Amritsar
Insects found in flour for mid-day meal: Following the mid-day meal tragedy in Bihar, the Health Department on Thursday carried out an inspection at various schools in the city and found insects in wheat flour meant for mid-day meal at government schools in Karampura and Faizpura. The team also found food ingredients stored in an improper manner at Dharam Nagar and Kangra Colony schools. The kitchen at Mustafabad School was found lacking in cleanliness. BJP state general secretary Tarun Chugh also visited schools to ascertain the quality of food being served to students. 

Bathinda
Hot mix plant owners to boycott tenders: Accusing the government of forcing undue rules and regulations, the Punjab Hot Mix Plant Owners Association has decided to boycott auction of tenders for Rs 1,700-crore road upgradation project in the state. Association president Balwinder Singh Sidhwan said: "The government has laid out conditions that are not feasible. For instance, it has decided to give only 80 per cent of payment on the completion of the project and the remaining after the project passes government tests".

Chandigarh
Ensure cleanliness, warns Maluka: In context of the Bihar mid-day meal tragedy, Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka on Thursday issued directions to all the authorities concerned to ensure total hygiene in preparing mid-day meals and said that all principals and heads of the schools would be accountable for this. At a meeting of all district education officers, Maluka told the officers to ensure proper monitoring of the scheme. He also warned the officers of strict action in case of any negligence. 

Walk-in interview for doctors on July 22: The Department of Health and Family Welfare will hold walk-in interviews for 392 posts across 13 specialties on July 22 at Auditorium, State Institute of Health & Family Welfare Complex, near Civil Hospital, Phase-VI, Mohali. An official press release here on Thursday said the selection of specialist doctors would be done by a committee chaired by Dr KK Talwar, former Chairman, MCI. 

Jalandhar
State colonisers put off protest: The Punjab Property Dealers and Colonisers Association has deferred its proposed state-level protest scheduled to be held in Jalandhar on July 22 against the policy of regularising illegal colonies. The decision was taken after Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal promised the association to relax and simplify the norms for regularising illegal colonies at a meeting in Ludhiana on Wednesday.

Ludhiana
Thieves held: The police arrested two thieves who struck at a tea shop near the Shangla Wala Shivala road and decamped with four cylinders and a cash box on Wednesday. The stolen articles were recovered from the duo—Sonu and Dadua, both hailing from Uttar Pradesh.

Body found: The body of a 70-year-old man was found from a vacant plot belonging to a coloniser on Chandigarh Road today. The body was spotted by a watchman this morning. The police took the body in its possession and sent it for post-mortem. In another incident, a man, identified as Shiv Dalal, died while working at a forging unit near Sherpur Chowk today. The exact cause of death was yet to be ascertained.

Moga
Moga youth beaten to death by friend: A youth was allegedly beaten to death by his friend in the city on Wednesday. The victim, Inderjit Singh of Safuwala village and his friend Ranjodh Singh, a city resident, had worked as helpers in a medical store. A few days ago, they had argued with each other on a petty issue following which Ranjodh was fired from the job. Ranjodh along with his friends allegedly attacked Inderjit on Wednesday. Inderjit succumbed to his injuries on way to hospital. Ranjodh, Amandeep Singh, Varinder Singh, Vikramjit Singh and Lucky have been booked. 

Patiala
Kharbanda is Amritsar MC Commissioner: PRTC Managing Director DPS Kharbanda has been appointed as the Commissioner of Amritsar Municipal Corporation. He will begin work in his new capacity on Monday. Kharbanda worked at PRTC for 15 months as its MD and has turned the fortunes of the corporation. Bhupinder Singh, Commissioner of Amritsar Municipal Corporation, will be the new Managing Director of PRTC.

Chandigarh
DCs named Additional Chief Registrars: The Haryana Government has appointed Deputy Commissioners as Additional Chief Registrars and authorised them to function as Chief Registrar in their respective districts under section 11 (4) of the Haryana Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act, 2008.

Jhajjar
Farm official held for graft: A team of the Haryana Vigilance Bureau caught Charanpal Singh Chauhan, ADO, Agriculture Department, while accepting a bribe of Rs 3,000 from Raj Kumar, a farmer of Dawla village, for releasing subsidy under the National Agriculture Development Plan. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the ADO. 

Kaithal
HPSC ex-chief dies: Harphool Singh (99), a former Chairman of the Haryana Public Service Commission, died in Pai village of this district on Thursday after a prolonged illness . Family sources said his cremation would take place in the village on Friday morning.

BHARMOUR
Bharmour road blocked: The Garola-Ulansa link road in Bharmour tribal sub-division has been blocked due to landslips for the past few days. Consequently, schoolchildren have been facing difficulty in reaching their schools, reports reaching here said. At Ulansa schoolchildren have to trudge long distances to reach their schools at Garola. The road authorities have undertaken the restoration works on the link road on priority, the reports said.