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Fernandes, Shahnawaz to attend SAD rally
Patiala, December 7
Union Ministers George Fernandes and Shahnawaz besides BJP spokesman Vijay Malhotra are expected to represent the NDA at tomorrow’s anti-repression rally being organised by the Shiromani Akali Dal to mark its protest against the “treatment” being meted out to its President Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal.

• Patiala rally: govt claim disputed

Refund on basis of fake High Court order
Excise & Taxation official booked
Bathinda, December 7
A criminal case has been registered against Mr Samarjit Singh, Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, appeals, and Mr Sulkhan Singh, record keeper, and three transport companies in the city police station for their alleged involvement in making payments worth lakhs of rupees to three Amritsar-based goods transport companies by conniving with them on the basis of a fake order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

CM to meet Sonia on  Dec 9 again
Amritsar, December 7
The Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, would meet Ms Sonia Gandhi, President, Indian National Congress, on December 9 at Delhi even as the party high command has decided to contest the forthcoming Parliament elections with the same Cabinet team.

Campaign to oust Chautala soon
Bathinda, December 7
Mr Pratap Singh, former MLA and younger brother of Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, predicted that Mr Chautala and his sons will have to pay a heavy price for indulgence in corruption in the state and he will meet the same fate which former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had been experiencing.

Jakhar ridicules INLD’s claim
Abohar, December 7
PPCC vice-president Sajjan Kumar Jakhar has ridiculed INLD leaders, for claiming that their party has emerged as third big force in Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha elections. Speaking at a reception given to Mr Vinod Kumar, newly elected MLA from the Hanumangarh Assembly constituency, at Panjkosi, near here, on Sunday, Mr Jakhar said the INLD had fielded 11 candidates in Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh districts, eight of them lost their security deposit even.

REGIONAL BRIEFS

A participant at a Kid's Show, organised at Bathinda's DAV School, strikes a pose on Sunday. — Photo by Charanjit Bhullar

YOUR TOWN

Amritsar Bathinda Chandigarh Fatehgarh Sahib Jalandhar Kapurthala Ludhiana Patiala Sangrur

	Tohra denied entry to Central Jail December 7, 2003
	Badals’ plea for regular bail adjourned December 6, 2003
	Sukhbir’s wife to meet Jaitley December 5, 2003
	Don’t foment trouble in Punjab, CM tells Chautala December 4, 2003
	Pensive Badal asks activists to remain peaceful December 3, 2003
	Hundreds of SAD workers booked by Ropar police December 2, 2003
	State geared up to foil Akali gathering December 1, 2003
	Daunting task was to keep secrecy, says PPSC chief November 30, 2003
	Badals accused of not accepting summons November 29, 2003
	3 held for killing youth November 28, 2003

Punjab to approach Centre on Bt cotton
Ludhiana, December 7
The Punjab Government will approach the Union Ministry of Science and Technology for the release of Bt cotton varieties which have been tested in Punjab and found fit for cultivation to avoid fleecing of the farmers of the north zone by the unscrupulous traders who are allegedly selling the seeds of such varieties which have not been recommended for the north zone comprising Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

Art is anti-establishment, says Habib Tanvir

Amritsar, December 7 Habib Tanvir’s scintillating theatre never allows you to rest. It stimulates thinking, pricks the conscience and challenges the mind endlessly. From incest to communalism, the thespian’s plays stir the soul, ensuring that art does what it is essentially meant to do, “shake establishments into introspection.” Legendary theatre director and playwright Habib Tanveer (right) talks about his concerns along with daughter, Nagin, during his visit to Amritsar on Sunday. — Photo by Rajiv Sharma

• Jazzy B, Pammy Bai wind fest on traditional note

POLITICS

Dhindsa : SAD not to appoint morcha dictator
Sangrur, December 7
Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, secretary-general of the Shriomani Akali Dal and Union Minister for Fertilisers and Chemicals, yesterday declared that the SAD would not appoint a “morcha dictator” to run the “anti-repression” morcha against the Amarinder Singh government, scheduled to begin on December 9.

Akalis have no issue, says Ravi Inder
Amritsar, December 7
Mr Ravi Inder Singh, president, Shiromani Akali Dal (I) flagged off the first political rally of his party here today in a show of strength. Earlier addressing a press conference, the SAD(I) president, while lauding the grit of the Congress in reining the corrupt, said the Akalis had no issues for morchas being announced by them. “Is it a morcha against or for corruption”.

COMMUNITY

Family members of 6 martyrs honoured
Jalandhar, December 7
Family members of six martyrs and two ex-servicemen were honoured during a function to mark Armed Forces Flag day at Punjab state war memorial here today. Earlier, the chief of the Western Command, Leiut-Gen S.S. Mehta, and the chief of 11 Corps, Leiut-Gen S. Pattabhiraman, laid wreaths at the war memorial.

Actor and Rajya Sabha MP Dara Singh pays homage to Late Harbans Lal Khanna, leader of Akhil Bhartiya Janta Party, during a BJP rally in Amritsar on Sunday. — PTI photo

Expand bus service to Pakistan, says Gujral
Jalandhar, December 7
While expressing satisfaction over ongoing peace initiatives taken by Indian and Pakistan to normalise the relations, a former Prime Minister, Mr Inder Kumar Gujral, yesterday said that no dramatic results should be expected out of the current initiatives.

Board okays shifting of bus stand
Kapurthala, December 7
The first meeting of the Kapurthala Development Board was held here on Thursday under the chairmanship of MLA Rana Gurjit Singh to review various projects. The board reviewed the progress of projects such as Science City, the Institute of Renewable Energy and Punjab Technical University and discussed the draft plan for integrated development of villages surrounding these institutions.

Theigh Kanjla centre faces shortage of funds
Kapurthala, December 7
Guru Nanak Nagar Theigh Kanjla vocational centre set up on the Kapurthala-subhanpur road, 6 km from here for giving vocational training to unemployed youths in 1990 faces financial crisis these days.

PSHRC notice to Excise Dept
Chandigarh, December 7
The Punjab State Human Rights Commission, while issuing notice to the state government on alleged consumption of liquor by underage persons, has sought a detailed report from the Excise and Taxation Department on the enforcement of legal provisions that prohibit the sale of liquor to such persons.

SCs, STs march up to minister’s house
Phagwara, December 7
Activists of the All-India Confederation of SC, BC, ST Organisations, Punjab, today held a state-level rally outside the local Town Hall and held a protest march up to the house of Punjab Social Welfare Minister Joginder Singh Mann in New Model Town here.

Delivering post no longer a man’s job
PATIALA: It is not her name alone that is unusual, her profession is even more so. Meet Bhrawan Wali Khanna — purported to be the first post woman of the country to have taken to the field.

Medical camp held at ex-servicemen’s rally
Fatehgarh Sahib, December 7
Ex-servicemen will be given representation in all district-level committees to be formed by the district administration and their problems, if any, will be sorted out on a priority basis.

Jaundice cases reported
Verka (Amritsar), December 7
A number of jaundice cases are being reported from the Verka township near Amritsar. Many persons have been taken ill during the past one month. Rajrani (55), a resident of Patti Bhara, who was suffering from acute jaundice, has been taken to Mumbai for treatment, said her daughter-in-law.

Chronic ailments blamed on changing lifestyle
Patiala, December 7
Tobacco, alcohol, failure to get preventative health services, changing life style, lack of physical exercise and environmental pollution and mental stress are the six major risk factors responsible for a large number of chronic ailments.

• Preneet visits Tohra’s wife in hospital

• 168 examined at camp

• Protest against hospital Director

AGRICULTURE

• Farmers stage dharna

ADMINISTRATION

Licences of 6 brick-kilns suspended
Sangrur, December 7
Resentment prevails among the brick-kiln owners of this district against the Punjab Government over the suspension of licences of six brick-kilns about a week ago by the District Food and Supply authorities on different grounds like size and quality of the bricks and use of different types of fuel in the brick-kilns.

CRIME

Eminent novelist attacked, looted
Amritsar, December 7
As many as seven miscreants attacked eminent novelist and short story writer Talwinder Singh last night when he was returning on a scooter alone after watching the heritage festival.

Danish citizen arrested
Patiala, December 7
The Kotwali Police today arrested a Denmark citizen on charges of forging seals of various local police stations in order to claim insurance worth several lakhs in Denmark.

Two gangs of thieves busted
Jalandhar, December 7
The district police claims to have busted two gangs of thieves with the arrest of its five members and recovered stolen vehicles and gold ornaments from their possession.

Cop arrested on graft charge
Kapurthala, December 7
The Vigilance staff yesterday arrested police constable Balwinder Singh posted at Talwandi Chaudhrian police station on the charge of accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 from the complainant, Sher Singh of Toti village, last evening.

Police clueless about robbery
Jalandhar, December 7
The local police is yet to find any clue about last evening’s Rs 3 lakh robbery, which took place in the high-security Police Lines area within hours of police claims about solving a case of robbery of Rs 1.22 crore.

• 85,000 looted from commission agent

EDUCATION

Science exhibition ends amidst controversy
Fatehgarh Sahib, December 7
The four-day state-level science exhibition being organised by State Institute of Science and Technology at local BZFS Senior Secondary School concluded here today.

Impressive show by school kids
Fatehgarh Sahib, December 7
Cultural bonanza with the theme of unity in diversity marked the annual function of Divine Light International School, Sirhind, one of the premier schools of the district. The annual function was conducted in two sessions one for the tinny tots and the second session for the senior classes.

BUSINESS

Traders’ terms for support to Cong
Bathinda, December 7
The Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal today declared that it would oppose the Congress in the next Lok Sabha elections if the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, failed to accept its demands at a meeting of its representatives with him next week.