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CM dares Badal for debate in Assembly
Verka to have college, stadium

Verka (Amritsar), September 11 The Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, today said that his government was ready to debate with the Akali Dal on the development issue on the floor of the Assembly during the coming Special Session, slated for September 14 and 15.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh talks to Verka MLA Raj Kumar at a rally in Verka on Monday. — Photo by Rajiv Sharma

Bhattal differs with CM
Poll pact with other parties
Dera Bassi, September 11
Living up to her reputation of following an independent line in the state Congress politics, the Deputy Chief Minister, Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, said today that the issue of having alliances with the other political parties for the February 2007 Punjab elections was still open and would be decided by the party high command.

NRI’s dream to own home turns sour
Gidderbaha, September 11
Settled in the USA for the last 15 years, Mr Sukhdarshan Kumar Sharma returned to buy a home at Gidderbaha, his birthplace, so that his kids get attached to their roots. But his dreams turned sour when a local businessman from whom he bought a house reportedly duped him.

Maryada violation: DSGMC panel chief resigns
Amritsar, September 11
The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has suspended its granthi and blacklisted two Sikh missionaries for violating Sikh maryada of Anand Karaj at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj.

Centenaries and Punjab politics
Ludhiana, September 11
Politicisation of the SGPC is hot news these days. The splinter Akali groups have started a consistent campaign in this regard. They are in the process of forming a shadow SGPC to highlight the maladies that have overtaken the SGPC. They allege that there is no function or celebration and no positive work being done by the SGPC except that which serves the political interests of Akali supremo Parkash Singh Badal.

COMMUNITY

23 councillors ask Mayor to quit, boycott House
Patiala, September 11
In an unprecedented move, 23 municipal councillors belonging to the Congress, the SAD and independent today boycotted the General House meeting of the Municipal Corporation (MC), and demanded its dissolution and the resignation of Mayor Vishnu Sharma after the Municipal Commissioner, Mr S.K. Ahluwalia, was allegedly asked by the Mayor to leave the meeting.

Farmers on Indo-Pak border not paid relief
Fazilka, September 11
Hundreds of farmers in scores of villages along the Indo-Pak border in Fazilka sector have not been paid crop compensation for not being allowed to sow long-height crop for security reasons. These farmers are facing another risk from wild animals, particularly pigs, which stray in from Pakistan side and damage their paddy.

Medical Supdt clarifies
Amritsar, September 11
The Medical Superintendent of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Dr A S Padda, today refuted the allegations of high-handedness and vandalism leveled by a chemist and general merchants in the government-run Guru Nanak Dev Hospital Complex here. Shopkeepers had filed a police complaint against the Dr Padda and his men in this regard.

Sensing danger, Soil Conservation Dept ups the ante
Chandigarh, September 11
With the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, expressing fears that Punjab may turn into a desert in 25 years, the Department of Soil and Water Conservation, Punjab, though facing an acute staff crunch, has got into action to stem the downslide in soil and water quality.

Uphold dignity of turban: Sidhu
Amritsar, September 11
Navjot Singh Sidhu, BJP MP, along with thousands of Sikh activists, today paid obeisance at Akal Takht and offered prayers to give strength to the Sikh community to protect and uphold the dignity and sanctity of the turban.

Power ombudsman appointed
Chandigarh, September 11
The Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission has appointed Mrs Surinder Paul Kaur, a retired IRS officer, as Ombudsman to consider and decide upon the representations by aggrieved power consumers

Anganwari workers block traffic
Sangrur, September 11
Under the banner of the anganwari Mulazam Union Punjab anganwari workers and helpers led by Ms Usha Rani, acting state president of the union, today blocked traffic for more than an hour on the Sunam-Patiala road at the ITI chowk, Sunam, 13 km from here.

Protest march by patwaris
Amritsar, September 11
Members of the Revenue Patwar Union, Punjab and Tarn Taran, held a joint protest march and rally against the District Revenue Officer in the court complex here today.

AGRICULTURE

Bumper cotton, paddy crops likely
Chandigarh, September 11
The next eight weeks are crucial for farmers of Punjab, Haryana, and the Ganganagar belt of Rajasthan. If the weather gods remain merciful, the farmers will be having the best of times as far as harvesting of the paddy crop and the picking of cotton is concerned.

Millers stop buying paddy
Fazilka, September 11
Rice millers of the Fazilka area today stopped the purchase of paddy from the local market. There has been a glut of about 20,000 quintals of the fresh arrivals of paddy.

ADMINISTRATION

Award for Nawanshahr DC
Faridkot, September 11
The Deputy Commissioner of Nawanshahr, Mr Krishan Kumar, will receive the Baba Farid Award for Honesty at a function at Gurdwara Godri Sahib on September 23. The Chairman of the Gurdwara Godri Sahib Baba Farid Society, Mr Inderjit Singh Khalsa, announced this at a press conference here today.

CRIME

6 held with 485 kg poppy husk
Bathinda, September 11
The police has arrested six persons and seized about 485 kg of poppy husk from their possession during raids at different places.

13 stolen computers recovered, 5 held
Sangrur, September 11
The police has seized 13 computer sets (monitors, CPUs, keyboards and mice etc) from two gangs of thieves. The police has arrested five persons and seized eight computer sets from them while three members of the gang escaped leaving five computer sets there.

Gang of lifters busted
Bathinda, September 11
The police today claimed to have busted an inter-state gang of vehicle lifters with the arrest of two of its members and recovery of seven cars from their possession.

10-kg bomb recovered from nullah
Ferozepore, September 11
A 10-kg live bomb was recovered from a nullah near Army cantonment here today.

One killed in road accident
Batala, September 11
Sunil Kumar Abrol (33), alias Papplu, a local crockery businessman, was killed when his Scorpio vehicle collided with a truck near the Batala Cooperative Sugar Mills on the Batala-Gurdaspur road last night.

EDUCATION

University teachers meet Bhattal
Request raising retirement age to 62
Chandigarh, September 11
To press for their demand of extension of retirement age from 60 years to 62 years, a deputation of representatives of teachers from three universities — Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjabi University, Patiala, and Panjab University, Chandigarh, — met Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Deputy Chief Minister, Punjab, at her residence today.

Japanese scholar all praise for Punjabi language
Amritsar, September 11
Japanese are good in writing Punjabi language but their verbal aspect is poor while on the other hand the American youth of Indian origin are good in pronunciation of the language but at the same time they are weak in writing the language, said Dr Tomio Mizokami, Professor of Indian Languages, Osaka University, Japan, while interacting with faculty and students of the School of Punjabi Studies, Guru Nanak Dev University, here today.

PCCTU members to court arrest
Barnala, September 11
The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU) state executive committee will court arrest at Chandigarh’s Matka Chowk on September 20 to press for the redressal of the grievances of thousands of college teachers serving in privately managed but government-aided colleges of Punjab.

Ex-pressions-2006 results
Fatehgarh Sahib, September 11
Gurkanwalpreet Singh, a student of MBA-I, was selected Mr Fresher and Pooja Verma, a student of the PGDCA, was chosen Ms Fresher at the Desh Bhagat Institute of Management and Computer Sciences, Mandi Gobindgarh, during the four-day Exclusive Ex-pressions-2006, which concluded today.

Student leaders urge Bhattal to lift ban on poll
Chandigarh, September 11
The International Democratic Students Front has urged the Punjab Government to lift ban on elections in various educational institutions of the state.

Students’ union chief thrashed
Barnala, September 11
Mr Sanjiv Mintoo, state president of Punjab Radical Students Union (PRSU) was thrashed by employees of Himmatpura Transport Company today in a bus when he was going to Pakho Kanchain, about 10 km from here. He was going to talk to Himmatpura Transport Company’s employees for some amicable solution for the bitterness between students and the company employees.