R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
COURSE: More than 40 teachers of universities and colleges from different parts of the country will participate in the 'General Orientation Course 63' from Monday. The academic staff college of Guru Nanak Dev University will organise the course.
Dr J. S. Paur, former Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, will inaugurate the course.

BANDH: The federation of Punjab Tea Traders Associations, Punjab Sraffa Federation and the Bullion Ornaments Merchants Welfare Association have decided to observe a state-level bandh on Monday against the implementation of Value Added Tax (VAT). They stated that the state government had decided to implement its own version of VAT instead of introducing the national form of VAT.

Bathinda
CAMP: A blood donation camp was organised by the Aasra welfare society at local Guru Nanak Khalsa Girls College here on Saturday. As many as 30 students donated blood. Principal and staff members of the college also donated blood.

AWARDED: Local unit of National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) has been declared winner of the Yogyata-Praman Patra for 2003 by the National Safety Council of India in recognition of developing and implementing effective management system and procedures and achieving good performance in occupational safety and health for the assessment period of three years.

INJURED: A lottery vendor, Neeraj Kumar, suffered injuries when he was attacked by a goon, Bhindi, a resident of Dhobian Basti. He was taken to the local Civil Hospital for treatment. A case has been registered.

Hoshiarpur
NOMINATED: The Punjab Government has reconstituted the local market committee and nominated Mr Sunder Sham Arora and Mr Harbakhash Singh, chairman and vice-chairman, respectively, of the committee according to official sources here on Friday.

THEFT: Some miscreants stole a cash box from the gurdwara of Kakoya village on Thursday night. Mr Gurdip Singh, president, Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee of the village, said the miscreants took away Rs 1,100 and the broken cash box was found in the fields near the village.

Muktsar
TRAINING CAMP: A one-day farmers’ training camp was organised by the local branch of the State Bank of Patiala (SBOP) here on Saturday. D.J. Mankad, Deputy General Manager, SBOP, said the farmers were familiarised with the latest technologies used for promotion of agriculture, dairy and horticulture. Bhola Singh, a farmer, was selected as the best cotton producer of the year.

CAMP: The local branch of the State Bank of Patiala (SBOP) organised a one-day training camp for farmers to make them aware of the latest techniques in promotion of agriculture, dairy and horticulture. Mr H.S. Bhatti, Chief Manager of the bank, said here on Friday that Mr D.J. Mankand, Deputy General Manager, SBOP, Bathinda Zone, inaugurated the camp. Mr Mankand said such training camps would be organised at Patiala, Bathinda, Sangrur, Mansa and Fatehgarh Sahib shortly.

Nabha
STRIKE: Various trade associations organised a meeting in the local Sanatan Mandir to take stock of the preparations for strike against the implementation of Value Added Tax (VAT) here on Monday.

Phillaur
ARRESTED: The police has nabbed five members of a gang of burglars, which was responsible for thefts in Apra village on February 12. The arrested persons were identified as Parvesh Kumar of Khanna, Balli, Sonu, Bhupinder and Kulwinder of Apra village.

LOOTED: Four armed robbers looted a bank employee, Mr Rajinder Kumar of Noormahal, and took away Rs 4,000 and other valuable items from him near Ladhuwal on Friday night. He was travelling in an auto when co-passengers stopped the auto and looted him on a knife point and fled. A case has been registered.

Zirakpur
Exhibition held : Students of Dikshant International School, Zirakpur, exhibited their creations in the third annual Art and Craft and Science Exhibition held on the school premises, here today. The children of pre-primary wing prepared an animal kingdom, traffic signals, and presented the story of seven dwarfs. Children of the senior wing displayed their science and SST projects on various topics. They also displayed human body systems made of clay. The art and craft exhibition also included items made of waste material. A remote-controlled aircraft, “Eagle”, was well appreciated in the aerodynamic section of the exhibition.

CHANDIGARH

PANCHKULA
Office-bearers appointed: Mr Arun Kumar Jairath has been appointed as Ward-18 president of the District Youth Congress while Mr Neeraj Jhethi has been appointed as general secretary.

Customer meet: Four branches of Allahabad Bank jointly organised a Banker-Customer meet here last night. More than 150 customers of the bank attended the meet. Mr V.K. Chawla, Assistant General Manager of Chandigarh Zone, and Mr R.K. Jain, DGM (Credit), highlighted the achievements of the bank.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
FLAYED: The CPI on Thursday criticised the state government for its alleged failure to enforce the labour laws. Comrade Shankar Singh Chandel, state secretary, while presiding over a meeting of the state executive committee, demanded a high-level inquiry into the alleged fertilizer scam.

CLAIMED: Mr P.C. Sharma, Assistant Director, Animal Husbandry Department, said foot and mouth disease was spreading fast in the surrounding villages. He claimed that the situation would be controlled soon for which the red alert had been sounded and a technical committee had been constituted.

Dharamsala
RALLIES: Various mahila mandals have taken out rallies in Dehra subdivision to spread awareness about drug abuse. They took a pledge to strive for prohibition in the area. At a workshop Mr M.L. Sharma, SDM, Dehra, offered financial help to the mahila mandals for the cause.

TELEPHONE: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has decided to provide 4,000 new telephone connections during the current financial year. This was resolved at a meeting of the advisory committee of telecom here on Friday.