The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

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R E G I O N A L B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Abohar
Govt to develop school: The state government has decided to develop a school at village Dharangwala with allocation of Rs 3 crore under the Border Area Development scheme, Balluana MLA, Gurtej Singh Ghuriana announced during a sports meet at the village recently. Former MP, Gurdas Singh Badal, was the chief guest in the function. He exhorted youths to join the campaign against drug menace and announced Rs one lakh as special grant for Charanjit Singh Sports Club for organising kabaddi and football tournament.

Power cuts disrupt life: Frequent tripping in electricity supply throughout the day added to the discomforts of over 1.5 lakh citizens on Wednesday as the region faced dense fog. Maximum numbers of complaints from the consumers were received in the sub-division number two of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) and the field staff was busy in attending to the same till filing of this report. Most of the complainants were reportedly told that they might have to wait till Thursday to come out of the darkness. Fog had reduced visibility to almost 10 feet on all the roads surrounding the town. The teachers of the middle and secondary schools in the rural areas had a tough time in attending the institutions. The attendance of students too was affected. Fog again hit the region by five pm when the power supply was restored after almost full day’s break.

Bathinda
Beopar Mandal: Madan Lal Kapoor, president of Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal, has released the third and final list of the office-bearers of the Mandal for the term ending March 31, 2012. Dharam Paul from Maur has been made patron while district presidents are Rajindra Nirankari (Patiala), Parkash Chand Garg (Fatehgarh Sahib), Tarsem Kullar (Sangrur), Pyara Lal (Barnala), Satwinder Bhandari (Ferozepur), Rajnish Grover (Faridkot), Vijay Singla (Moga) and Major Singh Dhillon (Muktsar).

Teachers’ convention: The Government Classical and Vernacular Teachers’ Union, Punjab, will hold a convention on January 9 at the Teachers’ Home here. State president of the union Sukhjinder Singh Harika will preside over the convention.

Office-bearers elected: The following have been elected as office-bearers of local Satguru Ravidass Sabha and Parchar Mandal: Ram Partap Mehra – president, Preet Bala - senior vice-president, Sant Pal Nahar – vice-president, Rajinder Kumar Raju – general secretary, Darbara Singh – secretary, Mohan Lal – treasurer and Bharat Bhushan Kataria – propaganda secretary.

Exhibition of books on Osho’s discourses: The Osho Prem Dhyan Mandir, Bathinda, is organising a three-day exhibition of books based on the discourses of Osho at the Teachers’ Home here from January 7. Literature authored by Osho will be put on display at the exhibition, informed Swami Prem Sakshi, a follower.

Fazilka
Old woman killed in mishap: An old woman was killed in a road accident at village Beganwali of this sub-division. As per details available, Piaro Bai (80), a resident of village Shajrana, was travelling by a bus. She got down from the bus at village Beganwali to go to her village Shajrana. While crossing the road, she was hit and crushed by a speeding car going from Fazilka to Abohar. She died on the spot. Post-mortem of the deceased was conducted at the local civil hospital on Wednesday.

Ferozepur
Pulse polio drive: The health department had made elaborate arrangements to eradicate polio from this border belt. Basant Garg, ADC (D), while presiding over a meeting of the task force constituted for the purpose said polio drops would be administered to around three lakh children ranging from newly born infants up to five years on January 10 and February 7, 2010, for which 1,117 booths would be set up. Garg said that besides booths, 2,234 teams have been constituted to go from door to door to administer polio drops. On the occasion, Jaskiran Singh ADC, Dilip Kumar, civil surgeon, GS Dhillon and representatives of various NGO’s were present. Dilip Kumar said that 27 mobile teams would also be pressed into service on both days to reach out to remote areas.

Traffic awareness week: As a part of the 'Traffic awareness week', a function was organised here, in which, truck operators, cab drivers and transporters were invited and informed about the traffic regulations and the dire need to strictly follow them.

CHANDIGARH

Land acquisition policy: Kuljeet Singh Sandhu, mandal president of the BJP, has criticised the land acquisition policy of the Chandigarh administration. The administration has been offering between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 40 lakh per acre, though land rates are higher, sparking resentment among the farming community, he said.

Learning session: The language department of the Punjab government is conducting a preliminary learning session for Urdu at the GGDSD College, Sector 32. The classes will continue for six months till June-end. Interested candidates from Chandigarh and Panchkula can contact the office of assistant director (Hindi\Punjabi cell), mini-secretariat, Sector 9, on all working days or the teacher of Urdu at the GGDSD College.

HARYANA

Bhiwani
Teacher killed in accident: A man was killed when the scooter he was riding on was hit by an unidentified vehicle near the Kaunt road on Wednesday.The deceased has been identified as Narender of the local Krishna Colony area.The incident took place when Narender, a teacher with a government school, Purnpura village, was on the way to the school. The body was handed over to his relatives after postmortem.

REWARI
Couple commits suicide: A middle-aged couple - Lilu Ram (56) an his wife Bimla Devi (54) - reportedly committed suicide by consuming celphos at their quarter in the PDW colony in Bawal, 14 km from here, on Tuesday. The couple, residents of Suthani village, is survived by two married sons and one married daughter. Lilu Ram was employed as a painter in the Public Works Department and had been living in the above colony along with his sons and their children. The police, which held an inquest under Section 174 of the CrPC, said the cause behind the deaths was yet to be ascertained

Truck driver booked: The police has registered a case of criminal breach of trust and conspiracy against a truck driver following a complaint filed on Monday by Dalip Saini, transport manager of REI Agro Limited, Bawal. The manger alleged that 36 tonnes of rice worth Rs 8,20,600, which was transported by the factory through the above truck to their storehouse in Nagpur on July 29, 2009, had not been delivered till date.

Sonepat
Workshop on renewable energy: The Renewable Energy Department and Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency jointly organised a workshop at the Vikas Sadan on Wednesday. As many as 50 representatives of various departments attended the workshop. Inaugurating the workshop, the Additional Deputy Commissioner Anita Yadav said self-sufficiency is possible only through renewable energy and conservation efforts. The Project Officer Rajesh Hooda claimed that Haryana was the first state in the country to make energy conservation mandatory in government offices under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Dharamsala
CM expresses condolences: Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today visited Khaniara village near Dharamsala to pay condolences to minister for industries Kishan Kapoor on the death of his father Hari Ram. A philanthropist Hari Ram had passed away last week. The CM said Hari Ram was simple person who was relentless in helping poor people.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
Educational tour flagged off: The 9 Sector Rastriya Rifles on Tuesday flagged off an educational-cum-motivational tour of 25 students for Bangalore and Mysore, from Kishtwar district. All the students belong to remote and far-flung villages.“During the tour, children will be introduced to the rich tradition, heritage and culture of our great nation,” said a spokesperson for the Rashtriya Rifles.

GoC-in-C calls on CM: The GoC-in-C, Northern Command, Lt Gen BS Jaswal today called on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here. According to an official statement issued here, in about 30 minutes meeting with the CM, Lt Gen BS Jaswal apprised him of the security situation in the state and discussed related matters.

Srinagar
Godown, store gutted: A godown was gutted in fire at Fruit Mandi, Parimpora, here on Tuesday night. The godown belonged to one Mohammad Sadiq khan. The fire was brought under control and no loss of life was reported in the incident, the police said. In another incident, a provisional store belonging to Mohammad Yusuf Bhat was gutted in Khrew area in Pulwama on Tuesday.

Rice seized: The police has seized seven quintals of rice belonging to the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department from the new bus stand at Budgam on Tuesday night. A checking squad of the police seized an auto loaded with seven quintals of the rice, the police said. The driver was arrested and a case registered against him.

1 hit by train, dies: A person, identified as Ali Mohammad Khan of Mamat, died when he was hit by a train while crossing the railway track near Pymass Sangam Budgam.