R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Batala
Grant for college : A cultural programme was organised at the RR Bawa DAV College for Girls by the youth welfare department here on Friday. Punjab agriculture minister Sucha Singh Langah announced Rs 10 lakh for the development of the college.

Fatehgarh Sahib
Loans recommended : First meeting of task force committee of the Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Yojna (PMRY) was held on Thursday under the presidentship of Fatehgarh Sahib Deputy Commissioner Surjit Singh Dhillon. As many as 17 loan cases of various unemployed youths were discussed, out of which 11 were recommended. Similarly, the industry department and schedule caste corporation also conducted interviews of unemployed for opening their new industry ventures and forwarded their cases to various banks.

Fazilka
Ashok Jairath is market committee chief : Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and municipal councilor, Ashok Jairath, has been nominated as the chairman of market committee, Fazilka, by the Punjab government. Jairath represents ward no 18 of Fazilka.

Gurdaspur
Addl district judge dead : Additional district and sessions judge Harjinder Pal Singh died of cardiac arrest early this morning. Harjinder (52) is survived by his son and wife.District bar association president Gurmeet Singh Jandey said Harjinder felt uneasy around 3 am. He was rushed to the local civil hospital but was declared brought dead.

Jalandhar
Coaching classes : The District Sainik Welfare Office (DSWO) would be conducting special coaching classes for ex-servicemen for their entry as assistant sub-inspectors, head constables and constables in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). The classes would begin from January 20. Deputy director of the DSWO Lieut-Col Manmohan Singh said eligible candidates (ex-servicemen) should report on January 20 for selection in the coaching camp.

Car stolen : Retired district education officer (DEO) Krishan Sarup’s white Maruti car (PB-08-P-0071) was stolen from Guru Nanak Mission Chowk on Friday evening. An FIR has been lodged with the police station number four in this regard.

BSNL employees : Members of the National Federation of Telecom Employees of SSA yesterday held a meeting and urged Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to fulfil their demands. District president of the federation Dinkar Dutt Sharma said the employees should be given annual bonus of Rs 10,000 with five-day week schedule and change in the designation of all the cadres. The meeting was attended by the BSNL employees of Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Nawanshahr.

Tarn Taran
2.25 kg opium seized : A special team of the district police seized 2.25 kg of opium from Gurmej Singh of Ferozepore late last night from a naka at Muthianwala village, 45 km from here. SSP H.S. Chahal told mediapersons here today that a case under the NDPS Act was registered at Valtoha police station. The accused brought the opium from Jandwali village in Haryana to be delivered in the border area.

CHANDIGARH

Mohali
Diary, calendar released : Adviser to Chief Minister and SAD candidate from the Anandpur Sahib parliamentary seat Dr Daljit Singh Cheema has released the 2009 diary and calendar of the PUDA Diploma Engineer’s Association at a function held here yesterday. President of the association, Amar Singh Randhawa, said the calendar was dedicated to tercentenary celebrations of Gurta Gaddi Divas of Guru Granth Sahib.

HARYANA

BHIWANI
Power transmission : The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) and the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) have drawn a comprehensive plan of Rs 560 crore to strengthen power transmission and distribution system in Bhiwani district. Kiran Choudhry, Minister for Forest, Tourism, Sports and Youth Affairs, Haryana, said this after inaugurating a 33 kV substation in Alampur village near here. The substation has been constructed by the DHBVN at a cost of Rs 2 crore.

GURGAON
Hardware shop looted : Some persons stole hardware items worth Rs 9 lakh from a shop situated on the Khandsa road here on Saturday. Suresh Sethi, owner of JMD Trading, told the police that when he came to his shop around 9 am, he found that his shop had been looted. He said hardware items like sprill, tap set and hexa blade had been stolen. The police found an identity card on the name of Subesh, son of Minder Ram, from the spot. A case has been registered.

Fire in restroom : A minor fire broke out at GMD Square on MG Road in DLF Phase 2 here on Saturday. A restroom on the fifth floor caught fire. According to eyewitnesses, the fire was caused by a cigarette butt. Three fire engines were pressed into service, which controlled the fire within 20 minutes.

KAITHAL
Stone laid : Inspector General of Police (Ambala range) KK Sindhu laid the foundation stone of a new building of the police lines here on Friday. The building will be constructed on 55 acres at a cost of Rs 55 crore. The district police under the supervision of the IG destroyed drugs and narcotics, including 65 quintals of poppy husk, 3.5 kg of charas and 990 gm of opium, seized in various crime cases. Sindhu said a new building for the police lines was urgently required in Kaithal and all efforts would be made to get it constructed as early as possible. Kaithal Deputy Commissioner Amneet P Kumar said tight security arrangements had been made to tackle crime in the district.

REWARI
1 booked for fraud : The police has registered a cheating case against a former class IV employee of the Community Health Centre (CHC) of Bawal, Ramesh Chand, who recently secured promotion as a computer operator in the CHC by allegedly submitting a fake matric certificate. The case was registered against the accused on a directive issued by the director-general of health services, Haryana. The directive has been issued after the Lokayukt, Haryana, which conducted a probe into the matter recently, reportedly found the allegations pertaining to the acquisition of promotion as computer operator by Ramesh Chand on the basis of a fake matric certificate prima facie established.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Shop owner held : The police has arrested a tea shop owner, who was earlier reported to be involved in illicit liquor trade at Vinayak Ghat near here. SP Kuldip Sharma said here on Saturday evening that a police party of Namhole Chowki raided the premises of a tea shop owner named Kali Dass, son of Nikduram, and recovered 192 bottles of desi liquor kept illegally in his room. Kalidass was arrested under various Sections of the HP Excise Act and a case was registered against him. He was later bailed out, he added.

CHAMBA
Educational programme : In order to educate representatives of the panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) with a view to empowering and strengthening the democracy, as many as 711 illiterate members of PRIs have been imparted education and training at the local resource centre of the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan. Official information revealed here on Saturday that this education and training programme was conducted under the ‘backward area sub-plan’.

PALAMPUR
Cricket stadiums : President of the HP State Cricket Association MP Anurag Thakur said on Saturday that 12 new cricket stadiums would be set up in the state in the next two years. A sum of Rs 40 crore has been sanctioned for these stadiums by the association. Talking to mediapersons in the HPAU campus here, he said better facilities and coaching would be provided to the players in the state. He said services of old players would be utilised as coaches in different districts. 

JAMMU & KASHMIR

JAMMU
Probe ordered : Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand has ordered an enquiry into regularisation of proprietary rights in JDA. Taking cognizance of the complaint brought to his notice while inspecting the JDA Complex at Jammu, Tara Chand directed the commissioner secretary, Housing and Urban Development, Naseema Lankar, to hold the enquiry in to the matter and ascertain the facts.

Rehbar-e-Taleem teachers : Minister for School Education and Public Enterprises Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed on Friday approved the regularisation of 308 Rehbar-e-Taleem teachers of various districts. Giving approval to the proposal submitted to him to this effect, he said all Rehbar-e-Taleem teachers after completing five years of continuous service would be regularised. The minister directed the concerned ZEOs, CEOs and Directors of School Education, Kashmir and Jammu, to speed up the process.

Undertrial thrashes cop : A police constable was thrashed by an undertrial,Vipin Bhoot, on the High Court premises on Thursday while he was being produced in the court for the hearing in a murder case in the Janipur area on the city outskirts, sources here said. Vipin Bhoot slapped constable Kuldeep Raj for not giving his mobile phone to make a call, a senior police officer said. The police has registered a fresh case against him.

Srinagar
61 militancy-related cases cleared : A meeting of the District Level Screening-cum-Coordination Committee was held under the chairmanship of deputy commissioner, Srinagar, Mehraj Ahmad Kakroo here on Saturday. Sixty-one of 90 cases of victims of militancy-related incidents were cleared and approved. An ex gratia of Rs 25.44 lakh was sanctioned in 14 death cases, one missing person, 28 injured and 15 property damage cases. Besides, 24 cases of next of kin of missing persons, who were seeking government job under SRO-43 was discussed and 23 cases cleared for compassionate appointment.

DGP visits Traffic Dept: DGP Kuldeep Khoda visited the Traffic Department on Saturday to have an on-the-spot assessment of its working vis-à-vis enforcement and regulation and welfare of traffic personnel. He evinced interest in the establishment of a full-fledged traffic control room, which had been for the first time done under his orders in the department.

Udhampur
Shopkeeper killed in blast : One person was killed while another injured in an explosion inside a scrap shop at Jaganoo, 6 km from Udhampur town, on Saturday. Mohan Lal, a scrap dealer, died on the spot while his relative Om Prakash received severe injuries. Om Prakash was immediately shifted to the hospital where his condition was stated to be stable, sources said.