In brief

Man dupes SBI customer of Rs 2.45 lakh
Panchkula: A man duped a customer of the Sector-10 branch of State Bank of India of Rs 2.45 lakh on Friday. The complainant,Suman Thakur,told the police that the accused,who was already present in the bank,pretended to help him and slipped away with his money after diverting his attention. According to Thakur,he reached the bank around 11 am to deposit Rs 2.95 lakh. He is employed with a stamp vendor at a local mini secretariat and the money was meant for the purchase of stamp papers for a property dealer. He had the currency notes in the denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 100,Thakur told the police. He said that as soon as he entered the bank,a person guided him to the basement claiming that an amount of more than Rs 50,000 would be deposited there. In the basement,the man helped the complainant fill up the form and suddenly left the place. Later,Thakur noticed that the bundles of Rs 500 amounting to Rs 2,45,000 was missing. The police are yet to register a complaint.

Panchkula MC passes budget
Panchkula: Panchkula Municipal Council in a meeting on Friday passed a Rs 46,86,10360 budget. Of the total amount,Rs 32.57 lakh would be spent as developmental charges. The meeting of the House was chaired by Additional Deputy Commissioner Ashok Sangwan and was attended by 33 councillors. The House also approved setting up of ward executive committees formed for managing sanitation and the street lighting system in the city. The House also passed a proposal to increase park maintenance expenses disbursed to park development societies from Re one to Rs 1.5. The proposal was passed twice earlier but was rejected by the government.

Kalka College student drowns in Kaushalya Dam
Parwanoo: A 22-year-old student of BA (second year) of Kalka College died in the Kaushalya dam in Tipra on Friday evening. The police said four students of the college went to Kaushalya Dam,where Rohtash,a resident of Ahata Muni Lal Kalka,drowned and died. His friend brought the body to his residence,from where Rohtash’s father took it to the police station. The postmortem will be conducted on Saturday and the body will be handed over to his parents. The police have registered a case.

Cultural programme by SBI Ladies Club
CHANDIGARH: Jyoti Bhatt,president,State Bank of India Ladies’ Club,Mumbai,inaugurated a cultural programme organised by the Chandigarh unit of the club on Friday. Kavita Sehgal,president,SBI Ladies Club,Chandigarh,while welcoming the guests,elaborated on the various charitable activities undertaken by the club recently. These included donation of Rs 1 lakh to Sahayta,a charitable society for cancer patients,adoption of the girl child,donation of carpets and and eatables to inmates of Old Age Home,Chandigarh,and financial assistance to World Peace Mission,Sanjivini and Sahayta on a monthly basis for education and treatment of TB/cancer patients.

Workshop on e-content concludes
CHANDIGARH: A three-day workshop on e-content development concluded at Government College for Girls,Sector-11,on Friday. To generate e-content in as many disciplines as possible,the workshop focused on science,social science and commerce streams. Members of the standing committee of National Mission on Education through ICT,guided delegates about the intricacies of preparation of project proposals during the workshop. Samples of e-lessons were also shown. Dr Pardeep Singh Walia of GCG-11,Dr P K Tulsi from the National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training and Research,Sector 26 and S P Malhotra,a fellow at National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration,emphasised the need and significance of creativity and values in e-learning. In his valedictory address,Ajoy Sharma,Director Higher Education,said the Administration shall strive to revamp at least 30 per cent of total classrooms as smart classrooms in the next session.

Moot court competition held at UILS
CHANDIGARH: In order to promote clinical legal training and provide students a platform for professional exposure,an intra-institute moot court competition was organised at University Institute of Legal Studies,Panjab University on Friday. Budding lawyers showed their legal acumen in five parallel courtrooms as they presented their cases. The moot propositions were based on Right to Privacy and Intellectual Property Rights. Students were judged by the faculty members of the department,who gave them vital tips on the techniques of the argumentation,research and case presentation. The final round of the competition will be held next week.

Shoe exporter,realtor under I-T scanner
MOHALI: A leather shoe manufacturer and exporter in Mohali and a leading realtor in Zirakpur have come under the scanner of the Income Tax department. Officials have been conducting surveys at the offices and manufacturing units to detect any possible tax evasion. Two separate teams of IT officials,comprising 30-35 personnel each,have been examining the records of both the companies for the last few days. The manufacturing units in Industrial Area,Phase VIII-B,and Industrial Area,Phase VI,Mohali,and the office in Sector 37-A,Chandigarh,of Oscar Leathers Pvt Ltd were being searched and surveyed since Thursday. In Zirakpur,the survey was underway at the office of realty firm Silver City,since Wednesday. While the operation was reported to be still in progress,no I-T official was ready to divulge any detail.

Mohali industrialists air grievances
MOHALI: The Mohali Industries Association (MIA) organised an interactive session to discuss various problems related to the industries in Punjab at Eltop,Industrial Area in Phase VIII,Mohali,on Friday. MIA president B S Anand gave a powerpoint presentation. User-friendly changes were suggested for plots/sheds located in Phase VIII as electronic manufacturing units have closed down and all types of industries were now running in the area. Inderjit Singh Pradhan,chairman,Small Scale Industries Development Board,and H S Grewal,chairman,Punjab Information and Communication Technology Corporation Ltd,assured to consider the problems at the earliest. MIA general secretary K S Mahal urged officials to make necessary improvements in the industrial policies as well as the upkeep of the Industrial Area in Mohali.

Nawab Sher Khan Institute to be developed
PATIALA: Punjabi University,Punjab government and the State Wakf Board have decided to make a joint effort for the futuristic development of Nawab Sher Mohammad Khan Institute of Advanced Studies (NSMKIAS) at Malerkotla. The consensus came during the national seminar ‘Azadi ke Baad Punjab ka Urdu Adb’,organised by the institute on Thursday. Chief guest Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa,a former MP and state Cabinet minister,said Muslim-Sikh unity was the greatest example of secularism in India. Presiding over the seminar,Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor Jaspal Singh reinforced his commitment to forge composite culture as a roadmap for a pluralistic society. Punjabi University,he said,has already earmarked land for the creation of the Baba Farid Centre of Sufi Studies for which the SGPC has already sanctioned Rs 5 lakh.

Arora to contest Beopar Mandal polls
Chandigarh: Jagdish Arora will contest contest for the post of president of Chandigarh Beopar Mandal. The elections are scheduled for March 28. Arora’s name was announced during a press conference held on Friday. Arora has earlier held this post for two terms. The general body meeting of CBM is scheduled for March 14. The following day nominations would be filed and scrutiny will be held on March 19.

Interaction on Women’s Reservation Bill held
MOHALI: In the backdrop of the Women’s Reservation Bill being passed by the Rajya Sabha,faculty members of Sahibzada Ajit Singh Institute of Information Technology and Research held an interactive session here on Friday. Besides Gurbir Shergill,executive nominee,and Professor Girish Jaswal,Director (General),SAS Group,over 45 faculty members participated in this interactive session. Dr Harish Kumari,Director (Management),said reservations at the legislature level,if not implemented properly,might not serve the purpose of women empowerment. Faculty members came up with various opinions and suggestions. Concluding the session,Professor Jaswal gave an insight into the advantages and the flaws of the Bill.

Plan chalked out for use of renewable energy
CHANDIGARH: The Chandigarh Administration has chalked out an action plan for promoting the use of renewable energy in the city. Under the implementation of Special Area Demonstration Project Scheme,various buildings,including Raj Bhawan,state Assembly premises,secretariats of the states and UTs,institutions like school,medical colleges including hospitals shall be covered in different categories for the renewable energy system. Announcing this,UT Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar said,“Under the scheme,Grid Interactive Solar Voltage Power Plants (GISVPP) will be installed in the buildings. The cost for procurement and installation of system and devices along with the annual maintenance for five years will be around Rs 1 crore per building.
The Centre will provide the entire amount through the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for the the Raj Bhawans. However,for executing the scheme in Vidhan Sabha building,and the three secretariats,an assistance of Rs 50 lakh,Rs 25 lakh and Rs 25 lakh,respectively,will be given.”

22-yr-old booked for murder of college student
NAKODAR: A 22-year-old student was booked for the murder of a 17-year-old girl student of his college. The girl was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a Honda car on the outskirts of Nakodar. The accused youth,Harpinder Singh (22),is admitted in DMC Hospital,Ludhiana,where his condition is stated to be serious. SHO Surinder Kumar said the girl,resident of Chak Windal village,had come to appear for an exam on Friday but did not return home. Her family approached the police,who found her dead in a car near a canal on the outskirts of the town. It was found that the car which belonged to Harpinder. It later came to light that Harpinder and the girl were possibly injured in a freak accident,and two of their friends took them to hospital. After the hospital staff declared the girl dead on arrival,they left her back in the car. Harpinder was,meanwhile,referred to Jalandhar,from where he was further sent to DMC,Ludhiana. A postmortem was conducted on the body of the girl,but it remained inconclusive. Her viscera report could make it clear how she died. Police apprehend it to be a case of poisoning. The SHO said Harpinder had been booked on the statement of the deceased’s brother. The role of the two friends is also being investigated.

Congress supporters celebrate Amarinder’s 68th birthday
PATIALA: Supporters of former Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh celebrated his 68th birthday in his hometown with much fanfare on Thursday. Even though Amarinder was away to Delhi where he celebrated the day with family and close friends,his supporters cut a cake weighing 68 kilogram and bursting crackers. Prominent among those present at the birthday bash in a local hotel were district Congress president Prem Krishan Puri,Surjit Singh,Ajay Thapar,Jaswinder Randhawa,Kanwal Singh Sehgal,Satinder Singh Sandhu and Niranjan Dass.

Swine flu vaccine for health workers
CHANDIGARH: As per the orders of the Union Health Ministry,H1N1 vaccine will be supplied to health workers in Punjab from Monday. State swine flu nodal officer Dr Deepak Bhatia said 20,000 doses would be sent to various hospitals for staff at high risk,which includes personnel of medical colleges and private and government hospitals. He said after the government of India issued directions,they sent a proforma to all the districts to get the number of high risk groups.

‘Appoint authority to hear complaints of whistle-blowers’
CHANDIGARH: Punjab CIC RI Singh has urged the chief secretary to consider the suggestion given by the RTI Activists’ Federation for designating a nodal authority for redressing the complaints of whistle-blowers. The CIC has also asked the CS to issue directions to the Jalandhar police commissioner to provide adequate security to RTI activist Ajay Sehgal,who has allegedly been receiving threats,said H C Arora,state coordinator of the federation.