R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
GHERAOED: About 500 pensioners held a rally in protest against the dilly-dallying attitude of the Punjab Government and district pension officers towards the implementation of the pension scheme for old age persons, widows and handicapped. They gheraoed the CDPO’s office and presented a memorandum to a senior officer. Their demands included sorting of pending cases, making the procedure to open accounts easier.

BATHINDA
DENTAL CAMP: A dental camp was organised at St Soldier Convent School, Muktsar, by doctors of Desh Bhagat Dental College on Wednesday. About 400 students were examined. This was stated by the college authorities in a press note here on Thursday.

CAMP CONCLUDES: A six-day camp organised by the local Malwa Institute for Paramedical Trainings for administering polio drops to children concluded on Wednesday. This was stated by the Principal of the institute in a press note here on Thursday.

BLOOD DONATION: A blood donation camp was organised at Dhapali village in the district on October 28 by the panchayat in collaboration with the sports club of the village. Thirtysix units of blood was collected at the camp. This was stated by an office-bearer of the club in a press note here on Thursday.

EYE CAMP: An eye check-up camp will be organised at Jodhpur Pakhar village near Maur Mandi in the district on November 3 by the Youth Welfare Club of the village. Patients will be examined free of cost.

GURDASPUR
RALLY HELD: Activists of the Christian Yuva Morcha, Punjab, held a rally at Dhariwal on Wednesday. They presented a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner regarding the installation of a statue of Grahm Stains, who was killed in Orissa at the Dhariwal bus stand.

FUNCTION HELD: District Vigilance Bureau and the Rotary Club Midtown organised a function here on Wednesday as part of celebrations of vigilance awareness week. Mr Sharda , SP (Vigilance), Amritsar zone, said the bureau registered 26 cases of corruption, including 9 cases against persons who had amassed wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income during the current year.

IDENTITY CARDS: Mr Kulbir Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer, in a press note issued here on Wednesday said identity cards to voters in Fatehgarh Churian Assembly constituency would be issued from November 6 to 16.

JALANDHAR
MEETING HELD: The Agriculture Technocrats Action Committee, Punjab, has urged upon the Central Government to declare the American bollworm as national pest. Addressing a meeting of the committee held here on Wednesday, Dr Balwinder Singh, spokesman for the committee, said American bollworm had damaged the cotton crop worth Rs 750 crore in the state this year.

KHARAR
DIABETES TREATMENT CAMP: A diabetes detection and treatment camp was organised in collaboration with Wallace Pharma at Kurali, near here, on Wednesday. A total of 96 patients were examined and 54 patients were given free medicines.

LUDHIANA
INTER-SCHOOL QUIZ: Ludhiana Beverages Limited would organise an inter-school Limca Book of Records Quiz at Kundan Vidya Mandir on Saturday. Giving the information, Mr D.P. Singh, general manager, said Mr Barry O’ Brien, popular quiz master, would conduct the quiz which would include several visual, music and audio rounds.

INTER-COLLEGE CONTESTS: The Asian Club would organise inter-college contests at Ramgarhia Girl’s College on Thursday. Teams from over eight colleges would participate in various contests, including geet, ghazal, folk songs, mehndi, flower arrangement and collage making, said Mr Ravinandan Sharma, chief organiser of the club.

TEACHER RETIRES: The staff of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Model Town, bid Ms Manjit Kaur, an art and craft teacher, adieu at a function held here on Wednesday. Ms Harminder Kaur, Principal, spoke on the occasion. Mr Ravinder Singh, President, Sports Development and Punjabi Sabhyacharak Association, and Mr Harmohinder Singh, MLA, Raikot, were also present at the function.

FESTIVAL CONCLUDES: “Ebony Festival 2001”, organised by Ebony, concluded here on Thursday. The five-day festival featured activities like painting competition, fashion show and corporate gift parade. Over 50 students of various city schools, including DAV, KVM and Sacred Heart Convent School, took part in the competition. Ms Teen contest was held in which Ms Beautiful Hands and Ms Beautiful Feet titles were given to the winners. The main attraction of the show was the Corporate Gift Parade in which Nikita became the Ebony Princess and Pawanpreet was declared first runner-up. The choreographer and event manager was Mr Rahul Parashar.

MEDICAL CAMP: Christian Medical College, Hospital and Guru Gobind Singh Charitable Trust organised a medical care camp at Manuke (Jagraon) recently. The camp has been organised for past 7 years under the supervision of Medical Social Welfare Department, CMC. The proceedings of the camp kicked off with the screening of a special health teaching video by Dr P. Panda of Community Medicine Department, CMC. Over 1640 patients consulted experts from CMC for medicine paediatrics, gynae, ENT, skin, ortho and psychiatry related ailments. Medicines were provided free of cost to all the patients. All arrangements for purchase and dispensation were organised by the Pharmacy Department, CMC.

MACHHIWARA
QUOMI EKTA DIVAS: Quomi Ekta Divas was observed at the local Block Congress Committee office on Wednesday in memory of late Indira Gandhi, former Prime Minister. Paying tributes to her, Mr Ishar Singh Meharbaan, general secretary of the PPCC, said the Congress had to pay a heavy price to maintain national integrity. He added that the party would launch a state-wide pre-election campaign on November 8. He alleged that the SAD-BJP combine had failed on all fronts.

MANDI GOBINDGARH
WORKERS' RALLY: Class III and IV employees of the district would participate in the zonal rally being organised at Banur on November 8. This was stated by Mr Hari Chand, district president of the Class IV Employees’ Union, in a press note issued after a meeting here on Wednesday. He said the government had failed to accept their genuine demands of hike in allowances for uniform and medicines and higher pay-scale after completion of four, nine and 14 years of service. He added that a meeting of the district working committee had been called at Mini Secretariat Fatehgarh Sahib, on Saturday.

PATIALA
BHAI VIR SINGH AWARD: The Punjab Languages Department has conferred ‘Bhai Vir Singh Award’ on Raghubir Singh Anandpuri for his book ‘Dashmesh Pita De Sidki Sikh Ate Dharam Yudh’. The award, which carries a cash prize of Rs 5,000 was presented at a function held at Languages Department office on Thursday.

CONDEMNED: The All-India Peoples Resistance Forum has condemned the prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) and termed it draconian in nature. In a press note the Punjab unit president of the AIPRF, Mr Balbir Singh Randhawa and general secretary Nardev Singh said the Union Government had snatched the basic fundamental rights of the citizens. They said the Act would be misused in states like Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Uttar Pradesh where separatist movement was going on. The forum urged the government to have a fresh look at the Act and said the Act would curb the freedom of the press.

SAMRALA
VOTERS’ FORMS: Mr Rupinder Singh Mundi and Mr Narinder Singh Bajwa, district president and senior vice-president of the SHSAD, respectively, visited Sherian, Loharian, Hambowal, Hayatpura Bet, Hedon Bet, Bersal Kalan, Ramgarh, Gonsgarh and Dhanur villages to get the application forms of the SGPC voters filled. Later, Mr Mundi said the party was ready for the SGPC poll.

HARYANA

AMBALA
PHONE DIRECTORY RELEASED: The Chief General Manager, Telecom, Haryana circle, Mr G. Jethwani, released the new telephone directory here on Thursday. He said the telephone directory-2001 of Amabala Switching Secondary Area had about 1.5 lakh telephone numbers. The General Manager, Ambala, Mr G.S. Daria, said the new telephone directory contained information corrected upto July 31, 2001. 

AWARENESS CAMP: An awareness camp was organised by the Universal Blood and Eye Donor Society at Philadelphia Hospital, Ambala City, on Thursday. The Haryana Health Minister, Dr M.L. Ranga, while speaking on the occasion said a trauma centre was being established at Karnal to provide quick medical help to accident victims on National Highway 1. He said the government had purchased hepatitis-B vaccine worth Rs 110 lakh and four cobalt units would be set up in the state.

PANIPAT
APPOINTED: Rajinder Maurya, state president of the Haryana Working Journalists Association, and Krishna Kanta, a local social worker, have been appointed conciliators-cum-counsellors of the Haryana State Legal Services Authority.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
DEAD: Munshi Ram Kehluria (80) , a freedom fighter, died at his native village, Muhaana in Gaahar panchayat, 40 km from here, on Wednesday. He is survived by his wife, two married daughters and a son. His funeral was largely attended on Thursday.

CHAMBA
CAMP CONCLUDES: To explore possibilities of providing financial assistance to cooperative societies engaged in milk production and distribution, a three-day training camp organised by the Integrate Cooperative Development Project in collaboration with the H.P. State Cooperative Bank concluded at Jadera village, 22 km from here, on Thursday. Mr Vivek Mahajan, General Manager of the project and Mr Madan Kumar, Branch Manager, SBI, stressed the need for developing the area as milk centre.