R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Jan Kalyan Sangam: president — Mr Ashwani Kumar Mehra; senior vice-president — Mr Rajinder Pal Sachdeva; vice-president — Mr Rakesh Chadda; and general secretary — Mr Parshotam Dass Sharma.

LEGAL CELL: The president of the DCC (Urban), Mr Jugal Kishore Sharma, has formed a legal cell to give free legal help to the poor and needy. Mr R.L. Bhatia, a former MP, inaugurated the cell here on Thursday. Nearly 200 advocates attended the meeting of the cell. Mr Surinder Mahajan was elected Chairman and Mr Vijay Arora convener of the cell.

SURGEONS SOCIETY: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Surgeons Society, Amritsar: president — Dr Santokh Singh; vice-presidents — Dr Bholla Singh Sidhu; and Dr Amrik Singh; secretary — Dr Bhupinder Singh; literary secretary — Dr Sameer Rai; and financial secretary — Dr Gurvinder Singh.

KHANNA
EYE CAMP: The local Lions Club organised a free eye operation camp at Gurdwara Manji Sahib Kotan on Wednesday. According to Mr Tirlok Gupta, president of the club, the camp was inaugurated by Mr Devinder Singh Cheema, member, SGPC, and Mrs Rajinder Kaur, Civil Surgeon, was the chief guest. Nearly 300 patients were examined and 50 operated upon in the camp.

BUDGET PASSED: The local Municipal Council passed the budget for this financial year on Thursday. Mr Onkar Rai Mehta, President of the council, said Rs 6 crore had been reserved for payments and Rs 3.85 crore for development works.

LUDHIANA
BLOOD DONATION CAMP: Nearly 60 persons donated blood at a camp organised by the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) Ladies Association (IRSLA) at Central Revenue Building here on Thursday. Mrs Manorama Jha, president, IRSLA, Chandigarh, inaugurated the camp.

MUSICAL NITE: A programme of qawwalies and sufi odes being organised by Sahaj Yoga will be held at Rock Palace, Ferozepore Road on Saturday at 9 p.m.

CHANDIGARH

TRAINING PROGRAMME: A training programme on Survival and growth of small sector in present scenario was organised by Regional Centre for Entrepreneurship Development on Thursday. The Directorate of Industries, Chandigarh, sponsored the special programme for small-scale entrepreneurs of Chandigarh. Small entrepreneurs were trained about crisis management, cost reduction through energy auditing, use of computers for profit optimisation and opportunities through e-commerce and e-business. Thirty entrepreneurs have participated in this programme.

PAINTING EXHIBITION: The Governor of Punjab, Lt-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), inaugurated a painting exhibition organised by the Chandigarh Lalit Kala Academy at Government Museum and Art Gallery on Friday. The paintings were done by artists of Chandigarh during the Chandigarh Carnival last year as a tribute to soldiers who were killed in the Kargil conflict. A draft for Rs 65,000, collected on the basis of sale of the exhibition, was also presented to the Governor, for the Army Central Welfare Fund.

STATIONERY FOR KIDS: The State Bank of India, Sector 37, branch, on Thursday promoted night school programmes for the all-round development of children from slums by imparting education through their schools, at Government High School, Sector 25. They were given gur and stationery.

PANCHKULA
HEALTH MELA: The Piya Sharma Charitable Trust organised a health mela at Valmiki Mandir in Rajiv Colony, Sector 17, on Friday. Dr H.C. Nagpal, Civil Surgeon, Panchkula, who was the chief guest, gave away prizes to best dai, best antenatal woman, fully immunised children and adolescent motivators. The mela was held under a project on Reproductive Child Health. Those who received prizes were short-listed by Dr Neelam Malik and Dr Poonam Bhargava. About 150 persons from the colony, Ms Pooja S. Passi, Project Director, and representatives from SWACH foundation attended the mela. The doctors performed free check-ups and free medicines were distributed.

SAS NAGAR
WORKSHOP ON DESIGN, DYEING: A two-day exhibition-cum-workshop on Design and dyeing, organised jointly by local NIIFT and Weavers Service Centre, Panipat, concluded at the NIIFT’s design studio on Friday. During the workshop, students of the institute updated themselves on latest developments in handloom technology. The two-day workshop was attended by various cooperative societies. A week-long workshop on dyeing and printing for the students of the NIIFT also began. — TNS

HARYANA

AMBALA
BILL PAYMENT: The telephone consumers of Ambala will now be able to deposit their bills in UCO Bank, besides telecom offices and post offices. According to a press note of the Department, UCO Bank’s branches at Ambala City (Bans Bazar and new Anaj Mandi) and Ambala Cantonment (Rai Market and Allanby lines extension counter have been authorised for collecting telephone bills only upto due date, with effect from April 4, during banking hours.

SONEPAT
PASSENGERS DRUGGED: Four passengers travelling in the Delhi-bound Kalka Mail (2312 Down) were found in an unconscious condition in a passenger compartment at the Ganaur railway station on Thursday. According to information, the Railway police admitted them to the local Civil Hospital. The police said some miscreants had given them biscuits mixed with some drugs near the Kurukshetra railway station in a bid to loot them. Meanwhile, Railway police has detained four miscreants for interrogation.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

DHARAMSALA
SUICIDE: Ashutosh Kumar (22), a student of B.Sc. III, committed suicide in the Dari locality here on Thursday. According to the police, the boy hanged himself from a fan. The cause of the suicide is still unknown. In another incident, a 45-year-old man, Khel Singh, of Mirthal was killed in a road mishap near Motli.

NURPUR
Four arrested: The police arrested Vikram, Sudarshan, Udhey Singh and Sanjiv on Thursday on a charge of kidnapping Bahadur, a salesman of a liquor shop, at Gangath. A case under Sections 323, 365, 452 and 34, IPC, and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act has been registered against them. According to the police, they kidnapped him on March 21 and took him to Pathankot.

PARWANOO
ONE KILLED IN ACCIDENT: One person was killed and another was seriously injured in a truck-motorcycle collision on Wednesday night. The truck (HP-07-3284), which was coming from the Shimla side on the Kalka-Shimla National Highway, hit a motorcycle which was coming from the Kalka side to Parwanoo. As per the local police, Ajay Gupta (26), who was driving the motorcycle, died on the spot and Ram Lal Chauhan, who was seriously injured, was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. The truck driver fled from the scene of the accident. The local police has registered a case against the truck driver.