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PUNJAB

Abohar
Cremated: Hundreds of men and women on Wednesday attended the cremation of Kamal Nagpal (53), a senior journalist, at the cremation ground on Padampur road in Sriganganagar. He had died on Tuesday after protracted illness. The family received condolence messages from Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and SAD (B) working president Sukhbir Singh Badal.

AMRITSAR
Man commits suicide: Jaspal Singh, who had been married for 17 years, allegedly committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance here on Tuesday night. Before dying, he scribbled a suicide note on the drawer of the dressing table in his room where his body was found on Wednesday morning. He blamed his brothers-in-law Charanjit Singh and Gurinder Singh, sister-in-law’s husband Kanwaljit Singh and wife Kulwinder Kaur for forcing him to take the extreme step.The deceased was a resident of Chintpurni Chowk, Namak Mandi. A case has been registered for the abetment to suicide against the accused. The accused were at large.

BANUR
Programme: A two-week faculty development programme aimed at honing the teaching skills of technical instructors and analysing the shortcomings of technical teachers' training module and techniques got underway at Shaheed Udham Singh College of Engineering and Technology (SUSCET), on Tuesday. The programme, which is being conducted by Dr S.K. Bhattacharya, former director of NITTTR, includes a series of lectures, workshops and discussions with specific focus upon "Laboratory and Workshop Skill Development'.

Barnala
Injured: In two separate road mishaps, six persons sustained injuries here on Wednesday. As per the information, four youths were injured while going to Ludhiana as their car hit a stray animal on Sanghera road, near Shiv Vatika Colony. In another mishap, a motorbike hit two school children, Jacky (8) and Aneeha (4), near Gurudwara Pargatsar.

BATHINDA
Suicide case: A 32-year-old resident of Janta Nagar, Jaswant Singh, hanged himself to death from a tree near a railway track at Janta Nagar, here on Wednesday. After receiving the information, volunteers of the Sahara Jan Seva and the canal post police reached the spot and the body was rushed to the civil hospital. The police said the brother of the deceased, in his statement, stated that the deceased had been experiencing depression, as he was suffering losses in his business. Recording his statement, the police have initiated inquest proceedings under section 174 of the CrPC and the body was handed over to the family members.

Condemned: The Punjab Students Union ( Shaheed Randhawa) has condemned the transfer of 16 teachers from the Government Rajindra College and promised to protest against the decision. They claimed through a press note that Rajindra College is synonymous with ‘more students and less teachers’ syndrome. Already, a lot of teachers were working on ad-hoc basis in the college. It further said that since 1996, the state government had not been recruiting teachers, which is affecting the education alstandards.

Pollution: The Public Library of Bathinda has claimed that the ash produced by thermal power plant here has adversely affected everyone’s life in the city. General secretary of the library, Jagdish Singh Ghai, said that the air pollution was the reason behind burning sensation in eyes, asthma, skin diseases and TB among residents. And during the winter season, the ash remains confined to a limited area and hence intensity of pollution increases.

CHANDIGARH
Industrial corridor: The Punjab Congress has thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and union commerce minister Kamal Nath for extending the industrial corridor up to Ludhiana. Raj Pal Singh, general secretary, PPCC, said with the extension of the industrial corridor up to Ludhiana, the state would be able to recover financially and grow. He said power cuts imposed in the industry by the SAD-BJP government had crippled it.

Hoshiarpur
Medical help: Chief parliamentary secretary Mohinder Kaur Josh gave a cheque for Rs 30,000 to Dr Ajay Bagga, in charge of the civil dispensary, Canal Colony for providing drugs to patients of slum areas.

Jalandhar
IESL’s chetna rally on Jan 22:The Indian Ex-Services League (IESL), Punjab and Chandigarh, will organise a chetna rally at the Adampur block on January 22 from 11 am to 1.30 pm. President of the Jalandhar district unit of the IESL Lt-Col Navinder Singh said a large number of ex-servicemen, their families, war widows, freedom fighters and Second World War veterans would attend.

Mansa
Rally held: A protest rally was held under the leadership of the Mazdoor Mukti Morcha to protest against the privatisation of the Punjab State Electricity Board and an effigy of the government was burnt near the Baghwala gurdwara here on Wednesday.

Arrested: The Boha police here on Wednesday arrested Kamaljeet Singh, son of Labh Singh of Ram Nagar, Bhattal, Buta Singh, son of Hari Singh of Khiala Kalan, and Rinku, son of Harbans Singh of Mullanwala, for possessing illegal arms and a stolen motorcycle.

TB camp: An awareness session under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme was arranged in Bareta with the help of the Shaheed-E-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh Sports Club. Jagdish Rai Kulrian, communication facilitator, appealed that any person diagnosed with TB should get DOT therapy from the nearest DOT centre, free of cost.

PATIALA
Awarded: Punjabi NRI philanthropist Dr Amarjit Singh Marwah awarded scholarships worth Rs 50,000 to the meritorious students of Government Mohindra College on Tuesday. A cultural function was also organised by the students in his honour. Dr Singh announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh for installing false ceiling and sound proofing system in the Bibi Kartar Kaur Memorial Auditorium.

Urged: The Federation of Aarhti Assocaition of Punjab has urged the Punjab government to withdraw its notification regarding giving direct payments to farmers for their produce through account payee cheques. In a press release, the federation also demanded that a special meeting be convened on the issue.

SANGRUR
Khatris urged to take 25 baratis: The Punjab Khatri Sabha,Sangrur, has asked Khatri families of the state to implement all provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act in letter and spirit. Giving this information here on Wednesday, acting president of the sabha Daljit Zakhmi said the Khatri families had been urged to take only 25 persons in a barat, receive only Rs 11 as shagun and serve only two meals to the marriage party as part of the Act.

Holiday in Sangrur dist today: Sangrur DC V.K. Ohri on Wednesday evening announced a holiday under Section 25, Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, on January 17 in the district in memory of Kuka martyrs. Earlier in the day, bank employees, led by Pali Ram Bansal, secretary, All-India Gramin Bank Officers Association, had met PWD B&R minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa and sought a holiday.

CHANDIGARH

MOHALI
Contributed: MBA students of Aryans Business School (ABS) have contributed token money of Re 1 each to invest in the country's IPO giant Reliance Power IPO. The purpose of the investment was not only to become a part of the biggest ever IPO, but also to provide the students with practical knowledge about the various concepts of stock market.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Killed: Sagar (7), a student of Government Primary School, Rampur Sarsehari, was killed on Ambala-Jagadhri road on Wednesday when a Haryana roadways bus hit him. According to information, Sagar was on his way to school along with some of his friends. A Haryana roadways bus, coming from Ambala Cantonment side, hit him. Sagar died on the spot. The driver and conductor of the bus fled from the accident site. A case was registered against the two and the vehicle was impounded.

Seminar: A seminar on tourism was organised in DAV College, Ambala city. Head of the tourism department Dr K.K. Kamara was the chief guest. Kamara said there were lot of opportunities in tourism. He asked the students to take degrees and experience before entering this field. Ashok Thakur, S.K. Gupta and Ravi Gulati also spoke.

CHANDIGARH
Transferred: The Haryana Government on Wednesday transferred an IPS and an HPS officer with immediate effect. Inder Singh Saini, HPS, additional SP, CID, has been posted as DCP, South, Gurgaon, in place of B. Satheesh Balan. While the latter has been posted as DCP, East, Gurgaon vice Satender Kumar Gupta, whose posting orders will be issued later.

FATEHABAD
Seminar held: A seminar on girls’ health problems was organised at local Manohar Memorial College here on Wednesday. Dr Anjana Dawra and Dr Renu Bhatia delivered lectures on the subject and gave some simple tips that could keep girls healthy and active.

YAMUNANAGAR
JAC meeting: There was resentment among the employees of the Haryana roadways after the suspension of Jagdish Rathi, president of the Haryana roadways workers union (Yamunanagar depot). At a meeting of the Haryana roadways joint action committee (JAC) here on Wednesday, the speakers alleged that Rathi was suspended by the general manager of the depot without any reason. GM Dharmvir Sigh Dhankar could not be contacted for comments.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

ANANTNAG
DC inspects work: The divisional commissioner (DC), Kashmir, Mehboob Iqbal accompanied by senior officers and Beacon Authorities inspected various projects under construction in Anantnag district. He also inspected the 72-km-long Anantnag-Simthan Kishtwar road.

JAMMU
Judicial conference: The logistics for organising three-day judicial conference were finalised at a high-level meeting of officers, held under the chairmanship of chief secretary B.R. Kundal on Wednesday. The meeting decided that the conference would be held from February 1 to 3 at the Zorawar Singh Auditorium in Jammu University. Around 160 delegates, including Judges of the Supreme Court and high courts from across the country are expected to attend the conference. Besides, 40 judges from the J&K High Court will also participate.

KUPWARA
8 model villages to be built: Eight model villages with all basic facilities would be constructed at various places in Kupwara district at the cost of Rs 9.60 crore. This was stated in a meeting of officers of the Rural Development Agency in Kupwara. The meeting was held to review the pace of work on model villages in the district. It was also disclosed that Rs 6.38 crore had been utilised on 450 works.

PULWAMA
Control room: As a precautionary measure, a control room has been set up at the deputy commissioner’s office, Pulwama, for timely snow clearance in the district. The control room has been made functional under the supervision of the assistance commissioner, Revenue. A team of officers from different departments have also been detailed on their duty.

SRINAGAR
More Hajis return from Jeddah: One more batch of 471 Hajis, including 187 women, reached Srinagar by two special flights from Jeddah on Wednesday. As many as 245 Hajis returned by the first flight and 226 by the second flight.

MC official meets senior citizens: A special tour was conducted by Syed Haq Nawaz, municipal commissioner, Srinagar, to review the arrangements made with respect to cleanliness, streetlights and other civic amenities in the Shia Muslim dominated areas of Srinagar on Wednesday. He interacted with a number of senior citizens who expressed satisfaction over the sanitary and other arrangements.

One killed in road accident: One person died, while another was injured when their Alto car collided with a Sumo near Pattan in Baramulla district on Tuesday. In another accident, a Sumo hit a horse cart on the Gulmarg road near Mazhama Budgam. The horse died on the spot.

Jawan dies under mysterious circumstances: Ashish Mala, a jawan of the 6/8 GR, died under mysterious circumstances on Wednesday. He reportedly fell unconscious, while attending a camp at Chumathang Nyuma in Leh district, and was later declared dead. The police has registered a case and started inquest proceedings.

Man from Nepal dies of burns: Inder Bahadur hailing from Nepal died due to severe burn injuries at Khalsi in Leh district of Ladakh region. The police said they were investigating into the matter.

Pilgrims return: Another batch of 171 Haj pilgrims, including 56 women, reached here by a special Haj flight from Jeddah. In all, 4,684 Hajis have arrived so far in 22 sorties. The last batch of Hajis is expected to arrive here on January 26.