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TOP STORIES

Seat sharing: SAD, BJP reach consensus
Chandigarh, December 27
If the mood in the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) is of any indication, differences over seat adjustment for the coming Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections have now been narrowed down to Garhshankar.

Candidate’s merits sole criteria, says Dullo
Chandigarh, December 27
The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president, Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, has thrown his hat in the Assembly elections arena. “I am interested to contest the Assembly elections but it will depend on the party high command that where from I am asked to contest”, he said here today.

Election schedule not finalised; Quraishi to visit on Jan 3
Chandigarh, December 27
The Election Commission (EC) has not finalised any election schedule to hold the Assembly elections in Punjab yet. The elections are due to be held before March 17.

Approval for NRIs as village headmen
Ludhiana, December 27
One of the long pending demands of NRIs - the appointment of Indians settled overseas as additional honorary headman of their villages in Punjab - will soon be a reality with the state government issuing a draft notification in this context.

NRI’s house worth lakhs sold by fraud
Jalandhar, December 27
In yet another case of its kind, an NRI’s house has been sold fraudulently by some unauthorised persons, including his own uncle, allegedly in an attempt to grab it.

Home Ministry marks probe into youths’ disappearance case
Chandigarh, December 27
The mystery shrouding the disappearance of 37 Punjabi youngsters, looking for greener pastures abroad, has trudged towards a solution, with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs marking an inquiry into the incident.

POLITICS

Cong set to retain power, claims Preneet Kaur
Rajpura, December 27
In the wake of the overwhelming response to the Punjab Vikas Yatra of the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, the Congress was set to retain power in the February 2007 Assembly elections, the Patiala MP, Ms Preneet Kaur, claimed here today.

SAD ticket to Boney Ajnala opposed
Amritsar, December 27
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) would win the Ajnala Assembly seat if right candidate was fielded otherwise the Congress would have it, said Mr Harinder Singh (Honey) Randhawa to reporters here today.

Dullo: Khurana betrayed Cong
Chandigarh, December 27
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Shamsher Singh Dullo today said Congress MLA and PPCC vice-president Raj Khurana had betrayed the party by quitting it. The BJP had almost declared him candidate from Rajpura for Assembly elections. Mr Khurana had been in touch with Shiromani Akali Dal supremo Parkash Singh Badal for the past few months.

Guilty officials to face action: Badal
Chandigarh, December 27
The president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, said if the SAD-BJP alliance was voted to power after the Assembly elections in the state, it would set up a mechanism for “corrective and prohibitive punishment for all those found guilty of committing excesses against farmers. Not even the present Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, will escape accountability for the repression let loose at his behest against farmers during the past five years”.

Bhatia not in fray for LS byelection
Amritsar, December 27
Scotching all speculation for joining the electoral fray for the proposed Lok Sabha byelection for the Amritsar seat, the Governor of Kerala, Mr R L Bhatia, said he was not a candidate for the recently vacated parliamentary seat by BJP leader Navjot Singh Sidhu.

10 ministers, 27 MLAs keen to join SAD: Sukhbir
Chandigarh, December 27
The general secretary of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, today claimed that at least 10 ministers and 27 legislators of the ruling Congress government in Punjab were willing to join the SAD-BJP combine in the coming days. Though he did not name anybody to substantiate his claim, he said his party would accommodate Congressmen who left the ruling party on grounds of their own conscience.

CM’s Vikas Yatra in Gurdaspur postponed
Gurdaspur, December 27
The Vikas Yatra of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, which was to pass through Gurdaspur, Kanuwan and Fatehgarh Churian constituencies of the district on December 29, has been postponed. According to sources, the Chief Minister is to attend an important meeting on that day due to which the yatra has been postponed. The yatra is likely to take place on January 6.

Cong MLA's action invites flak
Fatehgarh Sahib, December 27
Mr Brij Lal Goyal, Chairman, Live Stock Development Board, while talking to the mediapersons here today condemned the action of Mr Raj Khurana, Congress MLA from Rajpura, who had deserted the party and joined the BJP yesterday.

COMMUNITY

BRAVING THE COLD

Security personnel gather around a bonfire in Jalandhar on Wednesday. — PTI

Cotton output: Punjab meets target
Bathinda, December 27
Even as Punjab is well on its way to achieve its estimated cotton production of 25 lakh bales, the production in neighbouring states Haryana and Rajasthan has fallen short of expectations thus resulting in a climbdown in the anticipated crop size of 50 lakh bales in North India.

Farmers wait for bidding of their produce at the cotton market in Bathinda. The arrival of cotton in large quantities is making the farmers wait for many days before their produce is bought. — Tribune photo by Kulbir Beera

Wheat varieties: PAU research under cloud
Gurdaspur, December 27
The stark similarity between the PBW 502 and PBW 343 varieties of wheat has raised a question mark over the credibility of research carried out by the Punjab Agriculture University for developing new and improved varieties.

CRIME

Rs 4.28 lakh looted from bank
Bathinda, December 27
Four armed men struck at State Bank of Patiala (SBoP) branch at Kot Fatta village and decamped with Rs 4.28 lakh in cash today.


Senior police officials inspect the scene of crime after bank robbery at Kot Fatta village in Bathinda on Wednesday. — Photo by Kulbir Beera

22 farmers booked for attack on police
Amritsar, December 27
Even as the farmers continued protest by blocking traffic on Amritsar-Tarn Taran road for over two hours, the Sultanwind police booked as many as 22 agitating farmers, including convener of the Kishan Sangharsh Committee Kanwalpreet Singh Pannu, for murderous attack on policemen, besides obstructing the police personnel from discharging their duty.

One held for poaching black partridge
Gurdaspur, December 27
The wild life officials of Gurdaspur have arrested poacher Uttam Chand and recovered feathers of black partridges and rabbit skin from him. The DFO wildlife Gurdaspur Mr Raj Shekhar said they raided the premises of Uttam Chand on a tip off and recovered remains of the wild animal.

EDUCATION