R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
MEDICAL CAMP: A free medical check-up camp for the staff and workers of the Amritsar Swadeshi Woollen Mills was held here on Wednesday on the premises of the mill. More than 200 workers were examined at the camp.

DORAHA
LIQUOR SEIZED: The Payal police has seized eight bottls of liquor from Parkash Chand of Nepal at a police naka at Bhadewal village. A case has been registered under Sections 61, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act. 

ONE INJURED: Mr Paramjit Singh of Payal was attacked with a rifle by Jagdev Singh and Arya Singh of Payal, while drunk, as a result of which he was injured and admitted to the CMC Hospital, Ludhiana. Property dispute is said to be the bone of contention between them. A case has been registered against the two alleged accused, under Sections 307, and 34 of the IPC and Section 25 of the Arms Act on the statement of Mr Balwinder Singh, brother of Mr Parminder Singh. 

FEROZEPORE
GURU RAM DAS MISSION: A free medical camp was organised here on Thursday by Guru Ram Dass Mission in the memory of late Harbans Lal, founder of Ferozepore Construction Company. Around 1,400 patients were examined by a panel of 15 medical specialists. Spectacles and medicines were distributed free of cost to the patients on the occasion.

RACKET BUSTED: The Ferozepore police has unearthed a fake currency racket by arresting three persons of a gang and seized fake currency worth Rs 15,000 in the denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 100 notes. According to the police, those arrested, have been identified as Ramesh Kumar, Gurbej Singh and Balbir Singh. The fourth accomplice, however, escaped. A case has been registered.

GURDASPUR
DEMANDED: The residents living close to the Ravi have been sore over the non completion of flood protection measures work. They have demanded immediate completion of the work before the rainy season.

REVIEWED: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr B. Vikram, on Thursday reviewed procurement of wheat by the government procurement agencies. He warned that any laxity on the part of any official would be taken seriously.

HOSHIARPUR
SUICIDE: Unemployment and failure of a recently started school by her has compelled Manjinder Kaur, daughter of Puran Singh of Behbalpur village, to commit suicide. She consumed poisonous pills on April 20 and died on Wednesday at CMC, Ludhiana.

BOOKED: On the complaint of Jagbir Singh, son of Darshan Singh of Rasoolpur village, the Tanda police has registered a case under Sections 420, 406, 506 of the IPC against Karam Singh, son of Babu Ram, and Gurmukh Singh, son of Darshan Singh of Dattu village, for cheating the complainant. Jagbir Singh alleged that in 1998, Karam Singh took Rs 3 lakh from him for sending him to the USA.

FIRE: As many as seven jhuggis were gutted in a fire that broke out at Dadiana Khurd village on Thursday. No loss of life has been reported.

JALANDHAR
DEATH: Palwinder Singh (50), a resident of Daultpur village in Adampur, committed suicide by consuming celphos pills on Wednesday. According to the police, family problems had been the cause behind his suicide.

MAN KILLED: One person were killed and another seriously injured when a truck, they were travelling in, rammed into a train at an unmanned railway crossing at Vir village in Nakodar on Friday. According to the police, the accident took place when the driver of the truck tried to cross the track at Vir village and rammed into a DMU coming from Noormahal in the evening. The driver of the truck Kuldeep Singh, a resident of Libran village in Nakodar, died on the spot. However, its cleaner Jagjit Singh was severely injured in the accident. The latter was admitted to the local Civil Hospital, the police said.

KAPURTHALA
FAST-UNTO-DEATH: The fast-unto-death by leaders of the PRTC Union entered its third day on Thursday. It is being observed to demand the transfer of the General Manager, PRTC, Kapurthala depot. Union leaders Malkiat Singh, Resham Singh and Rakesh Kumar had gone on an indefinite fast to press their demand.

ARRIVAL OF WHEAT: Keeping in view the heavy arrival of wheat in 43 purchasing centres here, the district administration has directed the procurement agencies to purchase the stock immediately. The Deputy Commissioner said 77,518 tonnes of wheat had arrived in the grain markets so far.

TRAFFIC BLOCKED: Irate employees of the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation here who have been spearheading an agitation for the past four days for suspension of the depot General Manager, Mr H.S. Dhillon, today blocked traffic for two hours at the local bus station. A jam was witnessed at the bus stand as they did not allow any bus to leave or enter the bus station. Meanwhile, the fast unto death begun by union leaders entered the fourth day today.

KHAMANO
MEDICAL CAMP: A medical check-up camp was organised by CRRID (an institution of Human Resources Development Ministry) in Bhutta village on Thursday. About 218 patients were examined by experts and given medicines. About 40 women were informed about family planning method. 

EYE CAMP: A free eye operation camp will be organised by the Sahara Welfare Club, Khamano, at Satluj Public School, Khamano, from Saturday to Tuesday. The chief guest will be the local SDM, Mr Nirbhai Singh, according to club secretary Jasbir Singh Jassa. 

KHARAR
JUDGE INSPECTS COURTS: Justice M.S. Gill of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, who is inspecting Judge of Ropar district, inspected the annual working of the courts at Kharar on Friday. The judge was given a guard of honour on his arrival at civil rest house. He inspected the working of all the three courts in Kharar. He also went to the office of the Bar Association where he was welcomed by Mr Sukhdev Kaushal (Patron) Mr Avtar Singh Dhanoa (President) and Mr Darshan Dhaliwal (Secretary) of the Bar. Mr Justice Gill also met many advocates and heard their problems. 

LUDHIANA
SAE STUDENTS: Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana, on Friday launched the Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE) Students Chapter. Mr A.D. Sindwani, consultant SAE-NIS and ex-DGM, MUL, Mr N.S. Rao, AGM quality control, MUL, and Dr Sukhbeer Singh, specialist, MPFI, MUL, along with the Principal, Dr R.P. Singh, were present on the occasion. 

MOGA
RESIDENTS’ PLEA: Residents of Bambihabhai village under the Baghapurana police station in the district complained on Thursday that the drinking water supplied to them by the local water works was contaminated and not fit for drinking. They have demanded the supply of safe drinking water as they were facing a lot of inconvenience.

NAWANSHAHR
BAR ASSOCIATION ELECTIONS: The following have been unanimously elected office-bearers of the local District Bar Association: president — Mr Hari Pal Singh Dhillon; vice-president — Mr Hardeep Singh; secretary — Mr Inderjit Singh Sembhi; and cashier — Mr H.S. Longia.

EXTENSION COUNTER: The local branch of Canara Bank opened an extension counter at Shivalik Public School on Thursday. Mr Ishwar Singh, SSP, inaugurated the counter. Mr M.N. Sundara Raghavan, AGM, Canara Bank said the extension counter would also educate the school students about banking.

LIONS CLUB ELECTIONS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Lions Club (City Smile): president — Mr Suraj Prakash Nayyar; secretary — Mr Harmesh Singh; treasurer — Mr Dalbir Chand Patwari.

VET DISPENSARIES: Dr Rattan Singh Ajnala, Animal Husbandry, Fishery and Dairy Development Minister, inaugurated veterinary dispensaries at Jadla, Bhangal Kalan, Karyam, Karnana, Bhaura, and Jhikka villages on Thursday. He said the Badal government would spend Rs 125 crore this year to enable the dairy industry to face the challenges of the WTO. The minister also said that a regional diagnostic laboratory at a cost of Rs 19 crore and a vaccine testing institute at a cost of Rs 70 crore was being set up at Jalandhar and Ludhiana, respectively.

PATIALA
IAS CENTRE: The trainees of the IAS and Allied Services, Punjabi University, made a clean sweep in the PCS (Judicial) examination, the result of which was declared by the Punjab Public Service Commission on April 25. Out of eight selected candidates, seven are the trainees of this centre. Stating this, Dr G.S. Bajwa, Director of the centre, said Ms Amol Gill, a practising lawyer at Chandigarh and a trainee of this centre, topped in the examination. The centre maintained the distinction for the fourth consecutive selection. This is the only institute in northern India that imparts coaching to practising lawyers for the post of a judicial officer. 

OFFICE-BEARERS: Mr N.D. Goel has been elected as the President of the Mata Vaishno Devi Mandir committee, Ratan Nagar here. Mr D.P. Goel has been elected as the Senior Vice-President. 

ENERGY MINISTER: A deputation of villagers of Droli led by the Member Parliament, Ms Parneet Kaur, met the Union Energy Minister, Mr Suresh Prabhu, and apprised him of the disadvantages of setting up a neclear power project at Droli village, near here. The villagers claimed that by setting up the project nearly 25 to 50 villages will be directly effected. They alleged that since the day the state power Minister, Mr Sikander Singh Maluka, said the nuclear power plant would be set up at Droli, the rates of agricultural land had slimped. Mr Prabhu assured the villagers that the government would take no such step which would go against the interests of the farmers. 

FOUNDATION DAY: The teachers, officers, employees and students of Punjabi University would organise an all-religions prayer meeting at the university campus on April 30 to celebrate the university Foundation Day. Giving this information, Dr B.S. Bhatia, Registrar of the university, said the purpose of the celebrations is to develop goodwill at the local and global level. 

JAYANTI CELEBRATED: The Brahman Sabha celebrated the Bhagwan Parshu Ram Jayanti under the chairmanship of Mr I.D. Sharma here on Friday. A colourful programme was also presented alongwith the celebrations. Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister, Punjab who was the chief guest on the ocassion announced a grant of Rs 1.5 lakh for the future programmes of the Brahman Sabha and progress of Sanskrit language. 

HONOURED: The senior Congress leader, Mr Bir Devinder Singh, was honoured by National Unity and Integrity Forum for his achievements towards various developmental activities, on Friday. Honouring Mr Singh with a memento, Mr Pritam Singh Chadda, president of the Truck Operators Union, highlighted the achievements of Mr Bir Devinder Singh. Mr Dilip Singh Bikar, forum President, explained the activities of the forum and said the forum had been serving for the betterment of the nation since long. Mr Bikar said the forum was continuously on the move to keep the memories of the martyrs alive. The various problems of the Hira Nagar were also brought forth to the notice of the public and the forum decided to initiate steps to curb the deteriorating condition of the locality. The forum said that the times are ripe to constitute another committee to seek developmental aspects just as once the Patiala Bachao Committee was installed by Mr Bir Devinder Singh in 1993 at the times of floods. 

SAHNEWAL
HARASSMENT ALLEGED: The Sahnewal police has registered a case of harassment by the husband and in-laws of a woman, for not bearing a male-child and asking for more dowry, under Sections 406 and 498-A of the IPC. According to the reports, Ms Swinder Kaur daughter of Mr Nanak Singh of Jawaddi Kalan village, was married to Sukhwinder Singh of Bhairomunna village in 1992 and has two daughters. Surinder Kaur in her report has alleged that her husband, Sukhwinder Singh, mother-in-law, Gurmail Kaur, Grand-mother-in-law, Amar Kaur, sister-in-law, Manjit Kaur, and brother-in-law, Swaran Singh, have been torturing her, both mentally and physically for bringing more dowry and also to ‘give’ a male-child to the family. An FIR has been registered at Sahnewal police station under Sections 406 and 498-A of the IPC. 

POPPY HUSK SEIZED: Khajan Singh of Sekhewal in Koomkalan, was nabbed by police of a naka and 30kg of poppy husk was seized from him. A case has been registered against the accused at the local police station under Sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act. 

WOMAN BEATEN UP: A woman was allegedly beaten up by her husband and in-laws as a result of which she was injured and hospitalised at a local hospital. According to sources, Sunpreet Kaur wife of Harjit Singh of Kot Gangu Rai, was staying with her husband and two children at Ludhiana. Later they came to their village and started living there. But there she was beaten up and tortured by her husband and in-laws. She thus decided to stay in a separate house along with her children in the same village. The house belongs to her husband. On April 24, her brother, Mr Kuljinder Singh, had come to meet her, she alleged that her mother-in-law, Gurcharan Kaur, came to their house on that day and asked her to vacate the place an soon as possible. In the night, her husband, Harjit Singh, along with his relative Chinda of Rajool and Harjit Kaur of Upplan, came in a car (PB10-AP-3430) and beat her up mercilessly. The police has registered a case under Sections 324, 323 and 34 of the IPC. 

SAMRALA
WHEAT: The purchasing agencies have procured 1,06,270 quintals of wheat at Samrala informed Mr Kuldeep Chand, secretary of the Market Committee, here on Friday. Talking to newsmen he said the Punjab Government had allowed the purchase of discoloured wheat and till now, 1,11, 770 quintals of wheat arrived in the market out of which 1,06,270 quintals have been purchased by the government agencies.

SHAGAN SCHEME: As per new instructions of the Punjab government, now Dalits can apply for assistance under the shagan scheme even one month after the solemnisation of the marriage of their daughters, said Mr Sandeep Hans, SDM, Samrala, here on Friday. Talking to newsmen, Mr Hans said till this financial year, 539 applications were received out of which 33 were rejected and a sum of Rs 25,80,600 was distributed to the eligible. 

MILK: In a function organised at Balala village near here on Friday by the Milk Producers Cooperative Society, Balala, a sum of Rs 2,59,483 was distributed among 120 members of the society. The highest profit of Rs 8,600 was given to Mr Bhag Singh and a sum of Rs 7,475 was given to Mr Kuldeep Singh while Mr Kamaljeet Singh got Rs 6,812. Earlier, Mr Darshan Singh Lopon, director, Milk Plant, Ludhiana, inaugurated the computerisation work of the society. 

CHANDIGARH

DENTAL CENTRE: Responding to the long pending demand of the residents, the UT Health Department will be soon starting a dental centre in the civil dispensary in Sector 38. After introduction of two new dental chairs in the General Hospital, Sector 16, the old ones, after being repaired are being shifted to the Sector 38 civil dispensary and the ESI hospital in Sector 29. Meanwhile, the existing dental chair in the ESI Dental Centre has been condemned by the authorities. 

SAMPARAK SABHA: A Samparak Sabha was organised at the police lines for the police personnel from all the units of the police on Friday. All gazetted officers, non- gazetted officers and policemen were present in the sabha chaired by the UT Inspector General of Police, Mr B.S. Bassi. The police personnel discussed their problems regarding housing facilities, upgrading of the Police Model School to Class XII level, water problem in police lines; provision of recreation facilities for children of police personnel in Sector 17 police quarters, promotions etc. 

SHIV MANDIR COMMITTEE: Mr Rakesh Pal was unanimously elected president of the Shiv Mandir Committee, Sector 30-B, for the remaining period on Thursday. The vacancy was caused due to the resignation of Mr Gian Chand Gupta, according to a press note.

SAS NAGAR
CONDEMNED: Mr Hardeep Singh, a member of the SGPC, has said the Badal government had failed to protect the interests of Punjab and had not fulfilled its election promises. He said the move by the SAD to honour the participants in the Akali movement was another stunt as the elections were expected this year. On the incident of alleged trimming of beard of Paramjit Singh of Mangwal village by police was a shame for the Akali government, he demanded that action be taken against the guilty police officials. 

DEMAND: Mr Karanbir Singh Kang, Senior Vice-President of the youth wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal, has demanded that on the pattern of Chandigarh Administration allowing power connections outside the lal dora of villages should be extended to villages falling in the periphery areas of Punjab.

HARYANA

FATEHABAD
OPEN DARBAR: The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, will hold an open darbar at Rattia in the district on May 2. He will also lay the foundation stone of a co-operative bank here on the same day. The Chief Minister was to hold the open darbar at Rattia on April 8, but it had to be postponed due to the death of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal.

PANIPAT
PANIPAT REFINERY: Mr M.S. Kumar took charge as the General Manager (Projects), Panipat Refinery, on Thursday. Mr Kumar was the General Manager, Guwahati Refinery before he joined here.

SONEPAT
FARMER SHOT AT: A farmer, Shrilal, sustained bullet injuries when he was shot at by some unidentified persons at Nandnaur village, about 15 km from here, on Thursday. The farmer was on his way to the field when he attacked. He was immediately rushed to the local Civil Hospital and later shifted to the medical college hospital in Rohtak.

RECORD INSURANCE: The local branch of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has created a record in collecting money for insurance purposes during the year 2000-2001. The staff of the branch collected Rs 99.5 crore during the period under review against Rs 58 crore collected during the corresponding period last year.

FETE ORGANISED: The local branch of the Sant Nirankari Mandal organised a fete for children between the age of five and 15 years on the premises of Sant Nirankari Bhavan here on Friday. Patriotic songs, dramas and poetry were the main attractions of the fete. Mr Kesho Ram Nandwani, president of the mandal, Chandigarh, presided over the function.

YOUTHS HELD: The Superintendent of Poilce Mr Paramjit Singh Ahlawat, told mediapersons here on Friday that the police had arrested Virender Singh, alias Boda, Satish, and Samsher Singh in three militants for their alleged possession of arms. Cases under the Indian Arms Act have been registered against them at Kundli, Ganaur and Mohana police stations, respectively. The police also arrested Bijender of Butana village and seized a plastic bag containing 12 bottles of liquor from his possession.

MEMORANDUM: The All-Haryana PWD Mechanical Karamchari Union today urged the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to order a vigilance probe into the complaints regarding the misuse of public funds, preparation of bogus muster rolls, bungling in allotment of works and misuse of a government jeep by the SDO, Samalkha Water Service Division.

YAMUNANAGAR
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Jagadhri Metal Manufacturers and Supplies Association, president — Mr Jai Bhagwan Garg; vice-president — Mr Raj Kishan Saluja; general secretary — Mr Sunder Lal Batra; joint secretary — Mr Satyendra Kumar Jain; and treasurer — Mr Arun Kumar Garg.

ROADWAYS STAFF'S STIR: Some cops severely beat up a depot driver of the Haryana Roadways here resulting in agitation by hundreds of roadways employees who jammed the Yamunanagar-Kurukshetra highway for more than three hours. Mr Narinder Singh general manager of the Haryana Roadways Yamunanagar said the Paonta Sahib-bound bus from Delhi was intercepted on Thursday by four cops, including a sub-inspector, who dragged the bus driver from the bus and started thrashing him with their service belts.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

KULU
DIGGING OF ROADS: The Departments of Irrigation, Public Health and Telecommunication have stepped up digging activities on the main roads of the district, adding to the problem of the traffic on the national highway. The sewerage work which began last year, has not yet been completed. The Irrigation and Public Health Departments had started digging up main roads at Dhalpur during the peak tourist season of Dasehra. The dug up parts have not been repaired properly yet, despite repeated warnings by top district officials. The area is close to the residences of the Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent of Police, Superintending Engineer, PWD, and others.

SHIMLA
PRO ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the H.P. Public Relations Officers Association: president — Mr Rajendra Rajan; senior vice-presidents — Mr Amar Singh Saklani and Mr Girdhari Lal Mahajan; general secretary — Mr Ramesh Chand Sharma; and treasurer — Mr Gurmeet Bedi.