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Amritsar
Move on another Akali Dal: Efforts are afoot to float another unified Shiromani Akali Dal. A call to this effect has been given by Baba Sarbjot Singh Bedi, a former chairman of the Sant Samaj, here today. In an appeal to the Sikh masses, Baba Bedi said the original character of the Shiromani Akali Dal which was formed in 1920 had been changed. He said there was dire need to bring entire Sikh leadership on single platform to safeguard the Panth. Without naming the Shiromani Akali Dal, led by Sukhbir Singh Badal, Baba Bedi said the ruling party had caused immense damage to the Sikh cause.

Cong lays siege to SDM’s office: A large number of Congress activists, led by former Congress MLA Harpartap Singh Ajnala today laid siege to the office of the SDM in protest against the alleged irregularities and malpractices in ensuing Zila Parishad and Samiti elections. They raised slogans against the government, civil and police administrations for misusing government machinery. Ajnala said they were collecting reports of highhandedness by civil and police officials against Congress workers, that would be presented in the court. He alleged popCongress candidates were being threatened with dire consequences by Akali leadership.

Delegation to meet CM: A delegation of the Unemployed B.Ed Teachers Front will submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister here on May 10. The main demand of the front is to streamline the ongoing recruitment process of teachers, according to Hira Singh, state committee member of the front. The government is recruiting 14,000 teachers.

Air Marshal to visit Amritsar: Air Marshal P.K. Barbora, air officer commanding-in-chief, Western Air Command, will visit the frontline operation unit here on Thursday. His wife, Arundhati Barbora, president, Air Force Wives Welfare Association, will accompany him, among others.

Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Himachal Sudhar Sabha: president - Kewal Krishan Sharma; senior vice -president - Bhandari Lal Sharma; general secretary - Kamlesh Kumar; vice-presidents - Ram Ashray Bhardwaj and Kuldip Singh Thakur; and treasurer - Thakur Shiv Singh.

BASSI PATHANA
Celebrated: The Brahmin Sabha Bassi Pathana celebrated Bhagwan Shri Parshu Ram Jyanti with great enthusiasm at Shri Ram Temple here today. SSP Kaustubh Sharma was the chief guest. Havan was performed and a lecture on the life of Bhagwan Shri Parshuran Ji was delivered by Pandit Sewak Ram.

Bathinda
Police remand: After arresting two youths with 10 kg of opium at village Jeeda, Bathinda-Kotkapura road, on Tuesday, the Nehianawala police on Wednesday got police remand for the accused till May 12 for possesing opium.

Homage paid: The members of the executive committee of the Public Library Bathinda paid homage to the late Babu Bachan Dass Bansal, president of the library who died on Tuesday after prolonged illness.

Grant: Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi, has sanctioned a grant of Rs 3.61 lakh, to R.K. Uppal, Head, department of Economics, DAV College, Malout for a research project on “Global changes: Mapping for excellence for rural consumers challenges and new opportunities”.

Ferozepur
Woman dies, case against doctor: A woman, who was undergoing treatment for 'abdominal hysterectomy' at a private nursing home here died after she was operated upon. As soon as the family members of the deceased came to know about the development, they started blaming the doctors for the negligence. However, the doctors maintained that the operation was carried out successfully. However, after the operation when the patient was being brought out of anesthesia, she suffered myocardial infarction, which caused her death. The doctors carried out an ECG and tried their best to revive the patient, but in vain. Later, the family members lodged a complaint with the local police, which registered a case under section 304-A of the IPC against the doctors and the supporting staff. The deceased has been identified as Harbhajan Kaur.

Two killed in accident: Two persons were killed in a road accidenthat occurred in the cantonment area on Tuesday night when the motorcycle on which they were travelling barged into an Army truck, which was stationed on the roadside near Army School (West). The deceased, identified as Inder, a resident of Ferozepur Cantt and Jaspal Singh, a resident of Amritsar, were both in their twenties.

Jalandhar
Fervour marks Parshuram Jayanti: On the auspicious day of Akshay Tritiya, the members of Shri Brahmin Sabha today celebrated Parshuram Jayanti at the local Parshuram Bhawan, Basti Gujan amidst pious chants and a mahayagya. Chief guest, local bodies minister Manoranjan Kalia, attended the prayers. Meanwhile, Parshuram Jayanti was celebrated with enthusiasm by Sri Brahmin Sabha in Hoshiarpur. A shobha yatra was taken out in the main bazars of the city.

New DAV director: A former principal, M.L. Aeri, has been appointed director (colleges) by the DAV Colleges Managing Committee, New Delhi. Aeri started his career as a botany lecturer at DAV College, Nakoder, in 1970. In 1985, he became founder principal of DRV DAV Centenary College, Phillaur. Subsequently, he served as the principal at DAV College, Nakoder, Amritsar, and Jalandhar.

Kapurthala
Teachers’ dharna: Several teachers staged a dharna under the aegis of the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF) at the DC chowk here to protest against their being assigned poll duties in the coming zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections. The teachers led by DTF district chief Sucha Singh started dharna around noon, which continued for a couple of hours.

Mansa
Workers occupy land: The labourers of Dala Singh Wala village, under the leadership of the Mazdoor Mukti Morcha, today allegedly occupied the shamlat land again. State secretary of the Mazdoor Mukti Morcha, Bhagwant Singh, said the labourers had occupied the land because the district administration could not implement its promise of providing plots to labourers after the panchayat elections. He said before the polls, this land was auctioned. On Wednesday, some labourers even erected tents on the land and hoisted flags of Mazdoor Mukti Morcha.

Moga
Two died: As per police, Rohtash (21), a resident of Chugga village near Dharamkot, died on the spot when his cycle rammed into a car coming from the opposite side near Jalalabad (East) on Moga-Jalandhar road last night. In another incident, one Tari (35), a rickshaw-puller, died all of a sudden in the New Town area in the afternoon on Wednesday.

NABHA
Orphans Day: The Nabha Foundation organised an interactive meeting with peer educators and workers here on Tuesday to observe World AIDS Orphans Day. It is worthwhile to mention that World AIDS Orphans day is an outcome of FXB International efforts to bring to the fore, issues concerning AIDS orphans.

PATHANKOT
Poppy husk seized: The Kalanaur police arrested Sekhar of Bagowani and seized 1.5 kg of poppy husk from him on Tuesday. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered.

Poll boycott: The Phule Bharti Lok Party has decided not to participate in the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections.This was stated by Manmohan Singh, general secretary of the party, here on Tuesday.He alleged that the SAD-BJP government had failed to implement the decision of the Supreme Court on the issue of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the institutions of higher studies.

CHANDIGARH

MOHALI
Nurses’ Week: Fortis Hospital, Mohali, celebrated International Nurses’ Week on Wednesday. Managing director, Punjab Health Systems Corporation, T.R. Sarangal lit inaugural lamp.

PANCHKULA
Satsang: Sant Asaram Bapu is scheduled to deliver a three-day Geeta Bhagwat Satsang here this week. The satsang, to be organised by Shri Yog Vedant Sewa Samiti, will start on May 9 evening. The next day, the satsang will have two sessions and on the last day, it will be held in the morning only.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Special train: The Northern Railways has introduced a special train to help tackle the summer rush of passengers. The train is Jammu Tawi - Mumbai Central garib rath special and will run from May 6 till June 24. The train will depart from Jammu every Tuesday at 11 pm and Mumbai every Thursday at 11:15 pm. The train will stop at Chakbien, Ludhiana, Ambala, New Delhi, Mathura, Kota, Ratlan, Vadora and Surat. This is the eighth special train introduced in Ambala division.

Magic show: A magic show was organised for students of St Joseph School, Ambala city, on Tuesday. The magician presented various tricks and active participation from the students and teachers was also witnessed.

Distributed: To coincide with the Red Cross anniversary celebrations, Tata Indicom, as part of 'Sparsh', its corporate sustainability programme, distributed 10 mobile PCOs to physically challenged people in Ambala on Tuesday. Ambala deputy commissioner and president of Ambala Red Cross Society Mohammad Shayin was the chief guest.

CHANDIGARH
Applications invited: The Horticulture Training Institute, Uchani, Karnal, has invited applications from the eligible candidates of Haryana domicile for admission to one-year diploma course for horticulture supervisors, six-month certificate course of gardeners and three-month certificate course for entrepreneurs for the academic session 2008-09. Prospectus can be obtained from the office of the principal, HTI, and from respective district horticulture officers in the state or through registered post. Prospectus will be available from May 12 and the last date of receipt of the application form is May 30.

JHAJJAR
Electrician electrocuted: An electrician with the HVPN was electrocuted when a high-tension wire snapped and fell on him at Jasaur Kheri village here on Wednesday. The deceased, Om Prakash, a resident of the same village, was riding his bullock cart when an overhead cable suddenly snapped and fell on him. He was rushed to the hospital but was declared brought dead. Later, villagers blocked the Bahadurgarh-Sonepat road in protest against the incident. They alleged that most of the cables were loose and had turned weak. They demanded replacement of the cables.

REWARI
Grant for streets: Irrigation and PWD minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav distributed cheques for Rs 25 lakh to sarpanches of 10 village panchayats of the district for concretised pavement of streets in their respective villages at a function in the PDW rest house here on Wednesday. Advising the panchayats to observe total transparency and honesty in the implementation of the development works, Yadav warned them that in case of irregularity, strict legal action would be taken against the defaulting panchayats.

SIRSA
Trust to have hospital: The privately run trust, Jan Nayak Chowdhury Devi Lal Vidyapeeth, will soon have a 250-bedded state-of-the-art hospital on its campus. Kuldeep Singh Dhindsa, director general, Vidyapeeth, disclosed this during the fourth annual function of the Chowdhary Devi Lal Memorial College of Engineering. He assured that quality medical facilities would be provided free of cost to the patients belonging to the below poverty line. A medical college with branches of all therapies would be functional by 2010, he added.

YAMUNANAGAR
Rs 55,000 stolen from car: Some unidentified persons broke a windowpane of a car of a resident of Ambadalpur village, Surinder Singh Hara, and took away a briefcase containing Rs 55,000 and important documents. The car was parked in the compound of Waryam Singh Hospital, Jagadhri. While one of the persons was walking away with the briefcase, few patients, who were sitting in the lawn of the hospital, raised the alarm but no one bothered to run after the persons. Hara had withdrawn the money from HDFC bank and had gone to the hospital to purchase medicines.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
Govt to construct schools on priority: The state government has decided to construct additional accommodation for each middle and high school, besides a degree college building under the tribal area sub-plan for the Pangi tribal subdivision of Chamba district approved with an outlay of Rs 26.56 crore for the current fiscal year. Commissioner and principal secretary to the state government S.C. Negi revealed this while presiding over a review meeting of the tribal sub-plan at Killar on Tuesday. He said the process to identify land for the degree college had been started. Additional four to eight rooms for each middle and high school would be raised on priority. A sum of Rs 66 lakh would also be spent on the development works from the special Central assistance.

Youth dies: A 24-year-old youth died after consuming some poisonous substance on Tuesday. According to a report received here on Wednesday, the deceased was identified as Sanjeev of Gagla, about 15 km from here. The body of the deceased was handed over to next of kin after a postmortem. A case has been registered.

Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Akhil Bharatiya Gaddi Janjatiya Vikas Samiti, Choori in Chamba district. President Lalit Thakur, senior vice-presidents Ashok Thakur, Kamal Kishore, vice-presidents Narayan Singh, Amin Chand, secretary Rattan Chand Thakur, joint secretary Vinod Thakur, organising secretary Ramesh Sharma, cashier Dinesh Sharma, patron Des Raj and chief patron Mast Ram Garg.

NURPUR
Girl dies after consuming unripe mangoes: Minakshi (18), daughter of Tadveer Singh of Raja Ka Talab in this subdivision, died on Tuesday after consuming unripe mangoes probably sprayed with pesticide. According to information, the deceased was admitted to the local Civil Hospital on Sunday in a serious condition. The police has registered a case under Section 174 of the CrPC.

BSSP women wing: The Bahujan Sarv Samaj Party (BSSP), a new political outfit, which came into existence after the split of the state BSP, constituted its women wing on Tuesday. BSSP convener Amar Singh Kaundal in a press statement released here on Wednesday nominated Kanta Sahotra as the state president, Jagdish Chand as vice-president, Vijay Kumar as general secretary and Sushil Kumar as secretary of the wing. He informed that the BSSP would soon constitute its state, district and mandal units.

Parshuram Jayanti: The Brahmin Sabha of the local unit on Wednesday celebrated Parshuram Jayanti with enthusiasm. The members of the sabha took out a prabhat pheri in the wee hours and performed a shanti hawan on the premises of the Brahmin Bhawan. On this occasion the sabha urged the state government to declare a holiday on Parshuram Jayanti like its counterparts in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana states.

PALAMPUR
Seminar on foodgrain production: The State Agriculture Department will hold a one-day seminar of agriculture officers and scientist here on May 12, to discuss the way and means for boosting foodgrain production. Continuous increase in prices of foodgrain in the country had forced the agriculture scientists in the state also to review its programme and policies. All district and subdivisional level officers have been asked to attend this meeting so that the farmers could be imparted with new techniques to boost the foodgrain production. An official spokesman of the Agriculture Department on Wednesday said H.R. Noor, additional director of Agriculture of the state, would preside over the meetings.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

JAMMU
LeT commander held: Posing as civilians under a new intelligence-based operation to target militant leaders, the state police has arrested top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Junaid, gunned down another militant from the Pakistan-based outfit and three from the Hizbul Mujahideen. A police team arrested Junaid, an expert in making improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and said to be behind dozens of attacks on security forces and civilians in the past ten years.

3 held for stabbing: Three persons were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the stabbing of a youth in Udhampur district, official sources said. Two teams of the state police raided some places in Balinallah and Jindhrah areas of Udhampur district and arrested three persons - Vicky, Kulvir, alias Ilyas, and Adnan Malik. Virender Singh, alias Vicky, allegedly stabbed and critically injured Aftab Ahmed - the kidnapper of his sister, Meenakshi in Udhampur town. Ahmed (34) had kidnapped Meenakshi in Udhampur town in 2001. He was later arrested and subsequently released from jail.

Hideout busted: Security forces busted a hideout and recovered a cache of arms in Arnas area of Reasi district in Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said on Wednesday. “Acting on a tip-off, the police busted a militant hideout at Gajana Top forests of Reasi district,” sources said. Six UBGL, 1 pistol magazine, 20 pistol rounds, 115 AK rounds, 1 rocket launcher shell, 1 RL shell and 1 AK magazine were recovered from the site.

Seven gangsters held: Seven alleged gangsters armed with sharp-edged weapons and pistols were arrested on Wednesday. They were nabbed from Prem Nagar area of the city and were planning to attack a businessman. The kingpin of the gang was identified as Vipin Bhoot.

SRINAGAR
Lightning injures one: One person was injured by lightning, while another was wounded in a road accident in the Kashmir valley on Tuesday night, official sources said. One Reyaz Ahmad Chopan was injured by lightning in the forest area of Bran Saman Behak Shopian in south Kashmir. The injured was rushed to the hospital for treatment. In another incident, a pedestrian was injured when a vehicle hit him at Lethpora on the highway. The injured was admitted to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) at Soura. Meanwhile, a house was gutted in a fire incident at Soibug in the central Kashmir district of Budgam.