R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
Shabad kirtan competitions: Dedicated to the 400th martyrdom day of fifth Sikh Guru Arjan Dev, shabad kirtan competitions were organised by Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary Public School here on Thursday. Mr Dharamvir Singh, Principal of the school, in a press note said more than 20 teams participated in the competitions. Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Bhagtanwala, won the first prize. Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Basant Avenue, and Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Pragdas Chowk won second and third prizes.

Property valuation: The Institution of Valuers (IOV), Punjab chapter, has urged the public and financial institutions to carry out valuation of immovable properties, plant, machinery and other assets only from competent valuers. Mr B.K. Garg, chairman of the state IOV, stated this in a meeting held here on Thursday.

Fellowship awarded: Dr Kulbir Singh, Lecturer, Department of Chemistry, Guru Nanak Dev University, has been awarded a two-year post-doctoral fellowship by St Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Canada.

Barnala
Bar Association splits: The Bar Association, Barnala, split on Thursday when the two groups announced formation of new executive committees. Former president J. Sharma withdrew his candidature paving the way for Mr Jeewan Singla to head one group. This group claims the support of as many as 150 members. The other office-bearers are: Mr Rajeev Mital — secretary; Mr Inderdeep Singh — joint secretary, and Mr Sohan Lal — vice-president. The other group led by current secretary Varinder Sandhu also elected its new office-bearers. They are: Mr Kulwant Kumar — president; and Mr Varinder Sandhu — secretary. 

HOSHIARPUR
Dowry case: A case of harassment of a bride for bringing less dowry by her husband and members of her in-laws family was reported at Mukerian police station on Tuesday. Ms Gurpreet Kaur stated in her complaint that she was married to Ashwani Kumar of Phura Chowk on December 4, 2004. She alleged that soon after marriage Ashwani Kumar, his mother Sumittera Devi, sister Rani and brother Parveen Kumar started harassing her for bringing less dowry.

School timings: Keeping in view the scorching heat, Mr D.K. Tiwari, District Magistrate, Hoshiarpur, has changed the closing times of all government and private schools throughout the district from May 9 to June 8. Primary schools will closed at 1 p.m. while middle/high schools will remain open up to 1.30 p.m.

Jalandhar
Protest held: Demanding a better economic package in accordance with the one granted to the 1984 riot victims, over 500 terrorism-affected families held a protest here on Saturday. The protesters from different parts of Punjab alleged that though a huge number of people were killed and hundreds of families had to leave their homes during the days of terrorism, no efforts had been made to either rehabilitate them or provide compensation.

Ludhiana
Shoes outlet: Chief 19 Shoes, a Chandigarh-based footwear company, on Saturday opened its showroom in Ansal Plaza here. Mr Mohinder Singh Makkar, managing director of the company said while talking to the Ludhiana Tribune: “Our aim is to provide international and domestic footwear from leading brands at wholesale prices, which is almost 60-70 per cent of what one gets in the retail market.” Among brands available are Hush Puppies, Dr Scholls, Adidas, Reebok, Nike, Redtape and various others, besides a wide range in casuals, formals and sports footwear for men women and kids.

Workshop: Grace Beauty Clinic conducted a personal grooming workshop for women and girls, which concluded here Saturday. It was a five-day workshop conducted by Ms Indra Ahluwalia, consultant to Zee TV. This workshop was aimed at providing a detailed knowledge of beauty aids and material and easy techniques that the young girls could follow at home. An analysis was individually conducted for each participant’s unique grooming problems in skin and hair-care. The workshop covered in detail the skin care and make-up-tips; hair-care, hair setting and hairstyles; and different styles of sari draping.

Vivekanand trust: Mr Anil Bharti has been unaimously elected president of the Swami Vivekanand Swarg Ashram Trust, Model Town Extension, Ludhiana. The trust runs an old age home besides, Hansraj Jain Eye Hospital, Swarg Ashram, a homoeopathy hospital and a day care centre for the senior citizens. 

Phagwara
Boy sodomised: An eight-year-old boy Beg Hussain, a resident of Panchchat village, was allegedly sodomised by an unidentified man at the nearby Panchchat village here today.According to sources, the victim who belonged to the Gujjar community, alleged in his statement lodged with the Panchchat police post that the unidentified man took him to a secluded place from the dera of the Gujjar community and committed the heinous crime. The boy has been sent to the local Civil Hospital for medical examination. A case under Section 377 of the IPC has been registered against the accused.

TARN TARAN
Revolver recovered: The sadar police has recovered a 12-bore revolver from the possession of Balwinder Singh of Kalle village falling under police station Bhikhiwind. A case under the Arms Act has been registered against the accused, who was already in the custody of police.