The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

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PUNJAB

Abohar
Smoker sets cotton ablaze
Notwithstanding the ban on smoking at public places, a smoker on Saturday caused a heavy loss to a farmer. It is believed that the smoker had thrown the butt of the ‘beedi’ on a heap of cotton under shed number 12 of the grain market here, which set the cotton ablaze. Though a fire tender controlled the fire but not before over 13 quintals of the yield owned by one Subhash Chander of village Dharangwala had been burnt.

AMRITSAR
Avtar’s statement hailed: While stating that the SAD (A) supports the All-India Gurdwara Act for management of all gurdwaras in the country, Ram Singh, general secretary, SAD(A), on Saturday welcomed the statement of SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar in which he had called upon committee members from Haryana to discuss the matter of formation of a separate gurdwara prabandhak committee on a common table.

Barnala
348 examined at eye camp: Nearly 348 students were examined for various eye ailments at a eye camp organised at the government hospital, Bhadaur. Senior medical officer B.D. Chand Sharma said the camp was organised as per the directions of civil surgeon S.M.S. Sidhu. Dr Yog Raj, who examined the students, said watching TV for long hours, the stress of competitions and lack of proper diet were the main reasons for eye related problems. Altogether 46 students were advised spectacles, which would be given to them by the district administration.

Batala
Drugs seized: The police recovered 150 gm of narcotics from Harjinder Singh, resident of Mian Mohalla, Batala, 100 gm of narcotics from Gurbaj Singh and Sarabjit Singh, residents of Kandila village, and 350 gm of narcotics from Bua Dass, resident of Khatib village.

CHANDIGARH
Rates of salary notified: The Punjab government on Friday notified the rates of salary to be paid to contractual re-employed medical teachers up to the age of 65 years for Government Medical College, Amritsar and Patiala.

Hoshiarpur
Father-son duo hurt in firing: Sukhdev Singh and his father Karnail Singh of Rajpur Molp village in Dasuya were seriously injured when some persons opened fire on them last night. They were rushed to Civil Hospital, Dasuya, from where doctors referred them to DMC, Ludhiana. According to police sources, the father-son duo were getting ready to sleep after their dinner when Balwinder Singh along with his brother Darshan Singh entered their house and fire at them from a .12 bore rifle. Luckily, the other family members, including children, escaped unhurt. Dasuya police has booked the two accused under relevant sections.

Foetus recovered: A six-month-old foetus was recovered at Bakapur village near Garhshankar last evening. According to police, Mangat Singh, a member of Garhshankar block samiti and Budh Singh, ex-sarpanch, saw some dogs carrying the foetus. The duo shooed away the animals that left behind the foetus. Susequently, cops were informed and they took the foetus in their custody.

Blood camp: A blood donation camp was jointly organised by the district health department, Red Cross Society, Lions Club and Bhai Ghaniya Ji Blood Bank Society at ITI here today. As many as 46 students donated blood and the blood group tests of 357 students were conducted. A candle light march was also organised in the city to spread awareness on voluntary blood donation.

Mansa
Compensation demanded: Leaders of Democratic Employees Front expressed deep sorrow over the death of two employees in an accident. Jaspal Kokhar, Sukhchain Singh and Jasbir Kaur on Saturday expressed grief over the death of Bhola Singh, a meter reader and Buta Singh, a lineman of the Punjab State Electricity Board. They were killed in a road mishap near Kotshmeer in the district. The leaders demanded compensation for the families of the deceased.

PATIALA
Exams begin: Punjabi University, Patiala, has started its supplementary examinations. All date sheets are available on university website punjabiuniversity.ac.in. Roll numbers of most of the classes have been dispatched. Students who have not received roll number, can get it two days before the exam from the university office. The examination branch of the university will remain open on Saturday and Sunday during the examination days.

Revised interest rates: The State Bank of Patiala will increase the interest rates on deposits to 11 per cent for senior citizens for a period of one year to less than three years from October 6. For others, it will be 10.50 per cent. The revised rate of interest for a period of 15 to 45 days will be fixed at 7.50 per cent, 46 to 90 days at 5.25 per cent, 91 to 180 days at 7.50 per cent, 181 days to less than one year at 10 per cent, one year to less than three years at 10.5 per cent, three years to less than five years at 9.75 per cent and five years to 10 years at 9.25 per cent per annum.

Rajpura
One killed in accident: A resident of village Brass in Fatehgarh Sahib was killed in an accident today evening. The victim, identified as Puran Singh (27), was on his way from Banur to his village on a bike, when a speeding truck hit him near Gagan chowk at around 6.30 pm. He was accompanying a woman, Gurpreet Kaur, a resident of Ludhiana. The woman received minor injuries and was rushed to the local civil hospital. Her condition was stated to be normal. Police has registered a case in this connection.

SANGRUR
100 examined: About 100 patients were examined at a free medical check-up camp, jointly organised by the Osho Youth Club and the Pragateesheel Manch, at Aggarwal Dharamshala here on Saturday. Chief parliamentary secretary Raj Khurana was the chief guest. Medicines were given free of cost to the patients. Besides this, sugar and ECG tests were also conducted free of cost.

HARYANA

JIND
Head constable held for graft: A head constable posted at a police post in Danoda Kalan village was nabbed red-handed while allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 2,000 from a resident of the village here on Saturday. The accused identified as Joginder Singh had allegedly demanded the money from Satpal. Satpal had contacted the IG, Hisar range, after the accused had allegedly threatened to get him booked under a false case if the money was not paid. A team of officials led by the DSP caught the accused while allegedly taking the bribe at a tea stall near the bus stand in Narwana town. Sources said earlier, Satpal was allegedly involved in gambling, but had given up the work later. The naib tehsildar of Jind has been deputed as Duty Magistrate for the job.

KARNAL
Child found: The police recovered a six-month-old child dumped by an unidentified woman near Geeta mandir in Asandh, 40 km from here, on Friday. A case has been registered under Section 318 of the IPC against the woman. The incident was reported by municipal councillor of the area Hari Krishan Arora.

Relief material: Satguru Das Sharma and Vimla Sharma, parents of Congress MP Arvind Sharma, here on Saturday flagged off a train carrying 7,000 bags of foodgrains worth Rs 11 lakh for the sufferers of natural calamities. MP’s media adviser Kishore Nagpal and senior advocate Suresh Bhardwaj were among those present on the occasion.

REWARI
One held: Acting on a tip-off, the CIA police arrested Praveen Kumar (19) of Jhajjar district from the Qutubpur colony here on Friday. An illicit country-made pistol was also recovered from his possession. A case under the Arms Act has been registered against him.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
One killed: Kamlesh Kumar, resident of Baldwada, died as the scooter struck against him on Friday. He was said to have received a head injury and was rushed to PGI, Chandigarh, but he breathed his last in the way while the scooter rider, who also received the injuries, has also been rushed to a Jallandhar hospital. The police has registered a case under Sections 279 and 304 A of the IPC and also Section 201 of the IPC for an attempt to destroy evidence, as the scooter was removed from the spot of accident.

KUMARHATTI
2 injured: Two persons were injured when a truck carrying them rolled down into a deep gorge near Dharampur, 6 km from here, on Kalka-Shimla National Highway on Friday. Atma Ram, the driver, and Jai Parkash, the conductor, sustained injuries. The both are out of danger. The driver reportedly lost control on vehicle while negotiating a sharp curve. A case has been registered.

NAHAN
Body found: A decomposed body of an unidentified woman aged around 45 years was found on Saturday in Chandani khud near Sataun, Paonta Sahib. DSP V.S. Thakur confirmed that the police has found the body on the information given by some residents. The body is badly decomposed and it seems that it was laying in the khud for the past several days, which possibly reached here with the floodwater. The post mortem of the body would be conducted tomorrow, Thakur added.

SUNDERNAGAR
4 arrested: The police has on Friday arrested three persons, Nand Lal, resident of Dhangu, Pankaj resident of Kataula, and Sandeep resident of Mairamasit, who were trying to help a life convict, Satish allias Bicchu, to run from lawful custody of the police officials. All these accused were nabbed by the police on September 7, along with a vehicle from which 44 gm of charas was recovered and some of arms were also seized. Satish was undergoing life imprisonment and had come on parole to his house in April last year but never surrendered back and was absconded. In the present case, which was registered by the police under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, he was to be produced by the police before the court at Sundernagar. The other accused were released on bail.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Srinagar
9 writers bag awards: Governor N.N. Vohra presented the Best Book Awards-2008 to nine eminent writers of different languages organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages at the SKICC here on Saturday. The recipients of the awards are Mohan Singh for Dogri book ‘Dogri Rang Manch’, K.L. Choudhary for ‘Enchanting World of Infants’ in English, Noor Mohammad Noor for Gojri ‘Badalto Daur’, Anila Singh Charak for ‘Nange Paon Zindagi’ in Hindi, Bimla Raina for Kashmiri book ‘Lall Meani Nazri’, Tsewang Rigzin for Ladakhi book ‘Drug-pa-chi-tar-jung-tsl’, Raja Shahid Shujaat for Pahari book ‘Uss Paar’, Saran Singh for Punjabi book ‘Tawwe Da Tabbar’ and Shafaq Sopori for Urdu book ‘Dasht Main Door Kahin’.

Developing barren land: The Jammu and Kashmir government has undertaken the task of providing irrigation facilities for converting barren land in the valley cultivable. Work on twelve projects for treatment of 3,605 hectares of land under the centrally-sponsored schemes and five projects to treat, level and make cultivable over 14,400 hectares is in progress with state and Nabard funding, a spokesman of the Jammu and Kashmir Department of Command Area Development and Water Management said. The projects on completion would benefit 141 villages and bring greenery to the barren land in the state, he said.

Ex-CJ’s son joins NC: Vidur Kumar Wazir, son of former J&K Chief Justice Janki Nath Wazir, has joined the National Conference. Wazir joined the party in presence of NC patron Farooq Abdullah and general secretary Sheikh Nazir Ahmad, said a party spokesman here today. Wazir has a desire to work for the downtrodden living in the far-lung and inaccessible areas, the spokesman added. Referring to the role of the Wazir’samily, the spokesman said it had contributed for the welfare of the state and its people from time to time.

CRPF jawan dies: A constable of CRPF died under suspicious circumstances in the Kashmir valley, official sources said on Saturday. According to sources, the body of constable Gundrapa Bara of the 25 Battalion was found in a CRPF camp at Humhama in Badgam district. The cause of his death was not known, they said adding the police has started investigation.

Jammu
Four bodies recovered: Four bodies, including that of two women, have been recovered from the Jammu region, the police said on Saturday. A semi-decomposed body of a woman was found from Shatani nallah area in Ramban district and a decomposed body of another woman from a culvert near Army Public School in Udhampur area on Saturday. Another body of a beggar was also recovered from a railway station area here on Friday, they said, adding that all three bodies are unidentified and have been kept in mortuaries in the respective areas for identification. The body of a person identified as Sanjeev Kumar (30) was found from Pityadi area in Kathua district on Friday night.