R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
Patriotic rally: The Vande Matram Yuva Sankalp organised a rally at Jallianwala Bagh here on Wednesday. Minister for Health B.R. Chawla who presided over the function said the ISI and other Pakistan agencies were on the lookout to foment trouble and such programmes generated patriotism.

FAZILKA
Fruit exhibition: Mr Siddharth Periwal won the first prize for producing quality “mausamis” while Ms Shalini Babbar won it for lemon pickle at a state-level competition-cum-exhibition of citrus fruits organised by the Horticulture Department, Punjab, in Abohar from Monday.

FEROZEPORE
Plea to implement Act: The local Senior Citizens' Welfare Association has urged the state government to implement the Model Rent Control Act. In a press note here on Wednesday, members demanded an increase in the DA of retired persons above 65 years as recommended by the Fourth Pay Commission.

HOSHIARPUR
Bootlegger nabbed: The Excise Department caught Jagdish Chander of Nai Abadi while smuggling 60 bottles of whisky from Chandigarh to Dasuya on Tuesday. A case has been registered.

KAPURTHALA
Killed: Basant Kaur, a student of class VII at Dhaliwal School, was killed while her brother, Roshan (10), was seriously injured in an accident on the Kapurthala-Jalandhar road, when their cycle was hit by a tractor-trailer. A case has been registered.

NAWANSHAHR
Teachers’ protest: The district unit of the Democratic Teachers' Front on Wednesday held a dharna in front of the office of the District Education Officer here in protest against the new experiments being conducted by the Education Minister which included “shikhia karmi yojna”, uniformity in school house examinations and appointing ex-servicemen in flying squads. A memorandum was also submitted to the Deputy Commissioner.

PATIALA
Elected: Dr O.P. Singh Kande has been elected president of the Punjab State Indian Medical Association.

ROPAR
Deaf and dumb kids: The District Red Cross Society will prepare a project to provide assistance to deaf and dumb children. A decision to this effect was taken on Wednesday at a meeting held under the presidentship of Mr Gurinder Singh Grewal, Deputy Commissioner and president of the society.

HARYANA

HISAR
Recruitment rally: The recruitment rally for Hisar and Charkhi Dadri zones comprising Sirsa, Jind, Kaithal, Fatehabad, Bhiwani, Mohindergarh and Rewari districts, scheduled to be held here from January 17 to 25 has been cancelled. The local Recruiting Officer said in a statement here on Wednesday that the new dates for recruitment would be announced later.

PANIPAT
Encroachments galore: Encroachments on roads, lanes and footpaths have become a permanent feature here. A survey around the local bus stand revealed that the menace appeared to be beyond the control of law enforcement agencies. The encroachments can be seen near the civil hospital, Lal Batti Chowk, Nagar Parishad, Sanjay Chowk and the Agricultural Marketing Board.

SIRSA
Dowry case:The police said in a press note on Wednesday that it had arrested Jai Chand and his father Bala Ram of Salarpur village following a complaint of Ramchander of Natar village, alleging that his daughter was harassed and beaten by them for want of more dowry.

Distributaries: Three distributaries with a lined area of 6.5 lakh sq.feet have been modernised during the current financial year. Stating this on Tuesday the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Amit Jha, said with the modernisation of the Sukhchain, Baruwan and Jandwala distributaries, 4.37 cusecs had been saved as a result of which 988 acres of additional land could be irrigated in the district. The lining of Mallekan Minor and the raising of Mammarkhera, Bani and Sukhchain distributaries would be completed by the end of this financial year.

Regional conference: The local Indian Medical Association will organised a regional conference of the Indian Medical Association of Academy of Medical Specialities on Sunday. Dr M.M. Talwar, organising chairman, said about 200 delegates from Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan were likely to attend the conference.

SONEPAT
Life term: The Additional Sessions Judge, Mr Virender Singh, on Tuesday sentenced Satish, Surinder Kumar, Satbir, Joginder , Rajdeep and Mahesh of Jahri village to life imprisonment for killing Anup Singh, sarpanch of the same village, in 1997.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

HAMIRPUR
Leopard sighted: A leopard has been sighted here twice during the night. The DSP has confirmed the report. Mr Pavnesh Kumar Sharma, Divisional Forest Officer, said on Wednesday that steps were being taken to install a cage in the Ghanal village area to trap it.

KULU
Liquor seized: The district police has seized 59 litres of illicit liquor from nine places in this district. Nine persons have been arrested in this regard.

KUMARHATTI
Administration flayed: The Brahmin Welfare Association and the Senior Citizen Welfare Society, Parwanoo, have criticised the administration for not removing encroachments on roads. The President of the society, Mr O.P. Pathak, on Wednesday said that the encroachers were mostly “ rehriwalas” but the administration was doing nothing in this regard.