R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Abohar
Opium seized: Narcotics smugglers in the neighbouring Rajasthan area have become active in the light of assembly polls. The retail price of opium too has shot up from 50,000 to 70,000 for each kg, it was learnt. CIA staff said 4.5 kg of opium was recovered from two persons.

Amloh
Inauguration: A Banker’s Clearing House at Amloh was inaugurated yesterday by the RBI general manager from Chandigarh. Speaking on the occasion, Amar Nath said Amloh was the first place in Punjab where the RBI, Chandigarh, has authorised a private sector bank to run a Banker’s Clearing House. The move will benefit the customers and public as the cheque clearance and settlement among the banks will happen on the same day and hence, will benefit the people and trading community.

Bathinda
Call centres set up for polls: District Election Officer KK Yadav today said that call centres have been set up in various assembly constituencies to deal with the queries of voters. Voters can register their complaints there. The number of the call centre at Rampura Phul (60) assembly constituency is 01651-248225, Bhucho Mandi (91) is 0164-2219200, Bathinda urban (92) is 0164-2212525, Bathinda rural (93) is 0164-2241949, Talwandi Sabo (94) is 01655-220241 and Maur (95) assembly constituency is 0164-2211086.

Ludhiana
782 examined at medical camp: Government homoeopathic dispensary, Sukhdev Nagar, organised a medical check-up camp at the Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib on the occasion of Guru Purb. The camp was held under the leadership of gurdwara committee president Prithpal Singh and Dr Anita Chopra. As many as 782 patients were examined and were also given homoeopathic medicines.

NSS camp kicks off: The NSS wing of the BCM College of Education started its second camp today. MM Vyas, chairman, Ludhiana Improvement Trust, was the chief guest. Dr Khushwinder Kumar, principal, BCM College of Education, addressed volunteers of the NSS camp. Programme official Gurwinder Singh highlighted the theme of the NSS camp.

Sammelan: The Punjab Pardesh Aggarwal Sammelan held a meeting at the Raj Bhawan, Aggar Nagar, here on Sunday. The sammelan has decided to give full power to its president Amrit Lal Aggarwal to take any decision regarding the elections at the meeting. The Akali-BJP coalition was criticised and it was decided to oppose Hira Singh Gabria from Atam Nagar constituency.

Awarded: In a function organised by the Alag Shabad Yug Trust, Prof Puran Singh Dhami Awards were given to 10 persons serving humanity. Every awardee was presented a cash award of Rs 5,100, a silver medal, a citation, a memento and a set of publications of the trust.

Felicitated: Former state president of the BJP and main contender for the party ticket from Ludhiana (west), Rajinder Bhandari and BJP district president Rajiv Katna were felicitated by functionaries of Tera Panth Jain Samaj for lending their support to the Jain community during the last four-and-half-years of the SAD-BJP rule in Punjab. Kamal Jain and Bansi Lal Surana while placing on record the work done by Bhandari for the welfare of every section of society assured that the community would extend its unstinted support to him in the coming elections.

YC to work for Cong: The Ludhiana Lok Sabha unit of the Youth Congress (YC) will work to ensure the victory of Congress candidates in the assembly segments falling under the Lok Sabha constituency. Claiming this here on Sunday, unit president Deepak Khandur said YC cadres would work under the guidance of Rahul Gandhi and leadership of Captain Amarinder Singh to install the Congress government in Punjab in the coming assembly elections. “The corrupt and inefficient SAD-BJP government will be shown the door and the Congress will once again get in the saddle to take Punjab ahead on the road of progress and prosperity.”

CHANDIGARH

Chandigarh
ELECTED: Dr Suman Kochhar was elected as vice-president of the Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (IRIA). She will take charge in the office of the vice-president of the IRIA during its annual conference in January 2012.@@The IRIA is a national body of the radiologists of the country with close to 7,000 members. Dr Suman Kochhar is currently a professor and head of the department of radiodiagnosis and imaging at Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

PALAMPUR
Two arrested for attacking man: The police on Saturday arrested two persons who had attacked Surinder Kumar, son of BJP MLA Atma Ram, near a local shop on Friday night. Surinder, Branch Manager, Syndicate Bank, was on his way to his native village Patti when two persons stopped their van in front of his car and attacked him. They also damaged his car. On Surinder Kumar’s complaint, an alert was sounded in all the police stations in the region. The police recovered the van at Bhawarna and arrested the accused, Rahul and Deepak. They were later released on bail. However, the court refused to release the van in the absence of documents.

DEHRADUN

Kotdwara
Illegal liquor seized: As many as 200 bottles of illegal liquor were on Saturday seized in separate raids in Pauri district, the police said. The police intercepted a bus carrying 96 bottles of illegal liquor in Pokahra village and arrested its driver and conductor. In another raid at Sakinikhet, 18 bottles of illegal liquor were seized from a shop. The shopkeeper is absconding. In a joint checking by police and revenue officials, 12 cartons of illegal liquor were seized from the godown of a local businessman in Tharali. The businessman had been arrested, the police added.

Kumaon Briefs
White New Year in Nainital: For a change the weather gods did not disappoint the New Year revellers in Nainital as the higher reaches of the town witnessed slight snowfall on Saturday night. Much to the joy of the visiting tourists, their dream of a white New Year was fulfilled to some extent as they made a beeline for the Kilbury road to enjoy the snow. The town had witnessed a huge rush of tourists on Saturday with people coming to celebrate the ushering in of the New Year. The owners of roadside stalls selling woollens did brisk business along with the roadside eateries throughout Sunday.

Illegal distilleries destroyed: As part of a drive against manufacture and sale of illegally distilled liquor, a team of the Excise and Prohibition Department carried out raids in the Tanda forest area adjoining the Rampur road near Haldwai. The team destroyed 11 illegal manufacturing units and confiscated 220 litres of the manufactured product. It also destroyed 30,000 litres of raw spirit that was yet to be distilled in these units. The persons involved in illegal manufacturing managed to flee from the spot.

Man immolates himself: A resident of Bageshwar district immolated himself to death. He has been identified as 50-year-old Ramesh Ram of Gwadi village in the Kanda area of the district. He had allegedly doused himself with kerosene and had gone on to torch himself. He was rushed to a hospital with 80 per cent burn injuries and later succumbed to death while being treated. The reason why he took the extreme step is yet to be ascertained.

Water crisis in Haldwani: A water crisis has emerged in several residential colonies of Haldwani. The cause of the crisis is said to be the breaking of supply lines on account of various other works like removal of encroachments and covering of canals. The people are agitated over the delay in repairs of the broken lines. The worst affected areas Mukhani, Talli Bamauri, Hydel Colony, Himmatpur Talla etc. The residents have threatened to launch an agitation if the water supply is not resumed soon.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)