R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
ROTARY DELEGATION: An eight-member delegation of American Rotary International Club visited Guru Nanak Dev University on Tuesday. It was led by Mr Paul Anderson. The delegation was informed about the admission pattern, various courses and academic facilities.

EXHIBITION: A joint exhibition, “Panchrang”, by five eminent artists of the city opened here on Wednesday. As many as 25 recent paintings of artists Mala Chawla, Bhupinder Nanda, Atul Mehra, Kulwant Gill and Dharminder Sharma were exhibited.

Hoshiarpur
CASE REGISTERED: On a complaint of Jaswinder Singh, Forest Range Officer, Dasuya, the police has registered a case under Section 136, 353, 332, 148, 149 of the IPC and Section 51, 52, 53 of the Wild Life Reservation Act against Ravjish Kumar alias Billu and Ashvani, both of Ballagon, and certain unidentified persons for beating up Balkar Singh, driver of the department on Tuesday.

THEFT: Jaswinder Singh of Shamchaurasi allegedly stole a Bajaj Chetak scooter PBN-5998 of Ram Singh of Noorpur on Tuesday when he went to the fields after parking the scooter on the road. He was going to Shamchaurasi from his village on scooter.

Rally: The District Transport Department in collaboration with the District Education Department organised a rally of students at the local Zila Parishad ground in connection with the 15th Road Safety Week celebrations here on Tuesday. Mr Kirandeep Singh Bhullar, Deputy Commissioner, Hoshiarpur, flagged off the rally.

THREE HELD: The police has arrested three persons who allegedly committed a theft in an electronics shop on the night intervening January 5 and 6 at Kot Fatuhi, within 24 hours after the occurrence of the crime. Mr Lok Nath Angra, SSP, Hoshiarpur, said here on Wednesday that the police had arrested Gurdip Singh, Hardev Singh and Ranjit Singh, all residents of Kot Fatuhi, and recovered stolen goods from them.

Jalandhar
INJURED: At least 12 persons, including two women were injured when a Punjab Roadways bus overturned near Wariayana village on the Jalandhar-Kapurthala road here on Wednesday. According to the police, the driver of the bus lost control over the vehicle near Wariayana village leading to the accident.

Ludhiana
Eye Bank: The Punarjot Eye Bank, Punjab in association with the Lions Club, Ludhiana Skipper, organised an interaction programme at its head office in BRS Nagar in which Baba Jaspal Singh of Chairman, Bhai Ghaniya Ji Mission, was the chief guest. The Lions Club, Ludhiana Skipper, sponsored the surgical expenses of six patients. Mr H.K.Ahuja, Mr A.K.Datta, Mr D.P.Singh, Mr Subhash Gupta, Dr Bhupinder Singh, Mr Ashok Juneja and Mr Karan Singh were present on the occasion.

Mandi Gobindgarh
Woollens distributed: The Morning Walk Club of Salana village distributed woollens among 50 needy students at a function at Government Secondary School, Salana, near here, on Wednesday. Staff members of the school too contributed from their salaries for woollens to 70 students. 

Bus Stand: The local municipal council chief, Mr Joginder Pal Singla, stated in a press note here on Thursday that Chaudhry Jagjeet Singh, Minister for Local Government, labour and employment, would inaugurate the newly constructed modern block of the local bus stand and water supply tube well at Ward No.10 and would lay the foundation stone of a modern park near PWD rest house on Saturday.

Pathankot
TENDERS: The local unit of the Shiv Sena has urged the state government to direct the Municipal Council authorities here to revoke the tenders issued on January 2 for the development works to be carried out in the city. Mr Sunil Kumar Kanotra, president of the local unit of the Shiv Sena, alleged here on Wednesday that the council had issued tenders forms to selected and favourite contractors to protect vested interests.

SAMRALA
Salaries: The teachers of Tehsil Samrala 2-Block Education Office have not been paid salaries for December, 2003, according to Mr Kulwant Singh Tark, president of the Democratic Employees Front, here on Thursday. Mr Tark, while talking to mediapersons, said that the BEO Samrala-2 retired in November, 2003. No officer received DDO powers from the District Education Office, Ludhiana. 

Tarn Taran
BODY FOUND: Within a period of less than five days, the Patti police recovered the body of one more unclaimed infant from the area on Tuesday night.

FLAGGED OFF: Mr S.K. Sharma, Inspector-General of Police (Border Range), flagged off a convoy of 25 motor cycles and two mobile vans here on Tuesday as part of the Road Safety Week celebrations.

CHANDIGARH

Panchkula
Elected: Mr B.B. Singel was elected president of the West Mandal of the BJP here on Thursday. At a meeting presided over by the local unit president, Mr Baldev Nayyar, it was resolved to prepare the party workers for the coming Lok Sabha poll, according to party sources. 

Visited: The president of the local Municipal Council(MC), Ms Seema Chaudhary, on Thursday visited the Sector 7 Market. According to the president of the Market Welfare Association, Mr B.B. Kochhar, the shopkeepers demanded the construction of a ladies’ toilet in the market besides regulation of the traffic. A proper cleaning of the backside of the market and recarpeting of the roads was also demanded by the shopkeepers, Mr Kochhar added.

HARYANA

AMBALA
ASPHYXIATION: The bodies of two Army personnel of the 501 AD unit who died of Asphyxiation in an Army quarters at Ambala Cantt two days ago, would be sent to their native villages in Bihar and Utranchal by an Army plane from Delhi on Friday. According to official sources, the bodies would be sent to Delhi by road through an Army vehicle on Friday morning. Deceased Lance Naik Amlesh Kumar belonged to Begu in Bihar while Havildar Mohinder Rawat was a resident of Vikas Nagar in Uttaranchal. The Army personnel went to their quarters after attending a function two days ago. On the next day, some colleagues noticed that smoke was coming out from their room, When the door was opened the two personnel were found lying unconscious. A coal furnace was also found in the room. They were taken to the military hospital, where they were declared brought dead. OC

MEETING: A meeting of the Senior Citizens Welfare Council was held here on Tuesday. The meeting was presided over by Mr Sushil Malhotra. A number of issues pertaining to senior citizens were discussed at the meeting. TNS

Bhiwani
SAINIK DURBAR: In order to resolve the problems of ex-servicemen, the ex-servicemen cell of the Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party will hold a “sainik durbar” at Bhiwani district. An administrative officer of the district would also be present in these durbars to be organised in all nine blocks of the district. This was disclosed by the state president of the BJP ex-serviceman cell, Col Brahmanad (retd), at a press conference here on Wednesday.

Fatehabad
MEETING: A meeting of the District Grievances and Public Relations Committee will be held here on January 9. Mr Dhirpal Singh, Revenue and Rural Development Minister, Haryana, will preside. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Mehtab Singh Sahrawat, told mediapersons that the minister would also preside over a meeting of officers on the same day. He would review the progress of the implementation of the 15-point programme, the 20-point programme, the sarva shiksha abhiyaan, the Food and Supplies Committee, the District Road Safety Committee and some other committees. He said 10 cases pertaining to various departments would be placed for their redressal at the meeting.

CAR TAKEN AWAY: Three criminals forcibly took away a Tata Indica car from its driver near Dariyapur village in this district on the night intervening Tuesday and Wednesday. The accused decamped with the vehicle under cover of darkness. The police has registered a case on the complaint of the driver.

HISAR
ALLEGATION: Mr Ajay Chautala, MP, and a son of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, on Wednesday alleged that the BJP-led government at the Centre was discriminating against Haryana in providing funds for development works. Talking to mediapersons here on Wednesday, he demanded the Centre should issue a white paper giving details of funds provided to all states in the country. He alleged that Haryana was not getting its due share from the Centre.

ILLICIT LIQUOR: The local police on Wednesday recovered 10000 pouches and 1344 bottles of illicit liquor from an oil tanker here. According to a police spokesman, Sunil Kumar of the local Sundar Nagar was carrying the liquor in his oil tanker when a police team, on a tip-off, stopped the vehicle here and recovered the liquor. The police has registered a case after arresting him.

CHARAS: The local police on Wednesday arrested one person and recovered 120 gm of charas from his possession. A police spokesman said here on Wednesday that a police party, on a tip-off, had raided the house of Raj Kumar in Brahampuri Colony and recovered the contraband. A case has been registered against him in this connection.