R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Batala
RECOVERED: The Batala police district has recovered 12 gm of smack from three persons belonging to Batala. The chief of Batala police district, Mr J.K. Jain, informed here on Saturday that the police arrested three persons namely Prithipal Singh, a resident of Urban Estate, Rajwinder Singh, a resident of Kahnuwan Raod and Balraj Singh, alias Hira of Preet Nagar here in this connection.

Hoshiarpur
MOBILE HOSPITAL: Mr Kuldeep Kumar Nanda, president, District Congress Committee, Hoshiarpur, addressed a congregation on the annual function of Shri Ram Charit Manas Parchar Mandal at local Shakti temple, here on Sunday. He informed that Ms Ambika Soni, MP, would inaugurate a mobile hospital in collaboration with Shri Ram Charit Manas Parchar Mandal, an NGO of Hoshiarpur, to provide better healthcare facilities to the people.

LUDHIANA
PROGRAMME: The management development centre of the Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology, Model town, Ludhiana, will conduct its second training programme on “Enhancing personal effectiveness” on April 30.

COOL EXPO: Excelsior will host ‘Cool Expo 2K5’, an exhibition on air conditioning ad refrigeration, in the city on May 13. The exhibition would invite leading companies from the industry, said a press note.

SUMMER WEAR: Duke has launched its Spring Summer Collection 2005. The company informed that a wide range of T-shirts, bermudas and loungewear would be available. Duke has also launched a new collection of t-shirts, a press note said.

Pathankot
COMPENSATION: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Gurdaspur, has given exemplary punishment for manufacturing and selling spurious drugs to M/s D.R. John's Lab, Bangalore. It ordered the company to pay a sum of Rs 7,500 as compensation to the complainant Veerkaran, a local resident who had alleged that the cough syrup manufactured by the said company was contaminated with ants.

Phagwara
CASE SOLVED: The police on Sunday claimed to have solved a snatching case with the arrest of two persons. Mr Nimal Singh, SHO, city police station, said the police arrested Ram Pal, alias Shama of Joginder Nagar and Surjit Singh of Dev Nagar, here and recovered five tolas of gold jewellery, Rs 5,425 in cash, a cellphone and a purse from them. The accused had snatched these items from Mrs Inderjit Kaur Virdi of Khothran road on Friday when she was returning to her house after closing her STD PCO booth.

RAPE BID: Paramjit, alias Pama made a bid to rape a nine-year- old girl at her house at Khera village, near here on Sunday. When she raised the alarm, her mother returned to the house and on seeing her, the accused managed to flee.

SAMRALA
Tributes paid: First death anniversary of Mr Rajvir Singh Rana, Deputy Director, Dairy Development Punjab was observed in the Vishkarama gurdwara, here yesterday. After the bhog ceremony of Rana the speakers, a former IAS Officer Kang, Mr Inderjeet Singh BPEO, Mr Behari Lal Saddi, Mr Amar Nath Tagra talked of services of Mr Rana, the Dairy Development Department, Punjab and also towards general public of the Samrala Subdivision.

CHANDIGARH

BLOOD DONATED: As many as 580 volunteers, including 178 women, donated blood at the blood donation camp organised by Sant Nirankari Mission at Sant Nirankari Bhavan in Sector 30 on Monday. The camp was inaugurated by the Director Health Services, UT, Dr C.P. Bansal, Prof J.G. Jolly, Emeritus Professor, PGI, attended the camp and said the massive contribution by the mission would go a long way in checking trading and commercialisation of blood.

VACCINATION CAMP: More than 60 dogs were vaccinated against rabies at a camp organised for stray dogs at Kaimbwala village on Monday. The camp was organised by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). Sixty dogs were deformed and 10 were checked up for general health at the camp. 

PROGRAMME: Srijan Peace Education Centre, Yuvsatta, Chandigarh and BIRDS in, Belgaum, are undertaking various educational and cultural exchange programme of students, artists and residents of Chandigarh and Belguam to spread the message of peace. The first group of 30 school students and teachers of Moti Ram Arya Senior Secondary School, Sector 27-A and K.B. DAV Senior Secondary Public School along with volunteers of Yuvsatta left for a 12-day excursion to Belgaum on Monday.

ELECTED: Ms Pooja has been elected president and Mr Sham Lal Kanoujia has been elected vice-president of The Parents/Guardian Society of Children of the Government Institute of Mentally Retarded Children, Sector 32. The elections were held today under the supervision of the former president Mr Balbir Singh. 

CONCLUDED: A 12-hour long Gaytri mahayagya was conducted at Arya Samaj, Sector 16 on Sunday. Nearly 300 persons participated in the mahayagya and paid tribute to Swami Dayanand Saraswati.

Mohali
WELCOMED: The World Wide Immigration Consultancy Services Ltd. (WWICS) has welcomed the announcement by Mr Joe Volpe, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration for speeding up the processing of sponsorship applications for parents and grandparents going to Canada as family class immigrants. With this, it is expected that in the next two years, the number of parents and grandparents immigrating to Canada will increase by an additional 12,000 each year. 

OFFICE-BEARERS: Mr H.S. Thakur has been chosen as president of the Shri Radha Krishan Tatha Dharamshala Sabha, Sector 54, here. According to a press note issued by the president today, Mr Devinder Rai has been chosen vice president while Mr H.N. Raina would be the general secretary. Mr Pavan Sharma would be the organising secretary and Mr Nand Kishore Bhargava the joint secretary. Mr Narain Dass would be the finance secretary and Mr Suraj Sharma would be the propaganda secretary. Among those who were elected to the executive include: Mr L.K. Chadha, Mr J.P. Vohra, Mr Dada, Mr K.K. Verma, Mr Tilak Raj, Mr Inder Lal Sareen, Mr Brij Mohan Sharma and Mr Sham Lal Sharma. 

Booked: Two women, living in Phase XI, have been booked by the police on a charge of power theft here on Monday. According to the police, Usha Devi and Anu Rani had been allegedly caught indulging in power theft with the help of a magnet. The theft was detected by a team of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) which had conducted a raid on the premises of the two women in December last year.

ELECTED: Mr Hardiyal Singh Man was elected president of the Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Phase 1, by the sangat here on Sunday.

Panchkula
PICNIC: Satluj Public School, Sector 2 and 4, took 50 senior citizens of Panchkula for a picnic to Dr Diwan Singh Kala Pani Museum, Siswan, in Ropar, here on Sunday. The guests were served morning and evening refreshments along with lunch. They were entertained with numerous games. A small cultural programme was also presented by children and senior citizens participated in all games. 

HARYANA

Rewari
ELECTED: Mr Anil Yadav was elected president of the Rewari district unit of the Haryana School Lecturers' Association (HSLA) for the second time on Sunday.

Sonepat
Killed: A six-year-old boy, Amit was killed while his father Puran Singh was injured when they were hit by a tractor-trolley at the Sonepat-Meerut road near Khewra village, 13 km from here, on Monday. The police has registered a case against the driver of the tractor-trolley and launched a hunt to apprehend him. The body of the deceased has been sent for a post- mortem examination and the injured was admitted to hospital.

Elected: Ms Saroj Devi and Mr Ram Phal were elected as Sarpanches of Nangal Kalan and Palri Kalan villages, respectively on Sunday. The polling was necessitated after the cancellation of the election on April 9 due to irregularities.