Jalandhar, July 11
The SAD would abide by the coalition dharma and vote against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in the emergent parliamentary session called by the latter.

Cooperation minister Kanwaljit Singh, who was in the city prior to the oath taking ceremony of the newly-elected panches at the Kartarpur grain market, said the parliamentary session was being projected as mandate for the nuclear deal but would be in fact a mandate against the anti -people policies of the regime. Mere sophistry would not work this time, he observed.

Elaborating on the stand of the Akalis on the sensitive issue, the minister reasoned that it was being speculated that they would not vote against a Sikh PM, but it was also a fact that they had been not officially informed that such a deal was being pushed through.

“We only came to know of the details from media reports but the final stand of the party would be finalised at the meeting of the party top brass on July 15,” he informed.

It is a matter of concern that such an important matter had not been debated at the national level but the people had only come to know of it through the appreciation earned by the PM at the international fora, he remarked.

Commenting on the exercise of the UPA to cobble an alliance, he said it would be an unholy alliance since would only ensure that the regime lasted its full term. I do not see any good coming to the people out of this effort, he added.

“We all know that the emerging energy demands of the country would be best met through nuclear power, but why the secrecy around the deal. Surprisingly, even the President has not spoken on the matter and has only chosen to call for a session to allow the regime to prove its legitimacy on the floor of the house,” he observed.

He pointed out that although SAD had always supported the installation of nuclear power plants, but as far as proposed Indo-US Nuclear Treaty is concerned, there are still doubts about it”.

No draft of the treaty was presented on the floor of the parliament and it is a matter of record that less than 10 percent of the total population knows about the treaty.

“We cannot put sovereignty of the country at stake, just to please US by signing treaty”, he reiterated.

Moreover, during the emergency session burning issues like inflation, agrarian crisis and the hike in oil prices would prove to be the deciding factors, he added.

Replying to a query on the much touted farm loan waiver, he said it was a cruel joke with the farmers of the state which contributes about 80 per cent of the central food pool of buffer stock as only Rs 900 crore of loans had been waived off, he revealed.

A majority of our farmers were paying their loans honestly and that was why they did not get benefit of the scheme, the minister said, adding that rather they were being punishment for being honest, he quipped.

Jalandhar, July 11
It is celebration time for the family of Anuja Sood, a B.Tech (instrumentation and control engineering) student of the Dr B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology. A bright and lucky lass, she has managed to secure placement in a top US-based company on an annual remuneration of Rs 11.2 lakh, the highest-ever package that the institute passout has received.

A resident of Central Town here, she will resume her training with Baker Hughes as junior maintenance engineer in Mumbai in 15 days. Thereafter, she will be joining company office at one of the three locations, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh or Gandhinagar, as per further directions.

A proud father, Dr Sunil Kumar Sood, a commerce professor at Lyallpur Khalsa College, said Anuja had three offers before the completion of the course, including one with Accenture and another with CSC Corporation, but this certainly was the best one.

“My daughter has been very fortunate since school days. After appearing for Class X examination, she had participated in TVS “Guess your marks” contest. She scored 90 per cent exactly what she had filled in the form and won a Scooty,” he recalled.

“At the time of her B.Tech admission, she was getting admission to B.Tech (electronics and communication engineering), her first choice stream at Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana, but she left it to join the NIT.

Again in NIT, she had a chance to upgrade her stream in the second year to join electronics engineering but owing to some policies of the institute, the seat was left vacant and she could not avail herself of the chance. It is now that we realise that she was better off here for she has got a better package than all her batch mates of electronics stream,” quipped the father.

While Anuja is currently at Bangalore for she had joined Accenture for a month, her mother Neety Sood, a home science lecturer at Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya, pointed out that the company representatives had committed to her daughter during the pre-placement talk an annual package of Rs 20 lakh after one year.

Her mom laughed, “The amount that our daughter will start getting right at the beginning of her career is far more than the salaries that I and my husband are drawing together at the brink of our career.” Anuja’s elder sister, Suniti Sood, is also a software engineer with private company at Gurgaon.

Amritsar, July 11
The police has booked three persons, Dharminder Singh, Sukhchain Singh and their mother Lakhwinder Kaur, all residents of Gorenangal village, for allegedly trying to rape and murder a girl of Vichhoaya village, falling under Amritsar rural police district here.

The victim, in her complaint lodged with the police, stated that she was a Class 11th student in Sant Baba Hazara Singh College and living at her uncle’s residence in Gorenangal village. Dharminder was their neighbour.

She alleged that on July 7 when she alighted from a bus to go to her uncle’s house, Dharminder who was standing near the bus stand offered her lift but took her to his house. She alleged that his brother Sukhchain Singh was already present there.

She alleged that they gave her some intoxicant mixed in water, after which she become semiconscious. Both brothers tried to rape her. Meanwhile, their mother Lakhwinder arrived. Frightened by the arrival of their mother, they poured some poisonous substance in her mouth.

She said she raised an alarm and after hearing her shrieks, her father and uncle reached the spot.

The police arrested both brothers and initiated an action after medical examination of the girl.

Hoshiarpur, July 11
The SAD’s decision on whether to support the UPA or not in case of no-confidence motion would be decided during the party’s Political Affairs Committee meeting on July 15.

This was disclosed by Punjab minister for rural development and panchayats Ranjit Singh Brahmpura while talking to mediapersons here today.

The minister was in town for swearing in ceremony of newly elected panches. He said the new sarpanches for all panchayats would be elected within a week. Besides, a grant of Rs 2 lakh each would be given to those panchayats where election of sarpanches would be held unanimously.

Appreciating the central government for NREGA, Brahmpura said unlimited funds were being provided to the panchayats under the scheme.

He said it had helped in reducing unemployment in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of assured employment to the rural inhabitants, including women.

Hoshiarpur, July 11
A vigilance team headed by DSP Daljit Singh caught audit officer Sukhwinder Singh of Primary Land Mortgage Bank for accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 from Rakesh Kumar.

The DSP said the accused had demanded Rs 10,000 from Rakesh for adding his name to the list of those eligible for loan waiver as per the policy of the Punjab government. Later, the deal was struck at Rs 5,000.

Meanwhile, Sukhwinder Singh was sent to the vigilance police station, Jalandhar and would be produced before the court tomorrow.