R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

GURDASPUR
CREDIT PLAN: Mr S.K. Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner, launched an ambitious credit plan for the district on Monday for this year. The plan which is to the tune of Rs 308.51 crore is 34 per cent over and above the last year’s plan. In addition to this, the credit plan envisages disbursement of Rs 33.75 crore as loans under the non-priority sectors among 51628 beneficiaries.

LUDHIANA
CAMP: A free animal welfare camp was organised here on Sunday by the district branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The camp was inaugurated by Dr H S Gill, Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry, Ludhiana. A team of specialists examined more than 150 animals and provided medicines free of cost. Mr Rattan Deep Chawla, general secretary of the society, thanked Mr Arun Goel, Deputy Commissioner, for allotting two acres of land for an animal hospital and a shelter home for animals.

MOGA
RESENTMENT: Resentment prevails among telephone subscribers of this town over the non-availability of the telephone directory for the past about four years. They told mediapersons here on Monday that the Telecommunication Department had not published the directory for the past few years.

NANGAL
WAN FACILITY: The BBMB has developed a wide area network (WAN) facility. With its installation, the BBMB head office at Chandigarh has established direct communication with other Central power sector units such as the NTPC, the NHPC and the Ministry for Power. This was stated by Mr S.P. Sharma of the BBMB.

DISTRIBUTED: The General Manager of the NFL, Mr B.M. Hitolia distributed 30 bicycles, 50 sewing machines, 110 jerseys and 130 tin sheets to poor SC/ST families of the area at a function held recently at the NFL guest house.

TARN TARAN
LOANS: The Punjab Raj Khadi Gram Udyog Board has deposited Rs 132 crore with 27 nationalised banks to provide loans to unemployed youths. This was stated here on Sunday by Dr Manjit Singh Bhoma, Vice-Chairman of the board. Mr Bhoma said the board not only provided loans to promote khadi and khadi products but, also the 116 self-employment schemes.

ZIRAKPUR
CASH LOOTED: Three persons looted Rs 5,400 from Mr Sanjeev Kumar, a clerk on duty at the Zirakpur Nagar Panchayat octroi post-4, on the Chandigarh-Patiala highway at about 11:45 pm on Saturday. He said a turbaned youth kicked him on his stomach from behind while he was going to answer nature's call. He also saw two other persons in the octroi post. Seeing a tractor, the clerk sounded an alert. A chowkidar in a nursery and some Nihangs responded. He reached the post and found that Rs 5,400 was missing. A case under Section 380 of the IPC has been registered.

PRINCIPAL RETIRES: Mr C.L. Bhola, Principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya Ammunition Depot, Dappar, retired on Friday, after serving the sangathan for over 33 years. He was given a warm send-off by the staff and students. Col S.K. Chakravarty, Chairman of VMC and Commandant of Ammunition Depot Dappar, presided over the function.

CHANDIGARH

ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Punjab Information and Public Relations Officers’ Association: president — Ms Uma Sharma; secretary-general — Mr Rajinder Saini; finance secretary — Mr Prem Vij; senior vice-president — Dr Senu Duggal; vice-president — Mr Surinder Mohan Singh; organising secretary — Mr Ujjagar Singh and press secretary — Mr Jai Kishan.

MP'S ASSURANCE: For expressing solidarity with the protesting lawyers, the local MP, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, visited the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday. According to members of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association, Mr Bansal assured them that a get-together of advocates, who had been elected MPs, would be held soon for finding a solution to the stand-off between the lawyers and the Government. They added that a meeting to discus the future course of action would be held on Wednesday.

CELEBRATIONS: The Andhra Samskrutika Sangham will celebrate Ugadi, the Telugu New Year, at Police Officers Institute, Sector 26, at 7 pm on Wednesday, according to Mr C.S.R. Reddy, President of the sangham. Noted Telugu short story writer and Sahitya Academi award winner, Dr Avasarala Ramakrishna Rao, will be the chief guest. The annual general body meeting will also be held, where new office-bearers will be installed.

ADDITIONAL DIRECTOR: The UT Administrator has designated Prof S.C. Dhawan, Coordinator, Centre for Computational Engineering, Punjab Engineering College, as the ex-officio Additional Director, Information Technology, with immediate effect. This is in addition to his present duties.

LEVY SUGAR: Ration card holders of the city will receive 100 g less of levy sugar from this month. The present quota was 600 g per unit. This step has been taken by Director, Food and Supplies, due to the increase in population and number of card holders.

CRASH COURSE: A week-long crash course for CA students of inter and final examinations is being organised by the Chandigarh branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India from April 3 to 9. The faculty is being led by the Director of the Board of Studies of the institute.

PANCHKULA
ARRESTED: The local police arrested two persons — Arun Kumar and Balbir Singh — from the barrier of the township for selling liquor from a canter (PB-12-C-1701). They seized 244 bottles, 186 half bottles and 429 pouches of liquor from the canter. Two persons — Bhikhari Das and Dhanvir — residents of Pinjore, were arrested for gambling. The police seized Rs 240 from their possession. A case under Section 13-3-67 of the Gambling Act has been registered.

PRAVACHAN STHAL: A pravachan sthal has been constructed in front of the Patiala temple at Mansa Devi shrine at a cost of Rs 1 crore. Covering the Patiala temple from three sides, the platform is made of white doongri marble from Makrana. A boundary wall, an entry and a stage have also been constructed. The completion took one year and nine months. To be used for programmes of mass gathering like pravachan and jagran, the platform has been given a mirror-like look by granite polishing.

SAS NAGAR
RALLY: A road show on AIDS awareness and blood safety was flagged off by Dr G.S. Chahal, Additional Project Director, Punjab State AIDS Control Society, from the office of truck union in Phase 6 on Monday. It will pass through Ropar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mandi Gobindgarh and Patiala, before terminating on World Health Day, falling on April 7. Awareness about AIDS will be spread through street plays, songs, posters, pamphlets and folders. Special shows in urban slums and distribution of condoms have also been planned by organisers.

HARYANA

AMBALA
DEMANDED: The Punjab Sports House of Ambala Cantonment on Monday demanded a reduction in sales tax on sports goods. In a letter to the Excise and Taxation Commissioner, it stated that the 10 per cent sales tax on sports goods in Haryana was high as compared to sales tax prevailing in neighbouring states. It demanded the sales tax to be reduced from 10 per cent to 4 per cent to bring it at a par with other states.

KAITHAL
VOTERS’ FORMS: Some former municipal councillors here have complained about the shortage of forms for the enrolment of new voters. They said in spite of the extension of the date for the registration of new voters, the process had been hampered due to non-availability of the forms. The secretary of the local municipal council, Mr Dharam Vir Bawa, said there was no shortage of forms as alleged, but some persons were insisting on the supply of forms in bulk quantity which was not possible.

SIRSA
ARRESTED:Three persons have been arrested in a case of theft of property worth lakhs from a closed-down factory in Mandi Dabwali subdivision of the district. According to the district police chief, Mr K.K. Mishra, Harish Chander of Mandi Dabwali had lodged a complaint on March 23 reporting the theft of machinery worth Rs 10 lakh from his factory near Shergarh village. The police has arrested Gopi Ram, Gurdas and Kuldeep involved in the theft and recovered stolen material worth Rs 2 lakh from them.

KILLED: Narinder Kumar, an employee of the District Public Relations Office has died in a road accident. According to the information received on Sunday, a team of the local Public Relations department had gone to Rori. On their way back, the steering of their jeep malfunctioned near Saharni village and the vehicle dashed into a tree injuring three occupants. One of them, Narinder Kumar died in hospital.

LAWYERS’ STRIKE: The strike by the District Bar Association in protest against the lathi charge on lawyers in Delhi entered its fourth day on Sunday. The striking lawyers burnt an effigy of Union Minister for Law Ram Jethmalani.

SONEPAT
NO POWER: The city and its suburbs remained powerless for an hour from 9 a.m. in addition to the frequent power failures throughout the day on Sunday paralysing drinking water supply, telephones, telegraphs and hospital services.

WHEAT DEMANDED: Mr Fateh Singh Singhmar, President of the Samaj Kalyan Maha Sangh, has urged the state government to provide 10 kg of wheat or atta or rice per month to each family living below the poverty line. In a press statement issued here on Sunday, he also welcomed the decision of the Central Government for making amendment in the provisions of the Constitution for excluding the reserved posts out of the purview for recruitment purposes.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

KULU
ARRESTED: The police, in its drive against drug peddlers, arrested Chuni Lal of Rasol village in the Manikaran valley on Saturday. Two kg of charas was seized from him, according to a press note issued by the Superintendent of Police. A case has been registered and the accused remanded to police custody.

POWER CUT: Electricity supply in the areas being fed by the 132 KV Bajaura sub-station, which include Kulu, Manali and Bhuntar town of the district, will remain suspended on April 4 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to Mr Vijay Anand, Xen. The power cut will be because of the maintenance work at the sub-station.

MANDI
12 INJURED: Twelve persons were injured when a Manali-Chintpurni bus of the HRTC collided head-on with a Himgiri private bus at a point 4 km from here on the Mandi-Kulu National Highway No 21 on Saturday. The injured persons were rushed to a hospital where they were discharged after first aid. Traffic on the highway remained jammed for about an hour.

SUNDERNAGAR
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the St Mary High School Parents Association: president — Major J.C. Patiyal (retd); senior vice-president — Mr Pankaj Sen; vice-president — Mr Jiwan Singh Verma, general secretary — Mr M.L. Mahajan; joint secretary — Mr Dhayan Singh Sen; and treasurer — Mr Ramesh Gupta.