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Murder count: 32 cases remain unsolved
‘Private investment in colleges creating imbalance’
Polio mop-up operation on Jan 15
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Nagar Council reclaims its land from encroachers
FLASHBACK 2005
Police to keep revellers in check today
DSP Mahal shifted
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Murder count: 32 cases remain unsolved
Jalandhar, December 30 This year, five cases of murder were reported and all remain unsolved. From last year, eleven cases are to be cracked. Eight murder cases from 2003 and 2002 are still being investigated. The details of the crimes in dusty police files are gruesome. While many cases have been sent to the dustbin because of the lack of evidence, in others, the accused have been booked under suspicion since the cases could not reach their logical conclusion. Take the instance the rickshaw puller whose six-year-old daughter’s body was found in the fields belonging to one Karnail Singh. But the police records put the case as untraced since September 7, 2002. It was again put under the untraced category in 2004. The victim’s father Rampal does not have the resources to pull up the authorities to make them book the persons who picked up his innocent child when she was playing outside her house. In another unsolved murder case, on October 24, 2004, a 19-year-old girl’s body was found dumped in a sack near the Bhagat Singh Colony on the GT Road. Though the police said investigations into the murder case was on, the body of the girl had not been identified yet. The police added that they have not found the motive behind the murder. Another case, dated September 23, 2005, of the murder of a couple by unknown assailants hangs fire. The assailants, the police record reads, entered a house and murdered its owner Mukesh Arora and his wife with a sharp-edged weapon besides looting cash worth Rs 50,000. The police said it was still developing information in the case. In most of these cases, the bodies of the victims were discovered by passersby. These records also show how the victims’ families are still waiting for the police to nab the culprits and then the courts to deliver justice since they do not have MP or MLA to lobby for their case. |
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‘Private investment in colleges creating imbalance’
Jalandhar, December 30 Presenting his paper, Dr R.V. Hajirnis, Principal, MES College of Arts and Commerce, Goa, said that private investment in colleges was creating imbalance in higher education. He said that it was oriented towards courses of market demand such as IT or electronics engineering. He added that basic disciplines like physics, chemistry, mathematics, languages, philosophy and history were not being offered in private colleges due to ever-increasing marketisation of higher education. Highlighting more demerits of privatisation of higher education, Dr P.S. Pawar, Principal, KKW College, Nasik, said that there was no coordination in quality, equality and quantity in private universities and colleges. Citing examples from Chhatisgarh, she said that most of the 112 private universities that had come up in the state were lagging behind in physical and academic set-up, forcing the Supreme Court to cancel the approval for 100 universities there. But, she added, the opening of private colleges was fruitful for the developed and developing countries as it resulted in less liability for governments for doling out grants, more competition among educational institutes, adequate use of information technology, attraction to foreign education and more importance to student-oriented services. Principal Veena Watni from R.R. Bawa DAV College of Girls, Batala, focused on the state of private aided colleges in Punjab. She said that as many as 150 colleges of the state were on the verge of closing down as government grants were getting reduced continuously. She said that while the colleges were getting 95 per cent grant earlier, the grants had been reduced to 72 per cent in 2003. The principal said that the state was spending only 2.5 per cent of the GDP on private aided colleges as compared to 9 per cent in the developing country like Sri Lanka. She said that the Central government was also not doing very good as it was spending just 4.4 per cent of the GDP on higher education in the tenth plan. |
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Polio mop-up operation on Jan 15
Phagwara, December 30 The area to be covered comprises the seven districts within the 40 km radius of Ludhiana district that also includes the Phagwara Block. The first phase was of the operation was undertaken on Dec 11. The fresh operation follows the recent detection of a polio case in the area. Two-year-old Khushi, a resident of Subhash Nagar here and now admitted in CMC Ludhiana, is suspected of having Gyllen Barre Syndrome (GBS). But doctors say the exact position would only be known after reports of her stool test come in from the Central Research Institute in Kasauli. |
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Nagar Council reclaims its land from encroachers
Phagwara, December 30 A heavy police force accompanied the demolition squad. Amazingly, the squad faced no resistance from the encroachers, as it pulled down the illegal structures. Unauthorised construction had been springing up on the council’s land near Sheetla Mandir in Khalwaragate. Price of the land, measuring 34 marlas, is said to be astronomical. While four shops had come up on land, two unauthorised shops had been constructed alongside it. But the Nagar Council initiated its action only after the matter was brought to the notice of the local MLA, the Deputy Commissioner and the Deputy Director of the Local Bodies. |
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FLASHBACK 2005
Jalandhar, December 30 The year proved to be lucky for Padam Shree awardee, Olympian Pargat Singh, who is from Jalandhar. He was rewarded with a coveted post of Director Sports. Kartar Singh, former Director Sports, won the 10th Veteran World Wrestling Championship held in Iran. The year proved to be lucky for sports stars from the city. Jagdish Bishnoi, a javelin thrower, Rajwinder Kaur and Manjit Kaur, both Olympians, got promotions in Punjab Police. The CET conducted by Punjab Technical University passed off peacefully but the authorities created “mess” with the result. Candidates agitated outside the campus as the university higher-ups failed to budge. Three days later, the authorities blamed it to faulty software. One good moment for the university was the signing of the Rs 6 crore project with Lord Swaraj Paul for setting up a School of Excellence at the proposed PTU site on the Kapurthala Road. The NIT student suicide case saw the worst possible repercussions of ragging. Arrests of students who were allegedly involved in the ragging followed the student’s suicide, and the NIT campus remained abuzz with the news related to the case for quite some time. The city got a new SSP, Mr Ishwar Singh, after former SSP, Mr S.K. Asthana, got shifted after a relatively short tenure. The MC Commissioner, Mr S.S. Johal, was re-instated as MC Commissioner, a position that was held by Mr C.S. Talwar for a short while. The MC Mayor, Mr Surinder Mahey, too remained involved in controversies, the major one being his “secret visit” to a foreign country. Politically, he continued to align with the Transport Minister, Mr Mahinder Singh Kaypee, and lock horns with MC Commissioner, Mr Johal, over demolition of Bhargo Camp. The year also saw hundreds of demolition drives by the MC. It was not a particularly good year for Bibi Jagir Kaur who had to make way for Avtar Singh, who took over as the SGPC Chief. Unmanned railway crossing accidents snuffed out many lives. The Noormahal accident in which a brother-sister duo lost their life was a tragic reminder of how unmanned crossing could turn into a killer railway crossing. Bank robbery in which more than Rs 60 lakh was looted exposed chinks in the security set-up of banks and offices. Meanwhile, culture connoisseurs kept the tradition of classical music alive at Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan. |
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Police to keep revellers in check today
Jalandhar, December 30 Meanwhile, the police has launched a special campaign to have intensive checking of vehicles on the New Year eve. No firearms or blunt weapons will be allowed, according to the SSP Ishwar Singh. |
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DSP Mahal shifted
Phagwara, December 30 Mr Kuldip Singh would now return as DSP, Jalandhar (HQ). |
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