CHANDIGARH

Mohali:
Water shortage Residents Welfare Association, Phase XI, has demanded a hotline power connection for the Phase X water reservoir to facilitate uninterrupted water supply to residents of Phases IX to XI. Association president Kulwant Singh Kler in a letter to the PSEB chairman has said that residents have not been getting adequate water supply due to power cuts being imposed in the town. He said residents of three phases were getting water from an underground reservoir, which was pumped with the help of boosters that ran on electricity.

Panchkula
Thefts at 2 temples: Thieves struck at three temples of Ramgarh, near here, on Thursday night. The first theft came to light when Shiv Mandir priest reached the temple in the morning and found the locks broken. The donation box of the temple was also found open. A sum of around Rs 5,000 was lying in the box. Similarly, a chhatar was stolen from Vishavkarma Mandir. However, thieves could not break open the lock of another temple situated in the town.

HARYANA

CHANDIGARH
Additional charge: The Haryana government has given additional charge to one IAS officer and one HCS officer in addition to their present assignments with immediate effect. V.S. Kundu, IAS, managing director, HARTRON, director, electronics and information technology and special secretary, electronics and information technology department, has been given the additional charge of special secretary, finance department. Sumedha Kataria, HCS, ADC-cum-CEO, DRDA, Kurukshetra, has been given the additional charge of chief executive officer, Kurukshetra Development Board, Kurukshetra.

Hisar
Dainik Tribune scribe to be honoured: Kamlesh Bhartiya, senior staff reporter with the Dainik Tribune here, will be honoured with the Dheeraj Trikha Memorial Award for his contribution to journalism and Hindi literature. The award will be given by the Kaithal-based Sahitya Sabha. Six other Hindi writers will also be honoured by the society. They are Kumar Ravindra (Hisar), Vipin Suneja, Rajveer Singh Dhanker and Ramesh Siddharth (Rewari), Ashok Sharma (Ambala) and Darshan Singh (Sirsa). The awards will be presented at a ceremony, which will be held in Kaithal on August 24 in collaboration with the Haryana Sahitya Akademi.

JHAJJAR
4 held for farmer’s murder: The police on Friday arrested four persons from Dhakla village here in connection with the murder of Rajbir Singh of the same village. Those arrested include Rakesh, alias Keshu; Satish, alias Satte; Satpal alias Maniya; and Rajbir, alias Gaatha. All accused were produced at a local court, which sent them in police remand till July 28. Rajbir Singh (45), a farmer, was found dead outside the village on July 19. The body bore multiple injury marks. The police had registered a case against unidentified persons on the complaint of the deceased’s brother Ran Singh. 

REWARI
Husband booked: The police has booked Dharam Pal, a resident of Cheemnawas village, for allegedly instigating his wife Sumitra Devi (35) to commit suicide. She reportedly ended her life by jumping into a pond at Bohatwas village on July 21. A case of abetment to suicide has been registered against Dharam Pal on a complaint filed by Shanti Devi, mother of the deceased. The complainant alleged that her daughter was virtually forced by her husband to take the extreme step. The woman’s body was fished out from the pond on the same day.

2 commit suicide: Two persons reportedly committed suicide by consuming poison in two villages of the district in the past 24 hours. A youth, Avinash (25), committed suicide by consuming celphos at Kosli village, 30 km from here, on Thursday. The police, which conducted an inquest under Section 174 of the CrPC, has treated it as a case of suicidal death. In another incident, Harish Kumar (35) committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance at Siha village, 20 km from here, on Wednesday. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Timber sale depot: J.P. Nadda, state forest minister, while inaugurating the state Forest Corporation’s timber sale depot at Swarghat, said on Tuesday that 5,000 cubic metres of timber would be stored in this depot. Nadda said the Swarghat depot would sell timber worth Rs 50 lakh to 2 crore every month. He said this would improve the economic condition of the locals and would also provide direct and indirect employment to them. 

HAMIRPUR
Cong panel’s demand: The Bamsan block Congress committee has urged the party leadership not to take back expelled leaders who had worked against the party in the last elections. This was necessary to maintain discipline in the party, they have said. A resolution to this effect was passed at a meeting of the committee held on Thursday. This committee also congratulated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi for winning the vote of confidence in Parliament.

Shop burgled: Electronic gadgets and a sum of Rs 3 lakh were stolen from a shop at Jahu here on Thrusday night. The thieves reportedly entered the shop after breaking open the door during the night. A case has been registered. 

KANGRA
Motorcycle lifters’ gang busted: Jawalamukhi police had busted an inter-state gang of motorcycle lifters and arrested three members of the gang, the police said here on Thursday. The three accused identified as Charan Jeet, Jatinder Singh and Sukh Dev had lifted a motorcycle belonging to Ashwani Kumar of Jawalamukhi on July 21. DSP Sita Ram said the police arrested the trio at Pandoh near Mandi and the motorcycle was also recovered from their possession. He said they were produced before the SDJM and the court remanded them in police custody till July 26. A case under Section 379 of IPC had been registered against them. 

Heavy rain lashes Kangra valley: Kangra valley again experienced heavy showers on Thursday, leaving the life out of gear. Some highways, link roads and localities were flooded. The Manji and Manooni khads were in spate. 23 mm of rain was recorded in Kangra, the reports said. The reports of rains were also received from Gaggal, Palampur, Mallan, Shahpur, Nagrota Bagwan, Dharamshala and other towns. 

KULLU
1 dies in mishap: Sudershan (35) died on the spot when the tractor in which he was travelling overturned near Bagidar Mod. He was on his way to Bagidar village from Sain. The police said the cause of the accident was not known. The body of the deceased was handed over to his relatives after the postmortem. A case under Sections 279, 337 and 304A has been registered.

KUMARHATTI
Appointed: Sanjay Thakur from Barog has been appointed as the member of the BJP grievance committee, Solan district. Thakur was also a treasurer of the BJP Yuva Morcha, Solan district. Tirth Ram Thakur president of the BJP polling booth committee thanked Prem Kumar Dhumal for giving Barog a representation in the grievance committee.

NAHAN
Body found: On the information given by the local residents, the Paonta police on Thursday recovered the body of Ram Lal (45) a resident of Sainwala village under Paonta subdivision from the Bata river near Fatehpur village. V. S. Thakur, DSP, Paonta, said the deceased was missing from his home from the past two days. The police had received the postmortem report which confirmed the death due to drowning. The police had been informed that the deceased was mentally upset for the past few days. 

NURPUR
Youth drowns: Ajay (25) of Luhara village in Jawali subdivision drowned in the Pong dam reservoir on Thursday. He, along with his friends, went there to take a bath and was trapped in the deep water. His friends immediately informed the villagers, who rushed to the spot and fished out his body. The body was handed over to his family on Friday after the postmortem.  

SHIMLA
Rampur power project achieves milestone: The 412 MW Rampur project achieved an important milestone with the completion of the underground excavation of 149.4 m deep and 38 m diameter surge shaft. A pilot of 7.15 m diameter was excavated from top to pave way for the surge shaft. The underground excavation has been completed in 11 months which was a remarkable achievement. The project is being executed by the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam. 

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Srinagar
Peasants’ problems: Expressing concern over the burning problems faced by peasants in the state, CPM state secretary M.Y. Tarigami on Friday said agriculture and horticulture sectors suffered from inadequate infrastructure and technology and had rendered it unprofitable. Addressing a public rally at Laroo in the Kulgam constituency, Tarigami said sustainable agriculture and food security was one of the most significant problems. “Whether due to conflict, drought, flooding or disease, sustainable agriculture and food security are unstable realties for the poor,” Tarigami added. 

Udhampur
Total shutdown: While Udhampur and adjoining localities observed total shutdown on the second consecutive day in response to the bandh call given by the Shri Amarnath Sangarsh Samittee (SASS), demonstration continued against National Conference president Omar Abdullah for his, what people dubbed, "insulting" remarks in the Lok Sabha on land controversy. To express their anger against NC president, people took out "funeral procession" of Omar Abdullah and burnt his effigies at many places in Udhampur district. Anti-NC slogans were raised when activists of SASS torched effigies of Omar Abdullah and demanding registration of a case.