Briefly Region

Early polls: SAD takes on Amarinder

CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal on Thursday reacted to the statement of Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh about early elections in the state and said the former chief minister should stop “daydreaming” about become the CM again and get ready to face defeat. SAD secretary and spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said Amarinder had predicted early elections on more than half a dozen occasions ever since he was appointed the chief of the state Congress. Cheema said the Congress wanted to avoid the SGPC elections due for the last two years and was hell bent on creating conditions for its postponement.

Mohan Lal’s outburst draws BJP ire

CHANDIGARH: Bharatiya Janata Party’s Punjab affairs in-charge Shanta Kumar has taken strict notice of the comments of former transport minister Master Mohan Lal against the party as well as the protest rally his supporters took out against the BJP. Master Mohan Lal”s supporters raised slogans against state president Ashwani Sharma and burnt his effigy in Pathankot on Wednesday. Mohan Lal issued statements against the state president,inviting the ire of the high command. Shanta Kumar has sought an exhaustive report from Pathankot BJP district president and mandal president,along with newspaper cuttings and other supportive documents,video recordings and photographs. On his directions,BJP’s disciplinary committee chairman (Punjab) Shakti Sharma has convened an emergency meeting in Chandigarh where it will discuss the report and decide further course of action.

Notices to Khaira,Sebia for indiscipline

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) issued show-cause notices to two of its MLAs Sukhpal Singh Khaira and Surinder Pal Sebia on Thursday for airing their grievances about the PPCC list of office-bearers in public and the media,before taking up the matter in the party forum. Both of them have been given time till May 25 to reply. Khaira had written a letter to PPCC president Capt Amarinder Singh disapproving of the list. But before the letter could reach Amarinder,he had released it to the media. On the other hand,Sebia held a press conference and stated there that many tainted people had been made office-bearers.

Principals pulled up for poor school uniforms

Ludhiana: District Education Officer (DEO),Primary,Ferozepur,Dr Joginder Singh has pulled up principals of government schools in the district after he received complaints of inferior quality uniforms being provided to students. he also warned to chargesheet the erring principals for bungling of funds meant for school uniforms. Singh said: “Rs 400 per head has been sanctioned for providing uniforms to students upto Class VIII and over 1.5 lakh students are to be covered in this district alone. We have disbursed the funds but am shocked to listen to the complaints of village panchayats.” The DEO sent a communication to all school principals to improve the quality or face action. He also inspected a few schools in Fazilka on Thursday to see the quality of uniforms kept in stock.

Cong seeks CBI probe into sand,stone mining

AMRITSAR: Former District Congress Committee (Rural) head S R S Lally Majithia demanded a CBI probe into sand and stone mining in the state,alleging a huge scam to the tune of Rs 8,000 crore. Addressing the media,he accused Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia of “patronising” the land and mining mafia.

Reduce VAT on petrol: Sidhu to CM

AMRITSAR: Local MP Navjot Singh Sidhu has sought a reduction in Value Added Tax (VAT) imposed by the state government on petrol from 27.5 per cent to 20 per cent to bring down the price of the fuel. In a letter to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal,Sidhu said the common man was bearing the brunt of the price-hike and the state should provide some respite by lowering the taxes. “Punjab needs to lower its VAT to bring it at par with neighbouring Haryana and Chandigarh as the price of petrol in Punjab was higher in comparison,” he said on Thursday.

Loreto girl tops in ICSE

SHIMLA: With 97 per cent marks,Dikshita Vashist,a student of Loreto Convent,Tara Hall,has topped in the state in the ICSE examination and Bhanu Pratap Singh of Bishop Cotton School,with 96 per cent marks,secured first position in the ISC examinations held this year. Abhimanyu Thakur of Shimla Public School was another among the toppers with 94 per cent marks in the ICSE examination.

HP Golf Association office-bearers

SHIMLA: IPS officer I D Bhandari and Col Munish Kapoor (Retd) were elected as president and general secretary,respectively,of the Himachal Pardesh Golf Association on Wednesday. Three senior vice-presidents of the association are A N Sharma,Ajay Vij and Yatish Sood. Ashok Gupta has been elected as treasurer.

Judicial powers to HP officers

SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh High Court,after a full court reference,has conferred the powers of Special Judicial Magistrates (Class I) to Ashish Kohli,Assistant Commissioner,and Joginder Chuahan,Law Officer of the Shimla Municipal Corporation,under Sections 383 and 352 of the Municipal Corporation Act 1994.