R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Chandigarh

3 trains cancelled" The Northern Railway has cancelled four trains of Punjab due to foggy conditions. As per the fresh schedule, trains 19611 and 19613 from Ajmer to Amritsar have been cancelled from December 28 to February 15, 2014 while trains 19612 and 19614 from Amritsar to Ajmer have been cancelled from December 29 to February 16, 2014. The New Delhi-to-Jalandhar city train 14681 has also been cancelled from December 28 to February 15.

Dera Bassi

Awareness camp: Agriculture department has organised an awareness camp at Saini Bhawan, Dera Bassi, in which farmers were informed about the different crops. Chief agriculture officer Parminder Singh has informed the farmers about the sowing of wheat crop and nearly 300 farmers have attended the camp. Local MLA and chief parliamentary secretary NK Sharma was the chief guest. Speaking on the occasion NK Sharma said state government has been encouraging the private firms to set up agro processing units so that farmers could get benefit from commercial crops. He advised farmers to adopt new agriculture techniques according to the advice of agriculture experts. Agriculture officials said that farmers would be provided subsidised seeds and machines for sowing.

Sangrur

Woman set on fire: Poonam Lata (31) of Longowal village was allegedly set on fire by her husband, mother-in-law and sister-in-law on Saturday. A case has been registered.

Zirakpur

Six booked: Police has booked six persons on the charges of possessing illegal weapons and one accused was arrested in this regard on Saturday. Five accused fled from the spot when police rounded up the accused in Zirakpur. One accused who has been arrested was identified as Amandeep Singh, a resident of Dhandrian, district Sangrur. The police said one illegal pistol was recovered from the accused. Other accused were identified as Nirmal Singh of Dhandrian village, district sangrur, Gurlal Singh resident of Sanour and three remain unidentified. A case has been registered under Sections 419 and 420 of the Arms act.

DEHRADUN

Plan for litter-free Haldwani: To make the town litter free, the Nagar Nigam, Haldwani, is mulling to purchase 33 utility vehicles and put 18 containers of 1,100 litre capacity each for a family of permanent residents and 50 containers of 100 litre each for those who enter the town from outside. “We have also decided to provide two baskets each to 43,751 families living in the nigam area to collect bio and non-bio waste material daily under our solid waste management plan for the town,” said Neeraj Joshi, spokesman for the nigam.

Pithoragarh

Nainital badminton team wins: The Nainital team was declared the overall champion in the 13th state level badminton championship that concluded here on Saturday. The Nainital team was declared the winner after it defeated the Udam Singh Nagar team 21-15, 21-12 in the final match of the under-19 girls’ double competition. “The Nainital team also won the under-17 girls’ double, under-19 boys’ double and under-19 boys’ single, besides under-14 girls’ single and under-19 girls’ single competition,” said DL Verma, spokesman for the District Badminton Association, Pithoragarh.

Bageshwar

Injured leopard untraceable: The leopard, which was fired at by the Forest Department sponsored hunters on Friday evening, remained untraced while two new cases of leopard attack in the district were reported on Saturday. According to Forest Department sources, in the first incident a person was attacked by a leopard at Majhiakhet village. In the second case, residents of Garhkhet village panicked after they saw a leopard in the village during daytime that remained there for nearly six hours. “While the Forest Department personnel are looking for the injured leopard, residents of Mahjikhet and Garhkhet villages have complained to the department to get them rid of the leopard menace,” said Madan Singh, a social worker.

Jaspur

Most backward status: Members of the Saini community in Uttarakhand have convened a state-level conference on Sunday to demand the most backward community status. “We have also decided to honour meritorious students belonging to the community and caution them against social evils like dowry and consumption of intoxicants and educate them about girl education,” said Chatrapal Singh Saini, president of the community at Jaspur.

Tanakpur

BJP to launch stir: BJP workers have decided to launch an agitation against the government for giving the rights of mining in the Sharda river to private parties. “It is clear that the government is hobnobbing with private contractors to earn unauthorised money from them as the minister concerned has been indifferent towards privatisation of the rights of mining in the Sharda,” said Deepak Pathak, district general secretary of the BJP.

(Compiled by BD Kasniyal)