R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
Textile manufacturers: The Textile Manufacturers' Association claimed that the Congress-led state government had failed to honour its promise of granting the capital subsidy of 30 per cent to the small-scale industrial units in the border area. Mr H.S. Makhni, general secretary of the association, in a letter to the chief minister, said the government had announced an annual budgetary allocation of Rs 25 crore which had not materialised, so far. 

Hoshiarpur
Case registered: On the complaint of Jarnail Singh of Jaitpur village, the Mahilpur police has registered a case under Sections 363 and 366 of the IPC against Gurwinder Singh, alias Giada, son of Lahmber Singh, here, on Thursday. Jarnail has alleged that Gurwinder had abducted his daughter Mandip Kaur (16) from his house on January 9, for marrying her.

3 booked in dowry case: The Tanda police has arrested Kulbir Singh, his father Gurnam Singh and mother Harjinder Kaur of Rama Mandi, Jalandhar, under Sections 406 and 498 A of the IPC for allegedly torturing Kamaljit Kaur, daughter of Baldev Singh of local Mohalla Dashmesh Nagar, for not bringing enough dowry.

Resented: Resentment prevails among the BSNL employees and telephone subscribers in the district for the proposed shifting of Telecom Revenue Accounts (TRA) office from local Vakilan bazar to a far away place, Railway Mandi. At present, the office is in the heart of the city, surrounded by thickly populated area and main markets. Mr Kuldip Nanda, president, District Congress Committee, contacted Mr Gokul Singh, Chief General Manager, Telecom Circle, Haryana, who is holding an additional charge of Punjab Telecom Circle, and apprised him about the problems that might arise after shifting the office. 

Jalandhar
Lohri gifts: It was an altogether different Lohri for all “chowkidars” (night watchmen), of the city as besides good wishes, they were also gifted shoes and whistles by members of the local Bhartiya Janta Party’s Beopar Mandal unit on Friday. A team of the Beopar Mandal unit, comprising the district president, Mr Ravinder Dhir, and other office-beares took a round of the city. The team members located the watchmen in the main markets of Basti Adda, Fullanwala Chowk, Gur Mandi, Shekhan Bazaar, Brandrath Road, Jyoti Chowk, Rainak Bazaar, Milap Chowk, Phagwara Chowk, Bhagat Singh Chowk and other parts of the city and gifted shoes and whistles to them.

Kapurthala
Case registered: A seriously injured cow was rescued in Mansoorwal village near here on Saturday. According to Mr Jagdish Kataria, president of the Shiv Sena (Bal Thackeray), Kapurthala, one Niranjan Singh, a resident of Mansoorwal village, had informed him that a cow had been injured seriously when three persons had attacked it with axes on Friday. DSP, Kapurthala City, Mr Daljinder Singh Dhillon, when contacted, said the accused had attacked the cow on the plea that it was damaging the crops in their fields. He said a compromise had been reached among the villagers on Friday, but the complainant was not satisfied. The police has registered a case under Section 295 A of the IPC against the three accused.

NAWANSHAHR
Arrested: With a view to curbing the black marketing of LPG cylinders in the district, Deputy Commissioner Krishan Kumar has started a special campaign of conducting raids. During one such raid, Jaswant Singh, son of Shaminder Singh of Mehli village, was arrested for allegedly indulged in the black marketing of the cylinders. As many as 30 cylinders were seized from his possession. 

Essay writing contest: The Punjab State Council for Science and Technology under the aegis of the NCSTC and the Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, has organised a district-level essay writing competition. In English section, Baljit Kaur (Guru Nanak Public Senior Secondary School, Dhahan Kaleran), Mandeep Kaur (Bhagwan Mahavir Public School, Banga), Vikas Arora (Government Senior Secondary School, Nawanshahr) win top positions. In Punjabi section, Ramandeep Kaur (Doaba Senior Secondary School, Nawanshahr), Harpreet Singh (GSSS, Nawanshahr), and Sandeep Kaur Saini (Doaba Arya Senior Secondary School, Nawanshahr) won the first three positions, respectively, said Mr Balihar Singh Bains, District Science Supervisor.

SANGRUR
PCMSA office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Civil Hospital unit of the Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA): president — Dr Inderjit Singla; secretary — Dr Prabhat Kumar; Treasurer — Dr Kiranjot Bali; PRO — Dr J.S. Garcha and advisers — Dr Surinder Singla and Dr Makhan Singh.

HARYANA

Ambala
Prize won: Dr Usha Batta, a retired Chief Medical Officer (CMO), was on Friday handed over Rs 2 lakh as prize under the small saving scheme. Mr Vinay Aggarwal, investment agent, said the prize amount was handed over by the Deputy Commissioner, Ambala.

ALLOCATED: The Ambala Cantt MLA, Mr Devender Bansal, said Rs 4.5 crore had been allocated for carrying out various development works under the municipal council (Ambala Sadar). He said the distribution of the Local Area Development Tax (LADT) fund was under the consideration of the government and the funds were going to be released to the municipal council very soon. It has been decided that municipalities should get repair/construction of roads executed as deposit work through the PWD (B&R) Department.

Fire in shop: A fire broke out in a shop in Urban Estate, Sector 7, Ambala City, on Saturday. The fire was spotted at a boutique at about 6.30 am. The blaze burnt goods kept in the boutique. Three fire engines were pressed into service to control the fire.

effigy burnt: The Anti-Terrorist Front of India burnt the effigy of Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh here on Saturday in protest against his allegations against Sonia Gandhi in phone tapping episode. The president of the front, Mr Viresh Shandilya, addressing workers on the occasion, said Amar Singh had labelled false allegations against Ms Gandhi. The president of the Haryana unit of the front, Mr Kulwant Singh Manakpur, and the other leaders, Sanjeev Victor, Rajinder Pal, Sukhdev Singh and Mohan Lal Ghei, were also present on this  occasion.

FATEHABAD
Lohri celebrated: The local Manohar Memorial College of Education on Friday organised a cultural function on the occasion of Lohri. Mr Dev Raj Batra, president of the College Management Society, Mr Subhash Sharma, Director, MM Educational Institutions, Mr Vinod Mehta, general secretary and Ms Mamata Chaudhary, principal of the college were among others present on the occasion. 

Hisar
CM’s rally: The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, will give a detailed account of the functioning of his government on the completion of one year in office. A rally will be organised here for this purpose on March 5. This was stated by the local Congress MP, Mr Jai Prakash, here on Friday. 

KAITHAL
Structures razed: The situation near Radha Swami colony on the Ambala road here on Friday became tense when in a drive launched by the HUDA authorities , illegal constructions in the proposed Sector 21 were demolished. Mr Ashok Garg, SDM, Mr R.S, Bhoria, Tehsildar, and Mr Ishwar Singh, SHO, were present.

Karnal
MC contract: The local Municipal Council has given a contract worth Rs 28.5 lakh to a private company for installing hoardings and kiosks for advertisements at selected places in the city. According to Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Gupta, the company would set up 34 poles and about 700 kiosks to exhibit advertisement by interested parties. The DC said that the money generated would be spent on the beautification of parks and crossings. 

SONEPAT
Student missing: A girl student of Sanskrit Bharati College was reported to be missing since December 16 from her house at Khewra village. According to a report, the girl left her house on the day for going to the college, but never returned. 

Murder accused held: The Mohana police on Saturday claimed to have arrested two more accused in Ram Kishan murder case. The accused have been identified as Prithi and Dhoopa. A land dispute was said to be the main cause of the crime.

Held for theft: The police on Saturday arrested Kamal of Mohalla Kot following the alleged recovery of a stolen motor cycle from his possession. The motor cycle belonged to Mr Kishori Lal of the same locality. A case has been registered.

Rewari
Crushed to death: Akash (14), a student of the Class X of a private school of Kosli, was crushed to death by a dumper (HR-47-9596) on the Kosli-Shahadat Nagar road, near Kosli, on Thursday evening. The deceased was the only son of Mr Satpal Singh of Shahadat Nagar, near Kosli. The mishap occurred when Akash was returning to the village on his bicycle after attending an extra class in the school.

Yamunanagar
PNB organises camp: Punjab National Bank organised a camp of self-help group Loan Link being run by 900 women at Bal Chappar village here on Friday. While addressing the participants, District Manager V.K. Sharma said such groups were instrumental in the economic development. Among others who spoke on the occasion included Mr K.L Chaudhary, a PNB official, Mr Abhey Kumar and Mr Manmohan Singh of All India Samaj Sewa Kendra.