In Brief

Zirakpur shootout accused held

ZIRAKPUR: Anuj and Anil,the two accused who had fled from the spot when their accomplice Deepak was caught red-handed while committing a robbery at a house-cum-godown at Bhabat village in Zirakpur on New Year eve,were arrested on Wednesday. A .32 bore country-made revolver,two live cartridges and a sharp-edged weapon have been recovered from them. Zirakpur Station House Officer Yogi Raj Singh told Newsline that both the accused were trying to flee from Zirakpur when they were caught by the police at the bus-stand.It was on the night of December 31 that three armed gangsters Deepak,Anuj and Anil had broken open a locked house-cum-godown in Bhabat when the family was out for New Year celebrations. The house-cum-godown owner Harish Sharma had sustained a bullet injury when one of the robbers had opened fire as the family had returned back during the strike. While Anuj and Anil had managed to escape,Deepak,who had fired shot,was caught hold by Sharma and handed over to the police. A .32 bore revolver and four mobile phones were recovered from Deepak,with the help of which the police managed to lay their hands on his accomplices.

Seminar on teaching methodologies held

MOHALI: A seminar on ‘Comparison of Teaching Methodologies of India and Canada’ was held at Baba Farid Group of Institutions. The key objective of the seminar was to acquaint the students as well as faculty members with the modern teaching methodologies of advanced nations like Canada and UK with which Indian education system can be updated. Manmeet Singh Bhullar,Parliament Assistant,Ministry of Advanced Education and Technology,Alberta State,Canada,was the chief guest on the occasion. He emphasized to invest more in the Indian education industry by NRIs rather than investing in other minor areas like concerts,stadiums,temples and various other cultural and sports activities.

Inter-school traffic quiz at Ambala school

Ambala: DHD SD Public School,Ambala Cantonment,organised an inter-school traffic quiz competition in collaboration with Ambala police under the Traffic Safety Awareness Week today. Fifteen schools from the twin cities participated in the event,in which SA Jain Senior Secondary School,Ambala City bagged the first prize. The second and third prizes were won by DAV SS School,Ambala City ,and Lord Mahavir Jain Public School ,Ambala Cantonment,respectively. Principal Neelinderjeet Sandhu gave away the prizes.

Pukhraj Kanther is new GM of SBoP

PATIALA: Pukhraj Kanther has taken charge as the new general manager of State Bank of Patiala,at its Head Office. Kanther was earlier deputy general manager (Treasury) in State Bank of Mysore. Joining State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur as a probationary officer in 1978,he has worked in various capacities including as deputy general manager controller at the Zonal office of State Bank of Saurashtra in Mumbai.

Talent hunt programme concludes

PATIALA: Punjabi University’s Department of Youth Welfare,under the leadership of director Satish Kumar Verma,organised its fifth in series cultural programme,‘Mangal Kamna’ at Kala Bhawan on Tuesday night. The three-hour programme,presided over by Vice-Chancellor Jaspal Singh comprised various presentations like skits,dance performances,classical instrumental music and shabad recitals by students of the university’s Model Senior Secondary School,led by principal S K Nirmal Goyal. The highlight was the splendid performance by three visually challenged students.

Joint campus job fest concludes in Kharar

KHARAR: A joint campus placement fest organised by global technical leader,IBM,at Doaba Group of Colleges (DGC) campus in Kharar concluded on Wednesday for BTech students passing out in 2010. The placement camp continued for two days,during which various rounds for screening of students were held. The job fest drew overwhelming response from engineering graduates from Punjab ,Haryana and Himachal Pradesh,with over 7,000 aspirants turning up for various jobs in the company. The job fest was inaugurated by Harcharan Singh Bains,Media Adviser to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. The recruitment process started with the pre-placement talk followed by an aptitude test,group discussion and interviews (HR and technical). Manoj Srivastava,team leader at IBM,said the company will be hiring students for various posts of software trainees,web designer,business analyst,search engine optimiser and other technical jobs. Manjit Singh,Executive Director,DGC,welcomed the chief guest,company officials and students on the occasion.

16-yr-old crushed to death by truck

PATIALA: A 16-year-old girl was crushed to death when a trolley-truck (PB-11-AM-9039) carrying sand hit her scooty from behind at the busy Leela Bhawan chowk here on Wednesday morning. Kismanjot Kaur (16),a student of Class X in the local Modern School,was driving the scooty while her mother Harcharan Kaur was pillion riding when the incident took place.

Eyewitnesses said while Kismanjot was take a turn,the truck hit her from behind. She was crushed under the wheels of the truck while her mother escaped with minor injuries.

The truck driver fled from the spot leaving behind his truck. A case of rash and negligent driving under Section 304-A against the driver has been registered.

Encroachment drive conducted in sectors 29,47

Chandigarh: In a move to clear encroachments from the government land,a team of the Chandigarh Housing Board officers and enforcement staff led by CHB Executive Engineer (Enforcement) Sunil Malik conducted a drive in sectors 29 and 47 today. In all,10 religious structures including 8 pucca platforms around Peepal trees and 2 temple structures were removed in the drive. S D M (East) — Abhishek and Sector-31 police station station house officer supervised the drive. Similar drives shall also be conducted on regular basis in the remaining areas to put a check on such encroachments,said officials.

Watchman abducted,heist at four showrooms in Mohali

MOHALI: IN a dramatic way,a group of robbers abducted a night watchman before breaking into four showrooms in Phase V market here in the wee hours of Wednesday. The watchman was forcibly taken away in a vehicle and dropped on the roadside in Phase I after roaming him around different parts of the city till almost Rs 3 lakh cash,valuables worth over Rs 8 lakh were stolen.The series of thefts came to light around 6 am this morning when tea vendor Mukesh Kumar noticed the broken shops and called the owners.Councillor Suresh Kumar Lucky,who owns one of the burgled departmental shops,reported a loss of Rs 27,000 cash and goods worth Rs 1.25 lakh; his brother Subhash Chand reported loss of Rs 1.75 lakh cash and goods worth Rs 5 lakh from his grocery shop; Ganesh Singh reported loss of Rs 75,000 cash and goods worth Rs 65,000 from his general merchant store; Preeti Sachdeva reported theft of Rs 6,000 cash,LPG refill cylinder,silver coins and idols from her eating joint. The police have rounded up the night watchman for questioning and began investigations to trace the burglars.

Body of Pak national sent home

AMRITSAR: The body of Pakistan national Mohammad Taique Hussain,who died under mysterious circumstances on Tuesday,was sent to his family through the Attari border. Hussain had married an Indian girl in Dubai recently. Mohammad Gulzar Sabri,head of Muslim community in Phagwara,said after their court marriage,the couple wanted to perform ‘Nikah’ as per Muslim customs. They were preparing for the ceremony but Hussain was found dead in the bathroom yesterday,he said. The cause of death seems to be suffocation due to leakage in gas cylinder fitted for hot water in the bathroom. When he did not come out of the bathroom for some time,the family members broke down the door and found him lying unconscious on the floor. He was rushed to the hospital where the doctors declared him dead on arrival. Sabri ruled out any foul play.

The body was handed over to the Pakistan Rangers by the Border Security Force officials who further handed over the coffin to his family members on the other side of the border.

Freedom fighter Verka dies at 85

AMRITSAR: Tamir Patra Awardee Shamsher Singh Verka died on Tuesday night at his native home after brief illness. He was 85. He was the last surviving freedom fighter from Verka. He had been associated with the Communist Party of India. He is survived by two sons—Prof Sukhdev Singh Hundal and Prof Baldev Singh Hundal.

Anganwari centres closed till Jan 13

CHANDIGARH: Keeping in view the cold weather,Swarna Ram,Social Security,Women and Children Welfare Minister,Punjab,has ordered the closure of all Anganwari centres in the state till January 13. He said the workers and helpers will be required to be present during working hours to take the ration and other supplies.

Ahmadiyyas condemn killing in Pak

AMRITSAR: The Ahmadiyya community on Wednesday condemned the killing of 70-year-old man,Professor Yusuf,in Pakistan. He was shot dead because he was a follower of the community,alleged spokesperson of the Ahmadiyyas Maqbool Ahmed,in a statement. “The followers of our sect,a minority,have been under attack for long,” he said.There have been numerous protests against their community in the Rachna town where Yusuf was killed,he added.