R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AAP members donate blood to celebrate win: To celebrate the formation of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government in Delhi, members of the district unit of AAP, donated blood at Bhai Ghanaiya Charitable Blood Bank on Wednesday. The blood donation camp was inaugurated by Naveen Jairath, party’s state spokesman and member of AAP’s national executive.

Ludhiana
Will intensify stir, say ETT teachers: A state-level meeting of the ETT teachers was held on Wednesday. The agitated teachers threatened to intensify their struggle against the Akali-BJP government. The teachers said that on December 30, a state-level convention will be held at Moga in which their next plan of action will be announced. The teachers said for the past seven years, they had been struggling to be assimilated back into the Education Department instead of panchayats.

Moga
Two killed in road mishaps: A 16-year-old youth and a 34-year-old man died in separate road mishaps near Lopo village in Nihalsinghwala sub-division of the Moga district on Wednesday. Jagjivan Singh of Lopo, who ran an electronics shop, died after a motorcycle crashed into him. In the second accident, teenager Sukhjinder Singh got crushed under a bus after he fell off his motorcycle.

Nawanshahr
Master Cadre Union to hold protest: The state Master Cadre Union (MCU) will hold a state level executive meeting at JSFH Khalsa Senior Secondary School on Thursday to chalk out a strategy for organising a dharna in the near future. They are protesting against the issuance of show cause notices to the lecturers promoted last year. Harminder Singh Uppal, state vice president of MCU, said they would launch a stir soon. 

Tarn Taran
Traders booked for cheating: The Uttar Pradesh Police today arrested two traders of local Guard Bazar on the charge of cheating. The accused are brothers and have been identified as Jaspal Singh and Jagdish Singh. They had not paid for jaggery worth Rs 30 lakhs to Uttar-Pradesh-based man NK Sharma. A case under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC has been registered against the accused in Uttar Pradesh.

HARYANA

Ambala
‘Take part in games’: Commissioner of police Rajbir Deswal asked students to take active part in sports besides their regular studies. Addressing the students on the annual prize distribution function of Police DAV Public School at Ambala City, he said sports not only developed the health but also promoted mental abilities. 

Jhajjar
Body of missing youth found: The body of a youth, identified as Pradeep, was recovered by the police from near a government school in Hasanpur village here on Tuesday. Pradeep had gone missing under mysterious circumstances from the village on Sunday evening.

Rs 2.5 lakh looted: Three youths allegedly looted Rs 2.5 lakh at knife-point from Ramphal of Dighal village and Hawa Singh of Gangtaan village, under the Beri police station here on Monday. The youths fled the spot on a motorbike after throwing some chemical in the eyes.

Shoe trader shot at: A shoe trader, Rajesh Kumar was shot at by three armed assailants near the bus stand here. The assailants fled on a motorbike.Rajesh has been admitted to the civil hospital, where his condition is stated to be critical.

Karnal
Sarpanches submit memo: The Sarpanch association of Gharonda block came forward in support of sarpanch of Chora village, who was accused of abetment to suicide by family members of Shivam, who had committed suicide few days ago. President of the association Ajay Singh said the sarpanch was innocent and the allegations were baseless. They also gave a copy of memorandum to the SP Karnal.

Kurukshetra
Shalu Jindal is NBB chairperson: Shalu Jindal, vice-president, Flag Foundation of India has been appointed as the Chairperson of National Bal Bhawan (NBB), by the Human Resource Ministry, for five years, to look after and guide cultural and scientific activities.

50 units of blood donated: The district unit of BJP celebrated 89th birthday of Atal Behari Vajpai, former PM, by organising a blood donation camp at LNJP Hospital here today. About 50 units of blood were donated. —OC

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Axis Bank branch inaugurated: Axis Bank, a leading private sector bank inaugurated its 17th branch of the state at Tarore village on Tuesday. Pardeep Singh Manhas, assistant commissioner, development, Samba, inaugurated the branch. Manhas said opening of a new branch will definitely give a boost to the local economy and people will enjoy modern banking facilities. Rajesh Sharma, a senior bank official said the branch would offer every banking service such as opening of a savings bank account, current accounts, besides providing agri loans, auto loans, home loans and all variants of debit and credit cards.

Signature campaign begins for Duggar channel: Doordarshan Approved Drama Artists Association (DADAA), Jammu, started a signature campaign at Government College for Woman (GCW) to press for a Duggar channel on Tuesday. Principal, staff members and students of the college participated in making the signature campaign a success. Students were curious about the campaign and told the organisers that they were ready to launch a struggle to get a satellite for Duggar channel in the Jammu region.

MLA inaugurates new school buildings: Reasi MLA Baldev Raj Sharma inaugurated additional buildings for a school near Talwara on Tuesday. The buildings have been constructed at a total outlay of ~7.5 lakh under the `Sarva Siksha Abhiyan'. He said additional classrooms and other infrastructure were being provided under the SSA to step up literacy rate.Earlier, the MLA listened to the grievances of villagers at Pouni and Talwara. 

113th PNB ATM opened: Jammu: Punjab National Bank (PNB) opened its 113th ATM at Bari near Bari Brahman yesterday. Muhammad Latif Mir, Deputy General Manager, Circle Head J&K Operations inaugurated the ATM. He was accompanied by Deputy Commandant Somnath Maharana of 38 Bn. CRPF.

Srinagar
23 bottles of illicit liquor recovered in Anantnag: The police recovered 23 bottles of illicit liquor from a house in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Tuesday. The Achabal police station team raided the house of Abdul Hamid Teli, a resident of Badoora, Akingam, and recovered 23 bottles of illicit liquor, a police spokesperson said. The spokesperson said a case under Section 48 of the Excise Act has been registered and further investigation were on.