R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Chandigarh
Speaker in Canada for meet:  Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal has left for Canada to take part in a conference convened by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. At the conference, Atwal will present paper on "Trends and Developments in Private Members Business" and "Impact of Technology and New Media on Members". The conference will begin on July 15 and conclude on July 19.

patiala
ASI held in graft case: The police on Saturday arrested ASI Narpinder Singh for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2.20 lakh from a “smuggler”. Narpinder had been on the run after the incident. The police said it would question Narpinder about the cases he had handled recently.

Phagwara
5 NRIs booked for dowry: The police has booked six persons in two separate cases of dowry harassment. Three Canada-based NRIs, including Tarun Khanna, his father Ashok Kumar and mother Radha Rani, and Montoo Khanna from the US have been booked under Section 498-A and 406 of the IPC. The complaint was lodged by Bal Krishan, father of Tarun's wife Natisha. In the second case, Italy-based Amit Chadha has been booked for allegedly harassing his wife Priyanka.

Sangrur
5 hurt in mishap: Five persons were injured in an accident involving two motorcycles and as many cars near Truck Union Point here on Saturday.

HARYANA

Karnal
Police highhandedness
A truck driver from Himachal Pradesh carrying vegetables from Shimla to Delhi was beaten up with sticks after his vehicle collided with a car near Nirmal Kutiya Chowk on the night of July 10. The police detained the truck driver without giving him medical aid. The truck driver, Keshav (32), alleged that the car driver was under the influence of liquor, but the police did not send him for a medical examination.

DEHRADUN

Almora
TET teachers hold protests: TET teachers on Saturday demonstrated in front of their training institutes across the region and locked them in support their demand for regular jobs and against six months’ additional training. The protests were held at Almora, Champawat, Bageshwar, Didihat, Rudrapur and Bhimtal. “While the government has imposed additional six months’ training schedule on TET qualified teachers, it is not giving us permanent jobs,” said Soni Upadhyaya, a protesting teacher at Almora.

Nainital
Jageshwar Dham chief priest: The Nainital High Court on Saturday empowered the District Magistrate of Almora to select the chief priest of the Jageshwar Dham out of 74 priests for the next three years. “The appointment of the chief priest will be valid for the next three months on a payment of Rs 20,000 per month. The chief priest once selected will not be repeated till all 74 priests get a chance,” ruled the court.

Pithoragarh
186 persons evacuated: IAF helicopters evacuated over 186 persons stranded at various places in the Drama valley on Saturday. “Helicopters are supplying ration to those villagers who have opted to remain in high altitude villages in the Darma and Johar valleys,” said a district administration spokesman.

Rudrapur
RS 1.77 cr development plans: The government will launch several development schemes of Rs 1.77 crore for the tribals of Gadarpur, Bazpur and Kashipur blocks of Udham Singh Nagar district. “The schemes include purchase of computers for tribal students, boring of hand pumps and wells and the construction of Baraat Ghar, Anganwari centres and Jan Milan Kendras in these blocks,” said Dheeraj Singh Garbiyal, CDO.

(Contributed by BD Kasniyal)