R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
FELLOWSHIP: Dr R.K. Arora, Reader and in charge of the Department of Orthopaedics at Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences, has been awarded AO International Fellowship.

BATHINDA
GOVERNMENT CONDEMNED: Mr Suresh Sharma, president, PWD Field and Workshop Workers Union on Tuesday condemned the Punjab Government for not regularising the services of those employees who had worked for 15 years as muster-roll workers. Members of the union will take part in protest march to be held in Chandigarh on March 13, he added.

CLEANLINESS DRIVE: Volunteers of the Dost Welfare Society has launched a cleanliness drive at the local cowsheds. Mr Lovleen Sachdeva, general secretary of the society, said the Punjab Science and Technology Minister, Mr Chiranji Lal Garg, announced a grant of Rs 10,000 for the society.

EMPLOYEES AWARDED: Mr J.S. Randhawa, Mr K.S. Bhuller and Mr Raghubir Singh, employees of the local unit of National Fertiliser Limited (NFL) have been given 'kirt veer Award' by the Punjab Labour and Employment Minister, Mr Balramji Dass Tandon. This was stated here on Tuesday by Mr S.R. Garg, Senior Executive Secretary (Public Relations), NFL.

PRESIDENT ELECT: Mr Madan Lal Kapoor was elected as the president of the Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal for third term consecutively. This was stated here on Tuesday by Mr Banarasi Dass, general secretary, of the Beopar Mandal. At least 150 delegates from all over the state participated in the election.

JALANDHAR
BLOCKED: Traffic was disrupted on the Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur road for more than an hour following a blocked by residents of Adampur Doaba township at the Main Chowk, on Monday. Residents, led by Mr Gurmukh Singh Suri, General Secretary, Block Congress Committee, demanded action against bus drivers who usually parked buses on the road instead of taking them to the bus stand.

LUDHIANA
SUSPENDED: Mr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, suspended Jai Narain, chowkidar, Light Branch, for remaining absent from duty without giving prior information. According to a press note issued here on Monday, Mr Sandhu had warned the employees to attend duties regularly otherwise action would be taken against them.

MALERKOTLA
LAWYERS' STIR: The local Bar Association observed a strike in protest against the police lathi-charge on lawyers' demonstration in Delhi and also against the proposed amendment in the CPC and the Advocate Act.

LOUDSPEAKERS BANNED: Mr Anirudh Tiwari, Deputy Commissioner, has banned the use of loudspeakers at religious places, towns and bazaars with immediate effect. In a press note issued here on Tuesday he warned the owners of the marriage palaces to either follow the orders or face closure.

NRI GRANT: The state government will provide a grant for any project being aided by an NRI. This was stated by the Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, at Amargarh near here. An NRI concerned would be allowed to dedicate the projects in his relatives', he added.

PATHANKOT
ANNUAL FUNCTION: KLM International School celebrated its annual function here on Sunday. Mr Vinod Khanna, MP, was the chief guest. A cultural programme was also organised on the occasion.

APPOINTED: The president of the Punjab Nasha Virodhi Prachaar Manch, has appointed Mrs Perminder Jamwal as the executive member ( women cell) and Ms Shama Anand, as the coordinator of the school and college wings.

PATIALA
CONSTRUCT LINK ROAD: Residents of the local Harbans Theatre lane at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Dr H.S. Sohal discussed problems faced by them. They decided to call upon the Municipal Corporation Commissioner on Thursday and urge him to construct a new road linking the Rajbaha road to Sewak Colony and for an effective sewerage system in the area.

DEATH CONDOLED: The theatre artistes have condoled the death of Joginder Bahrla and paid tributes to the departed soul.

CHECK-UP CAMP: The local Rotary Club organised second medical check-up camp in memory of late Din Dayal Goyal at Kaler Bhani village near the Patiala-Dakala road on the occasion of Shivratri. As many as 600 patients were examined on the occasion.

ROPAR
ACCUSED REMANDED: Rakesh Kumar and Raj Kumar allegedly by involved in a rape case were remanded in custody till March 20 by Mr D.S. Malwai, Chief Judicial Magistrate, here on Monday. They were arrested under Sections 376, 342, 506 and 34 of the IPC on a complaint lodged by a local woman.

CHANDIGARH

IDOLS INSTALLED: The idols of Shirdi Sai Baba , Hanumana and Radha Krishan were installed here on Tuesday at Shitla Mata Mandir near Railway gate , Mani Majra. Thousands of devotees thronged the temple on the occasion. Langer was distributed among those present after the installation of the idols.

PRINCIPAL APPOINTED: Mr Naresh Gautam, who was working as a Hindi lecturer in the Education Department of the Chandigarh Administration, has taken over as Principal, DAV Senior Secondary School at Ropar.

DRIVERS' ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Survey of India Drivers Association (NWC): President — Mr Harbans Singh; Vice-President — Mr Avtar Singh; General Secretary — Mr Faqir Chand; and Finance Secretary — Mr Karam Singh.

OFFICE BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Indira rehri Market Welfare Association: Chairman — Mr Gurbachan Singh; Adviser — Mrs Surjeet Kaur; President — Mr Sham Lal; Vice-Presidents — Mr Advesh Kumar and Mr Prem Pal; General Secretary — Mr Suresh Chand and Mr Anup Thakur; and Cashier — Mr Bikram Prashad.

UNIFORM SALES TAX OPPOSED: The Chandigarh Nagrik Sabha has opposed levying of uniform sales tax on petroleum products at par with states of Punjab and Haryana. In a statement issued here on Monday, Mr Chaman Lal Sharma, Mr Amarjit Sethi and Mr Tejbans Singh Jauhar, President, General Secretary and Secretary of the Sabha, respectively, said with the imposition of 20 per cent sales tax on petroleum products, consumers in Chandigarh will have to pay much more than their counterparts in the neighbouring states as an additional CST of 4 per cent. The sabha demanded that Haryana should be asked to withdraw levy of 4 per cent CST.

DISPENSARY INAUGURATED: A charitable homoeopathic dispensary under the auspices of Kusum Arora Memorial Trust (regd.) was inaugurated by Mr Prithi Chand, Director, Social Welfare at Star Public School, Kajehri. He lauded the efforts of the Trust in serving the poor and needy people.

US AWARD FOR POET: Sadhu Ram Garg, a septuagenarian poet, has won the poet of merit award of the American Poet Association. His poem Peace for Mind was selected by the International Society of Poets as poem of the year in 1995.

SAS NAGAR
AKHAND PATH: An akhand path was organised by the staff of the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) at its complex in Phase I here on Sunday. The Punjab Urban Development Minister, Dr Upinderjit Kaur, and Minister of State, Urban Development, Mr Ranjit Singh Balian, also attended the bhog ceremony.

HARYANA

AMBALA
BAR ASSOCIATION: The District Bar Association, Ambala, will observe strike on Wednesday to protest against the lathi charge on advocates in Delhi. The body also abstained from the work on Tuesday.

FATEHABAD
CAMPAIGN: The Chautala government will not be able to fulfil election promises. This was stated here on Tuesday by Mr Chander Mohan, Congress MLA from Kalka, while campaigning for his cousin, Mr Dhura Ram, who was contesting zila parishad poll.

PANIPAT
ARRESTED: The police on Tuesday arrested three persons and seized six kg of opium and one kg of charas from them. The accused have been identified as the residents of Rajasthan, HP and Madhya Pradesh.

SIRSA
CARDIAC CAMP: The local Rotary Club in collaboration with Escorts Heart Institute, Delhi, organised a medical camp to check people suffering from heart diseases here on Sunday. As many as 192 patients were examined on the occasion. Dr H.S. Rissam said 50 per cent of the people were found to be suffering from heart diseases.

PRIZE DISTRIBUTION: The girls should acquaint themselves with latest information technology. This was stated here on Monday by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Amit Jha, while addressing the students at the annual prize distribution function of CMK Girls College.

SONEPAT
NOMINATION PAPERS: At last 145 candidates on Monday filed nomination papers before Returning Officer Dharampal, for contesting elections to the Municipal Committee. According to sources, the number of such candidates now has risen to 209 for 31 wards of the council. The last date for the withdrawal of the papers is March 13 and the polling will be held on April 2.

CRITICISED: Swami Krishnanand, president, All-India Hindu Maha Sangh, and founder of the Naina Devi gufa and sadhu ashram on Monday criticised the Himachal Pradesh Government to arrange security for the devotees visiting the Naina Devi, gufa and sadhu ashram.

LIQUOR SEIZED: Suresh and Virender Singh of Rohat village were arrested on Monday for carrying 315 bottles of IMFL and 120 bottles of country liquor in their Jeep. A case under the Excise Act has been registered against them.

REFUND GRANT: The UGC has taken a serious note of the financial irregularities at the local Gita Vidya Mandir Girls College, and directed the authorities to refund Rs 18.86 lakh. The college had, however refunded Rs 7.50 lakh received for the construction of a girls hostel.

SEMINAR: A three-day state-level seminar on "Innovation In Teacher Education at Primary and Secondary Levels", concluded at Hindu College of Education, here on Monday. Dr R.P. Singh, Mr D. Yadav of NCRT, Prof Ramji Dubey of Delhi University and Mr M.B.C. Dubey, addressed the gathering.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

NALAGARH
ROAD MISHAPS: The police has launched a drive to prevent road accidents in this area. Under the drive, drivers are being persuaded to keep their headlights on the low beam and use dipper at night. This step has been initiated, keeping in view the narrow roads of the Nalagarh area. According to the Superintendent of police, during this drive, vehicles were also challaned.

PARWANOO
VEHICLES CHALLANED: Mr Sanjay Sharma, Assistant Commissioner here, challaned 14 vehicles under the Motor Vehicle Act on the Kalka-Shimla national highway at Parwanoo on Tuesday. He also warned drivers of school buses and taxis, which are being used to carry school children, not to overload their vehicle. He also warned two-wheeler drivers to wear helmets.