R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
Gold seized: Customs staff seized gold biscuits weighing of 255 grams from a Pakistani woman who came here on Samjhauta Express on Monday. The woman has been identified as Sandalara, wife of Faiz Mohammed, of Hyderabad.

Eye bank: The Rotary Club has set up an eye bank at Dr Daljit Singh Eye Hospital. The President of the club, Mr Harnam Das Arora, said here on Tuesday that Rotarians had launched a movement to create awareness about eye donation.

BATHINDA
Appointments: Mr Bhupinder Singh Bhuller, President, Municipal Council, here on Tuesday claimed that all appointments made in the civic body were legal and as per the directions of Local Bodies Department, He said that no employee joined the council under a decision of the Punjab Government, as mentioned in a section of the Press.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
Camps: The district administration has started free pollution check-up camps at various petrol stations, according to Mr V.K. Janjua, Deputy Commissioner. He inaugurated a free pollution check-up camp at Sadhugarh village, where more than 100 vehicles were checked.

GURDASPUR
One held: The police has arrested Manjit Singh of Kahnuwan village on a charge of extorting Rs 55,000 from Mrs Leela, Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, said here on Tuesday. He said the police was on the look out for the other accused Jaspal Singh.

JALANDHAR
Travel agent held: The police has arrested a travel agent on a charge of duping a Amritsar-based resident of Rs 3.25 lakh for sending him abroad. Mr Gaurav Yadav, SSP, said the accused, Sudarshan Rana, allegedly took Rs 3.25 lakh from Malkiat Singh on the promise to send him to the USA, but neither sent him abroad nor returned his money. The police was on the lookout for the other accused, Anil Kumar Rana. A case under Sections 409, 420 and 120-B, IPC, was registered against them.

Anniversary celebrated: The Corps of Signals celebrated its 89th anniversary somewhere in the western sector on Tuesday. Brig R.S. Chhatwan addressed the Vajra Corps signallers at a special Sainik Sammelan and highlighted the achievements of the corps. A 'pagal gymkhana' and 'barakhana' was also organised for all officials and their families.

LUDHIANA
Animal Welfare Day: The Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry, PAU, organised an Animal Welfare Day in Mehandipur village recently. Experts educated the farmers about reproductive disorders, parasitic diseases, deficiency disorders and infectious diseases of farm animals through discussions and lectures.

Raid: Officials of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation conducted a raid on the premises of a local transporter on Monday and detected an octroi tax evasion of Rs 5,100 on various items loaded in two trucks. In a press note issued by the corporation, the items belonged to M/S Sachdeva Transport Company and M/S Vishal Golden Transport Company.

NAWANSHAHR
Deputation: A deputation of the district unit of the Democratic Teachers Front on Tuesday met the Education Minister, Mr Tota Singh, and urged him to appoint permanent staff at the local District Education Office, open the Punjab School Education Board depot here and arrange for granting separate budget allotment for this district. In a press note issued here on Wednesday, Mr Bhupinder Singh Warraich, President of the front, said the Education Minister had assured them regarding their demands.

Anti-leprosy week: The District Leprosy Society, with a view to making the Modified Leprosy Elimination Campaign a success in the district, recently organised an 'anti-leprosy week' and training workshops for medical officers. This was stated by Dr Roshan Sunkaria, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chairman of the Society, in a press note issued here on Monday.

Plea: A deputation of the Punjab Pensioners Welfare Association met the Chief Minister here on Tuesday and apprised him of their demands which included granting of 75 per cent amount of medical reimbursement in advance and free medical facilities at the PGI, Chandigarh, and at all district-level civil hospitals in the state. This was stated by Mr Shivpal Singh, general secretary of the association, in a press note issued here on Wednesday.

Function: The local R K Arya College organised a cultural function here on Wednesday which was presided over by an NRI, Mrs Veena Kohli. As many as 175 students were awarded for their outstanding achievements in the academic, cultural and sports.

PATHANKOT
Budget passed: The Sujanpur Municipal Council has passed a budget of Rs 1.62 crore for 2000-2001, according to the Municipal Council President, Mr Vinay Mahajan. He said adequate funds would be provided in the budget for the construction of a children park and development of Harijan colonies.

Meeting: The administration has chalked out a plan for the development and beautification of the city, according to the SDM, Mr K.K. Garg. He said the first step in this direction was to remove all encroachments on roads and challaning of vehicles parked on unauthorised places.

PATIALA
Paramedical staff: To highlight the problems faced by the paramedical staff in Government Medical College, Dental College and Hospital, Ayurvedic College and T.B. Hospital, a joint action committee of various union of employees was formed on Tuesday. According to Mr Pritpal Singh Badungar, Press Secretary of the committee, following are its office-bearers: President — Ms Jeewanpreet Kaur; General Secretary — Mr Satpal Bhatnagar; and Cashiers — Mr Ravinder Kumar Sharma and Mr Pushpinder Bansal.

SANGRUR
Poppy seized: The Dhuri police has arrested two persons and seized 110 kg of poppy husk, Mr Arpit Shukla, SSP , said here on Wednesday. He said the police arrested Amrik Singh of Kanjla village and seized 75 kg of poppy husk from his possession. In another case, the police arrested Baldev Singh of the same village and seized 35 kg of poppy from his possession.

Four arrested: The police arrested Rajinder Singh and Amarjit Singh and Kamal Kumar, all residents of Gharachon village, and Kirpal Singh of Bhawanigarh village on a charge of gambling and recovered Rs 16,000 from their possession. A case under the Gambling Act has been registered against them.

ZIRAKPUR
Ravidas birth anniversary:The birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas will be observed by the Shri Guru Ravidas Sabha, Baltana village, on Saturday. Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, Minister for Local Government, Punjab, will be the chief guest.

CHANDIGARH

Rally: The Haryana General and Backward Classes Welfare Association has been formed to press upon the government to abolish caste-based reservation in promotion to implement the law laid down by the Apex Court in its verdict pronounced on 16-9-99 in Ajit Singh-II case, said Mr Desh Raj Lamba, Convener of the Association, on Wednesday. A large number of employees held a rally in Sector 17 during the lunch-break.The association decided to intensify the stir in case the verdict was not implemented by February 25, 2000.

Delegation meets Registrar: A delegation of the Joint Action Committee of the Haryana State Cooperative Land Development Bank, led by Mr Murari Lal, its President, met the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Haryana, on Wednesday. It stressed the need for payment of overtime dues to the staff, discussed the issue of appointment of Mr Sandip Bhatti, Ex-Manager, HAFED, and expressed solidarity with the dharna of Mr Narinder Singh, who was demanding employment with the bank on compassionate grounds. The Registrar said all decisions were to be taken by the State Government. The committee said its gate rallies would continue till the acceptance of the demands.

Blood donation camp : A blood donation camp was organised at Government College for Girls, Sector 11, on Wednesday. It was inaugurated by Dr Joginder Singh, Director, Health Services. A total of 138 students donated blood. Many girls were donating blood for the fifth time.

Seminar : The Department of Sociology, Panjab University, organised a seminar on Looking into public services on Wednesday. Ms Mita and Dr Rajiv Lochan spoke on social and managerial experience of successful water supply scheme. They also discussed the problems of the scheme.

Painting competition: State Bank of Patiala, Sector 26, organised an on-the-spot painting competition on Nature and Environment at Government High School, Sector 26, on Wednesday. Students from classes I to IV took part in the competition.

PANCHKULA
Dental camp: : A dental camp was organised at Government high school, Sector 17, by Upkar, a social welfare organisation. Doctors from BRS Dental College and Hospital, Kot Billa, examined 218 children. Extractions and filling of cavities were also undertaken.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Aerodrome sought: The Haryana Exporters Association, in a press note issued on Wednesday, demanded a civil aerodrome at Ambala Cantonment. It said a large number of foreign buyers visited Ambala every year but hesitated to come by rail or road as traffic conditions from Delhi to Ambala were poor and train services were inconvenient. It urged the State Government to impress upon the Union Government to sanction a civil aerodrome at Ambala Cantonment.

Proposal opposed: Mr Nirmal Singh, the Congress candidate for Naggal constituency, on Wednesday opposed the proposed move of the Union Government to impose tax on income of rich farmers. He said farmers of Haryana would oppose the move unitedly and they would launch a state-wide agitation if the need arose. He said the Union Government might raise prices of petrol and diesel after the elections.

FATEHABAD
Competition: The local DAV School organised a quiz competition on Tuesday. Students of Milton House secured the first position, while the Byron House stood second. The Shakespeare House and the Keats House got the third and fourth positions, respectively.

Dance competition: The local Little Flower School organised fancy dress and dance competitions on Tuesday. Mrs Nisha Rathore, a former District Governor of the Inner Wheel Club, was the chief guest. Jasmine House, Lotus House and Rose House were declared first, second and third, respectively, in the junior group dance competition. In the fancy dress competition, Pooja, Bhavya and Shashank got the first positions in their respective classes. Dheeraj, Shashi and Prashant got the second position while Dikshit, Mehak and Mitali came third.

SONEPAT
Two held: The Kharkhauda police has arrested two miscreants and recovered two stolen motor cycles from them. Mr K.P.Singh, SSP, said here on Wednesday that the suspects had been identified as Rajesh and Ravinder of Mehlana village. The police, he said, also recovered two knives from their possession. In another case, the police arrested three persons and recovered a stolen Maruti car from them. Those arrested are Mahavir of Adarsh Nagar, Neeraj and Vikas, both of Shastri Colony.

Function: Mr Ashok Yadav, Additional Deputy Commissioner, gave away prizes to students of CRA College here on Tuesday. Earlier, the Principal of the college read out the annual report and highlighted the achievements of the college.

Agitation ends: The joint action committee of the HUDA Karamchari Union called off its 46-day-long agitation on Wednesday following the acceptance of its demands by the Chief Administrator, HUDA.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Meet: The NSUI will hold a district-level conference here on February 29. A former Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, and the state Congress president, Mr Sat Mahajan, are expected to participate in the meeting, Mr Sanjay Guleria, Finance Secretary, NSUI, said here on Tuesday. A district-level meeting will be held at Mandi on Monday which would be presided over by the NSUI chief, Ms Minakshi Natrajan.

Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district unit of the Himachal Pradesh Medical Officers Association: president — Dr Prem Punam; general secretary — Dr D.S. Gurung; and finance secretary — Dr D.R. Sehgal.

KUMARHATTI
3 hurt: Three pedestrians were injured when a Maruti Zen coming from the opposite side hit them on Tuesday at Parwanoo on the Kalka-Shimla national highway. Mr Gita Ram, driver of the car, has been arrested. The injured have been admitted to the ESI Hospital, Parwanoo.