R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
NUMBER PLATES: Expressing concern at the challans of vehicles by the Chandigarh Police with numberplates in Hindi, Ms Laxmi Kanta Chawla, state Vice-President, BJP, on Sunday urged Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President, to intervene in the matter, calling it insult of the national language. She also urged the people to write the numberplates of their vehicles in Hindi.

BOOKIES HELD: The city police claims to have busted a gang of bookies with the arrest of two persons. On a tipoff, Jaspreet Singh and Navdeep Singh were arrested on charges of encouraging bets. The police recovered seven mobile sets, a VCD, a colour TV set, four pornographic CDs, eight tape-recorders and four notebooks with details of ‘satta’.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Bharat Vikas Parishad Sirhind-Fatehgarh unit: president — Mr Rajesh Kumar Sharma; secretary — Mr Khushwant Rai; treasurer — Mr Harjit Singh; project chairman — Mr Gautam Sharma; assistant project chairman — Mr Lalit Kumar Bansal.

Ludhiana
Placement: Final-year MBA and MCA students of the Punjab Institute of Management and Technology, Mandi Gobindgarh, have been placed with reputed companies like Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Modi Xerox, Tata Infomedia, IDBA Bank, HDFC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Dada Motors. Mr Gurvinder Bakshi, Placement Officer, said about 70 per cent of the students had already been placed and more companies had conveyed their desire to select the students through campus interviews.

New courses: The Devki Devi Jain Institute of Computer Sciences, Kidwai Nagar, has been authorised to run telecom management courses of the Indian Institute of Telecom Management (IITM) from the certificate to postgraduate level like MBA, BBA and postgraduate diploma in telecom management. The institute has also started various degree and diploma courses like MCA, M.Sc and B.Sc in computer sciences and M.Sc, B.Sc and PG diplomas in fashion and textile designing from a UGC approved university.

Seminar: The Government High School for Girls, Dakha, organised a seminar on the topic, “Education for all”, on Saturday. Mr Harchand Singh, Principal of Kirpa Nidhan School, and Ms Sital Kaur, Headmistress of the host school, spoke on various aspects of school education. On the occasion, the Issewal Education Trust presented a cash prize of Rs 5,000 each to Ranjana Bhardwaj, Sarojravi and Jaspreet Kaur for obtaining the top three positions in the school.

Lecture: The Doraha Institute of Management and Technology organised an extension lecture for MBA students on Saturday. Prof Manav Jindal, senior lecturer, Punjab Institute of Management and Technology, Mandi Gobindgarh, delivered a lecture on “Financial management — Recent developments covering economic value added (EVA), market value added (MVA) and capital asset pricing model (CAPM)”.

Orientation programme: A vibrant, motivating and educational orientation programme was organised for parents of students studying in Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, BRS Nagar, on Saturday. Through interaction and communication with the parents, teachers tried to overcome any impediment in the path of their ward’s prosperous future. Some suggestions were put forth by the parents to help the teachers tackle classroom situations better. 

HONOUR: The Shree Gita Mandir Committee, Vikas Nagar, Pakhowal Road, will honour religious singer Narinder Chanchal and Mr K. K. Sharma, chairman of the Anil group of companies, on May 1. Mr Mohan Lal Gupta and Mr R. K. Saluja, chairman and president, respectively, of the committee, said Chanchal would be presented the Maa ka Ladla Award while Mr Sharma the Pride of India Award. 

ANNIVERSARY: The Dr B.R. Ambedkar Youth Federation, Punjab, celebrated his 113th birth anniversary in the form of Chetna Divas at Chhawani Mohalla here on Sunday, according to its president, Mr Chander Shekhar Sahota. The chief guests were Mr Surinder Dawar, MLA, and Mr Jagmohan Sharma, president of the District Congress Committee.

PATIALA
ANNUAL FUNCTION: Kendriya Vidyalaya No 2. celebrated its annual day with great enthusiasm here on Monday. Mr Arun Kumar Gupta, CAO (R), DMW, was the chief guest on the occasion. Principal of the school P.H. Bhondekar read the annual report of the school and highlighted laurels won by students in different fields. 

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Small Scale Industries Association: president — Devinder Singh; senior-vice president — Sarv Daman Bharat; vice-president — Prem Singh; general secretary — Arun Ralhan; joint secretary — Pritpal Singh; treasurer —M.P Singh; and PRO — G.K. Tandon.

Pathankot
MEDICAL CAMP: More than 2,000 persons were examined and given medicines free of cost at a medical camp organised by the SGL Trust here on Sunday. Thirty doctors who accompanied trust chairman Baba Kashmira Singh, who is also founder of the SGL Charitable Hospital at Jalandhar, said the trust had decided to organise such camps regularly for the poor.

Phagwara
NYAYA MANCH: A General Samaj Nyaya Manch, Punjab, was floated here on Sunday with former Block Congress President Madan Mohan Bajaj(Gudd) being elected its founder president. Mr Bajaj said the body would champion the cause of society, rising above all political considerations. It would work for abolition of the caste-based reservation. A rally would be held here on May 2 for broadbasing the body.

Phillaur
Thieves held: The Phillaur police has busted a gang of robbers and nabbed its four members. Stating this, DSP S. Kamaljit Singh Dhillon said here on Monday that the police had recovered stolen items, including a countrymade pistol, a gold bracelet, a gold chain, a ring, a wrist watch and three air-coolers from them. The arrested were identified as Kuldip Singh, Daljit Singh, Gurdip Lal and Nachhatar Raj.

Samrala
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Lions Club, Samrala city: president — Mr Naib Singh Neelon; vice-president — Mr Rajesh Singla; secretary — Mr Raman Khullar; and treasurer — Mr Vaneet Aggarwal.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
NOTIFICATION: The District Magistrate here has banned the sale of over-ripe, rotten and uncovered fruit and vegetables throughout the district till December 31. He has authorised officers of the Nagar Parishad, Health and Family Planning and Food and Supplies Departments to enforce this notification in this regard issued on Sunday.

Solan
VCDs SEIZED: The Dharampur police seized 627 CDs and VCDs from two shops and arrested two persons under the Copyright Act on Sunday. On a written complaint from the manager of Copyrights Production Agency, Smalkhan-Panipat, the police raided the two shops of Kedar Dutt Sharma and Prem Singh and found the contraband.

Sundernagar
SEMINAR: A three-day seminar sponsored by the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research, Chandigarh, concluded here on Saturday. Mr R.D. Panwar, Director, Technical Education, Himachal Pradesh, was the chief guest. The course discussed “Communication skills and preparing the students for interview”. Students of the final year and 25 faculty members from different polytechnics of Himachal Pradesh attended the course.