R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Abohar
DEMANDED: Consumer Movement, a voluntary organisation set up under the Consumers Protection Act, 1986, has expressed serious concern over the excessive use of pressure horns by the youth and demanded that besides the users the marketers should also be taken to task immediately.

RECOVERED: Nearly 1232 pirated CDs and 81 DVDs were recovered during raids by the police. The police, assisted by two field officers of a New Delhi based company, carried out raids at audio video centres located inside the Thakur Abadi and the Gaushala market.

Amritsar
SUICIDE: Upinder Kaur, mother of a minor girl, committed suicide at Sainik Rest House here on Wednesday. She was allegedly facing incessant dowry demands from her husband. The police has registered a case under Section 306 of the IPC against her husband, Satish Kumar.

Bathinda
PROBE ORDERED: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr K.A.P. Sinha, has ordered the SDM to probe the quality of rice being supplied to tsunami victims in the southern states of the country. According to sources, the states receiving food aid for tsunami victims from Punjab had complained about the quality of rice being sent to them

Hoshiarpur
RATE FIXED: Mr D.K. Tiwari, District Magistrate, Hoshiarpur, after consultation with officers of various departments and office-bearers of the District Brick Kiln Owners Association, has fixed Rs 1725 per thousand as the rate for the first class bricks for government works in the district. VAT would be charged extra.

Jalandhar
PROTEST: Irked over illegal encroachment on about 200 kanals of common village land in nearby Dhanal Kalan and Dhanal Khurd villages, a large number of residents of the villages held a demonstration at the District Administrative Complex here on Wednesday.

Ludhiana
HOME SHOW: Aiming to increase its brand awareness, Samsung India inaugurated its “Dream Home Show” at Welkom Palace here on Thursday. The four-day exhibition will showcase its hi-tech digital products like LCD TVs, projection TVs, plasma display panel, air conditioners, DVD players, home appliances and refrigerators. 

Phagwara
HELD FOR BIGAMY: Satwinder Singh was on Wednesday arrested for bigamy along with his second wife. Pritpal Kaur, the first wife of Satwinder Singh, had lodged a complaint with the police that her husband had illegally married Navneet Gill of Kalgidhar Market, Ropar.

FOOT-BRIDGE: The Municipal Council on Wednesday decided to deposit Rs 1 lakh for a foot-bridge on the Bhagatpura railway crossing which would be a boon for people residing in the area. This decision was taken at a meeting presided over by the president of the MC, Mr M.S. Ragbotra. Mr Ragbotra disclosed that another foot-bridge would be built across the National Highway near the general bus stand at a cost of Rs 50 lakh.

APPROVED: The Nagar Council, Phagwara has given its approval to an ambitious project of architectural artistry called gyan stambh conceptualised by world famous Copenhagen-based painter Sohan Qadri. Disclosing this here on Thursday, council president Malkiat Singh Ragbotra said it would come up between Phagwara and Chachoki village on the GT Road at a cost of Rs 30 lakh.

Phillaur
ORGANISED: The United Nation High Commission for Refugees, New Delhi, organised a two-day “Police Sensitisation Programme on Human Rights and Refugees’ Protection” at the Punjab Police Academy, here, on Wednesday. Academy Director ADGP Chander Shekher inaugurated the programme in which more than 60 police officers participated.

Sangrur
PARK INAUGURATED: Mr Husan Lal, Deputy Commissioner, Sangrur, inaugurated a park near Shahi Samadhan on Tuesday. No government money has been spent on this park which is spread over six acres.

CHANDIGARH

Ram Katha: The four-day “Ram Katha” by Chandigarh branch of the Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan started at Kishangarh on Thursday. Shreya Bharati delivered discourses to devotees.

HARYANA

Fatehabad
JAILED: Kashmiri Lal, an unregistered medical practitioner, was on Wednesday convicted in a case of storing and dispensing allopathic medicines without a valid drug licence. The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr S.K. Garg, sentenced him to 2 years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000 for the first offence and a 1-year imprisonment for the second offence.

HISAR
CRUSHED TO DEATH: Deepti, a five-year-old girl, was crushed to death by a truck here on Wednesday. The mishap occurred when she was going on a scooter with her elder sister Meenu, who was seriously injured in the mishap. The truck was impounded and a case has been registered.

Kaithal
COLLECTED: The Kaithal district administration has collected Rs 102 crore in the small saving schemes during the just concluded financial year. According to an official press note, this amount was collected against the fixed target of Rs 69 crore.

WHEAT ARRIVALS: A total of 4,20,798 mt of wheat arrived in the grain markets and purchase centres of this district till Wednesday evening. Giving this information to mediapersons, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ashok Khemka, said of the total arrivals, the government purchase agencies had purchased 4,18,357 mt and the private traders 2,441 mt. He added that the wheat had been purchased at the rate of Rs 640- 641 per quintal by the government agencies.

EMPOWERED: The Indian Electricity Act, 2003, has given more teeth to the checking staff of the power boards as it has empowered the checking staff to enter and inspect any premises and seize any device or document to initiate proceeding against those committing power theft. Stating this here on Wednesday, Mr T.K. Mahajan, XEN, operations, Kaithal, said if any consumer is found Indulging in theft of electricity, the authorised officer can disconnect the power supply and get a FIR lodged.

BURGLARY: Thieves stole jewellery and cash from the residence of a businessman at Cheeka Mandi, 25 km from here, on Tuesday. In his complaint to the police, the businessman alleged that 40 to 50 tolas of jewellery, cash and other items were stolen.

PROTEST DHARNA: INLD workers continued their protest dharna outside the Mini Secretariat here on Wednesday. They were protesting against the arrest of Pritam Kole Khan, who contested the recent Assembly elections from the Kalayat (Reserve) constituency on the INLD ticket. They raised slogans against the government and demanded withdrawl of a case registered against Kole Khan under Section 307 of the IPC.

Rewari
ACTION PLAN: The police has formulated a special action plan to curb the incidence of abduction as well as ransom related kidnappings in the district. Dr C.S. Rao, SP, said that the action plan would be implemented in their respective areas by the SHOs of various police stations who would regularly dispatch a progress report in this regard.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
ARRESTED: The police has arrested five persons said to be involved in the murder of a 77-year-old retired Deputy Director of the Himachal Health Services, Dr Ramkrishan Sharma, who was running his own clinic at Ghumarwin in this district near Kallari village.

Kulu
MEETING: The annual meeting of the district disaster management committe was held on Tuesday at Bachat Bhavan here. Mr R.D. Nazeem, Deputy Commissioner, addressed a media conference after the meeting and said the district administration had chalked out a comprehensive programme to avoid disasters caused by natural calamities in the district. He said the district was prone to disasters like cloudburst, flash floods etc.

Kumarhatti
SUICIDE: A married woman of Rabbon village, near Kasauli, died at the PGI, Chandigarh, on Tuesday after she allegedly consumed a poisonous substance. The woman was married to Anil Kumar of Parial village, near Sarkaghat in Mandi district, in 2003. Anil Kumar, who runs an STD shop at Sanawar, allegedly harassed her for dowry. The police arrested Anil Kumar and a case under Section 306 of the IPC has been registered against him.