R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Man dies in hit-and-run: A retired police Inspector, Darshan Singh died after being hit by a private bus here on Saturday. He succumbed to his injuries at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital here. A case has been registered against the bus driver.

Hoshiarpur
Dowry death: 4 booked: Armyman Multan Singh, his father Veeru Ram, mother Bimla Devi and sister Sonia have been booked for abetment to suicide in a dowry death case. Pooro Chakk village resident Multan's wife had set herself ablaze after she was allegedly harassed by her in-laws for Rs 1 lakh dowry. The case was registered on the complaint of the deceased's father, Gurdial Singh.

Pathankot
Tension in Pathankot: Six cows and few bulls were found slaughtered in various parts of the town on Saturday. Protesting local organisations forced traders to shut their establishments for the day. A case has been registered.

patiala
Couple duped of valuables: A couple was duped of their valuables on Government Rajindra Hospital premises in Patiala on Saturday. Manjeet Kaur (38), a cancer patient, her husband Jasbir Singh and father-in-law Amarjeet Singh had gone to the hospital to get some medicines. A woman offered them tea laced with drugs and took Manjeet's earrings, mobile and purse.

Phillaur
Rs 8 lakh stolen from ATM: A few masked robbers broke open an ATM of the State Bank of Patiala and stole Rs 8 lakh here on Saturday. DSP Sarabjit Singh said the CCTV footage showed the accused broke open the ATM with a gas-welding machine. A case has been registered.




The damaged ATM in Phillaur. A Tribune photograph

DEHRADUN

Almora
Sanskrit competition: The state Sanskrit Academy has organised Sanskrit competitions at various schools in Almora, Champawat, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh districts. “We are preparing students for the state-level Sanskrit competition to be held in Haridwar on November 26 and 27,” said an organiser.

Dehradun
Anti-encroachment drive: Dehradun district administration today conducted an anti-encroachment drive in the Brahmapuri-Niranjanpur area of Dehradun. Additional District Magistrate, Dehradun, Harak Singh Rawat, led the administration team in dismantling the encroachments. A contingent of the police and a team of Dehradun Municipal Corporation also accompanied the district administration anti-encroachment team. A total of 30 encroachments were dismantled in the process.

180 delegates to attend seminar: The Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), an autonomous research institute of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, is organising the 26th Indian colloquium on micropaleontology and stratigraphy from November 18 to November 20 at its premises in Dehradun. Over 180 delegates from more than 50 research organisations, IITs, universities and colleges from all over the country will be attending the colloquium. There will be around 85 oral scientific presentations and an equal number of poster presentations.

Uniform pension sought: Demanding a uniform pension, state agitationists today staged a protest at Prince Chowk, Dehradun. The protesters accused the state government of constantly ignoring them. UKD leader Trivender Panwar also reached Prince Chowk and supported the protest. PD Dangwal, Mohan Singh Rwat, Vinod Aswal, Latafat Hussain and Lakshman Singh and Balendu Rawat were prominent among the protesters.

Power generation: Uttarakhand today had a total of 9.64 million units of power generation from its various power houses. The state today had a demand of 31.98 million units of power, while it recorded a total power availability of 29.31 million units, which include power received from Central pool and other sources. On other hand, the state's Khatima power house remained closed. This also resulted in load shedding being done in a number of places in both Garhwal and Kumaon divisions.

Haldwani
Pension for singer sought: Folk artistes have demanded that the payment of the old-age pension to folk singer Kabutari Devi be restarted soon as she is facing financial problems due to the non-payment of pension for the last six months. “The aging artiste is facing difficulties in running her household as the Cultural Department has not released Rs 3,000 per month pension to her for the last six months,” said Jahoor Aalam, a stage artiste in Nainital.

Nainital
Land converted to freehold: Plots of over 128 people in Haldwani town were converted to freehold by officials in Nainital district on Saturday. The administration held a special camp for the purpose on the insistence of Finance Minister Indira Hridayesh. According to sources, the people were given the facility to convert their plots to freehold on the circle rates of 2001 to make the process affordable.

Ramnagar
Ramnagar-Kotdwar road: UKD (P) workers on Saturday staged a dharna at the Dhangari gate of Jim Corbett National Park demanding the opening of the Ramnagar to Kotdwar road. “The Kandi route is one of the routes which can link Kumaon with Garhwal directly reducing the time and distance needed to travel to the two regions. We are demanding the opening of this road immediately,” said Trivendra Singh Panwar, president of the party.

(Compiled by BD Kasniyal)