R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amloh
DISTRIBUTED: Punjab Sabhyacharak Club, Amloh, under ‘help the needy students’ programme organised its 14th annual function at Government Senior Secondary School, Naraingarh, near here today. Mr Roshan Lal Sood, president of the club distributed exercise books to 110 students on the occasion.

Amritsar
Remanded: Rupa, a resident of Dhaka, Bangladesh was sent to judicial custody along with her four-year-old child on Tuesday. She was nabbed by the immigration authorities while boarding Samajhouta Express at the international Atari railway station without any documents. According to an information, Rupa was married to Karachi-based Pakistani national Abdul Malik.

FILM FESTIVAL: The children’s Film Festival of India will be held in the holy city from August 23-27. Mr Raminder Singh, Deputy Commissioner, said the festival was aimed at awakening a patriotic spirit amongst children.

CONCERN: The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) Engineers’ Association on Tuesday expressed concern about the state government’s haste to form corporations by dissolving the board. Mr Jagjit Singh Suchu, executive member of the association, said the UPA Government in its common minimum programme had postponed the forming of the corporations after looking into the conditions of other electricity corporations like in Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnatka, UP and Rajasthan.

Barnala
SEIZED: The Barnala police has arrested two persons for possessing about 750 gm of opium. Mr Amit Prasad, SSP, Barnala, said the police had booked Raghbir Singh, a resident of Kharak Singh Wala village, under Sections 18/61/85 of the NDPS Act after 500 gm of opium was seized from him. In another incident, the police has registered a case against Makhan Singh after 250 gm of opium was recovered from his possession, he added.

Bathinda
KILLED: One person, identified as Parkash, was crushed to death by a speeding oil tanker near Gill Patti village on the Bathinda-Goniana road on Tuesday. Parkash was going on his bike when the truck hit him and crushed him to death. A cyclist who was also hit by same vehicle and identified as Raja, was seriously injured. He was admitted to the local Civil Hospital by volunteers of Sahara Jan Sewa, a non-governmental organisation.

Faridkot
SCHOOL TIMINGS: In view of the hot weather and to meet the shortage of power supply, Mr Alok Shekhar, District Magistrate-cum-Deputy Commissioner, Faridkot, has rescheduled the working hours of all the government and private schools in the district. Under the new orders, the institutions will work from 7.30 a.m. to 12 noon with immediate effect till further orders.

Ferozepore
SEMINAR: The Regional Office of Punjab National Bank organised a seminar on rural credit schemes in pursuance of the announcement made by the Union Finance Minister for doubling credit flow to agriculture and relief measures for the farmers affected by natural calamities. While presiding over the seminar, Mr Chand Singh, deputy zonal manager of the bank told the field functionaries to have a thorough look on agriculture’s importance being emphasised by the government. He said the bank would be increasing the agriculture advances by 30 per cent and double the credit flow to the agriculture sector in the next three years.

Hoshiarpur
Organised: Indian Red Cross Society, district branch Hoshiarpur, organised an identification and distribution camp for physically handicapped persons at local J.R. Govt Polytechnic on Tuesday. 25 wheel chairs, 100 calipers and 40 artificial limbs were distributed to the needy persons in the camp.

INAUGURATION: Mr S.P. Gupta, Commissioner, Income Tax Jalandhar (I), inaugurated a computerisation return centre at the Income Tax office here on Tuesday. Addressing the participants on the occasion, Mr Gupta said to provide facilities to income tax assessees and to speed up department work, computerisation in the income tax offices of Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Nawanshahr had been done.

DHARNA: On the call of the PSEB Employees Joint Forum, more than 800 employees of the PSEB circle Hoshiarpur, staged dharna and held a rally in support of their demands in front of the circle office here on Tuesday.

PROTEST: Employees of the Tubewell Corporation, Hoshiarpur, staged dharna and held a rally in front of their circle office on Tuesday in protest against the non-payment of their salaries for June, 2004.

SUCCUMBED: Amarjit Kaur, wife of Joginder Singh of Bhunga succumbed to her burn injuries at local Civil Hospital on Tuesday. She was seriously burnt when her clothes caught fire from stove flames while she was cooking food.

BODY FOUND: A dead body of an unidentified young girl aged 16-17 years was found at power house No. 4 of Pandori on Monday. The police took the body into custody and sent it for postmortem.

DIED: Prem, a Nepali citizen, died on the spot when a speedy tractor bearing registration no. PB-07H-7817, hit his cycle near Argowal village on Monday. Suresh, who was accompanying him, also got injured in the accident. The Dasuya police has registered a case against the driver of the tractor Gurmeet Singh of Argowal village.

Ludhiana
Sankirtan: A week-long Gita Bhagwat sankirtan organised by ISKCON and the Ram Nagar Welfare Association concluded in the Civil Lines on Monday. Sakshi Gopal Dass, Karnal in charge of ISKCON, delivered sermons at the sankirtan. A function was held to mark the culmination of the sankirtan at which the ISKCON Prachar Samiti honoured Sakshi Gopal Dass and Raj Surya Prabhu. Among others present on the occasion were Mr Rakesh Pandey, Mr M.R. Sikandar, Mr Ashok Bhandari, Mr Subhash Bansal and Mr Rajiv Duggal.

SATSANG: A satsang was held at Shri Sidhpeeth in the Civil Lines under the supervision of Rishi Onkar Dutt on Monday. Pandit Raj Kumar, in his discourse, said only faith increased religious sentiments in a person. Others who performed the satsang were Mr Hari Pal Ahuja, Mahant Pawan, Mr Ashwini Grover, Mr Jagdish Chhabra, Mr Deepak Sharma and Mr Brij Mohan. Another satsang was held at the Tapovan in the Civil Lines by the Dhanda Charitable Trust on Monday Among those who delivered sermons on the occasion were Swami Namdev and Pandit Mahanand.

RECITATION: Shri Hanumant Sewa Sangh organised a recitation of Sunder Kand in Hargobind Nagar on Monday. Those who read the holy scripture were Mr Ashok Sikka, Mr Pankaj Talwar, Mr Sandip Mehta and Mr Sunil Rawat.

Medical Camp: Over 200 patients were examined at a free prostate care health camp organised at Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Model Town Extension, to mark tercentenary celebrations of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. The camp was supervised by Dr I.P.S. Chhabra in collaboration with management of the gurdwara and the inauguration ceremony was performed by Mr Avtar Singh Makkar, president of the gurdwara managing committee and member of the SGPC. Dr Baldev Singh Aulakh, urologist at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, along with his team, examined men patients above 50. Free tests were done under the supervision of Dr Mahavir and Dr Gurarinder Singh. Free medicines were provided by the gurdwara management.

Computer donated: The Lions Club Ludhiana Greater, along with Free Mason’s Lodge Vishkarma No. 173 and M/s Amarjit Textiles, donated a computer and printer under a social service project to the Ashirwad - North Indian Cerebral Palsy Association here on Wednesday. According to Mr G.S. Miglani, president of the club, Ashirwad, a rehabilitation centre-cum-school for children affected by cerebral palsy, was being run on donations. The children of the association presented a cultural programme.

honoured: A function was organised at the Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib Charitable Hospital to felicitate Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal, Deputy Speaker, Lok Sabha. Addressing the function, Mr Atwal advised the hospital staff to continue with the service to the suffering humanity with complete dedication and missionary spirit. He also handed over a fixed deposit of Rs 68,555 to a rape victim who had been provided treatment by the hospital free of cost. This amount was collected by donations from the people. Mr Bharatbir Singh Sobti, Senior Additional Advocate-General, Punjab, Dr R.S. Sodhi, Medical Superintendent of the GTBH, and Ms G.K. Walia, Principal, INE, also spoke on the occasion.

Teej celebrations: Members of the Gitanjali Ladies Club, Rajpura Road, organised a function to celebrate the Teej festival on Saturday. The highlight of the function was the choreography by Ms Purva Puri. It was based on the theme - celebration during rain by people of various age groups. Women as well children danced to the song - ' Kale megha, kale megha'.

Muktsar
ARRESTED: A lady doctor at Muktsar Civil Hospital, Meena Jagga, was caught by the Vigilance Bureau while taking bribe from a patient. Vigilance Bureau DSP, Moga, Mr Surjit Singh Khosa, arrested her while she was accepting Rs 300 as bribe from Ms Veerpal Kaur of Kot Bhai village. Ms Veerpal Kaur’s husband, Mr Iqbal Singh, had lodged a complaint with the Vigilance Bureau against the doctor that she had been demanding money from his wife for her treatment.

Pathankot
ORGANISED: Lions Club organised a Vanmahotsava here on Tuesday. Mr Rajesh Mahajan, ADFO, was the chief guest. As many as 150 saplings were planted at the new Sabzi Mandi market, according to Mr Vidya Mahajan, secretary of the club.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Asha Purni Mandir Committee: president — Mr Harash Kumar Sharma; secretary — Mr Ashok Bajaj and treasurer — Mr Tilak Kumar Malhotra.

KILLED: One person was killed and three were injured when a truck rolled into a khud due to a landslide, near Sukret village, near here, on Tuesday. The deceased was identified as Kartar Singh (50), driver, while the injured were Romesh Kumar, Som Raj and Chaman Ram. The injured were shifted to the local Civil Hospital. The police has registered a case.

PROTEST: Activists of the Taxi Operator Talmel Committee here on Tuesday blocked the APK road, the national highway near the Kandwal barrier against the transport policy of the Himachal Pradesh Government. The protesters were demanding the withdrawal of the recent tax hike imposed on the taxies plying here, for entering Himachal Pradesh. The roadblock was lifted only after an assurance given by the local tehsildar. The protesters also presented a memorandum to the tehsildar for the withdrawal of the road tax.

BAIL DENIED: The bail plea of Dr G.D. Sharma, who was allegedly involved in a case of sexual harassment of girl students of the R.M. Tagore Nursing Institute was declined by Mr R.K. Garg Subdivisional Judicial Magistrate here on Tuesday.

Tarn Taran
Booked: Four persons Balkar Singh, Sakattar Singh, Sawarn Singh and Rana Partap Singh of Pehalwanke village under police station Bhikhiwind have been booked under 13(1) SC/ST PA Act, 1984 for abusing Mr Balkar Singh, a dalit resident of the same village on caste base in the presence of the village panchayat.

CHANDIGARH

CAMP: A camp for adolescent girls was organised by the Indian Council of Social Welfare at Dhanas village on Wednesday. Twentyeight girls participated. The girls were informed about the HIV\AIDS and its prevention and also about other health hazards.

HARYANA

ARRESTED: The Ganaur police on Wednesday arrested a youth, Sunil of Gumar village in connection with the alleged molestation of a woman of the same village. The woman was going to fetch water from a tank when she was allegedly waylaid and molested by the youth.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Hamirpur
power cut: Hamirpur town and its adjacent areas will face a three-day-long power cut starting July 30. Mr S.K. Gupta, Additional Superintending Engineer of Hamirpur, said here on Tuesday that the power supply would remain affected from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day for the repair of old equipment and maintenance of 132/33/11 KV lines. The power supply would also be affected in the areas falling under the Rangas and Lambloo zones of the power board, he added.

Nahan
MEETING: Presiding over the joint consultative committee meeting of officers, NGOs and the employees federation here on Tuesday, Deputy Commissioner M.L. Sharma said residential facilities for employees would be improved in the district. He sanctioned Rs 1 lakh for the repair of residences of employees at Rajgarh, Dadahu and Shilai.