R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Dasuya
Train halt: Residents have demanded a halt for the Jammu-Hardwar Express and the Swaraj Express at Dasuya railway station. Listing their demands and problems the residents have also written to the Railway Minister, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, in this regard.

Jalandhar
Theatre workshop: “Experiments in Punjabi theatre,” a ten-day theatre workshop being organised by the Postgraduate Department of Punjabi from DAV College, began on the campus here on Thursday evening. Paper-presentation was held on Friday in which Dr Kulbir Singh Dheer from Patiala and Dr Satinder Singh Noor and Mr Sohan Kunger, both from Chandigarh, presented their papers pertaining to their research works in the field of Punjabi theatre. Dr Harjit Singh, former Deputy Director of Doordarshan Kendra, Jalandhar, was the chief guest on Thursday. In his inaugural address, Dr Satish Kumar Verma from Punjabi University, Patiala, talked about the history of Punjabi dance and theatre. Dr Jagdish Garg, a professor from DAV college, said various nukkad nataks and dramas would be organised on Saturday.

Festival: “Budding intellectuals — 2006’, a two-day technical and cultural festival organised jointly by the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology and the Department of Commerce at Lyallpur Khalsa College, concluded here on Friday. Over 350 students from different schools and colleges of the region participated in various technical and cultural events, including “web crawling,” “software showcase,” games, quiz, paper presentation, IT models, “express your ideas” and choreography. The function concluded with the performance of singer Sarabjeet Cheema. Mr Channan Singh Chitti, Vice-president of governing council of the Lyallpur Khalsa College for Women, was the chief guest.

Campus placements: A team from Wipro Infotech Ltd visited the DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology for campus placements on Friday. Mr Debashish, Head, HR (North) of the company, interacted with the final year B. Tech students. Mr C.L. Kochher, Director-cum-Principal of the institute, said the institute was trying to maintain a liaison with various companies for placement of its students.

Eye camp: The Lions Club Jalandhar Victory organised a free eye-testing camp and operation camp that concluded on Friday. Dr Jagdeep Singh and Dr Gaurav, with their team, examined 350 patients during the camp. Over 50 operations were also conducted. Mr Avtar Henry, the Minister for Food and Civil Supplies and Public Health, announced a donation of Rs 51,000 to the club.

Phagwara
Demand: A deputation of Congressmen, led by the ruling party’s local MLA, Mr Joginder Singh Mann, gave a memorandum to Mr K.H. Muniyappa, the Union Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, on Thursday, demanding removal of a roundabout from the GT Road at the Railway Road-Banga Road crossing. Mr Mann on Friday disclosed that in the memorandum they had proposed the replacement of the roundabout with traffic lights for the convenience of the public as it would check traffic jams and accidents at the place, which was linked from five sides. The delegation also demanded six-laning of the Jalandhar-Ludhiana section of the National Highway No. 1 as the  present four-laned road was unable to cope with the growing traffic rush and clutter.

Phillaur
Rail stretch completed: The 27-km railway stretch between Morinda and Chandigarh has been completed and Commissioner for Railways Safety Bhupinder Singh will soon inspect and give the safety signal-cum-certificate. This was stated by Divisional Manager Railway Dharam Singh here on Thursday.

Pathankot
Adventure expeditions: An adventure expedition of the 3rd battalion of the Sikh Regiment was flagged off by Major-Gen P.C. Kharbanda, GOC, Gurj Division, here on Friday. The expedition involves trekking of snow-covered peaks in the Kulu valley and Waru and Gairujot passes at a 18,000-foot height by a team of a Junior Commissioned Officer and 12 others. Two other expeditions, a motor cycle rally and a cycle rally, were also flagged off. 

Tarn Taran
Case registered against SHOT: Another case has been registered against controversial SHO Naurang Singh for falsely implicating Bohar Singh, a resident of Marrar. The SHO was in the thick of controversy when he was caught red-handed by the Vigilance Bureau (VB) about five months ago while taking bribe. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against Naurang Singh along with a Head Constable Surjit Singh. The case has been registered on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

HARYANA

FATEHABAD
Scrap dealer murdered: A scrap dealer was found murdered at his residence at Tohana in this district on Friday. Police sources said that Mangat Ram (45) lived alone in a rented accommodation near the city police station at Tohana. He was found murdered at his residence. The hands and legs of the victim were found tied with ropes. 

Priest killed: A pedestrian was killed when he was hit by a tractor-trailer on the local Sirsa road on Thursday. The victim, Hanuman Parsad (46), was a priest in a temple and was going back to his residence after performing pooja when a tractor-trailer knocked him down. The police has registered a case. 

SONEPAT
Held for dowry death: The Kharkhauda police on Thursday arrested Balwan in connection with the dowry death case registered against him. His wife, Darshana, in her dying statement said her husband and in-laws set her afire. She died at the PGIMS, Rohtak, on January 17. 

Encroachments removed: Officials of the Municipal Committee, headed by Mr V.S. Batla, Tehsildar-cum-Magistrate, removed encroachments from main roads of Kharkhauda on Thursday.