R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Batala
Arrested: CIA staff on Wednesday raided a slaughterhouse at Gillan Wali and arrested three persons. Three others managed to escape. The SSP said they were arrested for slaughtering four cows at the residence of Ibrahim. Those arrested had been identified as Ibrahim and Mar Masih of the village and Barkat Masih of Raju Wall village. Bashir Masih of Raju Wall village and Mukand Masih of Gillan Wali village fled away. These people used to slaughter cows and sell their hides, bones and meat in Jalandhar, Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Ludhiana districts. A case under the Cows Slaughter Act has been registered at Sadar police station, Batala.

ATM MACHINE: The State Bank of India, Batala, will soon install another ATM near the main bus stand and pension will be disbursed on 28 of every month. This was stated by the Senior Branch Manager, Mr Roop Kumar Kaul, on Thursday.

Phillaur
ELECTION: The elections for the board of Directors of Jalandhar Central Cooperative Banks Society Ltd were held here on Thursday. The Election Officer said Gurmail Singh Mann, SAD, defeated Congress candidate, Vishwamitter, by only one vote. In zone No. 10 Sukhwinder Singh Lalliyan of the Congress defeated SAD candidate Balwinder Singh by four votes. In zone No. 11 of Noormahal in Phillaur subdivision Ashwini Kumar Zulka of the Congress defeated SAD candidate Jaswant Singh by three votes. In zone No. 12, Congress candidate Gurpaul Singh won the election unopposed.

Samana
DHARNA: Four hundred employees of various jathebandis staged a dharna in front of the SDM’s office on Thursday and condemned the state government’s move to parivatise education, health, electricity board and other public sector undertakings. The speakers demand that the posts should be filled immediately and salaries disbursed on time.

Sangrur
LIQUOR SEIZED: The Kinnauri police seized 160 cases (1920 bottles) of country made liquor from a TATA 407 Canter at a naka laid at the Andana Ghaggar bridge on Tuesday night. The police, arrested Rohtas, a resident of Jajwan village in Jind district of Haryana, while his four accomplices including Suresh Kumar (Jajwan village) and Ajaib Singh (Samro Patti Chhajli village), escaped.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Sangrur District Legal Cell of the SAD: Patron— Mr Pavitar Singh Grewal; president — Mr Surjit Singh Grewal; senior vice-president — Mr Balwant Singh Dhindsa; junior vice-president —Mr Bikar Singh Cheema; general secretary — Mr Daljit Singh Sekhon; joint secretary — Mr Kamaljit Singh and finance secretary — Mr Parminder Singh Sekhon.

CHANDIGARH

ROAD WIDENING: Representatives of the Indian Ex-Services League, Punjab and Chandigarh, have demanded the widening of the road from Desumajra to Khanpur. They said the road was known as a killer stretch as many persons had lost their lives on this road due to accidents but the government was not bothered to look into the matter. They demanded an early action in this regard.

Panchkula
BLOOD DONATION CAMP: As many as 224 persons donated blood during a blood donation camp organised by Swami Devi Dyal Education Academy, Golpura, here on Thursday. The camp was inaugurated by Deputy Commissioner Brijendra Singh, who also donated blood at the camp. The camp was held in association with doctors of Department of Blood Transfusion, PGI.

GRAIN ARRIVAL: Almost 9,055 tonnes of wheat has arrived in various grain markets of the town during this year. An official press release said that while Haryana Warehousing Corporation has lifted 3656 tonnes of wheat, Haryana Agro Industries has lifted 3,986 tonnes, government agencies 7642 tonnes and 1413 tonnes by the private traders.

KISAN CLUB MEETING: The monthly meeting of Kisan Club was held here on Thursday wherein the farmers were advised on the sowing practises for the paddy crop. The farmers were also advised about the sowing practises of sugarcane.

ELECTED: Mr Kamal S. Awasthi has been unanimously elected as president of the Suraj unit of Bharat Vikas Parishad. The other office bearers who have been elected are :- Dr Rajesh Bindal — vice president, Mr Rakesh Garg and Mr Prabhat Aggarwal — vice presidents, Mr Sushil Garg — General Secretary, Mr Sushil K Singla as Treasurer.

HARYANA

Karnal
NDA TRAINING: The Haryana Rajya Sainik Board has decided to impart training to the boys of war-widows, widows and ex-servicemen for NDA entrance examinations. The training will be imparted at Sainik School, Kunjpura, Karnal, from May 30 to June 14.

Sonepat
RAIDS: The district administration has intensified raids against those brick kilns that have not been issued licences. Officials conducted surprise raid and directed owners to stop the working till they issued the licences. The officials also lodged a complaint with the police against six brick-kiln owners for further action.

MEMORANDUM: The All-India Farmers Welfare Association on Thursday submitted a memorandum expressing concern over the rampant corruption in the offices of the Revenue Department, particularly in Sonepat, Gohana and Kharkhauda.

MAN ASSAULTED: Mr Devinder, a resident of Murthal village, was assaulted and injured by brothers and sisters of his wife in a house at the village, about 8 km from here, on Thursday. He was hospitalised and stated to be out of danger. The police has recorded his statement and further investigations are in progress.

ELECTROCUTED: A youth, Sanjay (30), was electrocuted in his house at Ganaur on Wednesday night. Sanjay reached his house at night after selling vegetables. When he was keeping the remaining vegetables, he touched an electricity pole and died on the spot. The police has sent the body for the post-mortem examination.

SUICIDE: A youth, Rakesh, is stated to have committed suicide by taking poisonous substance in a poultry farm at Dataull village, about 20 km from here on Thursday. The body has been sent for the post-mortem examination.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Kangra
PROJECT: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved a project titled “Synthetic investigation in green chemistry” for the first time at the college level in Himachal Pradesh and Dr Ashok Kumar Sharma, lecturer in the Chemistry Department of the local MCMDAV College, has been assigned the job.

FOUNDATION: Mr Surender Kaku, Parliamentary Secretary, laid the foundation stone of “Rainbasera” near Mission Hospital on Tuesday. He said it would have four sets on the ground floor, two VIP sets on the first floor, parking facilities on the second floor and a community hall on the third floor.

Kulu
INAUGURATED: Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, inaugurated a river rafting centre at Pirdi constructed by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation under the Buddhist circuit scheme of the Department of Tourism, Government of India, at a cost of Rs 25.44 lakh. The Government of India had allocated Rs 42.85 lakh for this project and an amount of Rs 17.41 lakh would be spent on landscaping and boundary wall.

Kumarhatti
BEATEN UP: The father and sons beat up a man with iron pipes near Dharampur on Wednesday. Gopal, the victim, sustained severe head injuries. He was on the way to his home along with his friends, Sunil Kumar and Raman, when Joginder and his two sons, Rajesh and Nitu, blocked their way. After brief arguments the father and the sons pounced upon Gopal. They fled from spot after a man intervened.

Mandi
A CLARIFICATION: Dr H. P. Malhotra, Medical Superintendent, Zonal Hospital, Mandi, on Tuesday clarified the ENT surgeon on duty attended to two accident cases on Sunday evening, gave them first aid and treatment around 6.40 p.m. Since the doctor suspected internal bleeding in the liver of one of the patients, he called Dr R.R. Vaidya from the private hospital to take care of the patients, who were already put on IVF fluids after they were resuscitated, explained Dr Malhotra.