The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

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PUNJAB

Abohar
Students clear UGC exam: Four students of the DAV College here have been declared successful in the UGC exam and two of them Indu and Shalu have also cleared in the junior research fellow test, informed principal BB Sharma. Himanshu and Ankita of this college have topped in MA Hindi final exam in Panjab University.

Dr Ambedkar remembered: Dr BR Ambedkar was remembered during a function organised by the Abohar Polytechnic College here on Thursday. Sanjeev Midha, Suresh Grover and Subhash Ahuja were the special guests. Shyam Lal Chopra presided over the function. Sheenam Wadhwa and Priyanka were joined by other students in reciting poems.

Free rail travel facility: Cancer patients can avail free rail travel facility for treatment and regular check-up from April 20 onwards as per provisions made in the Rail Budget, informed Lalit Bohra, chief PRO of the Northwestern Railway. Earlier, they were entitled to 75 per cent concession. The facility will be available in the third AC and second class sleeper only. Those interested in travelling by second class/first class, AC chair car, first class AC or second class AC coach will get 75 per cent concession in fare. Their attendants, too, will be given similar concession.

Ferozepur
Wheat procurement: Raminder Singh, Commissioner, Ferozepur and Faridkot division, along with officials from various procurement agencies today visited the grain markets in Ferozepur , cantonment, Talwandi Bhai, Mudki and other places and took stock of the ongoing procurement process. The divisional commissioner said that wheat was arriving in the market for which all arrangements were in place. He said that Mandi Board officials and commission agents have been instructed regarding the cleaning of wheat. He further said that the payments were being made on time, adding that all arrangements have been made for timely lifting.

Seminar: A seminar on admission to New Zealand colleges was held at Brills Institute, Bathinda, on Thursday. The MD of the Professional Bar and Restaurant School, New Zealand Scott Ramsay gave tips to the students. Director of the institute Ashok Sadiora was also present.

Jalandhar
Director nominated: Sukhbir Singh Chatha was nominated as Director of Education of Lyallpur Khalsa College here today. Earlier he served as the Principal of Khalsa College.

MALERKOTLA
Traffic blocked: In protest against the non-lifting of wheat and non-availability of wheat bags, farmers of the Khanpur Kharid Kendre area under the Malerkotla subdivision on Wednesday blocked traffic on the Malerkotla-Khanna main road for three hours. Sangrur DC Harkesh Singh Sidhu said he had made arrangements of wheat bags in the market and sent the Malerkotla SDM and the Sangrur ADC to get the road clear.

Goods perish in fire: Goods worth Rs 10 lakh perished in a fire at a junk store near the railway station here on Thursday. The fire was controlled after a struggle of about 4 hours. Property dispute is said to be the cause behind the incident.

Sriganganagar/Abohar
NREGA worker dies: About 30 NREGA workers fell ill reportedly after consuming contaminated water in a border village of Sriganganagar district late last evening. They were rushed to the community health centre. Five of them, including a minor boy, were referred to the PBM Hospital, Bikaner, but one Rajo Devi, 35, died on the way, sources said. SDM Sohan Lal and other officials who rushed to the CHC today said that preliminary investigation indicated that the NREGA workers had consumed water after eating infected bers (berries) that had been plucked from the nearby tree. The official sources confessed that the region was reeling under a serious water crisis due to inadequate supply from Punjab.

CHANDIGARH

City lad first in paper presentation: City lad Gaurav Ghai, who is currently pursuing graduation in agriculture and biological engineering in the USA, has secured first position in the paper presentation contest during the Institute for Thermal Process Specialists 2009 Charles R Stumbo Contest.

Zirakpur
Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Highland Co-operative House Building Society, Baltana: President: Pardeep Kumar; vice-president: Kiran Pal Singh; general secretary: Ashok Bhatia; cashier: Dinesh Sharma; joint secretary: Pankaj Goyal and members: Chander Bhushan and Suresh Chand Sharma.

HARYANA

CHANDIGARH
Actor Manoj praises CM: Veteran actor, writer and film producer Manoj Kumar in letter to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has hailed his gesture of refusing a silver chair and a crown made of gold at a public function held in March. Describing it as a rarity in the present-day political scenario, he has saluted the Chief Minister “for his sincerity, simplicity and dedication” and expressed the hope that this should inspire other leaders to follow suit.

KURUKSHETRA
Visual quiz: The Department of Economics, Kurukshetra University, organised a visual quiz contest in Kurukshetra University faculty lounge here on Thursday. Six teams with three members each participated in the contest. The first prize of Rs 500 was bagged by a team from the University School of Management, the second prize of Rs 350 was won by the team of 5-year MBA course and the third prize of Rs 250 was given to the team of the Mass Communication Department.

PANIPAT
School opens branch: A new branch of Dayal Singh Public School was inaugurated by DK Raina, trustee of Dayal Singh College Trust Society and Chairman of Dayal Singh Public Schools, here on Thursday. Speaking on the occasion, Raina stressed the need for proper education and skills to attain perfection and successfully face global competition.

REWARI
Traffic blocked: Irate villagers blocked traffic on the Rewari-Bawal road at Kamalpur village, 4 km from here, on Thursday. Expressing resentment at the alleged apathy of the DHBVN officials to their repeated requests for improvement in power supply, they demanded a 12-hour uninterrupted supply daily. The blockade lasted for over two hours.

3 houses gutted: Three thatched houses of three brothers - Tej Pal, Bhim Singh and Arjun Lal - of the Balmiki community of the Dalit Samaj were gutted in a fire that broke out in the Balmiki Basti of Pavati village, near Bawal, on Wednesday. All belongings of the three families, including Rs 10,000, gold and silver ornaments, domestic wares, 40 quintals of wheat, 20 sheep, two pigs and a dozen hens, were destroyed in the fire. Sources said the fire was caused by a spark which was blown out of the hearth by a gust of wind where a woman of the family was preparing tea.

BJP to submit memo: The BJP will present a memorandum comprising signatures of 20 crore persons of the country to the President in New Delhi on April 21 in protest against the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities. This was stated by state BJP chief Krishan Pal Gujjar while addressing a district-level meeting of party activists here on Thursday.

SIRSA
1 killed as earth caves in: A person was buried alive and another was injured when the walls of a ditch, where they were laying pipes, caved in near Thobrian village in Ellenabad on Wednesday. DSP Dharam Pal Bhardwaj said the workers were laying water pipes in the 18 feet deep ditch. The police and villagers started rescue operations immediately after the accident and saved Bhupinder, while Angrez died on the spot.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Chamba
Residents down with diarrhoea: Residents of the Danoond area are down with diarrhoea, thanks to contaminated natural water sources. According to reports, patients were visiting nearby government hospital at Sundla for their check-up. About 24 patients had so far been reported suffering from the disease, the report added. The residents of the area have urged the government to chlorinate the natural water sources to avoid spreading of water-borne diseases.

Hamirpur
Boy drowned: A boy drowned in the Beas river, near Nadaun, last evening. The police said Rakesh Kumar, son of Amarjeet Singh, had gone to take a bath in the river along with his cousin Arun of Rail village and in their effort to cross the river, got drowned. His body was recovered today.

NURPUR
Youth arrested: The police arrested a youth at the old bus stand in Jassur on Wednesday as during his search it recovered 110 gm of charas from his possession. The accused was identified as Ravi Kumar of Kathal village. A case under the NDPS Act was registered against him. He was produced in the court on Thursday for police remand for further investigations.

Camp ends: The three-day-long scouts and guides camp concluded at Government Senior Secondary School (Boys) here on Thursday. According to information, 287 scouts and 194 guides from 34 government senior and high schools from Nurpur sub division took part in the camp. Presiding over the concluding ceremony chief guest SDM IS Bhardwaj exhorted the participants to fight against social evils. He also briefed on environment conservation and total sanitation campaign.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
Body of 11-yr-old girl found
The body of an 11-year-old girl was found in a river in Satwari area here today, the police said. It said Shikha, daughter of Vinay Rai, a labourer and resident of Dashmesh Nagar, was reported missing since yesterday, after she left for the river with her friends to take bath. The police said the water supply of the river was stopped to find the girl. Bishnesh Kumar, SHO, Satwari, said, “The body has been delivered to the family.”