R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Abohar
Poetry recitation contest: Genius Inter-national School has won the running trophy in the poetry recitation competition held at Swami Keshwanand Senior Secondary School here to celebrate Hindi Divas. Dr Dharam Swarup Gupta from Chandigarh presided. Mr Hans Raj Arya, a former MLA, was the chief guest.

Amritsar
Kahlon made Coordinator: Dr Karanjit Singh Kahlon, Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Guru Nanak Dev University, has been appointed coordinator of newly setup Educational Communication Centre of the university by the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Jai Rup Singh, a university press release said on Thursday.

Fatehgarh Sahib
Educational Directorate: To improve and uplift the educational standard in SGPC-run institutions as well as to impart top quality education to the youth, the SGPC has decided to set up an Educational Directorate and appointed Mr Devinder Singh Bagga, IAS (retd), as Principal Advisor (Education).

Patiala
Hindi divas: A seminar was organised by the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication on the occasion of Hindi Divas at Punjabi University here on Thursday in which prominent personalities from the media were present. Dr H.P.S Walia, Head of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, delivered the key note address and Gagandeep Chauhan, a student of the department, presented the vote of thanks.

LIST OF WITNESSES SOUGHT: The specially designated anti-hijacking court of Inderjit Singh Walia on Friday asked the defence counsel to provide the court with a complete list of witnesses which the court wants to examine on September 27 in a case pertaining to the Kandahar hijacking case of flight no. IC 814 in 1999.

SCHOLARSHIP: Himanshu Gupta, a Class VI student of Budha Dal Public school, has got a scholarship granted by the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT), an organisation which works under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, in the field of folk dance (bhangra) under the Cultural Talent Search Scholarship Scheme 2006. 

Medical camp: The Sant Ram Singla Memorial Trust has organised a medical check-up camp for the visitors at the annual Gugga Marhi fair here in league with doctors of the Patiala Government Medical College and Hospital for treatment of eye, skin, orthopaedic and other ailments. Many patients have been examined and treated during the course of the camp since Thursday.

Ropar
POLIO IMMUNISATION: The district Health Department has decided to administer polio drops to 60,000 children in villages and 19,000 children in towns of the district on September 17. For this purpose, 250 polio booths would be set up in villages and 62 booths would be set up in towns, said Dr A.P. Chowdhary, the District Immunisation Officer. Besides it, 14 mobiles teams of doctors would be pressed into service, he added.

TARN TARAN
Customers’ meeting organised: Punjab Gramin Bank organised farmers’ and customers’ meeting here on Thursday in which more than 250 farmers and customers participated. Regional Development Manager of the bank S.C. Talas presided over the meeting. Mr Baljit Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner, was the chief guest. Mr Talas highlighted different schemes for farmers and other customers. 

CHANDIGARH

Hindi Divas: Hindi Divas celebrations at the circle office of Canara Bank ended on Thursday. The celebrations were held from August 15 to September 14. About 12 competitions were organised in the bank during these celebrations. At the concluding day function, Mr Naresh Kaushal, Editor of Dainik Tribune was the chief guest. Mr Y.L. Madan, general manager of the bank, presided over the function and spoke about the importance of using Hindi.

HARYANA

Ambala
Meritorious students: Three students of MA final (political science) from Arya Girls College have secured positions among the top ten in the Kurukshetra University examination. Shashi has stood third, Madhu has stood sixth while Mamta has stood seventh. This year, five students have won scholarships. Sapna, Shikha, Mamta and Asha have received state merit scholarship and Madhu has got silver jubilee scholarship, a press note said.

Talent Search Competition: A talent search competition was held in SD College, Ambala Cantt, on Thursday. In speech delivery, Latika was first, Shivani and Pritika were second while Suman Saini and Ripudaman were third. In poetry recitation, Rajiv was adjudged first, Jitender and Latika came second while Dinesh Kumar was third. In mono-acting, Rahul was first and Ramesh Chander was second. In quiz competition, the team comprising Ajay Rana and Souvik were first, while the team comprising Gagandeep and Puneet Pahwa were second and Vikramjeet Singh was third. In dancing, Neha and Rubal were first, Sumit and Anuradha were second while Leena Wadhwa and Ritesh were third. Special prizes were given to Rizwana Shaheen and Aisha. In singing, Gagandeep Singh was first, Har Shikha was second while Jasmeet Kaur and Suresh Kumar were third. In mimicry, Vijay was first and Varinder was second. In painting, Razwana Shaheen was first, Preeti Sinha was second and Kirti was third. In instrumental music, Vasu was first, Saurabh was second and Kitty was third.

Function organised: Rashtrabhasha Vichar Manch organised a function at Sanatan Dharam Sanskrit College, Ambala Cantt, on Friday. Dr Anil Jain was the chief guest. Writer Vikesh Nijhawan was honoured by the manch. Dr Jaiprakash Gupt spoke about the objectives and programmes of the manch. Meanwhile, Hindi Diwas was observed in GMN College, Ambala Cantt, on Thursday. Prof Rampat Yadav was the chief guest at a function held in the college. College principal Dr R.R. Malik presided over the function. In the declamation contest, Priyanka was adjudged first, Gagan and Sukhvarsha were second while Sohan Lal was third. In poetry recitation, Gaurav Sachar was first, Neha Bhatia was second while Aparajita was third.

APPOINTED: Mr Jagdeep Singh has been appointed Ambala district president of the Akhil Bharatiya Rajiv Gandhi Vichar Manch by state president of the manch, Mr Hardeep Singh Naidu, a press note said. 

TEAM SELECTION: The selection for the state karate team, which will participate in the World Karate Championship, will be held at the sports complex on Saturday. Hemant Sharma, general secretary, Sports Karate Do Association of Haryana, said that the players who would be selected would proceed to Andheri Sports complex in Mumbai on September 19 for selection into the national team. The selected players would participate in the 18th World Karate Federation Senior Championship.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Mandi
Science Olympiad: The Science Olympiad Foundation will hold the 9th National Science Olympiad in the country from November 23. According to a press note here on Wednesday, it would be open to students from Classes III to XII.

Sundernagar
Bar members: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Bar Association, Sarkaghat: president — Mr Narinder Thakur; vice-president — Mr Manoj Kumar; and general secretary — Mr Rajesh.