R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
SURRENDERED: Kuldip Neol, a resident of Khastwant village in the subdivision surrendered before the Sadar Police here on Wednesday. He was wanted for allegedly shooting down his wife Sushila (43) at their residence on Sunday. A case had been registered against him on the statement of his school-going daughter.

BATHINDA
CONSTITUTED: Mr N.S. Kalsi, Director, Technical Education, on Wednesday constituted the Institute Management Committee (IMC) in the local Industrial Training Institute (ITI). In a press note here, Mr Gurupdesh Singh, Principal, ITI, said that for the betterment of the institution, the IMC had been given all rights.

FARIDKOT
SERVICE LAUNCHED: The Central Government launched a speed post service at the Head Post Office here on Wednesday. Deputy Commissioner A. Venu Prasad inaugurated this facility. According to Mr S.B. Malhotra, Superintendent, Post Offices, Faridkot, the post booked though this service would take 24 to 72 hours to reach any place within the country and three to five days for places abroad. He said this facility had also been launched in 22 other stations of Punjab during this month.

FEROZEPORE
CONDEMNED: The district president of the Punjab State Karamchari Dal, Mr Balbir Singh Kamboj, has condemned the alleged “anti-employee” policy of the state government saying that the government was posing a threat to the existence of the Public Works Department (PWD). In a statement issued here on Wednesday Mr Kamboj said rural roads were being allotted to the Punjab Mandi Board, instead of the PWD.

BANNED: The District Magistrate, Mr Kulbir Singh Sidhu, in view of the ensuing elections to the nagar council, has ordered the closure of liquor-vends wine shops within the municipal limits of makhu between June 15 and 17. The elections are scheduled to be held on June 17. Carrying of any type of weapon has also been banned till June 20.

JALANDHAR
DRIVE: The anti-Goonda staff of the local police has achieved a major breakthrough in the drive against criminals with the arrest of Rajinder Kumar alias Dulla, a criminal wanted for murder. This was stated by the SSP, Mr Gaurav Yadav, here on Wednesday.

LUDHIANA
VENDS CLOSED: The District Magistrate, Mr S.K.Sandhu has ordered the closure of country and foreign liquor vends from June 15 to 17 within the municipal limits of Mullanpur Dakha, Machhiwara, Malaud, Sahnewal and Khanna in view of the nagar panchayat elections to be held in these towns on June 16.

MEETING HELD: A meeting of Lions District 321-F of region 11 was held in Hotel Neelgiri here on Thursday, which was attended by zone chairmen along with presidents and general secretaries of Lions Club. Region chairman Lion Yogendra Taneja introduced the participating office-bearers and apprised them of the programmes chalked out by district governor Lion N.K.Grover in the coming year. Zone chairman Lion Jatinder Pal Singh Saluja appealed to fellow Lion Club office-bearers to extend their full cooperation in implementation of the programmes given out by district governor as also to involve their own clubs in service projects. Zone chairmen Manmohan Sethi and K.S. Sohal also spoke at the occasion.

PENSIONERS' PLEA: The Punjab State Pensioners’ Confederation on Thursday lamented that a recent Punjab Government notification, while benefiting a large number of government pensioners, had hard hit some others, including family pensioners. The state president of the confederation, Mr B.R. Kaushal, said in a statement that under the revised formula, the provision regarding exercise of option had been withdrawn. Moreover, the provision to include special pay while calculating the revised pension had been omitted. Mr Kaushal urged the State Government that the pension rules be suitably revised to mitigate the grievances of those adversely affected by the new notification.

PPCC CELL: Captain Amarinder Singh, President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) has nominated Mr A.S.Chaunda, Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner (retd) of Khanna as Chairman of the Economic and Planning Cell of the PPCC, Ludhiana district.

RESIDENTS' PROTEST: Traffic on the G.T. Road, near Sabzi Mandi, here was held for more than half an hour by some local residents on Wednesday in protest against an assault on Satish Kumar (25), who had been admitted to Dayanand Medical College in a serious condition. He was attacked by a group of more than 20 persons allegedly because of some old enmity. The protesters demanded registration of a case by the police and early arrest of the culprits.

MOGA
MURDERED: A young farmer, a resident of Nathoka village under the Baghapurana police station in the district allegedly murdered his brother with sharp-edged weapon on Tuesday. The names of both the victim and the accused have not been ascertained. The police has registered a case and reportedly arrested the accused. Dispute over property is stated to be the cause behind the murder.

NAWANSHAHR
MURDER CASE: The Mukandpur police has solved the mystery surrounding the murder of a Dalit woman, Seeso, of Ratenda village, whose body was found buried in a field in the village on May 25. The police has registered a case under Section 302/404/201/34 of the IPC on the basis of a complaint lodged by Mr Nago Ram, a relative of Seeso, in which he had stated that the woman had gone to the fields on May 24, but did not return. The police has arrested five persons in this connection.

SANGRUR
LIQUOR SHOPS: The District Magistrate has ordered the closure of liquor shops and declared dry days from June 15 to June 17 in the municipal limits of Dirba, Cheema, Handhiaya, Khanauri and Moonak villages where elections to the nagar panchayats are to be held on June 17.

CHANDIGARH

OFFICE-BEARERS: Mr Amrik Singh has been elected President of the Sector 37-C, Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha. Other office-bearers are Vice-President — Mr Puran Singh; General Secretary — Mr Joginder Singh Chhabra; Organising Secretary — Mr Gurcharan Singh Mundra; and Cashier — Mr Karam Singh

DANCE CONTEST: A dance competition “CEN Dance Dhamaka” is being organised by Citi Entertainment Network for talented male/female dancers in the age group 5-20 on June 18 at Tagore Theatre. Those keen to participate may contact Citi Entertainment Network at telephone no. 745772.

APPOINTED: The Chandigarh Administration has appointed Dr Maninderjit Singh, Head of the Department of Anaesthesia, General Hospital, Sector 16, as the Local Health Authority of UT, Chandigarh, except Mani Majra.

PANCHKULA
MORE SUGAR: The ration-card holders of Panchkula district will get 500 gm of sugar per head instead of 400 gm during this month. The sugar will be distributed soon. A spokesman of the Food and Supplies Department said that out of 11 fair price shops checked so far, the supply of nine depots had been suspended and these had been issued show cause notices. A case had also been registered against one depot holder.

SAS NAGAR
PRIVATE SCHOOLS' BODY: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Mohali Private Schools Association: president — Mr H.S. Panser; vice-president — Mr Sanjeev Kumar; Treasurer — Mr H.K. Sood; Joint Secretary — Mr Iqbal Bhatia and General Secretary — Mr Veena Ratra.

HARYANA

AMBALA
BUS SERVICE SOUGHT: Railway personnel working at the DRM office, which is located on the outskirts on the GT road, have demanded that a bus service between the railway station and the DRM office be restored. A railway official said that the employees were facing a lot of problem for reaching office. “There was a regular bus service between the DRM office and the railway station. It was convenient for those employees who come by train from other stations. But the bus service was discontinued,” he said. However, the General Manager Roadways, Mr Beri, said that the bus service on that particular route was discontinued after a survey showed that very few people were utilising the service.

FATEHABAD
MEETING HELD: A meeting of district-level officers of various government departments was held here on Wednesday by the Deputy Commissioner to review the working of the local bodies, the progress of development projects and the law and order situation. He directed the officials to maintain a check on the quality of oil and provide uninterrupted water supply for both domestic and agricultural purposes.

FODDER SENT: The save cattle in Siwani, a subdivision of Haryana situated on the Rajasthan border and hit by drought, the district administration sent 1,500 quintals of fodder for that place in 47 trucks and tractors on Wednesday. The local INLD MLA, Mr Leela Krishan Chowdhary, showed the green flag to these vehicles near the new vegetable market.

GURGAON
ARRESTED: The police on Wednesday arrested a Subdivisional Officer (SDO) Mr S.K. Sharma, of the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN), for allegedly taking a bribe abetting power theft to an ice factory. According to district police chief Shatrujit Kapoor, the case was registered after a complaint against him was made by the authorities of the HVPN.

SONEPAT
CLASH: The Gohana police has arrested seven persons in connection with a clash between two groups of a family at Khandrai village on June 6. The SSP, Mr K.P. Singh said this here on Thursday. Five of the injured were undergoing treatment in the hospitals at Gohana and Rohtak. He also disclosed that two persons died in the clash.

SUICIDE: Having failed to marry each other, a youth and a girl of Mahra village consumed poison on Wednesday. According to a report, the two went to the Model Town Park in this city where they swallowed poison, as a result of which the girl died on the spot whereas the youth became unconscious. He was admitted to the hospital and his condition was stated to be out of danger.

THREAT: The Daily Railway Passengers Welfare Association on Thursday threatened that if the RMU rackes were not restored immediately to the 1 DPM and 4 DPM (EMU) trains on the Delhi-Panipat section of the Northern Railway, the commuters would be forced to block the track and resort to an agitation. In a press release, it pointed out that thousands of daily commuters had been facing great hardships due to the sudden change of the rackes.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

HAMIRPUR
INCIDENTS: Two suicides and a liquor smuggling case took place in Hamirpur district on Wednesday night. According to Mr N. Venugopal, district police chief the Nadaun police arrested one person and impounded a van in which he was carrying liquor without permit from Una to Nadaun via Dhaneta. Two of the occupants of the van escaped and the third was taken into custody. Wine was also recovered from the vehicle. In the second incident, a young girl Rinku from Badehra village, allegedly consumed poison and died at the hospital. Similarly, Rameshwara Chand of Naryan village also ended his life by hanging himself from a tree.

KANGRA
ARRESTED: The Kangra police has arrested a person for allegedly making an attempt on the life patwari and setting on fire his scooter on the Dharamshala-Hoshiarpur highway at Birta in Kangra on Wednesday. This was stated by district police chief K.C. Sadiyal.