R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Ludhiana
Minor fire at quilt shop:A minor fire broke out at a quilt shop in Basti Abdullapur near Lal Quarters here this afternoon.Two fire-fighting tenders were sent to douse the fire. No major loss has been reported. The firemen found short-circuit to be the cause of fire. One of the firemen on the spot said raw cotton, to be filled in quilts, was damaged and no other major loss was reported."We could manage to douse the fire on time", he said.

Chemists demand ban:The Retailers and Wholesaler Chemists Association today demaded a ban on over-the-counter sale of medicines that are abused by addicts.At a meeting of the association, members said these drugs, being misused by youths and addicts, should not be available with the chemists. These should only be sold in hospital pharmacies.The meeting also decided that they would launch an anti drugs campaign and save youths of the state from getting ruined.

Nawanshahr
Science mela: With a view to motivating school students for studying mathematics and science, the Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, and Sarv Shikhiya Abhiyan Authority, Punjab, have jointly planned to organise district-level Inspire Awards Science Mela in the state from April 26 to 30. Giving this information, District Education Officer Darshan Kaur and District Science Supervisor Balihar Singh Bains said the district-level mela would be organised at Government Senior Secondary School here. About 300 students of Class VI to X belonging to different educational blocks in the district would take  part.

Patiala
Dental camp: Yadavindra Public School, Patiala, organised an ENT and dental check-up camp conducted by Fortis Healthcare, Mohali, on Friday. The purpose of the camp was to promote general dental care and to create awareness amongst the students about various tooth-related problems. 

Placement drive: The Doaba group of colleges, in collaboration with the US IT giant Accenture, organised a special placement drive for providing jobs to B. Tech and MCA candidates of North India. Around 3,200 candidates participated in the event. The selection process included a written test, group discussions, technical and HR interviews to select 210 candidates for the post of associate software engineer.

SANGRUR
Power hike rollback sought: The Sangrur District Industrial Chamber has demanded that the state government should immediately roll back power tariff hike, as it will affect domestic consumers as well as the industrial sector. President of the chamber Sumer Garg said if the hike was not withdrawn, the chamber would be compelled to launch an agitation.

CHANDIGARH

637 donate blood: Around 637 volunteers donated blood at a blood donation camp organised by the Sant Nirankari Mandal at Nirankari Bhawan, Sector 30. Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar inaugurated the camp. There were around 300 women among the donors.

MOHALI
Investiture ceremony: Saupin’s School, Mohali, organised investiture ceremony here on Friday. The function began with the introduction of the school office-bearers followed by the oath taking ceremony led by principal AB Sidhu. The ceremony concluded with the singing of the school song. 

Placement drive: Infosys, Pune, team visited Gian Jyoti Institute of Management and Technology to recruit BBA and BCA graduates. More than 100 students participated. The passing out graduates expressed happiness with the placement opportunities being provided to them. 

Employment event: A three day employment event concluded at KMG Infotech, Sector 67, Mohali. Around 200 students participated, said Saurabh Kapila, senior manager, Learning Services KMG Education. The event saw participation by IDS Infotech, INtek Infocomm, KMG Infotech and a number of other IT companies. 

HARYANA

Ambala
Placement drive: Guru Nanak Institution, Mulana, on Friday organised a placement fair on its premises. More than 1,500 students participated in the event. A total of 200 students were selected by Infosys, Hindustan Times and India Mart after conducted group discussion and personal interviews, sources added.

Acting VC: Ambala Commissioner Mohinder Kumar will be the acting Vice-Chancellor of the YMCA University of Science and Technology, Faridabad, in place of AK Singh. He is also secretary to the Haryana Governor, Jagannath Paharia. A senior IAS officer with 31 years of service served in different positions in the state and as deputy commissioner for over six years.

FATEHABAD
Medical store owners held: The police arrested two medical store owners under the Drugs and Cosmetic Act after huge quantities of intoxicant capsules and cough syrups used for a high were recovered from their possession on Saturday. District Drugs Control Officer Padam Singh Rathi had recovered over 23,000 capsules from a chemist in Ratia town. In a raid on another chemist, Rathi recovered over 800 bottles of a cough syrup containing codeine, a narcotic substance. The police has booked Sandeep and Mohinder, owners of the two shops, under the NDPS Act and arrested them.

Dehydration kits: In view of the hot conditions prevailing in the district, the authorities have decided to provide dehydration kits containing oral re-hydration salt (ORS) in schools. Addressing a meeting of officers in his office on Saturday, Deputy Commissioner CG Rajini Kaanthan asked the Civil Surgeon and the District Education Officer to coordinate in arranging the supply of ORS to all schools in the district, so that these could be used if some children suffered dehydration due to the hot conditions. He also issued instruction for ensuring the supply of clean chlorinated drinking water in schools. 

REWARI
Retirement age: Taking exception to the state government’s move to enhance the retirement age of the pro-vice-chancellor and the vice-chancellor only by way of a partial implementation of the UGC regulations, the Haryana Government College Teachers’ Association has demanded that MHRD/UGC recommendations in toto must be placed for consideration in the cabinet meeting scheduled to be held in Chandigarh on April 27. Flaying the proposed partial implementation of the UGC recommendations to benefit the privileged few incumbents, Rajender Kumar, president and Sanjiv Kumar, general secretary of the HGCTA, said it would be highly unfair if university and college teachers in the state remained bereft of the benefit of enhancement of their retirement age. 

16-yr-old gangraped: A teenaged girl (16) was allegedly gangraped by four youths in Jholri village, 40 km from here, on April 22. Sources said the incident took place when the girl was sleeping along with her grandmother outside their residence. The youths forcibly took her to the fields and allegedly raped her. Subsequently, when the girl regained her calm, she disclosed the matter to her parents. A compliant was filed on Sunday, following which the police registered a case against Deepak and three others. The girl was also medically examined. 

2 peacocks killed: Two peacocks died of electric shock after they got entanglement in HT wires at Kanharwas village, near Kosli, on Friday. Expressing resentment at the apathy of the DHBVN officials, villagers reiterated their demand for removal of the HT cables for the inner segment of the village for the safety of peacocks. 

ROHTAK
48 found absent: The district authorities have served show-cause notice to 48 employees, including supervisor-level officials, who have been found absent from duty in census operation, even as several of the persons assigned the job have applied for exemption. The City Magistrate, who has been made the District Census Officer, held a meeting in which it was found that 48 officials were absent from the duty and a list was submitted for further action. He said any employee who fails to join the work without any valid reason could be liable for a legal action. 

Sonepat
Confed to open petrol stations: Confed chairman Bajrang Dass Garg has directed the authorities to ensure that the payment for wheat purchased is paid to the commission agents concerned by Tuesday so that it is delivered to the farmers at the earliest. Talking to mediapersons, he said the Centre would introduce a goods and service tax system from April 1, 2011, under which the tax structure would be uniform in every part of the country.The CONFED, which had been operating six gas agencies, had plans to increase the number of agencies as well as open petrol stations in the state, he said, adding that ration depot holders had been told to ensure that the ration was distributed properly.

YAMUNANAGAR
2 held for fraud: Ajit Chauhan, a resident of Mohan Nagar, was allegedly duped of Rs 49,500 by a fake firm. The police sources said the two accused had sent a message to the victim, announcing him winner of Rs 5 lakh and told him that to get the amount, he had to deposit Rs 49,500. Two persons, Singlai Simim and Rinki Moris, have been booked under Section 420 of the IPC in this regard. The complainant alleged that he neither got any case prize nor the accused returned the amount he deposited.