R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
NEW UNION: A new union of masons and labourers was constituted at a rally organised by the Punjab Pradesh Dalit Council at Chowk Baba Jiwan Singh, Nawi Abadi, here on Monday. At the rally daily wages of masons and labourers were announced, Rs 160 for masons and Rs 90 for labourers. It was said if any mason or labourer was found flouting the same, he would have to pay a fine of Rs 500 and Rs 300, respectively.

BATHINDA
2 INJURED: Bir Singh and Kala Singh, residents of Tungwali village, who were injured in a fight over a land dispute, were admitted to the emergency wing of the Civil Hospital on Tuesday. The condition of Bir Singh, who received injuries in head and other parts of the body, was said to be serious. The hospital authorities have informed the police and a case would be registered after the statements of the injured are recorded.

BSNL COUNTERS: Mr Joginder Mohan, General Manager, Telecom District, Bathinda, in a press note issued here on Tuesday said five new cash counters have been made operational for the benefit of telephone subscribers. The new centres at Mansa, Sardulgarh, Budhlada, Phul Mandi and Ramana had started accepting bills, he added.

BAN ON ARMS: Mr Anurag Verma, Deputy Commissioner, has imposed a ban on the carrying of licensed arms by the public. The order, issued on Tuesday, would be in force till May 9.

PENSIONERS' DEMAND: pensioners have urged district Treasury officials to transfer the pension records to banks. Mr nahar Singh, press secretary of the Pensioners and Senior Citizens Welfare Association, said at a meeting on Tuesday that as the government had decided to give pension through banks, the authorities should transfer the records at the earliest.

HOSHIARPUR
UPGRADED: The J.R. Government Polytechnic of Hoshiarpur has been upgraded to an institute of engineering. Students of Kandi area and Hoshiarpur district can, now, get admission in various four-year engineering-degree courses from the coming academic session. Presently, this institute is offering seven diploma courses and a four-year degree course in pharmacy.

CREMATED: K.K. Bedi, Naib Tehsildar of Dasuya, who died in a road accident on Monday, was cremated on Tuesday. Mr Kirandeep Singh Bhullar, Deputy Commissioner of Hoshiarpur, Mr Paramjit Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner, and officials of the Revenue Department attended the funeral. Bedi’s car was hit by a truck near Randhawa Sugar Mill on Monday. The Dasuya police has registered a case in this regard.

PIRACY: On the complaint of Mr Amit Chaudhry, Investigator of Super Cassettes Industry, the Mahilpur police has registered a case under Sections 51, 52-A, 63, 65 and 68-A of the Copyright Act and Section 420 of the IPC against Rakesh Electronics of Mahilpur for preparing and selling duplicate CDs and cassettes.

KHANNA
CAMP: A coordination camp was organised by the Punjab State Electricity Board, Khanna distribution area, under the chairmanship of the Superintending Engineer, Khanna, Mr H.P. Singh, at Hotel Dawat. The Assistant Executive Engineer, Mr Ajmer Singh, said in a press note that more than 80 employees of the board attended the camp. The speakers stressed the need to check power theft and gave suggestions for improving the working of the board. The camp was also attended by R.K. Sharma, Director (HRD).

LUDHIANA
PROTEST: The members of the local Press Club took out a protest march from Gurdwara Singh Sabha on Tuesday. They were protesting against the police and the administration for alleged ill-treatment of mediapersons on the day of civic poll. They marched through various parts of the city with their eyes covered with black cloth. Later, they sat in dharna in front of the office of the SSP. Mediapersons from Jagraon, Raikot, Sidhar, Mullanpur, Ajitwal and Sidhwan Bet participated in the dharna. Mr Jaspal Singh Heran, Mr Parwana of Purain and Mr Santokh Singh Gill Sudhar addressed the protest rally.

LAWYERS' STRIKE: The lawyers here observed strike for the second consecutive day in protest against the high-handedness of the police on the day of civic poll. Mr Randhir Singh, DSP, had allegedly manhandled Mr Joginder Singh Gill, an advocate, dislocating his arm bone in the process. Mr Gill was peacefully participating in civic elections in Ward No 1. The Bar has demanded the registration of a case against the erring police official, besides his immediate transfer.

APNA DIWAS: The State Bank of India, Link Road, Ludhiana branch, celebrated ‘Apna Divas’ on its 30th anniversary by organising a free medical check-up camp on its premises. Mr P.C. Singal, chief manager of the branch, inaugurated the camp. Dr R.K. Aggarwal, general physician, and Dr Manjit Singh, eyes specialist, examined more than 250 customers of the bank and gave free medicines. The bank’s gesture was highly appreciated by the people of the area. Mr K.K. Sabharwal and other members of the staff actively works for the success of the camp.

PATIALA
GRATITUDE FOR RELIEF: The kin of theatre artistes’ who were killed along with Harpal Tiwana in a road accident near Dehra Gopipur (HP) last year, other art lovers here have expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister Punjab, Capt Amarinder Singh, Preneet Kaur, MP for providing a relief of Rs 1 lakh each to the kin of all the four victims. They also appreciated the relentless efforts of the National Theatre Arts Society (NTAS) Patiala for taking up the matter with the Chief Minister. 

PHAGWARA
TWO OF FAMILY DEAD: Mr Parshotam Nath Bhatia and his one-month-old grandson died on the spot while four family members sustained serious injuries when their Maruti car was hit by a truck on the GT road near Chiheri Bein, 8 km from here, on Monday. They were rushed to a Jalandhar hospital. They were returning after a marriage at Ludhiana. The local police has registered a case.

DEFRAUDED: Travel agent Gurnam Singh of Bhatnaura village has defrauded one Ajaib Singh of Harbanspura village of Rs 1,95,000 with a false promise of sending him to England. Ajaib Singh was neither sent abroad nor returned the money. The duped Ajaib Singh has pleaded with the SSP, Kapurthala, Mr R.N. Dhoke, to get him justice.

SAMRALA
GREETINGS: Mr Avtar Singh Ghulal, vice-president of the District Congress, Ludhiana, has sent greetings to Capt Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister, on the birth of a son to Ranninder Singh, son of the Chief Minister. Sweets were distributed in the local civil rest house among the Congress workers, office-bearers and friends of Mr Avtar Singh Ghulal.

TARN TARAN
TB CONTROL CAMP: The Jagriti Bhalai Kendra organised a tuberculosis control camp here on Tuesday in which 50 community health workers from Mirpur, Bhojian, Kot Dharam Chand Khurd, Kot Dharam Chand Kalan and Jaura participated. 

HARYANA

AMBALA
PATIENTS DISCHARGED: About 200 polio patients who had been operated upon at the polio rectification surgery camp organised by the Manav Seva Mandal were discharged on Tuesday. About 320 polio-afflicted patients had been operated upon by Dr Adi Narayan Rao from Vishakhapatnam. They had been kept under supervision for 72 hours.

ROAD BYPASS SOUGHT: Citizens Council on Tuesday demanded a bypass on the Jagadhari road. The council stated that there were a number of educational institutions on the Jagadhari road and the bypass would ensure that students did not use the Jagadhari road, according to a press note.

WOMEN’S RESERVATION: Mr Om Prakash Malik, former organising secretary, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, suggested on Tuesday that reservation for women should start from one-tenth of the seats. He said instead of one-third reservation for women, it should begin with one-tenth of the seats and after every five years, there should be five per cent increase in reserved seats. The number of seats reserved for women would eventually reach 33 per cent, a press note said.

VIKAS PARISHAD: The two municipal councillors, who had sought the withdrawal of their signatures from the no-confidence motion application, joined the vikas parishad, on Tuesday. Besides Ms Bhagwati Devi and Mr Gokulesh Awasthi, former municipal councillors Ram Lal and Mahendra Sethi also joined the vikas parishad. A meeting of the core committee of the vikas parishad was presided over by Mr Anil Vij, following which the decision to induct them was taken.

TWO ARRESTED: The Ambala Cantt police arrested two persons on Tuesday for stealing a sugarcane crusher and an engine. A resident of Khudda Kalan, Mr Raj Kumar, had lodged a complaint with the police that his sugarcane crusher on the Kalheri road had been taken away by two residents of Nagla village. The police seized the sugarcane crusher and the engine from the possession of Rajinder and Mehar.

HEALTH CAMP: The Shri Atam Vallav Jain Charitable Dispensary organised a free health check-up camp at Ambala City on Tuesday. It was inaugurated by the chairman of the SA Jain College management committee, Mr Kuldeep Jain. The director of the Philadelphia Hospital, Dr Sunil Sadik, the Civil Surgeon, Dr S.L. Kaushik, the Principal, Mr C.L. Singla, and the president of the Shri Sangh, Mr Kirti Prashad Jain, were present.

FATEHABAD
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the block Fatehabad unit of the Sarva Karamchari Sangh; Mr Beg Raj — president, Mr Kanwar Paul — vice-president; Mr Om Nath; secretary, Mr Subhash Chander — joint secretary; Mr Pawan Sharma —cashier; Mr Brahm Paul — organising secretary; and Mr Jagdish Godara — auditor.

EN MASSE MARRIAGES: Thirteen girls belonging to poor families were married at a function organised at Jakhal town in this district on Monday. The local Nav Durga Bhajan Mandal organised the function. Hundreds of local people participated, including the Deputy Commissioner. The organisers gave jewellery, a double-bed, a table, two chairs, a fan, two watches, trunks and clothes to each of the 13 couples.

WEBSITE ON TOWN: The Deputy Commissioner on Monday inaugurated a website www.rahulshivam.com here. The site, prepared by a local youth, Rahul Sharma, contains information on Fatehabad district. The site will provide information about the history of the town, about its important places and archaeology. Several important persons of the town attended the function.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

KULU
HELD WITH CHARAS: Charas worth Rs 6 crore was seized by a patrol party of Banjar at Sara near Sainj on Monday, about 40 km from here. The Additional Superintendent of Police said Ram Singh Dlurldhar was nabbed with 65 gm of charas concealed in a bag.