R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
MAN LOOTED: The police has registered a case against six persons for allegedly looting an occupant of a truck on the Abohar-Sri Ganganagar road. According to the complaint lodged by Mulakh Raj of Rukna Mangla village (Ferozepore), he was waiting for a mechanic as the truck (PB 05G-9842) had some fault near Sapanwali village. Some unidentified persons attacked him and looted his cash. A case has been registered under Sections 382, 323, 148, 149 IPC, official sources said on Saturday.

AMLOH
SEMINAR: The Child Development and Project Officer (CDPO), Amloh, will organise a seminar on ‘Kanya Jagriti Jyoti Scheme’ in Municipal Complex here on Monday for the awareness among the people pertaining to the facilities provided to the newly-born children in poor families stated Mr Satish Kumar, CDPO, Amloh, in a press release here on Sunday.

AMRITSAR
DRIVE AGAINST DRUGS: The Punjab Police on Saturday started “Operation Mukti” against drug addiction and organised a seminar in Lopoke village in Majitha police district. Mr G.S. Sahota, DIG police who presided over the function said that smugglers, doctors and chemists were also responsible for drug addiction. SSP Majitha, Ms Shashi Prabha said that action had been taken against chemists giving medicines without prescription.

HOSHIARPUR
TWO ARRESTED: The police has arrested Parminder Singh of Surgowal, Sajjan and Bhupesh Ram residents of Bahadurpur and Bazar Vakillan Mohalla under Sections 61/1/14 of the Excise Act and seized 180 litres whisky from them on Saturday evening.

KAPURTHALA
ARRESTED: The police has arrested Man Singh of Raipur Peer Buxwala for possessing intoxicant injections. In a press note here on Friday, Mr R.N. Dhoke, SSP, said Man Singh, working as salesman with the cooperative society at Ibrahimwal village, was also involved in the sale of intoxicant vaccines to youths of the area. A case has been registered.

LUDHIANA
ANNUAL DAY: Little Angels Playway and Public School celebrated its annual-cum-prize distribution function here on Sunday. Students from pre-nursery, nursery, LKG and first and second standards took part in the fancy dress competition. The characters of Kashmiri girl, soldier and sadhu were well depicted by the little students. Students also performed group and solo dances and rhymes. Ms Sandhya Johri, principal of the school, conducted the programme. 

STUDENT HONOURED: The Recognised and Affiliated Schools Association (RASA) honoured the meritorious students at Ramgarhia Girls College, Miller Gunj, here on Sunday. About 250 students from 29 schools were honoured for obtaining 80 per cent or more marks in the Class VIII examination, 2002, conducted by the Punjab School Education Board.

WELCOMED: The decision of the district administration to start local bus service in January has been welcomed and appreciated by the new Millennium Club. The club members feel that it is the right time to introduce such a service in city as the city’s pollution levels have reached beyond control. Mr Kuldeep Singh Kreer, general secretary, of the club, said with the start of this much needed service in the city, the accident cases will also be reduced as travelling by masses would be safe. The service would help to minimise the air pollution.

ELECTED: A meeting of the lecturers of various schools in the district and the office-bearers of the tehsils held at Ludhiana elected Prof. Sukhdev Singh Rana as district president of the Government School Lecturer Union, Ludhiana, for the fourth consecutive term unanimously. According to a press note, other office-bearers are Swarn Singh senior vice-president; Baldev Krishan and Dr Jarnail Singh — vice-presidents; Harbhajan Singh Sidhu, — general secretary, Harbhajan Singh Mann — secretary, Kesar Singh — Press Secretary and Tejwant Singh — finance secretary. The elected executive members: Sanjiv Thapar, Surinder Singh Badowal, Kulwant Singh Libra, Harjit Singh Nasrali, Balraj Singh, Gurmail Singh Karamsar and Gurdev Singh Latala Mr Gurdial Singh Gill was elected Chief Advisor, and Hari Krishan Mair, Gurdial Dalal and Ramesh Dutt were nominated as advisors.

MANSA
ENCROACHMENTS: The district administration has chalked out a plan to remove all temporary and permanent encroachments within this month. With a view to launch the scheme, several meetings of senior officers of various departments including, the police and the municipal council besides members of non-government organisations, representatives of various political organisations and prominent citizens have been held here during the week.

MANDI GOBINDGARH
RAILWAY OVERBRIDGE: The long standing demand of the people of the town for the construction of railway over bridge has remained a topic for discussion during the meetings with the district administration, railway authorities and the visiting VIPs’ from the state and the Central Government for a long time in the past, but the matter has not been finalised as yet. Instead of taking any concrete action on the matter, unnecessary delay in the movement of paper work is being made by the municipal council as alleged by railway authorities. The later revealed that necessary conceptual profile sketch along with abstract estimate was sent to the Executive Engineer but it was not returned after according the necessary approval and with the consent of bearing the total cost of construction.

MUKTSAR
DENTAL CAMP: The Desh Bhagat Dental College and Hospital authorities held a dental check-up camp here on Sunday and medicines were given to patients, free of cost. Mr Anshu Kataria, Administrator of the college, in a press release said 583 patients were examined and dentures were given at concessional prices. The camp was conducted under the guidance of MDS doctors, he claimed.

PATHANKOT
ANNUAL FUNCTION: Mr Suresh Gupta, Managing Director, The Hindu Co-operative Bank Limited, addressed a gathering on the 76th annual function on Sunday. Among those who attended the function included Mr Sanjeev Shardha, Director of the bank, Mr Parshotam Arora, former Chairman, Local Improvement Trust.

PHAGWARA
MONKEY MENACE: A monkey, which had strayed into nearby Khati village, had created nuisance for villagers for the past several days. It was learnt on Sunday that the monkey had bitten about 10 persons, so far, thus causing a panic in the village. The villagers were forced to move in groups due to its terror.

5 INJURED: Five occupants of a Maruti van were injured, two of them seriously, in a collision between a truck and the van at Bhullarai village on Saturday. The injured included Mohinder Kaur, Joginder Kaur, Harpal Singh, Pinca and van driver Sansar Ram. Truck driver had fled. The police registered a case under Sections 279, 337, 338 IPC against the absconding driver.

FIVE NABBED: The police has arrested five persons for dowry-related atrocities on Arti it was learnt on Sunday. Four of the nabbed had been given police remand till December 10 while one had been sent to judicial lock-up. The arrested included Chankya Sethi — husband, Dharampal Sethi — father-in-law, Sharda Devi — mother-in-law, Bhupinder Kumar — brother-in-law and Prabat Kumar — Nandoi. They were arrested from Hisar where Arti was married.

HARYANA

KALKA
PATARKAR SABHA: A Patarkar Parishad (Kalka-Pinjore) was formed here on Saturday in which Vishnu Sexana was elected chairman of the parishad, unanimously, while Harjit Singh Jaggi was installed as president and Sanjay Goyal was appointed general secretary. The other office-bearers of the parishad are: secretary — Ms Reeta Bhushan; treasurer — Brij Bhushan Mangla; press secretary — Balwinder Shammi; and press photographer — Manpreet.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
FARMERS’ CAMP: Himachal Minister of State for Ayurveda, Mohan Lal addressed farmers at a camp organised by the Agriculture Department at Bhatka village about 40 km from here on Saturday. As that farmers should adopt scientific methods of farming. He called upon the farmers to grow off-season vegetables. Nearly 150 farmers of six panchayats attended the camp. Earlier, the minister inaugurated the building of Government Middle School Bhatka constructed at a cost of Rs 4 lakh.

RELIEF SOUGHT: Pardhans of various panchayats in Bharmaur, Bhattiyat, Dalhousie, Salooni, Churah and Chamba tehsil have demanded drought relief for the farmers of Chamba district. They have requested the government for a survey of the drought affected areas in the district. The drought-like conditions also give rise to forest fires. The forests on the fringe of Kalatop Khajjiar wildlife sanctuary in the Dula, Saroo and Kohladi areas face the threat of fire.

DHARAMSALA
DOG MENACE: A rabid dog has created panic on Sunday forcing adults and children to remain indoors in the town. According to reports, the dog entered the town around noon from Chari side and attacked some people in Kotwali Bazar. An attempt was made to kill the dog but he was able to escape. It is reported that more than 36 persons have been bitten by the dog. About 12 cases of dog bite have been reported with Dr R.P. Govt Medical College, here for treatment.

KULU
SCHOOL INAUGURATED: Mr Karan Singh, Minister of State for Primary Education and Environment, inaugurated the Government High School at Thela village, about 30 km from here. He said the woman literacy percentage in Himachal had reached 68 per cent and the state was heading for the number one position in the country in literacy.

KUMARHATTI
BUS SERVICE BLUES: Resentment prevail among residents of Subathu and its surrounding area following the discontinuation of the Darla-Chandigarh night bus service a few days ago. The residents are facing a great hardship as private bus operators are already on a strike. The HRTC authorities have discontinued the bus service on the pretext that the route is not viable.

NAHAN
KISAN RALLY: Kisan leader Mahinder Singh Tikait will address a rally on December 13 at Paonta Sahib. Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Mr S.S. Gill, president of the Kisan Mandal, said the main demand included that drought relief funds should be disbursed in such a manner that farmers got direct benefit.

PARWANOO
NOMINATED: A meeting of the Parwanoo, unit of the Himachal Seva Dal (Congress) was held here under the chairmanship of Ish Kapoor, the state organiser of the dal. According to Mr Ish Kapoor, under the instructions of Mr Baldev Singh Thakur, state chief organiser, Rajiv Mehta, a local resident of this area had been nominated as a chief organiser of the Parwanoo unit of the dal.

SHIMLA
CONDEMNED: The Himachal Pradesh Dalit SC/ST Gazetted/Non-Gazetted Employees Joint Welfare Association on Thursday held a meeting here and criticised the decision of the government not to implement the 85th Constitutional Amendment. It also sought promotions at the Private Secretary and Under Secretary level for Dalits.