R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
EXHIBITION: An exhibition of paintings by Nita Mahindra in collaboration with the Indian Academy of Fine Arts was inaugurated for a weeklong display here on Monday. Mr Raminder Singh, DC, inaugurated the exhibition at the local Art Gallery.

WARM SEND OFF: Mr Surinder Singh Sareen, Head, Punjabi Department, Khalsa College, here was given a warm send off by the college fraternity on Monday. Mr Sareen, who had put in 36 years of service, was also staff secretary for four years, besides being the chief editor of the college magazine, “Darbar”. He had officiated as college principal several times. Two books authored by him an “Punjabi Bhasha Bodh” and “Punjabi Grammar”.

ABOHAR
SEARCH FOR BODY: The SHOs of all police statoins have been asked to help locate the body of Om Parkash, a taxi driver, who was allegedly deprived of his Maruti car (DNG 1833) and then strangled to death on Saturday. Preliminary investigations reveal that the body had been thrown in to the canal near the Abohar-Ferozepur road afger strangulation. The police had registered a complaint under Sections 364 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code.

HOSHIARPUR
3 DEAD IN MISHAPS: Three persons, including a woman, were killed in two accidents and one in accidental firing in Hoshiarpur district on Monday. Kamaljit Singh died on the spot when a Maruti Alto car hit the motor cycle near the bus stand at Sipprian village. The car driver sped away. Gurdev Singh of Salempur died on the spot when a Tata Sumo struck his motor cycle near Daburji.

NAWANSHAHR
HELD FOR TRAFFICKING: Mr M. Farooqi, SSP, in a press note issued here on Monday said the police had arrested Sucha Singh, Gian Singh of Hansrom, Santosh Rani of Garhi Kanugo and Seema Rani, alias Kiran, of Arya Samaj road, under Section 3 of the Immoral Trafficking Act 1956, during a raid conducted at the residence of Seema Rani at Arya Samaj Road here. Her two accomplices, Prince, alias Nanna, and Tony, are at large.

SPECIAL DRIVE: Mr Harbhajan Singh, DFO, Garhshankar, in a press note issued here on Monday, said as many as 22 special nakas had been set up under a special drive launched to check theft of forest wood. Niranjan Dass of Bharthala in Balachaur and Avtar Singh of Bachhuan had been caught red-handed for encroaching forest land under Sections 939 and 51 of the Wild Life Act, 1972.

SAMRALA
AKALIS JAILED: The Executive Magistrate, Ms Balraj Kaur Grewal, has sent four senior Akali workers — Jion Singh Dhindsa, Harbans Singh Bharthala, Kuldeep Singh Gurkhana and Bhagat Singh Mehddodan — to district Jail, Ludhiana, till December 5, in view of the arrest of Mr Parkash Singh Badal. 

PARAS MANCH: The local Paras Rang Manch will organise its sixth natak mela, bhangra competition and cultural programme on December 6 in Mohalla Harnam Nagar. The play ‘Chitta Lahoo’ by Deputy Parmjeet will be the main attraction, according to Puneet, director of the Manch. 

KILLED: Balwant Singh (70), of Salempura, who was going on a Bicycle to see his daughter at Bahadurke village, was allegedly hit by a scooter driven by Bahadur Singh. The cyclist was admitted to the Civil Hospital, Jagraon, where he succumbed to his injuries.

CHANDIGARH

PLAY STAGED: Using theatre to create awareness about AIDS, students of Shishu Niketan Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 21, staged the play ‘Aao milkar jaane’ on the school premises here on Tuesday. Enacted by students of Class IX, the play highlighted the need for proper testing of blood by hospitals. 

MOHALI
BLOOD DONATION CAMP: As many as 125 units of blood were collected at a blood donation camp organised by the Rotary Club here in collaboration with Gillard Electronics Limited on Tuesday. The camp was conducted by a team from GMCH-32. 

TALK: The Department of Psychology, Government College, Mohali, organised a talk on leadership and its role in life here on Tuesday. Dr Promila Vasudeva, Professor, Department of Psychology, Panjab University, said a leader “should be one of us, most of us and the best of us”. 

AWARENESS RALLY: An awareness rally was organisesd on World AIDS Day on Tuesday by the Ranbaxy Community Healthcare Society here. The rally was organised in collaboration with Shaheed Bhai Tara Singh Senior Secondary School. More than 100 students participated in the rally. Literature on AIDS was also distributed. 

RALLY: The NSS unit of Government Senior Secondary School, Phase IIIB1, organised a rally in connection with World AIDS Day here on Tuesday. The rally was flagged off by Mr Kalyan Singh, Assistant Director, Department of Youth Services, Ropar. The volunteers carried placards and raised anti-AIDS slogans. At a function organised in this connection, Dr Sarabjit Kaur Sohal, Programme Officer, NSS, tried to create awareness among the volunteers by telling them about the disease and how it could be prevented. 

HARYANA

AMBALA
FLAG BURNT: The local unit of Anti-Terrorist Front of India burnt the flag of Pakistan on the Ambala-Chandigarh road near the city on Tuesday in protest against the cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. The president of the front of Ambala unit, Mr Ashok Balmiki, said even after the announcement of the ceasefire, violence in the border areas still continued. He condemned the proposed air service between the two countries. 

KILLED: One person was killed and two others were injured in two road accidents here. An Army personnel, C.K. Gorang, died near Naraingarh when the Tata Sumo in which he was travelling rammed into a tree. The driver of the vehicle, Dharmender Kumar, also sustained minor injuries. In another accident, a resident of Ambala city was injured when a private bus hit him near Manav Chowk. The police has registered a case against the bus driver. 

FATEHABAD
SCHOLARSHIP TEST: The Aryabhatt Education Society on Sunday conducted a test for schoolchildren here for scholarship. The Award of Excellence Test was conducted in Saraswati Vidiya Mandir here. Schoolchildren from Fatehabad and surrounding areas appeared in the test.

WEEKLY DARBAR: As many as 52 complainants appeared before the Additional Deputy Commissioner during the weekly darbar organised by the district administration at the local patwar bhawan here on Monday. The SDM and senior officers of various departments were present Mr Deep Chand, sarpanch of Lolada village demanded that house of 40-odd Dalit families in the village be connected with potable water supply.

MEDICINAL FARMING: The Deputy Commissioner on Monday exhorted farmers to take to medicinal farming to increase income. He was addressing farmers after planting amla saplings in a herbal park being developed on 18 acres at Daiyyad village near here.

KAITHAL
QUIZ: An inter-college quiz competition under Kurukshetra University was organised at RKSD P.G. college here on Monday. Mr R.B. Manchanda, ITO, was the chief guest. DAV College, Pundri, attained the first position, S.A.Jain College Ambala City, was second and S.D. College third. As many as 26 teams from different colleges participated.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

SUNDERNAGAR
10-YEAR RI FOR TWO: Two residents of Ninu Nalla in Kulu, Bhinder Singh and Ramesh Kumar, were convicted by the Additional Sessions Judge, Mandi, for possessing 3 kg of charas. Both were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and fined Rs 1 lakh each.