IN Brief

Cheating case registered

CHANDIGARH: The UT police have registered a case of cheating against one Manvinder Singh of Bharra Mal Khoo,who had taken Rs 5 lakh from the complaint Satya Prakash of Jattan Wala Mohalla as part of a deal to sell his house. But neither did the accused sell that house to the complainant,nor did he return him the money. Car dealers held for using fake registration numbers CHANDIGARH : A Sector 35 resident has complained to the police that one Harpreet Singh,a resident of Mohali,and one Vikas,a resident of Ambedkar colony in Dhanas,were using cars with fake registration numbers. The police arrested both the car dealers from Sector 35 and 36 dividing road on Wednesday and recovered a Tavera car with a fake registration number. The accused have been booked under sections 420,468,471,474 and 120-B of IPC.

Delegation meets Patil

Chandigarh: A delegation led by former mayor Surinder Singh met the UT Administrator Shivraj Patil and submitted a memorandum with a list of demands. The members said the prime land of the farmers in UT villages has been acquired,but there is no suitable scheme for rehabilitation. The residents who have constructed houses outside the lal dora are living in miserable conditions with no basic civic amenities. The delegation said construction of tenements for rehabilitation of jhuggi dwellers should be expedited.

Authors thank Haryana CM

Ambala: Haryana Kendri Punjabi Lekhak Sabha at a meeting presided over by its president Dr Paul Kaur here,decided to honour the Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on March 14 at Kurukshetra primarily to thank him for having accorded the status of second official language to Punjabi in the state. The resolution said the decision would not only lead to the better fraternal relationship but would also lead to the opening of new avenues in social structuring and development. The function is being organised jointly under the aegis of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (ad hoc),Haryana Punjabi Adhyapak Sangh and other organisations dedicated to the progress of the language,said Sabha general secretary Sudarshan Gaso.

Two students run over

Ambala: Two school students died after they were run over under a train and a tractor trailer in separate accidents at the Ambala cantonment. Chander Shekhar,a plus-two student of SD SS School was killed after he was run over by a train on the Ambala-Saharanpur rail track. He was crossing the track after praying at the temple to fetch good marks. In another incident,a student,Amardeep,resident of Pragati Vihar,was killed when he was run over by a speeding tractor trailer behind B D Flour Mill. Amardeep was going to school to collect his roll number to appear in the examination. He died on way to PGI Chandigarh where he was referred to by the doctors.

Blaze in police malkhana

Ambala: Liquor in large quantities and crackers stored in the police malkhana were burnt in a fire late on Wednesday night. Both liquor bottles and crackers,besides office records,were burnt in the fire. Fire tenders,which fought for over two hours,brought the blaze under control. Liquor and crackers,confiscated over the last few years,were stored in the malkhana. Sources said a short circuit might have caused the fire,though the exact cause would be ascertained only after an inquiry ordered by the SP.

Youth Congress leader attacked

Ambala: Ambala Cantonment Youth Congress vice president,Sandeep Duggal,was seriously injured after he came under attack by a group of persons on Wednesday night. Duggal alleged about a dozen persons with muffled faces armed with sticks and rods attacked him on Church Road behind the GPO inflicting serious injuries. He was rushed to the civil hospital where he was admitted for treatment. He alleged old enmity,due to professional rivalry,was the cause of attack. The police have registered a case and started a search for the assailants.

Panch elected

Chandigarh:Sucha Singh was elected as Panch in Gram Panchayat Mauli Jagran village after the polling and counting of votes was completed on March 3 to fill up one casual vacancy. This category belonged to SC.

BPR College: principals,teachers submit memorandum

Ambala: The Haryana College Principals’ Association (HCPA) and the Haryana College Teachers’ Association (HCTA) in a joint memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda demanded the managing committee of the BPR College Kurukshetra should be dismissed for alleged mismanagement of the college. The memorandum signed by HCPA and HCTA presidents,R R Malik and U V Singh,urged the CM to appoint an administrator by dissolving the management which had failed to disburse salaries of teaching and non-teaching staff in time and non-payment of arrears equivalent to 40 per cent of the revised pay scales already released by the state government,holding of payments of legitimate benefits to late principal Sudhir Kaushik after his death and continued violation of rules of the government and the university by ignoring instructions,orders regarding functioning and benefits of the employees.

VB nabs food inspector taking bribe

SANGRUR: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Thursday nabbed a food inspector here while taking bribe of Rs 5,000 from two depot holders. According to sources,a team of the VB caught Food and Supplies Inspector Sant Singh red-handed while accepting the bribe,allegedly for settling a dispute between the two depot holders. The Sangrur district food and supply commissioner had already ordered the equalisation of units with each depot holder and had already handed over the orders for the same,but the inspector was trying to extract money for compliance of the orders. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against him. During frisking,over Rs 50,000 were recoverd from the inspectors’ possession. The VB is investigating the matter further.

Survey finds 8,000 birds at Nangal wetland

CHANDIGARH: A bird survey conducted in Nangal Wetland on February 28 has found 8,473 birds of 18 varieties. The survey,conducted by an NGO,Jagriti,with the assistance of birds clubs of Chandigarh and Delhi,besides the Asian Habitat Society,was undertaken for the first time in the wetland. The birds that were spotted included Ruddy Shelduck,Pintail Duck,Gadwall,Wison,Red-Crested Pochard and Cruz,among others. Maximum number of Cruz (1,860) were spotted,followed by Gadwall (1,042).

Forest staff call off stir after CM assurance

CHANDIGARH: Employees of the state forest department on Thursday called off their strike after getting an assurance from Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Forest Minister Tikshan Sud that the staff deployed for a scheme sponsored by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation sponsored scheme would not be retrenched or demoted,and that status quo would be maintained. Balbir Singh Dhillon,general secretary of the Punjab Forest Services Coordination Committee,said,“Employees appreciate the step taken by the government,but we have asked the CM and the minister to restructure the forest department as soon as possible.”

PSEB outsources delivery of material

PATIALA: The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) today introduced a new scheme ‘Material at site model’. Under this scheme the material from the PSEB stores would be transported directly to the site. For this,private contractors,with vehicles and manpower,will be engaged for loading and unloading of material from the stores to site. Now,the junior engineers (JEs) and field staff will not have to go to the stores for materials for new connections and other maintenance works.The JEs will be required to send a requisition of material through a messenger and the required material will be delivered at the site. This scheme will increase productivity as large number of man hours,earlier used to draw material,will now be available for attending to consumer complaints.

Man held for killing father

NAWANSHAHR: The Nawanshahr police on Thursday booked Karnail Singh of Kahma village for murder of his father Jaswinder Singh. Jaswinder was found dead under mysterious circumstances at his house on February 26. His family told the police that he had suffered a heart attack. Since there was no complaint,the police acted under Section 174 of CrPC and sent the body for postmortem. The report revealed that the death had been caused by strangulation and not heart failure. Jaswinder had a dispute with his son over some property issue. After a case was registered against him,Karnail admitted to have killed his father. He along with an accomplice Lakhbir Ram,killed Jaswinder who wanted to sell the remaining 2 acre of family land. He had earlier sold 7 acres as he needed money for medical treatment.

SSP Rakesh Aggrawal said Karnail had got a stay order from a court against selling of his land. After the court vacated the stay order,Karnail decided to kill his father. Both Karnail and Lakhbir have been arrested,said the SSP..

CII-NIFTEM to explore opportunities in food processing sector

SHIMLA: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) have decided to join hands to explore new entrepreneurial opportunities in the food processing sector in Himachal Pradesh. At a two-day seminar that started here on Thursday,Yoginder Diwan,Member,CII Himachal Pradesh State Council,set an agenda for focusing on Himachal’s potential to emerge as a leader in the food processing sector. Officials from the Ministry of Food Processing Industries,too,participated in the seminar. Sanjay Kumar Singh,Under Secretary,Ministry of Food Processing Industries,made a detailed presentation on the scope of the food processing industry and opportunities in the market — both in India and abroad.

Justice Balakrishnan to attend ruby jubilee function of HP High Court on March 13

SHIMLA: Chief Justice of India Justice K G Balakrishnan will inaugurate the ruby jubilee celebrations of Himachal Pradesh High Court here on March 13. The function will also be attended by judges of the Supreme Court. An official release said there would be a judicial officers’ conference on March 13 and 14. Other activities such as legal literacy camps,public interest litigation camps and many other functions with public participation would also be organised throughout the year to mark 40 years of the court.

CPM intensify protests against price rise

SHIMLA: Continuing its demonstrations against the price hike,the Communist Party of India (Marxist) staged protests in various localities and business centres of Shimla on Thursday. The demonstrations were addressed by Vijender Mehra,Sanjay Chauhan and Tikender Panwar who targeted the state government for “abdicating its responsibility of providing cheap ration to the people”.