R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
3 kg of heroin seized from train: Custom officials at Attari international railway station on Thursday seized about three-kg of heroin from Samjhauta Express that arrived from Pakistan. The custom officials said that the contraband, worth Rs 15 crore in the international market, was hidden in the cavity near the wheels of the train. 

Baba Makhan Singh gives land to SGPC: Baba Makhan Singh, head of Bhai Mani Singh Taksal, on Thursday donated 3.5 acres of land near Gurdwara Sangrana Sahib on Amritsar-Tarn Taran road to the SGPC here. Making an announcement in this regard in the presence of SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar, Baba Makhan Singh said he had purchased this land for rehabilitating 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims, but somehow his plan could not materialise. He urged the SGPC to raise a memorial of Bhai Mani Singh on the land, preferably an educational institution.
SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar with Baba Makhan Singh (left) in Amritsar.

Chandigarh
Punjab releases 6 per cent ADA: The Punjab Government on Thursday released 6 per cent additional dearness allowance installment with effect from January 1 this year to its employees and pensioners. With this decision, the 45 per cent dearness allowance would be increased to 51 per cent on the basic pay, as per a notification. While the increased ADA would be given in cash from June, the arrears from January-May would be credited to GPF. Retired employees would get the ADA in cash.

Speaker accepts Jagbir’s resignation: Punjab Assembly Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon on Thursday accepted the resignation of Jalandhar Cantonment legislator Jagbir Singh Brar from the membership of the Vidhan Sabha. Jagbir Brar, who had been summoned by the Speaker, did not appear before him. Following this, the Speaker decided to accept the resignation forthwith. Brar has joined the People's Party of Punjab led by Manpreet Singh Badal. 

Irrigation Dept ex-officials join PPP: A group of retired officials of the Irrigation Department joined the People's Party of Punjab at Manpreet Badal's residence here. The officers included HS Randhawa, Gurdev Singh Brar, Iqbal Singh, BS Sidhu, Manjit Singh Gill, Gurmail Singh and PS Chhatwal; all of them retired as chief engineers or superintending engineers. 

Jalandhar
Army recruitment rally’s venue changed: The venue of the Army recruitment rally to be held in Jalandhar from May 3 to 11 has been changed. The recruitment rall,y which was earlier scheduled to be held at Dogra Ground, Jalandhar Cantonment, will now be held at PAP Ground, Jalandhar City, on the same dates and time. 

Exam topper: Jessica Vij of the Department of Law, GND University Regional Campus, Ladhewali, stood first in the LL.M first semester (two-year course) exam of GND University held in December, 2010, securing 212 marks out of 300. Head of the department Dr R.K. Marwah and faculty members congratulated her on the achievement. 

Pathankot
Woman’s body found: The body of a middle-aged unidentified woman was recovered from the hydel canal of the Power House No 3 near Narot Mehra block here on Thursday. According to the police, villagers spotted the body floating in the canal and they informed the police. The SP, Bhupinderjit Singh Virk, said the deceased was in the age group of 40-45 years and had no injury marks on the body. The body was sent to the Civil Hospital. 

Phagwara
Man falls from roof, dies: Ramesh Kumar (40), was killed as he fell down from the roof of his house here on Thursday. He was rushed to the Civil Hospital, where he was declared brought dead. In another incident, a youth, Pankaj, was allegedly attacked and seriously wounded with sharp-edged weapons by unidentified armed assailants in the main bazaar here today. A quarrel over a minor issue is said to be the cause of attack, the police said. Pankaj was admitted to the Civil Hospital. The police has registered a case. 

CHANDIGARH

Chief Justice hospitalised: Punjab and Haryana Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was admitted to the PGI here after he complained of stomachache late last night. He has been diagnosed as suffering from pancreatitis (sudden attack causing inflammation of pancreas). His condition is stated to be stable.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Driver killed in accident: Driver Baldev Raj Thakur of Achlu village, Dadlaghat (Solan district), was killed when his cement-loaded truck fell into the chasm near the Sagirthin mode, about 15 km from here, on Wednesday night. Reports said the accident occurred when the truck attempted to give pass to another vehicle coming from the opposite direction. 

Reimbursement of bills: The HP State Employees Federation has thanked the Chief Minister for his immediate intervention regarding the demand of reimbursement of bills. The employees were not being reimbursed bills by the departmental offices for years due to the paucity of funds. The government had ordered departmental heads that reimbursement of bills should be cleared by April 30. 

DALHOUSIE
Animal dispensary gutted: A building of the animal dispensary of the state Animal Husbandry Department at Saach village in the mountainous Pangi tribal valley of Chamba district has been burnt to the ground in a devastating fire which broke out Wednesday night, according to an official report received here on Thursday. The report revealed that the tentative loss caused due to fire had been put at around Rs 10 lakh as per preliminary assessment. 

PALAMPUR
Top leaders must undergo narco test: MP: Dr Rajan Sushant, BJPMP from Kangra-Chamba, said on Tuesday that top leadership and officials of the state government must offer themselves for narco test if they wanted to be proved clean. Addressing a press conference at the PWD rest house here, Dr Sushant said it was only a suggestion and he was not pointing at any individual. 

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
Kissan bhawans : A Kissan bhawan each in Jammu and Srinagar will be constructed shortly to cater to the needs of the farmers of the state, said Rachpal Singh, Vice-Chairman of the J&K Kissan Board on Wednesday. 

Life term to 3 ultras for killing 2 women: Principal Sessions Judge, Udhampur, AK Sharma on Wednesday awarded life imprisonment to Hizbul-Mujahideen ultras Mohammad Hussain, Mushtaq Ahmed and Gul Mohammad, all residents of Ramnagar tehsil, for killing Arshad Begum and Amina Begum with sharp-edged weapons by slitting their throats at Kadwa village. 

DEHRADUN

Jagmohan made power panel chief: Jagmohan Lal, former Managing Director of Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited and Power Transmission Corporation of Uttrakhand Limited, was appointed Chairman of the Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission on Thursday. He will be sworn in by the Governor. He retired from his earlier assignment this month only. 

Cops honoured: The police team that rescued a four-year-old girl from his abductors was honoured with a cash prize of Rs 5,100 by the residents of Nehru Colony, Rajiv Nagar. The daughter of Zakir, Muskan, was abducted on Sunday. The police team rescued the child from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday evening. However, the abductors fled from the spot. 

Computers stolen: Eighteen computers worth of lakhs of rupees were stolen from a call centre in the Patelnagar area on Wednesday night. According to the police, the owner of the centre, who is a resident of Prakash Nagar, has alleged that he had locked the office on Wednesday evening. 

Nigam staff stir: The strike of the Joint Association of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam and the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam continued on Thursday. General Manager UC Kabadwal, who who is the officiating Managing Director, assured the employees of working on two of their demands, ie, cancellation of controversial appointments and regularisation of 375 employees.

Kumaon
DM urges students to help tackle polythene menace: Almora District Magistrate DS Garbyal has sought the help of students in tackling the menace of polythene bags in the town. Speaking at the annual sports meet of Kendriya Vidyalaya at Almora, he asked the students to persuade their parents and siblings not to use polythene bags and go in for the bags made of paper and cloth instead. He said the students must lead the fight for environmental conservation.

Public complaints:Officials entrusted with the execution of the Janadhar Yojana in Udham Singh Nagar district have been asked to work with team spirit while addressing issues of public interest. At a meeting held to evaluate the scheme, District Magistrate BVRC Purshottam asked the officials to ensure timely disposal of complaints that were received by the administration under the scheme. He warned that officials not taking the complaints seriously would be facing action. The officials have also been asked to inform the complainant in writing once his grievance is addressed and also do the same if the matter cannot be addressed along with the reasons. Till now 2,853 complaints have been received under the scheme out of which 1,052 have been disposed of.

Adventure sports workshop at Nainital:An adventure sports workshop is under way at Nainital to promote adventure sports among the youth. As a part of the workshop, the local youngsters were given demonstrations of hot air ballooning and mountain biking at the local Flats Grounds on Thursday afternoon. District Adventure Sports Officer Lata Bisht said the purpose of the workshop that had about 50 participants was to inculcate a sense of adventure among the youth. She said one of the major components of the workshop was to explain dos and don’ts of adventure sports to the participants so that they indulge in adventure activities while being duly cautious.

Cop creates nuisance at Purnagiri fair:A case of a police personnel creating a nuisance at the Purnagiri fair in Tanakpur has come to light. According to the information, Virendra Kumar allegedly misbehaved with a widow selling cucumbers at Hanuman Chatti and then went on to thrash Naga Baba Jagdish Giri and his disciple Harishanker. He is also accused of misbehaving with a Purnagiri Vyapar Mandal office-bearer. A probe has been ordered into the matter.

Progress on projects reviewed:Officials of various departments in Almora have been asked by the District Magistrate DS Garbyal to dovetail the funds sanctioned to them with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) funds to execute various developmental plans in the district. At a meeting held in Almora on Thursday, he took stock of the progress with regards to various projects being implemented under MGNREGA and called for their timely completion. He laid particular emphasis on water conservation and storage and called for building of check dams.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna) Briefs