R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
GOODS RECOVERED: The police on Thursday raided a place where some youths were reportedly finalising a plan to carry out thefts. On the basis of information provided by them the police raided a house on the gaushala road. A number of stolen goods, including colour TVs, CD players, inverters computer sets, recording sets, 95 CDs and 340 audio video cassettes were recovered from the house. Sahil, alias Angrej, Tarun Kataria and Rakesh Kumar have been arrested under Sections 457, 380, 41 of the IPC. A local court has remanded them to police custody for two days.

AMRITSAR
THREE HELD: The district police on Thursday claimed to have arrested three persons in separate incidents and recovered gold and silver ornaments and two scooters from their possession. Mr S.K. Kalia, SP, said a police party arrested Rakesh Kumar and Gurdev Singh of Chhota Haripura and recovered gold and silver ornaments and a scooter from their possession. The police recovered another scooter from the possession of Daler Singh of Mahan Singh Gate.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Government School Teachers Union, Amritsar unit: district president — Mr Satyapal Gupta; general secretary — Mr Balkar Valtoha; senior vice-presidents — Mr Udham Singh and Mr Hardev Bhakna; and vice-presidents — Mr Ram Murti, Ms Narinderpal, Mr Sarabjit Patti and Mr Amarjit Singh.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
BLOOD DONATION: The Blood Donors Society, Bassi Pathana, in association with the Indian Medical Association, Bharat Vikas Parishad, Citizens Club and SBOP main branch Bassi Pathana organised 62th blood donation camp at Aggarwal Dharmshala here on Friday. More than 105 units of blood were donated to the blood bank of the PGI. A team of doctors led by Usha Rao took the blood.

FARIDKOT
NO OVERLOADING: Mr A. Venu Prasad, Deputy Commissioner, has directed all cycle and auto-rickshaws, besides four-wheeler operators, to stop the overloading of the passengers in their vehicles within a week otherwise heavy penalties would be imposed upon them. While presiding over a district transport and other traffic officials meeting on Thursday, the Deputy Commissioner also sought the cooperation of heads of the educational institutions, along with the parents of the school-going children, in making the programme a success.

FEROZEPORE
POLL ARRANGEMENTS: Mr Kulbir Singh Sidhu, Secretary, Punjab State Election Commission, held a meeting with the District Election Officers of Ferozepore, Moga and Muktsar districts at the Zila Parishad office to review the arrangements being done for Panchayat and Zila Parishad elections to be held on June 9. He told them to complete all arrangements for the elections as soon as possible and ensure free and fair elections.

HOSHIARPUR
BOOKED: On the complaint of Mr Satnam Singh of Chack Kasim village , the Dasuya police has registered a case under Sections 420 and 406 of the IPC against Davinder Singh of Mohalla Labh Nagar on Thursday. In his complaint, Mr Satnam Singh had alleged that Davinder Singh took Rs 4 lakh for sending his son Gurtej Singh to England. But he neither sent his son to England nor did he return the money.

CARS STOLEN: Some miscreants stole a Maruti car No PB 10A-9049 of Prem Singh son of Bawa Singh from his residence at Salempur village on Thursday. In another case, miscreants also stole Maruti car No PB-08D-7483 of Devinder Singh son of Mohinder Singh from Shamchaurasion Thursday.

IN-LAWS BOOKED: Mr Sukhdev Kumar, father of Jasbir Bala of Satnam Nagar, Ludhiana, has lodged a complaint against his son-in-law Amarjit, his father Surinder Singh, mother Nimo and brother Pamma of Miani on Thursday. He alleged that his daughter’s in-laws used to torture her to get a refrigerator and a scooter from her parents. They also used to beat her up. The Tanda police has registered a case in this regard.

KHANNA
STRIKE: The local Bar Association observed strike on Friday in support of demands raised by the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association in view of the PPSC Chairman scandal.

LUDHIANA
CEREMONY: An idol-installation ceremony was held at the Shakti Ashram Shri Jitto Asthan in Tilak Nagar, here on Wednesday. An idol of Gosain Jagannathji was installed amid chanting of hymns by the Bua Baba Mahila Bhajan Mandali. Tributes were paid to Gosainji.

TEMPLE CONSTRUCTION: The construction of Shiva Temple in Ajit Nagar, Haibowal, got under way on Wednesday, according to Mr Sohan Lal Dhanda, chairman, Dhanda Charitable Trust, which is undertaking the project. Amid chanting of mantras by Pandit Kashi Nath Tripathi and Pandit Mahanand Shastri, the poojan ceremony was performed by Mr Dhanda, Mr Dinesh Bajaj, Ms Renu Dhanda, Mr Avtar Thapar, Mr Ravi Nandan Sharma, Mr Pawan Jain, Mr Umesh Joshi, Ms Urmila Goyal, Mr Anil Aggarwal, Mr Vishal Abbi, Mr Surinder Gupta and Mr Yash Pal Jain. Apart from the idols of Lord Shiva and his family, idols of other gods and goddesses will also be installed.

KATHA: A session of Shrimad Bhagwat Katha will be held from May 26 to June 1 at the Shri Haridev Mandir in Bagh Wali street, according to Pandit Amar Sharma. The Shri Sanatan Dharam Rama Sankirtan Mandal will perform the poojan on the opening day.

FESTIVAL: Shri Rangji Mandir, New Shivaji Nagar, will hold its seventh annual festival from May 25 to 29, which will be presided over by Goswami Chander Parkash. A satsang session will be held every day from 9 pm to 11 pm. Mr Pran Nath Bhatia will inaugurate the festival.

RELIEF: The Shiv Sena (Tangri) will hold a function at Gur Mandi on May 27 at 3 pm. At the function relief will be distributed among 350 widows in the form of ration, according to Mr Jagdish Tangri. He said in a press note here on Friday that a large number of prominent saints would grace the occasion. A talk would also be organised about ways to end corruption in the country and bring various sects of Hindus on a single platform, he added.

RECITATION: A recitation of nine lakh Navkar Mahamantras will be held on May 26 in connection with the third annual commemoration day of Shri Devender Muniji at the Jain Sthanak in Rupa Mistry street. The function, which will begin at 8 am, is being organised by the S.S. Jain Biradari, according to Mr Moti Lal Jain.

BHANDARA: The Siddh Yogi Baba Balak Nath Temple in Gandhi Nagar will hold its 36th annual ‘chala’ and bhandara from May 25 to 27, according to a spokesman of the temple management. A group of devotees will leave for the Baba Balak Nath cave in Bilaspur district at 7 am on the final day, he added.

SAMMELAN: A dharam sammelan will be held from May 27 to 31 at the Shri Sanatan Dharam Mandir in New Model Town at which Swami Hari Chaitanya Puri will deliver discourses from 8 pm to 11 pm. A shobha yatra will be taken out on the opening day from the Mata Mandir in Harnam Nagar, according to Mr Inderjeet.

INAUGURATED: Ivanna, an institute of fashion technology, was inaugurated here on Friday by the Director (Outreach), Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, Mr Amarjit Singh Grewal. Ms Manmeet Sodhia, Director of the institute, said the institute is committed to giving its students complete and value-based education. It is offering courses like diploma in fashion technology, diploma in textile designing and diploma in interior designing, diploma in garment manufacturing technology.

MANSA
CONDEMNED: Mr Sarbjit Singh Grewal, president, District Bar Association, has condemned the sudden hike of Rs 120 in the bimonthly telephone rent by BSNL without any prior intimation to the consumers. Addressing mediapersons here on Friday, he said earlier, the bimonthly rent was Rs 240 but now this rent had been increased to Rs 360 which was “illegal” and liable to be challenged at the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum.

SUICIDE: Jasbir Kaur, who was married to Mr Bhajan Singh of Bhaini Bhaga village in the district a few months ago, allegedly committed suicide on Thursday by consuming poison. The deceased suspected that her husband had illicit relations with another woman and this caused bitterness between the two. The Sadar police has registered a case under Sections 306 and 34 of the IPC in this regard.

OPEN DURBAR: In open durbar held here on Thursday with Deputy Commissioner Alok shekhar in the chair, two dozen complaints were received and disposed of on the spot. The Deputy Commissioner issued directions to all district officers to attend such durbars regularly. The next open durbar will be held at Budhlada in the district at Government Senior Secondary School for Girls, on June 11.

HARYANA

FATEHABAD
AUCTION PUT OFF: Following protests from dissident Municipal Councillors, the municipal authorities had to postpone the auction of shops in the local Municipal Committee market. The councillors alleged that the municipal president wanted to sell off the shops at throwaway prices. No further date of the auction has been announced as yet.

YAMUNANAGAR
POWER BILLS: Taking advantage of the 75 per cent concession announced by the State government regarding the clearance of electricity bill arrears, Rs 51.23 lakh by 3,058 consumers have been deposited in the district by May 21. The government has extended the last date ate to May 31, 2002 to clear the backlog of electricity bills.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
PROBE SOUGHT: BJP leader Anil Sankhayayan of Gehara village in Balhchurani area, about 25 km from here, has demanded an inquiry into the alleged inaction of the police and the administration in controlling a forest fire which had engulfed Mokole forest and posed threat to Gehara, Laingadi and Chalehali villages.

BODY FOUND: The body of a shopkeeper, Khemraj, 26, was found from the roof of a house under construction near his own house at Kandraur, 10 km from here. Son of a local contractor, Mr Sehajram, Khemraj had left his house on Wednesday evening along with his friends. The police has registered a case in this regard.

CHAMBA
TRAFFIC PROBLEM: The Chamba Progressive Citizens Council has expressed concern over the problem of traffic congestion in the town. The president of the council, Mr D.N. Pardesi, has requested the Deputy Commissioner to give directions to regulate the traffic in a well-planned and organised way.

FOREST FIRES: There is no let-up in the forest fires in the region. The ‘chil’ forests of the Tunnuhatti, Bhalei, Masrund and Bhattiyat areas have been destroyed in devastating fire. People living on the fringe of forests set the adjoining forests on fire as it is deemed beneficial for growing grass to provide fodder for their livestock in the ensuing monsoon season. But the villagers are unmindful of the consequences arising out of these forest fires and the practice is continuing despite repeated appeals by the district administration in this regard.

RED CROSS LAB: The District Red Cross Society launched a computerised clinical laboratory at the Red Cross Bhavan here on Wednesday. Deputy Commissioner Rahul Anand said the lab would function round-the-clock.

ANNUAL FUNCTION: Himachal Pradesh Industries Minister Kishori Lal has impressed upon the NGOs the importance of innovative steps to bring succour to the poor. He stated this while presiding over the annual function of the Himgiri Kalyan Ashram at Kiani village, about 20 km from here, on Wednesday.

HAMIRPUR
BLOCK SELECTED: The Himachal Pradesh Government has selected Bamsan block of the district as one of the 20 blocks in the state for promoting business based on biotechnology. The diversification of farming with medicinal and aromatic plants, followed by their processing and extraction and appropriate business tie-ups would be one of the major activities of the Department of Biotechnology set up in the state, Dr P.K. Khosla, Senior Scientific Advisor to the department, said here on Thursday.

KULU
SHOBHA YATRA: A colourful shobha yatra on the eve of the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Parshuram, was taken out on Thursday evening here by the Braham Sabha. The devotees, including a large number of women from all over the district, participated in the yatra.

MANDI
APPEALED: The local Citizens Council and various political parties have appealed Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to allocate a special grant of Rs 23 crore to help the Irrigation and Public Health Department to implement gravity mainline drinking water scheme for this historic town by drawing the water of Uhl river. They said it would permanently solve the water problem of the city.

SHIMLA
NTPC PLAN: The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) plans to double its generation capacity to 40,000 MW by 2012. This was stated by Mr R.D. Gupta, Executive Director of the Corporation, while inaugurating a three-day workshop on “Preventive Vigilance and Vigilance Mechanism” organised by the Vigilance Department.