The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

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

PUNJAB

Amritsar
Takht chief exhorts Sikhs to oppose capital punishment: Exhorting the Sikhs and Punjabis to follow the path shown by the Sikh gurus and Guru Granth Sahib, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh has directed them to oppose capital punishment as it was the violation of the right to life.In his message from Akal Takht on the occasion of Bandi Chhod Diwas, he advised followers of the Sikhism to shun vices like female infanticide, drug addiction and “patitpuna”.He has reminded the Sikhs to extend all possible help to the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots which, according to him, was an event that no Sikh could ever forget.

CHANDIGARH
376 opt for OTS scheme: The Punjab Industries Department has got an encouraging response to the One-Time Settlement (OTS) scheme launched by it in March this year with 376 industrialists who had borrowed money from the Punjab Financial Corporation (PFC) opting for the scheme. Stating this here, state Industries Minister Manoranjan Kalia said 292 of these applicants had already deposited 15 per cent of the amount due with the state government. He said Rs 68 crore was likely to be recovered by the PFC on settlement of these cases. He said similarly 54 borrowers of Punjab Small Industry Development Corporation (PSIDC) had also opted for the scheme and Rs 110 crore was likely to be recovered on the settlement of these cases.

Ludhiana
Entry Point: Finally entry to the Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar Inter-state Bus Terminal would become easy as the work of laying RCC from flyover to the entrance has been completed. Mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura inaugurated it recently. XEN HS Salaria said: “The project is worth Rs 1.73 crore. Now, the traffic bottleneck due to the ongoing construction work would be resolved.” He added that the remaining portion would be completed by December 31.

Mullanpur Dakha
Pungrain payments: The management of Pungrain has delayed the payment to the commission agents for more than 10 days on the pretext of paying it online through its head office in Chandigarh. The local offices used to e-mail details of daily procurement to the head office. Payment worth Rs 97 lakh was handed over to commission agents of Mullanpur, Rs 26 lakh at Humbran grain market, Rs 45 lakh at Sowaddi grain market and Rs 11 lakh at Sudhar Grain Market.

PATIALA
48 houses for jails: State Minister of Jail, Culture, Tourism and Stationery Hira Singh Gabria announced on Friday that the state government would set up 48 houses in Kapurthala and Faridkot jails, where convicts would be allowed to live with their families for a week on rotation basis. The minister was here to attend a function. He said, “Due to legal framework, convicts can’t be given any sort of relaxation to stay with their families. Hence, we have decided to provide them this opportunity within jail premises.”

HARYANA

Rewari
Khali to visit India: World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Dalip Singh Rana, the Great Khali, will visit India on November 8. Khali’s friend Amit Swami said here on Friday that he would be here on a two week-sojourn. Khali would be the chief guest at a function on the Children’s Day at Nahan.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Hamirpur
Hamir Utsav on Nov 1: The annual Hamir Utsav will be organised on November 1 and 2 at Government Senior Secondary School ground, Hamirpur. After holding a review meeting to oversee the arrangements for this festival recently, Hamirpur DC Abhishek Jain said several national and state-level artists were being invited to display their skills in the festival.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
Drug peddler arrested: The police on Sunday arrested a drug peddler in Old Rehari area and recovered 1000 intoxicant capsules from his possession. Official sources said, a police party today nabbed Ankush Malla, aka Babloo, of Old Rehari and recovered the intoxicant capsules from him. A case under the NDPS Act stands registered against him.

4 consume poison: Four persons, including two women, allegedly consumed some toxic substances at their respective houses, the police said on Sunday. They have been identified as Aman of Christian Colony in Bakshi Nagar, Ankit Kousar of Janipur, Anju Charak of Bari Brahmana and Veena of RS Pura. The victims have been hospitalised in Government Medical College here.