R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Chandigarh
Norms to appoint commissioners: The Search Committee constituted by the Punjab Government has finalised the guidelines for the selection of suitable candidates for appointment as chief commissioner and commissioners of Right to Service Commission on the similar pattern as laid down by the Punjab and Haryana High Court for chairman and members of the Punjab Public Service Commission. The Committee has decided to form a panel of three candidates for appointment against the post of chief commissioner and another panel of suitable candidates equal to three times the number of vacancies of commissioners.

Innovation centre at Science City: The Pushpa Gujral Science City at Kapurthala will soon have a Regional Incubation Science Hub for Innovators (RISHI) as the Union Ministry for Science and Technology has approved the proposal. A release from the Science City said a grant of Rs 17 lakh had also been sanctioned for the first two years of the project. Under the RISHI programme, talented students will be encouraged to pursue ideas with potential during their internship at the Science City.

Mann for opening of Wagah border: SAD (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann has urged Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to work towards opening of the Hussainiwala and Wagah borders with Pakistan so that agricultural and allied produce could be exported to Islamic countries in the Middle East and Central Asia. Mann urged that the water drains lying idle as well as the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal should be used for fisheries and crocodile farming, which could fetch valuable foreign exchange.

Police visitors week gets good response: The Punjab Government’s Saanjh Kendras Visitors’ Week that started on Monday has received a positive response across the state. During this week, which would continue till November 6, citizens would be encouraged to familiarise and assess the services provided by the police stations and Saanjh Kendras (Community Police Centres).

Jagraon
Strike by non-teaching employees: The non-teaching staff of Lajpat Rai DAV College, Jagraon, on the call of Punjab and Chandigarh Non-Teaching Employees Union, observed a one-day strike to highlight their pending demands on the college premises today. The staff staged a dharna near the college gate this morning.

HARYANA

Fatehabad
Body fished out: Five days after Sonu and his brother-in-law Birju, a Hisar resident, were drowned in the Bhakra Canal near Tohana, the police recovered Sonu’s body near Rania in Sirsa on Tuesday. The two victims had gone for an outing and were drowned in the canal near the Baliala headworks.

Kurukshetra
Elected: Following were elected as office-bearers of the Printing Press Owners Association on Monday. Vijyant - president, Krishan Kumar Vashishth - senior vice-president, Vijay Dhingra - vice-president, Mohan Lal Verma - secretary, Mohan Tanwar - treasurer and Dr Rajesh Wadhwa - press secretary.

Cultural fest: Ratnawali, an annual cultural extravaganza of Kurukshetra University, which used to be held from October 28 to November 1 every year, will commence on November 2 this year. The deviation in the fixed dates during which the festival was held during the past 25 years was necessitated due to Diwali, a spokesman said.

PO arrested: The police arrested a proclaimed offender (PO), Kuldeep, of Jainpur, from Ladwa Chowk on Tuesday. A road accident case was registered against Kuldeep in 2007 and he was declared as the proclaimed offender by a court on August 27.

Fraudster held: The police has arrested Ravinder of Haabri village in Kaithal for allegedly grabbing a job of a fireman at the municipal committee, Thanesar, by submitting a fake certificate of matriculation. The then Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Aggarwal lodged a complaint at Thana City Thanesar on July 12 alleging that Ravinder was given the employment on the basis of documents submitted by him. Thus, it was observed that the applicant had cheated the government to get the job.

Panipat
Criminals nabbed: The police arrested two criminals who were wanted in 22 criminal cases in the district on Tuesday. Pankaj Nain, district police chief, said Amit and Ashwani were arrested after they tried to attack a team of the CIA staff, which had put up a checkpost near Pathargarh village. He said on being directed to stop their motorcycle, one of them shot a bullet at the CIA in charge and tried to escape. The police nabbed them after a short chase.

Rewari
Six booked: Following an altercation over obstruction caused on the pathway by Birender Yadav, when Kanwar Singh Yadav, along with his family members, who were armed with lethal weapons, attacked Birender Yadav, his mother, Basanti Devi (80), and other family members. Basanti Devi was killed whereas other family members sustained injuries at Khandora village on Monday. Meanwhile, a case of murder has been registered against Kanwar Singh and five others.

DEHRADUN

DEHRADUN
Couple consumes poison: Following a family dispute, a couple allegedly consumed poison here. Though the woman survived due to timely medical treatment, the man died. According to information, on Monday evening, Surender’s wife allegedly consumed poison after a dispute with him. Surender took her to a hospital but later came back. After returning home, he also allegedly consumed poison. His parents took him to Doon Hospital, where he died.

Rape bid: A labourer, Rajkumar, allegedly tried to rape a six-year-old girl. However, the girl screamed in protest following which he threw her in the bushes in the Miyawala area and fled. Though the police has got the medical examination of the girl done, it has not registered any case against the culprit as the victim’s parents have not lodged a complaint in this regard so far.

Lecture: During a lecture organised at DAV PG College here on Tuesday, noted environmentalist and adviser (environmental studies) to the UGC, Prof M H Qureshi discussed how the environment is getting affected by human beings only. He said man had always caused harm to nature for his own interests.

Kumaon Briefs
Roof of chamber collapses, 2 lawyers hurt: Two lawyers sustained injuries when the roof of their chamber caved in on the High Court premises in Nainital on Monday evening. Agitated over the incident, lawyers met Chief Justice Tarun Aggarwala and apprised him of the incident. The lawyers have sought that the matter be probed and strict action be taken against the contractor responsible for having used “substandard” material in the construction of the building housing the lawyers’ chambers. They said while the High Court building that was built over a 100 years ago stood intact, the building housing their chambers was caving in a span of mere three years.

Labourer killed in mishap: A labourer employed in a paper mill in Lal Kuan died after reportedly falling from the roof of a building. The deceased has been identified as Ranjit Singh (40) of the Bindukhatta area. He fell from a height of 30 ft. He was involved in the construction activity of a godown when the accident occurred. He was taken to a nearby health facility from where he was referred to Haldwani where he died. The mill management has assured to pay a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to his family.

Surplus milk to be processed: With an increase in production accompanied by a fall in demand, milk producers affiliated to the Milk Federations at Lal Kuan and Almora have decided to go in for the processing of milk to make powder. According to reports, the two federations have entered into an agreement with a milk powder manufacturing facility in Meerut, where surplus milk would be sent for processing. The region experiences a huge flexibility with regard to the demand of milk that shoots up in the summer and declines in the winter. The process of making milk powder is expected to commence from this month.

Team inspects Haldwani hospital: A team from the Union Health Ministry inspected Sushila Tewari Memorial Hospital at Haldwani. Members of the team interacted with the staff and patients with regard to the facilities being provided and shortcomings on various fronts. The main focus of the four-member team was to gather information with regard to the schemes being run under the National Rural Health Mission, schemes meant for ensuring vaccinations and those meant for improving women’s health. The team members expressed their concern over the deaths taking place during childbirth.

Residents’ plea to check crime: Residents of the remote Dhari area of Nainital district have sought immediate steps to check the growing instances of crime in the area. They have also submitted a memorandum to District Magistrate Nidhi Mani Tripathi in this regard. They have demanded that immediate steps be taken by the administration to check such practices and to ensure that peace prevails in this remote part of the district.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)