R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
Action sought against Principal: Students of Khalsa College on Monday urged Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar Akal Takht, to take action against Dr Daljit Singh, Principal, Khalsa College, for alleged removal of turbans of protesting students. In a letter to the Punjab State Human Rights Commission, district police chief and Deputy Commissioner, the complainants alleged that inhuman treatment was meted out to the students. They were supporting former students of the college who were denied admission this year by the academic council of the college.

BATALA
3 motor cycles recovered: The Senior Superintendent of Police, Dr Jitendra Jain, said here on Monday that Sarabjit Singh, alias Sabu, a resident of Begowal village, had been arrested at a naka near Thind Dhariwal and a motor cycle (PB-10A-2187) which was stolen from Fatehgarh Sahib was recovered from him. During the investigation two more motor cycles were recovered from his possession.

HOSHIARPUR
Inaugurated: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr D.K. Tiwari, inaugurated a project for lighting the Hoshiarpur-Dharamsala road here on Sunday. The function was organised at the premises of Apollo Fibres Limited. The total cost on the project is about Rs 12 lakh. Mr Dipankar Ganguly, Managing Director of Apollo Fibres, said the company would provide an ambulance facility free of cost in coordination with the local administration. 

Case registered: A case of duping of Rs 9 lakh has been reported to the Tanda police. In a complaint, Mr Hardeep Singh of Daburji village alleged that Jaswant Kaur, wife of Bachan Singh, and Balwinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh of Bishnu Garden, New Delhi, duped him of Rs 9 on the pretext of sending him abroad. They neither sent him abroad nor returned his money.

Compensation demanded: Mr Tikshan Sud, leader of the BJP legislature group in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, and other BJP leaders expressed concern over the drought-like situation in the Kandi area of the district. In a press note here on Tuesday, Mr Sud said the entire crops had been badly damaged. He demanded a special girdawri of the Kandi area and asked for compensation to farmers. He said if the compensation was not given, he would raise this issue in the state Assembly.

JALANDHAR
Illicit liquor recovered: Certain drug peddlers fled leaving behind as many as eight cases of illicit liquor and 20 grams of smack after a police party raided their alleged hideout at Qazi Mandi here on Monday. Two alleged drug peddlers have been booked.

Saplings donated: Launching a go green drive of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) and the Focal Point Industrial Association (FPIA), Mr Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Chairman of the PPCB, distributed as many as 1001 plants of various kinds among 500 industrialists of the focal point area here on Monday. Mr Bajwa suggested that each industrial unit owner should grow more plants.

PATIALA
Power cuts: Electricity supply will stay shut in Pratap Nagar, Kaka Colony, Kaler Colony, Gurdarshan Nagar, Majithia Enclave, Centuary Enclave, Bharat Nagar and Dhamo Majra on September 14 from 10 am to 2 pm due to repair work. 

Delegation: A delegation of the Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Employees Federation, Punjab, led by Mr Amrik Singh Bangar met the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Tejvir Singh. The delegation handed over a charter of their demands. 

Ropar
Man sentenced: Pawan Kumar, a resident of Rewari, has been sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment under the NDPS Act by a local court. 

CHANDIGARH

Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Senior Citizens’ Council : president — Mr Amrit Lal; vice-president — Mr Hukam Singh; secretary-general — Mr S.D. Kalia; finance secretary — Mr Nand Kishore; and joint secretary — Mr M.S. Sidhu.

Sanskrit divas celebrated: Sanskrit divas was celebrated at Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, here, on Tuesday. The function was inaugurated by the principal, Dr Harinder Jit Kaur She discussed the importance of the language in the modern age. A paper reading contest on the topic relevance of sanskrit in modern times was also organised. Tanuja and Kamlesh got the I st prize, Sarita Malikgot the 2nd and Anu Thakur got the 3rd prize.

Workshop held: A five days workshop was organised by the State Institute of Education, Sector 32, for the teachers of Social Studies to construct the question bank and sample papers for class 10th in the subject.

Camp organised: A safe blood donation and youth motivation camp was organised by the Blood Bank Society, Sector 37, at Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector 36, here on Tuesday. Ms Niti Sareen and Ms Veeneta Sahni clarified the myths about blood donation.

Interactive session: Intelliquest, Sector 17, on Tuesday conducted an interactive session of the students aspiring for IITs/AIEEE/PMT. Dr K.C. Sinha from Patna, Prof D.C. Pandey and Prof Avinash Aggarwal spoke on the occasion. 

HARYANA

KAITHAL
Plot-holders compensated: The District Consumer Forum on Monday issued directions to HUDA to provide basic amenities to the plot-holders of Mandi township, Pundri, after holding HUDA guilty of failing in this regard. HUDA had charged possession interest and imposed fine on the plot-holders for failing to construct houses by December 2003. The forum has given directions to refund this amount with interest and pay Rs 3,000 as compensation for litigation expenses. The HUDA authorities have been instructed to comply with the orders within a month. 

PANIPAT
Registration of case demanded: The Pragatisheel Mahila Sangthan (PMS) has demanded registration of a criminal case against a teacher who had allegedly molested a girl student of Class IX a few days ago. In a memorandum submitted to the Deputy Commissioner, the president of the district unit of the PMS, Ms Asha Kapoor, alleged that the mathematics teacher of Government High School, Bhadar, Mr Lakhpat Singh had molested a girl student on September 1.

SONEPAT
Farmers’ convention: The Haryana unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) will conduct a convention of farmers on September 30 at Ganaur in protest against the anti-farmer policies of the state government. This was announced by Mr Hari Singh Khokhar, president of the state unit of the BKU. He urged the state government to declare the entire state as drought-hit and provide relief to the affected farmers.

Residents protest: The gram panchayats of Jatola, Saidpur, Firozpur Bangar and Rampur Kundai on Sunday lodged a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner that the canal water in Jatola distributory was not reaching their fields as they were situated at the end of the distributory. In another incident, residents of Guhnay village alleged irregularities in the recent survey of families living below the poverty line in their village for issuing yellow ration cards .

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Customer contact programme: Punjab National Bank organised a customer contact programme and retail lending camp here on Monday under the chairmanship of the Chief Manager of Mandi region, Mr H.C. Kapoor. The Loan Manager, Mandi region, Mr M.K. Jain, explained various bank-schemes to the gathering. 

Cement freight: The general house of the Bilaspur District Truck Operators Cooperative Society on Monday unanimously authorised its executive committee to decide on any course of action regarding increase in freight charges of cement.

DHARAMSALA
Academic meet: The need for guidelines to protect doctors from unnecessary harassment was the topic of discussion at a professional academic meet organised by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) here on Sunday. Dr Swatantra Mahajan, spokesman of IMA, said specialists from different fields also spoke about the latest advances in their areas of specialisation. 

MANDI
Vacant posts: The HP Medical Officers’ Association thanked the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, for fulfilling their demands. The association also requested him to fill the 18 posts of doctor and 14 posts of ward boy in zonal hospitals. 

SUNDERNAGAR
Life sentence: The presiding officer, fast track court, Mandi, has convicted Uttam Chand, a resident of Mr Rathol, for committing the murder of Mr Mali Ram in 2003 and sentenced him to life-imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000.