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Lobbying on for cabinet berths
Kanwaljit may get Finance back
Chandigarh, January 19
Hectic political activity has started in Punjab ahead of Sukhbir Singh Badal’s induction into the Punjab Cabinet as Deputy Chief Minister on Wednesday. As the cabinet reshuffle is now imminent, lobbying has started by ministers for both changes in portfolios as well as attempts to retain their ministerial berths.

Tight security for Sukhbir’s swearing-in
Amritsar, January 19
Black Cat commandos have been deployed at the venue where swearing-in of Sukhbir Singh Badal as Deputy Chief Minister will be held on January 21 here. Additional security forces have been requisitioned from adjoining districts.

DGP NPS Aulakh (second from left), along with other officials, inspects the venue of swearing-in of Sukhbir Singh Badal as Deputy Chief Minister in Amritsar on Monday. Photo: Vishal Kumar

State BJP to attend function
Jalandhar, January 19
Bowing down to the orders of its central command, state BJP leaders have made up their mind to attend the swearing-in of Sukhbir Singh Badal as Deputy CM in Amritsar on Wednesday.

Badal’s step autocratic, says BJP leader
Jalandhar, January 19
Despite clear instructions from the BJP top brass to attend the swearing-in of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, a section of the party is of the view that the induction of Sukhbir is an “autocratic and desperate” attempt by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to anoint his son ahead of the parliamentary polls.

Manpreet to plead for relief in lieu of foodgrain tax
Chandigarh, January 19
On January 21, besides the swearing-in ceremony of Sukhbir Singh Badal as Deputy Chief Minister at Amritsar, the empowered committee of state finance ministers in New Delhi will discuss Punjab economy.

Inside Babudom
JP Singh tipped as Adviser to Chd Administrator
Chandigarh, January 19
Chief Secretary of Goa JP Singh, an alumnus of Panjab University, is being tipped as new Adviser to the Administrator of Chandigarh. The present incumbent, Pradeep Mehra, who was initially expected to swap places with JP Singh, may now go back to New Delhi as his new posting is yet to be decided.

PMET scam ‘has national dimension’
SIT arrests SMO, chemist
Chandigarh, January 19
Probe into the Pre-Medical Entrance Test (PMET)-2008 has unmasked an all-India network and bright students from Bihar were roped in to impersonate for candidates for the examination.

POLITICS

SAD Anandpur Sahib candidate begins campaign

Mohali, January 19 Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, SAD candidate from the Anandpur Sahib parliamentary seat, today began his election campaign from Amb Sahib Gurdwara here this morning. Indicative of factionalism in the party, Kiranbir Singh Kang, SAD youth wing president, and Jasjit Singh, chairman of Punjab Cooperative Bank, were conspicuous by their absence. Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, SAD candidate from Anandpur Sahib parliamentary seat, being greeted by supporters in Mohali, on Monday. Tribune photo: Vicky Gharu

Cong may request PM to contest from Amritsar
Jalandhar, January 19
The Punjab Congress may formally request Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections from Amritsar. A resolution in this regard is likely to be passed in the meeting of the Punjab Congress Coordination Committee, scheduled to be held tomorrow in Chandigarh.

Majithia’s resignation accepted
Chandigarh, January 19
The Governor, Gen SF Rodrigues (retd), has accepted the resignation of Public Relations and Science and Technology Minister Bikramjit Singh Majithia from the Council of Ministers, official sources said here today. The resignation was forwarded to the Governor by the Chief Minister's office this morning.

COMMUNITY

Canal breaches in Malwa flood wheat fields, orchards
Bathinda, January 19
Wheat fields and orchards at many places in the Malwa belt were inundated today as the canals breached due to increased water level. Crop in 250 acres were destroyed in Mehma Sarja and Kot Fatta areas. The canal breached in Chief Minister Parkash Singh’s Badal village last evening and was plugged by the Irrigation Department.

(Left) Canal water gushing into an orchard near Kot Bhara village on Monday as the Phul tributary breached causing damage to standing crops over an area of 100 acres; A farmer, Pargat Singh, wades through the canal water that gushed into his wheat field in the Mehma Sarja near Kot Shameerpur in Bathinda district on Monday. Standing crops over 60 acres was destroyed in the area. Tribune photos: Malkiat Singh/Kulbir Beera

Thikriwala remembered
Sangrur, January 19
Paying rich tributes to great martyr and torch-bearer of the Riyasti Praja Mandal Sardar Sewa Singh Thikriwala on his 75th martyrdom day at his native Thikriwala village, 6 km from Barnala, MP from Sangrur Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa today asked the gathering to follow the path shown by martyrs to convert their dreams into reality.

Smuggling of narcotics, arms dips along border Amritsar, January 19 Pakistan army build-up along the Indo-Pakistan border after Mumbai strikes has led to decline in smuggling from across the border. Sources in the Special Narcotics Cell (SNC), Intelligence wing of the Punjab Police monitoring smuggling of drugs and arms today said drug-trafficking along the Indo-Pakistan border had come down due to Pakistan army’s build-up and exercises.

Special narcotics cell officials with the arms seized near the Indo-Pak border. Photo: Vishal Kumar

Distinction for Dr Sumeet Chugh
Chandigarh, January 19
Dr Sumeet Chugh, who graduated from Government Medical College, Patiala, in 1988, has been selected as a professor and associate director of Heart Institute and director of Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology at the prestigious Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles, USA. He is an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of heart-rhythm abnormalities and is leading a ground-breaking research on sudden cardiac arrest.

Finally, students visit science city
Kapurthala, January 19
Pushpa Gujral Science City was jam-packed today as finally, a batch of 3,600 government schoolchildren visited the science city today. A spokesman for the science city told The Tribune that two teachers with 50 students and an in charge from every district education office was allowed free-of-cost entry in the science city.

Industries secy to probe irregularities
Chandigarh, January 19
The Punjab government has initiated a probe into allegations of corruption against director, Industries, VK Janjua. Principal Secretary, Industries, SS Channy will hold the probe. Sources say some industrialists had complained that Janjua had indulged in corruption while disbursing subsidy to industrial units in the state.

Rajasansi: No Singapore flights from Feb 2
Amritsar, January 19
Singapore Airlines will stop flights from here from February 2. But Rs 140- crore modernisation and expansion project under way is likely to be commissioned soon. Senior manager of Singapore Airlines Ang said it had been decided to terminate thrice-a-week flights for reasons like lack of cargo and J class load.

Winter school on generic skills begins
Sangrur, January 19
A five-day winter school on generic skills development sponsored by the All-India Council for Technical Education, New Delhi, and the Union Ministry for Human Resource and Development, in collaboration with the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research, Chandigarh, today began at the Bhai Gurdas Institute of Engineering and Technology here.