R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

BARNALA
Plan drawn up: Mr Rahul Bhandari , Sub-Divisional Magistrate, said here on Friday that a comprehensive plan had been drawn to utilise a grant of Rs 37 lakh presented by Mr Parkash Singh Badal for the development of the city at a function held here on 19 January.

FARIDKOT
Gang busted: The Faridkot police has busted a gang of swindlers by arresting Mukesh Bharti, alias Munshi Ram, of Baldod district, Alwar, Gurnam Singh and Mehma Singh of Dode Dev Kothi and Giljewala, respectively. A case under Section 420, IPC, has been registered.

FAZILKA
Injured: Nineteen bus passengers were injured on Friday near the Gang canal on the Fazilka-Malout road, 19 km from here. According to information, the bus was going from Fazilka to Arniwala. It developed some mechanical fault and skidded off the road resulting in the mishap.

Sabha: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Suthar Samaj Sabha: president — Mr Prem Kumar Kulria; vice-presidents — Mr Krishan Lal Patodia, Mr Gopi Chand Ghugria, Mr Babu Lal Ladoia and Mr Mani Ram Patodia; secretary — Mr Rajinder Kumar Mayal; and treasurer — Mr Likhmi Chand Mandan.

FEROZEPORE
Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Citizens Forum here: president — Mr Gurdev Singh Deva; general secretary — Mr R.K. Trehan; finance secretaries — Mr Gian Chand and Mr Suresh Garg; and organising secretary — Prof J.R. Prashar.

Dental camp: A five-day free eye-cum-dental camp organised by the local Lions Club (Satluj) and the local Civil Hospital concluded at Ferozshah village on Thursday.

GURDASPUR
Welfare camp: A multipurpose welfare camp was organised by the Rotary Club (Midtown) at Bariar, 3 km from here, on Friday where more than 70 complaints relating to revenue, irrigation, education and various other departments were redressed. Mr S.K. Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner, presided.

Conductor wire seized: The Sujanpur police arrested Bhim Sain, a junk dealer of Pathankot, on Thursday and seized conductor wire weighing 240 kg and worth Rs 20,000 from him. A case under Section 379, IPC, has been registered.

Camp: The Registered Medical Practitioners Association of the district on Thursday held a free electro-homoeopathy medical camp at Ranjit Bagh, 5 km from here. Medicines free of cost were given to patients.

LUDHIANA
PF cheques: A seminar-cum-cheque distribution function was organised on Thursday at the local milkplant where two retired employees of the plant were given their provident fund (PF) cheques and pension payment orders. Mr M.L. Meena, Regional P.F. Commissioner (I), was the chief guest.

MOGA
Repair of roads: The Punjab Government has decided to spend Rs 500 crore on the repair of all main roads and Rs 100 crore on the repair of all link roads in the state during the next year. This was stated by the Punjab Health Minister, Raja Narinder Singh, here on Thursday.

PATHANKOT
Construction of bridges: Two temporary bridges over the Ravi near Kathlore and Ujja river near Baninal will be opened to the public by April. This was stated by Mr Vinod Khanna, MP, Gurdaspur, at a press conference here on Thursday.

Case registered: A case has been registered against Dinesh Saini, a parcel clerk at the Railways office here, under Sections 420, 468 and 471, IPC. This was done on a complaint by Mr Trilok Chand, a commercial inspector, Railways, Pathankot, regarding some forged money receipts.

PATIALA
New Dean of College Development Council: The Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor, Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, has appointed Dr Jodh Singh, Professor in the Guru Gobind Singh Department of Religious Studies, as Dean, College Development Council. This was stated in a press note issued by the university here on Thursday.

TARN TARAN
Father shoots son: Daya Singh of Patti town shot dead his son, Gurwinder Singh ( 22), on Wednesday. A case under Section 302, IPC, has been registered. According to information, Daya Singh got annoyed because his son used to do no work.

CHANDIGARH

275 examined at camp: Nearly 275 patients were examined for various ailments and given medicines free of cost at a medical check-up camp organised by the Lions Club Chandigarh Greater in Karsan. Free X-ray, ECG and blood testing facilities were also provided. The club has also distributed 150 blankets to the needy persons sleeping on the roadside without shelter.

Kesar Singh is Chairman: Mr Kesar Singh and Mr Didar Singh have been elected Chairman and General Secretary of the Hallomajra Vishvakarma Mandir, respectively the other office-bearers are: President — Mr Ami Chand; Vice-President — Mr Baljit Sethi; Secretary — Mr Gurmukh Singh; and Cashier — Mr Dilbag Singh.

Residents’ body elects new team: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Mani Majra Residents Welfare Association: President — Mr Ashok K. Saini; Senior Vice-President — Mr J.D. Lakhanpal; Vice-President — Mr Vijay Kumar; General Secretary — Mr Rakesh Verma.

Delegations meet Administrator: Two delegations — of the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes Welfare Federation and the Chandigarh Citizens Welfare Front — met the Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen JFR Jacob (retd), and submitted to him memoranda containing their demands. While the Federation deputation demanded clearance of backlog of vacancies reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes , the Welfare Front demanded separate school for children of police personnel, provision of basic amenities, including post office, bank besides development of parks, community centre and other civic amenities in Sector 45.

Awards for scouts, guides: The KV 2, 3 BRD School on Thursday organised the President’s Medal Presentation ceremony on the school premises. The awards were distributed by Mrs M.L. Saxena, Divisional Commissioner, Bharat Scouts and Guides, KVS, Cr-cum-Assistant Commissioner KVS Chandigarh. A total of eight students of the school became the recipients of the Rashtrapati Award for their outstanding achievement in scouting and guiding.

Physics quiz contest winner: An inter-senior secondary school physics quiz competition was held at DAV College, Sector 10, on Thursday. The quiz was organised by the DAV College Physics Association and the Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT). The first prize and the running trophy went to Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16. The team consisted of Radhika Dhamija, Apoorv Anand and Preetika Bhasin.

Inter-school maths competition: An inter-school mathematics contest was organised by the Chandigarh Maths Teachers Association and the State Institute of Education (SIE), Sector 32, on December 21. In the modern and public schools category, students of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16, bagged the following positions. Himanshu (1); Varun Gupta (3); Gaurav Sehgal (4) and inderpreet Singh (7).

HARYANA

FARIDABAD
Sentenced: Mr K.C. Gupta, District and Sessions Judge, on Thursday sentenced Babu Ram of Palwal to life imprisonment for murdering Sonu, his stepbrother, on October 3, 1997.

KALKA
Housing Board Colony office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Welfare Association of housing Board Colony, Kalka: President — Mr Gurdial Singh; General Secretary — Mr Satpal Sethi; Vice-Presidents — Mr Rajeev Arora and Mr Chander Mohan; Treasurer — Mr D.R. Rasila; Joint Secretary — Mr Anand Babar; Cultural Secretary — Mr Surjit Anand; and Public Relation Secretary — Mr Hans Raj Gogna.

SONEPAT
Degree course: The Manipal Academy of Higher Education will launch a government-recognised degree and diploma course in information technology (IT) at the VP Computer Education and Training Centre in Sector 14 here.

Telephone subscribers: Resentment prevails among telephone subscribers of the city against the delay in the despatch of the bills by local officials of the Telecom Department. Many subscribers alleged that they had still not received the bills and repeated complaints made to the authorities had no effect.

Dharna: Employees affiliated to the HUDA Joint Action Committee staged a dharna in front of the HUDA office here on Friday in support of their demands. They also held a demonstration.

Probe sought: The Sonepat Citizens Council on Friday sought a high-level probe into the use of substandard materials in the repair of the roads undertaken by the PWD (B&R) and the Railways. It also urged the state government to punish the officials who were in league with the contractors.

Tractor recovered: The Kharkhauda police on Friday arrested Balbir, alias Pappoo, of Mulana village and recovered a stolen tractor from him. The suspect had reportedly stolen the tractor on January 19.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Training camp: The five-day district-level youth leadership training camp organised by the District Youth Services and Sports Department concluded at the Central Youth Hostel near Jabli, 5 km from here, on Thursday. The camp was inaugurated by the District Sports Officer, Mr M.P. Vaidya.

Grievances: The Gobindsagar Ghats Sudhar Sabha here has urged the Himachal Pradesh Government and the district administration to look into the grievances of passengers who travel on motor boats while going across the Gobindsagar. It urged the government to provide sufficient budget for proper planning and construction of all ghats.

Fire brigade union: The Fire Brigade Employees Union has urged the Himachal Pradesh Government to accept their demands. Which included creating of awareness among people regarding safety measures and enforcement of rules.

KUMARHATTI
1 hurt: One person was seriously injured in a head-on collision between a canter and a Haryana Roadways bus on Thursday on the Kalka-Shimla highway near Dattiar, 18 km from here. According to information, the mishap occurred at 7 p.m. when the driver of the bus was trying to overtake another vehicle. A case under Sections 289 and 337, IPC, has been registered.

NURPUR
Resolution: Seven gram panchayats of Fatehpur tehsil, Jawali subdivision, have submitted resolutions to the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, to create a sub-tehsil at Rey. They said they had to travel 30 km to reach the tehsil headquarters at Fatehpur.