R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amloh
Prizes distributed: As many as 30 students of Government Elementary School, Anian, 1 km from here, were awarded mementos by former sarpanch Pargat Singh at the prize distribution function of the school on Thursday. The function was presided over by Mr Baljit Singh, vice-president, Anti-Corruption Federation of Amloh unit. Students, who got first three positions in their classes, and others, who won distinction in sports and cultural activities were given prizes.

Jalandhar
Dharna: Workers and office-bearers of the Lok Bhalai Party headed by Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia staged dharna in front of the local Passport Office on Saturday. They were protesting against alleged delay on the part of the Indian Embassy in Spain to accord necessary travel documents to thousands of Punjabi youth staying there illegally. Among those present on the occasion were senior party leaders like Avtaar Singh Mullanpuri and Ramandeep Singh Bharowal.

INAUGURATED: The Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Mr Avtaar Henry, inaugurated a 110 bed general hospital set up jointly by residents of Bilga and surrounding villages and NRIs of the area at Bilga village in Jalandhar district on Friday. Addressing the gathering, Mr Henry said NRIs were playing a vital role in all around development of the state and this was evident from a large number of public utility organisations set up by the NRIs.

Hoshiarpur
Released: Mr D.K. Tiwari, Deputy Commissioner, released the District Credit Plan of Rs 887.38 crore for Hoshiarpur. It has been prepared by Punjab National Bank for 2005-06 at a function held here on Saturday. Mr T. S. Ahluwalia, Senior Regional Manager, Punjab National Bank, Mr Raghbir Singh, AGM, NABARD, Mr Mohan Singh Chaura, District Manager, HCCB, and Mr Jaswinder Singh, Lead District Manager, were also present on the occasion. The Deputy Commissioner said under the Kisan Credit Card scheme 59,870 cards had already been issued up to December 2004.

Polio drops: About 1.92 lakh children would be administered pulse polio drops from April 10 to May 15 in the district. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner here on Saturday. He said 992 teams had been constituted for administering polio drops. Among those present on the occasion were Dr S.P.S. Sohal, Civil Surgeon, Mr D. R. Bhagat, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), Mr Gopal Krishan Sabharwal, Additional Deputy Commissioner (General), Dr Ravi Kumar, District Immunisation Officer, Dr Ajay Bagga, in charge, Schoolchildren Health Programme, SDMs of Hoshiarpur and Dasuya and heads of various departments.

Khanna
Wheat Procurement: No wheat procurement was made by any government agency in Asia’s biggest grain market despite the announcement made by the state government to start procurement on April 1. More than 200 quintal of wheat had arrived in the market by this evening. The Secretary, Market Committee, said procurement could not be held as the wheat had high moisture content.

Strike: On the third day of the strike against VAT, traders and industrialists of the town observed a bandh on Friday. A procession was taken out in the markets of the town and an effigy of VAT was brunt. Leaders of various trade organisations took part in the procession.

Kapurthala
SAVING SCHEMES: Under the small savings schemes, Rs 123 crore has already been deposited in the district till February 2005 against the target of Rs 135 crore for this fiscal. This was stated by Mr Rakesh Verma, Deputy Commissioner, in a press note on Friday. Last year, the district got deposits of Rs 127 crore which were 21 per cent more than the target.

Ludhiana
Session begins: The academic session of Sat Paul Mittal School started with the orientation of parents who were briefed on the new session here on Friday. The parents were welcomed by head of the institution Suneet Sidhu.

Phagwara
Teachers’ strike: Activists of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union on Saturday staged dharnas and organised campus rallies in protest against non-acceptance of their demands. Addressing a rally at the local Guru Nanak College, the PCCTU leaders, Prof Sital Singh, Prof Jasbir Singh Johal, and Prof Gurnam Singh, flayed the government for not releasing the fourth quarter grant to colleges. About 100 colleges had not paid salaries to teachers for the past six months, they rued.

ROPAR
CREDIT PLAN: The district credit plan of Rs 819.22 crore for Ropar district for 2005-2006 prepared by UCO Bank was launched by the Deputy Commissioner, Ms Seema Jain, here on Friday. Mr J.C. Malhotra, Deputy Manager of the bank, said out of Rs 819.22 crore, Rs 738.88 crore was earmarked for the priority sector. The agriculture sector had been allocated Rs 494.78 crore which was 30 per cent higher than the figure of the previous year and 67 per cent of the total plan.

VISIT: Fifty delegates from 23 countries who came in Chandigarh to participate in a conference being organised by the CPI, visited Ropar on Saturday. The delegates are on their way to various religious places and sites in Amritsar.

Sangrur
REPRESENTATION: Mr V.S. Jolly, general secretary of the All-India Central Government Pensioners’ Association, northern region, Jalandhar on Friday asked the Union Government to nominate a representative of the pensioners’ associations to Parliament to give them representation on the pattern of minority communities and the film industry.

CHANDIGARH

Panchkula
FUNCTION: The annual prize distribution function of St Vivekanand Millennium School was held at Pinjore on Friday. A small cultural programme was also organised and 150 students were given prizes. Mr R.M. Kashyap and Mr Piyush Punj, president and manager of the school, respectively, were also present on the occasion. The school magazine, Deepayan, was also released.

Rath Yatra: A rath yatra was organised by Sri Sathya Sai Sewa Organisation here on Friday. The yatra started from Lakshmi Narayan Mandir, Sector 6, and passed through various parts of the township. A socio-spiritual exhibition was also inaugurated at DC Model School.

HARYANA

AMBALA
ELECTED: Dr Ashok Sarwal was unanimously elected president of the Ambala City unit of the Indian Medical Association unanimously for the 2005-2006 here on Saturday. Dr Sarwal is a prominent orthopaedic surgeon and is associated with several organisations. He runs an orthopaedic hospital in Ambala City.

PROHIBITORY ORDERS: The District Magistrate, Ambala, Mr J.P. Kaushik has ordered the imposition of Section 144 in Ambala City and the Sadar area of Ambala Cantonment from April 13 to April 20. In an order issued on Saturday, he directed that nobody would be allowed to carry fire arms or sharp weapons in public places during that period. However, Sikhs would be allowed to carry small swords as a symbol of religion. Strict action would be taken against the violators, he ordered.

Fatehabad
Sugarcane: growers in the area have good news. The management of the Bhuna Cooperative Sugar Mill has taken steps for smooth functioning of the mill. The previous Indian National Lok Dal government had decided to close the mills. The mill management has reserved 57,000 quintals of sugarcane seed to be distributed amongst the sugarcane-growing farmers.

Gurgaon
NABBED: The police nabbed five members of a gang while they were allegedly conspiring in the Mewat area Nurpur village 30 kms from here, to commit dacoities in the area. Those arrested are Zakir, Arshad and Asgar, all brothers and Mohammad Illivas and Ramir. They are natives of Chandeni village, A maruti car, a country made gun with cartridges were recovered from their possession.

Kaithal
Condolence meeting: The district administration, members of business community and representatives of educational institutions have mourned the death of Mr O.P Jindal and Mr Surender Singh, who died in a helicopter crash on Thursday. Condolence meetings were also organised at RKSD College and Agarwal Dharamshala. Mr Ashok Khemka, Deputy Commissioner, Mr Sanjeev Verma, Additional Deputy Commissioner, observed 2 minutes silence and prayed for the departed souls.

Panipat
MC POLL: As many 219 candidates have been left in the fray for the local municipal council elections to be held on April 16. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Returning Officer, Mr Mehtab Singh, in a press note issued here on Saturday. About 225 candidates had filed their nomination papers. However, six withdrew from the contest. The SDM, Mr Satpal Singh, has been appointed as returning officer, he added.

APPOINTED: The State Election has appointed HSIDC Managing Director Rajiv Arora as observer to ensure free and fair panchayat elections in the district. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner-cum-Returning Officer Mehtab Singh in a pressnote issued here on Saturday. He said anyone could contact him either personally or on telephone No. 2671964 to sort out any problem. Elections for the Panchayat Raj institutions in Panipat and Israna blocks would be held on Sunday. He said duty magistrates and several police teams would be deployed in the two blocks to ensure peaceful elections.

Sonepat
CONVICTED: The District and Sessions Judge, Mr Chander Bhan Jaglan yesterday convicted Surinder (37), a resident of Subhash Nagar and sentenced him to life imprisonment, on the charge of murdering his wife Sonia on March 22, 2003.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Dharamsala
LAUNCHED: The DC Mr Bharat Khera, here on Friday launched the district credit plan for the year 2005-2006. The credit plan registered a growth of 64.14 per cent this year. Speaking on the occasion, he said a sum of Rs 380.60 crore had been earmarked for credit allocation under the plan. Rs 55 crore had been allocated under the non-priority sector. He hoped that this credit plan would generate new employment opportunities, besides enhancing pace of development.

PROHIBITED: The carriage and use of all types of arms, ammunition and explosives within the limits of Nagar Panchayat, Jwalamukhi, have been prohibited by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Dehra, from April 9 to 19 in view of the celebrations of Chaitra navratra Mela. He said the step had been taken to ensure the safety of both the local public and the pilgrims visiting the area.

Mandi
BANDH: The three day long anti-Vat bandh threw normal life out of gear for the third day in the town as most shops and private business establishments remained closed here on Friday. The bandh, however, concluded peacefully with the traders burning the effigy of the Vat system.

WORKSHOP: The consultative Forum, Mandi forest circle, held a workshop here on Friday involving different government departments, in the DFID conservation project in the forest circles in the district. “Workshop is aimed at coordinating the efforts of all government agencies, including the forestry department, in project involving the gram sabha”, said Mr C.S. Singh, conservator of forests, Mandi circle.

Solan
LIQUOR SEIZED: Thirtyseven persons were arrested in 35 separate cases of liquor smuggling and 377 bottles of liquor were seized on Thursday night from various parts of the district. The police had launched a special drive in view of the possibility of liquor smuggling due to an decrease in the liquor rates.

BIOTECHNOLOGY PARK: With a view to promote biotechnology- based industry in Himachal, the state government has set up a biotechnology park at Kotla, Barog, in the district. Situated on the banks of river Giri, the site is 8 km from Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni.