R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

BATHINDA
APPOINTED: Mr Kamaldeep Singh Sidhu has been appointed President of the city unit of the All-India Youth Akali Dal. This was stated in a press note issued here on Saturday by Mr Hartej Singh Mehta, President of the Dal.

KHARAR
FAULTY EXCHANGE: Telephone subscribers of nearby Tewar village are facing a lot of hardship because a defected telephone exchange has been installed there. Mr Hardev Singh, a panch of the village, in a press note issued here on Monday, has alleged that it has not been functioning properly since its installation. He says that officials at the SAS Nagar telephone exchange say that they do not have a technician who can go to Tewar. He has urged the Telecom Department to look into the matter.

MALERKOTLA
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Rotary Club: president— Mr Ravi Kant Vohra; and secretary — Mr Jatinder Kumar Singla.

POWER CUTS: Residents and industrialists have resented the frequent power cuts by the PSEB during the night. PSEB officials have allegedly failed to attend to the complaints.

MOGA
GUTTED: Eight shops were destroyed in a fire here on Sunday. Shop owners on Monday demanded compensation from the government. The Punjab Education Minister who visited the shops on Sunday had assured them that he would take up the matter with the Punjab Chief Minister.

PATIALA
DEMAND: The Punjab Pensioners Welfare Association has urged the Punjab Government to fulfil promises made by it during the elections. In a press note, Mr.Dayal Singh Bhangu, General Secretary of the association, said recommendations of the fifth pay commission should be implemented. He said although the Central Government had agreed to pay 5 per cent of the basic pay when a pensioner attained the age of 65, the state government was unduly dithering over the issue. He also demanded that the medical allowance to pensioners should be increased. He said if the demands were not met, pensioners would be forced to agitate. The association has called a meeting on July 8 to chalk out the next course of action.

ROPAR
RECORD GENERATION: Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Plant, Ropar has registered a record generation of electricity in 1999-2000. The Chief Engineer, Mr S K Thaman, said the plant had generated 8, 203 million units against a target of 8,000 million units set for it by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and the PSEB.

ZIRAKPUR
TRIBUTES PAID: Tributes were paid to late Balwant Kaur, mother of Mr Balbir Singh, a former minister of Punjab, in a bhog ceremony at Bartana here on Sunday. Besides Ms Praneet Kaur, MP, various other leaders, including Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar, Mr Jasjit Singh Randhawa, Mr Jagmohan Singh, Mr Harnek Singh, Gharuan, Mr Hardyal Singh Kamboj and Mr Deepinder Singh Dhillon were also present.

CHANDIGARH

RESULTS DELAYED: Panjab University has not declared the results of undergraduate courses as yet Final-year students of the University are at a disadvantage compared to the students of the other universities. Examinations of all universities ended at the same time. While most of the universities have declared their results, Panjab University has not. Students have to appear in entrance tests, besides seeking admissions elsewhere and making it difficult for them.

RATH YATRA: Hundreds of devotees took part in the Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra organised under the aegis of the Utkal Sanskrutik Sangh here on Monday. The yatra began from the Jagannath Temple in Sector 31-D with the chief guest, Mr Sampat Singh, Haryana Finance Minister, pulling the sacred rope. The yatra culminated at the same temple after passing through various Sectors, including 31, 30, 20, 21, 34, 44, 45, 46 and 47. Residents of various sectors and markets also participated in the yatra by showering flower petals and distributing prasad all the way.

ANTI-SOCIAL ELEMENTS: The police has decided to launch a special drive against anti-social elements. Under the drive, raids will be conducted on hotels, dhabas and guest houses to apprehend persons consuming liquor at these places. Action will also be taken against persons found driving vehicles after consuming liquor. “The police will also take strict action against persons who create nuisance at public places under the influence of liquor”, a press note said.

NAGAR KIRTAN: A nagar kirtan procession will be taken out on August 28 to mark the Parkash Utsav of Guru Granth Sahib. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Nagar Kirtan Tal Mel Committee held under the chairmanship of Maj N.S. Rangi (retd) at the Sector 34 gurdwara here on Monday. The procession will begin from the Sector 45-D Gurdwara Gurmat Seva Sabha and travel through Sectors 44, 43, 35, 22, 21 and 20 before terminating at the Sector 20 Gurdwara Kalgidhar Kheri.

HARYANA

AMBALA
ABSENT: About two dozen employees of different government offices were found absent during raids conducted by Mr Mohinder Kumar, Additional Deputy Commissioner and Chairman of the District Vigilance Team, here on Monday. According to a press note, four officials of the SDM office were not in office when the vigilance team conducted a raid there. Also, nine officials of the District Education Office were also found absent. In some other offices of the district, one dozen employees were absent without any prior information. Mr Mohinder Kumar said an official letter had been sent to the head offices of the departments concerned.

HOUSE TAX: The Model Town Welfare Society and some other organisations of the town expressed concern over the decision of the state government to impose a high house tax by amending the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973, through an ordinance. In a memorandum sent to the Chief Minister and the Governor, the society said the formula adopted to assess the house tax was too harsh to be understood by residents. “The decision to add the present market value of land at collectorate rate to depreciate the value of residential units was unjustified, said the memorandum. The memorandum said no scope had been left for assessees to object. The society has urged the government to withhold the imposition till the ordinance to discussed in the Assembly.

ELECTED: Dr Vinay Kumar Malhotra of the GMN College in Ambala Cantonment was unanimously elected President of the Indian Association for American Studies (IAAS) in its 33rd annual national conference held recently. Dr Malhotra was also given the Olive I Reddick Award (Senior) for presenting a paper titled Indo-US Relations in Post-Pokhran II Period. Dr Malhotra said eminent scholars like Prof R.P. Kaushik of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Prof P.M. Kamath of Bombay University and Prof Dilip Mohite of Baroda University had been the past presidents of the association. The association is an all-India body of academicians and scholars which formed in 1964 to promote the study of American history, literature, politics and sociology in India. Its another objective was to work for a better Indo-US relations, Dr Malhotra said. Dr Malhotra has been involved with American studies and research for long. He is a life member of the IAAS and IACIS (ARSC) and in the past, he has served the IAAS as its executive member and general secretary. Out of his 12 books, four are on Indo-US and US-South-Asia relations.

EXTRA CHARGE: Persons who travel daily Ambala city to Chandigarh have expressed concern over an extra Rs 35 being charged from them on monthly bus passes at the Haryana Roadways depot in Ambala for the past two months. According to some of the daily passengers, fare from Ambala City to Chandigarh is Rs 23, normally but, they have to pay Rs 24 for single fare on the monthly pass. A daily passenger, Mr Anup Sharma, said the roadways authorities had charged every one Rs 840 for monthly pass in May. After protest, the roadways authorities had started charging Rs 805 from June at a rate of Rs 23 for single fare. The authorities had also returned the extra Rs 35 taken from every pass holders in May. Now, the authorities have again started charging Rs 840 for the monthly passes. The pass holders are also being asked to pay the remaining amount for the past two months. Mr Naresh Sharma, a daily passenger, said when he had contacted Station Supervisor at Ambala city bus stand, he had refused to entertain him, saying that a circular of the department had told him to charge Rs 24 as single fare from pass holders. Many conductors said in all buses, the fare from Ambala city to Chandigarh was Rs 23. However, pass holders travelling from Ambala Cantt to Chandigarh are being charged at the old rate. Passengers have also demanded the introduction of at least two regular buses from Ambala city to Chandigarh for women.

FATEHABAD
POPPY HUSK SEIZED: The local police claims to have seized 2,000 kg of poppy husk with the arrest of nine persons in this connection. According to the district police chief, Mr Shrikant Jadhav, the police on a tip-off stopped a truck near Jakhal and seized poppy husk packed in 50 gunny bags. Those arrested have been identified as Maghar Singh, of Munshiwala village, Bagga Singh, of Darba (Punjab), Rohtash of Devrod (Rajasthan), Balbir Singh, of Mamnusham Pura village, Balwinder of Chubarpur, Kaka Singh of Jakhal, Maku of Meond Kalan and Raju of Narender Pura village (Punjab). A case has been registered.

HISAR
PRESS CLUB: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Hisar Press Club: president — Mr Praveer Arya; vice — presidents — Mr Satpal Sheoran and Mr Shriyans Jain; general secretary — Mr D.S.Nandwal; joint secretary —Mr Shashi Nayyar; and treasurer — Mr Rakesh Taneja.

PANIPAT
VOTER-I-CARDS: Photos for voters identity cards of the three Assembly constituencies of Panipat, Samalkha and Naultha will be completed by July 14, 2000. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr M.R. Anand, said photos of only those voters would be taken whose name existed in electoral roll and who were not photographed earlier.

SHAHABAD
NOMINATED: Dr K.L. Miglani, Principal, Markanda National (PG) College, Shahabad, has been nominated for the "Man of the Year-2000" by the US Biographical Institute of North Corolina (USA).

SONEPAT
ROBBED: Three persons on Sunday reportedly waylaid a servant of a contractor near Lath village and robbed him of Rs 10,000 at pistol point. The Gohana police has registered a case and a hunt is on to apprehend the culprits.

BAN: Sarpanch and panches, at a meeting held here on Sunday, imposed a ban on kites flying at Rathdhanna village of the district. The ban was imposed following a report that a child had fallen from the roof of his house while flying a kite. The panchayat has decided to impose a fine of Rs 200 on anyone who was caught flying a kite.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

NURPUR
DEVELOPMENT: Mr Rakesh Pathania, Vice-Chairman, Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, said Nurpur area had developed ever since the Dhumal government came to power. He alleged that the feud between a former Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, and the PCC chief, Mr Sat Mahajan, had stalled the development of the area.