R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Nakodar
Cops donate blood: Seventy persons, including 30 policemen, donated blood at a blood donation camp organised by the Nakodar police in cooperation with the Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh Sports Club at the Guru Nanak National College for Women here on Friday. Donors included Senior Superintendent of Police, Jalandhar (Rural), Ashish Chaudhary, DSP, Nakodar, Rajinder Singh, SHO, Nakodar, Surinderpal Singh, SHO, Mehtpur, Bimal Kant Sharma, SDM, Nakodar, Supreet Singh Gulati and some women police constables. Some mediapersons also donated blood. Fruits and juice were served to the donors.

DSP Rajinder Singh donates blood at a camp in Nakodar on Friday. A Tribune photo

Sriganganagar
32-year-old axes daughter to death: Frustrated by poverty and loneliness, 32-year-old Birbal Ram Meghwal of Suratgarh axed his 18-month-old daughter on Friday. He also attacked his six-year-old son Viraj while his wife Rajni escaped by rushing out of their house. The boy was shifted to the civil hospital, but was referred to Bikaner later. Birbal was unemployed and had to stay for long periods alone at his house as his wife would take the children to her place of work.

HARYANA

Chandigarh
Now, pay power bills on Saturday: The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) has decided to keep open all its cash collection centres in Panchkula, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat, Rohtak, Jind and Jhajjar districts on all Saturdays this month and on June 15, which is a holiday for being Kabir Jyanti. Consumers can pay their power bills up to 12 noon on Saturdays and June 15, an official spokesman said.

HISAR
HAU test: The state-level entrance test conducted by Haryana Agricultural University for admission to various under-graduate and postgraduate courses concluded here on Saturday. The university had conducted the test for admission to 150 seats for BSc (Hons) agriculture four-year programme and 22 seats for MSc degree courses in food science & technology, biotechnology and molecular biology and bio-informatics.

KAITHAL
Goods recovered: The police has recovered stolen goods, including computers, worth Rs 2,20,000 and arrested three thieves in this connection. The goods were stolen from a senior secondary school on June 9. Those arrested are Surender, Rakesh and Rohtash of Sisla. They have been remanded in 14-day judicial custody.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Leopard kills cow: A leopard killed a cow in a cowshed on Thursday night. The cowshed belonged to Ramesh Kumar of Lehadi Sarel village. The incident came to light when Ramesh’s wife came to the cowshed to give fodder to the cattle. The cow’s body was recovered by villagers some 300 metre away the next morning. The villagers have urged the Forest Department and the district administration to catch the carnivore.

Man held for beating wife: The police arrested Arvind, a government primary schoolteacher at Johad Kalsa, on Saturday for beating his wife Babita under the influence of liquor. Reports said the teacher started beating his wife on Friday night, when her brother Madan Lal arrived and reported the matter to the police.

Two houses reduced to ashes: The houses of Sharif Mohammed and Rafi Mohammed were burnt down in a fire at Bhadrog village of Seoo gram panchayat near Ghumarwin on Friday. While the cause of fire is yet to be ascertained, a total loss of Rs 10 lakh is reported. Tehsildar Sidhartha Acharya arrived on the site along with the police and distributed Rs 2,500 and a tarpaulin to each family.

KULLU
Anganwadi building inaugurated: State BJP president and local MLA Khimi Ram Sharma inaugurated an anganwadi building at Brahamin Behar, 22 km from here, on Friday. Addressing the gathering, he said 27,000 children had benefited from the anganwadis in the district. Khimi Ram said the grant for house building had been enhanced to Rs 48,500 by the government. He distributed 50 per cent of the grant amount as the first instalment through cheques to 20 beneficiaries.

Governor Urmila Singh inaugurates the Red Cross Mela-2011 in Shimla on Saturday. Photo: Amit Kanwar

SHIMLA
Red Cross fair inaugurated: Governor Urmila Singh inaugurated the Annual Red Cross Mela-2011 organised by the Himachal Pradesh Red Cross Hospital Welfare Section, Shimla, here on Saturday. The Governor stressed upon the need to expand the activities of the Red Cross in rural areas of the state. A cultural programme was also presented by artists of the Information and Public Relations Department and AIDS Control Society, Shimla.

CM expresses gratitude: Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has thanked the people of the state for the concern shown by them about his health while he was undergoing treatment at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi. He said it was due to their good wishes that he recovered speedily. He said he would soon return from Delhi to the state headquarters and resume his work.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Srinagar
Transport corpn on path of revival: The Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC), which has been a loss-making PSU of the state government, has earned a revenue of Rs 55 crore during the last fiscal as compared to Rs 37 crore in 2009-10 while the operational fleet rose to 953. This information was given at a review meeting of the SRTC, chaired by Minister for Transport and Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Qamar Ali Akhoon here on Friday.

Lecture on higher education: Vice-Chancellor of the University of Delhi Prof Dinesh Singh on Saturday delivered an extension lecture on the theme “Higher education in the 21st century” in the Media House auditorium of the University of Kashmir.

DEHRADUN

DEHRADUN
Four children drowned: Four children aged between 8 and 11 years drowned in the Begul river in the Shati farm area of Sitarganj district. According to information, the incident took place when they were trying to save a child from drowning. Their bodies were taken out after two-hour search.

Two stunt men arrested: The police arrested two bikers while doing stunts on Friday night. One of them was arrested from Darshan Lal Chowk and the other from Chukhuwala. They have been identified as Himanshu Joshi, a resident of Nehur Colony, and Akash, a resident of Motthrowala.

Man commits suicide: A 50-year-old man committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance on Wednesday. The deceased has been identified as Ashok Kumar, a resident of Indira Colony. Though his daughter took him to a hospital, he was declared brought dead. The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination. The reason behind the extreme step is yet to be known.

Kranti Dal activists stage dharna: Members of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) staged a dharna in support of their demands, at Gandhi Park here on Saturday.They are demanding the discontinuation of work on hydroelectric projects in the state and increasing the industrial package till 2020 for the overall development of the state.

Kumaon Briefs
Four of family killed in mishap: Four members of a family were killed when the car they were travelling in collided head-on with a dumper near Bazpur on Friday. The deceased have been identified as Sandeep Sandhu, his wife Gurpreet and their two daughters, Guruvani and Ishika. They were residents of Uttar Pradesh and were returning home after a wedding in Punjab. While the kids died on the spot, the couple was declared dead at the Community Health Centre.

Injured leopard cub dead: The injured leopard cub, which was found in the Dob-Luasal area on the Sattal road, Bhimtal block, on Wednesday morning died while being treated at Nainital Zoo. Sources said it died due to extensive internal hemorrhage leading to an excessive blood loss. The five- month-old female cub had wounds on its back, tail and feet.

Govt flayed: Members of the Congress staged a demonstration outside the District Magistrate’s office in protest against the delay in the implementation of the High Court order pertaining to the reinstatement of the elected municipal bodies in Haldwani and Haridwar. Congress men chose the occasion to once again flay the state government for allegedly trying to remove constitutionally elected bodies. They charged that although they were not opposed to Haldwani and Hardwar becoming the Municipal Corporations, the government’s recent decision of declaring them the same was “politically motivated” and it had no right to do away with the present constitutionally elected representative municipal bodies at the two places.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)