R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
Expedition: The Sudershan Chakra cycle expedition was flagged off on Thursday from the military station here by Brig. Sudheer Kumar Uppal. During the course of the expedition the cyclists would be passing through Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

AMRITSAR
Inauguration: The Mayor, Mr Subhash Chander, on Thursday inaugurated the repair work in a few areas of the city. He also heard the grievances of shopkeepers regarding parking problems in congested areas and issued instructions regarding the removal of encroachments.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
Lok darbar: Mr V.K. Janjua, Deputy Commissioner, has asked all petrol-station owners to ensure water, air and toilet facilities for their customers. He was addressing a seminar and a lok darbar here organised by the Indian Oil Corporation. Mr J.S. Negi, Sales Officer, Gas, and Mr H.S. Mokha, DFSC, also spoke on the occasion.

GURDASPUR
3 held: The police has busted an inter-state gang of smugglers involved in the illegal sale of kerosene supplied by the government to depot holders. The police on a tip-off laid a naka at T-point, Malikpur, on Wednesday and intercepted a tanker which was carrying 12,000 litres of kerosene being smuggled from Himachal Pradesh. Three persons were arrested.

KHARAR
Kidnapped girl traced: The Kurali police has traced a minor girl of Manakpur Sharif village who had allegedly been kidnapped by a woman. Mr Rupinder Singh, DSP, Kharar, told mediamen here on Wednesday that a report was lodged by Jit Singh of the village that his 13-year-old daughter had been kidnapped by a woman of the village. The police found the girl from the custody of Satnam Singh, a close relative of that woman.

LALRU
Patients given spectacles: Pairs of spectacles were given on Thursday to 31 patients who had been operated upon at a free eye camp at Baba Prithavi Singh Azad Memorial Hospital in October last year. The presentation was made at a “Sanman samaroh” where social organisations, education institutions, youth clubs and social workers and health workers of the area were honoured. Besides, 60 blood donors were also given appreciation and donor certificates. A tri-cycle was offered to a handicapped boy by Mr Bishan Dass, a social worker.

PATIALA
Thapar institute employees’ union: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology Employees Association: President — Mr Amrit Lal Sharma; Vice-Presidents — Mr Rajesh Premi, Mr Hari Om Khullar and Mr Shailender Pathak; General Secretary — Mr Satyapal Panesar; Finance Secretary — Mr Sukhdev Chand; and Convener (Ladies Wing) — Ms Sushma Sharma.

PHAGWARA
Couple dies: A couple was killed on the spot and two others injured when a Maruti car rammed into a stationary truck on G.T. Road, 8 km from here, on Thursday. The deceased included Pawan Kumar (34) and his wife, Sham Rai. They were coming from Delhi and going to Jalandhar. A case has been registered.

PHILLAUR
Stabbed to death: Balwinder Singh was stabbed to death by some assailants with sharpedged weapons at Haripur village on Wednesday. An old enmity was stated to be the cause of murder. A case under Sections 302 and 34, IPC, has been registered. In another incident Jaspaul Singh was allegedly set on fire by Satnam Singh at Muhem village on Wednesday. He succumbed to his burns on the way to hospital. A case under Sections 302, 436 and 427, IPC, has been registered.

SANGRUR
Satta operators: As many as 14 persons were arrested on Thursday for indulging in satta by the police in Sunam, Malerkotla and Bhawanigarh towns of the district. Some cash was also seized from them.
Function: The Samaj Seva Manch, a voluntary welfare organisation, organised a function here on Thursday to honour those workers who did commendable job while serving the destitute and the needy. Mr Anirudh Tewari, Deputy Commissioner, was the chief guest.

CHANDIGARH

Bank employee honoured: Mr Prem Prakash Pahwa, an employee of the UCO Bank, Sector 22-D, has been honoured with a memento and a certificate of merit for his performance in a Hindi type-writing competition organised by Punjab National Bank as part of the golden jubilee year celebrations of the official language.

PPOs given to pensioners: Mr M.L. Meena, Regional Provident Commissioner, Punjab and UT, distributed PPOs among pensioners and widows and account slips for the year 1998-99 among employers and their representatives at a seminar here. Mr Meena informed that under the EPS '95, the minimum widow pension had been hiked to Rs 450 from Rs 250. The pension had been hiked from Rs 115 to Rs 150 per month per child. In the case of orphans it would now be Rs 250 per month as against Rs 170.

Bhasin heads CAs' chapter: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Chandigarh Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India: Chairman — Mr S.K. Bhasin; Vice-Chairman — Mr Avnish Sharma; and Secretary-cum-Treasurer — Mr Baldev Garg.

PANCHKULA
Lawyers to go on fast: Members of the District Bar Association, Panchkula, will proceed on a fast from February 7, if their demand to start the Court of the Additional District Judge within the premises of the Panchkula District Courts was not met. Mr Amit Singla, Secretary of the association, said in a press note that the work of the courts would remain suspended till their demand was fulfilled.

90 pouches of liquor seized: The local police has seized about 90 pouches of liquor from Panni Lal of Bhoj Matour village. The accused, who was on his cycle, was arrested from near Chandi Mandir. The police has registered a case under Sections 61, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Cultural exchange camp for youth: The Ghomer Academy, a non-government organisation, will hold a one-week cultural exchange camp for youth from February 7. Mr R.D. Garg, President of the academy, said in a press note that the academy was dedicated to the preservation and expansion of Indian art and culture.

FARIDABAD
Case registered: A case has been registered against Arvind Kumar of Bihar for allegedly cheating Mr Raj Kumar Gupta, a local jeweller, by giving forged bank drafts totalling Rs 18.61 lakh.
Dharna: Activists of the Haryana Bank Employees Federation here staged a dharna on Wednesday in support of their demands. Mr Prem Singh, president of the federation, threatened to start an agitation if the bank authorities failed to accept the demands.

ROHTAK
Out of order: Telephones in the town have been out of order for the past many days. Residents here resent the indifferent attitude of the authorities concerned regarding their complaints.

SIRSA
Code of conduct: The District Election Officer and Deputy Commissioner, Amit Jha, at a meeting with the representatives of political parties here on Wednesday said the code of conduct should be followed strictly during the coming Vidhan Sabha elections. He informed them about the amount of money that could be spend by them during the elections.
Sentenced: The Additional District and Sessions Judge on Wednesday sentenced Major Singh of Kingra village, a rape accused, to four years’ imprisonment. He was also fined Rs 1000, failing which he would spend another 20 days in the jail.
Arrested: The district police has arrested two persons carrying weapons and illicit liquor. According to the police, three bottles of illicit liquor were seized from Tara Singh of Mallekan village while Sukhdev Singh of Baraguda village was arrested from Daulatpur Khera village of the district for possessing a sharp-edged weapon.

SONEPAT
Arrested: The Kharkhauda police on Thursday arrested three youths for allegedly demanding Rs 50,000 as extortion money from Mr Raj Kumar of Kharkhauda town. They had threatened to kill him if he failed to pay the money. A Maruti and 200 liquor pouches were recovered from them. Cases under the Excise Act and various sections of the IPC have been registered.
Campaign: The Sonepat Municipal Council on Thursday launched a cleanliness campaign in all 31 wards of the city. Mr Y.S. Gupta, secretary of the council, said additional workers had been recruited for the purpose.
Liquor pouches seized: The CIA on Thursday intercepted a Maruti car and impounded it after seizing 1, 708 liquor pouches from it. Virender Kumar of Himachal Pradesh and Hari Kumar of Uttar Pradesh were arrested on the charge of violation of the Excise Act.
4 arrested: The police has arrested four youths for allegedly attempting to loot Mr Harbir, owner of Veer Medicos, Kharkhauda, while he along with his associate was going on a motor cycle to Rohna village on January 26. The police recovered a Maruti car, two pistols, two knives and two VCRs from them. Cases have been registered.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Police raid: A police party raided a dhaba at Kothipura on the national highway, 13 km from here, on Tuesday and arrested a servant, Gajender, of Kawai. Nearly 50 gm of charas and 250 gm of opium were seized from him. A case under Sections 18 and 20, NDPS Act, has been registered.

Awarded: The Nehru Yuva Jagriti Mandal, Basoli, in Una district, has been declared the best youth organisation in Himachal Pradesh for 1998-99 for its contribution in health, development infrastructure, construction, cultural programmes and sports. Mr Ravindra Thakur, Coordinator of the Department of Youth Services and Sports, said the prize comprises Rs 20,000 and a commendation certificate.

CHAMBA
Roads’ construction: Resentment prevails among residents here against the show pace of construction work on roads in the district either because of negligence of the road authorities or the paucity of funds. They urged the state government to speed up the work.

KANGRA
Demanded: Swami Virendranand Giri, national vice-president of the All-India Hindu Shakti Sena on Wednesday demanded that the Samjhauta Express and the buses plying between Delhi and Lahore and between Calcutta and Dhaka be stopped immediately. He added that these were being used for transporting arms and ammunition into the country.

SHIMLA
Conferred: The Himachal Pradesh Governor, Mr Vishnu Kant Shastri, has been conferred the honorary degree of D.Lit by Chhatarpati Shahuji University, Kanpur. He was the chief guest at the convocation of Kanpur University.