R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

KHARAR
ABDUCTED: A 24-yr-old girl has allegedly been abducted by a married man. The police has registered a case under Sections 363/366/120 B IPC against one Jasbir Singh, who is already married, for abducting the girl. According to the FIR, she left her house on March 18 for market but did not return.

CHEMISTS' BODY: Mr Rajesh Goyal of R.H. Medicals Kurali was elected chief of the Chemists Association Kurali in an election held on Tuesday.

TARN TARAN
AWARENESS CAMP:The Welfare Department, Punjab organised an awareness camp for persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes at Kasel village, 26 km from here. Mr Gulzar Singh Ranike, State Minister for Agriculture, Punjab, was the chief guest and Mr Tarlochan Singh Tur, MP, presided over the function. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Ranike said the Punjab Government had earmarked Rs 412 crore for the upliftment of the Scheduled Castes who will be given as 5100 under the sagan scheme and house for homeless families. As many as 31 gram panchayats of the area were given cheques for Rs 1 lakh each for different development works.

CHANDIGARH

BAHA'I NEW YEAR: Enthusiasm and joy marked the 157th Baha’i new year celebrations here on Wednesday night. Dr C L Narang, Director of the National Service Scheme of Panjab University, appreciated the Baha’i teachings on the unity of mankind and the unity of religions. He also applauded the role of Baha’is in promoting communal harmony and world peace and their commitment to the ideas of equality, universal education.

DIGAMBER JAIN SOCIETY: The following have been elected office-bearers of Shri Digamber Jain Society, Sector 27-B: President — Mr Surindar Kumar Jai ‘Kagzi’; Vice-President — Mr Ajit Prasad Jain; General Secretary — Mr Surindar Kumar Jain; Joint Secretary — Mr Parmod Kumar Jain and Mr Sushil Kumar Jain; Treasurer — Mr R.K. Jain and Joint Treasurer — Mr Kishori Lal Jain.

RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION: Mr S.S. Johar and Mr Hari Singh Sodhi have been elected President and General Secretary of the Sector 41-B Residents Welfare Association. Other office-bearers are: Vice-President — H.C. Jaggi; Cashier — Mr P.K. Jain; and Joint Secretary — Mr R.K. Shastri.

EXECUTIVE CLUB: Mr P.S. Sehgal and Mr J.S. Chadha have been elected President and Secretary, respectively, of the Executive Club, Chandigarh. Other office-bearers are Vice-President — Mr V.K. Sharma; Joint Secretary — Mr Anil Sharma; and Treasurer — Mr Rajiv Kharbanda.

EYE OPERATION CAMP: The Lions Club Chandigarh Central will organise its 28th free eye operation camp from March 25 to 28 at Satsang Bhavan, Grain Market, Sector 26, here. The patients will be examined and treated by a team of eye specialists. Dr Jai Singh and Dr Sarabjit Singh.

KAVI SAMMELAN: The Garhwal Sabha will organise a Kavi sammelan and Sanskritik jhanki here on March 26, according to Mr KL Sharma, a former Senior Deputy Mayor.

SAS NAGAR
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Sector 70 Social and Welfare Association here: President — Mr JS Dhillon; Vice-President — Mr Dalbir Singh; General Secretary — Mr JS Cheema; Secretary — Mr Paramjit Singh; and Treasurer — Mr Suresh Verma.

HARYANA

AMBALA
LAWYER'S RALLY: The President of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association, Ms Daya Choudhary, has said that a rally will be held in Delhi on March 24 by lawyers to press for their demands. She said that a large number of lawyers from Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh are expected to participate in the rally. She said the proposed amendments to the CPC should be withdrawn and also the changes sought to be introduced in the Advocates Act should not be implemented. The renewal of licence of advocates is a contentious issue since it will create uncertainty for the client whether a particular lawyer will continue for the complete duration of the case, she added.

BJP POLL: The President of the Haryana unit of the BJP, Mr O.P. Grover, said on Wednesday that the organisational elections will take place after the municipal committee elections are over. He said the time-table for the organisational polls has been drawn up. “Membership process will take place till April 15. While Mandal elections will take place on April 30, Zila election will be on May 7. The state election will be on May 15”.

YAMUNANAGAR
INDUSTRIALISTS' PANEL:The following have been elected office-bearers of local Industries Association: president — Mr Ramesh Kumar Goyal; vice-presidents — Mr Sarwan Kumar and Mr Iqbal Sagar; general secretary — Mr Tilak Raj Vinayak; and joint secretary — Mr Dharam Paul Gupta.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

SOLAN
STRIKE THREAT: The joint action committee of Parmar University Horticulture and Forestry Students Association, in a memorandum sent to Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal through Deputy Commissioner R.D. Dhiman on Tuesday threatened to launch an indefinite strike in case the government did not accept their “just demands” within three days. The association had been pleading for reservation of direct recruitment quota for the posts of forest range officer and assistant conservator of forests for the forestry graduates on the pattern of Kerala, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir and that B.Sc horticulture be fixed as the minimum qualification for the posts of horticulture extension officer and horticulture development officer, instead of the present qualification of matriculation with one year gardener’s training.