Ludhiana blast leaves Mary and Maxy stressed out 
Ludhiana, October 22
Mary and Maxy, twin sisters of the Labrador breed and star canine detectives of the police dog sqaud, do not jump to action at the sound of approaching footsteps of their master.

Earth Cave-in
SDO, JE suspended
Kharar, October 22
Managing director of Punjab Sewerage Board Pradeep Chaudhary today suspended SDO Jaswant Singh and sewerage board JE Mohan Singh for their negligence in the October 19 earth cave-in incident that killed one labourer and left two injured. The accident took place in the evening when labourers were working on a sewerage line at Randhawa Road.

 

POLITICS

SAD, BJP ‘trust level’ should go up
Chandigarh, October 22
The level of “trust” between the BJP and the SAD needs to be improved even as the BJP was committed to complete the full term of the present government and carry forward the alliance, said BJP’s Punjab in charge, Balbir Punj, while talking to The Tribune today.

COMMUNITY

Seminar on job avenues
Bathinda, October 22
Prospective job seekers were made aware of various employment avenues at the mass counselling programme organised by the district employment generation and training department at MSD  Senior Secondary Public School here.

SGPC wakes up to declining sex ratio
Patiala, October 22
The SGPC will soon release a book on the declining sex ratio in the state. Besides the book, literature on ills of female foeticide will also be published and distributed free of cost in all gurdwaras functioning under the SGPC. As per the latest data, Sansarwal village in Patiala has a sex ratio of 438/1000, Churpur 464/1000, Dhughet 465/1000, Bosar Kalan 625/1000, Budhae Majra 611/1000, Babipur 528/1000, Sadarpur 550/1000, Shekhupur 467/1000, Ase Majra 608/1000, Khunti Chaura 556/1000, Dharaura Kalan 559/1000, Jalal Kher 563/1000, Dhareri Jalan 584/1000, Dhoni Majra 636/1000, Baramhpura 567/1000, Malomajra 583/1000, Mahmoolpur 586/1000, Ramgarh 608/1000, Butan Singh Wala 600/1000 and Bohpur 605/1000.

Ex-communicate Sarnas: SGPC
Anandpur Sahib, October 22
The Sarna brothers from the Delhi Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (DSGPC) have wrongly exported Birs of Guru Granth Sahib along with garments to Dubai.

Rs 1 lakh for giving blast info
Ludhiana, October 22
The city police has announced a cash award of Rs 1 lakh for any person giving concrete information about the persons behind the Shingaar cinema blast.

We are against killings: Babbars
Amritsar, October 22
Babbar Khalsa International here today sought to clarify that it was not involved in the blast at the Shringaar cinema in Ludhiana. This was stated by chief of the organisation Wadhawa Singh. — TNS

COURTS

Delhi HC admits Punjab’s plea 
State challenged water tribunal’s resetting
Chandigarh, October 22
A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Justice Tirath Kumar Thakur and Justice Veena Raj Birbal today admitted a writ petition filed by Punjab challenging the constitutional validity of the Ravi-Beas Water Disputes Tribunal’s reconstitution vide a notification dated June 10, 2003, under the provisions of the Inter-State River Waters Disputes Act, 1956.

Remand of Virk, Dimpy extended
Ropar, October 22
The judicial remand of former DGP Punjab Sarabdeep Singh Virk and Congress leader Vijay Pal Singh Dimpy has been extended to November 5. The court of district session Rekha Mittal passed these orders today.

14-day remand for scribes
Nabha, October 22
Two electronic media reporters arrested by the city police on the charges of extortion and blackmailing were today sent on 14-day judicial remand after the completion of one-day police remand.

AGRICULTURE

Trident Issue
Farmer unions threaten to go all out
Sangrur, October 22
Annoyed with the Badal Government over its dilly-dallying tactics in the implementation of government-farmer agreement regarding enhanced compensation to farmers of Dhaula, Sangherra and Fatehgarh Chhanna villages, three farmer organisations will hold a joint meeting in a week to chalk out the future programme.

Biodynamic farming is the new mantra Daburji (Rupnagar), October 22 As Jaspal Singh Chattha, a farmer from Musewal village, near Nakodar, rattles off factors leading to increasing input cost of production in organic farming, he stumbles upon a rather sophisticated term “biodynamic farming”, a step ahead of organic farming. “I have been practising biodynamic farming for the past three years on my 30 acres and results have been excellent.

J. S. Chattha

CRIME

Exorcist beats woman to death
Sangrur, October 22
Balwinder Kaur (45), of Dasmesh Nagar here, was allegedly beaten to death by witch doctor Sukhi Bazigar and his wife Soma, besides Sukhdev Singh, husband of the deceased.

BJP leader, sons booked for murder
Abohar, October 22
The police has registered a case against a senior BJP activist, his sons and seven others in connection with the murder of a farmer, sources said this evening.

VAT Evasion
2 excise men among 11 held 
Fatehgarh Sahib, October 22
The district police has arrested 11 persons for having evaded VAT to the tune of Rs 200 crore. They were arrested after the assistant excise and taxation commissioner (AETC) filed a complaint against them.

EDUCATION

‘Education agents’ fleece
Charge consultation, 1-yr fee in advance
Patiala, October 22
Much hue and cry is being made about the travel agents duping Punjabi youths on the pretext of sending them abroad. However, no attention is being paid to the foreign and Indian agents who are working without any regulation for admitting students to foreign universities.