R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Abohar
Republic Day celebrations: “A child is considered to be educated indeed when he shows respect and love towards the motherland,” said Jijoe Augustian, principal, while presiding over the pre-Republic Day celebrations at the St. Alphonsa Convent School, here on Monday. Rudar won the first prize for the theme “Stop child labour”. The theme “Think globally and act locally” presented by Swayam Setia was adjudged the best in Nursery. Tanishak Bansal of LKG chose the theme “Child labour a curse” and won the first prize in the class. Ridhima Chugh came forward with the theme “Save trees” and got second prize. Sejal Sharma, Ronak Jhunthara, Akshat Thatai, Deepinder Singh, Simran and Parry were also awarded prizes.

Kids chose burning themes during the fancy dress competition at Abohar on Monday. A Tribune photograph

DAV College wins quiz contest: The DAV College of Education has won the trophy in the PU inter-colleges quiz competition that was organised by the Bhag Singh Hayer College for Women at village Kala Tibba near here on Monday. The winning team comprised Jugwinder Singh, Brij Lal and Poonam. They were awarded trophy by Dr GS Chauhan, former director of the Regional Centre of the PAU, Colonel Dilbagh Singh, commanding officer, of the second Punjab NCC Independent Company and Dr Parminder Sharma, principal of the host college.

Scribes win:The Patarkar XI defeated Councillors XI in a friendly cricket match at the SD College, Sriganganagar on Sunday. MC chief Jagdish Jandu was also present.

Bathinda
Painting, GK contests: On the first day of the three-day programme organised by the Indian Public Educational Society, the fourth in the series, 427 children from 48 schools took part in the painting and general knowledge contest held. The programme was held from January 22 to 24. On the second day, sporting contests were held in which 359 children from 37 schools took part. Messages with a social theme like foeticide and de-addiction were the highlight of the paintings done on the occasion. The contest was inaugurated by DGM State Bank of Patiala Rajesh Gupta while the sports events were inaugurated by social worker Balwant Dhalla. On the last day, cultural programme was held in which the chief guest was Bathinda MLA Harmandar Singh Jassi.

Blood donation camp: The Paul Merchants Ltd (PML) organised a blood donation camp on the eve of Republic Day at the Mall, Hanuman Chowk, Bathinda. The event was organised in association with the Red Cross Society to pay tribute to all who sacrificed their lives in the freedom struggle and contributed to attainment of Independence. About 50 people donated blood on the occasion.

Camp for MBA aspirants: MBA is the most sought after professional course among the final year graduate students of Bathinda followed by BEd, commerce, computer applications etc. The information was given by the team of Chandigarh-based Aryans Group of Colleges after meeting students of various colleges of Bathinda. The team of CAT allied ABS is in the city for an MBA awareness camp. ABS chairman Anshu Kataria described MBA course as a career booster. An illustrative presentation was made on the occasion. 

Jalandhar
Computer teachers’ rallies on Jan 31: Members of the Computer Teachers Union (Contractual), Punjab, yesterday decided to organise district-level rallies on January 31 against the education authorities and minister Upinderjit Kaur for their failure in regularising computer teachers. District president Pawan Sharma said the authorities failed to fulfil their demands despite assurances.

CHANDIGARH

Chandigarh
Sharmila, Indresh Central Govt counsel:Advocates Sharmila Sharma and Indresh Goel have been appointed counsel for “conducting Central government cases”.They will conduct cases filed against public officers, except for income tax and Railway department cases, while in service of the Central Government before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. 

Invited:Dr Rakesh K Jaswal, director, cardiology, Fortis Hospital, Mohali, has been invited to the Complex Cardiovascular Therapeutics 2010 as an international faculty.The event will be held between January 28 and 30 at The Kobe International Exhibition Hall and Portopia Hotel in Kobe, Japan. The Complex Cardiovascular Therapeutics 2010 brings together the finest exponents of coronary intervention to showcase “real world” live demonstrations with emphasis on complex lesion types.

CBM meet postponed: The general body meeting of the Chandigarh Beopar Mandal (CBM), scheduled for January 31 to announce the election schedule, has been postponed.According to information, the meeting has been postponed in the backdrop of the ongoing case in the District Courts here. A petition has challenged the eligibility of the current president Charanjiv Singh to contest the election for the third term.

HARYANA

Bhiwani
Dispensary for labourers: The District Red Cross Society in collaboration with the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) will soon set up a dispensary in Khanak village so that labourers engaged in mining work can get immediate first aid. According to sources, an ambulance has been pressed into service by the District Red Cross Society and a dispensary would be set in Khanak by January 31. 

CHANDIGARH
State gets ISRO project: Haryana is one of the five states of the country selected under the major remote sensing and GIS application project - “Space Based Information Support for Decentralised Planning (SIS-DP)” - of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). This information was given at a meeting held here on Monday under the chairpersonship of Chief Secretary Urvashi Gulati. The state has been selected for the project in the first phase along with Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala and West Bengal. Haryana is the only state selected from the northern region of the country.

JIND
Parts of transformer stolen: Some miscreants reportedly stole parts of a new transformer installed by the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) at Nagura village here on Sunday night. The cost of the stolen equipment is reported to be over Rs 1.50 lakh. A case has been registered. The new transformer of the capacity of 100 kV was installed on Sunday itself to deal with the problem of low voltage and overloading in the region, but it was yet to be made operational. The employees, who installed it at 5.30 pm, left the remaining work to be done the next day due to darkness. On Monday, they found several parts of the transformer missing. 

REWARI
Hens killed in fire: At least 3,000 hens were killed in a fire that broke out in a poultry farm at Ibrahimpur village, near Bawal, on Monday. The farm belongs to Naresh Khatana. The cause of the fire could not be ascertained. In another incident, scrap worth several lakhs was gutted in a fire that broke out in a junk dealer’s godown at Jalalpur village, near Bawal, on Monday.