R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
ROBBERY BID: An attempt to rob the house of Dr Kulbir Singh Kang was thwarted when the occupants woke up while the thieves were trying to break into his Azad Nagar residence. Meanwhile, several cases of thefts and crimes have been reported from the Sultan Wind road area, according to the police.

WRITERS’ CONFERENCE: Dr Jasbir Singh, professor and head of the Guru Nanak Studies Department, Guru Nanak Dev University, has been invited to the second World Dalit Writers’ Conference, 2000, being organised by the Bharatiya Dalit Sahitya Akademi, UK, in the precincts of Aston University, Birmingham (UK), from July 29 to August 1. He will present a research paper on “Treatment of Sikh Gurus in the context of Dalit consciousness.”

BARNALA
VOTERS’ I-CARDS: The process of making voters’ identity cards will begin here on July 24 and continue uptil August 8. This information was given here on Thursday by Mr Rahul Bhandari, Sub-Divisional Magistrate in a press note issued by the local Public Relations Department.

BATHINDA
ELECTED: The following have been elected the office-bearers of the Council of Junior Engineer’s (GNDTP unit) of the city: president — Mr Amrik Singh; senior vice-president — Mr Dev Raj Sharma; vice-president — Mr Nachhattar Singh; general secretary — Mr Kikkar Singh; joint secretary — Mr Shinder Pal Sharma; and finance secretary — Mr Surinder Kumar Munjal. This was stated in a press note issued here on Friday.

CERTIFICATE AWARDED: The Bathinda unit of the National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) has been awarded the Certificate of Merit in the fertilizer industry nitrogenous sector category for the year 1997-98 by the National Productivity Council. In a press note issued here on Friday, Mr S.R. Garg, senior executive secretary (PR), NFL, Bathinda, said their unit had produced 3,21,888 MT of ammonia and 5,67,367 MT of urea in the period of 1997-98.

PROGRAMME FOR BLINDS: The Divine Eye Research Foundation (DERF) has launched a programme in which blind persons would be identified so that the cornea of donors could be transplanted after the latter’s death. This was stated in a press note issued here on Friday by Mr Rajesh Kumar Narula, president, DERF.

PHILATELIC ACCOUNTS: Four philatelic deposit accounts have been opened in the city to promote philately in the surrounding areas by the Bathinda Philatelic Club. Mr J.P. Kalia, superintendent (post offices), Bathinda division, said the Postmaster, Bathinda, had also been directed to open more such accounts to promote philately.

FAZILKA
BURNT TO DEATH: Seema Rani (30) of Karni Khera village, 5 km from here, sustained burns while preparing tea on Thursday morning. She was rushed to local Civil Hospital where she died in the evening. Her husband, Mr Krishan Kumar, also got burns.

SUICIDE: Sushil Kumar (45) of Jain street here allegedly committed suicide on Thursday night by consuming poison. His wife told the police that he was getting psychiatric treatment from Amritsar and Abohar for the past five years.

MALERKOTLA
RAPIST HELD: The police has arrested Bhola Singh of Lassoi village for raping a minor girl of the same village. According to DSP Surinder Singh Saini, Bhola Singh committed the crime on July 10. An FIR under Sections 376, 342, 506, 511 of the IPC was registered against the accused on July 15.

PHILLAUR
DHUSSI BUNDH INSPECTED: The Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar, Mr Shiv Parshad, along with the SDM, Phillaur, Mr Prem Chand, and Drainage department officials inspected Dhussi bundh from Lasarra point on Thursday.

ROPAR
REVENUE COLLECTION: There has been a 70 per cent increase in the revenue generated from the stamp duties and registration fees in the district during the first two quarters of this year vis-a-vis revenue collected in the same time period in 1999, according to the Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, Mr G.S. Grewal.

PENSION SCHEMES: The beneficiaries of pension under various social schemes of the Punjab Government will now be paid monthly. Giving this information, the Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, Mr G.S. Grewal, said 38,813 persons, including 29,421 old-age pensioners, 4,998 widows, 1,947 poor children and 2,447 disabled persons, were being given benefits under various social welfare schemes.

GANG BUSTED: The district police has claimed to have busted a gang of thieves responsible for a number of thefts in various parts of the State. The SSP, Ropar, Mr G.P.S. Bhullar, said at a press conference that three Maruti-800 cars, a Tata Sierra, a scooter and jewellery worth Rs 80,000 had been recovered from the thieves arrested at Mohali. Eight stolen vehicles, including a truck, a jeep, a Maruti car, three scooters and a motor cycle had been recovered from the members of a gang arrested by the SHO, Ropar Sadar, the SSP said. About 3.5 kg of opium and 45 kg of poppy husk had been seized by officials of nangal and Ropar Sadar police station, he added.

SAMRALA
NEW SDM: Mr Sanjeev Hans on Thursday took over as SDM in place of Mr Arun Sekhri. The post of SDM had been lying vacant for the past more than two months. 

CHANDIGARH

IDOL INSTALLATION: The Sri Sanatan Dharm Mandir Sabha, Milk Colony, Dhanas, will organise a week-long religious function from July 23, in connection with the installation of idols of Baba Balak Nath and Sri Bharthari on the temple premises on July 30, according to a press note. The programmes include shobha yatra on July 23, jal yatra on July 26, pujan, discourse and kirtan from July 26 to 30 and idols installation on July 30. — TNS 

HARYANA

AMBALA
AIHSS CHIEF ON FAST: The president of the All-India Hindu Suraksha Samiti, Mr Sanjeev Bhardwaj, announced on Friday to sit on indefinite fast before the Registration Office at Jammu from July 23 to protest against the indifferent attitude of the Jammu and Kashmir Government towards the pilgrims of Amarnath shrine. Talking to mediapersons, Mr Bhardwaj alleged that the government had not been providing proper facilities to the pilgrims visiting Amarnath. He added that the government had not providing proper security to the refugee camps there. He demanded the arrest of Mr Abdulla Bukhari, Imam of Jama Masjid, who declared himself the agent of the ISI a few months back. He added that a case of treason should be registered against him. The samiti would oppose the arrest of the Shiv Sena chief, Mr Bal Thackeray, he added. He alleged that extremism had again been picking up in Punjab due to the weakness of the government. He criticised the VHP and RSS for working in the interest of the BJP and having nothing to do with the Hindus. 

STRIKE: The strike call given by the Haryana Chemists Association was successful, claimed its state president, Mr R.K. Khera, on Friday. All chemist shops in Ambala City and cantonment remained closed and chemists took out a procession in Ambala City, led by its local president, Mr Keshav Saini. One shop each at Ambala Cantonment and Ambala City were allowed to open to meet the emergency demand of patients. Talking to mediapersons, Mr Khera said the strike call given by the association was to protest against the imposition of professional tax on chemists and the imposition of ST-38, ST-12 and ST-12A. He said if the government did not withdraw the professional tax immediately, the association would support the Haryana bandh call given by the Haryana Beopar Mandal. He added that in spite of it, if the government did not accept their demands, the chemists would go on a state-wide indefinite strike. 

FLOOD WATER RECEDES: Flood water which had entered around three dozen villages in Ambala district, started declining on Friday. The water level in SYL Canal and Narwana Branch Canal also came down, which has flooded around 70 villages a few days back. Officials sources said the water in the SYL Canal was flowing at the level of 12 feet, which was below the danger level. The acting Deputy Commissioner of Ambala, Mr Mohinder Kumar, said around half a dozen villages, including Khera Nandiyali, Ismailpur, Saini Majra and Khrujanpur, were still flooded with rainy water, while normalcy returned in other affected villages. He said the recent flood had affected around 10,000 acres of paddy crops in the district. The Naggal was the most effected areas in district. He said an official survey would be conducted to assess the loss caused by the rain. Some kutcha houses had also been damaged in the flood. 

JIND
BANDH CALL: The Haryana pradesh Beopar Mandal, led by mr Bajrang Dass Garg, and the Haryana Beopar Mandal, led by Mr Lakshmi Chand Gupta, at a joint meeting held here on Thursday, gave a call for state-wide bandh on August 9 to protest against the introduction of Sales Tax form 38 and imposition of taxes on the trading community. A proposal was initiated to merge both Beopar Mandals to strengthen the organisation or traders. A twelve-member committee has been set up.

KURUKSHETRA
ETO HELD: An Excise and Taxation officer posted at Kurukshetra, was caught taking a bribe of Rs 2,000 from a businessman during a raid by officials of the Vigilance Department on Thursday.

SONEPAT
RESENTMENT: Resentment prevails among residents of Rolad Latifpur against the non-supply of electricity to the village for the past three months. They alleged that the officials of the UHBVN were indifferent to their complaints. They threatened to gherao the officials if the power supply was not restored to the village immediately.

KILLED: A girl was killed on the spot and her father, Krishan Kumar, was seriously injured when they fell from a tractor at Murthal village, 8 km from here, on Thursday.

STRIKE: Chemists in the city and other parts of the district observed a strike on Friday in protest against the introduction of new sales tax forms and the unwarranted imposition of professional trade tax by the state government. Members of the District Chemists and Druggists Association held a demonstration and submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner demanding the immediate withdrawal of the government decision in this regard.

DEMONSTRATION: A large number of women belonging to the Garhi Ghasita and Gopal Nagar areas held the “matka phor” demonstration in front of the office of the Public Health Department here on Thursday to register their protest against the non-supply of drinking water to their areas. They raised slogans against the authorities and warned to gherao the officials if the supply of drinking water was not restored.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

HAMIRPUR
KHARIF PLAN: The Department of Agriculture has finalised a plan for the ensuing kharif season under which an area of 37,050 hectares would be brought under cultivation of maize. The department proposes to produce 75,000 metric tonnes of maize during the season, according to Dr Hans Raj Sharma, Deputy Director of Agriculture, Hamirpur zone. He said an area of 3,410 hectares in the district would be brought under paddy cultivation with a production target of 5,070 metric tonnes.

KASAULI
BLUE FILM SEIZED: One person was caught on Wednesday night showing a blue film in his shop on the Subathu road at Dharampur, about 15 km from here. A case under Section 292 of the IPC has been registered while the accused has been let off on bail. A VCR, a CD player and a colour TV have been confiscated.