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Youth stabbed to death at Ropar college
Monsoon revives but rain deficit still at 56%
Proclaimed offender commits 2 murders to hoodwink cops, held
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Punjab fails to bail out power utilities
Turnabout: Now, mining licence to highest bidder
Death of MBA students
38 food samples fail safety test
Akal Takht objects to Devgan’s film showing Sikhs in ‘poor’ light
Govt teachers have it easy
44 leprosy cases in 16 months in Sangrur
Furnace units go on strike, 50,000 jobless
Amritsar far from being a tourism hub
CEO Sidhu pullsup poll officials
‘Irregularities’ in admissions
Court declines plea for ban on construction over private land
Conclude audit of gram panchayats, says HC
Don’t allow opening of hooka bar, MC told
Form national commission for judges’ appointment: lawyers
Management institutes under SC scanner
21 yrs on, HC doubles relief for acquired land
Official caught taking bribe
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Youth stabbed to death at Ropar college
Ropar, August 28 The assailants have been identified as brothers Pavittar Singh and Sukhjinder Singh of Bhaowal village and Jatinder Singh of Chhota Suratpur village. They have been booked under Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC. They are yet to be arrested. Acting principal Manju Sharma said she was in her office at the time of the incident. She heard some noise and rushed outside. She found Gurvinder lying in a pool of blood. She said the assailants had fled by then. Pavittar and Sukjinder had attacked a college student, fracturing his leg, a few months ago following which Pavittar was rusticated. Sukhjinder was allowed to complete his studies for the session but was denied admission this year, she said. Gurvinder, after failing to pass his BA-I exams, had taken admission in a private college at Bela village, the principal said. “Gurvinder left home at 9 am to collect his result card from the college never to return,” said his inconsolable grandfather, Surmukh Singh. Gurvinder’s father lives in Muscat.
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Monsoon revives but rain deficit still at 56%
Chandigarh, August 28 Meteorological Department Director Surinder Pal said among the districts that had received the lowest rainfall in Punjab were Ferozepur (95 per cent deficit), Fatehgarh Sahib (92 per cent), Moga (90 per cent), Tarn Taran (87 per cent) and Mansa (85 per cent). Ropar with a deficit of just three per cent and Kapurthala with 34 per cent are slightly better placed in terms of rainfall. Gurdaspur was the only district that had witnessed a rain surplus of 13 per cent. KK Gill from the Department of Meteorology at the Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana said more rainfall was likely in the coming days. Naresh Goldy, a farmer in Pandori village in Hoshiarpur district, said, "The late rain means little to farmers. We needed it in June-end when we planted paddy. Now, there is fear of fungus and other diseases."
Moga witnesses heavy rainfall Moga: Moga city saw incessant rain from 4 am till late in the afternoon on Tuesday. This resulted in choked sewers. All the main roads in the town were inundated. Certain localities like Dashmesh Nagar, Jujhar Nagar and Gobindgarh Basti were under 4 ft feet of water. There were reports of water entering houses in the old localities. Schoolchildren faced hardship in reaching their homes. Most shops remained closed throughout the day. There was no power supply in the town till late afternoon. There were reports of a downpour in Dharamkot, Kot-ise-Khan, Baghapurana and Nihalsinghwala towns too. —
TNS Moga Agricultural Development Officer Jaswinder Singh Brar said the rain was good for cotton crop as well as the paddy crop. The weatherman has predicted more rain in the coming days.
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Proclaimed offender commits 2 murders to hoodwink cops, held
Amritsar, August 28 Facing several cases of robbery and other crimes, he was on bail when he committed the two murders. Gurnam reportedly tried to show the taxi driver's body as his own and even chopped off him thumb so that the police could not match the thumb impressions. The police recovered Sandeep's mutilated body on the intervening night of August 8/9 along with Gurnam’s identify card. The card led the police to the accused's family members, who too claimed that it was Gurnam's body. However, further investigation into the case blew the lid off the conspiracy. As Gurnam went into hiding, the police booked his family, including his father Kartar Singh, mother Sarbjit Kaur, wife Sawinder Kaur, brother Kashmir Singh and uncle Shinghara Singh, for misguiding the police and helping the accused to escape. The police also recovered a dagger that was used to kill Sandeep. After the first attempt was unsuccessful, Gurnam allegedly planned another murder, this time of a migrant labourer from Ludhiana. He lured the victim to a factory in Sultanwind on August 16 and allegedly set him afire. A “suicide note” in Gurnam's name was recovered at the site, confessing to the first murder. The note read: “I am immolating myself as repentance for the crime.” However, he could not befool the police. Inspector General (border range) RP Mittal claimed the labourer was strangulated before being set afire in the factory in which Gurnam was once employed. “Gurnam committed the crime in connivance with the factory watchmen, Saktar Singh and Tirath Singh, who are absconding,” he said. The police is also on the lookout for Gurnam's other accomplices, identified as Angrez Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Gurpreet Singh and Gurmez Singh.
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Punjab fails to bail out power utilities
In the past two years, the debt of these utilities witnessed a drastic increase of Rs 2,800 crore. Official figures reveal that the total debt of the erstwhile Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) was Rs 15,171 crore as on March 31, 2010. It increased to Rs 18,000 crore as on March 31, 2012. During bifurcation of the PSEB on April 16, 2010, the government had assured to introduce a financial restructuring plan (FRP) to ensure that the financial condition of the newly formed entities comes on track. The National Electricity Policy (NEP), framed as per the Electricity Act 2003, also states that the power utilities should not to be burdened with the past liabilities. The state government had agreed in the tripartite agreement to frame and implement the FRP by March 2011. However, the plan is nowhere in sight. Following a directive of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to tighten loans for state power distribution companies that have losses to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore and more, several financial institutions and banks
have stopped disbursing short-term loans to the power utilities. PSPCL has already purchased power worth Rs 1,500 crore through short-term power purchase agreements this summer season. "The answer lies in adding to the generation capacity of the state by undertaking new thermal plants under the state sector. The proposal to set up 1,320 MW thermal plant at Mukeria has been hanging fire for the past more than a year," said a senior technocrat. Financial restructure plan on cards Anirudh Tiwari, Secretary Power, Punjab, said: "Last week, I had held a meeting with functionaries of both the power utilities. All financial issues were discussed. The financial restructuring plan is ready. The consulting firm, Ernst & Young, will submit its final report on the FRP to the power utilities soon. Hence, we will not have to wait much as far as the FRP is concerned"
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Turnabout: Now, mining licence to highest bidder
Chandigarh, August 28 The new mining policy approved by the Cabinet today says an auction would be held after e-tendering. Under the mining policy of 2010, the mining contract was awarded to the lowest bidder. Anil Joshi, Industries Minister, said the new policy would come into immediate effect and the auction of 25 quarries scheduled for next month would be held according to the terms laid down in the new policy. “In the last policy, the idea was to bring down the prices of sand and gravel. So the contract was awarded to the lowest bidder. However, this policy did not help bring down the prices of construction material and the state lost a lot of revenue. The contracts for all 241 quarries, covering 1,384 acres, yielded a revenue of just Rs 11.50 crore,” he said. Under the new policy, the government has decided to break down the size of the quarries to be auctioned into an area of 10 acres each, subject to the availability of passage to ferry the quarried material. This would help rope in more mining contractors and the government hopes that ompetition among the contractors would help bring down the prices of sand and gravel. The government today approved the auction of 25 quarries for which it has already obtained an environmental clearance. The notice for the auction of these quarries will be issued shortly and the auction process completed by September-end. Sugar prices may tumble marginally Sugar is trading at Rs 3,800 - Rs 4,000 per quintal across different cities in the state. With the withdrawal of VAT, the wholesale prices are expected to decline to
Rs 3,600- Rs 3,800 per quintal. However, till July, sugar was being sold at Rs 3,300 - Rs 3,400 per quintal. Sources in the trade said sugar prices were high because of high demand whereas the quantity of sugar released by the government was less. “From June to August, the Government of India released 45 lakh quintals of sugar. This is too less, especially when the festival season is on,” said Pritam Singh Arora, president of the Punjab Wholesale Sugar Dealers Association. Welcoming the withdrawal of VAT, Jagjit Singh Arora, president, Ludhiana Wholesale Sugar Dealers Association, said the sugar price would now tumble by Rs 2 per kg.
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Death of MBA students
SDM Gurmeet Singh, posted in Jagraon, who is also the father of one of the youths survived in the accident, has submitted a representation to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, requesting him to tell the Home Department to stop interfering in the case. The incident dates back to September 28, 2010, when two MBA students Gagandeep Singh and Gaurav Verma of Mohali and Delhi, respectively, were killed when their overspeeding Ford Endeavor SUV rammed into a stationary truck near Liberty Chowk in Rajpura. Zorawar Singh, SDM's son and Jaskaran Singh of Patiala had escaped with injuries. A FIR No. 219 dated 28.09.2010, was registered under section 304/A, 279 and 427 of the IPC against the truck driver and conductor for causing death due to negligence. In January 2011, Gurbax Singh Bains lodged a complaint with the DGP stating that his son Gagandeep he was murdered. The then DGP RS Gill marked the inquiry to GS Gill, Patiala SSP. Later, the inquiry officers were shifted on Bains' request. The case was first transferred to DIG Ropar range. Later, the Principal Secretary (Home) gave the case to the then Commandant 82 Battalion Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh. In his report, Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh recommended addition of section 302 of the IPC in the case and its investigation by an independent agency. In the meantime, DGP Anil Kaushik took charge. He did not agree with the finding and constituted another SIT, which submitted its report on January 31 this year, stating that it was a case of accident. Principal Secretary (Home) DS Bains disbanded the SIT. He stated inferences drawn by the SIT might be different from the DIG's inquiry on account of which a case under section 302 of the IPC has been filed in the court of law. However, no challan was produced in the court under section 302 and the case is still being proceeded against the truck driver and conductor under section 304/A of the IPC. Later, Sumedh Singh Saini took over as the DGP and asked ADGP Crime and IG Crime to analyse both the reports along with case files. On July 19, the senior officers concluded that it was an accident case and asked Principal Secretary (Home) DS Bains to review its orders regarding disbanding of the SIT. A day after this report, Bains passed another order on July 20, constituting another SIT comprising Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh and two DSPs of his choice. At this, SDM Gurmeet Singh filed a representation to Sukhbir.
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38 food samples fail safety test
Sangrur, August 28 A fine of Rs 2.77 lakh, ranging between Rs 5,000 and Rs 20,000, was slapped on 26 erring business houses by the Sangrur Additional Deputy Commissioner, who has been designated adjudicating officer under the Act. During the tests, the failed samples were reportedly found either substandard or misbranded. Among the tested food articles were curd, ‘namkeen’, mustard oil, ice cream, refined ghee, milk, biscuit, cheese, red chilly, turmeric powder and cold drinks. District Health Officer Dr Surinder Singla said they had launched proceedings against 32 business operators whose samples had failed the test. Of the 32 cases, 26 had already been decided. Dr Singla said penalty in the case of sub-standard food might be up to Rs 5 lakh under the Food Safety and Standards Act. The same for misbranded food was up to Rs 3 lakh. He said if a penalised food business operator subsequently committed the offence, even his licence could be cancelled. He was also liable to face two-time the punishment as imposed during the first incident. Dr Singla said the drive was a must so that the people could be saved from any type of disease.
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Akal Takht objects to Devgan’s film showing Sikhs in ‘poor’ light
Amritsar, August 28 Talking to mediapersons here today, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh said he had been receiving complaints from the Sikh Sangat from different parts of the country regarding the “objectionable language” used against Sikhs in the movie. “I have written to the SGPC to initiate appropriate action so as to ensure that the film is not released until corrective measures are taken.” He said if such scenes were not deleted from the film the Sikhs would strongly oppose its release. He said it isn’t prudent for any filmmaker to use such a language against any religion. Earlier, senior lawyer Navkiran Singh had issued a legal notice to Devgan. — TNS
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Govt teachers have it easy
This means children in private schools study 67 days more than their counterparts in government schools. The document points out that teaching less than 220 academic days in a year is a clear violation of the Right to Education Act and that there is an immediate need to revamp the teachers’ working schedule. It says the department needs to make a correction immediately because “any person can approach the court saying that the RTE Act: 2009 is not being implemented in the right spirit”. Besides the scheduled holidays on account of summer and winter break, the week-ends, national holidays and local/ half-day holidays, the women teachers enjoy 40 more holidays and the male teachers 28. There is a provision of special leave on completion of 10, 15 and 20 years of service. Teachers also do not work when on duty for preparing voters’ lists for panchayats and zila parishad elections. It has been recommended that summer holidays should be the prerogative of students alone and that summer vacations need to be utilised for training workshops. It has also been pointed out that the national calendar has 17 gazetted holidays against the state’s 34.
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44 leprosy cases in 16 months in Sangrur
Of the 13 cases, eight were from Bihar and two from Uttar Pradesh while the rest were from Sangrur district (two from Malerkotla and one from Amargarh). Another factor that has come to light is that seven of these cases were that of multibacillary leprosy (severe form of the disease) whereas six cases were of paucibacillary leprosy (mild form). Ten patients were between 25 and 45 years of age, one was below 25 years while the rest were above 45 years. Sources said a majority of the leprosy affected patients from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were labourers while the local patients belonged to different walks of life. In severe cases of leprosy, which mainly affects the skin, medicine is given free of cost for a year at government hospitals while in mild cases, patients are kept on medication for six months.
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Furnace units go on strike, 50,000 jobless
The strike was announced after a meeting of members of the India Steel Re-rolling Association (AISRA) and the Small-Scale Steel Re-rolling Association (SSSRA) here late last night. Reliable sources claimed that a sizeable number of workers had already left for their native towns in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. This, the government claims, would facilitate smooth transportation of goods with no physical barriers. The BJP has been opposing the move tooth and nail on the plea that this would force industrialists to shift their units to the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh. Vinod Vashisht of the AISRA alleged that the state government had allowed steel industries in neighbouring states to expand their trade in Punjab. He urged the government to withdraw the e-billing system immediately to prevent huge losses to the furnace industry. “If the Akali-BJP government wants to make the state financially sound then it should take the business community and industrialists into confidence before introducing any fresh rules,” he said. Harmesh Jain, senior vice-president, AISRA, Rajeev Sood, executive president, SMASRA, Sanjeev Dhamija, Raj Jindal, Harmesh Bansal, Vijay Bansal, Dinesh Aggarwal, Gurmeet Singh Rehal, Davinder Singh Atli, Kamal Singla, Rajan Aggarwal, Vinay Gupta, Sushil Sharma, Sadhu Singh, Rakesh Singla, Rajnish Bhatia and Gurmeet Singh Panesar were among those who attended the meeting. Earlier, the political secretary to the Chief Minister, Kamal Sharma, had tried to dissuade the industrialists from launching a stir.
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Amritsar far from being a tourism hub
Amritsar, August 28 The restoration work of Rambagh, the summer palace of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, is underway for the last five years, but is yet to be completed. Similarly, the restoration work at the Gobindgarh Fort, which the Army handed over to the civil administration on October 6, 2008, is also moving at a tardy pace. Even Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, during his recent visit to Amritsar, had expressed concern over the slow execution of the Gobindgarh project work. The Heritage Village project coming up on 11 acres of land on the campus of Guru Nanak Dev University is also yet to see the light of the day. The foundation stone of the project, aimed at the conservation of village culture and showcasing its traditional crafts, was laid in 2003. The food street project has also been hanging fire. The Centre had initially accepted the proposal to set up food street at Maharaja Ranjeet Singh Panorama Complex in Rambagh, but later the Archaeological Survey of India rejected the move. “Tourists visiting Amritsar have no other attraction to prolong their stay apart from the Golden Temple and the retreat ceremony at Wagah border,” said former Rajya Sabha MP Tarlochan Singh, who once headed Delhi Tourism. He stressed on the need to extend more facilities to tourists as well as measures to extend their stay in the city. “Punjab should adopt the city as a tourism hub and devise a strategy to add more attractions. As Amritsari cuisine is famous the world over, the government should set up a food street dishing out pure Amritsari and Punjabi delicacies. They can establish a ‘haat’, showcasing art and craft of the state directly by those producing it,” he said. He said Maharaja Ranjeet Singh Panorama, set up in Rambagh Garden premises is not being promoted properly among tourists. This is quite evident in the city which neither has any billboard promoting the panorama nor any signage pointing out its location. Balvinder Singh, head, Guru Ram Das School of Planning, GNDU, also said though the restoration work does take time, in case of Rambagh Gardens and Gobindgarh Fort it is “too slow”. CII National Council on Public Policy member Gunbir Singh, who also owns a leading travel agency, said the government should at least open the restored portions of Rambagh Gardens and Gobindgarh Fort for tourists as it will add to the number of tourist attractions prompting them to spend two-three days in the city. He said a light and sound show on the life and times of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh at Gobindgarh Fort and another on the history of the holy city at the foreground of the historic Khalsa College will add to the city’s charm. Apart from these issues, lack of cleanliness and criminal activities like snatchings show the city in a bad light among the tourists. In the recent past only, members of two delegations from Pakistan pointed towards garbage strewn across the city. Though the crime rate has dipped over the last few days, tourists are still vulnerable to snatchings, particularly around the Golden Temple. On the other hand, Principal Secretary (Tourism) Geetika Kalha said there is no delay in restoration work of Rambagh Gardens and Gobindgarh Fort. “We get funds for these projects from the Centre and other agencies in a phased manner and we keep on doing our work depending upon the inflow of funds. There is no issue of delay.”
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CEO Sidhu pullsup poll officials Sangrur: Taking serious note of non-preparation of photo-identity cards of voters, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Kusumjit Sidhu, today directed the returning officers (ROs) to ensure that the same were provided to all voters at the earliest. “After the preparation of the photo-identity cards, a list should be sent to me,”, she told the ROs. She was addressing a meeting of poll officials at the district administrative complex here today. She said no further delay in the preparation of the identity cards would be tolerated. — TNS
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‘Irregularities’ in admissions
Patiala, August 28 The inquiry report against SS Boparai was submitted by the then Patiala SSP Vigilance Bureau Shiv Kumar Sharma who is already facing an FIR for his alleged role in falsely trying to implicate a patwari in connivance with other police officers. The Vigilance had submitted an investigation report indicting Boparai for making admissions from 2002 to 2007 without following the laid down procedure. The court further said: "The court has found that the allegations against SS Boparai in the inquiry report are ill founded. All the action taken by Boparai appears to have been taken as per norms and approved by the syndicate". "I was targeted for not doing anything wrong and it was just a ploy by certain officers to pressurise me after I had refused to resign as the VC," Boparai said in response to the court judgment. The VB inquiry ascertained Boparai's role in making appointments of class III and Class IV (non-teaching posts) from August 2002 to November 2007 against norms. The High Court held: "There is nothing on record to show that any such embezzlement was committed by SS Boparai. So far as allegations leveled by Deepak Jindal are concerned, it has come on record that he was a contractor and was blacklisted by Boparai. It appears that out of frustration, he may have given a false affidavit". Boparai said though he got justice from the court which vindicated his stand, the VB report had caused enough damage to his career. "I have been fighting against the VB findings for the past over five years," he said, in reaction to the court orders dated August 14.
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Court declines plea for ban on construction over private land
Chandigarh, August 28
The petition, filed by Sahara Welfare Society, was disposed of by a Division Bench after it was informed that "the alleged choe, if any, exists on private land". The directions by the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain are significant as these have now paved way for the resumption of construction activity in the area. Only on May 22, the Mohali Deputy Commissioner was directed to inspect the disputed site at Baltana village. He was also asked to ensure that no unauthorised or illegal construction was raised in the choe. Builders were also restrained from raising any construction. Pursuant to the High Court directions, the Deputy Commissioner visited the spot and submitted a report on August 2. After going through the report the same day, the High Court asked the Deputy Commissioner "to get demarcation done of the natural nullah starting from the railway line up to Shagun Hotel". As the case came up for resumed hearing, the Deputy Commissioner filed an affidavit saying Dera Bassi tehsildar, directed to demarcate Baltana choe, found that it was not marked on the revenue map. Moreover, the land on which the choe flowed belonged to "private persons". He also found up to 95 per cent area was already constructed and demarcation was not possible under such conditions. The Bench concluded: "In view of the report of the revenue authorities, it is not feasible to proceed further in the matter because of absence of demarcation of the area. With this view, the writ petition is disposed of".
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Conclude audit of gram panchayats, says HC
Chandigarh, August 28 The directions came on a PIL filed by Kulwant Singh of Ludhiana district. He was seeking a direction to State of Punjab and other respondents to conduct the audit of all gram panchayats. As the case came up for resumed hearing, a Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Rakesh Jain took on record an an affidavit by Panchayats Director Balwinder Singh, claiming that the Examiner, Local Fund, had conducted the audit of 9,181 gram panchayats. The affidavit said 583 cases of not handing over cash in hand to the next gram panchayat were detected. Action had been initiated in553 cases and Rs 83.57 lakh recovered. The action against the remaining 30 gram panchayats and officers was in progress. It was further stated that 232 cases of embezzlement had been detected. Action had been initiated against defaulting ex-sarpanches and officials in 199 cases, besides recovering Rs 24.23
lakh.
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Don’t allow opening of hooka bar, MC told
Chandigarh, August 28 The directions by Acting Chief Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain came on a petition filed in public interest by Ekta Kunj New Officers Colony Welfare Society and other petitioners through counsel APS Shergill. Shergill had told the court that commercial activities in form of restaurant, bar, hooka bar, along with banquet and marriage palace, in residential premises violated not only the basic fundamental rights but also the zoning requirements for Patiala town. The petitioners had also claimed that the State Bank of India too was running its branch from the building. The petition added: "The request of residents has fallen on deaf ears as the respondent (proprietor) is very influential and claims to be son of a former Director General of Police, Punjab." As the case came up for resumed hearing, Patiala Municipal Corporation's Assistant Commissioner Nazar Singh filed an affidavit stating that the premises in dispute was situated in a "non-scheme area", never earmarked in Patiala City's master plan as a residential area. It was further stated that the restaurant and hooka bar were closed by the authorities; and an undertaking has been given by counsel for the proprietor that the restaurant would not be opened again. The Bench directed "the municipal authorities not to allow opening of any restaurant or hooka bar in the premises". The Bench added: "Instructions be issued to its owner not to allow the customers visiting the bank to park their vehicles on the road side. The traffic incharge of the area is directed to take necessary action against the violators".
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Form national commission for judges’ appointment: lawyers
Chandigarh, August 28 The lawyers also demanded immediate transfer of "uncle judges", 17 in all. The meeting also saw some lawyers raising the issue of "misbehaviour" by a senior High Court Judge and decided to handover to the Chief Justice a memorandum in this regard. Addressing a gathering of lawyers, advocate Tahar Singh demanded the boycotting of the Judge's court as he was allegedly "unnecessarily reprimanding" the lawyers. Advocate Ranjan Lakhanpal said the association should chalk out a plan of action rather than merely passing resolutions. Advocate AK Sinha claimed that India was the only country where judges chose themselves and demanded removal of corrupt judges as transfer was not the only solution. Another lawyer, Yashpal Malik, said kith and kin of judges were getting favourable judgments from "uncle judges". He said senior lawyers should intervene, if a High Court judge misbehaved with a junior lawyer. In its resolution, the lawyers also decided that a memorandum be sent to the Prime Minister, President, Chief Justice of India and the Union Law Minister for constituting a national judicial commission by an amendment to the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill 2010. This was imperative "to regain the".
It could also be due to non-transfer of judges having relatives practicing in the same High Court, and "lack of appropriate and effective mechanism for action against corrupt Judges". The association also demanded non-allocation of work to corrupt judges till the findings of the in-house committee and an increase in the minimum age for elevation to 55 years. The Bar condemned the behavior of Justice RK Garg for allegedly "unnecessarily snubbing" lawyers appearing before him. Members of the association also met the Acting Chief Justice to convey their feelings.
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Management institutes under SC scanner
Chandigarh, August 28 The fact was brought to the notice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court during the hearing of a petition filed by Abhineet Taneja against the Union of India and other respondents. In his petition placed before the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, Taneja had asserted that the last date for submission of admission forms in different management institutes was deliberately fixed by the bodies well before the declaration of CAT/MAT results. "If a candidate does not qualify, his fee charged with the admission form is not refunded," the petitioner had contended. As the case came up for resumed hearing, the Bench asserted that nobody was appearing on behalf of the petitioner for the past so many dates. The Bench went on to observe that at the time of arguments, counsel for Union of India, Ajay Kaushik, informed the High Court that the Supreme Court was already seized of the matter. The Bench further observed that Writ Petition (Civil) No. 89 of 2011 was pending before the Apex Court; and from time to time necessary directions for admissions in management institution were being issued. Kaushik also placed on record one such order passed on July 10. Taking on record Kaushik's statement, the Bench closed the petition filed in public interest by observing: "Once the Supreme Court is seized of the matter, it will not be advisable to continue with this writ petition being parallel proceeding. Accordingly, this writ petition stands disposed of". It means that the High Court here will no more examine the issue; and the matter will now be decided by the Apex Court; and its decision will be binding on all the institutes across the country.
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21 yrs on, HC doubles relief for acquired land
Chandigarh, August 28 The Reference Court had determined the value at Rs 12,500 per bigha. "In my view, the appropriate and just compensation would be Rs 24,000 per bigha," Justice Kannan has ruled. The ruling came on two petitions filed by Mewa Singh of Kup village in Malerkotla tehsil on acquisition of property for the substation through a notification issued on March 13, 1985. The Land Acquisition Collector had determined the value of the property at Rs 31,000 per acre through the award dated October 15, 1986. On a reference for enhancement, the Sangrur Additional District Judge enhanced the compensation to Rs 12,500 per bigha by award dated February 2, 1991. Appearing before the High Court, counsel appearing for the landowners stated although the property had been used as agricultural land, immense potential for conversion of the property as an industrial plot existed. Justice Kannan observed: "Indeed, the property itself was situated on the Malerkotla-Ludhiana road and the same vicinity had already been declared as an industrial area". Justice Kannan also observed that the landlords were relaying on sale deeds. Referring to two sale deeds of one bigha and two bigha properties, Justice Kannan asserted the transaction took place at the at the rate of Rs 24,000 per bigha. "Since the sale deeds pertain to three years prior to the notification, I would assume that the value of the property should have been increased but considering the fact that they were relatively for smaller extent of properties, I would take that the value of the property acquired would be paid at the same price”.
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Official caught taking bribe
Chandigarh, August 28 The CBI arrested Tejvir Singh Walia from Sector 9. He will be produced in court tomorrow. The complainant had stated that he was gun licence holder and had applied for extension of his licence to four states. He was informed that for clearance of his file, he is required to pay a bribe of Rs 10,000 to Walia. The CBI nabbed Walia red-handed while accepting Rs 10,000 from the complainant. DIG CBI Mahesh Aggarwal said a search was being conducted at the accused official's residence in Sector 19.
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Gurvinder Singh (21) of nearby Jattan Majri village was stabbed to death at the local Government College this afternoon. He was a former student of the college.
So that he did not have to report to the police time and again, a proclaimed offender allegedly killed a man in a bid to hoodwink the police by faking his death. Failing in his design for the first time, he killed yet another man.
If an official document prepared by the Education Department is to be believed, government schoolteachers work two months less than their counterparts in private schools during an academic year. The document says that government schoolteachers teach for 173 days in a year against 240 by teachers in private schools.
This means children in private schools study 67 days more than their counterparts in government schools.
The document points out that teaching less than 220 academic days in a year is a clear violation of the Right to Education Act and that there is an immediate need to revamp the teachers’ working schedule.
Though agricultural experts say the late rains are good for crops, farmers think otherwise. Maninder Singh Gurm, a resident of Jhabewal village in Ludhiana district, said, "At present, paddy has reached the flowering stage. Excessive rains now can develop fungus, which can result in discolouration of the crop."
Boon for cotton
Patiala, August 28
President of the PSEB Engineers' Association Baldev Singh Sran said the Punjab Government had not provided any post-unbundling help to the power utilities. "Even free power subsidy is not being given on time. Second major reason for the poor financial health of PSPCL/PSTCL is zero investment in power generation under the state sector and dependence on outside sources to purchase power," he asserted.
Chandigarh: Though the withdrawal of 5 per cent VAT on sugar is expected to bring down the wholesale price of sugar by Rs 200 per quintal (Rs 2 per kg), it may not bring much relief to the consumer. 
Ludhiana, August 28
Chandigarh, August 28
Sangrur, August 28
Eleven of the 13 detected cases were male, which shows the disease has affected lesser number of females. 
Fatehgarh Sahib, August 28
The furnace industry is up in arms against the recently introduced e-TRIP under which it is mandatory for iron and steels traders to submit information on intra-state movement of goods worth more than Rs 2 lakh. The traders would be issued an acknowledgement slip by the Excise and Taxation Department.