R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
Annual fair: A number of Punjabi singers participated in the annual fair held in the memory of Haji Mohammad, father of noted Sufi poet Hashim Shah, at his native village Jagdev Kalan on Wednesday. Gurmit Bawa, Tarwinder Sidhu, Babali Brar and other singers sang traditional Punjabi songs. Mr Jagbir Singh Gill, a member of the administrative committee of fair, said people thronged the venue in large number.

Cops attacked: The Civil Lines police has booked Raj Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Yash Paul, Ramesh Kumar, and Vipan Kumar for allegedly trying to grab a piece of land. A case under Sections 447, 452, 457, 506 and 148 of the IPC has been registered against them. Police sources said the accused had also attacked the police team that had gone to arrest the accused here on Wednesday.

Fazilka
ELECTED: Mr Davinder Sachdeva and Ms Asha Rani were elected senior vice-president and junior vice-president, respectively, of the Congress-led Municipal Council here on Thursday.

CRUSHED TO DEATH: Ramesh Babbar (52), an employee of the Food Corporation of India, posted in Jalalabad, was crushed to death by a truck on Wednesday, on the Fazilka-Jalalabad road. Ramesh is survived by a son and two daughters. 

Hoshiarpur
Road repair: The action committee of Bharwain Road at its meeting held under the presidentship of Mr Vinod Sharma, advocate, urged the district authorities to repair the Bharwain road from the post office to Bajrang Chowk before the Sawan Ashtmi fair, failing which the residents would start a hunger strike. In a press note, Mr Vinod Sharma said the road was damaged badly. Heavy traffic was regularly flowing towards Himachal Pradesh on this road but the authorities had not taken any step to repair it, he said.

HARYANA

Jhajjar
COUPLE ARRESTED: The district police has arrested a middle-aged couple living in the town for the past one month. The woman, who had eloped with her paramour, was a mother of four children. According to police sources, the woman was a resident of Khorda village in Rewari while man hails from Dohla village in Gurgaon district.

1 DIES IN MISHAP: One person was killed and his son seriously injured when truck collided with their motor cycle at a roundabout in Bahadurgarh on Wednesday. According to sources, the deceased was identified as Maha Singh, a resident of Desalpur village. The driver of the truck fled from the spot.

Panipat
Crushed to death: Two women of Karnal were crushed to death by an Army truck while they were crossing a road here on Thursday. The incident took place in the afternoon when the three women, unaware of the presence of an Army truck, coming from right, reached the middle of the road. As the truck, which was on way from Meerut to Solan, came near them, Roshani and Chhana tried to cross the road and were killed on the spot. Omvati escaped unhurt. The women had come here to attend the funeral procession of a relative.

Sonepat
COLONIES REGULARISED: The Haryana Government has regularised seven residential colonies of Kharkhauda town in this district with immediate effect. According to a report, these colonies include Mahabir Colony, Shastri Colony, Prem Nagar Colony and Gurukul Wali Gali. These colonies have come under the control of the Kharkhauda Municipal Committee.

SCRIBES HURT: Two Punjab journalists of a national daily were seriously injured when their car was hit by a truck on the GT Road near Bahalgarh chowk here last evening, police sources said. They are Surjeet Singh and Shyam Sharma and they belong to Phagwara.

2 COMMIT SUICIDE: Following family quarrels, two housewives allegedly committed suicide by consuming an insecticide here on Wednesday, the police said.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
TWO BOOKED: Two persons were booked by the police in a drive against begging at Naina Devi temple here on Wednesday. The district police chief, Mr Chander Shekhar, said the drive had been launched in the district, particularly near holy shrines.

Dharamsala
Class XII result declared: Results of Class XII examinations conducted by the Himachal Pradesh Education Board of School was declared here this evening. Students can access official website of the board (http://hpeducationboard.nic.in) for result. It will also be available at (hpresults.nic.in), said a pressnote of the board.

PROPOSALS HAILED: Hailing the new Budget proposals of the state government, chairman of the HP Board of School Education, Mr B.R. Rahi, said construction of over 10,500 classrooms under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan in middle schools by the year 2007 would bring positive changes in education. He also appreciated the move of the state government to generate employment for over 95,000 persons.

Mandi
BUDGET CRITICISED: The district BJP chief, Mr Dile Ram, former minister Thakur Rup Singh and BJP media in charge in a statement on Wednesday criticised the Budget and said it was a document of contradictions. The BJP leaders pointed out earlier the Congress was opposed to economic reforms, but now was shifting its stand.