R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

CIA staff fired at:Some miscreants opened fire at CIA staff in Abohar on Monday. They were returning from Sriganganagar after an unsuccessful "land grab" attempt. The Sriganganagar police said a dozen armed persons attacked a family in Jawahar Nagar area. As some women raised an alarm, some neighbours rushed in, forcing the miscreants to flee. Some of the miscreants have been identified as Nishan Singh Brar, Kuldeep Singh Brar,  P Naik, Tarsem Singh, Ashok Bishnoi and Dharam Bishnoi. They were intercepted by Abohar CIA staff but they escaped after opening fire on them.

Batala
Two run over by truck:Two persons were killed when they were run over by a truck near Kahlwan village under the jurisdiction of Qadian police station on Sunday night. Police sources said Gurnam Masih of Kahlwan village, his brother Sata Masih and neighbour Partap Singh (12) were travelling in a tractor-trailer when an "over-speeding" truck hit their tractor, following which they fell on the road. The truck crushed Partap Singh and Gurnam Masih to death. Sata Masih was seriously injured. A case has been registered against the truck driver, who fled from the spot.

Fatehgarh Sahib
3 killed in accidents:A pedestrian was killed after he was hit by a truck in Sirhind. He was taken to the PGI, Chandigarh, where he succumbed to his injuries. Amarjit Singh of Bhagat Pura village died after his motorcycle was hit by a car at Bhagat Pura T point. A migrant laborer, Ram Sakal, was hit by a vehicle on the Chandigarh-Sirhind Road near Chunni.  He died on the spot.

Hoshiarpur
Complaint against Ramdev :Advocates Dharminder Singh Dadra and Guriqbal Singh have filed a criminal complaint against Baba Ramdev in a local court for his controversial “honeymoon” remark against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and the Dalit community. The complainants have sought action against him under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The petition will be heard on May 14.

Ludhiana
OPPO India announces expansion plan: OPPO India, a global technology brand with presence in North America, Europe and Asia, has announced plans for an aggressive service network expansion in India with a target of over 200 service centres in the next one year. OPPO currently retails in 12 major cities, including Ludhiana, New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Pune and Lucknow. Recently, the company launched its 3G-enabled budget smartphone named ‘OPPO Joy’ in the Indian market, targeting the young generation and first-time smartphone users. Available at a price of Rs 8,990, the new full-touch screen OPPO Joy comes with a sleek exquisite look, colour OS (based on Android 4.2), dual-SIM capabilities and a unique feature called Hotknot. Hotknot not only enables faster, limitless transmission but secures file sharing as well.

Muktsar
Anganwari workers protest:Activists of the Punjab Anganwari Employees’ Union protested near the district administrative complex here on Monday, demanding reversal of a decision of transferring ICDS funds to plan expenditure head rather than non-plan head. “The decision spells trouble for anganwari workers and helpers as they will neither get salaries nor ration for the next few months,” said Hargobind Kaur, union president.

Patiala
Book released :A book titled “Patiala Virasat De Rang” by Ujagar Singh, retired District Public Relations Officer, Punjab, was released by Punjabi University vice chancellor Jaspal Singh here on Monday. The book is based on the lives of 53 personalities of Patiala, including Bir Dasaundhi Ram, Amar Singh Kamboj, Jasdev Singh Sandhu, Sant Hazara Singh, Sewa Singh Thirkriwala, Capt Amarinder Singh and Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra.

Cheques given to needy:Dr Harsh Charitable Trust here today gave cheques worth Rs 1 lakh to 76 girl students to fund their education. The students were from Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Anandpur Sahib, Bathinda, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Patiala districts. Patiala SSP Hardyal Singh Mannlauded the trust’s efforts.

Tarn Taran
Exporter booked for fraud:Anil Hooda, proprietor of New Delhi-based Bajrang Trade Company Laxmi Export, has been booked under Sections 420 and 406 of the IPC for duping  a local trader. The victim, Naveen Gupta, suffered a loss of Rs 9,87,525. Gupta alleged that Hooda, through an email, had purchased  30 tonnes of rice from  him at the rate of Rs 3,300 per quintal. However, Hooda allegedly failed to pay  him the money despite repeated requests.

DEHRADUN

Dehradun
Nirmala Mehar elected chief of teachers' body: Nirmala Mehar was elected as president of Uttarakhand Rajya Prathmik Shikshask Sangh in well-contested elections held here today. Gaining majority of votes, Mehar, hailing from Pithoragarh, got the president’s chair for one year. Digvijay Singh Chauhan was chosen as the general secretary and Vinod Kumar Uniyal has been appointed as treasurer of the sangh.

Mussoorie
668 examined at medical camp: Around 668 patients were examined at a free medical camp on Sunday. The camp was organised under the aegis of the Rotary Club, Mussoorie. Dr Gaurav Bahsin carried out pathology tests on more than 50 patients. Dr GK Takhral, Dr Rashim Thakral, Dr Garima Goel , Dr MP Luthra, Dr Gaurav Luthra, Dr SM Das, Dr Savita Luthra, Dr Aarti Luthra attended the camp.