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PUNJAB

Bathinda
Elderly man jumps before train, dies: A 65-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by jumping before a train on platform no. 1 at Bathinda railway station on Friday afternoon, GRP sources said. The identity of the deceased was yet to be ascertained. The GRP sources, however, said that he might be a farmer. Members of a NGO brought the mutilated body to the Civil Hospital, Bathinda. Postmortem is likely to be conducted on Saturday.

CHANDIGARH
Lal Singh to assume charge tomorrow: Former Punjab minister and newly appointed acting president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) Lal Singh will formally assume charge of his office on April 12. According to party general secretary and media incharge Raj Pal Singh, PPCC president Mohinder Singh Kaypee, Congress legislature party leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and party campaign committee in charge Capt Amarinder Singh will attend the function besides MPs, legislators and heads of frontal organisations.

Schedule for 4 seats: The Election Commission (EC) on Friday announced that notification for the elections to Firozepur, Bathinda, Sangrur and Patiala parliamentary constituencies would be issued on April 11. In a press note here, the Chief Electoral Officer disclosed that the last date for filing nominations would be April 18, scrutiny would take place on April 20, the last date for withdrawal was April 22, polling would take place on May 7 and the votes would be counted on May 16.

‘Illegal promotion’: The Punjab Economic and Statistical Origin (ESO) Department staff has claimed that an illegal promotion has been made in the department in violation of the model code of conduct. In a complaint submitted to the Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Tuesday, the ESO staff alleged that Mohal Lal had been promoted from the post of Joint Director to Director. They demanded that the officer responsible for this should be transferred from his present post and that the promoted officer should be reverted to his earlier post.

Ferozepur
ADC office staff dead: An employee of the office of the ADC (Development), Jagdish Singh, was found dead when his body was recovered from Gang canal near village Kulgari on Zira Road today. The deceased was missing since yesterday as he did not return back home after the office, sources said. Today, his motorcycle was found on the bank of the canal. Later, the police fished out his body. He was working as an investigator in the office, it has been learnt.

Jalandhar
Good Friday: The local Christian community today observed Good Friday in the form of a march, paying tributes to the Jesus Christ who was crucified on this day. The march led by the priests and CMC sisters started from the St Joseph’s Convent School around noon and went on till St Mary’s Cathedral in Jalandhar cantonment. Prayers were held in the church in the afternoon with massive participation from the Christians in the area. Bishop Dr Anil Couto gave a message on universal brotherhood, peace, communal harmony and human equality.

SPs transferred: Two SPs posted in the city have been transferred from here following instructions from the State Election Commission today. The SP, Traffic, Rajpal Singh, will now join at Jagroan, while the SP, HQ, Satinder Singh, will be the new SP II, Amritsar.

Protest on April 21: Members of the PSEB Technical Services Union would resume their agitation from April 21 in case the management did not honour its commitments. Union general secretary J.S. Uppal said their demands included revision of the wage scales, making new recruitments in face of increasing workload and giving jobs to kin of deceased on compassionate grounds.

Horse show: The Vajra Corps is organising a horse show and an exhibition polo match on April 11 to 12 at the newly established Riding and Polo Academy on the GT Road, Mall Road junction here. The show will be inaugurated tomorrow at 4.30 pm by Vajra Corps Commander Lieut-Gen V.S. Tonk. Lieut-Gen S.S. Kumar, Quartermaster General will be the guest of honour.

SAD nominations: The central election office of the SAD here finalised the schedule for the filing of nomination papers for four Lok Sabha seats. In charge of the office Prof Kirpal Singh Badungar said the nomination papers for the Bathinda constituency would be filed by Harsimrat Kaur Badal on April 13. Sher Singh Ghubaya from Ferozepur is scheduled to file his nomination papers on the same day. General secretary of the SAD and candidate from Patiala Prem Singh Chandumajra will file his papers on April 16, while Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa will complete the formalities in Sangrur on April 17.

CHANDIGARH

Elected:The general body meeting of HIG ( Ind) Residents’ Welfare Association, Sector 38 (West), Chandigarh, was organised here today. MK Garg has been elected as the patron while Ashwini Verma and AK Mehta the president and vice-president, respectively.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

SHIMLA
CPM releases CD: Touching upon the state specific issues affecting people of the hill state, the state committee of the CPM on Friday released a CD containing songs, exposing the dubious role of the two main political players, the Congress and the BJP. Member of state secretariat of CPM Tikender Singh Panwar said the songs had been written by the propaganda committee of the party and would be used in the campaign to focus on the failure of the Congress and the BJP to come up to the expectations of the people.

Jan Sampark Programme: The ruling BJP on Friday launched the second phase of its Jan Sampark Programme for the Shimla parliamentary constituency from Shoghi. State general secretary of the party Khushi Ram Balnatah, horticulture minister Narender Bragta, state secretary HN Kashyap and former minister Roop Dass Kashyap attended the function. The party will hold similar Jan Sampark programmes in various parts of the constituency over the next few days.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
BSF jawan dies nea border: A BSF jawan died after he suffered a heart attack while patrolling near the border in Samba district, official sources said. Head constable Amir Singh of 91 battalion of the BSF was patrolling the border near the Barode-Nursery border outpost in Ramgarh sub-sector of Samba district on Wednesday night when he suffered a heart attack and collapsed on the ground. His colleagues rushed him to a hospital where he was declared as brought dead.

Rusted ammunition seized: An AK 47 assault rifle and 51 rusted and worn-out rounds were seized from a deserted place in Jakh village under the jurisdiction of Vijaypur police station in Samba district on Thursday. Official sources said 51 worn-out rounds included 40 rounds of 9mm pistol and 11 rounds of 303 rifle. However, an officer at Vijaypur police station said no AK 47 rifle was seized while 51 rounds were completely rusted and were of no use. Vijaypur SHO Tejinder Singh could not be reached for comments.

‘Theatre in conflict zone’: Well-known theatre critic from the state Ravinder Kaul has made a presentation on ‘Theatre in a Conflict Zone’ at the 13th Europe Theatre Prize function, presently underway in Wroc³aw, Poland. Ravinder, a member of the International Association of Theatre Critics, is the only theatre critic from India attending the event in Wroclaw.

Violence against women on rise:State Women Commission headed by its member-secretary Hafeeza Muzaffar has received 59 cases of violence against women for the past one week in the valley. Talking to The Tribune, Hafeeza said most of the cases were received from Srinagar and Budgam. Out of these 59 cases, six cases were of desertion by NRI’s in the valley, Hafeeza said.

Srinagar
Woman commits suicide: A woman allegedly committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance in Baramulla district on Friday, a police spokesman said. Zahida, wife of Bashir Ahmad Sheikh, consumed poison at her Mayn Kathal residence in Bijhama area. According to Sheikh’s statement, Zahida died on her way to a hospital in Srinagar. The motive behind her taking such a step was not immediately known.