R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Barnala
Barnala DC declares holiday today: January 17 has been declared as holiday in Barnala district in connection with the 140th martyrdom day of Kukas (namdharis). Deputy Commissioner Dr Indu Malhotra said here on Wednesday that on January 17, government, semi-government and private schools, educational institutions and offices would remain closed in the district. On the occasion of the martyrdom day of Sewa Singh Thikriwala, the DC has declared a holiday on January 19 under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. 

Ferozepur
Transport clerk held for bungling: The Vigilance Bureau on Wednesday arrested Sheetal Singh, a clerk in the District Transport Office (DTO), for allegedly embezzling government funds. Jagat Singh, DSP, Vigilance Bureau, Ferozepur Range, said the clerk was arrested for allegedly fiddling with the amount pertaining to the taxes deposited by the owners of commercial vehicles in 2009. He said following his interrogation, more arrests were likely to be made as his role hinted at a larger scam. 

Transport clerk held for bungling: The Vigilance Bureau on Wednesday arrested Sheetal Singh, a clerk in the District Transport Office (DTO), for allegedly embezzling government funds. Jagat Singh, DSP, Vigilance Bureau, Ferozepur Range, said the clerk was arrested for allegedly fiddling with the amount pertaining to the taxes deposited by the owners of commercial vehicles in 2009. He said following his interrogation, more arrests were likely to be made as his role hinted at a larger scam. 

Hoshiarpur
Rs 8.84 lakh stolen from ATM: Burglars cut open an unguarded Punjab National Bank ATM with a gas cylinder and walked away with Rs 8.84 lakh at Sham Churasi township on the Hoshiarpur-Jalandhar road in the wee hours on Wednesday. The CCTV camera at the ATM had not been working for more than a year. "We are investigating as to why the bank had not deployed any security guard and why the CCTV camera was not fixed for such a long time," said Hoshiarpur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dr Sukhchan Singh Gill. 

Jaitu (Faridkot)
Girl killed during Nagar Kirtan: A 17-year-old girl was killed and two other girls were seriously injured when a youth performing motor cycle stunts during Nagar Kirtan lost control. The injured were rushed to the Civil Hospital where Jyoti succumbed to her injuries. Inderjeet Kaur and 10-year-old Harpreet Kaur have serious injuries. All the victims were residents of Kamra Patti. The police said a case had been registered. The stunt man had, however, absconded.

Muktsar
Staff shortage: Gate rallies from Jan 21: The DC Office Employees' Union, Muktsar, has decided to stage gate rallies from January 21-23 demanding more staff for the smooth functioning of the DC office. The leaders of the union said they were running the office with almost one-third of the required strength of employees. "The districts, which were carved out later, got more staff than Muktsar but our genuine demand is still pending. So, we have decided to lodge a protest," said Varinder Dhosiwal, a leader of the union. 

CHANDIGARH

PGI radiologists bag awards

Dr Naveen Kalra, additional professor, Department of Radiodiagnosis, PGIMER, was awarded ‘Oncoimaging Innovative Research Paper Award’ by the Indian College of Radiology and Imaging at the 66th Annual Meeting of Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (IRIA) held in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Dr Kushaljit Singh Sodhi, associate professor, Department of Radiodiagnosis, PGIMER, was awarded the first prize in the proffered papers competition category (chest) for his research paper titled “risk versus benefit analysis of preoperative 3D- CT in evaluation of patients with esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula” at the same meeting. Dr Ravi Sankar V, Resident, Department of Radiodiagnosis, was awarded the third prize in the competition category abdomen for his research paper titled, “Role of perfusion CT in evaluation of pancreatic masses”. Dr Guruprasad, Resident, Department of Radiodiagnosis, PGIMER, was awarded the N.Ramdas Best Research Paper Award, by the Indian College of Radiology and Imaging.

Office-bearers elected

Elections for the executive council of the faculty association of the PGI, Chandigarh, for 2012-2013 were held on January 15. Nearly 9 per cent of the faculty members turned out for the voting. Dr BR Mittal was elected as the president, Dr JS Thakur as vice-president, Dr Sandeep Grover as general secretary, Dr Manish Rathi as joint secretary and Dr Narendra Kumar was elected as treasurer.