R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Chandigarh
Sukhbir’s Sangat Darshan:Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal will hold a Sangat Darshan on July 30 at Punjab Bhawan, Sector 3, Chandigarh, from 11 am onwards. A spokesman of the Deputy CM's office said in a statement that officials of various departments had already been directed to remain present during the event for on-the-spot redressal of grievances.

Fatehgarh Sahib
13 teachers found absent:In a surprise raid by a high-level team led by Additional Deputy Commissioner Baljit Singh Sandhu, 13 teachers were found absent from their duty in various schools functioning under the zila parishad here on Monday. In a statement, Sandhu said to ensure the presence of teachers in 182 schools within their jurisdiction, they had constituted 20 teams which conducted surprise raids in five blocks of the district. He said they had suggested disciplinary action against the erring teachers.

Moga
Woman raped in Moga:A widow was allegedly raped by a man for five days on the pretext of getting her re-married at Dhudike village in the district. A woman relative of the victim reportedly introduced her to Manjit Singh at Dhudike village, who promised to arrange her marriage. Last week, Manjit called the woman to his residence where she was allegedly raped by him for five days. The police have registered a case against Manjit and Karamjit Kaur, though the duo were yet to be arrested.

Patiala
Driver held for graft:The Vigilance Bureau on Monday nabbed the private driver of Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner (Mobile Wing), Patiala, red-handed while allegedly accepting a bribe Rs 20,000. A Vigilance spokesperson said Richhipal alias Jaspal Singh was arrested for allegedly demanding Rs 20,000 from Sukhdev Singh of Tranjikhera village in Sunam. The accused had reportedly threatened to stop the movement of the latter's trucks.

HARYANA

Chandigarh
NHRC to hold camp:The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) will hold a three-day open hearing camp in Chandigarh from October 29 to 31 to consider pending cases and discuss human rights issues concerning Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Chandigarh. An official spokesperson said the purpose of the open hearing was to consider the complaints of the SCs who have grievances of an atrocity or negligence committed by a public servant.

Cabinet meet:The Haryana Cabinet will meet under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on July 30 at 10 am in Chandigarh instead of July 29. 

Rohtak
2 MDU deans become VCs:Two professors at Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) have been appointed Vice Chancellors by the state government. While Prof SK Gakhar, Dean, faculty of life sciences, and director, Centre for Medical Biotechnology and Bioinformatics at MDU, has been appointed VC of Ch Bansi Lal University, Bhiwani, Prof Asha Kadyan of the department of English and foreign languages has been appointed Vice Chancellor of BPS Women University at Khanpur Kalan in Sonepat district.

DEHRADUN

Guv mourns loss of lives in landslide: Governor Aziz Qureshi has expressed grief over the death of several people in a landslide at Byaldhar village (Pangla) in Dharchula yesterday. He prayed for the peace of the departed souls and wished speedy recovery for the injured.

Five Haridwar residents back home from Iraq: Chief Minister Harish Rawat congratulated five residents of Haridwar on their safe and successful arrival back home from unrest-hit Iraq here today. Reportedly, Inayat Ali, Istkar Ali, Israt Ali, Ali Raja and Kaneej Fatima, all residents of Haridwar, reached back home this morning.