R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMLOH
'SURPRISE VISITS': Mr Dalip Singh Pandhi, former minister, Punjab, in a press note released here on Saturday, has urged the Chief Minister, Punjab, to continue surprise visits in all the departments and to direct other ministers for such raids in their respective departments. Mr Pandhi added that people come from villages, for some work, but officers were not present in the offices. Officers posted in districts and sub-divisional headquarters should be asked to stay at their places of postings so that public should be saved from unnecessary harassment.

AMRITSAR
LOK ADALAT: The District Legal Services Authority, Gurdaspur, will hold a Lok Adalat on May 12 at the local courts complex. Applications can be placed before the court, secretary, the District Legal Services Authority, or to the District and Sessions Judge, before the due date.

NOMINATED: Dr Renu Goel, councillor, has been nominated as the member of the district telephone advisory committee for a period of two years.

BATHINDA
EX-JUDGE DEAD: Mr Sant Ram Garg, retired District and Sessions Judge and the former president of the local unit of the Mahavir Dal died here due to cardiac arrest at the age of 90. He is survived by four sons and two daughters.

GURDASPUR
BANNED: Mr B. Vikram, District Magistrate, on Friday prohibited the burning of the straw in the fields located close to the ammunition depot in the district till June 26.

TRIBUTES PAID: Mr Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Minister for Revenue and Rehabilitation, while paying tributes to constable Gurbax Singh, who died on the Bangladesh border recently, said the Punjab Government would treat the martyrs of the paramilitary forces on a par with the Kargil martyrs while giving compensation.

HOSHIARPUR
HOMAGE PAID: Mr V.K. Sharma, Additional DIG and in charge of the BSF Subsidiary Training Centre, Kharkan on Thursday attended the rasam pagri of Head Constable Dhian Chand, who was killed on the Bangladesh border recently and paid homage to him. Besides other benefits being given to the martyr family, full pay for the remaining service of the Head Constable would be given to his wife, he said.

INSPECTION: Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner, along with Mr Bhag Singh Mallah, Chairman, Punsup, inspected Kang Mahi, Garhdiwala, Dasuya and Tanda wheat procurement centres on Friday. He instructed various agencies to ensure proper weighing and lifting of the wheat.

JALANDHAR
SITES AUCTIONED: Auction of 17 commercial sites of the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) at Urban Estate, Phase II, fetched Rs 1.35 crore on Friday. The auction was conducted under the chairmanship of Mr H.S. Nanda, PUDA complex here.

PRESS VITAL: Mr Natha Singh Dalam, Punjab Minister for Information and Public Relations, said on Friday that newspapers play a vital role in democracy and the people and the government interact through it. Mr Beant Singh Sarhaddi, president, All-India Small Newspapers Council, while welcoming the chief guest said small newspapers were always ready to give positive publicity to the government and it must look into their difficulties.

LUDHIANA
BIRTH ANNIVERSARY: The 337th birthday anniversary of Bhai Bachittar Singh , who fought a number of battles alongside Guru Gobind Singh, would be celebrated at village Dheri near here on Sunday, according to Mr Jagdev Singh, President of the Singh Sabha Gurdwara Managing Committee of the village. A function would be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at which various prominent ‘raagis’ and ‘dhadhis’ will recite hymns and ‘shabads’ from the Gurbani. A sant smagam would also be held on the occasion which would be presided over by Sant Baba Jaspal Singh Baddowal. Apart from the celebrations, the holy ‘bir’ of the village gurdwara would also be installed in the new gurdwara building, said. Mr Jaimal Singh, village sarpanch.

INAUGURATED: Mr Jasbir Singh Heer, Joint Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, inaugurated a garbage dump on club road, near Guru Nanak stadium. According to a press statement, the MC has planned to construct 250 dumps in the city to make it more clean and beautiful.

MALERKOTLA
POLICE-PUBLIC MEET: A police-public meet was organised at Sandor village, 10 km from here, on Friday. Villagers of the area participated in the meet. Mr Harbhajan Singh, DSP, Dhuri, addressed the meeting. He urged the villagers to settle their disputes at the panchayat-level.

POPPY HUSK: The Kup Kalan police has arrested Mohhamad Din of Rodiwal village and seized 30 kg of poppy husk from him. A case has been registered.

MANSA
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE: The District Sainik Welfare Board has given financial assistance of Rs 4.16 lakh to 460 ex-servicemen above the age of 65 years. Besides, Rs 12,600 has been given to seven blind ex-servicemen and war widows. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chairperson of the board, Ms Raji P. Srivastava, here on Saturday. A sum of Rs 11,240 has been given as stipend to 18 children of the ex-servicemen.

MUSTARD PURCHASE: Markfed will purchase mustard from the farmers at the minimum support price of Rs 1,200 per quintal. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner in a press note issued here on Saturday. She said mustard would be purchased directly from the farmers at Mansa and Budhlada.

SMALLEST TORCH: Mr Pardeep Kumar, a government primary school teacher, Sardulgarh, has claimed to have made the smallest torch in the world. The 1.2 centimetre torch had been prepared with a small cell of the watch. He is trying to get his name in the Guinness Book of world records.

EOs REJOIN: Mr Suraj Chabra and Mr Parveen Goyal, Executive Officers, who were removed by the Punjab Government, have joined their respective offices at Bhikhi and Cheema after getting the stay orders from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, according to an official report, received on Friday.

MEETING HELD: The council of Junior Engineers, PSEB, at meeting held here on Thursday, discussed the causes of the outbreak of fire in standing wheat crops. The burning of the straw was mainly held responsible for it. The meeting, condemned the tendency of attributing such fires to electrical short circuts.

MOGA
THREE KILLED: Three persons were killed in accidents on Thursday. Harbhajan Singh of Chanuwala village was electrocuted when a live electric wire fell on him in his fields. In another accident, Baljit Singh, a PWD employee of Moga died when his scooter hit a vehicle near Phulewala canal. Another scooterist was killed on the spot when his scooter was hit by a vehicle on the Moga-Ludhiana road.

COLLISION: Two labourers belonging to Uttar Pradesh, were seriously injured and suffered fractures when a Punjab Roadways bus collided with the tractor in which they were travelling. The injured were rushed to the hospital.

LABOURER KILLED: A labourer working at a farm in Bagha Purana, was killed on Friday when the tractor on which he was travelling, reportedly overturned. The police has registered a case.

IDLE WATER WORKS: Residents of Sukhanand village on Saturday said the water works installed in their village, about some 14 years ago, had been lying idle due to inefficiency of the department concerned. Mr Gurbachan Singh Brar, former president of field staff of the Public Relations Department, said here on Saturday that all complaints regarding the non-availability of drinking water had fallen on deaf ears.

CO-OP BANKS: Mr Kanwal Bir Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner, here said, on Friday that all branches of the cooperative banks situated in Butter, Takhanwadha, Bhaloor and Bajeke villages, in the district, had been shifted to the focal points in these villages. The work to supply drinking water to 49 villages in this district has been started on a war-footing, he added.

OLD-AGE PENSIONS: The district administration has released the old-age and the widow pensions to 3323 beneficiaries, till February this year. This was stated here on Friday, by the Deputy Commissioner. He said, 42 cases under the Prime Minister Rozgar Yojna, and 40 cases under the Margin Money Scheme as many had been settled.

NAWANSHAHR
LOOTED: Three miscreants attacked Mr Husan Lal of Karna village and looted Rs 10,000 from him near Poonian village, 15 km from here, on Thursday.

MISHAP: Resham Singh of Jagatpur village died on the spot when he was crushed by a tractor-trolley on which he was travelling, at Mukandpur, 25 km from here, on Thursday.

DONATION: Giani Niranjan Singh Mundir, an NRI, has donated Rs 1.13 lakh towards endowment fund of the Guru Nanak Mission Hospital, Dhahan Kaleran. This was stated by Mr Budhsingh Dhahan, president of the trust, here on Saturday.

PASSPORTS: Mr Ishwar Singh, SSP, in a press note issued on Friday said the district police had launched a speedy passport verification service. Of the 1,167 passport verification cases, 973 had been sent to the Passport Office, Jalandhar, after conducting verification, till April 30.

PHAGWARA
ARRESTED: Ranbir Singh of Hardaspur was arrested on Thursday, on the charges of outraging the modesty and the criminal intimidation of Amarjit Kaur of Narang Shahpur village. His accomplice Gurwinder Singh of Athauli village is still at large.

POPPY SEIZED: The local police nabbed three persons and seized 80 kg of poppy husk from them on Friday. The arrested persons are, Manjit Singh of Sunra Rajputan, Amarjit Singh of Lakhanpal and Gurmel Singh of Hadiabad villages, respectively.

PHILLAUR
BRAHMIN SABHA: The Punjab Brahmin Pratinidhi Sabha, on Friday, through its president, Joginder Modi urged the government to abolish reservation in all categories in all departments of the state and implement the Janjua Commission Report.

SAMRALA
DHARNA: According to a spokesman of the ITI Employees Union, Samrala, all the ITI employees Unions at Punjab-level will hold a rally and dharna in front of the DC Office at Ludhiana on May 14 in favour of their genuine demands. The main demands of the employees are grade of 5800-9200 for all the instructors, to equal the grade of Punjabi Steno and hostel superintendent, to promote the G.Is, vice principals, principals and headmasters, to fill all the vacancies in ITIs, and to promote 15 per cent employees from Class IV to Class III. The spokesman said the department have not accepted their genuine demands rather they have decided to open the ITIs on every Saturday and Sunday and have reduced the promotion quota from instructors to GIs from 100 per cent to 75 per cent etc. The district President G.S. Nagra, Secretary Navjot Singh Dhoot and the other office-bearers have appealed the employees to participate in dharnas.

PUNJABI POET: Noted Punjabi poet Mr Lal Singh Dil will be honoured by the New Lekhak Manch, Rara Sahib, with the colaboration of Sihora village panchayat and Naujawan Sabha at the village public library on May 12, according to Dr Gulzar Mohamad Goria, General Secretary of the Punjabi Lekhak Manch, Samrala. The function will be presided over by Dr Tarsem, General Secretary of the Kendri Punjabi Lakhak Sabha. Dr Gulzar Pandher, Prof Raman and Dr Gulzar Mohd Goria will present their papers on the literary contribution of Mr Dil.

CHEMIST STRIKE: On the call given by the All-India Organisation of chemists and Drugists (AIOCD) for strike of Chemists all over India, no response has been received here and all the chemists have opened their shops. In the news Mr Dalip Mehta, the national President, said the Bihar Government have rounded more than 100 chemists and took the help of Army.

CHANDIGARH

Old students’ meeting: The first meeting of the old students of ITI Chandigarh was held in the institute on Friday. More than 35 old students and 15 members of the staff participated. 

HARYANA

AMBALA
CHEMISTS’ BANDH: Chemists’ shops in Ambala were closed on Saturday. The Haryana State Chemists and Druggists Association, on a call given by the All India Chemists Association, decided to observe a bandh to support the demands of the chemists of the Bihar unit. The president of the association, Mr R K Khera, said all wholesale and retail medical shops in Ambala were closed. “The imposition of taxes on the chemists of Bihar on the turn-over is unfair. The Bihar government must redress the grievance at the earliest. We also condemn the Bihar administration for breaking open the locks of shops and taking away medicines,” Mr Khera said. 

BHIWANI
BODY FOUND: The police has recovered the body of a Junior Engineer, Dharm Singh Dahiya, employed with MITC Department here, at the new bus stand road. The police has registered a case.

FARIDABAD
STRIKE: Nearly all chemist shops and stores in the district observed a token strike on Saturday. According to Mr Chander Prakash Bathia, general secretary of the local chemists association, about 550 chemists and drug retail stores spread all over the district joined the association’s to oppose the move to impose “turnover tax” as done in Bihar.

KALKA
CEREMONY: DAV Senior School, Surajpur, held its investiture ceremony on Saturday. The office-bearers pledged loyalty towards their duties and responsibilities. The school cabinet members presented a skit on the occasion. 

PANIPAT
LICENCE SUSPENDED: The Food and Civil Supplies Department has suspended wheat procurement licences of 29 commission agents in different wheat purchase centres. There were complaints that the commission agents had stocked the gunny bags and were hampering the lifting of the purchased wheat from the purchase centres.

SIRSA
DOWRY DEATH: The district police chief on Friday on a complaint of Shama Handa, the maternal aunt of Soni, registered a case against the husband of Soni, Raju, his elder brother, Kulwant Singh, and his wife, Jeet Kaur. In her complaint Ms Handa alleged that Soni, a resident of Orrisa was married to Raju of the local Gobind Nagar in October, 1999. She was harassed for bringing insufficient dowry. Soni was found dead on Thursday. Mrs Handa suspects that Soni was poisoned to death.

SONEPAT
ARRESTED: The Delhi Crime Branch officials raided a house in Khanda village to arrest Ram Parsad, who was allegedly involved in fake currency racket. The police reportedly took away his two brothers and said they would be let off only when Ram Parsad surrenders. Om Parkash, father of the duo, stated that Ram Prasad had not been living with them for the past few years.

HELD: The police on Friday arrested two persons on a charge of liquor smuggling following the seizure of 60 bottles of country-made liquor and 500 liquor pouches. A case under the Excise Act has been registered against them.

INJURED: Parmod of Rai village sustained serious injuries when he was hit by a car on the GT road near the Rai police station, 13 km from here, on Friday. According to a report, he was immediately sent to a Delhi hospital for treatment. A case has been registered against the car driver.

RESENTMENT: Resentment prevails among yellow-card holders, against the non-supply of their ration at subsidised rates through the public distribution system (PDS) in this city and elsewhere in the district. People alleged that they have not been able to get ration for the last few months and complaints to the authorities have not yielded any results.

INDEFINITE STRIKE: On a call of the Haryana Chemists and Druggists Association, the local chemists observed a strike in the city on Saturday. Reports of strike have also been received from Gohana, Kharkhauda and Ganaur towns, of the district. The chemists expressed solidarity with their counterpart in Bihar who have been on an indefinite strike since April 27. Meanwhile, the cooperative medicines shops functioned normally.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
ARREST DECRIED: The Himalaya Bachao Samiti here on Friday condemned the arrest of Mr Sunder Lal Bahuguna in connection with the ongoing Tehri dam movement. It demanded the release of Mr Bahuguna and his 200 activists.

HAMIRPUR
COOPERATION: The Deputy Commissioner, Mrs Anuradha Thakur, asked the district officers to redress the genuine demands of the employees. No government or administration could function without the active cooperation of the staff, she said, while speaking at a meeting of the joint consultative committee of the district administration and the district Employee’s Federation here, on Friday.

SHIMLA
YAJNA BEGINS: The nine-day “Vishnu Yajna” commenced at Sidh Mandir in Chail, on Friday. The mahayajna, the first of its kind to be held in this region is being organised by Swami Shambhu Bharti.