R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

BATHINDA
POPPY HUSK: Mr Jatinder Kumar Jain, SSP, said here on Saturday that 150 kg of poppy husk was seized from Ved Parkash, alias Kalli Arora, Surinder Singh Arora, both residents of Sirsa, and Mohinder Singh of Moga district. A case has been registered against them at the Dislpura police station.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
OLD-AGE HOME: The Citizens Club, Bassi Pathana, has decided to construct an old-age home at Bassi Pathana for which Mr Jai Krishan, Assistant Public Relations Officer, Fatehgarh Sahib, donated 130 yards of land in memory of his mother, Sarohi Devi, according to the president of the club, Mr Kuldip Malhotra.

FAZILKA
FLAYED: Mr Harish Sachdeva and Mr Ravinder Luthra, president and secretary, respectively, of the Punjab State Pharmacists Association, Ferozepore district, in a press note issued here on Saturday criticised the directive of the civil administration of Guruharsahai block for assigning census duty to pharmacists of the Health Department.

FEROZEPORE
MEETING: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Kulbir Singh Sidhu, held a meeting at Hussainiwala on Saturday to review the arrangements of an annual mela to be held at Hussainiwala in memory of martyrs on Thursday. Mr Sidhu said the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, and the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, were expected to participate in the mela. He said special buses would run between Ferozepore and Hussainiwala.

THREE HELD: The local police has arrested there persons on a charge of theft of 15 bags of rice from a godown of the FCI here on February 8, according to Mr Gurcharan Singh, SSP. He said the arrested persons had been identified as Billa, Buggar Singh and Shama, all local residents. The police had recovered stolen foodgrains from them.

GARHSHANKAR
PLEA: The Congress Kisan Cell has urged the government to merge the areas around Garhshankar with Nawanshahr district as it is 13 km from here whereas Hoshiarpur is 40 km.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Garhshankar Homoeopathic Association: president- Mr Ashok Bhatia; general secretary- Dr Tarsem Lal; vice- president- Dr Kuldeep Bhatia; secretary- Dr Jasbir Kaur; and treasurer- Dr Kuldeep Singh.

NOMINATED: The district president of the Youth Congress, Mr Arun Dogra, has nominated Mr Inderjit Singh as vice-president of the Youth Congress.

KHARAR
CAMP: The Citizen Welfare Club here will organise a free eye operation camp in the local Civil Hospital on March 23. According to information, food and medicines will be given free of cost to the patients at the camp.

PCO: The PCO at the post office in Sahoran village, near here, has not been working for the past four-five years ever since it was disconnected from the Kurali telephone exchange. Residents of the village said telephone instrument was lying in the post office. They demanded that since the village had been connected with the Kharar exchange, the PCO should also be connected and should start functioning.

LUDHIANA
CONVOCATION: The convocation of Master Tara Singh Memorial College for Women was held here on Saturday. Dr Harbhajan Singh Soch, Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, presided over the convocation. Nearly 150 students were given degrees.

CONDEMNED: The Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings has condemned the sales tax imposed by the Punjab Government on cycles. In a press note issued here on Saturday, the General Secretary of the chamber, Mr Avtar Singh, said that the tax on a cycle was 6.6 per cent, whereas on a car it was 5.5 per cent.

MALERKOTLA
DHARNA: Members of the parents action committee of DAV Centenary Senior Secondary School held a dharna in front of the school on Saturday in protest against the hike in school fees.

SUSPENDED: The Executive Officer of the Municipal Council,Ahmedgarh, Mr I.K. Khan, has suspended an octroi clerk, Sanjeev Sharma, for alleged misbehaviour with the Municipal President, Mr Kishori Lal Bandhan.

BUDGET: The budget for 2000-2001 of the Municipal Council, Ahmedgarh, has been passed unanimously. While talking to mediapersons, Mr Kishori Lal Bandhan, President of the council, said 49 per cent of the money would be spent on the development of the city. He said the total income from all sources would be Rs 3.35 crore.

ARRESTED: The police has arrested Teja Singh and Surjit Singh and seized 20 kg of poppy husk from them. A case under Sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against them, according to the ASP Mr Rajesh Kumar Jaiswal.

PHAGWARA
CHEQUE PRESENTED: The Punjab Tourism Minister, Mr Swarna Ram, on Saturday presented a cheque for Rs 25,000 to members of the family of an NRI, Parminder Sharma, who was killed by miscreants in the local Green Park Colony on March 7. Earlier, the minister inaugurated a power supply project at Panshta village and distributed toolkits among 35 trainee students of Community Polytechnic at Palahi village.

PATIALA
PCMS DOCS: Resentment prevails among the PCMS doctors of Rajindra Hospital and Government Medical College, Patiala, against the Punjab Government for not implementing the recommendations of the Fourth Punjab Pay Commission, They appealed to the Chief Minister to expedite the implementation of these recommendations at the earliest. The recommendations include highest pay scales in the fourth, ninth and 14th year of service, NPA to be made part of pay, revision of highest qualification allowance, academic and conveyance allowances and ESI allowance.

OFFICE-BEARERS: Mr P.C. Shukla has been appointed President of the local District Nationalist Congress Party (Urban). Mr Swaran Singh, President, Punjab Pradesh NCP, said in a press release here that Mr Bhagwan Dass Alipuria has been appointed the Vice-President. Other office-bearers are: General Secretaries — Mr Raj Kumar (painter), Mr Satyndra Kumar Aggarwal, Mrs Saroj Khosla and Mr Harbans Pran.

TARN TARAN
FINED: Mr Rupinder Singh, in charge, Harike Birds Sanctuary, in a press note issued here on Saturday said Raja Ram, Shinda and Seetal, all residents of Patti, had been fined Rs 100 each and released on probation for one year by Mr Gurmail Singh Dhillon, Subdivisional Judicial Magistrate, Patti, for violating the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. They were arrested on January 22, 1999, for killing wild animals.

FLAYED: Members of the Punjab Roadways Workers Union organised a meeting here on Friday which was presided over by Mr Dial Singh Sandhu, state President. Nearly 200 office-bearers of the organisation participated. The union opposed the government move to privatise Punjab Roadways and demanded bonus for its employees.

CHANDIGARH

HOLI: The local Sanjha Chetna Manch has appealed to the residents of Chandigarh to celebrate Holi in true festive spirit and use only permissible colours and avoid hooliganism. The monthly meeting of the manch will be held on March 26, Mr Tatvinder Prabhakar, President of the Manch, said on Saturday.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Rashtriya Valmiki Dharam Samaj: President — Mr Rajinder Birla; Vice-President — Mr Dayanand Sood; Secretary — Mr Janam Singh Lohat; and Cashier —Mr Vishvas Kumar.

PICHKARIS: As part of the Holi celebrations, BP-21, the retail petrol selling outlet of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, distributed free pichkaris to all its customers on Sunday, according to a press note.

BLOOD DONATED: More than 100 persons donated blood at a voluntary programme organised by the Bharat Vikas Parishad in collaboration with the Blood Bank Society of the PGI at the Industrial Area Phase II Shiv Manas Mandir here on Saturday.

PLAZA CARNIVAL: Holi songs and dances marked the Plaza Carnival at the Sector 17 Plaza on Saturday. Gurmit Raja, Shakti Walia, Jatinder, Madhu and Mona Sarkar were the main singers at the programme where songs like Rang de gulal mohe, Chahe bheege teri chunnaria hum khelenge holi, etc. were major hits. At the artists corner, sketching and painting continued to draw crowds.

ART OF LIVING: Sri Sri Ravishankar, a spiritual leader and an enlightened master, who founded the Art of Living Organisation is visiting the city on March 22 and 23. The organisation offers techniques to eliminate stress, expand awareness and resolve internal conflicts.

AWARDED: The Sector 46 Government college organised its NSS annual prize giving function on Saturday. The function was presided over by Mr Parag Jain, SSP who invited the NSS volunteers to get themselves associated with traffic regularisations to maintaing discipline on the roads. Twenty five NSS volunteers were awarded mementoes for their outstanding performance in the National Service Scheme and 22 NCC cadets awarded prizes for distinction.

SAS NAGAR
SCHEME: Mr A.S. Shyam, General Secretary of the House Owners Welfare Society, has urged the Punjab Government to implement the upgradation scheme introduced in 1996-97, especially for the primary school of Phase V here. He said the students attending the primary school belonged to poor sections of society and could not afford to study in private schools. Mr Shyam said a room had been constructed for the middle class purpose with the grant from a former Member of Parliament.

SCL SCIENTIST: Dr K. R. K. Raman, Senior Scientist at Semiconductor Limited, here, has been invited by the USA-based Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology, an organisation dealing in control of environmental pollution, for ESTECH-2000 being held in April. Dr Raman is doing research on the applicability of UV/oxidation technology to treat contaminated ground water.

HARYANA

AMBALA
SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS: The new office-bearers of the Ambala Scientific Instruments Manufacturers Association are: President — Mr M.S. Tandon; Senior Vice-President — Mr K.L. Verma; Vice-President Mr Pawan Jain; General Secretary — Mr A.D. Batra; Secretary — Mr Jagat Bansal; Joint Secretary — Mr Vishal Chona and Treasurer — Mr Brij Mohan Singla.

KURUKSHETRA
ELECTED: Mr D.R.Gupta, a member of the managing committee of Dr Ganesh Dass DAV College of Education for Women, Karnal, and Mr Pawan Garg, President of the managing committee of Indira Gandhi National College, Ladwa , have been elected as members of the Kurukshetra University Court, according to a varsity notification.

SONEPAT
ONE INJURED: Kuldeep, a resident of Jagsi village, was shot at and injured near Government School at Jagsi village, 40 km from here, on Friday. According to information, he was rushed to the Civil Hospital, Gohana, from where he was referred to Medical College and Hospital, Rohtak. A case has been registered.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
AUCTION: The liquor shops in Chamba district auctioned by the Department of Excise and Taxation on Saturday fetched an increased revenue of Rs 1.24 crore thereby registering an increase of 15.08 per cent for the ensuing financial year as compared to current financial year. Giving this information here on Saturday, an official spokesman said the liquor shops were auctioned for Rs 9.47 crore.

KANGRA
CAMP: A seven-day all-India "sadhna shivir" organised by the Chinmayan and Mission at Tapovan, near Sidhbari, concluded on Saturday. The camp was aimed at imparting spiritual knowledge to 125 participants. The Chinmayan and Mission spokesman said Swami Tejomayan and, chief of the mission, held discourses on 'isha vasyo upanishad'.

KUMARHATTI
CHARAS SEIZED: The Dharampur police led by Mr Trilochan Sharma, SHO, and Mr Ravinder Singh, ASI, seized 1.5 kg of charas from Rajpal, who was travelling in a CTU bus coming from Shimla to Chandigarh, near here on Friday. According to the police, the accused was a resident of Hisar. In another case, the police seized 16 bottles of liquor from Yam Bahadur at Parwanoo on Saturday. A case has been registered against him.