R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
DIED: Giani Singh (60), who was attacked with a sharpedged weapon at Burjmhar village on Monday, died on way to Ludhiana. The victim was trying to resist the theft of tubewell water by his nephews, who became furious and attacked him.

WATER THEFT: Farmers of villages located at the tail-end of canals and sub-canals held a demonstration on Tuesday in front of the office of the Executive Engineer, Irrigation, here in protest against the theft of canal water by some influential persons. They also alleged that these persons were doing so in connivance with officials of the Irrigation Department.

AMRITSAR
WOMEN’S DAY: The local branch of the All-India Women’s Conference celebrated International Women’s Day on its campus here on Sunday. A national environment awareness campaign was also launched for urging women to help keep their households and surroundings clean and plant more trees.

PARK DEDICATED: Lt-Gen K. Davar, General Officer Commanding, Vajra Corps, inaugurated the Panther Nature Park here on Monday and dedicated it to the troops of the Amritsar Cantonment.

SEMINAR: Dr H.S. Soch, Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, inaugurated a two-day seminar on the new perspective of folklore and language organised by the School of Punjabi Studies of the university here on Monday. He stressed the need for scientific approach to learn the changes in the field of folklore.

BALACHAUR
VISIT: Mr Justice R.L. Anand of the Punjab and Haryana High Court visited the civil courts here. He also met the members of the local Bar Association and listened to their problems.

BARNALA
CAMP: Mr Gobind Singh Longowal, Minister of State for Irrigation, Punjab, inaugurated a free eye-operation camp organised by the local Bhagat Mohan Lal Seva Samiti at the local Civil Hospital on Sunday.

AWARDED: Dr Surinder Singh Bhathal, a lecturer at Desh Bhagat College, Bardwal (Dhuri), 30 km from here, will be awarded Prof Sukhpreet Singh Memorial Award for his contribution to Punjabi literature by the Punjabi Sabhyacharak Sath, Sherpur, at a function on March 19 at Sherpur. A seminar on "Sikh Sidhant and Mojooda Rajneeti" will also be held.

GARHSHANKAR
CASE REGISTERED: Jaswant Singh, alias Kaka, who was beaten up with iron rods by six boys on Sunday succumbed to his injuries on Monday. A case has been registered under Sections 148,149,307 and 302, IPC. Three of the accused have been arrested.

OPPOSED: Various political leaders gathered here at the local Dana Mandi on Monday and passed a resolution opposing the merger of a part of Garhshankar tehsil into Nawanshahr district. They also resolved to form "Garhshankar bachao manch" and decided to launch an agitation.

SCHEME LAUNCHED: The Food and Supplies Minister of State, Punjab, Mr Sohan Singh Thadal, inaugurated the newly constructed primary school building at Khanpur village in Garhshankar tehsil on Monday. To motivate SC/ST students to go to school the government has launched a new scheme to give them Rs 50 per month as scholarships.

LUDHIANA
MEETING: The local unit of the Janata Dal (urban), labour wing, held a meeting here on Monday. Members held the Rabri Devi government responsible for the violence, terrorism and corruption in the state.

INAUGURATED: Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, Punjab Technical Education Minister, on Sunday inaugurated 24-hour power supply at Luhara village, 12 km from here. Mr Maal Singh Ghuman, Chairman, Punjab Mandi Board, said the Municipal Corporation of Ludhiana would meet all expenses for the electricity supply.

NAWANSHAHR
ANNUAL FUNCTION: Mr Sarwan Singh Phillaur, Welfare Minister, while presiding over the annual function organised at the National College for Women, Jassomajara, 20 km from here on Monday said Rs 100 crore would be spent on the renovation of primary school buildings in the state. He also announced a grant of Rs 25,000 for the college library.

PATIALA
BANK SCHEME: Canara Bank has introduced a loan scheme for traders in various branches of Punjab, under which a trader can avail a maximum loan of Rs 50 lakh. The bank has also simplified the loan availing procedure. This was stated here on Tuesday by Mr K. Raghu Nath, General Manager, Canara Bank, Chandigarh, on a visit here. The amount given by the bank under its housing scheme has been raised from Rs 5 lakh to a maximum Rs 50 lakh.

DHARNA: On a call given by the AIFUTA, teachers of Punjabi University staged a dharna in front of the Vice-Chancellor’s office here on Tuesday. They were protesting against the non-release of arrears of pay revision of the teachers with effect from January 1, 1996. Teachers of the university wore black badges on the occasion. Dr Hari Singh Boparai informed the rallyists that the Vice-Chancellor had written to the government for the early release of arrears. —

PHAGWARA
CHAIN SNATCHED: Two scooter-borne persons snatched a gold chain from Ms Nirmal Kanta, a clerk at the ESI hospital, in the Hargobindnagar locality. A case under Sections 356 and 34, IPC, has been registered.

CHANDIGARH

Paper contest: The Collegiate Chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) of Punjab Engineering College organised TECHACME, a technical paper presentation contest, as part of the three-day event, BRISANCE 2000, on the college campus on Tuesday. The contest was judged by Mr Sunil Puranik, Senior Manager of Eicher Demm in Parwanoo; Prof L.D. Garg of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the college; Prof P.L. Thareja of the Department of Metallurgical Engineering. Nikhil Arora, Sushant Aggarwal and Pankaj Chawla stood first, followed by Atin Gupta, Vishal Bhatia and Ankur Gupta.

Students’ grouse: Students of Shri Dhanwantry Ayurvedic College on Tuesday met the management members of the college and apprised them of their problems. The members have fixed a meeting with them on Wednesday to redress their grievances. The General Secretary of the Student Welfare Council, Mr Ravinder Singh, said if the management was not able to solve their problems or assure them of a positive outcome, they would continue with the strike.

Doctors’ association: The executive committee of the Himachal Doctors Alumni Association has decided to have its annual meeting on April 22. It was decided to mobilise its membership of all graduates and postgraduates from Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, and from other places. More details can be gathered from Dr Raj Bahadur, Head of the Department of Orthopaedics, GMCH-32, and President of the association.

HARYANA

AMBALA
MISHAPS: One person was killed and two were injured in two separate road accidents in Ambala on Monday night. According to information, a cyclist, Vijay, was killed near Baldev Nagar on the Ambala-Chandigarh road when he was hit by a bus. In another accident, Ram Kishan was injured when his vehicle collided with a truck on the Ambala-Chandigarh road.

OPIUM SEIZED:The Ambala Central Jail authorities have seized some opium from a warden. The police registered a case against the jail employee under the NDPS Act and arrested him.

LIQUOR SEIZED:The local police has seized 192 pouches of country liquor from a resident of Ambala City. A case has been registered.

KAITHAL
SENTENCED: The Additional District and Sessions Judge here has sentenced three persons to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment and fined them Rs 1 lakh each in a case registered under Section 15, NDPS Act. They were caught carrying poppy straw.

ROHTAK
RESERVATION: The district Jat Sabha has sought reservations on economic ground and not on caste basis. The sabha demanded that they should be given reservations as the same had been given to the community in neighbouring states. They threatened to stage a dharna here on March 27 if the demand was not accepted.

SONEPAT
Shot at: Suresh Kumar was shot at in Prabhu Nagar Mandi area here on Monday. He was taken to the local Civil Hospital and was stated to be out of danger. A case has been registered.

YAMUNANAGAR
EXCISE POSTS: Excise posts in the district fetched Rs 3019.63 lakh for 2000-2001 against Rs 2813.50 lakh during 1999-2000, which was Rs 206.13 lakh more than the last year. This was stated by Mr Rajiv Sharma, Deputy Commissioner, here on Monday.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

KANGRA
SUCCUMBED: A 60-year-old woman, who was seriously injured when a three wheeler carrying her met with an accident at Zamanabad road near here on Sunday, succumbed to her injuries at the local subdivisional hospital on Monday, the police said. A case has been registered.