In Brief

Sukhbir Singh Badal an empowered committee,under the leadership of the chief secretary and comprising administrative secretaries of various departments,has given in principle approval to implement the scheme with in a stipulated time frame with in a year. These e-grams centres would ensure the delivery of basic people-friendly services like delivery of old-age pension,registration of pension for handicapped and widows and disabled persons with an easy access.

Girl consumes poison,dies
Ruchika (18),a resident of Gurjeevan Vihar in Dhakoli (Zirakpur),allegedly consumed some poisonous substance and died on Friday. Her parents told the police that she was under mental stress ever since she scored lesser than expected marks in her Class XII exams. In the morning,she was found vomiting and was rushed to the General Hospital in Panchkula,where doctors declared her dead on arrival. The body has been handed over to her family after initiating inquest proceedings under Section 174 of CrPC.

BJP slams govt for non-functioning of new MCs
Haryana Bhartiya Janata Party has criticised the state government,headed by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda,for non-functioning of the newly-created seven Municipal Corporations,where no official has been appointed to carry on the civic works. More than ten towns of Ambala,Ambala Sadar,Yamunanagsr,Jagadhri,Panchkula,Hissar,Rohtak,Karnal and Panipat were brought under these corporations. Civic conditions have worsened since the government announcement on April 17,2010,after dissolution of the Municipal Councils in these towns. Haryana BJP Legislature Party Leader Anil Vij said the government has only replaced the sign boards and nothing new has been introduced. He said under the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act,an officer of the rank of commissioner was to be appointed as the administrator but the state government only appointed deputy commissioners.

Dera case: Hearing adjourned to August 6,7
Hearing of the sadhvi sexploitation case was adjourned to August 6 and 7 by the Special CBI Judge A S Narang,while concluding proceedings through video conferencing on Friday. Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim is facing allegations of exploitation levelled by the sadhvis of the Dera. He was present in the court at Sirsa. He is also facing two murder cases.

Water supply snapped
The Municipal Corporation today cancelled water supply to a resident of Manimajra. The resident was using the water for commercial purpose. He used campers for transporting storage tanks which he used to later sell in the market. Assistant Commissioner Kamlesh Kumar came to know about this on Friday morning during a surprise check. He found,that the owner of house No-1126,Gobindpura,Manimajra,with the help of other three hired workers,used to fill water supplied by the MC into the storage tanks. All the campers have been impounded.

Canara Bank branch opens in Sector 30
The Canara Bank has opened its 161st branch of the Chandigarh circle in Sector 30 here on Thursday. It is the bank’s 3058th branch in the country. It was inaugurated by the bank’s director Sunil Gupta in the presence of the Chandigarh circle head and General Manager A Gururaja Murthy. This is a general banking branch with core banking and locker facilities besides extending other normal banking products,according to a bank spokesman. The Chandigarh circle has a jurisdiction over the states of Punjab,Himachal Pradesh,Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh.

SGPC polls: SAD Chandigarh unit fields Gurnam Singh
The Shiromani Akali Dal,Chandigarh,today fielded Gurnam Singh as its candidate for the elections to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). Singh is the president of SAD (Chandigarh). The date of the elections is yet to be announced. The process of preparing electoral rolls is going on. During the last elections of SGPC,15,000 voters were on the electoral rolls. The process would continue till July 15. Addressing a press conference today Gurnam Singh said the Administration needed to provide help to the voters to get enrolled. “It has been made mandatory for every eligible person to personally visit the DC office and get their votes made. However,this is not possible for everyone. One person in a family should be allowed to get the votes of others in the family made. We have asked all our workers to reach out to voters and ask them to get their voter i-cards made,” says Gurnam.

City doctor denied railway journey despite prior reservation
A Chandigarh doctor,practicing in Kharar,was denied railway journey despite prior reservation. To his surprise,his RAC ticket was converted into waiting just before the departure of train and was not allowed to travel.Dr Mohit Jain,a dentist who has to go to Mumbai,was forced to return back from Delhi,from where his onward journey by train was not permitted. Terming it as gross injustice that a RAC ticket instead of being moved ahead for confirmation was turned into waiting list after release of VIP quota and release of chart,Dr Jain has written to the Railways seeking a stern action against those responsible for denying him railway journey besides compensation for his harassment. Additional DRM said since the matter falls under Delhi jurisdiction,no action could be taken at their end. “I am hearing such type of complaint for first time ever,” he,however,maintained. ens

Celebration at SASIITR
On the eve of the World Environment Day,a function was held at Sahibzada Ajit Singh Institute of Information Technology and Research (SASIITR) here today. Over 50 faculty members from the Departments of Management and IT attended the function. On the occasion,the faculty members planted saplings and vowed to protect the environment. The students spoke on the importance of a healthy environment and the methods to protect the environment against global warming. The function was aimed to create awareness about the importance of the day so that efforts can be made to protect the environment.

British Library to distribute saplings today
On the World Environment Day,screening of documentary DVD Climate Change: Impacts and Actions would be held at the British Library at noon. Saplings would be provided by the British Library to members so that they can plant them at their home. Realising the power of the visual medium,British Council and British High Commission introduced the UK Environment Film Fellowships in 2005.