R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
6 die as rickety buildings cave in: Heavy rain over the last three days have claimed six lives in Amritsar district after rickety buildings in which the victims were residing caved in. While three persons, including a six-month-old child, died at Bangla Basti area, a woman lost her life in New Jawahar Nagar area located on Batala Road. In a similar incident, two minors were killed at Banga village in Lopoke area.

Chandigarh
Pharmacist dismissed for theft: The Punjab Health and Family Welfare Department has dismissed Prem Sharn Bansal, a pharmacist posted at the office of Ropar Civil Surgeon, for allegedly stealing medicines from the Civil Hospital. He was allegedly selling the medicines to a private hospital. Bansal was suspended on July 26 after the Vigilance Department had arrested him and recovered stolen medicines worth Rs 4 lakh from his house in Kurali. A case was also registered against him. Health and Family Welfare Minister Madan Mohan Mittal has directed officials in the department to take strict action against those breaking the law.

PPP chief Manpreet’s mother-in-law hurt: People's Party of Punjab chief Manpreet Badal's mother-in-law Sawinder Kaur (80) suffered multiple fractures after being hit by a car on Friday evening in Sector 10 here. She was crossing a road. An eyewitness said a white-coloured Range Rover with 111 as the last three digits of its registration number hit her and sped away from the spot. She was rushed to the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, from where doctors referred her to the PGI. 

Fatehgarh Sahib
Man posing as DTO held: The district police has arrested a person posing as a District Transport Officer (DTO) on the Mandi Gobindgarh-Amloh road on Thursday night. The accused Neeraj Saini, resident of Mandi Gobindgarh, was taking bribe from truck drivers by erecting a naka on the road. The police seized a Swift car with a blue beacon, Rs 4,300 cash and a fake identity card in the name of Neeraj Kumar, Vice Chairman Human Rights Manch Fatehgarh Sahib. A case has been registered.

1,200 ft of Sirhind canal cleaned: Sohan Singh Thandal, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Punjab Irrigation, said the first phase of the Sirhind canal beautification project was completed at a cost of Rs 43 lakh. In the first phase, 1,300 feet of the canal was to be beautified, 1,200 feet in the second phase and 3,500 feet in the third phase. The two remaining phases are to be completed at a cost of Rs 1.67 crore. The project would boost tourism in the area and rid the canal of illegal encroachments.

Phagwara
Labourer dies of snake bite: A migrant labourer, identified as Lakhan (40) from Bihar died of snake bite in Panchhat village, on Thursday. The police said the deceased was bitten by a snake while working at a farmhouse. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, but could not survive.

Sangrur
Govt employees end hunger strike: Six members of the Punjab Subordinate Services Federation (PSSF), who had gone on a 24-hour-long hunger strike on August 14 outside the local district administrative complex, ended their strike on Thursday.They demanded the abolition of contract system in the government and other government controlled offices and departments; and regularisation of services of temporary and adhoc employees.

HARYANA

Chandigarh
Speaker's tour: Haryana Speaker Kuldeep Sharma will attend the 59th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from September 1 to September 6 . During his pre-conference parliamentary study tour, he will visit Greece, Argentina and Brazil from August 19 to August 31. 

Hisar
RoB four-laning: Local MP and HJC (BL) supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi raised the demand for widening the railway overbridge (RoB) on Dabra Chowk here in the Lok Sabha. In a statement here, the MP said the proposal for four-laning the RoB on the Hisar-Sadalpur railway line had been pending with the Railway Ministry for a long time. He said the RoB was an important link on the Delhi-Sirsa road which was constructed in 1994. It had now become a major bottleneck due to increased traffic over the years. 

Rewari
Husband killed: Sohan Lal (35), who often maltreated his wife under influence of liquor, was done to death allegedly by his wife, Roopa Devi, at Suthani village, near here, on Thursday evening. The woman went into hiding soon after committing the crime. On a complaint filed by Ram Bai, a close relative of the family, the Kasaula police has booked Roopa Devi.

Sirsa
Auditor held: The Haryana State Vigilance Bureau has caught Balwinder Singh, Auditor, Municipal Committee, Kalanwali, Sirsa district who was also holding an additional charge in the Municipal Committee, Ellenabad, while accepting a bribe of Rs 12,000 from Rajesh Kumar, a contractor, for auditing his bill. He had been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

DEHRADUN

Bureaucratic reshuffle: A bureaucratic reshuffle has taken place in Uttarakhand. Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and PWD SS Sandhu has been given additional charge of Principal Secretary, Excise. Secretary, Finance, Linguistics, Census, Excise and member, Revenue Board, DS Garbyal has been relieved of all portfolios and now transferred to the post of Commissioner, Garhwal. Additional Secretary State Property, Protocol and Additional Commissioner, Awaas, Vinay Shankar Pandey, has been relieved of all departments and transferred to the post of Commissioner, Excise.

Rs 5 lakh for victims: Ahmediya community from Qadiyan of Punjab donated a sum of Rs 5 lakh for disaster relief fund of the state. The cheque was presented to the Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna by a delegation of the Ahmediya Muslim community here today. Meanwhile, JP Patel, Managing Director of Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam, also presented a cheque of Rs 12.51 lakh to the Chief Minister for disaster relief.