R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
65 fined for smoking in public: Challans were issued to 65 persons for smoking in public places and Rs 6,900 were collected from them as fine. Additional Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, Supreet Singh Gulati, said the city is all set to get the smoke-free status by August 15. He said the general public should cooperate with the administration in this direction.

Bathinda
City lad 9th in CA-CPT:Bathinda boy, Yatin Garg, has secured rank 9 at the all-India level in the CA-CPT exam held on June 17. Yatin scored 94 per cent marks, securing 188 marks out of a total of 200. 

Chandigarh
Info sought on hotels in Amritsar: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Amritsar Municipal Commissioner to submit a list of officials responsible for allowing hotels to come up in the Golden Temple corridor. The court also summoned official record to examine under which provisions the licences were granted to the owners to construct hotels. The state had earlier furnished a list of 21 hotels in the corridor during the resumed hearing of a PIL for the removal of encroachments in the corridor.

Ludhiana
YC stir against tariff hike from today: The Punjab Youth Congress will start its protest against the recent hike in power tariff from the Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency from Sunday. Demanding a rollback of the hike in power tariff, Youth Congress state president Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary said, "The hike is unfair. The voters have been betrayed and the people of the state have been taken for a ride by the government." 

Moga
Cancer camps in Moga on July 26, 27: Roko Cancer will organise cancer check-up camps at Baghapurana on July 26 and Sukhanand village on July 27 in Moga district. Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, global ambassador of the trust, said they would focus on detecting cancer at an early stage. He said the sixth mobile bus for the detection of cancer would be launched on July 31. 

Youth murdered in Moga town: A youth was shot dead in a clash at a tavern in the town on Friday. Following a quarrel, the accused took out a revolver and fired shots at Jaswinder Singh, a resident of Goluwala village of Ferozepur district. The victim was rushed to the District Hospital where he was declared brought dead. The police has arrested the accused and recovered the revolver used in the crime from his possession. 

Phagwara
Protest against price rise: Activists of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh took out a rally in protest against the price rise of essential commodities in Phagwara on Saturday. Protesters, headed by sangh state secretary Raj Narayan Yadav, carried placards and raised slogans to lodge their protest. The rally originated from the local Town Hall and passed through several parts of the city.

Tarn Taran
Man held with heroin: The Chabal police has recovered one kg heroin from Gurpreet Singh of Sultanwind village in Amritsar at a naka here late last evening. The consignment is worth Rs five crore in the international market. Gurpreet’s accomplice Surinder Singh Shinder of Kallewal village managed to flee. Police sources said a case under Sections 21, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered in this regard.

HARYANA

Chandigarh
Power supply: Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday assured the state's farmers of adequate power and water supply. Addressing farmers who had come to meet him at his residence here, he assured them that their crops would not wither at any cost and sufficient arrangements would be made for this.

Rewari
3 killed: Three workers in Bawal industrial estate were killed by a speeding dumper, when they were chatting on NH 8 on Friday. The deceased were identified as Satender Singh of Bithwana village, Rajbir of Nangal Jamalpur village of Rewari district and Satender Kumar of Alwar district in Rajasthan. The driver of the dumper, which was on its way to Jaipur, sped away with the vehicle. 

Elecrocuted: A housewife Nisha Yadav (26) was electrocuted when she touched a live wire while cleaning the floor of her room with a wiper at Gokalgarh village, 3 km from here, on Friday. The police, which held inquest proceedings, treated it as a case of incidental death. 

Sirsa
6 taken ill: Six members of a family from Janania village of Rajasthan were shifted to Sirsa’s General Hospital with symptoms of food poisoning while four members of a family were taken ill after taking food at Fatehabad. The family from Rajasthan had taken their dinner with green vegetables plucked from fields while the four members of a family from the Swami Nagar area of Fatehabad were taken ill after eating “kakri” with their dinner.

Sonepat
Buses for patients: “Special buses will be run from Sonepat, Gohana and Gannaur for patients to reach BPS Government Women Medical College and Hospital at Khanpur Kalan. It will be an hourly service from Gohana till 5 pm everyday,” said Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda after inspecting the medical college and hospital. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
Man jailed: Judicial Magistrate Ramnik Sharma at Ghumarwin, near here, has sentenced Ramesh Kumar of Rehag village in this district to simple imprisonment for one year and an additional fine of Rs 1,000 under Section 61, Excise Act ,1914, for illegally possessing and selling illicit liquor in his shop. In case of default in the payment of fine, he will have to undergo simple imprisonment for other 15 days.

Man killed in road mishap: Kishori Lal (50) of Mangrote village was killed when he lost control over the truck he was driving and the vehicle fell into a gorge, 20 km from here, on Thursday. SP Santosh Patial said co-passenger Chaman Lal was injured in the mishap. He was rushed to the Regional Hospital by the police with help of villagers. A case has been registered and further investigations are on. 

Woman gets severe burn injuries: Pampi Devi (26), wife of Madan Lal of Raura sector here, was severely burnt when she tried to light a stove in her house and her clothes caught fire. Her neighbours rushed her to the Regional Hospital here. She was further shifted to the IGMC, Shimla. 

Thieves decamp with jewellery: Thieves once again struck in a big way and decamped with jewellery and cash worth Rs 2 lakh from two adjoining houses of Sundri Devi and Kehar Singh at Lada village under Padyalag gram panchayat, 70 km from here, on Wednesday night. The police has registered a case. 

Dharamsala
Tibetan held under Foreigners Act: The district police has arrested Sonal Gyal, a resident of Tibet, under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act. The police said the Tibetan had been arrested for not possessing any valid document. He was arrested from Kachehari Adda and sent to a 14-day judicial remand by a local court. 

Kangra
Man dies of poisoning: An employee of the Agriculture Department died following consumption of poison at DRPGMC, Tanda, on Friday. The police said Preetam Chand, 58, a resident of Amtrad, went to his office in the morning, but returned home soon as he was not well. He was rushed to the hospital, where he died.

Nurpur
Four booked for forgery: The police has registered a case of forgery against Kewal Chand, pradhan, Om Prakash, up pradhan, Pradeep Kumar, former secretary of Chaloh Gram Panchayat of the Indora Development Block, and Satish Kumar of Bharlahar village on Thursday after court directions. Chaman Lal of Bharlahar village in his complaint said the panchayat had approved the construction of a kutcha path in February last year with an estimate cost of Rs 2 lakh. He alleged that the accused persons had embezzled public money by making fraudulent entry in the cash book.