R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
BONUS DENIED: The members of the District Small Saving Agents Association are up in arms over the move of the Punjab Government to deny their agents cash bonus for their efforts to mobilise small savings. The president of the association, Mr R.D. Gautam, in a press note issued here on Monday, said the government was changing the norms by unilaterally deciding to waive the cash bonus and was instead offering them lucky coupons which were not acceptable.

DHURI
TRADE FAIR: A two-day long trade fair organised by the local Rotract Club in association with the local Rotary Club concluded here on Sunday. As many as 46 business houses participated in the fair which was inaugurated by Ms Amrit Gill, SDM. The event was sponsored by a local industrial house and was the first of its kind ever organised here.

GURDASPUR
ARRESTED: The police on Monday arrested Sawinder Singh, alias Chhind, a resident of Kahnuwan road, Batala, and seized one 12 bore pistol with two cartridges from him. According to Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, the accused had snatched gold earrings at pistol-point from the wife of Madan Lal of Sidhwan Jamita, near here, on the intervening night of April 27 and 28. A case under Section 382, IPC, and Sections 25, 154 and 59 of the Arms Act has been registered at the Sadar police station here. The accused had also committed robberies in the Dera Baba nanak and Batala areas.

HELD: The police has arrested Zaffar Iqbal and Gufar Ali, both Pakistani nationals, after they reached the Bahmani bridge from Jhabkara village after crossing the Jalalia river. According to Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, the duo said during interrogation that they had crossed over to India after a family dispute. A case has been registered at the Dinanagar police station.

ROBBERY BID: Residents of the Library Road here are panicky after an attempt by anti-social elements to commit robbery at the Bank of India here on Sunday. According to official sources, some unidentified persons broke open the locks of the main gate of the bank and the room containing arms. An unsuccessful attempt was made to open the strong room. The incident was reported at the local police station but no arrests have been made so far.

BURNT: Various cases of burning of wheat crop due to fires have been reported from various part of the subdivision. Standing wheat crop in 20 acres of land at Nabipur, belonging to Mr Jagir Singh, former Sarpanch, was reportedly burnt. Standing crop in 14 acres at Sidhwan, belonging to Mr Joga Singh, was also reportedly burnt. Similarly, wheat crop at Gunnopur, Saidowal, Bhurian Sainian and Darapur in more than 200 acres of land was reportedly burnt on Sunday. Six wheat stacks Punsup caught fire but it was brought under control.

RAIDS: The District Mandi Officer conducted raids at Qadian on Sunday and recommended suspension of foodgrain licences of some dealers for under weighing of wheat purchased from farmers. A few trading companies were caught weighing less wheat than the actual weight.

LUDHIANA
DA INSTALMENT: More than five lakh Punjab Government employees and pensioners are upset over the non-release of the DA instalment due from January this year. The Central Government has already sanctioned the DA instalment for its staff and pensioners. They will be paid the arrears in cash along with the salary/pension for April. At a meeting of the Government Pensioners’ Association held here on Sunday, the Punjab Government was urged to release the DA instalment without further delay.

MALERKOTLA
STREET LIGHTS: Residents of Dewana Mohalla, old municipal area and Loha Bazar on Monday demanded proper working of street lights in their localities. Mr Ravinder Jain, president, Bharatiya Yuva Morcha, and a resident of the area, said the authorities had failed to take any action despite repeated requests.

MOGA
PADDY CROP: Mr Kanwaljit Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner, said here on Tuesday that 1,49,000 hectares of land would be brought under paddy cultivation in the district during the current sowing season. He urged farmers not to start paddy sowing during the months immediately after the harvesting of wheat crop as early sowing of the crop would create a problem of its early arrival in August.

NAWANSHAR
SCHOOL TIMINGS: Parents of the school-going children here have urged the Education Minister, Mr Tota Singh, to immediately change the school timings from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. like previous year keeping in view the intense heat-wave conditions prevailing in the region.

DEMANDED: Mr Surinder Mohan Tejpal, Municipal Councillor, in a press statement issued here on Monday has demanded that the road from the old police chowki to Sugar Mills Colony should be constructed on a priority basis to ease traffic congestion on the Jalandhar-Chandigarh road in the town.

MEDICAL CAMP: The Shiv Sena, Mandal Rahon, organised a free medical camp at Government Primary School, Rahon, 7 km from here, on Sunday. A team of doctors examined 620 patients suffering from various ailments. Blood and ECG tests were also done at the camp, according to a press note issued here on Monday by Mr Manoj Pathak, president of the district unit of the Shiv Sena.

PATHANKOT
ARRESTED: The police has arrested a proclaimed offender Romesh Kumar, son of Mr Dhian Chand, a resident of Kalanour, in a case registered at Division Number 2 under Sections 420 and 34 of the IPC. The case was registered on the complaint of Mr Jagdish Singh of Naushera Nal Banda in the tehsil. According to the complainant, in December, 1995, the accused had accepted Rs 1.5 lakh for settling his son Harwinder Singh abroad. But he neither settled his son abroad nor returned the amount.

PATIALA
TRAINING: The IAS and Allied Services Training Centre of Punjabi University will start a two-month crash course for the PCS (Judicial) examination from May 15 for candidates aspiring to appear in the examination to be conducted by the Punjab Public Service Commission.

ELECTED: The general body meeting of the Faculty Club of Punjabi University at its meeting held on Monday elected Dr Sukhdarshan Singh Khehra as President of the club. The office of the Vice-President has gone to Dr Kuljit Singh Sohal (geography). Dr Balwinder Singh (economics) and Mr Kuldip Singh Dhillon (library) have been elected secretary and joint secretary, respectively.

ICSSR TEAM: Dr R.N. Pal, Professor in the Department of political science of Punjabi University, has been selected by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) as a member of the ICSSR team to visit Hong Kong, China and Korea from May 15 to 28. Dr Pal recently visited Moscow where he presented a paper on ‘foundations of federalism in India: theory and practice’.

SUNAM
INAUGURATED: The Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, accompanied by Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Union Minister, inaugurated a TATA Kisan Training Centre on Mehlan road here on Sunday. The centre is the first of its kind in India. It will impart the latest techniques in agriculture to farmers and train them in increasing yield from small pieces of land.

TARN TARN
LEPROSY PATIENTS: Sri Guru Arjan Dev Sewa Kendra Colony for leprosy patients was inaugurated here on Monday by Dr Gurinderpal Singh Sahota, SDM. The colony comprising 10 houses has been built with the assistance of local social workers and by collecting donations. The Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, sent a cheque for Rs 50,000 for medicines for the patients and another cheque for Rs 27,000 for purchasing rickshaws and sewing machines to make them self-reliant. There are 20 families of leprosy patients living at the colony.

CHANDIGARH

BOOK RELEASED: “Parm Purkh Ko Dasa” — a book on poems relating to the Khalsa Sajna Divas, besides the life and teachings of the 10th Guru — was released on the eve of 301st Khalsa Sajna Divas recently. The book has been compiled by the Punjabi Kavi Mandal, an association of poets. Punjabi poets Joginder Singh Rainkh, M.S. Gill, Manjit Kaur and Jai Gopal Ashk also participated in a kavi darbar organised on the occasion.

BOOK: ‘Economic Humanism’, a book on economic philosophy of nobel laureate Amartya Sen, was released by Dr Janak Gupta, Dean Social Sciences, Punjabi University at the ICSSR Complex of Panjab University here on Tuesday. Dr Manjit Kalra, a senior lecturer in Economics, at the Government College for Girls, Sector 11, has authored the book. Among the speakers Mr Dalbir Singh, assistant editor, Punjabi Tribune, said Dr Kalra’s style was simple and lucid. Dr Kiran Pawar, a Professor and a former chairperson of the Department of History, spoke on women empowerment.

POLICE POST: A police post has been set up at the newly inaugurated Inter-State Bus Stand in Sector 43 for the convenience of the public and to maintain law and order. A Sub-Inspector has been posted as the in charge along with a Head Constable and two Constables. The setup is likely to be strengthened in the coming days.

PANCHKULA
SAHYOG: The local unit of the Bharat Vikas Parishad is undertaking its annual project ‘Sahyog’ — Aid to the needy and deserving students here on Sunday at Govt Senior Secondary School for Boys, Sector 7. Under this project, about 1000 poor and deserving students of 27 government schools of Panchkula district will get free books and stationery items. Mr R.S. Choudhary, Deputy Chairman, Planning Board, Haryana, will be the chief guest on the occasion.

HARYANA

AMBALA
250 EXAMINED: An ENT camp was organised by the State Bank of India, Mall Road, Ambala Cantonment, with the help of doctors at Sanatan Dharam Mandir, Lal Kurti Bazar. As many as 250 patients were checked and medicines were given free of cost.

FATEHABAD
SUICIDE: A convict undergoing life imprisonment who was on parole committed suicide by consuming poison at Mehuwala village in the district on Sunday. According to reports, the convict Ram Krishan was serving a life term for murder and had come on parole to the residence of his in-laws where his wife had also been staying since his conviction.

FIRES: Wheat crop and fodder in several acres of land was destroyed by fire at several places in the district since Sunday. According to reports, fires destroyed wheat crop and fodder in 25 acres of land at Chandokalan village. The fire broke out due to a short circuit. A fire also destroyed wheat crop and fodder at Hukmanwali, Dharnia, Shawger and Hamjapur villages. Ten bags of wheat were destroyed in fire at the local grain market on Monday.

HISAR
POWER ARREARS: Under a special campaign launched by the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) to recover dues from defaulting consumers, the nigam had recovered arrears amounting to Rs 905 lakh from all six operation circles during April, 2000, an official spokesman said here on Tuesday. The Hisar circle topped the list by yielding an outstanding amount of Rs 189 lakh followed by Faridabad and Bhiwani circles where recovery had been to the tune of Rs 168 lakh and Rs 159 lakh, respectively. Under the campaign, power connections of over 31,000 consumers were disconnected in April.

SONEPAT
ROBBERY: Four unidentified armed robbers are reported to have looted Rs 1.75 lakh from Mr Ajay Kumar of the local foodgrains market on the Sonepat-Rohtak road on Monday. According to preliminary reports, Mr Ajay Kumar, along with his accountant Dinesh, was returning to Sonepat from Kharkhauda town by car when the incident took place. The robbers stopped the car and allegedly snatched the cash bag from him and pushed the driver and the accountant out of the car and drove away. At some distance away, they pushed Mr Ajay Kumar also out of the car. The car was later found abandoned on the Kharkhauda-Delhi road near Pipli village and it was seized by the police.

ROADS: The district administration has drawn up a plan to undertake construction and repair of roads in the urban and rural areas of the district. This was stated by Mr Sudhir Rajpal, Deputy Commissioner, while addressing officials of the agencies concerned here on Tuesday. The Deputy Commissioner asked officials of the PWD (B&R), the local municipal council, the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board and the Haryana Urban Development Authority to gear up their machinery and complete the work by June 30 positively.

POLICE CAMPAIGN: The police, in a special campaign launched against anti-social elements, proclaimed offenders and bail jumpers, arrested nine persons on the charge of violating the Indian Arms Act and seized seven country-made pistols, three cartridges and two knives from their possession. Senior Superintendent of Police K.P. Singh told mediapersons here on Tuesday that the police had also arrested one person for possessing 85 gm charas. One person was arrested on the charge of satta gambling under the garb of selling lottery tickets. The SSP said the police had also arrested 15 persons on the charge of smuggling liquor. According to him, seven persons who were released on bail by different courts, but did not turn up again and had been evading arrest for the past 10 years were also arrested.

RAPE: The Kharkhauda police has arrested Sunil, alias Surauti, in connection with the alleged rape of a 13-year-old minor Dalit girl of Pipli village in the district on April 26. SSP K.P. Singh told mediapersons here that the suspect had entered the victim’s house when she was alone. He allegedly raped her and escaped.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
DEMANDED: The Chamba Welfare Association has demanded the construction of a three-storeyed shopping complex opposite Chowgan number four in the town and also sought clearance for constructing a multi-storeyed transport complex above the office of the Superintendent of Police. In a memorandum submitted to Mr Kishori Lal, Himachal Industries Minister and Mr Mohan Lal, Ayurveda Minister, the association requested that the flow of the river Ravi be diverted to save certain mohallas from the imminent danger of floods.

DEAD: Chuni Lal (80), a freedom fighter and a former member of the Territorial Council of Himachal Pradesh, passed away on Tuesday after a prolonged illness. He was cremated in the presence of a large crowd.

DHARAMSALA
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Kangra District Bar Association: president - Mr S K Saini; vice-president - Mr J.R. Chhabra; general secretary - Mr Dheeraj Lagwal; and joint secretary - Mr Bhupinder Katoch.

KANGRA
CPET: The plus two students and their parents on Tuesday demanded that Regional Engineering College, Hamirpur, should postpone the Combined Pre-Engineering Test (CPET) scheduled to be held on June 4 as it was clashing with the all-India entrance examination for admission to the UG programme in agriculture and allied subjects held by the ICAR.

SHIMLA
WORKSHOP: A five-day training workshop on human resource planning and development for executives of Commonwealth countries began at Himachal Pradesh University here on Monday. Inaugurating the workshop, Dr S.K. Gupta, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said focussing only on the resource base and capital could yield limited results. It was the human capital which had emerged as the most important input in any process of progress and development. As many as 22 participants from 14 countries are attending the workshop which is being organised by the university in collaboration with the Institute of Applied Manpower Research, New Delhi.

BUS SERVICE: The decision of the transport authorities to change the timing of the Annandale-Sanjauli bus service from 8.40 a.m. to 8.15 a.m. has caused resentment among the residents of the Annandale area. The rescheduling of the service is causing much inconvenience to the school children and office-goers. The residents have urged the authorities to either restore the old timings of the bus or introduce a new bus service on the route.