R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

BATHINDA
WORKSHOP: A total personality development workshop was organised by the Voluntary Organisation Forum and NITT here on Thursday. Mr Ajit Ghosh, motivational training consultant, spoke on the occasion.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
ANNUAL FUNCTION: The annual prize distribution function of Mata Gujri Institute of Management and Higher Education was held here on Thursday. Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, former SGPC chief, presided.

HOSHIARPUR
COMMUTERS' PLEA: Railway passengers of Hoshiarpur have urged the Northern Railway Authorities to link the computer service at Hoshiarpur railway station through microwaves. In a press note issued here on Friday Mr Kuldip Nanda, general secretary of the Hoshiarpur District Congress said that passengers had to wait for hours for reservations due to intermittent power cuts.

JALANDHAR
CONDEMNED: The Sarb Dharam Sadbhavana Committee, Hoshiarpur, has condemned the recent attacks on the Christian community. In a press note issued here on Thursday, Mr Ujagar Singh Lavia and Mr Anurag Sood, conveners of the committee, said the incidents were shameful and should be condemned.

MOGA
SHOPS GUTTED: Goods worth lakhs of rupees in eight shops ( all wooden stalls) in the new grain market were reduced to ashes in a fire which broke out on Thursday night, according to reports. Fire brigades from Moga, Kotkapura, Ferozepore and other stations battled for several hours to extinguish fire. A short circuit is believed to have caused the fire, Magistrate (Revenue), Ajay Sood told mediapersons. He assured financial assistance to the affected shopkeepers after loss assessment.

MALERKOTLA
TRANSFERRED: Mr K.K. Gumber, Superintendent, Post Office, Sangrur division, was transferred to Ludhiana as Superintendent, Railway Mail Service. Mr B.D. Garg has taken over the charge from him.

PHAGWARA
ARRESTED: The Phagwara police has arrested three proclaimed offenders wanted in several cases. A press note issued by local DSP Satinder Singh on Thursday identified them as Sodhi Ram of village Chak Hakim, Gurnam Singh of village Sunra Rajputan and Tejindar Singh of Khalwara Gate.

GANG BUSTED: The police here has busted a gang of vehicles thieves and recovered from them four stolen scooters and a tractor-trailer. This was stated by the DSP, Mr Satinder Singh, in a press note on Thursday.

PHILLAUR
NOMINATED: The Punjab BJP President, Prof Brij Lal Rinwa, has nominated 10 more members of the party and released the second list of 10 executive members of the state unit of the BJP. He stated this here on Thursday.

TARN TARAN
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Naushehra Pannuan unit of the Punjab subordinate Services Federation: president — Mr Onkar Singh; vice-presidents — Mr Sawinder Singh and Mr Daljit Singh; secretary — Mr Pardeep Singh; and treasurer — Mr Rajinder Pal Singh.

ELECTROCUTED: ASI Tarlochan Singh (30) was electrocuted on Thursday when he touched an electric wire of his cooler in the Police Lines. He died on the spot. The police has lodged an FIR under Section 174.

PROBE DEMANDED :The telephone subscribers association has demanded a high-level probe into the alleged use of substandard cables by the Telecom Department due to which the telephone service here remain disrupted. It alleged that hundreds of telephones were out of order and complaints were not attended promptly.

CHANDIGARH

RED CROSS TAKES INITIATIVE: UT Red Cross has taken the initiative of providing employment opportunities to the handicapped persons by engaging them on tea/coffee automatic vending machines. The first tea/coffee automatic vending machine was made operational by a handicapped person in the office of the Licencing and Registering Authority, MC building. Besides this, two handicapped persons have been given employment by installing photostat machines, one at the MC building (Licensing branch) and the other in the additional town hall building, which will be operational shortly. A handicapped person operating the tea/coffee automatic vending machine.

HARYANA

AMBALA
COMMUNITY CENTRE: A multi-purpose community centre at RHA Bazaar, Ambala Cantonment, will be inaugurated on July 15 by a senior Army officer and the MP, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, according to the Cantonment Executive Officer, Mr S.S. Chahal, here on Friday.

AWARD FOR PRINCIPAL: The Principal of SD College (Lahore), Ambala Cantonment, Dr Desh Bandhu, has been nominated by the International Board of Research of American Biographical Institute for the honour of “Man of the Year-2000”. This honour is being given because of his meritorious services to the cause of education, a release said. Earlier, he has been awarded Rashtriya Samman Puraskar, National Educational Excellence Award and Vikas Rattan Award by various national and international organisations.

TRAVEL AGENT HELD: Ambala city BJP unit secretary Jagtar Singh Arora, running a travel agency here, was arrested and remanded in judicial custody by a court on Thursday. His arrest came in the wake of a case registered against with last year for forgery and cheating his clients for passports and sending them abroad. Police Sub-Inspector Gurbachan Singh, appointed to investigate into the allegations, had found that Arora used to affix fake photos of other persons in place of the original ones and pass on the passport to duplicate persons and cheat them with big amounts, following inquiry, he was arrested and was produced in the court from where he was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.

SONEPAT
TWO SHOT: Shopkeepers observed a day’s strike at Kharkhauda town, 19 km from here on Thursday in protest against the shooting down of Munish(16) allegedly by his friend Devinder, alias Sonu. According to the police, the suspect called the victim to his house and allegedly shot him dead. The Kharkhauda police has registered a case and arrested Devinder on a charge of murder. According to another report, Narinder was shot dead allegedly by Jarsa at Rampur Kundal village, about 25 km from here, on Thursday. The suspect managed to escape. Old enmity is stated to be the cause of the murder.

KILLED : Partap Singh , a 20- year-old labourer, was killed on the spot when an electricity pole fell on him on Thursday. According to the police, the victim belonged to Kheri Gujjar village.

DHARNA : Residents of Shanti Nagar Colony sat on a dharna in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s residence here on Thursday to protest against the demolition of their houses by the officials of the demolishing squad. They also submitted a memorandum to the DC and demanded the stoppage of the demolition work.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
SENTENCED: Mr B.S. Chauhan, District and Sessions Judge, here has sentenced Sanjay Kumar and Mansharam, both of Sunhani village, to life imprisonment for having murdered a shopkeeper, Leeladutt of Sunhani on September 5, last year. The judge also fined them Rs 2,000 each.

INAUGURATION: The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, will inaugurate the Rs 11 crore Ali Khud bridge on a tributary of the Setluj here on July 3.

HAMIRPUR
WEBSITE ON ENVIRONMENT: A local social workers and poet, Mr Rattan Lal Verma, has created a website SOS.com to make the people aware about the environment. He said various types of information relating to the environment had been given on the website.

KANGRA
BODY FOUND: The police has recovered the body of a 33-year-old man from the Banner khud at old Kangra town near here on Thursday. According to the police, the body was found by a passerby. It has been sent for a post-mortem examination.

NAHAN
ROADS' CONSTRUCTION: The Vice-Chairperson of the State Planning Board, Ms Shyama Sharma, has said Rs 37 lakh are being spent on the construction of various roads coming under Saindhar area of Nahan constituency. He was addressing a gathering at Bechar Ka Bagh, Sirmaur District, on Thursday.

SMUGGLED LOGS SEIZED: A team of forest officials while carrying out routine patrolling apprehended a tractor-trailer near Taruwala which was illegally transporting khair and sheesham logs along with some fuel wood without any permit. The trees were allegedly cut from some private lands near the Sirmauri Tal. A case has been registered under the Indian Forest Act.

SHIMLA
SENTENCED: The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr J.C. Sood, on Thursday sentenced Kewal Krishan, a trader, to one-year imprisonment and fined him Rs 2,000 for adulteration in pulses.