R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
COACHING CLASSES: Swami Vivekanand Study Circle here will conduct free B.Ed entrance test coaching classes for girls from May 2. The interested candidates can contact president of the study circle, Mrs Chand Pushkarna, at Sun Valley Public School, Mata Kaulan Marg, Gopal Nagar, Majitha road for registration.

SEMINAR: Mr Heimo Richter, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to India, would address a seminar on Indo-German Relations to be held at Ritz Hotel, here on Saturday. Dr S.S. Chinna, general secretary of the Indo-German Society, Amritsar, said that the seminar was being organised in collaboration with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) and Federation of Indo-German Societies, New Delhi.

6 HELD: The Gharinda police arrested Tajinder Singh under the Arms Act. A country-made .303 pistol and some live cartridges and one truck without a number plate were recovered from him. As much as 262 gm smack was recovered from one Ashwani Kumar, resident of Godam Mohalla, and a case under the NDPS Act was registered. Four persons were arrested for possessing illicit liquor. The police recovered 11.250 litres, 60.360 litres, 6.750 litres, 6.7 litres from Major Singh, Amrik Singh, Tarsem Lal and Anand Masih, respectively. Cases were registered against them. 

COMPUTER ROOM: Dr Manohar Singh Gill, former Chief Election Commissioner of India, will inaugurate a computer room and guest room at Sahibzada Jujhar Singh Boys Hostel of Guru Nanak Dev University here on Saturday. 

Doraha
CONDOLENCE: A condolence meeting will be organised in the memory of Krishan Kumar Kausal in the K.K. Kaushal Memorial Bhavan here on May 1. This was stated in a press note by Mr Lakhwinder Singh Buani, district general secretary, MCPI. Kaushal, apart from being the founder member of the MCPI, Punjab, was also a dedicated communist worker. He said Mr Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, All-India general secretary of the MCPI would be attending the meeting.

Fatehgarh Sahib
Strike: On the call given by the Punjab Pardesh Beopar Mandal against the implementation of VAT in the state, all business establishments in the district would observe a strike on Friday. This was stated by Mr Varinder Rattan, president, district Beopar Mandal in a press note on Thursday. He said traders, industrialists and shopkeepers had been opposing the implementation of VAT and demanding suitable changes in the VAT.

Hoshiarpur
DHARNA: Students of ITI, Hoshiarpur, and Industrial Training School, Katcha Toba, demonstrated in the city and staged a dharna in front of mini secretariat here on Wednesday. They were protesting against the proposed privatisation of ITIs and recent enhancement in fee. They also presented a memorandum to the Punjab Chief Minister through the Deputy Commissioner.

CASE REGISTERED: On the complaint of Post Master of local Head Post Office, the police registered a case under Section 420 IPC against an unknown person for presenting fake Kisan Patra worth Rs 50,000 here on Tuesday. The Post Master alleged that one Parminder Singh Shahi presented the said Kisan Patra to him and sought a loan against the same. On verification, it was found fake.

Jalandhar
MAGICIAN SHANKAR: Renowned magician Samrat Shankar will drive his motorcycle through the city on April 29 with his eyes blindfolded. 

Kapurthala
ADDRESSED: In a special assembly, Brig Sukhjit Singh, MVC (retd), and grandson of the erstwhile Maharaja of Kapurthala, addressed the cadets of Sainik School here on Wednesday. He shared his experiences with the cadets and motivated them to join the armed forces.

Ludhiana
CONCERN: The Rashtriya Vikas Manch has expressed concern over the rise in the incidents of crime against women, a press note by Mr Gurinder Sood, president of the manch, stated here on Thursday. The manch reasserted its commitments to continue to fight crime against women.

WORKSHOP: The Footloose Institute of Art and Fitness organised a workshop on weight training with the combination of balls and dumbbells for its members here on  Thursday.

Pathankot
POET BEREAVED: Ms Sukhdevi Kaur (65), wife of Mr Kashmir Singh Savtantar, a Punjabi poet, died here on Thursday due to a heart attack. The rasam uthala will be held on May 1, here at 11, Guru Gobind Singh Nagar.

RE-ELECTED: Mr Surinder Mahajan has been re-elected the president of the local unit of the Punjab Beopar Mandal unanimously at a meeting of traders held here on Thursday for the year of 2005-06. 

Phagwara
SUICIDE: A 60-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by jumping before a train here on Wednesday. The deceased was identified as Bhajna Ram.

DISTRIBUTED: The Chairman of Punjab Agro Foods Corporation, Mr Joginder Singh Mann, distributed cheques worth Rs 6 lakh for development of Kaulsar, Gaunspur, Baran, Dhade and Dhandoli villages to their panchayats here on Wednesday.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Chamba
DEMANDED: The law-abiding citizens on Thursday have demanded that a high-level probe should be conducted for the identification of families under the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) so that fraud cases could be detected and action be initiated against the guilty.

Dalhousie
CONCLUDED: The nature study camp organised by the Youth Hostels Association of India (YHAI) concluded at the local youth hostel here on Wednesday. Students from Goa and Maharashtra attended the camp in which adventurous activities like trekking, river rafting were conducted.

Kumarhatti
SEIZED: The police on Tuesday seized 402 bottles of liquor in two separate cases. 282 bottles of country-made liquor and 96 bottles of foreign-made liquor were seized from Mahindra van (HP-62-0455) near Guara under Kandaghat police station. The driver of the vehicle, Kailash Sharma, was booked under the Excise Act. In another case, a woman was arrested for allegedly selling illicit liquor and 18 bottles of liquor were recovered from her.

Nahan
mishap: Driver of a van (HR 37B-1097), Ranjeet Kumar, resident of Chandigarh, died on the spot at Tairvi Bridge under Rajgarh Subdivsion on Wednesday when the vehicle driven by him rolled down in 250 feet-deep khud.

SHOP GUTTED: A motor spare part shop at Kansiwala (Nahan) caught fire on Wednesday. Owner of the shop in a report, filed with the Nahan police, alleged that his shop was set on fire by some miscreants due to which he had suffered heavy loss.

Shimla
kILLED: One person was killed on the spot when the jeep in which he was travelling, rolled down into a deep khud near Pakhipul, 17 kms from Rajgarh in Sirmour district on Wednesday night, the police said. The police identified the deceased as Ranjit Kumar,who belonged to Kalka.

Solan
HELD: A team of vigilance sleuths arrested Khem Raj Sharma, manager of a Dagshai- based Army dairy unit, for accepting Rs 10,000 as bribe from a contractor Sandip Sharma, on Wednesday evening.