R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
Tributes paid: Officers and ranks of Maratha Light Infantry on Thursday paid floral tributes to Major Surinder Prasad on his 41st martyrdom day function held at the Samadhi Park in the New Suraj Nagar locality here.

BATALA
Two arrested: The police arrested Gurvinder Singh, a resident of Mann Sandwal, and Chand Singh, a resident of Khekra Kalan village, for possessing 2 kg of opium. Their accomplice, Roshan Lal, a resident of Khekhra Kalan village, escaped.

Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Batala City Valmik Sabha: senior vice-president — Mrs Triveni Chauhan; vice-president — Mr Yashpal Bhatti; general secretary — Mr Subhash Bhatti; secretaries —Mr Love Kumar Bhatti and Mr Manish Kumar Bhatti, and Mr Parmod Lal; joint secretaries — Mr Des Raj and Mr Om Parkash; treasurer — Mr Joginder Kalyan; and press secretaries — Mr Neeraj Luthra and Mr Raj Pal. 

Jagraon
Four booked: Inder Pal Singh, Kulwinder Singh Kinda, Dharminder Singh and Sarbjit Singh all of Pabbian allegedly assaulted Baljit Singh of the same village with sharp-edged weapons after throwing chilly powder in his eyes. The police has registered a case under Sections 328, 324, 323, and 34 of the IPC. The victim has been admitted to the local Civil Hospital. No arrests have been made. 

Man injured: Harjit Singh got injured when his scooter (PB- 56- A 2665) was hit by a car without registration number near the Raikot area. A case under Sections 279 and 337 of the IPC has been registered against the driver of the car, Santokh Singh.

LUDHIANA
Dry Cleaners’ Meeting: The 35th annual conference of the Punjab Dry Cleaners’ and Dyers’ Association will be held at Art Gallery, Amritsar, on Sunday. Stating this here on Thursday, Mr Santokh Singh Ahluwalia, president of the association, said the main agenda of the meeting would be hike in the prices of dry cleaning.

Medical camp: Under the School Health Clinic Plan of the state government, officials of the Health Department conducted health check-up of 439 students at Satyawati Oswal Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School here on Thursday. Medicines were also distributed among the needy students. The doctors and supporting staff apprised the students with the significance of green vegetables, milk and other nutritious diet, besides educating them about basic rules of personal hygiene.

TARN TARAN
Dharna: Employees of the Punjab State Electricity Board staged a dharna on Thursday in front of the office of the Superintendent Engineer against privatisation and the anti-employees policies of the management and the government.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Pharmacy college sought: A meeting of the Citizens Council was held today which was chaired by Dr NC Jain. He said they demanded the setting up of a pharmacy college in Ambala. A five-member project committee had been formed to study the formalities required for opening the college. He stated that the committee would also contact Ambala MP Kumari Selja to seek her help in the project.

FATEHABAD
4 Children hurt: Four schoolchildren, Harman, Gurpal, Jaspreet and Karanveer were injured when their school van collided with a Tata utility vehicle at Rattia on Thursday. The injured were admitted to a private hospital. 

Two sentenced: The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr R.K. Sondhi on Friday sentenced Sukhdev Singh and Baldev Singh, residents of Alika village, to two years imprisonment and fine of Rs 15,000 each for trafficking of opium.

Demonstration: Followers of “Dera Saccha Sauda” held a demonstration on Thursday against the CBI probe against their dera. The CBI is probing the dera’s role in the alleged murder of a Sirsa based scribe and the alleged sexual exploitation of young girls in the dera. 

Lok Adalat: The District Legal Services Authority will organise a Lok Adalat in the local district courts on Saturday. Litigations pertaining to petty offences, petitions under the Motor Accidents Claims and other cases will be settled through negotiations in the Lok Adalat. 

HISAR
Workshop: A CBSE language workshop for English teachers concluded at Vidya Devi Jindal School on Friday. Teachers from 40 schools attended the workshop. Issues like syllabus, skill development and extra-curricular activities came up for discussion. 

Protest held: CPM activists held a protest here on Thursday in front of the local mini-secretariat to oppose the “anti-people” policies of the government. The leaders demanded the implementation of the Common Minimum Programme at the earliest. 

REWARI
Dowry case: On a complaint of Pushpa Devi, a lady constable, the police has arrested her husband, Vinod Kumar Yadav, a resident of Hazipur village, on the charge of harassment for dowry. A case has been registered.

Two held: The police arrested Jagtar Singh and Parminder Singh, residents of Ludhiana district, at the Haryana Roadways bus stand here on Wednesday and recovered 58 kg of poppy husk. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

KULU
Postponed: The recruitment of candidates for the Ist and 3rd India Reserve Battalions, which was scheduled to be held in District Kulu from Monday has been postponed. This was stated in a press note issued by the Superintendent of Police.

NURPUR
Office-bearers elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Kangra District Government and Semi-Government Drivers and Conductors Association: president — Mr Kuljeet Rana; senior vice-president — Mr Bhupinder Sharma vice-presidents — Mr Trilok Chand, Mr Rajesh Sood and Mr Kuldeep; general secretary — Sham Verma; cashier — Mr Jeet Ram; and press secretary — Mr Kultar Chand.

SHIMLA
Posts for disabled: The Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, while presiding over the concluding ceremony of the regional workshop of non-governmental organisations, on Thursday said that the backlog in posts in government offices would be cleared to provide employment to the disabled.