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TOP STORIES

Land deal raises eyebrows
Amritsar, May 31
The “fishy” deal of a prime property, worth crores of rupees, by relatives of some senior leaders of the ruling party has raised many an eyebrow and put revenue officials in a fix.

Villagers support widow in ‘land grab’ case
Bathinda, May 31
Supporting a widow, possession of whose land was reportedly taken over by a family “with the aid of the police,” residents of Jhumba Bhaika village have formed an action committee to “protect her life and property from unbridled police force,” besides expressing their intent to launch an agitation on the issue.

Residents of Jhumba Bhaika village raise their hands in protest against the alleged encroachment on a widow’s land at the village, near Bathinda, on Wednesday. — Tribune photo by Kulbir Beera

Sarpanch violates norms, allots plots to Dalits
Amritsar, May 31
Though the state’s efforts to allot land to Reliance hit political roadblocks, the sarpanches of the ruling Congress Party have allegedly allotted panchayat land to Dalits with an eye on the forthcoming elections in the state.

RIL presentation wins over Dullo
Chandigarh, May 31
The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee’s president, Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, who had serious reservations on the Reliance Industries Limited’s (RIL) proposed field-to-fork project in the state, was visibly bowled over by the presentation given to him relating to the project in the presence of the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, at Punjab Bhavan here today.

Rising prices: middle-class families turning to PDS
Chandigarh, May 31
Burdened with the rising prices of essential commodities, even middle class families in Punjab are now turning to the public distribution system (PDS) to buy wheat and rice. So much so that the Punjab Government has now ordered the release of an additional 88,000 tonnes of wheat to meet the sudden surge in demand.

Hospital trust divided over reinstatement of college Principal
Amritsar, May 31
The Sri Guru Ram Das Charitable Hospital Trust (SGRDCHT) seems to be divided over the reinstatement of Dr U.S. Dhaliwal, as Principal of the SGPC-run Medical College, who was suspended on February 3 for allegedly indulging in ‘unconstitutional charges’.

Rs 1-cr fraud rattles Dept of Posts 3 employees suspended
Chandigarh, May 31
A fraud, to the tune of Rs 1 crore, has been unearthed in the Punjab Circle of the Postal Department.

Septuagenarian couple left homeless
Gurdaspur, May 31
Septuagenarian couple has lost all its property to illegal financiers and is now forced to live in a religious dera. Bereft of their only house and belongings, they are still being harassed by the financiers.

Surinder Kaur on path to recovery
Chandigarh, May 31
Flooded with phone calls from Surinder Kaur’s fans across the world, the US-based daughters of the legendary singer today confirmed that their mother was on the path to recovery.

POLITICS

Mann resents Suu Kyi’s detention
Chandigarh, May 31
The President of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), Mr Simranjeet Singh Mann, has said his party was upset by the Burmese military juntas’ order of not releasing the Nobel Prize Winner, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, who stood for democratic rule in her country.

COMMUNITY

Irked by faulty sewerage, residents stop Lahore bus
Amritsar, May 31
The police today had a tough time to control the irate residents on the Batala road who stopped the Amritsar-Lahore-Nankana Sahib Bus ''Punj-Aab'' in protest against faulty sewer system in their locality here today.

Residents stop the Amritsar-Lahore bus in protest against a faulty sewer in their locality in Amritsar on Wednesday. — Photo by Rajiv Sharma

Councillors accuse 2 chairmen of duping people
Patiala, May 31
In a significant development, a section of Municipal Councillors of the local Municipal Corporation, members of panchayats and block samitis belonging to the Congress, while accusing two chairmen of state government departments of collecting money by befooling the people, urged the Chief Minister today to initiate legal action against them.

Vigilance checks trees marked for felling
Gurdaspur May 31
The Punjab vigilance has started an inquiry into the marking of trees in the Gurdaspur forest range. Sources available here said a Vigilance team was in the forests in Donera range these days to check the marking of trees.

Death after tubectomy: final report awaited
Sangrur, May 31
Though the police has initiated proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC into the death of Rajinder Kaur (25) of Kammomajra Khurd village, near here, after a family planning operation at the Civil Hospital on May 29, the post-mortem report says massive blood was found in the peritoneum cavity of the deceased.

Polluted water irks Muktsar residents
Muktsar, May 31
Even as the Chief Minister promised to check the supply of polluted canal water at a recently held martyrdom anniversary function of 40 “muktas”, water containing harmful effluents has started flowing into the district in large quantity again.

Tobacco claims 50 lakh lives a year
Sangrur, May 31
Due to excessive use of tobacco about 50 lakh persons die every year in the world, including 2,200 persons daily in India.

Ultra-modern bus stand for Kharar
Kharar, May 31
The local municipal council will construct an ultra-modern bus stand here at a cost of Rs 2 crore.

2 killed in road mishaps
Batala, May 31
Pritam Singh, a son of Barkat Singh of Kohali village, was killed, and his wife, Swaranjit Kaur, injured when the scooter they were riding collided with a tractor-trailer at Bahadur Sen village today.

Tree plantation project on the anvil
Ropar, May 31
In a move to protect the designated wetland area of international importance spread over 1365 hectares area in the district, the Forest Department has decided to do tree plantation.

Front hails decision on DA merger
Patiala, May 31
The Progressive Front has hailed the decision of the State Finance Minister, Mr Surinder Singla, to merge 50 per cent of the DA with pay scales of employees of Punjab Government aided schools.

Major tragedy averted
Patiala, May 31
A major fire broke out in the generator room of a petrol station located near the 22 no phatak flyover, near the head office of the State Excise Department, causing panic among residents of the locality this afternoon.

COURTS

HIGH COURT
No regular bail for murder accused
Chandigarh, May 31
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today disallowed the plea of Dr Ravdeep Kaur, an accused in the murder case of Patiala Judge Vijay Pal Singh, for grant of regular bail.

ADMINISTRATION

Civil Defence officers transferred
Chandigarh, May 31
The Punjab Government today ordered the posting and transfer of officers of the Home Guards and Civil Defence Directorate.

CRIME

3 arrested on murder charge
Kharar, May 31
The police has arrested three persons in connection with the murder of a middle-aged person at Radiala village yesterday.

2 held with hawala money
Ropar, May 31
The Ropar police has arrested two persons Achit Walia of Delhi and Satpal of Pinjore with 7 lakh of hawala money besides a .303 bore pistol and live cartridges from them. Three of their accomplices, however escaped.

Youth shot
Patiala, May 31
A youth identified as Ranjit Singh Anand, alias Dimpy, was shot by two unidentified youths at his house located in a thickly populated Raghomajra area of the city late night today.

EDUCATION

Panjab varsity B. Com I results
Chandigarh, May 31
Panjab University here has declared the result of the B.Com. Part I examination conducted in April 2006 The result would be available on the university website www:puchd.ac.in at 2 p.m. on June 1, 2006.

BUSINESS

Panel clears rules on running sawmills
Chandigarh, May 31
The Empowered Committee of the Union Forest and Environment Ministry has approved the rules with regard to the operation of sawmills and the setting up of plywood factories in Punjab.

New co-operative model launched
Patiala, May 31
Iffco-Tokio General Insurance Company Ltd. (ITGI), a trusted player in general insurance, and Iffco, the world largest fertiliser cooperative, today announced the launch of a new cooperative model to enhance the reach of insurance to people in rural areas.

Chamber resents PSIEC’s move
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 31
The Patiala Chamber of Industries have demanded the waiving of penal interest on IFL scheme and refund of excess meter rent charged by the PSEB. The chamber at its meeting held here today has strongly criticised the autocratic attitude of the PSIEC towards the industry.