Jalandhar, March 4
Parents of Major Sandeep Shankla, posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra, were felicitated by Lieutenant-General J. K. Mohanty, on the concluding day of the function to mark the silver jubilee of the 18 Dogra Regiment here.

A short video clip on the life of the martyr was also screened on the occasion. The Brass and Pipe Band of the regiment played a patriotic song, “Chakra Rangbhoomi”, as a tribute to the gallant acts of the officers of the regiment and for the sacrifices made by them.

Major Sandeep Shankla was killed in an ambush at Zafarkhani village in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir on August 8, 1991.

General Officer Commanding of the Vajra Corps, Lieutenant-General Mandhata Singh and a number of senior army officers attended the function.

Commanding Officer of the regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel S. L. Dogra, unveiled the commemorative silver trophy on behalf of the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.

A special laser show was also organised that highlighted the 25-year history of the regiment.

Kapurthala, March 4
The CBI team today continued their probe into the purchases made by the Rail Coach Factory (RCF) management for the third day here.

The team checked the records and details of the machinery lying idle in the workshops and also inspected the high-value items lying unused in the stores.

According to sources, the CBI officials inquired about aluminum coils, corten steel, stainless steel, ferrite steel, and austenitic steel used in the manufacturing of coaches at the factory.

Meanwhile, the Chief Material Manager, Mr Ram Lal, has clarified that he had attended his office throughout the day yesterday and that he had cooperated with the CBI team in the investigation. 

Kapurthala, March 4
The local police today sealed an LPG godown of a gas agency situated at Aujla village here after registering a case against its owner on the charges of defrauding the public by supplying underweight LPG refill cylinders.

Interestingly, all this happened after a security guard at Markfed, Mr Surinder Kumar, complained to the Jalandhar MP, Rana Gurjit Singh, in the presence of the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Samir Kumar, and some media persons that he was given an underweight cylinder by the agency.

This led the DC to get the cylinder in question weighed at a nearby shop and it was found to be underweight by more than two kg.

The DC then conducted a surprise check on the agency’s godown but found nothing incriminating, even though he directed the city SHO, Mr Gurmej Singh, to book the owner of the agency on the complaint.

Jalandhar, March 4
The government was working towards the rapid industrialisation of the state and bringing the industrial sector back on the track, the Minister for Local Government, Labour and Employment and Parliamentary Affairs, Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, said this at a function held to mark the 35th National Safety Day here today.

The minister said that Rs 2,281 crore had been spent to provide uninterrupted power supply to the farmers. He said the state government had started the work on the second stage of the Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant. He added that more thermal plants were being set up at Dhuri, Mansa, Hoshiarpur and Amritsar.

The minister said that a Special Economic Zone was being set up in Amritsar and an IT Zone in Mohali. The work on the Guru Gobind Singh Oil Refinery had been initiated, he added.

He claimed that 98.9 per cent of the industrial units in the state were accident-free. At the national level, the rate of accidents was 11.25 per cent per 1000 units, while in Punjab, the rate was 2.73 per cent, he added. The minister also awarded some industrial units for maintaining safety standards.

Daudhar (Moga), March 4
Various competitions were organised on the second day of the North Zone Ayurvedic Medical Colleges Sports and Cultural Meet, 2006, yesterday. The Vice-Chancellor of the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, Dr Ravinder Singh, was the chief guest.

Ramandeep Kaur from Government Ayurvedic College, Patiala, won the geet-ghazal competition. Shweta from Satya Sai Murlidharan Ayurvedic Medical College, Moga, stood second, while Pankaj from Babe Ke Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital, Daudhar, Moga, and Shivani from Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha Ayurvedic Medical College, Sarabha, bagged the third position. The costume show competition was won by Government Ayurvedic College, Patiala, followed by Desh Bhagat Ayurvedic Medical College, Mandi Gobindgarh, and Smt Urmila Devi Ayurvedic Medical College, Hoshiarpur. 

Phagwara, March 4
As many as 188 graduate, postgraduate and diploma students, including girls, were given degrees today at the annual convocation of the local Guru Nanak College here. Member Parliament Varinder Singh Bajwa was the chief guest on the occasion. College President Jagat Singh Palahi welcomed Mr Bajwa. College Principal Inderjit Singh read out the annual report of the college.  In his address, Mr Bajwa underlined the need for promoting IT education.

“It is high time that voluntary bodies engaged in the promotion of education, especially NRIs, shifted the thrust of their philanthropic activities from religious places to educational and health institutions,” he said. He gave a grant of Rs 2 lakh to the college from his MPLADS.

He also laid the foundation stone of the new block of the college building.

Kapurthala, March 4
The body of Rajesh Kumar, who was shot in Manila last week, were consigned to the flames here today. Family members of the deceased said the body was brought to India with the efforts of the Indian Embassy in Manila and Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, President of the Lok Bhalai Party. The cremation was attended, among others, by Member Parliament Rana Gurjit Singh. Rajesh Kumar was shot dead by some unidentified persons in Manila on February 26.