R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
DHARNA: The Technical and Mechanical Employees Union held a dharna at the office of Executive Engineer of PWD ( Public Health) here on Friday. The protesters were addressed by union activists, who said the government was not implementing the notification issued on January 23 to regularise daily wage workers and master roll employees who had been working in the department for last so many years. They decided to join a state-level dharna to be held at provincial office at  Patiala  on April 3.

DORAHA
FAREWELL: Prof (Ms) Gurvinder Kaur, Lecturer in mathematics, was accorded a warm farewell by the Principal, staff and students of Guru Nanak National College, Doraha. She had joined the college on August 27, 1988, and was relieved recently after her joining GGN Khalsa College, Ludhiana. A small cultural programme was also arranged on the occasion. Mr Jaswant Singh Gill, Principal, Prof Harvinder Kaur, Prof Kuldip Singh, Prof Sukhwinder Singh Virk and Prof Amarjit Kaur lauded her services to the institution.

FARIDKOT
SEMINAR: The local Bhai Kanhiaya Youth Club and Nehru Yuvak Kendra jointly organised a deaddiction seminar here on Friday. Speaking on the occasion senior representatives of different political parties urged the Central and state governments to check unemployment which was one of the main reasons behind addiction.

CAMP: More than 200 persons were examined in a free dental check-up camp organised jointly by the Faridkot Elders Service Society and local Dental College at Sadiq village 20 km from here on Thursday. Medicines, free of cost, were given to the needy. According to Mr Jagmohan Singh Brar, president of the society, denture sets will be provided by the dental college to the desirous on concessional rates.

HOSHIARPUR
FLAYED: Maulvi Syad Azhar Hasan, president, local unit of the Muslims National Front in a press note issued here on Thursday condemned the disrespect to religious places and burning of a sacred book at Patiala and Ludhiana. He said some anti-national forces were trying to disturb the peace in Punjab which could not be tolerated. He said Indian Muslims were part of the country and the government should protect their lives and properties.

IT COUNTER: The receipt counter of the local Income Tax office will remain open on March 31 (Saturday) from 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. to receive income tax returns and other documents, according to a press note issued by Mr Ghansham Sharma, Income Tax Officer (Admn), here on Thursday.

MISHAP: Varinder Kumar of Bassi Balla died on the spot when a truck (HIU-1035) hit his scooter (PB-24-7947) near Gogan village while he was coming here on Wednesday. The police has registered a case under Sections 304A, 279 and 427 , IPC against Pritam Singh, truck driver.

STOLEN: Hero Puch (PB-7F-7078) of Balram Kumar of Johlan village was stolen from Tulsi Nagar here on Wednesday. The police has registered a case.

LIQUOR SEIZED: During nakabandi the Tanda police seized a large quantity of illicit liquor on Wednesday. According to a police spokesman , the naka party stopped a Swaraj Mazda (HRO1A-2271) coming from Pathankot at Tanda and during checking 5,97,960 ml illicit liquor was seized from the truck. Truck driver Amar Singh of Maloya village, Chandigarh , was arrested while two others escaped.

CASH BOX STOLEN: A cash box was stolen from a gurdwara at Sherpur Glind on Wednesday. The police has registered a case under Section 380, IPC.

KHANNA
DHARNA: The Rice Sheller Owners Association staged a dharna in front of FCI godowns on Thursday to protest against the orders of FCI officials, allowing a Khamano-based rice miller to store paddy at the local godowns, while the paddy of rice millers of Khanna had not been stored. Mr Gurdial Singh, president of the association, said a meeting of the association had been called to chalk out future course of action.

LUDHIANA
DECISION HAILED: Mr Parminder Mehta, president, DYC, Ludhiana, on Thursday welcomed the decision of the Municipal Corporation to provide free water and sewerage system, apart from reduction in the building construction fee. He said during the past four years, the councillors had increased the corporation taxes several times. Mr Mehta reminded the Akali-BJP combine that they had promised to the city residents that the octroi system would be done away with. Mr Rajinder Khatri, press secretary, BJP, District Ludhiana (Urban), also welcomed the move of the Municipal Corporation to allow free water and sewerage system to the city residents, apart from announcing other concessions.

HOMOEOPATHY: The decision to confer degrees on those who have a diploma in homoeopathic medicine and surgery prior to 1983 from the Council of Homoeopathic System of Medicine, Punjab, has been welcomed by the Homoeopathic Physician Society, Punjab. Dr Kuljit Singh Bhalla and Dr Inderjit Singh, president and general secretary, of the society, respectively, in a press statement on Thursday condemned the protest against such a move. Dr Inderjit Singh said the society had also filed a writ petition in the 1997 in the Punjab and Haryana High Court to grant degree to those who were eligible, but the court’s decision was still pending.

WELCOMED: The decision of the Punjab Government to categorise the educational institutions of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in minorities has been welcomed. Stating this in a press note, on Thursday, Mr Kewal Singh, senior vice-president, SGPC, appreciated the move and said from now 50 per cent of the seats in technical, engineering, medical, dental and other educational institutions would be reserved from the candidates from Sikh families. Similar views were expressed by Jathedar Pritpal Singh, president, Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib, Jathedar Avtar Singh Makkar, president, Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Model Town Extension, and Jathedar Gurcharan Singh, president, Gurdwara Kalgidhar Singh Sabha.

FLOWER CONTEST: Ms Surinder Walia’s suhana mausam was given the first prize, Ms Sonia Bansal’s Do not shed blood and live in peace was declared second and Ms Ambica Saroop’s bahar was declared third during the fresh flower arrangement competition held at Lakshmi Ladies Club here on Wednesday. Over 15 club members participated in the competition.

MALERKOTLA
THEFT: Some thieves allegedly entered the shops of Parveen Kumar and Jagdev Singh at Katron road, Sherpur village, on Thursday and decamped with Rs 50,000 and electricity equipment. A case has been registered.

PRIZES GIVEN: The prize distribution function of the Children Defence Academy was organised here on Thursday. Sports Minister Nusrat Ikram Khan Bagga presided over the function. A cultural programme was also held.

FIRE: Property worth Rs 15 lakh was destroyed in a devastating fire that broke out in shops situated on the Ludhiana bypass here on Tuesday. The reason of the fire is said to be short-circuiting. The fire broke out in a lubricant oil shop owned by Hukam Chand.

MANSA
WHEAT PROCUREMENT: Ms Raji P. Shirivastava, Deputy Commissioner, issued directions on Friday, to arhtiyas regarding procurement of wheat in the district. The arhtiyas will provide wooden crates and tarpauline for protection of wheat from damages and ensure cleaning of wheat twice. The payment will be made within 48 hours of wheat purchase.

CITY CLUB: The following have been elected office-bearers of local City Club: patron — Dr Ram Paul Sharma; president — Mr Rohtash Singla; vice-president — Mr Kailash Garg; secretary — Mr Prem Aggarwal; joint secretary — Mr Sham Lal Goyal; treasurer — Mr Kailash Mohan Jindal; and director — Mr Parshotam Goyal.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the state unit of the Bharat Vikas Parishad: president — Mr Shriniwas Behariji (Fazilka); general secretary — Mr Sandeep Watts (Abohar); and treasurer — Mr Rajinder Kumar Garg (Mansa).

CONFERENCE: Mr Baldev Singh Khiala, a rebel Akali MLA (Joga), told mediapersons on Thursday that the Lok Morcha would organise a conference on Baisakhi at Talwandi Sabo, to launch an attack on the Badal government. He said the Punjab Government had failed to set up any agro-based industry in the state for the benefit of the farmers.

SAMRALA
TRAINING CAMP: A block-level kharif training camp was organised in the Agricultural Officer’s office in tehsil compounds on Friday. It was organised under the guidance of the Chief Agricultural Officer, Dr Gurcharan Singh Rajajung, who highlighted the achievements of the department and ways to face WTO-related problems. The technical session was conducted by Dr Rajinder Pal Singh Aulakh, Dr Daler Singh, Dr Guldeep Singh, Dr Partap Singh and Dr Balbir Chand. A progressive farmer, Mr Joginder Singh Seh, told the problems agriculturists faced. The agriculture experts advised the farmers regarding latest techniques of cultivation. Presiding over the function, Jathedar Kirpal Singh Khirnian, a member of the SGPC, heard the problems of the farmers. Mr Ashok Chand, Block Agricultural Officer, thanked the participants and farmers.

CHANDIGARH

ELECTED: Following have been elected as the office-bearers of the Chandigarh branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India for 2001-2002: Mr Baldev K. Garg — Chairman; Mr Ravinder K. Garg — Secretary; Mr S.P. Babuta — Vice-Chairman; Mr Uma Kant Mehta — treasurer; Mr Vivek Arora, Mr Manoj Kohli, Mr Vineet Aggarwal and Mr Arvind Oberoi — executive members.

LITERACY CAMP: A legal literacy camp was organised by the Indian Council of Social Welfare Punjab State at Shahimajra on Tuesday. The main objective of the camp was to create awareness among the people about the rights of the women. Mr J.K. Grewal, Honorary Secretary-General of the ICSW, talked about the status of women in society. Mrs Manjeet Sandhu, an advocate, enlightened the gathering on the various legal provisions to protect the rights of the women.

PANCHKULA
BOOK RELEASE: The Haryana governor, Babu Parmananad, will release a book on Provisional Population Totals for Census of India 2001 for Haryana here on Saturday. According to a pressnote issued by Mr Sunil Gulati, Director, Census Operations, Haryana, the book will throw up valuable data at the district-level on the growth of population, the density of population, sex ratio, literacy level, and the population in the age group of 0-6 with male female break up. The book contains the latest geographical distribution of population with illustration and diagrams, decadal growth rates of Haryana and decadal variation in sex ratio. The improvement made during the decade on literacy level and various new features of census 2001 have also been discussed at length in the book.

SAS NAGAR
CLASH: Four persons were seriously injured in a clash between workers of two factories in the Industrial Area, Phase 7, here on Friday. According to information available, Ram Singh, Jaswant, Ramesh and Manjeet were injured in the clash. The fight started when Manjeet, owner of a factory, objected to the parking of a truck in front of his factory.

HARYANA

AMBALA
DHARNA: The District Congress Committee staged a dharna at the local court premises to protest against the ‘Defencegate scandal’. Later, they submitted a memorandum to the City Magistrate, demanding the resignation of the Union Government. Besides two former ministers, Mr Nirmal Singh and Mr Phool Chand Mulana, the district president of the party, Mr Balwant Gupta, was also present on this occasion.

INAUGURATED: Commissioner, Ambala Division, Mr Maha Singh, inaugurated a computer centre located in the tehsil office, Naraingarh, which will benefit about 173 villages falling in the area. Mr Maha Singh said to encourage computer education, the state government had introduced computer education in the curriculum. The setting up of the computer centre at Naraingarh, Mr Singh said that it would make revenue records more accessible and the functioning transparent. He said that this would also put a stop to wrong registries. He added that such facilities were already available at the tehsil office in Ambala and the sub-tehsil office in Ambala Cant.

FARIDABAD
PRIZE DISTRIBUTION: Mr Ajay Singh Chautala, who was the chief guest at the annual prize distribution function of Government Nehru College, here on Thursday, claimed that the state government ‘s education policy was job-oriented. Earlier, Mr Chautala gave away medals and prizes to over 150 students for excellence in studies and top positions in various events. Mr Rakam Singh, Principal of college, read the annual report.

SONEPAT
CAMPAIGN: The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) has launched a special campaign for detecting cases of power theft in its Sonepat circle. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Sudhir Rajpal, told mediapersons here on Friday that nigam officials had checked 1,239 power connections and detected 229 cases of power theft. The officials imposed a penalty of Rs 23.36 lakh and realised Rs 11.95 lakh from the erring consumers.

COLLECTION: The district administration has collected about Rs 19 lakh for providing relief to the earthquake-hit people of Gujarat. The Deputy Commissioner told mediapersons here on Friday that the educational institutions, voluntary and social organisations, gram panchayats and individuals contributed to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

RESCUED: Mr Ravi Gupta, a Delhi trader, was rescued by the police while he was being taken to UP in a jeep by five armed persons after allegedly being kidnapped from Gur Mandi in this city on Friday. S.P. Paramjit Singh Ahlawat told mediapersons five persons came in a jeep to the residence of Mr Pawan Kumar where Mr Gupta was staying. They called out Mr Gupta for a talk and then forcibly took him away. Mr Pawan Kumar then informed the police control room. The police alerted all police stations and police posts in the district. The jeep , while passing through the police barrier of Bahalgarh chowk on the G.T.Road was caught. All culprits were arrested and Mr Gupta was rescued. The arrested persons have been identified as Des Raj, Rakesh, Kuldeep and Amar Singh, all residents of Shiv Bagh Mandi of Bilaspur and Yameen of Narela (Delhi). A case has been registered.

ASSAULTED: A superintendent and other supervisory staff were assaulted by some persons in an examination centre at Shree Bhagwan Mahavir Jain Girls Senior Secondary School of Rajpur village about 10 km from here on Thursday. The assailants beat them up when the centre superintendent and other supervisory staff did not allow them to help the examinees. A report to this effect was lodged with the authorities concerned.

LOOTING BID: The Gohana CIA staff on Friday claimed to have foiled an attempt to loot a petrol pump on the Sonepat-Gohana road near Mohana village and arrested eight persons after the exchange of fire near Pinana village of this district. SP Paramjit Singh Ahlawat told mediapersons the arrested persons have been identified as Suresh and Satyavan of Jagsi village, Rajesh of Khidwali village, Sultan of Haat village, Rajesh of Mundlana village, Vikram and Samsher of Urban Estate, Jind and Rajinder of Lohchab village. The police also seized seven pistols, seven live cartridges, two empty cartridges, three Maruti cars and a van from them.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

PILGRIMS: Mr Rakesh Sharma, SDM and Member Secretary of Trilokpur Mandir Committee said here on Thursday that during the past two days more than 25,000 pilgrims visited Trilokpur temple and offered gold, silver and Rs 3.33 lakh in cash.