R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
AGITATION: The general council of the Government Teachers Union has decided to launch an agitation against the government proposal to hand over the managements of schools to village panchayats. The union in a press statement issued here on Monday condemned the proposal.

CULTURAL BONANZA: Guru Nanak Dev University on Monday organised a cultural bonanza as part of the Punjabi week celebrations at Preet Nagar village.

BATALA
SHORTAGE: Resentment prevails among local residents against the Punjab Treasury Office due to non-availability of revenue stamps of Re 1 denomination. The treasury officer, Mr Sudama Bhagat, said on Tuesday that the stamps would be available shortly.

SAVING SCHEMES: Kissan Vikas Patars and National Saving Certificates for Rs 5,000 each have not been available at the Main Post Office here, for the past one month. The Post Master, Mr Ram Murti, said on Tuesday that he had informed the Central Stamp Depot, Ludhiana, in this regard and the certificates would be available soon.

HOSHIARPUR
UNDERTRIAL ESCAPES: Balbir Singh, alias Beera, an undertrial arrested by CIA staff, Hoshiarpur, under Sections 364, and 420, IPC, escaped from police custody on Sunday. Balbir Singh belonged to Mange Kham village. The police has registered a case under Sections 223 and 224 of the IPC against constable Joban Singh.

COMPLAINT: On the complaint of Jaswinder Singh of Mona Kalan village, the police has registered a case under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC against Jograj, a travel agent of Murujwal village. In his complaint Jaswinder Singh alleged that Rs 3 lakh had been given to Jograj for sending a son of his friend to England, but he neither sent the boy abroad nor returned the money.

JALANDHAR
ARRESTED: The police has arrested Hardeep Singh of Beant Nagar for allegedly luring innocent girls and sexually exploiting them. According to the police, acting on a tip-off, the Sadar police raided a house in Sainik Vihar colony, near here, and found the accused in compromising position with a girl. The police found some pornographic films from the place. A case has been registered against the accused on the statement of the girl.

THEFT: Cash was stolen from a shop situated on the Mandi road here on Monday. According to the police, Mr Surinder Chabra, owner of the shop, reported that as he reached the shop on Monday morning, he found one of the locks missing from the shutters of the shop. After opening the shop he found the cash missing. He claimed that Rs 3.5 lakh was stolen.

LUDHIANA
Cancer detection camp: The two-day free PAP smear camp for the detection of cervical cancer organised by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mohan Dai Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation, concluded here on Tuesday. More than 100 persons underwent examination tests.

OFFICE BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the All-India Confederation of Blind: president — Dr E.M. Johnson; vice-presidents — Mr B.V. Reddy and Dr Saubhagya Goyal; secretary general — Mr J.L. Kaul; secretaries — Dr Anil Aneja and Ms Ranju Singh, and treasurer — Mr V.K. Chadha.

Mandi Gobindgarh
INAUGURATED: A physiotherapy wing was inaugurated at Desh Bhagat Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital, Mandi Gobindgarh, by Mr Jyoti Shanker Tripathi, Principal of the college, at a brief function, according to Dr A.N. Pandey in a press note here on Tuesday. Dr O.P. Singh and Dr H.S. Bainipal also spoke on the occasion.

STIR THREAT: The district unit of class IV government employees’ union has called a meeting of presidents and general secretaries of subdivisions, besides members of the executive committee on November 7 at the office of the Executive Engineer, PWD, Sirhind according to Mr Hari Chand, district unit chief of the union, in a press note here on Tuesday. The future line of action regarding the alleged misbehaviour of the Civil Surgeon with a deputation of the union would be chalked out. Instead of redressing the grievances of the employees the Civil Surgeon had reportedly threatened to take departmental action against the union members.

PHILLAUR
COUPLE KILLED: Scooterist Paramjit and his pillion rider Kamlesh were killed in an accident on the national highway here on Monday. Both husband and wife were returning home when a vehicle hit their scooter. In another mishap. Harish Paul was killed when a vehicle hit him. The police has registered cases.

HARYANA

AMBALA
SAHITYA SABHA: The Chief News Editor, Punjabi Tribune, Mr Sham Singh, recited poems at “Meet Your Poet” programme organised by the Punjabi Sahitya Sabha at Gandhi Memorial National (PG) College, Ambala Cantt on Monday. Mr Sham Singh released an audio cassette “Nazrana” by upcoming singer Shiv Anand.

MEMORANDUM SUBMITTED: Parents of students of GMN Public School, Ambala Cantt on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to the school management. They demanded that skating and computer classes should be immediately resumed and the money from April to October should be refunded. They also sought the resumption of activity day, besides conducting the annual day.

MANTRA UCHARAN: A ‘mantra ucharan’ competition was held at DAV Public School, Model Town, Ambala City on Tuesday. As many as 23 teams from various DAV schools of Haryana participated. In the junior group, Surbhi Gupta of DAV Public School, Model Town, Ambala City stood first, Shubham of DAV Public School, Panchkula was adjudged second while Ankush of DAV Public School Naraingarh came third. Kshitij of Police DAV Public School, Ambala City won the consolation prize. In the senior group, Urvashi of DAV Public School, Panchkula, came first while Megha of DAV Public School Barara stood second and Rashmi of DAV Senior Secondary School, Ambala City came third. Karishma of Sohan Lal DAV Model School, Ambala City, won the consolation prize.

MUSIC CONFERENCE: A music conference was organised by the music society of MDSD Girls College, Ambala City on Tuesday. Principal, Dr Kiran Angra, said Pandit Vishnudutt Sharma graced the occasion. The conference began with a classical performance by Aditi Sharma, a student of class XI at Bal Bharati Public School, New Delhi. Dhrupad exponent Sridutt Sharma accompanied her on tabla. Radio and TV artist Pandit Chaman Lal Padia enchanted the audience by his rendition of “Raag Bhairavi”. He was accompanied by Gian Chaurasia on tabla and Kishan Singh on harmonium.

OFFICE-BEARERS : The president of the BJP Mahesh Nagar mandal, Mr Rajendra Guddu, has announced that the following have been elected office-bearers of the mandal : vice-presidents — Mr Jasbir Jassi, Mr Shalin Puri, and Ms Somti Devi; general secretary — Mr Vijendra Chauhan; secretaries — Mr Ashwani Sharma, Mr Khairati Lal Sethi and Mr Rajkumar Sharma; media in charge — Mr Satpal Sabharwal; and treasurer — Mr Narendra Sharma.

DAIRIES SITE: Ambala Sadar dairies are likely to be shifted to a new site instead of the site which was earmarked earlier. The proposed site is at Sarseri village on the Jagadhari road. The decision to this effect was taken in a meeting between dairy owners and Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr M.L. Kaushik as well as Ambala Cantt MLA, Mr Anil Vij.

PARKING LOT: The District Bar Association has demanded the arrangement of parking lot for the vehicles of lawyers as after the shifting of all courts on November 9 in the new judicial complex, as many as 600 lawyers had to park their vehicles outside the new complex. The president of Ambala Bar Association, Mr J.S. Kohli, said here on Tuesday the problem was brought to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner, Ambala.

MAN KILLED: One person was killed while three others were injured when two three-wheelers collided near Nasirpur village on the Ambala-Hisar road, near Ambala City. A passenger Jeet Ram succumbed to his injuries while Amit Kumar, Banta Ram and another passenger sustained injuries. A case was registered against the driver of a three-wheeler.

FATEHABAD
BYELECTION: The byelection to the posts of one sarpanch and 20 panchayat members in this district would be held on November 23. The Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer, Dr R.B. Langyan, told mediapersons here on Monday that nominations for these posts would be accepted in the Block Development Offices concerned from November 11 to November 13 and the scrutiny of the nominations would be done on November 15. The last date of withdrawal is November 17.

KURUKSHETRA
FUNCTION: A function was organised by Punjab National Bank at its regional office here on Tuesday in connection with Vigilance Awareness Week. Employees took an oath of adopting honesty and transparency in day-to-day working. The Regional Manager, Mr P.S. Bedi, addressed employees on the occasion.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

DHARAMSALA
ANGLING COMPETITION: The Fisheries Department in collaboration with Himachal Tourism and Angling Association will hold a one-day angling competition at Maharana Partap Sagar on Sunday. The Assistant Director of Fisheries, Mr Gurcharan Singh, said the Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister, Mr Harsh Mahajan, would preside over the function.

KANGRA
ARRESTED: The police on Monday arrested Anoop Kumar who allegedly shot dead his neighbour at Tharu village on Saturday. The district police chief, Mr S. Zahoor H. Zaidi, said a police party headed by the SHO Shahpur police station arrested Anoop Kumar from Haripur. The police recovered the licensed gun used in the crime.

SEMINAR: A two-day seminar on national integration sponsored by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and organised by the NSS unit, of Punjabi University, Patiala concluded at Andretta on Monday. As many as 115 delegates from Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh participated and 18 papers were read out. Two plays were presented on the occasion.

KULU
KILLED: Mushtaque Ahmed (19), a resident of Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir, was killed when he got trapped between a wall and a moving truck at the Gompa road in Manali on Sunday. A case has been registered under Sections 279 and 304 of the IPC. The driver was arrested and released on bail.