Abohar
Dead: The vice-president of the DAV managing committee and founder of the DAV campus here, N.D. Grover, passed away on Tuesday night in a private hospital near New Delhi where he was kept on ventilator for about a fortnight. All the DAV institutions in the region were closed today after a condolence meeting.

AMRITSAR
Practical exam fee revised: Guru Nanak Dev (GND) University has decided to revise the practical examination fee from Rs 700 to Rs 300 for regular students in cases where practical examination, based on laboratory work, is to be conducted. For private candidates, the fee has been reduced from Rs 1,300 to Rs 1,000.

Barnala
School timings: Keeping in view the cold weather conditions prevailing in the region for the past few days, the deputy commissioner, Barnala, has changed the school timings for higher and senior secondary schools in the district. In a press communiqué issued here on Wednesday, the timings would be from 10 am to 3:45 pm till February 10. Meanwhile, the primary schools of the district will remain closed till February 10 but the primary school teachers are required to report to the school authorities.

Bathinda
In remand : Sub-inspector Jagsir Singh was sent to two days of police remand today by a local court for being an accomplice in a case of alleged attempt to murder. It may be mentioned that a firing incident took place in Ganesh Basti here on January 23, which created panic among the residents. Dharam Singh, an employee of the PSEB, reported to the police that some persons came to the locality and fired outside his house. In his complaint, he had added that the accused had been threatening to kill his son Harpreet who had helped a girl in getting a case of rape registered against them.

Birth centenary : As a sequel to Bhagat Singh’s birth centenary celebrations, the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Janam Shatabdi Smaroh Samiti, Bathinda, organised a colourful programme at the Government Middle School, Phus Mandi, on Tuesday. Chief guest Navin Singla spoke about the character of Bhagat Singh.

Action panel formed: The residents of Gahiri Bhagi village formed an action committee to protst against the misbehavior of mini-bus operators today. In the meeting, villagers rued that they had reported complaints twice to both the DC and DTO, but in vain. They warned that if the government didn’t take any action by February 8, they would gherao  mini-buses.

Students’ rally: Speaking at the SOI meeting in Patiala, Sukhbir Badal said sports could prevent youngsters from taking to drugs and for that stadiums would be built all over Punjab. He further said that the Bathinda cricket stadium would be turned into a major sporting venue and the BCCI had agreed to open 500 cricket academies in Punjab.

Protest: The PGTCA organised a gate rally today against rationalisation in the Government Rajindra College. PGTCA president G.S. Bangar said that in 1972, the student strength in the college was 1500, which had increased to 2600 in 2008. But the government had reduced the posts of teachers from 82 to 69 in Rajindra College. He further said that a state-level protest would be organised at Chandigarh outside the office of DPI (Colleges).

DERA BASSI
Function: The Rotary Club organised a special function on Wednesday to distribute artificial limbs to the disabled. President of the Cooperative Bank Punjab Jasjit Singh was the chief guest. His mother Sarabjit Kaur and wife of Punjab minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh was the guest of honour. As many as 46 disabled persons were given artificial limbs and 10 tricycles were also distributed.

Body identified: The police identified the woman whose body was found on the Ambala-Kalka railway tracks on Tuesday as Nirmala Devi, a resident of Mani Majra. According to the police, the deceased’s husband Surinder Singh and her brothers came to the civil hospital on Wednesday and identified her. They told the police that Nirmala was mentally disturbed and was being treated at Panipat for the past two years. The couple had four children.

Fazilka
Surgeon dead: Noted eye surgeon, Shaminder Sharma (53) of Fazilka, died after a brief illness on Tuesday night at Ludhiana. His cremation was performed on Wednesday.

Hoshiarpur
Smack seized: The Mehtiana police, on a tip-off, raided the residence of Darshana, alias Maro, wife of Mohinder of Bhungarni village, and seized 225 gram smack from her on Tuesday night. She was booked under sections 21, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act.

Change of guard: N.K. Wadhawan took over as the new deputy commissioner of Hoshiarpur here on Wednesday. Wadhawan was appointed in place of D.K. Tiwari, who has been transferred to Chandigarh as special secretary, finance, Punjab.

Mansa
Criticised: District Congress president and MLA Ajitinder Singh Moffar on Wednesday criticised the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for its call to stage a dharna in New Delhi on February 22 in protest against the Central government saying the demands were baseless and politically motivated.

PATIALA
Launched: State Bank of Patiala launched a combo card for the students and staff of  Thapar University on Wednesday. A.C. Varma, managing director of the bank, released the card at a function held at the Thapar University auditorium in which Abhijit Mukherjee, director of Thapar University, was the chief guest. Varma said the combo card was a multi-functional smart card and an international ATM-cum-debit card.

Killed: Amanjeet Singh (25), son of Col Alamjit Singh, chief security officer, Punjabi University, Patiala, died in a road accident in Assam. He was working as manager with Williamson and Magor, a UK-based tea company near Dibrugarh in Assam.

SANGRUR
SAD memo on vulgar songs: A deputation of the district unit of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Amritsar (Panch Pradhani) here on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to Sangrur ADC Dr Indu Malhotra to forward it to the Chief Minister. It demanded the stoppage of playing of video CDs/audio cassettes containing obscene scenes and vulgar songs on TV/tape recorders in buses.

CHANDIGARH
SDO in vigilance net: The Haryana State Vigilance Bureau has caught the SDO of the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN), Gurgaon, R.P. Gupta, red-handed while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 16,000 from a resident of a village in Gurgaon. A spokesman of the bureau on Wednesday said a case had been registered in the bureau’s police station, Gurgaon, under Sections 7/13/49 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Further investigation in the case is in progress.

Office-bearers nominated: The Haryana government has nominated vice-chairman and 14 non-official members of the Haryana Swantantrata Sainik Samman Samiti. Magnesh Chand Jain, Jhajjar, has been nominated as the vice-chairman. Dr Madan Mohan Chopra, Jai Gopal Sharma, Subhash Dewan, Ajit Singh, Deenanath, Hariram Arya, Ram Daya Saini, A.C. Ramsaran Arya, Chaman Lal Ahuja, Maha Singh, Lalti Ram, Satya Dev, Mahesh Dutt, and M.P. Singh have been nominated as non-official members of the samiti.

FATEHABAD
CJ to address seminar: Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Vijender Jain will address a seminar on female foeticide in the local Manohar Memorial College on February 23. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will preside over the function. The Chief Justice will also lay the foundation stone of judicial complex at Ratia town in the district and will inspect court work at Fatehabad.

KURUKSHETRA
Army recruitment: Brig J.S. Mann, Vishist Seva Medal, deputy director, recruiting, for Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, explained the mechanics of recruitment, glorious traditions of the Army and the fairness and transparency of the recruitment system at Dronacharya Stadium here, where army recruitment was held on Wednesday. He said the Army selects the best based on individual capability and merit. Touts and unscrupulous elements cannot get anyone enrolled and the public should shun such unsocial elements.