Jalandhar, February 15
Students of the Lovely Institute of Law today called off their strike following an assurance from the institute’s management that their demands would be looked into.

The decision to withdraw the strike was announced after representatives of the law students held a two-hour meeting with the Dean, Ms Rashmi Mittal, here this afternoon.

The students said the authorities had put up an assurance pertaining to the fulfillment of their demands on the notice board.

But, Mr Ashok Mittal, president, Lovely Institutes, denied having agreed to any of the demands of the students.

The students claimed that the management had agreed to follow the norms laid down by the Guru Nanak Dev University for internal assessments.

However, Mr Mittal claimed that internal assessments were already being made as per the norms.

Again, according to the students, the management had even given their consent to changing the “gating” time for girl students till from 4 pm to 2 pm.

On this, the president of the Lovely Institutes claimed that the students’ demands of limiting the “gating” time for girls till 12 pm was unjustifiable. “So we kept it to 2 pm,” he said.

Also, a new contractor had been given the charge of their canteen in accordance with the demands, the students claimed.

But Mr Mittal claimed the changing of the canteen contractor was part of a routine process.

Jalandhar, February 15
Pensioners would now get to know the exact status of their pensions, as the Indian Audit and Accounts Department and the office of the Accountant General (A&E), Punjab, would be soon launching a website for the benefit of the pensioners.

With the help of the website, the pensioners would be able to gain access to the current status of their cases. “The website would be launched shortly,” Mr Nand Lal, Accountant General (A&E), Punjab and Chandigarh, said during a “Pension Adalat” and a pension awareness programme for pensioners of various state government departments here today.

Also present were the Deputy Accountant General, three Senior Accounts Officers and four other officials of the Pension Wing.

With a view to providing guidance to persons about pension-related norms, a booklet — Model Guidelines for Preparation of a Pension Case — prepared by the office of the Accountant General, Punjab, was also distributed among the pensioners present on the occasion.

Kapurthala, February 15
The Congress candidates were able to secure four seats of directors of the Punjab Agriculture Development Bank, Bholath, for which the elections were held here today.

The Akalis, who were holding all six seats of directors in the bank earlier, had to remain content with two seats, while the Congress won three seats in the elections.

Mr Gobinder Singh Bal of the Congress had already been declared elected unopposed on February 10 last, when no other candidate had filed nominations from Dhilwan Zone for contesting the elections.

In Bholath Zone, the Akalis could manage only 38 votes polled in their favour, while the rival candidate from the Congress, Mr Ranjit Singh, triumphed with 174 votes. Mr Lakhwinder Singh (of the Congress) from Dyalpur Zone was declared the winner by one vote. He defeated Mr Rajinder Singh Bains of the Akali Dal (Badal).

In Ramgarh Zone, which consists of Ramgarh village, the native place of the prominent Congress leader from the region, Mr Sukhpal Singh Khaira, the Congress candidate Puran Singh registered his victory by 26 votes.

In Begowal, the “stronghold” of Bibi Jagir Kaur, the Akali candidate, Mr Darbara Singh, won the seat by 23 votes, and at Nadala, Mr Mohinder Singh, another candidate of the Akali Dal (Badal) was declared the winner.

Jalandhar, February 15
A woman in her early twenties died after being crushed under a train in the cantonment area here yesterday night. The police said the case pointed to suicide. Baldeep Kaur, the victim, was a resident of Sansarpur village.

According to an eyewitness account given by the train’s driver, he spotted a woman walking on the tracks and talking on a mobile phone.

He said the woman was gesticulating wildly while talking. The driver said he had applied the emergency breaks, but as the train was moving at a high speed, it could not be stopped in time.

The police ascertained the identity of the victim with the help of her phone’s SIM card. She had made the last call to her home, the police said.

But Baldeep’s father, Surinder Singh, claimed that she had not entered into a quarrel with anyone in the family.

Baldeep, the youngest daughter in the family, was working in the cantonment’s CSD depot. She had joined the job after completing her graduation.

Phagwara, February 15
The body of a 35-year-old man was found under mysterious circumstances from near the Hanumangarh temple here this morning.

According to a report, the man was identified as Bhola Ram from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh. — TNS