R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
APPOINTED: Mr Harish Shah has been appointed Majitha district BJP head by the party president, Mr Avinash Rai Khanna. The appointment letter has asked him to send the list of team members to be approved by the party high command.

Batala
DEMANDED: Mr Davinder Pal, president, District Gurdaspur Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh has demanded that the, Punjab government should merge 50 per cent DA in the basic pay of regular and retired employees. He said though the Centre and the state government had already ordered to merge 50 per cent DA in the basic pay of the employees, the Local-Self Government, Punjab, had not issued any such orders.

Phagwara
DEVELOPMENT GRANT: The Social Welfare Minister, Mr Joginder Singh Mann, on Friday gave development grant cheque for Rs 5 lakh for rural latrines at Chiheru village, an official press release said. Addressing the gathering the minister declared that Rs 500 crore would be spent under the Rajiv Gandhi Pendu Jan Kalyan Yojna on 10 lakh families in the state.

SAMRALA
Homoeopathy camp: A free homoeopathy camp was organised by the Homoeopathy Department in association with the the local gram panchayat at Gurdwara Sri Karamsar, 5 km from here, on Saturday. The camp was inaugurated by Inspector Kirpal Singh Khatran. More than 200 patients were examined and free medicines were given by a team of doctors lead by Dr Devinder Kaur Ghulal, in charge, and Dr Ajai Kumar Bagga.

Silence observed: A two-minute silence was observed by members of the local Bar Association on the demise of Shiv Sharan Dass Mehta, father of Judicial Magistrate-cum-Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division) Asha Condal. A condolence message was also passed by the association.

CHANDIGARH

SANSUI ANTAKSHARI: Zee Network will produce 13 episodes of Sansui Antakshari on the theme, “Punjab Special”. Mr Santosh Shendye, Senior Production Controller of Zee Telefilm, said the episodes would be shot in three categories.

HARYANA

AMBALA
SECTION 144 ENFORCED: Deputy Commissioner H.S. Malik on Saturday ordered the enforcement of Section 144 near examination centres. The order will remain in effect from February 16 to April 7 for all examination centres of middle, matric and senior secondary schools of the Haryana Education Board, Bhiwani. Photostat shops within a radius of 200 metres of the examination centres will remain closed from 12 noon to 5 pm on examination days.

MEETING: A meeting of the MES Workers Union Area Committee was held at Lal Kurti on Saturday. It was presided over by Mr Brij Bhushan. View were exchanged on the demonstration call given by the All India Defence Employees Federation for February 24.

Hisar
KISAN MELA: A one-day mini kisan mela was organised by Haryana Agricultural University here at nearby Dhani Dariyapur village on Friday. Addressing farmers Mr M.K. Miglani, Vice Chancellor, said the next quantum jump in agriculture production could be from the dry land areas as production potential of the irrigated area had already been exploited fully decades ago in achieving the Green Revolution.

Rohtak
MDU CENTRE: Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, will lay the foundation stone of Maharshi Dayanand University’s Postgraduate Regional Centre at Lisana village in Rewari on February 19. The university plans to spend Rs 5 crore on the construction of the centre’s teaching block, administrative block, and other infrastructural facilities. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Nahan
ANNUAL FUNCTION: The Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Mr Gangu Ram Musafir, presided over the annual prize distribution function of Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Nahan, on Thursday. He assured that vacant posts in the school would be filled at the earliest. He said Rs 3 lakh would be given to the school for a building. A former vice-chairperson of the State Planning Board, Ms Shyama Sharma, noted hockey player Sita Gosain, Pushpa Panwar and Rukhsana Khurseed, alumni of the school, were honoured on the occasion.

Nurpur
SOUGHT: The Himachal Pradesh upper Caste Employees Federation has demanded reservation for members of the Rajput and Brahmin communities in government jobs. Mr Subash Dadwal, state president of the federation on Friday pleaded with the state government that the Rajput and Brahmin communities constituted 40 and 25 per cent of the total population in Himachal Pradesh. He said these communities were categorised as upper castes and deprived of genuine share in government jobs.

ALLEGED: The Virbhadra Singh government has eight ministers from Kangra and Chamba districts but they have failed to safeguard the interests of the two districts. It was alleged by Mr Ramesh Dhawala and Mr Dulo Ram, president and vice-president, respectively, of the Kangra district BJP.