Campaign din fades away as Himachal readies to vote
Shimla, November 2
The din of electioneering in the hills died down as campaigning for the November-4 elections for the 68 Assembly seats came to a close this evening. A record number of 459 contestants, including 27 women, are in the fray with the two main contenders for power, the ruling BJP and opposition Congress, fielding candidates for all 68 seats. The Himachal Lok Morcha (HLM), an alliance led by breakaway BJP group HLP (Himachal Lokhit Party) and the Left are contesting 58 seats and have lent support to three Independents. The HLP is contesting 36 seats, the CPM 15 and the CPI 7.

Punjab’s Plan performance only 25% of target till now
Chandigarh, November 2
Development is set to suffer in Punjab. The state has barely managed to achieve 25 per cent of its Rs 14,000 crore Annual Plan target in the last seven months, even as it is looking at a Plan performance of only 50 per cent in the current financial year.

coal Blocks
13 owners to get de-allocation letters soon: Jaiswal
Kolkata, November 2
Letters for de-allocation of 13 private coal blocks to their owners are likely to be sent soon after the Law Ministry gives its go-ahead, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said today. These blocks were advised to be cancelled by the Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) as companies failed to develop them within the stipulated time.

	PUNJAB: Local rank system doesn’t please all in Punjab Police
	HARYANA:ASI among 4 booked for violence
	J&K: Depute teams for smooth LPG supply: HC to govt
	HIMACHAL: Fortnight of fireworks and misfires
	CHANDIGARH: Bansal has big plans for city
	LUDHIANA: Karva Chauth shocker for 20 families
	DELHI: Delhi meets STB target
	BUSINESS: Govt panel approves partial reallocation of 2G spectrum
	OPINIONS: The right step
	NATION: Former Army Chief may gherao Parliament with cane growers
	SPORTS: Punjab put Hyderabad on back foot
	WORLD: Last lap: Obama, Romney offer real change to voters

TODAY'S SPECIALS

REAL ESTATE  TRENDS

China invites Kalam to teach at Peking varsity
Beijing, November 2
China has invited India’s “missile man” and former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam to teach at the prestigious Peking University here, offering him a lab  of his choice to work with the students.

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam in Beijing on Friday. — PTI 

IITs mull 80% hike in annual fee New Delhi, November 2 India’s premier technical institutions, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), are considering a revision of the annual student fee for undergraduate courses by 80 per cent. The 15 IITs, which together have 9,618 seats, plan to increase the fee from Rs 50,000 to Rs 90,000. The agenda will come up for discussion at the upcoming meeting of the standing committee of the IIT Council, which will meet at the IIT, Bombay, on November 5  to discuss wide-ranging changes, including exemption from GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) for engineering graduates wanting to pursue PhD.