R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
FEE HIKE FLAYED: Mr Aman Parasher, general secretary, NSUI, Punjab, on Monday criticised the recommended five-fold hike in admission fee and doubling of the tuition fee in all colleges of the state by a sub-committee constituted by the state council of higher education. He said according to this recommendation the tuition fee in private and government colleges will be Rs 125 per month from the coming academic session, which would affect the poor students.

BATHINDA
CONVENTION: A convention on ‘‘Save Education’’ will be held on February 18 at Teachers’ Home in the city. Mr Jagmohan Kaushal, co-convener of the Save Education Committee, said at the convention that stress would be laid on the need of a new system of education as the present system had "failed" to deliver the goods.

BALACHAUR
CASE REGISTERED: The police here has arrested Gurmit Singh of Mehatpur village for allegedly duping Karamjit Singh of Saloh village, Nawanshahr district, of Rs 1 lakh on the pretext of sending him to the USA. A case has been registered in this connection.

DORAHA
FUNCTION: The annual prize distribution function and cultural programme of the local Guru Teg Bahadur College for Women was held on Monday. Mr Jagjit Singh Sidhu, Secretary, Punjab School Education Board, presided over, The chief guest was welcomed by Mr Pritpal Singh Bishpura, president, College Management Committee. 

GURDASPUR
FIVE BOOKED: Five persons were booked on charges of forgery for transferring 2 kanals and 13 marlas on forged revenue documents. Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, on Monday identified the accused as Ashwani Kumar and Sunil Kumar, both of Gurdaspur, and Sudarsha Khosla, Rajinder Khosla and Kewal Khosla, all brothers residing in Delhi. The SSP said Sunil Kumar was arrested on Sunday while the others had absconded.

KHARAR
HELD: Ms Neelam Arora, Judicial Magistrate, Kharar, remanded Jasbir Kaur alias Jassi alias Shanti to police custody till February 14, who was arrested by the Kharar police after registering a case under Sections 171, 419 and 420 of the IPC when she allegedly impersonated herself as the Sub Inspector of the Punjab police. The Kharar police took her into custody on Monday when a complaint was lodged with the police that Jasbir Kaur was impersonating herself as Sub Inspector and even took Rs 2,000 from a person in the name of the police. The police recovered uniform of Sub Inspector and police stars from her. She belongs to Dhanas near Chandigarh. She was operating in Kharar area for the last about two months. She prepared fake registers and was arranging nakas. 

LUDHIANA
FLAYED: Mr Narinder Makkar, chairman of the Business Cell of Youth Congress, Punjab, Mr Hardip Chawla, vice-president, Ludhiana District Youth Congress, Mr Damanbir Singh Dimple, general secretary and Mr Devinder Sharma, secretary in a joint press statement released here on Tuesday criticised Mr Devinder Babbu, president, Punjab Youth Congress, for not organising a rally or undertaken a propaganda campaign in the Majitha Assembly constituency. They alleged that Mr Babbu and his loyalists were ignoring the Majitha bypoll to prove their loyalty to the Badal government. 

VACCINATION CAMP: The Indian Academy of Paediatrics has condemned various clubs and associations for not organising hepatitis-B camps according to the guidelines laid by it. At the first annual general body meeting of the district unit of the academy here on Monday, Dr Rajinder Gulati, general secretary, alleged that most of the organisations were not following the guidelines. He said if parents or public were asked to pay for the vaccination, no special provision was made to provide vaccine free of cost or at subsidised rates to the families of the poor. Dr Gulati said if such equity in service could not be provided, there was no fun organising such camps. He said the public was not provided prior information about the type of vaccine to be used. Dr Surinder Likhi, president of the branch, said the association was making efforts to make the organisations, particularly the school authorities, voluntary organisations, vaccine marketing agencies and parent-teacher associations aware. Meanwhile, the hepatitis-B vaccination camps organised by the eight Lion Clubs at 41 venues in the city on Monday evoked a good response, according to Mr Charanjit Singh, chairman of the project. Those who got the first dose will be given the second dose on March 15. 

COMPETITION: A poem, geet and folk song competition was held at the local SCD Government College for Boys on Tuesday. In the poem category, Jaskamal Sohi from Khalsa College for Women bagged the first prize, followed by Harvir from Guru Nanak Khalsa College and Anmol Singh from Arya College. In the geet category, Parampreet from Khalsa College for Women was declared the winner, followed by Parvinder Kaur from Swami Ganga Giri Janta College, Raikot, and Jaswinder Singh from the host college. In the folk song category, Harmanjit Singh from Gurusar Sudhar College stood first, followed by Manpreet Bawa from Government College and Taranjot Kaur from Mata Ganga Khalsa College, Kota. The Principal gave away the prizes. 

SEIZED: The Haibowal police intercepted two Maruti vans at a naka at Rajpura Chowk on Sunday and seized 13 bags of poppy husk. The police had received a tip-off that certain persons were moving around in Maruti vans having numbers PB-13-B-850 and PB-10-T-323, who were in possession of poppy husk. While Sukhminder Singh and Darshan Singh were taken into custody on the spot, their accomp-lice, Boota Singh, managed to escape. The accused, during interrogation, allegedly admitted that they had bought the poppy husk from Titu of Akhara village, who had smuggled in 60 bags of the contraband from Rajasthan. According to the police, a case has been registered under Sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act. 

MEETING: An emergency meeting of the Government Ayurvedic and Unani Upvaid Union, Punjab, has been convened here on Sunday to discuss the non-acceptance of its demands by the state government. Mr Harjit Singh Biyal said widespread resentment prevailed among Upvaids and Ayurvedi pharmacists over the indifferent attitude of the government and the meeting would chalk out a strategy to press for demands and seek justice for the employees. 

COMMITTEE: The executive committee of the Ramlila Dasehra Committee, Urban Estate, Dugri, at its meeting held under the presidentship of Mr Adarsh Vijay Monga, approved the final income and expenditure account for 2000. According to Mr Shiv K. Gupta, general secretary of the committee, it was decided that this year onwards Ramlila will also be staged in Dasehra Ground and more participation of the residents of the locality will be ensured. The meeting also decided that other religious festivals of Hindus and Sikhs would also be celebrated collectively to promote communal amity and brotherhood. 

TRIBUTES PAID: Tributes were paid to noted social worker Giani Isher Singh Garcha at the bhog ceremony by prominent persons from all walks of life. Mr Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal, MLA, described him as the one dedicated to the service of the weaker sections. Mr Hira Singh Gabria, another Akali Dal legislator, said society had lost a selfless and sincere worker. Among others, Mr Sukhwinder Pal Singh Grewal, president, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Punjab, Mr Sukhdev Singh, general secretary, All-India Sikh Students Federation, Mr Gopal Monga, general secretary, Punjab Youth Congress, Mr Parkash Singh Matharoo, Master Ranjit Singh, Mr Rupinder Singh Sandhu, Mr Sachdev Singh Grewal, Mr Rajiv Katna, councillor, Mr Shivtar Singh Bajwa, Mr Devinder Singh Matharoo, Mr Parwinder Singh Sama, Mr Neel Kamal Sharma, vice-president, District Youth Congress, and Mr Kanwaljit Singh Dua paid tributes to him. 

TALK: Bharat Jan Gyan Vigyan Jatha and the Association for Democratic Rights (Punjab) will organise a talk on ‘Impact of WTO regime, challenges ahead’ by Dr S.P. Shukla on Saturday at the Arya College for Boys. According to a press note, the talk would be followed by discussions and a question answer session. 

SEMINAR: The Punjabi Sahit Academy will hold a seminar on ‘The reassessment of Punjabi novel’ at the Punjabi Bhavan on Saturday. Eminent critics, Dr Harbhajan Singh Bhatia, Dr Surjit Singh, Dr Sarabjit Singh and Dr Sukhpal Singh Thind, will present their papers and Professor Niranjan Tasneem will deliver a talk on ‘Narrative modes and Punjabi novel’. Mr Jaswant Singh Kanwal will preside over the function, while the inaugural address will be delivered by Mr Amrik Singh Pooni, president of the academy. 

FELLOWSHIP: Dr Daljit Singh, Dean (Academics) and professor and chief of the Paediatrics Department at the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, has been elected as fellow of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics. The award was conferred on him by Dr Y.C.Mathur, national president, IAP, at the 38th national conference of the academy held in Patna on last Thursday. A book entitled ‘Principles of medical education’ written by Dr Tejinder Singh, Dr Daljit Singh and Dr V.K. Paul, was also released on the occasion. Dr Daljit Singh also participated in the workshop on ‘Teaching and evaluation methodology’ and a meeting on ‘Adolescent care’. 

PROFESSOR INVITED: Dr Joginder Singh, Professor-cum-Head, Department of Economics and Sociology, PAU, left for the Philippines, on Tuesday. He has been invited as visiting scientist by the International Rice Research Centre. In a letter written to the Vice-Chancellor, PAU, Dr Ren Wang, Deputy Director- General of the institute, informed that Dr Joginder Singh will work with Dr Manabub Hossain, Head of the Social Sciences division for preparing a report on the rice economy of India. 

CAMPAIGN: Activists of the Youth Akali Dal (Badal), led by Mr Gurpreet Singh Dharampura, have left for Majitha to campaign for the party candidate, Mr Raj Mohinder Singh Majitha, in the byelection. In a statement, Mr Gurpreet Singh said the group, comprising Mr Harpreet Singh Shehnai, Mr Taranjit Singh Bindra, Mr Balwinder Singh Bhullar and Mr Gurwinder Singh Sabharwal, will propagate the policies, programmes and achievements of the ruling coalition and would mobilise the electorate in favour of Mr Majitha. 

MACHHIWARA
OPERATED: As many as 40 patients were operated upon by eye surgeon Dr Jatinder Mohan Singh at an eye camp held at Hedon Bet village. The two-day free camp was organised by the Dasmesh Sports Club, in collaboration with the gram panchayat. 

MANDI GOBINDGARH
WORKSHOP: The National Institute of Secondary Steel Technology, in collaboration with the IDBI, will organise a 10 day workshop from Wednesday for employees of steel rolling industry and furnace industry. 

ELECTION: The election of steel chamber will be held in June on the basis of membership of the chamber up to March 31, according to Mr Joy Kutty, honorary general secretary. 

PATHANKOT
ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Punjab State Taxation Inspectors Association: president — Mr Harjinder Singh Sandhu; and general secretary — Mr Rajveer Singh Sidhu. 

PATIALA
CONTRIBUTED: Mr Rajesh Sharma, president of the Basant Ritu Youth Club, Tripuri, said that all the members of the club have donated an amount of Rs 21,000 to the Prime Minister Relief Fund for the people of affected in Gujarat earthquake in a meeting held here on Tuesday. 

STRIKE: The trainees and students of the Government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) and Government ITI for girls observed strike for the development in the training facilities for the students of the institute here on Tuesday. The Punjab Students Union (PSU) expressed their desire for the purpose of recruitment of instructors for the proper functioning of the ITI in two shifts and issue of bus passes to all the students under the kilometre bus scheme. 

HARYANA

AMBALA
STOLEN: A donation box was broken and money stolen from a local gurdwara. The incident came to light on Tuesday morning. The head granthi of the gurdwara has informed the police that the donation box was locked up last night but in the morning, he found that the box had been broken and the money was stolen. The exact amount, which was stolen, could not be assessed.

KIDNAPPED: A man, who had reportedly been kidnapped from Pehawa, was brought dead to the local Civil Hospital on Monday night. The man, Ram Kumar, was brought to the Civil Hospital by few people, in two vehicles. The address of the person who had brought Ram Kumar to the hospital has been found to be wrong. Even the vehicles, in which the persons were found travelling, is believed to be stolen. 

FARIDABAD
TWO HELD: Two youths have been arrested in connection with several cases of robbery. According to police sources, the accused, Vinod and Umesh, both of old Faridabad area, had been involved in 16 cases of crimes.

HISAR
SENTENCED: The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr P.L. Ahuja, on Monday sentenced two persons to 10 years’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on the charge of smuggling poppy husk. Atma Ram and Ramesh, both of Bhoda Bishnoian village, had been arrested when they were loading the contraband into a truck at the village two years ago.

SIRSA
CONDEMNED: The Haryana State Beopar Mandal condemned the Haryana Government for the increase in electricity tariff. This would adversely affect the small-scale industries, traders and the common people, according to the spokesman of the mandal, Mr Heera Lal Sharma, here on Monday. A meeting has been convened on February 18 in Jind to chalk out further line of action, he added.

SCHEME: Rupees 35 lakh will be spent in the district under the decentralisation scheme of the local Area Development Board in the current financial year. The Deputy Commissioner said Rs 26 lakh would be spent in rural areas, whereas the remaining would be spent on the urban areas.

SONEPAT
RELEASED: The District and Sessions Judge, Mr S.K. Sardana, released all 17 students of the local government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) here on bail after accepting their applications on Monday. The students were arrested on the charge of arson in various parts of the city on February 1 and 2 after a student was crushed to death by a Haryana Roadways bus near the railway overbridge.

THEFT: Thieves broke open the shutters of a tyre company shop on the Sonepat-Bahalgarh road on Monday and decamped with tyres worth over Rs 4.5 lakh. A case has been registered in this connection.

ARRESTED: The Kharkhauda police arrested a Bihari youth, who was trying to rob the father of Kargil martyr at Kharkhauda town, about 19 km from here, on Monday. According to a report, the accused is stated to be a member of a criminal gang operating in the area.

KILLED: A 20-year-old youth was killed when he was hit by a train at Ratdhanna railway station, about 8 km from here, on Monday. According to another report, a 12-year-old boy was injured when he was hit by a train while he was crossing the railway line near Hindu College here on Monday. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

ARRESTED: Mr N. Venugopal SP, said in a press note here on Monday that three persons of Nella village had been arrested under the NDPS Act and 6 kg of charas was seized from them. The accused were held while they were travelling to Delhi in a bus on Sunday.