R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
Silver jubilee: Springdale Senior School will dedicate its year-long silver jubilee celebrations to create awareness about the deteriorating female ratio through lectures, plays and debates.

Batala
Woman poisoned:- Mamta, a resident of Kapoori Gate, was allegedly poisoned by her husband, Vikram Verma, and in-laws for dowry. The victim was admitted to the Civil Hospital where her condition was stated to be serious.

Dowry case: The police on Monday arrested Hardev Singh, Gurdev Singh and Jagtar Singh, residents of Khu Berwala, Rajasansi, for allegedly demanding dowry from Ms Manjit Kaur. A case has been registered.

Holy dip: Several devotees took a holy dip in the sarover at the Achaleshwer Temple on the Batala-Jalandhar Road on the occasion of Somawati Amavasya and Solar eclipse on Monday.

Hoshiarpur
Dharna staged: Members of the Medical Technician Laboratory Association staged a dharna in front of the office of the Civil Surgeon here on Monday in support of their demands which include implementation of the High Court's decision regarding their pay scales.

Paddy procurement: Activists of Bhartiya Kisan Union staged a dharna at the grain market on Monday. They were demanding relaxation in the specification of paddy and its procurement at the fixed price of Rs 600 per quintal.

Safety awards: The Sewing Thread Unit II of Mahavir Spinning Mills Limited has been declared winners in Scheme I and II for outstanding performance in industrial safety during 2004. Mr D. L. Sharma, President and Executive Director, received these awards recently from the Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, at the National Safety Awards Day function at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

Disability centre: The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has sanctioned a Disability Rehabilitation Centre here and released the grant of Rs 10.73 lakh for the first year of its functioning. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr D. K. Tiwari, on Monday. The project will be run by the District Red Cross Society in the Red Cross building.

Jagraon
Liquor seized: The Raikot police seized a huge quantity of illicit liquor from a truck near Umarpura village on Tuesday. According to the information, Sub-Inspector Bachan Das with his police party intercepted the truck (PJV 9977) and seized 1320 bottles of illicit liquor. The driver of the truck fled from the spot. 

Jalandhar
Blood donation: The Vajra Corps organised a blood donation camp to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at the Military Hospital on Monday. As many as 50 cadets of the 2 Punjab Girls Battalion donated blood on the occasion.

NAWANSHAHR
PO arrested: The police on Monday arrested a proclaimed offender, Kulwant Singh, a resident of Palli Uchi village. He was wanted in the case registered under Sections 457, 380, 436, 427 of the IPC.

11 arrested: The police has arrested 11 persons—Makhan Singh of Jainpur village, Gurdip Singh of Mazara Kalan village, Baljinder Singh and Daljit Singh of Mazara Khurd village, Harmit Singh and Jatinder Singh of Mukandpur, Harbhajan Singh of Gujjarpur village, Varinder Kumar of Karyam village, Balwinder Singh of Bazidpur village, Jatinder Kumar and Sumit Kumar of Nawanshahr and has claimed to have busted three gangs of burglars involved in robberies at various places in the district.

Tarn taran
Woman molested: Shanti, a migrant labourer from Mathura, was allegedly molested by Joga Singh, a resident of Vain Poin village, at Dhunda village near Goindwal on Sunday.The accused has been arrested.

CHANDIGARH

Old students’ body: Bhavans Old Students’ Society, an alumni association of Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 27, selected its new executive board, here on Tuesday. The newly selected body comprises of seven members, Siddharth Sharma, Amit Gupta, Bahaar Paul, Ravjot, Sahil Gupta, Shivleen Kaur and Shrinkhla Narula. 

MOHALI
Connect phone: Members of “The Roses” here in collaboration with Connect telephones presented a Connect STD to a physically-challenged woman of Chandigarh on Tuesday. The woman Mamta had lost both her legs and the right arm in a bomb blast in 1991. The STD was handed over to her by former MP Chandigarh Mr Satya Paul Jain. Mr Ajoy Misra and Mr M.P. Singh, both from the organisation, said more such activities would be taken up by them in the near future. 

HARYANA

Jhajjar
Flooded areas: The Deputy Commissioner, Mrs Suprabha Dahiya, on Monday inspected flooded areas in Beri and its surrounding villages and directed the Irrigation Department to press more pump sets into service for speedy removal of the water.

KAITHAL
Dowry case: The Additional Sessions Judge, Dr Neelima Shangla, here on Monday sentenced Hans Raj, his father, Zila Ram, and his mother, Kali Devi, residents of Bhagal, to rigorous life imprisonment in the dowry death case of his wife, Bali in 2003. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 each and directed that the fine be paid as compensation to the father of the victim. The court has further directed that if the accused fail to pay the fine, they will undergo further imprisonment of two years.

Stolen: Two motorcycles, one from Model Town the other from Sector 1, were reportedly stolen on Saturday. The police has registered cases of theft.

Sonepat
Two arrested: The police on Monday arrested Neeraj and Dheeraj, residents of Samalkha, in a dowry case.

Assaulted: Two unidentified youths assaulted Raseela, a truck driver, and allegedly decamped with Rs 11,000 at Rubra village on Monday. The victim was hospitalised and his condition is stated to be out of danger. A case has been registered.

Stolen goods: The police on Monday arrested Bijender of Garhwal village and Chaman Lal of Ahmadpur Majra village after recovering stolen goods from their possession.

Transfer sought: Representatives of various farmer organisations on Monday sent a memorandum to the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, demanding the transfer of the Executive Engineer (Environment) for failing to keep a check on the discharge of affluents from the industrial units and distilleries in the area. They have alleged that the discharge has polluted the water in the area.

Two held: The police on Monday seized a Canter carrying 12,000 litres of kerosene oil and arrested the driver, Anil, and Roshan Lal, a resident of Naraina, Delhi, for supplying it to petrol pumps owners, for mixing with petrol and diesel. A case has been registered.

2 bodies found: The police found a body of a man on the GT Road near Bahalgarh village on Monday. In another incident, the GRP found a body of a man on the railway track near Sonepat cooperative Sugar Mill here on Monday. The bodies have been sent for postmortem.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

KULU
Selected: Mr Budhi Singh Thakur of Kulu, Mr Praduman Singh of Khalini, Shimla and Mr Darshan Dass Thakur of Rampur Nankhari have been selected from the state to participate in the International Horticulture Fair to be held in the Netherlands in November this year.

Shimla
Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the State Secretariat Services Sports Control Board: vice-presidents-Mr Devinder Saraswati and Mr Rajesh Bhandari; general secretary-Mr Hem Singh Thakur; joint secretary-Mr Devi Ram; and treasurer-Mr Chand Sharma.