R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
STIPEND DISPARITY: Research scholars of Guru Nanak Dev University are sore over the disparity in stipends given to them and the UGC research scholars. Scholars on Wednesday said stipend of the UGC scholars was increased since 2002 but not for them. They demanded parity in stipend.

Bathinda
ACCIDENT: One person was killed and six others were injured when two trucks collided outside Rampura town, 35 km from here, on Thursday. The dead was identified as driver of a truck Fauja Ram. The injured were as Gul, Harmeet Singh, Ranjeet Singh, Kulwinder Singh, Rambo and Raja. A case has been registered.

Faridkot
Concern: The district unit of the Communist Party of India (CPI) has expressed concern over the “poor” medical services at the local Government Guru Gobind Singh Medical College. In a press statement issued here on Wednesday, Mr Pawan Preet Singh, general secretary of the party and one of the members of a five-member committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner, criticised the attitude of some of the medical experts, who he said paid a little attention to treating their patients and referred them to private nursing homes for getting treatment.

Hoshiarpur
3 BOOKED: Ms Gurmit Kaur, her husband Mohinder Singh and her son Ranbir Singh of Thuana village were booked under Sections 420, 406 of the IPC for getting the property of Ms Taro, a widow, transferred in their names.

CONSUMER DAY: The Consumer Awareness Welfare Association CAWA, in coordination with the District Food and Supplied Controller, the Consumer Affairs Department and the District Education Department observed Consumer Day at Government Senior Secondary School Bhagpur Sataur on Wednesday where the Consumer Act was explained to people.

Kapurthala
WOMAN, SON ARRESTED: The police on Wednesday arrested Parveen Kumari and her son Shalu Sharma under Section 420 of the IPC for defrauding Baljit Singh of
Chajwal village near Gagroan in Ludhiana on the pretext of marrying his son with a girl from Canada.

LUDHIANA
MEDICAL CAMP: The Global Cancer Concern India organised a medical check-up camp at Bhartiya Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Udham Singh Nagar, Ludhiana on Wednesday. The camp was organised under the guidance and directions of Ms Savita Sodhi, Deputy Director, Global Cancer Concern India. The camp was inaugurated by Mr M.M. Bamba, president of BVM School, Kithclu Nagar. Mr Navneet Chaudhry, Head of the Surgery Department, Ludhiana, was the chief guest. A team of doctors from Mohan Dai Oswal Cancer Hospital attended to the patients. A cheque for Rs 2,11,586 was presented to Brig B.V. Ahuja, Executive Director, Global Cancer Concern India, by the school.

CELEBRATIONS: Spring Dale Public Senior Secondary School, Ludhiana organised a function to celebrate X-Mas on Thursday. The birthday of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was also celebrated by the students. The entire school was tastefully decorated on the occasion with little Santas and fairies running all over the school. Subham, a student of Class IV dressed up as Santa Claus distributed sweets to the students. Some of the kindergarten children were dressed as angels and little fairies.

MEETING: To eradicate polio from the country, the health department held a district level meeting here. The meeting was chaired by the Civil Surgeon, Dr S.N. Tiwari. Mr Tiwari stressed that the cases of polio were found only in six countries throughout the world and maximum cases were found in India. He said the focus of WHO was on India for eradicating the disease. He said in 2004, five rounds would be conducted to administer polio drops to children in 0-5 year age group. Dr Kuldeep Kaur Sahni, District Vaccination Officer, said the para-medical staff has been given thorough training to make this programme successful.

Nabha
EYE DOCTORS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Ophthalmic Officers Association: president — Mr Sukhminder Singh; Senior vice-presidents — Mr Karnail Singh (Batala) and Mr Rakesh Kumar (Amritsar), general secretary — Mr Harjit Singh (Bathinda) joint secretary — Mr Mohan Jit; press secretary — Mr Hardeep Singh Randhawa (Nabha); and treasurers — Mr Lalit Vikram and Mr
Yog Raj Barnala.

Nawanshahr
FUNCTION: The Geeta Bhavan Shopkeepers Association organised a function here on Thursday to honour Mr Lalit Mohan Pathak-president, Municipal Committee and Fire Brigade staff for quickly extinguishing the fire at Gaba Garments, situated in the market, a few days ago.

MEETING: The Sikh National College, Charan Kanwal, Banga, will organise a meeting of its alumni association on December 29 on the college campus. Mr Amrik Singh Pooni former Chief Secretary, Punjab and president, Alumni Association, will preside over the meeting.

Samrala
PRIZE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION: The annual prize distribution function of Guru Nanak Public School, Madpur, 5 km from here, will be organised by the school management on Tuesday, according to Ms Kuldeep Kaur, Principal of the school. Cultural programme will be presided over by Mr R.P. Aggarwal, Manager of the State Bank of Patiala, Samrala, while Mr Amrik Singh Dhillon, MLA, and Mr Bhupinder Singh, former chairman of the block samiti, will be the chief guests.

CHANDIGARH

PANCHKULA
CELEBRATED: Students of Cherub Foster Kindergarten School, Sector 4, here celebrated Christmas with fun and enthusiasm. Besides story telling, group songs and dance were the highlights of the function. Santa Claus distributed gifts among the students.

SCHOOL OPENED: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has established another Bhavan Vidyalaya at Amravati Enclave, Panchkula. It will be from nursery to class VII. This was stated by Mr Kulwant Singh, former chief secretary, Haryana, who is also chairman of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Panchkula Kendra, and Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 15, Panchkula.

HARYANA

AMBALA
HOMELAND DAY: The Panun Kashmir, Haryana, will observe Homeland Day on Sunday. Mr J.L. Kaul, state secretary of the organisation, said a programme will be held at Bankey Bihari Mandir, Gobind Nagar on the occasion. Mr Ashok Jain, president, District Congress Committee, Ambala Cantonment, will be the chief guest. Mr Kaul said on this day in 1991, Kashmiri migrants took an oath that they would continue their struggle unless they achieved their goal.

CAMP: A 10-day camp of the NSS unit of SD College began here on Friday. Dr L.D. Viyogi, former Head of the Department of Hindi, was the guest of honour. Dr S.P. Sharma, Dr Sunil Sharma, Prof Neelam Ahuja and Dr Asha Sharma were also present on the occasion.

ANNUAL FUNCTION: The annual day function of Convent of Sacred Heart was held on Thursday. SD College Principal Desh Bandhu was the chief guest. The programme was based on Christmas. The students staged a play in this regard.

Fatehabad
CANE CRUSHING STARTS: The Bhuna Cooperative Sugar Mill near here started crushing of sugarcane on Thursday. Deputy Commissioner, Dr R.B. Langyan, inaugurated it. He said that the mill was providing seeds, pesticides and fertilisers on subsidy to the farmers.

Hisar
WOMAN KILLED: A woman was killed and four others were injured seriously in a road mishap at Mayar village, near here, on Thursday. A jeep was on way from here to Hansi collided with a truck near the Power Grid Station, on the Hisar-Delhi national highway. Sunita Devi (28), a government teacher, here died on the spot while Rajesh Kumar and Sunny, residents of nearby Satrod village, Satish Kumar of Rampura village and Ramesh Kumar of Karnoli village, received serious injuries. A case was registered.

AMBULANCE FOR CHCs: The Haryana Government has decided to provide an ambulance at every Community Health Centre (CHC) in the state from the next year. There are 64 CHCs in the state. Six CHCs at Aryan Nagar, Uklana, Sisai, Mangali, Narnaund and Siswal village will get ambulances by December 31. The Director asked to charge Rs 5 per km per patient for using ambulance service and driver’s salary and maintenance charges from this account.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BADDI
X-MAS CELEBRATED: Students of Vivek International Public School, Baddi, celebrated Christ-mas on Thursday. They prepared Christmas cards, teddy bears, Christmas tree and stars to mark celebrations. Students also performed mono-acting and skits on the occasion.

Chamba
OFFICIAL FOUND DEAD: An official of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Nek Ram was found dead at Himgiri village of Salooni tehsil in the district on Wednesday. A case has been registered. The official belonged to Baror village in Chamba tehsil.

EFFIGIES BURNT: To counter persistent attack of BJP on Mr Virbhadra Singh with regard to the tape scandal, the activists of the district unit of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee, the Youth Congress and other allied organisations burnt the effigies of former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Himachal Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Board chairman Katwal here on Friday.

Dalhousie
Trekking expedition: The first batch of the National Himalayan Winter Trekking Expedition was flagged off by Capt J.M. Pathahia, Additional District Magistrate, from the local Youth Hostel on Thursday. As many as 700 participants, including girls hailing from 23 states, are taking part in the expedition. The Youth Hostels Association of India has been organising such expeditions for the past 10 years.

Mandi
GIRL DEFIES FATHER: Narendra Kumari of Goranala village in Majhwar near the town, whose boyfriend, Nagoo, was remanded in judicial custody on Thursday in a case filed by her father for abducting a minor girl, has preferred to stay in Nari Niketan to going to her parents. The SDM conceded her request for staying in Nari Niketan and directed the District Social Welfare Officer to give her shelter there till she attained majority.

MISHAP : One person was killed when the truck driver lost control over his vehicle and the truck turned turtle on the National Highway No 21 near Slappar, about 45 km from here, on Thursday. The driver Shamsher Singh of Samela village died on the spot. The police has registered a case. The body of the driver was handed over to relatives after the post-mortem.

Shimla
KILLED: Mr V.K. Garg, Assistant Accounts Officer in the state Electronics Development Corporation, was knocked down by a car in Khalini killing him on the spot on Friday.