R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Bathinda
LOAN MELA: The local branch of the State Bank of India organised a loan mela at the local cloth market here on Monday. Loan worth Rs 1.5 crore was sanctioned for 250 persons. Mr D.J. Makand, Deputy General Manager, inaugurated the mela.

DRIVE LAUNCHED: The Director of Enforcement, Bathinda division, the Punjab State Electricity Board, said here on Monday that the board had launched a drive against power thefts and 41 cases of theft had been detected during raids in first week of January. He said the board had also launched a Voluntary Disclosure Scheme for tubewell connections holders and it would remain in effect till January 31.

ARTIFICIAL LIMBS: The Deputy Commissioner said here on Monday that the state government had decided to hold camps for distributing artificial limbs among needy children in the age group of 3 to 14. He said camps would be held at Bathinda on January 31, Talwndi Sabo on February 1, and Rampura Phul on February 2.

Gurdaspur
PATWARI HELD: Vigilance sleuths have caught red-handed patwari Baljit Singh while accepting a bribe from Tarsem Singh. The patwari was posted in Sarwati village near Batala. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against him.

Hoshiarpur
OFFICE-BEARERS: Mr Naval Kishore, district president of the Congress party, Hoshiarpur, has appointed the following as office-bearers, senior vice-presidents Mr Ram Singh and Mr Raman Verma; vice-presidents — Mr Shamsher Singh; Mr Gurparminder Singh, Mr Pawan Chhiber, Mr Kuldip Marwaha and Mr Kuldip Singh Jat; general secretaries — Mr Harmesh Lal and Mr Sukhwinder Pal Singh; and secretaries, — Mr Romesh Chander, Mr Deepak Kohli, Mr Vinay Kanda, Mr Charanjit Singh, Mr Shard Kumar and Mr Ashwani Kumar.

ludhiana
Elected: Mr Kamal Chopra has been elected general secretary of the All- India Federation of Master Printers for 2005. Mr Chopra was elected at the meeting of AIFMP at Munnar, Cochin, recently.

Mansa
ARRESTED: The police arrested Gurmail Singh, alias Gela, and recovered 10 kg of opium from his Toyota Qualia at the Malkon-Dalelwala naka here on Monday. His accomplice, Raj Singh escaped. The SSP said eight cases were already registered against him.

PATIALA
BSNL SCHEMES: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), announced a variety of schemes to make its mobile service more attractive to customers, besides setting up a new customer service centre in the city. These schemes are applicable only for the period from January 1 to 31. Under these new schemes no activation charges will be taken for post-paid connections. BSNL has also introduced three new tariff packages.

RALLY: S.D.S.E. Senior Secondary School organised a rally here on Tuesday to collect relief for victims of tsunami tragedy. Speaking on the occasion, the Principal of the school, Mr Vinod Kumar Modi, informed that the rally was attended by students and teachers of the school.

RELIEF FUND: Members of Inner Wheel Club (IWC) here expressed grief over the loss of lives in the tsunami tragedy in South India and other parts of South Asia. The President of IWC, Ms Rama Nohria, disclosed here on Tuesday that the club will donate Rs 11,000 for tsunami victims.

DISTRIBUTED: Guru Ramdas Gurmat Scholarship Scheme organised a certificate distribution function here on Tuesday for students who have passed the gurmat scholarship examination. The certificates were given to 821 students of 32 schools at the Academy of Sikh Religion and Culture. 

Phagwara
AID FOR VICTIMS: Mr H.S. Basra and Mr Parveen Machanda, owners of Siti Cable, on Sunday presented a draft for Rs 1,02800 to SDM Pritam Singh for tsunami victims. Siti Cable had collected this amount by holding a one-day relief camp.

CELEBRATIONS: Thousand of devotees on Monday took part in “Sompati Amavas” celebrations, deopite the chill and fog. Devotees took a dip in the sarovar of Gurdwara Sukhchain Sahib. A mela-like atmosphere prevailed at the shrine. Langer was also held.

SAMRALA
Workers’ protest: Twenty-seven members of the Class IV Municipal Employees Union, Samrala, said on Tuesday that they were not paid salaries in time and even the authorities of the bank concerned were indifferent towards their problem. Mr Jagpal Singh and Mr Pheru Ram, president and chairman of the union, respectively, demanded that the salary be paid to them on the first day of every month. They threatened to hold a dharna.

Stray dog menace: Stray dogs in Ropalon, Tamkaudi, Sultanpur and Jaspalon villages are posing a threat to people and have bitten several children of the area.

Strike: Revenue officers will go on strike from January 12 in Punjab. The general secretary of the All India Bharti Kisan Union, Mr Balbir Singh Rajewal, said here on Tuesday that earlier the strike by the Revenue Officers had inconvenienced people a lot.

HARYANA

Kaithal
SHOT DEAD: A youth was shot dead on the Kaithal-Patiala road here on Sunday. The deceased left his house after receiving a phone call but did not return home. His body was found on Monday by a passerby who informed members of his family. A case has been registered.

MEETING: A meeting of the Bharat Kisan Union was held at Jawahar Park here on Monday. Mr Partap Singh Guhna, district president, presided over the meeting. Speakers expressed concern over the shortage of urea, irregular supply of power, and low price of basmati paddy and cotton. The union demanded that power supply to the agriculture sector be increased.

Panipat
RELIEF: Volunteers of the Jan Sewa Dal and Baba Kanshi Giri Mandir have collected relief material worth Rs 5 lakh for tsunami victims. Six volunteers of the organisations are in tsunami-affected areas to distribute materials.

Sirsa
BODIES FOUND: The police has found two bodies from two different canals in the district. The body of a 30-year-old-man was found in Ranga Rori canal. Medical reports show that it is a case of murder as the body bore injury marks on the eyes and the head. The body of a woman was found from Vedvala Pulia.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Dharamsala
DELEGATION: A delegation of the Himachal Medical Officers’ Association here met the Chief Minister on Monday to demand increments for doctors who had done post-graduation and also to seek that the post of Block Medical Officer (BMO) be made on promotion. The association said despite repeated assurances, the two long-pending demands had not been met.

Kulu
FACILITIES GONE: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) here has withdrawn several facilities provided to customers without any prior notice to the subscribers. The BSNL authorities here confirmed that the facilities for call diversion, call waiting and a few more had been withdrawn for “security reasons”.

Shimla
URGED: The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation Employees Union has urged the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Minister, Mr G.S. Bali, to take action against those employees who are indulged in corruption practices and bringing bad name to the organisation. The union hailed an announcement of the minister to introduce professionals in the functioning of the corporation and develop the state as an international tourist destination.

Solan
VEHICLE RECOVERED: A police team led by Barotiwala SHO Bhisham Thakur recovered a stolen Mahendra pick up vehicle (HP-12-A-5419) from Hira Singh Meena, a resident of Tundla in Rajasthan. Working as a senior clerk with the Railways Protection Force, he was found involved in the sale and purchase of stolen vehicles. He had purchased this vehicle for a sum of Rs 70,000 from Mohinder Singh, arrested earlier by the police.