R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
SUSPENDED: Two Assistant Sub-Inspectors, Mr Shama Singh and Mr Guljar Singh and a munshi of ‘bakshikhana’ have been suspended by the district police in connection with the escape of an undertrial Rajinder Singh from court premises while he was being taken for hearing in a case. Rajinder Singh was being taken to the court by constables Arun Kumar and Tejinder Singh. The accused pushed the constables and escaped after releasing his hand from handcuffs.

STILL AT LARGE: Baba Nand Kishore, a self-styled saint and resident of East Mohan Nagar, who was booked on the charges of extorting money from some persons on July 17, has not been arrested till now. Alleging this, Mr Dalbir Singh Calcutta, general secretary-cum-spokesman of the Anti-crime and Corruption Bureau of India, said the police had failed to arrest the accused till now. He said the bail applications of the accused had been rejected by the district court and he had reportedly applied for bail in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

LOK ADALAT: The District Legal Services Authority will organise a lok adalat at district courts here on August 7, said a press release here on Saturday.

ATTACKED: Mr Balbir Singh Sodhi, patron in chief of the Focal Point Industries Association and a resident of Ajit Nagar here, was allegedly injured by his brother Hargobind Singh on Friday. The police has registered a case.

Bathinda
BODY RECOVERED: The police recovered a mutilated body from bushes near a mill in Maur Mandi town of this district on Saturday. One leg of the body was reportedly eaten up by animals and it could not be identified. The police handed over the body to volunteers of an NGO for cremation.

Hoshiarpur
BLOOD BANK: Mr R.C. Dogra, Health and Family Welfare Minister, Punjab, inaugurated a blood bank at Baba Rangi Ram Charitable Hospital at Jaja village, near Tanda, 35 km from here, on Saturday.

Malerkotla
BOY DROWNS: Faraz, son of Riaz Ahmed of Hazan Wala Mohalla near Sirhanid gate here, was drowned in rain water accumulated in the Talab Bazar area here on Saturday.

Muktsar
POOR STUDENTS HELPED: Nearly 175 students were given away note-books, pencils and other stationery items by the Nirdhan Vidyarthi Vikas Sabha at a function in the city branch of primary school on its fourth raising day here on Saturday. General secretary of the NGO Chaman Lal, said the NGO had distributed stationery items among 5000 students so far.

Patiala
COMPETITION: Just Call-talking yellow page-in association with the North Zone Cultural Centre organised a drawing competition here on Sunday. As many as 800 students of various city schools and near by places participated in the competition.

GOODS DESTROYED: Edibles and machines worth lakhs of rupees were destroyed in a fire that broke out in a bakery shop in Tripuri on Sunday. K. Sahni Biscuit and Pastry House located in Main Bazar, Tripuri, caught fire while workers were preparing the stock. However, no one was injured.

COMPLAINT: Students’ who appeared for the PMT test organised on Sunday complained that a number of questions in the Chemistry set ‘A’ and Biology set ‘A’ papers were erroneously printed. Students said this caused a lot of confusion amongst them. According to candidates, 55 (degree) printed in question No 56 for Chemistry set ‘A’ should have been 5S (degree) instead of 55. The word benzone appearing in question No 67 of the same question paper should have been benzene. Option a) in question number 68 also from Chemistry set ‘A’ which is printed anelmia should have been aniline. Question No 94 has used Cn insted of Cr as an optional answer.

CHANDIGARH

RELIGIOUS SERMONS: Religious sermon was given by Jain muni Shri Vinay Kumarji Alok on the occasion of ‘ Dharam Sammelan’ at Tagore Theatre, Sector 18, on Sunday. Shri Shivmuni ji Maharaj, Ms Harbans Kaur, Sukhjinder Singh, Chander Shekhar, Sita Ram, Ajad Nath ji and Dr Maneesha were also present on the occasion.

MOHALI
BLOOD DONATION CAMP: The Baba Shiekh Farid Blood Donors Council, Mohali, will organise its 33rd blood donation camp on August 2, at Bridge market, Sector 17, from 9 am to 3pm. Organised in collaboration with the New Life Blood Donors Social Welfare Society, Punjab, the camp will be presided over by Mr Jasjit Singh Randhawa, Cooperation and Horticulture Minister, and inaugurated by Mr Balwinder Singh, Director, Guru Nanak Dev Nursing Institute, Barnala. 

CAMPAIGN: A week-long campaign to abolish female foeticide in north-western part of India will be launched by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, at Ropar from tomorrow. Essay writing contest will be held at Government Senior Secondary Schools, Sahora, Anandpur Sahib, Jhailan Kalan and Jhajj. The field publicity units of the region at Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Hamriprur and Mandi would participate in the campaign by organising essay writing contest and healthy baby shows.

APPLICATIONS INVITED: The Shree Ayyappa Seva Samiti, Mohali, has invited applications from Malyalee students in Chandigarh and Mohali for choosing two toppers of the board examinations during March-April, 2004. One Class X student will be chosen for Karthiayani Amma Memorial Scholarship and a Class XII student will be chosen for Shri C. Krishnaunni Nambiar Memorial Scholarship.

AWARENESS CAMP: A TB/HIV awareness and free medical camp was organised by the Shri Balaji Helpline at Sector 70 here on Sunday. As many as 189 patients were examined by Dr Ravi Garg and Dr Geetanjali Garg of Garg Hospital and Maternity Home, Mohali. Medicines were distributed free and people were educated about TB and AIDS. Free laboratory checks were also done. The camp was inaugurated by Mr S.C. Aggarwal, Superintending Engineer, Punjab State Electricity Board.

HARYANA

Bhiwani
DROUGHT RELIEF: Senior Congress leader Ran Singh Maan, at Charkhi Dadri, 30 km from here, on Saturday, sought Rs 5,000 per acre compensation to farmers and financial help for farm labourers. He also demanded the state be declared drought hit.

THREE BOOKED: The police has booked Satyajit and two others for threatening Mr Roshan Lal, an arhtiya of Charkhi Dadri, and demanding Rs 2 lakh from him.

SANGH’S DEMAND: The Sarv Karmchari Sangh, Haryana, on Saturday, demanded the cancellation of transfers of employees. The sangh decided to launch an agitation-fund-collection drive in the first fortnight of August.

Fatehabad
SHOT DEAD: Yuvraj Singh, who was facing trial for murder, was shot dead on Friday in the court complex here by a youngman dressed as lawyer. The youth was identified as Om Parkash of Dhigtana village.

Jhajjar
CRUSHED TO DEATH: Mr Nanhe Lal, a labourer, was crushed to death when a truck run over the rickshaw he was travelling on the Nahra-Nahri road in Bahadurgarh on Saturday. The police has registered a case.

Kaithal
PRINCIPAL RETIRES: Major K.K. Sirohi, Principal, RKSD (PG) College, retired after putting, 31 years of service. Earlier he was head of the Department of English, DAV College, Pundri. The teaching, non-teaching staff, students and members of the college managing committee gave him a farewell party.

Sonepat
2 YOUTHS ARRESTED: The police on Saturday arrested Rakesh under the Indian Arms Act. He had jumped bail. Another youth Karambir was also arrested on Saturday under the Indian Arms Act.

BRIDGE DEMANDED: General Secretary of the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) Rajiv Jain on Saturday demanded an over-bridge on the level crossing near the Hindu College, and railway booking counter on the side of the foodgrains market for 30,000 persons commuting between Sonepat and Delhi.

KILLED: Rajbir, alias Rajoo, an autorickshaw driver of Rajpur village, was stabbed to death on the Sonepat-Kami road on Friday.

Yamunanagar
STUDENTS HONOURED: Gurpreet Kaur, Kusumlata, and Jyoti (Class X); Preeti, Neetu and Gurpreet Kaur (Class XI); Veerali, Sonalia and Punjab (Class VII); Jyoti Kavita and Kiran (Class VI), all of Government Girls High School, were honoured on Saturday for excelling in studies. A cultural programme was also organised by schoolchildren. Four rooms of the school were also inaugurated on the occasion.

IN-LAWS BOOKED: Sunita (30) of the Old Hamida area here reportedly committed suicide by pouring kerosene and setting herself on fire on Friday. Her in-laws have been booked. She had three children. Mother of the victim alleged harassment by her daughter’s in-laws.

ACCIDENT: Truck driver Subhash (22) died when the vehicle he was driving overturned near Todarpur village on Friday. He lived in Gadhouli village near here.

DENTAL CAMP: As many as 877 children were examined at a dental camp organised by the Rotary Club here at Arya Girls Senior Secondary School here on Saturday. Doctors from DAV Dental College examined the children and found 75 of them suffering from tooth ailments.

INSURANCE COMPANY FINED: The District Consumer Forum here fined the Oriental Insurance Company (OIC) Rs 5,000 for not paying claim to Mr Anil Kumar of Dwarkapuri for the theft of his motor cycle last year (the vehicle was insured with the OIC). The forum directed the company to pay Rs 40,000, besides Rs 5,000 as fine.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
BAN ON FISHING EXTENDED: The Himachal government has extended the ‘close season’ prohibiting fishing in state’s reservoirs including gobind Sagar here and rivers, rivulets and khuds in the state. The “close season” was to end on July 31.

Hamirpur
RS 25.70 CR FOR POWER: Ms Anita Verma, MLA said here on Friday that Rs 25.70 crore was being sent in Hamirpur power circle to improve power supply.

Nurpur
NAGNI FAIR: Nagni fair of this subdivision will be organised on August 7 said Dr N.K. Lath, SDM-cum-mela-committee chairman.

Shimla
STANDING COUNSEL: Mr Kuldeep Singh Rathore has been appointed senior central government standing counsel for three years. Mr Rathore will represent all central government departments except the Railways before the Central Administrative Tribunal Circuit Bench, said a Ministry of Law and Justice notification.

MID-DAY MEALS: Cooked mid-day meals will now be provided to students in all schools in the state from September, 2004. Till now, meals were provided to schoolchildren only in tribal areas of the state. In other parts of the state, three kg rice per month was being given to every child.