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Orissa violence: Catholic institutions to remain closed today
Jalandhar, August 28
On the directions of the Catholic Bishops’ conference of India, New Delhi, all Catholic institutions in the country will remain closed tomorrow to protest against the acts of community violence in Orissa and to express solidarity with the suffering Christians there.

Students of St Francis School pay tributes to the persons killed in violence in J&K and Orissa.
— Photo by Vishal Kumar

Students of St Francis School pay tributes to the persons killed in violence in J&K and Orissa

Stop discrimination against holy city: AVM
Amritsar, August 28
The Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM) here while reiterating its demand for the extension of the express highway from Ludhiana to Rajasansi airport, appealed to the Punjab government to stop the alleged discrimination against the holy city of Amritsar.

MPLAD Fund
Khanna releases grants for development
Hoshiarpur, August 28
Panchayats and municipal councils can play a pivotal part in the development of rural and urban areas in Punjab. There is a dire need to strengthen the panchayats by creating a regular source of income for them.

Tata Sumo driver killed in accident
Batala, August 28
One person was killed and another injured in a collision between a Tata Sumo and a motorcycle on the Batala-Jalandhar road here today. The deceased has been identified as Tata Sumo driver Surjit Singh, aged 25.

Maid’s minor daughter raped
Amritsar, August 28
A minor daughter of a maid was allegedly raped by Suraj of Maqboolpura here today. According to the victim’s mother Sarabjit Kaur, she had gone for work with her younger daughter, while her elder daughter was alone in the house.

Kidnapping case
Hoshiarpur, August 28
On the complaint of Binder Kaur, wife of Tarsem Singh of Alowal in Nawanshahr, the Garhshankar police registered a case under section 365 of the IPC for the kidnapping of her husband on Wednesday evening.

	Delayed justice a harassment for public: Experts Tribune News Service Jalandhar, August 28 Justice delayed is justice denied and this delay in the working of the executive, judiciary and the legislature results in harassment of the people for which they have no option but to bribe to get their due. This was underlined by speakers at a seminar organised by the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Public Administration (MGIPA) here today. Those present included senior serving and retired bureaucrats and officers from various departments. Speaking on the occasion, former Punjab chief secretary N.K. Arora said, “Good governance and justice was the need of the hour and we must make efforts to ensure that those who approach any arm of the state get their grievance redressed within a reasonable time frame. “We come across people who have not been able to get their due on account of delays at every step of the government mechanism. The high costs involved in this exercise too have proved to be a deterrent for effective and speedy justice for the masses,” he pointed out. Director-general of the institute V.K. Srivastava said there was need to bring more transparency in the system. He also added that the observations and suggestions of those present would be sent to the government for necessary action. Chief parliamentary secretary Harish Rai Dhanda said the system was a mess and “we have to pay bribes to get even routine work done. It was up to the people to report about corrupt officials and make a conscious decision regarding not paying bribes, no matter what. He added that time-bound redress of any grievance should be made mandatory and those officials who did not do so should be punished. Jalandhar range IG Sanjeev Kalra said it was necessary to curb crime that was rising by over 15 per cent. It was also mandatory to register FIRs in all the cases free of cost, he said.
	Orissa violence: Catholic institutions to remain closed today Tribune Reporters Jalandhar, August 28 On the directions of the Catholic Bishops’ conference of India, New Delhi, all Catholic institutions in the country will remain closed tomorrow to protest against the acts of community violence in Orissa and to express solidarity with the suffering Christians there. Also, September 7 will be observed as the day of fasting and prayer. Stating this in a press release here today, Bishop of Jalandhar Anil Couto said a prayer for peace and harmony in the country and the world was conducted today in all Catholic institutions of Jalandhar Diocese. Couto condemned the murder of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and his four associates at his ashram in Kandhamal district of Orissa on August 23. He said Christians were made target of mob fury during the August 25 bandh. The mobs set afire churches, damaged schools, orphanages and homes of people. They burnt alive poor and innocent men and women, beat up pastors and priests, gangraped a nun and paraded naked some priests and nuns. Fearing further attacks people had fled their homes. They had no food, water, clothes and shelter, Couto said. Amritsar: As per the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, all Christian institutions have decided to remain closed tomorrow and organise peace rallies and prayers for the persons killed in violence in Jammu and Kashmir and Orissa and to express solidarity with the other citizens of the states.
	Stop discrimination against holy city: AVM P.K. Jaiswar Amritsar, August 28 The Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM) here while reiterating its demand for the extension of the express highway from Ludhiana to Rajasansi airport, appealed to the Punjab government to stop the alleged discrimination against the holy city of Amritsar. In a missive to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, manch patron Dr Charanjit Singh Gumtala urged that the route of the proposed four-laning of the road from Pathankot to Ajmer (Rajasthan) via Jalandhar be altered to the more relevant and tourism-promoting route of Pathankot-Gurdaspur-Amritsar-Ferozepore- Abohar-Fazilka. He said as per the reports appearing in the media, the plan to construct the Rs 2,200-crore express highway from Mohali international airport to Phagwara and the proposal of the Reliance company to construct the four-laned Pathankot-Ajmer (Rajasthan) highway via Jalandhar at a cost of Rs 8,300 crore and the Punjab government’s step-motherly treatment to Majha was reflected in both plans. Gumtala also pressed for setting up World Sikh University at Amritsar to be run and managed by the SGPC alongside the world-class central university announced by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. He said the state government should initiate steps for getting Rs 1,000 crore released by the central government for the much-needed expansion of Amritsar international airport on the pattern of Delhi international airport. Cautioning the government against its alleged discriminatory attitude towards the Majha region, he said the blatant neglect of Majha brought the downfall of the previous government as out of the eight centrally sponsored projects for Punjab, none had been established here. He said even the Amritsar specific central university was being shifted to Bathinda for vested political interests. Similarly, the surplus government land at Amritsar was auctioned for Rs 432 crore but strangely less than 30 per cent of it (Rs 127 crore) had been sanctioned for the parent city. He pleaded that the route to Rajasthan via Amritsar, Gurdaspur-Tarn Taran, Ferozepore, Abohar would give a fillip to the development of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozepore, the worst-affected areas during the two decade-long phase of militancy in the state. Moreover, this route would be more tourist-friendly because pilgrims from Gujarat-Maharashtra to the Mata Vaishnodevi shrine at Jammu would get en route access to the Golden Temple and the Durgiana Mandir.
	MPLAD Fund Khanna releases grants for development Our Correspondent Hoshiarpur, August 28 Panchayats and municipal councils can play a pivotal part in the development of rural and urban areas in Punjab. There is a dire need to strengthen the panchayats by creating a regular source of income for them. Panchayats should be allowed to act above party politics. These views were expressed by MP Avinash Rai Khanna while addressing a seminar on "Strengthening of panchayats for rural development programme" here today. Khanna released Rs 46.30 lakh from his MPLAD fund for the development of different blocks, including Rs 15.75 lakh for Anandpur Sahib block, Rs 8.25 lakh for Nurpur Bedi block, Rs 1 lakh for Talwara block, Rs 3.25 lakh and Rs 1.80 lakh for municipal council of Garhshankar for water pumps and community toilets in the town.
	Tata Sumo driver killed in accident Our Correspondent Batala, August 28 One person was killed and another injured in a collision between a Tata Sumo and a motorcycle on the Batala-Jalandhar road here today. The deceased has been identified as Tata Sumo driver Surjit Singh, aged 25. According to information, Surjit was working as car driver with a medicine company and was on his way to the Qadian octroi post. Suddenly, a motorcycle hit the car near Baring Union Christian College and the vehicle went out of control due to which it dashed against the college wall and Surjit got injured. The motorcycle driver identified as Rupinder Singh was also injured and both were admitted to the civil hospital where Surjit Singh was declared brought dead. However, the deceased’s father Kartar Singh alleged that his son was killed due to thrashing by cops at the Urban Estate police chowki. On the other hand, sub-inspector Balwinder Singh said Surjit died at the Batala civil hospital due to a heart attack and added that the police was investigating the matter. Meanwhile, no case was registered till filing of this report.
	Maid’s minor daughter raped Our Correspondent Amritsar, August 28 A minor daughter of a maid was allegedly raped by Suraj of Maqboolpura here today. According to the victim’s mother Sarabjit Kaur, she had gone for work with her younger daughter, while her elder daughter was alone in the house. She alleged that when she returned home at 11 am, the main door of the house was locked from inside and television was on at a loud volume. She said despite her repeated knocks, the door was not opened due to which she broke it and found Suraj in naked position with her daughter lying injured on the bed. A case has been registered and the accused has absconded.