R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
CHEST CLINICS: Mata Kaulan Ji Mission Hospital has decided to open special clinics of cancer, diabetes, TB and chest diseases for those living in a slum near the industrial area of east Mohan Nagar. The clinics will be inaugurated on Sunday by Mr Ramesh Chander Dogra, Minister for Health and Family Welfare. Dr Amrik Singh Arora, one of the trustees, in a press conference said the hospital had tied up with Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Hospital and Tata Memorial, Mumbai.

PRINTERS’ ASSOCIATION: The local Printers’ and Processors’ Association on Sunday urged Capt Amarinder Singh to ensure the supply of rice husk to the textile processing industry which had decreased due to shelling policy. Mr Narinder Kumar Jain, president of the association, said rice husk was the only fuel available with the processing industry.

COUNSELLING POSTPONED: The second counselling for GET-2002 entrance test admissions to M.Tech (integrated), B.Tech and B.Arch courses of Guru Nanak Dev University scheduled to be held on July 11 will now be held on July 15, according to Dr Surjit Singh, Co-ordinator, GET-2002. However, the venue and timings of the counselling will remain the same.

MURDER CASES SOLVED: Nearly 31 suspects involved in various crimes including nine murders and 12 proclaimed offenders have been arrested in the district. With this, the police has solved all nine murder cases. It has also traced 10 gangs of dacoits and arrested 30 men and 20 women under the Immoral Traffick (Prevention) Act. This was stated by district police chief Narinder Pal Singh at a press conference here on Friday.

SNAKES IN HOSTEL: Students of Government Medical College have alleged that the hostel has become a “playground for snakes, frogs, and spiders”. The condition of toilets and urinals is in bad shape while the taps are ever leaking. Dr O.P. Mahajan, principal, said he would look into the complaint.

BATHINDA
BODY FOUND: Lance Naik Bela Singh of the 114 Engineering Regiment was found dead under mysterious circumstances near Bhuchu Khurd village on Friday. Sources said he was on his way to Bathinda from Patiala and had reached Bhuchu on Thursday night. His body was found lying along the roadside and a postmortem was conducted at the local Civil Hospital.

FARIDKOT
LOW PRODUCTIVITY: The production of wheat has gone down in the district this year. While the cultivators blame it on the attack of insects over the crop, the Agriculture Department said unfavourable conditions in March were responsible for low production. The cultivators said the yield had gone down by 30-40 per cent. Officials of the Agriculture Department though agreeing with the fact, that it had gone down said the damage was not to that extent.

877 PENALISED: The district police has penalised 877 persons for violating traffic rules. A fine of Rs 3,15,920 was collected at the local judicial court last month, according to Mr Harinder Singh Chahal, district police chief.

MANSA
DEMAND OPPOSED: Vaid Sulakhan Singh, president, Punjab Medical Practitioners’ Association in a press note issued here on Friday opposed the demand of the state unit of the Indian Medical Association asking the state government to issue strict guidelines to ayurvedic and unani medical practitioners not to practice allopathy. He said the Supreme Court on October 8, 1998 permitted the medical practitioners of other systems to use allopathic medicine.

RECORDS STOLEN: The city police has registered a case under Sections 380, 381 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code against Mr Pargat Singh, Headmaster, Mr Tara Chand, peon, Mr Ramesh Kumar and Jatinder Singh, both clerks of the local Khalsa High School for stealing records of the school.

PATIALA
ALLEGED: A former MP from Patiala and Vice-President of Sarab Hind Shiromani Akali Dal, Mr Chandu Majra, on Saturday alleged that the policies of Mr Prakash Singh Badal had resulted in much resentment among his party workers. A convention of veteran party workers who are disillusioned with Mr Badal’s style of functioning would soon be held at Amritsar and Anandpur Sahib. Calling the Punjab Budget “anti-people”, Mr Majra stressed that the Budget had failed the expectations of the people of Punjab.

SAMANA
IMPOUNDED: A truck carrying poppy husk was impounded on Thursday near Nasupur village. The truck, was carrying 35 bags of poppy husk. Sukhwinder Singh, Sher Singh and the owner of the truck Amar Singh, were arrested. The police has also impounded a motor cycle used in the operation.

TARN TARAN
POPPY HUSK SEIZED: The Sarhali police has recovered 5.25 gm of poppy husk from the possession of Nirmal Singh, a resident of the same village. Police sources told this correspondent on Thursday that a case under the NDPS Act had been registered against him and further investigations were in progress.

GOODS RECOVERED: The district police has nabbed a person who used to pilfer goods during transportation from the other states. Besides a stolen truck the police has recovered 720 cans out of a total of 800 cans of Dhara refined oil belonging to Dhara Refined Oils and Foods Limited, Varodra. The SSP Mr Narinder Bhargav told newsmen on Friday that the accused was identified as Kulwinder Singh, a resident of Sabhara village.

CHANDIGARH

PANCHKULA
DEMANDED: Members of the Joint Action Committee of Sector 12 have demanded that the local administration should ensure sufficient parking space in front of Sector 11 showrooms. Mr Rajesh Aggarwal, convener of the committee, said that the vehicles could be seen parked on the main road dividers and other open places in Sectors 10, 11 and even on the crossing of sectors 10,11, 14 and 15 of the city that has made the places accident prone. If the administration failed to take precautionary measures then it would be difficult to control the problem later on, the committee asserted.

HARYANA

AMBALA
MEETING: A meeting of the Haryana Bharatiya Postal Employees Federation was held under the presidentship of Mr Chamanlal Pasi. The federation members demanded that the surplus postmen and clerks should be called back, leave reserve employees should be appointed, setting up of DPC on time and the appointment against the vacant positions in RMS. They alleged that one of their members was assaulted by a person from another group. They have decided that they will hold a gate meeting at the CPMG office on July 9.

RED CROSS SOCIETY: A sum of Rs 50 lakh has been spent by the District Red Cross Society to provide financial assistance to needy people. The Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, Mr D.D. Gautam, said that during the financial year 2001-2002 the District Red Cross Society had carried out various welfare programmes, including parivar kalyan kendra, dai training centre, provide artificial limbs to physically-challenged and rehabilitation centre for mentally challenged.

AWARDED: Three students of MDSD Girls College, Ambala city, were honoured for their outstanding performance in annual examinations held during April 2001 at a state-level function on Friday, at Bhagwad Gita Sadan, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra. The Minister of State for Education, Mr Bahadur Singh, honoured the students, Sushma (BA III), Vaishali (BA II) and Geeta Leekha (BA II) for their meritorious position in university exams.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

HAMIRPUR
SCHOOL UPGRADED: The Himachal Pradesh Government has upgraded Government High School, Kharwar as the plus two school from the current academic session. Plus one class in the school would start from this session, according to Mr Ishwar Dass Dhiman, Education Minister.

KULU
TIMBER SEIZED: Timber, worth more than Rs 2 lakh, has been seized by the Wild Life Division of the Forest Department. The timber was seized from Kharka, Lot, Dabri, Devgran, Chestedhar, Dhamchani and Sangil villages of Shilli Rajgiri Panchayat situated in Khokhan Wild Life Sanctuary in the district. In a press note issued here on Saturday, the Forest Department said a team, headed by B.D. Suyal, DFO, raided the villages and seized the timber.

NURPUR
MURDER: A land dispute between two brothers led to the murder of one of them at Gagwal in this subdivision on Saturday. According to the police, Bakshish Ram has been arrested. Pawan Kumar, nephew of Som Raj, is absconding. A dispute over a path led to the murder of Som Raj. A case under Section 302 of the IPC has been registered against the accused.

SHIMLA
PLEA TO LIFT BAN: Owners of land in the core area of the town on Friday met the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, and urged him to lift the ban on constructions in the area. Mr R.L. Jain, president of the Core Area Sufferers Association, said Mr Dhumal assured them that steps would be taken in this direction.

MONETARY HELP: The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, has sanctioned Rs 1 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to Ms Promila of gram panchayat, Chhatar, Mandi, for her heart treatment in the AIIMS, Delhi.

RESIDENTS’ RALLY: Residents of the suburban areas, which were delinked from the Shimla Municipal Corporation last year here held a rally on Thursday in protest against the failure of the authorities to provide water and electricity to them. The Shimla Upnagaria Jan Kalyan Samiti is spearheading the agitation.

B.Ed FEE HIKE: The decision of the state government to increase the fees for subsidised and non-subsidised seats in private B.Ed colleges by 17 per cent to 21 per cent from the new academic session has drawn flak from students’ unions — the ABVP, the SFI and the NSUI. The Akhil Bharatiya Parishad has threatened to start an agitation if the decision is not reversed.