R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
HEAD OF DEPARTMENTS: Dr Sukhleen Bindra, Reader in Electronics, Dr Gurcharan Kaur, Reader in Biotechnology, and Dr Madhu Bala, Reader in Hindi, have been appointed Heads of Department, respectively, of Guru Nanak Dev University. Dr Dalip Chand Manooja, Reader in Law, has been appointed Head of the Department of Laws at the GNDU Regional Campus, Jalandhar, for a period of three years. This was stated by Dr R.S. Bawa, Registrar of the university, here on Friday.

CHEQUE GIVEN: The Minister for Excise and Taxation, Mr Adesh Partap Singh Kairon, while interacting with villagers at Sursingh village on Friday, announced Rs 13 lakh for the pavement of streets and drains in the village and Rs 3 lakh for the construction of a primary school building. He handed over a cheque of Rs 16 lakh to the panchayat for this purpose.

MUSIC FESTIVAL: Twenty students of BBK DAV College for Women have been selected to represent India at the International Music Festival, in North Wales, UK, starting from Monday. Ms J. Kackria, Principal of the college, stated this here on Friday.

NEW CHAIRMAN: The Punjab Pradesh Congress (Backward cell) elected Mr Jasbir Singh Sangrur, former Minister for Housing and Development, as its new chairman. Mr Inderjit Singh Basarke, former chairman, said this here on Friday.

DORAHA
PTU AFFILIATION: The Punjab Technical University has granted affiliation to Guru Nanak National Institute of Management and Technology, Doraha, for its BCA course. The institute will admit 40 students in the current academic session, as per the schedule of the PTU.

HOSHIARPUR
MEETING HELD: A meeting of the local unit of the All-India Rajiv Gandhi Brigade was held here on Friday. Mr Pawan Aggarwal, president, Punjab unit, among others participated in the meeting. They decided to launch an awareness campaign against the anti-poor and anti-labourer policies of the SAD-BJP government.

KHARAR
DOCTOR REMANDED: The Judicial Magistrate of Kharar on Friday remanded Dr Harpal Singh in police custody till Sunday. He had been arrested by the Sohana police on the charge of raping a married woman of Kandala village. A married woman of Kandala village had lodged a complaint with the police that she was raped by the accused in a camp on June 24 in Jheurheri village. The accused had claimed that he could treat all diseases.

KHAMANO
PSEB RAIDS: A flying squad of the Punjab State Electricity Board conducted raid at the electricity tubewells on Saturday and found 15 cases of unauthorised running of motors. Sources said that fine was imposed on only three operators. 

SHAD MEETING: A meeting of Sarv Hind Akali Dal, Khamano circle, will be held at Gurdwara Sahib Ranwan, near here, on Sunday at 10 am, under the chairmanship of Mr Gurmeet Singh Khamano, circle president. Principal Joginder Singh Khant, member, working commitee, and Mr Jaswant Singh Tann, district president, will also address the meeting. Current issues would be discussed at the meeting, informed Mr Gurmeet Singh.

STAY GRANTED: Mr Mandeep Singh, Special Secretary, Punjab Government (Rural Development and Panchayats), after considering an appeal under Section 20 (6) of Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, has granted stay to the suspension of Sarpanch Kesar Singh of Manderan village, near here, till the next hearing. He has also summoned all the respondents and the records related to the case.

LIFT BAN: The people involved in the sale and purchase of animals are facing economic problems these days because of the ban on animal mandis due to outbreak of FMD. Not only this, the Punjab Government is also undergoing loss of crores of rupees, which it was earning from these mandis. Animal mandis were banned on recommendation of the Animal Husbandry Department, which did not give detailed information about the FMD. A trader dealing in the sale and purchase of animals, Mr Paramjeet Singh Khamano, told Ludhiana Tribune that his business had come to a halt and he had no other means of earning. Some farmers of the area, when contacted, said the ban on animal mandis was an anti-poor step. A senior leader of the Sarv Hind Akali Dal, Mr Surinder Singh Maneli, demanded that the ban should be lifted. 

RALLY: The state vice-president of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Dr D.P. Khosla, flagged off a cycle rally on Friday which will join the BSP protest being staged at Matka Chowk Chandigarh on Saturday. The rally is being organised to mobilise opinion against the prevailing caste system. The rally was flagged off from the Jalandhar byepass and a small function was also organised. It was attended by several BSP workers and leaders. 

SYMPOSIUM: The National symposium on “Newer Perspective of veterinarians in the uplift of National Economy Vision : 2020”, organised by the Punjab State Veterinary Officers Association in collaboration with the department of Animal Husbandry concluded here on Friday. Lectures on various topics were delivered by various experts from all over the country. Dr V.Rama Kumar, Secretary, Veterinary Council of India, New Delhi, delivered the lecture and chaired the scientific session. Ms Gurcharan Kaur, chief guest, was awarded with “Veterinarian’s mother” award by the association. The chief guest also gave away the mementos to the various veterinarians.

MACHHIWARA
SAMAGAM: The local unit of Tarksheel Society, Punjab, will hold a Taraksheel Samagam here at Government Senior Secondary School, Machhiwara, on Saturday. This was stated by Mr Sukhwinder Gill, press secretary of the unit.

MODEL SCHOOLS: The Education Department has started giving a practical shape to its announcement of converting two government senior secondary schools in each block into model schools. According to reliable sources, one of the two schools will be coeducational whereas the other will be only for girls.

MOGA
ARREST DEMANDED: Members of the Punjab unit of the Bhartiya Kisan Union, at its meeting held on Friday, urged the district administration to arrest Pawan Kumar, a dealer in fertilisers, who had allegedly supplied farmers with spurious medicines for spraying on the crops, which later damaged their crops. The farmers and members of the union threatened to start a stir if no action was taken.

SAMRALA
MISHAP: Dr Harjinder Singh died last night in a road accident when he was coming from his native village. His scooter hit with a vehicle near Mangarh village. The body was given to the legal heirs after the post-mortem.

CHANDIGARH

SAS NAGAR
SATSANG: Guru Purnima Mahotsava will be celebrated at Sri Badri Narayan Mandir in Sohana near SAS Nagar from July 1 to 5, according to a press note issued here on Saturday. Sadguru Dev Swami Balayogi will deliver a discourse on the occasion.

HARYANA

AMBALA
COUNCIL’S DEMAND: The Citizens Council on Saturday sought that the SDM of Ambala should hold office at Ambala Cantt on the premises of the Municipal Committee to handle cases of local nature. The cases arising out of Municipal Council, Ambala Sadar, like traffic challans and traffic licences could be handled here, they said. At present, people had to go to Ambala City for such work, they stated in a press note.

BHIWANI
WIFE HELD: The police has arrested Kamla of Rodhan village for allegedly murdering her husband by conspiring with her son and brothers, Risal Singh, Chiman Lal and Rohtas who have already been booked by the police. After thorough investigation, the police nabbed all four suspects under Sections 302 and 120 B, IPC.

AGITATION: The Dainik Rail Yatri Sangh has announced to launch an agitation against the apathy of the Railway Ministry. A spokesman of the sangh alleged here on Friday that no new train had been introduced despite assurances by the Permanent Advisory Committee members of the Ministry of Railways. The committee had visited Bhiwani junction on May 14.

HISAR
5 ARRESTED: The police has arrested five youths, who were planning a robbery, at Hansi, 20 km from here. According to the police, the suspects — Suresh Kumar, Sewa Singh, Jaibeer, Ombeer and Satbir Singh — were planning to loot government employees visiting a bank at the Umra Road to withdraw salaries for the office staff.

JHAJJAR
8 HURT: Eight persons were hurt when the driver of a car went berserk and sped the car through the Main Bazar, hitting eight persons. Six of the seriously injured were admitted to the PGI, Rohtak. The driver, who was drunk, was infuriated over being denied to drive home a newly wed couple. A case has been registered against the driver.

KAITHAL
FLOOD-CONTROL STEPS: Mr Phateh Singh Dagar, Deputy Commissioner, said here on Friday that adequate flood-control measures had been undertaken and officials of the departments concerned had been directed to make arrangements to pump out accumulated water at the vulnerable areas.

CONGRESS GRASS: The district administration has launched a campaign to destroy congress grass in the district. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Phateh Singh Dagar, led a team of officials and employees to uproot the grass from the premises of the district minisecretariat in a two-hour campaign on Friday.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

PALAMPUR
CONTAMINATED WATER: Even though a number of persons have lost their lives because of gastroenteritis in the subdivision during the past 15 days, around 30 villages in and around the town are still receiving muddy and contaminated water. Ghuggar, Bundia, Aima, Choki, Khilroo, Bindravan, Lohana and Maranda villages are the worst affected.