R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Chandigarh

JE test postponed: The entrance test for direct recruitment of 150 junior engineers (JEs) in the Punjab Irrigation Department, scheduled for Sunday, has been postponed due to "departmental reasons." An official spokesperson said the department would soon announce the next date for the entrance test. The Irrigation Department had sought applications to fill the 150 posts of JEs, out of which 120 JEs would be recruited from civil, 25 from mechanical and five from electrical trade. 

faridkot

LPG gas heater claims life: A two-year-old NRI child died after inhaling carbon monoxide emitted by an LPG gas water heater. His mother Ravinder Kaur is stated to be in a critical condition at a hospital in Ludhiana. Samarpreet was declared “brought dead” at a Faridkot hospital. Doctors said inhalation of methane, propane and carbon monoxide appeared to be the cause of the death. The use of domestic LPG for water heaters is illegal.

hoshiarpur

2 booked for fraud: The police has booked Punjab National Bank's Garhshankar branch manager Surinder Singh and computer operator Harpreet Singh for allegedly cheating a customer of Rs 2.50 lakh. The duo allegedly diverted the amount from complainant Nirmal Singh’s account to another account, police said. 

Khamano

MoU inked with German firm: The Punjab Government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a German company to set up five training centres in Punjab. The centres would provide skilled training to unemployed youth. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said this after inaugurating a two-day conference on “Transitions of Rural Economy of India” here.

PATIALA

Power corp inks pact: The Power Corporation authorities have signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with private companies setting up projects using non-conventional power production. The agreements were signed on Friday. Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) Director (Distribution) Arun Verma said the power rates would be decided by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC). All the projects would be on built operate own (BOO) basis, he added. 

Tarn Taran
Chetna march in district: The four-day Gurmat Chetna march, dedicated to the martyrdom day of Baba Deep Singh Shahid, was given a warm welcome here on its third day on Friday. The march had started from Takht Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo. Devotees in their vehicles participated in the march and local residents served them 'langar' and drinks along the way. The devotees entered the district at Harike town in the morning and reached here late evening. The march would depart for Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar on Saturday.

Man dies in road mishap: An elderly man Avtar Singh (60), a resident of Thatha village, succumbed to his injuries after being seriously injured in a road accident on Thursday. The Sarhali police has registered a case under section 304A, 279 of the IPC against Jagroop Singh of Patti town. Jagroop Singh hit Avtar Singh with his motor cycle near Burj-Ra-Ke village. Avtar died at Amritsar hospital where he was shifted from civil hospital, Patti, due to his critical condition.

HARYANA

Fatehabad

Victim’s belongings found: The police has found a pair of slippers and an identity card of the victim, Gautam Bhatia (12), though there is no clue of his body so far. Gautam was kidnapped by a youth, Sunil, with the help of his accomplice, Surender, from his Tohana residence on October 22, as the accused wanted to pressurise his sister to revive her relations with him. The two, however, murdered the boy the same evening and threw his body in the Bhakra main line canal near Tohana.

Members of the Karnal Bar Association stage a dharna against the association president who has been charged with bungling in the draw for the allotment of advocate chambers in Karnal on Saturday. Tribune photo: Ravi Kumar 

One arrested: The police has arrested Jai Pal of Bhana village for possessing 40 gm of brown sugar. The accused was spotted moving under suspicious circumstances on the outskirts of the village by a police party. The police searched him and seized brown sugar from him. The accused has been booked under the NDPS Act. 

Youth booked: Hakam Singh of Sadheri has lodged a complaint with the police that a youth entered his residence on Friday evening and threw a pistol in his house and ran away from the spot. After an inquiry, the accused was identified as Love of Sacha Khera village. 

Ban on DJs: Kaithal District Magistrate Chander Shekhar has imposed a ban on the use of DJsand loudspeakers under the Punjab Instrument Act. According to this order, loudspeakers and music systems cannot be played between 10 pm and 6 am. The order also stated that strict action would be taken against violators, who may face six-month jail and a fine of Rs 1,000.

Rewari

Teenager dies: Anshul (13) died while his father, Shiv Kumar, a resident of Maheshwari village, near Dharuhera, sustained injuries when their motorcycle was hit by a Volvo bus of the Rajasthan Transport Corporation, on the NH 8, near Dharuhera, on Friday evening. The mishap took place when the father-son duo was on its way to Rewari while the bus was going from Delhi to Jaipur. The police, which registered a case of causing death by negligence against the bus driver, later arrested him. Ashok Kumar is under treatment at a private hospital. 

Rs 33,000 looted: Two motorcycle-borne armed miscreants looted Rs 33,000 at gunpoint from employees of a petrol station on the Rewari-Narnaul road, near Pali village, 15 km from here, on Saturday. Soon after the loot, the miscreants fled with the booty. The police has registered a case of armed robbery in this regard. 

sirsa

3 cops dismissed: Three policemen have been dismissed from services after a local court held them guilty for custodial death of a person and sentenced them to three-year imprisonment each. Om Parkash Tantia, who was arrested for betting, had died in police custody in Ellenabad police station on March 23, 2001. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Jewellery stolen: Gold and silver jewellery worth Rs 6 lakh were stolen from two houses on Thursday night. According to reports, jewellery worth Rs 5 lakh was stolen from the house of Tarsem Nadda, a retired teacher, at Samog village, near here. Jewellery worth Rs 1 lakh was also stolen from the house of Rikhi Ram Sharma of the same village, it added. A case has been registered and further investigations are on.

NURPUR

8 hurt in road accident: A speeding Punjab Roadways bus (PB06-2818) coming from Pathankot hit a road divider near Damtal under Indora police station on Saturday. It overturned injuring eight passengers, including the driver. Four members of a Nepali family, Suraj, his wife Sunita and sons Rahul and Karan, were injured seriously and rushed to a private hospital at Pathankot. DSP Rajinder Jaswal said a case under Sections 279 and 337, IPC, had been registered by against bus driver Paramjit Singh. 

Man held with poppy husk: The Indora police has arrested Pradeep Kumar of Dhamian village near Mukerian (Punjab) and recovered 850 gm of poppy husk from his possession near Barota village. Stating this here, DSP Rajinder Jaswal said a case under Section 15 of the NDPS Act had been registered. 

PALAMPUR

Cash, jewellery stolen: Cash and jewellery worth Rs 15 lakh was stolen from a house at Thakurdwara, 5 km from here, on Friday evening. The SHO, Palampur, said the owner of the house, a retired Army officer, was out of station when the incident occurred. He said gold jewellery weighing 500 gm, silver ornaments weighing 750 gm and Rs 30,000 cash were stolen. He said the owner came to know about the incident in the morning when he found all the locks broken. The police had registered a case and teams deputed to locate the culprits. No arrests had been made so far.

Car stolen: A Maruti car was stolen from Bhawarna bazaar on Thursday night. The police said as per a CCTV footage collected from an adjoining jewellery shop it was seen that four persons unlocked the car and drove it away. They also tried to unlock another car parked in the area, but failed. However, the police could not get clear pictures of their faces. In the past one year over a dozen cars have been stolen from different parts of Palampur. In most of the cases the police has failed to catch the culprits. 

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Poonch

Porter hurt in mine blast: A porter was injured in a mine blast along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district on Saturday. The blast occurred around 11:30 am along the LoC at the Cheeta post in the Chakan-Da-Bagh forward belt, injuring the porter, Mohammad Shakeel, the police said. Shakeel was taken to a hospital.

Srinagar

Wild bear shot dead: A wild bear was shot dead by forest officials after it ventured into a village and injured a woman in Bandipora district of north Kashmir, the police said on Saturday. Raja Begum (45) was critically injured by the black bear last evening outside her Chatay Bandy residence in Bandipora, 50 km from here, a police spokesman said. The bear was killed in the Malikpora locality, he said. The carcass of the bear was handed over to the Wildlife Department, he said.

One held with RDX: The police and the security forces have arrested one person in south Kashmir and recovered explosive material from his possession. A police spokesman said Abdul Qayoom Thakur, a resident of Chak-i-Cholan, Shopian, was arrested by a joint party of the Shopian police, 62 RR of the Army and 14 Battalion of the CRPF. “The joint team recovered 40 kg RDX like material and 302 rounds of pika ammunition from his possession at Chak-i-Cholan village,” he said. A case has been registered.

DEHRADUN

Almora

Autumn festival begins: Speaker of the state Assembly Govind Singh Kunjwal inaugurated a seven-day autumn festival in Almora on Friday. The main attraction of the inaugural ceremony was the ‘Almora runs’ marathon competition. Children, artists and women organisations participated in the marathon, said Shobha Joshi, chairperson of the Almora Nagar Palika Parishad.

Bageshwar

Change in road alignment demanded: People living near Kausani met officers of the Bageshwar district administration on Saturday and gave a memorandum to them, demanding change in the alignment of an under-construction road from Kausani to Bhataria in the district. They blamed construction agency officials for changing the previous alignment. “The administration officers are committing irregularities in the construction of the road,” said Bishen Dutt, a resident of Bhatria village.

Dehradun

Villagers' protest continues: Kunao villagers, who are seeking implementation of the Forest Rights Act, on Saturday met Yameshkar Sub Divisional Magistrate PS Rana and sought immediate acceptance of their demands linked to the Forest Rights Act. The villagers also showed documentary evidence of their proof of stay in Kunao for the past many generations. Meanwhile, the dharna being staged in Rishikesh by these Kunao villagers continued for the 17th day today. Vimala Devi, Anita, Mamta and Maya Devi were prominent participants in the dharna.

Move to shift Directorate (Agriculture) opposed: Employees of the Directorate of Agriculture have opposed the move to transfer the Agriculture Directorate from Dehradun to Pauri, after Agriculture Minister Harak Singh Rawat declared that the proposal would be brought up in the forthcoming Cabinet meeting. The Krishi Adhikari Sangh has threatened to go on an agitation in protest against it.

From single to double track: Luxor Haridwar single railway track will be converted into double track. Northern Railway General Manager VK Gupta, who is in Uttarakhand these days, said the work for doubling of Luxor- Haridwar railway track would start from the coming financial year. He also disclosed that passenger amenities would be upgraded at the Dehradun railway station.

Dharna on November 19: Uttarakhand Power Corporation contractual employees will be staging a dharna at the corporation office on November 19 in support of their various demands. According to KR Kashyap, the contractual employees of the power corporation were getting step- motherly treatment. He also supported regularisation of all contractual employees working with the power corporation.

Team to assess damage: A Central team will be visiting Uttarakashi and Rudraprayag districts of Uttarakhand on November 21. The team will be assessing the damage caused in recent natural disasters in the two districts. The team will subsequently put forward a proposal before the Union Government for relief amount on the basis of assessing the damage in these regions.

MDDA stops construction: Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority has put a stop to an illegal under-construction building at Haridwar bypass. According to Bansidhar Tiwari, secretary, MDDA, the sealed building was being constructed in violation of MDDA norms.

Haldwani

Pant’s death mourned: Several organisations across the region mourned the death of former Union Defence Minister KC Pant. They remembered him for his several works, including the establishment of two universities of Kumaon and Garhwal. “He was the real son of Uttarakhand as he had an equal view of both regions,” said Rajendra Singh Negi, chairman of Nainital District Cooperative. Bank.

Nainital

National Press Day: On the occasion of National Press Day on Saturday, journalists in Nainital demanded the formation of a press council in the state. They said the media was facing an onslaught from market forces which were deterring the national press from fulfiling its commitment towards common man. “We need to have an agency on the lines of the Press Council of India in every state to monitor freedom of press,” said Dr Shamsher Singh Bisht, a senior journalist and activist.

(Compiled by BD Kasniyal)