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HC probe against Sub-judge
Jalandhar, March 31
The Himachal High Court has been conducting a discreet inquiry against a Sub-judge, against whom a Jalandhar-based businessman, Mr Mohinder Vir Singh alias Lucky Singh, had made a complaint. The Sub-judge earlier, was suspended by the high court. Mr Lucky Singh among other things had accused the Sub-judge of having developed illicit relations with his estranged wife, a practising advocate in a Himachal district.

DSGMC’s ‘dharam parchar’ rattles SGPC
Amritsar, March 31
The turn-out on the second day of ‘Dharam Prachar Samagam’ (religious discourse function) organised by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) late last night has unnerved to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) here. The samagam concluded late last night.

SHSAD chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra and DGMC  chief Paramjeet Singh Sarna at "Dharam Prachar Samagam" held at Amritsar on Monday. — Photo Rajiv Sarma

Dalits’ boycott: SAD (A) to approach Takht
Jalandhar, March 31
The Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) has decided to approach Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti to resolve the issue of alleged boycott of Dalits of Talhan village near here by members of the Jat community. 

DTOs ‘connived with gang’
Fake registration nos given to trucks, jeeps
Patiala, March 31
The Patiala police today claimed that it had busted a gang which had made hundreds of fake registration numbers of combine harvesters, trucks and Jeeps in connivance with the district transport officers of Faridkot district in Punjab and Tohana district in Haryana.

UP barons capture 55 pc Punjab liquor trade
Ludhiana, March 31
Liquor barons from Uttar Pradesh have come to control liquor trade in Punjab due to their political clout in the ruling party of the state. According to liquor traders of Punjab nearly 55 per cent of the trade had passed into the hands of liquor contractors from UP this year auction for which concluded on March 28 at Patiala.

Charges against Puar, 4 teachers maintainable
Patiala, March 31
A court here today ruled that charges against former Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor Dr Joginder Singh Puar, four former senior teachers of the varsity and a tent house owner of Delhi in the Science Congress case were maintainable.

POLITICS

Ramoowalia flays politicians

COMMUNITY

A teenager talks peace

Wagah (Amritsar), March 31 Supam Sandhu (15) became the “first woman” and the “first minor” to be on an anti-war mission. She pedalled her way from Ludhiana to Wagah and back to Amritsar on bicycle alone and presented a memorandum to BSF Commandant D.K. Sharma on anti-war sentiments between India and Pakistan in view of the ongoing war between Iraq and the USA at 1 pm here today. Supam Sandhu, who is on an anti-war mission, presents a memorandum to BSF Commandant D.K Sharma at the Wagha border on Monday. — Photo Rajiv Sharma

Five civic bodies fail to repay government loan
Bathinda, March 31
Five civic bodies, including two Municipal Corporations of state have not been repaying instalments of amount advanced to them by the Punjab government under the Shelter Upgradation Scheme, for the past seven years. The state government now has been contemplating to reduce their share of amount or decreasing their share of revenue in the Excise Duty.

PGI experts to study causes of high cancer rate
Insecticide traces found in canal water
Bathinda, March 31
As the investigations made by the State Health Department, Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) and experts of Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot, to find out the reasons behind the unusually high number of cancer deaths in a number of pockets of Bathinda district for the past several years have remained inconclusive, the Punjab Government has now handed over the investigation to the experts of the Department of Community Medicine, PGI, Chandigarh.

Number of law officers reduced
Chandigarh, March 31
The Punjab Government today slashed the number of law officers from 96 to 84. Though Punjab Advocate-General Harbhagwan Singh was not available for comments, sources in his office claimed that the number had been reduced as “austerity measure”.

Mother seeks child’s custody
Mansa, March 31
Ms Amanpreet Kaur, a newly married woman, in a representation to Capt Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister, Punjab, has sought the reuniting of her six-month-old son who was forcibly taken away from her by her in-laws.
She said she was married to Balwinder Singh, employed with the Army on January 17, 2001, and gave birth to a boy.

Kar seva begins at Gurdwara Ramsar Sahib
Amritsar, March 31
Keeping in view the fourth installation centenary of Guru Granth Sahib falling next year, kar seva of the sarovar of historic Gurdwara Ramsar Sahib, situated near Gurdwara Shaheedan started here today.

• Kar seva on for gurdwara parking lot

Flower show attracts thousands
Mansa, March 31
The sixth flower show was organised here yesterday by the local Environment Society on the premises of the local Government Girls Senior Secondary School. Mr S.S. Srivastva, Senior Superintendent of Police here, inaugurated the flower show in the morning while Mr S.K. Ahluwalia, Deputy Commissioner gave away the prizes to the winners, late evening. 

HIGH COURT
Ex-minister Garcha granted bail
Chandigarh, March 31
Punjab’s former minister Jagdish Singh Garcha was today granted bail by Mr Justice Jasbir Singh of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in an alleged cheating and corruption case.

• Orders reserved

Ex-councillors’ houses raided
Gurdaspur, March 31
The local branch of the Vigilance Bureau (VB) today raided the houses of former Sujanpur Nagar Council president Vinay Mahajan and two other former councillors and a junior engineer.

Arhtias’ demands accepted
Chandigarh, March 31
Punjab Agriculture Minister, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal today accepted certain demands of the Arhtiya Association. Henceforth, the licences to arhtiyas will be issued for 10 years instead of three years. The licence fee has been increased from Rs 100 to Rs 200. One representative of the association will be appointed as Director of the Punjab Mandi Board.

Irate residents force closure of liquor vend
Patiala, March 31
Irate residents today forced the closure of a newly opened liquor vend near the Shiv Mandir in the Shahi Samadan area of the city by demonstrating in front of it and by turning away those coming to purchase liquor from the place.

Rally against caste-based quota
Bathinda, March 31
To press the acceptance of their demand of putting an end to the present caste-based and discriminatory reservation policy the General Categories Welfare Federation will hold a rally at Talwandi Sabo on Baisakhi and state and district leaders, members of the general categories from other states will also participate in the same,” said Mr Shyam Lal Sharma.

PNDT Act to be ‘sternly enforced’
Gurdaspur, March 31
Sex-determination tests to prevent female foeticide will be dealt with sternly in the district.

New facilities in judicial complex
Faridkot, March 31
Bibi Gurcharan Kaur, a BJP leader and Member, Rajya Sabha unveiled the statue of Goddess of Justice and inaugurated a parking lot, a park and toilets at the District Judicial Complex here today.

• PSEB extends VDS
  
  

ADMINISTRATION

Govt to construct 8,800 houses
Pathankot, March 31
“The Punjab Government will construct 8,800 houses during 2003-04 with an estimate cost of Rs 200 crore, out of which 40 per cent houses shall be for economically weaker sections, said Mr Raghunath Sahai Puri, Punjab Minister for Housing and Urban Development while addressing a rally at Sujanpur near here.

CRIME

Two jewellers shot at
Amritsar, March 31
Two jewellers Kirpal Singh and his elder brother Gurdip Singh, were shot at and seriously injured by some unidentified car-borne persons near the Katra Sher Singh area in the wee hours here today. The accused fled with a bag containing gold jewellery.

Village temple looted
Phagwara, March 31
A village temple of Manak, 20 km from here, was robbed of cash and valuables worth about Rs 1.5 lakh early today according to the report lodged by Baba Shookar Nath, head of Jal Devta Kheri Mandir today, eight to 10 persons with muffled faces, wielding sticks, barged into the temple at 1.30 a.m. and thrashed his two disciples, Kiranpal and Shupinder.

Gang of robbers busted, 3 held
Mansa, March 31
The Mansa police has busted an inter-state gang of robbers with the arrest of three of its members during a nakabandi. The three were on the way to Mansa to commit a robbery. The gang members had robbed Mr Pawan Kumar, proprietor of an insecticide company of the city, of Rs 3,500 on March 20.

EDUCATION

Puja, Gurinderpal top Class V exams
Bathinda, March 31
The Punjab Education Department announced the result of Class V exams today. Of the 24,270 students who had appeared in the exams in this district 22,142 were declared successful. Puja Rani, a student of Usha Public School, and Gurinderpal Singh, a student of Baba Farid Public School, shared the first position by securing 488 marks out of 550 (88.73 per cent).

Contract cancellation of IT institutes hailed
Patiala March 31
The Teachers United Front of Punjabi University today welcomed the decision of the varsity to terminate its contracts with the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Institute of Information Technology situated on the varsity campus and the Guru Gobind Singh Institute of Information Technology at Talwandi Sabo.