R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
Two injured: Mukhtiar Singh and his son Gursharan Singh, both scrap dealers, were injured in an explosion in scrap at Jethuwal village falling under the Kathunangal police station here on Thursday.

Religious exam: The Dharam Prachar Committee (DPC) of the SGPC has completed all arrangements to conduct religious examination in various schools and colleges. Mr Wariam Singh, secretary, DPC, on Thursday said as many as 175 centres had been established in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttranchal, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Meritorious students would be awarded with scholarships worth Rs 1,200 to Rs 4,000.

Action sought: In a letter to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Ms Laxmi Kanta Chawla, state vice-president of the BJP, demanded probe into the alleged beating up of Krishan Kant and Manoj Kumar, both migratory labourers, to confess role in the Phagwara bank dacoity by the police. She also expressed concern over the alleged stripping of a woman in a village in Rayya where no action had been taken against the culprits. 

Students’ demands: The National Students Union of India (NSUI) on Thursday submitted a charter of demands to Mr S.P. Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University. Mr Raj Singh, president of the union, said the VC had assured to look into their demands which included free hostel facility for the state and national level players of the university.

Bathinda
Exhibition: The Public Library here organised a four-day book exhibition to promote reading habit among youths. ADC (D) Gurkirat Kirpal Singh was the chief guest on the concluding day function on Thursday. 

Woman commits suicide: Asha Rani (25) allegedly committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance here on Thursday. The body has been handed over to her family members after the postmortem examination.

Hoshiarpur
Grant announced: Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh each to the families of persons who were gunned by down at Dholwha village, 35 km from here, on Thursday night. The minister has also announced a grant of Rs 25,000 each to the persons injured in the incident.

Case registered: On the complaint of Dr Subhash Mehta of local Arya Nagar, the police has registered a case under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC against Lokesh Kumar of local Bassi Khawaju for fraudulently selling a plot belonging to Dr Mehta.

NAWANSHAHR
Donated: A US-based NRI couple, Dr Om Parkash Gandhi and Dr Sushma Gandhi, has donated ultra-modern equipment (fracture and fragment sets) to Guru Nanak Mission Hospital, Dhahan Kaleran. Another US-based NRI businessman, Mr Johan Singh Shergill, has donated $ 1,05,000 for the construction of a trauma centre in the hospital.

Competitions: The Education Forum of the K.C. college of Education organised inter-house competitions here on Thursday. Ritu, Priti, Anuvabh, Charanjit Singh, Arti, Vikas, Ramandeep Kaur, Payal, Gagan, Harpreet Singh, Rupinder Kaur, all excelled in different competitions. Mr G.S. Bajwa, an educationist, presided over and gave away the prizes, said Dr M.P. Bhasin, principal. 

Pathankot
Annual function: The Army School, Mamun, organised its 15th annual function here on Thursday. Chairman of the school and Ms Virshpal Randhawa were the chief guests. Principal Col A.K. Khanna (retd) read the annual report of the school. Ms Randhawa gave away the prizes to the meritorious students. 

SANGRUR
Patwari held for graft: A team of the Vigilance Bureau, led by DSP Raminder Singh, on Thursday nabbed Patwari Charan Singh at Dugal village, near Dirba, while he was allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 500 from Sukhwinder Singh of Kohrian village for providing him a revenue record. A case has been registered.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Observed: Martyrdom day of Guru Teg Bahadur was observed on Thursday. A nagar kirtan was taken out from gurdwara Govind Nagar. Mr Sudarshan Singh Sahgal, president of Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, said the nagar kirtan, led by Panj Pyaras, passed through Jagadhari road, Rai Market and Sadar Bazar, before culminating at Punjabi Gurdwara Sahib.

Student missing: Akshay, a Class V student of DAV School, Jagadhari road, was missing since Thursday. Akshay’s father Pradeep Saini said when he came to the school to pick up his son and daughter in the afternoon, he found that Akshay was not there. He said on searching the school, they found his bag. He informed the school management about the incident.

Demanded: The Panun Kashmir’s state secretary, Mr J.L. Kaul, on Thursday demanded that the displaced Kashmiri migrants living in Ambala must be granted relief. Mr Kaul said the report had already been sent to the Home Department. He said Faridabad, Gurgaon and Rohtak districts were already providing relief. 

Jhajjar
Killed in mishap: One person was killed and seven injured when a Maruti car in which they were travelling collided with a truck near Rohad village on the NH No. 10 here on Wednesday. Bhim Singh (50) died on the spot while his family members, comprising Rohtas, Lalita, Babita, Narender, Devender, Bhimraj and Jai Prakash were injured seriously and referred to the PGIMS in Rohtak. A case has been registered.

Rewari
Licence cancelled: The district Food and Civil Supplies Department has cancelled the licence of three ration depots and suspended supply to four others in the district on account of alleged irregularities. As many as 578 tonne of wheat and 70 tonne of rice were also distributed at subsidised rates to the BPL cardholders, according to Deputy Commissioner Mahender Kumar.

Booked: On the complaint of Ram Rati, daughter of Sube Singh of Shahpur village near Bawal, the police has booked her husband Sanjay, father-in-law Shishpal, mother-in-law Kamlesh Devi and sister-in-law Suman, all residents of Lala village near Jatusana, for allegedly harassing her for not bringing enough dowry. A case under sections 498-A, 406, 34 of the IPC has been registered.

SONEPAT
Fire incident: A house in Khanda village, 25 km from here, was allegedly set on fire by some persons on Thursday night. A number of household goods and 50 maund of fodder were gutted in fire. A case has been registered.

Religious meet: More than 200 religious leaders will take part in a two-day religious meet to be organised by the VHP in Hardwar from December 13. The VHP has made all arrangements for the transportation of the followers.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Resented: Residents of the Suharghat area here have expressed resentment over the termination of the HRTC bus service of Nalagarh depot at 8 pm which had been running for the past 32 years. The residents urged the chief minister and the transport minister to intervene and get the night bus service resumed.

MANDI
Urged: The Citizens' Council here urged the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to direct the Cooperative and the Revenue Department to speed up the pace of recovery from the defaulters of Mandi Urban Cooperative Bank. Mr T.L. Vaidya said the recovery was at a very slow pace and the big defaulters were not being booked by the authorities. 

PARWANOO
Auction: The newly constructed HIMUDA commercial complex here along National Highway has fetched auction amount around Rs 4 crore. The HIMUDA has incurred an amount of around Rs 2.50 crore on its construction, said a senior official of the HIMUDA at Shimla office.