R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Moga
2 cops booked for assaulting driver: The district police registered a case against two policemen for allegedly assaulting a bus driver in the city on Tuesday. As per the complaint lodged by Jagsir Singh of Lohara village, ASI Paramjit Singh and one more policeman signalled him to stop his bus in Ludhiana on April 29. But he did not do so as he was running behind schedule. The next day, the policemen stopped him and allegedly assaulted him. The accused are yet to be arrested. 

Patiala
Mid-day meal cooks to contest polls: Perturbed over the ‘anti-people’ policies of the Punjab Government, mid-day meal cooks serving in the state on Wednesday decided to contest the forthcoming panchayat polls. The cooks said they had been protesting against the government for paying them such meagre salaries for the past several months but to no avail. They said they wanted to fight for the common man in these elections. 

Khalsa College to start leadership course: Khalsa College, Patiala, has become the first educational institute in the country to begin “Masters of Leadership Development” course. The course is designed to help students enhance their leadership qualities and sharpen their strategic abilities. UGC has sanctioned a grant of Rs 60 lakh for the initial five years for the development of the infrastructure at the college. The salary of the teachers will be paid by the UGC. The college will begin with 40 seats for this course with a fee of Rs 25,000 per month. After five years, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) will adopt this course.

Ropar
Kiratpur Sahib is nagar panchayat: The government has decided to declare Kiratpur Sahib as a nagar panchayat. A notification in this regard will be issued soon, said Health Minister Madan Mohan Mittal on Wednesday. Villages to be brought under Kiratpur are Bhagwala, Jauwal, Bhangwala, and Kalyanpur. This was a long-pending demand of the local residents, Mittal said, adding with this the facilities of water supply, sanitation, medical, bus stand, roads and streets would be upgraded in the area. 

Ropar
Army personnel drowns: An army personnel identified as Nand Lal (32), a resident of Kahnera village, drowned in the Bhakra canal late at night at Anandpur Sahib near here on Tuesday. His body is yet to be traced. Anandpur Sahib Station House Officer Sukhvinder Singh said Nand Lal was posted at Jalandhar Cantonment and had gone to attend his brother-in-law’s marriage at Kot village. On his way to the village, he slipped into the canal and died. 

Sangrur
14 encroachments removed in Dhuri: The Dhuri Municipal Council on Tuesday removed more than a dozen encroachments from the scheduled road at Dhuri, about 13 kilometres from here. The council officials were accompanied with several police personnel and a duty magistrate. The court had ordered the removal of the illegal structures some time ago. Though the affected persons said they weren’t issued the notices, Dhuri Sub Divisional Magistrate Rajesh Tripathi said they had issued the notices several times.