R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

FARIDKOT
OFFICERS ABSENT: Deputy Commissioner A Venuparsad accompanied by Mr Ashwani Kumar, Assistant Commissioner (General) cum-DTO made surprise checks at various departments at the district headquarters on Friday. Four senior officers Mr Harjit Singh, Assistant Director, Fisheries, Mr Sarbjinder Singh Randhawa, District Welfare Officer, Mr Bihari Lal, District Manager , Punjab Scheduled Castes Land Development Financial Corporation and Mrs Parkash Kaur , District Language Officer — were found absent from the duty. In the Public Relations Department only three employees against the strength of 19 were on duty.

GURDASPUR
FREE-MEDICAL CAMP: The Rotary Club, Gurdaspur, midtown, and the district health authorities will hold "free medical camp and seminar jointly on family welfare at Dorangala village on March 15. Operations for sterilisations will be held on March 16 in the Primary Health Centre at Dorangala.

KAPURTHALA
DHARNA STAGED: Technical employees of Rail Coach Factory, Hussainpur, on Friday staged a dharna in front of the factory in support of their demands. They also held a rally which was addressed by Mr Tej Paul Singh, Mr P.K. Kaushal, Mr Sarabjit Singh, all employees leaders.

GIRL MISSING: The police has arrested Janu Sood of the Local Model Town locality in connection with the disappearance of Harpreet Kaur (14) a minor girl of Model Town who is missing since March 4. The police has registered a case against Janu Sood, his mother and sister Pooja on the charge of abducting Harpreet Kaur.

KHARAR
CATTLE CENTRE: A delegation of members of the Kharar Subdivisional Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals met the Punjab Governor, Lieut-Gen JFR Jacob (retd) on Thursday in Chandigarh and gave him a memorandum demanding that he should order the closure of an allegedly illegal cattle export centre at Kharar from where about 20 truckloads of cattle were sent daily to slaughter houses in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The SPCA alleged that despite repeated requests, the Administration had failed to check this cruelty.

ADVOCATES STRIKE WORK: Local advocates suspended their work in courts here on Thursday in view of a call given by the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association. An emergency meeting of the Bar Association was held under the Presidentship of Mr Anil Kaushal. It was decided to continue the strike till March 13.

MOGA
LOANS FOR UNEMPLOYED: The Punjab Government has decided to advance loans upto Rs 132 crore to the unemployed youths in this state during the current year for setting up small scale units in rural areas. The Vice-Chairman of Punjab State Khadi Board and President All India Sikh Students Federation, Mr Manjit Singh Bhuma, said here on Friday that 17 nationalised banks had been directed to advance loans to those unemployed youths.

NAWANSHAHR
DOG SHOW: The local Kennel Club will organise a dog show here at ITI grounds on March 12 Mr Jatinder Singh Kariha, MLA, will be the chief guest. Dr Roshan Sunkhari, Deputy Commissioner, will preside over the function.

PATHANKOT
DEAD: Mr A.C. Aggarwal, former District and Sessions Judge , Gurdaspur, and presiding officer of the District Consumer Forum has died following heart attack. He leaves behind his wife two sons and a daughter. The local bar association has mourned the death of Mr Aggarwal and no work day was observed on Friday.

PHAGWARA
EYE CAMP: At least 1350 patients were examined and 110 were operated upon at a free eye camp which concluded here on Wednesday. The camp was held in the memory of late Nanak Chand Sethi. The SDM, Mr Ritam Singh presided over the concluding function.

IMA CONFERENCE: A Punjab IMA conference will be held on May 7 at Trident Complex at Barnala. Dr Raman Aggarwal, honorary secretary, IMA College of General Practitioners said on Thursday said that 600 doctors will participate in it. Experts will deliver lectures on the latest trends in the treatment of diseases.

M.COM CLASSES: Kamla Nehru College for Women has earned the distinction of being the first women college in this region to have been granted the permission to start post-graduation classes in commerce. Dr Harbhajan Singh Soch, Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar said on Thursday that M Com classes will commence from this academic session.

BOYCOTT DECISION: The Anjuman Dawtey Islamia Committee on Friday decided to boycott films starring Shabana Azmi in view of her welcome accorded to Bangladesh writer Taslima Nasreen. It also urged the government not to allow her to visit India as her visit "hurt the feeling" of Muslims.

PATIALA
READER INVITED: Dr G.S. Batra, Reader in the Punjab School of Management Studies of Punjabi University, here has been invited to present a paper Development of Industrial Entrepreneurship at the South Asia Management Conference 2000 being organised by the Association of Management Development Institutions in South Asia at Pune University from March 23.

CHANDIGARH

ISKCON SWAMI ARRIVES: The Governing Body Commissioner (GBC) of ISKCON, Swami Bhaktimarga, arrived here from Canada on Thursday at Hare Krishna Dham, Sector 36-B and participated in a sankirtan programme, organised by the local unit of ISKCON. The Swami has walked across Canada, chanting Hare Krishna mahamantra.

MOHALI INDUSTRIES: The Mohali Industries Association will organise a Vendor Development Programme in MIA Bhavan of Industrial Area VII in SAS Nagar on March 10. A press note issued by the association here on Thursday said the participants would be told, among other things, about quality requirement and vendor rating and financial assistance schemes launched by SIDBI. Mr AD John, Director (Supplies), DGS and D, New Delhi; Mr T.S. Sandhu, Director (quality assurance), DGS and D, SAS Nagar; Mr Sudhir Soni, Branch Manager of the NSIC, Ludhiana; and Mr Vidya Sagar, General Manager of SIDBI, will give presentations on the occasion.

ANANDGARH ISSUE: The Anandgarh Hatao Sanjhi Sangharsh Committee will organise a rally Parade Ground in Sector 17 here, on Tuesday. A press note issued by Mr J.S. Dhaliwal, General Secretary of the committee, said residents of the 28 villages to be included in the proposed city and leaders of various organisations would participate in the rally.

KALKA
CHANDER NOT TO CANVASS: Mr Chander Mohan MLA from Kalka constituency, said here on Thursday that he would not canvass for any candidate in the Municipal Committee elections. He also said since the personality factor played main role in the election and party factor had a negligible role, it was not fit for him to interfere in the elections. He said all development work would be completed in his constituency with the help of funds available under the MP quota.

SIX ELECTED UNUPPOSED: Six panches of Bakshiwala village Panchayat have been elected unopposed out of the 8 seats in all. According to the Returning Officer, Mr Om Parkash Sethi, these include Mr Dewan Chand (Ward No. 4), Mr Sadhu Ram (Ward No. 2), Ms Amro (Ward No. 3), Mr Ramnath (Ward No. 5), Mr Ramesh (Ward No. 6) and Ms Chuni (Ward No. 7). Meanwhile, for the 18 seats of the Panchayat Samiti, 44 candidates have been left in the fray. In all, 69 candidates had filed their nomination papers, out of which, those of 10 candidates were rejected and 15 candidates took back their papers, said the Returning Officer. However, one candidate, Mr Harichander, was elected unopposed and elections to the remaining 17 seats will be held as scheduled.

PANCHKULA
PRIVATE SCHOOLS FLAYED: The Rashtriya Abhibhavak Sangh decided to send a representation seeking a check on the issue of charging huge amount as admission fee and building fund by private schools in the township and exploiting parents in the process, at a meeting of the association. The Chairman of the association, Mr H.S. Pannu, said tuition fee being charged by these schools was much higher than justified. He said the schools were prescribing and selling books which were not approved by the NCERT. These were also selling stationery and uniforms them selves or through their agents at a much higher rate. The association has demanded that representatives of schools should be called for an open discussion.

HARYANA

HISAR
HONOURED: Dr D.V. Malhotra, Professor, Department of Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, CCC Haryana Agricultural University has been honoured with the fellowship of the Indian Association for Advancement of Veterinary Research. The fellowship was conferred by the Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr Santosh Gangwar, during a recent annual conference of association.

ROHTAK
DM'S ORDER: The District Magistrate, Mr Rajesh Khullar, has imposed Section 144 of the Cr.PC in the district on account of ensuing local bodies elections . The carrying of weapons like fire arms, swords, knives, lathis has been prohibited.

SHAHABAD
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Haryana Cold Storage Owners Association: president- Mr Kulwant Singh Virk; senior vice-president — Mr Kulwant Singh Saini; vice-president — Mr Baldev Sethi; secretary — Mr Rana and treasurer — Mr Om Parkash Gaba.

SONEPAT
TWO ARRESTED: The police on Friday arrested a driver and a conductor of a milk tanker of the Patiala District Cooperative Producers Union while they were engaged in the pilferage and unauthorised sale of milk from a milk tanker to Bijender of Ahulana village in this district. The SSP, Mr K.P. Singh, said Resham Singh and Nirmal Singh were arrested following a tip-off.