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Six Punjabis elected to British Columbia Assembly
Chandigarh, May 18
The province of British Columbia in Canada, which had the distinction of producing the first ever Punjabi premier in Ujjal Dosanjh, has now in its new Assembly six legislators of Punjabi origin. Though the ruling Liberals led by Gordon Campbell have been successful in retaining power, winning 46 of 79 seats, but not without facing a tough opposition from the main Opposition party, New Democratic Party.

New twist to contract killing conspiracy case
Phagwara, May 18
Sticking to his guns, Mr Ram Murti Bhanoki, general secretary of the local block Congress committee and a panch of Bhanoki village, today gave new dimension to the contract killing conspiracy case by alleging at a press conference that Punjab BJP vice- president and former minister Chowdhary Swarna Ram had drugged Dharminder Singh, one of the two alleged contract killers, for turning him hostile.

Bodies of Dalit boys recovered, suspects held
Abohar, May 18 Mr Jas Ram and Mr Kamraj, poor members of the weaver community from Prem Nagar here, were in a state of shock when bodies of their sons Vikram and Sunny were brought to the Nehru Memorial Civil Hospital here this afternoon. The father of the minors, who were drowned, in a state of shock at the Civil Hospital, Abohar, on Wednesday. — Photo by Raj Sadosh

Missing bank money: manager held
Sangrur, May 18
Major Singh, manager Gehlan village (near Bhawanigarh) branch of The Sangrur Central Cooperative Bank, was today arrested by the Bhawanigarh police in connection with a theft case, registered on May 1 under Sections 380 and 406 of the IPC at Bhawanigarh police station.

Travel agent who duped hundreds arrested
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 18
The district police claims to have arrested a person carrying a pistol and two cartridges at Sirhind town. The person was later identified as a popular travel agent, who had allegedly fleeced hundreds of people on the pretext of sending them abroad.

PSHRC member gets contempt notice from HC
Chandigarh, May 18
In what could be the first-of-its-kind order, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued contempt notice to a sitting member of the Punjab State Human Rights Commission.

World-wide protest planned against French ban Chandigarh, May 18 Sikhs the world over would be protesting the ban imposed by the French authorities on wearing turbans. Revealing this here today, Shiromani Akali Dal General Secretary, Onkar Singh Thapar said that Sikhs living in India as well as abroad would march up to French embassies located in respective countries and lodge their protest.                                                         Onkar Singh Thapar

• Turban tutor CD launched

Govt schools sans rooms, water
Mansa, May 18
Many government schools here do not have drinking water and classrooms. Summer has set and students will find it difficult to study in open and get water from nearby houses. According to sources, 113 government schools in the district do not have water taps for providing water to students.

POLITICS

Mann lashes out at govt
Chandigarh, May 18
President of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) Simranjit Singh Mann said today that liquor mafia had strengthened its hold on the polity of Punjab. The mafia had a complete hold on the governance of the Congress-led Punjab Government, he said.

Removal of Jagjit Singh demanded
Jalandhar, May 18
The SC Morcha of the BJP today held a dharna in front of the Deputy Commissioner office here to seek removal of Punjab Local Bodies Minister Choudhary Jagjit Singh from the state Cabinet for being charged with travelling in the New Delhi-Chandigarh Shatabdi train without a valid ticket.

COMMUNITY

85-year-old bachelor with 860 sons!
Talwandi Sabo, May 18
He is an 85-year-old bachelor but as per the voter’s list, he has 860 sons and four daughters. He is none other than the chief of the Budha Dal, Baba Santa Singh. This startling fact came to light with the revision of the voter’s list for the forthcoming panchayat elections in Talwandi Sabo.

Protest by sugar mill workers Chandigarh, May 18 A protest by thousands of agitating workers of co-operative sugar mills in Punjab turned violent here today when the protesting workers breached barricades and the police restored to a lathi charge. A Chandigarh policeman aims a stone at agitating workers at the Matka Chowk in Chandigarh on Wednesday. — Tribune photo by Pankaj Sharma

Shift garbage site, demand residents

Amritsar, May 18 Residents of Guru Nanak Colony and Ishwar Nagar yesterday staged a dharna against the indifferent attitude of the Municipal Corporation towards dumping and burning of garbage in the residential area. Residents of Guru Nanak Colony and Ishwar Nagar, near Bhagtanwala Grain Market, protest against the Municipal Corporation for dumping garbage in the area, in Amritsar on Tuesday. — Photo by Rajiv Sharma

Whistle blower threatens to sue temple committee
Amritsar, May 18
Mr Surinder Singh Sharma, a social activist, has questioned the authority of Mr Surinder Arjun, working president of the Durgiana Committee, for giving a call to religious authorities to socially boycott him.

Poor sanitation is the rule here
Abohar, May 18
The provision in the municipal council manual warranting respectful cremation of unclaimed, unidentified bodies notwithstanding, the Sanitation Department has been using stinking trolleys to lift the bodies from the Civil Hospital for transporting to the cremation ground.

Torture  case: DC orders probe
Patiala, May 18
The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Tejveer Singh, has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the alleged torture of 17-year-old brick kiln labourer, Reshma. It may be recalled that the SHO of the PS Sadar, Mr Sharanjit Singh, has already been transferred to the Police Lines while two other cops have been issued show-cause notices in the case.

Vigilance team raids Central Jail
Amritsar, May 18
A vigilance team today raided the premises of the Amritsar Central Jail following information of alleged discrepancies in the records pertaining to ration. The team was led by Mr Kashmir Singh, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Vigilance).

Shagun cheques  distributed
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 18
The District Welfare Department has distributed Rs 3.05 lakh under the Ashirwad Shagun scheme, said the Deputy Commissioner, while handing over two cheques for Rs 6,100 each to Mr Harnek Singh, a resident of Machrai Kalan, for solemnising the marriage of her two daughters.

• Birmingham Council welcomes CM

COURTS

Magisterial probe ordered into rape case
Bathinda, May 18
The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Rahul Bhandari, has ordered a magisterial probe into the alleged rape of a Dalit girl belonging to Behman Jassa Singh village. The Talwandi Sabo SDM, Mr Gurkiratkirpal Singh, will investigate the matter.

ADMINISTRATION

3 constables suspended
Bathinda, May 18
The police has registered a case against three constables for reportedly letting off an opium smuggler after taking bribe. The accused constables, Harjiwan Singh, Harjinder Singh and Narinder Singh, were posted at Bhucho police post.

CRIME

Robbers loot Rs 4.06 lakh from bank
Malerkotla, May 18
A three-member gang of robbers, armed with pistols, looted Rs 4.06 lakh from Kanganwal branch of Punjab National Bank, near here today. According to Manager of the bank, Mr K.K. Verma, three youths in the age group of 20 to 25 years came to the bank at 11.45 a.m.

Minor girl elopes, found a day later
Jalandhar, May 18
A minor girl who had gone missing late last evening was found by the district police in the company of her lover early this morning. A resident of Tilak Nagar, the 16-year-old girl had gone missing last evening and the matter had been reported to the police.

Woman tries to immolate self
Phagwara, May 18
A twenty two-year-old Kajal, wife of Sham Lal allegedly set herself on fire yesterday. She was admitted to a private hospital here with 30 per cent burns. Mr Parshotam Lal, father of Kajal, said that she was married to Sham Lal of Daddal mohala three years ago.

ASI held taking bribe
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 18
A team of vigilance officials led by Mr Jaipal Singh, DSP, Patiala, caught red handed Mr Gurcharn Singh, ASI, in charge Police Chowki Peerjain, while taking bribe from Kuldeep Singh, a resident of Dabhali village.

EDUCATION

Teachers of aided schools to meet Governor
Chandigarh, May 18
A delegation of the Punjab State Aided School Teachers and Other Employees Union will meet the Punjab Governor, Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd), tomorrow to apprise him of the “indifferent attitude” of the state government towards its demands.

ITI employees stage dharna
Rajpura, May 18
Members of the Industrial Training Employees Union, Patiala and Ludhiana zones, today staged a dharna against the Punjab Government’s move to privatise technical institutes.

BCA-III results today
Amritsar, May 18
The results of the BCA (III) examination of Guru Nanak Dev University held in April would be declared tomorrow. The results could be accessed from the university website,www.gnduonline. org the same evening.

BUSINESS

Market panel chiefs appointed
Chandigarh, May 18
The Punjab Government today appointed chairmen and vice-chairmen of 20 market committees in the state. Mr Gurnam Singh is the chairman of Ajnala MC, while Mr Dilbag Singh is the vice-chairman. In Attari MC, Sukhdev Singh is the chairman, while Amanbir Singh is the vice-chairman.