R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

• Regional potpourri

PUNJAB

Obscene posters: Students on Saturday raised their voice against pasting of obscene film posters during a seminar on road safety at DAV College here. They regretted that the administration had not taken any action against the cinema owners who violated prohibitory orders issued by the District Magistrate. The students observed that such posters displayed on both sides of the main road diverted the attention of drivers of two-wheelers and led to accidents. They also resented that the Municipal Council had not provided sodium vapour lamps on poles on the busy college road. The council had not created zebra crossings outside educational institutions located on the important roads of this subdivisional town, they alleged. ADTO Gurcharan Singh Sandhu promised that all problems would be taken up with the SDM, SSP and the Executive Officer of the Municipal Council on Monday.

Jalandhar
Nurse found dead: A 57-year-old old woman, working as a nurse in ESI Hospital, was on Sunday found dead in her apartment situated inside the hospital premises here. The body was discovered by the deceased’s son. He has told the police that family members had not been able to contact her for some days. The police said the woman might have died after consuming excess liquor.

One arrested: The police on Sunday arrested a person for carrying a kilogram of charas. The accused, Birju, was held in Amrik Singh Nagar here by a police patrol team, led by Inspector Sukha Singh, the in-charge of division number 8.

Rs 20,000 stolen: A suitcase containing Rs 20,000 and some important documents was stolen from a Wagon R parked outside a restaurant here on Sunday. Mr Paramjit Singh, a resident of Beas, said he found the locks of his car broken and the suitcase missing after he returned from the restaurant in fifteen to twenty minutes. He then got an FIR registered at the Chaheru police station.

Motorcycle rally: The Corps of Signals would mark its 13th reunion as well as the 95th anniversary on February 15th here. As part of the celebrations, a motorcycle rally would be taken out from Udhampur to Jabalpur. The teams are scheduled to arrive in Hoshiarpur on January 10. The rally, being organised by the Vajra Corps Signal Regiment, would be flagged off on January 11, a press release said on Sunday.

Kapurthala
Power cut: Residents here had to do without power supply for most part of the day on Sunday. When contacted, Mr K.D. Parti, Deputy Chief Engineer, Electricity Board, said there was some fault in the 132 KV transformer installed near Aujla railway crossing. He said the fault would be rectified by Monday.

Ludhiana
NICK TV: Starting January, Nick, the TV channel for kids is available as a 24-hour Hindi Language service for the city. It will start a local production Dum Duma Dum- a Nick’s family gameshow that combines physical challenges with skill, knowledge and mental application Also India’s most popular alien can now be seen every week day at 6 pm. The programme is titled ‘J Bole Toh Jadoo’.A part of MTV Network, Nickelodeon is a entertainment channel. 

Retired: Prominent educationist and senior lecturer at Government Inservice Training Centre (GITC) Sarabjeet Kaur retired after serving 33 years in the Punjab Education Department. She was given a warm farewell by the Principal and the staff of the Government Inservice Training Centre, GITC. Principal Gurdeep Kaur lauded the services of Ms Sarabjeet Kaur. She also appreciated the contribution of Ms Sarabjeet Kaur in highlighting the role of “inservice training” for government teachers. Senior lecturer Sudesh Bajaj, lecturer Shashi Trehan, lecturer H.S. Manocha and lecturer Davinder Singh Chhina also spoke on the occasion.

HARYANA

Bhiwani
College wall magazine: To enhance creativity among students, the English department of the local Government College has started a wall magazine in its library. While inaugurating the magazine, the college Principal, Dr Balbir Singh, said students should learn both structural and functional aspects of a language. he advised the English department to continue this work and change the articles frequently. Senior lecturer Dr Satish Arya informed that Monika, Sheetal (MA final), and Sarina and Sapna (MA previous) would be on the editorial board along with two young lecturers, Mr Randhir Singh and Ms Vibha Dahiya.

Rewari
Abduction case: A young man, working at a brick-kiln at Hussainpur village, near here, allegedly eloped with a teenaged daughter of his co-worker recently. It is stated that the girl’s father, Vijay Kumar, a resident of Bachhini village in Mahendergarh district, made hectic efforts to trace his missing daughter but without any success. On Saturday he made a complaint to the Rampura police here which has registered a case of abduction against the accused, Azad, a resident of Java Bijna village in Bhiwani district.

RNC function held: Several hundred activists, including women, of the Rashtriya Nav Chetna (RNC) participated in a Sneh Milan Samaroh held at Somany Institute of Technology and Management (SITM) complex here on Saturday. Highlighting the social service rendered by the RNC, a voluntary organisation, during the past two decades, its founder president, Mr Vijay Somany, called upon the workers to rededicate themselves to the service of the society as well as the nation in the New Year.

Felicitation function: A prominent NGO, Janata Kalyan Samiti, organised a felicitation function for senior citizens on the premises of National Open School here on Saturday. Mr R.C. Meena, Director in the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, was the chief guest while noted opthalmologist, Dr S.N. Saxena, presided. Over two dozen senior citizens, including 16 women, from various walks of life were honoured on this occasion. Besides, as many as 14 children up to four years in age also participated in a baby show held under the auspices of JKS. Komal and Prishti Sharma were declared the best among boys and girls, respectively.

SONEPAT
Cows seized: The Rai police seized a truckload of cows on the Sonepat-Meerut inter-state road near Palri village, about 20 km from here, on Saturday and foiled an attempt to smuggle the cows to UP for slaughter. The police also arrested two persons, namely Mahesh, alias Mohinder, and Kaloo, alias Kalwa, of Fatehpur-Malikpur village in Moradabad district of UP. The truck was impounded.

Plea for girdawari: Mr S.N. Solanki, vice-president of the Haryana State Committee of the All-India Kisan Sabha, on Saturday urged the state government to order a special girdawari in the hailstorm affected villages of Gohana subdivision in Sonepat district and pay compensation at the rate of Rs 20,000 per acre to farmers whose standing crops had been ruined by the January 2 storm. 

Sonepat: The district unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) organised a panchayat at Shershah village, 25 km from here on Saturday to air the grievances of farmers whose land was being acquired by the state government for various development activities. Farmers of Kundli and Shershah villages participated in this panchayat.

Manhunt launched: The Ganaur police has launched a massive hunt to apprehend a dreaded criminal, Dharminder Kirthal, of western UP who is said to be involved in the alleged kidnapping of Mr Ramesh Jain, president of the Ganaur Beopar Mandal and owner of Vardhman Rice Mills. The police has reportedly arrested Anil, son of a politician of Kurtan village in Muzaffarnagar district of UP who is reported to have provided some important information about the kidnapping of Mr Jain.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
NSS Camp: A 10-day National Service Scheme (NSS) camp of students of Government Senior Secondary School, Geharwin, concluded on Thursday. Dr Biruram Kishore, MLA, was the chief guest. Dr Kishore exhorted students to equip themselves with all skills and learn dignity of labour which would be helpful to them in life.

NAHAN
Shop gutted: A garments shop at Gunnu Ghat Bazar here was reduced to ash as fire broke out in the shop due to a short circuit. A loss of over Rs 1.5 lakh has been reported.

NURPUR
NSS camp held: A 10-day camp organised by the NSS unit of the local Government Arya College concluded here on Saturday. Sixty students of the college participated in the camp held at Baral village, near here. NSS volunteers repaired the village path and converted it into motorable road during the camp. Dr N.K. Lath, SDM, presided over the closing ceremony of the camp. 

BDC poll: The Congress-supported nominees won the posts of chairman and vice-chairman of the prestigious Block Development Committee (BDC), Nurpur. Twentynine newly elected members of the BDC participated in the election. The Congress proposed the names of Mr Sahib Singh and Mr Baldev Pappi, respectively, for the posts of chairman and vice-chairman. Mr Sahib Singh polled 22 votes and Mr Baldev Pappi 21 votes. 

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

Screen presence

Bhupinder Singh Malhotra proudly displays the trophies that he was awarded by yesteryear film producers for various jubilee hits screened at the Society cinema house owned by him in Ludhiana. — Photo by Inderjit Verma

In an era when many memorials remain neglected due to official and public apathy, a Ludhiana businessman has religiously preserved memories of the golden age of Hindi cinema, when producers used to honour the owners of those cinema houses where movies completed jubilee runs.  Bhupinder Singh Malhotra (68) is the proud owner of about 50 such trophies, displayed tastefully in his office and lobby at Society Cinema, situated in Bhadaur House, Ludhiana. The trophies speak volumes about the changing cinema culture.  Born at Panja Sahib in Pakistan, Malhotra had set up the cinema hall in 1957 in the heart of the city.

He got such a good response from cinema lovers that he received a large number of trophies for movies which completed silver, golden or diamond jubilees.  The trophies remind him of yesteryear, when the producers used to personally invite him for functions organised in Mumbai to mark the success of a movie.  “I still cherish those moments when the late Raj Kapoor and Ramanand Sagar awarded me for the jubilee runs of ‘Bobby’ and ‘Aankhein’, respectively. I have preserved my picture with Raj Kapoor and the trophy given to me by him is the biggest one,” he says.  He is pained at the present movie culture, where some cinema house owners screen blue films to entice movie-goers belonging to a certain class. “I have made many efforts to attract the lovers of old movies with innovative ideas but there are not many takers. Even if I were to screen an old hit for a single show, I do not think it would now get a ‘house-full’,’’ he laments.

Talent down the tubewell

His may be a case of being overqualified for the job. Suresh Kumar, an employee with the Haryana Wildlife Department, works as a mere tubewell operator at the Sultanpur National Park, near Gurgaon, though he has a number of degrees under his belt. A postgraduate in ecology and environment from Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University, Bhopal, he did his postgraduate diploma in environment management from Dr Hari Singh Gour University, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. He has also done postgraduation in mass communication from Guru Jambeshwar University, Hisar, and B.Ed from Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak.

He has also been looking after the education and interpretation centre and the Dr Salim Ali Museum in the park. At the education centre, he explains to the visitors the behavioural and migration pattern of the birds with the help of photographs. He can even offer guidance as to where particular birds can be spotted and when.

Such a qualified person could have been an asset to any organisation in a higher capacity. Alas, his talent continues to go down the tubewell.

In service of the dead

Nawanshahr’s Shamshan-Bhoomi Sudhar Committee, Pandora Mohalla, has done a yeoman’s service by sprucing up the cremation ground and providing modern facilities like an airconditioned mortuary and mortuary van.

Lala Bhim Sain, president, Raman Kumar Ummat, working president, and Vivek Markanda, general secretary of the committee, have been working with missionary zeal for providing these facilities.

They motivated an NRI family belonging to nearby Hiala village to set up the airconditioned mortuary. Former MP from Phillaur, Santosh Chaudhary, provided a grant out of her MP LAD fund for the extension of the mortuary.

The office-bearers had approached the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, for funds during his visit to the town in July last year. The Chief Minister had later released a grant of Rs 4.50 lakh for this purpose.

The mortuary van service is available round the clock on mobile no 98554-94598.

Similarly, a grant of Rs 1 lakh has been given by the Deputy Speaker, Charanjit Singh Atwal, and with the efforts of Resham Singh Thiara and Ashwani Ballagan, district presidents of SAD (Badal) and BJP, respectively, the renovation of the sheds at the cremation ground has been undertaken.

— Contributed by Kanchan Vasdev, Vishal Gulati and Pramod Bharti