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

Amritsar
Bank branch: Bank of Maharashtra will inaugurate its second branch in the region tomorrow. The new branch situated on the Ajnala road will be the bank’s 18th branch in the state and 41st in the Chandigarh region. Rajiv Madhok, executive director of the bank, will be the chief guest on the occasion.

Barnala
Meeting held: To intensify their stir against the union government’s attempt to dismantle sacred ‘Ram Setu’, the Ram Setu Manch held a meeting at Aggarwal Dharmshala here on Wednesday.

Demanded: For the convenience of parents, there should be a common uniform for the students, be it government or private schools, the General Category Association demanded here.

Batala
Thieves break into cyber cafe: Some thieves broke into a cyber cafe on the Batala-Jalandhar road opposite Nijjar Hospital here last night.The thieves took away a computer, mobile phones, spare parts of moblie phones and softwares lying in the shop.Balbir Singh Kohla and Kulwinder Singh, partners of the shop, told mediapersons here today that the thieves took away goods worth Rs 3 lakh. They had lodged a complaint with Civil Lines police.

Bathinda
Rape alleged: A woman living in Sidhu Colony lodged a complaint with the police on Tuesday alleging that Kindra, Gurmail Singh and Bittu, all residents of Killyan Sukha village, raped her on Monday evening. Giving details of the crime, inspector Sukhdev Singh said the victim was returning from village Salabatpura. As it was dusk, she asked for a lift from the accused who were in a Gypsy. Finding them in an inebriated condition, she refused to sit inside the vehicle. It was then that one of the accused pointed a revolver at her and rape her in the vehicle. Phul police has registered a case. However, no arrests have been made.

Cheated: Nathana police has registered a case of cheating following a complaint by Himat Singh of Chak Ram Singh Wala village against Pardeep Singh of the same village. Police sources said the accused had illegally purchased some BT cotton seeds from somewhere and then sold to the complainant. Nathana police registered a case under sections 420 of the IPC and various sections of the Seed Act. Police is investigating the matter.

Protest: To protest against the privatisation of the PSEB, around 10 unions of farmers in Punjab will block road and rail traffic on December 5. A BKU( Ekta) press release said that the decision was taken at a meeting of the Kisan Sangharsh Committee at Punjabi Bhawan, Ludhiana.

Faridkot
Suvidha Centre: The district administration threw open a window for deed writing at the local Suvidha Center in the district administrative complex here.

Moga
Suvidha Centre: The district administration, on the direction of the Punjab government, offered the facility for deed writing at the local Suvidha Centre in the district administrative complex here. Satwant Singh Johal, deputy commissioner, informed that three more counters would be opened for the purpose next month.

Protested: Members of the Government Teachers Union, Government School Teachers Union, Democratic Teachers Front and Government School Lecturers Union held a protest in support of their demand in front of the district administrative complex here today.

PATIALA
Honoured: The Ramgarhia Cultural Council, Patiala, congratulated Ishmeet Singh for winning the prestigious title of ‘Amul Voice of India’, held on November 24. Paramjit Singh Parwana said Ishmeet deserved this title and it was a matter of great pride and honour for all Punjabis.

SANGRUR
71 self-help groups formed in Sangrur dist: As many as 471 self-help groups have been formed by the District Rural Development Agency till November 25 last in Sangrur district. Of these, 471 self-help groups, loans have been given by various banks to 407 self-help groups so far. This information was given at a meeting organised by the District Lead Bank, State Bank of Patiala here on Wednesday. The meeting was presided over by ADC (Development) Harnek Singh.It was also disclosed at the meeting that under the Prime Minister Rozgar Yojna, cases of 631 beneficiaries had been sent to various banks till November 15.

Sangrur tehsildar suspended: Gurcharan Singh Brar, tehsildar, Sangrur, has been placed under suspension by the financial commissioner (Revenue), Punjab.This was confirmed by Sangrur SDM Amandeep Bansal here on Wednesday evening. An order, regarding suspension of the tehsildar, was received by the district administration from the FC (R) here on Wednesday. However, the cause of the suspension of the tehsildar have not been mentioned in the order.

CHANDIGARH

MOHALI
Fire: A minor fire broke out at a paying guest accommodation in Phase IX on Wednesday. According to the fire officials, the mattresses on the bed caught fire. The tenant was not home when the incident took place. The land lord saw smoke coming out of the room and called the fire brigade. The fire was brought under control.

DERA BASSI
Body found: A highly putrefied body of a male was recovered by the police from Kheri village on Wednesday. The person seemed to have died at least 15 days back. The police said they had no reports of anyone missing from the area. The body could not be identified as even the clothes on it had decomposed. It was shifted to the Dera Bassi civil hospital.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Theft: Goods worth Rs 5 lakh were stolen from a sanitary shop in Ambala City on Wednesday night. According to information, the thief entered the shop through a door in the ceiling. Ashish Gupta, owner of the shop, came to know about the incident when he reached his shop this morning. Sources said electrical motors and other sanitary items worth Rs 5 lakh were reportedly stolen. Senior police officials visited the shop and a dog squad was also pressed into service.

Workshop: A workshop on computer hardware was held at Gandhi Memorial National College, Ambala Cantonment on Wednesday. College management committee general secretary M.P. Gupta was the chief guest. College principal Dr R.R. Malik said computers had become a part and parcel of modern life.

NCC day: NCC day was observed at Arya Girls College, Ambala Cantonment on Tuesday. College principal Dr Neena Bedi inspected the NCC parade. NCC officer Capt Shashi Dhamija read out the message of the NCC director general. A cultural programme was held which included group song, poetry recitation and dance.

Rally: Narnaul MLA Ram Kumar Gautam said the December 2 rally being organised by Bhajan Lal and Kuldeep Bishnoi was not likely to have any impact on the people. Talking to mediapersons on Tuesday, Gautam said the people of Haryana were not going to be misled by hollow promises of the former Chief Minister. He said the December 23 rally to be held at Rohtak had been postponed and now, a BJP rally would be held in Delhi on December 30.

Memorandum: The Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ambala unit president M.S. Tandan observed that the industry was on the verge of collapse due to lack of power supply. Tandan said they had forwarded a memorandum to the chairman of Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam to highlight their plight. “Nearly 1,500 small scale units are gasping for life support,” he said. He stated that the industry was incurring heavy losses and exporters were losing business due to lack of power.

HISAR
Marwadi horses: The number of Marwadi horses is decreasing at an alarming rate and the National Research Centre on Equines (NRCE) has set up a mobile team of experts to save the breed known for its speed and vigour, NRCE director S.K. Dwivedi said. “We have constituted a mobile team of experts which will soon tour Rajasthan to save this precious breed. A mobile laboratory will be provided to this team of doctors,” Dr Dwivedi said on the occasion of the 22nd establishment day of the centre yesterday. He said the male horses were numbered in Rajasthan now. The team of experts would provide free insemination facility for this purpose. A Marwadi horse costs a between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, he said.

JHAJJAR
Vidrohi dares Ajay Chautala: Countering the allegations levelled by INLD leader Ajay Chautala that Congress leaders worked as property dealers, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Ved Prakash Vidrohi has dared the opposition leader to come out with a single incident of land-grab involving any Congress leader. He alleged that instead INLD leaders indulged in such activities during their regime. Ajay Chautala had made a statement apparently in reference to a land dispute in a Sonepat village in which two Congress MPs, Naveen Jindal from Kurukshetra and Arvind Sharma from Karnal, are said to have come on the collision course.

REWARI
1 killed in mishap: Khushi Ram (38) died when his motorcycle was reportedly hit by an unknown vehicle on the Kund-Rewari road on Monday night. He worked in a stone-cutting factory at Kund, 24 km from here. His body was found lying in a pool of blood on Tuesday morning. The mishap occurred when he was reportedly returning from the factory and going towards Majra village. The Khol police has registered a case under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC. Police sources said investigations were on.

Senior citizens’ cell: The police has constituted a senior citizens’ cell here to redress their grievances. SP Ram Singh Bishnoi will head the cell, while advocate Ram Nath Mahlawat has been made its convener. Deputy District Attorney, senior medical officer, district social welfare officer, police inspector (welfare), DSP (headquarters), the DSP, Kosli, have been nominated as its members. The SP assured that speedy action would be taken on complaints either conveyed on telephone No. 225156 or personally handed over to police officers concerned by the aggrieved senior citizens. He directed the police officials to ensure that grievances of senior citizens were redressed expeditiously.