R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
BUDGET: The Amritsar Improvement Trust has given the go-ahead and approved the budget of Rs 3.52 crore of the trust for the year. The chairman of the trust, Mr Jugal Kishore Sharma, MLA, in a press note issued here said that Rs 5.25 lakh had been earmarked for the shifting of large transmission lines in the Ajnala road Sector-C scheme. He added that funds amounting to Rs 1.12 crore had been allocated for the construction of new roads in the Ajnala road area and Rs 97 lakh allocated for the development of the Mall Mandi scheme.

Hoshiarpur
SUCCUMBED: Kesar Singh, son of Hazara Singh of Dogarpur, succumbed to his injuries at the Civil Hospital, Garhshankar, on Monday. According to police sources, Kesar Singh was going to his village on his scooter with some goods. On the way, he lost control over the vehicle due to which it hit a truck. As a result, he fell down and got serious injuries.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Council of Junior Engineers, PSEB suburban division, Hoshiarpur: president — Mr Prem Singh; vice-president — Mr Ashish Kumar; secretary — Mr Rajiv Jaswal; joint secretary — Mr Sham Sunder; and cashier — Mr Malkiat Singh.

Malout
SEMINAR: More than 100 delegates from different institutions of Punjab and neighbouring states participated in the state-level seminar on “economic reforms: their impact on Indian economy” that was organised at local DAV College by the Department of Economics. The inaugural session of the seminar was chaired by Dr Manju Mehta, Director, Examination, DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi.

Moga
BODY FOUND: The body of a migrant labourer was found near Chuhar Chak village on Monday. The deceased, Raju, had come here on Sunday in search of employment. Sources said a vehicle hit him, killing him on the spot. A case has been registered and the body sent for a post-mortem examination.

Pathankot
REPAIR OF ROADS: Mr Rumal Chand, Chairman of the Punjab Seeds Corporation and an MLA from Narot Mehra on Monday said the repair work of the roads spread all over the border belt of the Narot Mehra Assembly segment would be done on a priority basis for which a sufficient amount had been kept in the Budget. He informed that a sum of Rs 5.70 crore had been spent on various development works in the constituency and a sum of Rs 1 crore more would be distributed among the panchayats of the constituency. Earlier, he inaugurated a Gram Sabha hall at Narote Jaimal Singh constructed at a cost of Rs 50 lakh.

DE-ADDICTION CAMP: A de-addiction camp was organised here on Tuesday by the local unit of the Prajapita Brahmakumari Vidyalaya. Mr Partap Kumar, spokesperson of the vidyalaya, said more than 60 persons were examined and given medicines free of cost.

Ropar
2 DIE IN MISHAPS: Two persons were killed in two accidents in the city here on Monday. A 56-year-old hawker, Sohan Singh, was killed when a car hit him. The car driver escaped. The police has registered a case. In another accident, one person was crushed to death by a vehicle. The police has registered a case.

Sangrur
APPOINTED: Mr Vasdev Arya, president of the Dhuri BJP Mandal, has been appointed president of the Sangrur district unit of the BJP.

OPERATIONS: One hundred and two non-scalpel vasectomy operations were performed at a special camp, organised by the Department of Health and the district administration, at the Civil Hospital here on Monday. The camp was inaugurated by Mr Husan Lal, Deputy Commissioner, Sangrur.

RAID: A joint raid by officials of the Health Department and the police was conducted at two chemist shops here on Monday. A large number of physician’s samples and drugs, allegedly being misused as intoxicants, were seized during the raid from the shops. Mr Sanjiv Kumar, Drug Inspector, Sangrur, said the raids had been conducted at the directions of the district authorities.

CHANDIGARH

Panchkula
APPOINTED: Mr Sushil Kaushal has been appointed as president of the Residents Welfare Association, Sector 4. The elections were held on Sunday and all office-bearers were elected unanimously. The other office-bearers are as follows: Mr O.P. Sharma — senior vice-president; Mr P.C. Mittal — vice-president; Mr R.P. Sharda — general secretary; Mr D.P. Kaura — finance secretary; Mr L.S. Cheema — cultural secretary; and Mr V.P. Verma — sports secretary. Five executive members are — S.S. Rathore, T.L. Kundra, Vinod Jaidka, Sutinder Trikha and Asha Sharma.

Hailed: The Haryana State Boards Corporations and Cooperative Institutions Employees Welfare Association has welcomed the promise of a corruption-free governance made by the new Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda. A meeting of the association was held on Monday under the chairmanship of Mr Dharampal Chhachhia. The employees demanded that the newly elected Chief Minister should take action against all corrupt officials and politicians.

HARYANA

Fatehabad
REMANDED: The Judicial Magistrate, Ms Ritu Y.K. Bahl, on Monday remanded six persons in judicial custody for 14 days for damaging and setting on fire three buses of Haryana Roadways near Dhangar village in this district on the intervening night of March 4 and March 5. The suspects, Krishan Bishnoi, Satpal Bishnoi, Surender Bishnoi, Chhotu Ram and Subhash Bishnoi, were arrested after the incident and booked under Sections 148, 149, 436 and 341 of the IPC.

Hisar
CENTRES: The district committee of the Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha has urged the Haryana Government to set up centres for the purchase of mustard crop at the earliest. The farmers’ body also demanded a relief of Rs 10,000 per acre for the farmers whose crops had been damaged in the recent hailstorm. Mr Dayanand Punia, district secretary of the kisan sabha, stated that though the government had fixed the minimum support price for mustard at Rs 1,700 per quintal, the farmers were forced to sell it at Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,300 per quintal.

Rewari
CASE REGISTERED: On the basis of a complaint lodged by a girl’s father, Bishambher Pandit, the Dharuhera police has registered a case of kidnapping under Sections 363, 366 of the IPC against Raj Pandey who allegedly eloped with the complainant’s teenaged daughter from Kapriwas village near Dharuhera on February 14.

Sonepat
LOOTED: Mr Balwant (70), a resident of Bichpari village, was allegedly robbed of Rs 31,000 by two unidentified youths while he was on his way to the village on Tuesday. According to a report, the accused offered him some eatables allegedly laced with some intoxicants and when he became unconscious, they took away cash from him. The victim was referred to the PGIMS, Rohtak in an unconscious condition. No arrest has been made so far in this regard.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Hamirpur
STRIKE: Working in all 30 branches of Punjab National Bank in the district came to a standstill on Monday following a strike by employees in protest against the dilution of government’s equity capital in public sector banks, increase of private capital, allowing foreign direct investment to the extent of 74 per cent of capital in private banks and unwanted merger of public sector banks. The employees raised slogans in favour of their demands and decided to hold a march to Parliament on March 11.

Nalagarh
DETECTED: Nearly 41 cases of unfair means have been detected by a flying squad led by the SDM, Rupali Thakur in Nalagarh subdivision. The squad has directed the centre superintendents to ensure that girl students were also thoroughly checked for the possession of any copying material.