R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
REFRESHER COURSE: A three-week Punjabi refresher course began at Guru Nanak Dev University here on Monday. More than 50 teachers from various north Indian colleges and universities are taking part in it. Dr Ranjit Singh Bajwa, Professor of Folk Studies, Guru Nanak Dev University, presented a keynote address. Mr Narinder Singh Soch, an eminent scholar, presided over the function.

BATALA
OFFICE COMPUTERISED: The local tehsil office was computerised here on Monday. It was inaugurated by Mr S.K. Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner, Gurdaspur. Mr A.K. Sinha, SDM, Mr Jagdish Sawhney, local BJP MLA, Mr Hardeep Singh Tuli, Tehsildar, and Mr Lakhbir Singh Naib Tehsildar, were present on the occasion.

HOSHIARPUR
ARRESTED: The Garhshankar police on Sunday arrested Ranjit Singh, a resident of Mehangrowal, for allegedly raping a seven year old. This was stated here on Monday by Mr R.P. Mittal, SSP. A case under section 376, IPC, has been registered against him.

TUBEWELLS: About 400 deep tubewells are being installed in Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr and Ropar districts. This was stated by Mr Tikshan Sud, State Minister for Excise and Taxation, after inaugurating ceremony of the commissioning of the deep tap at Patiarian village, 8 km from here, on Sunday. It had been decided to set up five watersheds which would be spread over 22,852 hectares of 69 villages. He said deep taps would also be installed in 20 villages of Rajni Devi, Chak Sadhu and Patiarian watersheds.

CAMP: The local Rotary Club (north) and the District Transport Department jointly organised a camp at zila parishad complex for preparing new driving licence on the spot here on Sunday. Mr Tikshan Sud while inaugurating the camp stressed to observe traffic rules. Mr N.S. Walia, DTO, appealed to the people to wear helmet while driving.

JALANDHAR
ANNIVERSARY: The 245th birth anniversary of Dr Samuel Hahnemann was celebrated by the local unit of the Homoeopathic Medical Association of India at Ramgarhia Gurdwara on Monday. A heart care camp was organised on the occasion.

KAPURTHALA
KAVI SAMMELAN: A ‘hasya’ kavi sammelan was organised at the Rail Coach Factory here on Sunday. More than 10 Hindi poets participated in it. A souvenir was also released by the General Manager of the Rail Coach Factory, Mr V.P. Ojha. Those who attended the sammelan included Vishbeshwar Sharma, Surinder Dubey, Surinder Yadvinder, Surinder Awasthi, Mahesh Garg and Mamta Sharma. The sammelan was organised by the Women Welfare Organisation of the factory and its president Mrs Susham Ojha highlighted the various social activities undertaken by the organisation.

GANG BUSTED: The district police has busted five members gang of chain snatchers with the arrest of Gurpreet Singh, Man Singh, Mangaljit Singh and Balwinder Singh. This was stated by Mr Iqbal Singh, SSP. The police has seized gold chains, pistols and scooters from them.

COMMITS SUICIDE: Nachata Kaur (25), a newly married woman of Kheradona village died under mysterious circumstances. She was admitted to the local civil hospital in unconscious condition on Monday. She died within an hour. A case has been registered.

TAX BAR: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district Bar Association (Taxation): president — Mr Manoj Sabharwal; vice-president — Mr Suresh Sethi; general secretary — Mr Pradeep Tuli; and treasurer — Mr Kulbhushan Sharma.

KHARAR
2 killed: Mr Hakam Singh and his father-in-law, Mr Mohinder Singh, who were going on scooter, were killed when the scooter was knocked down by a truck (CHW-7125) near Ballo Majra village on the Kharar-Mohali road on Monday evening. The police has registered a case under section 279/304 A against the driver of the truck who is absconding.

UNDERTRIAL ESCAPES: An undertrial Jarnail Ram escaped from the police custody in the judicial complex here on Monday. According to a report lodged with the police by Mr Nathu Ram, SI, in charge, Escort Guard, Patiala, he along with his guard had brought 26 undertrials from Patiala Jail, who were to be produced in Kharar and Ropar courts. The undertrial escaped after his appearance in court of Mr Sanjay Agnihotri, Judicial Magistrate. The reason given for the escape was heavy rush and lesser number of police men. A case under Section 223, IPC, has been registered.

TRAFFIC BLOCKED: Some residents of Badala village, near here, sat on a dharna and suspended vehicular traffic for about five hours near the village on the Kharar-Bassi Pathana road on Tuesday. They were protesting against the police for not taking any action against the persons who have kept one Mr Kirpal Singh, in “illegal custody” for the past more than two years.

LUDHIANA
2 KILLED: Three persons died in incidents in the district in the past 24 hours. Neelam, a resident of Tajpur road, committed suicide by hanging herself in her house, allegedly because of the ill-treatment meted out to her by her husband, Manoj Kumar, who was having an affair with another woman. A case under Sections 306 and 34 of the IPC has been registered. In another case a truck crushed a cyclist, Hari Ram to death near Aggar Nagar on Sunday, while in the third incident, a six-year-old boy, Rahul Sharma, was knocked down by a Contessa car near his residence in Shastri Nagar. Car driver, Anil Sharma has been arrested.

JD (U) MEETING: A meeting of the JD (U) labour wing was held here on Monday under the chairmanship of Mr Baljit Singh Latti. He appealed to the president of the state unit of the JD(U) to accept the resignation of Mr Kartar Singh, secretary of JD(U) and added that he should be re-elected as the district president of the labour wing. The meeting was attended by Mr J.D.S. Bajuria, vice-chairman of the JD(U) (labour wing) and Mr Sanjiv Kumar; general secretary.

ANIMALS SHIFTED: Various wild animals, including monkeys, spotted deer, sambhars, peacocks and blue rock pigeons have been shifted from the rose garden to the Wildlife Department of Punjab. The Central Zoo Authority had ordered its closure as the zoo did not have requisite infrastructure to keep these animals.

MOGA
CARDIAC CAMP: A cardiac camp will be organised here on Thursday at Gomati Prashad Thaper Hospital on the G.T. road to commemorate his 85th birth anniversary. This was stated here on Tuesday by the in charge of the hospital, Dr Ravinder Thaper. ROHTAK

BOOKED: Risal Singh a bus driver and Jai Bhagwan a conductor were booked for beating a truck driver Rajesh with a rod.

DOWRY CASE: Ms Kavita Rani, got married to one Rajesh of Bhagana village in Hisar district two years ago. Her husband and in-laws had been harassing her for bringing insufficient dowry. Six family members of her in-laws have been booked in a dowry case.

PATIALA
HONOURED: Journalists of Punjabi newspapers can contribute towards Punjabi language and culture. This was stated here on Sunday by Mr Gobind Singh Kanjla, Social Security and Development Minister, at a seminar “Place of Punjabi Journalism in International Standards” organised by the Journalists Friends Club. Mr Nirpal Singh Shergill, journalist, was honoured on the occasion. Dr Narinder Singh Kapoor of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Punjabi University, said Punjabi journalism had failed to maintain its identity. Mr Shingara Singh Bhullar, Assistant Editor, Punjabi Tribune, said information technology had brought many changes in Punjabi journalism.

PHAGWARA
ASSAULTED: Sandip Kumar, a resident of Bedian mohalla, was assaulted by three persons. He was hospitalised here on Monday. The assailants have been identified as Bhushan Kamal and Rajan of Mehli gate. Assault followed a dispute over right to give way since Sandip’s car was stuck up in the middle of the road and the two had taken offence to it.

DEAD: Jeeta, who along with his niece Ranjna had come to attend a marriage at Gobindpura died at DMC Ludhiana on Monday. She was hit by a car on the G.T. Road while they were about to board a bus for Mathanda Kalan village. A case has been registered.

ROPAR
LIQUOR SHOPS CLOSED: Mr G.S. Grewal, District Magistrate, has ordered the closure of liquor shops in a radius of 5 km of the Anandpur Sahib from Tuesday to Thursday in view of the Baisakhi festival.

CHANDIGARH

JACOB VISIT: The Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen JFR Jacob (retd), on Tuesday visited some industrial units here. He visited Gorz Beckert unit, manufacturing knitting machine needles in Chandigarh since 1961. He also visited Continental Devices, which manufactures a wide range of semi-conductor devices and Micron Instruments which manufactures ammunition fuses for various weapon systems. General Jacob said the purpose of his visit was to know the problems faced by the industrial units.

AMAR KHALSA: The preveiw of Amar Khalsa, a cinematic interpretation of Bhai Veer Singh’s famous novel, Bijay Singh, was held at Tagore Theatre here on Tuesday. The film has been produced by Hardeep Singh. Those who attended the screening included Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Inderjit Singh Zira, Prem Singh Chandumajra, Sikh scholars, and mediapersons. The two-hour film brings to life the atrocities against Sikhs during the regime of Mir Mannu.

MES WORKERS: Workers of the Military Engineer Service (MES) have decided to go on a one-day token strike on April 27 to press for their demands. According to the Chandigarh Area MES Workers Union, the demands include removal of disparities between industrial and non-industrial staff, implementation of assured career progress scheme, removal of ban on recruitment and abolishing vacant posts, payment of HRA and CCA to civilian staff, no curtailment of manpower and restoration of casual leave of 12 days.

FREEMASONS: The Fraternity of Freemasons has been constituted at the Freemasons Hall in Sector 18 under the presidentship of Gurcharan Singh and Dr K S Thind, reigning Worshipful Master of the Lodge Yadvindra. Other founder members include S. S. Suluja, Jagjit Singh, Joginder Singh and K S Mohindru. There is no registered society of the freemasons in the country.

ENCROACHMENTS: The engineering wing of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation in collaboration with the enforcement staff on Monday conducted a special drive to remove encroachments in Sector 45-B here. Unauthorised structures, hedges and fences were removed from road berms.

HARYANA

SONEPAT
DHARNA: CPM workers sat on a dharna here on Monday in protest against the hike in the prices of petroleum products and PDS commodities and levying of taxes by the Haryana Government.

IVRS SYSTEM: The interactive voice response system (IVRS) started here on Monday. It will provide computerised fault booking service on “198”. The subscribers can book their complaints without the help of operator and get the docket/complaint numbers from the system. The subscribers can also make the billing inquiry by dialling “166”. It will announce bill amount and date. The IVRS also provides the changed number announcement service for which the subscribers are required to dial ‘195’.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

DHARAMSALA
TWO ARRESTED: The police on Monday arrested a college student who had appeared in the examination on behalf of his friend at the local Government College. The College authorities caught Pradhuman Singh, B.Sc. II student, while he was appearing on behalf of Sandeep Dhiman. A case of impersonation has been registered against them.

SUICIDE: An 18-year-old boy, Sanjay Kumar, a resident of Nori village, near Baijnath committed suicide here on Monday.