R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Fatehgarh Sahib
Stress on  traffic rules: Children should be made aware of the traffic rules to reduce the increasing number of accidents, Director General of Punjab Police PS Gill stated this today at a Punjab Police state apex committee for community policing and state-level meeting of first-aid posts at Desh Bhagat Institute.
Parkash Singh Badal

Malerkotla
9-hr power cut in Malerkotla: The town faced an unscheduled power cut for nearly nine hours from 10 am to 7 pm on Thursday. XEN of the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) Tarsem Chand Jindal said that the cut was due to the installation of a power line in Maloud area. Residents claimed that they also suffered due to the non-availability of drinking water as the power cut also hit the water supply in the town.

Tarn Taran
Rape attempt: Fourteen-year-old Fannaha, alias Jugnu, of Gokalpur locality, attempted to rape a 4-year-old girl near his locality for which he was booked under Section 376 and 511 of the IPC against the accused. In his statement to the police, the victim’s father alleged that the boy attempted rape when he and his wife were away. On their return, they found their daughter lying naked. The boy fled away on seeing the girl’s parents.

HARYANA

Gurgaon
Police station: The city got its first metro railway station police station on MG Road metro station on Friday. It was inaugurated by DCP (East) Vikas Arora. This police station will cater to the needs of all five metro stations of Gurgaon.

SONEPAT
RTI activist shot at: A case has been registered against six persons, including Jai Pal, sarpanch of village Siwanka, his two sons - Jitenderand Ravinder - and Munshi Ram, head clerk in Murlana BDPO’s office, for allegedly firing at an RTI activist, Jai Bhagwan, of the same village outside the BDPO’s office on Wednesday. According to a complaint lodged with the police by Jai Bhagwan, he along with other villagers came to the BDPO’s office for obtaining information under the RTI Act about the developmental works done in the village. Jai Pal and his sons allegedly fired at Jai Bhagwan and others as they came out of the BDPO’s office. A case had been registered.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
CPI flays state government: The state unit of the CPI has charged the government with false propaganda regarding its so-called strenuous efforts to uproot corruption in the state and alleged that corrupt elements are being protected by leaders and those upright officers, who are taking action against corrupt elements, are being harassed by transferring them to far-off places. CPI state unit assistant secretary Pravesh Chandel told mediapersons here that the government had suddenly transferred at least three officers who were trying to check corrupt practices of a BJP leader and his near relations at Ghumarwin in this district and now the government owed an explanation to the people.

DALHOUSIE
‘Prashasan Janta Ke Dwar’ held: Most of the grievances of villagers were settled on the spot in the “Prashasan Janta Ke Dwar” organised by the district administration at Hobar village of the district on Friday. As many as 86 grievances were recorded in the camp. Presiding over a camp Chamba DC Devesh Kumar said these camps were being organised at various places in the district to save the public from the trouble of visiting offices for getting their problems solved. The DC directed the authorities of the Social Welfare Department to cover widows and old-aged persons under the pension schemes in a time-bound manner. He also issued directives to the PWD officials to clear debris from private land.

KULLU
Football tourney begins: A sum of Rs 36 lakh will be spent on the improvement of Dhalpur Ground here and funds have been transferred to the PWD for executing the work at the earliest. Deputy Commissioner BM Nanta said this while inaugurating district seniors and juniors football competitions on Friday. Nanta said the amount had been earmarked for repair of the playground, construction of walls and net-practice, besides beautification of the ground. The DC said the state government was committed to promote sports and had made 3 per cent reservation in government jobs for sportspersons. District football association president Ram Singh said 16 teams of seniors and 13 of juniors, besides four teams of women were participating in the tournament.

Man held for torturing wife: Maya Devi, wife of Jawahar Singh of Darudhar village, reported to the police on Thursday that her husband and mother-in-law Laja Devi attempted to burn her by pouring kerosene on her on April 27. The mother and the son have been arrested in a case of alleged dowry torture. The Superintendent of Police here confirmed that a case under Sections 307, 313, 498(A) and 34 of the IPC has been registered in Banjar.

Shimla
Teachers demand CPF plan: The Himachal Pradesh Government College Contract Teachers Association on Friday demanded regularisation of their services and coverage under the CPF scheme. The State Executive of the association decided to meet CM PK Dhumal and Education Minister ID Dhiman to seek fulfilment of their demands.

SUNDERNAGAR
One dead, two hurt in mishap: One person died and two were injured when an Innova hit two scooters from behind at Dhanotu near here on Friday. The Innova was coming from Sundernagar and was on the way to Mandi. The deceased was identified as Surinder (58), a shopkeeper at BBMB colony in Sundernagar. The injured included Vinod and Vijay Kumar. A case under Sections 279, 337, 338 and 304A of the IPC has been registered. The driver of the vehicle has been arrested and was stated to be drunk.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
CT scan records seized at GMCH: Acting on the complaints of bungling in various sections of the GMCH, Jammu, Minister for Medical Education RS Chib conducted a surprise check at the hospital on Friday and seized records of the CT Scan section. According to sources, Chib conducted the surprise check after people complained that fake CT scans were being conducted in the hospital, while deserving patients were being ignored.

Srinagar
Anantnag resident scales Mt Manaslu: Rafiq Ahmed Malik of Kuchipora village in Anantnag, who is a serving soldier in the JAK LI Regiment, has scaled the world’s eighth highest peak Mount Manaslu, 8,163 metre high, in Nepal. Rafiq was part of the Indian Army expedition that successfully summited the peak, a defence spokesperson said.

DEHRADUN

Dehradun
Girl’s body yet to be identified: The two and a half years old girl whose body was found stuffed in two sacks on Thursday morning in a compartment of the Bandra Express at the railway station here is yet to be identified. A police team from the Vikasnagar area had come to see the body, but could not identify it. Meanwhile, different teams have been formed and will be sent to Rajasthan and its nearby areas for the identification of the body, Station House Officer of the GRP said. Two tickets of Sawai Madhopur to Kota in Rajasthan were also found from the bag.

Demonstration: Members of Chayanit ITI (Industrial Training Institute), Anudeshak Sangh in Dehradun, held a rally and a demonstration outside the secretariat in Dehradun on Friday. The protesters handed over a memorandum to the chief secretary, technical education, additional secretary and director, technical education, addressing Ramesh Pokhariyal, Uttarakhand Chief Minister, demanding that their jobs be regularised. — TNS
Candidates selected as Industrial Training Institute instructors hold a demonstration in Dehradun on Friday. A Tribune photograph

Suicide bid: Following tension in the family, a woman of Shivpuri Colony attempted to commit suicide by pouring kerosene on herself on Friday morning at her house. Her husband rushed to save her but also got caught in the fire. Later, with the help of neighbours the woman was saved and was admitted to a local hospital in Premnagar from where she was referred to the Coronation Hospital.

Kumaon Briefs
Schedule for Lok Adalats prepared: The authorities in Udham Singh Nagar have prepared a roster for organising Lok Adalats across the district during this year. According to the District Judge and Chairperson of the District Legal Aid Authority Jaidev Singh, the Lok Adalats will be organised on the specified dates. He said various delayed matters pertaining to various types of cases would be taken up for on-the-spot disposal, disposal through mutual consent and resolving these by other means. He has stated that the outcome of the cases taken up at the Lok Adalats must be conveyed to the District Legal Aid Authority on the very same day.

Sustainable mountain development: A two-day meeting on sustainable mountain development (SMD) is being organised by the Central Himalayan Environmental Association (CHEA) at the Administrative Training Institute, Nainital, from Saturday. The meeting will focus on the ways and means to develop the mountain areas of India. It will be attended by prominent environmentalists and policy makers besides Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva. A two-day photo exhibition and competition depicting the various facets of the Himalayas will also be held on the occasion. Cash prizes would be given to the winners.

Cases of power theft: The personnel of the vigilance wing of the Power Department have nabbed heads of five households for power theft in Ramnagar. They have recovered a sum of Rs 26,000 as penalty from the defaulters residing in the Nayagaon locality. Increasing instances of power theft have been leading to the problem of low voltage in residential areas where defaulters are consuming additional power in comparison to the sanctioned load. The officials say that they had been receiving persistent complaints regarding power thefts by certain elements in the Nayagaon area and it was following these complaints that they decided to carry out surprise checks. They have stated that more such checks are likely to be conducted in other parts of the region.

9 hurt in accident: Nine members of a family were injured in a car accident near Ramnagar on Friday. It is learnt that the accident occurred when the driver of the vehicle in which they were travelling lost control over the vehicle while trying to save a Neelgai that had appeared suddenly in the middle of the road. Two of the injured are said to be serious. All the injured persons are residents of Indranagar in Haldwani and were travelling by their car to Ramnagar. The accident took place near Chhoi village located close to Ramnagar. The local villagers helped shift the injured to medical centres with the help of the 108 ambulance service.

DM upset over slow pace of work: District Magistrate of Almora DS Garbyal has expressed his displeasure at the slow pace of repairs and rehabilitation works with regards to the infrastructure destroyed during the rains last year. Speaking at a meeting convened to take stock of the works he expressed his anguish over the failure of the officials to execute works for which money had been sanctioned. He was particularly agitated over the slow pace of repairs on the highways, which have turned into a nightmare for drivers.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)