R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
AWARDS: The Rotary Club, Amritsar cantonment, on Thursday presented vocational awards to people who have excelled in their profession. The president of the club, Dr Ashok Tully, said the awardees included Dr K.S. Sidhu, cardiac thorasic surgeon, local Government Medical College, Mr Dilbagh Singh, DIG, Srinagar, and Dr Harbhajan Singh Bhatia, Punjabi writer and critic.

Gurdaspur
MANAGER HELD: The Punjab Vigilance arrested Prem Singh, Manager of Central Cooperative Bank, Narot Jaimal Singh branch, on the charges of corruption on Thursday. The DSP, Vigilance, said Prem Singh, who was under suspension, passed loans worth Rs 70 lakh in violations of the rules during 2001-2002. A case was registered. In another case, the vigilance team arrested Baldev Singh, a Patwari posted at Mari Buchian village, on Thursday. He was arrested on the complaint of Jaswant Singh. The vigilance team laid a trap and caught the Patwari accepting Rs 500 as bribe from the complaint. A case has been registered.

Jalandhar
COMPLAINT: The District Congress Committee has alleged that two Excise and Taxation Officers have taken lakhs of rupees from a city-based trader for doing him favours. Mr Sanjay Sehgal, vice-president of the committee and member of the Sales Tax Advisory Committee, has already sent a complaint to the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, and the Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Punjab, and demanded a probe against the two ETOs.

Ludhiana
Cars launched: Ford Fusion, an Urban Activity Vehicle, was launched by Ford India in the city on Friday. It is priced at Rs 6.20 lakh, it has the solidity and robustness of an SUV and luxury qualities. It comes in two versions-Fusion and Fusion Plus-will be available from December onwards. It is powered by a 1.6 litre duratec 16 valve DOHC, 101ps, all aluminium engine. Fusion is priced at Rs 6.20 lakh, Fusion Plus comes for Rs 6.95 lakh, ex-showroom Ludhiana. 

BLOOD CAMP: A blood donation camp was held at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital here on Thursday by the NCC. Fifteen boys and girls cadets donated blood said Wg. Cdr. V.B. Sethi.

Eye check-up camp: The Maa Bhagwati Club and the Bharat Vikas Parishad jointly organised an eye-check up camp near Dandi Swami Temple here, on Friday. Mr Avinash Sikka, president of the Bhagwati Club, said 175 patients were checked for various eye ailments by Dr Ashok Gupta.

Zirakpur
play staged: The Primary wing of Dikshant International School, Zirakpur, staged a play, “The Fantastic Mr Fox”, on the school premises on Wednesday evening. Directed by Ian Bozinovski, guest faculty from the Republic of Macedonia, more than 45 children participated in the play.

HARYANA

Fatehabad
Power station: The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam has completed the setting up of a new 33 KV power sub-station at Raipur village in the district. The nigam has also doubled the capacity of the 33 KV power substation situated at Ajit Nagar.

Hisar
Demands: The Congress MP from Hisar, Mr Jai Prakash, has sought a White Paper from the Haryana government on the amount spent on raising busts and memorials at various places in the state. He said this while attending a felicitation ceremony organised in his honour by the District Bar Association here on Thursday. On the occasion, the president of the Bar Association, Mr Jaimal Singh, submitted a charter of demands to Mr Jai Prakash.

Kaithal
APPOINTED: The Central Government has appointed two advocates, Dalbir Singh Punia and Satya Veer Ravash of Kaithal, as Additional Standing Counsel for conducting the Central Government cases (other than the cases of Income Tax and Railway Departments) and the cases filed against public officers while in service of the Central Government before District Subordinate Courts, Consumer Forum and Tribunals. The appointments have been made for three years or until further orders.

WORK SUSPENDED: The advocates of the District Courts have decided to keep the work in the courts here suspended on November 26. Mr Ranbir Parashar, president, District Bar, said on Thursday the decision had been taken to facilitate the advocates to attend Gurpurb celebrations, as the High Court had not declared any holiday on Friday.

Rewari
Sanitation drive: As many as 60 boy scouts and girl guides of the Railway High School organised a pro-sanitation drive at the station here on Wednesday.

Sonepat
INJURED: Three members of a marriage party were injured when a Maruti van carrying the baraatis collided with a bus near the Delhi border, about 25 km from here, on Thursday. According to a report, injured were admitted to a private hospital at Kundli village where they were discharged after the first aid.

ARRESTED: The police on Thursday arrested Anil, a youth of Braham Nagar on the charge of keeping contraband charas and registered a case under the NDPS Act against him. According to another report, the Civil Lines police arrested Prem under the Excise Act following the seizure of country liquor from his possession.

BODY FOUND: The Government Railway Police (GRP) found the body of an unidentified woman (50) lying on the railway track near the Hindu College railway crossing here on Thursday. The body was sent for a post-mortem examination.

GAMBLERS HELD: The Kundli police raided a gambling den near Kundli village, about 25 km from here, on Thursday and arrested five persons. The arrested persons were identified as Roshan, Narendra, Mahak, Baliram and Harish Chander, all residents of Delhi.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Dharamsala
Grievance: Residents of Rajgarh village in Dehra subdivision are facing inconvenience due to the poor condition of the road passing through the village. Repeated requests to the district administration for the repair of the road have fallen on deaf ears. Prem Singh Rana, a senior citizen of the village, said the road deteriorated during rains and lacked streetlights, making it difficult for people to move out after dusk.

Kumarhatti
booked: A private bus owner has been booked for allegedly beating up and threatening two persons near Gamberpul under Arki police station. According to Mr Giri Raj of Viran village, he along with his friend Rajiv was going towards Kunihar in a van (HP-11-4611) when a private bus (HP-11-7503) blocked their way. The bus owner, Man Singh, along with the driver of the bus forcibly took the two in the bus to an isolated place, where they allegedly beat them up. Before fleeing, the attackers also took away Rs 700 and 1,100 from Giri Raj and Rajiv, respectively. A case under Sections 341, 382 and 34, IPC, has been registered.

Mandi
Procession: Workers and activists of CITU held a procession against the government and demanded immediate withdrawal of hike in the prices of oil and petroleum products here on Wednesday. The activists carrying banners asked the state government to take back the MoU on fiscal reforms that it had signed with the Centre.

Demand: The HP Urban Local Bodies Employees Federation on Wednesday alleged that the employees of the state had been suffering for the past four years since the government had not fulfilled their demands. Mr Kuldip Thakur, general secretary of the association, alleged that the employees were not getting their pension as the government had not deposited the money with the welfare funds of the local bodies. Also, employees were not getting and monthly salaries in time, he added.