Abohar
Burglary in shop: Miscreants burgled a cloth shop in the Sadar Bazaar located in the densely populated old city last night. Not only the owners of Naresh Cloth House but the visiting police officials were stunned over the modus operandi adopted by the culprits. Neither the shutter was tampered with nor were the locks broken to enter the shop. Even then, stock worth Rs 3 lakh, along with Rs 62,000 left last night in the cash box, had been taken away, the owner complained. Preliminary investigation indicated the culprits might have entered from the rooftop.

Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan: Gurtej Singh, MLA from Balluana, segment, handed over cheques worth of Rs 1.70 lakh each to the heads of the government primary schools in Dhaba Kokrian and Malukpura villages under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan on Thursday. He assured the villagers that all vacancies for teachers in government schools would be filled up soon. He informed that some of the schools would be upgraded so that students do not have to go to other villages for higher education. 

Amritsar
Two members of gang nabbed: The district police on Thursday nabbed Gian Singh of Bhagwanpura village under Tarn Taran police district and Manjit Singh of Guru ki Wadali and seized two pistols of .32 bore and .315 bore from them. During investigations it was found that the two belonged to a gang of robbers busted by Sadar police station here.

SAD should shift Delhi rally venue: Cong: SAD-BJP leaders should shift the venue of their proposed February 26 rally in Delhi to the residence of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and ex-home minister L.K. Advani as the anti-Punjab policies and decisions were also followed by the NDA government. These views were expressed by Sukhjinder Raj Singh (Lalli) Majithia, president, District Congress Committee (Rural) while addressing a meeting of party workers at Amritar on Thursday. Earlier, Lakhmir Singh Randhawa, vice president, PPCC, honoured Ranjeet Singh (Jijeyani) who lost his life after the Assembly elections last year. 

Man electrocuted: Saab Singh (26) of Lalpura village, Tarn Taran district, died after he got electrocuted when his tractor-trailer collided with a transformer late on Wednesday. He was going to Tarn Taran after loading sand from Raipur village in Ajnala tehsil when the incident occurred. His tractor banged into the poles of transformer after he lost control.

SAD (A) Sikhi Sidhak march: The SAD(A) will organise Sikhi Sidhak march from Lambi on February 27. It will culminate in Amritsar on February 28. Simranjit Singh Mann, president SAD (A), said on Wednesday that the march after passing through Gidderbaha, Muktsar, Ferozepur city, Rorewala, Fatehgarh Sabrah, Nizamudin Wala, Harike Road, Marhana and Khadoor Sahib will culminate at Akal Takht.

Upgrading of Amritsar airport: Members of the Civil Aviation Ministry hailing from Punjab and Haryana have urged the minister for civil aviation to constitute a four-member committee to monitor the upgrading of the Rajasansi airport. Trilochan Singh, Rajya Sabha MP, said he, along with the former CEC M.S. Gill, MPs Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Deepinder Hooda, all members of the consultative committee of the Civil Aviation Ministry, had requested minister Praful Patel to take steps in this regard.

Bathinda
Meeting: The general body meeting of the All India Defence Civilian Canteen Employees Association will be held at Kala Mata Mandir in Chandigarh on February 24. The Punjab state level union of the organisation would be formed at the meeting, Jagjit Singh, the Punjab state secretary of the association, said.

Function: In the memory of its chairman Gurdev Bhaura, the Pendu Sahit Sabha, Balianwali (Bathinda), will organise a cultural function on February 24 at Kavishar Maghi Singh Gill Memorial Library. According to general secretary Sukhdarshan Garg, Bhura Singh Kaler would be conferred the Gurdev Bhaura Memorial Award at the function.

Chandigarh
Badal seeks NGO’s help: The Punjab government has sought technical support from the Vetiver Network International through Earthizens, an NGO. This followed a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal with a delegation of the NGO led by its chairman Richard Grimshaw here recently. Meanwhile, Paul Truong, director of the NGO, gave a presentation on the plantation of the vetiver grass.

Hoshiarpur
Sweet shop raided: A team headed by district health officer M.L. Puri raided Davindra Sweet Shop at Mahilpur on Thursday and seized 1.20 quintals of suspected synthetic cheese. Dr Puri said seized cheese was transported in a bus from Gurdaspur to Mahilpur. Meanwhile, samples have been sent to the government laboratory at Chandigarh. 

One dies: One person was killed and four were injured when a Qualis vehicle hit deceased Mohinder Singh. The injured have been identified as Jaspal Singh, Malti Sood, Darshan Singh and Suresh Sood, who were admitted to the civil hospital. According to the information, the driver of Qualis became drowsy due to which the vehicle first rammed into an electric pole and later crushed Mohinder Singh.

Police remand: All the three employees of Punjab Roadways depot diesel filling station, who were allegedly involved in 36,000 litre diesel scam, were produced in the court of senior sub-judge here. The judge sent the accused Prem Sagar, Amarjit Singh and Pawan Kumar for two day police remand.

Mansa
‘Mandis to be renovated’: “As paddy and wheat crops require more water, the government should encourage the farmers to grow other crops that need less water considering the decreasing water table in the state. The minimum support prices for these crops should be increased for this purpose,” said Ajmair Singh Lakhowal, chairman of the Punjab Mandi Board, at a press conference held here today. Lakhowal informed that the markets (mandi) would be equipped with modern facilities. The government was considering a uniform marketing system for the country and a meeting would be held on March in Assam in this regard, he added. Earlier, he addressed the farmers and distributed cheques amounting to Rs 6 lakh among who were handicapped while working in their fields.

PATIALA
Two to donate bodies: A couple of Patiala residents, Mahesh Chandra and Pralad Krishna, have decided to donate their bodies after their death for research purpose to the department of anatomy, Government Medical College, Patiala. Mahesh is a resident of New Lal Bagh colony while Pralad lives in Ajit Nagar.

Workshop: The department of surgery and gynaecology of Government Rajindra hospital, in collaboration with Sutures India Private Ltd, will organize a live interactive laparoscopic workshop on various surgical and gynaecological procedure on February 23 and 24 in the college auditorium.

Suicide: Harvinder Singh (45), a draftsman with the local municipal corporation, committed suicide on Thursday evening by shooting himself in his Ajit Nagar residence. He is survived by his son and daughter.