R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

CPM flays govt: Mangat Ram Pasla led Communist Party Marxist (CPM), Punjab, flayed the Parkash Singh Badal led SAD-BJP government for making amendment in the Panchayat Act with which sarpanches are not to be elected directly but by the public but would be elected by the panches. The CPM (Punjab) secretary said in a press statement here on Saturday that the amendments had been made just to ensure that the sarpanches made should be those of the ruling alliance.

Fee regulation: District Congress chief Arun Walia has asked the state government to regulate the fee structure in private schools in order to provide better education to children of all sections of the society. He said private schools were not providing any fee relaxation to the poor students.

MALERKOTLA
15 cases of hepatitis-C: About 15 cases of hepatitis C have reportedly been detected in Bukanwal village, about 7 km from here, but the administration has not taken any preventive step so far. Bhupinder Singh, son of Harjeet Kaur, Sarpanch of the village, said here on Saturday that even he himself had been suffering from the disease. He said as the cost of treatment was about Rs 4 to 5 lakh, they were unable to get themselves treated.

NABHA
1 dies in road mishap: A high-speed trax collided with a tempo having three passengers leaving one dead and one seriously injured on the Nabha-Chhintawala road near the Industrial Training Institute here on Saturday evening. The driver of the trax fled from the scene after the incident.The body of the accident victim is kept in the hospital mortuary for identification.

Nawanshahr
Scribe dead: S.P.Sharma (80), a local veteran journalist associated with the Hind Samachar Group, Jalandhar, died after a brief illness at a hospital in Ludhiana. He was cremated here on Saturday. Sharma had also been associated with a number of social and religious bodies. He was the founder editor of a religiousmagazine"Manushaya Jiwan" and founder of the "Sri Ram Naam Bank" here.

CHANDIGARH

Mohali
Booked: Five persons were booked for kidnapping a resident of Phase II. The accused forcibly took Anuj goyal of Phase II in a car. A woman made a complaint to the police in this regard. Goyal denied the charges. Investigations are on.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Contest: Bharti Airtel today announced that Pradeep Rana, a veterinary student in Hissar, had won Rs 1,00,000 in the Airtel Lose2Win quiz contest held recently. A visibly excited Pradeep said, "My dream has been to join the civil services and work for the development of our country. With this money, I will now be able to get admission in specialised courses that will help me sit for the civil services examination.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

HAMIRPUR
Leopard kills boy: The killing of a child by a leopard has sent shock waves among residents of the Tauni Devi area. The incident occurred at about 6.30 pm on Friday evening in Darat village of Tauni Devi when the leopard lifted a two-and-a-half-year-old boy Shimpu, son of Bidhi Chand, while playing in front of his house with his grandfather Prem Chand. The villagers after coming to know about the incident raised an alarm and went in search of the boy. According to eyewitnesses, the leopard dragged the boy for about 100 m away and left him in the fields. Seriously injured boy was taken to the Tauni Devi Hospital where he was declared dead. The villagers of Darat have not only expressed their concern on the incident but have asked the administration to ensure security of human lives and cattle from the beast. DFO Hamirpur Sanjay Sood after visiting the place said the Forest Department would take steps to trap the leopard and provide compensation as per norms.

Sangh thanks CM: Himachal Pensioners Kalyan Sangh has thanked Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal for giving 50 per cent interim relief to the pensioners. In a release issued here on Saturday spokesman of the Sangh, Kuldeep Singh Jaswal said by ordering the payment in one go the Chief Minister has shown his farsightedness. He said the Sangh had taken up this issue with the recently when their deputation went to meet him.

KUMARHATTI
Youth dead: A youth allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in his house at Kunjaal village near Baddi on Friday. Vishal (25) hung himself in the afternoon as he was said to be under depression. A case has been registered.

NURPUR
Meeting: Subdivisional officer-cum-DSP Bidhi Chand on Saturday presided over a meeting in which field police officials and inquiry officers took part. He asked field police personnel to be vigilant during night patrolling and record numbers of vehicles found plying during night. He also directed inquiry officers to complete investigation of criminal cases in shortest possible period.

Kerosene seized: A case of black marketing of kerosene meant for distribution through fair-price shops has been detected. Three persons were arrested while they were loading kerosene drums in a jeep (HP 38 A 3836) at Minjgrah village on Friday night. Those arrested were Ashok Kumar of Chhatrolli village, Surjeet Singh and Sanjay Kumar of Minjgrah village. The jeep was impounded and kerosene seized. The buyers identified as Monu and Ajay of Chhatrolli village fled after seeing the police. An FIR has been lodged.

Pensioners’ demand: The Kangra District Pensioners Association has thanked Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal to release 5 per cent relief to the state pensioners on Punjab pattern. General secretary of the association S.L. Gupta on Saturday urged the CM to accord benefit of hike of 5 and 10 per cent in pension after attaining 65 and 70 years of age on Punjab pattern.