R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Fatehgarh Sahib
Students’ welfare camp organised: The Red Cross unit of Mata Gujri College has organised a student welfare camp at Balari Kalan village. Dr Jatinder Singh Sidhu, director-principal of the college, inaugurated the camp. He distributed stationery and socks among 109 students of the Government Primary School at the village.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

KANGRA
Country liquor seized, 2 held: The Special Investigation Unit (SIT) of the Kangra police seized 200 boxes of the country liquor being transported illegally in a truck at the Kangra bypass and arrested two persons, Ajay Kumar of Khaniara and Sonu Kumar of Tatail Panchruki, in this connection on Sunday. Sanjeev Walia, member of the SIU and investigating officer, said the liquor was being transported in a truck (HP 68-3132) when the team intercepted it during a naka. The truck had been impounded. He said the boxes containing 18 lakh MLs of country liquor were being brought from Una for distribution at tea vendor shops in Kangra and Palampur.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

JAMMU
Zojila-Drass road to remain closed: The Zojila-Drass road shall remain closed to vehicular traffic of all kinds from December 1. According to a government notification, the people have been advised to desist from travelling on the road.

SrinagaR
Mercury dips in Kashmir valley: Cold wave has intensified in the Kashmir Valley with minimum temperatures dipping four to 5°C below the freezing point at some places. Pahalgam tourist resort was the coldest in the Valley where the mercury plunged to minus 4.6°C on Sunday night, a MeT Department official said. Qazigund, the gateway town to the Valley, freezed at minus 3.6°C while the Gulmarg skiing resort recorded a low of minus 3°C. The minimum temperature in Srinagar fell by 2.1°C to settle at minus 1.3°C, the official said. However, day temperatures remained above normal with Kupwara town recording a maximum of 15.8°C. Gulmarg was comparatively colder with a maximum of 11°C.

Two suspected militants held: Two suspected militants were arrested and two hand grenades recovered from their possession in the Hazratbal area here on Monday. “Aijaz Ahmad Hamdani and Javid Ahmad Sheikh were arrested and two grenades recovered from their possession,” a police spokesman said. A case under the Illegal Arms Act has been registered. 

Six robbers arrested: With the arrest of six persons, the police on Monday claimed to have busted a gang of robbers in Kulgam district. The robbers were arrested following a complaint about a robbery in the Damhal Hanjipora area of the district last week, the police said. The accused had barged into a house on November 22 and demanded Rs 2 lakh from its owner.

Urdu literacy programme: As part of its efforts to revive the language, the Sahitya Akademi will organise an Urdu literacy programme every three months in the Kashmir valley. “The Akademi will hold an Urdu literacy programme in the Valley every three months,” J Pulandray, Urdu in-charge at the centre, said at a function to celebrate the 100th year of Urdu short stories here on Sunday. Noted Urdu writer Aziz Hajini emphasised the need for promoting the language. 

DEHRADUN

DEHRADUN
Kiran Bedi’s biographer dead: Prof Parmesh Dangwal, the author of Kiran Bedi’s biography “I Dare”, died here on Sunday. Dangwal, a well-known city author, was the first to write a book on Kiran Bedi. He used to teach English in a Dehradun college. 

Youth killed in accident: An MBA II year student, Sunil Chand Arya (25), who came to meet his friend, Narender of Bidoli, on Saturday from Delhi, was killed after he lost control of his bike and rammed into a tree near Sai temple.

Kumaon Briefs

Maintain records of complaints: Almora District Magistrate DS Garbyal has ordered his subordinate officer in the district administration to maintain proper records of the complaints made by the public and apprise the section officers of the action taken within three days. He has given the orders in accordance with the directions given by the Chief Minister during the recent videoconferencing session. He has underlined that several departments are not maintaining the said records in the prescribed format. He has asked the officials to rectify this soon.

Workshop for master trainers held: Officer in charge for carrying out economic and caste-based census in Udham Singh Nagar Ranvir Singh Chauhan has asked the master trainers to give proper training to those who would be carrying out the exercise at the grass-roots level. Speaking at a workshop for master trainers, which was held in Rudrapur on Monday, Chauhan asked them to study in detail the booklets made available to them so that they can impart proper training.

EVMs tested: The Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) that will be used for conducting the forthcoming Assembly poll in Udham Singh Nagar district were tested in a mock-polling exercise on Monday. Senior officials, who would be managing the electoral exercise, were present during the event along with representatives of various political parties. Official in charge of the EVMs TS Martoliya said 2100 EVMs had arrived in the district from West Bengal. He said all the machines had been duly tested. He said 155 control units and eight ballot units were found to have been out of order and the exercise for their replacement and repairs was on.

Wild cat succumbs to injuries: A wild cat, which had been found injured near Durgapur village in the Ramnagar area of Nainital district three days ago, succumbed to its injuries on Sunday. The cat had injuries on its feet and waist. Its post-mortem examination was carried out on Monday.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)