R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amloh
MEDICAL CAMP: The Sangmeshwar Sewa Dal, in association with Desh Bhagat Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital, Mandi Gobindgarh, organised a free health and medical check-up camp at Government Senior Secondary School here on Sunday. As many as 436 patients were examined by the team of doctors under the supervision of Principal R.C. Jain. Medicines were given free of cost to the patients by the college. Dr Swatantar Karkra, state secretary, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, inaugurated the camp and announced Rs 20,000 on behalf of Mr Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Parliamentary Secretary (Home, Justice and PWD), who could not attend the camp.

Hoshiarpur
KILLED: Kamaljit Singh of Bulhowal died on the way to the local Civil Hospital on Sunday. He was seriously injured when a car hit his scooter near Nandachaur. A case has been registered.

RALLIES: Employees of the Punjab State Electricity Board organised protest rallies to oppose the proposed privatisation of the board in front of their respective subdivisional offices throughout the state on Monday, according to Mr Satish Chander, convener of the Technical Services Union of the board. He said a convention of the board employees, farmers, farm labourers and students would be held on February 12 at Desh Bhagat Memorial Hall, Jalandhar, to make strategy for opposing the decision of the state government.

Ludhiana
FILIPINO BAND: The Filipino band of Elmer Gurino and May Pagang has been brought to city by Majestic Park Plaza . May specialises in pop soft rock and ballad songs and old pop numbers are a favourite with her. The band will be playing here for this month and the next. 

Strike: Wholesale and retail chemists all over the city observed a strike here on Sunday in response to a call given by the Punjab Chemists Association against the police repression against some of the chemists at Malout in Muktsar district. The wholesale medicine market at Pindi Street here was closed while chemists elsewhere in the city observed a partial strike. 

Malerkotla
SUICIDE: Dev Singh, son of Teja Singh, a resident of Quila Hakima, allegedly committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance here on Saturday. The police said the cause of suicide was the illicit relations of his wife, Satnam Kaur with Kulwant Singh of the same village. Both were arrested in this connection. The body of the deceased has been sent for a post-mortem examination. A case has been registered.

Nawanshahr
FUNCTION: Parkash Model School organised its annual day function on the school premises here on Saturday. Mr Darshan Singh Khatkar, state secretary, CPI, presided over the function and gave away prizes, according to Ms Parkash Kaur, Principal of the school.

PATIALA
ANNUAL FUNCTION: Black Elephant Division Deputy GoC Brig D.S. Grewal on Monday stressed for more special schools for mentally challenged children in cantonments. Speaking at the third annual day function of the Black Elephant ASHA School here, Brigadier Grewal said no society could boast of being advances unless it adequately cared for its deprived and dispossessed elements. Mrs Anita Singh, the officiating Principal of the Special School, spoke a brief about the progress of the school.

Phagwara
BOYCOTT: The Ambedkar Sena, Punjab, will boycott a meeting convened by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate here on Tuesday. This was stated by Mr Harbhajan Suman, president, here on Sunday. He said atrocities on Dalits would not be brooked. The SDM had convened the meeting of the General Samaj Manch and the Ambekar Sena to defuse the situation arising out of a stand-off between the two sides.

ARRESTED: The Sadar police has arrested two inter-state gangsters, Kuldip Singh and Saimbher Singh of Rurka Kalan village, for their involvement in three dozen cases of thefts in Punjab and Haryana.

HARYANA

Ambala
Bank’s facilities: Punjab National Bank introduced Central Banking Solution under the bank’s national network in two branches of Ambala City on Monday. Mr IS Bedi, lead district manager, PNB, said that the Model Town and Court Road branches were brought under national network. “With this six branches of Ambala are linked under national network, under the latest system.

Rewari
TRIBUTES: Tributes were paid to Urdu poet Nand Lal 'Nairang' Sarhadi at a poetic symposium which was organised here on Sunday to mark his 32nd death anniversary. Mr Om Parkash Grover, a veteran citizen and old acquaintance of the poet, was the chief guest. Mr Raj Kumar and Mr Naresh Kumar, both sons of the poet, delighted the audience with recitations of selected ghazals of Nairang Sarhadi.

Sonepat
DEMONSTRATION: Residents of Jataula village held a demonstration in front of the office of the Superintendent of Police here on Sunday in protest against the failure of the police to arrest the culprits involved in the murder of Rajinder. They alleged that some persons of the village had taken away him with them for the election campaign on January 16. However, his body was found along a canal near Halalpur village on January 18.

HUNT LAUNCHED: The police has launched a hunt to apprehend three youths, including Banarsi and Fauji of Mohana village, who had assaulted a youth, Raj Kumar, of the same village on February 3, the polling day of Assembly elections. According to a report, the injured youth was still under treatment in the local Civil Hospital. Raj Kumar had gone to a polling booth to cast his vote where he was attacked by the alleged assailants.

HOSPITALISED: A youth, Chand, was hospitalised after he consumed some poisonous substance in his house at Kot Mohalla here on Monday. A family feud was said to be the cause of his extreme step.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
URGED: The Gobind Sagar Ghats Sudhar Sabha has urged the Chief Minister to ensure that the entire area of 50 panchayats is directly connected with the district headquarters. They said the construction of a proposed bridge between Berry-Darolan and Khariyan would be the shortest route. Mr Ram Singh, president of the sabha, said now the Public Works Department proposed to construct the bridge between Berry-Darolan and Khariyan which would link only Chandpur with their area and it would increase distance by at least 10 km.

WARNED: Mr Gopaldass Verma, president, Himachal Pradesh State Non-gazetted Employees Federation, has warned the state government that if their demands are not accepted then they will be forced to form an action committee. Mr Verma alleged that the state government had started to implement an MoU in which 35,000 Class III and IV posts would be abolished.

Nurpur
POWER PROBLEMS: In order to remove the low electricity problems and improve electrification in the state, the government has formulated a Rs 322-crore plan. This was stated by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh while laying the foundation stone of a 33-kv electricity substation at Jwali in the neighbouring Guler assembly constituency on Sunday. Mr Singh, who also laid the foundation stones of 15 tubewells in the area.