R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Ludhiana
Man run over by Shatabdi:An unidentified man was crushed to death by a Jan Shatabdi Express train near Kundan Puri here today. The incident took place this morning when the man was crossing the railway track. Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Pyara Singh said the victim perhaps could not spot the train. He said due to the incident the train came to a halt for nearly half-an-hour. 

HARYANA

Chandigarh
Additional charge: Vineet Garg, Special Secretary, Personnel, Training, Vigilance and Parliamentary Affairs Department, Haryana, and Inquiry Officer, Vigilance, and Director-General, Science and Technology, has been given additional charge as Secretary, Rajya Sainik Board, against a vacant post. 

FARIDABAD
Youth dies: A youth died on the spot when a truck hit his motorcycle on the NH-2 on Thursday night. The victim, Nitin Bhardwaj, was returning home along with his brother-in-law who was on a separate motorcycle. The incident occurred at Star Wire Crossing. The truck driver escaped after the accident. A case has been registered. 

Rewari
Woman dead: Rama Gandhi (50) died and her husband, Surender Gandhi, was seriously injured when their car was hit by a vehicle on the Rewari-Rohtak road on Friday night. Their grandchildren who were also travelling in the same car, fortunately escaped unhurt. The mishap occurred when they were going from Rewari to Rohtak to attend a marriage.

Rohtak
3 POs held: The police has arrested three proclaimed offenders (POs) during the past 24 hours. A police spokesman said Neeraj of Dubaldhan Majra village was arrested from Bajrang Bhawan here on Thursday night. Shankar of Jind was nabbed from Kalanaur railway station. The third PO, Pawan of Morkheri village, was booked at Sampla town five years ago on charges of theft. 

Two held: The police has arrested two youths, Ajay and Jagdish, for illicit trade of liquor. As many as 20 bottles of illicit liquor have been recovered from them, said a police official. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

HAMIRPUR
Workshop held: A one-day workshop on swine flu was organised at the Toani Devi civil hospital on Friday in which health workers and para-medical staff of the surrounding area participated. Block medical officer RK Agnihotri was the main speaker in the workshop.

SHIMLA
Pulse polio campaign: More than 82,000 children upto the age of five will be administered pulse polio drops in Shimla district on April 15. Stating this here on Thursday, BC Badalia, ADC, Shimla, said all arrangements had been completed for the campaign. “A total of 712 booths will be set up along with 23 transit and 20 mobile teams,” he added. 

BJP meetings: Keen to make its “Mission Repeat” a reality, top notch of the ruling BJP will be holding a series of meetings with ministers, senior leaders and party office-bearers here on April 19. Virtually getting into an election mode, central BJP leaders, including its national organisation secretary Ram Lal, national general secretary and JP Nadda and national BJP secretary Shyam Jaju will meet with senior party leaders, including Chief Minister, P.K. Dhumal, from the state. 

Monkey menace: The Shimla Nagrik Sabha on Friday demanded constitution of specialised squads to catch monkeys in various parts of the town to save people from the menace they are facing in their daily life. The sabha in a letter written to the chief wildlife warden has urged that stringent steps need to be taken to check the increasing population of monkeys.

SOLAN
Cong ticket: Pradesh Congress Committee member from Arki constituency Prakash Karar has finally taken up cudgels against his own party’s state spokesman who had been proclaiming to have got a nod for being the party’s nominee for the ensuing Vidhan Sabha poll from Arki. Addressing mediapersons at Arki on Thursday, Karar, Block Congress Committee president Sanjay Awasthy and elected representatives from various panchayats and front organisations of the Congress said the party’s state spokesman who had lost the last Vidhan Sabha poll from Solan was now projecting himself as the party’s official nominee for the Arki seat, which was creating misgivings among the party workers. He asserted that no such assurance had been given to anyone for a party ticket from Arki. 

Village scheme: As many as 100 villages dominated by the Scheduled Castes community in the district have been brought under the Prime Minister Model Village Scheme. Health Minister Rajeev Bindal launched the scheme from Hinner panchayat by laying the foundation stone of a community centre at Tikkari village. Addressing a public meeting, he said Rs 20 lakh each would be spent on selected villages on various developmental schemes. As many as 30 such villages had been selected in the Solan Assembly constituency. Sheela, Chairperson, zila parishad; DC Solan C.Paulrasu, SDM Yashpaul Sharma were among those also present on this occasion. 

DEHRADUN

Kumaon Briefs

Target to administer polio drops to 1,40,245 kids
The Nainital administration has set a target of administering polio drops to 1,40,245 children during the next phase of the pulse polio campaign to be carried out on April 15. At a meeting held on Thursday to make preparations for the campaign, Chief Medical Officer SCS Koranga said 900 booths had been set up across the district for the campaign. Chief Development Officer Dhiraj Garbyal ordered that the schools where the booths had been set up to remain open on the given date.

Jeweller run over by train
A jeweller was killed when he was run over by a train in the Bazpur area of Udham Singh Nagar district. The deceased has been identified as Prem Prakash Verma of the Alapur locality. It is alleged that he was mentally disturbed. He was roaming close to railway tracks when a Kathgodam-bound train hit him on Thursday.

Khupi villagers demand relocation
Residents of Khupi village, a highly disaster-prone area, have once again aired the demand for their relocation. About 18 families of the village located at a distance of 15 km from Nainital town have stated that they are living under constant fear which increases inclement weather conditions prevail. The village has been witnessing sinking of land for the past few years and landslides have been taking place frequently. Most of the residents of the village come from the Scheduled Castes families. The matter has been taken up by the villagers with the local legislator Sarita Arya, who has promised to take it up with the district authorities.

Ban on ‘indecent’ apparel
Udham Singh Nagar District Magistrate PS Jangpangi has banned wearing of indecent apparel along with jeans and t-shirts by the employees in government offices and schools across the district. Issuing the orders, he has stated that it has come to light that several employees of government offices, including teachers of government schools have been coming for work dressed inappropriately. He has ordered his subordinate staff in the district to ensure that the orders are properly implemented.

Body found
The body of Ram Pervez, who drowned in the Sharda dam in the Khatima area of Udham Singh Nagar on Thursday, has been recovered by divers. Pervez, along with two others, was chasing some persons involved in illegal fishing when their boat capsized on account of strong wind. While his two associates managed to swim to safety, he drowned.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)