R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
FIRE: A hosiery shop in Sadar Bazar was destroyed in a fire that broke out due to a short-circuit on Tuesday night. Fire brigade could not control the fire due to ill-maintained equipment and scarcity of water.

AMRITSAR
WORKSHOP: A one-day workshop on environment education in school administration was held here on Wednesday. It was presided over by Mr Gurpartap Singh Guri, District Education Officer, and was inaugurated by Dr Jaswinder Singh Dhillon, Principal Khalsa College for Women.

PROJECT SANCTIONED: Two botanists of Guru Nanak Dev University have been sanctioned a major research project to make Punjab green by the Forest Department of Punjab under its Japan Bank of International Cooperation, Japan-assisted “Punjab afforestation target”. According to a press release issued here on Wednesday, the project amounting to Rs 12.44 lakh has been jointly allotted to Prof G.S. Virk and Dr Avinash Nagpal.

WEBSITE LAUNCHED: A website of the Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences (http://education.vsnl.com/ botanical) of Guru Nanak Dev University was launched by the Vice-Chancellor, Dr SP Singh, here on Wednesday. According to a press note, the site developed by Er Bhupinder Pal Singh, programmer of the department, would provide information about the university, research activities and teaching programmes in the department.

BATHINDA
MEETING HELD: A meeting was held here on Wednesday to look into the complaints of consumers regarding the supply of petrol and cooking gas. The meeting which was presided over by the Additional Deputy Commissioner was attended by officials of the Food and Supplies Department, the Municipal Council, the Improvement Trust and representatives of different cooking gas oil companies along with owners of petrol pumps and gas agencies. The Additional Deputy Commissioner said special attention should be paid to the maintenance of the quality of goods. He added that interests of consumers would be protected at all costs.

MEDICAL CAMP: The local Emergency Blood Club would organise a medical check-up camp in the city on July 14 during which patients suffering from brain related ailments would be examined free of cost.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district unit of the Punjab State Pharmacists’ Association: president — Mr Iqbal Singh; senior vice-president — Mr Ramesh Kumar Singla; vice-president — Mr Porinder Singla; secretary — Mr Baldev Sharma; finance secretary — Mr Pawan Kumar Singla and joint secretary — Mr Sukhwinderjeet Sodhi.

SUICIDE: An Air Force personnel committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling on Thursday. The deceased has been identified as Sergeant M.K. Salvam. The circumstances under which he commited suicide could not be ascertained. A post-mortem examination of the body was conducted at the local Civil Hospital.

BEATEN UP: Navin Kumar (22) of Gidderbaha was allegedly beaten up on Wednesday by a resident of the same town. He was referred to the local Civil Hospital after receiving a first-aid. Dharam Pal, father of the injured, said Navin was beaten up following a dispute over satta money.

ROOF COLLAPSES: Two persons were injured when the roof of a government quarter on the local Power House road fell on the sleeping occupants of the house on Wednesday night. Those injured have been identified as Tarsem Kumar and his son Rahul. Tarsem received injuries on head while his son received injuries on his ear and head.

DERA BASSI
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local unit of the All-India Pollution Control Society: president — Mr Jarnail Singh Pandwala; senior vice-president — Mr Gian Chand Saidpura; vice-president — Mr Gurnam Singh Pandwala; general secretary — Mr Daljinder Singh and treasurer — Mr Karnail Singh.

GURDASPUR
ORDERS: Mr KAP Sinha, Deputy Commissioner exercising powers under the Patrol Act has ordered all able bodied residents of villages located on either side of the Dhussi bundh of the Beas and the Ravi, and canals and nullahs to give thikri pehra and inform the patwari concerned, the secretary Block Samiti and the flood control room through the officials of the Drainage Department whenever there are floods in the respective areas.

KHANNA
MOLESTATION: A Khanna resident, Mrs Rita Vij, has levelled allegations of attempt to molestation against her brother-in-law, Kuldip Vij. She also alleged in a complaint lodged to the SSP, Mr Davinder Singh Garcha, that the investigating officer was allegedly taking the side of the accused. However, the SHO (city) Mr Satnam Singh, denied the charges as baseless and said both parties were engaged in a property dispute.

LUDHIANA
BHOG: The bhog ceremony of late Lieut-Col Malkiat Singh of Bhanaur village, who had fought gallantly in 1965 and 1971 wars and was a noted social worker in the region, would be held at Gurudwara Sahib (near Railway line) Mullanpur Dakha, on Friday. He breathed his last on July 2. A number of social workers and organisations have expressed grief at his death and offered condolences to the family.

REGISTRATION: Office-bearers of the block BJP and party’s former municipal councillors on Wednesday demanded the registration of a case against SO Swara Inderpal Singh for using objectionable language against the Prime Minister. The written representation carries the names of Mr Ram Saroop Arora, former vice-president of the Nagar Council, Mr Tilak Raj Kalucla a former president of the block unit of the BJP, Mr Kashmira Singh Mahi, Zila Parishad member, and Mr Balbhadar Sain Duggal, former councillor.

HARYANA

AMBALA
KISAN CLUB: A meeting of the Kisan Club was held at Krishi Vigyan Kendra. A number of farmers from different areas attended the meeting. Dr D.K. Bhatnagar said the farmers must use medicines and seeds as suggested by agriculture experts. The farmers were also told about farming techniques.

MEETING: To resolve the problem of delay in payments to sugarcane farmers by the Banoundi sugar mill management, a meeting was held here on Thursday which was presided over by the Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, Mr D.D. Gautam. Mr Gautam has directed the mill management to give the payment schedule within one week.

FATEHABAD
POWER SITUATION: The Deputy Commissioner, Dr R.B. Langyaan, has directed all district officers to remain in their respective offices till 2 p.m. and listen to public complaints on a priority during this period. Dr Langyaan has asked the officers of the HVPN to attend to the complaints of power consumers in view of the fact that the power situation in the area is grim due to delay in the arrival of the monsoon and excessive hot conditions.

TRAINING: The Haryana Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Welfare Department has invited applications from SC and ST candidates for pre-examination training in English and Hindi typing and stenography. The Deputy Commissioner, Dr RB Langyaan, told mediapersons that at centres situated at Ambala, Rewari, Rohtak and Bhiwani, training was being imparted in Hindi and English. At the Hisar and Karnal centres, training was provided in Hindi and English, respectively.

WORLD POPULATION DAY: To mark World Population Day, the Education and Health Department jointly organised an awareness rally here on Thursday. Schoolchildren from various schools of this district participated in the rally. The Deputy Commissioner flagged off the rally.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
APPEAL: Residents of hamlets, falling in an interior pocket of Lech in Chamba district, have appealed to the state government to draw a comprehensive plan for the treatment of slopes on the right banks of the Ravi due to which fertile land and hamlets of Lech are gradually sinking. According to residents, the large-scale destruction caused due to the digging of slate quarries some years ago has posed an imminent threat of landslides.

DHARAMSALA
ROAD BLOCKED: Traffic on the Dharamsala-Gaggal road was blocked for some time as agitating government drivers and conductors staged a dharna at Kachheri Adda Chowk on Wednesday. They raised slogans against the government and demanded immediate acceptance of their demands.

SCHEME: To create more cordial relations between the police and the public, the Kangra police had launched an innovative community police scheme. According to Mr Sanjay Kundu, SSP, Kangra, though this scheme was launched initially in the district, no efforts were made for its implementation. He said the police had taken steps to ensure that there was better rapport between the police and citizens.

HAMIRPUR
IMPRISONED: Mr Dharam Chand Chaudhry, Sessions Judge, Hamirpur, has convicted Mr Uttam Chand alias Nikka Ram, aged 26 years of Thathabi village of Bhoranj tehsil, and sentenced him to undergo five years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined him Rs 7,000 under Section 376 (1) of the IPC for raping a minor girl of the same village.
PENALTY: Nadaun forest officials have imposed a penalty of Rs 2,213 on Mr Roshan Lal of Naghoon village for illegally felling four eucalyptus trees. The trees were lying in a cowshed of the village, according to reports reaching here. An official spokesman said here on Thursday that the Forest Department swung into action when it got reports of the felling of the trees without permission. The villagers also reported the matter to the enforcement authorities at Dharamsala.

KANGRA
OFFICE BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Trigarth Press Club, Kangra: Chief Patron — Mr Anil Soni (Divya Himachal); Chief Adviser — Mr Ashok Raina, (The Tribune); President — Mr Surender Kalra (Punjab Kesri); Senior Vice Presidents — Mr SL Chaudhary (Indian Express) and Ms Sunita Bhawal (Dainik Tribune); Vice-Presidents — Mr Pankaj Pandit (Ajit Samachar) and Mr Ritish Grover (Dainik Jagran); General Secretary — Mr Rakesh Kathuria (Divya Himachal); Secretary — Mr Sandeep Orie (Dainik Bhaskar); and Joint Secretaries Mr Pankaj Oberoi (Divya Himachal) and Mr Rajesh Sharma (Himachal Kesri); Organising Secretary — Mr Ajay Sehgal (Amar Ujala); and Cashier — Mr Ashish Dhimir (Dainik Jagran).

ELECTED: Mr Sukhwinder Singh Dadehar Sahib was elected president of the local unit of the NRI Sabha at a meeting held here on Wednesday. The meeting was presided over by Mr Bhupinder Singh, SDM-cum-Chairman of the Sabha. Addressing the members, he urged the NRIs to take active part in social work for the development of their respective villages.