R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
GRANT: The department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, has received a grant of Rs 17.50 lakh from the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for two projects under the R and D and Modrobs projects.

BATHINDA
ARRESTED: Mr Ishwar Singh, SSP, in a press note here on Friday said that two persons had been arrested by the police for breaking into the building of a society at Nehian Walla village. He said the accused had managed to run away with Rs 1 lakh in cash and some documents relating to the financial dealings of the society. He said the arrested were Pritam Singh and Babu Lal. A case under Sections 457 and 380 of the IPC had been registered.

BAN ORDERS: The District Magistrate on Friday banned the gathering of five or more persons in the district under Section 144 of the CrPC. In his orders, he said that keeping in view the present law and order situation it was necessary to impose such orders. In separate orders, the District Magistrate banned the parking of vehicles near educational institutes near the sports stadium.

BLOOD DONATION : As many as 23 volunteers of the Aasra Welfare Society have donated blood this month. Mr Vinod Bansal, a spokesman for the NGO, said the local blook bank was facing an acute shortage of blood and urged people to donate blood voluntarily.

KHANNA
ANNUAL FUNCTION: The annual function of the All-India Food and Allied Loading and Unloading Mazdoor Union will organise its regional annual function at the local grain market on Sunday. This was stated by Mr Rajinder Tiwari joint secretary of the south region of the union, at a press conference here on Saturday. The union will urge the government to accept its demands which come under the 1970 Unorganised Labour Act.

LUDHIANA
RANGOLI CONTEST: Students of Guru Nanak International Public School, Model Town, participated in a rangoli contest organised here on Friday. In group A, Avneet Grover and Harmilanjot Kaur from Green House were declared first. Sunainya and Ashanpreet from Gold House won the second prize. Japinder Kaur and Manjot Singh from Blue House stood third. In group B, first prize was shared among Kirandeep and Harman from Red House and Maninder Kaur and Tarunpreet from Gold House. Japneet Kaur and Harpreet Kaur from Green House won the second prize. Gurjot Kaur and Anmol Sandhu from Blue House stood third. In group C, Gurinder Kaur and Palveen from Gold House were declared first. Komal Kiran and Sanampreet from Red House won the second prize. Manpreet Kaur and Harjot Singh from Blue House stood third.

FAREWELL: Students of Class XI of Sanatan Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School organised a farewell party for their seniors here on Friday. Tamanna sang a Bhajan which was followed by a song from Jyoti and Kirti. Alka and Jaspinder presented a dance item. Couple games, musical chairs and one-minute games were arranged to entertain the students. Deepika, Bindu and Ishu were given prizes. Ms Sadhna Sharma, Principal, wished the students good luck.

FESTIVAL: Crescendo-2003, a two-day inter-college festival of Gujranwala Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology, will take place on March 7. Prof G.S. Dua, in charge of the institute, said students from 40 technical and eight management colleges of Punjab would participate.

MEETING: The newly formed Nagar Sudhar Society will hold its meeting on Sunday at Gurdwara Ravidas Bhagat Ji — Kacha Qila Jagraon and has invited residents of the town and candidates for the civic poll for an open discussion.

RALLY: Employees of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and general insurance companies organised a rally at the Divisional Office here on Friday against privatisation. Mr N.M. Sundaram, president, and Mr K.Venugopal, general secretary, respectively, of the All India Insurance Employees Association, criticised the government policy of privatisation, saying that the bulk of foreign investment was in speculative areas and very little for productive purposes.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Ludhiana branch of the Northern Regional Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India: Mr Arvind Pal Singh — chairman, Mr Rajnish Goyal — vice-chairman; Mr Hans Raj Kapoor — secretary; and Mr Kuldip Kumar — treasurer.

DCC FUNCTION: The District Congress Committee (Urban) would celebrate the successful completion of one year by the Congress government in Punjab. The DCC (U) president, Mr Krishan Kumar Bawa, said a meeting would be convened here on Monday to chalk out a detailed programme. Besides senior party leaders, the meeting would be attended by Congress legislators and the Mayor.

FAREWELL: Class VII students of Kundan Vidya Mandir gave a farewell to students of Class VIII at a function held here on Friday. The function began with the traditional havan, followed by encouraging words of Dr Pratibha Rath, Headmistress, and the Principal, Mr Neena Khanna.

PATHANKOT
TWO ARRESTED: The sadar police has arrested two Bangladesh nationals from the New Bridge Gharota area on charges of illegal trespass. The accused have been identified as Mohammad Shakeil of Cooker Bajar district and Marun Asin of Chhotagram district in Bangladesh. The two have been booked under Section 3/34/20 of the Passport Act and Section 14 of the Foreign Act.

INAUGURATED: A station CSD canteen was inaugurated at Bharmar on Friday by Brig Vijay Sharma, SM, Commander, 21 Sub Area. Nearly 10,000 servicemen, including their dependants and ex-servicemen, residing around Bharmar will benefit from this facility.

ROPAR
RETIRED: Dr Amarjit Singh, Deputy Director, Animal Husbandary, Ropar, was given a warm send off on his retirement after completing over 30 years of service on Friday.

TARN TARAN
BOOKED: Bhajan Singh and major Singh, both residents of Dubli village, have been booked under Sections 336, 186, 506 of the IPC and 27,54,59 of the Arms Act by the Patti police for firing at PSEB officials who had gone to the village to install transformer. Mr Paramjit Singh, JE, in a complaint lodged with the police said Bhajan Singh and Major Singh prevented them from installing the transformer.

INTOXICANTS SEIZED: The Bhikhiwind police has recovered huge quantity intoxicants from Mann Singh, alias Manna, of Daliri village. The police said on Friday that a case under Sections 22,61,85 of the NDPS Act had been registered against the accused.

FUNCTION: The annual prize distribution function of local Sri Guru Arjan Dev Government College was held here on Friday under the presidentship of Ms Kamlesh Garag, Principal Mr Bhupinder Singh, SDM, was the chief guest.

HARYANA

YAMUNANAGAR
BAR BODY: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Yamunanagar District Bar Association: president — Mr Ram Kumar Radauri; vice-president — Mr Charanjeet Singh; general secretary — Mr Vijay Kumar Gautam; joint secretary — Mr Jaswinder Sodhi; and cashier — Ms Surinder Kaur.

JIND
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Jind branch of the Indian Medical Association: patrons- Dr S.S.Bhatti and Dr Suresh Jain; president- Dr B.L. Sharma; vice-presidents- Dr Raj Mohini Sood and Dr Parveen Gupta; secretary-Dr Kuldeep Raj Gupta; joint- secretary- Dr Suresh Chander Jain and treasurer- Dr Anil Jain. Dr Narveer Singh, Dr H.N. Sahgal, Dr Subhash Aggarwal, Dr D.D. Setia, Dr Arun Gupta , Dr Parmod Bansal and Dr Neelam Gupta were elected member of the executive committe. Dr P.C. Sood and Dr Naresh Sharma were elected central representatives while Dr R.K. Sethi, Dr M.L.Gera and Dr Vind Kumar were elected state representatives.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

SHIMLA
MoU SIGNED: The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehra Dun and the Himachal State Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board on Friday signed an MoU to provide services in the field of environmental protection. Mr Nagin Nanda, IFS, member secretary, H.P.State Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board signed the MoU in Dehra Dun on behalf of their respective organisations.