R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Hoshiarpur
SEIZED: On a tip off the Mahilpur police conducted a raid in the cremation ground of Pathrala village and seized 140 kg of poppy husk here on Saturday. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered.

FAIR: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr D.K. Tiwari, inaugurated a three-day sports fair and free medical check-up camp being organised by village welfare society, Health and Sports Department at Kotla Naudh Singh village on Saturday.

INAUGURATED: Mr Ramesh Chander Dogra, Health and Family Welfare Minister, Punjab, inaugurated the renovated bus stand at Talwara, 80 km from here, on Saturday. Mr Dogra disbursed cheques of Rs 1.15 crore among 62 panchayats for various development works on the occasion. He also inaugurated block resource centre constructed under the Sarv Siksha Abhiyan. He gave away cheques of Rs 18.74 lakh for the repair of 92 school buildings.

ALLEGED: On the complaint of Jagat Singh of Hajipur Chowk, the Garhshankar police has registered a case against Charanjit Singh, Mohinder Kaur, wife of Mohan Singh of Simbal Mazara, for not returning his good, including gold ornaments. Mr Jagat Singh alleged that he had made an engagement of his daughter, Hardip Kaur, with Darshan Singh. Later, they were demanding a car in dowry for which he refused and cancelled the proposed marriage of his daughter.

CASE REGISTERED: On the complaint of Additional Chief Administrator, PUDA, Jalandhar, the Sadar police has registered a case against Joginder Singh, son of Roor Singh of Miali village, for making unauthorised residential colony. The Administrator alleged that Joginder Singh had set up an unauthorised colony in his land at Khawaspur Piplanwala without getting permission from the PUDA.

Nabha
INJURED: Seven persons were injured when a bus going to Patiala overturned on the circular road here on Saturday. According to an eye witness, driver of the bus lost his control over the bus while crossing a truck parked on the road side. The injured were immediately taken to Civil Hospital for treatment.

Phagwara
GANG BUSTED: The police here on Friday claimed to have busted a four-member gang of thieves. In a press note, Mr Arun Pal Singh, SSP, Kapurthala, said a policy party headed by Inspector Nirmal Singh, SHO, city police station, arrested Ranjit Singh, alias Rana, Harmesh Kumar, both residents of Bhagatpura Mohalla, Deepak Kumar of Preet Nagar and Jagdish Singh of Narotam Nagar, Khanna. Six scooters and two motor cycles were recovered from them.

Sunam
ANNUAL FUNCTION: The annual function of the local Shaheed Udham Singh Government College was held on the college premises on Wednesday. Mr N.S. Walia, ADC, Sangrur, presided over the function and gave away prizes.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Nurpur
DEMANDED: Residents of Pandrer gram panchayat of this subdivision are up in arms against the Excise and Taxation Department for opening of a liquor vend in Thana village. Villagers submitted a memorandum to the Revenue Minister and the local MLA, Mr Sat Mahajan, and the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, in this connection. They demanded immediate closure of the vend.

ORDERED: The Kangra District Consumer Redressal Forum at a camp here on Thursday ordered the Postal Department to pay Rs 26,000 as compensation to Ms Radha Devi, a resident of Balah village in Jawali subdivision, for causing delay in the delivery of mail to the complainant. Ms Radha Devi in her complaint alleged that she had applied for admission in the B.Ed course in Jammu and Kashmir University. The university had mailed admission confirmation letter through the Postal Department. However, the confirmation letter delivered her after two months. As a result, she lost of the opportunity to joint the course.

REGIONAL POTPOURRI

Enter the Dragon, on the airwaves now

First came the Chinese toys. Then the Chinese lights and a host of other items. But now there's something for even ardent radio buffs. The Chinese presence is no longer confined to the Chinese transistors supplied to the Indian market at cheap prices, Radio China International (CRI) broadcast is now available in parts of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh on medium wave (MW) 1422 khz frequency. Programmes in Hindi are available in the evenings and have a strong signal, broadcast through a powerful 600-watt transmitter. The schedule can be seen in advance at www.chinabroadcast.cn. News and other programmes broadcast in Hindi are read out by the Chinese, whose Hindi accent is not all that good. Interestingly, in certain areas of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab — like the Nurpur-Pathankot belt, Dasuya, Mukerian, Jalandhar, etc — the signal of Radio China is much clearer as compared to other Indian radio stations.

Showcasing natural history

In order to sensitise students as well as the common man about the importance of biodiversity, the Solan-based High Altitude Zoology Field Station of the Zoological Survey of India has decided to set up a natural history museum in its complex. This will be the first museum of its kind in Himachal Pradesh."Our aim is to educate schoolchildren about the importance of animals and birds in sustaining the environment and their support to biodiversity," says Dr R.M. Sharma, officer in charge of the station.

The station has already started collecting specimens for the museum. So far, it has nearly 100 specimens of avians, including the monal, wall creeper, black-headed bulbul, red-billed blue magpie, black-throated tit, wood pigeon, wire-tailed swallow and golden oriole. Specimens of mammals, including the monkey, langur, musk deer, grey mongoose, flying squirrel, white-throated marten, civet cat and hog deer, reptiles, including monitor lizard, common India krait and rat snake, amphibians and fish have also been collected.

"We will develop resource material for use by students, NGOs, government officials, teachers, panchayats and the public," explains Dr Sharma.

He says all specimens of large mammals were collected before the implementation of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. After the execution of the Act, it is illegal to kill or possess any animal, its skin or body parts.