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PUNJAB

Chandigarh
1.5 lakh girls to get new bicycles: Over 1.5 lakh girl students in the state will get new bicycles within the next three months. The government has set aside Rs 47 crore in its budget for the Mai Bhaggo Scheme in which all girl students of government schools of Classes IX to XII would be given bicycles. The District Education Officers have been told to make a list of girl students. This scheme has helped in reducing the school dropout rate among girls.

Tributes paid to Wisconsin victims: Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal took part in a function organised in the US to pay tributes to the Sikhs who were killed at a gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, said a statement released on Monday. A white supremacist Wade Michael Page had opened fire on devotees in the gurdwara last year. Six persons were killed in the firing. Speaking at the function, Atwal said Sikhs had made a significant contribution in the development of the US. He said efforts had been made to eliminate racial discrimination and hate crimes. But still hate crime mongers were active in the country, he said. 

Moga
Minor abducted from Moga village: A 16-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly abducted from Bhagike, the native village of Akali MLA Rajwinder Kaur in the Nihalsinghwala sub-division of the district. The accused is a resident of the same village. As per the FIR lodged by the girl's father, the youth belonging to the same community had abducted the girl on the pretext of marrying her. She was on the way to a shop near her house last evening when she was taken away by the youth, the Station House Officer said.