R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
Jashan-2000: Jashan-2000 will be held between February 16 and 17 at the Deshmesh auditorium of Guru Nanak Dev University, according to the Dean, Students Welfare, Dr B.S. Ghuman. Dr H.S. Soch, Vice-Chancellor will preside over the inaugural function. Dr Ghuman said 500 student-artistes would take part in this two-day competition.

BATHINDA
Donated: Mr R.S. Sharma, General Manager, State Bank of Patiala, who visited the Deaf and Dumb school, here on Tuesday, has donated 20 beds to its hostel.

DERA BASSI
Women empowerment: The non-government organisation Chetna will oranges a workshop on women empowerment at Government High School on Friday, said Ms Suriya Pandit, Secretary of the organisation.

JALANDHAR
Arrested: The local police on Tuesday busted a gang of vehicle thieves and seized a car and three scooters from them. According to Mr Gaurav Yadav, SSP, a naka was laid near DAV college here on February 3 and a car was stopped for checking. The driver, Ashwani Kumar, revealed that he had stolen the car from Ludhiana. He also confessed that he was the leader of the auto-thieves. The accused has been remanded into judicial custody.

KAPURTHALA
Thieves arrested: The district police has busted a gang of thieves with the arrest of eight of its members. The accused have been identified as Kuldeep Singh, Kashmir Singh, Sukhjit Singh, Amarjit Singh, Lakhbir Singh, Rachpal Singh, Charan Singh and Balwinder Singh. A truck and large number of household goods were seized from them.

Tourist complex: The district administration has decided to beautify the Subhanpur Chowk on the G.T. Road near Subhanpur village, according to Mr V.K. Singh, Deputy Commissioner. A tourist complex will be constructed on the G.T. Road near the bridge over Kali Bein passing through the village.

LUDHIANA
Land deeds: Lambardars, councillors, panches and ex-servicemen having valid identity cards, driving licences and passports have been authorised to identify the sellers of land or houses for registering the sale deeds being executed under the new computerised system. This decision was taken at a meeting held here on Tuesday, under the chairmanship of Mr Arun Goel, Deputy Commissioner. He said more counters had been set up keeping in view the rush and advised them to bring the deeds for registration. He accepted the dealers demand to allow the registration of sale deeds of vacant plots without constructing a room.

Training course: The Department of Plant Breeding, Punjab Agricultural University, on Tuesday organised a national-level training course on plant breeding methodologies. The course was inaugurated by Dr G.S. Nanda, Director, Centre of Advanced Studies in Genetics and Plant Breeding. Food and fibre needs could be met by evolving high yielding and disease resistant varieties through new plant breeding techniques, he added.

NANGAL
Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local branch of the Indian Medical Association: president — Dr T.R. Aggarwal; senior vice-president — Dr B.R. Ahuja, vice-president — Dr R.S. Soni; secretary — Dr S.K. Gupta; joint secretary — Dr P.P. Singh; and treasurer — Dr Sangeeta Jain.

PATIALA
Workshop: A week-long workshop for artists drawn from Rajasthan, Himachal, Haryana, Punjab and other North Indian states was inaugurated at Punjabi University by the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, on Tuesday. The workshop was organised with the financial assistance of the North Zone Cultural Centre.

Research fellow: Mr Balraj Pandit, a theatre personality and playwright has been appointed Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Punjab Development, Punjabi University, an official release said on Wednesday. Pandit had retired as Senior Lecturer from the Department of Theatre and Television of the university in October.

Lectures: The Department of History, Punjabi University, will organise a lecture on Partition of the Punjab and the Sikh leadership on February 14 at Senate Hall and a lecture on Concept of History on February 15 at Students Home of the university. Dr S.K. Gupta, Head of the Department of History, said on Wednesday that these lectures would be delivered by Dr V.N. Dutta, a noted historian and professor emeritus.

Designation changed: The designation of Dr Saroj Rani, Incharge, University Museum and Art Gallery, has been changed to Director, Punjabi University Museum and Art Gallery, a university release said on Wednesday.

Rare disease: A newborn baby which was having a rare disease — subcutaneous fat necrosis of newborn — was treated by Dr K.K. Lochan, Professor and Head of the Department of Paediatrics at the GMC. A departmental release on Wednesday said this newborn was presented in the emergency ward of Paediatrics Department with complaints of bluish discoloration of body and later had multiple swellings over its back. It said the baby was not having hyperecalcemia, which was a usual feature of this disease. The child was treated and discharged in satisfactory condition, it further added.

Music fest: The Department of Music, Punjabi University, will organise a two-day Annual Folk Music Festival on the university campus on February 22 and 23. Artists, ode-singers, actors, reciters and other folk performers will perform in the open arenas. This festival will be inaugurated by Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, Vice-Chancellor. Giving this information, Dr Gurnam Singh, Head of the Department of Music, said on Wednesday that artists from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir would participate in the festival.

TARN TARAN
Killed: One person was killed and another injured when a tractor collided with a moped near Thathian Mahantan village on Monday. The deceased has been identified as Rattan Singh, a resident of Bhattal Bhaike. The Sarhali police has registered a case against the tractor driver.

CHANDIGARH

Punjab body: Mr Vineet Seth and Mr Kimti Lal has been elected president and general secretary, respectively, of the Punjab Civil Accounts Association of the Office of the Principal Accountant General(A and E), Punjab.

PANCHKULA
Pedestrian hit: One person was injured when a motor cycle (HR-06-E-3646) hit a pedestrian near the Sabzi Mandi in Sector 20 on Wednesday. In her complaint to the police, Ms Phool Devi stated that Baljit Singh hit her. He was later arrested and a case was registered under Sections 279 and 377 of the IPC at the Sector 19 police station.

SAS NAGAR
SBI association: The following have been elected office-bearers of the State Bank of India Staff Association: president — Mr Siya Ram; vice-president — Mr Brij Lal; secretary — Mr Sunit Behal; assistant secretary — Ms Harsharan Kaur; and treasurer — Ms Minakshi Babar.

HARYANA

SONEPAT
Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Jain Milan: president — Mr Pawan Kumar Jain; vice-presidents — Mr Shiv Narain Jain, Mr Prem Chand Jain, and Mr Jagdish Prasad Jain; secretary — Mr Madan Sain Jain; joint secretary — Mr Vimal Prasad Jain; and treasurer — Mr Jai Kumar Jain.

Dead: Mr Punoo Lal, a resident of Jamalpura Mohalla, died on Tuesday while he was offering prayers at Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara.

Rape bid: A youth, Bitto, reportedly attempted to rape a 14-year-old girl at Braham Nagar area here on Tuesday. According to the FIR, the suspect forcibly took the girl to his house and tried to rape her. On hearing girl’s cry people gathered near the suspect’s house, but the youth managed to escape. The police has launched a manhunt to apprehend the culprit.

Demonstration: Employees affiliated to the HUDA Joint Action Committee held a demonstration in front of the HUDA office, here on Tuesday, in protest against the non-acceptance of their demands by the state government and HUDA authorities. They also sat on a dharna and observed a fast to force the authorities to accept their demands.