R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
RALLY: The local unit of the BJP decided on Saturday to hold a rally at Municipal Corporation office to protest against the increase in water supply, sewerage and house tax charges on April 16. Stating this Mr Sudesh Kaushal, General Secretary of district BJP, informed that the state government had not provided tubewells and proper roads despite promises.

BATALA
ELECTED: Mr Prit Pal Singh Boparai, the newly appointed Secretary of the Bar Council, Batala, said on Friday that the following had been elected office-bearers of the Batala Bar Council for the year 2003-2004: president — Mr Raghubir Singh Sandhu; vice-president — Mr Gurinder Singh Parmar; secretary — Mr Prit Pal Singh Parmar; joint secretary — Mr Agnihotri; and treasurer — Mr Lakshan Sarup Sharma.

FARIDKOT
SEMINAR: Dr J.S. Gujral, Vice-Chancellor Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, has laid stress on holding more seminars on continuing medical education to make the doctors aware of the latest development in the field. Presiding over a seminar organised by the local unit of the Indian Medical Association here on Saturday, the Vice-Chancellor appealed to the experts to adopt a positive approach and sympathetic behaviour to help in the speedy recovery of patients. Earlier, while inaugurating the seminar, Dr Mridul Sharma, Chief Interventional Cardiologist, Nayyar Heart and Supper Speciality Hospital, Amritsar, laid stress on preventive measures like regular exercise, control on diet, weight and smoking to avoid diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes.

GURDASPUR
PENSIONERS’ DEMAND: The local unit of the Punjab Government Pensioners Association has described the notification issued by the government on February 20,2003 according to which pensioners hence forth will be able to draw their pensions only from nationalised banks and not from district treasuries, as unfortunate and anti-pensioners. Mr S.S. Jaspal and Mr S.S. Bedi president and general secretary, respectively, demanded withdrawal of the said notification. They said the nationalised banks should have been instructed by the Punjab Government to open the accounts of the pensioners before issuing such a notification.

APPROVED: The district credit plan amounting to Rs 526.85 crore for the year 2003-2004 was approved in a meeting of district consultative committee of bankers and district level review committees convened here yesterday under the chairmanship of Mr KAP Sinha, Deputy Commissioner. The meeting was attended by Mr Balvir Singh, Senior Regional Manager, PNB, Kapurthala; Mr M.R. Garg AGM, Reserve Bank of India, Chandigarh, Mr Sohan Singh DIM, NABARD and Mr MP Singh SDM Gurdaspur. Mr Sinha said the district credit plan upto December 2002 had achieved a target of Rs 354.40 crore.

KAPURTHALA
2 HELD: The district police has arrested two teenagers and recovered hawala money worth Rs 7 lakh from their possession near Ramgarh village. The Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr R.N. Dhoke, said in a press note on Saturday, that the accused, Vishal Kumar and Rajesh Kumar, both students, were on way to Bholath in a car when their vehicle was intercepted. On search of their car, the hawala money was recovered. The police has registered a case.

LUDHIANA
CHETNA YATRA: Arya Samaj would take out a “chetna yatra” from Amritsar on Monday. It was stated by Mr Roshan Lal, district organiser, at a meeting held by Arya Samaj, Dal Bazar, here on Saturday. The aim of the yatra was to make people aware of cultural pollution, obscenity, drug addiction and female foeticide. The caravan would proceed to Batala, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and other cities and finally reach Ludhiana on Thursday at 5pm. The organisers of the yatra, Mr Sudesh Sharma and Mr Sant Kumar, said the yatra would be welcomed at Mata Rani Chowk. It would then proceed to Clock Tower, Girjaghar Chowk, Chaura Bazar, Ghas Mandi and finally reach Arya Samaj Mandir, Dayanand Bazar. 

COMPETITIONS: A workshop to organise national-level spiritual competitions for the year 2003 was held at Sant Shri Asaram Ashram, Sahnewal on Friday. The competitions were being held to make students aware of rich heritage. The competitions would be organised in two phases. These would be open to the students from Class IV to XII. They could submit their names till April 30.

MOGA
CHILD KILLED: Seven-year-old Amanpreet Singh was killed on the spot, while his father Nachattar Singh and grandmother Harjinder Kaur were wounded in a collision between a scooter and truck at nearby Gauke village on Saturday. The condition of the wounded, admitted in local civil hospital, was stated to be serious by the doctors.

PATIALA
OFFICE -BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Bar Council: president— Mr Rakesh Gupta; vice-president—Mr Baljit Singh; secretary— Mr G.S Rai; joint secretary— Mr Amarjit Singh Sunny; treasurer—Mr B.S Cheema; and librarian—Mr Alok Dewan.

SEMINAR: The Department of Economics of Punjabi University organised a seminar on ‘transitional crises in the Green Revolution belt and response of public policy’ on the university campus here on Sunday. Addressing the seminar, Dr S.S Boparai, Vice-Chancellor of the university, highlighted the fact that wages in Punjab were very low as compared to other states. The first technical session was chaired by Dr A.S. Mathur, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

NAWANSHAHR
SEMINAR: The Amardeep Singh Shergill Memorial, Mukandpur, about 20 km from here, organised a seminar on the topic “New Trends in the Indian Political System”, on Saturday. Mr P.P.S. Sohi, a renowned scholar, was the chief guest.

CHANDIGARH

PANCHKULA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Haryana Government Retired Officers Welfare Association during its general body meeting: president — Mr Subhash Bansal; senior vice-president — Mr S.P. Bansal; vice-president — Mr O.D. Sharma; general secretary — H.R. Gandhi; secretary — Mr S.L. Setia, finance secretary — Mr Tara Chand Gulati; and organising secretary — Mr H.R. Bhatia.

SCHOOL INAUGURATED: A DAV preparatory school was inaugurated at Pinjore by the SDM, Kalka, Mr Sushil Sarwan, on Sunday. The function began with the Principal and staff of DAV Senior Public School, Surajpur, performing a havan ceremony.

CONVENTION: The second annual convention of Haryana North Unit of the Bharat Vikas Parishad was held at Pracheen Shiv Mandir, Sector 9, on Sunday. As many as 280 members of the parishad from more than 30 units (shakhas) participated. The following have been elected office-bearers of the Haryana North chapter of the party: president — Prof Sham Bihari Garg; general secretary — Mr Kamal Kumar; and treasurer — Mr Anil Bindal. 

SAS NAGAR
AWARENESS CAMP: A one-day awareness camp was organised by the Jan Shikshan Sansthan here on Sunday. The programme on safe drinking water and sanitation was held at Fatehpuri Mohalla near Masjid Kurali. Mr Dildar Khan, director in charge, and Mr Anand Mohan Sharma, programme officer, JSS, here spoke on the occasion. 

CULTURAL SHOW: ‘Chal Chaliye Baisakhi’, a Punjabi cultural programme will be organised at Bal Bhavan, Sector 23, here on April 13 by the Malwa Husain Social Welfare and Cultural Society, SAS Mohali, and the Rising Star Development Youth Club, Punjab, according to a press note.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
URGED: Mr Surinder Bhardwaj, a local Congress MLA from Rajnagar constituency, has urged the government to shift the check-points of security forces set up in the Tissa sector from the lower reaches to the alpine ranges on the borders of Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh. In a letter sent to the government on Sunday, Mr Bhardwaj suggested that the shifting of check-points of security forces to the highlands would ease the grazing of livestock in the nearby pasturelands by the inhabitants of Rajnagar constituency.

DHARAMSALA
ADVICE TO FARMERS: The Vice-Chancellor of Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University, Palampur, Dr Tej Partap, has asked scientists to ensure that the farmers go for judicious use of chemicals in their crops. Addressing the farm scientists and agriculture officers, Dr Tej Partap said food security and healthy food cannot be seen in isolation. The Vice-Chancellor advised the farmers to go for organic farming so that they benefit under WTO and World Trade. He said higher hills were ideal for the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants and farmers of Himachal can benefit from this.