R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Faridkot
Jain's kin seek stay: Four family members of newly elected SAD (B) MLA from Moga, Joginder Jain, on Saturday approached the District and Session Judge Faridkot, demanding stay on their arrest warrants. The warrants were issued in a criminal case.

Patiala
Garg sent to remand: The local court on Saturday sent former Patiala Deputy Commissioner Vikas Garg to 14 days in judicial remand as the Patiala Vigilance Bureau (VB) failed to get the police remand extended. The VB sleuths had arrested Garg from Delhi on Thursday evening in connection with the Patiala land scam, wherein Garg is a co-accused along with nine others.

Tarn Taran
Flag march ahead of protest: The district police organised a flag march in the district here on Saturday to prevent farmers and workers from attending the dharna here on March 18.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
Five booked: Five persons were booked at the Chamba police station when they were caught red-handed indulging in gambling at a private hotel on Tuesday. A police party raided the hotel and recovered Rs 34,210 from the possession of five persons. A case has been registered against them.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
Christians protest: Members of the All J&K Christian Welfare Association took out a protest march to demand one per cent reservation in professional courses and government jobs, besides an advisory board.

No bail for drug pedlars: MK Hanjura, Kathua Principal Sessions Judge, denied bail to Surinder Singh and his accomplices, from whom the police had recovered more than 1,000 intoxicant capsules.

Srinagar
Mir is Kashmir IGP: Abdul Ghani Mir took over charge as the IGP, Kashmir Zone, on Saturday, relieving SM Sahai who has been posted as the ADGP, Armed. Mir is an IPS officer of 1994-batch originally from the Bihar cadre. He has held many key postings in Bihar, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. He came to J&K in 2005 and was posted as the Anantnag SSP.

DEHRADUN

Almora
ABVP protests fee hike: Workers of the ABVP on Saturday held a protest against the fee hike in medical colleges of the state. They said the raised fee was beyond the paying capacity of the common student. The previous BJP government had fixed the fee keeping in mind the need of interior areas of the state. It had also started hiring pass-out medical students on contract to serve in interior areas. The present government by increasing the fee had virtually made it difficult for the doctors to serve in the interior areas, said Sushil Singh Bisht, who led the protest.

Bageshwar
10-year jail for molestation: The District and Sessions Judge, Bageshwar, on Saturday awarded 10 years’ imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 10,000 to Bhim Singh for molesting a woman at Nailwal village on June 3 last year. The accused entered the woman’s house and molested her, said DK Joshi, government advocate.

Champawat
Irregular power supply: The issues of irregular supply of electricity and drying up of water resources were raised at the BDC meeting in the Pati block on Saturday. JK Tiwari, Chief Development Officer, Champawat district, chaired the meeting. Some members also raised the issues of outsourcing of education and boycotted the meeting. The issues of delayed payment of old-age pension and shortage of furniture in schools were also discussed.

Dehrdun
Stone of roads laid: Uttarakhand Sports and Planning Minister Dinesh Aggarwal laid the foundation stone of the roads approved by the Mussoorie-Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) at Bhandari Bagh here on Saturday. Speaking on the occasion, he said the state government had initiated a lot of development works, including foundation of flyovers in the Dehradun city. He said the state government was fully committed to the overall development of state and it has been evident by the various schemes started by the state government.

Train to Madurai: Weekly train Dehradun-Chennai Express will now run up to Madurai from March 25. Union Railway Minister Pawan Bansal, in his budget speech, had announced extension of Dehradun-Chennai Express train up till Madurai and vice versa. Kartar Singh, Deputy Superintendent, Dehradun railway station, said all preparations had been made for the extension of the Dehradun Chennai Weekly Express train up till Madurai. The train leaves Dehradun every Monday.

Manch’s protest on March 19: The Uttarakhand Rajya Nirman Andolankari Manch has decided to stage a protest march on March 19. They said the state government was not concerned about the needs of state agitatiors.

Jankranti Dal's protest: The Uttarakhand Jankranti Dal has demanded a curb on black marketing of LPG cylinders in Dehradun. A deputation of the Uttarakhand Jankranti Dal led by NK Gusain reached the District Supply Office here and staged a demonstration. They alleged that the District Supply Office was doing little to curb the rampant black marketing of LPG cylinders.

Staff demanded: The Uttarakhand Swatchkar Karmchari Sangh has demanded immediate start of recruitment process for filling up of vacant posts of sanitary workers in the Dehradun city. They alleged that the shortage of sanitary workers was affecting the cleaning works. They also demanded an end to any contractual appointment of sanitary workers.

Forest guards meet: An important meeting of forest guards from the state Forest Department was held in Dehradun on Saturday. The meeting unanimously decided to boycott works on March 21. It was also decided that a massive demonstration would be held outside the Secretariat on March 27. The forest guards are demanding better pay and perks.

nainital
Final exams from April 10: The main examinations of Kumaon University will begin from April 10. The detailed examination schedule will be released shortly, said university Pro Vice-Chancellor HS Dhami in Nainital on Saturday. More than one lakh students would appear in the examination this year. The university would release the exam schedule in the next three days after due consultations with heads of other institutions.

Ramnagar
Regular rail services sought: In support of its demand for better railway facilities from Ramnagar, volunteers of the Dev Bhoomi Vyapar Mandal organised a one-day sit-in at the tehsil headquarters at Ramnagar on Saturday. “We demand regular rail services from Bareilly to Ramnagar and from Haridwar to Ramnagar train and the opening of a booking counter for 12 hours from 8 am to 8 pm, said Manohar Aggarwal, president of the mandal.