World Bank funds water project 
Chandigarh, February 6
The Punjab government will provide clean drinking water and improved sanitation to 588 villages under the World Bank-aided Punjab Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project by 2008-09. This was disclosed after a meeting held to monitor the progress of this project by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here yesterday.

 

POLITICS

Cong set to revamp district-level leadership
Chandigarh, February 6
The Punjab Congress is all set to reorganise district level set-up following delimitation of the Assembly and parliamentary segments. Besides, the party high command is reported to be unhappy with six district presidents, who remained sluggish for over a year, since the party lost to the SAD-BJP alliance.

COMMUNITY

Round-up
Schedule for RIMC entrance test 
Chandigarh, February 6
The entrance examination for admission to the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehra Dun, for the January 2009 term will be conducted at Lala Lajpat Rai Bhawan here on June 1 and 2, 2008.

AC buses: Dept soft towards manufacturer
Chandigarh, February 6
All is not well with the Punjab Transport Department. The fleet of air-conditioned vehicles introduced recently continues to inconvenience commuters, the department is understaffed and despite transport minister Master Mohan Lal’s assurance, inspectors and sub-inspectors see no hope of promotion.

Jathedars decide to bury the hatchet 
Amritsar, February 6
Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti and Giani Iqbal Singh, Jathedars of Akal Takht and Patna Sahib, respectively, have decided, in principle, to bury the hatchet in Panth’s interest.

Admn mum on tree felling on forest land
Gurdaspur, February 6
A notorious person from Jogi Cheema village, near Kahnuwan, who enjoys political patronage, has felled trees as old as 35 years on the forestland allegedly in connivance with police personnel.

SSP Virk has disgraced force, say pensioners
Amritsar, February 6
The U-turn by Surinder Pal Singh Virk, SSP, Vigilance, and investigating officer in the corruption case against the Badal family during the previous Congress regime, earned flak from senior retired police officers here today.

Move to waive stamp duty on property transfer
Chandigarh, February 6
A proposal has been mooted to waive stamp duty on the transfer of commercial property from parents to their wards and other immediate blood relations during their lifetime. Sources said after the death of parents, the ancestral property could be transferred to their wards without charging stamp fee as it is considered a case of natural succession.

Raise in retirement age sought
Chandigarh, February 6
A delegation of the Federation of Heads of Punjab Government Employees Associations here today met Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to urge him to enhance the retirement age to 60.

Trust Land Scam 
House panel begins probe
Chandigarh, February 6
A Punjab Vidhan Sabha committee head by Harish Rai Dhanda today commenced inquiry in connection with alleged scandal involving 32 acres of premium improvement trust land at Amritsar. The committee sought relevant records and other details in this regard from the Local Bodies Department.

Father, son hurt as revolver goes off 
Sangrur, February 6
Raj Kumar, constable of IRB, Patiala, and gunman of an Akali leader, and his son Happy Sharma (11) were injured at Bhawanigarh on Tuesday night when the revolver of the former went off accidentally when he was cleaning it.

COURTS

Murder Case
HC upholds trial court order
Chandigarh, February 6
Less than seven years after a Mansa district resident killed his mother on the apprehensions of being excluded from the property, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld the trial court’s order sentencing him to life imprisonment.

Khaira moves HC against ‘errant’ police officials
Chandigarh, February 6
If Punjab MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira’s contentions in an application filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court are to be believed, out of 30 cases registered by the police in Bholath constituency of Kapurthala district, just six were found to be genuine by the Kapurthala SSP. The others were registered only to implicate innocents due to political considerations.

ADMINISTRATION

2 DIGs, 4 SSPs shifted 
Chandigarh, February 6
The Punjab government yesterday shifted 13 IPS officers, including two DIGs and four SSPs of districts. Separate orders have been issued for shifting 11 Punjab Police Service (PPS) officers.

CRIME

Children’s Abduction Police yet to register FIR
Jalandhar, February 6
The police apparently is not taking seriously the matter of abduction of two children from the Ladowali road in last week of December as it did not register an FIR of kidnapping even after the recovery of the body of one of the children, Lokesh, from the railway track near Bashirpur crossing on January 22.

BUSINESS

Sand, gravel quarries to be auctioned afresh
Chandigarh, February 6
After dithering for 11 months, the Punjab government has decided to hold a fresh auction of sand and gravel quarries. The Cabinet sub-committee set up for this purpose under industries minister Manoranjan Kalia held a meeting here yesterday to decide on fresh auction.