R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Abohar
ANNUAL FUNCTION: Ms Sheeba was declared ‘Miss Farewell’ at the annual function of Shri Gurunanak AV Girls College here on Saturday.

INJURED: Five persons were injured when a private bus overturned near Jhurarkhera village on Saturday morning. Passengers of the bus alleged that the driver of the bus lost control over it when he tried to attend a mobile phone call. The injured were identified as Kuldeep Singh, Balkar Singh, Jasbir Kaur, Kirpal Kaur and Harbans Kaur. They were going to attend a marriage ceremony.

Barnala
TRUST CHAIRMAN: Mr Paramjit Singh Mann assumed the charge as Chairman, of the Improvement Trust here on Sunday. Mr Mann, Chairman, Sangrur District Congress Ex-Servicemen Cells, succeeds Mr Hussan Lal, Administrator, Improvement Trust.

Bathinda
DEAD: Rattan Lal Mittal (76), a social worker and former president of the local SSD Sabha, died here on Thursday night. He promoted education for girls by setting up various educational institutes. His funeral was largely attended.

FATEHGARH SAHIB
Dead: Mr Gurmeet Singh Bhari, Political Secretary of former Chief Minister Beant Singh, and presently Managing Director of Central Cooperative Bank, Fatehgarh Sahib, died on Monday. He would be cremated on Tuesday at 1 p.m. at his native village, Bhari, in the district.

KHAMANO
CULTURAL MELA: A cultural mela will be organised on March 10 at Newan Jatana village near here in the memory of Baba Mast Ram Ji. A cassette in memory of Baba Mast Ram will be released. Baba Mast Ram memorial award will be presented to singer Balbir Raj and Biba Shabnam Rai, at the mela.

RESIGNED: General Secretary of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) youth wing circle Khamano Baldev Singh and Press Secretary Kuldeep Keepa have resigned their posts due to personal problems. They made it clear they will abide by decision of Jathedar Kirpal Singh Khirnia member, Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee.

NAMBARDARS: A meeting of the Nambardar Union circle Khamano was held at Khamano under the chairmanship of its Punjab, President, Karnail Singh Landran. The meeting elected office-bearers circle Khamano, were Gurdev Singh Manela was elected president of circle Khamano, Bahadar Singh Maheshpura vice-president; Sardara Singh Sandhari Majra Secretary; Sukhpal Singh Manela Cashier and Bant Singh Kalewal and Inderjeet Singh were elected members.

DEAD: Gurmeet Singh Bhari, a former political secretary to the late Beant Singh, died this morning at the DMC Hospital, Ludhiana, due to some illness. He will be consigned to the flames tomorrow at his native village, Bhari, near Khamano, at 1pm.

LUDHIANA
LUCKY DRAW HELD: Lucky draw of the Evershine School Uniform was held here, The Evershine, supplies school uniforms to all leading schools of Punjab and operation theatre dress to leading hospitals. Prizes include TV, VCD, Cycle Videogames, Calculator, Clocks etc.

MEET ON ONCOLOGY: The first International Oncology Conference would be organised on March 23 and 24 here where cancer specialists from India, the USA and several other countries would participate. Dr Gurjit Singh said the doctors would examine the patients.

FP CAMP: The 4th family planning camp will be organised at Lifeline Hospital at Gill Road here on February 28. Doctors from district health administration would perform tubectomies. Free shawls and follow-up treatment will be given. Motivators will get incentives. A full day training programme would also be organised for midwives by the hospital on the same day.

Centres launched: TCY Group, a test preparation organisation, launched two more centres at Delhi and Pune, with a launch function in Ludhiana. Top Careers and You (TCY) Runs programmes for MBA, GRE, GMAT and SAT aspirants.

Export award: The Wool and Woollens Export Promotion Council has been awarded the Amity Export Promotion Excellence Award for attaining the highest export growth rate in the export of wool and wool blended products, said Mr Ashok Jaidka, chairman of the council.

PATIALA
AWARDED: A research paper presented by research fellow of the Zoology Department, Punjabi University, Ms Sapna Sharma, was awarded the third prize at the International Conference on Forensic Science. The conference was held at Bundelkhand University, Jhansi.

Phagwara
SEVEN INJURED: Seven members of a family were injured, five of them seriously, when their jeep was hit by a bus near Kanshi Nagar on the GT Road here on Monday. They were going from Shahkot to Kiratpur Sahib for immersing the ashes of a relative. The injured included Nirwair Singh, Sarabjit Kaur, Joginder Kaur, Jasvir Kaur and Kirpal Singh.

GRANTS DISTRIBUTED: Rajya Sabha member Varinder Singh Bajwa distributed development grants of Rs 2.5 lakh. A press note said on Monday that Rs 1 lakh each was given to the Bhagatpura locality and Guru Nanak College while Rs 50,000 was given to Guru Nanakpura. The grants’ were given out of the MPLAD fund.

Phillaur
ARRESTED: The police claims, it has solved the mystery behind the murder of a truck driver on February 1. The cleaner of the truck, Sahib Singh, has been arrested in this connection. Mr Kamaljit Singh Dhillon, DSP, said Sahib Singh had confessed the crime.

SAMRALA
DEMONSTRATION: PSEB employees held a demonstration in the PSEB’s offices Samrala Katani Kohara, Behlolpur Machhiwara against the decision of giving five micro hydel projects to private sector. They also burnt an effigy of the chairman and warned the PSEB authorities to withdraw this decision.

Sangrur
SUSPENDED: The local PSEB authorities on Friday suspended four employees, Mohinder Singh, Harbhajan Singh, linemen, Pritpal Singh, assistant lineman, Harcharan Singh, lower division clerk-cum-cashier. Mr DPS Grewal, Senior Executive Engineer, Distribution Division, said they were involved in making fake documents for the purpose of procuring loan from a finance company.

Tarn Taran
DHARNA: Workers of the Shahid Bhagat Singh Naujawan Sabha, the Dehati Mazdoor Sabha, the Janwadi Istri Sabha, the Jamhoori Kisan Sabha and other mass organisations here on Friday held a dharna in front of the office of the local SDM. They presented him a memorandum.

CHANDIGARH

PANCHKULA
SPRING FEST-2005: HUDA has announced the schedule for the Spring Fest- 2005 at Town Park, Sector 5, on March 12 and 13. The festival is being organised for the 19th consecutive year. Various competitions in flower arrangements, cut flowers, foliage plants and best maintained gardens in houses, institutions and schools will be organised. Other than this, competitions in rangoli, painting, mehndi, fancy dress etc., and a cultural show will be organised.

health clinic: The Piya Sharma Charitable Trust today officially opened an adolescent health clinic in Rajiv Colony. The clinic will provide counselling facility, information on substance abuse, suicide and HIV/AIDS will be provided. A recreation area has also been created in the clinic. The clinic will remain operational from 11 am to 1 pm on every Wednesday.

Hailed: The Panchkula Small Scale Industrial Association has hailed the victory of Mr Chander Mohan in the Vidhan Sabha elections from the Kalka Assembly segment. A press release issued by Mr Bharat Rattan, general secretary of the association, said that a meeting of the association was held on Monday and members expressed hope that Mr Chander Mohan would initiate a new phase of development in Panchkula.

Mohali
NSS CAMP: A 10-day NSS camp by students of the Rayat Institute of Engineering and Information Technology started at Railmajra village near here on Monday. The motive of the camp is to encourage sapling plantation and cleanliness among the villagers. While inaugurating the camp, Mr Raju, GM, Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, lauded the role of the NSS in inculcating habit of service among students. — TNS

HARYANA

AMBALA
ANNUAL FUNCTION: Annual function of Happy Hours Preparatory School was held here on Sunday. School Principal Aditi Walia said the tiny-tots put up a good display of fancy dress, music and dance at the BPS Planetaurium Complex. Dr Neena Malhotra, head of the Department of English, SD College, was the chief guest. Mr HS Purewal was the guest of honour. 

Inaugurated: The Deputy General Manager of UCO Bank, Chandigarh region, Mr J.C. Malhotra, said all branches of the bank working in the region would soon be computerised. While inaugurating the renovated building of the Ambala city branch here on Monday, he said some new branches would soon be opened in the region. The Manager of the Ambala city branch, Mr K. Bishnoi, assured the consumers that the bank would provide best service to them.