AMRITSAR
4 Pak ministers visit  Golden Temple: A delegation of four Pakistan ministers, along with other officials, paid obeisance at the Golden Temple here on Tuesday. The delegation included Syed Asif Shah, Shahid Basher, Nasir Masroor Ashmed, Muhammad Hassan, Abdul Qadir Memon and Muhammad Farooq Khan. They had come to participate in a commerce meeting of SAARC countries being held in New Delhi. They were presented a siropa and a set of holy books. 

List of allegations submitted: A detailed list of allegations into the anomalies in the transfer of land to a private party for a multiplex-cum-shopping complex on the Lawrence Road was submitted to the Vigilance Department by S.S.Sharma, a social worker, here on Wednesday. Sharma said he had earlier written to the Chief Minister, following which the case was handed over to the Vigilance. 

Aunt ‘throws’ infant into gutter: A woman was arrested here today for allegedly killing her one-and-a-half-year-old nephew by throwing him into a gutter. The accused has been identified as Satinder Kaur of Dauke village. According to sources, the baby, Harsimran, was killed on the intervening night of March 3 and 4. The deceased’s father Gurwinder Singh had come to his in-laws house in Dauke along with his wife and child.

Barnala
Arrested: A class IV employee working with the Barnala municipal committee has been arrested for allegedly encroaching upon the Government Girls School land here. A case has been registered against the accused, named Omi. Deputy commissioner R.L.Mehta said that a delegation of school teachers met him personally and gave a written complaint that Omi had encroached on the land situated at Jandawala road. The accused had allegedly constructed three “kachha” dwellings there. The DC said that he had marked the complaint to the SSP Barnala for necessary action. 

BASSI PATHANA
700 examined: The Mehar Baba Charitable Trust organised an eye check up-cum-operation camp. Deputy commissioner Ashok Singla inaugurated the camp, while SSP Kaustabh Sharma presided over the function. A team of doctors led by eye specialist Dr G.S. Randhawa from Patiala examined more than 700 patients and conducted surgery on 150 patients. 

Bathinda
Dowry cases: Based on a complaint by one Bimla of Gopal Nagar, the district police today booked her husband Jai Vir and his family members, Sultani, Pirthya and Gudi, all residents of Bhiwani in Haryana. The case has been registered after an inquiry conducted by the DSP (H), Bathinda, and on the basis of the opinion of the DDA (Legal). The complainant alleged that she was harassed for dowry. A case has been registered under sections 406, 498A and 109 of the IPC.In an another case of a similar nature, the Kotwali police booked Sanjiv and Bimla Devi of Dhuri for demanding dowry from Rashmi Rani of Paras Ram Nagar here, today. The case was registered after an inquiry by DSP (H). 

Small traders: The Punjab Yuva Beopar Mandal rued that there was no relief package for small traders in this years’ budget. Ashok Garg , president of the Yuva Beopar Mandal, said that small traders was quiet hurt with the entry of big companies in retail sector. He added that not only farmers but small businessman were also committing suicides being under debt. 

Shobha Yatra: Thirty-two religious bodies of the city organised a “shobha yatra” on the eve of Shivaratri here today. These bodies had organised “shobha yatras” separately last year, but this time, they have decided to celebrate the Shivaratri unitedly. The ‘yatra’, with women devotees carrying “kalash” on their heads and depicting 32 “jhankis” on Shivalingams, started from SD Mahavir Dal in the afternoon and passed through various parts of the city. Later, it culminated at the local Sanatan Dharam Mandir in the evening. 

CHANDIGARH
Transfers and postings: The Punjab government on Wednesday transferred and posted five PCS officers. Kulbir Singh has been posted as ADC (D), Jalandhar, and Ashok Kumar Sikka as ACA, PUDA, Jalandhar, to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Ajmer Singh-II has been transferred and posted as SDM, Dhar Kalan, while Paramjit Singh-II will be the new SDM, Mukerian. Gurmeet Singh, SDM, Patiala, will also hold the additional charge of SDM, Rajpura, vice Gurtej Singh till further orders. The posting orders of Gurtej Singh will be issued separately. 

DERA BASSI
Theft: The local police arrested Shiv Kumar of Haripur Hindyan village on charges of theft. The police sources said the accused was working in a trading company from where copper wires and cables were being stolen. Following a compliant from the company, Shiv Kumar was booked and wires recovered from him. 

Jalandhar
Track trouble: Commuters stopped two trains, Dadar and Deluxe, at the Kartarpur railway station here on Wednesday morning in protest against the decision of the railways to cancel the stoppage of these two trains at this railway station. The trains were stopped here for several minutes. 

Youth murdered: Assailants murdered a youth, Jaswinder Singh, of Haripur village on Dhilwan road near Nangalshama village on Wednesday afternoon. He was attacked with a sharp-edged weapon. An FIR under section 302 of IPC has been registered. 

Change of guard: Wing Commodore Rahul Bhasin took over the command of MiG Fighter Aircraft Squadron ‘Tridents’ from Wg Cmdr Lalit Kumar Chawla at Air Force Station, Adampur, on Monday. The ceremony was held amidst roaring flypasts of three MiG fighters and regal band performance. Bhasin is a qualified flying instructor, instrument rating instructor and examiner with more than 3.000 hours of flying to his credit. The ‘Tridents’ also celebrated their silver jubilee recently.

Mansa
Lawyers go on strike: The advocates of Mansa on Wednesday went on a strike in protest against the alleged police misbehaviour with an advocate at the Dhanula police station. President of district bar association, Ajit Singh Bhangu, said that Kaka Singh, an advocate, went to the Dhanula police station to lodge a complaint in connection with the theft of gold jewellery but the SHO and others misbehaved with him. Bhangu warned against a district and state-level strike, in case no action was taken against the policemen involved. 

Halt of train sought: Residents of Mansa today staged a dharna at railway crossing here in protest against the halting of the stoppage of Guwhati–Bikaner Express at Mansa station. This is the second time that the residents of the areas have staged a demonstration over the issue within a fortnight. Members of social, political and other organisations participated in the protest. Addressing the dharna, leaders of the different organisations termed the cancellation of train halt as an injustice to the residents. 

Moga
Dowry case against five: The south city police station registered a case against a Faridkot-based family here for seeking dowry and beating up their daughter-in-law. The complainant, Gurpreet Kaur, said she had been harassed and thrashed from time to time by her in-laws since her marriage on January 17, 2007. She stated in her complaint that she was harassed to ask for a car and other valuables from her parents as part of dowry. However, when she refused to cow down under their pressure, they beat her up and forced her to leave the house. She added that her parents had given dowry during her marriage with Lakhbir Singh. The police registered a case against Lakhbir, his father Jaswant Singh, mother Harbans Kaur, his brother Harbinder Kaur, residents of Dogar Basti and Gurmeet Kaur of Barnala. 

PATIALA
Raid: The chief medical officer (CMO) raided an ultrasound centre on Tuesday and sealed it. The district health authorities, led by the CMO, during general checking, found some discrepancies in the record of Manju Ultrasound Centre at Thikriwala Chowk and sealed the premises for two months. The team checked the records of the centre and found that no proper records were maintained and whatever records were there had a lot of irregularities. 

Free eye camp: The Patiala Social Welfare Society, in collaboration with the Red Cross and State Bank of Patiala, organised a free eye check-up and operation camp at Kali Devi temple, which was inaugurated by administrative officer of PUDA Manjit Singh Narang. As many as 522 patients were examined and 42 were operated upon by a team of doctors under the supervision of renowned eye surgeon Dr S.S. Boparai.