R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Chandigarh
Revised norms for shellers: Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has approved the amended policy for rice shelling units and saila plants to streamline guidelines for handling, transportation, storage and disposal of paddy husk.

moga
Aid for acid attack victims: The state government has released cheques of Rs 3 lakh each to Mandeep Kaur and her father Shamsher Singh who were attacked with acid allegedly by Mandeep's estranged husband on July 11 in the district. Mandeep has lost one eye, besides suffering 70 per cent burns.

Cop held for murder: A head constable and his associate have been arrested on the charges of murdering a 45-year-old Dalit woman. The body of the woman, Daulati of Baghapurana town, was recovered from a field at Harieawala village in Baghapurana sub-division of the district on September 27. Preliminary probe revealed that head constable Gurinder Singh and Vakil Singh of Nathana village (Bathinda) had strangulated Daulati to death.

Sangrur
B. Tech Student found dead: The body of a B.Tech (third year) student of Baba Hira Singh Bhattal Engineering College in Lehragaga, Nikhil Partap Singh (19) of Ballamgarh town in Faridabad (Haryana) was found outside a paying guest accommodation near the institute on Saturday. The death triggered a protest by college students, who blocked traffic on the Lehragaga-Sunam main road and demanded a high-level inquiry into Nikhil's death. The blockade was lifted after the arrival of the deceased's family.

DEHRADUN

Almora
Navrata festival begins: Devotees thronged the temples on the first day of the Navratra festival today, which also marked the start of Ramlila in the entire Kumaon region. In Almora, known as the temple town of the region, localities of Lala Bazar, Gangola Mohalla, Patal Devi and Rajpura have started preparations for Durga Puja and staging of Ramlila after installing the idols of goddess Durga. “We have also started preparation for Dussehra festival on October 14, for which we have decided not to take any donation from educational and other institutes this year.” said Devendra Joshi, a resident of Rajpura ward of the town.

Dehradun
Cong panel meeting put off: Uttarakhand Congress Disciplinary Committee meeting that was slated to take place in Dehradun on October 7 has been postponed. According to state Congress spokesman Dhirendra Pratap, the meeting has been postponed after consultation with the committee’s chairman Narendra Bhandari.

Temples decked up: Durga temples were decked up in Dehradun on the first day of the Navratras. A large number of devotees could be seen thronging the temples from early morning hours today. Radha Krishna Mandir, Vaishno Durga Mandir and Lakshmi Narayan Mandir were all decorated for the auspicious days. According to Pandit Vipin Joshi, the Navratra worship will continue for the coming 9 days and special programmes are being organised in the temples to mark the occasion.

Field staff strike continues: The strike undertaken by field employees of the state government departments in Uttarakhand continued for the third day today. The agitating employees today threatened to go hunger strike shortly if their demands linked to pay and perks are not fulfilled immediately.

Bhudi shudi yagya: Seeking better allowances, MNREGA employees today performed bhudi shudi yagya as part of their protest programme. The protesters have been staging dharna at old Raipur bus stand for long. President, MNREGA Employees' Association Rajendra Prasad Nautiyal led the protest.

IT cell workshop today: Uttarakhand Congress Information Technology cell will conduct a workshop in Dehradun tomorrow. The workshop will be attended by as many as 300 IT workers of Congress. Uttarakhand in recent times is laying much stress on social media and trying to strengthen its IT cell.

Kashipur
Auction of mill suspended: Administrative officials had to suspend the process of auction of Kashipur sugar mill that was declared sick, as no bidders were available on the day of the auction. According to the sources, the Rs 3,529.22 crore worth sugar mill will now be auctioned later. “The bidders who had earlier registered for the auction have withdrawn the registration money after they came to know that only immobile property of the mill had to be auctioned, whereas they were interested in the entire campus of the mill,” said Iwa Sahay, chairperson of the auction committee.

Nainital
Tomar is Bar Council chief: Yogendra Singh Tomar has been declared the president of Bar Council of Uttarakhand. The decision came after three of the four invalid ballet papers of Bar Council election held in January were found valid by the investigating Judge today. “Tomar, who was declared defeated by one vote last time, had gone to court challenging the invalidity of four votes, The court appointed a judge for recounting and three of the four ballet papers were found valid, out of which two were caste in favour of Tomar, resulting in his victory,” said a supporter of Tomar.

Ramnagar
Awareness against eco-sensitive zones: After being successful in getting the Corbett festival cancelled on the eco-sensitive zone issue, the Sangharsh Samiti in Ramnagar has decided to spread the awareness against the move of the government to declare the zones near forests as eco-sensitive. According to the decisions taken in a meeting held today, the Sangharsh Samiti has decided to make every affected village aware of the bad results of eco-sensitive zones. “We are not against the ecology, culture and tourism, but keeping the present situation of the state in mind, it is not suitable to have functions like this,” said Prabhat Dhyani, convener of the meeting.

(Compiled by BD Kasniyal)