Regional beat — Chandigarh

ReconstitutedKharar: Block and district-level units of the Punjab Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee (PPMCC) have been reconstituted, whil...

Reconstituted
Kharar: Block and district-level units of the Punjab Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee (PPMCC) have been reconstituted, while special squads consisting of five women each are being constituted to strengthen the PPMCC in the state and spread awareness among the rural women about their duties and rights.This was stated here by president of PPMCC Gurkanwal Kaur, while talking to reporters, after presiding over a special meeting of the Mahila Congress activists. She said these newly-constituted squads will work among the womenfolk to make them aware about their rights and duties.

Eye camp
Kharar: As many as 250 patients were examined and 56 operated upon successfully here by a team of doctors, led by Dr K. K. Gupta, eye specialist, at the sixth Shaheed Bhagat Singh Memorial eye operation camp, which concluded at the Civil Hospital today.The camp was organised by the Kharar Citizens’ Welfare Club. Its chairman Charanjit Singh and Gurdev Singh Dev said the medicines, food and spectacles were given free of cost to the needy patients.

Blood camp
Kharar: The Kharar Lion club will organise a blood donation camp at the old MC building here tomorrow. The club secretary, Romesh Anand, said the award-winning blood donor Satwant Singh Gill will inaugurate the camp, while a team from the Blood Bank Society, PGI, will collect the blood.

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Recovery
Dharamsala: With the recovery of more than Rs 3.30 lakh from culprits involved in the robbery on the national highway near Nurpur, in Kangra district a few days ago, the police have effected a recovery of Rs 8,43,914 out of the Rs-9.5 lakh which was looted from a Pathankot-based businessman.Superintendent of Police K. C. Sadyal said that it was the highest ever recovery in the history of Himachal police and that too from the territory of Punjab.

The SP said that the vehicle used in the crime had been impounded. It was found that the the vehicle had been stolen from Hamirpur district in 1995. The accused had tampered with the chassis and engine numbers, he added.

Marches
Ludhiana: Bhai Ranjit Singh, Darshan Singh Ragi and Jasbir Singh Rode will lead the three marches, planned by the Tohra faction, from Amritsar, New Delhi and Damdama Sahib, respectively.The marches will congregate on April 12 at Morinda and then proceed to Anandpur Sahib. At a meeting held last night, it was also decided that three committees will be formed to organise the celebrations being held under the leadership of Bhai Ranjit Singh. The organising committee will be headed by Manjit Singh Calcutta, the media committee by Sarabjot Singh Bedi and the Pandal committee by Surjan Singh Thekedar.

Nabard
Chandigarh: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) reviewed the functioning the of self-help groups (SHGs) in Punjab and Haryana yesterday. The review was conducted by NABARD Executive Director Ali Mian at a state-level meeting with financing banks and non-government organisations (NGOs).

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Mian underlined the importance of SHGs as a credit delivery innovation in Punjab and Haryana, stressing the need to link the SHGs with bank credit to improve their functioning. He requested the NGOs to ensure the formation of quality groups and to impart need-based training to SHGs. The meeting also discussed the need to include the financing of SHGs in the Service Area Plans of banks, their proper monitoring and initiating moves for micro-credit for the farm sector.

Theatre
Chandigarh: As part of its effort to take theatre to rural areas, the Punjab Art Council will unveil the model of an open air theatre, which can be constructed at villages, at the Mansa Theatre Festival that will take off tomorrow. The festival is being organised by the Council to celebrate the World Theatre Day.Around 25 groups from across the state will converge in Mansa for the two-day festival that will see staging of plays, seminars and workshops throughout the day. Theatre personalities like J.N. Kaushal of the N S D and Atamjit are scheduled to conduct talks. ENS .According to the Council, the village theatre with a seating capacity of 500 and all the required facilities can be realised with monetary help from the panchayat. “We intend to create a movement through this as with regular shows, the groups slowly will be able to sustain themselves,” H.S. Bhatti, the secretary general of the Council said.