The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

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PUNJAB

Bathinda
Blood camp: The Goodwill Society, Parasram Nagar, organised a blood donation camp here on Sunday. More than 13 units of blood were collected. Vijay Goyal, president of the Sahara Jan Sewa, an NGO, was the chief guest on the occasion. The society also organised a pulse polio camp in the locality where polio drops were administered to over 230 children below the age of five years.

Elected: Balkar Singh Sandhu has been unanimously elected as president of the Punjab Technical Institutions' Sports (PTIS) for a period of two years. The decision was reached during the recently-held annual meeting of the PTIS. It was also decided that youth fair for girls would be organised in Patiala from February 24-26. For boys, the fair would be held at local Government Polytechnic College from March 3-5.

Banur
Training programme: The department of computer sciences in Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engineering and Technology organised a six-month project-based industrial training programme for MCA, B.Tech, M.Sc, IT, B.Sc and MBA students. A large number of students from various colleges participated in the programme.

Fazilka
Workers stage protest: Members of the Punjab Palledar Union and All India Food and Allied Workers Union, Fazilka branch, staged a protest against government's alleged anti-labour policies to promote the contract system in front the offices of SDM and Pungrain here on Monday. The labour unions demanded that payment should be made directly to the labourers and their provident fund number should directly be allocated to them instead of the contractors.

Jalandhar
Patiala recruitment rally postponed:The Army recruitment rally scheduled to be held at Patiala from February 5 to 8 has been postponed. According to an Army release here yesterday, the rally was to be held for recruitment for the categories of soldier technical (Sikh Majhabi and Ramdasia and AIAC), soldier clerk\SKT, soldier (nursing assitant) and soldier general duty for Muslims. This rally has been postponed due to some unavoidable circumstances and is expected to be held at the end of March this year, it said.

Mansa
VB registers case against 18: The Vigilance Bureau, Mansa, has booked 18 persons in connection with alleged irregularities in the construction of Rose Garden in the city. DSP Vigilance Amarjeet Singh said that the case was registered after conducting an inquiry following the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. During inquiry, the vigilance found that funds were siphoned off in the name of Rose Garden which was existing only on papers. The vigilance has registered a case against 18 persons, including T.R. Sharma, the then EO in municipal committee, then president of MC Pawan Kumar Matti, ex-president of MC Narottam Singh Chahal, Makhan Lal contractor and Manjit Singh, Nihal Singh contractor and others.

PATIALA
Club donates inverter: Mala Varma, president of State Bank of Patiala Ladies Club, visited the Navchetna Charitable Institute for the blind at SST Nagar complex here today with other members of the club and donated an inverter with battery to the institute. She assured the president of the blind institute for support in future. A cultural programme was also presented by the blind students on this occasion.

Infants’ death condoled: Various organisations related to the medical fraternity have condoled the death of five children in a fire at Government Rajindra Hospital recently. The Medical and Dental Teachers Association mourned the deaths of infants and also fixed responsibility with the Public Works Department (Building and Roads department) and also the public health department. The body also condemned the hurriedly taken action against the principal of the medical college and other employees.

Sriganganagar
Agriculture fair begins: The five-day agricultural fair and exhibition began at the Maharaj Ganga Singh Stadium in Sriganganagar on Tuesday. The DC Rajiv Singh Thakur exhorted the farmers to say final adieu to the traditional style of farming and adopt modern techniques to increase the yield and meet the challenges posed by globalisation.

Zirakpur
Four booked for fraud: The police booked four persons in two separate cases of fraud here on Tuesday. According to the police, Achay Lal of Panchkula alleged that he had bought a plot at Shalimar Enclave in 2004 from Devta Din, a resident of Mauli Jagran. He alleged that he had given Rs 70,000 as token money. The accused told him to give the balance amount of Rs 2.5 lakh and after that the registration would be done. But neither the registration was done nor was the money returned to him, the police said.

Seminar on Nobel Prizes:The English department of Lovely Professional University organised a seminar on “Nobel Prizes in Literature”, wherein students of M. Phil (English) touched the various issues pertaining to the prestigious award.The seminar was organised with an objective to instill more novel ways of teaching making it easier and more interesting for the students. The programme touched three aspects of the Nobel Prize (Literature), including history, reasons for nomination of the award, discussion on Nobel Prize winners of year 2007, and 2008, Dorris Lessing and Jean Marie Gustave le Clezio and controversies regarding Nobel Prize winners in literature and its nominations.

New DEOs: Joginder Dass, DEO (primary), has been appointed as DEO (secondary).Harbans Kaur, principal of the Government Senior Secondary School, Nehru Garden, has been appointed DEO (primary).Orders pertaining to the appointment of both education officials were issued from Chandigarh yesterday.

CHANDIGARH

CHANDIGARH
Results: The result of NMMS and STSE conducted by the State Institute of Education, Sector 32, was declared on Tuesday. The candidates selected for NTSE are Harjasleen Malvai, Mannat Rana and M Shruti from Carmel Convent School, Parichaya Walia, Bhishm Khanna and Varun Arora from Bhawan Vidyalaya, Rishabh Agarwal from St Johns High School, Isha from GMMMS Sector 16, Abhinav Dhania from Manav Mangal High School, Jyoti Tripathi from K.No. -2 3BRD Air Force Station. Under the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship scheme, 54 students cleared the exam.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Cop sets example: RPF Head Constable Chatar Singh on Tuesday set an example of honest duty when he returned a bag containing Rs 13,000 in cash and important documents to its owner. Chatar Singh, who was on duty on Monday night, found the bag lying on platform No. 1. He handed over the bag to his senior who contacted its owner Satish Chand of Hapur.

Three shops gutted: Three shops were gutted in fire in the wee hours of Tuesday morning in Rai market, Ambala Cantt. It took six fire brigades two hours to douse the flames. The fire was first detected by a chowkidar on duty at night. He immediately informed the owner, who in turn informed the fire brigade. According to the fire brigade officials, the loss has been estimated at over Rs 10 lakh.

Karnal
Threat calls: President of the Karnal Petrol Pumps Association Ram Kumar Kalyan has alleged that he has received calls from some unidentified persons, threatening to kill him. In a complaint lodged at the Civil Lines police station, he alleged that his wife and son also got calls on January 25. However, his wife and son did not pick up their mobile phones, he added. A case has been registered. Police sources said the number from which the calls had been made had been identified.

Rohtak
Rohtak Head of khap panchayat shot dead:Nahar Singh, a resident of nearby Titoli village in the district, was shot dead allegedly by three motorcycle-borne assailants on the Kachcha Beri road here today. The victim, head of the Kundu Khap Panchayat in the region, was on the way to the village on a two-wheeler when he was fired at by the killers. He was shot with a revolver from close range by a youth riding pillion, it is stated. The police has registered a case in this connection. According to reports, Nahar Singh died on the spot and the killers escaped.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

JAMMU
Woman seeks Omar’s help: Centenarian Begum Beegan Bibi could not have asked for more when Chief Minister Omar Abdullah walked up to her and asked for the purpose of her visit to his residence on Tuesday. The woman said she wanted to meet him as the police had booked her in a criminal case. She was spotted by Omar while he was meeting delegations from different walks of life. The Chief Minister asked the police to examine the entire case. Later, Omar dropped her in his own vehicle.

Industrial campaign: The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Institute, Jammu, organised a one-day intensive industrial motivation campaign on “Self employment" in collaboration with the SPMR College of Commerce and career-counselling cell here on Tuesday. Director, Higher Education, Dr ND Wani was the chief guest on the occasion. Over 150 final year students of BCom, BBA and BCA were present on the occasion. Dr Wani said gainful employment lied in industrial entrepreneurship and skilled youths could be absorbed in vital sector of the economy.

SRINAGAR
Woman injured: Zoona Begum (65), a resident of Garkhoot village, was critically injured when she was allegedly hit by a vehicle in the Uri sector of Baramulla district in North Kashmir on Tuesday, a police spokesman said. The incident took place while she was crossing a road. Her condition is stated to be critical. A case has been registered.