R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Batala
Batala villager held with fake currency: Thirteen fake currency notes of Rs 500 denomination were seized from a villager,Kuldeep Singh, a resident of Kotla Duma village, in Amritsar, during a naka in Qaudian area. 

Gandhigiri Week organised :The Millenium School organised a ‘Gandhigiri Week’, in which, they emphasised the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. The students wrote letters to Bapu sharing their thoughts and seeking his guidance. The faculty got a chance to know the children better through the letters and enlightened them with non-violent and peaceful ways of attaining harmony. A movie on Bapu was shown to the entire school. Various competitions including paper reading, quiz, bookmark painting on peace and non violence, declamation, ‘Dandi March’ and Satyagraha were held in the school.

Preventing dengue : To prevent the outbreak of dengue, the Municipal Corporation and the Health Department have jointly made eight teams of their employees. The teams would visit every home to check the larvae of dengue and spray insecticide on the stagnant water. They would also create awareness among the public about the disease. In eight zones of the city, the teams checked water tanks, coolers, refrigerators and other items which could have accumulated water on September 30. Almost 62 houses have dengue larvae. The items containing larvae were evacuated on the spot. People were informed that the larvae of dengue mosquito are formed in clean water. The residents were advised not to leave accumulated water. 

Chandigarh
SASE celebrate 43rd Raising Day: The Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), a premier laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, celebrated its 43rd Raising Day here on Saturday. The establishment was raised this day at Manali to ensure safe mobility of troops in the mountainous regions of Himalayas, with its centres operating in J&K, HP and Uttarakhand. SASE Director Ashwagosha Ganju stressed upon constant updation of skills so that the laboratory could attain core competency in the field. 

Faridkot
13 get life term  for killing farmer: The court of District and Sessions Judge has sentenced 13 persons to life imprisonment in the murder case of a farmer. Bikar Singh of Machaki Mal Singh village was done to death in October 2008 when two groups of farmers fought with fire weapons to take possession of 14 acres of agricultural land. Besides, the court also sentenced 13 persons of the other group to four-year imprisonment. 

Ferozepur
School told to pay Rs 1 lakh to parents: The Consumer Forum has directed a convent school in Abohar to pay Rs 1 lakh, including Rs 90,000 to be deposited with the forum, as compensation to Manisha Garg and Chander Mohan for the admission of their children. Besides, the school has been told to refund the fee amounting to Rs 28,080 deposited by the complainants. 

Ludhiana
Strike ends: The ongoing strike of the employees of Suvidha Centre ended here on Saturday. In charge of the centre AS Gujral said all the services would be resumed from Monday, October 3 and the pending issues would be resolved.

HARYANA

Chandigarh
Kapoor named Hisar range IG: The state government has posted SS Kapoor as IGP, Hisar range, Hisar, against a vacant post. K.Selvaraj will hold charge as IGP (Telecom) in addition to his present assignment. 

Sanitation drive: Coinciding with Gandhi Jayanti, a campaign entitled as “Swachhata Utsav” will be launched in the state from October 2 to November 4 to highlight the significance of sanitation. While stating this here on Saturday, an official spokesman said the Deputy Commissioners would be overall in charge of this 30-day long utsav. 

KURUKSHETRA
Elders Day: The Senior Citizens Forum celebrated the International Elders Day at its Day Care Centre here on Saturday. Members decided to renew their vow to put their experience, knowledge and resources in the service of the society. Jagjit Singh Virk, forum president, said with the completion of the building of the Old Age Home-cum-Day Care Centre, the forum would now be able to expand its activities to cover more areas of help to the needy elderly persons. 

REWARI
Bandh observed: Irate traders and shopkeepers of various main markets of the city observed a bandh for the second day on Saturday in protest against three armed miscreants who looted Rs 8 lakh and gold jewellery worth lakhs of rupees at gunpoint from city’s prominent goldsmith Prahlad Bagri’s house in Mohalla Bas Sitab Rai here on Friday. The miscreants have been identified as Rohit, Basanti and Hoshiar Gujjar, all residents of various localities of the city. The police has registered a case of robbery, coupled with causing hurt, against the miscreants. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

KANGRA
Hindi fortnight programme ends: A Hindi fortnight programme concluded at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) on Friday night. Thirty students and staff members were bestowed with awards for different achievements. Dinesh K Rangra, Director, NIFT, said Hindi was a connecting factor in most of the states of northern and central India. Students, staff and faculty members, besides local journalists, intellectuals and Hindi scholars participated. Essay-writing, quizzes, letter writing, poetic competitions, skits etc were held. 

Kumar is Kangra Block Cong chief: The Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) on Saturday approved the list of office-bearers and the executive committee of the Block Congress Committee, Kangra, with Raj Kumar of Chotti Haler village as its president. Kuldeep Singh Rathore, general secretary, HPCC, said Kaul Singh Thakur, state president , HPCC, approved the committee supported by nine vice-presidents, eight general secretaries, eight secretaries, a treasurer and 27 members. 

NURPUR
Two held with poppy husk: In a joint naka conducted by the Indora and traffic police at Damtal in this subdivision, 10.170 kg of poppy husk was recovered from a truck (HR 55-6374) coming from the Pathankot side on Saturday. According to DSP Rajinder Jaswal, poppy husk was recovered during a search of the vehicle and its driver Honey Kumar and Buta Ram of Dhanni village near Phillaur (Punjab) were arrested. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against them. The accused were produced in the court at Indora on Saturday. 

SOLAN
21 vehicles impounded for illegal mining: A team of officials, led by the SP, Baddi, mining officer (MO), police and SDM, Nalagarh, has impounded 21 vehicles, including five JCB machines, involved in illegal mining operations at Lohand Khud, near Nalagarh. MO Suresh Bhardwaj said unregistered vehicles were found transporting quarry material. An auction of the material amassed on the site generated revenue worth Rs 5.80 lakh on the spot. SP Gurdev Sharma said they had received information about this illegal operation and had decided to raid the place. A case of theft under the Mines and Mineral Act had been registered against the vehicle owners. 

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
Medical camp on Sunday: A medical camp is being organised by the Command Hospital, Northern Command, as part of Operation Sadbhavana, at Government Higher Secondary School in Panchari village of Udhampur district on Sunday. The camp will offer medical and surgical facility for eye, ENT, gynae and laboratory screening also. 

DEHRADUN

Dehradun
2 killed in mishap: A jeep carrying people of a marriage party fell into a gorge at Gauchar in Chamoli district on Saturday evening killing two occupants. Three others were reportedly injured in the accident. Teams of ITBP and the police are involved in the rescue operations. The accident occurred near green mess of the ITBP camp at Gauchar.

Child found: A missing child who was found in the Vasant Vihar area was reunited with his parents by the police on Saturday. According to the police, the cops were informed by locals that a child aged about five years was found crying in Vasant Vihar. On the basis of information gathered from the locals, the police traced his family.

Song competition: The Council Inter-school Song and Dance Competition (Juniors) was held at Carman School, Dalanwala. A total of 20 schools took part in four different categories. In the action song in English, Carman School and Raja Ram Mohan Roy Academy were the winners while Doon Blossoms stood runners-up. In the western dance competition, St Thomas’ College was declared winners and Carman School was the runners-up. In the folk dance, St Judes School got first place while Marshall School was the runners-up. 

Gandhi Jayanti: Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva greeted the people of the state on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti, motivating them to work for the prosperity and safety of the nation.

Kumaon Briefs

Ruckus by varsity students: A group of students of Kumaon University created a ruckus in the office of the DSB College Director on Friday evening. The students were irked over the delay in the arrival of the Vice-Chancellor, Dr VPS Arora, in Nainital, where some girl students had been waiting for him to come and resolve their issues. Seeing a political opportunity, the newly elected leader of the Students’ Association, along with his supporters, created a ruckus over the Vice-Chancellor’s explanation for his late arrival and damaged furniture and glass panes in the office.

Tourists from Haryana thrashed: Some drunkards allegedly thrashed tourists from Haryana and also misbehaved with a woman travelling with them. The incident took place in the Mota Haldu area of Haldwani. Vibhuti Narayan Jha of Faridabad was coming to Nainital when two youths, who were reportedly in an inebriated state, tried to overtake their car near Mota Haldu. Since they were under intoxication, the driver of the motorcycle lost control over the vehicle and they fell down. Still showing concern, the car owner asked his driver to stop the car and see the condition of the youths. However, the youths called upon their acquaintances, who allegedly thrashed the car owner and the driver besides misbehaving with the owner’s wife.The couple has reported the matter to the Haldwani police.

Man killed in accident: Owing to poor condition of roads in the region and the alleged failure of the government to address the issue for more than a year, a youth lost his life in a mishap on Friday evening. According to information, a 22-year-old youth died when a truck fell on a van he was driving near the Pul Bhatta area of Kitcha in Udham Singh Nagar district. The incident took place when the truck driver failed to negotiate massive potholes that dot the road. The deceased has been identified as Sarfaraz of Siraulikalan village.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)