R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

GARHSHANKAR
ELECTED: The PCCTU unit of SGGS Khalsa College, Mahilpur, has elected Prof Dalwinder Kaur as president and Prof Preet Mohinder Pal Singh as general secretary of the unit.

OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Kandi Journalists Parishad: president — Sumesh Bali, senior vice-president — Ajib Singh, vice presidents — Surinder Singh Saini and N.P.S. Walia, organising secretaries — Jagdish Babba and Gurnam Singh, and treasurer — Gulshan Rai Kaushal.

GURDASPUR
INAUGURATED: Mr Vinod Khanna, MP, inaugurated an IT centre at the local SD College for Girls, on Sunday. He appreciated the girls for outstanding performance in various fields including space and defence services. Later, Mr Khanna participated in a ‘‘vanamahotsav’’ function organised by the District Environment Protection Society and planted saplings between Tibri and Kahnuwan Road.

BUSTED: The police on Saturday busted a nine-member gang of cheats with the arrest of Manjit Singh and Baljit Singh, both residents of Amritsar. According to Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, a 12 bore pistol, two cartridges and 200 gm of charas have been seized from them.

NOMINATED: The following have been nominated office-bearers of the district units of the BJP: president — Mr Bal Krishan Mittal; vice presidents — Mr Yudhister Mahajan, Mrs Sunita Anand and Mr Narinder Kohli; general secretary — Mr Ashwani Kumar Sharma; secretaries — Mr Anil Nanda, Mr Ramesh Sharma, and Mr Babu Ram; and treasurer — Mr Ashok Mahajan. A 22-member executive committee has also been announced. Mr Gurdeep Singh and Dr Dilbagh have been appointed presidents of Gurdaspur Mandal (Urban) and Gurdaspur Mandal (Rural), respectively.

SUSPENDED: Mr Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Minister for Revenue and Rehabilitation, ordered the suspension of Jasbir Singh, a patwari, on a complaint of residents who alleged that the patwari was indulging in corrupt practices at a “khula darbar” held at Ghuman Kalan on Friday. As many as 140 complaints were received out of which 125 were redressed on the spot.

HOSHIARPUR
LINK ROADS: Punjab has 35,472 km long link roads and more than 5,000 km long roads had been constructed during the four years. This was disclosed by Mr Sucha Singh Langah, Minister Punjab PWD, while addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of a 12 km-long Dholbaha-Bari Khad link road to be constructed at a cost of Rs 86 lakh at Dholbaha village, 3 km from here, on Saturday.

NRI SABHA: NRIs should be given due representation in the Rajya Sabha. This view was expressed by Mr B.K. Srivastva, former Commissioner, Jalandhar division and founder Chairman of the Punjab NRIs Sabha, while addressing a function organised by the Sabha at the Services Club here, on Saturday. Mr R.P. Mittal, SSP, Mr Vivek Partap Singh, Additional Commissioner (general), Mr D.D. Tarnach, Additional Deputy Commissioner, were present on the occasion.

KANSAL (Ropar)
NUSRAT MANCH: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Nusrat Yaadgari Manch: president — Mr Channi; general secretary — Mr Surinder; and treasurer — Mr Avtar Singh.

KHARAR
SWAMI LED TO REST: Shiv Swaroop Atma Swami, a saint of Kurali, was laid to the rest at his ashram at Kurali on Sunday. A large number of people were present on the occasion. The swami died in the early hours yesterday.

LUDHIANA
EXHIBITION: Monarch Video Vision, Mumbai, has organised an exhibition on digital mixing at Punjabi Bhavan here. Mr Viren Satra, CEO, Monarch Video Vision, gave demonstration of the use of computer technology for giving effects to still and video images to more than 300 studio owners who attended the exhibition. The main highlight of the exhibition was the kit of new FxVES 5.0 software for genie plus which is being sold at Rs 500 with an expiry of three months. These three months will be the trial period and those who like it will have to pay Rs 40,000 to buy the complete package, said Mr Sanjay Sood of Sood Video Mixing. Also available in the exhibition are CDs that have digital effects in them. In addition, there are juke box audio software for digital dubbing. A software for making instant cover for video cassettes is also available. 

TAMANNA ARTS: Tamanna Arts will soon start a programme to provide a right platform to the budding singers. The programme Awaz Ke Sitare will be held every year to encourage the singers of north India. This information was given by Mr Ajit Singh, patron, and Mr Vishal Soni, chairman of the association. Mr Gurdeep Singh Randhawa, general secretary, Tamanna arts, informed that the opening programme would be held on August 12 at Guru Nanak Public School, Sarabha Nagar, in which Mr Bhagat Singh, chairman, G.S. Group of companies would be the guest of honour. The winners would be given prizes on the occasion. 

ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the LIG Flat Owners Welfare Association: president — Mr Gurmeet Singh Sachdeva; senior vice-president — Mr Harjaspal Singh; vice-president — Mr Pritpal Singh; chief secretary — Mr Chamkaur Singh Parmar; joint secretary — Mr Ashok Bhandari; and cashier — Mr Surinder Mohan Sharma. 

SANGRUR
CRITICISED: The J.P. Nagar Welfare Association has criticised the Sangrur Improvement Trust for initiating proceedings for the sale a plot earmarked for a school building for residential purposes. In a representation to the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, the association alleged that the trust was going to sell the school site in the shape of plots for residential purposes which was not justified as the residents had already paid all development and improvement charges to the trust to avail of the facilities. 

CHANDIGARH

“MILLENNIUM WOMEN”: “Millennium women”, a serial on the women who had excelled in different fields as the police, administration, judiciary and politics will be telecast on DD Metro soon. According to director of Media Ad Links (India) Bhavna, interaction with eminent personalities will be the main purpose of the serial which will give chance to new anchors.

HARYANA

AMBALA
BOY KILLED: One boy was killed and two were injured in a road accident on Sunday. According to the police, the deceased has been identified as Sajan of Ambala City. The accident occurred when the car in which he, along with members of his family was travelling collided with a tractor-trailor near Nasirpur village, 3 km from here.

‘TEACH KIDS HUMAN VALUES': The Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, Mr Ram Niwas, has urged the social organisations to come forward to educate the children in human values. He was speaking at a regional-level conference organised by the Mahavir International here on Sunday. Mr Niwas said that teachings of Lord Mahavira should be included in the syllabus of the students. Among others who spoke on the occasion were the Principal of SA Jain College, Mr C.L. Singla, and the secretary of the organisation, Mr Surender Jain. 

FATEHABAD
COMPETITION: The local SBP DAV Centenary School organised a music and dance competition on Sunday. The school Principal, Mr R.K. Sethi, presided over the function. Mr B.R. Chawla, Manager, SBI (local branch) was present on the occasion. Yukti and Tanuj came first in the dance and song competitions, respectively.

SAPLING PLANTED: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anil Malik, inaugurated the ‘‘vana- mahotsav’’ function at the local Daya Ram Public School on Sunday by planting a sapling. Mrs Neeraja Malik, wife of the Deputy Commissioner, Mrs Neeta Hooda, Divisional Forest Officer, and Mrs Arpita Chatterjee, Principal of the school, were present on the occasion.

HISAR
PROPERTY DESTROYED: More than 85 bales of cotton and property worth Rs 15 lakh were destroyed in a fire which broke out in a cotton and ginning factory at Siwani, about 40 km from here, on Saturday. According to information, the fire started from a godown of the factory and later spread to other parts of the factory. No loss to human life was reported. The cause of the fire was being ascertained.

RESEARCH WORK: Dr A.S. Nandwal, a senior plant physiologist of Haryana Agricultural University, here has left for Perth in Australia for higher studies under the Agriculture Human Resources Development Scheme of the World Bank. During his stay in Australia, Dr Nandwal will undertake research work on the enhancement of high-yielding traits in chick pea crop under the guidance of Prof Neil C. Turner. Dr Turner has already allotted to HAU a research project “Traits for yielding improvement of chick pea in the drought-prone environment of India and Australia”.

ROHTAK
VC’s ADVICE: Major-Gen Bhim Singh Suhag (retd), Vice Chancellor, Maharshi Dayanand University, on Saturday exhorted students to develop communication skills as it was must to excel in the competitive examinations, especially in interviews. He was addressing candidates attending the coaching-cum-consultation programme for the National Defence Academy and Combined Defence Services examinations being conducted by the university under the aegis of University Centre for Competitive Examinations.

SIRSA
FIVE BOOKED: The district police has arrested one person and booked five others in a case of gangrape. According to the police chief, a case was lodged on Sunday against six persons on a complaint of Lukhvinder Kaur, wife of Joginder, a truck driver of Peerbasti. In her complaint Lukhvinder alleged that Jeeta of Rania Gate, Punjab Singh and Kaka of Hisaria Bazar, Kashmir of J.J. Colony, Thandu Ram of Begu road took her near the railway lines and gangraped her. The police has arrested Kashmir while the rest are still absconding.

11 HELD: The CIA wing of the police raided Kutubgarh village and seized 80 kg of narcotics and six bottles of illicit liquor from Ranjeet Singh. Vinod of Bani, Ashok and Balwant Singh of Sant Nagar, were arrested while gambling. Five persons were arrested for assaulting Jagdish Rai Aggarwal of Dharmpura village.

SONEPAT
SJP RALLIES: The Haryana unit of the SJP has decided to observe August 9 as “economic slavery virodh diwas” in the state. Mr Dhan Singh, president of the state unit of the SJP, told mediapersons here on Sunday that the workers would hold rallies and stage dharnas at the district headquarters on that day to register their protest against the economic and industrial policies of the Central Government.

DISPUTE: Some persons forced their way into the house of Mr Ramesh in Malviya Nagar on Saturday and decamped with a few thousand rupees in cash and other valuables. According to the police, a dispute between the landlord and the neighbourers was the main cause of this incident.

KILLED: Mr Hari Ram (45), a resident of Sonepat, was killed on the spot by a running train while he was crossing the railway track near, Hindu College here, on Saturday. In another incident, a 50-year-old man was also hit by a train and killed on the spot near Rathdhanna Railway Station, about 8 km from here, on Saturday.

ROAD ACCIDENT: One person was seriously injured when a tempo in which he was travelling, collided with a roadways bus on the GT Road near the Mur Chowk, 8 km from here, on Saturday. According to the police, the injured person was admitted to a medical college hospital at Rohtak.