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Draw of Liquor Vends
Govt mops up Rs 1,728 cr
Nod to big stores to sell liquor
Jalandhar/Ludhiana, March 12
The Excise and Sales Tax Department earned a revenue of Rs 1,728 crore from the allotment of liquor vends in the state, draw of lots for which was held today in various districts. This is an increase of Rs 72 crore against the previous financial year.

Poll code comes in way of price plan for wheat farmers
Chandigarh, March 12
A plan by the Punjab government to ensure that farmers get higher prices for their wheat produce by selling these in the off-season, has been withheld, with the model code of conduct for the panchayat elections coming into force.

Bids for female foeticide survey received
Chandigarh, March 12
Punjab is all set to count its missing daughters. The survey of female foeticide it proposed a month ago is ready to be commissioned with the health department receiving bids from interesting parties.

Revenue areas being redrawn
Chandigarh, March 12
Just weeks after the national delimitation commission submitted its report to carve out new assembly and parliamentary constituencies, the Punjab government has started work on redrawing the revenue boundaries of the subdivisions and the area of jurisdiction of police stations.

4 killed in car-bus collision
Amritsar, March 12
Four persons were killed when a Maruti car collided head-on with a private bus on the Amritsar-Batala road near Sohian Khurd here today. According to details available, four occupants of a Maruti car travelling from Batala to Amritsar died in the accident with a bus ( PB 02 AL 9913) belonging to Nishat Malwa.
Remains of the car which rammed into a bus near Sohian Khurd village near Amritsar on Wednesday. Photo: Vishal Kumar

Assembly Session
CAG lauds Cong rule on fiscal front|
Chandigarh, March 12
Former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has not only received support, but also accolades for good financial management from the comptroller and auditor-general (CAG) of India that has reported that Punjab fiscal health improved during Congress rule.

Panchayati Raj: Cong walks out 
World University Bill passed
Chandigarh, March 12
Describing it as a murder of grassroot democracy, Congress MLAs today staged a walkout from the Punjab Assembly to protest against the Punjab Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2008. However, the Bill was passed in the absence of Congress MLAs. The Assembly also today passed the Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University Bill-2008.

COMMUNITY

Cerebral palsy patient breaks fresh ground Chandigarh, March 12 Manhar Singh Sandhu is not the one to be cowed down by disability. Born with cerebral palsy, he has seldom let medical jargons rule his life. And his zeal for excellence has finally paid off. For a while now, Manhar has been helping to save the dying farmlands of Punjab. He set a trend recently by bagging the position of assistant manager at the Organic Farming Council of Punjab, a Punjab government undertaking, which inspires farmers to shift from conventional to organic methods of tilling. It was a defining moment of his life, when he faced the interview board and landed himself in a job, aspired by hundreds.

Manhar Singh Sandhu

Poultry birds died of bacterial infection: Lab 
Bathinda, March 12
Complex respiratory disease (CRD) and colli bacilosis (E Colli) were the main causes of death of the about 3,000 poultry birds at Gehri Bhagi village, near here.

Jails to come under police scanner
Chandigarh, March 12
The Punjab Police will now focus on jails as undesirable activities of undertrials and hardcore criminals lodged in different jails are a matter of concern.

Rs 10-lakh relief sought for freed detainees
Sangrur, March 12
The Jodhpur Jail Nazarband Murr Vaseba Committee, consisting of those who had spent several years in the Jodhpur jail after arrest during Operation Bluestar in the Harmandar Sahib complex in 1984 and were released years ago, has sought compensation from the Centre, on the pattern of anti-Sikh riots victims, to families of the released detainees. The committee made this demand at a meeting in the Nankiana Sahib Gurdwara complex, near here, on Monday.

Mishaps dominate zero hour
Chandigarh, March 12
Punjab has become highly accident-prone recording over 5,000 accidents in 2007, out of which 3,363 were fatal. These facts were revealed by the transport minister in response to a question highlighting 17 deaths in two separate accidents yesterday.