R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Bathinda
Two ASIs suspended: Thirteen Constables, Head Constables and two Assistant Sub Inspectors were suspended on Saturday for dereliction of duty in an ongoing drive to enforce discipline in the police. Sources said 16 other officials, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, were transferred for the same reason.

Fatehgarh Sahib
6-year-old among 2 killed: A six-year-old girl, Anita, and her father, Avdesh Kumar, residents of Sulemanpur in Bihar, were killed when the motorcycle they were on hit a stationary tanker on Friday night. The police said the victims were returning to their local residence in Sadhugarh when the accident occurred.

Hoshiarpur
Two girls abducted: Two teenaged girls were abducted from the district earlier this week. Tara Chand of Namoli village alleged Sarvesh Kumar of Rai Bareli had abducted his 14-year-old daughter on the pretext of marrying her. The accused has been booked. Another complainant, Balwinder Singh of Koi village, alleged Rahul Yadav of Dasuya had abducted his 17-year-old daughter.

Moga
2 booked for raping Dalit girl: A 16-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped by two youths at Rauwala village in Dharamkot sub-division of the district on Friday. The police said the incident occurred when the victim was alone at her house. A case has been registered against the accused who are yet to be arrested.

Muktsar
Mason killed over trifle: Irked over his demand for more ‘chapatis’, a mason was allegedly killed by two brothers of Doda village in Gidderbaha area with a spade. The deceased, Sandeep Singh, belonged to Scheduled Caste. The police has booked Baldev Singh and Balwant Singh.

Sangrur
Youth run over by train: A 20-year-old youth Manjit Singh of Gandhuan village was killed on Saturday after he was run over by a train. The government railway police (GRP) has initiated proceedings. Balbir Singh, Assistant Sub Inspector of the GRP, said as per the family of the deceased, the latter was a drunkard.

Statue defaced: A case has been registered against Sukhwinder Singh alias Kala for allegedly defacing the statue of Lok Nayak Jeona Maur at Mauran village on the Sangrur-Patran road. Mehlan police post in charge Hardayal Dass said the accused had torn the posters of Jeona Maur, besides defacing his statue. The accused is absconding.

HARYANA

Kurukshetra
BBA results:  Kurukshetra University today declared the results of Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) examination held in December 2012. KU Controller of Exams Dr Hukam Singh said these had been uploaded on the KU website www.result.kuk.ac.in 

Panipat
Jewellery looted: Cash and jewellery worth lakhs of rupees were looted by five persons in a daylight robbery in the posh locality of Sector 11 here this evening. The miscreants entered the house and held its residents hostage and decamped with cash and jewellery.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

HAMIRPUR
Man dies in road accident: A motorcyclist died on the spot near Mair on Saturday after being hit by an Indica car. The deceased has been identified as Ramesh Dhiman (60), a resident of Sujanpur. A case been registered. 

MANDI
62 students donate blood: As many as 62 IIT students donated blood at a camp organised by the National Service Scheme (NSS) in association with the Rotract Club and the Red Cross Society. Prof Timothy A Gonsalves, Director, IIT, Mandi, inaugurated the camp. A team of doctors from the Mandi Zonal Hospital was led by Dr Arindam Roy and Dr Lata Chandel. 

20 medical stores raided: Officials of the Drugs Department conducted a raid on 20 medical stores in the district on Thursday and seized medicines that were without proper documents. The raids were conducted at Hamirpur, Nadaun and Dhaneta by the drug inspector. The department has issued a warning to the medicine stores for keeping medicines without proper documents and confiscated such medicines. 

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Batote
Man killed in accident: A driver Darshan Singh of Kathua was killed when the truck he was driving rolled down into a 400-feet-deep gorge on the NH 44 at Panthial in Ramban on Saturday.

Two miners killed: Two labourers were killed when a huge mound of stones slided over them at a gypsum mine at Theli Dharamkund in Ramban on Saturday. The deceased, Javed Ahmed Zargar (38) of Pampore, Kashmir, and Uttam Singh (40) of Ramgarh, Doda, were having their lunch when a portion of the hillock of gypsum stones fell on them.

Police booth set up:A round-the-clock announcement booth was set up by the district police at the Ramban bus stand on Friday to spread awareness about traffic rules.

DEHRADUN

Almora
Chemists’ strike: The one-day strike by chemists and druggists had its impact in the Kumaon region as patients from remote villages had to wait for hours at medical stores for medicines. “Our protest was successful in almost all towns of the hill region and plains. This has given us strength to fight the proposed FDI in the medical sector,” said Gokul Joshi, a representative of the association in the region.

Dehradun
Protest by auto union: Members of the Doon Auto Union on Saturday held a protest against the inadequate increase in passenger fare announced by the state transport authorities. Union members gathered at the Clock Tower and burnt an effigy of the authorities. They alleged that the minimum fare of Rs 20 and then Rs 8 per km was inadequate, keeping in view the diesel and petrol prices. They demanded that a minimum charge of Rs 25 and then Rs 10 per km should be announced by the authorities.

Puri elected union chief: Purshottam Puri has been elected president of the Garhwal Mandal Karmchari Vikas Nigam Employees Union. The annual elections for the constitution of the executive committee took place here on Saturday. Ashish Uniyal has been elected general secretary and KS Pawar and SP Pant have been elected vice-presidents.

Bissu Mahotsava: Dehradun Chief Development Officer Sushil Kumar has said that Bissu Mahotsava would be held at Government Inter-College, Lakhmandal, here on May 21. The mahotsava would highlight the rich cultural heritage of the Jaunsar Bavar region. He said the district administration would provide all support in the conduct of the fair.

World Nurses' Day: World Nurses Day would be observed on Saturday. Krishna Rawat, an office-bearer of the Uttarakhand State Nurses Association, said a programme would be organised in Dehradun to mark the occasion. She said senior Dehradun doctors would attend the programme.

Competition postponed: The English and Hindi writing competition scheduled to be organised by the Gram Vikas Sanstha, Garhwali Colony, on May 12 has been postponed. Sanstha chief Pan Singh Rawat said the competition had been postponed following the death of a Nehru Gram youth in a road accident. "In this hour of grief, we did not find it appropriate to hold a competition for village children," said Rawat.

MP's effigy burnt: Activists of the National Students Union of India burnt the effigy of BSP MP Shafiqur Rahman here on Saturday. Rahman had walked out of the Lok Sabha when Vande Mataram was being played. The NSUI workers also raised slogans against Rahman. Kapil Bhatia, Shravan Kumar, Anurag Gupta and Swati Negi were among the protesters.

Haldwani
Kunjwal eggs on teachers: Speaker of the Uttarakhand Assembly Govind Singh Kunjwal has urged teachers to work in the interest of the state and try to usher in social reforms through education. Kunjwal was speaking to high school teachers, who had gathered at the town to take part in a two-day conference. “We are seriously considering the 12-point demand charter of teachers and the government will try to solve their problems,” he said after inaugurating the conference.

Nainital
Sanitation workers: The Nagar Palika Parishad, Nainital, will deploy 60 additional sanitation workers during the tourists’ season beginning this month. “Of the 60 employees, 50 will be in the town for routine sanitation work and 10 employees will be deployed at the lake for its regular cleaning,” said Shyam Narayan, chairman of the Nagar Palika Parishad.

Ranikhet
Cong reviews poll results: The Congress is reviewing the results of the local bodies’ elections in Uttarakhand considering these as indicator for the coming parliamentary elections, said Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat. He was in his home town Ranikhet to attend a personal function. Though the Karnataka gave the party reprieve and hope and ended negativity against the Congress built up by opposition parties, it was ready to review its every step before going to the parliamentary elections, he added.

Tanakpur
Illegal mining in Sharda river: Taking serious view of illegal mining in the Sharda river, the SDM, Tanakpur, has started conducting raids to check the activity. “Though we did not find anyone at the reported site doing illegal mining of sub minerals, we have taken the incidents seriously as these cause floods near the river band settlements during the monsoon,” said JS Rathod, SDM. According to local residents, several vehicles are seen visiting the area during night to mine and transport sub minerals illegally.

(Compiled by BD Kasniyal)