R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
URGED: The Socio Economic Development Programme (SEDP), a non-government organisation, which has taken up the case of the rape of a minor girl, on Monday urged the government to enact a law in which the accused should be ordered to marry the victim and to give half of the property of accused to the victim. The orphan minor girl, a resident of a village in the Dera Baba Nanak area, was continuously raped by Ranjit Singh on pretext of marrying her. The victim was working as a maid servant in the house of accused. The police has registered a case and arrested the culprit.

CONDOLED: Dr S.P. Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, condoled the death of Harbhajan Singh Batalvi, an eminent literary personality and former Joint Director, All India Radio. In his condolence message, he said it was an irreparable loss to the Punjabi literary world. He expressed his sympathies with the bereaved family. Dr Ranjit Singh Bajwa, Head, School of Punjabi Studies, teachers and students of the department also condoled the death of Baltalvi.

FREE COURSES: Free courses in Punjabi typing/shorthand and computer typing for wards of ex-servicemen will start from September 1. This was informed by Lt Col S.P. Singh, Deputy Director, Sainik Welfare, in a press communication here on Monday. The desirous candidates should have passed the plus two examination with 50 per cent marks. The last date for application is August 20. The written test will be held on August 25 and the results will be declared on August 27. There are 20 seats available for these courses.

Bathinda
BLOOD DONATION CAMP: Mr Harprit Singh Rekhi, manager, local Paras Ram Nagar branch of the State Bank of Patiala (SBOP), said here on Monday that the SBOP had sponsored a blood donation camp, which was organised by the Goodwill Society on Sunday to mark its silver jubilee year. He added that employees of the SBOP had also donated blood in the camp.

ELECTED: Mr Dheera Singh Bhagu, a member of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) was elected President of the cooperative society of Jassi Pau Wali village on Monday. In a press release issued here, Mr Sukhbir Singh, senior youth Akali leader, said another SAD worker, Mr Balwinder Singh, was elected vice-president. He added that the former Akali Minister, Mr Chiranji Lal Garg, later addressed Akali workers at a rally organised by them in the village.

INJURED: Three persons, identified as Gursewak Singh, Pardeep Kumar and Sumit Kumar, suffered injuries when the three-wheeler, in which they were travelling, was hit by another speeding vehicle on Bathinda-Malout road here on Monday. The injured were admitted to local Civil Hospital.

Faridkot
DECIDED: The Recognised & Affiliation Schools Association (RASA) has decided to contest the forthcoming Senate elections of Panjab University from the graduates Constituency to be held on September 15. To monitor the decision effectively, the association has nominated its state president and Director-Principal of the local S.D. Public Senior Secondary School, Mr Jagdish Rai Sharma, who is likely to file his nomination papers at Chandigarh on August 2.

Moga
PROTEST: The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), Punjab, held a protest rally against the sale of intoxicating drugs here on Monday. The union members raised slogans against chemists selling these drugs and demanded an immediate ban on their sale. The BKU leaders said the chemists selling intoxicating drugs were playing with the lives of Punjabi youths.

Nawanshahr
KISAN MELA: The local branch of Bank of India organised a “kisan mela” at Kamal Palace on Monday to launch the “Kisan Samadhan Card” scheme in the district. Mr D.K. Kapila, Director, Bank of India, was the chief guest. A large number of farmers of the area attended the function in which ‘Kisan Samadhan Cards’ amounting to Rs 9.87 crore were distributed.

Phagwara
BIGAMY CASE: The police has booked four persons, including an NRI, in a case of bigamy and fake divorce. It was learnt on Monday that an NRI, Bhulla Singh, settled in the UAA had married Jaswinder Kaur of Chabewal a few years ago. After getting fake divorce papers prepared, the NRI married another woman Kuldip Kaur of Madhopur village last year. A case has been registered.

ARRESTED: The police has arrested two members of an inter-district gang of thieves involved in at least half dozens thefts and lockbreaking incidents. The gangsters included Raju Yadav of Ram Nagar and Pardeep Kumar of Murli Ganj, both in Bihar. Their accomplice Vinod Bihar has absconded.

Tarn Taran
DHARNA: Hundreds of farm labourers on Monday staged dharna in support of their demands in front of the office of the BDPO under the banner of the Dehati Mazdoor Sabha. A memorandum was presented to the authorities demanding essential commodities through PDS on cheap rates for farm labourers. 

HARYANA

Bhiwani
DEMANDED: The district president of the Haryana Vikas Party and ex-MLA, Mr Satpal Sangwan, on Monday demanded that the Congress and the INLD MPs should submit their resignations on the SYL issue. He was addressing party workers who staged a dharna at mini-secretariat on Monday.

‘BLACK DAY’: The Kisan karjmukta Andolan president, Mr Mangat Singh Khareta, has announced to observe Independence Day as ‘gulami diwas’. Mr Khareta told that Kisan Karjmukta Andolan yatra, which had started from Jallianwala Bagh and the Golden Temple in Amritsar on June 26, would reach Jantar-Mantar in New Delhi on August 15. He said the aim of the yatra was to force the state and the Central Governments to accept their demands.

Fatehabad
MEETING HELD: A meeting of the joint action committee of the retrenched employees of the Haryana Minor Irrigation and Tube Well Corporation was held here on Monday to draw up a programme for the proposed fast of August 9 at Fatehabad Mr Mohan Lal Narang presided over the meeting. The committee extended its support to the agitation of the Nagarpalika Karamchari Sangh.

Hisar
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the managing committee of the Jat Educational Institutions here: president — Mr Narender Lamba; vice-president — Mr Blajit singh; general secretary — Mr Vikram Singh; and treasurer — Mr Inder Singh Kundu.

CAMP CONCLUDES: A training camp for national youth volunteers organised by the local chapter of the Nehru Yuva Kendra concluded here on Monday. As many as 85 volunteers took the pledge of social service during the camp.

Jhajjar
ACCIDENT: At least nine persons, including three women, were injured when a jeep carrying them over-turned following a collision with a scooter on Jhajjar-Bahadurgarh road here on Monday. According to information, the jeep was going towards Bahadurgarh when it collided with a scooter coming from the Bhadani approached road. The police has registered a case

Kaithal
EXAMINED: About 2000 patients were examined at a free medical check-up camp organised by the Bharat Vikas Parishad, at RKSD Public School here on Sunday. The patients were examined by a team of expert doctors. Most of the patients were given medicines free of cost. A number of tests and X-rays were also conducted free of cost. Besides the allopathic treatment, a team of yoga experts also provided necessary guidance to the patients suffering from various diseases.

INSTALLED: The joint installation function of the Lions Club, Kaithal, and Lions Club, Kaithal Central, was held on Saturday night. Mr B.D. Gupta and Mr Inder Jeet Madaan were installed as presidents of their respective clubs. The other office-bearers of the two clubs also took over the charge of office.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
AFFORESTATION: The State Industries, Youth Services and Sports and Information Technology Minister, Mr Ramlal Thakur, has said that Rs 10 lakh will be spent on afforestation in the district and about 600 hectares of land will be brought under afforestation project this season. He was inaugurating a vanamahotsava function organised by ACC Cement factory at Baloh village on Monday.

URGED: The state Unemployed Librarians’ Association has urged the state government to declare results of interview of assistant librarians conducted by the Education Department and also to fill vacant posts of more than 500 librarians in the state. Presiding over the general house meeting of the association, president Deepak Dhiman demanded the creation of more posts to provide employment to some 12,000 trained unemployed librarians.