The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

NEWS AND VIEWS

PUNJAB

HARYANA

JAMMU & KASHMIR

HIMACHAL

REGIONAL BRIEFS

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CHANDIGARH

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R E G I O N A L B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Abohar
Fun & farewell function: Sonia Bathla was bagged the prize of over all best students during the Fun and Farewell programme organised by the BCA students to bid adieu to the PGDCA and DCA students in the Swami Keshwanand Mahila College here on Wednesday. Inder Mohan Verma president of the managing committee was the chief guest.

BASSI PATHANA
Annual function: Bal Bharti Public School here organised its annual function on the school premises on Thursday. MLA Didar Singh Bhatti was the chief guest at the function. He said that private public schools play an important role in proving quality education to students. R.N. Goel, director of the school read the annual report.

Bathinda
PNB staff stage protest: The officers and workmen employees, belonging to the branches of the Punjab National Bank in the region, comprising Bathinda, Mansa, Barnala and Sangrur districts, observed a day’s pen-down strike today. It is important to mention here that a daylong sit-in followed by a demonstration was held on March 13 by the bank employees in front of the bank’s regional office here. The demands raised included shortage of staff, shrinkage of career opportunities and unilateral manpower planning of the bank.

Chandigarh
‘Protect interests of ministerial staff’: The Punjab Non-Gazetted and Gazetted Employees Organisation and the Punjab Civil Secretariat Employees Association has urged Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to protect interests of the ministerial staff for induction to the PCS. These organisations told the CM that there had been a move by certain officers to do away with the quota for induction of the ministerial staff to the PCS.

Allotment of liquor shops: The Excise and Taxation Department has allotted all liquor shops, numbering 6,902, in Punjab. It is expected to fetch Rs 1,728 crore to the state. For 2008-09 the department received 1,974 applications and received Rs 38.25 crore by way of application fee.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
Booked for selling girl: The district police have arrested three persons on charges of sexually exploiting and selling a 16-year-old girl for an amount of Rs 60,000. The girl, who had been abandoned by her parents, was being looked after by Kulwinder Kaur, a resident of Shahpur village in Ludhiana district, who allegedly forced her into flesh trade.

Fazilka
Protest: Activists of several organisations including Navuvak Sabha, Shiv Sena , Bajrang Dal, Vishav Hindu Parishad (VHP) led by VHP district president Lila Dhar Sharma, Bajrang Dal state executive member Sandeep Sharma, Navyuvak Sabha president Sanjay Pandey and others blocked railway and vehicular traffic at Fazilka for about three hours in the morning today to protest against the alleged blasphemous writing in books published by the Tark Bharti Publication, Barnala. The protesters stopped trains leaving from Fazilka to Rewari at 9 am, Fazilka to Ferozepur and Fazilka to Kotkapura at 11 am. These trains left about two hours late from their scheduled departure. The vehicular traffic on the busy Malout-Ferozepur roundabout also remained disrupted for about two hours.

Hoshiarpur
3 electrocuted: Three persons were electrocuted today at a weigh bridge at Bikhowal on Thursday. They got electrocuted when a crane came in contact with main electricity wire dangling close to its upper portion at R.K. Dharam Kanda. Madan Lal of Bikhowal, Gian Chand of Jeenpur (Garhshankar) and Jaswinder Singh of Bassi Kaso, were loading wooden logs with the help of a crane in a tractor-trailer at the weigh bridge when the mishap took place.

KHARAR
Arrested: An accused in March 4 mobile phone theft was arrested here on Thursday. Sarabjit Singh was arrested during a naka put up in Kurali. Along with his two accomplices, Sulakhan Singh and Gurjant Singh, Sarbjit had broke open a shop in village Syalwan and stolen five mobile phones. A cellphone recovered from him.

Smack seized: Five grams was smack was recovered from Deepak Kumar, a resident of Kurali, here on Thursday. Twenty-five-year old Deepak, who is an addict himself, has been booked under the NDPS Act and produced before the court today.

Malerkotla
Sangrur indl chamber chief: Amar Singh of Dashmesh Combines here was elected block (Malerkotla) president of the Sangrur District Industrial Chamber (SDIC) at an annual general meeting of the SDIC organised at Malerkotla club here on Wednesday. N.K. Jindal, XEN of the PSEB, Malerkotla, was honoured at the meeting.

Mansa
Parveen release sought: The CPI (ML) Liberation today demanded the release of Parveen Kaur, a resident of Bhamme Kalan village of Mansa , who was arrested under the allegation of her alleged involvement in the attack on the convoy of the Dera Sacha Sauda chief in Haryana. Releasing the press statement, state secretary of the CPI (ML) Liberation, Rajvinder Singh Rana, said that arguments of the police were baseless and these might be used against any innocent person. There was no case registered against her and no objectionable material was found from her custody.

PATIALA
Dealers’ convention: Indian Oil Corporation Limited organised a dealers’ convention in Royale Castle resort at village Rajgarh on Thursday. Around 300 dealers of IOC and IBP from Patiala, Sangrur, Barnala and Moga districts were present on the occasion.

Sangrur
Auction of land foiled: The BKU (Ugrahan) recently foiled the auction of a farmer’s land by revenue officials at Model Town (1), Sheron village, near Sunam. Revenue officials, along with an arhtiya from Sunam, visited the village to auction 2 acres of farmer Jagdev Singh in connection with the recovery of a loan. On seeing the mood of the protesters the revenue officials did not auction the land and left the place.

Tarn Taran
5 fake travel agents booked: The Kharla police has busted a five-member gang of fake travel agents, including a woman and her two sons, which had defrauded people of more than Rs 20 lakh on the pretext of sending them abroad. The accused had been identified as Bachan Kaur and her two sons Nirvail Singh and Satnam Singh of Manochahal Kalan village and Nirvail Singh of Kohali and Laddi of Amritsar.

One dies in accident: One person died and two others were injured on the local Jandiala road bypass when the tyre of their four-wheeler busted. The deceased has been identified as Jugraj Singh (16) and was a resident of Ghagiana village in Faridkot district. They were coming to sell their crop in Amritsar.

CHANDIGARH

Panchkula
Mass marriage: The S.S. Jain Sabha (regd) has decided to hold a mass marriages function here on Sunday. The general secretary of the sabha D.C. Jain said the marriage of seven girls from poor families would be solemnised at Jain Sthanak, Sector 17, Panchkula, at 10 am.

National awards: Kuldip Singh, chairman of the local Milkfed plant, on Thursday said the plant has won the National Productivity awards for 2004-05 and 2005-06, conferred by the National Productivity Council, New Delhi. The awards were presented by Subodh Kant Sahai, minister of state for food processing at a function held on March 19 at New Delhi.

Injured: Three passengers, including a 10-year-old child and two women, were seriously injured when an auto-rickshaw overturned on Paploha road here on Thursday. The injured have been identified as Jagjivan, his grandmother Dwarka Devi and Tripta. The auto-rickshaw was going towards Kheerawali village when the driver lost control.

HARYANA

PANIPAT
Health centre: Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will inaugurate the 25-bed community health centre at Gharaunda on March 23. An official note issued on Thursday said the CHC would provide 24-hour emergency services to the GT Road belt area. It will be equipped with ultra-modern facilities. Hooda will also address the public at new grain market, Gharaunda, on the same day.

REWARI
Irrigation dept staff attacked: The police has registered a case of assault, mischief causing damage, wrongful diversion of canal water and obstruction in the discharge of public duty against unidentified farmers of Khera Alampur area. Junior engineer of the irrigation department Sanjeev Kumar on Wednesday complained that when they were patrolling the area on March 12, they found some farmers indulging in wrongful diversion of the canal water to irrigate their fields. He alleged that the farmers assaulted them, pelted them with stones and damaged their jeep when they sternly forbade them to do so.

‘BJP will come to power’: Rajasthan BJP chief Om Mathur has asserted that the BJP would be able to capture power at the centre after the next Lok Sabha polls. The party would be voted to power again in Rajasthan as well. He made this assertion at a reception accorded to him by party activists at Dharuhera on Wednesday. He said the Haryana government too had failed on all fronts and it was now evident that the Congress was least bothered about hardships of masses.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

HAMIRPUR
Computer teachers’ threat: Members of the agitating Computer Teachers Union have threatened to convert their relay fast into fast unto death if the government does not take any decisions on their demands by March 26. State president of the union has said though they have been on relay fast for more than 18 days now, the government has not taken any step to resolve their problems. According to him, the government has promised to fill 18,000 posts of teachers during this financial year, but computer teachers are being ignored. The union has also decided to boycott evaluation of answer sheets in schools till their demands are met.

Kumarhatti
Water scarcity: The town and its surrounding localities were facing a severe water shortage these days. According to residents, the daily water supply which earlier used to be from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. usually is now between 10.30 a.m. and 11.15 a.m, that too at low pressure. Earlier, the water shortage was due to a snag in water-lifting motors but now the IPH Department claims that water discharge in two submersible pumps has declined due to the boring of pumps by people on their private land. The two pumps have virtually dried up and the IPH department was now relying on a natural source to feed the town.

7.8 kg of charas seized: The police has seized 7.8 kg charas from a HRTC bus at Dharampur near here today. The charas was recovered from an unclaimed bag lying in the rack of the bus. The bus (HP-63-0132) bound from Rampur Bushahr to Chandigarh was stopped for check-up at a routine naka which was put up by the police. No passengers in the bus have claimed the bag. A case has been registered.

Labourer found dead: A dead body of migrant labourer (38) has found near the Fire Station office on Baddi-Barotiwala road on Thursday evening. Vishnu Prashad, the deceased, was appeared to be died due to some fatal disease. As per a note in the deceased pocket, he was fed up from his diseases. The note said nobody should be held guilty for his death. As per information available, the deceased was seen sitting alongside the road opposite Fire Station in the morning. He had bought a glass of milk along with some eatables. A passerby noticed him lying alongside the road in the evening.

3 masala units sealed: The police has sealed three units of the Ruchi Group of Industries at Baddi. The units were sealed after three of the owners approached the court following disputes with other three owners of the group. Three brothers led by Suresh Kumar have pleaded for the units’ closure, fearing that the raw material lying in the stores of these three units could be manipulated by the other group. The Ruchi group, engaged in the manufacturing of masala, is owned by six brothers. Nalagarh SDM Manmohan Sharma said that complaints were co-owners of two units and partners in the third one.

Nahan
Body found: The Nahan police on Thursday recovered the decomposed body of a man from the Moginand area on the Nahan- Kala Amb road. Bindu Rani Sachdeva, ASP, Sirmour, said the body was lying in a deep trench near the Salani bridge in the Moginand area. The identification of the deceased, aged about 42 years, was difficult as the body had been decomposed. It had been sent to the IGMC, Shimla, for a post-mortem. A case had been registered, she added.

Leopard kills 11 goats: Eleven goats owned by Ram Lal of Garari village, about 105 km from here in Sangrah tehsil (Renuka), were killed by a leopard on Wednesday night. Daleep Singh, block officer of the Forest Department posted in the Sangrah area, said that a report for the grant of compensation to the owner of the goats had been prepared. Villagers feared similar incidents as the leopard was roaming around their villages.

NURPUR
Blood donation camp: The Health Department organised a blood donation camp at the Community Health Centre, Nagrota Surian, on Thursday. Twelve persons donated blood at the camp. A team of doctors from the zonal hospital, Dharamsala, conducted the camp.

SHIMLA
Conference on tourism: The Department of Tourism Administration of the Himachal Pradesh University is organising a three-day international conference ‘Backpacker Mobilities’ on March 26. The director of the Institute of Vocational Studies Prof S.P. Bansal informed that participants from more than a dozen countries would attend the conference. “Deliberations of the conference would benefit the state, where possibilities of promoting ‘Backpacker Tourism’ can be explored, as it is prevalent to a great extent but exists in an unorganised manner” he said. He said participants from UK, Finland, Mexico, South Africa, New Zealand, Germany and USA would attend the conference, where the keynote address would be delivered by Dr mark Hampton from the University of Kent, UK.

SUNDERNAGAR
Appeal to BJP workers: BJP MLA from Nachan Dile Ram has appealed to the party workers to publicise policies of the government. He speaking at Sheetla Temple near here. He said the workers had done half of the work by forming BJP government in the state and now it was the time to complete it by forming BJP government at the Centre. President of the Nachan unit of the party Ved Parkash Sharma and member of the Zila Prishad Roop Lal Chaudhary also spoke on the occasion.