R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

FATEHGARH SAHIB
REPUBLIC DAY FUNCTION: Mr Jagmohan Singh Kang, Animal Husbandry and Sports Minister, Punjab, would unfurl the national flag at the district level function on the 55th Republic Day, said Mr S.K. Ahluwalia, Deputy Commissioner. He said the contingents of Punjab Police, Home Guards and NCC would take part in the march past. Pageants depicting activities of various government departments would also be carried out. Employees, sportspersons, students and social workers, who have excelled in their fields, would be honoured. Besides, the District Red Cross Society would donate tri-cycles and sewing machines to needy persons and widows on the occasion.

Ludhiana
CONSTRUCTION WORK: Ms Kashmir Kaur, the Councillor of Ward No. 5 and a former councillor, Mr Ashok Kumar, inaugurated the construction work of streets in Akash Nagar and Aman Nagar localities near Jalandhar bypass in the city on Wednesday. Local residents and office-bearers of the Akash Nagar Welfare Society attended the function.

Office-Bearers: The following have been elected presidents of the ward units of the District Congress Committee by the president of District Congress Committee (Urban), Mr Jagmohan Sharma: Mr Rattan Chand (Ward No. 45), Mr Sheetal Das (Ward No. 47), and Mr Narinder Kumar Sareen (Ward No. 70).

CHANDIGARH

Nomination: Following directions from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Chandigarh Administration will also nominate a member to a high-powered committee to solve the problem of sewage and solid waste disposal. Punjab and Haryana will also nominated members to the committee. 

PANCHKULA
EKTA SHAKTI PARTY: The district president of the Ekta Shakti Party, Mr Suresh Gupta, on Thursday claimed that the BJP-led NDA government was on its way out and the next government at the Centre would be formed by the Opposition parties. Talking to reporters, Mr Gupta said the Chautala government had failed on all fronts and it had victimised its opponents.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Meeting: A meeting of the Congress Seva Dal was held on Thursday under the presidentship of Mr Jaswinder Singh Rekhi. Mr Malkit Singh, who was the chief guest, criticised the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, for his adverse remarks against the AICC President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi. He said the Congress was united and the other parties would lose at the husting. Mr Rekhi said the Chautala government had failed to keep its election promises and there had been an increase in unemployment, besides deterioration of law and order. Among others, Mr Aman Jain, Mr Nikhil Sobti, Mr Manpreet Rajan, Mr Tarun Bhatia, Mr Harbans Lal, Mr Ved Prakash, Mr Ramesh Kalra, Mr Naveen Sharma and Mr Naveen Batra were present.

Shoes distributed: The Aggarwal Vikas Manch distributed shoes, caps, socks and sweaters among needy students at a function held at Government Girls Primary School on the Ram Bagh road on Thursday.

BJP Office-bearers: The following have been declared office-bearers of the Ambala Cantt Mandal of the BJP. Vice- presidents — Mr Raj Kumar Sharma and Prithvi Singh Tetarwal; general secretary — Mr Lalit Kumar; treasurer — Dr Mohan Lal Abrol; and secretary — Rohit Kumar. Executive members — Suraj Bhan Gupta, Bhagirath Sharma, Balram Sharma, Virendra, Vir Bahadur Singh, Anil Chauhan, Naresh Kumar, Krishan Lal, Devendra Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Parvati Devi. The special invitees are Jagdish Goel, Kulwant Singh and Prem Saini.

Fatehabad
INAUGURATED: The local INLD MLA, Ms Swatantra Bala Chowdhary, on Wednesday inaugurated the construction of three inner roads of Fatehabad town. The roads would be laid with cement and concrete and constructed at a cost of Rs 30 lakh. The roads from the local Balmiki Chowk to Senior Secondary Model School would be constructed by the Improvement Trust, Fatehabad, while the other two roads from municipal committee office to the Thana road and from Bighar Morh to Matu Ram Colony would be constructed by the municipal committee.

Kaithal
MEDICAL CAMP: Our eating habits and lavish lifestyle were responsible for increasing incidents of heart attacks and other diseases, said Dr Sudhir Saxena, while addressing mediapersons here on Wednesday. Dr Saxena, who headed a team of doctors from Fortis Heart Institute, Mohali, examined the patients at a free medical check-up camp organised by Shah Hospital here. He said smoking and excessive drinking should be avoided to prevent heart-related diseases as their intake result in to high blood pressure.

Karnal
128 LIBRARIES SET UP: As many as 128 libraries had been set-up in the villages of Karnal district by the local Uthan Saksharta Samiti, said Mr R.S. Doon, Chairman of the samiti and Deputy Commissioner of Karnal. He said newspapers, magazines and 100 books on various subjects of social and human interest had been provided in these libraries. The concerned village panchayats had provided the covered space for setting up of these libraries. He said the samiti had distributed more than 20,000 kits comprising books, notebooks, slates, pens and pencils to the new entrants in 1,491 literacy classes started under the literacy campaign in the district.

Sirsa
DEMAND: The Youth Congress leader Brejander Sethi on Wednesday denounced the state administration for being apathic to Moriwala village by not officially changing its name after the name of the local martyr. The then Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Bansi Lal, had announced to name the village after Amarjeet Singh Sandhu, who had sacrificed his life in 1965 war.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Shimla
Blood donation camp: The Governor, Mr V.S. Kokje, has underlined the need for scientific management of blood banks and urged the voluntary organisations to play an effective role in this regard. Speaking at the blood donation camp on Wednesday, he said ensuring proper storage and utilisation of donated blood was as important as encouraging people to donate blood. Mr Sohan Lal, Mayor of the Shimla Municipal Corporation, presided over the function. As many as 50 persons, including four visually impaired persons, donated blood at the camp. Mr Shobhu Ram, president of the state association of blind persons who was among the donors, was honoured by the Governor along with 15 couples who have been donating blood frequently.

MAN FOUND DEAD: Vinod Kumar, a daily-paid driver of the State Commission for Women, was found dead in the Ritz building where he lived in a make-shift accommodation. According to the police, there were external injury marks on the body. It appeared that he suffered internal haemorrhage apparently after falling from the second floor. The body had been sent for post mortem.