Dalbir Kaur sits on indefinite fast

Bhikhiwind, April 6 Dalbir Kaur, sister of Sarabjit Singh, facing gallows for serial bomb blasts in Pakistan, threatens to commit suicide if the central government fails to pressurise the Pakistan government for the early release of her brother. Dalbir Kaur, sister of Sarabjit Singh, accompanied by his daughters, proceeds towards the main chowk of Bhikhiwind for sitting on an indefinite fast on Friday. — Photo by Rajiv Sharma

BJP, SAD to form coordination panel
Chandigarh, April 6
Stressing the importance of keeping in touch with the electorate, the BJP top leadership has asked all its ministers in Punjab to listen to people and solve their problems.

COMMUNITY

Nuns participate in special service on the occasion of Good Friday in Jalandhar. — PTI

Govt dithers on police reforms, says former CBI chief
Amritsar, April 6
The state governments must act on the directions of the Supreme Court and introduce police reforms to save the force from political interference, said former CBI director Joginder Singh. He was talking to newsmen here on Wednesday.

Damdami Taksal calls conclave against daily
Amritsar, April 6
The Damdami Taksal, once the fountainhead of militancy, has convened a Sikh conclave at Chowk Mehta, its headquarters, on April 12, a day before Baisakhi, to chalk out the next course of action against a Punjabi daily being published from Mohali.

Schemes for riot-hit to be implemented
Chandigarh, April 6
The Punjab government will implement all decisions pertaining to the resettlement of the 1984 Sikh riot victims which were taken by the previous Akali-BJP government but were abandoned by the Congress regime in the state, said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today.

42-member jatha to enter Pak today
Amritsar, April 6
A 42-member jatha of the Kesh Sambhal Sanstha (KSS), led by S.J.S. Pall, retired chief commissioner, income tax, will be crossing over to Pakistan for the first time to celebrate Baisakhi there.

Protest against handing over ITIs to pvt house
Bathinda, April 6
Activists of the Punjab Student Union (Shaheed Randhawa) on Wednesday held a demonstration in front of the local Industrial Training Institute (ITI) and took out a march from there to the deputy commissioner's office to lodge their protest against the move of the state government to hand over the administration of three ITIs to a private industrial house.

Dr Upinderjit Kaur, education minister, Punjab, gives degree to a student during the convocation of BBK DAV College in Amritsar on Friday. — Photo by Rajiv Sharma

X-ray scanner needed at air cargo centre
Amritsar, April 6
Exporters and private airlines operating at Rajasansi International Airport are sore over the absence of an X-ray machine at the air cargo complex of the Central Warehousing Corporation.

Chohan cremated
Hoshiarpur, April 6
Dr Jagjit Singh Chohan, a Khalistan ideologue, was cremated at the back of Chohan Charitable Clinic in Tanda, 32 km from here, today. Rupinder Singh, his adopted son, Jorawar Singh Chohan, his nephew, and Mukhtiar Singh, his brother-in-law, jointly lit the pyre.

Tributes paid to Norah, Nanda
Patiala, April 6
The National Theatre Arts Society (NTAS), Patiala, today organised its 94th annual international Punjabi theatre day festival, here.

Antakshari auditions at Amritsar
Chandigarh, April 6
To become the pride of North Zone, the auditions for Star-One TV programme Antakshari (Annu Kapoor fame), will be held at SR Government College for Women, Nacleod Road, Amritsar from 10 am to 6 pm on Sunday, 8th April, 2007.

Bandh against BOT roads near total
Hoshiarpur, April 6
The city and its adjoining areas today remained inaccessible from the other districts of Punjab due to a day-long blockade and bandh call given by the District Sangarsh Committee to protest against the toll-plazas installed at the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) roads on Balachaur-Dasuya and Hoshiarpur-Tanda routes.

COURTS

Bribery case: Accused SE in judicial custody
Bathinda, April 6
In a development, which could expose the malfunctioning of the local municipal corporation, its superintendent engineer (SE) V. K. Setia was caught red-handed on Wednesday while accepting a bribe from Kewal Krishan, chairman, local Modern ITI, for sanctioning the site plan of a building to be constructed by the complainant.

Varsity registrar summoned
Patiala, April 6
The state information commission has summoned the registrar-cum-public information officer of Punjabi University, Patiala, on April 12 in a case of the denial of information.

Jail for two

AGRICULTURE

Waterlogging hits farmers hard
Muktsar, April 6
For most farmers having their landholdings in this home district of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, farms have again started breeding poverty for them as waterlogging has made their land uncultivable.

Govt asked to pay crops’ insurance premium
Sangrur, April 6
Seeking a major relief for the farmers of the state, chairman of the Punjab Mandi Board and president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal) Ajmer Singh Lakhowal today asked the Punjab government to get the crops of the farmers insured by paying premium of the insurance from the state exchequer on behalf of the farmers.

Bt cotton seed arranged for 15 lakh hectares
Sangrur, April 6
With a view to increasing the production of Bt cotton in the state, the Punjab Agriculture Department has arranged seed for 15 lakh hectares for the current kharif season. The state government has already approved and released 14 varieties of Bt cotton seed, including Ankur 651, Rashi 134 and MRC 6301, 6304, for sowing by farmers.

CRIME

Protest against SDM for thrashing patwari
Pathankot, April 6
Irked over certain queries by a patwari, the sub divisional magistrate (SDM), Dhar Kalan, allegedly gave him a sound beating and also got him thrashed by his security guards at Dhar Kalan last evening.

Sacked cop posing as IT official held
Amritsar, April 6
A dismissed constable of the Punjab Police posing himself as income tax inspector was caught by people in the Angarh area here yesterday.

Molestation: Girl points finger at police
Tarn Taran, April 6
The Verowal police yesterday registered a case against four youths, who tore the cloths of a girl two weeks back, under bailable sections of the IPC allegedly to allow the accused to get bail easily from the court. This was stated by the victim’s family today.

Pak intruders shot

EDUCATION

20 teams to argue it out

Patiala, April 6 A three-day international moot court competition was inaugurated by justice M.M. Kumar of Punjab and Haryana High Court, this evening, at the Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, here. Law students from 20 universities and colleges from across the country are expected to participate. Participants at the moot court competition at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law in Patiala on Friday. — Tribune photo by Rajesh Sachar