R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Abohar

Man gets life term: The court of District and Sessions Judge Rajinder Pareek at Hanumangarh, 65 km from here, in Rajasthan today sentenced Gurmej Singh (55) for sexually assaulting an 18-month-old girl in 2KNJ Makkasar village. “The convict will remain in jail till his natural death,” the court announced.

Train flagged off: Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Nihal Chand flagged off the Sriganganagar-Jammu Tawi weekly superfast train in Sriganganagar on Wednesday. The train will leave Sriganganagar for Jammu via Abohar and Bathinda every Wednesday and will return on Thursday.

Rail crossing closed: The most-used local manned railway crossing near the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited complex has been closed for three days to strengthen the track here. The crossing links the old walled city with the Sriganganagar and Kandhwala roads, besides Nai Abadi and other colonies. People resented that no diversion boards had been fixed near the crossing.

Amritsar

Two smugglers shot: The BSF gunned down two Indian smugglers who had arrived to receive a drug consignment near the Khalra border outpost in Bhikhiwind (Tarn Taran) on Tuesday night. The BSF seized a pistol and seven cartridges. Some unidentified Pakistani smugglers who had crossed the border to hand over the consignment to Indian smugglers fled.

Chandigarh

Six PPS officers transferred: The state government has issued posting and transfer orders of six PPS officers with immediate effect. An official spokesperson said Rachhpal Singh Ghuman had been transferred and posted as SP, Investigation, Tarn Taran; Kulwant Singh Heer, SP, Headquarters, Jalandhar, Rural; Sharanjit Singh SP, Headquarters, Patiala; Gurchain Singh, AIG, Crime, Punjab; Joginder Singh, ADCP-I, Ludhiana City; and Naresh Kumar, SP, Community Policing, Punjab, Chandigarh.

Phagwara

Lawyers give strike call: The Bar Association of Phagwara has given a state-level “no work” call on September 26 to all the Bar Associations of the state. They termed Sub-Divisional Magistrate Keshav Hingonia’s notice as “invalid”. The SDM had issued a notice to lawyers against illegal construction in the Tehsil Complex.

Tarn Taran

Cyclist dies in accident: A cyclist, Gulzar Singh (60), of Mehandipur village, 45 km from here, died in a road accident on Tuesday evening. Manpreet Singh of Varnala village, who was on his motorbike, has been booked. Gulzar was going to Amarkot village on his bicycle when the motorcyclist hit him head on.

CHANDIGARH

Curator attends global meeting

Munish Jauhar, curator of the Chandigarh Hub of Global Shapers of World Economic Forum, represented the hub at the annual curators meeting held at Geneva, Switzerland, recently. Munish said the hub was a network of communities founded by the World Economic Forum. He said the meeting brought together 350 curators from hubs across the world and gave participants an opportunity to exchange experiences on relevant issues.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Srinagar

Govt’s warning: No salaries for absent employees: Employees of the state government, who have not resumed their duties till date, have been directed to report back to their respective places of postings immediately, failing which they shall be treated as absent from duties and necessary action as warranted under rules shall be taken against such employees. In this regard, the drawing and disbursing officers are asked not to draw the salaries for September 2014 in favour of those employees, who fail to report for their duties by or before September 25. The administrative secretaries are requested to furnish the details of delinquent employees to the General Administrative Department by Monday i.e. September 29 positively. 

Staff urged to contribute a day’s salary to CM relief fund: As per the circular issued by the General Administrative Department, all government employees, including members of All-India Services in the state, are requested to contribute one day's salary towards the Chief Minister's flood relief fund. For this purpose, an account has been opened with the J&K Bank moving secretariat, Srinagar, with account number 0110040100001275, IFSC Code: JAKA0MOVING. The drawing and disbursing officers will collect/receive the contribution and deposit it in the said account. The contributions are voluntary and it is expected that all employees will rise to the occasion and contribute to the flood relief fund.