R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

BATHINDA
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the New Youth Welfare Cub for the next financial year. president — Mr Raghubir Singh; senior vice-president — Mr Satpal; general secretary — Mr Sukhwinder Singh Monu; vice-president — Mr Pawan Kumar; treasurer — Mr Bitoo; secretary — Mr Parmod Kumar; press secretary — Mr Balraj Singh; and assistant secretary — Mr Sanjay Kumar.

RIOT VICTIMS: Members of the district unit of the 1984 Sikh Rehabilitation Action Committee, Punjab, have urged the state government to render help to the 1984 riot victims in this district and also give them other facilities given to such persons in other regions. Mr Uttam Singh Makar, convener of the district unit of committee, in a press note issued here on Friday, alleged that the district administration was not doing anything for the welfare of the riot victims.

FEROZEPORE
SUICIDE: A 15-year-old Class X student of a local school allegedly committed suicide. According to information, available, Lalit, son of Sri Ram, an employee in the Commissioner Office, hanged himself to death. The police is investigating.

JALANDHAR
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATED: Pine Division celebrated the 30th anniversary of its victory over Pakistan forces at Jessore in erstwhile Pakistan during the 1971 Indo-Pak war, somewhere in the Western Sector on Friday. The celebration was marked by a Sainik Sammelan, in which serving and retired officers participated. Major Gen A.K. Chopra paid homage to the martyrs of the Pine Division.

CRITICISED: The Veterinary Pharmacists Union, Punjab has criticised the SAD-BJP government for its failure to implement the accord which was finalised by union leaders and senior officials of the Animal Husbandry Department on November 20.

KHARAR
CPM MEETING: The Kharar and Mohali tehsil committees of the CPM in a meeting held here on Friday passed a resolution expressing faith in the leadership of Mr Mangat Ram Pasla and decided to oppose divisive designs and unprincipled polities of Mr Harkishan Singh Surjit. According to a press note, it was noted that Mr Surjit had never let the party grow in the state as he sidelined leaders of his stature. He said a rally would be organised on Thursday at Jalandhar on the eve of the state conference being held there. 

LUDHIANA
LITTLE ANGELS FUNCTION: Little Angels Playway School celebrated its annual function on Saturday. The function presented a kaleidoscope of colours as the tiny tots of the school dressed up in colourful clothes. Students dressed up as Miss Universe, Parkash Singh Badal, and bride and groom stole the hearts of the audience.

MALERKOTLA
IFTAR PARTY: An Iftar party was organised by the local Lions Club at the malerkotla club here on Friday. According to Mr Kewal Jindal, president of the club, Mufti-e-Punjab Fazal-ur-Rehman Hilal Usmani was the chief guest on the occasion.

BONUS DISTRIBUTED: The Milk Cooperative Society Nathu Majra organised a function to distribute bonus at Nathu Majra village, near here, on Friday. Mr Raghuvir Singh, Chairman, Milk Plant, Ludhiana, was the chief guest while Mr Hajoor Singh, general manager, presided over the function. The Chairman distributed a sum of Rs 2 lakh as bonus among 122 milk producers.

PATHANKOT
SENTENCED: Mr Karnail Singh, Judicial Magistrate (first Class) here sentenced Satnam Singh, alias Satta, of Bahadurpur village on Thursday to one-year imprisonment for rash and negligent driving. He had killed a woman.

PROTEST MARCH: Various social, religious, political and other organisations took out a protest march here on Friday. The protesters gave a memorandum to the SDM, Ms Bhawna Garg, asking the government to impress upon the Bangladesh government to stop atrocities on Hindus there.

PATIALA
NEW UNIVERSITY: At a party organised by the Punjabi University Teachers Association (PUTA) to celebrate the five star status conferred on the institution by the UGC, the Vice-Chancellor, Mr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, on Saturday announced the university’s plan to open a University of Distance Education at Guru Ki Kashi without any support from the Punjab Government. Promising the regularisation of ad hoc employees, the VC announced that along with an Information and Technology Centre to be established at Talwandi Sabo, the university was working towards opening a full-fledged Department of Environment Studies.

SEMINAR: The Association for Democratic Rights (AFDR) would organise a seminar on Sunday to discuss the ramifications of POTO on the future of free press and human rights. The seminar would be addressed by the president of AFDR, Mr S. Hari Singh Tarak, and Prof Sucha Singh Gill of Punjabi University.

MEETING: The Bhartiya Mazdoor Sang on Saturday held a meeting, which was headed by Mr Baldev Krishan Sharma to discuss their future course of action on the abolition of octroi by the Punjab Government. Speaking to the members of the sang, Mr Sharma asked the State Government to make adequate arrangements of employment for the octroi collectors. 

APPOINTED: At a meeting, which was chaired by Mr Darshan Singh Sodhi, Mr Harish Singh Singla was appointed president of the Punjab Welfare Council here on Saturday. The chairman instructed the newly-elected president to form the state body of members within a week.

PHILLAUR
TWO ARRESTED: The Phillaur police led by DSP Satinder arrested Jeet Ram of Sarhali village and Chhhinda of Lakhanpaul village and impounded 21 bags of poppy husk worth Rs 2,10,000 from their possession. The DSP, while confirming their arrests, said five others had absconded.

ROPAR
NRI SABHAS: the Ropar district administration has decided to form non-resident Indian (NRI) sabhas at the district and tehsil level. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, Mr Krishan Kumar, here on Friday. A survey will be conducted to prepare detailed lists of all NRIs in the district.

SAMRALA
VISIT: Mr Justice R.L. Anand, Judge, Punjab and Haryana High Court, visited the judicial courts complex here on Saturday. He ordered that the senior court of Ms Asha Kondal be shifted to the office of Assistant Registrar in the tehsil complex till the new courts were constructed. Earlier, he was welcomed at the Canal Rest House by Mr A.K. Sharma, District Judge, Ludhiana; Mr G.S. Sidhu, SP (D), Khanna; and Mr R.K. Kondal, Capt S.S. Brar and Mr Rashpal Chand, the local Civil Judge, SDM and Tehsildar, respectively; and all members of the bar association here. 

SANGRUR
APPOINTED: Capt Amarinder Singh, President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, has appointed the following as office-bearers of the Sangrur District Congress Committee: vice-presidents — Mr Satish Kansal and Mr Ishwar Chand Verma; general secretaries — Mr Ranjit Singh Toor and Mr Vijay Gupta, and secretaries — Mr Satinder Pretty and Mr Arun Kapil.

TARN TARAN
MYSTERY SOLVED: The Goindwal police has solved the case of a missing old man, Hari Singh, a resident of Hothian village, who was allegedly kidnapped by Pargat Singh of the same village in May and was later murdered by him after he got his property registered in his name. The accused has been arrested by the police, who confessed to the crime. A case has been registered under Sections 302-A and 201 of the IPC.

HARYANA

AMBALA
WOMAN KILLED: A woman scooterist was killed in an accident on the GT Road, here on Saturday morning. She was run over by a bus going from Delhi to Punjab at Kalka Modh. The bus also hit a cyclist, who sustained serious injuries. They were taken to the local Civil Hospital.

APPOINTED: Mr Balinder Singh has been appointed state secretary of the youth wing of the Indian National Lok Dal. Mr Narinder Sangwan has been appointed state general secretary by Mr Ajay Chautala. The MP, Mr Faqir Chand Mullana, and Naggal MLA, Mr Jasbir Mallour, have welcomed the appointments.

LOK ADALAT: Justice V.K. Bali of Punjab and Haryana High Court inaugurated 46th lok adalat at the Sessions Court, here on Saturday. Mr Bali said lok adalat was the best means of seeking early justice. He obsrved that a large number of cases that came to the court could be decided at the panchayat, baradari and lok adalat level. He said there was a need to generate awareness about lok adalats among the people. Among others, District Sessions Judge, Ms Kiran Anand Lall, Deputy Commissioner, Mr D.D. Gautam, Superintendent of Police, Mr Sandeep Khirwar, and District Bar Association president, Mr S.M. Sharma, were also present. 

EXCISE INSPECTOR HELD: An Excise and Taxation Inspector was nabbed on Friday night from Baldev Nagar here. A city court on Saturday sent the inspector on police remand till Monday. A vigilance inquiry had earlier been intiated against him in 1996 and in 1998 a case had been registered against him. He is alleged to have committed irregularities. He was currently posted in Chandigarh.

BASKETBALL TEAM WINS: SA Jain College, on Saturday defeated SD College, Panipat, to win the final match for inter-college basketball tournament, Zone C of Kurukshetra University. The final score was 71-70 in favour of SA Jain College. The winning team members were Amrit, Mohit, Madhur, Amit, Ashok, Barinder, Pankaj, Dinesh, Mithun, Rishi, Rimple and Ravi, according to press note.

BHIWANI
SUSPENDED: The sarpanch of Badsi Jatan village Rajender Singh has been placed under suspension and barred from attending meetings of the gram panchayat till further orders. The orders issued by the Deputy Commissioner state the suspended Sarpanch should immediately hand over record, if any, to the next Panch having a majority in the panchayat.

SUICIDE: A married woman allegedly committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance at Dhani janga village. The police has registered a case under Sections 452 and 306 of the IPC against Prakash, her husband, who is still at large and further investigations are on.

ELECTROCUTED: A soda factory owner, Nand Lal Kanjar was electrocuted at his house at Charkhi Dadri when he was bathing in the bathroom on Thursday evening. In another incident, Minnu, son of Prakash, a resident of Mundhal, was wounded when an unidentified vehicle hit him. He has been admitted to the Civil Hospital here.

FATEHABAD
CAUGHT RED-HANDED: A team of the State Vigilance Department caught a patwari red-handed while he was taking Rs 12,000 as bribe from a farmer for mutation of a purchase deed of his agricultural land. Marked currency was recovered from the patwari by the raiding party headed by the Naib Tehsildar, Mr Hari Chand Bhatia.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

SHIMLA
MEMORANDUM SUBMITTED: The Himachal Pradesh University unit of the Student Federation of India today submitted a memorandum to Dr Suraj Bhan, Governor, who is also the Chancellor of the university. In the memorandum, they stated that the students whose belongings were destroyed during the campus violence on November 1 and 2 had still not been provided any relief even after the completion of the inquiry into incident.