R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
Akal Takht felicitates Katju:A delegation of the Press Council of India led by its Chairman Justice Markandey Katju on Saturday paid obeisance at the Golden Temple here. Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh felicitated Katju for supporting the clemency petition of Devinderpal Singh Bhullar. Katju said Bhullar should be released on humanitarian grounds in view of his health condition.

jalandhar
PIMS staff call off strike:All the employees on Saturday resumed their duties at PIMS. Though the doctors had called off the strike on Thursday, paramedical, nursing and clerical staff of the institute joined work on Saturday after having an hour-long meeting with members of the management and Jalandhar Cantonment MLA Pargat Singh.

Ludhiana
Students get career tips: A career counselling seminar was held at HVM Convent School, Basti Jodhewal. Presentations on career guidance were given by eminent resource persons. Parents and students attended the seminar enthusiastically. The principal said they would leave no stone unturned to make the future of their students bright and prosperous.

Majithia’s effigy burnt:Congress workers held a protest on Sarturday against Bikramjit Singh Majithia by burning his effigy at Danda Swami Chowk under the leadership of Congress MLA from Ludhiana and general secretary of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee Bharat Bhushan Ashu. They demanded that Majithia should be suspended from the Punjab Cabinet and should be sent behind the bars. They demanded a CBI probe into the drug scam. Councillor Maharaj Singh Raji, Sunni Bhalla, Balkar Singh Sandhu also joined the protest.

Free medical camp:A free medical camp will be organised on January 19 by the district administration and the Indian Medical Association at the IMA House, near the police station at BRS Nagar from 10am to 2pm. A free check-up for ailments related to heart, neuro, orthopaedics, eyes, nose and paediatrics, would be conducted during the camp. Free ECG and blood test in addition to other lab tests on nominal price would also be conducted.

Appointed:Arun Atri has been appointed as convener of the Bharatiya Janata Party Govansh Cell, Ludhiana district. This was stated by Parveen Bansal, district president of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

ropar
Car runs over cop:A Punjab Police head constable, Ravinder Singh, was killed while constable Roopinder Singh was injured when an unidentified car hit them at a 'naka' near the Ropar bus stand late Friday night. A case has been registered.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Doda
Illicit liquor seized, 3 held:The police on Saturday seized 105 pouches of illicit liquor and arrested three persons from Thathri and Bhaderwah area of Doda district . While the police arrested Krishan Kumar and Prashant Kumar from Thathri and recovered 37 and 30 liquor pouches, respectively from their possession, it apprehended Showket Ali from Bhaderwah.

Jammu
CM urged to form panel:Roots in Kashmir (RIK), a Kashmiri Pandit youth group, on Saturday urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to constitute the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as advocated by him few years ago, to find the reason behind rise in militancy and the exodus of the minority community from the Valley.

Katra
Road Safety Week begins:Students from various schools across Reasi on Saturday took out an awareness rally to mark the commencement of the Road Safety Week. They interacted with drivers and distributed pamphlets among the public to create awareness about the traffic rules.

DEHRADUN

Dehradun
Sangathan rally on Jan 15:Uttarakhand Rajya Andolankari Sangathan will be staging a protest march to Vidhan Sabha in Dehradun on January 15. Disclosing this at a press conference in Dehradun, sangathan leader Pramila Rawat accused the state government of ignoring state agitationists. He said the issues of proper identification of these agitatonists and pension scheme for agitators remained unaddressed.

UKD (P) allegation:Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (P) will be staging a demonstration outside Vidhan Sabha on January 13. Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (P) president Trivendra Singh Panwar today said the state government had failed to provide any relief to rain-disaster affected victims. He said incumbent Chief Minister in the state was more interested in the well-being of his government than the people. Panwar also accused the government of deliberately avoiding making Gairsain permanent capital of the state.

Protest against rape incident:Akhil Bharatiya Janwadi Mahila Samiti today staged a protest at Clock Tower, demanding immediate arrest of those responsible for the gang- rape and killing of a Haridwar girl. They also burnt the effigy of the state government for adopting a complacent attitude towards women issues. Indu Naudiyal and Jyoti Thakur were among the protesters. Meanwhile, Violence Against Women Network members today paid tributes to Haridwar gang-rape victim. They were joined by Mahila Samakya and Sambhav Natak Manch members, who criticised the state government for doing little to catch the culprit of the crime. 

haldwani
Eight colleges go  without land:Out of 70 degree colleges running in the state, eight have no land to construct their own building due to which these degree colleges were being run from rented premises, said sources from the Directorate of Higher Education here today. “The degree colleges at Kota Bagh, Kapkot, Laksar, Chinyalisour, Satpuli Rudraprayag , Guptkashi and Garur have no land to construct the buildings on their own, while the degree college at Munsiyari has recently been given land by the administration,”  said Dr Anurag Aggrawal, Deputy Director at the Directorate of Higher Education, Haldwani.

nainital
Negi elected bar assn president:Hari Singh Negi and NS Kanyal were elected president and vice-president respectively of the Uttarakhand Bar Association in the bar association elections, which were held on the high court premises in Nainital, on Saturday. According to sources, Negi defeated Man Mohan Lamba by one vote in second priority votes that were counted after the first priority votes could not find the winning candidate. “After counting of second priority votes, Hari Singh got 10 votes, while Lamba struck at 9 votes, which resulted in declaration of Negi as the new president of the Uttarakhand Bar Association,” said election officer Vijay Singh.

Kumaon faces shortage  of doctors:Kumaon region is facing shortage of doctors in its hospitals. Against the total sanctioned posts of 929, only 373 doctors are available at present. This has been revealed in an RTI inquiry. “Besides the hill region districts, where the shortage of doctors has gone up to 75 per cent of required posts, the plain district of Udham Singh Nagar is also facing shortage of doctors against the sanctioned posts of  137 in its various hospitals.

tanakpur
Doctor, nurse suspended:A doctor and a nurse at the local hospital were suspended by the Uttarakhand Director General Heath due to their negligence which led to the death of a woman after delivering a baby. The duo failed to tackle woman’s after delivery pains. “The action was taken by the Director General on our request last evening after BJP leaders protested against the negligence due to which my daughter-in-law, Pooja Joshi (21), lost her life,” said Subhash Joshi, father-in-law of the deceased.

(Compiled by BD Kasniyal)