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MLAs want poll put off
Chandigarh, March 19
The Punjab Assembly today unanimously passed a resolution to seek the postponement of the panchayat, block samiti and zila parishad elections keeping in view the beginning of the rabi season and annual examinations of the students in secondary classes.

Breather boosts hopes of Sarabjit’s kin

Amritsar, March 19 Even as Sarabjit Singh today got a one-month breather with his hanging being put off till April 30 by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, his wife Sukhpreet Kaur and daughter Poonam paid obeisance at a gurdwara and a temple at Bhikhiwind near here.

THANKING THE ALMIGHTY: Members of Sarabjit’s family pay obeisance at Gurdwara Deep Singh at Bhikhiwind on Wednesday. — Photo by Vishal Kumar

Don’t exchange Sarabjit for terrorists: Wife

Badal warns Manmohan
Filling posts from UT cadre
Chandigarh, March 19
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to stop the Chandigarh Administration “from tampering with the existing system for filling the top civil posts in the union territory on deputation from Punjab and Haryana on a 60:40 ratio till Chandigarh is transferred to the state of Punjab.”

Verbal Spat in House
Minister apologises to Speaker 
Chandigarh, March 19
The SAD-BJP government headed by Parkash Singh Badal today received a blow in the Punjab Assembly during question hour as its senior minister for rural development and panchayats Ranjit Singh Brahmpura had to feel sorry in the House following a verbal fight with Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon on the issue of distribution of cheques related to grants for development works to panchayats in Dera Baba Nanak subdivision.

 

COMMUNITY

Westerners join Tibetan protest
Ropar, March 19
Tibetans are not alone in their march back to their homeland. Some Westerners who have embraced Tibetan Buddhism have also joined the march

Traffic diverted for Hola Mohalla
Ropar, March 19
The district administration today ordered diversion of traffic on many routes in view of the Hola Mohalla celebrations at Anandpur Sahib. Deputy commissioner B. Purusartha said all buses and other vehicles plying on the Nangal-Ropar road would be diverted to the Nangal-Nurpurbedi-Ropar road. Traffic to Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh would be diverted to the Bharatgarh-Nalagarh route.


Devotees climb atop private buses in Amritsar on Wednesday to attend Hola Mohalla at Anandpur Sahib. — Photo byVishal Kumar 

Intellectuals debate duties of Akal Takht chief
Jalandhar, March 19
The Akal Takht Jathedar, who does not perform his duties as per Gurmat , hopes and aspirations of the Panth, has no right to continue. This was one of the resolutions passed by Sikh intellectuals at a meeting under the aegis of the Shiromani Sikh Council International here today.

SGPC condemns Praveen’s arrest
Fatehgarh Sahib, March 19
The executive of the SGPC, which assembled in the Mata Gujri Hall on the Fatehgarh Sahib Gurdwara complex late last evening, passed a resolution condemning the Haryana government for the arrest of 21-year-old Praveen in connection with an attack on the convoy of the chief of Dera Sacha Sauda.

A story set in times of militancy
Amritsar, March 19
Noted Punjabi writer Joginder Kairon’s new fictional work “Nile Tarian Di Mout” (Death of Blue Stars), blended with facts of post-Operation Bluestar, has created ripples in the world of Punjabi literature.
                                                                              Joginder Kairon

PAU-STEM proposal rejected
Ludhiana, March 19
Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has rejected the proposal of establishing PAU-STEM, a joint venture offered by the Knowledge Foundation, Punjab. 

Toll Tax 
Relief for ex-servicemen
Gurdaspur, March 19
Local civil judge (junior division) Sangeet Pal Singh has restrained Rohan Rajdeep Tollway’s Limited from charging toll tax on the Hoshiarpur-Dasuya road from ex-servicemen and the members of their families till March 31.

Rs 1 lakh given
Chandigarh, March 19 CM P.S. Badal today gave Rs 1 lakh to Bhag Singh, retired deputy director (song and drama, PR dept). He has not been keeping well and the gesture was in recognition of his services. — TNS