R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
RALLY: NSS students of Tender Heart School organised a rally to bring awareness among the citizens against the use of polythene bags. Well dressed girls and boys carried caps on their heads bearing “no polythene” message. They carried banners exhorting the public to stop the use of polythene.

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Ladies Club: president — Mrs Sushila Rinwa; vice president Mrs Reema Narang, secretary — Mrs Promila Verma, joint secretary Mrs Meenakshi Chopra; cashier Mrs Jyoti Dhawan.

AMRITSAR
SIKH POETRY: Prof L. V. Khokhlova from Moscow State University, delivered a talk on ‘‘experiences of translating classical Sikh poetry into Russian ’’ in Guru Nanak Dev University on Friday. Prof Khokhlova is working in the institute of Asian and African studies of Moscow University and has translated ‘Japuji’ and ‘Jap Sahib’ from Punjabi to Russian and authored a textbook of Punjabi language for Russian students.

ARRESTED: Seven persons, including Sunita Rani of Gobind Nagar and her husband Lakha Singh, were arrested for allegedly killing Giri Raj of the Rani ka Bagh area. The police also arrested three persons for allegedly beating up Narian Das to death on September 25. Eighteen burglars were arrested and goods worth Rs 12, 20,000 seized from them. As many as 62 persons were also booked for possessing smack and more than 2.5 kg of opium seized from them.

HISTORICAL SITE: The SGPC President, Prof Kirpal Singh Badungar, in a missive to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, has expressed anguish over the delay in granting permission for constructing a gurdwara at a Sikh historical site in Pushkar, Rajasthan. Prof Kirpal Singh said here on Friday that the historical site was awaiting the state government's attention for the past 10 years.

FEROZEPORE
ARRESTED: The Vigilance Bureau has arrested an employee of the PSEB, Sher Singh, while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2,500. According to Mr Hardyal Singh Mann, SP, Vigilance Bureau, Sher Singh had taken the bribe to allow a consumer to continue using electricity through a temporary ‘kundi’ connection.

HOSHIARPUR
CASE REGISTERED: The police registered a case on Thursday against Balbir Singh of Bhunga village for allegedly cheating Tarlok Singh of the same village. According to an FIR lodged by the father of Tarlok Singh, Ganga Bishan, the former gave a power of attorney to his brother-in-law Balbir Singh when he went abroad. In his absence, Balbir Singh allegedly got Tarlok Singh's land registered in another man's name.

LUDHIANA
FELLOWSHIP FOR DOCTOR: Dr R.R. Saggar, Senior Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Oswal Cancer Hospital, has been selected as a short-term fellow in orthopaedic oncology (bone and joint cancer) of Rizzoli Institute, Bologna, Italy, from January 21. According to a press note, he will work with Prof M.Mercuri and Prof S. Giacomini.

ANNUAL FUNCTION: Sacred Heart Convent School, Bhattian, here celebrated its annual function on Saturday. According to a press note, the parents came to encourage their children. The manager of the school welcomed the guests. Dr Symphorian Keeprath, Bishop of Jalandhar, was the chief guest. Many cultural items were presented by children. The Director of the school gave the vote of thanks.

COMPETITION: Students of Ramgarhia Girls Senior Secondary School bagged many state-level prizes in various competitions organised by the Punjab School Education Board. The school won first prize in play competition. The president of the Managing Committee, Mr Bhagat Singh, congratulated the teachers, students and principal of the school. 

SCHOOL FUNCTION: The annual function of Ritambhra Public School was celebrated with great fervour and enthusiasm on Saturday. The function started with ‘vandana’, with students worshiped Goddess Saraswati. The Chief guest, Ms Nirmal Kohli, an educationist, Prof S.C. Jain, President of the school, Mrs Usha Jain, secretary of the school, and Principal, Sumangle Jain shared their views with the students.

MANSA
ELECTED: A member of the District Bar Association, Mr Sarbjit Singh Grewal, was elected president of the association on Saturday. He polled 99 votes against 66 polled by Mr Ajit Singh Bhangu, the present incumbent.

MOGA
KILLED: Three car-borne youths killed Jaswant Singh at Lohara village in the district on Saturday. According to a report the assailants first sprayed bullets on Jaswant Singh and later attacked him with sharp-edged weapons.

PATIALA
SCHOOL FETE: Blossoms School organised annual school fete recently at Shambagh Palace here. The stalls were manned by the staff and students of the school and several games including lucky draw were organised for the visitors. 

CELEBRATED: The NSS unit of Patel Memorial National College, Rajpura, organised a function on Saturday as part of the National Integration Week celebrations. The Director of the Allied Services Training Centre, Punjabi University, Patiala, was the chief speaker at the occasion who asked the college authorities to set up a career guidance bureau in the college, a proposal which was promptly accepted by the principal of the college, Mr I.S. Tiwana.

DEMANDS: The Punjab Power Employees Federation held a meeting under the chairmanship of Mr S. Devinder Singh Sher here on Friday. The general secretary of the federation, Mr Jagroop Singh Mehmedpur, demanded that the Punjab Government should allow open medical reimbursement to employees suffering from chronic diseases. He also demanded 23-year promotional increments for all employees, release of the report of Pay Anomaly Committee and supply of electricity to retired employees of the department at concessional rates.

NATIONAL INTEGRATION WEEK: At the concluding function of the “National Integration and Communal Harmony Week”, organised by Punjabi University at PMN College, Rajpura. The Director of the Punjabi University’s IAS and Allied Service Training Centre, Dr G.S. Bawa, pleaded for involvement of civil services officers in communal harmony programmes. The Head of the University’s National Integration Chair, Dr Baltej Singh Mann, said the chair would soon organise a countrywide ‘National Integration Awareness Campaign (NIAC)”.

PHAGWARA
HOMAGE: An all-party “shradhanjali samaroh” was held at Palahi village on Saturday in memory of four staff members of the Community Polytechnic, Palahi. The staff members, Vikram Kapoor, Vinod Kumar, Rajinder Kumar and Jagdish Kumar, had died in a road accident near Agra on December 31 last year. Various institutions donated over Rs 1 lakh for the members of the bereaved families.

ROPAR
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Nangal unit of the Punjab Draftsmen Association: president — Mr Sharanjit Singh; senior vice-president — Mr Swaran Singh; vice-president— Mr Harinder Singh; secretary— Mr Gurbax Singh; joint secretary — Mr Avtar Singh; treasurer— Mr Balbir Singh; and auditor — Mr Charanjit Singh.

SUNAM
SEIZED: The police has seized two cars and 126 kg of poppy husk from Rama and his mother Lachho of Sainsi Caste, SHO Davinder Attri said here on Saturday. The cars were stolen from Sunam and Samana a few months ago.

CHANDIGARH

AUDITIONS: NGP Films, maker of Hindi tele serials, is going to hold auditions for leading and supporting male and female artistes to act in their forthcoming detective serial, FIR, according to the director of the serial Ravi Nishand. FIR is a detective serial based on actual criminal cases in which three main characters, a police inspector, a detective agent and a female crime reporter, play the roles of crime busters, said Nishand. Ravi Nishand has already directed a few serials like “Pathake thaa” starring Bollywood artiste Vivek Shauq. 

HARYANA

PANIPAT
MEETING: The Haryana State Women Commission, at a meeting here on Friday decided to initiate action in 30 cases related to oppression of women. Chairperson of the commission, Ms Sheela Bhayan, also decided to refer 14 cases to the departments concerned for a speedy action.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the state Lakshman Club unanimously for a period of five years: president— Mr S. P. Dhall; senior vice-president—Mr Pawan Nayyar; vice-presidents — Mr B. K. Puri and Mr Sunil Thakur; secretary— Major S. C. Nayyar; joint secretary — Dr Sunit Puri; and sports secretary— Mr Janak Raj Puri.

KANGRA
NSS CAMP: As many as 43 volunteers of Government Postgraduate Degree College, led its faculty members, Mr K.K. Prashar and Mr Ajay Kahol, took part in a 10-day NSS camp which concluded at Ghartheru village near Dhallari on Friday. The camp was inaugurated by the local MLA, Ms Nirmala Devi. The volunteers levelled an uneven piece of land on the precincts of Guga Peer Chaano Sidh,’ repaired a 1.25-km stretch of ‘kutcha’ road up to Lohar Basti and converted a 500 metre-long track into a motorable road. Mr Gopal Sharma, SDM, Dehra, was the chief guest at the variety programme on the concluding day. Others who attended the function included Mr Nand Lal Thakur, Principal, Mr Gyan Parkash Dhiman and Mr Ashwani Sharma, Chairman and Pradhan of the Block Samiti, respectively.

PROJECT SANCTIONED: NABARD has sanctioned a Rs 50-lakh project to develop the Dheera Ghatti road in the Jaswan Assembly segment. Ms Viplo Thakur, MLA, Jaswan, said here on Saturday that resident of several villages, including Darab, Kotla Khas, Jkhuni, Amlar and Khanoori, would be benefited by this 4-km road.

SHIMLA
ALLEGATION: A Congress councillor, Mr D. S .Verma, has alleged that the Sanjauli area was being given a step-motherly treatment by the Shimla Municipal Corporation. He said more than 50 per cent population in the area was without a sewerage facility even after five decades of independence.