R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
Federation: The election of the Income Tax Employees Federation (North-West Circle) was held here. The following were elected office-bearers: Mr Prikshit K. Vasudeva — president; Mr Sudhir Khanna — general secretary; Mr Dharampal Choudhary — vice-president; and Mr K. K. Gupta — finance secretary. The north-west circle covers Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh.

Batala
Lecture: The Drug De-Addiction Club of Baring Union Christian College here in collaboration with the Lion’s Club, Batala Smile, organised a lecture on drug abuse on Wednesday under the supervision of Principal Dr Hapesh Shepherd. The main speaker, Dr Jagdeep Pal Singh Bhatia from Amritsar, said the major cause behind the fall in the economy of Punjab was drug abuse.

Dalit Rights: The Political Science Society of Baring Union Christian College here organised a lecture on human rights at the college campus on Wednesday. The seminar was presided over by the Principal. Prof James Massey, Director, Centre for Dalit Studies, New Delhi, spoke on “Violation of human rights a minority perspective”. Prof Vander Hoogen, Professor on fundamental theology at Nijmegen University, the Netherlands, spoke on ‘Dalit perspective: status and rights’.

Faridkot
LEGAL SERVICES: Following weeklong state-level celebrations regarding availability of free legal services to the needy, the District Legal Services Authorities here organised a legal awareness camp at the District Jail on Wednesday. The aim was to make aware the inmates about their rights and other benefits. Mr Mohinder Pal, District and Sessions Judge, inaugurated the camp.

Jagraon
Poppy husk seized: Balbir Singh of Mansoor Patti Pakhowal was arrested by the Raikot police and 10 kg of poppy husk was seized from him. A case under Section 15/61/85 of the NDPS Act has been registered.

LUDHIANA
RENOMINATED: Dr Tej K. Kaul, Professor and Head, Department of Anaesthesiology of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital has been renominated Chief Editor of the prestigious international “Journal of Anaesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology” for two more years. Dr Manju Bhutani from Mumbai, Dr G. P. Dureja from AIIMS, New Delhi, were elected president and president elect, respectively, for 2004-2006. Dr Anju Grewal of DMCH was elected as an executive member, besides two others from Pune and Varanasi.

WORKSHOP: The Department of Soils, PAU, will host a workshop of the All-India Coordinated Research Project on long-term fertiliser experiments (LTFE) under the auspices of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) from November 6 to 8. Around 80 scientists from 17 states of the country will participate in it. Dr V.K. Nayyar, Head, Department of the Soil said of Soils, Dr K.S. Aulakh, Vice-Chancellor, would inaugurate the workshop and Dr J.S. Samra, Deputy Director-General (Natural Resource Management), ICAR, would preside over it.

SEMINAR: The University Grants Commission sponsored a three-day national seminar on contemporary artists. It began here on Thursday at in Guru Nanak Girls College, Model Town, Ludhiana. Mr Gurbir Singh, president of the college, inaugurated the function. Ms Manjit Randhawa, Head of the Department of Fine Arts, introduced the resource persons and artists. She discussed the relavance of art. Well-known national and international art critics, aesthetes and artists took part in it. Dr Bhandari, Chairman of the Department of History and Arts , Panjab University, Chandigarh, delivered the keynote address. The seminar was followed by a workshop and exhibition which was inaugurated by the president of the college.

Pathankot
Legal literacy: A legal literacy camp was organised at the sub-jail here on Wednesday which was presided by Mr Raj Kumar Garg, Additional Civil Judge and Chairman of the Legal Services Authority (LSA). Accompanied by Mr Ravinder Thakur, president, local Bar Association, Mr T.S. Bal, district secretary, LSA, and others the chairman heard the problems of undertrial and provided legal assistance to six inmates.

HARYANA

AMBALA
DEMONSTRATION: A demonstration was held by the Ambala City Youth Congress Trade Unit here on Thursday. The demonstrators were led by Mr Himmat Singh. A scooter-motor cycle rally was flagged off by former Haryana Minister Mr Nirmal Singh. The rallyists raised slogans against the district administration over poor governance. They said poor water supply had led to water-borne diseases. They demanded improvement in the law and order situation and easing of traffic bottleneck caused due to railway crossing. They also demanded more employment opportunities for the youth.

DEMAND: The Yuva Khatik Sangh president, Mr Santosh Kumar, and former HVP district president, Mr Arvind Sharma, have asked the government not to utilise teachers for preparing votes. They said it had an adverse impact on the education system. They said that examinations were round the corner and teachers should be allowed to concentrate on the education of students.

Bhiwani
IMPRISONED: Fast-Track Court Judge Sarita Gupta sentenced Prem Chand to two-year imprisonment and fined Rs 500 in a case registered under the Arms Act while acquitting two others here on Monday. The accused attacked one Satya Pal with iron rods and robbed him of his belongings on pistol point.

CASE REGISTERED: The police has registered a case against the driver of an Indica car on the charges of rash driving and injuring a girl. Kiran Lata of Jagat Colony had alleged in her complaint that the accused had hit her daughter with his car, injuring her badly.

Panipat
SUICIDE BID: Munna Bai, wife of Mukesh of Bijala village here, allegedly tried to commit suicide by consuming a poisonous substance. She was admitted to the Civil Hospital. The cause behind the drastic step was not known. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
FAIR: A district-level fair will be organised by the Red Cross Society at Government Boys Senior Secondary School here on November 7. Mr Subhasheesh Panda, Deputy Commissioner and district president of the society, said a handicraft exhibition, games and other cultural activities would be held. Ms Pratibha Singh, member of Parliament, will inaugurate the fair.

Dalhousie
SEIZED: The police arrested Liyaqat Ali and seized 1.30 kg of charas from his possession near Chowrah, about 20 km from here on Tuesday. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered.

Kumarhatti
CRUSHED: Sunil (7), son of a migrant labourer of Madhya Pradesh, was crushed to death by a truck at Kharouni under the Nalagarh police station here on Tuesday. Jaswant Singh, the driver of the truck, who fled the scene, was later arrested by the police. A case under Sections 279, 337, 338 and 304 A of the IPC has been registered.