Regional Beat

Elections
KHANNA: The meeting of the Municipal Council to elect its new president was postponed for the third time today. According to SDM S.S. Gill, the meeting was postponed on the basis of the report of Senior Superintendent of Police on the law and order situation.

HOSHIARPUR: Gian Chand Chakowal, former Zila Parishad member, will be the Janata Dal candidate from Sham Churasi assembly constituency. This decision was taken at a party meeting held under the presidentship of Raj Kumar Nidder.

Meeting
HOSHIARPUR: At a joint meeting of Punjab Non-Gazetted Forest Officers Union, Punjab Forest Rangers, Deputy Rangers Association and Punjab State Forest Officers Association, held under the chairmanship of Ajit Singh Bhinder, it was decided to form a coordination committee of all the three organisations and prepare a common charter of demands to be presented to the government. The three organisations would meet on April 26 to chalk out the next plan of action.

Relief
SHIMLA: Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today sanctioned Rs 50,000 each out of his relief fund to the families of two children, Chandresh and Sangeeta, who were killed by a man-eater leopard at Kathana and Sohgran village in Chamba district recently in view of the fact that the affected families were very poor. He expressed sympathies with the bereaved families and conveyed his heart felt condolence to them. The CM directed the authorities to ensure that the man-eater leopard was eliminated immediately to avoid further mishaps.

Crime
NAHAN: Paonta police led by Paonta Sahib SDM Rameshwar Thakur raided the farm house of Nanak Chand in Rampur Majri village in Dhaula Kuan Panchayat and found 1093 plants which produce opium. Nanak Chand was arrested under the NDPS Act. The SDM received a tip-off on the telephone following which the police reached the farm and found that the contraband plant was being grown under cover of banana and citrus tress.

NAHAN: Chief Judicial Magistrate of Nahan convicted Manjit Singh, proprietor of Nanak Dairies, to six months8217; simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000 for selling adulterated milk. The Medical Officer and the Health and Food Inspector jointly inspected the milk of various vendors but none was up to the mark. The consumers complained that the authorities were rarely checking the eatables and urged the chief minister to appoint a full-time food inspector for Sirmaur district.

SUNDERNAGAR: Mandi Additional Session Judge Shamsher Singh has acquitted a Sudanese, Awad Abdulla, in a case booked against him under NDPS Act. Awad was arrested by Sundernagar police in November 1996 near Hara Bogh while travelling in a Manali-Delhi bus.

Mishap
NAHAN: Gurnam Singh of Johron village on Nahan-Paonta road died at the PGI Chandigarh two days ago, after being accidentally shot. According to the SP, Gurnam Singh and Makhan Singh had gone to the forest to hunt. They spend the night in the forest. The next morning while returning home, Makhan Singh tripped over a stone and hurt himself while the trigger of his gun accidentally went off. The bullet hit Gurnam who was walking in front.

Gurnam was brought to the Paonta hospital but as he was seriously injured he was referred to PGI where he succumbed to his injury. Police said the gun did not have a licence. A case has been registered against Makhan Singh who had been arrested and the gun seized.

Odds and ends
KHARAR: Roopnagar Deputy Commissioner Kulbir Singh Sidhu, has said that the licences of all stamp vendors of the district have been renewed and added that there would be no shortage of stamp papers and court fee stamps in the district in future. The action follows a report in Chandigarh Newsline about non-renewal of licences of local stamp vendors, that had resulted in the non-availability of stamp papers of any denomination and court fee stamps here for the last three weeks.

MOGA: The district of Moga has become the first district in the state in percentage achievement of target under small savings in the current financial year. Stating this here today, Deputy Commissioner R. Venkatratnam said that the district had collected a sum of Rs 36.78 crore against the target of Rs 25 crore.

AMRITSAR: The long-pending demand of junior doctors for revision of their pay scales has been accepted by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. This was stated here yesterday by Neeraj Gill, spokesperson of the doctors. He said, the doctors have been assured of emoluments equal to their counterparts in Haryana with effect from January 1, 1996.

NAHAN: Presiding over the monthly meeting of District Sirmaur Small Development Agency here today, Deputy Commissioner Nisha Singh called upon the block officers to formulate various schemes for the next financial year for speedy execution of work. She said that Rs 54.78 lakh were spent to generate 76,029 man days as against the target of 71,000 under the Jawahar Rozgar Yogna, 58 unemployed youths were imparted training in different traders and 50,963 houses were constructed.