R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
Movie on Sahibzadas: The first animated movie on Sikhism was screened here on Sunday. The movie showcases the sacrifice of the Sahibjadas of Guru Gobind Singh. The movie which lasts for 50 minutes depicts the story of Sahibjada Jhujjar Singh and Sahibjada Zorawar Singh. The film was made by amateur artists who recently passed out from Government Art College, Chandigarh.

MUKTSAR
Bank schemes: The State Bank of Patiala on Monday organised a farmers’ meet and customer -contact programme at town hall of market committee. According to a press note, sanction letters of loans amounting to Rs 149 lakhs were handed over to the farmers, traders and personal segment borrowers. Dr A.C. Chug, General Manager, explained the various schemes of the bank to the farmers.

Jagraon
UNDERTRIAL BOOKED: An undertrial, who attempted to commit suicide in the lockup, has been booked under Section 309, IPC, by the Sidhwanbet police. According to information, Mangal Singh of Sherpur Kalan was arrested in a case of kidnapping and raping a minor girl of his village. The police had recovered the girl. Ms Jitender Walia, Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Jagraon, remanded Mangal Singh in five days of police custody. Mangal Singh had allegedly struck his head against the wall of the lockup room at Sidhwanbet police station with an intention to commit suicide. 

LIQUOR SEIZED: The Sidhwanbet police has arrested Samodh Singh of Huzran from the area of Bhundri and seized from his possession illicit liquor. A case has been registered under Section 61.1.14 of the Excise Act.

BABA RODU SHAH: Followers of Baba Rodu Shah celebrated his ‘parsed barsi’ with fervour on Monday. They offered all kinds of foreign, countrymade and other liquors at the samadhi of the Baba at Kaunke Kalan village. The liquor offered was collected in a drum and the cocktail was offered to the people as parsad. Renowned singers performed on the occasion. 

Ludhiana
New fabric: Grasim Suiting has introduced a new range of fabric under the brand name ‘Soffeel’. According to a company press note, the fabric consists of light to medium weight fabrics in fine counts with soft handle. It is available in different blends of polyster, viscose and modal. “The product is the result of consumer demand for softer finishes,” said Mr S. Krishnamoorthy, president, Grasim Industries, textile division. 

PHAGWARA
Shop burgled: Thieves broke into a tyre shop situated along the national highway and decamped with tyres worth Rs 1.50 lakh here on Sunday. A case has been registered. 

Kidnap bid: An attempt was made to kidnap a school girl by three youths in Kirpa Nagar mohalla here on Tuesday. Radha (not real name), a resident of Kirpa Nagar, was on her way to the market when the accused tried to force her into their car. When she raised an alarm, the youth fled from the scene. She sustained some injuries and was admitted to the Civil Hospital. 

SAMANA
Protest rally: 150 safai karamcharis of the Nagar Council held a rally to protest against the atrocities done on the dalits in Gohana here on Monday. They presented a memorandum to the S.D.M. demanding immediate action against the S.D.M. and D.S.P. in Gohana. 

Honoured: Teacher’s Day was organised in S.D. Model High School. The teachers — namely Mrs Kusum Lata, Mrs Madhu Mittal and Mrs Simmi — were honoured for their meritorious services. Children presented a colourful show on the occasion.

Writing contest: A Punjabi and Hindi handwriting competition was held at Government Elementary School, Talwandi Malik, here on Monday to celebrate Teachers Day. Twelve students were given prizes by panchayat members, Guljinder Singh, Satnam Singh and Paramjit Singh. 

CONDOLENCE MEETING: Two-minute silence was observed here on Monday by arhtiyas of the local grain market due to death of Mr Raj Thapar, former president of the arhtiya association and former counselor of the nagar council, according to Mr Harpal Singh Dhillon, chairman of the market committee and president of the arhtiya association, Samrala.

CHANDIGARH

Protest at PU: The executive body of Panjab University Non-Teaching staff association has decided to hold a gate rally tomorrow morning in front of basement gate at 8.45 am to highlight the problems related to the shortage of staff. The newly elected executive body members met the Vice-Chancellor in this regard on Tuesday.

Employees rally: Employees of the Electricity Department of Chandigarh Administration, under the banner of the UT Powermen Union, held a rally in front of the office in Sector 23 on Tuesday. A rally was held in front of the office in Sector 20 on Monday. Mr Bhagmal Rana, general secretary of the union, in a press note said “the rally was organised as a preparation for the call for a one day-strike given by the union on September 29. The strike will be organised to lodge protest against the privatisation policy of the Centre and also against the adamant attitude of the administration in listening to the genuine grievances of the employees”.

Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Sri Ram Leela Committee, Sector 27: chairman — Mr Tarloki Nath Modi; president — Mr Dharam Pal Gupta; senior vice-president — Mr G.C. Kalia; vice-presidents — Mr Lalit Kumar Modi and Mr Vinod Khosla; general secretary — Mr Mamu Ram Goyal; joint secretary — Mr Sudhir Gupta; finance secretary — Mr Rajesh Modi; stage secretary — Mr K.K. Mehta; ground secretaries — Mr Hira Lal Gupta, Mr Jatinder Gupta, Mr Subhash Chand and Mr Sandeep Sharma. 

Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Shri Sanatan Dharam Mandir Sabha: president — Mr R.D. Aggarwal; senior vice-president — Mr Sulekh Chand Gupta; vice-presidents — Mr L.C. Bajaj and Mr J.L. Sharma; organising secretary — Mr Y.K. Sarna; finance secretary — Mr Vijay Bansal; joint secretaries — Mr M.L. Vohra and Mr M.N. Sharma; cashier — Mr R.K. Malhotra; store secretary — Mr V.B. Tewari; and auditor — Mr Banta Ram Bansal.

PANCHKULA
Talent search contests: A talent search competition was held at Government College here on Monday. Competitions in declamation, poetry recitation, dance, singing and monoacting were held. As many as 63 students participated in these competitions. Dr O P Sihag, Principal of the college, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Boy electrocuted: A five-year-old boy, Amrik, died of electrocution at his house in Budanpur village on Monday afternoon. He was reportedly playing in the room, when he accidentally touched the wire of a cooler. He was rushed to General Hospital, Sector 6, where he died.

HARYANA

FATEHABAD
Delegation: The All-India Lawyers Union on Monday asked the state government to take immediate steps to instill confidence among the victims of Gohana. Mr Devi Lal, State Convenor of the Union, said that a delegation of the union went to Gohana on Monday and took stock of the situation. Mr S.P. Singh, National Secretary of the union and an advocate of the Supreme Court, led the delegation. He said that the victims were still living in fear and the measures taken by the government were not sufficient.

Rs 10 cr for roads: Congress MLA, Mr Dura Ram, said on Monday that the state government has sanctioned Rs 10 crores for the repair and reconstruction of roads and construction of a girls hostel in Fatehabad. He said that Rs 1 crore had been sanctioned for the construction of hostel in the Government College for Women at Fatehabad and Rs 6 crore for widening and reconstruction of roads at Khan Mohammad and Nakata villages. 

Grant for manch: The Mahila Kalyan Manch organised the marriages of as many as 250 poor girls during the last three years. Mrs Rozy Mehtani, general secretary of the manch disclosed this at function organised by the manch here on Monday. The Deputy Commissioner Mr O.P. Langyaan, who was the chief guest, announced a grant of Rs 11000 to the manch. 

DC’s Clarification: The District Administration on Monday sought to clarify that the incident of attack on a dalit family at Kirdhan village on Sunday was a feud amongst dalits. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr O.P. Langyaan and the SP, Mr Bhim Singh, maintained that Mr Dalip Singh, a former sarpanch, who is alleged to have led the mob, had sold a piece of land to four dalit families in the village. But some other dalit families, whose members have been injured in the incident, had tried to encroach upon the land after which fight ensued. A case has been registered.

REWARI
Crushed to death: Phool Chand, an old resident of Mamdia Ahir village, about 15 km from here, was crushed to death by a motor cycle (HR-36-E-0839) near the village on Monday. On a complaint lodged by Khiali Ram, a son of the deceased, the Khol police has booked motor cyclist Vinod Kumar of Pranpura village on the charge of rash and negligent driving.

YAMUNANAGAR
Blood donation: As many as 559 units of blood were donated at a blood donation camp organised at the MLN College here on Monday. A poster on the theme of blood donation by B.Sc II student Ishan Aggarwal was adjudged the best. Mr Lakshinder, and Mr K.P. Sashi, who donated blood for 112th and 87th times, respectively were honoured.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Transfers opposed: The Non-gazetted Employees Association here has strongly objected to “politically motivated” transfers of association district vice-president, Mr Rakesh Chander, District Science Teachers Association president, Mr Amrit Mahajan and a prominent leader Mr Rameshchand. If action was not taken, the association would be forced to start an agitation. This was conveyed by the District association general Secretary Ranvir Singh Thakur in an emergency meeting on Monday.

Govt order: The Himachal Government has issued an order asking all heads of departments to ensure that all government servants desist from associating with the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh and Jammat-e-Islami-Hind. Strict action would be taken against any defaulter.

CHAMBA
DA sought in lumpsum: The Himachal Pensioners Kalyan Sangh has demanded the payment of dearness allowance in lump sum. Earlier, the government had announced the merger of 50 per cent dearness allowance from April 2004 in two instalments payable in July and December 2006. Mr Kuldip Singh Jasrotia, general secretary, also demanded the release of two DA instalments due in July 2004 and January 2005 at the rate of 3 per cent on par with Punjab.

NURPUR
Seva Samiti formed: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Shirdi Sain Baba Seva Samiti: chairman — Mr Krishan Gupta; president — Mr Ajay Sharma; vice-president — Mr Rakesh Kohli; secretary — Mr Manohar Kaundal; cashier — Mr Rajesh Gupta; and legal adviser — Mr Atul Gupta.

Victory procession: Supporters of the newly elected president of the Students Central Association (SCA), Swaran Singh, on Monday took out a victory procession. A long procession of slogan-shouting students and supporters of the president started from the college premises and ended at Bassa Waziran village.

SHIMLA
Memo submitted: The Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti of Himachal Pradesh on Monday submitted a memorandum to the Governor Mr V.S. Kokje, urging the President of India to ask the government to refrain from tinkering with the textbooks. A deputation led by its president, Dr K.C. Sharma, submitted the memorandum to Mr Kokje at the Raj Bhavan. 

Varsity welfare body’s plea: The Himachal Pradesh University Welfare Association on Sunday urged the Vice-Chancellor, Dr L.R. Verma, to implement the recommendation of Employees’ Grievances Redressal Committee and the Wilson Committee. The demands include time-bound promotion to remove stagnation in various cadres of the non-teaching staff, the regularisation and confirmation of all eligible employees, the release of seniority list of all categories, creation of post of Joint Registrars, one each for Administration, Finance and International Centre for Distance Education & Open Learning and filling of vacancies of clerks immediately. 

Discrimination against Kangra denied: Mr Singhi Ram, Food and Civil Supplies Minister, has ridiculed the statement of the former Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, that there was no justification for the setting up a committee to look into charge of discrimation against the Kangra region. In a rejoinder on Sunday he said Mr Dhumal and other BJP leaders knew that it was only the Congress government which had ensured the accelerated development of the Kangra and other merged areas.