R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

BATHINDA
Clerk held: Mr Sat Pal Singh Sidhu, SP (Vigilance), in a press note issued here on Saturday said Kewal Krishan, clerk, Arms Licence Wing, Deputy Commissioner Office, was caught while accepting a bribe of Rs 200 from the complainant Mr Gobind Thukral, who had applied for the arm licence. The accused had taken the bribe from Mr Thukral for forwarding the file to the official.

BARNALA
"Cost" of a lift: Hans Raj and Bhalla Ram were robbed of Rs 2.5 lakh at pistol-point by a person who had taken lift from them at Pharwahi village, 5 km from here, on Friday.

DHURI
Revenue Adalat: A Revenue Adalat was organised at Dhadhoga village, 10 km from here, on Friday. Mrs Amrit Gill, SDM, said besides issuing 24 driving licences, several revenue related cases were also settled on the spot.

GURDASPUR
Advocate's Act: The District Bar Association members at a meeting held here on Saturday condemned the Central Government move to amend the Advocate's Act. It will destroy the democratic character of the Bar Council. By nominating bureaucrats and retired judges in the council the government intends to suppress the voice of the lawyers' community, they alleged. The meeting was chaired by Mr Sukhwinder Singh Kahnol, president, of the District Bar Association.

Gold thief: The police had arrested Pankaj Kumar, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, who on the pretext of cleaning gold ornaments, used to Chemically extract gold, Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, said here on Saturday.

Unauthorised parking: Resentment prevails among the shopkeepers in the Tibri road area due to unauthorised parking of vehicles near the Hanuman crossing. The place has become congested and there are chances of accidents taking place. They demanded that the "allotment" of the stand should be regularised.

HOSHIARPUR
Closure extended: Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, District Magistrate, has further extended the closure of three marriage halls in the city for two more months for not complying with the prescribed norms by their owners. Orders will remain in force till April 20.

Rainfall: Hoshiarpur and its surrounding areas have been experiencing intermittent rain since Friday. The rain has disrupted normal life.

LUDHIANA
Mock stock exchange: College of Technical Education, Punjab, organised an orientation camp for the mock stock exchange "portfolio management" at its campus here on Saturday. The camp was conducted to make students aware of the rules and regulations of management exercise starting from Tuesday. Dr K.N.S.Kang, Director, College of Technical Education, while addressing the participants said this exercise was being held for the first time in India and it would give students an idea about how to manage their investments.

CHANDIGARH

Eye donation: Seva Prakalpa of the BJYM, Chandigarh, organised an eye donation pledge day on the occasion of the martyrdom day of Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay on Sunday. A total of 111 morcha workers pledged to donate their eyes. Mr Pankaj Gupta, a senior resident of Eye Bank, PGI, while addressing the morcha workers, stressed upon the need for eye donation.

Video show: A video show and community talk on "early marriage and girl child" was organised by the Ranbaxy Community Healthcare Society at Kharar, near here, yesterday. As many as 55 mothers participated in the talk.

Alumni reunion: The 11th reunion of the Patiala Medical College Alumni, Chandigarh Chapter, was held at Boat Club, Ropar, on Sunday, where over 100 doctors participated in CME and discussed reforms in medical education. Dr S.K. Jindal spoke on advances in management of lung diseases. Dr R.S. Dhaliwal delivered a lecture on advances in minimally invasive cardiac interventions. Dr Deepak Kaura spoke on living with coronary artery diseases.

Dharna: The joint action committee of General Hospital, Sector 16, and allied dispensaries of the city observed dharna on Sunday to demand release of patient allowance.

PANCHKULA
Chander Mohan : Mr Chander Mohan, the Congress-I candidate, held public meetings in sectors 11, 15, 16 and 21 and Mansa Devi on Sunday. He condemned the deteriorating law and order situation in the state and the township and expressed regret over the murder of a servant in Sector 4 and the robbery in Sector 9. He blamed the BJP-INLD government for laxity and deteriorating condition. He spoke of his achievements during his tenure as MLA from the constituency and promised to get back the regional centre of the Education Board from Bhiwani, opening of a girls college and improving the law and order situation in the township.

SAS NAGAR
Molecular medicine: Prof G. Padmanaban, an emeritus scientist at IISc, Bangalore, will deliver a lecture on Molecular Medicine for the 21st Century on the foundation day of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research on Tuesday. The Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University, Chandigarh, Prof M.M. Puri, will preside over the function.

Prize distribution: The first annual function-cum-prize distribution function of Harryson Public School, Sector 70, was organised at Community Centre in Phase 3BI here. A colourful function was presented by school students on the occasion. The SDM, Mr O.P. Popli, was the chief guest.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Traders’ concern: The Ambala Cantt Traders Federation has expressed concern over the order of Mr M.S. Gill, Chief Election Commissioner of India, that the polling in Haryana on February 22 will be held through voter identity cards. “According to Mr Gill’s statement 80 per cent identity cards have already been issued to the voters of Haryana but the figure is just the contrary and in Ambala cantonment constituency hardly 60-65 per cent identity cards have been delivered. There is a panic amongst the voters after the statement of Mr Gill that with the new voting system, a large number of eligible voters will be debarred from casting their vote in the forthcoming Assembly elections,” a joint statement issued by Dr N.C. Jain, Chairman, Ambala Cantt Traders Federation said.

JIND
Annual function: The annual prize distribution function of the local Chhotu Ram Kishan College was held here on Saturday. Mr Ravinder Kumar, Joint Secretary, UGC, New Delhi presided over the function.

SIRSA
Car thief held: The CIA police of the district in a press note issued here on Saturday disclosed that they had arrested Ravi Kumar, a resident of Hisar, on a charge of allegedly stealing the cars from Delhi and Faridabad and selling them in Hisar and Sirsa on forged documents.

Arrested: The district police has arrested a proclaimed offender who had been absconding for over two-and-a-half years. According to a police spokesman, the Rani police had arrested Pappu Ram of Rakban Bani village along with another person on July, 1997, under the Excise Act. Pappu had jumped the bail and the court had declared him a proclaimed offender.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

KUMARHATTI
Detained: Harivansh, a labourer from Gorakhpur district in UP, was detained by the police for questioning. He was found moving about in a suspicious circumstances in Parwanoo on Friday. An iron rod was recovered from his possession.

NURPUR
Privatisation of vehicles: The Government and Semi-Government Drivers Association of the Kangra district has condemned the decision of the state government to privatise official vehicles. Mr Kuljit Rana, district president of the association, in a statement issued here on Saturday said the association would oppose the new order of plying official vehicles as private ones. He urged the government to revoke the order.