R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Batala
LICENCES CANCELLED: Mr Sukhdev Singh, District Food and Supply Controller, Gurdaspur, said here on Monday that surprise raids were conducted at various places and licences of 14 fair price shops were cancelled and a fine of Rs 36,200 was imposed. Show-cause notices were also served on 22 brick-kiln owners and 350 petrol pumps were checked in coordination with the Gurdaspur district- level coordinator at Pathankot.

Hoshiarpur
ARRESTED: On the complaint of Mr Romesh Dutt of Mohali, Garhshankar police has registered a case under Section 420 IPC and 51, 52, 52 A, 63, 64, 68 A, 69 C of the Copy Right Act against Davinder Kumar, Tej Pal, Hussan Lal, Harinder Singh, Sushil Kumar, alias Happy, Bikram Kumar, Avtar Singh and Vinod Kumar of Garhshankar for showing films on their cable network through pirated CDs. According to police sources, Avtar Singh and Vinod Kumar were arrested and hunt for others was on.

STRIKE: Commission agents of vegetable and fruit market observed a strike on Tuesday in protest against converting the procedure of collection of market fee through private contractors by the Market Committee. As a result farmers had to sell their agriculture produce at throwaway prices.

ARRESTED: The police has arrested Ashok Kumar, alias Sokhi, son of Harjinder Singh, a resident of local Mohalla Roop Nagar, on Monday evening under Sections 21, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act and seized 30 tablets of Nitro-10 from him.

Jalandhar
KILLED: Diksha Sharma, a 12-year-old student hailing from Santokhpura locality here, was crushed to death here on Monday when a tractor-trailer allegedly rammed into her bicycle when she was going to school. The police has impounded the vehicle.

Ludhiana
TSUNAMI FUND: The SDP Sabha, Ludhiana, comprising the SDP College for Woman, SDP Senior Secondary School, Hazuri road, SDP Senior Secondary School, Basti Jodhewal, SDP Model Senior Secondary School and SDP Collegiate Senior Secondary School, has contributed Rs 2.04 lakh for the rehabilitation of tsunami victims. Mr Balraj Bhasin, president of the sabha, met the Defence Minister on Tuesday and handed over the bank drafts.

ELECTION: The following were elected office-bearers of the Guru Nanak Dev Polytechnic Alumni Association: president — Mr Ranjodh Singh; vice-presidents — Mr G.S. Bedi and Mr Gian Chand Sofat; general secretary — Mr Ajit Birdi; general secretary press — Mr Baldev Singh; and general secretary finance — Mr Surinder Singh. 

CONGRESS GRASS: NSS volunteers of Punjab Agricultural University removed congress grass from various locations on the campus at a two-day camp held on April 23 and 24. Dr K.S. Verma, programme coordinator, NSS, has urged in charges of NSS units to involve volunteers in the uprooting of the exotic weed.

Nawanshahr
CREMATED: Pritam Singh “Jai Hind”, freedom fighter and an aide of Netaji Subash Chander Bose, who died after a brief illness at his native village Bharta Khurd on Sunday was cremated here on Monday. Mr Parkash Singh, Parliamentary Secretary (Cooperation), Mr Harjit Inder Singh Grewal, Deputy Commissioner, Mr Kulbir Singh, SDM, Mr Kuldip Rana, District Congress chief, were among those who laid the wreaths.

VISITED: A delegation of nursing students comprising Ms Pam Sethi, Ms Jaclun Smith, Ms Diana Kuhr, Ms Clarissa Tsag led by a lecturer Ms Lynne Esson from UBC School of Nursing Vancouver (Canada) visited Guru Nanak College of Nursing, Dhahan Kaleran (Nawanshahr) on Monday under the Faculty and Students Exchange Programme.

Pathankot
MUSHAIRA: Anjuman-e-Dostan-e-Adab, Pathankot, will organise 27th all-India mushaira on April 30 here. According to Mr Rakesh Malhotra, president of the association, various eminent poets from different parts of the country will participate in the mushaira.

REMANDED: Mr R.K. Garg, Subdivisional Judicial Magistrate, on Tuesday remanded branch manager of New India Assurance Company Vijay Kumar Marwah in police custody till Wednesday. Marwah was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau on Monday following a complaint by Ranjit Singh, a resident of Chak Phool village allegedly for accepting a bribe of Rs 1,500 for settling a cattle claim case.

PATIALA
OFFICE-BEARERS: Mr R.K. Kataria has been elected president of the Elders Welfare Society. The other office-bearers are: Mr C.P. Sharma — senior vice-president, Mr Rajinder Pal — vice-president, Mr M.K. Paul — general-secretary, Mr B.K. Singla — finance-secretary, Mr R.K. Dhanda — secretary and Mr Vijay Sharma — joint-secretary.

Ropar
GANG BUSTED: The city police on Monday claimed to have busted an inter-state gang involved in more than 20 cases of theft with the arrest of three youths and recovered four motor cycles from their possession. Among the three arrested two youths, namely Rajbir Singh and Jatinder Singh hail from Yamunanagar while the third Harpreet Singh belongs to Morinda. They were produced in a local court and were remanded in police custody.

ZIRAKPUR
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Real Estate Developers’ Association: president — Mr R.P. Malhotra; general secretary — Mr Vikas Singla; vice-president — Mr Darshan Singh, finance secretary — Mr Pawan Bansal; and executive members — Mr R.M. Singla, Mr Pawan Sharma, Mr Devinder Singh and Mr Kulwinder Singh.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Baddi
LIQUOR SEIZED: The police arrested Rajesh Kumar from Binowali village here on Sunday and recovered 18 bottles of countrymade liquor from him. He was booked under the Excise Act.

Bilaspur
SEIZED: The police on Sunday recovered 30 cases of liquor from a Maruti van from Panjpiri village on the National Highway No 21 which were being carried without permit. Ashok Kumar, alias Shoki of Dadi under Ghumarwin police station and Inder Singh, alias Piyarelal of Behnajattan village were arrested.

ORDER: The District Magistrate, Mr J.S. Pathania, passed an order under Section 188 IPC on Monday making it mandatory for all persons coming from outside Bilaspur for various jobs in the district to get themselves registered at the nearest police station.

PROFESSIONAL TAX: The state BJP president, Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, lashed out at the state government for imposing professional tax and has warned that the party would start a statewide agitation if the tax was not withdrawn. He was addressing office-bearers and other prominent state leaders here on Sunday.

Chamba
ORDER: The Additional District Magistrate, Chamba, Mr Chaman Singh, issued an order here on Monday making it mandatory for all those coming from outside for livelihood in Chamba district to get themselves registered with the respective police stations.

Dharamsala
SUICIDE: Sumna Devi, a resident of Mukam Jasai village in Kangra subdivision, committed suicide on Sunday. In a complaint to the police, her father, Mr Sartaj Singh of Jwali, has alleged that his son-in-law Tilak Raj, along with his mother Mangha Devi, had been harassing his daughter, which forced her to take the extreme step. She had been married for four years.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Kangra District Medical Department Nursing Association: Chairperson — Mrs Madhu Pradhan; vice-chairpersons — Ms Prabha Sharma and Ms Virender Walia, cashier — Ms Suman Lata; and press secretary — Ms Bharti Rana.

Kulu
LINK BRIDGE: Mr Bhuvneshwar Gaur, newly-elected president of the Sadar constituency Congress committee, informed here on Sunday that a new Kulu bypass link bridge at Bhootnath would be constructed soon.

PROTEST:Women from 10 mahila mandals staged a show of strength at Archhandi village here on Monday in support of the family of a minor who was allegedly raped and murdered at Archhandi village two months ago. They gathered in front of the office of the Superintendent of Police and Deputy Commissioner and protested against the alleged inaction in the case.

Solan
CRUSHED: A five-year-old girl Babli was crushed to death when a car hit her when she was crossing the road near Saproon here on Sunday. A case under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC was registered against the driver Jagdishwar Singh Thapa.

Sundernagar
REPAIR OF ROADS: Mr Tek Chand Dogra, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (PWD), said here on Saturday that Rs 60 crore would be spent on various roads in Mandi district in the year 2005-06. He was addressing his first press conference here after taking over the new assignment.