R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
WORKSHOP: The first ever India-Pakistan theatre workshop opened here at BK DAV College for Women on Friday. Inaugurating the workshop, Ms J. Kackaria, principal of the college, said efforts were on to jointly promote the live performing arts among the two countries. She said the 15-day workshop had been planned in collaboration with Ms Madeeha Gahur of Ajoka Theatre Group, Lahore, and the local theatre director and producer Kewal Dhaliwal.

PLOTS ALLOTTED: The Amritsar Improvement Trust on Friday held a draw for the allotment of 400 plots for the Mall Mandi residential scheme situated on the GT Road.

ARRESTED: The Majitha police has arrested two persons, Sukhwinder Singh and Baldev Singh, for allegedly looting and stealing vehicles. The police has recovered four stolen vehicles and Rs 32,000 in cash, which they had looted from Paramjit Singh, secretary, cooperative society, Malowal.

AWARDED: Mr A.S. Bawa, director, Defence Food Research laboratory, formerly Professor, Department of Food Science and Technology, and Dean, Applied Sciences, at Guru Nanak Dev University, and his team of scientists have been awarded the DRDO Performance Excellence Award for 2003.

Batala
Commercial use fee: The Improvement Trust here has served notices on persons who carry out business activities at Radha Krishan Colony, Shastri Nagar and Dharampura Colony. They have been directed to pay Rs 2,000 per sq yard. A section of doctors doesn't find the commercial-use fee reasonable.

Bathinda
MEETING: The annual meeting of principals of Army schools and Army public schools of Western Command was organised in COI Bathinda Military Station on Friday. The CBSE Chairman, Mr Ashok Ganguly, was also present on the occasion. COS 10 Corps Maj-Gen S.K. Jamwal delivered the welcome address, while Lieut-Gen P.K. Grover gave the inaugural speech. In his address, the CBSE Chairman laid stress on the latest trends in education. Ms Bharati Kapoor, Director, Optimising Development in Education, highlighted the management of stress among schoolchildren in an impressive manner. The Director AWES HQ Western Command, Col Deepak Kumar, presented an update on AWES activities.

LINEMAN HELD: The Vigilance Bureau has arrested a lineman of the Punjab State Electricity Board while accepting a bribe of Rs 4,000 at Bhai Desa village in Mansa. According to a press note, the complainant, Mr Jagjit Singh, had applied for a temporary motor connection with the PSEB. The lineman, Jagdev Singh, allegedly demanded Rs 5,000 from him for helping him in the case. The Vigilance DSP, Mr Baldev Singh, laid a trap and arrested the lineman while accepting the bribe from Jagjit Singh.

Hoshiarpur
CONCERNED: Representatives of the Beopar mandal, the Citizens’ Welfare council, the Youth Welfare Association other social and religious organisations of Hoshiarpur at a joint meeting on Friday, expressed their anguish over the use of substandard material in the construction of two causeways constructed about eight months ago in the Gaushala Bazar and Dhobi Ghat area in the Bhangi Choe bed which are damaged badly now.

CHEATED: On the complaint of Parshotam Lal, of Machheriwal, the Hariana police has registered a case under Section 420 of the IPC against Hans Raj and Harbans Singh of the same village on Friday. They had been arrested. In his complaint, Parshotam Lal alleged they had settled a deal for sending him to Kuwait for Rs 70, 000 in 2002. He stated that he paid Rs 30, 000 in advance and promised to pay the remaining amount at the time of his departure to Kuwait. But they neither sent him nor returned back his money.

Jalandhar
GUN FOUND: A single-barrelled .12 gun was found near the high security PAP complex. The gun, which was wrapped in a cloth, was recovered on Thursday. A case under various Sections of the Arms Act has been registered.

Kapurthala
DEMONSTRATION: Activists of the district unit the BJP held a demonstration against the policies of the Punjab Government at Jallowkhana Chowk here on Friday. Later they presented a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner for submission to the Punjab Governor demanding the dismissal of the state government.

MANAGER HELD: The Vigilance Bureau has arrested the branch manager of the Bank of Baroda when he was accepting a bribe from a client of the bank here on Saturday. Harvinder Singh of Bishanpur village lodged a complaint with the bureau that the manager of the bank branch on the Sultanpur Lodhi road, was demanding Rs 5,000 for releasing the documents of tractor-trailer which was hypothecated to the bank. The deal was struck at Rs 4,000.

Moga
LIFE IMPRISONMENT: A local court on Friday sentenced two persons to life imprisonment for murdering a bus conductor in 2002. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 7,000 each and in default of payment of the fine both will undergo a further one-year rigorous imprisonment. The body of Kunda Singh was found in a tubewell and it was later found that the duo had killed the Punjab Roadways bus conductor with the intention of robbing a gold ring and cash from him.

Muktsar
FOUR ARRESTED: The police has arrested three government employees and a commission agent on charges of abduction and gang-rape of a minor. The district administration had received information about the misuse of the local Red Cross building in such activities and the police were keeping a close watch on employees, it said. According to the girl’s statement, she was on her way to a doctor when two of the four accused met her on the way and offered her a lift in their car. They took the girl to the Red Cross building where they, along with other two accused, gang-raped her, the police said.

Nangal
APPOINTED: The Ministry of Social Justice has appointed, Dr K.R. Arya, as member of the Rehabilitation Council of India. Dr Arya was earlier Deputy CMO, NFL, Nangal.

Patiala
SEX SCANDAL: The Duty Magistrate here on Saturday remanded the six accused in the Amritsar sex scandal case to judicial custody. The custody of the six accused — former Amritsar Mayor Subash Sharma, Ganesh Poddar, J.S. Kataria, J.S. Arora, Madan Lal Vij, Buland Iqbal Singh — was given till June 24.

Phagwara
NCC UNITS: The Deputy Director-General, NCC, Brigadier H.S. Gill, rued that states in the North especially Punjab, were not giving their co-operation for activating the NCC. During his visit to the 8 Pb NCC Batallion on Friday, he said even a poor state like Bihar was trying to give a philip to NCC activities. But the contribution of Punjab in promoting NCC was negligible.

Phillaur
BURGLARY: The celebration of the birthday of a grandson cost dearer to Sony Banga, who along with his NRI son’s family went to Jalandhar. His house was burgled at nearby Khotrra Khurad village on Friday. According to the reports, England-based Jatinder Kumar had come to the village to meet his parents. Valuables, including gold ornaments, video cameras, mobile phones and DVDs were reportedly burgled. The police has registered a case.

HARYANA

Ambala
ELECTROCUTED: A lineman of the HVPN posted at Naraingarh was electrocuted on Friday morning while repairing a faulty line. He suffered burns after coming into contact with a live line. He was referred to the PGI , Chandigarh, but died on the way.

One killed: One person was killed in a road accident on the Ambala-Hisar road near Durakhra village on Friday. Sanju, a resident of Chor Mastpur village died when he was hit by a truck.

FIRE: A fire broke out in a canteen situated on the premises of a petrol station located on the GT road near Model Town crossing at Ambala City on Friday evening. Two fire engines were pressed into service to control the fire. The fire was reportedly caused due to leakage from an LPG cylinder.

Bhiwani
CONVICTED: The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr Sandeep Kumar Garg, has convicted three persons to two years’ imprisonment and fined them Rs 2000 for planning to loot a petrol station.

Hisar
EXPEDITION: A team of the Army, comprising three officers, five junior commissioned officers and 30 other soldiers from the local military station, will undertake a trekking expedition to the hills of Joshimath, Kedarnath and Badrinath. An official press note issued here on Saturday said.

SUVIDHA CAMP: A lok “suvidha” camp was held by Mr D.K. Tiwari, DC at Ram Colony Camp here on Friday. As many as 24 counters were put up by various departments to deal with cases. People of 61 villages, including those from Premgarh Jahan Khelan and Kanoongoian, participated in the camp. Mr Tiwari, in a press note, said medical examination of 198 persons was conducted by doctors of the Health Department. Nine cases were submitted for getting loans under the Prime Minister rozgar scheme. Sixty new ration cards were also issued.

Panipat
FOREARM RE-IMPLANTED: The right forearm of a five-day-old boy, Jamil, of Ramra village in Jind district which was accidentally cut, has been successfully reimplanted using microsurgery technique at Jindal Nursing Home here. A four-member team of doctors re-implanted the forearm in 10-hour-long operation. His father Mange Ram said his son was playing with an electric “toka” machine in his fields when another child accidentally switched on the motor and his forearm was cut.

Rewari
TRIBUTES PAID: Tributes were paid to Maharana Pratap, the legendary hero of Mewar, at a function organised to mark his 465th birth anniversary at Maharana Pratap Chowk here on Friday. Earlier, a havan was organised under the auspices of the Maharana Pratap Jayanti Samiti.

FUNCTIONS: Functions to mark the death anniversary of Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, founder president of the Jana Sangh (now the BJP), which is being observed as National Integration Day, will be held on June 23 at various district headquarters in Haryana as a part of the yearlong silver jubilees celebrations of the BJP. This was stated at a press conference here on Friday by Mr Krishan Pal Gujjar, state convener of the silver jubilees celebrations committee.

Sonepat
PROTEST: A large number of residents held up traffic for more than three hours on the Kharkhauda-Delhi road, near Saidpur village, on Friday. However, the traffic was resumed by 10 pm. The residents were protesting against the arrest of three persons on charges of damaging a power sub-station at Kharkhauda and beating up of employees manning it.

WEAPON SEIZED: The Gohana police has arrested Sanjay, alias Pathan, in connection with a case registered against him. Mr Sukhdev Singh, SP, told mediapersons here on Saturday that the police had recovered a country-made revolver and six cartridges from his possession.

KILLED: A youth was killed and another injured when their motor cycle was hit by a jeep on the Gohana-Panipat road on Friday. The deceased was identified as Chand of Narayana village in Panipat district whereas the injured was identified as Sandeep of the same village.

TWO ARRESTED: The police has arrested two bail-jumpers wanted in connection with criminal cases registered against them. According to a report, one of them, Balraj of Barwasni village, was involved in a theft case registered against him in 2000. Another man was identified as Sanjeev of Bhatgaon village and a case under the Excise Act had been registered against him in 1997 following the recovery of country-made liquor from his possession.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
URGED: There is an acute shortage of potable water in most parts of Bilaspur. Residents here have urged the district administration to press into service water tankers to meet the shortage of water.

Kangra
SHOPS GUTTED: Property worth Rs 4 lakh was destroyed in a fire in which three shops were gutted in the main market of Panchrukhi town on Friday. A case has been registered under Section 436 of the IPC.

Parwanoo
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Parwanoo Senior Citizens’ Association, president — Mr S.D. Kathuria, senior vice-president — Mr Gian Prakash Sharma; vice-president — Mr Ghanshayam Bhatnagar; General Secretary — Mr Jagmohan; treasurer — Mr N.L. Joshi.

Shimla
APPROVED: The executive council of Himachal Pradesh University on Friday approved the appointment of Professors, Associate Professors and lecturers in various departments for which interviews were held recently. Lecturers have been appointed in all the departments where the strength of teaching staff was less than six.

DOCTORS’ PLEA: The Junior Doctors’ Association of the local Indira Gandhi Medical College has urged Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, to raise the salary of doctors appointed on contract basis to Rs 18,000 and also grant them facilities like earned leave, medical reimbursement and maternity leave. A deputation of the association met him here on Friday.

Solan
ONE KILLED: A scooter (HP-14-0160) rider, Gopal Singh, of Teuri village in Dharampur, was killed on Saturday when a canter coming from the opposite side hit him near Lamba Clinic at Dharampur on National Highway. pillion rider Chander Mohan sustained injuries. The canter driver fled from the spot. A case under Sections 279, 337 and 304-A of the IPC has been registered.