R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

FARIDKOT
MAYOR’S VISIT: Ms Jagir Sekhon, Mayor, Greenwitch, (London), was honoured at a civic reception organised by the local nagar council on Thursday. She underlined the need for monitoring education, particularly of girls in rural areas, to build a strong nation.

HOSHIARPUR
LAUNCHED: The district police launched a Community Policing Scheme here on Friday. A seminar was organised in this connection at Police Lines in which prominent citizens, local leaders, religious heads and NGOs participated.

AWARENESS CAMP: A public awareness camp was organised in Hoshiarpur Forest Division here on Thursday of on the latest technique logging sawing, seasoning and wood preservation. Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner, inaugurated the camp.

BURNT: The jhuggies of Kamaleshwar Prashad, Bhavan Ram and Chanderesh Ram, located near Mahavir Spinning Mill, Phagwara road were reduced to ashes when a fire broke out here on Wednesday. Shiv Narain, one of the residents, was injured during the incident.

JALANDHAR
BOOK FAIR: A nine-day National Book Fair will be organised by the National Book Trust of India at Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall, here from October 14 to October 22. The fair will be inaugurated by Jnanpith award winner Gurdial Singh. Seventy publishers from Agra, Jaipur, Delhi, Pune, Faridabad, Rajasthan, Madhaya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Ahmedabad and Punjab will take part.

KAPURTHALA
ARRESTED: In an anti-illicit distillation drive in the district, two persons were arrested. In a press note issued here on Thursday, Mr Iqbal Singh, SSP, stated that two working stills, 32 kg lahan and 2,250 ml illicit liquor were seized from them in Toti and Latianwala villages during the raids. The arrested have been identified as Joga Singh and Sukhdev Singh.

ORDERS ISSUED: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr V.K. Singh, on Thursday, issued directions to executive officers of the municipal councils of the district, superintendent engineer, PSEB, and general manager, Telephone Department, Jalandhar, not to issue connections of water, sewerage, telephone and power to the premises constructed within 30 mradius on both sides of the scheduled roads in the rural areas and within 10 m radius on the roads within the municipal limits of the district.

KHANNA
SUNFLOWER: Farmers are no longer interested in cultivating sunflowers. It has been reported that the area under the sunflower cultivation has been reduced by more than 33 per cent this year. Last year, the area harvested for the sunflowers was more than 1,200 acres, whereas this year it is only 700 acres. The price of sunflower seed was Rs 900 to Rs 1,000 per quintal last year, while this year it was Rs 900 to Rs 1,050, a marginal increase. The farmers, who produced sunflower seed, had suffered a loss because the production of sunflower seed was reduced by 3 to 5 quintals per acre this year. Experts opined that if the trend continued there could be further reduction in the cultivation area. Earlier, a 20-kg bag of good quality seeds used to cost Rs 25 only. Today, the same quantity of seeds cost about Rs 500. Also the quality of the seeds had deteriorated. 

LUDHIANA
LAUNCHED: To prepare students for annual examination, a career test series has been launched at Baba Isher Singh (Nanaksar) Public School. The test is open to the students of classes IX, X, XI and XII of various schools and colleges on all Sundays till December 31. 

HONOUR: Mr Yogesh Diwan, state general secretary of the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front, has been selected for the Patra Shree award to be presented by the All-India (Press) Letter Writers Association (AILWA) for writing meaningful and thought provoking letters to editor for English newspapers. According to a communication received by Mr Diwan from the AILWA, 15 of his selected letters, which appeared in the newspapers, have been included in the book Pen Power (an encyclopedia of letters to editors), edited by Dr Leo Rebello, president of the AILWA and released in Mumbai recently by senior journalist M.V. Kamath. 

SQUASH: Varun Adya, an avid squash player, has recently won the squash championship in the sports carnival of the Sutlej Club. Youngest of all participants, Adya has won the title for the second year in succession. 

PHAGWARA
KILLED: Two migrant workers from Bihar were killed while two others sustained injuries when their cycles were hit by a Tata Sumo near Bhullarai village on the Phagwara-Hoshiarpur road here on Wednesday.

SAMRALA
HURT: Two cops were injured when a truck hit them near Ottalan village, 2 km from here, on Wednesday. According to information, Havaldar Baldev Singh and his colleague were returning from Sarwarpur Theka when the truck hit them. They were admitted to the local Civil Hospital. The police has registered a case. 

RALLY: Employees of the Technical Services Union held a rally here on Wednesday in protest against the paddy purchase policy of the purchasing agencies. They also condemned the hike in petrol and diesel prices. This rally was organised with the help of the Lok Sangharash Committee, Samrala. The employees raised anti-government slogans. Later, they submitted a memorandum to the SDM, Mr Sandeep Hans, who assured them that the memorandum would be delivered to the Punjab Government. 

KARVA CHAUTH: Karva Chauth katha will be held at SDM’s residence here on Monday. In the evening, a prize distribution ceremony will be held and prizes will be given to winners of the mehandi competition. According to Mrs Manjot Hans, SDM, Samrala, the function will followed by refreshments and tambola.

CHANDIGARH

PENSIONERS: Annual general meeting of the State Bank of India Pensioners Association, Chandigarh circle, will be held on Sunday at the State Bank of India LHO Sector 17, at 10 a.m. The key note address will be delivered by Mr V.D Bhog, secretary general of the association. The problems faced by the pensioners will be discussed in the meeting.  

HARYANA

AMBALA
TAX PLANNING: The Youth Management Club of the Shri Atmanand Jain Institute of Management and Technology, Ambala city, organised a tax planning session on the topic “income tax return with special emphasis on tax planning”, on Friday. Mr Raman Duggal, director of a computer centre, apprised students of various problems of income tax. He explained how an individual, a firm or a company can minimise tax liabilities by availing permissible deductions under various sections of the Income Tax Act. At the end of the session students were allowed to put questions on various aspects of income tax. Mr Tarun Goel, president of the club, said that students achieved a lot from such functions. The coordinators of the club Mr Vineet Kohli and Mr Navneet Khetrpal, also spoke on the occasion. Mr Mukesh Sahgal, chief coordinator, and Anil Chandok, coordinator training and placement committee, presented a memento to Mr Duggal.

HISAR
STUDENTS’ COUNCIL: Students of Animal Science College of Haryana Agricultural University have setup a student council. The office-bearers of the council are: president — Gulab Singh Malik; secretary — Ramesh Chander; and treasurer — Udaiveer Singh Chahal.

REFRESHER COURSE: A month-long refresher course on microbes in integrated nutrients concluded here on Thursday at CCS Haryana Agricultural University. The course was organised by the Academy of Agricultural Research and Education Management. As many as 21 biologists from all over the country participated. The Vice-Chancellor of Jambheshwar University, Dr R.K. Chauhan, was the chief guest.

JHAJJAR
FACTORY GUTTED: A major fire broke out in a footwear factory in the modern industrial area in Bahadurgarh here on Thursday, reducing one of its units to ashes. However, no loss of life was reported.

KAITHAL
DIRECTED: To check unauthorised constructions in the area, the Deputy Commissioner has directed the revenue authorities not to register documents to transfer land in the Gadar Patti area of Kaithal tehsil. In pursuance of the orders, the tehsildar has directed the petition writers here not to write registered deeds pertaining to specific murabba numbers.

PROTESTED: Farmers of Guliana Rohera Kithana and nearby villages protested against the inadequate supply of canal water through the Kithana Minor in a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner. The farmers complained that the officials of the Irrigation Department had not taken steps to solve the problem despite reminders.

ROHTAK
ARRESTED: A junior engineer of the Telecom Department was arrested here on Wednesday while accepting a bribe of Rs 2500 from a contractor. He was produced in the special court of the CBI at Ambala on Thursday.

SONEPAT
TRAFFIC BLOCKED: Students of the C.R. State College of Engineering, Murthal, blocked traffic on the G.T. Road, near Murthal Chowk, here on Friday to press their demand for financial assistance for an operation of a first-year student Lalit Munjal, who sustained serious injuries in a road accident on September 9, who is undergoing treatment at Delhi.

POWER THEFT: The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN), in a week-long special campaign, has detected 205 cases of power theft and imposed a penalty of Rs 9.91 lakh on the erring consumers in the Sonepat circle of the Nigam. This was stated here on Thursday by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Sudhir Rajpal.

CONSTABLE BEATEN: A constable was allegedly beaten up by three persons, including a woman at Larsauli village, 15 km from here, on Thursday. The assailants allegedly also snatched the arms, ammunitions and the official belt from the constable. A case has been registered.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

HAMIRPUR
KILLED: Two persons were killed on Thursday when a tree fell on them in the Galore area of the district. The two were cutting the tree for the cremation a local villager when the incident took place. The deceased have been identified as Rattan Chand and Jairam.

NALAGARH
ARRESTED: One person was arrested by the police under Section 13, of the Gambling Act on Wednesday. According to the police, the CIA Staff of Solan district, on certain information, raided the shop of Harbans Singh at Sodhia near Nalagarh and seized slips of satta worth Rs 7,000 and an equal amount of cash. The raid was led by the Sub Inspector, Mr Romesh Chohan, Head Constable, Mr Vijay Kumar and Constable, Mr Chhabir.

PARWANOO
DONATE: A cheque for Rs 1,00,000 was presented to Prof P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, for the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund by the Chairman of Eicher Schools, Mr H.D.S. Malhotra, and the Principal, Mrs Shalini Kashyap. The children of the school at Parwanoo had collected Rs 60,000 by organising a rally and by donating their pocket money. The Eicher Demm company had also contributed Rs 40,000. The Chief Minister lauded the efforts of the children and appreciated their concern for the great cause.

SUNDERNAGAR
DIED: One person died and another was injured on Thursday in a car-truck collision at Naulakha village on National Highway-21. The deceased has been identified as Sohan Lal, resident of Dhanotu.