The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

NEWS AND VIEWS

PUNJAB

HARYANA

JAMMU & KASHMIR

HIMACHAL

REGIONAL BRIEFS

NATION

OPINIONS

LETTERS

BUSINESS

SPORTS

WORLD

SPECIAL COVERAGE

CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI

R E G I O N A L B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Abohar
IFFCO programmes lauded: District Youth Congress president Sandeep Jakhar has lauded the Indian Farmers Fertilisers Cooperative Ltd. (IFFCO) for sincerely implementing its programmes on agriculture and rural development.Speaking as chief guest at a function held at the Government Primary School in village Diwankhera near here on Thursday morning, he exhorted the villagers to ensure education and participation in the rural sports for each of the eligible child to brighten the prospects for prosperity. RK Upveja, senior area manager, presided over the function. Suraj Parkash and Pardeep Soni, heads of the primary and secondary school, were also present on this occasion.

Amandeep tops in B.Ed exam: Expressing concern over lowering of educational standards following the mushroom growth of B.Ed colleges in the private sector, Dr Venita Singh, principal of the DAV College of Education here said as many as 1,000 new colleges had recently come up in north India but many of them were not imparting but virtually selling education. Amandeep Kaur of this college had topped in B.Ed exam in district Ferozepur recently by getting 78.65 per cent marks. All the students had obtained first division and 63 of them figure in the Panjab University merit list.

Youth festival preponed: The Zonal Youth Festival for Education zone-c of the Panjab University that was slated for November 3, has been preponed, informed Dr Venita Singh, principal of the host institution, DAV College of Education. The festival will now be held here from October 26-29 and 30 B.Ed colleges are expected to send their teams for participation.

Rewari-Bhiwani train’s extension sought: The North India Railway Passengers Association has urged the Railway Board to extend 2RNB Rewari-Bhiwani train to Bathinda as 4RB. This, the NGO said in a letter faxed to the chief traffic controller on Wednesday, will benefit the passengers of 3008 Udyan Abha Toofan Express and 4888 Jodhpur-Kalka Mail.

Bathinda
Extension lecture: An extension lecture was organised on the NSS Day at Dasmesh Girls College of Education, Badal, on Thursday. The resource person for this lecture was the educationist and social worker Raj Gupta, winner of Indira Gandhi National Award for NSS. Vanita, vice-principal of the college, and other staff members gave her a warm welcome. Raj Gupta in her lecture threw light on the importance of NSS and explained the meaning of NSS logo and slogan ‘Not Me But You’. In the end, Sunita presented the vote of thanks and a memento was given to Raj Gupta by the programme officers of NSS Jyotica and Lakhbir Dhillon.

CHANDIGARH
Appointed: The Punjab government on Thursday appointed Amarjit Singh Dullet as Chief Engineer, Canals. Earlier, he was the Superintending Engineer, Sirhind Canal, Ludhiana.

Mansa
Shortage of trains: The commuters in Mansa have been facing difficulties in travelling by trains due to shortage of trains on Mansa-Bathinda route. “We cannot travel by the trains during the daytime and have to travel by buses by paying more,” said Jaspal Kokhar, a leader of Radical Peoples Forum. He rued that the railway department was not taking steps to add more trains on this route to facilitate the passengers. As per the railway officials, Jind to Ferozepur train arrives in Mansa at 6.25 am. The next train reaches Mansa at 2 pm and the next scheduled timings are 5.15 pm and 7.00 pm. Railway officials also admitted that there is shortage of trains keeping in view the number of passengers. Advocate Rekha Sharma also expressed the need for more trains. Ex-MLA Butta Singh said more trains should be launched to reduce the time gap in the arrival of trains for the convenience of passengers.

SANGRUR
1 killed, 4 hurt in mishaps: One person was killed while four others sustained injuries in two mishaps that took place on the Sangrur-Barnala road, near Sangrur, on Thursday. In a car-truck collision near Mastuana Sahib, an occupant of the car was killed while other sustained serious injuries. A case has been registered against the truck driver. In another mishap, three persons were injured when their motorcycle collided with a car near Mastuana Sahib. Meanwhile, a Scorpio was impounded from the District Courts Complex here and the police also seized two rifles, 12 live cartridges and lathis from the car. No arrest could be made as occupants of the car had already fled.

HARYANA

Quota in HUDA plots: In a petition filed in public interest, a lecturer of the National Institute of Technology has sought directions to the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) to include lecturers and employees of government universities in the list of government employees entitled for HUDA plots under the government employees category. The petitioner, Mahesh Kumar Gupta, had sought for setting aside the instructions issued by HUDA chief administrator on May 25, 1988. These instructions had excluded autonomous bodies from the quota list.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Safety on roads: Social organisation the Nagar Vikas Sabha on Tuesday urged the district administration and the police to take suitable steps to ensure safety on the roads, including the sector roads and the National Highway-21 that crossed through the town.

CHAMBA
Probe sought: The National Forum of Awareness and Development has sought a probe into the controversial ‘river valley project’ being executed in the Chamba area with an outlay of Rs 6 crore by the Union Government. The state Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has registered a case of irregularities against the functionaries involved in the project recently. The forum, which is also keeping an eye on corrupt practices of officials, has also demanded an inquiry into frequent hampering of work on hydropower projects under the guise of environment in the Chamba region.

DALHOUSIE
Cannabis uprooted: In a drive against drug trafficking in the district, the Police Department has uprooted cannabis cultivation on 15 bighas of land in the remotest Bharara area of Churah subdivision in Chamba district on Wednesday. The police had also identified more areas for uprooting the cultivation of cannabis.

NURPUR
‘End ad hoc appointments’: The Kangra district Himachal Medical Officers’ Association (HMOA) has underlined the need to end the system of ad hoc to improve working of the Department of State Health and Family Welfare. HMOA general secretary Subash Thakur on Wednesday urged the state government to appoint doctors only through the HP Public Service Commission and stop the practice of appointing doctors through the Rogi Kalyan Samiti on ad hoc and contract basis and regularise the services of those who had been appointed on ad hoc in the past.

SHIMLA
Road projects: As many as 194 proposals of rural road works worth Rs 243.43 crore for connecting villages under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojna have been sanctioned by the Centre. This was stated by Public Works Minister Thakur Gulab Singh while presiding over a meeting here on Tuesday.

UNA
Villages upgraded: Chief Minister PK Dhumal, while addressing a public meeting on Tuesday at Gondpur Banhera village, said to prevent villagers from going to cities for better facilities, the state government has started providing road, education, health and employment facilities in villages itself. He inaugurated the science block of Senior Secondary School, Gondpur Banhera, constructed at the cost of Rs 51.44 lakh.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
Urdu short stories collection released: “Yaaden”, a collection of Urdu short stories written by Jaswant Manhas, an eminent fiction writer from the state, was released today at a function organised by the Maikash Kashmiri Literary Society.

Rajouri varsity ties up with pvt institute: Rajouri-based Baba Gulam Shah Badshah University (BGSB) has become the first university in the region to tie up with a private institution, ‘Aspire’, a Gurgaon-based company for inculcating skills and techniques to improve job skills among its students. AK Kaul, Dean Academic Affairs, told mediapersons in Jammu on Wednesday that Aspire had tied up with them to make their students more capable and in sync with the global exposure.

Course in social sciences: A three-week UGC inter-disciplinary refresher course in ‘Major Concerns In Social Sciences’ for university and colleges teachers was commenced at University of Jammu on Thursday. While inaugurating the course, BPS Sehgal, Dean of Academic Affairs, highlighted the role of Academic Staff College in teacher training and called upon the participating teachers to discharge their duties efficiently.

Poppy pods seized: The police raided the house of Balbinder Singh in Hatli Morh on Thursday and seized approximately 10 kg of poppy pods. However, Balbinder Singh, a truck driver, managed to escape. Sources said a police party raided the house in Hatli Morh and seized the contraband from a rucksack. A case has been registered.

Panthers Party threatens stir: Chairman of the Panthers Party Bhim Singh has threatened to launch an agitation as he alleged that the Omar Abdullah government was not serious towards the problems of the people in the state. Addressing a press conference in Jammu on Tuesday, Bhim Singh said: “The non-serious approach of the government could be gauged from the fact that it has not taken any initiative for the setting up of a central university in Jammu province, despite agitations by people of Jammu in the past three months.” He said if the government failed to resolve these issues, the party would adopt the mode of agitation to support the destitute.

Change of interview venue: Vikas Sharma, president of the National Secular Forum (NSF), has welcomed the state government’s decision of holding the interview for the post of lecturers for the Jammu region at Jammu itself, which initially were held at Srinagar. “The candidates had to travel a long distance for the interview and had to arrange for their stay. But now, it will become convenient for them,” he said.

DEHRADUN

Cop dies of heart attack: A 40-year-old constable posted at the Police Lines died today after he suffered a heart attack. He was taken to Doon Hospital where he breathed his last. The police said Lokender Rawat was working as a driver in the department.