ABOHAR
Festival: The first phase of the Sacred Grove (Oran) Festival 2007 concluded at the Jhamku Devi Senior Secondary School at Mehrajpur Dhora village in this sub-division. Thousands of villagers visited the exhibition organised by the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal, during the past three days. 

AMRITSAR
Boycott: Khalra Mission Organization (KMO), on Thursday, sought a social boycott of the former DGP of Punjab Police, K P S Gill, for his alleged involvement in the elimination of thousands of innocent Sikh youths during the militancy days and their unauthorized cremation. The spokesman of the organization said that a resolution was passed to urge the Sikh panth to ex-communicate the former DGP. 

Pak national held: The police on Thursday arrested Sayad Mujahad Hussain, a Pakistan national, when he was trying to cross-over to Pakistan here in the morning. Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh, SSP said the accused did not possess a valid passport and visa. 

BARNALA
Teachers’ strike: To protest against the arrest of 21 teachers on Wednesday, Punjab and Chandigarh Teachers union ,Barnala, branch observed a complete strike. A dharna was staged before S.D. College demanding the immediate release of their union leaders. 

Roll numbers: In a communiqué from the DC office here it has been stated that the roll numbers for the interview and written test for the technical staff to be recruited for Suvidha center and TNRS, DC office, have already been sent. Those who have not received their roll number or interview letter can contact the DC office on tomorrow. This statement was issued by H.S. Garcha, ADC Barnala on Thursday. 

Bathinda
Sangat darshan: Adequate canal water would be supplied to all villages that fall in the Joga Assembly segment. This was stated by Jagdeep Singh Nakai, chief parliamentary secretary, Punjab, here.

Nakai held three sangat darshan programmes in the segment on Thursday. He inaugurated the water works at Pitho village. He gave a grant worth Rs 6 lakh to village representatives of Pitho village for construction of lavatories in the village and Rs 2 lakh for setting up streets. 

Chak de India: To lift the morale the district police authorities arranged two special shows of ‘CHAK DE INDIA’ at Ajaib cinema. SSP Nau Nihal Singh also saw the movie on Wednesday. 

MALERKOTLA
Highway patrol: The Punjab police on Thursday launched a highway police protection cell in Malerkotla sub- division. Gurpreet Singh Walia, DSP, flagged off the highway patrolling vehicle. 

PATIALA
Suicide: Kulwant Singh, accused in several cases of theft, attempted suicide by consuming poison at the office of DIG, Patiala, Paramjit Singh Gill on Thursday. Kulwant Singh of Ubhewal village in Sangrur district came to the office of the DIG and declared he would commit suicide in case he did not get justice as he alleged that the police was harassing him. He was shifted to Rajindra Government Hospital where his condition was stated to be out of danger.

Prof to get gold medal: The executive committee of the International Society for Ecological Communications has selected Dr Aruna Bhatia, Department of Biotechnology, Punjabi University, Patiala, for the Professor E.P. Odum Gold Medal in recognition of her commendable research activities. This award will be conferred by the Governor-cum-Chancellor of Universities of Jharkhand state during the international conference on “Recent Advances in Contemporary Biology, Environmental Issues and Sustainable Development” to be held on September 29 and 30. 

Rajpura
Male foetus found: The recovery of a premature male foetus from a bus stop outside Jansal village, near here, has raised concerns among the locals. They said despite the efforts of the district administration the practice of foeticide was still prevalent in certain sections of society. Villagers found the foetus and reported the matter to the police. The Rajpura police reached the spot and after conducting a through search of the area around the bus stop registered a case under Section 318 of the IPC. The foetus was wrapped in a piece of cloth and dumped there. The foetus was sent for post-mortem to the Civil Hospital, Rajpura. 

Rupnagar
MLAs vie for morcha anniversary: Politics is hotting up over the observance of the anniversary of the Dharam Yug Morcha near Kiratpur Sahib. Various MLAs have decided different dates and functions for observing the occasion. While MLA Ajit Singh and his party workers are observing the anniversary on September 13 at Ghanauli, BJP senior leader Madan Mohan Mittal is observing the same at Kalma village on September 8. Both factions have invited Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal at the function. Trying to have mileage out of the occasion, Madan Mohan Mittal had declared the celebrations a few days ago, while Sant Ajit Singh declared it today. 

Ambala
Plea to remove garbage: The Khatik Samaj today demanded that a cleanliness drive be carried out near SS Little Angel Convent Child School, Ambala Cantt. Khushal Chand and Banwari Lal of the samaj said in a press note that despite repeated requests to the authorities concerned no effort had been made to clear the garbage dumped near the school building. They said even the school principal had made complaints but the garbage had not been cleared.

Complaint against conductor: A law student of Kurukshetra University and resident of Ambala City has filed a complaint against a conductor of a Haryana Roadways (Chandigarh depot) bus for misbehaving with him while he was returning to Ambala from Pipli. The student, Sahil Sharma, said in his complaint that on Tuesday he boarded the bus from Pipli. The conductor asked him to take a ticket and on being told that he had a monthly bus pass, the conductor refused to honour it stating that passes were not allowed in “his bus”. When Sahil resisted, the conductor forced him out of the bus at a village close to Pipli. Sahil has demanded an inquiry into the matter.