R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

BATHINDA
CULTURAL FESTIVAL: The eighth annual zonal cultural festival of the State Bank of Patiala was held here on Wednesday night. Mr D.J. Makand, Assistant General Manager, was the chief guest. Employees of all branches of the bank under the local zone participated in the festival.

PSEB OFFICES: According to a press note issued here on Friday by the PSEB all sub divisional offices, divisional, circle and zonal offices, falling under the Chief Engineer (DS West Zone), will remain open on Saturday and Sunday to enable the customers to pay their bills and attend to other problems elected with the board.

RALLY: Activists of the Technical Services Union, led by the mandal president, Mr Karora Singh, staged a dharna and took out a rally demanding the implementation of their demands that had been accepted by a former Power Minister two years ago. The union also condemned the registration of cases against BKU leaders for supporting their cause.

HOSHIARPUR
WHEAT PROCUREMENT: All arrangements for the procurement of wheat, including packing, lifting and storage, have been completed in Hoshiarpur district and wheat is expected to arrive at procurement centres in the first week of April. This was stated by Mr Kirandeep Singh Bhullar, Deputy Commissioner, today. He said 63 procurement centres had been set up in the district and 2.60 lakh tonnes of wheat was expected to be procured during this season as compared to 2.35 lakh tonnes during the last year.

KAPURTHALA
SAINIK SCHOOL: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has sanctioned Rs 15 lakh for Sainik School here to provide necessary infrastructure for imparting modern education to cadets. The funds have been received by the district administration, according to Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kumar Verma. The Chief Minister had visited the school recently.

LUDHIANA
MEETING HELD: The working committee of the Ek Koshish, an NGO , held a meeting on Thursday under the chairmanship of chief adviser Jagdish Chander. The focus of the meeting was participation in ‘shaheedi diwas’ to pay homage to martyrs of the Jallianwala Bagh episode. The function will be held at City Centre, near bus stand, and Capt Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister, would be the chief guest.

MEDICAL CAMP: A medical camp is being organised by the local Bhai Ghanaya Ji Sewa Sanstha , Haibowal Khurd, at Bhai Ghanaya Charitable Hospital , Golden Avenue, Hambaran Road, on Sunday. The patients will be examined and medicines will be given to the needy patients free of cost.

ORIENTATION COURSE: A two-day orientation course was organised at Anganwari Centre No. 96 on Thursday. Ms Manju Singla, Supervisor, Urban 2 ( Master Trainer ), conducted the course with the assistance of the Food and Nutrition Department, Government of India. On the first day, Prof Rajeev Sachdeva of Punjab Agricultural University , Ludhiana, told the 30 trainees about the diseases caused by infected food. Mr Rajiv Kalra distributed certificates to the trainees.

TURNOVER POLICY: The Export Credit Guarantee Corporation Of India (ECGC) has introduced Turnover Policy for the benefit of big exporters who contributed not less than Rs 10 lakh per annum towards premium. This was stated by Mr B.L. Bhatnagar, Assistant General Manager of ECGC.

RESIGNS: Mr Harjinder Singh Lati, National Vice-President, All- India Youth Akali Dal, and Mr Balwinder Singh Teer, Senior Vice- President of the district unit of the SAD have resigned from their respective posts. In a similarly worded resignation letters, they said they were taking retirement from active politics due to health reasons and other family commitments.

MOGA
PO ARRESTED: The police on Friday claimed to have arrested Baldev Singh of Kothe Ramuwala village and seized a .38-bore revolver with four cartridges from his possession. Caught during a routine checking near Mehamawala village, the accused, during preliminary interrogation, turned out to be a proclaimed offender wanted by the Jagraon police which had registered several cases of looting against him.

PEDESTRIAN KILLED: Surjit Singh of Rode village was injured when he was hit by a car at Samalsar town on Thursday, the police said. The victim succumbed to his injuries in a Baghapurana hospital. The car driver managed to escape.

NATHANA
SEMINAR: The Geography Department of Government Rajindra College conducted a seminar on “Water, the elixir of life” at the local BDPO complex on Wednesday. The seminar was sponsored by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. Dr P.S. Saroa, former scientist, Regional Research Station, Punjab Agriculture University, spoke about the state of the environment and its conservation. Dr G.S. Buttar, RRS, PAU, delivered a lecture on the present problems in managing and sustaining water resources. Mr H.S. Rai, Guru Nanak Engineering College, Ludhiana, delivered a talk on India’s water consumption patterns, sustainable development and future scenario of water resources.

PATHANKOT
LEASED OUT: The district administration has leased out all three ‘‘pattans’’ of Narot Jaimal Singh. The administration has been able to fetch a revenue of Rs 1.73 lakh this year as compared to Rs 71,500 last year. Mr Amarjit Singh, Tehsildar here, conducted the bid proceedings in the presence of Mr Mehar Singh Thakur, chairman of the block samiti, and Mr Des Raj Suman, BDO, Narot Jaimal Singh block.

PATIALA
VACANT POSTS: The Punjab Government Teachers Association on Thursday expressed concern over the failure of the government in filling more than 600 posts of lecturer and more than 24 posts of Principal, which, it said, had led to deterioration in the academic atmosphere in colleges. In a statement issued here, president of the association Bhag Singh Sandhu and general secretary Jaipal Singh said the government had also failed to implement the University Grants Commission notification of December 1998 and the Punjab Government notification of March 1999 regarding the revision of pay scales and service conditions of university and college teachers in toto.

SAMRALA
APPOINTED: Mr Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, President of the Bharti Kisan Union has appointed Mr Sher Singh Mushkabad executive member of the Punjab body and senior president of Ludhiana district here on Friday.

DEAD: HC Randhir Singh (38), posted at the local police station and at present serving at Mathura Jalandhar pipe line at Hedon died early in the morning when his rifle went off accidentally. The body, after a post-mortem examination, was handed over to his legal heirs. Police officials attended cremation at his native village.

TARN TARAN
LOAN DEFAULTER: Officials of the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation (PSIDC) have taken into custody the three-storeyed house of an industrialist of Goindwal Sahib, Mr Paramjit Singh. The latter has been declared a loan defaulter. He had taken a loan of Rs 3 crore to install a paper mill at Goindwal Sahib.

THREE BOOKED: Gulzar Singh and his two sons, Harjinder Singh and Boota Singh, all residents of Gorkha village, have been booked under Sections 326 and 34 of the IPC for assaulting Sukhdev Singh of the same village. Police sources said on Thursday that land dispute was said to be the cause of the dispute.

HARYANA

YAMUNANAGAR
LOANS: Rural Cooperative and Agricultural Development Banks have distributed Rs 1,468 lakh to enable farmers to purchase agricultural implements and carry out allied farming activities in the district during the current financial year, Mr Vijayendra Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, said. He said 261 persons benefited from these loans. Four Rural Cooperative and Agricultural Development Banks were working at Jagadhri, Radaur, Chhachhrauli and Bilaspur in the district, he added.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
NAVRATRA FAIR: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr P.C. Jassal, has enforced Section 144 of the CrPC in the Kotkehloor police station area from April 2 to April 12 for maintaining peace and law and order, as Chaitra Navratra fair will be held at the shrine of Naina Devi during the period. A notification said carrying all types of arms and ammunition and offering of coconuts and ‘prasad’ to the deity would also be prohibited during the fair which is attended by lakhs of pilgrims from eight states of the country.

DHARAMSALA
BANNED: The SDM, Dehra, has banned carrying of arms and explosives within the Jwalamukhi municipal area from April 1 to April 12. The step has been taken in view of the Chaitra Navratras.

ACCIDENT: Two persons were injured on the Dharamsala-Palampur road on Thursday when a private bus dashed against a tree. According to the police, the accident took place due to the negligence of the driver and a case under Sections 279 and 337 of the IPC has been registered. The injured were admitted to Dr RP Government Medical College here and were reported to be out of danger.

PROTEST: Students and staff of Our Own English School, Shahpur, on Thursday held a procession to protest against the USA-led attack on Iraq. They later burnt an effigy of US President George W Bush and also handed over a memorandum to the Tehsildar, Shahpur, appealing to President of India to mediate in the matter so that innocent lives were saved.

NURPUR
IT CAMPAIGN: The Income Tax Department has launched an awareness campaign for widening its tax base here and in Jawali subdivision. Mr Avinash Chander, Income Tax Officer (ITO) here, stated that the department aimed to enhance its existing tax base by 35 per cent every year. The ITO’s office had so far collected Rs 2.5 crore as advance income tax this year.

SCHOOLS ASSOCIATION: The affiliated private public schools of Kangra district have formed Affiliated Schools Management Association (ASMA). At its maiden meeting, the ASMA has decided to provide facilities for holding a sports meet and give scholarships to students studying in the ASMA schools. The following have been elected office-bearers of the ASMA : president — Mr Kuldeep Sharma; vice-presidents — Mr Ravinder Singh and Mr Shesh Ram Sugha; general secretary — Mr Arvind Dogra; and treasurer — Mr Sanjay Sharma.

PARWANOO
POLICY HAILED: Industrialists of Parwanoo, Baddi and Paonta Sahib on Friday welcomed the new industrial policy for Himachal Pradesh. They said it would boost industrial growth in the hill state. The industrialists said this policy would bring a boom in industrialisation in the state, which will give employment opportunities to the local people. 

SUNDERNAGAR
SENTENCED: Mr V.K. Ahuja, Sessions Judge, Mandi, on Wednesday convicted Soda Ram, a resident of Samkheter of Jogindernagar subdivision, district Mandi, for attempting to murder his wife, Mrs Satya Devi. The Judge sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years and pay a fine of Rs 5,000. In default of payment of the fine, the convict has to undergo imprisonment for further six months.