CHANDIGARH

Automotive portal: Carwale.com, a leading automotive portal for buying and selling cars, has now tied up with leading car manufacturers like Suzuki, Hyundai Motors, GM Motors, Ford and Honda, to help therm acquire customers at costs lower than traditional means. An official release said the portal was expecting to double its turnover from Rs 4 crore in the last financial year to Rs 10 crore in this fiscal.

Unistal: Unistal Systems, leading providers of data care, data recovery, anti-virus and internet security products has tied up with BitDefender for selling a wide range of security solutions in India. An official release said this deal would help them clog new deals with leading PC brands.

HARYANA

BHIWANI
Youth found dead: Just a day before his marriage, a youth was found dead in a water tank near gaushala located at Meham road here on Wednesday. A murder case has been suspected by relatives of the victim. The police has started the investigation in the case.

CHANDIGARH
Hooda expresses grief: Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Haryana Governor A.R. Kidwai have expressed shock and grief over the tragic bus accident at Bodeli village of Gujarat in which 44 persons, including 41 children, were killed on Wednesday. Terming the accident as “a grave tragedy and a dreadful mishap”, Kidwai and Hooda extended their sympathies to the grieving parents and the family members of those who were killed in the mishap.

Karnal
3 killed in road mishap: Three youth of Koyar village in the district died on the spot when their motorbike was hit by a truck near Katchwa here on Wednesday, the police said. They have been identified as Balbir, Kala Ram and Satar.

REWARI
Chain snatchers held: The Government Railway Police (GRP) has arrested two women chain snatchers - Shashi (35) and Sunita (35) - both residents of a slum colony of Faridabad. The GRP has also seized a gold chain from them, which they had allegedly looted from a woman who was travelling by the Rewari-Hisar passenger train on Monday.

2 students held for theft: The Rewari district police has arrested two teenagers, both students of Class X of a public school of Bawal, in connection with theft of motorcycles from here recently. The police has also recovered four stolen motorcycles from them.

SONEPAT
Suicide bid in custody: Sanjay, alias Ratan, of Sisana village, who was taken in police custody in a case of theft, attempted to commit suicide by dashing his neck on a iron gate of the toilet in local civil lines police station while he was being escorted to the police station by two policemen on Tuesday. However, the policemen acted swiftly and overpowered him.

YAMUNANAGAR
Driver booked for cheating: The police has booked a driver of Haryana Roadways allegedly for cheating a woman of Raipur village of Rs 9,500. In her complaint, she has alleged that she had gone to a branch of State Bank of Patiala to get a sugarcane bond cashed. While she was filling the required form, Raj Kumar, the driver met her and volunteered to help in getting the bond cashed. She handed over the form to him and went inside the bank. When she returned, he had vanished with the money. A case has been registered.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
Home guards’ plea: The Himachal Pradesh Home Guards Welfare Association has demanded the scrapping of the prevailing system of service-break and regularisation of services of those who have completed more than 10 years of services. A delegation of the association, led by its president Hem Singh Jasrotia, met Vidhan Sabha Speaker Tulsi Ram on Tuesday evening and apprised him of their demands. The association has also demanded Rs 200 as daily wages. 

DALHOUSIE
1,165 patients examined: As many as 1,165 patients, including 204 eye patients, were examined by specialists in the most interior areas of Jassorgarh and Diur in Chamba district at separate medical camps. The camps were organised under the Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Development Programme launched by the Baira-Siul power station, Surangani. According to general manager of the power station S. Kalgaonkar, 15 eye patients were operated upon at the camps.

Gujjar sabha demands land: The Gujjar Kalyan Sabha has urged the state government to provide land to the nomad landless Gujjar families whose main avocation is rearing livestock. The secretary of the sabha, Yaqub Khan, disclosed that the Gujjars being landless have to wander here and there for searching pasturelands for grazing their livestock and consequently had to face several difficulties. He also demanded employment opportunities for the educated youths of the community in the area. Besides this, he demanded the construction of a circular wall around the graveyard at Surangani and a primary school at Puniyari.

HAMIRPUR
Forest protection: Hamirpur MLA Urmil Thakur has stressed the need to protect forests and maintain balance between climate and environment. She was speaking at a workshop on forest conservation after inaugurating a pine needle packing machine set up by the Forest Department. She urged people to come forward to protect forests. 

Akashwani awards: The All-India Radio station, Hamirpur, has won the second prize in the akashwani annual awards announced recently. Its entry Chanda Mama Door Ke, produced by transmission executive Ashwani Kumar and written by Puneet Sehgal, has been selected for the award. The short play highlights the ill effects of electronic media on young minds.

Govt criticised: State spokesman of the Congress Deepak Sharma has criticised the state government for reducing the supply of subsidised ration through PDS and shirking from its responsibility of bringing down prices in the state. He was talking to mediapersons here on Wednesday. He demanded firm action against hoarding and overcharging in the state.

SHIMLA
Over 20 animals burnt: At least 20 sheep and three other animals were burnt alive in a devastating fire in a house in Kamrang village in Lahaul-Spiti district on Tuesday night. The fire that began from a two-storeyed house soon spread to the adjoining shed and burnt alive the animals. The reason behind the fire was not immediately known. The administration has announced an immediate relief of Rs 10,000 to the affected family. 

JAMMU & KASHMIR

JAMMU
Bhatwadekar remanded: A court here on Wednesday remanded Capt. Chaitanya Bhatwadekar, arrested on charges of abetting the suicide of his officer wife, Megha Razdan, to 15 days judicial remand. The special mobile magistrate (electricity), M.K. Sharma, also directed the investigating officer to complete the investigation expeditiously. Capt. Chaitanya was arrested on April 1 for abetting the suicide of his 26-year-old wife and cruelty under Section 306 and 389-A of the Ranbir Penal Code.

SRINAGAR
Quran manuscript donated: A 200-year-old manuscript of the Holy Quran was among hundreds of rare books and manuscripts donated by people to Allama Iqbal Library of Kashmir University on Wednesday, university spokesman Shoukat Shafi said. “People from all walks of life donated hundreds of books and manuscripts, including a 200-year-old manuscript of the Holy Quran, to the library, following an appeal by vice-chancellor Prof Riyaz Panjabi,” he added.

Ban on military dresses: In a bid to check militants’ access to military combat dresses, the Kupwara district administration on Wednesday imposed a ban on their sale, purchase, stitching and storage with immediate effect. District Magistrate, Kupwara, directed the authorities concerned to conduct frequent raids on shops and other establishments to ensure strict compliance of the order, an official statement said. The step is a precautionary measure to avert terror strikes as militants had previously used military combat dresses to carry out suicide attacks in Kashmir. 

Diesel generators: As many as 10 diesel generator sets have been installed in Gurez village on the LoC in Bandipora district in order to provide power supply to border areas, an official spokesman said on Wednesday. District development commissioner Sheikh Mushtaq Ahmed said the scheme was one of the 32 projects under the border area development programme which involved a total cost of Rs 10.68 crore. 

Health centre opens: The Army dedicated a primary health centre to the people of Tukroo village in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir as part of Operation Sadbhavana on Wednesday. Earlier, the only medical facility available to the 500-odd villagers was a temporary arrangement being run from the block office building. Commander 70 Infantry Brigade, Brigadier Shokin Chauhan, inaugurated the centre which would benefit residents of Potarwal, Chak-e-Kigam and Shirmal villages.