R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Barnala
Bansal back as Barnala SDM: Amandeep Bansal, PCS, today took over as the new sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Barnala sub-division. After assuming charge, he held meetings with the employees of and the officers of various departments. Earlier in 2009, Bansal had served as the SDM, Barnala. Besides, Bansal had also performed duties as SDM, Malout; SDM, Sangrur; DTO, Sangrur and DTO, Bathinda after joining the PCS in 2004.

Chandigarh
Two PPP leaders join Akali Dal: Two confidants of People's Party of Punjab (PPP) chief Manpreet Singh Badal, senior vice-president and central committee member Darshan Singh Mandhir and Amardeep Singh Brar, returned to the SAD in the presence of party president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday. Sukhbir offered siropas to both the leaders and their supporters. Mandhir and Brar said they returned to the SAD as they were pained by Manpreet's decision to join hands with the Congress.

12 PCS officers elevated to IAS: The selection committee of the Union Public Service Commission on Thursday cleared the names of 12 Punjab Civil Service (PCS) officers for their induction into the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). These officers are Sukhwinder Singh, GS Ghuman, MS Jaggi, PS Gill, Manpreet Singh, Jaskiran Singh, Dilraj Singh Sandhawalia, Manjit Singh Brar, Kanwalpreet Brar, Tejinder Singh Dhaliwal, DPS Kharbanda and Bhupinder Singh Rai. 

6 administrative officers shifted: The Punjab Government on Thursday posted two new Deputy Commissioners (DCs) in a minor reshuffle. Rahul Tiwari has been posted as Amritsar DC and Rajat Agarwal Ludhiana DC. Gurmit Singh has been posted as Khanna ADC, Rajat Oberoi Assistant Commissioner (General), Amritsar, Lovjeet Kalsi Baba Bakala SDM and Arina Duggal has been posted as Khamano SDM. 

State govt starts disbursing salaries: Since Wednesday, the state Treasury Office here has started disbursing salaries of over 3 lakh of its employees. Sources said Rs 1,000 crore has already been transferred. All employees posted in Chandigarh have been paid while a few employees posted in various districts have not yet got their salaries. Moreover, all bills regarding withdrawal of provident fund for marriages, submitted with the treasury before August 30, and all medical bills submitted with the respective government treasury till July 31, have now been cleared. However, other bills have reportedly been pending since July 13.

`70 cr released for mid-day meals: A day after The Tribune highlighted that the government had not been releasing funds for mid-day meal scheme for the past two months, Rs 70 crore were released on Thursday. Anjali Bhawra, Principal Secretary, Education, said the district education officers had been instructed to provide mid-day meal in all schools. 

Ludhiana
Tewari questions hike in toll tax: Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Thursday met Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Oscar Fernandes and sought early completion of the six-laning of the Jalandhar-Panipat highway, which had been unduly delayed for a long time. The Minister expressed surprise that when the work on the highway had remained suspended for over a year now, how could the executing company raise the toll tax? “It is unjustified and amounts to extortion.”. 

DEHRADUN

32-yr-old man ends life: Thirtytwo-year-old Laxman Singh Rana, committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his home here on Thursday. Laxman, a resident of Nathanpur, was found hanging by his family members, when they reportedly went inside his room to call him for dinner. The police and 108 Emergency Ambulance was also called. The postmortem of the body was not done after a written request was made to the District Magistrate.