The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

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PUNJAB

BARNALA
Youth festival: A three-day zonal youth festival of Punjabi University, Patiala, will be held at the SD College of Education here. The decision was taken at a meeting held at the college on Monday. Proj Rakesh Kumar Jindal, Principal of the college, said the festival would begin on August 26.

HOSHIARPUR
Presentation: Stage II of the Kandi Canal from Hoshiarpur to Balachaur, being renamed as the Rajiv Gandhi Kandi Canal, covering 70.5 km, will be completed at a cost of Rs 180 crore within two years. Mr G.S. Sandhu, Principal Secretary (Irrigation), Punjab, gave a presentation on the project layout, its implementation and benefits. He said the project would be executed on top priority. On completion, the canal would provide irrigation facilities to 218 villages, covering an area of 29,527 hectare through the distribution network.

PHAGWARA
Held for fraud: The police registered a case against Kulwinder Singh, a resident of Kako village in Garhshanker subdivision in Hoshiarpur district, under Sections 420, 406 and 120-B of the IPC on Monday on the basis of a complaint by Kishan Singh of Kalupur village in Garhshanker subdivision and Shobha Sharma of New Professor Colony, Phagwara, respectively, lodged in July last year. The accused opened Pioneer Forest India Limited and collected money from the public on the pretext to doubling their money in three years.

CHANDIGARH

AWWA training centre: Diversifying from the “welfare approach”, involving traditional vocational training, towards a “developmental approach”, the Army Wives Welfare Association is introducing training courses in information technology related jobs for family members of service personnel also. As an outcome of this, Shivalik Business Processing Outsourcing Skills Training Centre was inaugurated in Chandi Mandir on Tuesday. The centre has been set up in collaboration with Sunder Amar Sheel Charitable Trust, sponsored by US NRI Nanak Singh. The trust is committed towards the empowerment of rural women by enabling them to become economically independent.

NGO: The Youth Technical Training Society (YTTS), a registered voluntary organisation, on Tuesday received a formal nod from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to work officially in an honorary capacity with Childline, a free phone-helpline for children in need or in distress. The YTTS has been working for the past two years with Childline and is the support and nodal agency in Chandigarh responsible for coordinating its activities in the city along with the Advanced Paediatric Centre at PGIMER.

C-Toss programme: The Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, launched the C-Toss programme for its students on Tuesday. Interested women candidates from outside can also apply for this course. The function was presided over by Mr Vivek Atray, Director, IT, Chandigarh Administration.

Wildlife Board: The Chandigarh Administration has constituted the Wildlife Board for the city under the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2002, in order to maintain the ecological balance and preserve the wildlife in the region. The Administrator will be the Chairman of the board while the Adviser to the Administrator will be its Vice-Chairman.

Tree plantation: A tree plantation drive was organised at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 20-D here on Tuesday. The drive was carried out by students of ‘Lotus Club’ and ‘Guide Company’. Mr S.K. Sharma, President of the Environment Society of India, was the chief guest on the occasion.

rally: The DAV College Teachers’ Union held a rally on the premises of the college in Sector 10 on the call of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union. The demands included 95 per cent grant-in-aid pension and gratuity, lifting ban on recruitment and implementation of the Johal Committee report.

HARYANA

HISAR
Meeting held: The Financial Commissioner-cum-Principal Secretary, PWD, Mr Dharam Vir, chaired a meeting of the administrative officials here. The Commissioner, Hisar division, besides the Deputy Commissioners and Superintending Engineers of Hisar, Fatehabad, Sirsa, Jind and Bhiwani participated in it. Mr Dharam Vir directed the PWD officials to get the material checked at regular intervals.

SONEPAT
Freedom fighter dead: Ram Singh, a freedom fighter and jawan of the Azad Hind Fauj, died in Lalehri village, about 15 km from here on Tuesday. He was 86. He was cremated with full state honours.

Ticketless: Around 220 passengers were found ticketless and carrying more goods than prescribed by the Railways, during surprise checking of incoming and outgoing passengers, mail and express trains at the railway station here on Tuesday. Around 70 officials carried out the raids.

Killed: Kaptan Singh, a resident of Delhi, was killed when he fell from a running train between Rathdhanna and Narela railway stations, about 10 km from here, on Tuesday.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
3 held: The police has arrested three persons allegedly involved in the murder of Mohan, alias Painter, a dhaba owner of Sodhilehra in Rampuraphul in Bathinda district of Punjab. Mohan was found murdered in a room of a serai at Naina Devi shrine near here on August 17.

Show of courage: Ms Bantidevi, 40, wife of a Ghumarwin-based working journalist, Ramlal Pathak of Chidki village in Jukhala valley near here, showed exemplary courage and not only saved herself from the attack of a leopard, but also saved her goat from the jaws of the predator on Sunday evening.

KANGRA
Power cuts resented: Resentment prevails among the residents here over the frequent power disruptions in the town and its suburbs for the past more than a week and low voltage crisis in Vivekananda Vihar locality on the outskirts of the town for the past few months. The residents have approached the authorities concerned a number of times, but to no avail. They have demanded that a new transformer be installed at the site identified earlier.

NAHAN
Truckers’ decision: In a press conference organised at Paonta Sahib on Tuesday, the newly elected executive members of the Sirmour Truck Operators Union said in future the union would avoid confrontation with industrialists or the administration on the issues like the fixation of fares or transportation of factory goods. The conference was held under the leadership of union president Charanjeet Singh Channi.

NURPUR
Stray cattle menace: Farmers of this subdivision are sore over the menace of stray cows which had been abandoned here in Army trucks. According to the information, the stray cows roaming in the Army cantonment area at Pathankot in the neighbouring Punjab were allegedly caught and abandoned in the rural areas here during the past a few months. These stray cattle have not only become a traffic hazard on the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway but also damaged the standing maize crops in rural areas here.

Truck impounded: A team of the Forest Department officials of Nurpur division led by Range Officer Joginder Patial conducted a raid in the Mazra forest near Gangath on Monday night and impounded a truck (PNO 4397) in which stolen 54 khair tree logs and six illegally felled trees were being carried. According to Mr P.C. Kaushal, Divisional Forest Officer, Parkash Singh, owner, and Nikka Ram, driver of the truck, have been arrested. A case under Sections 31-32 and 41-42 of the Forest Act has been lodged against the accused.