R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
CAMP: The All-India Women’s Conference held an environment awareness camp at Daburji village here on Thursday. More than 300 villagers congregated at the Sohian Kalan gurdwara near Fatehgarh Churian area for the camp where Prof J.S. Arora of the Chemistry Department of Guru Nanak Dev University talked about the importance of saving water.

APPOINTED: The president of the district Youth Congress of Amritsar (Rural) said Mr Rajkanwal Singh had been appointed the secretary general of the DYCA. The other office-bearers are as follows: Mr Pardip Singh Bhuller — senior vice-president; Mr Sawinder Singh Sidhu, vice-president; Mr Resham Singh, general secretary; Mr Harjinder Singh Kular, secretary; Sukhwinder Pal Singh, press secretary and Mr Kuldip Singh, treasurer.

AMLOH
DEPUTATION MEETS DC: A deputation of the Pensioners’ Association of the sub-division, led by the president, Mr Hakim Rai, met Mr Vikas Partap, Deputy Commissioner, on Wednesday and apprised him of their problems. Pensioners said they had not been paid their pensions for the month of March by banks. The government had recently assigned banks to disburse the pensions. The Deputy Commissioner assured the deputation of disbursement of pensions within a week.

GURDASPUR
TB CONTROL: Gurdaspur district has been chosen by the Centre under its Revised National TB Control Programme for providing patients here with free treatment. Mr K.A.P. Sinha, Deputy Commissioner, told newsmen here on Thursday that a survey of TB patients had been ordered in this district.

SCHEME: The district administration has identified schools and villages in the district for setting up urinals for women. The scheme is estimated to cost Rs 15 crore and it has been sent to the Centre for approval.

HOSHIARPUR
PROCUREMENT: Mr Tikshan Sud, MLA, in a press note issued, here on Thursday, urged the Punjab Government to make urgent arrangements for the procurement of potato crop to save farmers from further financial crisis. He said the government was motivating farmers to adopt diversification, but it had not made any arrangement for the procurement of potato crop.

LIQUOR SEIZED: The police has seized 22,500 ml whisky from one Mohan Lal ‘Mohni’ of Bahadurpur Mohalla here. A case has been registered against him.

LUDHIANA
MEETING: Asian Club mourned the death of famous artist Harjit Singh Bedi at a condolence meeting here on Wednesday. The members recalled his contribution to Punjabi culture.

CALENDAR RELEASED: The Congress MP, Mr Gurcharan Singh Ghalib, released a calendar published by the Baiaragi Maha Mandal, Punjab, on Bairagi Baba Banda Singh Bahadur at a function here on Thursday. He lauded the efforts of the mandal for keeping alive the memory of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur.

PUBLIC RALLY: The Republican Party of India (Ambedkar) would organise a public rally here on Sunday. According to Mr Ratti Ram, president, and Mr Parkash Chand Jassal, general secretary of the party, the rally would focus on the plight of the poor in the state.

KIRTAN DARBAR: To mark “parkash parv” of Guru Arjun Dev and Guru Teg Bahadur, the Akal Khalsa Welfare Society will hold “Gur shabad sanchar and kirtan darbar” at Gurdwara Guru Arjun Dev, near Samrala bypass, from Saturday to Wednesday. Stating this, Mr Satnam Singh, secretary of the society, said “akhand path” would commence on Saturday, followed by “amrit sanchar” on Sunday. A nagar kirtan to mark Gurpurb would be taken out in the afternoon.

IT OFFICERS’ FORUM: The Income Tax Gazetted Officers (retd) Forum would hold its annual function-cum-annual general meeting at Ludhiana Club here on Sunday. According to Mr B.D. Narang, general secretary of the forum, Mr K.K. Kapila, Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), would be the chief guest.

PROMOTION: Zee TV offers a unique road show on its latest serial Dil... Naa Jane Kyon’ to the city residents. The channel on Thursday took out a promotion van in the city. The van has programme promoters announcing details of the programme and the contest. People at Ghumar Mandi, Chaura Bazaar, Rose Garden on Thursday filled up their names and phone numbers. The results would be announced at the end of each telecast between April 20 and April 23 and carry attractive prizes. On Friday the van would halt at Rakh Bagh, Ghumar Mandi, Sarabha Nagar Market. On April 19 the van would halt at Model Town Market, Field Ganj, Kidwai Nagar and Sarabha Nagar Market.

MANDI GOBINDGARH
VISIT: Mr Iman Singh Maan along with activists of the SAD (Amritsar) visited the grain markets of Mandi Gobindgarh, Amloh, Bugga Kalan and Shamaspur and discussed the problems with the farmers on Wednesday, according to Mr Ravinder Singh Khalsa, district youth president of the Akali Dal, in a press note here on Thursday. The issue of lifting of wheat at Bugga Kalan was resolved after discussions with the FCI inspector. 

PATIALA
OFFICE-BEARERS: Dr Adarsh Chopra, a renowned dermatologist and VD expert, has been elected as the president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Patiala unit, at a meeting of the association held here on Thursday. Other office-bearers are: chief patron — Dr Janak Sachdeva; secretary — Dr Ashok Gupta; press secretary — Dr D.S. Bhullar; finance secretary — Dr Shashi Pandhi; adviser — Dr Asha Rani Sarin; and central council members — Dr B.K. Gupta, Dr O.P.S. Kande and Dr Jagbir Singh.

PHAGWARA
BODY FOUND: The mutilated body of a 40-year-old woman who had been stripped naked was found near Jyoti Dhaba near Chachoki on the GT Road on Thursday. The woman’s head had been smashed and her legs crushed. Late yesterday, she had been seen moving around naked, speaking Hindi.

CHANDIGARH

FOUDATION STONE: Union Minister for Power Anant G. Geethe will lay the foundation stone of Bhakra Beas Bhavan in Sector 19 on Friday. The location of the bhavan will be on the Madhya Marg and adjacent to the existing Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) office in Sector 19. Mrs Jaywanti Mehta, Union Minister of State for Power, will also be present on the occasion.

EXHIBITION: Fresh colours, new feel and soft textures is what Utsav Weave Prabha collection by a Delhi-based textile designer Shashiv Chandran promises to the city buyers. Shashiv who believes in linking traditional handloom weavers with an aesthetic urban clientele will be exhibiting his summer collection of sarees, dupattas and fabrics from April 22 at Hotel Aroma in Sector 22. Founded in 1993, utsav works with a web of master weavers in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Bengal and with traditional hand block printers in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

SAFETY CLINIC: A safety clinic for the students of the Air Force School, Sector 31, was organised by the Indian Oil Corporation here on Thursday. The main emphasis of the clinic was to apprise the students and teachers about the safe use of the LPG. The Deputy Manager of the IOC, Ms Neelam Aggarwal, highlighted the various precautions and safety measures to be adopted in the kitchen.

PROGRAMME: Shirdi Sai Samaj, Sector 29, Chandigarh, today organised a bhajan chanting programme on the temple premises as part of the week-long Ram Navmi celebrations where Kumar Bharti Group, TV artistes from Delhi, performed. They sang religious bhajans in glory of Shirdi Baba which enthralled the audience. Later a community langar was also served.

PANCHKULA
DEMAND: The Commissioner, Handicapped Persons, Mr. Mohan Singh Ahluwalia, has asked the state government to ensure that lifts and ramps are provided for in all new public utility buildings. This was stated by Mr Mohan Singh while addressing a press conference, after presiding over a Handicapped persons court here. Such lok adalats for the physically challenged will now be organised all over the state and today was the third lok adalat in Haryana, he said. Over 30 physically challenged persons attended this court and listed their grievances.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

NAHAN
ST STATUS: At a meeting of the Labana Hitkarini Sabha at Kolar in Paonta tehsil on Thursday, minister Kaul Singh Thakur assured the Labana community that the issue of awarding Scheduled Tribe status to it would be raised in the state. He said that Rs 15 lakh would be given for checking soil erosion in Sudanwala under the Kolar panchayat.

SHIMLA
DEMANDS: The Himachal Pradesh Anganwari Workers and Helpers Union affiliated to CITU, said on Thursday that the state government should accept its demands within 15 days or face an agitation from May 21. This was said at a rally of the organisation at Shimla. The union also wanted revision of pay-scales and filling of vacant posts.