R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
POLICE CRITICISED: The PWD Field and Workshop Workers Union on Saturday criticised the police for ‘torturing’ Ramesh Kumar of Dangarkhera village in connection with the investigation into a theft case. It demanded a high-level inquiry into the case and the transfer of the SHO of the police station.

REMAND EXTENDED: The police remand of Rajesh Kumar, Charanjit Singh and Gurpreet Singh, members of a gang nabbed last week, has been extended as police parties from Haryana and Rajasthan arrived here on Friday to interrogate them in connection with cases of loot and theft committed in these states.

STRAY DOGS: Stray dog menace in Chuhriwala Dhanna village here has caused a scare among the residents. In a complaint, the panchayat on Friday said three goats had been eaten up by the stray dogs and two cows had been targeted.

WOMAN STABBED: Seema Rani of Bhagwanpura was stabbed with a sharp-edged weapon by two unidentified youths at her house here on Friday night. She was admitted to the local civil hospital.

Amritsar
BIGAMY CASE: Mr Amarjit Singh of Bhiwani Nagar here was booked on the charge of bigamy on Friday. He and other family members were booked in a dowry case.

BSF JAWAN BOOKED: A BSF jawan was booked on Thursday night for the theft of arms. K. Dharamraj of the 132nd Battalion had reportedly stolen a 9 mm pistol, 70 cartridges and two magazines from the ammunition store.

BANGLADESHI HELD: The police nabbed Jamail, a Bangladesh national, here on Friday. A case under the Foreigners Act and the Passport Act was registered against him.

Faridkot
ACTION SOUGHT: The anti-corruption board of the Punjab Beopar Mandal has demanded stern action against two Excise and Taxation Officers of Bathinda district for harassing traders. In a letter to the Chief Minister, it has charged the officers with demanding gratification from at least 20 businessmen of the area to get their work done.

Fatehgarh Sahib
LEGAL SERVICES DAY: A seminar and a special Lok Adalat will be organised at Govt School Chanarthal Kalan on Sunday on the occasion of ‘Legal Services Day’. Mrs Neelam Arora, Civil Judge, Senior Division, Mr Mohinder Pal, District and Sessions Judge, will preside over the function and Mr S.K. Ahluwalia, Deputy Commissioner, and Mr Shiv Kumar, SSP, will also address the function.

RICE MILLERS: The rice millers and labourers of the FCI storage depot, Bassi Pathana town, are facing harassment due to inadequate quality control staff at the technical assistant level. The shortage of staff is causing financial loss not only to the millers but also to the FCI as the rice dumped in the godowns is lying in open. According to the millers, though there are two assistant managers (depot) and one quality control but only one technical assistant to handle and check the quality of rice of 12 rice millers.

Hoshiarpur
SEMINAR: A seminar on ‘Cancer — personal habits and changing lifestyles’ was organised at the local civil hospital here on Friday. Dr Yogesh Chander Markan, Civil Surgeon, said one out of every 12 Indians was likely to suffer from some form of cancer.

POLL LISTS: Claims and objections for the summary revision of electoral lists will be received from November 17 to December 8. The disposal of claims will be done on January 15.

Jalandhar
NODAL AGENCY: The Punjab Medical Council will work as a nodal agency between patients and doctors. This was stated by Dr Yash Kumar Sharma, a nominated member of the council, here on Friday.

LUDHIANA
SCHOOL MAGAZINE: The first issue of the school magazine of Alpine International Senior Secondary School, Barewal, was released here by Pandit Brij Mohan on Friday. Ms Rajeshwari Dhir, Principal of the school, teachers and students were present on the occasion. A cultural programme was also presented by students.

CONTEST: United India Insurance Company Limited observed Vigilance Awareness Week from November 3 to 8. As a part of celebration a declamation contest was organised on the topic “Probity in Public Service, vis-a-vis corruption-free society’. The employees who stood first, second and third in the contest were Mr Arun Kalia, Mr R.R. Sodhi, and Mr A.K. Minocha (all from Ludhiana). They were given prizes. Mr Suresh Chander Vatsyan presided over the function.

CARNIVAL: Computer Carnival-2003, a three-day event of inter-school contests relating to computers, will begin at Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, Sarabha Nagar on Monday. Stating this in a press note, Sister Helima, Principal of the school, said Cyber Splendour, a painting contest, would be held on the opening day. On the second day, a declamation contest and competitions in programming would be held. On the final day multi-media presentation contest would be held. It would be followed by prize distribution ceremony.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Consumer Forum: A seminar on consumer forum was held at MDSD Girls College, Ambala City on Friday. The seminar was organised by the social science society of the college, in collaboration with the Urban Estate Consumer Protection Council. Consumer rights and remedies under the Consumer Protection Act were discussed. Mr R.S. Sharma was the chief guest.

EXCISE RAID: A team of Central Excise officials on Saturday conducted a raid at a scientific instrument unit. The unit was sealed off after the raid began. The Excise Officials have sought details for the past two years.

ILLEGAL COLONIES: The Federation of Welfare Societies/associations has sought that the issue of unauthorised colonies be settled at the earliest. A communique addressed to Haryana Minister, Mr Subhash Goyal, said the municipal council was collecting house tax, fire tax from these colonies but no development was being done as these colonies had been declared unauthorised.

Fatehabad
COMPLETED: Work on 700 projects out of the 791 projects announced by the Chief Minister during the first phase of his ‘Sarkar Aapke Dwar’ programmes in the district have been completed, according to the district administration. Work on 777 out of the 1,132 projects announced during the second phase and 215 out of the 1,091 projects announced during the third phase have also been completed.

CONTEST: The police organised a declamation contest for children on eradication of corruption here on Saturday. The school Principal, teachers and prominent persons were present.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
WATER SUPPLY: Ms Gabhru Devi of Pehadwin-Changer village, near here, the widow of freedom fighter Jairam, has drawn the attention of the Chief Minister and the Irrigation and Public Health Minister towards the fact that her four representations to them, apart from representations to local officials concerned, have been of no avail. She has not been getting drinking water supply in her tap.

Chamba
PAY HIKE SOUGHT: Mr Dharam Singh Pathania, a former Salooni block chairman, on Saturday requested the government to enhance the remuneration of special police officers deployed along the borders in Chamba district. In a press note, he urged the government to increase their salary from Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000.

Dharamsala
DEATH MOURNED: The Central Administration of Tibet on Thursday mourned the death of Kyabje Bakula Rinpoche. Rich tributes were paid to the deceased and a statement of condolence was issued.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE: The Bharat Tibet Sahyog Manch will hold its first annual delegates’ conference on November 15 and 16. A stretegy for accelerating the efforts for public awareness will be finalised and an action plan for the next year will be presented.