AMRITSAR
Research  paper: Vikram Dhuna, a senior research fellow of the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Guru Nanak Dev University, will present a joint research paper on anti-cancer lectins (proteins) from Indian plants at the European Society for Animal Cell Technology to be held at Dresden (Germany) from June 17.

BARNALA
Deposit scheme: The State Bank of Patiala has launched a special deposit scheme for one month. Chief manager Kewal Krishan Bansal said the scheme had been launched on Friday and would remain effective till July 14. Life insurance cover would be provided free of cost to the customer under it. The other attraction is increased interest rates.

BATHINDA
Boycott: Teachers of mathematics and English working under the Sarv Sikhiya Abhiyaan on Friday boycotted their test organised by a private institution and held a rally at the local government senior secondary school. Though the district education authorities tried to persuade them to take the test, they did not budge. They alleged that the authorities concerned did not inform them about the type of the test.

MALERKOTLA
Driver booked: Four students of a local study centre were seriously injured on Thursday when their mini-bus collided with a tree at Rauni village near here. They were going towards Chandigarh. According to information, Navjot Singh, Harjot Singh, Rahul Kumar and Devinder Singh were among the seriously injured. A case has been registered against the driver.

Nawanshahr
Priest attacked in Begumpur: Some unidentified miscreants attacked Lohna Ram (35), priest of the Baba Jot Nath Mandir, Begumpur (Nawanshahr), his wife Sampti Rani (32) and daughter Poonam Rani (16) on Thursday night. The assailants decamped with cash, ornaments and other valuables. Lohna Ram and his wife received injuries in the attack.

Yoga camp: A three day special Yoga camp was organised at Snehi Mandir and Baradari Garden under the aegis of Patanjali Yoga Peeth. Swami Ram Dev’s disciples, Tarsem Lal Rattan and B.D. Sharma taught different breathing exercises and yogic postures for curing different chronic diseases as well as for maintaining better physiological and psychological health.

Chetna camp: A three-day Gurmat chetna camp, dedicated to the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev, was organised by the Guru Nanak Mission Medical and Educational Trust, Dhahan Kaleran (Nawanshahr). SGPC general secretary Sukhdev Singh Bhaur expressed concern over the recent Dera Sacha Sauda-Sikh panth row and stressed the need of curbing the menace of growing “deraism” by propagating the glorious panthic traditions.

Chess tourney: The R.C. Saddi memorial chess (national style) open tournament would be organised at Pathshala Mohalla, Banga, on Sunday.

Seminar: A seminar was organised at the local civil hospital on Thursday on the occasion of blood donors day. Addressing the gathering, chief guest of the function I.D. Goel honoured Yougesh Khatri of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarithi Parishad for spearheading the blood donation campaign in the area. Twenty units of blood was collected on the occasion.

PHAGWARA
New bus stand: Pepsu Road Transport Corporation MD Shivdular Singh Dhillon visited Phagwara to assess development work on the construction of a bus stand today. He instructed PRTC executive engineer D.K. Sood and junior engineer Jatinderpaul Singh to accelerate the construction work. He said the bus stand would be completed within next three years.

BILASPUR
Condemned: Himachal Pradesh State Journalists Federation has strongly condemned the assault on journalist Shashi Bhushan Purohit at Manali by some miscreants who injured him without any reason whatsoever. State Federation President Jai Kumar said such attacks on journalists were an attempt to intimidate and frighten them to prevent them from performing their duties as a journalist.

Mishap: Vinod Kumar (32) of Chonthal village of Sarkaghat in Mandi district, was grievously hurt when his scooter had a head-on collision with a van coming from the opposite direction near Bhated on Thursday. Vinod was taken to the Bilaspur district hospital from where he was referred to PGI, Chandigarh. He died on the way to Chandigarh. The van driver has been arrested.

Chamba
Plant opened: Rajnagar MLA Surinder Bhardwaj dedicated the 'distillation plant for lavender flowers' to the farmers at Jassaurgarh village in the Churah valley 0n Thursday. It was set up at a cost of Rs 9.50 lakh by the Institute of Himalayan Bioresources Technology (IHBT), Palampur, and the infrastructure was provided by the Yog Manav Vikas Trust, Pukhri. Bhardwaj said that the plant was the first of its kind in this region. The Churah valley was suited the most for lavender cultivation and it would one day be known as 'lavender valley'. Senior IHBT scientist B.K.Kaul said there was great demand for lavender oil in the perfume industry.

Leopard attack: Sonam of Bharmour was wounded when he was attacked by a leopard in Jassaurgarh village of Churah subdivision on Thursday evening. According to villagers, Sonam had come to this area to collect junk. Sonam was discharged after first-aid at the Jassaurgarh health centre. The leopard had earlier killed a seven-year-old child and a woman.The villagers have urged the state government to kill the 'man-eater'.

One dies: One person breathed his last at the local hospital here on Thursday when he mistakenly consumed some poisonous substance. Doctors tried their best to save him but could not. The deceased has been identified as Ashwani Kumar, resident of Sunara area

Kullu
Ski village: The Jan Jagran Avam Vikas Sanstha, which started a movement against the proposed Himalayan ski village project near Manali, has warned politicians against using its name for their political benefits. Lal Chand Thakur, president of the sanstha, said the organisation had decided in its meeting at Sarsai village on Tuesday to fight against the setting up of the ski village and had no relation with the politicians convening media conferences or other meetings against this project.