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TOP STORIES

Delhi Test
Call for hukamnama to MPs

Amritsar, July 12 For the first time, the intervention of Akal Takht has been sought by leaders of certain Sikh bodies with a view to save the Central government on the nuclear deal. The Akal Takht Secretariat has been receiving letters from Sikh leaders of various parties requesting Jathedar Vedanti to issue a directive to Sikh Parliamentarians to support the nuclear deal.

New Delhi, July 12 The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, has upped the “religious pressure” on the Sikh MPs. The DSGMC shot off a letter to Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti of Akal Takht, requesting him to issue a hukamnama — a religious edict — to all Sikh MPs to vote for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

‘State was never consulted’

PU CET, Punjab PMT
Students panic as dates clash
Chandigarh, July 12
Medical aspirants seeking admission to MBBS courses in colleges across Punjab and in Chandigarh are a panicky lot due to the common counselling date, July 15, for Panjab University’s Common Entrance Test (CET) and Punjab Pre-medical Test (PMT).

Food, supplies dept blames Railways for losses
Amritsar, July 12
The District Food and Supplies Department is sore over the indifferent attitude of Railway authorities which failed to provide sheds to store bales of gunny-bags that were damaged due to incessant rain. This caused a huge financial loss to the department and the state exchequer.

Bales of gunny bags being unloaded outside the railway head terminal in Amritsar. In the absence of sheds, goods have to be unloaded directly to tractor-trailers. Photo: Vishal Kumar

Woman’s death in hospital sparks protest
Sangrur, July 12
Following the death Neeru Bala (24), wife of Gauri Shankar from Sherpur village, at Singla Surgical Hospital here last night, protesters, including relatives and sympathisers of the deceased, from Lehragaga, Sherpur and Barnala, today demonstrated against the hospital.

The ambulance van with the body of Neeru Bala leaves Singla Surgical Hospital in Sangrur for Patiala on Saturday.

Doctors go on strike

The Curse of Budha Nullah
Dyeing, electroplating units face closure
Ludhiana, July 12
A number of dyeing, electroplating and other units along the Budha Nullah face closure for discharging waste into the water body, despite warnings by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB). The board is preparing details of surprise raids on the factories and units along the nullah for four days.

COMMUNITY

Night-landing facility for Patiala club
Patiala, July 12
The Patiala Aviation Club is all set to get the much-needed night-landing facility as the Punjab government has sanctioned an amount of Rs 2 crore for the purpose.

Aayesha to continue fight for justice
Amritsar, July 12
Piqued over the indifferent attitude of officials in the Indian Embassy in Pakistan, Aayesha Khalid (earlier Asha Patil), said she would continue to fight her own battle to seek justice. Aayesha, a resident of Mumbai, had married Mohammad Khalid of Lahore after coming in contact with him through the Internet about one and a half years ago.

Aayesha Khalid. Photo by Vishal Kumar

Now, anti-power theft police stations
Patiala, July 12
The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) is in the process of setting up 18 “anti-power theft police stations” to check power theft in all circles. The board has already set up six such police stations in all major cities like Patiala, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ludhiana in the first phase.

Punjab to set up cotton council
Chandigarh, July 12
The Punjab government will soon set up state cotton council to promote textile industry in the northern region.

100-yr-old temple demolished
Malerkotla, July 12
A 100-year-old temple of Sheetla Mata was demolished by the local administration here today and the land taken in possession by it.

Water-related issues worry students
Chandigarh, July 12
The Sikh Students Federation (SSF), that released a booklet titled, “Jal Bin Sakh Kumlavati,” (without water, offshoots wither), said Punjab faced serious water crisis. Water-related problems are multifold ranging from scarcity of drinking water to declining watertable and water pollution.

EDUCATION

Schools asked to meet industrialists
Chandigarh, July 12
While the process to rationalise the teaching staff in various government schools across the state has been deferred, the school education authorities have been asked to approach industrialists who, in the presence of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, had given commitment to set up Adrash schools in public private partnership (PPP) mode in the state.

Jalandhar boy 9th in CA test
Jalandhar, July 12
A plus II passout from Apeejay School, Aarish Sareen, has stood ninth in the CA Common Proficiency Test conducted by the Council of Chartered Accountants of India, Delhi. The result of the test was declared on the Internet today.