AMRITSAR
Entrance test for M Phil (Pbi): The entrance test for admission to M Phil (Punjabi) will be conducted at Guru Nanak Bhawan Auditorium, GND University, here on September 3 at 2 pm. Dr Dharam Singh, professor and head, School of Punjabi Studies, in a press note here on Friday said roll numbers had already been dispatched. Candidates not receiving these could contact the department on the same day at 10 am along with an attested photograph.

Fellowship for varsity scholar: Dr Priyanka Sharma, Dept of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, GND University, has been awarded the Dr D.S. Kothari Postdoctoral Fellowship of the UGC, New Delhi, for 2008. The varsity press note here on Thursday said she would be given a fellowship of Rs 20,000 per month, along with contingency grant for three years. This year the fellowship has been awarded only to 10 scholars all over the country.

Transferred: The Punjab government on Friday transferred Mandeep Singh
Sandhu as secretary to the Department of Welfare of SCs/BCs and Narinderjit
Singh as MD, Punsup. He will also hold the additional charge of the post of
secretary, Information Technology.

Bassi Pathana
Snatchers nabbed: A high drama was witnessed in the main market on Friday afternoon this afternoon when people nabbed two youths who tried to snatch gold earings of a lady. The youths were thrashed before being handed over to the police. According to information, the youths started following the lady from the bus stand and crossed her many times as soon as she reached the market. As they tried to snatch her earings, she raised an alarm and the people around her chased the snatchers and finally, managed to nab them.

Bathinda
Speech competition: The Rural Training Health Centre, Bhalaiana, Muktsar, organised a speech competition on social evils here on Thursday in which about 29 students from various schools took part. Bhupinder Singh, head, community medicine, Adesh Medical College, Muktsar, was the chief guest while Gursimranjeet Kaur, assistant professor, community medicine and Rajesh Bansal, were the judges. Karamjeet Kaur, Government Senior Secondary School, Bhalaiana, Roop Chand, Sach Khand Public School, Bhalaiana and Karamveer, Amrit Public School, Bhalaiana, secured the first, second and third positions respectively in the competition.

Dasuya
Seminar on human rights: A seminar on “Human Rights, Indian Perspective” was held at JC DAV College, Dasuya, Hoshiarpur, on Friday. Organised by the Awakening Civic Consciousness among Common Citizens (A4C), Sanjiv Kalra, IG, Jalandhar Range, was the chief guest. Kalra highlighted the role of police force for protecting human rights.

GURDASPUR
Freedom fighter dies at 96: Bachan Singh of Panj Garian village in the district, who was an active member of the Azad Hind Fauj and a close associate of its leader Subash Chander Bose, died late Thursday night due to cardiac arrest. He was 96. Gurdeep Singh, son of the deceased freedom fighter, said when Bachan Singh complained of chest pain, he was taken to a village doctor who referred him to a hospital in Amritsar. But Bachan Singh died soon after reaching there.

Hoshiarpur
Goods, cash stolen: Some miscreants stole goods worth Rs 40,000, including a refrigerator, fans, irons, mobile phones, DVDs and Rs 7,400, from the shop of Narinder of Malmazara village on Thursday evening. According to police sources, after breaking the shutter of the shop, the miscreants decamped with the goods. A case under sections 457 and 380 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered in this connection.

Body found: An unidentified body, aged about 24 years, bearing marks of sharp-edged weapons, was found in the fields at Handowal village on Friday. After taking the body in its custody, the police sent it to the local civil hospital for a post-mortem examination and identification. A case under section 302 of the IPC has been registered at Sadar police station in this connection.

Rape charge: A girl of Shahlapur village was allegedly raped by Pardeep, a youth of the same village. The Tanda police booked Pardeep under sections 376 and 506 of the IPC in this connection. No arrests have been made so far.

Kharar
Blood donation: A blood donation camp was organised at Doaba Group of Colleges, Kharar, in collaboration with the Rotary Club, Garhshankar. As many as 150 units of blood were collected. The camp was inaugurated by Mohali DSP Shivinder Singh Bains. The students were also sensitised on proper diet to maintain healthy blood count and urgent need for regular blood donations.

Mansa
Tributes paid to Mann: Different organisations expressed deep sorrow over the demise of poet Rupinder Singh Mann. While paying tributes to him at a meeting here, they termed his death as a big loss to society. Leaders of the Radical People’s Forum and Revolutionary Youth Association said that along with being a progressive writer, he was also an environmentalist. Mann had played a key role in the struggle against the discharge of effluents into the Buddha Nullah at Ludhiana, they added.

Patiala
GCG strike: Students of Government College for Girls (GCG) continued the strike today and locked the college gate in protest against the time table. The Students did not attend any classes. The girls said they would now go on an indefinite strike till the demand is fulfilled.

SIRSA
Kisan mela: HAFED and the North India Cloth Mills Association (NICMA) on Thursday organised a kisan mela in Faggu village under their drive “Mission White Gold”. Deputy commissioner V. Umashankar and Sudhir Rajpal, managing director, HAFED, inaugurated the mela. Rajpal said the “Mission White Gold” had been launched with an objective to increase the production of cotton in Haryana.
He said by the efforts of HAFED, the production of cotton had increased by
663 kg per hectare.

Seminar on English: The English Promotion Forum, an NGO of the town, on Thursday organised a seminar on the importance of English language in the local CMK National Girls PG College. Former minister Jagdish Nehra was the chief guest on the occasion. A speech competition of students was organised on this occasion. Suman Punia and Arti Soni got the first two positions, respectively, while Jyoti Godara and Kunal Saharan shared the third prize.