R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
Seminar on measles: A seminar on awareness, prevention and coping with measles was organised by the Health authorities here on Tuesday. Dr Baldev Raj Chawla, Minister for Health, Punjab, inaugurated it.

BATHINDA
Encroachments: Residents of ward No. 9 have urged the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, to order the authorities to remove encroachments from a park. They alleged that the district administration and the local municipal authorities had done nothing in this connection.

FAZILKA
Special campaign: About 25 persons have been arrested under a special campaign in the subdivision for indulging in thefts, gambling, satta and illicit distillation of liquor. This was stated by Mr Ajay Maluja, DSP, in a press note issued here on Tuesday.

FEROZEPORE
Awarded: The Punjab State Council for Science and Technology, Chandigarh, has given the first prize to Rupinder Deep Kaur, a student of the local D.C. Model Senior Secondary School, in the young scientists' competition. The prize comprises a gold medal and a certificate of merit.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
Drive launched: A campaign has been launched to remove encroachments in the district and encroachers have been warned to vacate municipal properties, failing which cases will be registered against them under Section 172 A, Municipal Act. This was stated by Mr V.K. Janjua, Deputy Commissioner, at a meeting of executive officers of municipal councils.

Competitions held: Competitions in elocution, poetry, recitation and quiz were organised by the English Literary Society of Mata Gujri College, here on Wednesday. Mr G.S. Walia, principal of the college, presided.

GURDASPUR
Special drive: "Operation Yellow Patti" has been launched in the town under which a yellow line, 6-feet from either side of the drain in the main commercial centres, will be drawn beyond which no commercial transaction will be allowed. Action will be taken against those violating the order.

Ban orders: Mr S.K. Sandhu, District Magistrate, has enforced Section 144, CrPC, by banning all types of movements from the international border to the fencing and from there to 500 metres towards the Indian side from 9 pm to 5 a.m. daily till April 16. The order will not be enforceable on GT Road running from the barrier at the border to Gurdaspur.

KAPURTHALA
Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the District Bar Association: president — Mr Tejpaul Singh Walia; Senior Vice-President — Mr J.J.S. Arora; vice-presidents — Mr Vipan Sabharwal, Mr Ram Dayal Sharma and Mrs Balwinder Kaur Dhillon; secretary — Mr Rakesh Anand; and treasurer — Mr Vinay Garg.

KHARAR
Heart check-up camp: The Rotary Club, Kharar, will organise a free heart check-up camp at Khalsa Senior Secondary School on Sunday. According to Mr Ashok Sharma, President of the club, doctors from BRS Heart Institute, Kot Billa, will examine the patients.

Ban sought: Some shopkeepers in Town Road, Kharar, in a memorandum given to the SDM on Wednesday, demanded that Town Road be closed to heavy vehicles. Because of these vehicles, the flow of traffic on this road was badly affected, they added. Thousands of students crossed through this road daily and there was always an apprehension of a mishap, they said.

KURALI
Hepatitis-B: The Lions Club, Kurali, will organise a hepatitis-B vaccination camp at Naggar Khera Dharamshala here on Sunday. According to Dr Anil Gupta and Mr Harinder Dhiman, Director and President of the Club, respectively, vaccines will be given at subsidised rates.

LUDHIANA
Seminar: A seminar on "Population Education and Family Welfare," was organised at DD Jain College of Education here on Tuesday. Dr S.S. Johl presided Among those present on the occasion were Dr Chander Mohini, Principal of the college, Dr Ajaib Singh, president of the college management, and Dr Vineet Kaur.

Lecture: A lecture on "Role of Induced Resistance in Agriculture" was delivered by the Indian Society of Plant Pathologists and Department of Plant Pathology, Punjab Agricultural University, on Tuesday.

MALERKOTLA
Camp: The Rotaract Club organised a free camp for the handicapped at Hanuman Mandir here on Monday. Various equipments for the handicapped were distributed free of cost.

PATIALA
Lawyers: Endorsing a strike call given by the Bar Council, Supreme Court of India, the District Bar Association here decided on Wednesday to abstain from courts on Thursday, in protest against the proposed amendment in the Criminal Procedure Code. Mr Vinay Vatrana, General Secretary of the association, said an emergency meeting of the Bar was held and the Executive Committee unanimously resolved to observe strike. Mr Vatrana said the meeting also denied recent press reports that an advocate had donated Rs 11,000 to the association.

Dosanjh: The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President, Capt Amarinder Singh, and the MP from Patiala, Ms Parneet Kaur, congratulated the new Premier of British Columbia, Mr Ujjal Dosanjh, on Wednesday. In a message to Mr Dosanjh and his wife, Ms Raminder Kaur, Capt. Amarinder Singh said he had done Indians, particularly Punjabis, proud and wished him success in all endeavours.

Mittal is Director: Prof K.C. Mittal joined as Director of Bhai Gurdas College of Engineering and Technology, Sangrur, on Wednesday. Before joining this institute, he was teaching at Punjab School of Management Studies, Punjabi University, Patiala. He did MBA from International Institute of Management, H.P. University, Shimla, in 1977.

PHAGWARA
Ban orders: Mr Pritam Singh, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, here has banned the plying of orchestras, staging of recreational shows and use of loudspeakers at wedding places, according to an official press note on Monday. He has also asked religious places to play loudspeakers at a low pitch keeping in view the coming examinations.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Poetry recitation: The Punjabi Sahitya Sabha of SD College (Lahore) held its 25th Manjit Memorial poetry recitation contest here on Wednesday. Thirteen teams from various colleges participated in the contest. Government College, Dera Bassi, won the trophy by impressive recitation by Jagminder Kaur and Kulwant Kaur. While first prize was won by Kulwant Kaur of Dera Bassi, second and third prizes were bagged by Jasdeep Kaur, GMN College, and Jagminder Kaur, Government College, Dera Bassi, respectively. Prizes of original poetry were given to Narender Kumar, SD College, Ambala, and Girish Kumar, Government College, Naraingarh. Dr Amarjit Singh Kang of Punjabi Department, Kurukshetra University, was presented Manjit Memorial Honour for his contribution to Punjabi culture, language and literature in Haryana. A poetry symposium was also organised on the occasion.

Party worker succumbed: A senior worker of a political party Barkha Ram of Mulana constituency, died in the PGI, Chandigarh, on Tuesday night. He was shifted to the PGI after a clash between workers of the Congress and the INLD, following a dispute over the casting of a vote by an old woman in Beeta village on Tuesday evening, just before the closing of the polling. Six persons of both groups also sustained injuries in this clash and were admitted to Mulana hospital. Since the clash occurred outside the polling booth, the polling process was not disturbed. According to the police report, sharp weapons were used in the scuffle. The police has registered a case against six persons.

HISAR
Two die: Two persons were killed and five injured in an accident between a jeep and a three-wheeler on the overbridge near Dabra chowk here on Tuesday, the police said. One of the deceased has been identified as Ram Sarup of Uchana Mandi in Jind district.

Stabbed to death: Tek Chand, a village sarpanch and a Congress activist, was stabbed to death by five persons here on Tuesday, the police said.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
New syllabus: The syllabus for JBTs will be revised and the new syllabus introduced at all district education and training centres from the next academic year. This was stated by Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh School Education Board, here at Jukhaka, 25 km from here on Tuesday.

Free travel: The Himachal Pradesh Private Bus Operators Union has stated that all private buses in the state will provide travel fee of cost to all journalists in the state, who will carry identity cards issued to them by the Himachal Pradesh Journalists Federation. This was stated by union president Rajesh Sood here on Tuesday.

HAMIRPUR
Sentenced: Mr M.R. Chaudhry, Sessions Judge, here has sentenced Ishwar Dass of Kardoh village to seven years' rigorous imprisonment and fined him Rs 5000 for murdering Lilan Devi on December 13, 1996. The judge said in case of default of payment, the accused would undergo further six month's imprisonment.

KULU
Seminar: A seminar on "Safety Aspect of Electricity use and Customers Care" was organised by Havell's India Limited at Apple Valley Resort on Monday. Power and control cables, switch boards, industrial switch-gear, domestic switch-gear, etc were on display.

MANDI
Meeting held: The Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Thakur Gulab Singh, on Tuesday called upon the heads of various departments to redress the grievances of the people. He warned that any dereliction of duty would invite action. He was presiding over a meeting of the District Grievances Committee.

NAHAN
House listing: Mr Rakesh Kaushal, Deputy Commissioner, Sirmour, said here on Tuesday that house-listing in the district would be held from April 17 to May 6. He said the information supplied by the families would be kept secret.

Reservation: The District Magistrate, Mr Rakesh Kaushal, said here on Tuesday that the delimitation and reservation process in the Nahan, Paonta and Rajgarh municipal areas was over. He said wards had been reserved for different categories.

SHIMLA
Fish catching: About 380 tonnes of fish worth Rs 1.80 crore has been caught so far at the Pong reservoir in Kangra district. The Director of Fisheries, Dr Kuldeep Kumar, said an increase of 20 per cent had been registered.

SOLAN
Sleepers seized: The Dharampur police seized 43 sleepers of cedar wood valued at Rs 1.30 lakh from a truck near Koti, 8 km from here, on the Kalka-Shimla national highway on Monday. This was stated by the SP, Mr Rakesh Aggarwal.