R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
FLAYED: The Bharashtachar and Nasha Virodhi Morcha flayed the Punjab Government decision to increase the electricity duty by 5 to 10 per cent and stamp duty by 50 per cent. Mr Harcharan Singh Brar, president of the morcha, said this would put an extra burden on the urban people. He demanded immediate withdrawal of the decision.

REQUEST: The S.S. Jain Mahasabha, Punjab, has requested the state government to suffix "Jain" with the name of Diwan Todal Mal who has an important place in the Sikh history. Mr Amrit Lal Jain, senior vice-president of the sabha, said Diwan Todar Mal purchased a piece of land for the cremation of Mata Gujri, and her two sons, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh. Diwan's family members and others were massacred later.

Malerkotla
SEMINAR: The Excise and Taxation Department organised a seminar on value added tax (VAT) at the Malerkotla Club here on Saturday. Mr B.S. Sidhu, Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, presided. Mr Sidhu told the participants about rules and regulations of the VAT Act.

Moga
BOOKED: A Punjab Roadways driver has been booked for submitting a fake Class X marks at the time of recruitment. According to sources, the GM of Punjab Roadways, Moga, had complained that the accused, Darshan Singh, a resident of Chugawa village, had secured the job of a driver in 1982 by producing a fake marks sheet. The accused was suspended five months back.

Patiala
Distributed: The Lok Chetna Samiti and Gurmati Colony Welfare Society, which organised a medical camp, have distributed winter protection kits to nearly 100 children.

SBP gesture: The State Bank of Patiala (SBP), in collaboration with the Golden Youth Club and the local centre of the Nehru Yuva Kendra, distributed winter kits to 100 poor people here today. Chief guest Mr Rajinder Prashar, Assisant General Manager of the bank, said they were distributing blankets and sweaters keeping in view the onset of winter season.

Knitting centre: The Nirmal Verma Yaadgari Knitting Centre was inaugurated by Ms Shukla Das, president of the Ladies Club of State Bank of Patiala, at Theri village, near here today. On this occasion, Sudesh Verma said Harpreet Singh Sandhu, Director of Daffodils School was being given a special award for doing social work.

Phagwara
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Gazetted and Non-Gazetted SC/BC Employees Welfare Federation: president—Mr Satwant Singh Toora; senior vice-presidents—Mr Amar Nath Mehmi, Mr Darshan Singh, Mr Prem Singh Badhan; secretary—Mr Surinder Singh Basra; joint secretary—Mr Joginder Singh; office-secretary—Mr Ramji Das Virdi; press secretary—Mr Paramjit Kumar; propaganda secretary—Mr Paramjit Bangar; legal adviser—Mr Ram Saroop Khera and cashier—Mr Gian Chand Wahid.

Phillaur
APPOINTED: Mr Avinash Rai Khanna, president of state unit of the BJP, has appointed Mr Khushwant Rai Goga of Ropar president of the Panchayati Raj Cell, Mr Birbal Phawa of Phagwara convener of workers training cell and Mr Ram Lal of Nawanshahr convener of cultural cell of the state unit.

Sangrur
SEIZED: Officials of the District Food and Supplies Department have seized nine LPG cylinders from hotels and shops. The cylinders were being used for commercial purposes. Ms Gurmeet Kaur Sidhu, Controller of the department, warned car drivers against using LPG cylinders in their vehicles. She said action would be taken against the defaulters.

APPOINTED: Mr Satwant Singh, president of the local unit of the BJP, has been appointed as national vice-president of the BJP Kisan Morcha, Mr K.K. Moudgil, senior vice-president of the unit, said here on Saturday.

HARYANA

Kurukshetra
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearrs of the District Bar Association: president—Mr Ashok Bhardwaj; vice-president—Mr Som Nath Kakkar; general secretary—Mr Karam Singh Rana; joint secretary—Mr Rajesh Gaur and treasurer—Mr Amit Gupta.

Sonepat
LOOTED: Three armed motor cycle borne youths looted Rs 41,000 from the local branch of Syndicate Bank at Chhatehra Bahdpur village, 8 km from here, on Friday. A case has been registered.

ARRESTED: The Railway Protection Force has arrested a truck driver, Shabeel Ahmed of Niwara village in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh, on the charge of damaging a barrier at the level crossing near Hindu College in the city. A case has been registered against him.

Yamunanagar
GANG BUSTED: With the arrest of six armed youths, the police claims to have busted an inter-state gang of thieves. The arrested persons included Ashwini, Arvind, Ranjit, Rajbir and Shmshad from Uttar Pradesh and Rajesh of Yamunanagar. Some country -made pistols and live cartridges were recovered from their possession.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
URGED: The Gobind Sagar Ghats Sudhar Sabha has said more than 24 ghats across the Gobind Sagar lake are in a poor condition due to silt, slush and muck. They have been facing a lot of problems while crossing the lake. They urged the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to allocate funds for the maintenance of the ghats.

WARNED: The Kotkehloor Assembly unit of the BJP has warned the state government not to shift the venue of a proposed new cement factory from Bilaspur district to Solan district. They urged the government to reconsider its decision.

CONSTRUCTED: Villagers of Rishikesh area have constructed a 3-km road across the Sutlej under the guidance of their panchayat president, Mr Roop Singh. Villagers urged the state government to come forward to take responsibility of repair of the road in future.

URGED: Parents of plus two students have urged the HP State School Education Board to fix different dates for the examination of Physics and Hindustani vocal music because the date for both papers is same.

CONSTRUCTED: Villagers of Rishikesh area have constructed a 3-km road across the Sutlej under the guidance of their panchayat president, Mr Roop Singh. Villagers urged the state government to come forward to take responsibility of repair of the road in future.

URGED: Parents of plus two students have urged the HP State School Education Board to fix different dates for the examination of Physics and Hindustani vocal music because the date for both papers is same.

CONCLUDED: A five-day camp for youth development programme concluded at Barnote (Jhandutta) near here on Friday. The camp was organised by the Nehru Yuva Kendra. Mr Somdutt Zard, coordinator of the camp, said training would be given to participants in social work and implementation of development works.

Hamirpur
DROWNED: A three-year-and-half-year-old Deepak Kumar of Jol Sapper village was drowned in a water tank of the house here on Saturday. The boy had been missing since morning.

Kumarhatti
SEIZED: The police seized 36 bottles of IMFL from a truck (HP-11-1444) at Parwanoo bearer on Saturday. The driver of the truck, Janki Ram, a resident of Jabbal village in Arki tehsil, has been arrested in this connection.

Mandi
URGED: The Deputy Commissioner has urged the residents of the district to come forward and invest in small savings scheme. He said “The scheme attracts an interest rate of 9 per cent and depositors get exemption from the Income tax”. He said the state government has fixed a target of Rs 87.85 crore for next year.

CAMP: Dr S.K. Sharma, a scientist in charge of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sundernagar, has given tips to farmers how dairy farming along with agriculture can increase their income and productivity during a training camp. Nineteen women from Mandi district attended the camp.

MOURNED: The local minority unit of the Congress has mourned the death of former Prime Minister, P.V. Narsimha Rao here on Sunday. Mr Rajpal Singh, president of the unit, urged the members to follow the path shown by him.

Nurpur
LAUDED: Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has lauded the efforts of the Army to extinguisg a fire in the McLeodganj market on December 20 in which 15 shops were gutted. Mr Samdhog Rinpoche, Prime Minister of Tibetan Government—in—exile, said the Army personnel had responded well in time to save life and property of the Tibetan refugees.