R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Abohar
Man dies of bullet wound: Hotelier Karan Sethi (32), who as per reports had accidentally shot himself with his licensed firearm, died at the local Civil Hospital on Wednesday night. The body was handed over to the victim's kin after a postmortem. A case had been registered under Section 174 of the CrPC by the city police, sources said.

Barnala
DC honoured: Barnala Deputy Commissioner Gurloveleen Singh Sidhu has been honoured with the President's Silver Medal for the services he rendered during Census 2011. He was the Principal Census Officer, when he was posted as Sub-Divisional Magistrate in Malerkotla. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal presented the medal and a certificate to Sidhu on Wednesday.

Muktsar
IMA sends doctors to J&K: The Indian Medical Association (IMA), Punjab, on Thursday sent a team of 13 doctors from Patiala and Sangrur to the flood ravaged state of J&K. Dr Sudhir Raj, president, IMA Punjab, said, "The team will carry medicines and other relief material worth over Rs 5 lakh. The team will stay there for a week."

Sangrur
20 down with diarrhoea: As many as 20 more patients were diagnosed with diarrhoea in the Lehragaga sub-division hospital on Thursday. Patients have been pouring in for the past three days. Local residents fell ill after drinking water that was contaminated by sewage. Senior Medical Officer Dr Dinesh Gupta said all the patients were okay. Deputy Commissioner Gurloveleen Singh Sidhu also visited the hospital.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Mandi
Mandi Mahotsav ends: The five-day Mandi Mahotsav concluded here last night. Parkhi won the Soul of Music contest, while in the junior category, Aditya was the winner. Neeraj in the male category and Anchal in the female category were declared Face of Mandi. Several cultural and musical programmes were organised during the event. Plays on local issues, including the renovation of cremation grounds and traffic problems, were also enacted. Children enthralled the audience with their choreography on Lord Ganesha. DC Sandeep Kadam, who presided over the function, said efforts would be made to take the mahotsav to a larger platform.

Shimla
6th Shimla marathon on Sep 28: The 6th Shimla Running and Living Ultra Half Marathon Run will be organised in Shimla on September 28. This was stated by Additional Chief Secretary VC Pharka while presiding over a meeting here today. He said there would be four runs starting from Ashiana on The Ridge at 6 am. The first run would be of six km which would go to Peterhoff from The Ridge and back to the originating place. The minimum age limit for this run would be 10 years and school students could participate. For the other three runs, the minimum age limit would be 18 years and participants should have some experience of running in tough conditions.

HRTC taxis for elderly persons: As per the High Court orders, only senior citizens, disabled persons and children below 10 can avail the facility of taxis of the HRTC being plied on the sealed and restricted roads in the town. No other person would be allowed to sit in these taxis, an official spokesman for the state government said here today.