R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Chandigarh
Amarinder condoles Pataudi’s death: PPCC president Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday condoled the death of Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, popularly known as Tiger Pataudi. In a condolence message to Pataudi’s family members, Amarinder said it was a personal loss to him as well, as he had lost a close friend. Amarinder recalled that his association with Tiger Pataudi dated back to four decades. 

Bhattal condemns lathi-charge: Leader of Opposition in assembly Rajinder Kaur Bhattal has condemned the police for cane-charging the multipurpose woman health workers who were protesting in front of Health Minister Satpal Gosain’s house in Ludhiana on Thursday. Bhattal said it was “inhuman on the part of the police to chase women protesters and beat them up”. 

House session from Oct 3: The 13th session of the Vidhan Sabha will be held from October 3 to 5. The session would commence on October 3 in the afternoon with obituary references. The major legislative task would be making the Punjab Right to Service Ordinance, 2011 (Punjab Ordinance No.7 of 2011) into an Act. 

Malerkotla
Teacher killed in road accident: Sarita Verma, 50, a social studies teacher at a government school, was killed in a mishap here on Friday. She was crossing the road when a speeding Scorpio hit her. She was rushed to the local civil hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. The driver of the vehicle, however, managed to escape. A case has been registered under Sections 304A, 279, 337 and 427 of the IPC. 

HARYANA

Chandigarh
Rewari gets new DC: The Haryana Government today transferred two IAS officers with immediate effect. CG Rajini Kaanthan, Deputy Commissioner, Kurukshetra, has been posted as Deputy Commissioner, Rewari, against a vacant post. Mandip Singh Brar, awaiting posting orders, will be the new Deputy Commissioner, Kurukshetra. 

FARIDABAD
MC office gheraoed: Safai workers on Thursday gheraoed the office of the health officer of the local Municipal Corporation in protest against the civic body’s move to further outsource sanitation work in several wards to a private body. The agitation took place under the banner of the Faridabad Nagar Palika Karamchari Sangh. The workers were, in fact, scheduled to gherao Mayor Ashok Arora and Municipal Commissioner D Suresh. According to president of the sangh Balbir Singh, as the two functionaries were not present in the office, the workers vent their ire on the health officer. The gherao lasted about two hours.

REWARI
Truck looted: Some armed miscreants, who were travelling in a Scorpio SUV, looted a truck at gunpoint from its driver, Abdul Hamid, and conductor, Ramesh Kumar, on the Jaipur-Delhi Highway at Aslawas Turn on Thursday. The incident took place when the truck, which was coming from Mumbai, was on its way to Delhi. A case has been registered. 

SIRSA
Ginners plan dharna: Up in arms against the state government demanding reduction in the market fees, cotton ginners of Haryana are now planning to put pressure on the government by organising a dharna at Hisar, where the ruling party is contesting a prestigious parliamentary byelection. A deputation of the Haryana Cotton Ginning Industries Association (HCGIA) met Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Delhi on Wednesday. Haryana Minister for Home and Urban Local Bodies Gopal Kanda, who represents Sirsa in the State Assembly, advocated the ginners' case very strongly with Hooda. 

YAMUNANAGAR
Tributes to GP Chopra: Vijay Kapur, chairman of DAV schools and vice-president of the Arya Pradeshik Pratinidhi Sabha, Haryana, said two minutes silence was observed in all DAV institutions in Yamunanagar on Thursday as a mark of respect to GP Chopra, president of the DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi, who died in Delhi on Wednesday. He said staff of DAV institutions should perform their duties diligently as an ideal tribute to GP Chopra. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Hamirpur
Last rites  performed: The last rites of a junior engineer of the 107 RCC Manual of the GREF, Vijay Kumar, who had died in the recent earthquake in Sikkim, were performed with full state honours on Friday in his native Dheerad village. Vijay died on September 18 in the earthquake when a bus was hit by a rock in North Sikkim. Education Minister ID Dhiman, SDM Bhoranj and other officers attended the last rites. 

Shimla
Rs 2 crore for quake victims: Chief Minister PK Dhumal on Friday sent Rs 2 crore from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for taking up rehabilitation measures in the quake-hit Sikkim state. He appealed to the people of the state to contribute liberally to the Fund. 

Club to hold educational event: The Rotary International Club, Rampur, in association with Padahilikhai.com, is organising an educational event to enlighten students about the role of education in shaping their career. The event will be held tomorrow at the local Padam Boys Senior Secondary School, Rampur. The event will commence from Rampur. Padahilikhai.com will organise a series of youth festivals. 

DEHRADUN

DEHRADUN
Congress protest on Sept 27: Garhwal MP Satpal Maharaj said by changing the Chief Minister, the BJP had itself made it clear that a large-scale corruption was taking place in Uttarakhand. he said the Congress would be taking up the issue of corruption in the state in a big way. He said state party workers, under the leadership of state party cheif Yashpal Arya, would be staging a protest outside the state Assembly on September 27. 

29 rehris impounded: A team of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation on Friday impounded 29 rehris as a part of its ongoing drive against illegal rehris. They impounded 11 rehris from Saharanpur Road and 18 from near the Parade Ground, Adhoiwala and Astley Hall. 

‘Think tank’ constituted: The Director-General of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dr VK Bahuguna, has constituted a ‘think tank’ committee consisting of eminent scientists and officials to evolve innovative ideas for setting up research priorities of the council. The first meeting of the committee took place on Friday. 

Pataudi’s death mourned: Chief Minister BC Khanduri has expressed grief over the death of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. He said his contribution to cricket would be remembered in the times to come. 

Kumaon Briefs

Water shortage in Haldwani: Residents of the Unchapul area of Haldwani are once again in the grip of water shortage owing to the burning down of the motor of a tubewell in the area. Several localities, including the Gas Godown area, Lohariyasal, Kusumkheda, Himmatpur and RTO Road, have been hit. As the repair work is expected to take some days, till then people will have to face problems with regard to the supply of water. Although officials are trying to make alternate arrangements, they are proving to be insufficient.

Drive against illegal quarrying: Carrying on with its drive against illegal quarrying in the region, the administrative authorities conducted raids at several places in Ramnagar and came across illegally stocked mined material. According to reports, while five stocks were found to be illegal, there were gross irregularities with regard to the other four that were raided. The raids were carried out in the Corbett Colony area, Puchadi, Jogipura, Shankarpur and Adarsh Nagar localities in the vicinity of Ramnagar town. Legal quarrying operations in the area are scheduled to commence from next month. The confiscated stock of mined material would be auctioned after orders are obtained from the office of the District Magistrate.

Chain-snatching incidents: The police has initiated a drive against chain snatchers across the Terai region. Raids are being carried out by police teams in Kashipur, Ramnagar, Haldwani and Rudrapur to trap the youths involved in a series of chain- snatching incidents over the past few days. There have been several such incidents across the region that have led to a sense of insecurity among residents, particularly women and the aged people.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)