R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Fatehgarh Sahib
Four killed in mishaps
Four motorcyclists have been killed in different accidents in the district. The victims were identified as Krishan Singh of Baltana, Charanjit Singh of Patiala, Mohammad Sameer of Chorwala and Davinder Khan of Sanipur village. The bodies of the victims were handed over to their families after a postmortem. A case has been registered and further investigations are on.

Ludhiana
Swine flu case confirmed
One case of swine flu was confirmed at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital. The patient, a male, belongs to Jammu and Kashmir. With this, the confirmed number of cases this year has reached five, with one death being reported so far. Also, on the suspicion of swine flu, the sample of a 50-year-old man from Faridkot was sent to the PGI, Chandigarh, for testing.

Baby’s death mourned: The Ex-Servicemen Welfare Society on Saturday mourned the death of a 14-month-old child, who died after police officials took away blankets from the victim's mother, a teacher who was sitting on a dharna. The members observed a two-minute silence and demanded action against the guilty. Also, on Sunday, Maha Sabha, Ludhiana, will protest against this incident and burn effigies of the police and state government at various places in the city. The members said the government had already arrested hundreds of teachers and was not allowing them to organise peaceful dharnas.

Winner felicitated: Diet Mantra declared the results of their weight-loss contest, “The Biggest Loser”. The winner, Laxmi Jain, who lost 11.5 kg in two months, was felicitated. Talking about benefits of the right diet, Aditi Srivastava, director, Diet Mantra, said a small step towards the right diet led to the big advantage of having a healthy body.

Literary event: Vishav Panjabi Vichar Manch in collaboration with Punjabi Sahit Akademi organised a discussion on Dr Kulwinder Kaur Minhas’s novel 'Te Ganga Vagdi Rahi'. Novelist Jaswant Singh Kanwal, while talking during the discussion, said knowledge paved the way to a good future. Prof Niranjan Tasneem said Dr Minhas had to face many struggles in her life, and glimpses of those struggles could be seen in the novel.

Realtors await REIT regime: Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) will manage real estate properties on behalf of investors, much like shareholding in a company. The real estate sector has attained tremendous growth, especially in the past one decade. Still, the sector awaits the status of an industry. Those in the real estate sector believe that the proposed REIT regime would provide a systematic and institutional financing option to the sector. Commenting on the proposed REIT regime, Vikas Gupta, joint managing director, Earth Group, said REIT would provide investors with lesser risk and good returns. He said as per the Securities and Exchange Board of India's proposal, after the establishment of REIT, largest realty companies would be allowed to register with it and issue public offerings in order to get funding for their projects. In this regard, draft guidelines have already been floated by SEBI. The final guidelines, however, are still awaited.

FICO seeks incentives for MSME sector: The Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisations (FICO) organised a seminar on the importance of credit rating to banking finance at Hotel City Heart on Saturday. FICO president Gurmeet Singh Kular urged the Indian Overseas Bank general manager, Naval Gupta, to exempt the MSME sector from processing charges and book-keeping fee. FICO chairman KK Seth sought a special loan for the 100 units of the bicycle cluster as technology upgrading fund.

Nawanshahr
Woman dies in fire: Pardeep Kaur (23) of Kariha village died after allegedly catching fire in the kitchen of her house on Saturday. She was reportedly alone in the house. She had married NRI Surinder Pal around 14 months ago. Some boys in the neighbourhood raised an alarm after seeing the smoke emanate from the house. A case has been registered.

Patiala
2 held in murder case: The police on Saturday arrested two persons for allegedly killing Rajinder Singh (25) of Sanaur. The accused are deceased’s cousin.

Sangrur
21.5-kg opium seized, 3 held: The police on Saturday claimed to have seized 21.5 kg of opium and arrested three persons in this connection. “The market value of the opium is about Rs 17 lakh,” said SSP Mandeep Singh Sidhu. He said Rattan Singh from Rajasthan had supplied opium to the accused — Jagdeep Singh, of Ludhiana, Sardar Mohammad of Dhugan Kalan in Hoshiarpur and Saleem Mohammad of Maal Gehlan in Nawanshahr — and the consignment was to be delivered to Fauzi in Ludhiana.

CHANDIGARH

Sealed shops reopened: Officials of the UT estate office were ordered to unseal two shops in Sector 17 here today. Yesterday, a team of officials had sealed the shop for misuse violation. Shopkeepers also held protest following which Traders’ Association of Sector 17 complained to the estate officer about the wrong sealing. After inquiring, the estate officer ordered the shops to be reopened.

Workshop inaugurated: Theatre Age, an NGO working for the welfare of slum and economically weaker children, started a three-month computer hardware workshop in Theatre Age School, Sector 24. Padmashree Nek Chand, creator of Rock Garden, inaugurated the workshop on Saturday. Vikas Kumar, alumnus of Theatre Age, along with Sachin will train the student in this workshop.

Six wheelchairs donated: The Lions Club, Chandigarh Greater, in collaboration with the Central Bank of India donated six wheelchairs to PGI for underprivileged patients. Sushil Kapoor, president, Lions Club, along with members and Central Bank officials presented the wheel chairs to Prof YK Chawla, director of PGI, in presence of the Medical Superintendent, on Saturday.

CME on knee replacement: Seventy physiotherapists attended a continuing medical education (CME) for new generation total knee replacement and post surgical rehabilitation at Panjab University today. The CME was organised by the Department of Physiotherapy in collaboration with the Max Institute of Orthopaedics and Joint Replacement, Mohali. Dr Manuj Wadhwa, Director and Head, and Dr Priyanka Arora, physiotherapist from Max Elite Institute addressed the CME. The CME imparted knowledge based on the rehabilitation of knee joint post-surgical replacement.

TVS launches new bike: TVS Motor Company is showcasing ITS new TVS StaR City+ 110cc motorcycle at the ongoing auto expo at Greater Noida. Arun Siddarth, general manager, Motorcycles, TVS, said: “We have focused on a stylish design which will appeal to the target customer. There are several new features that have been introduced in the bike, including digital speedometer, soft touch grips and service indicator. The bike is fitted with an ecothurst engine, which essentially gives the rider the benefit of fuel economy along with power.”

Punjabi movie on Airtel TV: Airtel Digital TV, the DTH service arm of Bharti Airtel will showcase hit comedy Punjabi movie “Fer Mamla Gadbad Gadbad” on its pay per view platform. Available exclusively to Airtel Digital TV customers, the family entertainer will be aired on channel no 157 with eight shows daily.

Mohali
Minor kidnapped: The police have booked a resident of Rurki Kham village on a charge of kidnapping a minor girl living in the same village. The police said Jagdeep Singh complained that his minor sister had allegedly been kidnapped by Satnam Singh on the pretext of marrying her.

DEHRADUN

Almora
Stir against cement plant: Volunteers of the Uttarakhand Nadi Bachao Andolan protested against the opening of a cement factory at Someshwar on Saturday. They said the factory would not only destroy the ecology of the region but also create a crisis for three drinking water lift schemes, 33 irrigation canals and hundreds of other irrigation facilities dependent on the Koshi, which is a watershed river.

Pantnagar
Admission exams: The examinations for admission to graduate and postgraduate courses in Pantnagar University will be held on May 31 and June 1, respectively. While residents of Uttarakhand will be given preference in admission to graduation and postgraduate courses at Agriculture College, MCA and PhD programmes will also be open for students from all states. Seven centres across the state had been earmarked for the examinations for graduate courses, while examination for the postgraduate courses will be held at three centres in the state. The last date to fill forms is April 2.

Rudrapur
7 of marriage party killed: Seven members of a marriage party were killed and four others injured seriously when the Bolero jeep they were travelling in collided head-on with a train at an unmanned crossing near the town early Saturday. According to the authorities concerned, the seriously injured have been admitted to the Susheela Tiwari Hospital at Haldwani. "The incident occurred between Phulsunga and Kaushalganj, near Rudrapur town, when the train collided head-on with the Bolero jeep carrying the marriage party coming from Ballarpur town of Uttar Pradesh. Seven persons were killed on the spot," said Sadhna Goswami, SP, Rampur.

Tanakpur
Purnagiri fair from March 18: The annual Purnagiri fair will be organised from March 18 to June 10. A committee headed by the District Magistrate, Champawat, Dr Dipendra Chaudhari, took the decision at a meeting on Saturday. "The administration will ensure drinking water, sanitation and transportation facilities to all the pilgrims," he said.

(Compiled by BD Kasniyal)