Bathinda firm DGM gets bail

Chandigarh: A special CBI court on Saturday granted anticipatory bail to the DGM of a Bathinda firm in the Rs 1.3-lakh graft case. Venkat Ramaiah, DGM, Nagarjuna Construction Company, Bathinda, was granted bail after the CBI stated that it did not need his custodial interrogation at this stage. Earlier, the court had extended the stay on his arrest till July 20. An employee of the company was arrested along with Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner and Labour Enforcement Officer and two other persons in the bribery case on May 30. TNS

Man held for battery theft

Chandigarh: The UT police on Saturday nabbed Rajiv Kumar (38), alias Rimpi, a resident of Ambala City, for stealing batteries of vehicles. In his complaint to the police, Akash Dubey of MHC, Mani Majra, stated that on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, he parked his two-wheeler near his house. Next morning, he found the battery of his bike missing. The suspect had stolen more batteries from the area. The police also recovered 10 batteries from him. TNS

Over 200 units of blood collected

Chandigarh: The Thalassaemic Children Welfare Association collected 238 units of blood during a blood donation camp organised at the PGI here on Saturday. Rajinder Kalra, general secretary of the association, said it was the 183rd blood donation camp organised in coordination with the Blood Bank, PGI, under the supervision of Dr Ratti Ram Sharma, Head, Department of Transfusion Medicine, PGI. Blood donors were also honoured. Kalra said next blood donation camp would be held on August 3 at Zakir Hall, Research Block-A, PGI. TNS

BJP’s membership drive held at mall

Chandigarh: The BJP’s ongoing membership drive was conducted at Elante Mall here on Saturday. Party state president Sanjay Tandon initiated the registrations along with state membership drive convener Ramveer Bhatti, Mayor Rajesh Kalia, district president Shakti Prakash Devshali, mandal president Rajkishore and another party leader Prince Bandhula by filling membership forms and enrolling new members. Speaking about the drive, Tandon said people are associating with the party in a large number every day. He also encouraged the youth of Chandigarh to become a part of the BJP family for inclusive development. TNS

Saplings planted in Sector 27-C

Chandigarh: Congress councillor Devinder Singh Babla along with residents of Sector 27-C and senior RWA members conducted a tree plantation drive in the sector. They planted nearly 100 trees and shrubs including medicinal plants. The residents and the RWA assured to take the responsibility to maintain these trees and shrubs. “As promised in our development agenda to promote green, beautiful, clean and healthy Ward No. 18, we have set a target to plant 1,000 trees/shrubs in the coming months in various parts of Sectors 27, 28 and 30 with the participation of local residents and the RWAs,” said Babla. TNS

Rs 6 lakh Electronic goods gutted

Dera Bassi: A fire broke out at an electronics shop near Ram Mandir here on Saturday. The fire was noticed by a passer-by who raised the alarm. A fire tender was pressed into service to douse the flames. No loss of life was reported in the incident. However, goods worth Rs 6 lakh were destroyed in the blaze. A short-circuit is suspected to be the reason behind the fire. Firemen controlled the flames in half an hour, but the stock was completely damaged. Sukhwinder Singh, owner of the shop, Sukha Electronics, said he came to know about the incident when a passer-by rang him up on Saturday morning. OC