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TOP STORIES

Pritpal comes out against Sidhu
Patiala, May 11
After being put on the mat by his confidants who spilled the beans on how money was taken from various candidates and forwarded to him, Punjab Public Service Commission Chairman Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu has now been deserted by his long-standing Secretary Pritpal Singh who has accused him of playing havoc with secrecy rules and may well turn an approver against his former boss.

JOBS-FOR-SALE-SCAM
Mann for probe by sitting HC judge
Chandigarh, May 11
President of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, has demanded that a probe into various “misdoings” and irregularities of the previous SAD-BJP government should be done by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He said the probe by a retired judge was not acceptable to his party.

• Withdraw Army from border: Mann

Whither higher education?
Chandigarh, May 11
Higher education in Punjab is in the doldrums. All 219 colleges, government (49) and private (140-affiliated and aided and 30 affiliated but unaided), put together have failed to give education a direction. Like factories, these continue to churn out graduates, who have an uncertain future, no hope, no jobs.

Bookies bare nexus with cricketers
Ludhiana, May 11
Nearly two years after the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal shook the cricket world, a Ludhiana police investigation into the activities of cricket bookies has found that some players are still “hobnobbing” with national and international-level bookies.

Row over death of Akali leader’s kin
Ludhiana, May 11
The two-day old mysterious death of a niece of Akali leader Amarjit Singh Bhatia, which witnessed intense allegations and counter-allegations between the victim’s parents and her in-laws, sparked off another row today.

SAD, BJP fail to tie up with BSP
Jalandhar, May 11
The much-publicised move by the SAD-BJP combine leadership to forge an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party for the forthcoming municipal corporation election in Jalandhar today fizzled out when the latter accused the former of sabotaging the proposed alliance by offering only seven out of 55 seats of the corporation.

POLITICS

BJP’s 2-day session at Sangrur on May 20
Chandigarh, May 11
To take stock of political situation in the state and discuss party matters, the Punjab unit of the BJP will hold a two-day session at Sangrur on May 20 and 21. Mr Avinash Jaiswal, general secretary of the state unit of the party stated this here today.

COMMUNITY

Act remains only on paper
Bathinda, May 11
An Act passed in 1995 by the Union Government for giving three per cent reservation for disabled persons is yet to get expected results in Punjab as no notification has been issued for implementation of the said Act in government-aided organisations.

Payment for levy rice within week
Bathinda, May 11
In a significant step which can have far-reaching effects on the agro-based business in the state, the Punjab Government today decided to make payments for levy rice to the rice mill owners within a week.

Hospital building dilapidated
Batala, May 11
The dilapidated condition of the Civil Hospital building at Qadian in Gurdaspur district 20 km from here on the Batala-Horchowal road, is of great concern to patients visiting this hospital. Qadian is known as the headquarters of the International Muslim Ahmadiya community.

Electrician ‘exposes’ mobile phones’ security lapse
Patiala, May 11
A security lapse in code division multiple access and GSM mobile phones was exposed here today when a local electrician claimed that these mobile phones were no longer secure as privacy could not be maintained.

Traffic blocked
Kapurthala, May 11
Residents of the Mehtabgarh locality here today blocked vehicular traffic for over an hour near the Civil Hospital in protest against the death of Shingara Lal, who is said to have died due to the alleged negligence of a doctor and staff of the hospital on Friday night, police sources said.

• Three day Urs begins
• IAS officer’s bail extended

ADMINISTRATION

Police to check misuse of security cover
Patiala, May 11
After downsizing the security set-up at all levels, the police authorities have decided to check the misuse of security personnel by directing senior officials in the Punjab Armed Police and the Indian Reserve Battalions to ensure that the VIPs do not put them to personal use.

DC passes eviction orders
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 11
Reacting to the news item published in the Ludhiana Tribune regarding the misuse of official residence of the Executive Officer of Municipal Council Sirhind-Fatehgarh Sahib, located in the premises of the council office, the SDM, Fatehgarh Sahib today raided the premises on the directions of the Deputy Commissioner and ordered to get the residence vacated immediately.

Vigilance-Intelligence row: CM unhappy
Chandigarh, May 11
Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, is unhappy about the ongoing war of words between two top officers of the Vigilance Bureau and Intelligence wing of the police. He will intervene on his return from Delhi to resolve differences between the officers concerned, it is learnt.

CRIME

Police crackdown on chemists
Abohar, May 11
About 12 chemists and registered medical practitioners have been arrested in the district during police raids in the past 24 hours in compliance of orders issued by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr D.K. Tiwari, under Section 144, Cr PC, prohibiting the sale of 22 medicines by the chemists without a prescription.

Tax inspector booked
Bathinda, May 11
Even as the dust raised by the implication of a doctor posted at the civil hospital, at Talwandi Sabo in a false corruption case is yet to settle down, another corruption case against tax inspector Surinder Kumar, posted at the Doomwali tax barrier, by the Vigilance Bureau has created another controversy.

Guilty in pension scam evade arrest
Amritsar, May 11
Old-age and widow pensioners continue to suffer even as the guilty in the pension scam evade arrest, Mr Satya Pal Dang, CPI leader, said. In a press note issued today, Mr Dang said about 10 agents, including the kingpin of the whole scam, Surinder Kumar, a panch, who was getting pensions sanctioned for bogus and ineligible persons had still not been arrested.

SAD leader held; stolen cars seized
Sunam, May 11
The Senior Vice-President of the Haryana unit of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Mr Sahib Singh of Kaithal, was arrested by the police and articles worth Rs 9 lakh were seized from him, including a white Zen car (without number plate), Zen car with No. PB-31-0021 and Maruti car with No. PB-44-6223.

SDO held on bribery charge
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 11
The local Vigilance Department has caught an SDO of PSEB posted at Bassi Pathana town in the district, while accepting bribe of Rs 1500 from a farmer for carrying out his work. He was arrested and sent to jail.

EDUCATION

Assurance to former govt college teachers
Chandigarh, May 11
Annual function of the Punjab Government College Retired Teachers’ Welfare Association was held yesterday at the Government College for Men, Sector 11, Chandigarh. Mr Khushal Bahl, Punjab Education, Minister presided over the function.

250 medical students left in lurch
Amritsar, May 11
Mr Satya Pal Dang has raised the issue of the predicament of about 250 students of postgraduate courses of various medical colleges of the state (outgoing batch 2002) affiliated with the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot.

Three teachers chargesheeted
Amritsar, May 11
The four-month-old stand-off between the management of Shree Lakshmi Narayan Ayurvedic College and its teachers and non-teaching staff continued even as the management today chargesheeted three senior teachers — Dr N.K. Chaturvedi, Dr Suresh Chauhan and Dr Amitab Singh — who were placed under suspension on April 12.

Schools ‘fleecing’ parents
Pathankot, May 11
Many schools in and around the town are reportedly forcing the parents of students to buy books, uniforms and other material from the schools or from shops of their choice.

Controversy over paper slip
Bathinda, May 11
The local Sri Sanatan Dharam Sabha, which runs a number of educational institutes and temples in the city, is again into controversy over a paper slip mentioning the receipt of Rs 5 lakh for the appointment of headmistress and bearing the signature of president of one of the schools being run by the sabha.

BUSINESS

3 more qualify for ‘Staara Yaara’ contest
Patiala, May 11
Pepsi today announced the names of the remaining three contestants who have qualified for the final of the biggest-ever musical talent hunt in Punjab — “Pepsi Banjaa Staara Yaara Contest”.