R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Bathinda 
Joined TB centre: Dr Ajeet Pal Singh joined the District Tuberculosis Center at the local Civil Hospital as the chest and tuberculosis specialist. Earlier, Dr Ajeet Pal Singh was rendering his services to the retired army men at the Army Hospital in Bathinda.

Ludhiana
Honoured: The jury for 19th Dewang Mehta Business School Award 2011 has decided to honour Prof Deepak Kapur, director, Panjab University Regional Centre, Ludhiana, with the Dewang Mehta Award for Best Teacher in strategic management. He has been invited to Mumbai for the award ceremony. 

HARYANA

Ambala
Purse snatched: Two motorcycle-borne youths snatched a purse from a resident of Kacha Bazar, Ambala Cantt. In her complaint, Sheel Jain said the youths snatched her purse in Kabari Bazar last evening. On raising the alarm, both the snatchers were chased by shopkeepers of the area and were nabbed. They were handed over to the police. The accused have been identified as Baljit, a resident of Shahpur, and Hardip, a resident of Machhonda village.

Chandigarh
6.6 lakh vaccinated: As many as 6.6 lakh children were vaccinated against the target of 13 lakh in the first week of measles catch-up campaign launched in six districts of Haryana. Health Minister Rao Narender Singh said 1,41,741 children were vaccinated in Bhiwani district , 78,059 in Narnaul, 20,511 in Panipat, 75,137 in Rewari, 77,936 in Rohtak and 1,20,510 in Sonepat. 

Fatehabad
Road blockade: Irked by pitiable condition of their road and accumulation of sewer water, shopkeepers on the Chandigarh Road in Tohana town closed their shops and blocked vehicular traffic for several hours on Tuesday. The shopkeepers alleged that due to an apathetic attitude of the authorities, they were loosing their business, as it had become almost impossible for people to walk on the road. They alleged that they have apprised the authorities with their problems several times, but to no avail. The shopkeepers finally lifted the roadblock, when they were assured by the authorities that their problem would be solved soon.

Jind
One-year jail: The district court has sentenced Amarchand, a Manager of Haryana Mortgage Bank, to one-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 6,000 for taking bribe from a client last year. He had demanded the money in connection with sanctioning a loan to a farmer. The Vigilance Department had caught the accused while taking money from the complainant in July last year.

Rewari
Youth held: The Rohrai police has arrested Rahul Yadav (22) who has been on the run after killing his friend, Nitin Yadav, at Guraora village on October 11. He was produced in a court at Kosli on Wednesday, who remanded him in police custody for one day. A senior police official said following an altercation over a trivial matter, Nitin was beaten to death by Rahul who then absconded after the incident.

Youth held: The Rohrai police has arrested Rahul Yadav (22) who has been on the run after killing his friend, Nitin Yadav, at Guraora village on October 11. He was produced in a court at Kosli on Wednesday, who remanded him in police custody for one day. A senior police official said following an altercation over a trivial matter, Nitin was beaten to death by Rahul who then absconded after the incident.

Blood camp: As many as 101 students (all boys) of Government Polytechnic College of the nearby Lisana village, donated blood at a camp held under the auspices of the District Red Cross Society on the college premises on Wednesday. While describing blood donation as a noble act, CG Rajini Kaanthan, DC, appended badges of appreciation to the blood donors. 

SONEPAT
2 youths drown: Two motorcycle-borne youths, Ajai, of Sisana village, and Satbir, of Saboli village, were drowned after they fell into a diversion drain near Turkpur village on Tuesday. The Kharkhoda police reached on the spot and got the bodies recovered with the help of divers and villagers. Both victims were returning from a marriage at Narela. Due to fog and poor visibility over the bridge on the drain, they fell into the drain along with their motorcycle.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Shopkeeper arrested for rape: The police arrested shopkeeper Dharma Pal (36) of Dagsetch village, near here, on charges of rape and threats to a minor 16-year-old schoolgoing girl on Monday. Reports said girl’s relatives have got an FIR registered at the Barmana police station alleging that the girl used to go to the shop of the accused for purchasing merchandise. But some weeks ago he induced the girl to enter his shop and raped her. The police has registered a case under Sections 376 and 506, IPC, and got his five-day remand. 

CHAMBA
Two booked for murder: A case of murder has been registered at the Tissa police station in Chamba district after Deep Kumar’s body was recovered at Kainthli Nala in the area on Monday, according to a police press statement issued here on Wednesday. SP Madhu Sudan Sharma said it was on the complaint of Sanjay Kumar of Gureta village in Chamba district a case of murder was got registered under Sections 302 and 34, IPC. The police had booked two persons of Kainthli village on suspicion. The SP said according to family members of the deceased, Deep had gone to attend the hearing of a law suit at Chamba court on November 16. But when he did not return home till November 20, they started searching for him and on November 21, they found his body lying in the Kainthli Nala.

HAMIRPUR
Games for special kids on Nov 25: District-level games for special children will be organised on the sports ground of the Government Senior Secondary School for Boys at Hamirpur on November 25 from 10 am onwards. District Sports Officer Ved Prakash Upadhayay said boys and girls of 13 to 17 years could participate in the 100-m walk and race, rope jumping, soft ball throw, long jump and 50-m walk with assistance. Hundred m, 200 m and 400 m races would also be organised for special category persons in the age group of 18 to 45 years. He said all such children and their attendants would be paid to and fro bus fare and arrangement for night stay would also be made for those children who would have to stay overnight. 

NURPUR
Thieves decamp with jewellery: A theft was reported from Khanni village, near here, on Tuesday night. According to information, burglars broke into Nirmal Singh’s old house when he had shifted into the adjoining newly built house. They decamped with gold and silver jewellery kept in a steel cupboard in the house. An estimated loss to the tune of Rs 1.5 lakh has been reported. DSP Rajinder Jaswal said a case under Sections 380 and 457, IPC, had been registered.

DEHRADUN

DEHRADUN
Traders’ protest today: Traders of Dila Ram Bazar have decided to protest against the decision of state minister Prakash Pant to impose a ban on parking on the Water Works premises at a meeting held here on Wednesday. Mahesh Gupta, a trader, said 150 traders would keep their shops closed for two hours on Thursday as a mark of protest. He said they would continue their agitation till the authorities lifted the ban. The meeting was attended by traders Mahesh Gupta, Gurdip Saini, Arvind Prasad and Bharat Bhushan Verma.

Three caught while transporting oxen: A team of the People for Animals caught three men at Sahaspur taking 10 oxen to Bareilly. The accused did not have medical certificate of the animals needed to be possessed to transport them from one place to another. The accused defended themselves saying they were taking the animals for tending their fields. These accused are Ram Gopal from Nazibabad, Bijesh from Bijnaur and Kali Ram from Badot. 

House burgled at Raipur: The house of Kilaf Singh Paimoli, employee of the Education Directorate, was burgled when he and his wife, who is a teacher at a government school at Jakhan, had left for work in the morning. Their three children, who came back from the school, found their house at Raipur ransacked. The couple complained that jewellery, cash and items worth several lakhs had been stolen from their house. 

Kumaon Briefs

Rs 9.66 crore for sugarcane farmers: The state government has released Rs 9.66 crore to be disbursed among farmers in Udham Singh Nagar district against the payments due to them for the sugarcane supplied to various mills last year. District Magistrate PS Jangpangi has ordered the managements of these sugar mills to make the payments to the farmers at the earliest. Earlier, the government had allocated Rs 15 crore for disbursement among the sugarcane farmers. He said another Rs 8.27 crore was to be paid to the farmers which would be made available to them soon. He said a private sugar mill in Kashipur was to give Rs 2.43 crore to the farmers. Of the Rs 9.66 crore received in the present instalment, Rs 2.41 crore each has been allocated to the mills at Nadehi, Gadarpur, Bazpur and Sitarganj.

Election-related duties: District Election Officer, Udham Singh Nagar, PS Jangpangi has ordered that various departments must furnish the list of their employees to be deputed for election-related duties over the next two days. He has warned that any delay in providing the list would be taken seriously. He said any office that was yet to receive a blueprint for the conduct of the elections for deputing its personnel must obtain the same from the DEO’s office at the earliest.

General Joshi’s statue unveiled: A park was dedicated to the late General BC Joshi and his statue was unveiled by Cabinet minister Prakash Pant in the Danya area of Almora district on Wednesday. The park and the statue have been built at a cost of Rs 10 lakh. Speaking on the occasion, Pant said society must remember the supreme sacrifice made by the soldiers of the country. Remembering the contributions made by General Joshi, the minister said he had a development-oriented vision and to prevent the emigration of the youth from the region, he had established a Sainik School in Pithoragarh. Pant said the government was making efforts to ensure that a degree college announced after General Joshi became functional within the stipulated time frame. The people came up with the demand for a road to General Joshi’s village, the opening of a library and an ex-servicemen canteen on the occasion.

Rural development activities: Zila Panchayat chairman, Almora, Mohan Ram Arya has asked the officials involved in rural development activities to work as a team and carry out the works in a transparent manner. Speaking at a meeting held in Almora on Wednesday, Arya said much more needed to be done with regard to the execution of schemes like the Swarn Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana, the Indira Awas Yojana, the Sarvbhaum Rozgar Yojana and the Credit-cum-Subsidy Awas Yojana. He expressed annoyance over several officials choosing to remain absent from the meeting and asked the senior officials present to seek an explanation from the absentees.

Youth killed in mishap: A youth was killed when his motorcycle reportedly collided head-on with a bus on the Dehradun road in Rudrapur. Following this, the bus driver lost control over the vehicle which hit a truck. Ten others were also sustained injuries in the process. The deceased has been identified as 24-year-old Jeetendra of Semikheda village of the Bahedi area of Bareilley district. The pillion rider also sustained injuries in the accident.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)