R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

BATHINDA
Robbery at PSEB: After killing a watchman, some persons allegedly stole cash worth Rs 5 lakh from the subdivisional office of the PSEB here on Saturday. Police sources said Charanjit Singh (52), the watchman of the PSEB, was on duty on Friday night, when the miscreants entered the office and killed him. They broke open a safe installed in the wall of the office and reportedly decamped with the cash.

CHANDIGARH
Pulse polio rounds: Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has urged all Cabinet Ministers, MPs, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries, MLAs and Chairmen of zila parishads in the state to effectively support pulse polio rounds to be held on January 10 and February 7. State Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla said 70,000 personnel had been deployed to man 17,000 booths during the polio round on Sunday.

Hoshiarpur
Snatcher held: The Mukerian police arrested Satnam Singh, resident of Jhikri, Gurdaspur, under section 382 of the IPC on Friday evening. According to police sources, Satnam Singh had snatched a gold necklace, weighing about 25 gm, from Sukhwinder Kaur of Bhule Chack village.

Seminar on environment: A local NGO, A4C, organised a seminar on environment awareness at SD College here on Saturday. Punjab Minister for Forest, Medical Education and Research, Labour and Parliamentary Affairs Tikshan Sud was the chief guest. Sud announced a grant of Rs 50,000 to the A4C for carrying out awareness campaign. President of A4C Sanjiv Kumar demanded complete ban on the use of chemical fertilisers and polythene bags, which were posing a serious threat to the health of people.

Man killed: Dense fog claimed a life of Jaswinder Singh of Singpur village on Friday evening. According to police sources, due to poor visibility a Scorpio hit the bicycle on which Jaswinder Singh was going with his brother Amrik Singh near Jaitpur village. The driver of the Scorpio fled.

Jalandhar
PM’s announcement hailed: The NRI Sabha has welcomed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s assurance to the Indian living abroad that their “legitimate desire to exercise their franchise” would be granted before the end of the UPA’s second term. Sabha president Kamaljeet Singh Hair said it would not only increase the esteem of the NRIs but also help improve capital investment in the country, especially in Punjab.

Ludhiana
Noble gesture: The Yog and Sewar Parivar on Friday presented a cheque of Rs 30,000 to the principal of Government College for Women for imparting free education to 10 deserving students of the college. The parivar has announced an aid of Rs 90,000 and it was the first instalment of the  total amount.

Lohri celebrations: The Ludhiana chapter of IMA will celebrate Lohri with girl children on January 10. Dr Narottam Dewan, district president of the IMA, said female foeticide was a barbaric  practice.

Chairman honoured: Shahi Imam, Maulana Habi-Ur Rehman Saani honoured the newly-appointed chairman of Punjab Wakf Board, Izhaar Alam. He also honoured all members of the board at a glittering function on Friday.

Phagwara
Photographer falls victim to swine flu: A local photographer, Varinder Kumar (34), resident of Kherra Road, died due to swine flu in the PGI, Chandigarh, late Friday night. He fell ill on December 31 and was first admitted to the local Civil Hospital, then shifted to a Jalandhar hospital from where doctors referred him to the PGI whre he died on Friday night.

‘Remove encroachments’: Shopkeepers of the town have been warned by the administration to remove their illegal encroachments immediately or be ready for legal action. The warning was issued by SDM Amarjit Paul who imposed prohibitory orders under section 144, CrPC, till March 7. The SDM said here on Saturday that the bazaars of the town were becoming congested due to illegal encroachments and extensions of their shops up to middle of the bazaars and the customers were facing much inconvenience.

HARYANA

5-yr-old raped: A five-year-old girl of Khanda village was alleged raped by a middle-aged person identified as Dalel of the same village on Friday evening. The girl was reported to be in stable condition. A case has been registered against the alleged accused, who had reportedly absconded after committing the crime.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
Seminar hall for Urdu Dept: The Urdu Department of the University of Jammu has come with a seminar hall equipped with modern faculties on the premises of the department. According to a statement issued here on Friday, the work on the construction of seminar hall was started on the instructions of VC Varun Sahni, who would inaugurate the hall on January 14. The seminar hall has been named after Prof. Gian Chand Jain, who had established this department in 1965 and was the first HoD.

Legislation panel meeting held: A meeting of the Subordinate Legislation Committee (SLC) of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly held here under the chairmanship of Choudhary Mohammad Aslam, MLA, discussed threadbare the functions of the committee and decided to examine the Reservation Rules of the Social Welfare Board. This was stated in an official statement issued here.

Sharma new GM: SK Sharma has taken over as General Manager (Projects), Northern Region Transmission System-II, of Power Grid. Sharma shall be responsible for project execution in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.