R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AHMEDGARH
POWER FAILURE: A dark and dry morning wished the local residents a happy New Year because of power failure. Most of the residents, dependent on Nagar Council water supply, were seen carrying buckets early in the morning. Council authorities said tubewells could not be operated without power whereas Electricity Board failed to give any reason for day- long power failure.

AMRITSAR
PROTEST RALLY: The Punjab Pharmacists Association held a protest rally in the constituency of the Health Minister, Dr Baldev Raj Chawla, here on Monday. Mr Sham Lal Sharma, president of the association, said the rally was held against the alleged dilly-dallying attitude of the government toward demands.

JD PANEL: Mr Jaspal Singh Kapoor, president, Janata Dal (urban) has said the Dal has constituted a seven-member committee for the selection of suitable candidates for the forthcoming Assembly election. He said Mr S.S. Tuli would the chairman of the committee.

BARNALA
ARRESTED: The police arrested Vipin Kumar Gupta, who was allegedly responsible for duping innocent people of lakhs of rupees by forming fake musical groups in the false hope of sending them abroad. This was stated here on Sunday by Mr Kanwarjit Singh Sandhu, SSP. He said the Bhadaur police had registered a case under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120 of the IPC against him on November 20.

BATHINDA
APPOINTED: Mr Paramjeet Singh Dhillon, has been appointed Vice-President of the Panjab Pradesh Youth Congress as per directions of the Indian Youth Congress President, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala.

DORAHA
FRAUD CASE: The police has registered a case for committing a fraud. According to Mr Najar Singh of Lasara Lakkhowal village, Sadhu Singh of the same village committed fraud by making duplicate identity card, ration card and voters’ identity card and this was reported to the police.

POPPY HUSK SEIZED: Two quintals of poppy husk was recovered from Labh Singh of Bhadewal village on a tipoff, police sources said. A case has been registered.

FEROZEPORE
CELEBRATIONS: The 151st birth anniversary celebrations of Bhagwan Dev Atma, founder of Dev Samaj, started here amidst religious fervour. Hundreds of educational luminaries and students drawn from the Dev Samaj institutions worldwide are participating in the four-day mahotsava at Dev Samaj College for Women here. This was stated by Ms Madhu Prashar, Principal, of the college.

HOSHIARPUR
AFFIDAVIT FILED: Sukhdev Swami, an NRI and resident of Railway Mandi, Hoshiarpur, on Monday filed an affidavit against Mr Komal, District Town Planning Officer, before Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner. In his affidavit Sukhdev Swami, who is working in Canada, said he had submitted a plan for the construction of a house at Yodha Mal Road to the District Town Planning Office about eight months ago. He alleged that the District Town Planning Officer, was demanding Rs 1 lakh to clear the plan. Mr Sidhu, assured Sukhdev Swami that strict action would be taken against the said officer.

CONSTITUTED: The Punjab Government has constituted the State Medical Council to improve health services in the state. According to the spokesman for the Punjab Health Department, Governor, Punjab had nominated the following office-bearers and members of the council for two years: President-Director Research and medical Education Punjab; vice-president — Dr S.K. Narad; members — Dr Shingara Singh, Dr Pawan Gupta, Dr Beant Singh Bhatia, Dr Sudhir Verma, Dr M.S. Randhawa, Dr Kuldip Singh and Dr Baljit Singh.

JAGRAON
REVOLVER SEIZED: Mr Jaswinder Singh, SI, SHO City police station, along with other police officials arrested Deepak Arora of Agwar Gujran on suspicious and seized one .32 bore foreign-made revolver bearing no. 10380. He could not produce arms licence for the weapon. The police has registered a case under Section 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act.

TOURNAMENT: Thirtyfirst football, kabaddi and volleyball tournament, in memory of Baba Ishar Singh, would be held from Friday to Monday at Maunke village, which would be inaugurated by Mr Jagdev Singh Talwandi, sr vice-president, Shiromani Akali Dal, while Mr S. K. Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner, would preside over the ceremony. Prizes would be given to the winning teams on Sunday by Mr Jagjit Singh Talwandi, Chairman, PSI and EC, followed by Sabhyacharak Mela on Monday, which would be presided over by Mr Ranjit Singh Talwandi. The tournament committee would also honour Principal Sarwan Singh Chakkar and Mr Ramandeep Singh, hockey Olympian, with Baba Ishar Singh award on the occasion. 

KHARAR
ELECTRICITY SUPPLY: Local residents faced hardship as electricity and water supply remained disrupted on Tuesday. The supply of electricity remained disrupted from 4 a.m. to 12.15 p.m. on Tuesday due to some fault. As there was no electricity supply, people could not get the supply of drinking water and long queues were seen at hand pumps. The residents heaved a sigh of relief when the supply was restored at 12.15 p.m.

ARRESTED: The local police arrested Chohad Khan of Jandpur village on Tuesday on the charge of possessing nine bottles of liquor which were meant for sale in Chandigarh only. A case has been registered under the excise Act.

LUDHIANA
LIBRARY INAUGURATED: A new library dedicated to Dr B.R. Ambedkar at the Railway Complex, constructed by the All India Scheduled Caste/Tribe Railway Employees Association Branch Diesel Shed, was inaugurated here on Tuesday by the area manager (Ludhiana), Mr Kuldeep Singh. The members of the association appealed to the colleagues to use the library to broaden their vision and reduce communalism.

MALERKOTLA
FIRING INCIDENT: One person was injured when he was fired at by some miscreants in Tapa Mohalla here on Monday. According to information Mr Ashok Saraf, owner of a jewellery shop, was coming from his shop when certain miscreants waylaid him. The police has registered a case.

MOGA
ELECTORAL ROLLS: Former MLC, Mr Jagmohan Singh Gill and the general secretary of the PPCC (farmers wing), Mr Satnam singh Sandeshi, alleged on Monday that there were large-scale discrepancies in the electoral rolls and asked the government to take action against officials who were responsible for it. They further alleged that a large number of eligible voters belonging to the Scheduled Castes from the Moga and Bagha Purana Assembly constituencies had not been enlisted.

STUDENTS’ GESTURE: Two local schoolchildren, Harsh and Jatinder, in a letter written in blood to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, on Monday stated that they were determined to cooperate in the nation’s fight against terrorism. They asked the Prime Minister to take strong and effective measures against Pakistan if it did not refrain from instigating terrorists.

ALLOCATED: Moga district had been allocated a sum of Rs 12.57 lakh under a centrally-sponsored scheme to be distributed among 162 beneficiaries living below the poverty line during 2001-2002, said Additional Deputy Commissioner, Development, H.L. Kumar, on Tuesday. Talking to reporters, he said out of this a sum a Rs 11.25 lakh was distributed among 142 beneficiaries with loan facilities from various banks to the extent of Rs 28.35 lakh.

CHANDIGARH

REFRESHER COURSE: A three-week refresher course in criminology and forensic science concluded at the Department of Forensic Science at the Punjab University campus here on Monday. Speaking on the occasion, Dr J.S. Ahluwalia, Vice-Chancellor of the university, emphasised the importance scientific methods in criminal investigations as third-degree methods being used by investigating agencies were now outdated. Dr O.P. Jasuja, Head of the Department of Forensic Science, said the course was attended by participants from all over the country.

HARYANA

AMBALA
EMPLOYEES’ BODY: The Ambala Sadar unit of the Nagar Palika Karamchari Sangh Haryana has been formed under the presidentship of Mr Rajendra Kumar. Other office-bearers are: vice-president — Mr Ram Phal; general secretary — Mr Balbir Singh; additional secretary — Mr Ramesh Kumar; secretary — Mr Raj Kumar; treasurer — Mr Shugan Nath; and auditor — Mr Chotey Lal. 

WELFARE ASSOCIATION: Mr Virendra Gupta has been elected president of the Arya Nagar Welfare Association, Ambala Cantonment. Mr Ashok Sharma, Mr Anil Khanna, and Mr Shyam Sundar Nagpal have been elected vice-president, secretary and treasurer, respectively. A number of issues including bad condition of roads, lack of cleanliness and lack of potable water, were discussed at a meeting of the association. It was also decided to build a roundabout on the main road of Arya Nagar.

PROTEST: The General Insurance Employees Association, Northern Zone, Ambala, have protested against the ‘anti-employees policies, of the government. Mr Romesh Sharma, branch secretary of the association, said insurance employees, under the banner of Joint Action Committee, Mumbai, have protested against the ‘anti-employee policies’ of the government and against the privatisation of public sector, a press note stated.

AWARD: Dr D.S. Jaspal a leading doctor of Ambala and president of the Haryana unit of the Indian Medical Association, has been awarded Dr C.L. Javari Family Planning Award for best individual performance in the field of family planning. According to Dr D.R. Makkar, secretary of the IMA, Haryana, the award was given by Mr A.R. Nanda, Union Health and Family Welfare Secretary, at an all-India Medical Conference in Delhi on December 29. Dr Jaspal was also awarded the best state branch president award. On this occasion Dr Satish Chug’s research paper on Medical Education and Research was declared as the best. The IMA-AMS Haryana chapter was declared the best chapter. 

FIRE: A junk shop was gutted at Ambala Cantonment here on Monday morning. According to information, the fire was noticed in the early morning. Fire tenders were summoned. It took about an hour to bring the fire under control.

KURUKSHETRA
ROAD SAFETY WEEK: To create awareness among people the 13th road safety week will be observed throughout the state from January 7 to 13. Mr Ashok Kumar Arora, Transport Minister, Haryana said here on Sunday that Haryana Roadways, police, health, education, PWD (B&R), forest, public relations would be involved in the campaign.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

KANGRA
ONE DEAD: One person was killed on the spot at Gurkhan when his scooter fell into a rivulet on Sunday, the police said here on Monday. Additional district police chief N.D. Sareen, said Bupender Singh, a resident of Mandi, who was on his way back after attending a party met with an accident at Gurkhan.

NAHAN
AWARENESS CAMP: To promote the well-being of women employees at work places and to create awareness among them about their rights a one-day awareness camp was organised here on Monday under the chairmanship of Rakesh Kaushal Deputy Commissioner, Sirmaur. Addressing the participants the Deputy Commissioner asked them to know their rights so that matters of sexual harassment at work places did not occur. 

NURPUR
COURT NOT SET UP: The state government had announced and issued a notification for opening a Sub Judge Court at Indora in Nurpur subdivision in May 1998. Due to infighting between two factions of the local BJP, the court still remains a non-starter causing resentment among the residents.

BOOTLEGGER HELD: The police on Sunday nabbed Seeta Ram at Rit Khud in Gangath police chowki while he was transporting two cans of illicit liquor. The police has registered a case under the Excise Act against Seeta Ram and rounded up the horse used in transporting illicit liquor.