R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
DEMANDED: The All -India Hindu Shiv Sena, in a letter to the Prime Minister, has objected to the denial of concessions to pilgrims visiting Kailash Mansarovar. Sena chief Surinder Kumar Billa said the amount of Rs 35,000 fixed for all pilgrims wanting to go to Kailash Mansarovar was astronomical. He has urged the Prime Minister to provide concessional rates to the pilgrims, compensation in case of death and full security during the yatra on the pattern of the Haj pilgrimage.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the District Bar Association: president — Mr Devinder Singh Chakal; vice- president — Mr M.S. Sagi; secretary — Mr B.S. Sodhi; and treasurer- Mr Harkirat Singh.

FILE-CLEARING WEEK: A file-clearing week would be observed in the Punjab Government offices of the district to clear the pending files and a special team of officers would check the pending files. This was stated by Mr V.K. Janjua, Deputy Commissioner, while addressing a Sangat Darshan programme at Nagawan village in Bassi Pathana tehsil.

GURDASPUR
ELECTED: Mr Ashok Tiwari and Mr Manoj Loomba were elected president and secretary, respectively, of the local Bar Association in a contest held here on Friday.

HOSHIARPUR
MEDICAL BILLS: The ESI Directorate, Punjab, has succeeded for the first time in getting Rs 2.25 crore from the Union Government for setting the reimbursement bills of industrial workers for their medical treatment during the last financial year. Besides, it has provided Rs 35 lakh as advance money for the super-speciality treatment, including major operations, to these workers during the same period. This was stated by Dr T.C. Malhan, Director, ESI , Punjab, on Saturday. Dr Malhan said Rs 1.75 crore had been sanctioned by the Union Government for purchasing sophisticated equipment for seven ESI hospitals in Punjab.

MEETING: A meeting of the district executive committee of the local unit of the BJP was held here on Friday under the chairmanship of Mr Hans Raj Nakra, president of the unit, in which presidents and secretaries of all the units and wings in the district participated. It was stated at the meeting that enrolment of 5,745 new members had been done in the district during the last financial year. The meeting condoled the massacre of 35 Sikhs at Chatti Singhpora village in Kashmir on March 20.

ELECTED: Mr R.P. Dhir was elected president of the District Bar Association for the third time by defeating the rival candidate, Mr Kuldip Singh, by a margin of 21 votes in the annual election of the association held here on Friday. Following are the other office-bearers of the association: vice- president — Mr R.D.Badhan; secretary — Mr Surinder Saini; joint secretary — Mr Sharma; and treasurer — Mr Madan Mahi.

CONDEMNED: The District unit of the BJP’s Beopar Mandal cell, in its meeting held under the presidentship of Mr Gian Bansal here on Friday, strongly criticised the Punjab Government for its anti-traders attitude. The meeting condemned the enhancement from Rs 5 to Rs 3,000 for getting a new sales tax licence number and a charge of Rs 2,000 annually for its renewal. It said the enhancement would adversely hit the traders in the state who were already suffering because of a steep fall in sales. The meeting urged the Chief Minister of Punjab to withdraw this enhancement at the earliest.

KHARAR
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Lions Club: President — Mr Sudarshan Verma; Vice-Presidents — Mr Vijay Kapoor and Mr G.S. Dev; Secretary — Mr Devinder Gupta; Joint Secretary — Mr Harpreet Johar; and Treasurer — Mr Neeraj Gupta.

LUDHIANA
FOUNDATION STONE: The Punjab Government has established a veterinary university at Bathinda, science city at Jalandhar and Baba Farid University at Faridkot during the past three years and improved the education system in the state. This was stated by Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, Technical Education Minister, while laying the foundation stone on Friday of a school in the memory of Bhai Ishar Singh at Bhanohar village, 15 km from here.

PHAGWARA
INAUGURATED: A new market committee complex constructed at a cost of Rs 10 crore on the Hoshiarpur road was inaugurated on Saturday by the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal. Mr Sarwan Singh Kular, chairman of the market committee , demanded a 100-bedded hospital and sewerage and water supply scheme for the town.

ROPAR
KILLED: Ram Kumar ( 50 ), priest of the local Power Colony’s Sarweshwar temple, was killed on the spot on Saturday in a mishap near the colony on the Ropar-Chandigarh road. Ram Kumar was crossing the road on his bicycle when a Maruti car, coming from the Chandigarh side, hit him. He fell on the road and died. He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. Mr Balbir Singh, Sub-Inspector at the local police station, said Munish Sharma, owner of the car who was driving the vehicle was arrested. A case has been registered under Section 304-A, IPC.

SAMANA
PROTEST MARCH: About 1,000 persons of the area, including women, held a protest march in the city on Saturday under the leadership of Mr Joginder Singh Panjrath, executive member of the SGPC, in protest against the massacre of 35 Sikhs at Chatti Singhpora village in Kashmir.

CHANDIGARH

BLOOD DONATION: A total of 154 persons donated blood at a blood donation camp organised by Baba Sheikh Farid Blood Donors Council at a hotel on Sunday. Ms Amrita Kohli inaugurated the camp and Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal was the chief guest.

CELEBRATED: The Statehood Day of Orissa was celebrated on the premises of Lord Jaganath Temple, Sector 31-D, on Saturday. Dr D. Behera, Additional Professor and Acting Medical Superintendent, PGI, stated how people of Orissa agitated against British rule for 30 years and got a separate state in 1936. Orissa was the first province created on linguistic basis, he added. The President of Utkal Sanskrutik Sangh, Mr B.P. Mahapatra, highlighted the role of the sangh in organising various cultural activities.

CONVOCATION: Anjali Nagpal, a final year student of Government Home Science College, was awarded the best all-rounder position at the 32nd annual convocation of the college on Sunday. Dr B.K. Sharma, a former Director of the PGI, was the chief guest. Dr Sharma emphasised the role of women in and out of their homes. He asked them to put their education into practice. A total of 120 graduates and postgraduates of the institute were awarded degrees. Nearly 200 students were given prizes for excellence in academic and co-curricular activities.

BEEKEEPERS: The dwindling and changed crop pattern in regard to growing food for bees was highlighted at a conference of the Northern India Beekeepers Association at Panjab University on Saturday. Ms Madhu Gill, Secretary of the association, said bees largely depended on mustard, toria and sunflower. The poor rates for sunflower crop had reduced the plantation, which had affected bee population, she added. Mr N.S. Gill, press incharge, said there was no compensation in the area. Bees could best be suited in Karnataka and the Government had been asked to look into the issue, ha added.

CHARACTER BUILDING: Taking a serious note of the ills in the education system and in an effort towards stronger character building, Harvard Academy International had introduced several steps, said Mr Nimai Mitra, Dean Admissions, Harvard Academy (Dehradun), while speaking about the upcoming school at a press conference here on Saturday. Set up a couple of years ago, the school offers education till Class VIII. The Indian Economic Development and Research Association had recommended the name of the school for a national educational excellency award.

OPEN BALLOT: The Sanskritik Gaurav Sansthan wants mobilisation of public opinion to ensure changes in the procedure for election to the Rajya Sabha. In a press note released on Sunday, the sansthan said the suggestion to make voting for the Rajya Sabha strictly by open ballot must be considered and members of Vidhan Sabhas who exercised their franchise under the influence of money power or other pecuniary advantage should be unseated.

WORKSHOP: The most important thing in life was observation, said Ms Dolly Ahluwalia at a workshop on costume design organised at Guru Harkrishan Public School, Sector 38, on Saturday. She explained to the participants that the colour of the costume should be designed so as to match the complexion, figure and illusion one wanted to create and the trend designers wanted to set.

SPRING CAMP: Spring Camp 2000, organised by Satluj Public School under the supervision of Madhurima, concluded on Sunday. Students were given awards by Mr Krit Serai, Principal of the school. Other course coordinators were Aman and Vaneeta (dance), Kamal, Meenu and Vimal (beauty culture), Baljeet and Shivani (art and craft) and Neelam (flower arrangement).

HARYANA

AMBALA
ALTERCATION: The Municipal Council elections in Ambala Cantonment on Sunday were more or less peaceful, except for one incident. An altercation took place between a local BJP leader, Dr K.D. Sharma, and a shopkeeper when he went to Lal Kurti Bazar in the evening. Dr Sharma allegedly heckled the shopkeeper, Mr Janki Dass, which led to the altercation. A case has been registered. Recounting was demanded in ward number 3. At the time of filing this report, trends had begun to come in.

HISAR
KILLED: One person was crushed to death by a mini truck near the Mirzapur crossing on the Hisar-Delhi bypass on Sunday. The deceased was identified as Sunil (25) of Shiv Nagar. He was riding a moped when the accident took place. A case has been registered.

STRIKE ENDS: Labourers working in brick kilns called off their three-week-old strike following an agreement reached between the Brick Kiln Owners Association and the Lal Jhanda Bhatta Mazdoor Union. According to a press note issued by the mazdoor union here on Sunday, the brick kiln owners have agreed to raise wages of various categories of labourers and provide them with other facilities.

KALKA
SEWING MACHINES: The local Lions Club provided a tailoring centre in Islam Nagar with seven sewing machines free of cost on Saturday. Ms Bhupinder Kaur, Sarpanch of the village, expressed the villagers' gratitude for this gesture.

SONEPAT
ERRATIC POWER SUPPLY: Most of the villages situated in the Khadar tract and falling under the jurisdiction of Ganaur, Murthal, and Rai subdivisions of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam are facing a difficult situation for want of power to run tubewells. Panches, sarpanches, members of the block samitis and zila parishad who are touring these villages told mediapersons here on Sunday that the power supply was erratic and these villages go without power for most of the time during the day.

COMPLAINT: Mr Bharat Singh, Superintendent of the District jail, is reported to have sent a complaint on Sunday to the Senior Superintendent of Police for taking action against the pharmacist of the jail who is alleged to have sold in the black market the bulk stock of medicines meant for the prisoners. According to official sources, the Superintendent of the Jail conducted a raid on the complaints of some prisoners in the medical block of the jail and found the complaints to be correct.

SUICIDE: Vinod, a married youth of Shanti Nagar, is reported to have committed suicide by taking insecticide tablets on Saturday. According to the police, Vinod took the extreme step after his failure to clear debts.

BURN INJURIES: A youth sustained burn injuries while he was lighting a kerosene lamp in his house in the Mohan Nagar area here on Saturday. According to the police, the injured youth was immediately hospitalised and is stated to be out of danger. He was reportedly under the influence of liquor at the time of the incident.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
PROJECT: The Union Ministry of Health and Ayurveda has recently put into operation an ambitious project in the district called ‘Vanaspati Van’ for the development and conservation of medicinal plants with an outlay of Rs 8.27 crore. Stating this here on Sunday, Mr Mohan Lal, Minister of State for Ayurveda, said the Masrund-Mani-Jhalara-Sangahar zone in the district had been identified to be developed as a ‘Vanaspati Van’.

DHARAMSALA
SUICIDE: A 25-year-old youth, Jagat Ram, committed suicide at Paprola, near Baijnath, on Saturday. According to the police, Jagat Ram, who was working in a shop, hanged himself after he had some argument with his employers over money. He belonged to Gohar in Mandi district.

KULU
DHARNA: The Dev Bhoomi Contractors Union, Bhurtar, staged a dharna on Saturday and demanded action against the General Manager of NHPC for alleged misappropriation of funds and dodging the contractors by not honouring the understanding between the management of the NHPC and the contractors. The contractors union in a press note alleged that the General Manager did not want the Himachal contractors to work for the prestigious Parvati hydro-electric project and did not allow them to submit tenders on one or the other pretext.