R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Rs 2.6 lakh stolen: Some miscreants stole Rs 2.6 lakh from the dickey of a moped of Pannu Ram of Pali Natirpur Harsi, PS Tanda, on Thursday evening. Pannu Ram said he withdrew the aforesaid amount from the bank branch of Punjab and Sindh Bank, Tanda, yesterday, and afterwards went to a sanitary shop at Darapur Bypass, Tanda. When he returned from the shop, he found the dickey of his moped opened and the aforesaid cash missing. The Tanda police has registered a case under section 379 of the IPC in this connection. — OC

Ludhiana
Hunger strike enters Day 3: The hunger strike by the Inclusive Education Volunteer Association Punjab entered the third day on Saturday. Addressing the protesters, state president Gurvinder Singh Budhewalia said, “We gave a memorandum of our demands to everybody, including the Chief Minister, his deputy, the Principal Secretary for School Education, the Education Minister, the Rehabilitation Council of India and the National Human Rights Commission for Disabled.” State general secretary Rajinder Sayal said, “We are on contract and are just paid Rs 2,500 a month. We teach special children in a way that they can be a the part of the mainstream. We are paid much less than teachers of children without disability.”— TNS

International Nurses Day celebrated: The International Nurses Day was celebrated by the TNAI and SNA units of the Christian Medical College and Hospital here on Saturday. The day started from the hospital chapel, where many nurses assembled and prayed. This was followed by other activities at the College of Nursing on ‘Closing the gap, increasing access and equity’. Nursing Superintendent Triveni Rajappa, who the chief guest, highlighted the gaps which needed to be worked upon so that communication could benefit. The students presented a panel discussion on team nursing. Research findings of an observational study on ‘Biomedical waste management practices by healthcare professionals’ as well as findings of a workshop on ‘Infection control and waste management’ were also discussed. A play on the theme was also enacted on stage. Thirty nurses were awarded certificates of appreciation. A poster-making competition was organised and prizes distributed.— TNS

Free medical check-up camps: The Vardhman Spinning and General Mills organised a free medical camp for its employees at the premises in collaboration with M/S Karma Hospital on Saturday. A team of doctors in different specialities checked about 300 patients. The Civil Surgeon arranged an exhibition on social issues like female foeticide , ill-effects of drugs and care of the aged. Free medicines were distributed and tests like blood sugar, haemoglobin, thyroid, ECG and urine were conducted. The Punjab unit of the Red Swastik Society also organised a free check-up camp for general and laparoscopic surgery at the Raman Hospital on Saturday. A gynaecologist and a surgeon checked the patients and distributed free medicines. — TNS

City Centre case: The defence lawyer representing Today Homes company's marketing manager SAH Naqvi on Saturday concluded her arguments against the framing of charges on the fourth hearing in the multi-crore City Centre scam involving former CM Amrinder Singh. Capt Amarinder Singh, former minister Choudhary Jagjit Singh, former MLAs Arvind Khanna, Surinder Dawar, Amarjit Singh Tikka, Ramesh Joshi, former AAG Harpreet Sandhu were present during the hearing. Amrinder’s son Raninder Singh could not appear before the court due to illness. The court of Sessions Judge SP Bangarh adjourned the hearing till May 21. — OLC

Nabha
World Athletic Day celebrated: World Athletic Day was celebrated at Punjab Public School, Nabha, on Saturday. The school taken a lead over other public schools by introducing Kids Athletics, which was introduced at world level in 2001 under the patronage of International Association of Athletics Federation. Dr Rajinder Singh Saini, senior athletics coach of SAI, NIS, Patiala, said for Kids Athletics, no regular stadiums and costly equipment were required, but a level area of 60m x 40m was needed. Jagpreet Singh, headmaster, welcomed Dr Saini and his team to the school. — OC

Sangrur
Minor girl set afire: A minor girl of Khadiyaal village in Dirba was set afire allegedly by two boys of the same village after they failed to rape her on Saturday. The girl has been admitted to a private hospital where she is battling for life. Gurcharan Singh Dhaula, SHO of Chajjli police station, said the 17-year-old girl was alone at her home in Khadiyaal village when Baljeet Singh and Buta Singh finding her alone “entered the house and tried to rape her”. The SHO said when the girl raised the alarm, the duo set her afire and in the process the girl received 80 per cent burn injuries. The doctors at the hospital said her condition was critical. — TNS 

CHANDIGARH

Awarded: Prof Aruna Goel, former director, Centre for Women Studies, Panjab University, has been given the President's award for promoting Sanskrit during a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The award carried Rs 5 lakh and a citation. The award had been announced on August 15, 2008. Prof Aruna Goel, a leading scholar of Sanskrit, is also a former member of the University Grants Commission, Society of Indian Institute of Advanced Study, and Sanskrit board of the Sahitya Academy. — TNS

Results: Abhimanu Visions, an institute, has claimed that at least 23 students on its rolls had made it to the civil service list declared earlier this week. The institute also claimed that Neha Bansal who made it to the Haryana civil service and Pritpal Singh who topped in Himachal administrative service were its students. — TNS

Mother’s Day celebrated: The Department of Health and Family Welfare held a function to mark the Mother’s Day here today. In the function, attended by the working mothers, experts gave lectures on time management so that they could run their families as efficiently as their office work. — TNS

HARYANA

Ambala
Debate: A debate was held in DPS, Ambala City. Nine teams participated in it. Each teams consisted of three members who expressed their views on the topic “Video games are entertaining but negatively impact young mind”. The programme commenced with lighting of the ceremonial lamp which was followed by a welcome song. The trophy was lifted by DPS, Karnal, while DPS, Panipat, finished as runner-up. Vinita Dhawan, Saniya Setia and Parul Dhawan were declared best speakers of the debate. Principal of the school Bushra Ahuja urged them to take  part in extra-curricular  activities. — OC

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Srinagar
Earthquake rocks Valley: The Kashmir valley was rocked by a moderate intensity earthquake of 4.9 magnitude on the Richter scale around 3.09 am on Saturday,” said Amir Ali, coordinator of the disaster management cell in Kashmir. He said the epicentre of the earthquake was in the Hindukush mountain range of Afghanistan. — TNS

Partial response to bandh call: Life in Srinagar city was affected on Saturday due to the one-day strike call given by Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, against the alleged “spree of arrests” in Kashmir, though the response to the bandh call was partial in others parts of the Valley. — TNS

DEHRADUN

Woman ‘attacked’ by husband: A man, along with his brother, allegedly attacked his wife with a sharp-edged weapon in Rishikesh on Saturday. She has been admitted to a local hospital and is in a critical condition. According to information, both had an old martial dispute following which the man, along with his brother, allegedly tried to kill his wife. After getting information, the police rushed to the spot. TNS

3 hurt in mishap: Three persons, including two women, sustained injuries when a Roadways bus reportedly hit a Qualis in the Raiwala area. The injured have been identified as Sunil, his wife and mother. The police has registered a case under Sections 279, 337, 338 at the Raiwala police station. — TNS

Body found: The bloated body of a man was found on the roadside at Badowala in the Patelnagar police station area on Saturday. The body, which couldn’t be identified yet, has been kept at a mortuary in Doon Hospital for a post-mortem examination. According to SS Bisht, the SHO of the Patelnagar police station, the body seemed to be three to four days old. He said there were no visible wounds or injury marks on the body, thus the reason of the death couldn’t be established. — TNS

Drainage system:  To review the drainage system in the city, Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli on Saturday visited Rajpur Road, Darshan Lal Chowk, Lans Down Chowk and Gautam Buddha Park. He also inspected areas from Rajpur Road to Clock Tower. During his visit, Chamoli asked officials that all required work was completed before the monsoon. — TNS

Kumaon Briefs

70-yr-old man booked for smuggling: A 70-year-old man has been arrested on the charge of smuggling liquor to the area from outside the state. According to information, the police has seized 80 boxes of liquor from his store in Boragar in the Garapani area between Berinag and Gangolihat. The accused has been identified as Faqir Ram. He has been booked under various sections of the Excise and Prohibition Act.

Two looters held: The Udham Singh Nagar police has arrested two members of an inter-state gang of looters. It has seized five cellphones and some cash from their possession. A motorcycle has also been impounded. They were arrested near Tanda Tiraha after they allegedly robbed one Virendra in the State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttaranchal area. After Virendra reported the matter to the police, it cordoned off all exit points. The accused have been identified as Aadesh and Umashankar. 

Youth’s body found : The body of a youth was found near a railway line in Rudrapur on Friday. The deceased is yet to be identified. Passersby reported the matter to the police. It is being assumed that the youth died after falling from a moving train.

Tempo owners’ strike: Commuters in Haldwani had a tough time on account of tempo owners resorting to a strike on Friday. With no other affordable mode of transport available for the local travel, people had to walk long distances with heavy luggage. Tempo owners are protesting against the plying of inter-city buses in the region. Former minister and senior Congress leader Indira Hridayesh also came in support of them saying she would not allow the livelihood of the tempo owners to be finished and demanded that buses should pick up passengers from the designated points only.

Water scarcity in Bageshwar: Bageshwar and its adjoining villages are facing water scarcity these days. With the “failure” of the administration to get the damaged water supply network repaired till now after it was damaged last year, people are being forced to spend a major part of their day in fetching water from long distances. The worst affected areas are Kharehi, Kanda, Rawainkhal, Kwairali, Chami, Bamdana and Amsarkot in the rural belt and Majiyakhet, Adarsh Colony, Kathayatbara and Mandalsera in the urban area. 

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)