R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Chandigarh
Interest-free loan for Class-IV staff: The Punjab Government has announced to give interest-free festival loans upto Rs 7,000 to its Class-IV employees during the current financial year. An official spokesperson said the facility can be availed till November 30 and that a notification had been issued. The spokesman said the loan can be re-payed in seven equal installments starting from December. He said only the regular employees can avail this benefit.

Hoshiarpur
Two youths killed in accidents: Two youths were killed in different road mishaps in the district on Sunday. Jalandhar resident Gurmel Kumar of Sagal Sohal village was on his way to Chintapurni in Himachal Pradesh on his bike when he was hit by a bus at Parbhat Chowk. His friend Karamjit was injured. Sanjiv Kumar of Depur village was going home when his bike was hit by stray cattle near Talwara. He died of a head injury.

Ludhiana
Police holds awareness drive: In the wake of the Patna blast ahead of Narendra Modi's rally, the city police today held a search operation and awareness drive to instil a sense of security into the residents. In a joint action, the staff from Police Station Division No. 1 and the Government Railway Police (GRP) checked the railway station, Chaura Bazaar and other areas. Surinder Mohan Singh, SHO, Police Station Division No. 1 said: "We are committed to providing safety and security to residents. During the joint drive, we inspected many congested areas of the city and made the public aware about the security measures".
A joint team of the city police and the GRP checks the luggage of passengers at the Ludhiana railway station. Photo: Inderjeet Verma

Drug peddler held with poppy husk: The city police has arrested a drug peddler here on Saturday and recovered 4.5 kg of poppy husk from his possession. The accused has been identified as Rajinder Singh of Singhpur village. The police said it installed a checkpoint at the BSNL exchange near Bharat Nagar to keep a tab on the movement of anti-social elements. The suspect was coming from the Mall Road side and tried to escape on seeing the police at the checkpoint. The police caught him after a chase and recovered the narcotics from his possession.

Nawanshahr
Free camp held for differently abled: As many as 430 persons with physical disability were examined by a team of experts at a free medical camp held at RK Arya College here on Sunday. Dr RK Chaturvedi from ALIMCO, Kanpur, said the patients would be provided with artificial limbs in order to help them rebuild their lives. The camp was organised by Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu and local Congress MLA Guriqbal Kaur Babli.

Phagwara
Mother-son duo held for dowry: A woman and her son were arrested while three other family members were booked for alleged dowry harassment, the police said on Sunday. In her FIR, the victim accused her husband Vikas, a resident of Patiala, and four members of his family of harassing her for dowry, the police said. While Vikas and his mother Neelam were in custody, the other three accused — his father and two sisters — were yet to be arrested, they said. The woman also accused Vikas of being in an illicit relationship, an allegation he denied, they said.

CHANDIGARH

Chandigarh
Office-bearers elected: Office-bearers of the Senior Citizens Welfare Association (Greater Chandigarh) was elected on Sunday. Santosh Walia was elected as the president, FS Chauhan was chosen as the vice-president, Raksha Kataria was voted as director (welfare), MG Verma was elected as director (communication) and OP Mehta was chosen as director (media). P Kharbanda was selected as the director (public relations), and BM Mittal was chosen as director (organisation). Satish Kapur was chosen as director (project).

HARYANA

Kurukshetra
1 killed in mishap: Suresh Kumar, a resident of Hathira village, was killed on the spot and Ajay Kumar of the same village was injured when a combine hit their motorcycle on Hathira road, near Barwa village, 5 km from here, Thursday.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Accident victim dies of injuries: Suneel Kumar (23) of Khalsaai village, near Jhandutta, who was injured seriously in a motorcycle accident while returning home on Friday, died at the PGI in Chandigarh on Saturday morning. He was referred from the Regional Hospital here to the PGI in a serious condition. Reports said his brother Sumit Kumar riding pillion was also injured in this mishap and admitted to the Regional Hospital here with serious injuries, but was stated to be out of danger.

NURPUR
Biker killed in road accident: Pankaj Kumar (35) of Chandrot died on the spot when his speeding motorcycle (HP 38B-5839) fell into a deep gorge at Bhali under Kotla police chowki on the Pathankot- Mandi national highway on Saturday evening. According to the police, the deceased was an employee of the state Pollution Control Board at Shahpur and was on his way home.

Power shutdown on Tuesday: The power supply of Nurpur, Jassur, Kotla, Suliali, Ondh and Agro industries 11kv power feeders will remained suspended for 9 am to 5 pm on Tuesday. According to RK Dhiman, Assistant Executive Engineer, 220-kv power sub-station here, this was for carrying out routine maintenance and repair of power supply feeders.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Batote
Unidentified body found: The body of an unidentified man was found from a nullah at Gazinaad Nowgam in Banihal beside the NH44 yesterday. According to a local police post in charge, Sub-Inspector Sohan Singh, the man was about 40-year-old. Efforts are on to identify the body.

DEHRADUN

DEHRADUN
Mandi to provide onion at Rs 60 per kg: Niranjapur Sabzi Mandi has decided to provide onions at Rs 60 per kg. Ajay Dabral, inspector, Niranjapur Sabzi Mandi, said it had been done to provide relief to consumers from the soaring onion prices. Onion prices had witnessed sudden increase.

Sir Syed Ahmed Day celebrated: Aligarh Muslim University Alumini Association celebrated Sir Syed Ahmed Day on Saturday. A function was organised at the Yamuna Colony. The speakers spoke about the life of Sir Syed Ahmed and his contribution towards improving higher education among Muslims.

Azad to launch health schemes: Union Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad will launch several health schemes in the city on October 30. The doctors are also expected to forward their demand before the minister for increasing the post-graduate seats in the medical education.