R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Abohar
Fog claims youth’s life: A motorcyclist was killed while his pillion rider sustained injuries as their two-wheeler collided with a truck that had been parked on the roadside near the inter-state barrier outside village Rajpura on the Abohar-Hanumangarh state highway, the police said. As per the FIR lodged by Parmesh Lal of Bathinda, he along with VikramSingh from Nainital (UP) was on his way to Abohar from Sadulshehar when the collision took place amidst dense fog. Vikram, who had been working in a private fertiliser company, died on the spot.

Abohar lads clinch gold: Sushant and Vipin of this town have clinched gold medals during the seventh National Taekwondo Championship that was organised at Bardoli in Gujarat, coach Sanjay Kapoor informed. Anmol, Arpit and Kabul Singh bagged silver while Paras, Ritik and Kunal were awarded bronze medals in different categories.

Faridkot
Faridkot girls win IQ contest : Two girls of Class VIII, Aastha Garg and Sukhan Deep Kaur, both students of the local Dashmesh Public School, have won the third position in the national-level IQ competition ‘Bharat Ko Jano’ held by the Bharat Vikas Parishad in Lucknow recently. They were among the 70 finalists selected from different states in the state-level competitions held by the parishad last month. The aim of the competition was to check the knowledge of students, under 14 years of age on various topics. Earlier, they topped in the school, district and state-level competitions before qualifying for the national event.

Fazilka
Woollens distributed: The activists of the Graduate Welfare Association (Fazilka) distributed woollens to the needy students at the local Pratap Bagh here on Sunday. MC president Anil Sethi, GWAF president Umesh Chander Kukar, general secretary Navdeep Asija and retired principal Pritam Kaur were also present. Fazilka-based NRI Geetu Puri has sponsored the distribution of material in the memory of her grand- mother Sushila Devi Baghla.

Patiala
Solar power in Punjabi varsity: Punjabi University Patiala has started a pilot project by installing 10 solar street lights that include the CFL tubes, solar batteries and panels, with a life of about two, four and 10 years, respectively. Paramvir Singh, NSS coordinator and the brain behind the campaign, said solar lights would soon be installated all over the university campus using light emitting diodes.

Sriganganagar
35 devotees hurt in mishap: About 35 devotees, including 20 women, were hurt after the mini-bus, in which, they were travelling, overturned near village 6-P near the international border on Sunday. The highway ambulance staff said that three persons were shifted to Suratgarh. The mini-bus was on its way to Pitroda from the border town Anoopgarh.

CHANDIGARH

Northern Railway sets up helpline: The Northern Railway, Ambala division, has set up a control room at Ambala and introduced a helpline number to assist passengers. “Ambala division has started a helpline number, 0171-2611330, to provide information regarding late running of trains,” GM Singh, senior divisional commercial manager, Ambala division said today.

HC advocate Kaushik in CAT: Punjab and Haryana High Court advocate Sanjeev Kaushik has been appointed judicial member of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Allahabad.

MOHALI
Clothes distributed: The Young People Organisation, a club formed by teenagers, took the initiative of collecting clothes and distributing them among the needy at Mataour village, Mohali, and at Kusht Ashram, Chandigarh. Karan Munjal, a member of the Young People Organisation, said the NGO has been working for the cause of the poor and the needy.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
Anti-human trafficking units soon: The state police has decided to set up anti-trafficking units at the district level, which will be notified as police stations. A statement issued by the police on Sunday said it would soon set up the district-level Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) to deal with the crime in the state. “Special focus will be on human trafficking issues.The units will be set up soon,” stated the DGP Kuldeep Khoda. The statement further said the plan to constitute the AHTUs would start from Jammu, Srinagar, Udhampur and Anantnag.

Man falls from roof of bus, dies: A 52-year-old man lost his life after falling from the roof of a bus at Dyala Chak village, near Hiranagar, in Kathua district on Sunday. The police said the deceased, identified as Joginder Lal, a resident of Pathwal village of same district, was travelling atop a Rajasthan Roadways bus, which was going to Jammu. The police said he was taken to the sub-district hospital, Hiranagar, from where he was referred to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Jammu.He succumbed to his while being taken to the hospital. The Hiranagar police has registered a case and launched a hunt to nab the bus driver.

Srinagar
Srinagar, Jammu to be developed: The state government is planning a comprehensive development of both Srinagar and Jammu so that its vision of making the two places as greater cities of the state is achieved. This was stated by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand while reviewing the development works of municipalities and local bodies here on Sunday. He impressed upon officials for making judicious use of funds allotted for various works in Kashmir division.