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TOP STORIES

Sale of PTDC complexes under scanner
Patiala, April 14
The Punjab Government is likely to order a probe into the sale of Punjab Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) tourist complexes and holiday homes by the previous government. Sources say that the files regarding the sale have been summoned by the minister for tourism Hira Singh Gabaria. The minister admitted that the records regarding the sale of the tourism complexes had been summoned.

Atta-dal Scheme
Badal declines to raise income limit
Ludhiana, April 14
Despite a strong case made out by Lok Sabha deputy speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal and other speakers during the Ambedkar birth anniversary celebrations here today for raising the income limit for providing subsidised atta-dal to people, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal declined any commitment on the issue. Rather, he said at the existing income limit the government would have to spend Rs 800 crore for the scheme. Many of the tourism complexes of the PTDC across the state were put on sale by the previous government amid allegations that they were sold at throwaway prices.

Badal for national commission on agri-economy
Talwandi Sabo, April 14
Even as Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal urged the Centre to set up a national commission to review the agriculture economy of the country to work out strategies to bail it out of crises, most of the party leaders who addressed its conference organised here on the occasion of Baisakhi today endorsed the leadership of Sukhbir Singh Badal.

State to be made global hub of cotton textiles, fashion
Bathinda, April 14
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today unveiled a blueprint for making the state into a global hub of fashion technology, textile designing and cotton goods within a time frame.

Pak okays memorial at Gurdwara Panja Sahib Amritsar, April 14 In a significant development the Government of Pakistan has agreed in principle to raise the memorial at Gurdwara Panja Sahib in the memory of those who had embraced martyrdom in 1922 while attempting to serve food to the imprisoned Sikhs who were being transported to Rawalpindi from Amritsar in a train during the British period. Pakistan’s federal minister for religious affairs Aziz-ul-Haq at Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Pakistan to mark Baisakhi celebrations on Saturday. — A Tribune photograph

Chawla promises new hospital at Central Jail
Amritsar, April 14

Laxmi Kanta Chawla, state health minister, today announced that the government would soon provide a new hospital at Amritsar Central Jail here with latest equipment and facilities. She was speaking at an AIDS awareness camp organized by the state unit of the Red Cross Society at the jail complex here today. Laxmi Kanta Chawla, health minister, Punjab, enquires about the health of a prisoner at the hospital in Amritsar Central Jail on Saturday. — A Tribune photograph

Congress puts up a poor show
Talwandi Sabo, April 14
Even as the rally organised by the Congress here to mark Baisakhi turned out to be a poor show due to poor gathering and absence of Amarinder Singh and former state Congress chief Shamsher Singh Dullo, Leader of Opposition Rajinder Kaur Bhattal today urged the partymen to unite to fight against the atrocities being committed on Congress men by the present ruling set up.

Minister warns govt against vindictiveness
Tarn Taran, April 14
Ashwani Kumar, Union State Minister for Industries, has warned the SAD-BJP government for its vindictiveness against Congress workers and has said that the Congress and the Union Government will not remain a mute spectator to the situation.

CPSs to be sworn in tomorrow
Chandigarh, April 14
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will administer the oath to chief parliamentary secretaries (CPSs) on April 16 at Punjab Bhavan here.

COMMUNITY

Tribune Impact
SGPC drops move to buy Duleep Singh’s bust
Amritsar, April 14
Following pressure, the SGPC has finally dropped the move to participate in the proposed auction of the bust of Maharaja Duleep Singh to be held in the UK on April 19.

Poaching threatening butterfly species
Patiala April 14
Though news about illegal poaching of tiger and its declining population has been hogging headlines every now and then, many smaller species are also facing a similar bleak future due to poaching.

IG promises drug-free Amritsar
Amritsar, April 14
Inspector General of Police (Border Zone) R.P.Meena has said the police will try its best to end drug menace and control crime in the city.

Survey to track pollution
Amritsar, April 14
The amount of pollution in the vicinity of the Golden Temple will be studied by the Punjab Pollution Control Board by carrying out a special survey. The pollution levels of vehicles plying on the roads leading to Darbar Sahib will also be tested on April 16 and 17 so that the exact amount of pollution produced on a regular basis could be ascertained.

Curbing accidents at night their aim
Patiala, April 14
The local Rotary Club (Mid-Town) has launched a programme called “safe driving on roads during nights”. The club, in collaboration with the traffic police, installed ‘cat eyes’ and reflectors on tractor trailers at New Grain Market on the Sirhind Road here yesterday.

Two jail inmates die
Patiala, April 14
A youth convicted for rape, died of jaundice at Government Rajindra Hospital, here, in the wee hours of Saturday.

50-yr-old man kills himself
Patiala, April 14
A 50-year-old man ended his life here on Saturday by consuming acid.

Dr Ambedkar remembered
Amritsar, April 14
The birth anniversary of Dr B.R. Ambedkar was celebrated by the SC/ST cell of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. A cultural programme was organised on the occasion.

Sant Khalsa march  today
Chandigarh, April 14
The 150th year of the formation of Sant Khalsa by Satguru Ram Singh and the satyagrah to free India from the clutches of foreign rulers will be celebrated by the Namdhari Panth at Bhaini Sahib.

ADMINISTRATION

3 state DCs to observe Bhutan’s mock poll
Sangrur, April 14
On the request of the election commission of Bhutan, the Election Commission of India has deputed three IAS officers from Punjab and one from Uttarakhand to observe the national parliamentary mock poll to be conducted nationwide in Bhutan on April 21 and May 28.

CRIME

Three killed as jeep, truck collide
Abohar, April 14
Three persons, including the driver of a jeep, were killed when the vehicle collided head-on with a truck on the Peelibanga-Hanumangarh road yesterday.

EDUCATION

Principal moves HC, seeks confirmation
Phillaur, April 14
Freeda Mudgil, principal of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Police Public School, Phillaur, has moved the high court seeking her confirmation by the managing committee of the school.

BUSINESS

Intellectuals resolve to oppose SEZs
Sangrur, April 14
A number of intellectuals today passed a resolution at a seminar on "Special Economic Zones (SEZs): A new type of attack on farmers by capitalists", organised by the Association for Democratic Rights (AFDR) here, to oppose the creation of SEZs to save debt-ridden farmers from capitalists in the wake of suicides by farmers in the country.