R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Dera Bassi
Woman dies in mishap: A 60-year-old woman was killed and a youth was injured in an accident on the Lalru-Handesra road yesterday evening. The two were travelling on a motorcycle when a truck hit them. The deceased was identified as Pal Kaur of Nanheri Village in Patiala. Injured Bhadur Singh of Malkpur, was admitted to the local civil hospital. Truck driver Joginder Singh has been booked.

304 students get job offers:As many as 304 BTech students were offered jobs during the placement week at the Sri Sukhmani Institute of Engineering and Technology. Companies including Videocon, Mansa Infotech, Beta Soft System, Shine Design Infotech, Standard YellowPages, SDP labs and Unit Nexus visited the campus.

Faridkot
Raids come to naught:Raids conducted by the police and the Health Department to nab chemists selling psychotropic substances proved futile as the information was allegedly leaked in advance to the shop owners. The raids were conducted by six teams constituted to conduct simultaneous checks at chemist shops in Kotkapura. However, most of these shops were found locked. The shops were later sealed.

Hoshiarpur
Shiv Sena members protest:Members of the Shiv Sena led by their state vice-president Ranjit Rana held a march from Committee Bazar to Clock Tower to protest against unauthorised liquor vends being run in various localities of the city. The protesters burnt an effigy of the Excise and Taxation Department and demanded immediate closure of these vends and action against violators.

Missing clerk’s body found:The body of Sudhir Kumar (52), who was a clerk at Shah Nehar Office, Talwara, was found at Power House Gate No 2, Hajipur, on Saturday. The whereabouts of Madan Lal (56), the superintendent with the Power Wing of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), Talwara, are still unknown. The duo had been missing since January 28. They had gone to Dera Surahiwala Baba in Himachal Pradesh but failed to return to their houses.

Girl’s body found in canal:The body of a five-year-old girl was found in a bag floating in a canal near Nangla village on Saturday. The Station House Officer (SHO) of Chhajli police station, Kuldip Singh Virk, said the body would be kept at the Civil Hospital, Sangrur, for 72 hours for its identification.

Patiala
YPS celebrates founder’s day:Yadavindra Public School (YPS), Patiala, celebrated its 65th founder’s day on Saturday. The year 2013 also happens to be the centenary birth year of Yadavindra Singh, the former Maharaja of Patiala and the founder patron of Yadavindra Public Schools. The day began with the customary games followed by a mini fete.

Phagwara
Two women robbed:Some unidentified motorcycle-borne youths snatched gold earrings of two women in Phagwara on Friday. In the first incident, two masked youths stopped one Asha Rani near Urban Estate and fled with her gold earrings. In the second incident, the robbers snatched the earrings of a woman near Hargobind Nagar. Both victims sustained injuries on their ears. A case has been registered.

sangrur
3 get life term for murder:Additional Sessions Judge AS Grewal on Saturday awarded rigorous imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs 1 lakh each to Balwinder Singh, Nazar Singh and Tarsem Singh, all residents of Lehal Khurd village (Moonak), in a case of murder. The convicts had fatally assaulted Mang Singh of the sma village on May 18, 2010. On the complaint of victim's brother Jagga Singh, a case was registered against them at the Moonak police station.

Life-term in rape case:A local court on Saturday sentenced a youth to life imprisonment in a rape case registered on August 13, 2010. A fine of Rs 2,000 was also slapped on Navdeep Sahota (21), a resident of Kuthala village in Sandaur. Another accused in the case, however, was let off as the prosecution failed to prove the case against him.

Couple dies in accident:A man and his wife were killed and two youths were injured when the motorcycles they were riding on collided near Khurd village, about 4 km from Sandaur. The deceased have been identified as Bhola Khan and his wife, residents of Malerkotla. The injured persons - Surjit Singh and Beant Singh, residents of Shergarh Cheema - were admitted to Civil Hospital at Malerkotla.



 

HARYANA

Children participate in the long jump during the block-level school games at Karan Stadium in Karnal on Saturday. Tribune photo: Ravi Kuma

Kurukshetra
Man killed: Nitin Kumar of Khonakpur district, Ambala, was killed on the spot when a truck hit his motorcycle near Chhodpur village in the district on Friday. The police has registered a case in this connection.

One held:The police has arrested Sandeep Kumar of Kurar village in Kaithal district and Harbans of Khanpur Rodan in Kurukshetra district under the Excise Act for allegedly possessing 28 and 30 bottles of country-made liquor, respectively.

Sirsa
8 acquitted for torching properties: A local court in Sirsa has acquitted eight persons in a case of burning the properties of the Dera Sacha Sauda followers in clashes in July 2008 at Dabwali. The acquitted persons, Shivraj Singh, Balkaran Singh, Amarjit Singh, Lakhwinder Singh, Karamjit Singh and others, were alleged to have attacked houses and shops of the Dera followers after a Sikh youth died in a clash with them on July 18.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

SOLAN
Tributes paid to ex-minister:Floral tributes were paid by Health and Revenue Minister Kaul Singh Thakur to former minister Hari Dass Thakur on the occasion of his 29th death anniversary at Kunihar recently. Later addressing people at the local Government Senior Secondary School, the minister lauded the contribution of the former minister for the development of the state, especially rural areas.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Batote
61 animals rescued:The police on Saturday arrested four animal smugglers near Jawahar Tunnel in Banihal and seized five trucks in which 61 bovines were being smuggled to the Valley. They were arrested under Section 188 of the RPC and Section 3 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

Jammu
Principal Secy meets Guv:Principal Secretary, Planning and Development, BR Sharma called on Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhawan here on Saturday. The Principal Secretary briefed the Governor on the to-date status of implementation of major development projects and schemes. The Governor discussed with him issues relating to monitoring the execution of various Centrally sponsored schemes in the state.

Srinagar
Teenager electrocuted:A 17-year-old boy was electrocuted in central Kashmir’s Budgam district. The deceased, Mohammad Umar Sheikh, a resident of Kanir Chadoora village, was electrocuted when he touched a cable which was connected to a high-tension line, a police spokesman said.

DEHRADUN

Almora
SSB guerrillas to protest:A disgruntled organisation of SSB guerillas has now planned to demonstrate at the national level on March 4 this year. “We have been demonstrating for our three-point demands for the past many years but the governments have only assured us. Now we will have to raise our voice at the national level for the nation could know our plights and sacrifices made by our volunteers,” said BN Dalakoti, centre president of the organisation.

Champawat
304 gram panchayats:With the rising in the number of 14 new gram panchayats, Champawat district has now 304 gram panchayats. According to district development officer, most of the gram panchayats have been raised in interior parts of Champawat block followed by Pati and Lohaghat blocks where the number of new panchayats is four and two each, respectively. The creation of new gram panchayats in interior parts of Champawat district would help speeding up the pace of development in the district,” said JK Tiwari, chief development officer of the district.

DehraDun
Students' complaint to DM:DAV (PG) College student union leaders today met Dehradun District Magistrate BVRC Purushottam, alleging that college administration was wrongly framing student leaders. It is noteworthy that some days back, ABVP member and student union leader Mahesh Jagudi had resorted to manhandling DAV (PG) College Principal Devendra Bhasin, following which a case was filed against Mahesh Jagudi. Jagudi has since then been absconding.

Senani manch plans rally:Uttarakhand Rajya Senani Manch has announced a rally tomorrow (Feb 3) against the state government's new domicile policy. At a meeting held at state agitationists/martyrs memorial, manch members announced the staging of the rally. They also pledged to oppose tooth and nail, the new domicile policy that considers every individual residing in the state on it's formation as resident of Uttarakhand.

Chakka jaam on Feb 12:Roadways employees have decided to stage a chakka jaam on February 12. Roadways Employees' Union secretary Vipin Bijilawan alleged that their long-standing demand for better pay and perks were still to be redressed.

Football tourney:The late Shri Narayan Gurung Memorial District Football Tournament- 2013 will take place this year from February 10 to Feb 17 at Mahendra Ground (Army), Garhi Cantt, Dehradun. According to technical adviser-cum-chief referee for the tournament VS Rawat, 16 teams will be participating in the tournament that includes an Army team also. Vijay Cantt Football Club is organisng the tournament.

Rain, snow forecast:Dehradun Meteorological Centre has issued a warning against occurrence of moderate to rather heavy rain and snow at most places in the state during the next 48 hours. This inclement weather could continue till February 5. Meanwhile, it was a clear sky for most part of the day in Uttarakhand's capital Dehradun.

Haldwani
Admn orders flayed:Contractors opposed the administration’s orders to take only nine tonnes of weight in vehicle instead of 14 tonnes as used to be taken formerly, as the mining was started in the Gaula river last evening. “It is a big achievement to obtain the Gaula for 10 long years as the government had sought it for a long time,” said Indira Hariydesh, Cabinet Minister, while inaugurating the mining work on the river bed. The Cabinet Minister also distributed blankets among 50 labourers who were involved in mining work.

Haridwar
Quiz competition:A quiz and an antakshari competition was organised at Shri Sanatan Dharam Prakash Chand Kanya Mahavidyalalya here on Saturday. The aim of the twin competition was to generate awareness and test the general language acumen of the students. Questions were based on current, political, science, economic, international and social issues. In the quiz competitions, the Pragati group gained maximum points to become the winners, followed by the Unnati group.Ayesha, Pravin, Fulli and Sarika were the team members from the Pragati group, while Unnati group had Sunita, Nisha and Aarti Saini as participants.

Nainital
Anti-cancer drug soon:Government Biotechnology Institute at Patawa Dangar in Nainital district has claimed to have prepared an anti-cancer drug which will cure cancer patients without having reactions on the body of the patient. “The drug, prepared out of a mixture of 5 local herbs and cow urine and dung, will help in killing cancer cells and raising resistance of the body against the disease and self-generation of blood vessels in the body,” said Dr Ram Swaroop Singh Chauhan, director of the institute. The director said the preparations were being made to make the medicine available in one year’s time. The medicine will be produced in the tablet, capsule and syrup form, said the director.

(Compiled by BD Kasniyal)