R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Mullanpur Dakha
NRIs attend sammelan: Scores of NRIs of the Dakha constituency flocked the NRI sammelan organised by the NRI Service Society yesterday. Manpreet Singh Ayali, zila parishad chairman, said it was unfortunate that people sought help from NRIs, but when it came to repaying them, their relatives misappropriated funds and property.

Patiala
Kabaddi meet: Maharaja Ranjit Singh Sports Club, Patiala, will organise the Patiala Kabaddi Cup on February 6 and 7 at the DMC Stadium, Patiala. Winners of the two-day event will be given a cash prize of Rs 1.1 lakh by Amrik Singh Pandher, owner of India King Transport Company, Mandi Gobindgarh.

Phagwara
Woman ends life: A youth died in a mishap, while a woman committed suicide here yesterday. An unidentified youth was run over and killed by a train near Gobindpura railway crossing yesterday. In another incident, a woman died after consuming poisonous substance at her residence here yesterday.

Tarn Taran
Tributes paid to Mahatma Gandhi: Tributes were paid to Mahatma Gandhi at a meeting organised under the chairmanship of Khushi Ram, Deputy Commissioner, here at his office. Employees and officials attended the meeting. A two-minute silence was observed to pay respect to the father of the nation and other martyrs who had laid down their lives for the country’s freedom.A contingent of the Punjab Police reversed arms to pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi.

Mourned: The Kisan Sangharsh Committee, Punjab, in its meeting organised here on Saturday under the presidentship of Satnam Singh Pannu, state president, mourned the death of Bharat Kesri Pehalwan Wassan Singh. Wassan Singh (84), died on January 24.

CHANDIGARH

Chandigarh
Sat Saroop is CRPF IG:Sat Saroop Singh has taken over as Inspector General, North-West Sector, Central Reserve Police Force, at Chandigarh. He will be responsible for CRPF deployments in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. Prior to this, he was serving in the Tripura Sector.An officer of the 1971 batch of direct entry CRPF officers, he has vast experience of combating militancy and terrorism. He has been decorated with the President’s Police Medal for Meritorious Services, Police Special Duty Medal, Kathin Seva Medal and Director General’s Disc.

Curtains given: Members of the State Bank of India Women Club, Chandigarh, donated curtains and distributed fruits among inmates of Pingalwara at Palsora village here recently.

Blood donation camp: One hundred and three units of blood was donated during a blood donation camp organised by the Lions Club, Chandigarh Supreme, at Government College,  Sector 46. The principal of the college inaugurated the camp.

MOHALI
Calendar released: PUDA vice-chairman Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and chief administrator VP Singh on Friday released the diary and the calendar of the Diploma Engineers’ Association and the Junior Engineers’ Association, PUDA, at the PUDA Bhavan in Sector 68, Mohali. Amar Singh Randhawa, president of the Diploma Engineers’ Association, said the calendar had been dedicated to ‘Fateh Divas’ in the memory of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur.

Panchkula
Exhibition on energy conservation: Additional director of the Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency BS Yadav inaugurated the annual exhibition of Holy Child School here today. The theme of the exhibition was “Energy conservation through use of renewable sources of energy”. Students made models of solar cookers, solar lighting, solar lantern, bio-mass fuel, water and wind mills. The chief guest interacted with students and distributed prizes.

HARYANA

BHIWANI
Tiger kills caretaker: A tiger killed an employee at Ch Surender Singh Memorial Mini Zoo here on Friday. Mahaveer, an employee with the zoo, had gone to keep the food in the tiger’s cage. However, he forgot to lock the door. Meanwhile, the tiger pounced on him and dragged him into the cage resulting in his death. A co-employee, identified as Shamsher, tried to save him, but failed to do so. The body was handed over to his relatives after a postmortem.

Fatehabad
2 test positive  for swine flu: A couple, whose throat swabs were sent to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases on January 18, has tested positive for swine flu, the health authorities said.

KAITHAL
Anganwari workers’ workshop: Additional Deputy Commissioner Ramesh Verma has directed anganwari workers of the Pundri block of Kaithal district to complete survey of those houses which do not have a toilet facility. Addressing a day’s workshop of anganwari workers, self-help groups and Asha workers in Pundri, Verma said a target had been fixed to cover 100 per cent dwelling units in Pundri block with toilet facility by February 28. Verma also reviewed the implementation of Swaran Jayanti Sawrojgar Yojana. He urged women attending the workshop to make total literacy a mission.

Seminar held: A team of the Bharti Foundation held a seminar in Khurana village here on Friday to celebrate Girl Child Week. DEO Kamla Midha was the chief guest on the occasion. Midha emphasised the need to create equal opportunities for the girl child in society. Niraj Dubey, district coordinator, Bharti Foundation, said the organisation had taken initiative to create awakening among the people of giving due importance to the development of the girl child.

REWARI
Couples awarded: Deputy Commissioner A Sriniwas presented cheques for Rs 20,000 along with national savings certificates for Rs 30,000 to each of the two couples under the Interacts Marriage Scheme of the state government in his office here recently. Manoj, son of Shyam Singh of the Scheduled Caste, and Charu, daughter of Mahesh Kumar, Khatri by caste, as well as Sanjay, son of Rajesh, and Sangeeta, daughter of Rakesh Kumar of the Scheduled Caste, tied the nuptial knot here recently.

YAMUNANAGAR
3 held for flesh trade: The police on Thursday arrested three persons, including two women, for allegedly running a flesh trade racket in Adarsh Nagar here. The three have been booked under Sections 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act. The police had received a complaint about the flesh trade racket being run by the accused. After carrying out the detailed investigations, the three were caught by the police.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Chamba
Birth anniversary celebrated: The birth anniversary of Bhagat Ravidass was celebrated with gaiety and religious fervour at the district headquarters town of Chamba today. Sabha’s president Rishikesh Loharch and general secretary Jitendra Surya said one must follow the religious guru to uphold the society. A grand procession (shobha yatra) was also taken out in the main bazaar of Chamba town which was attended by men, women and children in a large number.

Shimla
Book released: Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has released a book titled "Banthada," authored by Ashok Hans, here today. The book is based on the traditional dramatic performance and parody, popularly known as “Banthada,” which originated long back in the erstwhile Mandi and Suket provinces during the 8th century. The Chief Minister congratulated Hans for focusing on traditional performing arts and said his effort would go a long way in preserving the folk and literature.

DEHRADUN

Dehradun
Tributes paid to Bapu: Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva has offered tributes to Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi on occasion of his 63th death anniversary.The Governor in Dehradun observed a two-minute silence and pledged to follow the ideals shown by the Mahatma. All Raj Bhawan officials took part in the prayers meeting held to mark the occasion.

Meeting put off again: Today’s meeting between the Principal Secretary and agitating employees of the Uttaranchal Federation of Ministerial Services Association, Uttrakhand, was again postponed. The next round of the meeting is still unscheduled. This has made the outraged employees of the Ministerial Services more determined to continue with their strike. The association is determined to continue with the agitation till the state government meets their demands.