Jalandhar, December 31
Braving the bone-chilling dawn of the New Year, the poor in the city had little to do with the staggering feet which went back to their homes after heady New Year parties in various city restaurants and hotels. The first couldn’t celebrate the new year’s arrival since they didn’t have the means and probably not even the will but the second raised a toast of a whooping Rs 2 crore and more on parties.

The administration, however, distributing a few hundred quilts to the pavement dwellers and put thousands of security men outside the party venues to ensure that the festivities go on uninterrupted till wee hours of the morning. The city celebrated at more than 200 venues, each venue hosting a minimum of 500 guests at an average cost of Rs 2,000 per person.

The biggest New Year draw was the Gymkhana Club, where Mohammed Aziz sang. The venue for the night stretched up to three acres, fully covered to keep the guests warm through the night. The king-size party was complete with scantily-dressed dancers, sources said.

The other major party hotspots in the city like The Radisson Hotel, Country Inn, Lilly Resorts, The President Hotel and The Maya restricted the number of guest couples to 500. Special arrangements were made to accommodate the children. On an average, every hotel earned above Rs 5 lakh on dance parties, food and snacks.

Special Disc Jockeys, starlets and singers were invited to host and entertain cost the hotels and ultimately the guests a few lakhs. The drinks matched the tastes. Regular drinks made way to the more flamboyant rums, scotches, wine and vodka.

The Country Inn hosted up to 100 couples offering a theme party. Lakhs were paid to the DJ and the dance troupe flown straight from Mumbai. Munisha, an anchor from Delhi, was specially invited to host the evening. Multi-cuisine menus, unlimited snacks, surprise gifts for participants and special gifts for children were the highlights. Kids even had a separate zone for fun with special games and food. The couple entry here was Rs 2,500.

At The President Hotel, the party was named “Nachch Balliye” at Rs 1,500 per couple, The Maya charged Rs 1,999, The Raddisson Hotel Rs 2,500 and the Gymkhana Club Rs 500 with extra charges for food, drinks, snacks and for bringing children and stags along.

In striking contrast to this, according to a survey, thousands of people in the city spent their night out without a roof. They had only the unsparing winter sky above their heads.

The pavements along the Milap Chowk, railway station, main Bus Stand, Devi Talab Mandir area, District Administrative Complex area, Industrial Area, Transport Nagar, Lamba Village Chowk, Sabzi Mandi area, Basti Mithu, Basti Bawa Khel, 120-Footi Road, Bootta Mandi, Model House and Khurla Kingra areas had these lesser-blessed making their beds in the open in this city of the neo-rich.

Kapurthala, December 31
A resident of Kala Sanghia village was shot dead in Manila on Thursday. The deceased had migrated there illegally last year after borrowing Rs 6 lakh from his relatives and friends.

The deceased, Charanjit Singh (34) alias Tona, is survived by his wife, two children and father who are living in the village.

Karnail Singh, the father of the deceased, said his son was arrested by the Manila police on Thursday on charges of staying illegally in the country. The same day, Sukhjit, another resident from the area living in Manila, got him bailed out.

On Friday, Sukhjit got a call from the police to identify a body bearing six bullet marks. On reaching the police station, Sukhjit found the body of Charanjit Singh, said the deceased’s father.

A total of six persons from Kala Sanghia and adjoining villages have been killed in Manila this year.

Two members of a family from Gillan village near here were killed during the last three months.

Jalandhar, December 31
Following a two-day principals’ conference that concluded at Doaba College last evening, the Association of Indian College Principals has decided to send its 17-point resolutions and recommendations to the UGC, NAAC, state and Central government departments for restructuring of higher education.

Stating this in a press note, Dr R.P. Bhardwaj, coordinator of the conference, said that the foremost recommendation was that the principals must be given due representation in different bodies such as UGC, state and Central government for policy-making and other decisions affecting the colleges. — TNS