The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

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PUNJAB

Abohar
Procession taken out: Members of the district unit of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Society held a rally here at the Nehru Park on Tuesday. It may be mentioned that Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Societies are NGOs that run sewing and stitching training centre for female members of the BPL families in different villages. Members of the NGO regretted that the incentives that the government had promised were yet to be passed on to the BPL families.

AMRITSAR
3 held under Arms Act: The police has arrested three persons, including a migrant, for allegedly possessing arms and recovered a revolver and a countrymade pistol from them. The arrested are Talwinder Singh of Harsha Chhina village, Palwinder Singh of Sabajpur (Harsha Chhina) and Feroz of Bahrarnania district Sita Masih, Bihar. A revolver was seized from Talwinder and Palwinder, while a countrymade pistol was recovered from Feroz. All accused have been booked under relevant Sections of the Arms Act.

Courses in Punjabi for NRIs: Guru Nanak Dev (GND) University has introduced four self-financing short-term courses in Punjabi for NRIs and foreigners. Vice-chancellor of the university Jai Rup Singh stated this to a 15-member delegation from the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, here on Monday. The VC said the university had started four self-financing short-term courses in Punjabi conversation, Punjabi speech and Gurmukhi orthography, Punjabi folklore and culture and Punjabi literature. He said all courses were need-based to help NRIs and Punjabis settled abroad to learn Punjabi and familiarise them with the literature and culture of Punjab.

Bathinda
Meeting held: A general body meeting of Shri Gaushala, Bathinda, was held here on Tuesday and the following have been unanimously elected office-bearers of the body: President-Rajinder Kumar Raju, senior vice-president-Pawan Gupta, vice- presidents-Anil Bhola, Suresh Kumar, Professor Pawan Gupta, Sat Narayan Garg, general secretary-Sadhu Ram Kusla, joint general secretary-Ramnik Walia, finance secretary-Rajinder Kumar Garg, joint finance secretary-Naresh Kumar and propaganda secretary-Som Nath Bansal.

Kisan union: Ruldu Singh Mansa, president, Punjab Kisan Union, accused the SAD-led government of pursuing anti-people policies. He further mentioned that the union would lend its support to the coordination committee, which has already decided to hold district level protests on August 8. The protests would sound an alarm to the government for paying attention towards the debt burden of farmers and privatization of PSEB.

Lekhak Sabha: Activists of the 13th Sarab Hind Punjabi Lekhak Conference have informed that to have a positive dialogue over the Punjabi language and education system, the Punjabi Lekhak Sabha is going to organize a two-day seminar on November 15-16, the first of its kind in Malwa, where foreign delegates will also take part.

Dharna today: Activists of the Technical Service Union (TSU), west zone, have announced that a dharna would be held on August 6 outside the head office. Leaders of the union, namely, OM Parkash, Des Raj Sanghania and Babu Ram, mentioned that a protest would be lodged against the chief engineer and superintending engineer at the headquarters for their high handedness and activities that are believed to be detrimental to the interests of the staff.

Fazilka
Rains wreak havoc: Torrential rain wreaked havoc in several villages in Fazilka and adjoining areas on Monday night. At least seven kacha houses collapsed in two villages due to nature’s fury. Two women and a minor girl in village Chuwarianwali on Fazilka Malout road sustained injuries in the incident. The injured have been identified as Chando Bai (70) her sister Santro Devi (60) and grand-daughter Geeta (12). Besides, the roof of the animal shed of Bansi Lal, a resident of the same village, also caved in resulting in the death of about a dozen goats.

Jagraon
Arrested: Parkash Kaur of Kulgaihna was arrested by the Sidhwan Bet police yesterday in the Bhundri village area. The police seized 10 kg poppy husk from her. A case under Sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered.

Booked: Major Singh, Avtar Singh, Jinder Singh, Sukhwinder Singh and Buta Singh of Hissowal village allegedly trespassed into the house of Chamkaur Singh of their village on July 29 and assaulted him with an iron rod, sticks and a bat. The injured has been admitted to civil hospital, Sudhar. A case has been registered.

Jalandhar
Academic excellence: Amit Vinayak of the department of law of Guru Nanak Dev University Regional Campus, Jalandhar, who has stood first in the sixth semester of the LLB exam conducted by the university securing 357 out of 500 marks.

Stenography course:The District Sainik Welfare Office (DSWO) would commence a one-year stenography and typing course approved from Punjab Language Department on August 25.

KAPURTHALA
‘Enforce Minimum Wages Act’: The government should implement the Minimum Wages Act for safai karamcharis. Chairperson of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Santosh Choudhary stated this here on Monday. The Union government had issued a notification in this regard on April 24. Santosh added that minimum wages were fixed at Rs 150 daily for safai karacharis in B-class cities like Amritsar, Chandigarh, Agra and Ajmer. The chairperson said the Union government departments had started implementing the Minimum Wages Act for safai karamcharis after the notification but most of the state governments were still to implement it .

Ludhiana
Elected: Havildar Tejwant Singh Hayer(retd) has been elected sarpanch of Chhak Bhai Ka village in the district.The sarpanch spelt out an action plan for the development of the village.

Mansa
Power problem would be solved: Sukhbir: SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal while laying foundation stones for development projects said that power problem in state would be solved in near future. He said that the power plants of Punjab would be able to provide electricity to the residents.

HC vacates stay order: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has vacated the stay on the elections for chairman of Zila Parishad, Mansa. The HC had issued stay order on July 16 this year.

SANGRUR
Saplings planted in school: The local Lions Club organised a tree plantation programme on the premises of the new building of Government Girls Senior Secondary School here on Tuesday. President of the club Rakesh Kumar Singla said 30 saplings of gulmohar and sohanjna trees had been planted in the school complex. Principal of the school Raksha Singla exhorted the students to grow more trees to clean the environment and check global warming.

TARN TARAN
Lessons in yoga: The Education Department has decided to introduce yoga lessons in all government-run schools in the state to keep the students mentally and physically fit. The lessons will be introduced under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan Authority (SSAA) with the cooperation of Yoga Guru Swami Ram Dev’s Patanjali Yoga Peeth (PYP), Hardwar. One such camp began at the Government Secondary School here under the supervision of Waryam Singh, assistant education officer.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Dharamsala
Social science exhibition: A social science exhibition was held at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Palampur, here. Students from eight schools of the Chandigarh region namely KV Yol Cantt, Hamirpur, Nadaun, Nalati, Mandi, Sainj, Kelong and Palampur participated in it. Dance competitions and models prepared by the students were on the theme of Jharkhand and Egypt. H.P. Singh, principal of the school, in a press release, said overall first position in the competitions was bagged by KV Palampur. KV Sainj stood first in the group dance competition and KV Hamirpur grabbed the first position in Hindi debate.

Social science exhibition: A social science exhibition was held at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Palampur, here. Students from eight schools of the Chandigarh region namely KV Yol Cantt, Hamirpur, Nadaun, Nalati, Mandi, Sainj, Kelong and Palampur participated in it. Dance competitions and models prepared by the students were on the theme of Jharkhand and Egypt. H.P. Singh, principal of the school, in a press release, said overall first position in the competitions was bagged by KV Palampur. KV Sainj stood first in the group dance competition and KV Hamirpur grabbed the first position in Hindi debate.

Kangra
Pilgrim’s body recovered: The police recovered the body of a pilgrim from Jawalamukhi bus stand on Tuesday, the police said. The deceased was identified as Radhay Shyam (52), a resident of Phagwara in Kapurthala district, Punjab. The body was sent for a post-mortem examination and investigation under Section 174 of the CrPC is in progress.

Pilgrim’s body recovered: The police recovered the body of a pilgrim from Jawalamukhi bus stand on Tuesday, the police said. The deceased was identified as Radhay Shyam (52), a resident of Phagwara in Kapurthala district, Punjab. The body was sent for a post-mortem examination and investigation under Section 174 of the CrPC is in progress.

Nurpur
3 hurt in group clash: Resham Singh and his son Baljinder Singh were arrested by Indora police on Monday for their alleged involvement in a group clash which took place at Milwan on Sunday. According to the police, a personal enmity between two families led to the clash, injuring three persons. The police has lodged cross FIRs in this connection. The first complainant Sat Pal has booked Resham Singh and his five companions.

3 hurt in group clash: Resham Singh and his son Baljinder Singh were arrested by Indora police on Monday for their alleged involvement in a group clash which took place at Milwan on Sunday. According to the police, a personal enmity between two families led to the clash, injuring three persons. The police has lodged cross FIRs in this connection. The first complainant Sat Pal has booked Resham Singh and his five companions.

Shimla
Cong to reorganise organisational set-up: After the BJP, the Congress has decided to reorganise the organisational set up in accordance with delimited constituencies. Newly appointed Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kaul Singh has convened a meeting of the general house on August 14 to take stock of the situation arising due to the delimitation exercise which has changed complexion of several assembly segments. The meeting will also finalise a programme for launching membership drive and strategy for the Lok Sabha polls.

Buses diverted: The state road transport corporation has diverted some buses for the convenience of apple growers. A spokesperson of the corporation said the Rampur-Delhi and Chirgaon-Delhi service would ply via Azadpur sabzi mandi. Similarly, the buses plying on the Shimla-Chandigarh route would halt near the Sector 26 sabzi market at Chandigarh to pick and drop passengers.

Cong to reorganise organisational set-up: After the BJP, the Congress has decided to reorganise the organisational set up in accordance with delimited constituencies. Newly appointed Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kaul Singh has convened a meeting of the general house on August 14 to take stock of the situation arising due to the delimitation exercise which has changed complexion of several assembly segments. The meeting will also finalise a programme for launching membership drive and strategy for the Lok Sabha polls.

Some buses diverted: The state road transport corporation has diverted some buses for the convenience of apple growers. A spokesperson of the corporation said the Rampur-Delhi and Chirgaon-Delhi service would ply via Azadpur sabzi mandi. Similarly, the buses plying on the Shimla-Chandigarh route would halt near the Sector 26 sabzi market at Chandigarh to pick and drop passengers.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

PULWAMA
I-Day celebration: The arrangements for the Independence Day celebration were finalized here at a meeting today with the deputy commissioner. It was decided that the main function would be held at the headquarters where chief guest would unfurl the national flag. A colourful cultural programme will be presented by schoolchildren in association with the Information District Youth Services and the sports and education departments.

SRINAGAR
No shortage of drugs: The disruption in traffic on the highway has not led to shortage of drugs in the Kashmir valley, as life-saving and anti-cancer drugs are also sufficiently available. The authorities have given adequate stocks of medicines to the hospitals, at a joint meeting of the Chemists and Distributors Association with the divisional commissioner, Kashmir, here on Tuesday. The association assured the administration that people would not face any inconvenience now,an official spokesperson said.

Wildlife plan: The state wildlife department has formulated a comprehensive management plan for handling of man-wild animal conflicts, involving infrastructural strengthening, awareness campaign and better communication. The plan had been submitted to the ministry of environment and forests and the state planning department for financial assistance. An official spokesperson said necessary equipments for trapping, tranquilizing, rescue, relocation and rehabilitation of wild animals were being provided for development of national parks and sanctuaries under the state plan budget.