R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

amritsar
IRB jawan attacked: A jawan of the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) was seriously injured after he was allegedly attacked by members of his in-laws family near Gaunsabad village on Saturday. The victim, Bachitar Singh, who is facing a dowry case, was rushed to a local hospital. Kamboh SHO Jagjit Singh said a case had been registered.

Health Minister Madan Mohan Mittal in Nangal on Saturday.

nangal
Red Ribbon Express: More than 7,000 people visited the local railway station where the Red Ribbon Express arrived on Saturday. Health and Family Welfare Minister Madan Mohan Mittal inaugurated an exhibition in the train. He exhorted people to cooperate with the official machinery in its campaign against AIDS.

ropar
22 held for gambling: The district police has claimed to have nabbed 22 persons for allegedly indulging in gambling. Besides seizing Rs 12.67 lakh, the police has seized 1 kg of opium and 400 gm of charas from prime accused Surinder. The police said notorious gambler Surinder was nabbed along with 12 persons. In another raid, the police arrested nine persons. All the accused have been arrested under the Gambling Act.

Sangrur
2 killed in accident: Two youths were killed on Saturday when the car they were in rammed into a stationary truck on the Sangrur-Patiala highway near Nidampur village. The police has registered a case against the truck driver, who fled from the spot. The deceased, Dharam Singh and Harpreet Singh, belonged to Chhajli village in Sunam.

tarn taran
10 students injured: Ten students were injured when a school bus turned turtle near Goindwal Sahib village. Two sisters Arashdeep Kaur and Jaskarandeep Kaur were admitted to hospital in a serious condition while the remaining students were discharged after first-aid. The police has booked driver Baljinder Singh for rash driving.

Woman crushed to death: Bimla (62), a resident of Gokalpur, was crushed to death on Saturday by a truck near the railway track. The woman was crossing the track when the truck ran over her. 

HARYANA

Chandigarh
Panasonic Football Academy: Panasonic Football Academy, Haryana, has been set up on the campus of Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, by the Panasonic India in association with the Haryana Football Association (HFA) on Saturday. The academy was inaugurated in the presence of Deepender Singh Hooda, president, HFA, Manish Sharma, MD, Consumer Product Division, Panasonic India, and Sunil Bhardwaj, secretary, HFA. 

Kurukshetra
Plot sold fraudulently: The police has registered a case against five persons, including Jagroop, a resident of Gesso Khurd in Jind, Lal Chand, Suresh Pal and Ram Pyari, all residents of Ladwa, and Ratan Singh of Narwana in Jind, for allegedly selling a plot of Ravi Nayar, a resident of Ludhiana, fraudulently. 

Woollen clothes are distributed to poor schoolchildren on the occasion of death anniversary of Sardar Patel in Karnal on Saturday. Tribune photo: Ravi Kumar

HCTA fficer-bearers: The Haryana College Teachers' Association (HCTA), in a meeting held under the chairmanship of its president Dr Narender Chahar on December 11, elected unanimously zone-wise office-bearers of the association. HCTA general secretary Dr Ravinder Gasso said all these nominated office bearers would also be the members of the HCTA state executive committee. 

Man held with poppy husk: The police has arrested Hakikat, a resident of Dhoolkot in Ludhiana district, under the NDPS Act for allegedly possessing 12.1 kg puppy husk. 

Rewari
Two thieves arrested: The police has arrested Satish Yadav of Gokalgarh village and Navin Yadav of Khalilpur village in Gurgaon district for allegedly robbing a rice merchant of nearly Rs 2 lakh in Katla Bazar here on November 28. The police has seized two pistols, seven cartridges, two mobile phones and a motorcycle from their possession. They were on Saturday produced in a local court which remanded them in police custody for three days. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
11 smokers fined: A sum of Rs 1,200 was collected as fine from 11 smokers after a ban on smoking in public places. SP BM Sharma said this on Thursday. 

BILASPUR
Tobacco products burnt: A team led by District Medical Officer Roshan Bhardwaj raided a kiosk at the bus stand and found hidden 1 quintal of banned tobacco products on Friday. The shopkeeper tried to escape, but was caught. The team gave him strict warning and burnt the products. 

Ayurveda shops raided: Led by District Ayurveda Officer Uttam Singh Chandel, a team raided two stores at Malokhar, 50 km from here, on Thursday. It took samples of five ayurvedic medicines and sent those for testing. 

Man gets 3-year jail: Ghumarwin Judicial Magistrate Ranjit Singh has sentenced Ishwar Dass of Uppar Hatwaad village to three-year imprisonment and fine of Rs 1,000. On March 18, 2003, he quarrelled with Anant Ram of Kurnadi village and bit his nose so hard that a part of it came off. 

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
Two held for rape: The Udhampur police on Saturday arrested Ashok Kumar, a resident of Lahr Ramnagar, in a case of kidnapping and rape. Another youth, Sanjay Kumar of Marta Ramnagar was also arrested for teasing and harassing a girl to such an extent that she set herself ablaze and died.

Class XII exam postponed: The JKBOSE has postponed the sociology exam of Class XII for the November-December session, 2012, for winter zone. The bi-annual examination for summer zone of Jammu province has also been postponed. The exam scheduled for December 18 will be held on December 30.

Soldier dies: A soldier of 2 Mahar Regiment was killed when his service rifle went off ‘accidentally’ in Narian belt of Rajouri district during the intervening night of December 13 and 14. The deceased has been identified as Ajinder Kumar, a native of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.

DEHRADUN

Bageshwar
Wild bear menace: Residents of Thakla village in Bageshwar have urged the administration to help them get rid of the terror of wild bears, as they are eating their grains kept in the open. “Yesterday, a group of wild bears destroyed 19 quintals of grain kept in a water mill for grinding. We have urged the administration to make arrangements to keep these bears away from our homes and water mills,” said Govind Ballabh from Thakla village.

Champawat
Vijay Diwas on Dec 16: Preparations for Vijay Diwas on December 16 are afoot in Champawat district. A guard of honour ceremony will be held at Shahid Sthal and gallantry award winners and the widows of the martyrs will be honoured on this occasion, said CMS Bisht, spokesperson for the ex-servicemen association in the district.

Dehradun
Book released: Speaker of the state Assembly Govind Singh Kunjwal released a book, "Uttarakhand Pratinidhi," at a small function held at the Assembly. Releasing the book, Kunjwal said the book containing information about Uttarakhand and the sketches of members of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly would prove useful for laymen. MLA Manoj Tiwari, MLA Lalit Faraswan and others were present on the occasion.

Banks give bandh call: Banks in the city will remain closed on December 20. The All-India Bank Employees’ Association and the Employees’ Federation of India have jointly given a call for the closure for all banks, opposing the Banking Reforms Bill. The bank employees alleged that the Bill would hurt the government banking sector of the country.

Transport authority meeting: In the backdrop of the increase in taxes for commercial vehicles and the strong protest registered by the vehicle owners, the Uttarakhand Transport Authority will hold an important meeting on December 24. According to Vinod Raturi, secretary, State Transport Authority, said apart from commercial tax, the issue of renewal of permits for buses on the Dehradun-Vikasnagar-Dakhpathar route would also be taken up for discussion.

Haldwani
Carol singing begins: Carol singing has begun in churches and homes of members of the Christian community across the Kumaon region. The Methodist churches have made special preparations for carol singing. “Carols are sung to welcome the Christ on his birth anniversay. Angels had sung these songs at the time of his birth. Today, we use these carols to send the message of the Christ to every home across the region,” said Father KB Edmond at the Methodist church, Tikonia in Haldwani.

Pithoragarh
Dharna by ABVP leaders: Leaders of the ABVP have been staging a dharna in front of the office of the Pithoragarh District Magistrate for the past four days, demanding the opening of the Kumaon University Deputy Registrar’s office at Pithoragarh and the appointment of teachers at various colleges affiliates to the university. “Since the state government has been neglecting the higher education in the state, we have decided to stage an agitation till our demands are met,” said Tarun Bhatt, president of the students’ union of Government PG College, Baluakot.

Nainital
Court’s orders on teachers: The Nainital High Court has held that the appointment of primary teachers who have not cleared the teacher’s eligibility test (TET) will be considered in violation of Section 14 of the Constitution. “The court’s order is all set to affect those 1,500 primary teachers who were appointed by the government without they having cleared the TET and despite the availability of TET passed teachers in the state,” said Amit Kashyap, a leader of the TET passed organisation of teachers. The court had held that the teachers appointed without passing the TET would be given one chance to clear it. However, if they failed, their appointment would be considered illegal.

Pilgrimage gets costlier: The Kailash Mansarowar pilgrimage will cost Rs 5,000 more from the next year, according to the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. It has increased fee for per pilgrim from Rs 27,000 to Rs 32,000. “It has also been decided that instead of 16 batches at present, 20 batches of pilgrims will be sent from the next year,” said Deepak Rawat, managing director of the KMVN.

(Compiled by BD Kasniyal)