R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
Mass marriages: The midtown Rotary Club organised a mass marriage ceremony here on Monday at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. The Project Director of the club, Mr Sunil Kapur, told newsmen that 12 couples belonging to economically backward sections were married on the occasion. The club had arranged for more than Rs 1.50 lakh for the function, which was collected by members of the club.

Environment foundation: A political group of citizens of the city on Tuesday set up the Amritsar Environment Foundation under the patronage of the Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, Dr Harbhajan Singh Soch. The spokesman for the foundation said the main objective was to plant more trees, preserve environment, and clean the city.

BARNALA
Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) for the 1999-2000 session: patron — Dr S.S. Toor; president — Dr Gurdeep Singh; vice-presidents — Dr Partap Singh, Dr Saroj Gupta and Dr B.I.S. Gill; secretary — Dr Suresh Singhal; and treasurer — Dr Charanjit Garg.

Presented: Mr Rahul Bhandari, SDM, on Tuesday presented a typewriter to the local School for the Deaf and Dumb to enable students to learn the skill of typewriting to be self-reliant. According to a press note issued by the local Public Relations Department, the SDM presented sweaters and pullovers worth Rs 7,000 to the students of the school.

Revenue adalat: Mr Rahul Bhandari, SDM, said on Tuesday that a revenue adalat was organised on Saturday and Sunday in the Dhanaula sub-tehsil, 12 km for here. As many as 150 revenue cases were settled at the court, he added.

BATALA
Inaugurated: Mr Bakshi Ram, IGP (Border), Amritsar, inaugurated the DSP's office on the premises of the Batala city police station on Wednesday.

GURDASPUR
Consumer forum: The state Consumer Redressal Forum has endorsed the decision of the Consumer Redressal Forum, Jalandhar, directing Dr Balbir Singh to pay Rs 12,000 to Ms Harpreet Kaur, a local resident, for the wrong treatment of her eyes. According to Mr Sukhchain Singh, father of the girl, Harpreet went to Dr Balbir Singh at Jalandhar for an examination of her eyes. But after a prolonged treatment, her vision deteriorated further.

Arrested: The Dina Nagar police on Wednesday arrested Jarnail Singh and Raj Kumar of Kalijpur and Sain Dass, of Kothe Bhagwanpur for their alleged involvement in the felling of trees on this Nanonangal-Kot Bhalla road in the district. A case has been registered.

Resentment: Resentment prevails among safai karamcharis of the local nagar council over the retrenchment of 20 safai karamcharis who were working on an ad hoc basis for the past several years. These workers were given an extension after every three months which was stopped by the government. Mr Vijay Kumar Gill, president of the Safai Workers Union, has issued a notice to the municipal authorities to reinstate them, failing which an agitation will be launched.

JALANDHAR
Bribery case: The Vigilance Bureau has arrested two persons, including a Labour Inspector, for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 900 from Gurnam Singh of Sambhalke village in Ropar district. According to Ms Gurpreet Deo, Superintendent of Police, Krishan Kumar Chopra, Inspector Labour Department, and Jaswant Singh, a retired Superintendent, Labour Department, were arrested as marked currency notes worth Rs 900 were recovered from Jaswant Singh’s possession. Krishan Kumar, posted at Nakodar, had allegedly asked Mr Gurnam Singh, the complainant, to hand over the amount to Jaswant Singh.

LUDHIANA
Arrested: The police has arrested a proclaimed offender, Mukhtiar Singh, who had been living in Moscow for the past 15 months and had earlier been residing in Belgium for the past seven years. He was declared a proclaimed offender by the court of the Additional District and Sessions Judge on January 31, 1997, in a case registered against him under the NDPS Act. In another case, the police has arrested Dalbir Singh in a case of theft and recovered a truck from him, which had allegedly been stolen from Transport Nagar on May 27, 1999.

Camp: The Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension of Punjab Agricultural University recently organised an animal welfare camp at Tungwali village in Bathinda district. Veterinary experts from the fields of medicine, surgery, gynaecology and pathology provided free treatment to more than 1,000 milch animals. The department had recently organised an ‘animal day’ at Walipur Khurd village in Ludhiana where farmers were advised on the care and management of sick animals and prevention and control of diseases.

MOGA
Khatri sabha: The president of the Punjab Khatri Sabha, Mr K.K. Puri, on Monday inaugurated the ninth annual Khatri Sabha sammelan at Chokha here. A large number of members of the sabha participated in the sammelan.

Shortage: An acute shortage of revenue stamps of the denomination of Re 1 and forms to get new telephone connections is causing inconvenience to local residents. They said the shortage had led to certain persons selling these at inflated prices.

Killed: A cyclist was killed when a vehicle coming from behind hit his bicycle on the Moga-Ludhiana road, 55 km from here, on Tuesday.

PATIALA
Eye camp: Nearly 500 persons were examined at a free eye check-up camp organised by the Punjab Paramedical Staff Association on the occasion of the foundation day of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) at the board’s allopathic dispensary here on Tuesday. Mr G.S. Sohal, chairman of the PSEB, inaugurated the camp.

PATHANKOT
Convicted: Mr Harish Anand, Judicial Magistrate (Class I), has convicted Sham Singh and Mangat Singh, residents of Gola village, for inflicting injuries on Vijay Singh and his brother Parveen Singh while they had gone to their fields.

ZIRAKPUR
One killed in mishap: Munee Lal of Azad Colony in Panchkula was killed in a accident on the Zirakpur-Panchkula road near Bartana on Tuesday night. According to the police, an unidentified vehicle hit his scooter and he received head injuries. A case has been registered.

CHANDIGARH

Passport verification enquiry on phone: People will be able to call the passport verification branch at the Sector 9 police headquarters after 10 days to know about the status of the pendency of their case at the Sector 9 Police Headquarters. This was stated by Mr N.K. Jain, Home Secretary, during an informal interaction with mediapersons after inaugurating the fully computerised branch here on Wednesday. The verification would be completed between a week to 10 days, provided there were no exceptional circumstances, he added. People can make enquiries from the branch at the main entrance of the building from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on all working days.

Surprise over Badal's statement: The Chandigarh Periphery Area Association on Wednesday expressed surprise over the support extended by Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister of Punjab, to the proposed Anandgarh township project. Mr Jasvir Singh Dhaliwal, President of the association, said Mr Badal had opposed the setting up of "new Chandigarh" adjacent to Chandigarh in 1995 and he was now supporting the project. Urging Mr Badal to drop the project, he said a large number of people living near Chandigarh would be displaced with the coming up of Anandgarh.

Gate meeting by safai karamcharis: Members of the Sector 16 General Hospital Safai Karamchari Union held a gate meeting in the hospital on Wednesday, under the presidentship of Mr Gopal in support of their demands. In a press note issued here today, they demanded bonus for all employees for the last two years, filling of vacant posts, patient allowance, a staff bus, repair of Sector 24 houses and construction of new houses. The meeting was also addressed by members of the Class IV Workers Union of the hospital and Paramedical Class III Union. Mr Gopal said they would continue the protest till their demands were met and would intensify it if no action was taken at the earliest.

Function to mark Year of Sanskrit: The Sanskrit Department of Panjab University will organise a special inaugural function to celebrate the Year of Sanskrit. According to a press note, Ms Vineeta Rai, Adviser to the Administrator, UT, will inaugurate the function at the English Auditorium of the university, while Prof M.M. Puri, the Vice-Chancellor, will preside.

PANCHKULA
Girl crushed to death: A nine-year old girl was crushed to death by a speeding matador (HR-37-7902) near Chandi Mandir on Wednesday. A case under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC has been registered against the driver of the matador on the complaint of Mr Jagdish Prasad of Barwala.

Union observes token strike: Members of the Bharat Electronic Workers Union, Panchkula, observed a token strike on Wednesday against the alleged anti-worker pay package offered by the management. Mr Kuldeep Singh, President of the union, in a press note, accused the management of proposing a lower rate of increment, which was contradictory to the earlier agreement. There is resentment among employees over the low interim relief given to them by the management, he added.

HARYANA

AMBALA
School celebrates Founder's Day: Springfield Public School celebrated Founder's Day amidst fanfare on Wednesday. Mr H.R. Gupta, Secretary, Central Board of Secondary Education, was the chief guest. An impressive exhibition of science models and a display of art and crafts were presented by students. Mr Gupta gave away inter-house trophies for 1999-2000. Mr Naresh Guglani, Chairman of the school, said he was planning to expand the hostel facilities. Besides co-curricular activities and sport events, the children enacted Cinderella. A display of gymnastics and karate and a torch-light drill display were also held. —TNS

ROHTAK
BKU support: The state unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union has decided to support only that political party in the coming Assembly polls which will include the main demands of the union in its manifesto and assure their implementation.The demands include a hike in the support prices of crops linked to the general price index, provision of adequate water and power to rural areas and bringing the SYL canal water to Haryana, besides a few others.

SONEPAT
Killed: Three persons were killed on the spot when a truck dashed against a culvert and fell into a nullah on the GT Road near Kundli village, about 25 km from here, on Tuesday. According to preliminary reports, the victims have been identified as Aman Deep (25) of Jamalpura, Devinder (23) of Solan and Sonu (22), of Ludhiana. The Rai police is investigating into the case. According to another report, a motor cyclist was killed on the spot on Tuesday when his vehicle rammed into a car on the Sonepat-Bahalgarh road near Sikka Colony here. According to the police, the victim has been identified as Ashok (35) of Delhi.

Sanctioned: The Haryana Government has sanctioned Rs 25.24 lakh as grant-in-aid and released it to the local municipal council to tide over the ongoing financial crisis. According to official sources, the authorities have decided to utilise this amount for disbursing salary among the staff and pensioners. The employees have not been paid their salary for the past three months.

Demonstration: Employees affiliated to the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) Action Committee held a demonstration in front of their office here on Wednesday in support of their demands. They shouted slogans against the state government as well as the HUDA authorities for not accepting their long-pending demands. Meanwhile, an indefinite dharna launched against the HUDA authorities, entered the 37th day on Wednesday. Leaders of the union said the agitation would continue until the demands of the employees were accepted.

Suicide: Surinder (25), reportedly committed suicide by consuming insecticide tablets in his house here on Tuesday. Family quarrel is said to be the reason behind the suicide.

Dead: Amit, a five-year-old boy, succumbed to his injuries in a private hospital here on Tuesday. According to the police, the boy sustained serious injuries when he was hit by an auto-rickshaw three days ago. The victim belonged to Rehmana village

HIMACHAL PRADESH

HAMIRPUR
Strike: Functioning in various local hospitals remained paralysed as medical officers continued their two-hours pen-down strike in support of their demands. Patients had to wait for long hours to get themselves examined. The medical officers have been demanding the removal of the Additional Director of Health and grant of house rent allowance at the rate of 10 per cent in lieu of the emergency duties performed by them.