The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

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PUNJAB

Abohar
Sanjivani conference: Bharti Tai, national treasurer of the Rashtra Sewika Samiti and the in-charge for Punjab, said over 10,000 women from different parts of the state would attend the Sanjivani Sammelan, to be held in Guru Gobind Singh Stadium at Jalandhar, on November 1 and 2.

Barnala
Tubewell inaugurated: The municipal committee (MC) inaugurated the tubewell connection to meet the demand for drinking water supply in the city at Shakti Nagar locality. Malkeet Singh Keetu, ex-MLA, inaugurated the tubewell.

Bathinda
Office-bearers elected: A meeting to elect office-bearers of the Sri Guru Ravidas Jagriti Mission’s local unit was held at the Teachers’ Home here on Monday where members unanimously chose Bhagwan Das Bharti, Buta Singh Joga Nand and Dyal Singh as president, general secretary and press secretary of the body respectively, a press release said.

Pensioners camp on Oct 25: The district unit of the Physically Handicapped Association, Punjab, would organise a camp on October 25 at Nathana where pension forms of physically handicapped persons belonging to about 20 villages in the sub-division would be filled up. Later, the forms would be submitted to deputy commissioner Rahul Tewari. This was decided at the special meeting convened by district president of the association Gurmeet Singh Jeeda at the Teachers’ Home here on Monday, a press release said. The district president said they had organised three such camps earlier where as many as 400 forms were filled up.

CHANDIGARH
Gen secy appointed: The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) has appointed Mohali-based orthopaedic Dr Jasdeepak Singh as general secretary of its doctor’s cell. The appointment has been made by cell chairman Harbans Lal Arora to strengthen the organisation in the state, according to a PPCC press note here on Monday.

Fatehgarh Sahib
Ex-servicemen’s protestb: A large number of ex-servicemen on Monday protested against the de-linking of pension and salary in the 6th pay commission. State president of the Ex-Servicemen Association Kuldip Singh Grewal said it would intensify agitation if the government failed to meet their demands. The government must think of their welfare. Retired Army officials from various parts of the state were present during the protest.

Minister in grain market: Cooperation minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh today visited the grain market at Chunni Kalan. He said there would be no DAP shortage for farmers and special arrangements would be made in this regard. He urged all officials to help the farmers in lifting paddy.

Hoshiarpur
MP bereaved: Member of Parliament from Hoshiarpur Avinash Rai Khanna’s father Surinder Kumar Khanna, a lawyer, who died on Sunday night after prolonged illness, cremated at Garhshankar, 40 km from here on Monday.. Minister for medical education and research Tikshan Sud, CPSs Arunesh Shakar and Nanad Lal, MLAs Amarjit Singh Sahi and Sohan Singh Thandal, deputy commissioner N.K. Wadhawan, Hoshiarpur SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill and many local leaders were among others present on the occasion.

Jalandhar
Illegal ramps demolished: The municipal corporation demolished illegally constructed ramps outside some houses in Master Tara Singh Nagar here today. MC commissioner Vinay Bublani said the exercise was part of the continuous drive to remove the encroachments and widen the roads for a smooth flow of traffic.

PATIALA
Concert: Tiny tots displayed their talent in the junior school concert of the local Yadavindra Public School held on Sunday evening on the school amphitheatre. The circus and ‘banjara’ show were big hits among the kids. Over 400 children took part in the show. The junior school magazine was also released by Preetinder Singh, director of Shimla Public School.

Appointed: Dr H.M. Swami, a doctor with over 33 years of experience in clinical, administrative, teaching and research in the field of community medicine and public health, has joined as medical superintendent of the Gian Sagar Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh. He took over the charge of officiating director-principal of the GMCH in August, 2003 and continued till his regular appointment as director-principal of the institute through UPSC in January, 2005.

RAJPURA
Youth fest: A three-day zonal youth festival of Fatehgarh Sahib zone of Punjabi University, Patiala, will commence on October 22 at Patel Memorial National College. Dr Sanjiv Kalia, principal of PMN College, said 23 colleges would take part in around 24 cultural events during the event.

Sangrur
Handicapped seek shagun: The Azad Handicapped Association, Punjab, on Saturday asked the Punjab government to give Rs 21,000 as shagun to every physically challenged person on his/her marriage. This demand was made at a meeting of the association, held under the presidentship of state president of the association Chamkaur Singh Shahpur at the district administrative complex here.

TARN TARAN
250 clear IAF test: As many as 250 candidates out of 2,100 cleared a test for the Group ‘Y’ (Non Technical Trade) conducted by No.1 Airmen Selection Centre, Air Force, Ambala, in this region. About 2,100 candidates appeared in the recruitment rally. The candidates had to go through various tests, including written, physical, interview and medical, going on since October 14. This information was given by Squadron Leader S.L. Mishra, Commanding Officer, IAF, while interacting with the media here on Thursday.

CHANDIGARH

Mohali
125 donate blood: As many as 125 persons donated blood at a camp organised by Press Club, SAS Nagar, and the Do Tara Sabhyacharak Manch, here today. Punjab cooperation minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh inaugurated the camp, which was organised in memory of music director Joginder Singh Ghanaut. The minister while appreciating the efforts of the club and the manch said even though the government was trying to provide basic health facilities to people of the state, the social organisations also had to play an important role. He announced a grant of Rs 21,000 to the club.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Elected: The election of Senior Citizen Welfare, was held here on Monday and the following office bearers were elected. Patron- Sushil Malhotra; president- C.R. Nagpal; vice-president- G.S. Bhatia; general secretary- K.C. Sharma; secretary- B Makhija; finance secretary-B.L. Suthar and auditor-Ajeet Singh. A.K. Jain, K.K. Bhatia, M.K. Swami, S.C. Manocha, K.L. Gogia, G Chadda and G.R. Sharma have been included as members’ executive.

CHANDIGARH
Police commemoration parade today: The Haryana police will organise the 49th police commemoration parade at the Panchkula Police Lines on Tuesday. A police spokesman has said on the occasion Haryana Governor A.R. Kidwai will pay homage to the martyrs of the Indian Police. He said till August 31, at least 700 Indian police personnel had laid down their lives while fighting lawbreakers in various parts of the country. Out of these, three martyrs - ASI Narender Singh, head constable Sarjent Singh and constable Umar Mohmmad - were from the Haryana police, who laid down their lives while maintaining law and order in the state.

KAITHAL
Quality education govt priority: Surjewala: The state government is committed to removing illiteracy and providing quality technical education to the youth so that they can avail of the best employment opportunities. This was stated by Randeep Singh Surjewala, power and water supply and sanitation minister, while speaking as the chief guest at a function at Saini High School, Chandana Gate, here on Sunday. Surjewala said with an aim to providing the best technical education to the youth in the state, the government had increased the number of engineering and technical colleges in the state.

SIRSA
Woman crushed to death: A woman was crushed to death after she fell from the motorcycle she was riding pillion on in front of a private bus. The bus driver escaped with the vehicle after the accident. According to eyewitnesses, the woman fell down after the bike skidded due to a pit on the road near Sangwan Chowk. The woman died on the spot. The victim has been identified as Chanda from Ding.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

HAMIRPUR
Workshop on robotics: A two-day workshop on robotics, iRoboTricks-08, was inaugurated in the electronics and communication engineering department of the NIT, Hamirpur, on Sunday. Prof. J.N. Sharma, dean (academics) was the chief guest on the occasion. Sharma encouraged students to actively participate in such activities. Earlier, head of the department Rajeevan Chandel welcomed the guests and participants. She also highlighted activities of the department.

Jamboree inaugurated: Education minister I.D. Dhiman inaugurated a state-level jamboree being organised by Bharat Scouts at Hamirpur on Sunday. The minister said students should inculcate good values and be ready to help those in need. He announced to give 10 lakh for the campaign. About 300 students from various parts of the state are participating in the event.

Nurpur
24-hour hospital lab: In the first meeting of the Rogi Kalyan Samiti (RKS) held on Monday after its re-constitution it was decided to ensure functioning of hospital laboratory round the clock. For this purpose temporary operating staff would be recruited from the RKS fund. The meeting was presided over by local MLA Rakesh Pathania, who announced the sanction of an ambulance van from his MLAs discretionary fund for the hospital.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

JAMMU
Youth escapes from police custody: A person arrested on the charges of abducting a girl gave the police a slip here on Monday after assaulting a cop, official sources said. Jan Alam, arrested from Uttar Pradesh, was brought to the Jewel Chowk area for onward journey to Kashmir valley where he was to be produced in connection with the abduction of the girl. However, the accused hit one of the policemen who were escorting him and escaped. A manhunt had been launched to trace him, they added.

SI suspended: The authorities on Monday suspended a police sub-inspector, Rakesh Bhamba, Chinore police post in charge, and attached another in connection with alleged complaints of corruption and dereliction of duty in Jammu city. Bhamba was suspended for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 to release a top criminal Babloo Kumar, alias Gub, said sources. After preliminary enquiry, the SP suspended Bhamba and later attached him with the district police lines, they added. Meanwhile, during a surprise visit to the Canal police station, SSP Manohar Singh pulled up Munshi Bashir Ahmed Bali and attached him with the Police Lines for not wearing his cap and belt.

13 held with stolen goods: In a major breakthrough, the police apprehended 13 burglars from the city and its peripheries and recovered stolen goods worth Rs 20 lakh from their possession. “Special teams were constituted to work out several burglary cases. Raids were conducted on specific inputs and the thieves were arrested along with goods, including vehicles, weapons, ornaments and electronic goods,” Manohar Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Jammu, said. “They have confessed their involvement in burglaries conducted at various locations in the city,” Singh said. The arrested have been identified as Ravi Gupta , alias Bulli, a resident of Rajinder Bazar, Rajesh Kumar of New Plot, Arun Honda, alias Rinku, of Rajiv Nagar, Vicky Gorkha of Gorkha Nagar, Vicky Gill, Xavier Gill and Vinay Teja, all residents of Christian Colony, Manzoor Ahmad, Atta Ullah, Bahar Din, Amir Muhammad, Rashid Ahmad, alias Bani, Latif Ahmad, alias Baffi, and Mir Alam, all residents of Bhatindi.

Pilgrim found dead: A pilgrim was found dead in a guest house on Monday in Katra, official sources said. Raniwali Dass (60), hailing from West Bengal, was found dead, they said, adding that, she had paid obeisance at the cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi and was about to start her return journey. The body has been sent for a postmortem to ascertain the cause of her death, they said.

One held near border: A person was arrested from near a forward border outpost along the international border in Jammu district here on Monday. Khursheed Ahmed Khan (40), a resident of Mendhar tehsil of Poonch district, was found moving suspiciously near the international border in the Chadgal area forward border outpost area in the Kanachak belt of Jammu district, they added.

Admin’s help sought: A delegation of the Jammu and Kashmir Ex-services League Welfare Housing Organisation today met the Samba district development commissioner, Sourabh Gupta, and sought his help to redirect Rs 1.6 crore, which was mistakenly diverted to the Srinagar district development commissioner. The Central government had allotted the amount for the construction of a housing colony at Rajinder Vihar. The colony was to give shelter to ex-servicemen, war widows and other serving defence personnel.

DEHRADUN

DMC outclass Opto factory: Registering its second consecutive win, Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) beat Opto Electronic Factory (OLF) 2-0 in the Inter-Departmental District Football League, played at Pavilion Ground in here today. Both teams were locked at 0-0 at half time. DMC took the lead in the 66th min as Nandu scored a self-goal. Sandeep Singh Bisht in the 69th min scored a goal from long range. In DMC’s previous encounter, it had defeated Urja Nigam by a solitary goal.

Death mourned: The Uttarakhand Chief Minister Maj-Gen B.C. Khanduri has condoled the demise of Chandra Devi, mother of MLA Munna Singh Chauhan. The CM went to Chauhan’s residence and paid floral tributes. The last rites of Chandra Devi will take place on October 21 at Marod, near Nainbagh.