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Distillery Fire
Ambala, May 13 Amit and Gaurav, who were working near a boiler, were killed, while five others were injured in the fire that broke out around 12.30 pm in the distillery at Badhauli village. Anil added that there were three tubewells on the distillery premises but these were of little help in fighting the fire. Help had to be sought from the fire brigade, he said. Around 25 fire tenders were pressed into service from different parts, including Yamunanagar, Ambala, Dera Bassi, Kalpi, Nahan, Jagadhari and Chandigarh, to bring the fire under control in the evening. The fire tenders had to struggle for over eight hours to douse the blaze, he added. Raw material and machinery worth around Rs 15 crore were estimated to have been gutted, he claimed. The fire was suspected to have been caused by a short-circuit.
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Ex-UHBVN employee held for meter tampering
Ambala, May 13 According to official sources, Anu Prakash, the accused, had not only been tempering with meters but also running a network indulging in power theft. The sources said the former meter reader was arrested under nigam’s ongoing programme to detect cases of theft and pilferage of power. Superintending engineer RK Sharma said they had a tip-off that Anu had been tampering with meters and running a network to complete the job. The nigam constituted a team comprising sub-divisional officer (Babyal) Sunil Arora, SDO (vigilance) Surinder Kumar and SDO (vigilance) Neeraj Grover along with a junior engineer, a vigilance inspector, an ASI and other staff. The team raided the house of the accused at Tundla village and found him indulging in power theft by tampering with meters. The nigam has initiated action against the accused under the rules. XEN (vigilance) Rajiv Mishra and executive engineer BS Ranga supervised the operation, the sources added. During the inspection of the premises of Anu, eight power meters, two meter sealing pliers, three nose pliers, two cutting pliers, 14 terminal blocks, 79 seal impressions and other equipment used in tampering and sealing of meters were found from the scene. He said further investigation could reveal more cases of theft of electricity in connivance with the accused. UHBVN managing director Arun Kumar said the nigam would honour the officers and staff of the raiding team and give them letters of appreciation, which would be kept in their service record. A case has been registered under Sections 135 and 138 of Electricity Act, 2003 and Sections 120-B, 379, 434, 484 and 485 of the IPC. |
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BKU seeks adequate power
for farmers
Ambala, May 13 Karnail Singh Sakraon, president of the district unit of BKU, while addressing farmers said the villagers were getting power supply for only four to five hours daily. He urged the state government to provide them with at least 16-hour power supply for domestic use and 10-hour for the tubewells. A few other farmer leaders said that the government should wave off their loans. They warned that if the government did not take their demands seriously the farmers would be forced to take to the streets. Senior leaders of the union, Kanwar Singh, Maya Ram, Deep Chand and Harnek Singh also spoke on the occasion. |
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New Route Plan for Patiala Roads
Patiala, May 13 Though it has helped regulate traffic in the main areas of the town like Dharampura Bazar, Sheranwala Gate, Anardana Chowk, etc. residents are irked at the fact that there are no proper signboards to give directions. Traffic policemen deployed at various roundabouts are finding it equally difficult to regulate traffic. Even after 13 days of the implementation of the new plan, they have to stand in various corners of the town to inform people about the new route plan and make them follow it. In spite of protests during the first few days of the implementation, the administration and residents had reached a consensus on the new plan but still people were not properly following it. In the absence of enough traffic policemen to enforce the plan, residents continue to take restricted routes in spite of repeated instructions by the police. Many drivers end up arguing with policemen, making the matters worse for the latter, who are already braving the hot weather. Many residents are happy with the new plan though, as they feel it has made driving a lot smoother with reduced rush. However, they say the administration needs to enforce the restrictions strictly and punish
violators. Manjeet Kaur, an NIS employee, felt that there was a lot of improvement in the way traffic moved in front of the Polo Ground after the implementation of the plan. Earlier, it was too risky to drive there with people coming from all sides. The fear of police catching offenders has also prompted people to obey the traffic rules, added Surinder Singh, a shopkeeper. However, some feel that the administration should have chalked out a
proper plan before implementing it. They decided on opening some routes to one-way traffic only but failed to think of proper alternatives, they felt. “Sometimes we have to travel a long distance just to reach a destination that is just a stone’s throw away. This plan can be successful only if the administration works out all details, keeping proper diversion routes in mind. Otherwise, people are bound to disobey it,” added Amarinder Singh, a student.
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Work on lawyers’ chambers to begin next month
Ambala, May 13 The chambers will be constructed near the courts complex building. Ambala District Bar Association president Satish Jain today said around 350 chambers would be constructed in the first phase. He said basic amenities, including lift facility, would be made available in the complex. More chambers would be constructed in the second phase, he added. Around 700 lawyers are currently practising in the local courts. The Bar Association had been working on the project for past five years. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had given a grant of Rs 21 lakh for the construction of lawyers’ chambers last year. Recently, the district administration had provided sheds for car parking to lawyers. |
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Sports, cultural contests mark Sirhind Fateh Diwas Fatehgarh Sahib, May 13 Kabaddi, horse riding, turban tying competitions were also held during the occasion besides hockey.The Punjab Police team of hockey entered the final after defeating the Rail Coach Factory and horse riders from the BSF. The Punjab Police Academy and others also displayed their talents during the competitions. The spectators applauded the skills of international gold medal winner Jaswinder Singh in horse riding, the results of which would be declared tomorrow. Meanwhile turban-tying competitions were also held during the occasion wherein 70 young Sikh boys from various SGPC-run institutions participated. A team of five judges comprising Professor Dharminder Singh, Professor Inderjit Kaur, principal Balwinder Singh, professor Preet Mohinder Singh and professor Tejinder Kaur declared Sargun of Amritsar as the winner, Saravjit of Mahilpur second and Sukhrajbir of Tarantaran at the third position in junior turban tying events while Paramjit Singh was declared the winner. In another category, Paramjit of Patiala stood first, Parampreet of Fatehgarh Sahib stood second and Parvaz of Batala stood third in the turban-tying competitions. |
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Mechanic commits suicide, employer booked Rajpura, May 13 After being repeatedly accused of theft, he committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance last evening. He was taken to the local civil hospital from where he was referred to a hospital in Patiala but he died on the way. Rajpura city SHO Bikramjeet Singh Brar said the owner of the showroom had been booked under Section 306 of the IPC on the complaint of victim’s father. Further investigation was on, he said. |
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Summer sports camps for kids Patiala, May 13 The duration of the camp will be 21 days i.e. from June 2 to June 22. Nominal fee will be charged from the campers. Giving information in this regard, NIS executive director LS Ranawat said the camp would be on the first-come-first-serve basis. All those desirous of attending the camp should contact the assistant director, Pay And Play, NS NIS, Patiala, for other details and application forms. The last date for the receipt of the application
would be May 20 and no boarding and lodging facilities will be provided by the
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Relaxation on House Tax Bassi Pathana, May 13 Council president Kulbhushan Malhotra, while addressing mediapersons here, said they had again passed a resolution urging the government to accept the proposal as residents were not in a position to pay such heavy taxes. During their previous meeting, the councillors had passed a resolution to give a 50 per cent relaxation on house tax after residents had resorted to protests. However, the office of the deputy director, local government, had suspended the resolution. Local BJP unit president Rajiv Singla and Bassi Welfare Organisation president Rajiv Malhotra termed the suspension of resolution unfortunate and warned the government against more protests in the future. They said Bassi Pathana was a class “C” council and the house tax had been imposed at the rate of of Rs 8,000 per sq yd, whereas in the neighboring Sirhind council, which had class “B” status, the residents were paying the tax at the rate of Rs 4,000 sq yd. The council also passed 10 other resolutions by way of which it submitted an estimate of Rs 12.87 crore to lay sewer in the town and transferred land to the sewer department to start the work. The council also passed a resolution to install automatic devices on streetlights to save power. |
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Dealers vow not to use polythene
Ambala, May 13 Ambala SDM Mukesh Ahuja was the chief guest. Pradeep Sharma Snehi, principal of SA Jain College, Ambala City, was the key speaker. He said polythene was the biggest threat to environment and some states had even banned the use of polythene bags. He said social organisations must come forward to spread awareness. —
TNS
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Ditesh stands second in pharmacy
Kharar, May 13 The exam was held on May 2 by the PTU, Jalandhar. — TNS
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Central Scheme Funds
Ambala, May 13 The MLA said he had filed an application with Deputy Commissioner Sameer Pal Srow seeking information regarding MNREGA funds. He alleged that Rs 23 crore scam out of Rs 100 crore sanctioned to Ambala had been given to the forest department. He, however, said the forest department had not shown any development work utilising these funds. He also demanded a CBI probe into the utilisation of funds under the Central scheme. Ambala had topped in the MNREGA scheme in the utilisation of funds. The Central government had made available a sum of Rs 100 crore to Ambala district under the scheme. He said due to lack of transparency in the execution of works and utilisation of funds, there was a need to conduct a CBI probe. Renu Phulia, Addition Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, has issued notices to three assistant block project officers (ABPO) to conduct an inquiry.
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Hawara’s appeal admitted in HC
Chandigarh, May 13 He is currently facing gallows for his involvement in the assassination of the then Punjab’s Chief Minister Beant Singh’s murder case. On December 22, 1995, Hawara fired at a policemen and a bullet hit constable Pawan Kumar. Acting on secret information on his presence in Jalandhar, the police had reached the spot. He was arrested and booked in a case of attempt to murder and under the arms Act. In his appeal against the conviction, the counsel for Hawara stated that the case was based on witnesses of the police and there was no private witness to the incident. CHB scheme The Division Bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Alok Singh today admitted an appeal against the single Bench order on the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) scheme for Chandigarh administration employees. The Bench did not grant stay, but made it clear that the allotment would be subject to a decision of the court. The petitioner, Hardayal Singh Rawat, had approached the high court, challenging the scheme floated by CHB in January, 2008, for allotment of residential units for employees of the Chandigarh administration, its boards, the Punjab and Haryana High Court and employees on deputation with the Chandigarh administration. The petitioner had stated that deputationists were being considered for allotment, but those working at the Punjab and Haryana Civil Secretariats and Vidhan Sabhas were not being considered, though they had spent their life in Chandigarh. On February 26, in an order, Justice Jasbir Singh held that the decision was justified and deciding on some other petition, held that employees of the Delhi Financial Corporation (DFC) posted in Chandigarh and the Punjab Engineering College (PEC) were eligible for participating in the scheme. Rawat had then challenged the order on the grounds that the object of the scheme was to provide accommodation to those who were going to stay in the city. Those on deputation with the Chandigarh administration were liable to be repatriated after expiry of depution, which was normally three years, and several of such employees had already gone back to their respective states. The employees of PEC and the DFC had been held eligible while they were not entitled to get government accommodation, the petitioner held. Shops at PU Justice K Kannan of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has set aside the orders directing eviction of two shops at the Panjab University (PU) complex. Atma Ram and Sons and PK Bindra had approached the high court against the eviction orders passed by the additional district judge, upholding the eviction orders passed by the estate officer. Justice Kannan held that the eviction was unreasonable and unfair for alleged violations. He further held that the petitioners would continue at the rent they last paid and the university would obtain lease deeds on such terms as they mutually agreed and got those registered. In case of Atma Ram and Sons, the allegations were that they was attempting to change the nature of user and had carried out substantial alterations. PK Bindra was charged with carrying out unauthorised trade.
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Mother of three commits suicide
Panchkula, May 13 The incident came to light when neighbours enquired from Mohit (10), the eldest son of the victim, about his mother after noticing the two-year-old daughter of the victim cry outside the house. The boy told them that his mother was sleeping in a “standing position”. Shocked over the statement, the neighbours noticed the body of the woman hanging from the ceiling fan and informed the police. The police reached the scene and took the body into its possession. The husband of the victim, Dharamveer, employed with HUDA, was not present in the house at the time of the incident. He had gone to his native town in Uttar Pradesh to attend a wedding on May 9 and returned this morning only. Victim’s brother Pankaj said his sister had married Dharamveer 12 years ago and the two had three children, two sons and a daughter. He said the two had cordial relationship and there was nothing that could arouse suspicion. He, however, said the mobile phone of his sister was missing from the house. He demanded a police inquiry into the reason behind his sister’s suicide. The body was later sent to the general hospital, Sector 6, for a post-mortem examination. The body was handed over to the family members after the examination. The police has registered a case at the Sector-16 police station and is investigating the case.
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16-yr old killed in accident
Panchkula, May 13 The body was taken to the Sector 6 General Hospital for a post-mortem examination and was later handed over to his family. The police has registered a case against the driver of the truck who fled, leaving the vehicle behind. ASI Shishpal said the boy was returning to his farm with some grass on his motorcycle when the truck coming from Barwala hit the mobike at about 7.15 am. The boy died on the spot. His father is a farmer and his younger brother is mentally challenged.
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AITA Meet
Chandigarh, May 13 Today, Ankush ended the challenge of Sachit Malhotra, trailing him in straight sets 6-2, 6-0. The match hardly lasted 40 minutes. Malhotra had no answers to powerful strokes and service of Ankush. On the other hand, second seed Hara defeated Josh Bhasin in one hour and 20 minutes match by 6-3, 6-4. Josh tired hard to match the game of his strong rival. At one stage, the score was 3-3 in the first set. But then Hara took advantage of his experience and put up a a good show with the racket and footwork to win the set 6-3. In the second set, Josh again troubled Hara with 4-4 score at one stage. But he choked at big 9th game to lose the game and match as well. In the boys’ under -12 section, Sabrang Sandal of Chandigarh showed the door to top seed Robin Kapoor of Punjab in the semifinal match. Kapoor lost the match 0-6, 3-6. The other winner in the semifinal is second seed Rohit Kumar of Chandigarh, who beat Parmeet Deol 6-0, 7-6(7-4). Top seed Karishima Mehta out classed Meenal Mahwal of Rajasthan in the finals of girls under-14 category. Left-handed Karishma used spin service as her main weapon to win the game 6-2, 6-4. Nimrat Walia of Chandigarh demolished Bani of Punjab in 45 minutes girls under 12 finals by 6-0, 6-2 in one sided affair. The following are the result: Boys U-14: Ankush Arora (Pb) beat Sachit Malhotra (Chd) 6-2,6-0. Tegbir Hara (Pb) beat Josh Bhasin (Chd) 6-3 6-4. Boys U-12: Sabrang Sandal (Chd) beat Robin Kapoor (Pb) 6-0 ,6-3 . Rohit Kumar (Chd) beat Parmeet Deol (Chd) 6-0,7-6(7-4) Girls U-14: Karshima Mehta (Chd) beat Meenal Mahwal(Raj) 6-2, 6-4 .GiirlsU-12: Nimral Walia (Chd) beat Bani (Pb) 6-0 ,6-2 . |
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Katoch Shield
Mohali, May 13 ]At the end of the first day’s play, Patiala was at 259 for 4 in 95 overs. After winning the toss, Patiala skipper Pankaj Dharmani elected to bat but the decision backfired as the opening wicket of Ravi Inder Singh (6) was claimed by left-arm seamer Amit Uniyal at the team’s total 14 for 1 in 8.1 overs. Uniyal again struck, as Mohit Mohindra gave an easy catch to Gaurav Gambhir for 5 with the team’s total 24 for 2 in 12.3 overs. Dharmani, who hit double ton in the semifinal match against Mohali, was the next batsman to come in but today was not his day for sure. Firstly, he was dropped by Gaurav Gupta in the slips at zero. Again luck favoured him as he got life again when Uniyal dropped his catch again at mid on when he was at 17. But spinner Karanveer foxed him with his turning delivery to give a return catch. Dharmani scored 40 off 87 balls. Meanwhile Kunwar Raina got things going with his 53 off 143. Then Reetinder Sodhi and Amitoze Singh stitched an unbeaten partnership of 121 runs for the fifth wicket and kept the scoreboard ticking. Sodhi’s unbeaten knock 89 was studded with six boundaries and one six while Amitoze remained unbeaten on 53. For Chandigarh, Uniyal claimed two for 40 while Gurinder Singh and Karanveer singh chipped in with one wicket each. The second day’s play will start at 7 am tomorrow. Brief score: Patiala (1st innings): 259 for 4 in 95 overs (Reetinder Sodhi 89 n o, Kunwar Raina 53, Amitoze Singh 53 n o, Pankaj Dharmani 40, Amit Uniyal 2 for 40, Gurinder Singh 1 for 65 and Karanveer Singh 1 for 56). |
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Cricket trials from May 15
Mohali, May 13 As per eligibility criteria, players should have been born on or after September 1, 1988, and either studying or living in Mohali. The selected team will take part in the forthcoming Inter-District Tournament to be organised by the Punjab Cricket Association. Trials for the U-19 cricket team will be held on May 16 at the PCA Cricket Stadium, Mohali. All the players who are born on or after September 1, 1991, and either studying or living in Mohali are eligible for the trials. The selected team will take part in the forthcoming Inter-District Tournament for Dhruv Pandove Trophy to be organised by the Punjab Cricket Association. |
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Panchkula District Chess Tourney
Panchkula, May 13 Nikhilesh and Akshit Gupta, both of Bhawan Vidyalaya, Sector 15, Panchkula, were occupying the second and third positions with 3.5 and 3 points, respectively. In boys’ under-7 age group, Vilakshan Mehta of The Gurukul School, Sector 20, was at the top of the tally with five points at the end of fifth round while his team mate Yaakshayam Vats was second with four points. Scores: U-7 (boys): 5 points Vilakshan Mehta (The Gurukul-20, Pkl), 4 Yakshayam Vats (The Gurukul- 20, Pkl), 3.5 Sartaj Kalsi (The School-8 Pkl), 3 Karan Sharma (The Gurukul-20, Pkl), 2.5 Chirag Jindal (The Gurukul-20, Pkl). Girls: 1 Jahnavi (The British School-8, Pkl), 2 Partiksha (The Gurukul-20, Pkl). U-19: 4 Jaskirat (Chandigarh), 3.5 Nikhilesh (Bhawan Vidyalaya-15, Pkl), 3Akshit Gupta (Bhawan Vidyalaya-15, Pkl) and 2.5 Ankit Jain (Bhawan Vidyalaya-15 Pkl) |
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Carrom tourney Chandigarh, May 13 |
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