ABOHAR
Train runs over man: One Ajit Singh of Dhani Sardul Singh was crushed to death by the Ambala-Sriganganagar passenger train on Friday afternoon, sources said. The railway police shifted the body to the civil hospital for post-mortem.

Released: One Satinder Pal Singh, resident of Guru Nanak Nagri, Malout, and Sukhjit Kaur of village Kaulianwali, who were last night arrested from a complex located near the police station here, have been released on bail by the sub-divisional magistrate, sources said.

Awarded: Amanpreet Ahuja, a student of the DAV College here, won an award of Rs 12,000 from the Sahara Pariwar, Lucknow, for his excellence in the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and academics during the last session. Earlier, he was awarded the President’s National Scout Award.

Held: The police arrested one Nikka Singh of Hanumangarh under sections of the Arms Act on the recovery of an illegal .12 bore pistol near village Chak Radhewala, DSP Parampal Singh said on Friday.

Amritsar
City girl shines: Keerat Kullar, a student of IX standard of Spring Dale Senior School, has done the city proud as she has been selected by the Gymnastics Federation of India to represent India in the 10th Junior Artistic and Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship at Damascus (Syria), being organised from November 27 to December 1. Stating this in a press note, Manveen Sandhu, principal of the school, announced that the gymnastics coach of the school, Neetu Bala, had also been selected to accompany the Indian gymnastics team as a coach.

Travel sop: The Punjab Employees Rights Protection and Welfare Union has alleged that bank branches in Amritsar are not paying travel concession to pensioners, treating interim relief a part of the pension, despite orders by the Punjab government. The union pointed out that the Punjab government had granted interim relief at the rate of 5 per cent of pay/pension with effect from November 1, 2006, to the Punjab government employees and pensioners/family pensioners.

Bathinda
Noise pollution: The Environment Awareness Association, Bathinda, held a meeting at Teachers Home here to discuss the harmful effects of noise pollution. Sukhwinder Sidhu, district president of the association, presided over the meeting. Addressing the meeting, Sidhu voiced concern over noise pollution and pointed out that marriage venues, religious institutions and pressure horns of vehicles were worsening the situation. Sarjeevan Kotbakhtu said in order to prevent noise pollution, NGOs, religious associations and others should make all out effort. Patron of the association Sandeep Ghand appealed to the government and the local administration to evolve stringent laws against noise pollution and ensure their implementation.

Book fair: The National Book Trust is organising a nine-day book fair at the Government Rajindra College in Bathinda, from December 1 to December 9. Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and English publishers will participate in the fair. Famous Punjabi dramatist and Sahitya Akademi award winner, Ajmer Singh Aulakh, will inaugurate the fair. Ram Sarup Singh Ankhi wil be the chief guest while Mohan Bhandari will preside over the function. Bharat Diyan Lok Kathanva by Nagarjun, 1857 Di Bagawat by P.C. Joshi and Bandi Bol will be launched on December 1.

Hoshiarpur
Man held for killing father: The police arrested Nirmal Singh, alias Tony of Bhuno village, for allegedly killing his father Gurmail Singh on November 27 by strangulating him. The accused had absconded after the crime.

Dry spell ends: After a long dry spell the city experienced first showers of this winter on Friday morning. The rainfall has brought a relief to the farmers too, especially those who had sown wheat. Besides, it is considered good for the standing crops too. The showers also provided respite to the people from the dry weather.

Mansa
Meeting: District administration Mansa organised a Khulla Darbar to consider the grievances of people at Kulrian village on Friday.  DC Surjeet Singh Dhillon heard the grievances of the people. SSP M.F. Farooqi said people’s cooperation is compulsory to stop the sale of drugs.

PATHANKOT
Foundation stone of gurdwara laid: Fifteen-year wait for a gurdwara by residents of Defence Colony located along the Pathankot-Dalhausie road came to an end with the foundation laying of the building of the religious institute amid chanting of 'Bole So Nihal' here on Friday. The Nishan Sahib was laid after being purified with milk. Talking to The Tribune, Gurdwara Sahib Construction committee member Capt Hardeep Singh, a former pilot, said an ultra-modern structure with all facilities would be built. He also appealed to local residents and sangat to donate liberally for the gurdwara building.

PATIALA
Bereaved: Prem Kumar Kapoor, a prominent social figure and father-in-law of V.K. Sharma, special secretary, technical education government of Punjab, passed away on Friday, following a brief illness. The mortal remains were consigned to flames at the Rajpura road cremation grounds. The funeral was attended by a number of senior officials of the district civil administration. Kapoor is survived by his wife, three sons and two daughters.

Book released: Global Punjab Foundation, Patiala, organised a book release function. Urdu-Hindi poetry titled “Ek Bhi Dost Umar Bhar Ka Umar Bhar Na Mila” was released by Harjinder Singh Walia and Kulwant Singh on Friday. Chariman of the foundation Dr Walia appreciated the efforts of Baldev Deep and said the poetry conveyed a universal message of love and compassion. Dr D.P. Singh, Sanjay Kumar, T.S. Bakshi were also present.

Meet: The department of pathology, Government Medical College, Patiala, presented a report of 200 heart specimens of postmortem cases received by the department, in the annual meeting of International Academy of Pathology and National Conference of Indian Association of Pathologists, held at PGI, Chandigarh. Dr Anil K. Suri, assistant professor, presented 143 specimens. The college contributed 11 research papers in this meet on different topics.

Phagwara
Showroom theft: A Samsung showroom, located at Hargobind Nagar, was burgled here on Thursday night. The owner Parveen Manchanda complained to the police that burglers broke into the shop and decamped with five LCD televisions and 10 digital cameras.

Death mourned: Senior BJP leaders today expressed deep shock at the demise of former member of Parliament Lala Lajpat Rai who died in Ludhiana recently after prolonged illness. In separate condolence messages, Madan Mohan Mittal, Manoranjan Kalia, Tikshan Sud, Swarana Ram, Prof Lakshmi Kanta Chawla, Master Mohan Lal, Balramji Dass Tandon, Dr Baldev Chawla and Sat Paul Gosian, said with Rai’s death Punjab has lost a visionary leader who gave a new direction to the state polity.

Tower trouble: Residents of Hargobind Nagar have strongly objected to a mobile company’s attempt to install their tower in the area. A deputation of the residents, led by Advocate R.L. Kohli, industrialist Ashok Gupta and Dr Anoop, met Phagwara SDM Amarjeet Paul and told him that different hospitals, nursing homes and cardiac centres were situated in the area and a mobile tower would cause adverse effect on the health of the patients.

SANGRUR
60 students selected for jobs: Sixty students, including 21 from the local Bhai Gurdas Institute of Engineering and Technology (BGIET), were selected for jobs after technical and human resources interviews at a two-day pool campus placement drive for Larson & Tourbo (L&T) Infotech, Mumbai, which concluded at the BGIET campus on Thursday evening. A total of 950 students of B Tech (2009 batch) from various engineering institutes and universities of Punjab participated in the placement drive. Company officials short-listed 141 students in the first round of written test, 83 in the second round of group discussion, and finally offered jobs to 60 selected students with an annual package of Rs 2.97 lakh to Rs 3.27 lakh.

Nine hurt in clash: In a reported clash between two groups, belonging to the sarpanch and former sarpanch Karamjit Kaur of Bhutal Khurd village (near Moonak), nine persons were injured in the village on Friday. Ranjit Singh, husband of panch Kuldip Kaur, alleged that supporters of the former sarpanch made an attack on the sarpanch and her supporters, due to which six persons sustained injuries. Disposal of the water accumulated on the phirni of the village was believed to be the cause of the trouble.