R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
Teachers’ body holds protest: The Teachers Joint Forum, comprising of various teacher unions, held a protest against the state government and demanded revocation of suspension of teachers affected during examination duties here on Monday. The employees demanded reinstatement of the suspended employees immediately and sought immediate stoppage of recruitment of education volunteers. 

CHANDIGARH
Govt agencies procure 61 lakh tonnes of wheat: The government agencies and private millers procured more than 61.68 lakh tonnes of wheat till Sunday evening, as compared to 58.58 lakh tonne procured during the same time last year, according to an official release. Out of total procurement, the government agencies procured 61.61 lakh tonnes of wheat (99.9%) till date, whereas private traders procured 7,305 tonnes (0.1%) of wheat. 

FEROZEPUR
Supply from distillery banned: The State Excise and Taxation Department authorities on Monday imposed a ban on supply of liquor by distillery, namely Chandigarh Distillers and Bottlers (CDB), Banur, following seizure of three trucks loaded with 3,600 cartons of liquor in Bathinda town by the officials of the department on Sunday.

MOCK TEST: Ferozepur College of Engineering and Technology, Ferozeshah, Ferozepur, became one of the first engineering colleges in the region to conduct a mock CET test in the first year of its inception. The mock test was conducted on the lines of the CET, which is to be conducted by the PTU Jalandhar on May 2. Chairman HL Sharma announced cash prizes for the students securing top positions in the test. 

Hoshiarpur
Teen escapes from juvenile home: Juvenile Muna Kumar Yadav (15) escaped from the Bal Sudhar Ghar (Juvenile Home) at Ram Colony Camp on the intervening night of April 17 and April 18, 2010. According to the police sources, on the complaint of Superintendent of Bal Sudhar Ghar Jagdish Mittal, Sadar police has registered a case under section 224 of the IPC against Muna Kumar . Mittal said Muna was 15 years old and came to this  Juvenile Home from Division No. 8 Jalandhar after his arrest in a theft case on 6th April 2010.

Scooter snatched: Two unidentified youths snatched an Activa scooter (temporary no PB 32 2007) from Paramjit Kaur of Ibrahimpur near Chaura Adda, Garhshankar last evening. According to the police sources, the snatchers escaped on the snatched scooter. The Garhshankar police has registered a case under sections 382 and 34 of the IPC in this connection. 

Jagraon
Ration distributed: As a noble gesture towards the economic weaker sections of the town, Shri Roop Chand Jain Sewa Society distributed free ration to 65 needy families here. Trishla Jain and Gianwanti Jain of Sanmati Matri Sewa Sammiti visited Jain Sthanak and distributed the ration. Society president Rakesh Jain said they had also adopted the expenses of two students yesterday.

Mandi Gobindgarh
SBoP shifts branch: State Bank of Patiala deputy general manager Jai Mahajan inaugurated a bank branch at Railway Road here today. The branch had been shifted from Guru Ki Nagri. Branch manager Rakesh Goyal welcomed the guests. Mahajan and assistant general manager Suresh Kumar Garg said the bank had 890 branches across the country with 15 branches in the district. Another 100 branches would be opened in the country during the current year.

Ropar
400 get degrees: As many as 400 students were conferred with degrees at the second convocation and annual prize distribution function of Rayat Institute of Engineering Information and Technology, Railmajra, held here on Sunday. Vice-chancellor, Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, Dr Rajneesh Arora conferred degrees on 2009 batch pass outs from CSE, ECE, IT, ME and electrical. Students were awarded for their outstanding contributions in bringing laurels to the college. These included best players Tanuj Sethi and Inayat Singh, best player, PTU, Shaleen Thakur, best athlete Rohit Sharma, best NCC cadet Anil Kumar Salotra, ISTE best students Shivam Arora and Avni Kailwoo. Gaurav Aggarwal was awarded for being a designer and an innovator, while Utsav Sabharwal was honoured as an outstanding achiever. Besides, 32 academic prizes were also distributed among students. 

CHANDIGARH

PU to correct directory: Panjab University is all set to correct its erroneous directory. The details will be updated on the official website of the university. At a meeting here on Monday, Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University Prof RC Sobti informed this. The announcement comes a few days after the Chandigarh Tribune highlighted a series of errors in the directory. He also informed the mediapersons that contrary to the newspapers reports, he had demanded a grant of Rs 90 crore from the UGC and Ministry of Human Resource Development for up-gradation of laboratories, libraries and smart classrooms at the PU. Prof Sobti also highlighted the issue of “Accountability” in the completion of various committee jobs. 

Talk on foreign policy: A lecture on “Global Power Shifts and Indian Foreign Policy” by Prof Shibashis Chatterjee, from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, was organised by the ICSSR north-western regional centre in collaboration with UGC-SAP, department of political science, Panjab University, here on Monday. Prof Shibashis argued that there was a need to understand world politics in structural terms. Earlier, Prof Bhupinder Brar, honorary director, ICSSR north-western regional centre, welcomed the guest-speaker. Prof Sanjay Chaturvedi introduced the speaker, highlighting his academic achievements and distinctions. 

Lecture: “Tatva”- an event organised by the students of the University Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology (UICET) was held at Panjab University. Students contributed articles on “Hurdle Technology”, “Robotic Surgery”, etc. BH Upadhyay, general manager of Ranbaxy Laboratories, gave a lecture on the importance of environment, health and safety for chemical engineers of UICET and other engineering graduates from various colleges. Prof VK Ratttan, chairman of the UICET, appreciated the efforts of TATVA team

Placement: The director, University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), Panjab University, announced that 271 students out of 339 eligible students have been placed.

Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Panjab University Pensioners Welfare Association: Tilak Raj Wadhwa-president; Jagdev Singh Thakur-senior vice-president; Tarakki Lal Saldi- vice-president; Jasbir Singh-general secretary; PN Sharma-deputy general secretary; Sohan Ram Bali- assistant general secretary; Parkash Chand- organising secretary; Gursharan Singh- treasurer; and Subhash Chand Dutta- assistant treasurer. 

Nominated: The Chandigarh Beopar Mandal (CBM) has nominated following chairmen for its sub-committees: Vinod Joshi- Building Bylaws sub committee; Ram Karan Gupta- Sales Tax and VAT sub-committee; Jagdish Kapoor- police coordination sub-committee; Mohinder Singh- Rapid Grievance redressal (Task Force) Cell Ravi Parkash Kansal- food and supplies health department subcommittee; Surinder Jagota- Shop and Labour Act sub-committee; Seva Singh Rayat- cultural affairs sub-committee; Radhey Lal Bajaj- weight, measurements and Packed Commodities Act; Sunder Singh- Beopar Bhawan Nirman sub-committee; Munish Bajaj-hospitality-cum-tourism sub-committee; Sunil Gupta- Grain Market beautification sub-committee. 

Awarded: Department of Information Technology, Chandigarh administration, and National Informatic Centre, UT, have been awarded three National Level Web Ratna Awards for the year 2009. These awards had been constituted by Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India for the first time in order to acknowledge exemplary initiatives/practices of various states/UTs in the realm of e-Governance for the dissemination of information and services to the citizens. 

PACHKULA
3 held for smuggling: The police arrested three persons for smuggling 100 cases of English wine, make Havildar (48 bottles and 4,608 quarters), near the Morni road T-point. The three accused have been identified as drivers Sukha Singh and Prem Singh and owner of the truck Tulsi Ram, all residents of Meerut (UP). A case has been registered against the accused under the Excise Act in Chandimandir police station. All three accused were produced before the district excise and taxation commissioner on Monday for penalty. The accused, who were trying to smuggle the liquor to other states, were nabbed on Sunday evening. 

2 arrested for snatching: Two persons were arrested for snatching mobile phones on Monday. The accused have been identified as Rajender Kumar, alias Laddu, a resident of Maheshpur, Sector 21, Panchkula, and Deepak, a resident of Madrasi Colony, Sector 21. A case under Sections 356 and 379 of the IPC has been registered against them in Sector 5 police station. The police has also recovered a scooter (CH-03-4445) from the accused, which had been used by the accused to commit the crime. The two accused were presented in the local court, which remanded them to the police custody for two days. According to the police, during investigation the accused admitted that they were involved in some more thefts in the city. 

Menace of flies: Pardeep Chaudhary, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLA from Kalka, submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner here on Monday for initiating steps to check the menace of flies in the Barwala and Raipur Rani block of this district. Chaudhary said people in these areas were fed up with the menace of flies that were all around due the presence of large number of poultry farms in the area. He said people in the district were facing health problems as no steps were being initiated to sanitise the area during the past couple of years. 

Baisakhi celebrated: The scintillating performance by tiny tots on the song “Kade te hass bol ve” held the audience spellbound during the Baisakhi function celebrated in Valley Public School here on Monday. The celebrations included numerous colourful items, which invoked the feeling of patriotism among the students. SC Aggarwal and Rajesh Bajaj, principal and vice-principal, respectively, explained to the students about the cardinal importance of Baisakhi festval which promoted happiness, peace, brotherhood and patriotism. 

JAMMU & KASHMIR

JAMMU
Motorcycle stolen: A resident of Gandhi Nagar, Subhash Kumar, has filed a complaint with the police alleging that his motorcycle was stolen from outside his house. A case has been registered in this regard. 

Illicit liquor seized: The Jammu police on Monday claimed to have recovered 40 pouches of illicit liquor from the possession of one Rakesh Singh of Bathera Dharamkhoo, Domana. A case has been registered in this regard at Domana police station. 

DEHRADUN

Dehradun
Preparations on for agri fest:Preparations are afoot for organising Krishak Mahotsav Kharif 2010 in different Nayay Panchayats of the state from May 6. Chairing a meeting on Saturday on the preparations for the mahotsav underway, Agriculture Minister Trivender Singh Rawat said the Director, Agriculture, and the Secretary, Agriculture, would monitor the preparations.