R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
OVERBRIDGE: The Divisional Manager of the Northern Railway, Ambala, has accepted the demand of the local Sangharsh Samiti to construct an overbridge. A deputation of the samiti on Monday met the president of the municipal council and a local MLA and requested them for a grant.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
LEO CLUB: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Leo Club (Bassi Pathana): president — Mr Vishal Singla; secretary — Mr Pankaj Singla; and treasurer — Mr Himanshu Bansal.

HOSHIARPUR
VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT: The Punjab Government will develop villages having more than 40 per cent of Scheduled Caste population. This was stated by Mr Tikshan Sud, Punjab Minister for Excise and Taxation, after laying the stone of the community centre at Handowal village, 18 km from here, on Monday. At least 3,600 villages had been identified for this purpose, he added.

PATHANKOT
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Adarsh Kala Mandir Club, Sujanpur: president — Mr Bharat Bhushan Sharma; vice-president — Ms Kanta Rana; general secretary — Mr Budhi Singh; and treasurer — Mr Ashwineter Singh.

FEROZEPORE
TOURIST COMPLEX: A tourist complex will be set up in the cantonment area at a cost of Rs 70 lakh. This was stated here on Sunday by Mr Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Punjab Minister for Irrigation, at the cantonment grain market. Mr Sekhon said no one would be required to get NOC before the registration of any property. He also handed over a demand draft of Rs 1.80 crore to Mr N. Srinivasa Reddy, Cantonment Executive Officer.

LUDHIANA
ROAD SAFETY YEAR: The year 2000 will be celebrated as Road Safety Year, and Rs 567 crore will be spent on each Assembly segment of the state for constructing new roads and repairing the old ones. This was stated by Mr Ajaib Singh, Minister of State for Public Works, at Boparai Kalan, 20 km from here on Sunday.

ARRESTED: Mohan Lal, a resident of Noorewala was arrested from the model town extension area and 420 grams of opium was seized from his possession.

NAWANSHAHR
NOMINATED: Mr Sita Ram Taneja, former president of the local municipal council, has been nominated as the Vice-President of the district unit of the Congress by Mr Charanjit Singh Channi, President of the district unit of the Congress.

SAMRALA
EYE CAMP: An eye check-up-cum-operation camp organised by the Lions Club and the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Mohalla Sudhar Committee at the local Civil Hospital concluded on Monday. The camp was inaugurated by Mr Arun Sekhri, SDM.

PRESS CLUB: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Press Club: president — Mr Ram Gopal Sofat; vice-president — Mr S.P. Singh Sethi; general secretary — Mr Gurinder Grewal; and treasurer — Mr S.P. Kalra.

APPOINTMENT: Mr T.P.S. Dhillon was on Monday appointed as the SDO (phones). Earlier, he was working as Junior Engineer (phones).

CHANDIGARH

REST HOUSE: The Tourist Rest House at the Sector 17 Inter-State Bus Terminus has been converted into a dumping area, alleges Mr Narinder Singh “International”, a tourism promoter in the city. According to him, the centre, which is part of the Tourist Information centre on the first floor of the ISBT building, has been in a shambles for the past more than one year. He has urged the Administration to revive the Tourist Rest House by providing basic facilities there after clearing the place of all condemned articles and material.

BAR PANEL: Following the withdrawal of candidature by Ms Anita Ahuja and Mr H. C. Gupta, a direct contest between Mr N. K. Nanda and Mr Amar Singh Chahal is likely for the post of the District Court Bar Association President. The elections are slated for March 10.

SECRET BALLOT: Criticising the alleged conduct of certain counsel for the Government of India, the Central Administrative Tribunal Bar Association, at a general body meeting, on Monday decided to hold “secret ballot for deciding the question of their membership”. The association alleged that the counsel had been appearing in the Court during the strike being observed at the all-India level against the proposed amendments in the Civil Procedure Code and the Advocates Act.

PAINTINGS: Paintings, graphics and murals by 12 city-based artists are on display till March 18 at Kidar’s Gallery, inaugurated in Sector 7 on Monday. According to a press release, the artists include Bheem Malhotra, Malkit Singh, Viren Tanwar, Vinay Vadhera, Satwant Singh, Balwinder, Shalindera Singh, Ishwar Dayal, Prem Singh, Navpreet Kaur, Nirmal Prakash and Raj K. Jain.

LITERATURE: A four-day workshop on the evaluation of literature at the postgraduate level in collaboration with the British Council began on Monday in the English auditorium. Prof Alan Durant, English programme officer, British High Commission, led the workshop. Dr Sodhi Ram, Controller of Examinations, Panjab University, inaugurated the workshop.

WOMEN'S DAY: The lady wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal will organise a one-day women conference at Government Art Gallery, Sector 10, on March 8 to mark International Women’s Day.

DONATED: The State Bank of India, Service Branch, Sector 17 donated books and stationery for the ensuing academic session to poor children of Blue Bird Model School, Sector 16, under its community services (non-banking activities). Earlier, it had donated school dress sweaters to these poor children.

HARYANA

AMBALA
PANCHAYAT POLL: Around 55 per cent of the panches, sarpanches, members panchyat samiti and zila parishad have been elected unopposed in the district. This was stated by Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, Mr Ram Niwas, here on Monday. The election for the panchyat poll will be conducted in the district on March 12 and 16. According to official information, 1995 contestants have been elected unopposed in the district.

BAR ASSOCIATION: The District Bar Association here has decided to abstain from work on Tuesday in protest against the lathi charge on advocates in Delhi a few days ago. At a meeting held under the chairmanship of Mr S.K. Sharma, it was resolved that no lawyer will attend the court. A copy of the resolution was also forwarded to the District and Sessions Judge, Ambala.

KAITHAL
CRUSHED TO DEATH: Three scooter-borne local youths have been crushed to death under the wheels of a heavy vehicle, the police said here on Sunday. They were going to Pehowa on Sunday to pay obeisance at the Arnay Shiv temple when the accident occurred.

REWARI
FREEDOM FIGHTER DEAD: A veteran freedom fighter, Mr Suraj Bhan Azad (81), died at Gangaichaahir village near here on Saturday. He was cremated on Sunday.

SHAHABAD
SUGARCANE CRUSHING: The local cooperative sugar mill will crush 55 lakh quintals of sugarcane this year. This was stated here on Monday by the Managing Director of the mill, Mr R.C. Bidhan. The farmers will get an additional amount of Rs 8.70 crore due to the increase in sugarcane price from Rs 13 to 15 per quintal by the state government, he added.

ELECTED: As many as seven members have been elected to the local zila parishad. According to official sources, 42 sarpanches, 262 panches, besides 254 from Gohana, 362 from Ganaur, 301 from Rai, 266 from Mundlana and 339 from Kharkhauda blocks have also been elected unopposed.

FLOWER SHOW: Mr Sudhir Rajpal, Deputy Commissioner, gave away prizes to the winners at a flower show organised here on Sunday. The winners included Atlas Cycle Industries.

SONEPAT
KILLED: Braham Dev (40), a resident of Matindu village, was killed when his motor cycle collided with a Jeep on the Sonepat-Rohtak road near Kharkhauda town, 19 km from here, on Sunday. A case has been registered against the Jeep driver. Residents of this village blocked traffic for three hours in protest against his death.

BODY RECOVERED: The body of an unidentified youth (22) was found lying between the railway lines and Sandal village, 5 km from here on Sunday.

SUICIDE: Dilbagh (22) committed suicide by allegedly taking insecticide tablets at his house at Bhatgaon village, 15 km from here, on Sunday.

YAMUNANAGAR
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local branch of the Northern Indian Regional Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India: chairman — Mr Atul Gupta; vice-chairman — Mr Vipon Gupta; and secretary- cum-treasurer — Mr Pardeep Jain.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
PHONE CONNECTIONS: At least 16,000 telephone connections have been released during the past two years in Dharamsala telecom district which includes Kangra and Chamba districts. This was stated here on Sunday by Mr Shanta Kumar, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, while inaugurating a 512-line rural exchange at Kiani.