Petrol station looted
Our Correspondent

Hoshiarpur, 
An armed robbery at a filling station at Chohal village took place today. According to police sources, at least five persons in a white Indica car went to the Khushi Ram and Sons petrol filling station at about 2.45 am. 

One person got down and gave Rs 500 to attendant Ashok Kumar to fill diesel in the car. The armed persons then told Ashok to hand over the keys of the cash drawer. When he refused, they beat up all employees and snatched the keys and decamped with the cash.

Govt to spend Rs 142 cr for setting up new schools
Our Correspondent

Hoshiarpur, 
The Punjab government will spend Rs 142 crore for starting three model and one Adarsh school in each Assembly segment of the state during the current financial year, so that students of rural areas can get education facilities at par with the standard of public schools.

This was stated by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal while addressing the valedictory function of a three-day health fair organised by Avinash Rai Khanna, MP from the Hoshiarpur parliamentary constituency, in collaboration with the district administration under the National Health Mission Programme at Garhshankar, 40 km from here, today.

The Chief Minister said arrangements had been made for providing free education to brilliant students of the poor section in the model and Adarsh schools.

Referring to the shortage of teaching staff in government schools, Badal said necessary proceedings had been initiated for the recruitment of 14,000 teachers to fill all vacant posts in senior and secondary schools in the state.

Appreciating Khanna and the district administration for holding health fair, Badal emphasised the need for organising such health fairs in other parts of the state for providing health services to the people of far-flung areas.

He strongly condemned the involvement of youth in intoxication and female foeticide. There was a dire need to check the menace of female foeticide and make people aware about its ill effects. Female foeticide had badly hit the balance between the male and female population.

Later, Badal inaugurated the pulse polio campaign by administering polio vaccine to seven newborn babies and appealed to the people to get polio drops administered to their children to completely eradicate the disease.

Around 15 handicapped persons were given tricycles on this occasion.

Khanna said more than 14,000 persons were medically examined in this health fair. Also artificial limbs were provided to 16 handicapped persons.

Around 252 persons donated blood at the blood donation camp organised in the fair.

Punjab local bodies minister Manoranjan Kalia, MLA Sohan Singh Thandal, Jathedar Keshgarh Sahib Tarlochan Singh and many others also spoke on the occasion.