R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
SENATE MEMBERS: The Vice-Chancellor, Dr Harbhajan Singh Soch, has appointed Dr Bikram Singh Ghuman and Dr Jasbir Singh Sabar members of the Senate of Guru Nanak Dev University for a period of two years and the Syndicate for one year from July 1. Dr Ghuman is a senior professor in the School of Punjabi Studies, Dean Students’ Welfare and the Dean, Faculty of Languages. Dr Sabar is Professor and Head of the Department of Guru Nanak Studies of the university.

EXHIBITION: The Kes Sambhal Parchar Sanstha organised a heritage exhibition at the art gallery here on Tuesday. The secretary of the sanstha, Mr Jasbir Singh, in a press note issued here on Wednesday said over 100 schoolchildren participated in the exhibition of paintings and photographs. A kavi darbar and a play was also organised on the occasion. A Rajya Sabha member, Mr Raj Mohinder Singh Majitha, was the chief guest and distributed prizes among students.

BARNALA
RAILWAY STATION: Residents here are sore over the lack of facilities at the Barnala railway station. Dr Sandeep Gupta, president of the local Lions Club (Harmony) said here on Wednesday that the station had not public call office and book or newspaper stall.

BATHINDA
DEFECTION: Mr Surjeet Singh, sarpanch of Duon village and vice-president of the local unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party, has joined the Shiromani Akali Dal (B) along with four other members. In a press note issued here on Wednesday, he said Mr Karnail Singh, Mr Balbir Singh, Mr Mohinder Singh and Mr Gurjant Singh of the BSP had also joined the SAD (B).

NOMINATE: Mr Gurudas Girdhar, PPCC member, has been nominated member of the Telecom Advisory Committee for Punjab. This was stated in a letter to Mr Girdhar by Mr R.N. Sharma, Chief General manager, Punjab Telecom Circle.

FARIDKOT
TB HELPLINE: The TB helpline, Faridkot, distributed medicines free of cost to TB patients here on Wednesday. The process would continue till the patients get well. Mrs Jagdish Kaur Dhillon, an ex-MLA, who distributed the medicines, enlisted herself as a permanent member of the body. Mr Kumar Surinder, a social worker from Ludhiana, donated Rs 11,000 on the occasion.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
GAS CONNECTIONS: Gas agencies would give connections to rural people falling within the 30-km area of the agencies. This was disclosed by Mr B.S. Sudan, Deputy Commissioner, Fatehgarh Sahib to mediapersons. He said income tax payers would not get sugar and kerosene on ration cards now. He said 15 samples of essential commodities were collected last month and had been sent to a laboratory in Bathinda for testing.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the District Roller Skating Association: president — Mr Surjeet Singh; vice- presidents — Mr Sher Singh, Mr Karamjit Singh and Mr Bahadur Singh; general secretary — Mr Harish Kumar Duppar; and treasurer — Mr Jaswinder Singh Pappi.

GURDASPUR
INSTALLED: The following were installed office-bearers of the local Rotary Club at a meeting held on Wednesday: president — Dr A.N. Kaushal; vice-president — Mr Subhash Kohli; secretary — Mr Sandeep Walia; joint secretary — Mr Sanjeev Malhotra.

ARYA SABHA: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Gurdaspur: president — Mr Satpal Nanda; vice-presidents — Mr Amarnath Kohli and Prof R.K.Narad; secretary — Mr Gurbachan Lal; joint secretary — Dr Lokesh Gupta; and treasurer — Mr Rajinder Trehan.

KHANNA
OCTROI: The auction for private collection of octroi of the Khanna Municipal Council has been suspended due to strong opposition from traders here on Wednesday. On a call given by the local Beopar Mandal, hundreds of local businessmen gathered at the premises of the municipal council and raised slogans against the Punjab Government and the council. Later, they organised a rally in the town hall of the council.

PHILLAUR
YOUTH MURDERED: Two youths allegedly murdered Ranjit Singh (19) in a field near Kajla village, near Banga, on Tuesday. The police said a sharp-edged weapon was used in the crime. Old rivalry is said to be the cause of the murder. The miscreants sped away on a scooter after committing the crime.

LOCAL CALLS: The Telecommunications Department has made all calls made within a radius of 50 km local with effect from Tuesday. Giving this information, a department official said here on Tuesday that now local subscribers would be able to connect with Ludhiana, Nakodar, Jalandhar, Nawanshahr and Phagwara, and subscribers of Phagwara with Ludhiana, Nakodar, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Una in Himachal Pradesh at local charges.

SAMANA
POPPY SEIZED: The local police has arrested three persons and seized 26 bags of poppy husk from them. In a press note issued here on Thursday, Mr Ashwani Kumar, DSP, said Lakha Singh, Bakha Singh and Dalel Singh were arrested by a police party led by the SHO, Sadar police station, Mr Manjeet Singh Brar. The suspects had brought the poppy husk from Rajasthan. A case has been registered under Section 15 of the NDPS Act.

CHANDIGARH

RESULTS: The results of MA Part-II in music (tabla), held by Panjab University, were declared on Wednesday. Results of B.Com. III year (Honours), Honours in Punjabi (Gyani) and BA final year were declared on Thursday. Results of MA music (vocal) will be declared on Friday. Copies of the result gazette are available at the enquiry counter of Panjab University and the enquiries pertaining to the result can be made at telephone numbers 534818 and 784869. 

STRIKE: The District Chemists Association of Panchkula will observe a token strike on Saturday. According to the President of the association, Mr B.B. Singal, the strike is in protest against the new process to file sales tax returns. The association has protested against the implementation of the new forms — Sales Tax 12/12A and 38 — to carry on the trade. According to Mr Singal, these new impositions are an unnecessary burden on trade and these also complicate the process of smooth business.  

KHARAR
BOOKED: The local police on Thursday registered a case under Sections 498-A and 34 of the IPC against the husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law and brother-in-law of Ms Inderjit Bhagat on the charge of harassing her and demanding more dowry. According to the FIR, the woman was married to Manoj Kumar and her father gave dowry according to his capacity. She alleged that after some time, the accused started harassing her and started demanding a car in dowry. She alleged that on July 14, the accused made an attempt to burn her alive by sprinkling kerosene on her, but she escaped. The police has started investigations.  

SIX NABBED: The local police on Thursday arrested two thieves, three persons with 10 boxes of liquor and one person with opium husk. Mr Rupinder Singh, DSP Kharar, said the police had arrested two persons of Rajpura — Rahul and Rakesh Kumar — who admitted that they had committed thefts in Badala Road and Bhagat Ghat area in Kharar. He said the police had arrested three persons — Arvind Kumar, Paramjit Singh and Harkesh Kumar — who were carrying 10 boxes of foreign-made Indian liquor in a car (PUR 2483). He added that Baljit Singh was arrested following the seizure of 10 kg poppy husk from his possession. The police has registered cases against all of them.  

OCTROI: The contract for collection of octroi for the year starting August 1 was given for Rs 1,21,10,000 in a public auction by the local municipal committee on Thursday. Dr Karamjit Singh Sra, Deputy Director, Local Self Government, supervised the auction, Mr Ranbir Singh, President, and Mr Gian Chand Gupta, Executive Officer of the committee, were present. Mr Gupta said 22 parties participated in the auction and the reserve price was Rs 1,21,00,000. He said the contractor would also have to pay about Rs 50,000 per month for the salaries of employees and other charges. He added that this amount was 15 per cent more than the contract amount last year.  

HARYANA

FARIDABAD
WIRE CUTTERS: The police has arrested six members of a gang of electric wire cutters active in the Ballabhagarh area for the past several months. A police spokesman said on Wednesday that those arrested were Sunil, Munir, Sanjay, Mustafa (all hailing from West Bengal), Idris of Hodal and Akhtar Husain of Punhana. The gang leader, Khalil Ahmed, is still at large. They used to move in a Maruti van and cut wires at night and sell them in the market.

HISAR
LETHAL BEATING: Prithvi Singh (40), who was severely beaten up by his two brothers in Kirori village, died at the Civil Hospital on Wednesday. According to information received here on Thursday, Prithvi Singh was taken to a room where he was beaten up with lathis by his brothers over some family dispute.

MINOR RAPED: A 12-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a youth in Matloda village under the Barwala police station in the district, the police said on Thursday. A case under Sections 376 and 506 of the IPC has been registered against Kitab Singh, alias Bilia of Kharak Punia village on a complaint of Mr Arjun Singh, father of the girl. The girl was raped when she had gone to a field to get grass along with her friend.

ROHTAK
DEVELOPMENT WORKS: An amount of Rs 2 crore will be spent on development works in the district during the current financial year under the Sunishchit Rojgar Yojna. Mr Dharampal Makrauli, newly elected Chairman of the Zila Parishad, disclosed this after a meeting of the parishad on Wednesday. He said a committee comprising members of the parishad would be constituted to check the probable irregularities in matters of investment on development works.

34 CASES SOLVED: The district police has solved 34 cases of crime relating to loot, theft and snatching in June this year. According to the SSP, Mr P.K. Agarwal, booty worth Rs 12.34 lakh was recovered in these cases. He said the solved cases included 19 incidents of theft and 13 cases of snatching.

SIRSA
CM FLAYED: ‘‘The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, is misusing his powers and implicating his opponents in false cases’’, said an ex-minister and senior Congress leader, Mr Jagdish Nehra, here on Thursday. He said the police instead of providing security to the people, was working on the diktats of the INLD. Mr Nehra alleged that the Chautala government had failed to fulfil its promises made to the people of providing uninterrupted water and power.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
PANCHAYATS: Wards of 122 panchayats of the total 130 in the district have been notified while the remaining wards of eight panchayats would be notified as soon as the sanction is received from the government. This was stated here on Wednesday by the District Magistrate-cum-Deputy Commissioner, Mr Jagdish Chander Sharma.

EXAMINATION CENTRE: Government High School Bandia located on the Bandia hill in Bilaspur has been allocated as a centre for class VIII examination and now students of nearby villages won’t have to travel long distances to appear in the examination. This was stated here on Wednesday by the Health and Family Welfare Minister, Mr Jagat Prakash Nadda.

MANALI
INAUGURATED: The Minister of State for Primary Education, Mr Karan Singh, inaugurated the building of Government High School Jagat Sukh, 7 km from here, on Wednesday. The building was constructed at a cost of Rs 5.50 lakh. Addressing a gathering, he said the government under the leadership of the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, had given a new and progressive direction to education in the state.

NURPUR
YOUTH KILLED: Rajesh Kumar (17) of Kandrori was seriously injured when his motor-cycle hit a stationary truck on the GT Road, Jassur, near here, on Wednesday and later succumbed to his injuries at the local Civil Hospital. Meanwhile, wrong parking of heavy vehicles in the makeshift workshops on the GT Road, has created traffic bottlenecks on the national highway. The administration and the police has allegedly failed to take any action in this connection.