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Power cuts imposed
Chandigarh, April 25
A severe shortfall in hydel power generation due to inadequate melting of snow in the higher reaches as well as insufficient rain has created a demand-supply gap in Punjab and forced the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) to impose power cuts in both urban and rural areas.

Punjabi set to be made mandatory
Chandigarh, April 25
Punjabi will be official language of all subordinate courts at the district, sub-divisional and other levels.

Badal writes to PM seeking help for industry
Chandigarh, April 25
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has sought the personal intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for imposing a ban on forward trading in steel, besides scraping import duty on the import of scrap to save Punjab’s industry.

US company to help light streets
Chandigarh, April 25
A United States company, Econoler International, is all set to light the streets of municipal areas of Punjab.

 

POLITICS

Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti Poll
SAD leaders give lists of probables for
Patiala dist
Patiala, April 25
The SAD gets into poll gear in Patiala district with top leaders of the area, including MLAs and a former MP, backing their supporters for all 21 zila parishad and 168 panchayat samiti seats of the district in front of the SAD’s Patiala in charge, Bibi Jagir Kaur.

Cong appoints dist in charges
Patiala, April 25
Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, PPCC chief, today appointed senior leaders of the level of vice-president and general secretary as in charge of each district of the state for the ensuing zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections.

 

COMMUNITY

‘Kidnapper’ of minor girl dies in police custody
Judicial probe ordered
Amritsar, April 25
Mystery shrouds the death of 20-year-old Jagtar Singh in the Chowk Mehta police lockup today.

Farmers await the lifting of wheat stocks by private and government agencies at Dana Mandi, Bhaktanwala, in Amritsar on Friday. — Photo by Vishal Kumar

Stage set for biggest job fest of region
25,000 students to try luck
Jalandhar, April 25
The stage is all set for the biggest job fest of the region in which 25,000 engineering and IT students from North India will try their luck in the one-of-its-kind campus placement.

Pay Commission
Term of reference to financial situation irks staff
Chandigarh, April 25
Bodies of government employees have taken a serious note of the terms of reference of the Sixth Punjab Pay Commission that has invited comments and representations from employees.

Stone-crushing units shut down in protest
Gurdaspur, April 25
The state government move not to grant monthly extension in contracts to owners of stone-crushing units for quarrying at various riverbeds has put thousands of families in a quandary.

PSHRC comes to the aid of rape-bid victim
Police arrests accused
Ludhiana, April 25
Coming to the rescue of the victim of an attempt to rape in a moving bus that had sent shock waves in the state, the Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) has asked the state government and the SSP, Ludhiana, to submit a status report of investigation in the case.

Brick-kiln workers gherao DC office
Sangrur, April 25
Activists and members of the Lal Jhanda Punjab Bhatha Mazdoor Union (LJPBMU) and other organisations today gheraoed the office of the deputy commissioner (DC) here for more than two hours and staged a dharna there in support of their demands.

Book on intoxicants, an eye-opener
Sangrur, April 25
Punjabi writer and project director of the local Red Cross Drug De-addiction Centre Mohan Sharma has made an effort to open the eyes of people against the social evil of the use of intoxicants in a big way.

Suspend tainted bureaucrats: Mann
Chandigarh, April 25
SAD (A) president Simranjit Singh Mann today called for suspending all bureaucrats whose names have figured in the list submitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court yesterday.

Agro-processing units resent hike in taxes
Amritsar, April 25
Piqued over the hike in infrastructural development fee by the state government, the Punjab Rice and Millers and Exporters Association has said this will jack up the rate of essential commodities and foodgrains in the state.

Resignation of Sikh Warden
SGPC writes to PM
Amritsar, April 25
Taking serious view of the incident in which a Sikh serving as a traffic warden in Pakistan resigned from his post, the SGPC has sent a missive to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take up the matter with his Pakistani counterpart.

75 govt employees found absent
Sangrur, April 25
During a surprise check of various government departments here and at Bhawanigarh this morning by deputy commissioner (DC) V.K. Ohri, additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Indu Malhotra and sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Amandeep Bansal, as many as 75 employees, including some officers, were found absent from duty. — TNS

High Court
Plea to increase retirement age
Chandigarh, April 25
Disposing a petition for raising the retirement age of Punjab government employees from 58 to 60 in sync with the Union Government policy, Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Jaswant Singh asked the authorities concerned to take expeditious decision on a representation in this regard.

Moga Sex Scandal
Remand of Garcha, Sandhu extended
Patiala, April 25
The special CBI court extended the judicial remand of two senior officers of Punjab for their alleged involvement in the Moga sex scandal till April 29.

Serial baby killer gets life term
Jalandhar, April 25
Additional District and Session Judge B.K Mehta today sentenced serial baby killer Darbara Singh to life imprisonment in yet another case for raping and then killing a girl.
                                              Darbara Singh. — Photo by Vishal Kumar

CRIME

Heroin worth Rs 90 cr seized, 3 arrested
Amritsar, April 25
The district police has seized 18 kg of heroin valued at Rs 90 crore in the international market and arrested three smugglers along with a .32-bore revolver and five cartridges.

Bank employees robbed of Rs 20 lakh
Batala, April 25
A gang of armed men robbed three employees of the State Bank of India (SBI), Bhattian branch, of a steel trunk containing Rs 20 lakh at gunpoint on the busy Batala-Qadian road at Dhanna Cheema village, near here, today.