Avtar Singh, 60, shows his 5.6-feet long beard at his residence in Amritsar
on Sunday. Mr Singh, a retired soldier, hopes his beard would qualify for an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records.
— Reuters |
Canal
scam
probe makes no headway
Gurdaspur, September 21
Inquiry against more than 30 officials of
the canal department for irregularities with execution of 176 crore project for
the remodelling of Upper Bari Doab Canal and its subsidiaries in Gurdaspur and
Amritsar districts has made little progress.
Kin
of
missing youths low on hope
Mahal (Amritsar), September 21
Even as the Punjab and Haryana High Court
has summoned the DGP and a DSP of Jammu and Kashmir regarding the custodial
death of Mohan Lal (26) and the disappearing of six youths from this village,
the families of the victims are facing a tough time.
Cabin
man
averts rail mishap
Amritsar, September 21
The alert cabin man Balbir Singh today
averted a major disaster as a diesel engine (NWR 16276) went berserk at the
local railway station in the wee hours of the morning.
A tragedy was averted as an alert railway man changed track of an engine which rammed into a stationery crane and a railway electrification project engine in Amritsar on
Sunday morning.
— Photo by Rajiv Sharma
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Sri Adi Granth on
Barcelona agenda
Chandigarh, September 21
The Parliament of the World’s
Religions, Chicago has included the 400th anniversary, in 2004, of the
compilation and installation (first prakash) of Sri Adi Granth, in the
agenda of its next international conclave to be held at Barcelona
(Spain) in June, 2004.
CARE
to
take care of family disputes
Ferozepore
One of the most baffling
challenges that the police has to face today is that of proper
handling of marital disputes, domestic violence and child abuse. The
traditional concept of joint family has undergone a metamorphosis and
is, in fact, placed in a paradoxical situation.
Town
all
set to welcome CM
Faridkot, September 21
Punjab Chief Minister Capt
Amarinder Singh will visit Faridkot tomorrow to lay the foundation
stone of a school for the mentally challenged, blind and deaf and dumb
being constructed by the District Red Cross Society at a cost of over
Rs 1 crore.
Take
to
medicinal plants, NGOs urged
Amritsar, September 21
Financial Commissioner of Forest
and Wildlife P. Ram has said that Punjab has undertaken a major
project for the cultivation of herbal and medicinal plants. Addressing
a gathering of NGOs, government officers and principals of schools and
colleges for reviewing the plantation drive in the district, Mr Ram
said all societies must take to planting medicinal plants.
New
bus
stand in two years
Sangrur, September 21
Following steps of the
Improvement Trust here, the town will have a new bus stand in a couple
of years. It will cost Rs 5 crore. At present, the bus stand is
congested and populated area near the Dhuri Gate here, traffic jams
occur and mishaps take place. The area is also low lying and gets
flooded during rain, creating problems for bus passengers.
Row
over
doctors’ appointment
Chandigarh, September 21
A controversy has arisen over the
appointment of four doctors by the Reproductive Child Health Society
as consultants under the RCH programme of the Punjab Health and Family
Welfare Department in violation of the laid out norms.
Nitish
launches fire-proof train coach
Kapurthala, September 21
Three months after the fire
tragedy in a train coach which killed 38 persons near Ludhiana,
Railway Minister Nitish Kumar tonight inaugurated India’s first
fire-proof coach manufactured by the Rail Coach Factory here.
Release
of three teenagers sought
Amritsar, September 21
The International Bhai Mardana
Yadgari Kirtan Darbar Society has sought the release of three Indian
teenaged boys who had taken shelter at Dera Sahib Gurdwara Lahore in
Pakistan.
Govt
committed
to abolishing octroi: minister
Amritsar, September 21
Minister for Local Bodies
Choudhry Jagjit Singh said yesterday that the government had entrusted
the task of preparing a comprehensive report on the Local Area
Development Scheme in view of the abolition of octroi in the state to
a private consultant company.
Govt to reduce area
under wheat
Jalandhar, September 21
The Punjab Government plans to
reduce the area under wheat cultivation by two lakh acres this year.
Stating this at a farmers camp organised by the Punjab Agriculture
Department at Janadiala village, near here, yesterday state Revenue
Minister Amarjit Samra said last year, wheat was sown in 33.75 lakh
acres, but, the area would be reduced to 31.75 lakh acres this year
and the cultivation of cash crops like pluses and oilseeds would be
encouraged on the two lakh acres.
Farmers
suffer as paddy stocks pile
up
Ferozepore, September 21
Even as paddy stocks have started
piling up in grain markets in the district, the procurement process is
yet to begin, forcing farmers to sell their produce to private parties
at cheaper rates.
1,485
centres
set up to procure paddy
Faridkot, September 21
The Punjab Government has set up
1,485 purchasing centres and 150 grain markets to ensure the smooth
procurement of paddy crop from next month in the state. Keeping in
view the arrival of heavy stock of the produce, directions have been
issued to all District Mandi Officers to make adequate arrangements of
water, electricity and paving of yards in the mandis by September 25
so that the farmers may not face any problems, said Mr Sant Ram
Singla, Chairman Punjab Mandi Board, here yesterday.
Dengue:
Civil Surgeons told to be vigilant
Chandigarh, September 21
With a view to checking the
spread of dengue in Punjab, Civil Surgeons and Deputy Medical
Commissioners were directed to keep a strict vigil in their respective
areas. They were asked to make adequate arrangements to deal with any
kind of situation, besides improving health services in their
districts.
Books worth Rs 1 cr
still undistributed
Tarn Taran, September 21
Glaring discrepancies have been
alleged in case of the order placed by the District Education Officer
(Elementary Education), Amritsar, for books for schoolgirls under the
Sarav Sikhya Abhiyan Scheme.
4
polytechnics
to be upgraded
Hoshiarpur, September 21
The Government Polytechnics of
Hoshiarpur, Ropar, Khuni Majara and Lehra Gaga will be upgraded to
their old status of engineering colleges from the next academic
session. Permission is being taken from the All-India Council of
Technical Education in this regard. Rs 6 crore will be spent on
creating infrastructure in the upgraded colleges.
Students
hand over demands’ charter
to Sinha
Patiala, September 21
The Punjabi University Students
Confederation, which is spearheading student agitation, today
rescheduled the “chakka jam” call given by it earlier for
September 26 to October 1, even as it delivered a charter of its
demands to Mr S.K. Sinha, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister.
School Principal alleges intimidation
Kharar, September 21
The issue of beating up of two students of Class VIII of Government High School at nearby Desumajra village on September 19 by the Principal of the school hot up today.
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