R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Abohar
THREE ARRESTED: Three persons, including a proclaimed offender, were arrested at Sriganganagar, 40 km from here on Monday. They were planning to smuggle smack and opium into Punjab. The police recovered 1080 gm of smack, 140 gm of opium and currency notes worth Rs 98440 from their possession. They were to leave for Abohar from their Sardulshehar hideout when the police party headed by SI Rajinder Singh, incharge of Sadulshehar police station bordering Abohar, nabbed them with the help of local police, sources said.

Amritsar
EXHIBITION: Five eminent artists of the city will jointly hold a painting exhibition on the premises of the Indian Academy of Fine Arts here. The weeklong exhibition would be held from January 7. The artists include Mala Chawla, Bhupinder Nanda, Atul Mehra, Kulwant Singh Gill and Dharminder Sharma.

LAST DATE: The Deputy Commissioner on Monday announced the last date for the completion of all projects that are under way for the 500th celebrations of Parkash Purab of Guru Angad Dev at Khodoor Sahib. In a press release here, he said all pending projects might be completed before March 31.

Bathinda
MEDICAL CAMP: The Jail Superintendent, Mr S.S. Saggu, in a press note issued here said a homeopathic medical camp was held at the local Central Jail on Tuesday. As many as 155 inmates were examined and given medicines free of cost at the camp.

BODY FOUND: Volunteers of the Sahara Jan Sewa fished out the body of a middle-aged man from the Rajbaha of Ghuman village falling under the Kot Fatta police station of this district on Tuesday. Sources said the post-mortem examination was conducted at the civil hospital and the police handed over the body to the Sahara volunteers for cremation.

KHANNA
NSS CAMP: The 10-day NSS Camp organised by A.S. College, Khanna, concluded at Salaudi village on Tuesday. A cleanliness and anti-drug drive was launched by the NSS volunteers of the college. The students cleaned the village dispensary, the government school, the cremation ground and the gurdwara of the village. Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, MP, which was the chief guest at the function, while addressing the gathering and NSS volunteers, exhorted them to donate liberally for the betterment of educational institutes. He donated Rs 1 lakh for the village school and Rs 20,000 for the local Youth Sports Club out of his MP LAD fund. Local MLA Harbans Kaur, SDM Jaspal Singh Jassi also promised to mobilise funds for the development of the village from the District Planning Board.

INJURED: One person was injured when the tractor he was driving collided with the truck near the Sidhu Filling Station on the GT Road, about 5 km from Jagraon, on Tuesday. According to information, the truck was on its way from Patiala to Ferozepore whereas the tractor was going from Ferozepore to Chandigarh when they collided due to heavy fog. Randhir Singh, tractor driver, was admitted to Civil Hospital here. The police arrested Jang Singh, driver of the truck, and registered a case.

Nawanshahr
MARTYRDOM DAY: The local unit of the Arya Samaj organised a function at Ved Mandir, Teacher’s Colony, to commemorate Martyrdom Day of Swami Shradhanand on Sunday. Mr DP Dutta presided. A declamation contest on life and philosophy of Swami Shradhanand was organised. While Sanchita Sharda, Arzoo Sharma (Adarsh Bal Vidyalaya) and Chandi Ahuja (Red Rose School) won the first three individual prizes, respectively, the teams of Adarsh Bal Vidyalaya, Red Rose School and Doaba Arya Senior Secondary School won the first three positions, respectively.

Pathankot
THREE HELD: The district police has arrested three persons for showing pornographic films to youngsters in their shops. It also seized 19 cassettes from their possession. According to the District Police Chief, Mr R.P.S. Brar, those arrested have been identified as Lovely Kumar of Modern Electronics, Hira Lal of Hira Electronics and Jugal Kishore Mahajan, a shopkeeper in the Balmiki Chowk area. A case under Sections 292 and 293 of the IPC has been registered.

CAMP: The Punjab Agriculture Department held a training camp for farmers at the Farmers Advisory and Information Centre here on Sunday in collaboration with Nabard. More than 100 farmers participated. Mr Sohan Singh, District Manager (Development), Nabard, said the camp was held to acquaint the farmers about easy methods to procure loans and scientific means of cultivation.

Phagwara
BODY FOUND: The body of a middle-aged man was found from a “choe” at Brahampur village, 20 km from here, on Monday.

POLLUTION CHECK-UP: Free pollution check-up was done of 400 vehicles, 326 reflectors were put up on vehicles, mostly tractor-trailers, and 400 booklets about traffic rules were distributed on the opening day of Traffic Week here on Monday. The DTO, Kapurthala, Mr Vinay Miglani, presided.

SAMRALA
MEETING HELD: A meeting of the local Brahmin Sabha was held under the chairmanship of Mr Behari Lal Saddi, president of the sabha at the local Durga Mandir on Tuesday. At the meeting, it was decided to open an office of the sabha in the main bazaar of the town. The sabha also condemned the desecration of the statue of martyr Girdhari Lal Bhagi. It also decided to coordinate with the mandir management in the celebrations of the Shivratri festival.

CAMP: The NSS volunteers of the SDP College for Women organised a one-day camp in Bazra village under the guidance of programme officers, Ms Sudesh Bhalla, Ms Nivedita, Ms Sumita and Ms Suman of the Hindi Department of the college empowerment was the main objective of the camp. The NSS volunteers made the rural women aware of social problems pertaining to AIDS, family planning, balanced diet, women education and pollution. They conducted a survey of drinking water and educated villagers about simple methods of clean drinking water and educated villagers about simple methods to clean drinking water and take preventive measures to avoid seasonal water-borne diseases.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
NSS CAMP: Principal Manjula Sharma on Monday inaugurated a 10-day National Service Scheme (NSS) camp in Government Postgraduate College. She urged girls and boys to make it a habit to dedicate some of their time to selfless social service. Programme officer Surinder Singh Thakur said 100 college girls and boys were participating in the camp and would launch a cleanliness campaign in Danoh village apart from launching programmes for creating awareness among villagers about prohibition, environment, AIDS, the dowry system and also self-employment awareness.

Chamba
STOLEN: A gang of thieves reportedly stole Rashtriya Bachat Patras worth Rs 4.5 lakh from the sub-post office at Nakrot in Churah subdivision of Chamba district on Sunday night, according to a delayed report received here on Tuesday. According to Mr N.D. Sharma, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Chamba, the thieves had broken the lock and the doorknob of the main gate of the sub post office, but finding no cash, they took away Rashtriya Bachat Patras worth Rs 2,82,100, Kisan Vikas Patras of Rs 1,66,200 and postal orders worth Rs 1,015.

ELECTED: Ms Renu Chadna, district president of the BJP, has notified the following office-bearers of the district unit of the party: vice-presidents — Ms Krishna Mahajan, Mr Tej Ram, and and Mr Prakash Chand; general secretary — Mr Gurbachan Barotra, secretaries — Mr Rajinder Patial, Mr Ramesh Mehra, and Mr Jiya Lal, and cashier — Mr Raj Kumar Vaid.