R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
ONE KILLED: Sukhjit Singh (28), son of Harchand Singh of Masana village in Sangat, was crushed to death when a Rajasthan Roadways bus reportedly hit his scooter on the Abohar-Sriganganagar road, near Sappanvali village, on Wednesday. The Khuiansarwar police has registered a case against the driver of the bus.

AHMEDGARH
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local unit of the Rotary Club: president — Mr Romesh Kumar Gupta; secretary — Mr Satish Jain; senior vice president — Mr Pardeep Sharda; and treasurer — Mr Baltej Singh. 

CRITICISED: Application form for new power connection or security form, would cost Rs 50 to the prospective consumers, which was earlier available free of cost. Condemning the PSEB decision to charge for the form, Mr Jatinder, Kumar Bhola member district committee, PCPI, said the board management was bent upon pressing the lower strata of the society. Mr Vijay Thaper, president, Malwa Manav Seva Sangathan, criticised the board for increasing the tariff and security amount. He said the security for domestic supply had been enhanced by more than 131 per cent. 

GURDASPUR
RALLY HELD: Mr Gopal Krishan Sabharwal, Additional Deputy Commissioner (General), flagged off a rally of schoolchildren at the Government Senior Secondary School for Boys here on Tuesday. It terminated at the school after marching in the main bazaar. They highlighted the importance of family planning during the rally.

HOSHIARPUR
DISBURSED: An amount of more than Rs 67 lakh has been disbursed as compensation to paddy growers, who had sold their produce below the minimum support price during last the season. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, here on Wednesday. He added that Rs 1.17 crore had been received for the district and officials had been instructed to complete the process till July 15.

SEIZED: The Sadar police seized 6 kg of poppy husk from Manjit Singh of Chabewal on Tuesday. The Tanda police also seized 18,000 ml of rum from Rajinder Singh of Miani on Tuesday.

DEAD: Parkash, son of Lakhmi Chand of Chamba, reportedly died on the spot when a train hit him while he was crossing the railway track near Daha village on the Hoshiarpur-Jalandhar section on Tuesday.

POPULATION DAY: A function was organised to mark the World Population Day at ETT School, Ajowal, 5 km from here, on Wednesday. Dr Ravi Kumar, District Immunisation Officer, said the government should seriously think about the growing population and take necessary steps to control it. Mr Gian Singh Bansal, Principal of the school, and Dr Dharmvir Kapoor, president, All-India Medicos Society, were among others who spoke.

JALANDHAR
SHED INAUGURATED: The Chairman of the Punjab Mandi Board, Mr Mal Singh Ghuman, inaugurated a special shed, constructed at a cost of Rs 2.08 crore, at the local grain market on Wednesday. Addressing panches and sarpanches, he said an amount of Rs 860 crore had been earmarked for the construction and repair of roads in the state during the current financial year.

KAPURTHALA
FUNCTION HELD: A function was organised in the local Red Cross Hall on Wednesday to mark the World Population Day. Ms Gurpreet Deo, Senior Superintendent of Police, presided over the function. District officers, members of social and voluntary organisations, workers of political parties and prominent citizens attended the function.

KHANNA
SUICIDE: A divorced woman, mother of two children, reportedly committed suicide by taking some poisonous substance. The deceased was identified as Nishu and was suffering from heart disease. She was taken to a private clinic from where she was referred to Ludhiana. She died on her way to Ludhiana. 

KHARAR
DEMAND: A deputation of local unit of the CPM met the SSP of Fatehgarh Sahib, Mr Harneik Singh Sara on Wednesday and demanded that the persons responsible for the murder of two youth belonging to Bangala community of Mundi Kharar village on June 21, should be arrested soon. The deputation was led by Dr G.S. Jammu, secretary CPM tehsil committee, Kharar, and they demanded that the investigation in the murder case should be speeded up. Members of Bangala community would stage a dharna on July 25 at Ropar in this regard. 

ONE HELD: The local police has arrested Som Nath, an employee of a factory in Chappar Chirri village on the charge of committing theft in the factory. Mr Jasdev Singh, SHO, Kharar said Mr Varinder Kumar, Manager of Swaraj Combine Division, had lodged a complaint in this regard with the police and the police had registered a case after the recovery of stolen spare parts. 

LUDHIANA
BAN DEMANDED: The Ludhiana Welfare Society, in its meeting, presided over by film maker, Mr Inderjit Hassanpuri, has called for a ban on the use of fire crackers and fire works in the city, particularly in the areas around marriage palaces on the Ferozepore road. Mr Manjit Singh Matharoo, president of the society, speaking on the occasion, observed that the use of crackers and fire works late in the night caused inconvenience to people, especially students, the elderly and sick people. Among those present at the meeting were Mr Surinder Singh, Dr Jagjit Singh, Mr Tarwinder Panesar, Mr Balbir Singh Khalsa, Mr Santokh Singh Mann and Mr Chander Mukesh Thakur. 

MEETING: The Shiv Sena organised a meeting at the Sarpanch Colony here, as a part of its mass contact programme, on Thursday. The state general secretary, Mr Ravinder Arora, party spokesman Mr Pawan Sharma and the district chief Mr Sandeep Mittal, among others, attended the meeting. Speaking on the occasion, the party activists claimed that Ms Rita Bajaj, former general secretary of the Mahila Congress (rural), president of the Golden Ekta Club, Dr V.K. Sharma, and social worker, Mr Parminder Singh Pappu, along with their supporters had joined the party. The functionaries further maintained that a large number of political activists from various parties had joined the party in the recent past. 

MAGAZINE RELEASED: Roop Shingar, a monthly magazine, based on various aspects of beauty care and hair style, was released by Javed Habib, renowned hair stylist, at a function held in a local hotel on Thursday. On the occasion, Mr Habib demonstrated various hair cuts. 

NAWANSHAHR
PADDY COMPENSATION: Resentment prevails among the farmers, who had followed the advice of the state government and gone for late sowing of paddy last year as now they are not being paid compensation for the distress sale of paddy after October 14. Some farmers here on Wednesday said the government had been paying compensation only to the farmers who had sold paddy below MSP from September 21 to October 14.

INAUGURATED: Mr Swarna Ram, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister, inaugurated the 3-D CT scan installed at a cost of Rs 70 lakh at Guru Nanak Mission Hospital, Dhahan Kaleran, about 20 km from here, on Wednesday.

PHAGWARA
CREMATED: Leading transporter and social worker Sarabjit Singh Walia, 40, who died of brain haemorrhage in Delhi on Tuesday, was cremated here on Wednesday. Prominent persons from all walks of life, including Punjab Tourism Minister, Swarna Ram and former Punjab minister Joginder Singh Mann, attended the cremation.

PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT: Preferential treatment will be provided to senior citizens in government offices. This was stated by Subdivisional magistrate Amarjit Paul and Tehsildar Iqbal Singh Sandhu at a meeting of senior citizens. Mr T.D. Chawla, a spokesman for the local Senior Citizens Council, on Wednesday claimed that the SDM had assured them that they would be provided with a room for their office in the tehsil complex and a separate corner in the local library.

GRIEVANCES PANEL: The Subdivisional Grievances Committee will meet on the seventh of every month. This was stated by Mr Amarjit Paul, SDM-cum-Chairman of the committee, in a press note issued here on Wednesday.

SAMRALA
BODY CREMATED: An unidentified body of a middle-aged woman was cremated by the Nagar Council here on Thursday. The body was found on a bridge at Powat village under Behlolpur police chowki. The body was cremated after a post-mortem examination at the local Civil Hospital, according to the police sources. 

NOMINATED: Mr Sohan Singh Guron, an educationist, has been nominated as the member of the local Nankana Sahib Public School. This was stated by Jathedar Amarjit Singh Balion, president of the school, here on Thursday. 

PADDY PRICE: Mr Bhupinder Singh Benipal, former chairman of the Panchayat Samiti, here on Thursday demanded to immediately fix the price of paddy. Talking to mediapersons at the Civil Rest House, Mr Benipal said the Chief Minister had assured to fix the price before departing to New York, but had failed to keep his words.

HARYANA

KALKA
2 DEAD: Two migrant labourers died here yesterday, in a wall collapse as a huge wall near which incident at the local Upper Mohalla. The police said they had been digging up the floor of a room of a house when the accident occurred. The 10-foot wall suddenly collapsed at around 5.30 p.m. burying them in the pit they were digging. They were rushed to the Kalka hospital, where one of them was declared brought dead, while the other died at the PGI, Chandigarh. The deceased have been identified as Munna Lal and Mohal Lal, both hailing from UP. Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajesh Duggal, and Sub Divisional Magistrate Sushil Sarwan Singh visited the spot. 

KURUKSHETRA
FARMER’S MEETING: While addressing a farmers’ club meeting held at the conference hall of Mini Secretariat here on Thursday, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Abhilaksh Likhi, cautioned farmers against the indiscriminate use of pesticides. A handout containing scientific literature on integrated pest management, written in Hindi and compiled by the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, was also released.

ROHTAK
MURDERED: A youth was allegedly murdered by four members of a family at the nearby Aasan village on Tuesday. The accused also sustained stab injuries when they were attacked by the youth with a sword. A case has been registered under Section 302 of the IPC.

SIRSA
WARD BYELECTION: As per the Haryana State Election Commission notification, the byelection to the Municipal Corporation for Ward No 4 of Sirsa and Ward No 14 of Rania have been scheduled for August 19. The District Election Officer and Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ankur Gupta, said the byelection for two seats would be held because of the resignation of the Municipal Councillor, Ms Prem Lata, and the death of Municipal Corporator Hukum Singh, respectively.

CONDEMNED: The district unit of the Haryana PWD Mechanical Workers Union condemned the privatisation and anti-worker policies of the Central and the state governments in a seminar organised at the patwar Bhavan here on Wednesday. The union leader said the government was working under the pressure of the World Bank and IMF.

SONEPAT
KILLED: A woman passenger was killed on the spot when a Haryana Roadways bus reportedly hit her at the general bus stand here on Wednesday. The victim belonged to UP. A case has been registered against the bus driver.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Lord Parshu Ram Seva Dal under the All-India Brahman Sabha: president — Mr Siya Ram Shastri; vice-president — Mr Surinder Singh Gaur; and general secretary — Mr Raghbir Singh Atrey.

MISSING: A married girl, Ms Varsha, was reported to be missing since July 6 from the house of her in-laws at Ganaur in the district. The parents of the girl have lodged a complaint with the panchayat. A 14-year-old girl, Rajni, was also reported to be missing for the past 11 days from her house at Rajlu Garhi village in the district.

BOOKED: The police has registered a case against a registration clerk of the Sub-Registrar in the office of the tehsil under the Anti-Corruption Act. Mr Ravinder Rana of Delhi had reportedly lodged a complaint against the clerk.

THEFT: Computer goods worth several thousands of rupees were reportedly stolen from a computer centre in the Prem Nagar area here on Wednesday. The owner of the centre informed the police about the theft.

BEATEN UP: A youth of Jaji village was allegedly beaten up in the women’s police station here yesterday. The youth was reportedly called by the SHO of the police station on the pretext of resolving the dispute with his wife and a case pending in the court. The injured was immediately hospitalised.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

PARWANOO
MECHANIC DEAD: Daljit Singh (46), a mechanic in the tyre retreading plant of the Himachal Pradesh Transport Corporation, died here on Thursday when the compressor on which he was working blew off. The impact of the air pressure was of such intensity that the front portion of the skull was fractured, resulting in his instant death. The deceased belonged to Mani Majra and is survived by wife, two sons and a daughter. The post-mortem examination was performed at the local ESI Hospital, and the body handed over to the relatives of the deceased. Mr Vij, DM, HPRTC, said inquiry was being made into the incident. He said a sum of Rs 10,000 as ex-gratia would be paid to family of the deceased in addition to providing a job to a kin of the deceased. The police has registered a case.