R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Fatehgarh sahib
TET teachers' protest today: The Teacher Eligibity Test (TET) Teachers' Union asked unemployed youth to hold a state-level protest rally against the government in Ludhiana on Sunday. Hardeep Singh, union member, said the Chief Minister on August 25 had assured them of fulfilling their demands within 10 days but no action had been taken so far.

Hoshiarpur
16 held under NDPS Act: The police has arrested 16 persons, including two women, under the NDPS Act, the Gambling Act and the Excise Act in the last 24 hours in the district. Sources said a large quantity of illicit liquor, poppy husk, narcotic powder, smack and cash was seized.

Girl hangs self: Manju (16) of Ravi Dass Nagar committed suicide by hanging herself at her residence on Friday evening. After the postmortem was conducted, the body was handed over to her parents.

Man killed in mishap: Harkanwal Singh of Terkiana died on the spot while his wife Satnam Kaur was critically injured when a speeding vehicle hit the motorcycle they were riding on near Gurdwara Takkar Sahib on Friday evening. Satnam was admitted to Dasuya Civil Hospital. The accused driver sped away from the spot. A case has been registered.

Cyclist run over: Cyclist Mahesh Lal of Ahrana Khurd died on the spot when a speeding vehicle hit him near Billa Brick Kiln on Phagwara Road on Friday evening. The driver fled from the spot. A case has been registered.

Pathankot
2 die as roof caves in: A woman and her son were buried to death when the roof of their house collapsed in Mohalla Sarain here on Saturday. Three other members of the family, including the woman's husband, father-in-law and mother-in-law, who were sleeping in the same room, sustained serious injuries. Senior Superintendent of Police SK Kalia said the trio was pulled out of the debris with much difficulty by their neighbours.

Sangrur
Factory gutted: Equipment worth several lakh rupees was gutted in a fire at a rubber factory in Sunam on Friday night. It took three fire tenders two hours to douse the fire. Karam Singh, Station Fire Officer, Sangrur, said the factory caught fire due to a short circuit.

HARYANA

Jhajjar
Truck kills 2 labourers: Two migrant labourers, Chandi and Pardesi, were mowed down by a truck at a brick-kiln in Kheri-Jatt village here on Thursday night. Another labourer, Surender Munshi, was seriously injured in the mishap.

KURUKSHETRA
KU results: Kurukshetra University on Saturday declared the results of BTech (8th semester, re-appear), BCA (2nd year), MBA (2nd year), MBA (2nd year Hospitality Management), MA economics (2nd and 4th semester), MA economics(final), Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication and MSc Applied Physics (4th semester), held in May this year.

Rewari
Excise official killed: Shri Niwas (40), a Sub-Inspector in the Excise and Taxation Department, and a resident of Sector 4 here, was killed when his car was hit by a Canter on the Rewari-Mahendergarh road , near Kharagwas village, last night. The deceased was posted at Bhiwani. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Chamba
Driver arrested
Paras Ram, who was absconding after hitting Bittu Ram with his vehicle at Kharamukh in Bharmour on Tuesday, was arrested on Thursday. 

Reports said the police had also found some papers and a photo of the woman with a youth. The police suspects it to be a love affair and both may have jumped into the water. A case has been registered.

HPCC meeting tomorrow
Shimla
State Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has convened a meeting of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) office-bearers and executive members at the Rajiv Bhawan here on September 9.

DEHRADUN

Anti-encroachment drive: The Dehradun Municipal Corporation on Saturday launched an anti-encroachment drive from Clock Tower to the Hanuman Chowk stretch of Paltan Bazaar. The Public Works Department, the district administration and the police assisted the DMC in the drive. DMC officials also had heated exchanges with a number of shopkeepers, who resented the drive. However, the DMC officials continued to remove encroachments.

A JCB machine removes encroachments from Paltan Bazaar in Dehradun on Saturday. A Tribune photograph

Residents’ charge against SI: Hina Kausar, a resident of Chandrashekhar Azad Colony, Govindgarh, has accused Sub-Inspector HA Chowdhary of threatening her. In a complaint lodged with SSP Kewal Khurana, Hina alleged that she was going with her children on Friday when the SI not only confronted her but also threatened her of dire consequences over a petty issue of vehicle parking. The SSP has assured her of action on the matter.

Police complaint against four: Manager of Vijaya Bank, Ashley Hall, GS Chadda in a report lodged with the Kotwali police has alleged that Shyam Sundar, Radhey Shyam, Rakesh Kumar and Sapna Jaiswal had together taken a loan of a few lakhs of rupees from the bank on the basis of fake documents. The foursome was now not repaying the loan. The police is investigating the matter.

Man booked: A case has been registered against a local resident for enticing a minor girl to elope with him at the New Patel Nagar thana. A woman alleged that Salman, a resident of Valmiki Basti, enticed her minor daughter to run away with him. The girl is a student of Government Girls College, Patel Nagar. The police has started investigation in the case.

Rudrapur
100 given food material: Education and Drinking Water Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani distributed food material to 100 persons under the Food Security Scheme in Udham Singh Nagar district on Saturday. He said as the minister in charge of the district he had ordered the District Magistrate to form a committee to review the implementation of the scheme regularly. “Of 16.43 lakh population of Udham Singh Nagar district, we have selected 10.10 lakh people for availing of benefits under the scheme. These families will be given sufficient ration under the scheme every month,” Naithani added.

Haldwani
Farmers resent land acquisition: Thousands of farmers from the Golapar area on Saturday staged a demonstration against alleged forcible acquisition of their land. They demanded that the notification of land acquisition for the four-laning of the Rampur-Kathgodam highway be cancelled as it had been published without informing them. “The land is being acquired for some other purpose as the proposed four-laning of the highway is a difficult task because it will pass through a narrow bridge at Kathgodam,” said Damodar Joshi, president of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, Golapar.

Ramnagar
Permission to kill leopard: The Forest Department has granted permission to a hunter to kill a leopard in Ramnagar. The leopard had injured a woman at Samkhelia village in Ramnagar last month. It had now created panic in nearby Kania village. “We have installed a cage near Kania village but the leopard skipped it last night. Two village women saw the carnivore near their house,” said hunter Thakur Datt Joshi, who is preparing to kill the animal. Joshi added he would need the help of more hunters and elephants for the purpose. He had earlier killed a leopard in Nainital.

Ranikhet
New subjects demanded:  The demand for starting new subjects at the postgraduate level has become a hot issue in the students’ union election in the local Postgraduate College this year. Student leaders are demanding that besides M.Com, subjects like music, Sanskrit, zoology and botany should be taught in the college at Ranikhet. “We have been agitating in support of our demand that new subjects be taught in the college. But despite assurances from politicians, nothing has been done. This is causing problems to students who come from remote villages,” said Ashok Pant, a student leader.

Almora
Water tax opposed: People have decided to oppose the determination of water tax on the basis of house tax in Almora town. They have planned to hold a demonstration in front of the District Magistrate’s office on September 11. According to Devendra Joshi, convener of the agitation, the state government is putting extra burden on the people by imposing water tax calculated on the basis of house tax. “We have decided to take the movement to every house in the town to compel the government to withdraw the decision,” said Joshi.

(Compiled by BD Kasniyal)