POLITICS

CM busy with yatra, cops with batons
Sherpur/Dhuri, December 23
On the one hand there was a big response to the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh's Punjab Vikas Yatra today in several parts of the three Assembly constituencies - Sherpur, Dhuri and Malerkotla - on the other hand, the aided-school teachers faced the wrath of the police.

• Good response to vikas yatra

COMMUNITY

Water crisis looms over Sangrur
MC, PWSSB bicker over funds
Sangrur, December 23
In a major step which may hit the water-supply scheme adversely in the Sangrur town, if timely steps are not taken by the local Municipal Council (MC), the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB) has returned the keys of tube wells, supplying drinking water to residents here along with a list of employees working on contract basis on these tube wells, to the MC.

Heritage village draws crowd
Bathinda, December 23
On the second day of the annual Virasat Mela, people flocked to Jaipalgarh, a heritage village, to catch a glimpse of the typical rural lifestyle of the Malwa region. A painting exhibition by the Sobha Singh Memorial Society also opened to a good response.

• Minister bereaved

COURTS

Patwari remanded in judicial custody
Patiala, December 23
Revenue official Nirpal Singh and his associate Bhupinder Singh Saifdipur have been sent to judicial custody till December 29 by the Judicial Magistrate, Ms Rajnish.

2 station masters get 7-yr RI
Hoshiarpur, December 23
The Additional Sessions Judge, Mr Jaspal Singh, today sentenced Ram Lal of Nadaura village, Himachal Pradesh, and Varinder of Berohi, Uttar Pradesh, both station masters, to seven years rigorous imprisonment for the Mirthal-Bhangala train accident that took place on the Jalandhar-Pathankot section here on December 14,2004.

AGRICULTURE

Adopt drip irrigation system, farmers advised

Abohar, December 23 Experts working for Bharti Field Fresh Foods Farms, Laddowal, and Citrus and Agri Juicing Farms of Pepsi at Jallowal, have advised the fruit growers to have permanent drip irrigation system, designed to reach 75 per cent of the root system. Members of the IFFCO Farmers Club visit vegetable and fruit farms in Abohar on Saturday.

ADMINISTRATION

Moga DC is Sugarfed MD
Chandigarh, December 23
Bowing to pressure built up by Congress leaders of the Moga region, the Punjab Government yesterday transferred the Deputy Commissioner, Dr Arvinder Singh. From Moga district, Dr Arvinder Singh has been shifted to Sugarfed as its Managing Director. Mr S.K. Sharma, MD, Sugarfed, who is considered close to the Chief Minister's family, has been posted in place of Dr Arvinder Singh.

CRIME

Two women run over by train
Bathinda, December 23
Two unidentified women were run over by the Bathinda-Ganganagar train at Behman Tiwana railway station today. Though it appears to be a case of suicide, it is yet to be confirmed by the GRP.

EDUCATION

School attendants seek Class III status
Barnala, December 23
The Punjab Government Vocational School Attendants’ Union has urged the Chief Minister, to redress their grievances. Mr Charanjit Singh, General Secretary of the state unit of the union, said today that he had submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister.

Degrees fake, says varsity
Chandigarh, December 23
Reacting to a news-item "Want promotion, get a fake degree" in these columns on December 21, the Media Consultant for the Institute of Advanced Studies in Education University, Mr Ashish Dutta, has clarified that no degrees have been awarded.