R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
CONSTRUCTION: Mr Subhash Chander, Mayor, Municipal Corporation, inaugurated the construction work of roads in the city on Tuesday. He also inspected the sites and ordered corporation officials to remove encroachments to widen roads.

NEW YEAR: The new year of Vikrami Samvat was celebrated with a programme in Sanskrit at Guru Nanak auditorium here. Folk artistes also performed on the occasion.

DHARNA: The Amritsar City Committee staged a dharna in protest against the price hike of LPG and kerosene. Later a protest march was taken out through Putlighar and Haripura areas.

FEROZEPORE
ROLL NUMBERS DESPATCHED: The District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) here has despatched roll numbers to the candidates who have to appear for the entrance test of the elementary teachers training course. Mr Ashok Kumar Sachdeva Principal, said the candidates who did not get their roll numbers by April 6 could contact the DIET office on April 7.

GURDASPUR
BAR ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district Bar Association: president — Mr Ashok Tiwari; and secretary — Mr Manoj Loomba.

HOSHIARPUR
MURDER CASE: The Mahilpur police has registered a case under Sections 302, 201 and 34 IPC, against Gurmeet Singh, Tarsem Singh, Puran Singh, persons all residents of Kharodi village, for allegedly murdering Bimaljit Kaur (8), daughter of Surinder Kaur of the same village.

CRITICISED: Mr Gurwinder Singh Lachowal, president, Technical Students Union and general secretary, All-India Youth Akali Dal, has condemned the recent fee hike of engineering colleges in Punjab. He was talking to newspersons here on Tuesday. He urged the authorities concerned to withdraw the hike.

JALANDHAR
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local People’s Forum for Justice: chairman — Mr Kartara Ram; vice-chairmen — Mr Daljinder Singh Toni and Mr Satnam Singh; secretary general — Mr Ravi Wadhawan and organising secretary — Mr K.L. Kaushal.

ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local unit of the Indian Medical Association: president — Dr G.S. Gill; general secretary — Dr Yash Sharma; and finance secretaries — Dr P.S. Bal and Dr Sanjeev Babuta.

ABOLITION SOUGHT: The local Municipal Corporation Employees Action Committee at a meeting held here on Tuesday demanded the abolition of contract system in the civic body. The committee said the contract system was resulting in the exploitation of safai karamcharis, who were not even paid the minimum wages.

KHARAR
SURRENDER: Gurmit Singh and his wife Harbans Kaur, accused in the murder case of Avtar Singh of Landran village, surrendered in the court of Ms Neelam Arora, Subdivisional Judicial Magistrate, on Wednesday. A case had been registered against them on March 29. They have been remanded in police custody till Thursday.

LUDHIANA
REGISTRAR: Mr Alok Shekhar, an IAS officer, has taken over the charge as Registrar, Punjab Agricultural University. Earlier, he had served as SDM, Nabha and Samana, and Additional deputy commissioner, Mansa, and Bathinda.

INAUGURATED: Mr Sarabjit Singh, Director-General of Punjab Police, inaugurated a dog breeding and training centre and an officers’ shop at Punjab Police Academy, Phillaur, here on Tuesday.

MURDERED: Two persons were murdered in different parts of the city on Monday and cases registered under Sections 302 and 34, IPC. Jatinder Singh was stabbed to death allegedly by Rama, Raj Kumar and Ram Kumar of New Janta Nagar. An old enmity was stated to be the reason behind the crime. In another incident, Mandeep Singh was stabbed to death allegedly by Gurjit Singh and Kulwant Singh at Dhandaran village because the victim had complained to their father about both taking his tractor trailer without permission.

MOGA
MELA CONCLUDES: The annual mela in the memory of Baba Bakhua concluded at Chandpurana village on Tuesday. A procession was taken out through the village on the occasion.

SANGAT DARSHAN: A sangat darshan programme was held at Jalalabad village on Tuesday in the district where complaints regarding old-age pension, water supply schemes, illegal occupation of lands were settled on the spot. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Kanwalbir Singh Sidhu, presided.

CAMP: A free homoeopathic camp was organised by the Lok Seva Dal and the Sports Club here at Raunta village in the district on Tuesday. Medicines were given free of cost to patients.

PATIALA
BODY DISSOLVED: The general body meeting of the Association of Junior Engineers, Civil, have unanimously decided to dissolve the State Executive Body of the association and conduct impending organisational elections on April 16, near Shakti Sadan Complex, opposite Sri Kali Devi Mandir at 11.00 a.m. Mr Bharpur Singh, SDO, Civil Works, Sub-Division, Sangrur, and Mr S.P. Dutta, SDO, Civil Works, Sub-Division, Ludhiana, have been assigned to work as convenors to conduct the elections. All other executive body members have been restricted from using their powers in their capacity as the office-bearers of the association.

NEW APPOINTMENT: Prof Balkar Singh, Head of the Guru Granth Sahib Studies Department of the Punjabi University, who retired on Wednesday after 30 years of service, was appointed the Director of the newly-established Institute of Punjabi Language and Sikh Studies in the United States. This was revealed by the University Vice-Chancellor, Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, at a farewell function given to Prof Balkar Singh by the faculty members at the guest house in the university campus.

COUPLES TIE KNOT: Marriages of 11 couples belonging to the lower strata of society were solemnised at Amar Ashram by the Satya Nishkam Seva Sabha Trust and social organisations, on Wednesday. Mr B.M. Singh, Commissioner, Income Tax, was the chief guest.

PHAGWARA
PROCLAIMED OFFENDER: The police on Tuesday arrested a proclaimed offender Tajinder Singh of the local Khalwara Gate area. He was wanted under Sections 440, 457, 180, 148, 149,506 and 120-B, IPC, in connection with a case registered in 1996.

PHILLAUR
EXCHANGE INSTALLED: A new 5000-line optical fibre system telephone exchange was installed here on Tuesday. This was stated by Mr C.R. Kataria, General Manager, Telecom Department.

TARN TARAN
KILLED: Beera Singh (56) of Chohla Sahib Khurd village was killed in an accident on Monday near Dhattal village. A report has been registered under Section 174, CrPC. The post-mortem was conducted on Tuesday.

CHANDIGARH

RRD’S WARNING: The Rashtriya Raksha Dal warned the authorities on Tuesday that ex-servicemen would raise private armies on the pattern of Bihar senas to protect the interests of ex-servicemen and other weaker sections. Citing the fracas between Punjab Government officials and Col J.S. Brar and the staff of his petrol pump, the RRD President, Col Harsharan Singh Sandhu, said a large number of incidents had taken place in the past years where ex-servicemen had been roughed up and humiliated. The RRD also urged the UT Administrator to order immediate arrest of the culprits and urged the Punjab Chief Minister to discipline his officers.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the MES Workers Union: President — Mr Bachittar Singh; Senior Vice-President — Mr Mohan Lal; Secretary — Mr Ashwani Kumar Chhibber; Senior Joint Secretary — Mr RS Banga; and Treasurer — Mr Kitab Singh.

BLIND STUDENTS: Of the nine students of the Blind Institute who sat for the middle standard examination, eight passed in first division and one passed in high second division. Manglesh Kumar stood first by obtaining 81.4 per cent marks and Jai Singh and Sarveshwari obtained second and third position by obtaining 78.7 per cent and 73.7 per cent, respectively.

SAS NAGAR
HONOURED: Meritorious students of Government Primary School in Phase 5 were honoured by the House Owners Welfare Society at a function organised on the school premises on Tuesday. The students had bagged the first three positions in the annual examinations of their respective classes. They were given stationery articles by the organisers.

HARYANA

AMBALA
GERMAN NATIONAL HELD: The Ambala Police on Tuesday registered a case against a German national, Browl Pattric, for trespassing the Ambala air force station fence on Monday evening. The police seized 4.96g of charas, 1.7g of opium, Rs 16,745 and a German passport from his possession. He had entered the air force station by crossing the fence, surrounded by a wasteland. Senior officers of the base were immediately informed and the siren was sounded. The man was nabbed and was handed over to the local police.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of Ambala Electrical Dealers Association: President — Mr Vipin Chopra; Vice-President — Mr Umesh Kumar; General Secretary — Mr Navneet Jindal; and Treasurer — Mr Surinder Gandhi.

FARIDABAD
PETROL STATION ALLOTTED: The central government has allotted petrol stations to three widows of Army men, who were killed during Operation Vijay in Kargil. This was stated by Capt O.P. Khanna, secretary of the Zila Sainik Board, here on Tuesday. The beneficiaries are widows of Lance Naik Zakir Husain of Softa village, Lance Naik Raghbir Singh of Garhi and Sepoy Virender Kumar of Mohna in the district.

PANIPAT
LOANS ALLOTTED: Loans amounting to Rs 302.93 crore will be given to beneficiaries in different sectors in the district under the district credit plan during the current financial year. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Sandeep Garg, here on Tuesday.

ROHTAK
BALMIKI SAMAJ: Leaders of the Balmiki Samaj have appealed to the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to nominate at least one municipal commissioner from Ward No. 3 here in order to provide a fair representation to them in the municipal council here. The decision was taken at a meeting here on Monday.

CASE REGISTERED: A case has been registered under Sections 376, 511 and 506, IPC, against Parveen of the local Saini Anandpura locality on charges of attempting to rape a young woman. According to police sources, the suspect entered the house of the woman by scaling the wall and tried to outrage her modesty.

SIRSA
TECHNICAL EDUCATION: The Haryana Government will spend Rs 40 crore on technical education during the current financial year, of which Rs 15.10 crore will be given as grant-in-aid to polytechnic institutions. The Technical Education Department will also introduce an internal revenue generation scheme so that the institutions do not starve of finances. This was stated by the Commissioner and Secretary, Technical Education, Mr H.C. Disodia, after inaugurating the 26th Haryana State Inter Polytechnic Athletic Meet at local government polytechnic college here on Tuesday.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

HAMIRPUR
CREDIT PLAN: Mr B.R. Verma, Additional District Magistrate, here on Tuesday released a credit plan of Rs 37.08 crore for the district for the period 2000-01. The plan is 22 per cent more than the past year’s plan.

MANDI
SCHEME LAUNCHED: A Rs 59.34 crore district credit plan has been launched for the current year in the district. This was started by Mr Prabodh Saxena, Deputy Commissioner, here on Monday.

NAHAN
PLAN LAUNCHED: An annual credit plan of Rs 41 crore in the district was launched here on Monday to provide credit to people under various priority schemes. This was stated by Mr Rakesh Kaushal, Deputy Commissioner.

SHIMLA
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Himachal Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd: president — Mr B.K. Arora; vice-president — Mr B.R. Chauhan; general secretary — Mr G.R. Saklani; press secretary — Mr Ramesh Kumar; and chief adviser — Mr J.S. Negi.

LIQUOR SEIZED: The police has seized 65 bottles of illicit liquor at various places during the past 24 hours. Nearly 35 bottles were seized from Inderjit Singh at books market, nine from Ram Parsad at police station division No 6, nine from Nirbhay Singh at focal point area and 12 from Lal Babu at Sahnewal.

CAMPAIGN: A six-day camp under the measles control campaign was inaugurated here on Monday by Dr Rajinder Kaur, Civil Surgeon, where children between nine months to five years would be given vaccines. The camp would continue till Saturday.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of NSUI, Himachal Pradesh University; president — Mr Digvijay Singh Jandev; vice-presidents — Mr Narinder Chauhan, Mr D.D. Kashyap, Mr Surinder Kaundal and Mr Rajat Sood; general secretaries — Mr Bhupesh Jharnartha, Mr Niyati Thakur, Mr Shashi Arora, Mr Kamal Kishroe and Mr Devinder Thakur; secretaries — Mr Navneet Kanwar, Mr Vikas Malik, Ms Priyanka, Ms Arti Sood and Mr Ashish Gupta.

SOLAN
NETWORK SERVICES: The Chief General Manager, Telecom, Himachal circle, Mr N.S. Gill, inaugurated intelligent network services at the local telephone exchange on Tuesday. Telephone subscribers can now have practically all facilities of an electronic PABX from their ordinary telephones.

UNA
BAN ORDERS: Mr K.K. Pant, District Magistrate, keeping in view the Navratra fair at Chintpurni, 52 km from here, has banned the carrying of fire arms or ammunition under Section 144, Cr.P.C. within the local limits.

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

Lucky babies of the millennium

AMIDST gurgling, cooing and wailing of more than 100 babies, Iqbal Nursing Home organised a lucky draw for all babies born in the nursing home from January 1 to March 31 in Ludhiana on April 2.

The lucky draw, to coincide with the 25-year celebrations of the hospital, brought a good response from those city residents who had babies during the first three months of the millennium. There were two full rows of mothers with their millennium babies (see picture).

It is learnt that 225 children were born at Iqbal Nursing Home during these three months, with female babies surpassing the number of males born. Five twins and two triplets were also born during this time.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Ramesh Inder Singh, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and the chief guest at the function, lauded the efforts made by Dr Iqbal Singh Ahuja in not just providing the best in medicare but also making an impact on society through providing scholarships to poor students for higher education.

Interestingly the couples and babies who were dressed in their Sunday best, were keen on the prize money, but hardly were they enthused with the millennium bug.

The first prize in the lucky draw, a fixed deposit receipt of Rs 31,000 for a period of 15 years was bagged by a female baby of Mrs Savita and Mr Rajiv Jain. The second prize of a fixed deposit of Rs 21,000 was bagged by a male child born to Mrs Poonam and Mr Sudhir on January 21.

The third prize comprising an FD of Rs 11,000 was awarded to a female baby born to Mrs and Mr Ashish Gupta on February 8. The fourth prize was won by yet another female child born on February 8 to Mrs Puja and Mr Munish Kumar. Other than these several consolation prizes were also given away to various babies amongst other eminent personalities who spoke on the occasion were Dr SB Khurana, former Director, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, besides Dr Iqbal Singh Ahuja.

State museum at Panipat

The Panipat museum steering committee has drawn up an ambitious plan for setting up Haryana’s first state museum here. To make it one of the best museums, precious exhibits from Rampur Raza Library and Aligarh University library have been collected by the archaeology experts. Miniature paintings photographically enlarged have been acquired from the National Museum besides photos of historical buildings from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). An order has been placed with the British Library in London to provide negatives of certain documents and paintings reminiscent of the medieval period. The National Archives have been requested to supply a copy of Akbar’s “farman” regarding Hemu.

The art purchase committee will procure armours, swords, helmets and other weapons which were used during the three battles of Panipat. These exhibits will be displayed along with human life-sized models made of fibre. Among the other artefacts to be exhibited at the museum are Match-Lock Guns of three kinds used by the Marathas, Gardis and the Afghans, a typical Afghan weapon firearm called “sher baccha”, a camel and an elephant gun, horse armour and jacket in leather, double carved Turkey bow which was a speciality of “Janisaar” — the 15,000-strong reserve force of Afghan ruler Ahmed Shah Abdali; “fireghatti sura” — a typical Afghan weapon; “tabbar” — a battle axe; “jagnote”— armour piercer; armour made of cloth used by the Marathas — the “Agarakhi”; Jambura — a small light weight cannon used by Abdali’s forces, various kinds of swords, shields and lances.

The steering committee, which has the Deputy Commissioner of Panipat as a member, has also proposed that a plan of Haryana showing important historical sites should be displayed on acrylic sheets illuminated through concealed lighting. It has also been suggested that a set of three dimensional models pertaining to the battles of Panipat with small terracotta figures should be prepared. For display of jewellery and coins, showcases with non-breakable glass will be used. Initially, this museum is being set up at the canal rest house at Binjhol but will later be shifted to Kala Amb.

Contributed by Ruchika Mohindra and Hitender Rao.