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TOP STORIES

Cong veterans ready to hand over reins to sons
Khushal Behl, Kewal Krishan plan to retire from politics
Gurdaspur, January 20
Veteran Congress leaders of the area Mr Khushal Behl, former education minister and Mr Kewal Krishan Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, are ready to hand over the baton of political career to their sons. They have made up their mind against contesting the Assembly elections next year.

Ranjit Sagar dam to be developed into wetland
Gurdaspur, January 20
The Union Government was identifying areas to develop wetlands along the Ranjit Sagar dam lake. A high-level meeting of officials from the Union Ministry of Forests and states of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh was held at the Ranjit Sagar dam today.

High Court
Mohali industry land for multiplex: PIL filed
Chandigarh, January 20
A Chandigarh resident has filed a PIL in the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the decision of the Punjab Government to allot land acquired from villagers for industrial purposes to colonisers for setting up multiplexes, shopping malls and hotels.

Minor girl booked for suicide bid
Bathinda, January 20
The 14-year-old Rajvinder Kaur, who attempted suicide on January 18, was today booked by the police. Various political and farmer bodies have criticised the police action, stating that strict action should have been taken against the erring cops.

Rajvinder Kaur recuperates in the Bathinda Civil Hospital on Friday. — Photo by Kulbir Beera

Vigilance seeks PSEB help for probe in forest scam
Gurdaspur January 20
The local wing of the Vigilance Bureau has sought the help of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) to inquire into the forest scam. In a letter written to the Pathankot-based PSEB officials the vigilance officials have demanded that two SDOs and two JEs should be put at the bureau’s disposal to carry out the inquiry.

Churning in Sikh politics
Ludhiana, January 20
It appears that churning has started in the Sikh community as a whole. Since 1984, the Sikh politicians had been operating in a state of disillusionment. The traditional leadership of the Sikhs stood condemned for the happenings during Operation Bluestar.

POLITICS

CM making false promises, says Kanwaljit
Patiala, January 20
SAD General Secretary and former Finance Minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh said that Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh is misleading people on the issue of waiving of agricultural loans of the farmers.

COMMUNITY

State to get 24 hi-tech publicity vehicles
Ludhiana, January 20
With a view to carrying out propaganda in the rural areas on the eve of elections in the state, the Public Relations Department of the Punjab Government is getting a fleet of 24 vehicles equipped with modern means of publicity. These vehicles will screen the achievements of the government in rural areas where most of the private television news channels cannot reach.

Tributes paid to Thikriwala
Thikriwala (Barnala), January 20
After paying tributes to Sewa Singh Thikriwala, a Praja Mandal leader and freedom fighter who sacrificed his life in a Patiala jail 71 years ago, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, general secretary of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), said Mr Amarinder Singh had rubbed salt into the wounds of residents of this area by offering tributes to the martyr here on Thursday as Thikriwala had sacrificed his life in a Patiala jail during the rule of grandfather of Amarinder Singh.

Dogma haunts Pakistani sculptors
Amritsar, January 20
“The artists who sculpt human form, especially that of women, have to face religious ‘dogmatism’ for their display and sale”, disclosed Pakistani artists Dabir Ahmed and his wife Talat Ahmed, here yesterday.

Probe into bungling in Punjab Bhavan
Chandigarh, January 20
The Punjab Hospitality Department has ordered inquiry into alleged bungling of materials in the Punjab Bhavan here.

SDM to probe Sept 21 encounter
Pathankot, January 20
Mr Amarjit Pal, SDM, Pathankot, will probe the September 21 encounter in which two “kidnappers” belonging to Kathua were shot dead near Madhopur. Though relatives of the killed and the SAD(A) president, Mr Simranjit Singh Maan, had demanded a CBI probe, the government had ordered a magisterial inquiry.

Tension at Vridh Ashram
Hoshiarpur, January 20
Timely action and intervention by the district administration and the police defused tension and averted a clash between two factions at Vridh Ashram (old-age home) of Baba Sunder Singh Saini at Hariana town, 15 km from here today.

No passenger for Lahore
Amritsar, January 20
There will be no Indian passenger on board the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) luxury coach on its return journey to Lahore tomorrow.

Mini bus operators to protest in Chandigarh
Amritsar, January 20
The Mini Bus Operators Association will burn a mini bus at Matka Chowk in Chandigarh on February 1 to protest against the apathetic attitude of the state government towards their demands.

Former PR Dept official cremated

AGRICULTURE

Agri technocrats seek filling of vacant posts
Gurdaspur, January 20
The Agriculture Technocrats Action Committee of Punjab (AGTAC) has demanded that the vacant posts in the agriculture and animal husbandry departments should filled at the earliest. In a press note issued here yesterday, the committee members alleged that the work in agriculture and animal husbandry departments had been hit due to a large number of vacant posts.

CRIME

Man commits suicide
Kharar, January 20
A resident of Gobind Colony allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan in his house here last evening.