R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
SUSPENDED: The Headmaster of a government school at Haripura was on Friday suspended by the District Education Officer for allegedly molesting a student.

REVERTED: Mr Nachhatar Singh Gill, Divisional Engineer, Telecommunications, has been reverted as Subdivisional Engineer and transferred to Srinagar for alleged misappropriation of store goods. Mr Bhagwan Dass Khungar, SDO(P), has also been transferred to the Jammu and Kashmir circle.

FARIDKOT
SPECIAL SCHEME: The District Agricultural Department has launched a special scheme to achieve a target of 47,000 bales of cotton during this year in the district. Farmers will be imparted special training with the latest techniques. They will also be provided all types of facilities like implements, fertilisers and other related material on special subsidy.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED: A campaign has been launched in the district to remove encroachments from panchayat and government lands. Addressing a sangat darshan programme” at Khamanon town on Friday, Mr D.S. Sudan, Deputy Commissioner, warned the encroachers and panchayats that those who tried to grab government land would be severely dealt with.

FAZILKA
FLAGGED OFF : Dr Mohinder Kumar Rinwa, former MLA, and secretary, PPCC, flagged off 11 trucks of wheat straw for cattle in the drought-hit Ajmer district of Rajasthan on Thursday. Dr Rinwa contributed six trucks of straw while the remaining trucks were arranged by the local DAV Centenary School management.

GURDASPUR
SECTION 144: Mr B. Vikram, District Magistrate, has under Section 144 ordered strict implementation of the Punjab Loud Speakers Act (Noise Control), 1956. Any person violating it will be punished. He has also imposed a strict ban on the use of pressure horns. The order will remain in force till July 21.

RESENTMENT: Resentment prevails among the dhabha and restaurant owners functioning on the GT Road between Sujanpur and Madhopur against the District Magistrate’s orders to close their establishments latest by 11 p.m. Mr R.S. Puri, General Secretary, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, speaking on their behalf on Saturday said the dhabha and restaurant owners had only seasonal business when pilgrimages to Vaisho Devi take place and pilgrims keep travelling throughout the night.

ARRESTED: The police on Saturday arrested Sukhjit Kumar for stealing a Maruti car from Shahpur chowk, Pathankot, on May 24 while his accomplice and brother Kamaljit is still at large. According to Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, the stolen car whose number was changed by the accused had been recovered by a naka party from Simble chowk, Pathankot.

HOSHIARPUR
ELECTED: At the annual meeting of the local Municipal Octroi Employees Union, on Thursday, Mr Mukhi Ram was elected president of the union. He has been authorised to nominate the office-bearers of the union and constitute the executive body.

KAPURTHALA
BILLS: The district Telecom Department has agreed to accept cheques instead of drafts from STD-PCO owners in the district for the payment of their bills. The decision was taken at a meeting of STD-PCO owners’ representatives with Mr C.R.Kataria , General Manager, held on Thursday.

ARRESTED: The district police on Thursday rounded up more than 200 workers belonging to the CPI, the CPM, the CPI(ML) and kisan unions to thwart their bid to jam vehicular traffic in the district. Prominent among those arrested included Mr Niranjan Singh, Mr Lubhaya Singh, Mr Chanan Lal Shalapuri and Mr Dalbir Singh. The workers were let off in the evening.

PATIALA
PROMOTED: The Punjab Government has promoted and transferred five treasury officers of the state to district treasury office. They are Mr Hans Raj, Mr Jagdeesh Raj, Mr Janak Raj, Mr Jaswant Singh and Tarlochan Singh.

PHAGWARA
TRAFFIC BLOCKED: Activists of the General Category Welfare Federation, Punjab, on Friday blocked traffic, held a demonstration and a ‘chetna’ rally against caste-based reservations as these caused communal hatred and social divide. The protesters demanded exclusion of the “creamy layer” from reservations as per the Supreme Court ruling, reservation according to economic conditions, recruitment and promotion in jobs on the basis of merit and the constitution of the national commission for safeguarding the interests of the general category citizens.

SANGRUR
SPEED POST: Mr Anirudh Tiwari, Deputy Commissioner, on Friday inaugurated the Speed Post Service at the General Post Office here. Speaking on the occasion, the Superintendent of Post Offices, Sangrur division, Mr K.K. Gumber, said the service would be available to the public for 97 international speed post centres, 100 national centres and 23 centres in the state.

TARN TARAN
SEMINAR: The local Trade Union Council organised a seminar here on Thursday on “Scientific Socialism in the Modern World”. Prof Sewa Singh, Head, Bhagat Kabir Chair Guru Nanak Dev University, who delivered the main address stressed that Marxism was still the best ideology in the world to bring equality in the world and better living conditions for the working class.

CHANDIGARH

WINNERS: Divya won a paper reading contest, organised by Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 33, to mark the World Environment Day here on Saturday. In the junior category, the second and third places went to Harpreet Kaur and Rupinder Kaur, respectively. In the seniors group, the first place was bagged by Palwinder. Ira and Jaitika were second and third, respectively.

DEMANDED: Mr Sat Pal, president of the Janata Rehri Market, Mani Majra, in a representation to the Adviser to the Administrator on Thursday, demanded pucca booths for the shopkeepers of the market, whose shops were gutted in a fire on April 19. He also demanded the shifting of the Office of the Births and Deaths Registration to Mani Majra.

PROCESSION: A Nagar Kirtan procession will be taken out here on June 3 in connection with the martyrdom day of Sri Guru Arjun Dev. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Nagar Kirtan Tal Mel Committee held under the chairmanship of Maj N.S. Rangi (retd). The procession will start from the Sector 7 gurdwara at 2 p.m. and move through Sectors 7,8,18,19,20,21,22,23,36,37,38,40 and 41 before terminating at the Sector 40 Gurdwara at about 8 p.m.

ADVISORY PANEL: Prof Gopal Krishan, a senior professor in the Department of Geography, Panjab University, has been selected as one of the members of the advisory committee on the research survey programme of the Indian Council of Social Science Research, according to a press release.

SAS NAGAR
VACANT POSTS: As many as 838 vacancies in different industries at SAS Nagar, Ropar, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, and Jalandhar have been found in a joint survey conducted by the Department of Technical Education and Industrial Training, Punjab and the Industrial Training Institute (ITI). A spokesman of the Department of Technical Education said the survey was launched as part of a special recruitment drive by a placement cell of the department.

VOTER LIST: Inhabitants of Phase X on Friday met officials of the State Election Commission, Punjab, seeking verification of the revised voter list of ward no. 23 released recently by the Administrator of the SAS Nagar Municipal Council.

HARYANA

AMBALA
TWO KILLED: Two persons were killed and six others injured in two separate road accidents in the district on Saturday. Truck driver Pawan Kumar was killed on the spot when his vehicle collided with another truck near Patherheri village in Naraingarh subdivision. Six others travelling in two trucks were injured. They were identified as Ram Lal, Rai Singh, Gulab Singh, Mohinder Singh, Karan Singh and Karam Chand. In another road accident, one Laxmi Chand (60), a resident of Nasimbali village, was hit by an unidentified vehicle while crossing road. He was rushed to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

PLAY STAGED: The Yavanika Theatre Group of Chandigarh staged the play “Comedy of terrors” at Rukmani Devi Memorial Hall, Ambala Cantonment.

The aim of the play was to awaken the public against the evil of terrorism in the country. Rasima Nayyar, Gorkhi, Manisha Sharma, Sulakshna,Vameeta, Raj Sharma, Anurag, Rajesh Rathore, Sunil Chitkara, Anoop Sharma and Sanjeev Gupta took part in the play.

PANIPAT
LEFT OUT: From the fresh survey conducted by the administration about families living below the poverty line, some of those in Shakti Nagar, Hari Nagar, Kuldeep Nagar, Gopal Colony and Arjun Nagar are reported to have been left out. Local Congress MLA Balbir Pal Shah was approached by a delegation of residents of aforementioned colonies explaining that the colonies had neither been included in municipal area nor in the jurisdiction of gram panchayat, Bichpuri village.

INSPECTED: The new DRM (Delhi Division) Vinod Sharma , inspected Panipat railway station on Friday. Mr Sharma listened to the grievances of commuters. He directed the station superintendent to initiate action for a booking counter at the proposed second entry gate towards Model Town.

INDEFINITE STRIKE: Safai karamcharis of the local Municipal Council have gone on an indefinite strike in support of their demands which include the payment of three months’ salary and deposit of 10 months’ provident fund in their accounts. Leaders of the union criticised the Chautala government for their exploitation by not paying their salaries for three months. The union unanimously resolved that until their demands were accepted, they would not return to work.

ROHTAK
LEGAL AID: A legal aid panel has been set up to provide legal service to poor undertrials and accused in various criminal cases in the district. According to Mr R.K. Sharma, Chief Judicial Magistrate and Secretary, District Legal Service Tribunal, the panel comprises seven advocates who have at least three to five years’ experience in handling criminal cases. He said the panel had been set up in accordance with the latest scheme to provide legal aid to poor undertrials.

SIRSA
ORDER: In a significant judgement, the District Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum ordered the Telecommunication Department to give a compensation of Rs 2,000 to STD and Rs 1,000 to non-STD consumers numbering 18, all residents of Rori in the district. These telephone subscribers had filed a complaint in July, 1998, with the forum of total breakdown of telephone facility. According to the information received on Friday, 18 subscribers in Rori in their complaint lodged with the forum had alleged that their telephones had not been working since June 5 and their complaints had not been attended to.

SONEPAT
CONDEMNED: Mr S.N. Solanki, Secretary of the district unit of the CPI (M) on Saturday strongly condemned the social boycott of the Dalits of Mahra village in Gohana subdivision by a section of landlords led by Mr Ram Singh, sarpanch of the village. In a press statement , Mr Solanki said if any one opposed the social boycott, he was fined Rs 500. The Dalits could not purchase the milk and other food items from the shops in the village. Similarly, they could not go to the fields for work. Mr Solanki warned the administration that the situation might take an ugly turn.

LOK ADALAT: The district Lok Adalat will now meet daily in the judicial complex here to dispose of the long-pending cases. This was announced by Mr S.K. Sardana, District and Sessions Judge, at the first meeting of the District Legal Services Authority ( DLSA) here on Friday. Mr Sudhir Rajpal, Deputy Commissioner, and Mr K.P. Singh, SSP, were among those who attended the meeting. Mr Sardana asked the judicial officials to take immediate steps to dispose of the cases.

HELD: With the arrest of three persons, the CIA staff claim to have solved a number of robbery cases committed in Sonepat and other neighbouring districts. SSP K.P. Singh told mediapersons here on Friday that the arrested had been identified as Jatinder, alias Kalan, Jabbar Singh, alias Kala, and Sanjay, all residents of Bhainswal village in the district. The police, he said, had also recovered Rs 1,600, a pistol and a cartridge from them.

ARRESTED: The Gohana police on Friday claimed to have solved the alleged murder of Zile Singh of Mundlana village and arrested Dinesh of Mundlana and Mohinder of Busana villages. This was stated by the SSP here.

POWER BREAKDOWN: Darkness prevailed in the old areas of the city, particularly Jatwara Mohalla, Ganj Bazar, Kumahran Gate, Ram Bazar, Mohalla Kalan and Mohalla Kot following a power breakdown on Friday. Residents said the breakdown occurred around 7.30 p.m. and the supply was restored around 10.45 p.m. They also alleged that the power breakdowns and low voltage had become a routine and the authorities concerned had failed to improve the power supply in these areas.

PROCESSION: Parents of deaf and dumb students of the Sharvan Viklang Kendra held a procession here on Friday in support of their demands. The procession was led by Mr Howa Singh, president of the district unit of the CITU, who submitted a memorandum to the wife of the Deputy Commissioner demanding the opening of matriculation classes in the kendra.

YAMUNANAGAR
DOWRY CASES: The Jagadhri police has registered two cases of harassment for dowry. Police sources said Lata Verma had lodged a complaint against her-in-laws for demanding dowry. She alleged that she had been tortured for bringing insufficient dowry. In another case, Saroj of Jagadhri also lodged a similar complaint against her in-laws for demanding dowry.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

SUNDERNAGAR
BLOOD DONATION: The Tilak Raj Memorial Trust, Karsog, held a blood donation camp at Karsog on Friday in which 201 persons donated blood. According to a source in the Medical Department the number of donors was the highest in this camp from within the state.