CHANDIGARH

Office-bearers: The Chandigarh Ball Badminton Association has re-elected Mohanbir Singh Shergill and Inderjit Singh Puri president and general secretary, respectively. Other office-bearers are Sewa Singh, Bhushan, Arunesh , Manoj, Monu and Surjit Singh.

9 rounded up for immoral trafficking CITCO-run hotel:The UT Police raided CITCO-run Hotel Parkview in Sector 24 late in the evening and rounded up nine persons, including five girls on suspicion of immoral trafficking. One of the female accused is reportedly a pimp. ASP Des Raj said they were investigating the matter. Three of the girls are from well-educated families. The police had deployed a decoy customer and the deal was struck for Rs 5,000. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Woman dies after taking poison: Suman Devi (37), wife of Prem Lal of Barthin village, near here, is said to have taken some poison on Sunday evening at her home. She was rushed to the Barthin Community Health Centre from where she was referred to the Regional Hospital here. She died during the night. It is said Suman took this step after she returned earlier from house of a relative . She took poison when her husband was away from home.

New-born found abandoned: A new-born baby girl was found abandoned on the verandah of the Government Primary School at Danoh village in the upper area of the town by a passerby on Monday. Reports said villager Mast Ram found the baby kept in a bag. Villagers gathered there and informed the police, which immediately rushed the newborn to the Regional Hospital where doctors kept it in a incubator. 

KANGRA
Youth dies of snakebite: A 23-year-old youth of Devi Bari village died of a snakebite at the DRPGMC Tanda Hospital here late Sunday night, hospital sources said. Reportedly Rakesh Kumar of Devi Bari village was admitted to the Tanda hospital, but soon afte his admission he died.

NURPUR
Man hangs himself: Rakesh Sharma (47) of Sanor village under Indora police station on Monday committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling fan. According to the police, the deceased was in depression for the past some time. The family members rushed him to the Community Health Centre, Indora, where he was declared dead. The body was brought here for postmortem examination. The police has registered a case under Section 174, CrPc.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
2 held for selling fake stamp papers: The police arrested two youths from the University of Jammu on Monday for allegedly selling stamp papers illegally. It said the youths were selling the stamp papers for Rs 40 each to admission-seekers at the university.

DEHRADUN

Dehradun
Front hits out at Ramdev: The Anti-Terrorist Front of India led by national president Viresh Shandilya has attacked Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishan for amassing wealth beyond their means. Addressing a press conference today, Shandilya said he would file a PIL in the Supreme Court to demand for a CBI inquiry to probe Baba Ramdev’s properties and mysterious death of Nigmanand for which he would also observe fast at the DM’s office next Monday and submit a memorandum to the Governor the next day in this regard.

Tree falls on rickshaw puller: A rickshaw puller, who was in his forties, died after a tree fell over him here on Monday near Raja Road.According to the Kotwali police, deceased Suraj was a resident of Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh. He was pulling his rickshaw when suddenly a tree on the roadside fell on him and he collapsed there.

Woman hurt in mishap: A woman was grievously injured after being hit by a jeep while crossing road near Agarwal Dharamsala on Monday morning. She was shifted to a local hospital immediately. Her health is said to be serious, but out of danger. The police could not identify the woman till the filing of the report.

90 attend medical camp: A health camp was organised at Mahant Indresh Hospital’s rural branch at Mothrowala here on Monday. At the camp, 90 patients were examined. The registration of the patients was done free of cost and they were also given medicines free of cost. 

KUMAON BRIEFS

2 killed in separate accidents
Two persons were killed in separate accidents that took place on the Bhawali-Almora. In the first instance a truck carrying sand from Haldwani to Almora fell into a gorge, killing its cleaner. The accident took place on the night of Saturday near Kainchi. The deceased has been identified as 22-year-old Yogesh Sanwal. The driver, 35-year-old Gopal Pandey, sustained injuries and was admitted to the BD Pande Hospital in Nainital. In the second instance a bus of the Kumaon Motor Operators Union (KMOU), that was carrying 31 passengers, hit a wall along the road after the driver manoeuvered it in an attempt to save the passengers as its brakes had failed. The conductor of the bus was killed when he jumped out and got trapped under the wheels of the bus. The deceased has been identified as 25-year-old Girdhar Singh Gauniya of Okhalkanda.

Nurses raise voice against staff crunch
The nurses deputed at various hospitals in Almora have raised the issue of shortage of staff and have demanded immediate increase in their number. The agitated nurses have pointed out that the three hospitals in Almora have had about 24 posts of nurse vacant for over a year. This has led to patients not getting adequate attention. The leaders of the nursing staff have pointed out that ideally one nurse is put in charge of six beds. But, this shortage puts tremendous pressure on the working nurses at these hospitals. The authorities at the Health Department have promised that appointments against the existing vacancies would be made soon.

Residents intensify agitation
The residents of the Bageshwar and Tanakpur areas have renewed their agitation demanding railway connectivity between both the towns. The Rail Sangharsh Samiti has started with yet another round of protests demanding better railway connectivity in the hilly and remote areas of Uttarakhand. They carried out a protest march in Bageshwar on Sunday to air their demand pointing out that the five Lok Sabha members have been unsuccessful at taking up the issue with the Railways Minister. The protesters said the British had conducted a survey on the Bageshwar-Tanakpur route before Independence but nothing had been done to make the dream of providing railway connectivity a reality till date. The protesters pointed out that initiating an advanced project to develop railways in the region would not only be of great convenience to the local residents but also provide jobs to labourers.

Child drowned in bucket
In a freak accident a child was killed when he drowned in a bucket of water in Gargadi village of Okhalkanda block. According to the information, two-year-old Guddu was playing in the balcony of his house when he fell upside down into a bucket lying close by. It was only when his father Gulab Singh Mehta came to the balcony sometime later that he saw the boy lying in the bucket. The child was taken to an Ayurvedic Health Centre, about 15 km away from the house, where the pharmacist present on duty declared him dead.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)