R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

HOSHIARPUR
BEATEN TO DEATH: Surinder Kaur was beaten to death by her husband Parson Singh at Ambala Jattan village on Thursday night. The police has registered a case.

LUDHIANA
VOCATIONAL TRAINING: Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, Technical Education Minister, addressing the 38th annual convocation of Khalsa College for Women, said on Friday that vocational training would be provided at the school level by the state government.

SUICIDE: A 45 year-old-man, Mohinder Singh, is alleged to have shot himself at his residence in Kartar Nagar here on Friday. Mohinder Singh was under the influence of liquor when he shot himself after a minor altercation with his wife.

MALERKOTLA
EMBEZZLEMENT: Members of the Cooperative Bank, Pakhowal, have alleged that the manager of the bank Om Parkash Verma and secretary Parmjit Singh have committed a fraud of Rs 57 lakh. Parmjit Singh issued loans to villagers. When they returned the loans he entered the amount in their passbooks but not in the ledger. The members complained that there was a big difference between their scroll and the society’s scroll.

CRUSHED TO DEATH: A five-year-old boy, Mohammad Asif, was crushed to death by a truck near Kelon gate here on Thursday. The driver has been arrested and a case registered by the Sadar police.

VACCINATION CAMP: A hepatitis vaccination camp was organised by Bharat Vikas Parishad here on Friday. As many as 700 persons were administered the first dose of vaccines. The second dose would be given on May 7.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Muslim Friends Club: president — Mr Wasim Khan, vice-president — Mr Abdul Rashid, general secretary — Mr Nasim-ur-Rehman, and treasurer — Mr Sagir Ahmed.

PATIALA
PROTEST: Residents of the local Harbans Theatre Lane on Friday protested against the “indifferent” and “negligent” attitude of the Patiala Municipal Corporation towards their long-standing demand of raising the level of the road linking Rajabha Road to Sewak Colony. The people assembled here lamented that instead of constructing the road, the corporation had dumped malba in the lane, turning the posh colony into a slum area.

PHAGWARA
FARMER KILLED: A farmer, Gurdev Singh, of Ranipur village was crushed to death while changing the tyre of his trailer by a truck on the Phagwara-Nakodar road near Darveshpind. The police has registered a case in this regard.

CHANDIGARH

JACOB'S CALL: The Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen JFR Jacob (retd), has called upon the people to imbibe and preach the eternal message of peace, non-violence and salvation of Lord Mahavira. Felicitating people on the eve of Mahavir Jayanti, General Jacob said India emerged as a votary of non-violence by achieving freedom through non-violent means. Reaffirming our faith in the ideals of Lord Mahavira and practising these in their true spirit in everyday life would be the real tribute to him, he added.

COACHING CLASSES : The HCS (Executive Branch) examination coaching classes will be conducted at Jat Bhavan here from April 17. Interested candidates can get themselves registered in the office of the Director, Deen Baandhu Sir Chhotu Ram Education Institute.

CONDOLED: A special meeting of the Rehabilitation Centre for Handicapped Children in Sector 38-B (Prayas), held on Friday, condoled the death of Mr Harish Chander Mehra, Honorary Adviser (Finance Resources), a Rotarian.

ELECTED: Mr Manjinder Singh and Mr I.K. Sharma have been elected Presidents of the Lions Club Chandigarh Royal and Chandigarh Mid Town, respectively. Other office-bearers of the two clubs are : Chandigarh Royal : Vice-Presidents — Mr R.S. Cheema and Mr Jatinder Singh; Secretary — Mr R.S. Kohli;; Treasurer — Mr A.S. Bedi; and PRO — Mr B.S. Kohli. Chandigarh Mid Town : Vice-Presidents — Mr Bhushan Chopra and Mr Madan Gopal Gupta; Secretary — Mr Prem Kaushik; Treasurer — Mr Sarpal Bharti; and PRO — Mr Ashok Kumar Vashisth.

SAS NAGAR
COURT INJUNCTION: The Managing Director of Punjstar Standard Electronics Ltd., Mr H.S. Bhatti, in a press release stated that the management of the Pinnacle Club — which had taken its premises, Punjstar TV complex in Industrial Area, Phase 6, here on rent — staged the show of the film Khalsa in spite of an injunction of the Civil Judge, Kharar, Mr Sanjay Agnihotri.

HARYANA

AMBALA
FIRE: Stored wheat crop worth lakhs of rupees was burnt when a devastating fire broke out in the tilling fields of Garnala village, near here, on Friday. Short-circuit was stated to be the reason of the fire, sources said. After several hours of fire-fighting, fire-tenders were able to douse the fire but the crops could not be saved. Affected villagers blamed the Haryana Vidyut Prasan Nigam for this devastation and alleged that had the officials of the Nigam acted in time their crops could have been saved.

BUSTED: The Ambala police busted a gang of thieves here on Saturday involved in several burglaries in the district. The police recovered some valuable items from their possession. The gang was operating in the adjoining areas of Ambala. One of the thieves belongs to Chandigarh. Three persons have been rounded up in this ragard.

FATEHABAD
INJURED: One person was injured seriously at Burj village when three persons of the same village attacked him over a property dispute. Mr Gurmeet Singh, on Friday evening, was attacked by Jagtar, Sukhdev and Bhagwan. The police has registered a case.

PROBE ORDERED: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anil Malik, has ordered an inquiry into incidents of illegal detention and beating up of a Dalit woman in the local city police station and the alleged rape of another woman by two “tantriks”. The Dalit woman Om Pati, a resident of the local Shakti Nagar, had alleged that an ASI of the local city police station had beaten her up and kept her in illegal custody when she had gone there with another woman to lodge a complaint. In the other case, the rape victim’s husband, Mangu Ram, tried to commit suicide by taking celphos tablets. In his statement before the police, Mangu Ram alleged that two “tantriks”, who had set up a “dera” near his residence repeatedly raped his wife.@

HISAR
MONEY SNATCHED: Three armed men snatched a bag containing Rs 30,000 from a trader in Hansi town, 26 km from here on Thursday night. The police has registered a case.

KILLED: One person was killed in a collision between a mini truck and a car near the Sunder branch canal, 30 km from here on Thursday. The victim has been identified as Dharambir, driver of the car.

PANIPAT
PHONE SERVICE: Interactive Voice Response Service (IVRS) has been introduced by the Department of Telecommunications according to the Deputy General Manager, Mr S.P. Singh.

SIRSA
DIED: A 20-year-old nurse, Rekha, employed in a private nursing home here, died under mysterious circumstances on Friday. According to information, Rekha, who worked in the nursing home of Dr Amar Singh Sidhu and lived on the upper floor of the nursing home was found unconscious with burn injuries on Friday. She was taken to the local civil hospital where she was declared dead.

SONEPAT
DEAD: Kartar Singh, a social activist and president of the local Gurdwara Shri Guru Nanak Satsang Sabha, died of a heart attack here on Friday. He is survived by two sons and four daughters.

ENCROACHMENT: Shopkeepers of the button factory area have occupied the land meant for a children’s park in front of the office of the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner here.

YAMUNANAGAR
ROTARY VANS: The district Rotary Club has decided to have a fleet of 20 mobile ambulance vans for the rescue of injured in road accidents. They will be available in parts of Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. Mr Subhash Garg was elected district Governor of Rotary district 3080 for the year 2001-2002.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
RESOLUTION: The tribal Bharmour Vikas Manch has demanded that the Himachal Government should introduce the Manimahesh pilgrimage on the basis of the Vaishno Devi pilgrimage and leave it open to the devotees and tourists for four months every summer from June 1 to September 30.

SHIMLA
PAINTING PRIZES: Tinderjit Kaur of the local Auckland House School won the first prize in the senior section in the on-the-spot painting competition organised by the YMCA to mark Himachal Day on Friday. Ishro Devi of Government Girls School won the second prize and Raveesh of Kendriya Vidyalaya won the third prize.