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TOP STORIES

Visa to Sarabjit’s kin not rejected: Burney
Says will prevail upon govt to defer hanging
Amritsar, April 15
Member of the advisory committee of the United Nations Human Rights Council Ansar Burney said today that he would prevail upon the Pakistan government to defer the hanging of Sarabjit Singh, lodged in Lahore’s Lakhpat Rai Jail, for three months. This would help Sarabjit’s family and relatives to explore the legal system in Pakistan to save him.

Day 2
Lehra power plant unit-III shuts down
Chandigarh, April 15
A few hours after the inauguration by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal yesterday, the 250-MW unit-III of the Lehra Mohabbat thermal plant was shut down. Sources said today that the unit stopped generation of power at 5.54 a.m. following a major fault in its boiler part.

Eye on LS Elections
Govt puts bus fare hike, transfers on hold
Chandigarh, April 15
The Punjab government has decided to put all transfers and enforcement of new taxes, raising of bus fares, etc in the state on hold till July 1. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal reportedly has turned down several proposals over the past week on the ground that these could hit poll prospects of the SAD-BJP alliance.

Labour pangs for farmers
Ludhiana, April 15
Worried over the poor availability of labour as the harvesting of wheat is reaching full swing, a number of farmers from all over the state are camping at the Railway station here for hiring farm labour to reap wheat.

Farmers await a train from from Bihar to hire farm hands for harvesting wheat at the Ludhiana railway station on Tuesday. Photo by Inderjeet Verma

Punjabis attract big brands to state
Chandigarh, April 15
Inflation be damned, no one knows how to live it off like the Punjabis. Be it the high end fashion labels, high speed cars or leisure travel, the region is now on top of the radar for these luxury brands trying to carve their niche in the Indian market.

Sahnewal airport gets nod
Ludhiana, April 15
The union ministry of civil aviation has accorded its approval for setting up a domestic airport at Sahnewal to provide air connectivity to this city, the industrial hub of Punjab. The approval has been intimated to the state government, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said while talking to mediapersons here today. Guru Ram Das International Airport at Amritsar was being upgraded to accommodate more international flights, Badal added. He said though the international airport at Mohali would be completed within next two years, international flights would commence within next six months. Likewise, the ministry had also acceded to the state government’s proposal to allow domestic flights from Bhishiana Airport near Bathinda. — UNI

POLITICS

SAD party set-up recast
Badal remains patron, Sukhbir president
Chandigarh, April 15
With an eye on the next Lok Sabha elections, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has announced the restructuring of the party by retaining Parkash Singh Badal as its patron and Sukhbir Singh Badal as president.

COMMUNITY

BJP, CPI (ML) open front against price rise
Sangrur, April 15
Old persons, women and children riding bullock-carts and some of them even wearing garlands of vegetables round their necks, along with workers and leaders of the district unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by district president Jatinder Kalra, today marched through main bazaars of the town in protest against the rising prices in the UPA regime, led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

BJP’s protest march against rising prices in Sangrur on Tuesday. Photo by writer

Capt has no right to blame Oppn: CM
Ludhiana, April 15
Calling former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh an “awaara gau”, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said today that he did not even enjoy the support of his own party members. The party functioning had been reduced to a mere blame-game.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal inaugurates the Satya Bharti School programme at Laddowal village on Tuesday. Photo by Inderjeet Verma

Get baptised soon, Patna clergy tell Sukhbir
Amritsar, April 15
Now, the Sikh clergy of Patna Sahib have directed SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal to get baptised as per the constitution of the party or face action as per the Sikh Maryada.

EDUCATION

Minister defends privatisation of education
Bathinda, April 15
Upinderjeet Kaur, education minister, Punjab, for the first time on the OBC quota said as far as Punjab was concerned, the state would abide by the guidelines. “OBCs are in all states and the final decision for implementing the 27 per cent quota in the state’s educational institutions would be taken by the state Cabinet,” she added.

Medical students resent fee hike for PG courses
Fatehgarh Sahib, April 15
The recent decision of the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences to hike the entrance fee for the postgraduation (PG) courses of various medical streams has provoked widespread resentment amongst students.

CRIME

65-year-old murdered for property
Malerkotla, April 15
An old man was murdered here today. On the complaint of the son of the deceased, the police has registered a case under Sections 302 and 34,IPC, against three persons.