R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
Homoeopathic dispensary: A homoeopathic dispensary at the All-India Women Conference Complex was inaugurated by an eminent homoeopath, Dr Balwinder Singh on Monday, the president of the conference, Mrs Ranjit Chatha said in a press note issued here. She said the entire amount of Rs 1.13 lakh for the dispensary was donated by the Swarup Janak Khanna Charitable Trust.

KHANNA
Health camp: A health camp for children was organised by the local unit of the Indian Red Cross Society in association with the local Shri Satya Sai Seva Samiti at Government Primary School Seh, 5 km from here, on Saturday. Mr Rakesh Dewit, secretary of the society, said the camp was organised on the directions of the Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, Mr Arun Goel, and Mr S.S. Gill, SDM, Khanna, in which H.B. tests of 177 students were done and medicines were given to them free of cost.

NAWANSHAHR
DIET students: Students of DIET Naura ( Nawanshahr) on Saturday held a protest march in Banga, 13 km from here, and staged a dharna in front of the residence of Mr Mohanlal, MLA, Banga, at Behram village to press the state government to take bank the "sikhia karmi yojna". Addressing the dharna, Mr Ranjodh Singh Bal, president, DIET Welfare Association, and Mr Hardip Singh Prince, general secretary of the district unit of the Unemployed Elementary Teachers Union, while criticising the Badal government for launching the yojna, said DIET students and unemployed elementary teachers would continue their struggle till their demand was met.

'Chetna rally': A meeting of the local unit of the General Category Welfare Federation, Punjab, was held here on Sunday under the presidentship of Dr H.S. Gupta. The federation decided to organise a "chetna rally" on January 15 at Nawanshahr to "awaken" the people belonging to general category against the proposed move of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, to bring in an amendment Bill against the basic structure of the Constitution.

Anti-reservation front: A meeting of the local unit of the Anti-reservation Front was held here on Sunday under the presidentship of Dr Mukesh Alipuria. The front criticised the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, for his proposed move to bring a Bill to amend the Constitution to negate the Supreme Court's decision given in the Ajit Singh Janjua case with a view to remove anomalies in the implementation of the reservation policy.

SCs federation: Mr Jasbir Singh Pal, state president of the Gazetted and Non-gazetted SC and BC Employees Federation, Punjab, in a press note issued here on Monday said the federation would protest against the haste shown by the Punjab Government in implementing the Supreme Court's decision regarding quota promotions. He said the federation would hold district-level dharnas and rallies from January 17 to February 15 in the state.

PATHANKOT
Murder accused held: The police has arrested the main accused Sudarshna alias Mona in the murder case of Kishan Chand of the local Model Town under Sections 302 and 506 of the IPC. The anticipatory bails of the other co-accused were earlier rejected by the Additional Sessions Judge, Gurdaspur. However, Satish Kumar and his brother, who were also named in the FIR, had already surrendered themselves and are in judicial custody.

CHANDIGARH

Model selected: A model, Amrit Aqua, prepared by Government High School, Sector 38-B, has been selected at the Jawaharlal Nehru national science exhibition under the theme "technology and environment". According to a press note here on Monday, the model was prepared under the guidance of Mr Nirmal Singh, science master, and presented by Manjinder Singh Saini, a student.

Dental camp: The Lions Club Chandigarh Nightingale organised a free dental camp at Government Senior Secondary School, Karsan, here on Monday. Nearly 200 students and members of the staff were checked by Dr S. Davra and his team. Free tooth brushes, tooth paste and medicines were distributed among them.

DERA BASSI
Inauguration: Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister of Punjab, will inaugurate an LPG agency in Mubarikpur on January 20.

HARYANA

SONEPAT
Arrested: The police on Monday arrested three armed youths and recovered a car, which was forcibly taken by them from a driver. According to a report, the culprits had hired a car from the taxi stand near the Sonepat bus stand for Ganaur. On the return journey, they asked the driver to stop near Bari village on the GT Road and leave the car at gunpoint and drove away.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
HVC member: Mr Shadi Lal Sharma, a former general secretary of the district unit of the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC), will contest his expulsion from the HVC within the framework of the party. Addressing newspersons here on Sunday, Mr Sharma urged the HVC supremo, Mr Sukh Ram, to review the decision on his expulsion. He said Mr Sukh Ram was misguided by some people with vested interests on his integrity.

Municipal elections: The Himachal Government is gearing up for the municipal elections in the state as the current five-year term of the municipal councils will be over by the end of this year. According to sources, the government has directed the authorities concerned to take up the task of reorganisation of municipal wards and prepare its proposals which would be available for inspection by voters in the offices of the municipal councils, nagar panchayats and the Deputy Commissioners concerned till January 12 so that the electorate can file objections.

Hydroelectric project: The Himachal Government is spending Rs 3.58 crore on the construction of the Holi Hydroelectric Project in the tribal belt of Bharmour in the district during the current fiscal year. Giving this information here on Sunday, Mr K. Sanjay Murthy, Deputy Commissioner said work on this project had been speeded up so that it could be completed and commissioned soon. He said a special provision for funds had been made to improve the power supply to the tribal areas of Bharmour.

NAHAN
Medical officers: The Himachal Pradesh Medical Officers Association has decided to boycott all national health programmes in protest against the appointment of Additional Director of Health Services from the Himachal Pradesh Administrative Services. At a meeting held here on Sunday, the association urged the state body to issue necessary directives in this regard to all district units.

Koli association: A district-level meeting of the Koli Samaj Association was organised in Koli Samaj Bhavan here on Sunday. A large number of persons participated in the meeting. The members pledged to fight the atrocities on the members of the Koli community unitedly.

NURPUR
Office bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the State Ayurvedic Doctors Union (unemployed) : president —Dr Sanjeev Guleria; vice-president — Dr Yogesh Nath Raina; secretary — Dr Vipan Mahajan; and treasurer — Dr Anoop Mahajan.

SHIMLA
Blood donation camp: Ashadeep, a local non-government organisation, will organise a blood donation camp on "Makar Sankranti" (January 14) in view of the acute shortage of blood in Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, here. Mr Sushil Tanwar, president of Ashadeep, has appealed to the people to donate blood to save precious lives. He said the daily requirement of blood in the hospital was 25 to 40 units but the availability was much less.