R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Samrala
New Addl Civil Judge:
Devinder Paul Kaur Bedi has taken over as Additional Civil Judge senior division-cum-sub divisional Judicial Magistrate here today in place of Navjot Sohal. Earlier, Bedi was posted at Fazilka. 

Condolence meeting: A condolence meeting of local reporters was held here today in the civil rest house on the death Hazara Singh, father of Kulwant Singh, sub-editor of the daily, Janta Express. Two minutes silence was observed. 

No honorarium to lambardars: According to sources, no honorarium to lambardars as well as no pay to chaukidaras have been paid after March 31 in Samrala tehsil. Meanwhile, Sher Singh, Mushkabad, spokesman of the Punjab Lambardara Union, and Naseeb Singh, spokesman of the Punjab Chaukidara Union, appealed the Punjab government to release their honorarium and pay immediately. 

New block development officer: Dilawar Kaur has taken over as block development and panchayat officer here today in place of Nishan Singh. Nishan has been transferred to Khera block near Sirhind city. This is for the first time, a lady has been appointed as block development officer. 

SANGRUR
Clerk held: A team of the local Vigilance Bureau, led by DSP Roop Singh Maur, on Friday caught Tek Singh, a registry clerk in tehsil office at Lehragaga, when he was allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 from Raj Kumar, a resident of Lehragaga.Tek Singh had taken the amount from Raj Kumar for getting his attendance marked in a register in a back date i.e. May 16 last in connection with a property deal. 

CHANDIGARH

DEMANDED: The Mosque Development and Maintenance Committee has urged the Chandigarh Wakf Board to release additional funds amounting to Rs 3 lakh for the renovation of the Sector 20 mosque. An amount of Rs 7 lakh, contributed through donations, had already been spent on renovation.

Zirakpur
Launched: The president of the Indian National Orgainsation for Human Rights Protection,Yohanan George, on Saturday launched the Punjab unit of the organisation at a meeting. It was resolved to fight the state repression and take up human rights violation cases at appropriate fora. Samuel Daniel, vice-president and NM Verghese, legal adviser, also attended the meeting. 

HARYANA

Ambala
talent hunt contest: A talent hunt competition was organised by the Rotary Club Ambala Central here today. Programme coordinator J.B. Thapar said among girls, Sapna Gill stood first while among boys, Resham Singh Anmol stood first. BBN cassettes chairman Naresh Sharma was the chief guest. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

10-yr RI for opium smuggling: Additional District and Sessions Judge, Kangra II, K.S. Chandel on Saturday sentenced Raman Kumar of Damtal to 10- year rigorous imprisonment for carrying over 2 kg opium. A fine of Rs 1 lakh had also been imposed on him. He will have to undergo further imprisonment of two years in case of default of payment of fine. He was arrested on November 19, 2002.

NAHAN
15 sentenced for clash : A local court on Saturday sentenced 15 persons belonging to two rival groups in connection with a clash that took place in 2005 and announced six-months imprisonment to each of them. The court imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 each. Both groups clashed in Dimber panchayat on November 29, 2005. Due to this, there was tension in the area and the administration had to deploy force to maintain law and order that time.

Body found: The Rajgarh police on Saturday recovered a body from Kanda Nala hills in Rajgarh subdivision. The body was lying in the open under mysterious circumstances. Bhagmal Thakur, Dy SP Rajgarh, said the deceased had been identified as Bhagat Ram (70) resident of Thandi Dhar area. After conducting a postmortem the body was sent for a forensic investigation. 

SHIMLA
Meditation camp: The Vishwas All-India Mission will organise a meditation camp at Sri Ram Mandir, Ram Bazar, from June 1 to 3. A spokesman of the mission said meditation, spiritual question-answer sessions, devotional songs and sermon would be the main attraction of the camp. He said no fee would be charged for attending the camp.