ABOHAR
Suicides: An aged woman was found dead in a sewerage water tank in the Purani Abadi locality of Sriganganagar on Friday. Sources said the victim was identified as Paramjit Kaur, widow of Jagdev Singh. Her son Gurdas Singh informed the police that she had been ill for a long time and might have committed suicide, sources added. In another incident, one Maina Devi Meghwal, wife of Rai Singh, reportedly committed suicide by consuming insecticide in Jorawarpura village in Sriganganagar on Friday.

Killed: One Yadwinder Singh (35), son of Gurjant Singh of Sunderpura village, was killed while Sandoora Singh, son of Jeet Singh, was injured when an army vehicle reportedly hit their scooter outside the Lalgarh cantonment, 40 km from here, on Friday evening. In another incident, a 13STB village resident, Prem Chand, was killed when a tractor allegedly hit his motorcycle on the Kalibanga road in the same region on Friday.

Seminar: Regional station of the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, will organise a field day–cum-seminar on kinnow cultivation here on February 6. An exhibition would also be arranged on the occasion.

Bereaved: Prem Nath Sachdeva (72), father of Shyam Sunder Sachdeva who is editor of a local newspaper, died of protracted illness on Friday. Senior political functionaries, journalists and social dignitaries attended his  cremation.

BATHINDA
Criticised: The PGCTA, under the presidentship of G.S. Brar, in a press statement issued on Friday, strongly condemned the decision of the Punjab government to abolish 16 posts in Rajindra College under the garb of rationalisation. The union claimed that the so-called rationalisation had been carried out in a very casual and irrational manner. It claimed that five mathematics teachers were earlier sharing a workload of 138 periods, where as for this, the required number was six lecturers, which had been reduced to three only.

Teachers’ stir: The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union has decided to revive its deferred agitation against the Punjab government for its failure to redress the long-pending demands of the union. As a first step, all members of the state executive committee of the union along with 21 teachers hailing from different private colleges affiliated to the Punjabi University, Patiala, shall court arrest in front of the office of the DPI (Colleges), Punjab, at Chandigarh on February 5.

Senior citizens: A meeting of members of the Senior Citizens Council, Bathinda, was held to resolve the problems of the senior citizens. Sarup Chand Singla, halqa in-charge of the SAD (B), assured a home for the senior citizens at the meeting. He also advised D.S. Mastana, president of the council, to prepare a case for the old-age home and submit it to the authorities concerned.

Fazilka
Drugs seized: In a surprise raid to check the misuse of intoxicants and sedatives, district drug inspector Kulvinder Singh seized 6000 capsules and 5000 tablets from a medical store here on Thursday. The same chemist shop was raided about three months back and the second raid is considered to be a follow-up step initiated at the instance of health minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla.

JALANDHAR
Quiz contest: A team of students of the physics department of the local DAV College, comprising Amit Kumar, Naveen Gupta and Jasbir Singh, won the trophy in a quiz contest held at the Government College for Girls, Sector 11, Chandigarh, on Friday.

Nawanshahr
Youth killed: Navdeep Singh (20) was killed and Rajinder Singh injured when their car rammed into a tractor-trailer at Mahalon village here on Friday.

PATIALA
Meeting: The World Sikh Intellectual Council called a special meeting on Saturday to welcome the appointment of Sukhbir Badal as the new president of the SAD. The meeting resolved to support Badal junior and it was also decided that the council will take part in the February 22 protest rally to be held by the SAD in New Delhi. Mohinder Singh Jassal, Dr Gurmit Singh, Baldev Singh Baluana were present on this occasion.

GSMCH adopts 4 schools: The Gian Sagar Medical College and Hospital (GSMCH) has adopted four schools for free regular medical check-up. Dr Kusum Mahajan, professor and head of the paediatrics department, said teams comprising of medical specialists from different departments would visit these schools periodically. The adopted schools include Government Senior Secondary School, Banur, Senior Secondary School, Jhansla, Senior Secondary School, Thua, and Guru Amar Dass School, Tagori.

Honoured: The Punjab State Electricity Board held a function to mark its 49th Founder’s Day on Friday. On the occasion, 42 officers who retired last year were honoured. J.S. Sekhon (member distribution), G.S. Sra, (member generation), Rahul Bhall and S.K. Jain were present.

SME meet: State Bank of Patiala organised SME meet on Friday at its Infotech Academy, which was attended by 150 entrepreneurs from different business segments. Sebastian Chacko, general manager (Pand D) was the chief guest. The entrepreneurs eulogised the technological transformation brought in the bank and the bank has agreed to consider the suggestions given by the entrepreneurs.

SRINAGAR
One killed, 3 shops gutted: One person was killed, while three shops were gutted, in two separate incidents in the Kashmir valley on Friday. Sources said one Mohammad Safir, a resident of Uri, died on the spot when the vehicle in which he was travelling met with an accident at the Lasjan bypass. Meanwhile, three shops were gutted in a fire in the main market area of Kralpora in the frontier district of Kupwara, damaging property worth lakhs of rupees.

Tour packages: The Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation (JKTDC) has offered special tour packages to 500 persons, who have gathered at Bangalore from across the globe, to participate in the SANGAM-2008. A JKTDC official said continuing with the efforts to showcase the state at new forums and attract more tourists, a group of 25 delegates from the state are participating in the SANGAM-2008, the summit for protection of environment and access to social justice.

Snow festival: Skiers from across the country are expected to participate in the 5th National Snow Festival which begins on February 17 at Gulmarg in north Kashmir. “Around 500 skiers are expected to participate in the festival,” chief executive officer of the Gulmarg Development Authority, Farooq Ahmad Lone, said. The week-long festival includes skiing, ice-skating, ice-hockey and snow boarding among other events, Lone said.