R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
BRAHMA KUMARIS: The human race is caught in a web of jealousy. Therefore, selfishness rules the roost. These were the thoughts expressed by Rajyogini Jankiji, additional chief of the Brahma Kumaris Samaj, at a special function on “Call of Time” at B.B.K. DAV College for Women. Dr Baldev Raj Chawla, Minister for Health, Punjab, presided over the function.

MEDICAL CAMPS: Nearly 32 charitable medical camps would commence shortly to screen health problems amongst the labour class working in various industries, Mr Narinderjit Singh, Deputy Commissioner, said here. More than 10,000 labourers could benefit from these charitable camps which would deal with the adverse and harmful effects on labourers of constant exposure to hazardous chemicals and other effluents in industrial units.

SRI AKAL TAKHT: Bhai Virsa Singh Khalsa, a senior leader of the All-India Sikh Students Federation, in a press note said all Sikh organisations that discriminate and believe in caste and creed should be summoned to Sri Akal Takht. He said the glory of Guru Kalgidhar is intact even after nearly 300 years and Sikhs who go against the very concept of the Khalsa should answer at Sri Akal Takht.

BATALA
EVE-TEASING: Eve-teasing is at its peak in the industrial town of Batala these days. Parents of the school and college-going girls said on Monday they had informed police officials about the menace many times, but they had not taken any action against the eve-teasers. The parents have urged Mr S.S.Brar, chief of the Batala police district, to start mobile patrolling to apprehend the eve-teasers and other bad elements.

BATHINDA
KISAN MELA : A kisan mela will be held on March 21 at the Regional Research Centre (RRC) of Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) on the Bathinda -Dabwali road. This was stated in a press note issued here on Monday by Mr Sham Singh Dhillon, Director , RRC. He said the fair would educate farmers of the region about farming techniques related with the coming kharif season.

MILK BOOTHS: Mr Mohan Verma, district secretary, INTUC, has demanded that milk booths in various parts of the city which were closed should be reopened. In a press note issued here on Monday, he said the booths served a large number of residents who were facing a problem in the absence of such booths.

GURDASPUR
RECOVERED: The police on Monday arrested Ashok Kumar and Balwinder , residents of Chagguwal , on the charge of theft. According to Mr Varinder Kumar , SSP, a VCP and 12 stolen cycles were recovered from their possession. A case under Section 379, IPC , has been registered.

RESENTMENT: Prevails among residents of Sultani village against apathy of the government regarding development of the village. According to the residents, the village has not been given any development grant during more than four years of the SAD-BJP rule in the state.

KHAMANO
STD SERVICES: STD services in the area remained paralysed for the third consecutive day on Tuesday. A member of the telecom staff said the fault was at Samrala but the JE telecom had gone to Ludhiana. People were rushing to other places to make telephone calls. They demanded immediate repair of the exchange.

LUDHIANA
BANKING FACILITY: The Indian Overseas Bank has introduced Any Branch Banking (ABB) in the city. It is the first nationalised bank to do so. Now the customers will be able to operate their accounts from any of the 170 branches spread over 8 metropolitan cities, said Mr S.S. Madan, general manager of the bank, on Tuesday. After inaugurating the service, Mr Madan said 28 ATMs had been installed in various centres and the bank was planning to bring 236 branches under the ABB network by the end of the year. 

GOVT FLAYED: The Ludhiana unit of District Youth Congress (urban development cell) on Tuesday criticised the state government for its failure in solving problems in the state. According to a press note, speakers at a meeting of the cell lashed out at the policies of the government. They alleged that the Badal government had failed on all fronts and the people were getting disillusioned with it.

DEMAND: The district unit of the Communist Party of India has suggested that the district administration should convene a meeting of representatives of all political parties in order to evolve a suitable policy regarding the supply of information to police stations about tenants in the city. According to a press note, Mr Arun Mitra, joint secretary, said on Tuesday that people were facing a number of difficulties in furnishing information about tenants to police stations. He said the administration should undertake the job of making identity cards for tenants and the photograph of the head of the family should be sufficient for the purpose. He added that even after the required information was supplied to the police stations, no receipt was being given to the landlords.

REDUCTION SOUGHT: The Engineering Exporters Association of India has demanded that the rate of interest be reduced from the current rate of 13 per cent to 16 per cent. Stating this in a press note, Mr Rajinder Jindal, president of the association, said on Tuesday that the prevalent general rate of interest in the international market was 6 to 7 per cent whereas in India the exporters had to pay 10 to 13 per cent. He said the lowering of the rate of interest would enable the industry and exporters to compete globally.

MEETING: The Bhartiya Kisan Union, Lakhowal, has convened a meeting of its members at its head office here on Thursday to review the preparations for the March 19 rally in Delhi. In a press note, Mr Qadian said the farmers were serious about an impending confrontation with the government because their crops were being ignored in the markets and government procurement agencies were looting the farmers in connivance with commission agents and traders. He said if the government did not fix the minimum support price at Rs 912, farmers would resort to a nationwide agitation from March 19.

EYE CAMP: The Nishkam Sewa Ashram, Ludhiana, held a free eye check-up-cum-operation camp at Kotla on Sunday. The camp was attended by more than 340 patients from interior areas and 34 patients were operated upon. They were also given blankets.

MANSA
CARDIAC CAMP: As many as 103 persons were examined at a cardiac camp held here on Sunday. The camp was organised by the local branch of the Rotary International with the help of eminent cardiologists Dr Sunil Sareen and Dr P. S. Soni of the BBC Heart Care Centre, Jalandhar, according to Dr Ranjeet Singh, Project Chairman, of the club.

SEMINAR: A paper on “Dr Ambedkar and Social Justice” was read by Dr Sawaraj Singh of the USA at a seminar held on Sunday at the Zila Parishad hall by the local unit of the Dr Ambedkar Thinkers Forum. The seminar was also addressed by Mr Sukhwinder Singh Aulakh, MLA, Mr Parkash Singh Lamhey, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), Mr Sardul Singh Sidhu, District Welfare Officer, and Mr Shawinder Singh Sidhu, Senior Manager, SBOP.

COMMITTEE FORMED: On the direction of Principal Secretary, Social Security, Women and Children’s Development, a district-level advisory committee with the Deputy Commissioner as its Chairman and the SSP, the Chief Judicial Magistrate and representatives of the NGOs as members has been constituted. The first meeting of the committee was held on Monday with Ms Raji P. Shirivastava, Deputy Commissioner, in the chair. 

SAMRALA
RETIRES: A cultural programme was organised on the retirement of Mr Baldev Rampuri, Headmaster of Government Primary School, Kubbe, on Monday. A memento, a shawl and gifts were given to Mr Baldev Rampuri by members of the village panchayat.

CHANDIGARH

QUAKE RELIEF: Students of Government Model High School, Sector 28, have collected Rs 1,560 for the victims of the Gujarat earthquake. Earlier the staff and students of the school had contributed Rs 32,430 and eight bag of other relief materials for the victims. 

HARYANA

AMBALA
RECRUITMENT RALLY: Army recruitment office, Ambala Cantt, is going to hold a recruitment rally from March 27 to March 31 at Sports Complex, Sector 7, Chandigarh for youth from Ambala, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Yamunanagar, Panchkula and Chandigarh. The recruitment officer said that on March 27, that tests will be conducted after physical fitness for clerical and technical trades. On March 28, the youth from Sikh, Ramdasia, Mazhabi, Gorkha, Ahir, Gurjar and Muslim, on March 29, Jat and Rajput, on March 30, Brahmins and others and on March 31, the children of serving, ex-servicemen and widows will be recruited, a release said. The candidate should be born between July 31, 1980 and March 26, 1985 and for clerical and technical trade, the candidate should be born between July 31, 1978 and March 26, 1985. The candidate should report at the stadium at 8 a.m. alongwith necessary documents. 

LOK ADALAT: A special Lok Adalat is going to be held on March 24 for recovery of bank loans of the district. Mr J.S. Dhanjal said that on the request of the senior officials of different banks, it has been decided to hold special Lok Adalats for the recovery of bank loans. He said that a similar Lok Adalat had been organised on February 14, a release said. 

MEETING: The monthly meeting of the District Grievances Committee will be organised on March 17 in Ambala City. According to Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, the Agriculture Minister, Mr Jaswinder Singh Sandhu will preside over the meeting. 

CONSUMER AWARENESS: Akhand Bhartiya Upbhokta Parishad will organise a function on March 15 in Rukmani Devi hall at Ambala Cantt on March 15 to promote awareness among the consumers regarding their rights. The Chairman of the Parishad, Mr Uma Shankar Dwivedi, said that the Commissioner, Ambala range, Mr Maha Singh would be the chief guest on this occasion and the Deputy Commissioner would preside over the function. 

ACCIDENTS: Two persons were killed in two separate road accidents in Ambala. According to information, a scooterist, Rajkumar, was killed when he was hit by a truck near Mulana. In another accident, a girl, Ashu, died when she was hit by a bus near Naraingarh. 

AUCTION: Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Mr D.P. Verma, said that during the auction for liquor vends held on March 7 for Ambala, Panchkula, Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar districts, some of the liquor vends could not be auctioned as the prices were lower than the minimum price set by the government. The liquor vends which could not be auctioned on March 7 are now going to be auctioned on March 15 at Kalidas Rangshala he said. He also said that each person will have to submit Rs 2 lakh before the start of the auction, which will be returned if they are unsuccessful. The successful person will have to immediately submit five per cent of the total price. 

BANDH APPEAL: The Ambala Scientific Instruments manufacturers Association has appealed to the business community to observe a bandh on March 15 on a call given by Sangharsh Vahini. President of the Association, Mr M.S.T Tandan, said that the traders and businessmen have been requested to observe a bandh to protest against the anti-people policies of the state government. He said that the government had imposed several new taxes and hiked power tariff which has adversely affected the common man. Meanwhile, Rashtriya Lok Dal, in a meeting held under the chairmanship of district president, Mr Arjun Singh, has also appealed for making the March 15 bandh call a success. Youth officiating president, Mr Sanjay Sharma, said that efforts are on to make the Sangharsh Vahini bandh call on March 15 successful. 

GREEN CIRCLE: Green Circle, an organisation working towards improving the environment claimed that on Tuesday that no action is being taken inspite of many reminders and visit to the administration regarding Indra Park. Secretary of Green Circle, Mr R.P. Gupta, said that there was filth around urinals and garbage bins and polythene bags and left-overs were scattered everywhere. Electric poles are not maintained and there is a need for a regular sweeper. Jhuggis have come up near dhobi ghat, which need to be removed. Also, the gate near the dhobi ghat has become a parking place. 

TRADERS FEDERATION: Chairman of Ambala Cantt Traders Federation, Mr N.C. Jain, BJP vice-president, Mr Gian Chand Aggarwal and former Municipal Councillor, Mr Daulat Ram Sharma, in a joint statement have condemned the “harassing attitude of the electricity authorities during checking the connection and installed load”. “The procedure for checking is wrong. The consumer applies for load keeping in view the future requirement of the family, hence the connecting load is never used at one time. For instance, the geysers are not used in summer and the air-conditioners are not used in the winter but electricity authorities imposed heavy penalties on connecting load and installed load,” a release said. They have demanded that in case the authorities wanted to check a premises, a notice must be served and a date for checking be given. the electricity authorities also must carry an identity card, they said. 

PANIPAT
BURN INJURIES: A woman sustained serious burn injuries when a stove burst in her house at Pritampura village, about 20 km from here, on Monday.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Jain Milan: President — Mr Pawan Kumar Jain; vice- presidents- Mr Shiv Narain Jain, Mr Prem Chand Jain and Mr Jagdish Prasad Jain; secretary- Mr Madan Sein Jain; and treasurer- Mr Jai Kumar Jain.

SECTION 144 ENFORCED: The District Magistrate, Mr Sudhir Rajpal, on Tuesday enforced an order under Section 144, Cr PC, banning carrying of firearms and other weapons within a radius of 200 metres around the examination centres for the middle, matriculation and senior secondary examinations commencing from Wednesday in the district. According to official sources, the order will remain in force till April 5.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
HEALTH CENTRE: Health and Family Welfare Minister Jagatprakash Nadda has said the government will spend Rs 2.29 crore on the construction of a community health centre at Markandeya, 25 km from here. Inaugurating an Ayurveda hospital building at Chalehali, 40 km from here, on Monday, the minister said the government would spend Rs 60 crore during the next financial year under the Prime Minister’s road construction programme in an attempt to provide road links to all villages in the state within the next three years.

DHARAMSALA
PLASTIC SURGERY CAMP: The local Lions Club will hold the annual plastic and reconstructive surgery camp here from March 17. The camp has been an annual feature for the past 14 years. Dr Kuldip Singh Guleria, a world-renowned plastic , reconstructive and craniofacial surgeon, along with a team of doctors from Bombay, will conduct the week-long camp.