The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

NEWS AND VIEWS

PUNJAB

HARYANA

JAMMU & KASHMIR

HIMACHAL

REGIONAL BRIEFS

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R E G I O N A L B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
Arrested: The Sadar police on Wednesday arrested three persons under the Arms Act. The accused are residents of Bathinda.

AMRITSAR
Committee meetings postponed: The meetings of the Planning and Development Board and Grievance Redressal Committee, scheduled for February 8, have been indefinitely postponed due to change in programme of local bodies minister Manoranjan Kalia.

Truce between jathedars hailed: The Sikh Nation Organisation has welcomed the truce between Singh jathedars of Akal Takht and Takht Patna Sahib, making an appeal to them to resolve the long-pending panthic issues immediately. Dr Manjit Singh Randhawa, president of the organisation, said personal ego has no place in the Sikh way of living, based on kindness, love and humbleness.

BASSI PATHANA
Celebrated: The Arthia Association of Bassi Pathana, on Thursday, celebrated the elevation of Sukhbir Badal as SAD president. The commission agents congratulated Sukhbir Badal as well as Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Gurwinder Singh Bhatti, youth Akali leader and son of MLA Didar Singh Bhatti, senior SAD (B) leader of the area Rajeshpal Singh Lalli, general secretary of youth Akali Dal Jagdeep Singh Cheema, also addressed the gathering.

BATHINDA
LIC branch: The Ludhiana circle of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) on Thursday inaugurated a satellite branch at the Mall Road here. The branch was inaugurated by senior regional manager S.C. Dhingra. Branch manager M.P. Chauhan said that the LIC was determined to provide quality services to its customers. The in-charge of the new branch Ramesh Ganjoo was also present on the occasion.

Suicide: A man, believed to be a resident of Hans Nagar, died on Thursday after having consumed sulphos. It is learnt that he took the extreme step after an altercation with his wife over some domestic issues. He was admitted to the civil hospital in a serious condition but he could not be saved. The deceased has been identified as Balbir Singh, 55. The canal police post handed over the body to family members after postmortem.

Strike: Against the unbundling of Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) by the state government and for the realisation of their demands, the Technical Services Union, along with Bharatiya Kisan Union and other farmers and workers organisations observed a one day strike at the Guru Gobind Singh Thermal Plant, here today. They also staged dharna on the main gate of the thermal plant since last night.

Faridkot
De-addiction: The local chapter of the Art of Living, with the support of Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, would hold 11-day free drug de-addiction camp at village Dhudi near here on February 8.

GURDASPUR
Demand for district supported: Coming in support of the Pathankot Zila Banao Sangharsh Committee for seeking status of a district to Pathankot, senior Congress leader has said that Pathankot deserves the status of a district due to its topography, culture and economy. Being a gateway to Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, Pathankot should be fully developed and beautified, he added.

Hoshiarpur
Husband booked: On the complaint of Jaswinder Kaur of local Milap Nagar, the police on Wednesday booked her husband Rajinder Singh and father-in-law Piara Singh of Prem Pat Newak in Shimla district under sections 498-A and 34 of the IPC.

Suicide: Suraj Kirpal of the local Krishna Gali, Bahdaurpur, committed suicide by consuming poison here on Thursday. According to police sources, Suraj, a cloth merchant, had suffered heavy losses in his business.

Body found: The body of an unidentified person was found near Singriwala T-point bypass here on Thursday.

New SSP: Dr Sukhchain Singh took over as SSP, Hoshiarpur, on Thursday. Singh was appointed in place of Anita Punj, who has been transferred to Chandigarh as AIG (administration).

Mansa
Case registered: The police on Thursday registered a case against Krishan Kumar Goyal, editor of a weekly—‘Bold Prints’, and five of his supporters for allegedly attacking one Darshan Singh of Mansa.

Teachers’ dharna today: On the call of the ‘Save Government School Education Manch’, the teachers of this district would hold a dharna in front of the deputy commissioner’s office on Friday. The leaders of the Manch informed that they would demand the reinstatement of the nine teachers suspended during the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan Camps, and to stop the privatisation of schools and begin teachers’ regular appointments.

CHANDIGARH

MOHALI
Urged: The Consumers Protection Forum has urged various telecom companies to stop making unnecessary calls to their customers as it allegedly led to lot of inconvenience. In a letter sent to managers of Airtel, Spice and Vodafone, P.S.Virdi, president of the forum, said his organisation had received complaints from consumers stating that they were allegedly harassed by telecom companies who made unnecessary calls.

ZIRAKPUR
Suicide: Sneha (23) allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself at her residence at Hem Vihar in Baltana on Thursday. The victim was married to Jeetender since past three years and had a nine-month-old daughter. According to the police, the family recovered her body hanging from the grill above the door of her room. The police is investigating the matter.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Held for graft: The state Vigilance Bureau nabbed a patwari of Shahpur village for taking a bribe of Rs 15,000 from a farmer for issuing him mutation of his land. According to information, Sham Lal, a resident of Manmohan Nagar, had filed a complaint with the IG of the bureau alleging that patwari Rajinder Kumar had been demanding Rs 15,000 from him for the mutation. The VB team nabbed the patwari red-handed. A case under Prevention of Corruption Act was registered.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Decisions welcomed: The Himachal Pradesh Employees Confederation has hailed declaration of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal that government would soon come out with a suitable transfer policy for employees and that some more than 13,000 daily-wage employees of the PWD and the IPH Department would be regularised. Chief adviser and former state president of the NGO Ram Singh said the government should take NGOs in confidence before finalising the policy.

Kangra
Death mourned: The death of the Indian spiritual guru, Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi, who introduced ‘transcendental meditation’ and transcendental meditation Sidhhi programme, died at his Netherlands home on Wednesday, was mourned here at MVM School, Khalehar. A two-minute silence was observed on the occasion.

KULLU
Pulse polio campaign: The second phase of the intensified pulse polio campaign will be held from February 10 to February 12. In all 402 booths will be set up in the district to administer polio drops to children. The CMO has called upon the people to come forward to make the campaign a success.

MANDI
Gutted: A fire that broke out gutted the panchyat ghar at Ghani in Balichowki tehsil of the district on Thursday. It resulted in damaging property and documents worth Rs 2 lakh. An FIR was lodged by the Ghani gram panchayat pradhan Deli Ram at Aut police station. The police was investigating the matter. A case has been registered.