In brief

Husband booked for abetment to suicide
CHANDIGARH: The police have booked a Sector-37 resident on charges of abetment to suicide after his wife allegedly committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance at their residence on Wednesday. Police said the victim,36-year-old Sukhjinder Kaur,was found in a critical condition at her house. The couple’s two minor children called their uncle for help,as their father Narinder Singh,who has a welding shop in Mohali,was not available. The victim was rushed to the Sector-16 Government Multi Specialty Hospital in a critical condition,where she later died. The deceased’s brother,Gurmeet Singh,a resident of Ludhiana,lodged a complaint that Narinder Singh used to harass his sister and subjected her to cruelty. He also alleged that Narinder used to come home in an inebriated condition and physically assault Kaur. A police officer said her viscera would be sent for examination to ascertain the exact cause of her death. No visible signs of external injury or strangulation were reported in the postmortem. Narinder Singh is absconding.

Woman arrested for assaulting power officials
CHANDIGARH: A woman was arrested on Wednesday on charges of assaulting a patrolling team of the UT Electricity department which was on duty to remove illegal electricity connections in Kajheri on May 14. The police said the officials had snapped illegal connections in the day and came for a surprise check at night. The team found that illegal connections had been restored again at some places and started disconnecting them. This is when accused Yashodha created ruckus and called her acquaintances who started pelting the patrolling team with stones. A mini truck of the Electricity department was also damaged. Though the incident took place a couple of days ago,the power officials inquired the matter and identified the woman,said Sub-Inspector Maninder Singh,the investigating officer in the case. He added that sub-divisional officer Dharam Singh lodged a complaint on Wednesday on the basis of which a case of rioting,obstructing and assaulting public servants from discharging their duties and damaging public property has been registered against the woman and some unidentified persons.
Yashodha was produced before a local court on Thursday which remanded her to judicial custody.

240 couples to tie the knot today
PANCHKULA: Preparations were on in full swing for the mass wedding function to be held in the district on Friday. Fire tenders were pressed into service for watering the grounds near the Indradhanush Auditorium in Sector 5,which is the venue for the function. While officials claimed that only two tenders were used,workers at the site said around six fire tenders had been used since morning. The work was being supervised by officials from the PWD department who claimed that the administration had given its nod to use fire tenders for watering the ground. Around 240 weddings will be solemnised tomorrow by the Surinder Singh Memorial in memory of Rajiv Gandhi.

Juvenile court to function from Sector-25 home
CHANDIGARH: In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the northern region,the juvenile court is being held on the premises of the Juvenile Home in Sector 25,keeping in mind the welfare of the delinquent minors. The Juvenile Justice Board has taken the initiative along with the efforts of Samwartak Singh,Director,Social Welfare,Chandigarh,in line with the Juvenile Justice Act,2007. Prit Pal Sing,member of the Juvenile Justice Board,said the court proceedings would be held at the institute. Chief Judicial Magistrate J S Sidhu,Principal Magistrate Paramjit Kaur and members of the Juvenile Justice Board,Prit Pal Singh and Manju Bhalla,were present at the home on Thursday. As many as 25 minors are presently lodged here.

Seminar on joint district planning held
MOHALI: A seminar on joint district planning was organised by the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA) at Municipal Bhawan in Sector 68 here on Thursday. Deputy Commissioner Prabhjot Singh Mand inaugurated the seminar while MGSIPA Project Director S K Ahluwalia and District Planning Committee Chairman N K Sharma were the guests of honour. Speaking on the occasion,Mand stressed on the need of formulating development plans on the basis of maps and facts of the area concerned. Sharma urged the official machinery to be more responsive and accountable to the general public and ensure timely completion of development works.

‘St John’s School has reserved 25 per cent seats for EWS students’
CHANDIGARH: In the ongoing tussle between the Chandigarh Administration and city schools over the implementation of 15 per cent quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS),St John’s School claims to have topped the entire country by admitting 25 per cent students under the category during the 2010-2011 session. In a statement signed by St John’s principal Kavita C Das,sent to Chandigarh Newsline on Thursday,she claimed that the school has admitted 25 per cent underprivileged students despite being a minority institution. She added that while the school owns the land and is not on ‘leasehold basis’,and as it is a minority institution,the rule of implementing EWS quota does not apply on them,but still they were implementing the quota.