Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed that only the Heads of State, including the Chief Minister, Speaker and the Chief Justice were entitled to the escort vehicles. This would require about 50 police personnel and shall be made available from Mohali police station. ADGP handed a list of around eight persons from whom the security shall be withdrawn.

The security guards of Akali workers Amrik Singh of Mohali, Jasbir Singh, SGPC member Hardeep Singh and Sapna Sethi has already been withdrawn.

Ferozepur, Dec. 25 : The current tension between India and Pakistan following the terror attacks in Mumbai has given plenty of ammunition to the Punjabi Durbar programme of Radio Pakistan.

The Punjabi Durbar programme has been drumming statements that Pakistan is ready for a war.

The broadcasts are silent on facts that indicate that elements from Pakistan were responsible for the violence in Mumbai. Instead, the Punjabi Durbar programme has been stating that India has been conspiring against Pakistan.

Nurpur (Jalandhar), Dec. 25 : Thousands of sports lovers converged here for two days to watch dog races at Nurpur village that have become a major draw for people from far off places of Punjab and abroad for four years here.

The special attraction of these dog races were the participation by different varieties of dogs, especially brought here by the non-resident Indians from abroad. It was fourth edition of the dog races this time.

Organised on Wednesday and Thursday, the dog race saw 106 dogs vying for the first place. About 60 per cent of them were flown here by their owners spending a whopping sum of rupees 40,000 for each dog.

The post of the President of Punjab Youth Congress (PYC) has been given to Ravneet Singh Bittu, a close confidant of the former Congress chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh.

Bittu's grandfather was the former congress chief minister of Punjab, Beant Singh who was assassinated during the peak days of militancy in Punjab.

A good batting performance from the top order batsman and a well-made 113 by former skipper Amol Muzumdar helped Mumbai to took a huge 234 run lead over Punjab on the second day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Division Group ‘A’ match.  

Replying to 202 runs scored by Punjab in their first innings, Mumbai declared their first innings at 436 for nine.

Mazumdar scored his 24th first class century in his 142nd match. At the end of the play, Punjab made 18 for no loss.

Chandigarh, Dec 16 : Security has been beefed up in Chandigarh ahead of second test match to be played between India and England in Mohali.

The Taj Hotel where both teams will be staying has been virtually turned into a fortress with hundreds of policeman guarding the Hotel premises.

"We have posted 300 security personnel in the Taj hotel and almost one thousand policemen are posted on the route of the team from the stadium to the hotel. All measures have been taken to ensure that no untoward incident takes place," said H S Doon, Superintendent of Police (Security) Chandigarh.