R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
SEVA SAMITI: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Seva Samiti: president — Mr Ram Parkash Beri; senior vice-president — Mr Brij Mahajan Mehra; junior vice-president — Mr Ramgopal Mehra; general secretary — Mr Shashi Bhushan, and secretary — Mr Parasram Sharma.

JALANDHAR
4 DIED: Four persons, including a woman, died in separate incidents in the district in the past 24 hours. An Army jawan, Lal Ram, was killed when his motor cycle was hit by a state roadways bus near the Rama Mandi Chowk here, on Sunday. A scooterist Sarbjit Singh, 32, was wounded after being hit by a Jeep near the BSF Chowk. He died later in the Civil Hospital. Jatinder Kumar, 38, suffered 90 per cent burn injuries in a stove-burst while preparing tea at his home in Kishanpura. He later succumbed to his injuries in hospital. Meanwhile, Raj Rani, 70, set herself ablaze at her home near Sanatam Dharma temple on Sunday. In her dying declaration she stated that she decided to kill herself as she was tired of old age.

LUDHIANA
ELECTED: The Punjab Youth Club Welfare Organisation has elected Mr Gurdip Singh Rana as president and Mr Harpreet Singh Mangat as chairman of the district unit of the organisation. Besides, four senior vice-presidents, seven vice-presidents and 12 general secretaries have been elected.

MALERKOTLA
THEFT: Two thieves entered the house of Ms Amarjit Kaur located at Hargobindpur village, 10 km from here, and decamped with cash worth several thousands of rupees and jewellery. A case has been registered.

SUICIDE: Harminder Singh, and his wife Sarabjit Kaur, committed suicide by consuming poison. According to police sources, the couple got married three years ago but were issueless. After consuming poison they jumped into the river. The body of Harminder Singh was fished out of the river. A case has been registered.

VISIT: Mr M.L. Singal, Judge, High Court, visited the local court on Saturday. He inspected the courts of Mr S.K. Sachdeva, Ms Kiran Bala and Mr Navjot Sohal. He also met Mr Jaspal Singh Jassi, SDM.

GRANT: The local Bar Association has received a cheque for Rs 2 lakh under the small saving scheme (1999-2000). Mr Manjit Singh Shergil, president, Bar Association, said that the cheque was presented to Mr Gurmukh Singh Tiwana, Mr Manpreet Singh Shergill, and Mr Paviter Singh Chahal by Mr Anirudh Tiwari, Deputy Commissioner, to purchase furnitures and library books for the court.

LOK ADALAT: A Lok Adalat was organised at a local court under the presidentship of Mr S.K. Sachdeva, senior Judge. As many as 35 cases came up for hearing out of which 19 were solved on the spot.

PATIALA
IMA OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Punjab unit of the Indian Medical Association: president — Dr O.P. S. Kande; vice-presidents — Dr R.C. Garg and Dr Manmohan Kaushal.

CHANDIGARH

ISKCON CELEBRATIONS: The International Society for Krishna Consciousness ( ISKCON ) has decided to celebrate Rama navmi and Baisakhi on April 12 and 13, respectively, at Hare Krishna Dham, Sector 36-B, here. The main attractions of the programme on the occasion of Rama navmi include Manga aarti, Tulsi Devi Puja, Japa, Sringaar darshan, Guru Puja, pravachan; Abhishekham of Lord Rama and Sita and kirtan; 10 a.m.; Ram katha; 12 noon; distribution of prasadam; 1 p.m.; and Nauka Vihar ; 7.30 p.m. The next days programmes are : nagar kirtan from 6 a.m.to 7 a.m., followed by special Abhishekham of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhakti Vedanta Swami Sril Prabhupada on the occasion of Vyas Puja ; preparation and distribution of Krishna cuisine; 5.30 p.m.

OFFICE BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Maharashtra Mandal here: President - Mr M.S. Mahadeokar; Vice-President - Mr R.K. Bhake; Secretary - Mr K.P. Deshmukh; Joint Secretary - Mr R.M. Belokar; Treasurer - Mr V.R. Harchekar; and Joint Treasurer - Mr Rajesh Kulgod.

CITCO WORKERS' UNION: The action committee of the CITCO Workers Union at a meeting held on April 7 in the presence of workers from various units of CITCO unanimously decided to hold the union’s election on April 20. Time, date of nomination and venue will be decided by the presiding officer Mr S.S. Mann, a press note by the action committee said here on Monday.

PANCHKULA
GURU RAVI DASS SABHA: The Sector 15 Sri Guru Ravi Dass Sabha here has decided to celebrate the 109th birth anniversary of Dr B.R. Ambedkar on April 14 at its premises, where Mr Risal Singh, Social Welfare Minister of Haryana, will be the guest of honour. A cultural programme by school children and langar will also be organised to mark the celebrations.

SAS NAGAR
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the SAS Nagar branch of the Family Planning Association of India President — Dr Surjit Kaur Sandhu; Vice-Presidents — Dr Manmohan Kaur and Col R.K. Dutta (retd); Honorary Secretary — Mr J.S. Arora; Honorary Treasurer — Mr Harwant Singh and Honorary Joint Secretary-cum-treasurer — Mr Kaana Singh.

HARYANA

AMBALA
CRIME GRAPH: The crime graph in Ambala, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Panchkula and Kaithal districts has come down during past three months. This was stated here on Sunday by Mr Hari Singh Ahlawat, IGP. As many as 2,230 cases had been registered out of which, 1,643 had already been solved. As many as 679 criminal cases were registered in Ambala district while 272 were lodged in Panchkula. He had directed all SPs and senior officers to register the complaints of the victims and added that action would be taken against those who refused to register the FIR.

CHAIN SNATCHED: Two scooter-borne youths snatched a chain from a woman here on Sunday night. The incident took place at about 8 pm near Banswala Chowk. The woman, Kamlesh, was returning home after listening to Katha when two youths on a scooter snatched her gold chain. Local residents pointed out that this was the fourth such incident in the area in the past few weeks.

DC'S ORDERS: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ram Niwas, has directed all Heads of the Departments of the district to be present in their offices from 11 a.m. to 12 noon every day to hear public grievances. He ordered that a tour register should be maintained in every office and the officials should make entry in register before leaving the office for any official work. Strict action would be taken against any official found violating the directions.

CYCLIST KILLED: One person was killed in a road accident here on the Ambala-Hisar road near Ambala City on Monday. According to information, a cyclist Ronki Ram was killed when a truck hit his cycle. The police has registered a case against the truck driver.

WORKSHOP: The Ambala Junior Chamber, a voluntary organisation, organised a one-day workshop-cum-training programme on “The Art of Public Speaking” here. It was conducted by Dr Sushil Kansal, a national trainer of the chamber. Dr Kansal trained the participants in various aspects of public speaking, including preparation, use of mike, posture, eye contact, body language and language tools. Mr Samar Mittal and Mr Lalit Kapoor were given awards of outstanding participation, a release said.

SHOBHA YATRA: The Ambedkar Vichar Manch, Ambala Cantonment, will organise a shobha yarta on the occasion of Baba Saheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar Jayanti Samaroh. The yatra will start from Valmiki Mandir in Railway Colony and culminate at Cross road no. 12.

KAITHAL
ADVOCATE MURDERED: Mange Ram Sharma (47) of Harsola village was murdered on Saturday while he was sleeping at his farm at Geong village along with his servant Gurbachan Singh. He was rushed to the local Civil Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. A property dispute is stated to be the cause behind the murder. The police has registered a case against Rakam Singh, Naranjan Singh, Joginder Singh and Pale Ram, a relative of the deceased.

ROHTAK
WOMAN DEAD: A 28-year-old woman got seriously injured when she jumped before the Ferozepore-Bombay Janata Express near the Sampla level crossing. She later succumbed to her injuries at the PGIMS here, on Sunday.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

SHIMLA
RAW DEAL: The state unit of the Congress has charged the BJP-led government at the Centre and in the state with handing out a raw deal to the employees. This was stated here on Sunday by Mr Joginder Chand, party spokesperson, and Mr Vineet Gautam, secretary of the PCC.