R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
Lok Adalats dispose of 356 cases: In the Lok Adalats held here on Saturday 356 cases were disposed off and an amount of Rs 1.28 crore were awarded as compensation. Total 399 cases were taken up for hearing, said HS Madan, District and Session's Judge-cum-chairman of legal services authority. He further said 10 benches were constituted to settle civil, criminal, and matrimonial and rent related cases. The legal services authority had inducted social workers, professors, and advocates from the local courts to assist the benches.

Doraha
NSS camp: As part of the ongoing NSS camp for girls and boys of Guru Nanak National College, Doraha, 22nd Liaison Officer, NSS, Punjab Government, Charanjit Singh paid a special visit to the college. He explained the significance of youth activities, especially of the National Service Scheme, to the volunteers. Sanjay Sharma, branch manager, LIC of India, shared the role of the LIC in providing job opportunities to youth and the trust it had won over a period of time. Also, Usha Chopra, first aid trainer from Red Cross Society, Ludhiana, imparted knowledge about administering first-aid in accident and poisoning cases.

Hoshiarpur
Man held with drugs: City police arrested Naresh Kumar, son of Bikram Singh of Ravi Dass Nagar, and seized 10 gm heroin from him. According to the police sources, he was booked under Sections 21, 61 and 85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Nawanshahr
Martyrdom day observed: The Doaba Arya senior secondary School organised a function to commemorate the martyrdom day of Swami Shraddhanand here on Saturday. A Canada-based NRI, BS Nagra presided over the event. Surinder Mohan Tejpal, secretary, Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Punjab; Vinod Bhardwaj, Varinder Sareen, Arunesh Sharma, Jia Lal sharma, Dr VK Arora, Sat Pal Ummat, Dr SK Baria, Meenakshi Sharma, Kanta Singh and Rajinder Singh Gill, among others, addressed the gathering.

Sanitary block inaugurated: Satinder Kaur Kariha, wife of the late SAD MLA Jatinder Singh Kariha, inaugurated a sanitary block constructed with the grant of Rs 1 lakh at the Slum Area School on Saturday. The school is run by veteran social worker Baba Naubat Rai under the aegis of Doaba Sewa Samiti. Neha Sharma, a Canada-based NRI distributed sweaters to 200 students on the occasion.

Education tour for special students: As many as 130 physically challenged students, studying in different government school in Nawanshahr-II, Banga, Mukandpur and Aur blocks, were taken on an educational tour to the Science City, Kapurthala, on Saturday, said Rahul Chhiba, district Sarv Shikhiya Abhiyan coordinator.

PATIALA
Awarded: The Federation of Educational Publishers in India conferred the Distinguished Author Award-2011 on Prof Surindra Lal of Multani Mal Modi College, Patiala, at an annual award function in New Delhi on December 17. The professor has written more than 20 books on physics. His first book was published in 1969. A textbook for BSc students, Electricity and Magnetism, was published in 1976.

Phagwara
Man dies in road mishap: Dharam Paul died on the spot while his nephew Baldev Raj of Kirpalpur Colony sustained serious injuries when their scooter was hit by a car on Phagwara-Nakodar road on Friday. The car driver succeeded to flee after hitting the scooter. The police has registered a case against the car driver and sent the body to the local Civil Hospital for postmortem examination.

Tarn Taran
Fake currency recovered: Balwinder Singh, resident of Sarhali, 22 km from here, has been arrested by the city police for possessing fake Indian currency worth Rs 10,000 and 100 gm of intoxicant powder. The city police said here on Saturday that a case has been registered under Section 21, 22, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act, besides Sections 489A, 489B and 489C of the IPC against the accused.

Rape accused gets 7-year RI: Chanan Singh, an accused in a rape case, was sentenced to 7 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) and a fine of Rs 10,000 by Additional District and Session Judge Asha Condal on Saturday. The accused is a resident of nearby Chutala village. He had raped a 16-year-old girl of the same village after abducting her along with his other relatives. The local Sadar police had registered a case under Section 376 of the IPC against him.

HARYANA

Kurukshetra
Talent search exam: As many as 16 students of Gita Niketan Aavaasiya Vidyalaya, Kurukshetra, have been selected in the state-level Science Talent Search Examination 2010 conducted by Haryana State Science and Technical Education Council in November 2010. Stating this here on Saturday, Principal Rishi Goel said that the council had selected 500 students from Haryana and out of these, 34 students hail from this district.

Panipat
Rs 4 lakh looted: Six persons armed with pistols looted a telecom shop and took away Rs 4 lakh and a mobile phone on Thursday. According to the police, the robbers entered Ma Communications located near Paramhans Kutia and after brandishing their pistols looted Rs 4 lakh from the cash box. The police said a case had been registered against unidentified persons.

Gita Divas held: The Haryana Sanskrit Academy on Friday organised a Gita Divas samaroh at DAV Public School, Thermal Colony, here in collaboration with the Sri Gita Prachar Samiti, Panchkula. More than 200 school students participated. RS Verma, ADC, Panipat, was the chief guest while D Vidyarthi, director-principal of the school, presided over the event. Lectures on moral values were held and many competitions were also organised.

CCTV cameras: In order to ensure that elaborate security arrangements were in place in and outside all hotels, banquet halls and marriage palaces in district, Deputy Commissioner JS Ahlawat has made it mandatory for owners of these establishments to install the CCTV cameras on their premises. The orders were issued under the provisions of Section 144, CrPC.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Srinagar
Leopard nabbed in Srinagar: Wildlife Department officials assisted by the police on Saturday nabbed a leopard which wandered into a residential area here. The leopard, wandering in the Drugjan locality in the Dalgate area, caused panic among the residents who informed the Wildlife Department, officials said. After trapping the animal, the Wildlife Department officials took it to the Dachigam Wildlife Sanctuary. — PTI

15 employees suspended: Fifteen employees working in various departments here have been suspended by the Jammu and Kashmir government for remaining absent from work. The employees were found absent from work during a surprise inspection conducted by special squads on Friday, an official spokesman said on Saturday. Three senior assistants, two junior assistants and six Class IV employees were among those placed under suspension by the District Development Commissioner. 

Mirwaiz mourns Kochak’s death: Chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has expressed grief over the death of senior NC leader Ghulam Rasool Kochak, who died in Anantnag on Friday. In a statement issued here, the Mirwaiz conveyed his condolences to Kochak’s son, Farooq Ahmad. The Mirwaiz said his father Moulvi Mohammad Farooq had good relations with kochak. A delegation of the APHC visited Kochak’s house and offered condolences to the family.

Gulmarg shivers at minus 12°C: The Kashmir valley continued to reel under severe cold with most places recording below the freezing point temperature on Saturday. The mercury in the tourist resort of Gulmarg remained nearly 12°C below the freezing point for the second successive night. The minimum temperature at Gulmarg was recorded at minus 11.6°C, a MeT official said. The tourist resort of Pahalgam recorded minus 7.4°C.

DEHRADUN

DEHRADUN
Alva, CM greet people on Xmas: State Governor Margaret Alva has wished the people of the state a merry Christmas. She said: “The birth of Jesus Christ inspires all of us to incorporate the virtues of love, service, compassion and sacrifice in our lives. Chief Minister BC Khanduri has also extended his greetings to the people of the state and the Christian community. He said Jesus Christ had given a message of love, tolerance and brotherhood.

Boy killed in mishap: Himanshu, an 11-year-old boy, was killed when he was hit by a truck on the Chakrata road here on Saturday. Himanshu along with his sister was crossing the road when the accident took place. Irshad, the truck driver, has been arrested.

Kumaon Briefs
Three held in kidnapping case:Three youths from Kumaon have been arrested in connection with the alleged kidnapping of a travel agency owner in Delhi. The Delhi Police has arrested Dhiraj, Amanpreet and Pinka while efforts are on to nab the fourth accused, Lalit, in the matter. The accused have been arrested following a series of raids at Gadarpur in Udham Singh Nagar, Mangoli in Nainital and Ranikhet by the police teams from Sarai Rohilla in Delhi. The travel agency owner, 38-year-old Vinod Chauhan, had been kidnapped on December 17 and the kidnappers had asked for Rs 1 crore as ransom for his release. The police has managed to secure his release.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)