R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
Gates to be constructed: Mr Avtar Singh Makkar, President, SGPC, approved the proposal of erecting five gates commemorating the fourth centenary of martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev at Tarn Taran here on Saturday. Baba Jagtar Singh will carry out the kar seva for building the gates. The gates will be constructed on Amritsar, Harike, Goindwal Sahib, Jandiala and Chhabal roads.

Distributed: The Bank of India distributed sweaters and bed sheets to the inmates of Institute for Blind as a part of centenary celebration of the bank here on Tuesday. Mr Suresh Kumar Jain, Zonal Manager, said goods were distributed among 80 inmates.

HOSHIARPUR
Resigned: Mr Balwinder Singh Chalaki, district president of the Lok Jan Shakti Party, Mr Shatrughan Dogra, general secretary of city unit, Ropar, and Mr Sarabjit Singh of Rampur Bilorn, district president of youth wing along with their supporters, resigned from the primary membership of the Lok Jan Shakti Party on Tuesday. This was stated by Mr Harmesh Azad, general secretary of the Punjab unit of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, here on Tuesday. He said all of them along with their supporters had joined the RJD.

Medals won: Mr Harpreet Singh, president of the Indian Shotokan Karate-Do-Federation India, said here on Tuesday that Rajesh Rai, Jagtar Singh, Mohit Puri and Ravinder Khuthan, had bagged gold medals while Inderjit Singh, Sandip Banwait and Jatinder Singh, silver and Diwakar Lakhanpal and Harpreet Singh, bronze in the third International Karate Championship held at Thailand from December 16 to 18, 2005.

Case registered: On the complaint of an NRI Jagrup Singh Randhawa, the Sadar police has registered a case under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120 of the IPC against NRI Daljit Singh of Gurjowal (Ludhiana), Ranjodh Singh of Sangrur, Surinder Singh of Rakba and Sukhwinder Singh of Michi Mangli (Ludhiana) who were trying to sale his land at Pandori Bibi village of Hoshiarpur district.

Jalandhar
Case registered : The police has registered a case against six persons for attempting to abduct an employee of local cable network in Greater Kailash colony of Maksudan area. Sarvjit Singh Raju, J S Kataria, Hemant, Onkar Singh Rana, Narinder Singh Sethi and Narender Peda have been booked under Sections 323, 341, 506, 365, 120 B, 148, 149 for allegedly attempting to abduct one Harjinder Singh. Harjinder managed to run away because of the intervention of the passersby at the Maksudan Railway crossing and reached the Maksudan Chowki. The Sadar police has registered a case against the accused on the basis of the complaint filed by the victim.

Car stolen: A Santro car was stolen on Wednesday from Seth Hukum Chand colony here. The car was parked outside the residence of the owner Vijay Sahni. The police has registered an FIR under Section 379 of the IPC.

MP’s grant: Mr Varinder Singh Bajwa, MP, on Wednesday lobbied for the continuance of the ex-gratia grant for MPs funded by the Central government as all of them should not be punished for the misdeeds of few corrupt members, who used the grant for vested interests. “The MPs know better than a bureaucrat about the problems of the local residents and thus the grant must be continued,” he said. The practice of doling out the grant through the MPs should not be stopped in wake of such corruption scam. The inquiry against such MPs had been ordered and the guilty would be brought to book, he said. Mr Bajwa denied distributing any of the development grants to the unaided institutions and said the grants were given as per specific guidelines laid out for the same.

DAVIET students : As many as 19 students of the DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology (DAVIET) have been chosen under the University Entry Scheme for the final selections for commission in the Indian navy. The students are among the 45 students from all over the state who made it to the list. The students, pursuing B. Tech course in the college, were selected when a team of Ministry of Defense visited the institute in October, according to the institute’s director-cum-principal, Mr C.L. Kochher. 

KHANNA
FUNCTION: Besides the study of books, extra-curricular activities should be necessary for the students for their all-round development, said Mr Ajit Singh Khanna, state press secretary, Punjab Pardesh Teachers Union while addressing the third prize distribution function of Santa Claus Playway School here. The principal of the school, Ms Sonika Dheer, presented the annual report of the school and thanked the staff and parents for their cooperation. Mr Avtar Chand Dheer, principal, Tarsem Lal, Parmjit Kaur Khanna, Jagdeep Kalal Majra and Rakesh Dheer also addressed the function. 

NAWANSHAHR
Foundation stone laid: Mr Parkash Singh, Parliamentary Secretary, laid the foundation stone of a new block to be constructed at Shaheed-E-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh Adarsh Senior Secondary School, Khatkar Kalan.

Phagwara
Pledge: On the 120th Foundation Day of the party and less than a year away from the Punjab Assembly elections, Congressmen of the district on Wednesday pledged to “uphold discipline and espouse ethics of the party” at a district-level function here. The president of the District Congress Committee, Mr Navtej Singh Cheema, presided over the pledging ceremony. Mr Kalicharan Sood, a former party member and freedom fighter was also present. Some of the speakers said nobody would be allowed to tinker with the principles, and the tradition of discipline in the party. As such, the function also highlighted the long and chequered history of the party, founded this day way back in 1885. The presidents of the Block Congress Committee (Urban) and Nagar Council, along with some of the party’s Block-level office- bearers, addressed the workers. Also in attendance were activists of the various frontal wings of the party.

Samrala
MEETING: A meeting of the Block Youth Congress was held under the presidentship of newly appointed block president Harminder Singh Babu the local MLA, Mr Amrik Singh Dhillon, addressed the meeting. It was unanimously decided that the Youth Congress workers will become more active and committees at the polling booth levels of Youth Congress workers will be constituted shortly. 

DEAD: Mr Gurdial Singh Lambardar (107) died at his native village Kotala, near here, on Wednesday, the cremation ceremony was held in the village. 

HARYANA

FATEHABAD
Honour for clerk: Mr Jatinder Lekhra, a clerk in the local branch of Canara Bank, has been selected by the bank management as a member of the ‘Executive Director’s Club’ under its Employees Recognition Scheme, 2004-05. The bank provides membership to its employees for getting good business to the bank. Mr Lekhra will be presented a memento. 

KAITHAL
700 examined at medical camp: As many as 700 patients were examined at a free medical check-up camp jointly organised by the local Rotary Club and the O.P. Jindal Gramin Jan Kalyan Sanstha here on Monday. Mr G.D.S. Sohal, executive director of the Jan Kal Sansthan, inaugurated this camp. Mr Sham Lal Jangra, political adviser to Mr Naveen Jindal, MP, was a special guest at the function. A team of doctors from Patiala examined the patients. 

REWARI
4 arrested: The CIA staff raided a factory in Uttam Nagar Colony here on Monday and nabbed four workers of the factory who were reportedly engaged in preparation of adulterated cement. The staff seized 643 bags of fake cement. It is reported that Dharmender Yadav, a resident of Dahina village, near here, who was running the affairs of the factory, escaped. 

SONEPAT
Alumni meet Dharna by BKU: A large number of activists of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) sat on a day’s dharna outside the office of the Tehsildar at Ganaur, 16 km from here, on Tuesday in protest against acquisition of land on cheaper rates by the state government for various development works. According to a report, farmers of Asawarpur, Sewli, Badhkalsa, Rasoi, Badh Malik in Rai block and six villages of Ganaur block participated in the dharna and raised slogans against the state government.

Youth missing: Ranjit, alias Sonu, has been missing from his house at Rathdhanna village in this district. The youth reportedly left his house on December 19 and went to Delhi for purchasing electrical goods for his shop. But he has not returned since then. The father of the youth has lodged a complaint with the police in this connection. 

5 of family hurt: Five members of a family, including two women and a child, were injured when a wall of the building under construction fell at Malikpur village, about 10 km from here, on Monday. They were brought out by residents of the village and rushed to the local Civil Hospital for treatment. The condition of two women and a man was stated to be serious. 

Assault: Mr Sunil, a resident of Larsauli village and owner of a truck, sustained injuries when he was attacked with lathis by three youths near Dutauli village, about 25 km from here, on Monday. Mr Sunil, along with the driver, Manoj, was going in a truck loaded with sugarcane from Bega village to the Sonepat Cooperative Sugar Mills.

YAMUNANAGAR
held: The first alumni meet of Guru Gobind Singh Institute of Technology and Management Studies took place on the college campus here on Monday. On the occasion Mr Bhupinder Singh Jauhar, chairman of the institute, said that a board of governors of the institute had been constituted. Dr Amrik Singh, director of the institute, elaborated the role and responsibilities of the Alumni Association. 

Boundary wall demolished: The boundary wall of an unauthorised colony, which had come up on five and a half acres acquired for development of Sector 24 by HUDA on the Bilaspur road, was demolished on Tuesday. Earlier, HUDA had sent notices against the Karnal-based coloniser and lodged a complaint with the Jagadhri (City) police. As per information available, the coloniser had offered land at Rs 1,600 per square feet and several people had purchased land. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

NURPUR
JEs’ association: The following have been elected-office bearers of the Himachal Pradesh Irrigation-cum-Public Health Department Junior Association, Nurpur unit: president — Bharti Punni; general secretary — Vipon Gupta; chief adviser — K.N. Sharma; organising secretary — Viney Dogra; press secretary — Anuragh Sharma; and cashier — Manoj Kumar. 

SHIMLA
Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Himachal Pradesh Irrigation and Public Health Ministerial Staff Association Headquarters unit: Mr Ajay Sood — president; Mr Hukami Ram — senior vice-president; Mr Sohan Lal Thakur — general-secretary; Mr Hira Lal Sharma — finance secretary; and Mrs Nirmal Sharma — chief adviser.