R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
JUDICIAL REMAND: Mr Satish Narang, former senior Vice-President of the local municipal council, and two other BJP activists, have been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days. They had been arrested for an alleged attempt on the life of a Congress worker, Devraj Ahuja.

THEFTS: Miscreants committed thefts in four shops of Shankar Market here on Friday night by breaking locks of the iron shutters and doors upstairs. The loss was yet to be assessed.

FIVE INJURED: Five persons were injured in various clashes reported from Bakainwala, Telupura and Rajanwali villages in this area on Friday. Those admitted in the Emergency Ward of the Civil Hospital have been identified as Lakhwinder Singh, Mohinder Singh, Panna Ram, Rohtas and Dalip Kumar.

CHEMIST ARRESTED: Arun Kumar, a chemist in the Sadar Bazar area, has been arrested u/s 188 of the IPC by the CIA staff here. The police said 10 injections of Norphine were seized from the chemist as he was not authorised to store the same. Mal Singh of Balluana village was arrested under the Excise Act.

SAMPLES: Many shops were found closed when a team from the Health Department arrived here to conduct a raid and took samples of milk products and other eatables on Friday. The Nai Abadi area was main target of the team but a majority of the shopkeepers managed to escape by locking their establishments. This included milk dairies, bakeries and sweet meat shops.

SENTENCED: Three persons have been sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment for kidnapping and raping a married woman at Sangria, near here. A fine of Rs 5,000 has also been imposed on them. The case was first tried by the Civil Judge but later referred to the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr O.P. Gupta, who pronounced the judgement on Friday.

AMRITSAR
LECTURE: Prof David Turner from Canada delivered a lecture on “Indigenous spirituality and religion: the test experience” at Guru Nanak Dev University here on Friday. It was based on his 30-year-long research work among the aborigines of Australia.

VEND LOOTED: Two unidentified persons looted Rs 11,000 from a liquor shop at 11 pm in Sultanwind area on Friday night. The accused also shot one person when he tried to stop them.

GURDASPUR
STAFF PROTEST: As many as 200 government employees owing allegiance to the General Category Welfare Federation, Punjab held a demonstration here on Friday to protest against the implementation of the 85th Amendment by the Punjab Government. The employees held a rally at Nehru Park here.

COP BOOKED: The police on Friday booked Head Constable Ajaib Singh posted at Bhaini Mian Khan in this district under Kahnuwan police station for extorting money. According to Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act had been registered against him.

JALANDHAR
ENCROACHMENTS: The local Municipal Corporation on Friday removed “rehris” at Sabzi Mandi outside Partap Bagh here. The authorities maintained that this was a must to ease vehicular traffic on the busy road.

KHAMANO
RESENTMENT: Residents of ward No 2 of Mansurpur and Badesh road areas have criticised the local administration for alleged negligence of sanitation facilities in the area and for failing to provide proper drainage facilities. Mr Rajesh Kumar and Babu Gurdial Singh said the condition of the Badesh road has become very bad. Same was the condition of the Mansurpur road. As there was no drainage facilities, stagnant water could be seen on these roads, they said. “Reminders to the local authorities had fallen on deaf ears, they added. They demanded that immediate steps should be taken to improve sanitation facilities in the area.

SCHEME LAUNCHED: A function was organised near Dholewal village by the CDPO, Khamano, with the help of the Gram Panchayat, where ‘Kanya Jagriti Jyoti’ a scheme for female children was launched. People were told about its benefits. Mr B.S. Sidhu, ADC (D), Fatehgarh Sahib, inaugurated the function. He said under the new scheme, an amount of Rs 5,000 would be deposited with LIC for the girl child. The aim was to create awareness against female foeticide. Mr Baldev Singh, Nandpur, Kalaur, SMO, Ms Harvinder Kaur, Mr Satish Kumar, (CDPOs), Ms Bhag Kaur (sarpanch) also spoke on the occasion. Pamphlets regarding the scheme were also distributed on the occasion. Ms Sukhjit Kaur and Ms Paramjit Kaur welcomed the participants.

KHARAR
GRANT RELEASED: The Punjab Government has released a grant of Rs 20 lakh for water supply, sewage and solid waste projects under the Kharar municipal limits. The cheque for these projects was presented on Saturday by the Local Bodies Minister, Mr Jagjeet Singh and the Finance Minister, Mr Lal Singh to a former President of the Kharar Municipal Committee, Mr Charanjeet Singh and the Executive Officer, Mr Tajinder Singh.

BABY SHOW: The Senior Medical Officer of the local Civil Hospital, Dr S.S. Dhanoa said a healthy baby show would be organised on December 20. Cash awards worth Rs 500 each and Rs 300 each from amongst the girl child between the age groups of 1 to 2 years would be given. The parents could get their names registered at the local Civil Hospital.

LUDHIANA
FLOWER SHOW: A flower show was organised at Small Wonders Nursery School, Ludhiana. A flower race was also organised for the kids in which they had to gather flowers put them in a basket and run.

SANKRANTI SAMAROH: A ‘sankranti samaroh’ will be held at Jain Sthanak, Sunder Nagar, on Sunday. Several saints, including Sadhvi Punit Jyotiji Maharaj, will deliver discourses from 8 am to 9.30 am on this occasion.

FUNCTION: Marriage of a poor girl was solemnised according to Hindu rites by the Dhanda Charitable Trust at Shri Dandi Swami Tapovan Ashram, Civil Lines, on Friday. Among those who blessed the newly wed were Mr Sohan Lal Dhanda, chairman of the trust, Pandit Mahanand Shastri, Pandit Kashi Nath Tripathi and Mr Umesh Joshi. Household goods were also given to the newly wed couple.

MACHHIWARA
SATSANG: Roohani satsang of Param Sant Thakur Mahraj will be organised on Monday at 11 am in the local grain market. Mr Amritpal Singh, and Mr Dharampal, president and secretary, respectively, of the local Manav Kendra Roohani Satsang, said the satsang would continue from 11 am to 1 pm and ‘naam daan’ ceremony would be performed afterwards. Over 25,000 devotees were expected to attend the satsang, they added.

CAMP: A Swaran Jayanti Rozar Yojna camp was organised here at the local Nagar Panchayat office. About 50 women volunteers were told about various plans. The one day camp was organised with the help of the Sub Urban Development Authority (SUDA). Addressing the volunteers, Mr Tejinder Singh, executive officers aid one could easily earn one’s livelihood by establishing a small-scale industry or setting up ventures like a tailoring shop boutique etc after getting a loan of Rs 50,000, including a subsidy of 15 per cent. Till now a total of Rs 7.5 lakh, excluding subsidy of Rs 1.36 lakh, had been advanced to the needy, he added. Mr D.L. Jain, a social activist, and others, including health officials, bank managers and SUDA officials, addressed the volunteers.

TRIBUTES PAID: A number of leaders of various political parties paid tributes to former president of the Machhiwara Nagar Panchayat, and Block Congress Committee, Dr Anand Swaroop Sharma at a ‘shardhanali samaroh’ held in the local community centre. Prominent among them were former speaker of Punjab Vidhan Sabha Charanjit Singh Atwal, former ministers Bal Mukand Sharma and Ishaer Singh Meharban, MP Shamsher Singh Doolon, Transport Minister Tej Parkash Singh Nagar Panchayat president Anil Sood and Block Congress president Surindre Kundra.

FORGERY CASE: The local city police has registered a case under Sections 420, 467, 471 and 120B against a document writer and three others of Johal Raju Singh village for preparing fake documents with the purpose of procuring land by fraud. A complaint in this regard was made by Harbhajan Singh and Balbir Kaur, residents of Gaggo Bua village.

HARYANA

AMBALA
ROTARY CLUB SEMINAR: Former district Governor of the Rotary Club, Mr Y.P. Das, said on Saturday that there were comparatively fewer polio cases in the northern region due to the consistent efforts of the club. Talking to mediapersons on the eve of an inter-city seminar, Mr Y.P. Das, said the most visible corporate program of the Rotary Foundation was of polio eradication. The President of the Rotary Club, Ambala, Mr Naresh Bhardwaj, said about 500 delegates from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Haryana, Uttaranchal and western Uttar Pradesh were expected to take part in the seminar.

FATEHABAD
BLOOD DONATION: A blood donation camp was organised at Government College at Bhattu Kalan in this district on Friday. The Deputy Commissioner, Dr RB Langyaan, inaugurated the camp. Students, both boys and girls, donated as many as 100 units of blood. The Deputy Commissioner distributed cardigans among poor students. These were donated by the Beopar Mandal.

KAITHAL
SCHOOL FUNCTION: Mr Ram Pal Mazra, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Haryana presided over the annual prize distribution function of Hindu Senior Secondary School here on Friday.