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Poll complaints unabated
Elections for 18 Panchayats postponed, 
5 officers removed 
Chandigarh, May 23
The Election Commission (EC) today postponed the elections to 18 Gram Panchayats in six districts, which were scheduled for May 26. Five election officers have been removed.
Aggrieved voters and contestants line up outside the office of the chief election commission to lodge their complaints, mostly against returning officers. Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan

  Put off polls now: CPI

Tohra’s legacy in tatters in native village
Protégé, son-in-law, former confidant fight it out in Panchayat polls
Tohra (Amloh), May 23
The legacy of late Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who was president of the SGPC for a number of years, lies in tatters, with his supporters and adopted relatives working at cross purposes in the Panchayat elections in this village, which has been known for returning unanimous candidates according to the diktat of the Sikh “pope” of Punjab.

SGPC member Satwinder Tohra (extreme left), along with others, at the park created in memory of Gurcharan Singh Tohra at Tohra village. Photo by writer

Tribune Impact
Experts visit Majri dam
Villagers, students take up desilting work
Tarapur Majri (Kurali), May 23
Technical advisers from the Department of Soil and Water Conservation, Punjab, visited the dam at Majri today. The Tribune had highlighted the plight of villages having dams lying defunct in the respective areas due to heavy silt on May 19.
The desilting work gets underway at the Majri dam.

Cheema saves SAD embarrassment

Chandigarh, May 23 Sheer presence of mind of SAD secretary Daljit Singh Cheema has saved the party a lot of embarrassment and at the same time taken the sting out of the Congress demand for disqualification of SAD Amritsar (South) candidate Inderbir Singh Bularia. Anticipating that the Congress will keep a close watch on the activities of the SAD, Cheema has released the letter written to the chief election commissioner wherein he had listed 40 leaders of the SAD who enjoy a “special status of sorts” under Section 77 of the People’s Representation Act.

Daljit Singh Cheema

Sud seeks Shivraj Patil’s removal
Hoshiarpur, May 23
Minister for parliamentary affairs, medical education and research, forest and labour, Punjab, Tikshan Sud has urged President Pratihba Patil to sack union home minister Shivraj Patil for his failure to protect the Constitution, life and property of the people of the country.

COMMUNITY

PM’s childhood friend arrives
PMO contacts him on phone
Amritsar, May 23
The nondescript Gah village in Chakwal district of Pakistan came into prominence in the country when the son of its soil, Dr Manmohan Singh became the Prime Minister of India. Now the name of the village is better known as “Dr Manmohan Singh village”.

Dr Manmohan Singh’s childhood friend Raja Mohammed Ali (left), accompanied by his relative Mehmood Ahmed, shows the “jootis” and other gifts he has brought from Pakistan, on his arrival in Amritsar on Friday. Photo: Vishal Kumar

COURTS

Fake Encounter Case
Bailable warrants against ADGP Virdi
Chandigarh, May 23
CBI Special Judge Jagdeep Jain today issued bailable warrants against J.P. Virdi, additional director general of police (ADGP), for not deposing before the court in the alleged fake encounter killing of Kulwinder Singh, alias Kid, by seven Punjab police personnel, including SSP Surjit Singh Grewal.

Jail upgradation
Chandigarh, May 23
Taking up the issue of upgrading the Ropar sub-jail into a full-fledged jail, a High Court Division Bench of Justice M.M. Kumar and Justice Sabina today asked Punjab principal secretary, department of home affairs and justice (jails branch), to discuss the matter with the finance department. The Bench also asked the state to file an affidavit in this regard a week before August 7, the next date of hearing in the case.

Probe sought into Infotech MD’s foreign tours
Chandigarh, May 23
A High Court Division Bench of Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Jaswant Singh today issued a notice of motion to Punjab, Vigilance Bureau, Punjab Information and Communication Technology Corporation Limited (Infotech) and Consumer Electronics Punjab Limited on a petition seeking vigilance inquiry into the foreign tours of managing director (MD), other directors and officers.

EDUCATION

Special courses for technical hands
Chandigarh, May 23
To open up fresh avenues for technically trained illiterate persons, Punjab has come out with a specialised certificate programme for bridge courses. The aspirants can avail this facility after their job hours.

Samrala boy  tops CET
Ludhiana, May 23
Sumit Gupta of Samrala, who scored 317.5 out of 360 marks (88.2 per cent), has topped Combined Entrance Test (CET), Chandigarh, in the medical stream.

AGRICULTURE

Reaping fruits of community farming
Mann Chopra (Gurdaspur), May 23
In a unique example of community farming when families are disintegrating fast, the entire agricultural land of this village, tilled by at least 60 families, is divided among only nine teams. The teams, led by seniormost family member of the particular group, are managing the affairs in approximately 550 acres of their cultivable land.