Abohar
Poppy husk recovered: The police arrested Gurbhej Singh of village Warabai under the NDPS Act. A police party reportedly intercepted a car with a Chandigarh number plate near the sub-canal outside village Sherewala on Tuesday and claimed that 35 kg of poppy husk had been recovered during the search. The vehicle has also been taken into custody. Notably, the police had earlier arrested a driver of the Punjab Roadways, Amritsar depot, for allegedly smuggling poppy husk during the return trip from Sriganganagar at the local bus stand, sources said.

Concern over violence: Fresh incidents involving attacks by suicide bombers in Afghanistan, Pakistan as well as in the Kashmir valley of India and recovery of huge bomb at Patiala and rockets in Gurdaspur speak volumes of threat perceptions to peace globally, said legislator Sunil Jakhar. He along with city Congress president BL Nagpal, Rotary International assistant governor Dr AR Talwar, former district governor SL Gandhi, Sahitya Sadan secretary Inder Mohan Verma, SMO Dr Ramesh Verma, former Mahila Congress president Dr Adarsh Talwar, councillors Sanjeev Chahar and Ganpat Ram, Congress Seva Dal district chief Vinod Kumar, VHP district secretary Dr Prem Balana and others paid tributes to Brahma Baba, founder of the Brahmakumaris organisation, as the centre observed his 41st death anniversary.

Amritsar
Tributes paid to Jyoti Basu: Residents of Nirmala Avenue in the Chheharta area of the city paid  tributes to communist leader Jyoti Basu here today. District committee member of the CPI (M) O.P. Bairagi chaired the meeting and a two-minute silence was observed  to pay respect to the departed leader. Other members were Narinder Pal Chamiyari, Bharat Upadhyay and K.D. Sharma.

Bathinda
Border villages to observe dry day on Jan 20, 23: In the wake of by-elections in Ellenabad in Haryana, district magistrate Rahul Tewari has issued an order declaring January 20 (the election day) and January 23 (counting of votes) to be observed as dry days in all villages of this district located on the border of Punjab and Haryana.

Bhog ceremony of slain PSEB watchman held: The bhog ceremony of Charan Pal Singh, a watchman of PSEB office, was observed at Bhana Mal Trust here on Tuesday. He was allegedly killed by unknown persons at the PSEB office located on the Power House road during the intervening night of January 8-9. The PSEB officials attending the ceremony have assured aid to the bereaved family.

Body found: Volunteers of Naujwan Welfare Society found a body in the Sirhind canal in Bir Behman village on early Tuesday morning. They took the body to the Civil Hospital for the postmortem and handed it over to the Thermal police there. The deceased was not identified yet.

Jalandhar
PCS pre-training: The local District Sainik Welfare Office would be organising pre-coaching classes for PCS and allied services from January 28 onwards. During the five to six-week-long training classes, the students would be taught general studies and some optional subjects. Deputy Director of Sainik Board, Lt-Col Manmohan Singh said students who have applied for the PCS examination could contact the office at the local Shastri Market for more details.

Teachers’ rally: The Computer Teacher Union (contractual), Punjab, has decided to conduct massive rallies in all the districts, in protest against the failure of the state government to regularise computer teachers. State president of the union, Gurwinder Singh said despite a meeting with the state government officials on January 15, nothing has materialised so far. “Computer teachers are forced to adopt the path of protest as the state government has failed to fulfill our demands,” he added.

Book release: Noted columnist Professor Kulbir Singh’s book “Parvasi Punjabi Media” was released on Sunday during an extensive function at the Press Club Jalandhar. Advisor to Chief Minister Dr. Daljeet Singh Cheema released the book. Eminent literary and media personalities of the city were present at the function. Kulbir Singh said the book is still incomplete as I have missed inclusion of some of the media groups, which are working abroad. This book needs continuous update to keep its essence alive, he added.