Phagwara, April 12
One person was killed and 27 others were injured in two separate mishaps today. Rajinder Kumar of Pasta village died, while his father Karam Chand sustained injuries when their scooter rammed into a mini-bus at Khalyan village.In another accident, 26 pilgrims were injured when the Tata 407 truck in which they were travelling overtuned near Chaheru. The devotees were on their way to Anandpur Sahib to pay obeisance on the eve of Baisakhi.

Batala: Nirmal Singh (25) of Hassanpura village was killed when a Tata 407 truck (PB-12-B-5082) ran him over near Deluxe Bridge on the Batala-Amritsar road on Friday night.

The body was handed over to his relatives here on Saturday after a post-mortem examination. The police has registered a case at Civil Lines police station, Batala. The driver of the vehicle has absconded.

In another accident, one Tata 407 truck (PB-08-2007) hit a rickshaw near Kahnuwan Chowk, Batala, on Saturday evening. Kawanbir Kaur and rickshaw-puller Bhola Shankar were injured in the accident. Acase has been registered against the driver.

Jalandhar, April 12
The numbers game between city’s two rival political groups, who have been holding separate shobha yatras in connection with Ram Navmi and other religious occasions for the last many years, has left traders a harried lot. The local shopkeepers have now urged the residents to hold a single procession to mark the religious event.

Notably, one group is holding the yatra on April 13, while the other will do a repeat the very next day. Massive hoardings of both the groups have come up across the city announcing the yatra dates.

Now, to drive home their message, members of zila parishad market and GT Road shopkeepers’ association have now put up banners at prominent sites in the city. The banners read, “Sabhi Ram premion se nivedan hai ke Sri Ram Navmi shobha yatra nagar mein sirf ek din ho ta ke Sri Ram kirpa sab par bani rahe”.

Talking to The Tribune, association member Manmohan Singh said the double yatra creates trouble for them. “We need to arrange langar for two days which is quite difficult. Both the parties approach us and it gets difficult to say no to either of the two”, they said.

The daily commuters too have been quite upset over the issue as processions choke the main roads, causing them great inconvenience. The markets remain unreachable, affecting business greatly, said Manmohan Singh.

Hoshiarpur, April 12
Punjab government has earmarked Rs 800 crore under various component schemes for the welfare of Scheduled Castes in the state. This was disclosed by the minister for parliamentary affairs, medical education and research, forest and wildlife and labour, Punjab, Tikshan Sud, while addressing a gathering after inaugurating a ‘dharamshala’ and a library at government school , Nara, about 15 km from here on Saturday.

To raise standard of living of poor persons, self-help groups were also being formed so that they can start their business, said Sud, adding that 50 per cent subsidy was being given on the total loan sought by the members.

Earlier, the minister presided over the function organised by Sri Satya Sain Samiti at Allahabad village and distributed cheques worth Rs 1.95 lakh under the ‘Ashirwad scheme’. — OC