R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

FAZILKA
THEFT CASE: Thieves broke into the house of Mr Raj Kumar Sharma at Shayamji Mal Street near the Bikaneri Road here on Wednesday night. They allegedly took away gold and silver ornaments and Rs 10,000 in cash. Mr Sharma along with his family members were out of station at the time of the theft.

KHARAR
GRANT: Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, President of Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD) and Member of Rajya Sabha, has sanctioned a grant of Rs 50,000 for a community centre that is being constructed on the banks of Maharaja Ajj Sarovar here in Kharar. The cheque in the name of Municipal Committee, Kharar, was handed over to the organisers by Mr Rajbir Singh Padiala, vice-president of the SHSAD, on Friday. He informed that more funds would be sanctioned for this project.

KHANNA
POLL PUT OFF: The election of the circle presidents of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) scheduled to be held on Monday has been postponed. The announcement regarding the postponement of the elections of the circle presidents of Machhiwara, Samrala, Khanna Payal, Dehlon, Sahnewal, Dakha and Ludhiana Sadar was conveyed through a telephonic message by Mr Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Cabinet Minister, Punjab.

LUDHIANA
LECTURE: To commemorate the memory of late Joginder Pal Pandey, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital will organise the third Joginder Pal Pandey oration in collaboration with the Nehru Sidhant Kendra on Monday at Dumra Auditorium. The oration will be delivered by Mr J. L. Gupta, Judge, Punjab and Haryana High Court, on India: the need for a national audit. 

CELEBRATIONS: The Department of Social Security, Women and Child Development, Punjab, is celebrating the completion of 25 years of the Integrated Child Development Service Scheme under Udisha training programme. On this occasion, Mr Gobind Singh Kanjla will be chief guest and Ms Romila Dubey, principal secretary, Social Security, Women and Child Development Department, Punjab, will preside over the function. 

MALERKOTLA
ONE KILLED: Nachattar Singh (45) was killed and his 10-year old son sustained serious injuries when they were hit by a car on the Malerkotla-Ludhiana road near Ahmedgarh on Saturday. The driver managed to escape. A case has been registered.

DENTAL TREATMENT: The Punjab Health Department will observe a dental health fortnight in the Civil Hospital here from November 2 to November 16. During the fortnight, dental treatment, 50 sets of dentures and medicines will be provided free of cost, according to Dr Mohammed Shabbir, CMO (dental).

PATIALA
CONFERENCE: Dr Dalip Kaur Tiwana, a Punjabi writer and President of the Punjab Sahit Academy, has been invited to preside over the 8th Annual Literary International Conference being organised by the Punjabi Sahit Sabha of California on November 11, at Berkeley University. Apart from attending the conference, Dr Tiwana will address literary gatherings in other cities of the United States and interact with Punjabi personalities there. 

TARN TARAN
OPIUM SEIZED: The Khemkaran police on Thursday seized 510 gm of opium from a field belong to Wassan Singh in Dhool Kona village. A case under Sections 18, 16 and 85 of the NDPS has been registered.

MURDERED: Shamsher Singh (19) of Piddi village was murdered by Gurjant Singh, an RMP, of the same village with a sharp-edged weapon here on Friday. A case under Section 302 of the IPC has been registered. Gurjant Singh had earlier served a five-year imprisonment for murdering his wife and was released in January, 2000. The body of the deceased was sent for a post-mortem.

CRITICISED: Mr Balkar Singh Valtoha, General Secretary, Government School Teachers Union, Amritsar, in a press note issued here on Friday criticised the decision of the Punjab Government and the Punjab School Education Board to charge a fee of Rs 260 from the students belonging to the Scheduled Castes for the matriculation examination to be held in March, 2001. These students were earlier exempted from the payment of fees.

CHANDIGARH

SAS NAGAR
SYMPOSIUM: Prof N.K. Ganguly, Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), will be the chief guest at a two-day symposium “Malaria 2000” being organised at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), from November 3. Dr Nitya Anand would also be present on the occasion.

HARYANA

AMBALA
FOREIGN VISIT: The General Secretary of Haryana State Akali Dal, Mr Kartar Singh Takkar said on Saturday that the foreign tour by the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala,will give a boost to the field of Information and Technology in the state. He said Haryana is bound to attract foreign investors will speed up the development in the state, a press note said. 

SONEPAT
STRIKE POSTPONED: The president of the All-India Hindu Maha Sangh and founder of the Naina Devi Cave and Sadhu Ashram has postponed his proposed fast in front of the Himachal Pradesh Secretariat in Shimla following an assurance by the authorities that they would take action against the erring officials.

BURGLARY FOILED: The attempt to burgle a house at Nangal Kalan village on Friday night was foiled when neighbourers woke up and challenged the burglars. A person was injured in the process. A case has been registered.

EYE OPERATION CAMP: Suman Charitable Dispensary will organise an eye operation camp on Sunday at Hanuman Mandir in the Kalyan Nagar area of the city.

ELECTROCUTED: Mahavir was electrocuted on the premises of a rice sheller at Barota village on the Sonepat-Gohana road, 25 km from here, on Friday. According to a report, he died after touching a wire of a transformer.

NIRVAN DIVAS: The Nirvan Divas of the founder of the Arya Samaj, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, was celebrated with great enthusiasm here on Thursday. Prayers and congregation meetings were held at various centres of the Arya Samaj.

YAMUNANAGAR
MEETINGS: The two-day state-level executive meetings of the Haryana Rajkiya Adyapak Sangh will be held in Fatehabad on October 31 and November 1. This was disclosed by Mr Jarnail Singh Sanghwan, state vice-president of the sangh, here on Friday. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

NURPUR
RECOVERY CAMP: A recovery camp was organised by the local branch of the State Bank of India at Jassur, near here, on Wednesday. Recoveries were made through counselling and negotiations from those borrowers who were not wilful defaulters. The camp was inaugurated by Mr A.K. Vali, Assistant General Manager, SBI, Shimla. As many as 20 cases were settled.

PARWANOO
BODY FOUND: The local police found a decomposed body of an eight-year-old unidentified girl from near Kamli village on Friday. The body was spotted by some villagers, who intimated Mr Sher Singh, pradhan of the Gram Panchayat, Taksal, who later informed the police. According to the police, the body is in a decomposed state and has not been identified yet. It has been sent to Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, for further tests.