The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

NEWS AND VIEWS

PUNJAB

HARYANA

JAMMU & KASHMIR

HIMACHAL

REGIONAL BRIEFS

NATION

OPINIONS

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BUSINESS

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WORLD

SPECIAL COVERAGE

CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

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R E G I O N A L B R I E F S

PUNJAB

BARNALA
Protest: To protest against private transporters students held a strike in all colleges of the district here on Thursday. Students under the Punjab Students Union and the Punjab Radical Students Union observed strike in S.D. College, Dr Raghubir Parkash Senior Secondary School ,Guru Gobind Singh College, Sanghera, and Technical Education College, Handiaya. Later, they staged a dharna at the DC office.

Campaign: Deputy commissioner R.L. Mehta inaugurated a tree plantation campaign here on Thursday by planting a sappling of Arjun.(tree).

BATHINDA
3 arrested: The police on Thursday arrested three persons and seized 100 vials of intoxicating medicines from the medical store being run by them. Police sources said the three had been identified as Ranjit Singh, Balkar Singh and Amarjit Singh.

Notices issued: The local management of State Bank of Patiala has issued notices to two of its employees to explain their position with regard to the delivery of non-issueable Rs 500 currency notes totalling Rs 16,000 to three customers by an ATM installed at the Paras Ram Nagar locality of the town. Official sources said N.K. Mehta, deputy general manager of the bank, zonal office, ordered an inquiry in this regard.

HOSHIARPUR
Resentment: Sri Ram Charit Manas Parchar Mandal on Thursday expressed resentment against the Archaeological Survey of India for its affidavit submitted in the apex court in which it had not only dismissed the existence of any man-made bridge between India and Sri Lanka but also questioned the existence of the characters of Ramayana. Activists of the Bhartiya Jan Shakti Party staged a protest demonstration at the local bus stand and burnt effigies of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi.

Man held for rape: The police arrested Mandip Kumar, a resident of Bhim Nagar, under sections 363, 366 and 376 of the IPC, on Wednesday night, for allegedly raping an 18-year-old girl after trying to force her to marry him. The victim is a resident of Beas in Amritsar. The victim said her colleague at the Mahavir Spinning Mill, Rani, a resident of Bajwara Kalan, got arranged a loan of Rs 8,000 for her from the accused who began pressurising her to marry him. The accused allegedly abducted her to a hotel at Chintpurni and raped her on September 7.

One arrested: The police arrested Anil Handa, alias Babba, a resident of Prahlad Nagar, who was evading arrest after being awarded life imprisonment in a double-murder case on Wednesday evening. SSP Anita Punj said inspector Surjit Singh Kandhali arrested Handa on a tip-off in the old Sabzi Mandi area. Handa was produced in the court here which sent him to jail. Handa was sentenced to life imprisonment by the sessions court here.

Jalandhar
Ragging: Probe ordered: Taking a serious note of the alleged ragging incident at Doaba College, principal Dr R.P. Bhardwaj has constituted an inquiry committee into the matter. The five-member committee will meet students concerned to probe and find out the truth. The principal said the committee had been instructed to submit its report in three days.

Smack seized: The police nabbed Murgesh of Santoshi Nagar and seized 90 gm of smack from him. An FIR has been registered against him at police station number eight. He was already facing several cases of possessing illegal liquor and recovery of smack.

PATHANKOT
Camp: The local Lions Club organised a camp for issuing driving licences to applicants here on Wednesday. Ashok Verma, president of the club, was the chief guest. Vijay Passi, secretary of the club, said 250 licences were issued.

PATIALA
Office-bearers elected: The elections of the Patiala Rice Millers’ Association were held at a local hotel on Thursday. The following have been elected as the office-bearers: president: Sanjeev Kumar Goyal; patron: Umrao Singh Cheema; chairman: Madan Gopal Sofat; and general secretary: Sarabjit Saini. The new president said the association would write to the state government to demand 3,500 metric tonnes of paddy to each rice miller. He also opposed the registration fees of Rs 10,000 per miller and demanded its withdrawal.

CHANDIGARH

Award: The Bhakra Beas Management Board has been awarded the eighth annual Greentech Environmental Excellence Gold Award 2007 in hydropower sector by the Greentech Foundation, New Delhi. The BBMB was awarded the gold award for outstanding achievement in environment management at all its project stations during 2006-07.

PANCHKULA
Blood donation camp: Haryana deputy chief minister Chander Mohan inaugurated a blood donation camp organised at Indira Colony by the district Congress on Thursday. He said donating blood was a noble cause and a very good gesture. He thanked all present for organising a camp on his birthday.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Competition organised: The JCI Ambala Central arranged a flower arrangement competition at Phoenix Club on Thursday. About 80 persons participated in the flower arrangement as well as salad decoration competitions. The judges for the contests were Maninder Mann, Neelam Ahuja and Shabnam Nath. The chief guest was Rekha Sharma. The winners were given prizes and certificates.

IT survey at shop: The Income Tax department conducted a survey at a metal hardware store in Punjabi Mohalla, Ambala Sadar, on Thursday. Officials checked various documents, including receipt books and ledgers. The officials were tight-lipped about the survey.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Hockey trials: Trials for selection to the Himachal Pradesh state sub-junior Hockey team will be conducted at Luhnu sports complex on September 15 at 10 am in town here. State Hockey Association general-secretary Surender Pal Dass said here on Thursday that those born on or after January 1, 1992, could compete in this trial and should contact hockey coaches Yodh Raj Sharma and Pradeep Kalia.

Suicide: Sarita devi(22), daughter of Nikka Ram of Jethwin village in Jhanduta area near here, reportedly jumped into the Gobind Sagar from Allikhad bridge on the outskirts of Bilaspur town. She did not return after she was sent to fetch some commodities from a nearby shop on Wednesday evening after which a search was started by her relatives. Her body was found on the bank of Gobind Sagar on Thursday morning. The police have registered a case.

HAMIRPUR
Condemned: Local MLA Anita Verma on Thursday condemned the use of the name of Lord Rama by the BJP for their political gains just before the elections. Criticizing the BJP she said the party was trying to build hype on the issue of Ram- Setu and hoped that people would not be misled by the campaign of the BJP.

Hamir Utsav: The state-level Hamir Utsav would be organised on November 1 and 2. Deputy commissioner R. Selvam said several programmes, including cultural programmes, sports competitions and exhibitions would be organised during the utsav.

Shimla
Workshop: The Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) will hold a three-day national workshop on "National Integration and Multiple Identities: Dialectics of Inclusiveness and Exclusion in Indian Society" from Friday. Senior CPM leader and Rajya Sabha member Sita Ram Yechury will inaugurate the workshop while Bhalchandra Mungekar, chairman of the institute, will preside. Thirtyfive scholars from all over the country will participate in the workshop being organised jointly by the IIAS and the Indian Council of Philosophical Research.