R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Hoshiarpur
Woman commits suicide: Pooja, a young housewife, committed suicide by setting herself ablaze at Hajipur village. Pawan Kumar, the brother of the deceased, said his sister got married to Ashvani Kumar in 2007. He alleged that Ashvani, his father Kishan Chand and mother Soma Devi used to torture Pooja for more dowry and were demanding a motorcycle from her parents. Pooja could not take the torture and committed suicide. Ashvani, who attempted to save her, also got burns and was admitted to a private hospital. The condition of Ashvani was under control. The police has booked the accused under Sections 302, 304 B and 34 of the IPC.

LUDHIANA
Dr Rakesh Gupta passes away in Ludhiana: A senior surgeon at the local Civil Hospital Dr Rakesh Gupta (53) breathed his last on Monday at the DMC Hospital, Ludhiana. He is survived by wife, a son and a daughter. As per the information, he was a cancer patient. For this, he underwent surgery some months ago. He remained active for some time. Two weeks back, he felt the some problem and was taken to Apollo Hospital, Ludhiana, where he was again operated upon. After his condition became serious, he was shifted to the DMC Hospital, Ludhiana.

SSD College’s NSS coordinator honoured: The coordinator of the SSD Girls College Usha Sharma was honoured for her services to the NSS. Vice-chancellor Punjabi University, Patiala, Dr Jaspal Singh honoured Usha, who has been working for the NSS for the last 22 years.

Phagwara
4 hurt in clash: Four members of the Ambedkar Auto Union, Vinay Kumar (president), Raj Kumar, Gurnam Chand and Sarabjit, sustained injuries in a clash with members of the Chiherru Auto Union at Chiherru on the national highway here this evening. The ferrying of the passengers was said to be the cause of the clash. About a dozen auto-rickshaws were damaged and auto-rickshaw drivers blocked vehicular traffic on the highway, which could be lifted only after the intervention of Chiherru SHO Ramandeep Singh. Meanwhile, all four injured auto-rickshaw drivers were admitted to the Civil Hospital.

Tarn Taran
Traffic blocked: Protesting against the bad road conditions here, members of the newly-formed Nagar Sudha Sabha held a protest march, organised a dharna in front of the Municipal Council and blocked traffic for more than an hour here today. Sabha president Jaswant Singh Padda, also a BJP councillor and vice president of the Municipal Council, alleged that the sub-standard material was being used in the development works being conducted in town for which the state government had released grants worth Rs 150 crore. They alleged that the grants were being misused.

CHANDIGARH

Chandigarh
Body found: The Chandigarh police recovered a body of an unidentified person from Sukhna Lake on Monday. According to the police, the deceased, identified as sikh in his mid-twenties wearing red turban and red t-shirt, blue jeans was found floating in the lake, near stairs. Police also found a light grey coloured wallet in his pocket. A DDR was lodged and investigation has been initiated.

HARYANA

SONEPAT
DAP prices: Resentment prevails among farmers and the Kisan organisation against a steep hike of more than Rs 300 per bag in the DAP prices as well as smuggling of the fertiliser in the adjoining areas of UP. They have demanded withdrawal of this hike with immediate effect. Shradha Nand Solanki, state vice-president of the All-India Kisan Sabha, said after increasing the pricies of the petroleum products, the government had increased the prices of a DAP bag from Rs 600 to Rs 905.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Udhampur
Army holds medical camp in Panchari: Under Operation Sadbhavna, the army organised a free multi-disciplinary camp involving eye, ENT, obstetrics and gynaecology, medical, surgical and laboratory services at Government Higher Secondary School, Panchari, a remote village in Udhampur district, today. The camp was conducted by the Command Hospital (NC). As per the Public Relations Officer, Northern Command, Col Rajesh Kalia, a large number of women of reproductive age group were also screened for cervical and breast malignancy. In addition, screening was also carried out for common health problems like anaemia, hypertension and diabetes. About 1500 persons attended the various OPDs.

DEHRADUN

DEHRADUN
Kisan Club opened: Kisan Club, a bank for farmers, was inaugurated at Jamanpur in Sahaspur on Monday. The bank has been set up in association with NABARD and Disha, a social organisation. It was inaugurated by Vinita Srivastav, Assistant General Managar (NABARD). Srivastav said to make farming viable, more loans would be granted to farmers. Jhanvi Tiwari of Disha said 20 more such clubs in would be set up in the future. These clubs would be promoted as business facilitation centres and provide guidance to farmers regarding the use of the quality of seeds and newer farming techniques.

Three booked: Three persons have been booked for allegedly thrashing a family at the latter’s house in Khatik Mohalla in Karanpur on Sunday. In her complaint to the police, Babbli Devi alleged that Rajan, Sonu and Shashi forcibly entered their house and indulged in a fight over some issue. Later, the trio allegedly thrashed her husband, children and her. A case under Sections 420, 323, 504, 506 of the IPC has been registered at the Dalanwala police station.

Stolen: Thieves struck at a bungalow at OFD Estate in Raipur and allegedly decamped with $500, Rs 17,000 and ornaments. The matter was reported to the police by the owner of the bungalow on Sunday, as they were not in the city. According to Hitender Kumar Sharma, owner of the house, they had gone for a vacation to their native place in Rajasthan on September 24, but when they returned they found their house ransacked. After checking the house, it was found that $500, Rs 17,000 and ornaments had been missing. A case has been registered at the Raipur police station.

Statues to be repaired: Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli has asked officials of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) to submit estimates for the repair of statues to him within a week. He said people were blaming the corporation for the ill-maintenance of the statues installed in the city. The Mayor asked the officials to prepare estimates for the repair of the statues of Lal Bahadur Shastri at Bhandari Bagh and of Mahatma Gandhi at Old Nehru Colony Park.

Kumaon Briefs
160 more schools to get midday meal: The Champawat administration has decided to include 160 more schools in the midday meal scheme. At present, the scheme is being run in 713 schools of the district. The decision to cover more schools under the scheme was taken at a meeting held under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan on Monday. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Zila Panchayat chairperson Prema Pandey. In her address, Pandey underlined the need to provide a balanced and nutritious diet to the children being covered under the scheme. She also called for a transparent recruitment process for the appointment of bhojanmatas in various schools.

Nainital DM reviews schemes: After taking over the charge of District Magistrate, Nainital, Nidhi Mani Tripathi reviewed schemes being run under the District Plan, State Plan and 20-Point Programme. She has asked officials to submit a report regarding financial achievements along with physical achievements at the ground level during the next review meeting. She has also sought details of special schemes being implemented by various departments. She has asked officials to come forward with the problems being faced by them with regard to the implementation of various schemes so that these problems could be addressed.

Water shortage continues in Haldwani: Residents of several localities in the Unchapul and Damuadunga areas of Haldwani continue to reel under water crisis on account of officials having allegedly failed to repair burnt motors of tubewells catering to the water requirement of the areas. While the motor of the tubewell supplying water to Unchapul was burnt five days ago, those of the tube well in Damuadunga was burnt 20 days ago. The worst affected localities are Himmatpur, Kusumkheda, and the Block area.

Essay writing competition: Several programmes are being organised by the Forest Department and NGOs involved in wildlife conservation to mark Wildlife Week. An essay writing competition was organised for schoolchildren of Ramnagar on Sunday. Earlier, children from various schools participated in a procession organised at Nainital to generate awareness about the need to save wildlife. Besides, painting competitions are also being organised by various schools.

Matriculation, intermediate exams: The Almora administration has started preparing for the conduct of matriculation and intermediate examinations to be conducted by the Uttarakhand School Board early next year. At a meeting organised on the issue, District Magistrate DS Garbyal said 144 centres would be set up for conducting the exams. Of these, 133 would be mixed centres where both girls and boys would take their exams. The administration has identified 25 examination centres as sensitive while three have been declared extra-sensitive. Most of the sensitive centres are in Baramandal tehsil. A total of 16,176 students would take the matriculation exams while 12,698 would be taking the intermediate exams.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)