P U N J A B

Top stories | Politics | Community | Education

Agriculture

TOP STORIES

PSEB defers advance bill deposit scheme
Patiala, January 12
Lakhs of power consumers in Punjab need not panic over the much-publicised directions of the Punjab State Electricity Regulation Commission (PSERC) that they will have to deposit their bills in advance under the advance consumption deposit (ACD) system, as the board has seemingly deferred the implementation of the new system. The total number of power connections in Punjab, including tubewell connections, is around 62 lakh.

Monitoring Bhakra Mainline
BBMB to use underwater cameras
Ropar, January 12
The Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) is planning to use underwater cameras to monitor the condition of the Bhakra mainline canal. Chairman of the BBMB U.C. Mishra in an exclusive interview with The Tribune said the Bhakra mainline canal was being used without any closure for the past 50 years. Ideally, the irrigation canals were closed every alternate year for repairs.

Cherie gives Rs 50 lakh  to Dhilwan school
Dhilwan (Kapurthala), January 12
Punjabis, in particular, and Indians, in general, are contributing much to British life. This is what a former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s wife Cherie Blair thinks about the Punjabis settled in England.
Cherie, wife of ex-UK PM Tony Blair, with students of Govt School at Dhilwan in Kapurthala, Saturday. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

Parvasi Diwas
State wakes up to ‘employability’
Chandigarh, January 12
On the sixth Parvasi Punjabi Diwas today, Punjab talked big on employment generation. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal declared 2008 as the year of employability in the state. But as he listed, his government’s efforts to ensure work for four lakh unemployed in Punjab, one wondered what the talk was all about. So did some NRIs in the gathering, who felt:

Sundar Mundariye Hoye: These girls are enjoying every moment of Lohri celebrations at Shahzada Nand College in Amritsar on Saturday. Photo: Vishal Kumar

REGIONAL BRIEFS

YOUR TOWN

Amritsar Chandigarh Jalandhar Ludhiana Patiala Ropar

	Chawla burns drugs, leaves behind hazardous waste January 12, 2008
	Principal Dhaliwal suspended again January 11, 2008
	3 Pak spies unharmed in jail rioting January 10, 2008
	Govt to oppose transfer of Virk case to CBI  January 9, 2008
	In this jail, life drags its feet January 8, 2008
	DC’s info officer gets notice under RTI Act January 7, 2008
	DTO’s gunman beats up truck driver January 6, 2008
	SGPC asstt secy quits January 5, 2008

City Centre Scam
Congress MLA’s mother denied bail
Ludhiana, January 12
The court of Sessions Judge G.K.Rai today dismissed the regular bail application of Gurdial Kaur Khangura, former trustee of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT), in the alleged multi-crore city centre project scam. The Vigilance Bureau (VB) had accused her of accepting bribe of Rs 15 lakh from officials of Today Homes company.

Rs 19.74 cr released for Shagun scheme
Sangrur, January 12
The Punjab government has recently released Rs 19.74 crore for the Shagun scheme, of which Rs 61 lakh has been given to Sangrur district, Rs 30 lakh to Barnala district, Rs 114 lakh to Patiala district and Rs 94 lakh to Mansa district.

Ultrasound
Women without ID proof being sent back
Patiala, January 12
The Punjab government has directed civil surgeons to check the identity proof of women who undertake ultrasound tests in government hospitals.

Principal’s murder: Bid to know source of money
Jalandhar, January 12
The district police is trying to know the source of huge cash of Rs 37 lakh recovered from the residence of the murdered KMV College principal Rita Bawa.

CM’s sangat darshan time changed
Chandigarh, January 12
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will now hold sangat darshan at his residence on every Tuesday from 11 am to 12.30 pm instead from January 15.

EDUCATION

Transfer of teachers banned
For cops, boss will forward it 
Chandigarh, January 12
Probably tired of attending to requests seeking transfers to choicest postings, instructions have been issued in Punjab to ban the transfers of school teachers. Policemen seeking transfers will now have to route their request through their immediate bosses and will have to do so in person.

2 research scholars fined for plagiarism
Amritsar, January 12
In the first-ever case of plagiarism on the Guru Nanak Dev University campus, two research scholars enrolled in the Department of Commerce and Business Management for PhD have been found guilty of “copying their synopses from other sources and claiming it to be their own.”

6,100 SC/ST students to get scholarships
Sangrur, January 12
Under a Central government scheme involving post-matric scholarships for students belonging to minority communities, the department of welfare of Scheduled Castes and backward classes, Punjab, will provide scholarships to 6,100 students, including more than 1,800 girls, of minority communities for the year 2007-08.

Dharna by aided school staff on Jan 22
Chandigarh, January 12
The Punjab State Aided School Teachers and other Employees Union has decided to organise dharna against Punjab government here on January 22.

AGRICULTURE

‘PAU must share blame for farm sector crisis’
Chandigarh, January 12
“Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), which has got a lot of credit for a green revolution in the country, should now be prepared to share the blame for the crisis being faced by the state on the agriculture front,” said Dr Devinder Sharma, a Delhi-based food and agriculture policy analyst.

Maghi Mela
Badal focuses on dairy farming, poultry
Muktsar, January 12
With agriculture no more remunerative for the poor farmers, and a few jobs for the unemployed youth, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today appealed to both these aggrieved lots to adopt dairy farming, with the promise that the state government would provide subsidy in this regard.

A horse performing at the fair; ex-MLA Sukhdarshan Singh Mrar (centre) opts to sit on the ground during the function; and Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal and MP Sukhbir Badal handing over awards to the winners on the concluding day of the Animal Fair at Maghi Mela in Muktsar on Saturday. Tribune photos: Malkiat Singh