AMRITSAR
FELICITATION: Guru Nanak Dev University will honour Dr Gulzar Singh Cheema, Minister for Health, British Columbia (Canada) on his visit to the varsity on Sunday in the conference hall of the Guru Nanak Bhavan Auditorium.
PROTEST: Workers of the Public Works Department Field and Workshop Workers Union protested in front of the offices of the Superintendent Engineers of the Public Health Department and the Punjab Water Supply and Sewage Board here on Thursday, against the anti-employees policies of the government.
BATHINDA
HELD FOR GRAFT: The Vigilance Bureau on Wednesday arrested Raj Kumar, a superintendent in the office of the Executive Engineer, PSEB, Kot
Kapura, for accepting a bribe of Rs 500 from an employee of the department for forwarding his case for leave under the self-employment scheme. This was stated by Mr Baljinder Singh Grewal, SP (Vigilance), in a press note here on Thursday.
DHURI
YOUTH KILLED: A youth of this town was killed in a road accident near Ghanauri village, 10 km from here, late on Wednesday evening. According to information available, the deceased Gulshan Sodhi (27) was coming to Dhuri on his motor cycle when the motor cycle skidded and fell into a deep ditch along the roadside.
DORAHA
CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED: The State Bank of Patiala has launched a deposit mobilisation campaign. “The campaign will prove to be unique in itself,” said Mr
S.K. Goyal, manager, Doraha branch of the bank. Mr S.K. Goyal, along with Mr Kulwant Singh, deputy manager, said in order have greater number of accounts, the bank would contribute Rs 10 for the opening of every account from its own funds. The scheme would be available at every branch of the bank from January 1 to January 31. According to Mr Goyal, Special attention will be given to senior citizens.
GURDASPUR
ARRESTED: The police has arrested Joginder Singh of Bhikhowal under the Dhariwal police station for illegally selling drugs. He has a medical store in Adda Mallianwal and has been selling drugs to the youth without any prescription by an authorised Medical Officer.
HOSHIARPUR
DASTAK PROGRAMME: The SSP, Mrs Gurpreet Deo, on Wednesday organised a dastak programme for the redress of public complaints. All gazetted police officers and Station House Officers of the district were present.
KHAMANO
DELEGATION: A delegation of the Unemployed Teachers’ Front, Punjab, met Mr V. Sarkar, Secretary Education, Punjab, regarding their demands and urged to adjust the 47 selected teachers who had been waiting for appointment letters since last year for JBT posts. Mr Sarkar reportedly assured the delegation of early solution of the problem. Mr Gursewak Singh, president of the front, appealed to all unemployed teachers of Punjab to help B.Ed teachers who were sitting on fast unto death in front of the DPI (S) office in support of their demands.
TEACHERS’ FRONT: A delegation of the Democratic Teachers Front under the chairmanship of its district president Mr Amarjeet Singh Gill, met the DEOs (Elementary and Secondary) in connection with their demands. The DEO’s conceded some genuine demands on the spot that included releasing of GPF slips etc. This was stated by the general secretary of the front, Mr Yashpal Khamano.
KHARAR
DEMANDED: Mr Harjeet Singh, president Nagar Sudhar Sabha, Mundi Kharar village, on Thursday demanded that the alleged false votes registered in ward number 2 be deleted from the voters’ list and action be taken against the erring employees. He demanded that an inquiry into the matter be conducted.
LUDHIANA
PRAN PRATISHTHA: A pran pratishtha samaroh will be held at the newly constructed Shri Radha Kunj Bihari temple in Moti Bagh Colony on the Tibba Road from January 14 to 18, according to a spokesman of the temple management. A shobha yatra will be taken out in this connection on January 14 at 10 am from Prachin Gaushala to the temple. Mr Sham Lal Sapra, general secretary, Gaurakshini Sabha will flag off the yatra. Swami Ved Bharti will deliver a discourse on the opening day from 3 pm to 5 pm. Several prominent politicians and citizens, including Mr Rakesh Pandey, Printing and Stationery Minister, Punjab, Mr Malkit Singh Birmi, Mr Prem Mittal, Mr Rajiv Vohra and Mr Ashok Bhandari are expected to attend the function.
RELIGIOUS FUNCTION: Recitation of Ramcharit Manas was held at the Illaichigiri temple, Lalu Mal street, on Wednesday to mark the beginning of a New Year under the supervision of Pandit Surya Narayan Tiwari. Members of the Mahila Sankirtan Mandal sang hymns on the occasion. Later, a brahmbhoj and a bhandara were also held.
FAREWELL PARTY: A function was organised to bid farewell to the Principal of the Government
In service Training Centre, Ludhiana, Ms Prem Kanta Brara, who retired after 38 years of service. Sardar Bachittar Singh, DEO, Ludhiana, presided over the function. Speaking on the occasion, Ms Sarabjit Kaur, senior lecturer, lauded Ms Brara’s contribution in organising seminars at the centre. Prof Kanwaljit Singh, TV news reader, also spoke on the occasion. Mander Brothers enthralled the audience with their hit number ‘Choorian’. Lecturer Usha Jain from Jagraon recited a poem on ‘International peace’. Ms Brara was honoured by Mr Bachittar Singh and other staff members of the centre.
NAWANSHAHR
AWARENESS RALLY: The district Education Department, the Health Department and a local NGO, Bhai Ghanaiya Seva Samiti, jointly organised an awareness rally at Government Secondary School,
Alachaur, about 5 km from here, on Thursday to mobilise the masses for pulse-polio programme.
BLOOD CAMP: The Lions Club (Nawanshahr Gaurav), in collaboration with the Blood Donation Council organised a blood donation camp at the BDC Bhavan here on Thursday.
NSS CAMP: The local Doaba Arya Senior Secondary School organised a 10-day NSS camp here on the school premises. As many as 50 volunteers, including 15 girls took part.
MANSA
AWARENESS RALLY: To spread the message of literacy the Zila Sakharta Samiti in collaboration with the Education Department organised an awareness rally to usher in the New Year on Tuesday. Officials of the district administration, students and teachers participated in the rally.
MUKTSAR
DENTAL CAMP: A dental check-up camp was organised at Desh Bhagat Dental College and Hospital here on Thursday. A total of 345 patients were examined, according to a press note issued by the institution. Mrs Usha Sharma, Deputy Commissioner, and Mr Shiv Kumar, SSP, were present.
RAMPURAPHUL
SEMINAR: The Potato Growers Association will organise a seminar in the city on Tuesday to promote potato cultivation in the region and discuss problems faced by potato growers. This was stated by Mr Sukhdev Singh, a former Punjab minister and the convener of the association, in a press note issued on Thursday. He said discussions would be held on new developments in potato cultivation, diseases that affect the potato crop and marketing of the crop. Mr Bhagat Singh Finance Commissioner (Revenue), Punjab will preside over the function.
PATIALA
PSEB MEETING: The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) Chairman, Mr Sudhir Mittal, at a meeting with the employees on Thursday stressed that board officials must ensure that the electricity consumers in the state were being provided with high-quality service. Directing the field officers to adopt strict measures to curb power theft, Mr Mittal said there was a need for improving the internal efficiency of the board. He laid stress on expediting power reforms to revamp and strengthen power structure in the state. He also called upon the employees to extend their cooperation to provide uninterrupted power supply to the industrial and agricultural sector.
CASSETTE RELEASED: Renowned Punjabi folk singer Sukhi Brar on Thursday released a folk cassette of Gary Sandhu, “Goriya”, at a function here. Speaking on the occasion, Gary Sandhu said he had tried to invoke the folk essence of the state in his songs, some of which had been composed by him. The other lyrics are by Inda Rajkoti and Deep
Chaukanwala, while the music is by Tejwant Kittu. This is Sandhu’s third cassette.
APPOINTED: Mr Gurinder Pal Singh has been appointed the vice-president of Punjab Pradesh Youth Congress.
RESEARCH PAPERS: Dr Jai Kishan, Professor and Director of State TB Demonstration-cum-Training Centre, will present four research papers at the 22nd International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases to be held at Kathmandu, Nepal, from April 9 to 12.
CELEBRATIONS: The local Rotary Club welcomed the New Year on Wednesday by organising a poetical soiree presided over by Shiromani Urdu poet Jigar
Jalandhari. The function, which was held at the Academy of Sikh Religion and Culture here, saw Jalandhari start off by reciting New Year’s greetings in the form of ‘katah’ besides other choice
ghazals. Prof S.C. Sharma of the Rotary Club also recited one of Jalandhari’s couplets. Mr S.S. Bindra, a radio and television artiste, rendered Jigar’s ghazals to the accompaniment of harmonium.
PROJECT SANCTIONED: The Union Science Ministry’s Department of Science and Technology has sanctioned a major research project on “Tiger Moths of India” to Dr Jagbir Singh Kirti, Reader. Department of Zoology, Punjabi University. According to a press note here, on Thursday, The project involved a grant of Rs 18 lakh. It said larvae of Tiger Moths caused considerable losses by attacking agricultural crops like paddy, maize, sugarcane,
bajra, cotton, vegetables, ornamental plants and forest trees.
SAMRALA
LPG SHORTAGE: Residents of Samrala and surrounding villages are facing shortage of cooking gas for the past several days. Social workers of the area, Mr Kuldeep Khullar, Prof Hamdardvir Nausheharvi, Mr Amar Nath Tagra, Mr G.S. Prince and Jathedar Joginder Singh Seh demanded through a press note that the local SDM, Mr Jaspal Singh Jassi, should look into the matter and a strict action be taken against the owner of the local HP agency.
CULTURAL FAIR: The eighth cultural mela Mehak 2003, in the memory of student Alankar Toni, will be held on Saturday on the premises of Sant Baba Attar Singh Public School, Bijleepur, according to Mr Rajwinder, Director of the Akas Manch and the Principal of the school, Mr Gurpal Singh Litt. The local MLA, Mr Amrik Singh Dhillon, and Akali leader, Mr Gurtej Pal Singh Bhagwanpura, will be the chief guest and the guest of honour, respectively. Mr Rama Kubbe, bhangra coach, Raagi Himmat Singh Mangat, TV artist Kamaljeet Kaur Dayalpura and geetkar Charan Khaira will be honoured on the occasion.
TARN TARAN
INSPECTED: Mr Bhagat Singh, Financial Commissioner (Revenue), inspected the record of the local Tehsildar on Wednesday here.
BARSI OBSERVED: The annual barsi of Baba Tara Singh and Baba Charan Singh of kar sewawale of Sarhali was observed on Wednesday at Gurdwara Gurpuri Sahib
Sowaha.