CHANDIGARH

New CHB chief: The UT Administrator has appointed Satya Gopal, an IAS officer of the 1988 batch belonging to AGMUT as the Chairman of the Chandigarh Housing Board. Gopal takes over from Mohanjeet Singh, an IAS officer of the 1991 batch, who has been transferred to Daman and Diu. 

Online directory: The Chandigarh Administration has published online telephone directory containing phone numbers of various officials working in the administration. The link for the telephone directory can be found on the homepage of the administration’s website chandigarh.gov.in.

CM’s wife stable: The condition of Surinder Kaur, wife of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who was admitted to the PGI on Thursday morning, is reported to be stable now. She is suffering from prolonged illness for which she had even received treatment in the US. She is presently under observation. 

IGNOU quiz: Sarthak Gupta and Shreenath Khemka of Bhavan Vidyalaya were declared champions in IGNOU IGNITE, a quiz organised by IGNOU recently, which had at least 130 participants. Following a written preliminary round, the top six teams, qualified for the stage round.

HARYANA

Rewari
Woman, daughter die of poison: Shakuntala Devi and her teenaged daughter, Anju (17), a student of class XI, who had consumed poison at their residence in Kosli on May 11, died at the PGIMS, Rohtak, on Thursday. Both had consumed poison fearing social stigma after two youths, Ankit of Salhawas village in Jhajjar district and Moni of Dhana village in Jhajjar district, had threatened Anju of making her “ blue film” public if she did not do what she was told to do. On a complaint filed by Naresh Kumar, father of Anju, the Kosli police has booked Ankit and Moni who were at large.

Robbed of Rs 2 lakh: Three armed miscreants wearing masks looted at pistol-point Rs 2 lakh from Sunil Kumar, elder brother of Poonam Kanwar, who is getting training as a civil judge at Chandigarh these days, at Padla village, 30 km from here, in early on Friday. The miscreants also snatched away the mobile phone of Jai Singh, father of Sunil Kumar. The Khol police has registered a case.

SONEPAT
Freedom fighter cremated: Freedom fighter Suraj Mal (90) of Firozpur Bangar village was cremated with full guard of honour on Friday. The police contingent saluted the freedom fighter with the round of fire and on behalf of the administration, tehsildar BS Rana paid floral tributes to the departed soul. A number of freedom fighters and prominent citizens of the area were present on the occasion. Suraj Mal remained in Lahore and Multan jails for eight years during the freedom movement. 

Sentenced: Pawan and Dhirpal of Rohna village under Kharkhoda police station have been sentenced to life imprisonment by Additional District and Sessions Judge Gulab Singh holding them responsible for the murder of Kiran Pal of the same village on July 2, 2007. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each failing which the two convicts would undergo further imprisonment of six months each. However, five other accused - Ajit, Karam Pal, Shamsher, Manjit and Amarjit of the same village - were acquitted by the court. 

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Omar chairs Unified Headquarters’ meeting: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah chaired a meeting of the Unified Headquarters here on Friday to take stock of the security scenario and the law and order situation. The meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani, Lt-Gen KT Parnaik, DGP Kuldeep Khuda and GoC, 15 Corps, SA Hasnain. 

DEHRADUN

Arrested: Owner of a mobile news service was arrested on Friday for allegedly defaming Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank by sending messages in bulk to public against him. He has been sent to 14-day judicial remand by a local court. According to AS Rawat, Inspector, Kotwali, Asib Ansari, who has been absconding for a long time, was arrested from Lucknow. He is accused of sending messages to people against the CM, which were intended to ruin his image in February. He has been missing since the time the case was registered against him. The police attained success on Friday in tracing him. He was sent to jail by the local court.

Appointed: Rajeev Sharma, Uttarakhand State Headquarters Commissioner, Bharat Scouts and Guides, has now been appointed as a member of the National Adult Resources Management Sub Committee until 2013. National Commissioner and former bureaucrat LM Jain issued the appointment letter to Sharma. He hoped that latter’s appointment would benefit the organisation through his expertise and experience. The subcommittee will ensure that there is effective implementation of the National Adult Resource Policy in the state. Uttarakhand Director, Bharat Scouts and Guides. BK Bahuguna has welcomed the appointment of Sharma as member of the subcommittee. 

4 killed in accident: Four persons of a family were killed in a road accident that took place in the Teen Pani area of Haldwani on Friday morning. The accident occurred when a Bolero collided with a truck after one of its tyres burst. Those killed have been identified as members of the family of Mohammad Hussain of Gaughat near Kitcha. Two of those injured in the accident are undergoing treatment at the Sushila Tewari Hospital.

GB Pant varsity convocation on May 20: The Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology at Pantnagar will be holding its 27th convocation on May 20. Director-General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research And Education (DARE), S Ayappan, will deliver the convocation address. Chancellor of the university and Governor of Uttarakhand Margaret Alva will preside over the function. On this occasion, honorary degree of doctor of science (honoris causa) will be conferred on three persons of eminence, Ambassador Chief Agricultural Negotiator, US, Islam A Siddiqui, Director-General, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Manila, Philippines, Robert S Zeigler and founder as well as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Yes Bank Limited, Mumbai, Rana Kapoor.

2 held in suicide case: The police has arrested two persons on the charges of abetting Hemant Kumar to commit suicide. Those arrested are Sachin and his sister-in-law Kanchan of the Mallital area of the town. Hemant’s body had surfaced in the Naini Lake on Thursday morning. The boy had been missing from his home for six days. Although prima facie it looked to be a case of suicide, the members of the boy’s family have alleged that Hemant had been murdered. They had levelled charges against the two arrested persons along with Kanchan’s husband Sonu. During the course of investigations, the police came to know that Hemant had been accused of misbehaving with Sonu’s wife and had been humiliated by the three accused.

Diarrhoea cases on the rise: With the soaring temperature, a large number of diarrhoea cases are being reported in Haldwani. The number of those reporting with complaints of vomiting and dehydration is on the rise. The authorities at the Base Hospital are learnt to have established a separate ward to tackle such cases. A doctor from Almora has also been deputed in the hospital to provide additional manpower required to take care of the patients.

Raids against illegal quarrying: Officials from the police, administration and the Forest Department carried out joint raids along the banks of the Kosi and Dabka rivers in the Ramnagar area to check the incidence of illegal quarrying. During the course of the checks they zeroed in on three vehicles transporting illegally material. They imposed a fine of Rs 60,000 on the owners of the two of these vehicles while the third vehicle was impounded.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)