R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
LAUNCHED: Guru Nanak Dev University Vice-Chancellor, Dr S.P. Singh, on Tuesday launched a website of the Electronics Students Association (ESA) of the Department of Electronics Technology. The website can be accessed at www.esagndu.com.

CONDEMNED: The Sarab Sanjha Rangreta Dal on Tuesday condemned attack on Nankana Sahib Gurdwara. Mr Gurinder Singh Gill, president of the Dal, Bibi Kartar Kaur Sandhu, women mandal president and others senior leaders urged the Pakistan Government to punish the guilty.

PROTEST RALLY: Mr Amarjit Singh Asal, state secretary, AITEC, said on Tuesday that AITEC activists would hold a protest rally and resort to traffic jam on October 9 in protest against the alleged attack on Baldev Singh Babbu, general secretary, private transport workers union, by unidentified persons on Sunday.

EXHIBITION: At least 80 students of the Department of Tourism, BBK DAV College for Women, on Tuesday organised an exhibition to showcase Indian heritage on World Tourism Day, which is celebrated on September 27.

Batala
ORGANISED: An inter-school science quiz competition was organised at the S.L. Bawa DAV Collegiate Senior Secondary School. Ten teams from various schools of Gurdaspur district participated. The Team from R.D. Khosla DAV Model Senior Secondary School, Batala, won the first prize. The second prize was bagged by the Baring Union Collegiate Senior Secondary School.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
CAMP FOR FARMERS: The Punjab Government is committed to protect the interests of farmers and efforts will be made for the betterment of the agricultural sector, said Mr Sadhu Singh Dharamsaut, Parliament Secretary, while addressing a public gathering at Sirhind, near here, after inaugurating a farmers’ training camp. The advancement in the purchase of paddy had brought relief to farmers, he said. He appealed to the farmers to derive maximum benefit of the camp by adopting the latest techniques advised by specialists.

SEMINAR ON LINUX: Red Hat (India) and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Engineering College here organised a seminar on “Opportunities in Linux and open source environment”. Mr Jaideep Kumar was the chief guest and Prof Gurpal Singh presided over the seminar.

ROADS’ STONES LAID: The Punjab Government will complete construction and repair of roads before the Shaheedi Jor Mela. An amount of Rs 1 crore is being spent on this project, said Dr Harbans Lal, Chief Parliament Secretary, while addressing a public gathering at Saddo Majra village after laying the foundation stone of the Saddo Majri-Kotla Bhai Ka link road. He also laid the foundation stone of a link road from the Madhopur railway crossing to the bypass.

Ludhiana
MEDICAL CAMP: Sixth free medical camp was organised by the Helping Organisation for Poor and Excluded (HOPE) here yesterday at Jassian Road. About 450 persons attended the camp and it was inaugurated by Lal Chatley. Support to the camp was provided by councillor, Ms Kasmir Kaur. Free medicines were given to patients. Ms Ritu and Mr Surinder Singh checked the patients. According to Ms Suman Bakshi, president of HOPE the motive of this camp was to spread awareness.

Seminar: JD Institute of Fashion Technology started a two-day seminar for its students Know More. Mr Somit Midha, a leading Landscape-cum-Interior Designer from Chandigarh was the main speaker. He told students about factors to keep in mind while taking big projects.

HONOUR FOR DR GARG: Dr I.K. Garg, Senior Research-cum-Head Department of Farm Power and Machinery has been selected for University Plaque for his contributions to the field of Farm Mechanisation, Research, Teaching, industrial liaison and technology transfer. The plaque will be awarded at the time of University Convocation.

SEHAJ PATH CONTESTS: A month-long series of ‘Sehaj Path’ contests in connection with the celebrations of 400 years of installation of Guru Granth Sahib concluded here yesterday at Gurdwara Sarabha Nagar. Renuka Sarabjit Singh, Deputy Chief Organiser, Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle, said of about 13000 registered students, 3,645 participated in the first round of contest. All participants will be honoured at a special function on October 24 at Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana.

SEMINAR: A seminar on “Skin diseases and AIDS awareness” was organised at Swami Ganga Giri Janta Girls College, Raikot. Mr Rakesh Pandey, State Minister for Technical Education, presided over this function. He explained the students about the true motives of the NSS. He announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh to the college for the welfare of the students. The college Principal, Dr Savita Uppal, welcomed the chief guest on the occasion. Mrs Asha Kelley, a social worker, Ms Harjit Kaur, senior vice-president, and Mr Ramesh Kaura, general secretary of the college management, were also present on this occasion.

PROGRAMME: The five day teachers orientation programme concluded in Tagore Public School here on Tuesday. The lecture on concluding day was given by Lieut-Col D.B. Sharma, organising secretary of the Nehru Sidhant Kendra. He emphasised on the need of usage of dictionary to correct the pronunciation of many words.

HAILED: The Punjab State Services Federation has hailed the decision of the Punjab government of appointing Mr Charanjit Singh Walia as Chairman of the Punjab Khadi and Gramudyog Board at a meeting presided over by Mr Jagat Singh Preet. Mr Preet said the local unit of the federation would honour the newly appointed Chairman at a function at Rotary Club on October 2. 

CEMENT RETAILERS: More than 500 cement retailers attended a meeting organised by Grasim Industries, flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, in Ludhiana. Top 20 retailers were felicitated by company. Chacha Raunki Ram, TV artist regaled the audience.

HARYANA

AMBALA
TEACHER AWARDED: Ms Deepinder Kaur Sethi, PRT teacher at Kendriya Vidyalaya No.1, has received the KVS incentive award for 2004. She was presented the award in New Delhi last week by the Union HRD Minister, Mr Arjun Singh. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 10,000, a shawl and a certificate.

FAMILY PLANNING: A family planning camp was organised at Air Force Station here on Wednesday. The camp was inaugurated by Air Officer Commanding, Air Force Station, Ambala, Air Commodore L.K. Malhotra. Dr Anil Jain and his team from Civil Hospital, Ambala, performed operations using the latest laparoscopic technique.

CAMPS BEGIN: A 10-day NSS camp began at MDSD Girls College here on Tuesday. Saplings were planted by NSS volunteers and NCC cadets. The college Principal, Dr Kiran Angra, spoke about the contribution of plants for a clean environment. A seven-day personality development workshop was also inaugurated at the college. Students would be trained in yoga, meditation, communication, interview and group discussion.

Hisar
Salary AWAITED: Primary teachers appointed by the Zila Parishad have not got their salary for the past two months. This was stated here on Tuesday by Mr Balwant Singh Boora, organising secretary of the Haryana Rajkiya Adhyapak Sangh.He demanded that the salaries of the teachers be released without delay.

GRANTED: A five-member team of Vidya Devi Jindal School here has left for the USA. The school administrator, Lt Col A.K.Suri (retd), said here on Tuesday that the school had been granted permanent membership of the Round Square Conference.

DEMANDED: A delegation of local residents, led by Municipal Councillor Shobha Nehru and former minister Hari Singh Saini, met Mr Attar Singh Ahlawat, SSP, on Tuesday. They demanded that the in-laws of Sunita, who was allegedly killed by her husband Shiv Kumar recently, be arrested at the earliest.

Karnal
DECIDED: The Haryana Government has decided to beautify the conical junction point of the Narwana Branch Karnal Link canal and the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal covering an area of about 800 sq.feet in the Karnal district at a cost of Rs. 16.68 lakh.

Panipat
INJURED: Two girls of Kurukshetra district received injuries when their motor cycle collided with a tractor on the GT Road here on Tuesday.

Sonepat
TWO KILLED: One person was killed on the spot when two trucks collided on the G.T. Road near 20th milestone, about 15 km from here on Wednesday. The victim identified as Dinesh of Nagaur. The truck was on its way to Delhi. According to another report, a motor-cyclist was killed in an accident on the G.T. Road near here. The victim has not been identified so far.

BODY RECOVERED: The Kharkhauda police recovered the body of an unidentified woman (70) lying near the vegetable market at Kharkhauda town, 19 km from here, on Wednesday and sent it for a post-mortem examination. The police believes it to be a case of natural death.

Sirsa
MAN KILLS WIFE: Financial burden and poverty led a husband to kill his wife. According to police sources, Sharvan Kumar, a resident of Chhatargarh Patti, allegedly killed his wife, Krishna (30), by strangulating her with her dupatta. Working as a labourer, Sharvan has four children and was suffering a financial crisis. A case has been registered against the accused.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
URGED: Mr G.S. Chandel, president, district Hotels and Restaurants Association, on Tuesday urged the government to popularise tourism in the state. He said the tourism infrastructure should be upgraded in Bilaspur and Gobind Sagar should be developed from a tourism point of view.

ARRESTED: The police on Tuesday arrested two tourists from Mumbai under the NDPS Act and the Arms Act. Charas and hashish along with a khukri were recovered from them.

Kumarhatti
ACCIDENT: Vehicular traffic on the Kalka-Shimla national highway remained suspended for nearly one hour when a truck met with an accident at Jabli level crossing on Tuesday night. Traffic was restored at around 10.30 pm.

ALAKDATA FAIR: The historic annual Alakdata fair will be held on October 2. Mr Jai Pal, president, mela committee, said TV and radio artistes would present cultural programmes during the one-day fair.

Nahan
COMPETITION: The Information and Public Relations Department on Tuesday organised a block-level school competition on the theme of prohibition. The Zila Parishad Chairman, Mr Rajinder Parishad, presided over the function.

ORGANISED: The HP State Women Commission on Tuesday organised a one-day women awareness camp. The programme was presided over by the state Vidhan Sabha Speaker G.R. Musafir.