R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

KAPURTHALA
GANG BUSTED: The district police has busted a gang of chain snatchers with the arrest of Gurpreet Singh, Man Singh, Mangaljit Singh and Balwinder Singh. This was stated by Mr Iqbal Singh, SSP. The police has seized gold chains, pistols and scooters from them.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the District Bar Association (Taxation): president — Mr Manoj Sabharwal; vice-president — Mr Suresh Sethi; general secretary — Mr Pradeep Tuli; and treasurer — Mr Kulbhushan Sharma.

KHARAR
OFFICE BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Kharar Chemists and Druggists Association: President — Mr Prem Kumar; Secretary — Mr Romesh Anand; Senior Vice-President — Mr Neeraj Gupta; Vice-President — Mr Tirlok Anand; Joint Secretary — Mr Parabjot Singh Bains; Cashier — Mr Parveen Gupta; and executive members — Mr S.S. Paul, Mr Ashoo Matta, Mr Devinder Jain and Mr Amit Sharma.

LUDHIANA
APPOINTED: Mr Kuldip Singh, General Secretary of the state unit of the JD(U) and in charge of the district unit, has appointed Mr K.S. Budhiraja, a senior JD (U) leader and Secretary of the state unit, as in charge of the district (Urban) unit in place of Mr Kartar Singh, who had submitted his resignation earlier, according to a press statement issued on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Mr Jagir Singh Ganesh, President of the state unit of the party, on Wednesday nominated the following to the national council of the party: Col P.J.S. Mehta for the Faridkot parliamentary constituency in place of Mr Roop Lal Sathi; Mr Kuldip Singh for the Ludhiana constituency in place of Mr Harish Khanna; Mr Amritvir Singh Gulati, for the Sangrur constituency in place of Mr Sohan Lal Sathi; and Mr Joginder Singh Brar for the Ferozepore constituency in place of Prof Darshan Singh.

INSTITUTE : Mr Gurcharan Singh Ghalib, the local MP, on Wednesday appreciated the good work being done at “Ek Prayas”, an institute for the mentally handicapped children functioning here for the past two years. Mr Ghalib was conducted round the school by the President of the institute, Ms Sanira Bectar, and Secretary, Radhika Jaitwani. He promised to release a grant of Rs 1 lakh out of his local area development fund for the installation of two computers at the institute.

DEARNESS ALLOWANCE: The Government Pensioners Association, in a communication sent on Wednesday to the Punjab Chief Minister, has sought immediate release of the additional dearness allowance instalment. In a press statement issued by Mr Yash Paul Ghai, additional general secretary of the association, a DA instalment at the rate of 1 per cent has become payable to state employees and pensioners with effect from January. The Central Government has already sanctioned the DA instalment for its staff and pensioners.

PAONTA SAHIB
ELECTED: A general body meeting of the Parbandhak Committee of Gurdwara Paonta Sahib was held on Wednesday under the presidentship of vice-president Sardar Santa Singh for the election of office-bearers. It was unanimously resolved at the meeting that Sardar Rattan Singh MLA, would be the vice-president and Jathedar Kartar Singh Takkar would continue as general secretary for the next term. In another resolution, the committee again requested the central and state governments that a suitable memorial to Sahibzada Ajit Singh should be erected here.

PHILLAUR
APPOINTED: The Punjab Government appointed on Wednesday Akali leader Sulakhan Singh as the Chairman of the Improvement Trust, Gurdaspur, and BJP leader Parshotam Dass Arora as the Chairman of the Improvement Trust, Pathankot. This was stated by Punjab Local Bodies Minister Balramji Dass Tandon here. Mr Tandon said the remaining 17 chairpersons of improvement trusts would also be appointed by the end of this month.

SANGRUR
LECTURE: Prof A.K. Vashist, Business Management Professor at Panjab University, on Wednesday stressed on quality management education in the backward regions of the state. He was delivering a special lecture on “Capital budgeting — its applications, significance and various techniques “at Bhai Gurdas College of Engineering and Technology here. Professor Vashist said the capital investment decision was of single most importance in any business enterprise. He explained the various techniques of capital investment, including the net present value method, the index rate of return and the profitability index.

TARN TARAN
FARMERS’ TRAINING: The Department of Agriculture, Punjab, and a pesticide company Novartis jointly organised a farmers training programme on Wednesday at Fatehabad township under the movement ‘Dharti di sewa, Waheguru di sewa’ (Service to land, Service of God). The programme was presided over by Dr Kirpal Singh Sandhu, Deputy Director, Agriculture, and a plant pathologist, Dr R.N. Sandhikar, was the chief guest. More than 100 farmers were given knowledge about kharif crops and soil fertility.

SAMRALA
PROBE SOUGHT: The Punjab Veterinary Officers Association at a meeting held here on Wednesday demanded an inquiry into the misuse of cattle welfare funds. The association also urged the government to give the management of cattle fairs to the Vet Department. The meeting was held under the presidentship of Dr Gurjeet Singh.

CHANDIGARH

ISKCON FUNCTION: The two-day religious function, organised by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) on the occasion of Ramanavmi and Baisakhi, concluded at Hare Krishna Dham, Sector 36-B, here today. Thousands of devotees thronged the temple during the religious celebrations, according to Bhakti Vinod Dasa Prabhu, president of local unit of ISKCON. “Nauka Vihar” and Mahabhishekha of Lord Rama and Sita, followed by kirtan, discourse and distribution of delicious prasadam were the highlights of the Ramanavmi celebrations. ISKCON devotees celebrated Baisakhi by preparing “Krishna cuisine” comprising more than 400 delicious items prepared by food-grains derived from new crop. These were offered to Lord Krishna and founder Acharya of ISKCON A.C. Bhakti Vedanta Swami Sril Prabhupada before distribution among those present. Earlier in the morning, as part of Baisakhi celebrations a nagar kirtan procession was taken out by ISKCON devotees followed by Mahabhishekham of Sril Prabhupada at 11 a.m.

RSS CHIEF: Mr K.C. Sudarshan, the elected chief of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh, will visit Chandigarh on April 29. He will address a public meeting at the Sector 8 DAV Senior Secondary School, it was announced here on Wednesday.

CHILDREN HONOURED: As many as 36 children from Class I to V, who obtained more than 75 per cent marks in their annual examinations, were felicitated at the annual function of the Himachal Maloya Niwasi Sudhar Sabha here on Wednesday. A cultural programme was also organised to mark the annual day celebrations, according to the President of the Sabha, Mr HGS Dadwal.

TEACHERS UNION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the GGDSD College Teachers Union: President — Prof C.K. Jerath: Vice- President — Dr H.G. Mandal; Secretary — Prof B.S. Moondi; Joint Secretary — Mrs Manpinder Kaur; and Finance Secretary — Dr Rajeev Bahl.

DENTAL COLLEGE: Dr Zora Singh, Chairman of Desh Bhagat Dental College, Muktsar, in a press release issued on Wednesday said that the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had granted permission to the management of the college to establish a dental college.

HARYANA

AMBALA
COMPUTER INSTITUTE: Informatics Computer Institute, part of a Singapore-based IT tranining and education major, was opened here on Thursday. The institute will offer all courses which are available in over 100 centres in India, Dy General Manager, Col Patnaik, told newspersons.

SONEPAT
ELECTED: Mr Manoj Jain and Mr Sanjay Kumar were elected President and General Secretary, respectively, of the local unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha ( BJPYM) at a meeting held here on Wednesday.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

KANGRA
DROWNED: A 17-year-old pilgrim from Thana Sadar road, New Delhi, was drowned in the Baner khad near Kangra mandir railway station here on Wednesday in a bid to save a 10-year-old child and his mother from drowning in the river. Police sources said the victim, Rohit, was standing on the bank of the Baner river when a 10-year-old boy slipped into the khad. His mother jumped after him to save him. Rohit too jumped into the river to save them. He succeeded in rescuing the duo but was trapped in the river and died.

KULU
CHARRED TO DEATH: An eight-year-old girl was charred to death in a fire that broke out in the house of Nirath Ram at Sarli village in Lug valley, 6 km from here, on Monday. Mr Ashwani Kapoor, Deputy Commissioner, said three head of cattle, including and nine sheep, were also burnt alive. A sum of Rs 10,000 as immediate relief has been given to the next of kin of victim by the administration.