’’ These were the views of many mahila mandal members who visited their district office here recently.

Mahila Mandals, 168 in all, have been formed in every village of the district. According to official information, there are more than 6260 members, including office-bearers of the Mahila Mandals in the district.

About the formation of Mahila Mandals, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anurag Rastogi, stated that rural women are enrolled as members. These members unanimously elect their governing body comprising president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer and three members. The Mandal is registered by the government and a grant of Rs 1500 is released.

The Mahila Mandals are guided by the Lady Supervisor and two other Supervisors about the rural and women development policies and programmes of the government. An account is opened in the bank in the name of the president and the money is utilised to supplement the income of the Mahila Mandal. The amount of income is doubled by government by releasing a matching grant.

The Mahila Mandals are also inspired to take up biscuit making, tailoring, embroidery etc. The members are imparted training at the Nilokheri Training Institute. They are sent on study tours to other states.

Model families in the village are awarded by the government. The Mahila Mandals had helped in the installation of smokeless chullahas in the villages, at an yearly average of 2000 chullahas.

Cannon shells

More than 35 cannon shells were found in front of the old tehsil building in Una town in May last while Telecommunication Department staff was digging a three-foot deep and one-foot wide trench for laying a telephone cable. The cannon shells were of different sizes.

The old tehsil building is 125 years old. It houses the district treasury and the electricity wing of the PWD. The building remained unclaimed following the death of its issueless owner 90 years ago. Later the building was acquired by the government.

There are a large number of old structures in Una district, including an old fort in Bangana block. Some hills opposite Pandoga village have many old structures and idols were found few years ago. Information regarding this was sent to the Archaeology Department, Government of India, and the Department of Art and Culture, Himachal Pradesh, but nothing much was done by either of these departments to protect the old structures. On May 21, 1999, cannon shells were found and the Una police took them in possession as unclaimed property.

Contributed by Prabhjot Singh, Rakesh Bhardwaj and Lalit Sharma.