R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
MEETING: Lt. Gen. M.C. Bhandari, Director-General, NCC, while addressing NCC cadets here, expressed concern over low participation of students from Punjab in NCC activities. He announced more financial support to the Punjab NCC. He said measures would be taken to increase the strength of girls in the NCC.

ORGANISED: An animal husbandry awareness camp was organised at Vichhoa village in Ajnala tehsil here on Monday. The camp was inaugurated by Mr Jagmohan Singh Kang, Cabinet Minister for Tourism and Animal Husbandry. He said farmers should move towards diversification of crops and dairy farming for increasing their income. An exhibition was also organised on the occasion.

CONDEMNED: The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Monday condemned registering cases against Sikh youths following an alleged attack on followers of Divya Jyoti Jagran Sansthan in Batala. Mr Dalmegh Singh, secretary, SGPC, said the state government had failed to ban the "objectionable" activities of the sansthan.

Batala
MEDICAL CAMP: The Sukhmani Sahib Seva Society will organise a free medical eye camp at Abhi Palace, Jalandhar road here on Wednesday. Mr Raj Inder Singh, president of the society, said the expenses of the camp would be borne by an NRI couple, Mr Satwant Singh and his wife Balwant Kaur of Australia.

Hoshiarpur
MEDICO CONGRESS: The XVIII National Medico Congress and the XII International Congress on alternative medical systems will be held from Wednesday here, according to Dr. Dharambir Kapur, organising secretary of the Congress. He said delegates from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Mongolia, and Nepal were expected to take part.

SPECIAL LECTURE: The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarathi Parishad (ABVP) organised a special lecture on Gandhain ideology and its adoption here on Monday. Saurabh Joshi, student of the Department of Gandhian Studies, Panjab University, Manu Sharma, joint secretary of the state unit of the ABVP and Bhanu Sharma, district president, ABVP, among others spoke on the occasion.

Tarn Taran
BODY FOUND: The Patti police found a headless body from the canal of Mudhal Boparai village here on Sunday. Police sources said the body bore injury marks from sharp-edged weapons A case under Sections 302 and 201of the IPC has been registered.

CHANDIGARH

MOHALI
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Shri Guru Ravidass Naujwan Sabha, Punjab: president — Mr K.R. Choudhary; vice-president — Mr J.R. Kahal; general secretary — Mr P.R. Mann; finance secretary — Mr Gurdial Singh Gangar; and legal adviser — Mr R.A. suman. 

HARYANA

AMBALA
SEMINAR: Effective communication is the key to success, said the former chief general manager of the National Textile Corporation, Ms Nirmal Bhatnagar, here on Tuesday. She was addressing a seminar at the Sri Atmanand Jain Institute of Management and Technology, Ambala city. She said the corporate world looks for candidates who were having pleasing personality and could execute their work smartly and efficiently. She said an individual must make his communication simple, accurate, short and sweet. Mr R.K. Gupta, director of the institute also spoke on this occasion.

COMPETITION: The Rashtrabhasha Vichar Manch organised a Hindi writing competition at Rotary School for Deaf in Ambala cantonment on Tuesday. In Group I, Arshdeep Singh was first and Shyam Bahadur second. In Group II, Aman Garg stood first and Neha Rana second. In Group III, Charu Malik stood first while Madhubala second. 

MEETING: A general body meeting of the Ambala Retail Chemists Association was held under presidentship of Raj Kumar Sharma on Tuesday. R.K. Khera was the chief guest while Mr Satish Dua and Mr Ramesh Dhamija were guests of honour. A number of issues pertaining to the chemists were discussed in the meeting.

WORKSHOP: A week-long personality development workshop culminated at MDSD Girls College, Ambala City, on Tuesday. The Principal, Dr Kiran Angra, said the workshop was organised by the career guidance cell of the college. A number of lectures were organised. About 70 students and NSS volunteers participated in the workshop.

Bhiwani
SEIZED: The police seized 1440 bottles of country liquor worth Rs 1 lakh from a tractor-trailer at Tigrana village here on Monday. The driver of the vehicle escaped. A case has been registered.

ORGANISED: The District Bar Association organised a function to felicitate the newly elected president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Mr Ranbir Singh Mahendra, here on Monday. District and Sessions Judge R.C. Bansal, Additional District and Sessions Judge A.K. Verma, fast-track court judge Sarita Gupta and Chief Judicial Magistrate J.B. Gupta among others felicitated the president.

Fatehabad
MURDERED: Kuldip (19) was allegedly murdered by his neighbours, Ram Kumar, Partap Singh and Sharwan Kumar after a dispute over irrigation waters at Banmandori village in the district. The police has registered a case.

CONSTITUTED: The state unit of the All-India Lawyers Union (AILU) was constituted here on Monday. Mr Devi Lal, a local lawyer and former president of the District Bar Association was nominated convener. Mr Hardev Singh, a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court and national secretary of the AILU, announced the nominations. A 22-member committee of lawyers was constituted.

Kaithal
INAUGURATED: Deputy Commissioner H.S. Malik inaugurated a six-day naturopathy camp at Swami Daya Nand Ashram here on Sunday. Dr Sarlesh Gupta and other experts in yoga and naturopathy examined patients and provided them with guidance to improve health.

Karnal
DECIDED: The state unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) has decided to continue its struggle for the construction of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal in Punjab territory and for getting remunerative price for farmers' produce in the state. Mr Hari Singh Khokhar, president of the state unit of the BKU, said the union had decided to organise dharnas in front of the residences of MLAs and MPs of Haryana.

Sonepat
STRIKE: Safai workers at Ganaur sub-divisional town in the district continued their strike in support of their demands on Tuesday. The workers assembled at the gate of the Municipal Committee and raised slogans against the secretary and the state government. The strike has ruined the sanitary conditions in the town.

STOLEN: A motor cycle, belonging to Deepak of Sikka colony, was stolen from a parking lot in front of a computer centre near Subhash Chowk here, on Tuesday. In another incident, a motor cycle was stolen from the Civil Hospital here.

SHOT: Balbir Singh, a farmer, was shot at by unidentified assailants at Brahmanan village on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday. The victim was admitted to local Civil Hospital. A case has been registered.

KILLED: One person was killed and another injured when their motor cycle collided with a three-wheeler on the GT Road near Teha village, 15 km from here, on Tuesday. In another incident, Sahab Singh of Pinar village was killed when he fell down from a train near Sandal Kalan railway station, 5 km from here, on Tuesday. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
STRIKE OFF: The Himachal Pradesh State Truck Operators Federation has withdrawn its statewide agitation against the increase in permit fee. Addressing mediapersons here on Monday, federation state president Ramdass Thakur said the decision was taken after a meeting with the Chief Minister at Shimla.

Nahan
DISCLOSED: HP Vidhan Sabha Speaker G.R. Musafir, while addressing a gathering on the concluding day of district-level primary schools tournament at Dadahu, disclosed that Rs 30 lakh were being spent in Sirmour district to provide better educational facilities to girls. He also said a district-level sports complex with all modern facilities would be constructed in the district to promote sports activities in the rural areas.

Shimla
SPECIAL AID: The Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, has thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the provision of Special Plan assistance of Rs 563.76 crore to Himachal Pradesh. He said the resources given to the state would be gainfully deployed for uniform and overall development.

Solan
BOOKED FOR TRESPASS: The Parwanoo police has registered a case of trespass against local resident Krishan Mittal and his accomplices after they broke open the locks of a shop. The complainant, Ashok Mittal, a Sector 1 resident, has alleged that this was an attempt to gain possession of his shop, hired by him 15 years ago. A case under Sections 448, 506 and 34 of the IPC was registered against the suspects.