CHANDIGARH

HARYANA

BHIWANI
Man gets extortion call: The district police has registered a case of extortion against an unidentified person. Dalbir, a resident of Badsi village here, had received an anonymous call on his mobile phone. The caller demanded Rs 2 lakh and threatened him with serious consequences if his demand was not met out. The police reportedly traced out the phone number of the caller and investigations are on. 

KARNAL
Conference on female  foeticide: The Karnal-based National Integrated Forum of Artists and Activists (NIFAA) will organise a state-level conference on women empowerment and female foeticide here on June 21. An official spokesman of the NGO said union minister of state of housing and urban poverty alleviation Kumari Selja and Haryana minister for youth affairs Kiran Chaudhary would among the key speakers on the occasion. The function will be held in the NDRI auditorium.

REWARI
Security guard dies: Gabdoo Khan, a security guard of a gramin bank at Kapriwas village near Dharuhera, succumbed to his bullet injuries at Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi, on Tuesday. Khan was shot at by miscreants, who looted Rs 1,32,810 from the bank on June 14. Consequently, Section 302 of murder has now been added to the FIR, which was earlier registered for robbery with attempt to cause grievous hurt. The police is still clueless about the culprits who committed the crime.

BJP holds protest: Activists of the BJP from various parts of the district led by their district president Dr Harish Yadav took out a procession from main markets of the town here on Thursday shouting slogans against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and union finance minister P. Chidambram. They denounced them for their failure to curb inflation. The procession converted into a rally at Moti Chowk here. Senior BJP leader Veer Kumar Yadav flayed the UPA government as well as the Hooda government asserting that their anti-people and anti-farmer policies had made life miserable for the masses.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
Stone for cricket stadium: Anurag Thakur, MP, president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA), has declared that the association would spend Rs 1 crore to develop a cricket stadium at Bilaspur within 10 months. He was presiding over the foundation-laying ceremony of this cricket stadium. The ceremony, which was to be performed by Chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, was performed by forest minister J.P. Nadda as Dhumal could not take off from Shimla due to inclement weather. A large number of HPCA office-bearers, including state general secretary Gautam Thakur and district convener Vishal Jagota, were also present. 

CHAMBA
Railway line sought: In a representation to the Union Government, the Chamba Welfare Association has sought the construction of a railway line from Pathankot to Chamba and declaring Chamba-Bharmour highway via Chamba as a ‘national highway’. “The district generates a revenue of around Rs 2,100 crore thanks to seven power projects that produce 1,043.05 MW power. However, the district is not getting enough attention on the development front,” the association has claimed in its representation. It has demanded engineering, medical and other institutions besides sports infrastructure in the district. It has also urged the Central Government to block Pakistan Radio frequency that pervaded through most of the Chamba district so that anti-India propaganda could be checked.

HAMIRPUR
House gutted: A house was burnt at Thana Darogarh village under Sujanpur police station. According to information, few miscreants put the house belonging to Prakash Chand on fire on Thursday morning. An initial loss of Rs 4 lakh has been estimated in this fire. The police has registered a case. 

Tributes paid: Hamirpur based mediapersons paid rich tributes to Hans Raj Sipahiya, a Doordarshan reporter, on his first death anniversary on Thursday. In a programme organised in the press room members of the press observed two minutes silence in the memory of the departed fellow journalist. They also decided to meet the Chief Minister and urge him to provide a government job to the wife of the deceased. 

Medical camp: Hamirpur DC Nandita Gupta inaugurated a health check-up camp at Badasr on Thursday. The camp was being organised jointly by district Red Cross Society and BBC Heart Care Centre. More than 500 patients were examined in this health camp. 

KULLU
Employees’ body: Himachal Pradesh Non-Gazetted Officers Mahasangh state chief Surender Thakur said on Thursday that thousands of government employees have joined their organisation under a membership campaign launched recently. He said the elections to 11 district bodies would be held by June 30, while the Kullu district body had already been elected. State vice-president Mangat Ram Thakur, general secretary Sita Ram Chandel, national federation member Shiv Kumar Sharma, district president Prem Kaundal and other office-bearers were also present on the occasion. 

Nahan
Man falls from tree, dies: Bir Singh (29) of Kajwa village, about 130 km from here in the Renuka area, died after he fell from a tree on Thursday. The deceased had climbed the tree to fetch fodder. The serious head injuries caused after he fell on a hard surface proved fatal. He is survived by his wife and two children. 

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
Pandits register to return: Over 100 families have submitted their forms to return to the valley since the first ever exercise of registrations of Kashmiri Pandits began on June 17. As many as 1,150 registration forms have been taken, sources in the Relief Commissioner Office (RCO) said. Migrants have to furnish details and facilities they want in the forms, so that the government can take adequate measures for their rehabilitation. 

Youth murdered: Four miscreants shot dead one Koushal at his residence in the Bishnah area on Wednesday, police sources said. Koushal’s younger brother had a scuffle with one Ghara Ram over some minor issue. Ram along with his three friends later reached Koushal's house and started abusing the womenfolk. When Koushal intervened, they opened fire on him, sources said. Koushal died on the way to hospital.

Hizbul ultra surrenders: Sajjar Ahmed, a top Hizbul Mujahideen militant active for the past 14 years, on Thursday surrendered before the 69 Rashtriya Rifles at Kuchal Army camp in Kishtwar district, defence sources said. In another incident, Army troops busted a hideout in Kandi area of Rajouri district and recovered one and half kg explosive, one Chinese pistol and one magazine.

Leh
Stolen vehicles seized: The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday seized 17 stolen vehicles here. Acting on a tip-off, police raided a number of places, during which the police seized the vehicles stolen from different states. The vehicles were plying with fake documents, official sources said. Some of the cars were sold against Pashmina shawls in Changthang.

Srinagar
Shell explosion: Ghulam Mohiudin Malik was injured when a shell exploded in his house in the central Kashmir district of Badgam, official sources said on Thursday. Malik was critically wounded, they said, adding he collected the unexploded shell from the Tosha maidan area where the security forces were conducting daily practice.