The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Himachal Pradesh Edition

	PTU exam racket unearthed; 4 held Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 12 With the arrest of four Class IV employees, three of them closely related, the economic offences wing of the district police today claimed to have unearthed a major examination racket in the Punjab Technical University. The police recovered blank as well as used answer sheets of the university, nine stamps, including that of Dr N P Singh, controller of examination, Balkar Singh of secrecy branch, and a serial number apparatus from their possession. A case under sections 380, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120B of IPC has been registered in police station division number 2 against Gurmit Singh of Ucha village in Kapurthala, his brother Parvinder Singh and nephew Nachhatar Singh of Moga. The fourth accused has been identified as Jatinder Singh of Sultanwind Road in Amritsar. While three of the accused were working as peons in maintenance, secrecy and library sections, the services of mastermind Gurmit Singh - who was also serving as a peon - had been terminated sometime back. He, however, had managed to join back as campus electrician. Three of the accused were arrested from near the DAV canal on Kapurthala Road, while Jatinder Singh was apprehended from outside the campus on Wednesday afternoon, following a tip-off, said SI Manjit Singh. He said the foursome had managed to sneak out stamps and answer sheets. The clients were handed over sheets, after taking a hefty sum. The latter, mostly students of Pojewal, Talwandi Sabo and Fatehgarh Sahib engineering colleges, used to take answer sheets home and return them later after making changes. Manjit said the miscreants also managed to change the serial number of sheets. PTU dean examination Dr N P Singh said he was unaware of the racket as no complaint had come to him. Regarding the stamps recovered from the accused, he said, “We have 254 examination centres and as many sets of stamps. We send these stamps to different centres during the examinations. The accused might have managed to lay their hands on one of the sets.”
	Misbehaviour charges: Kho-kho coach in trouble Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 12 The district education department today conducted an inquiry into the alleged misbehaviour charges against a kho-kho coach by a team of Andhra Pradesh girls that was camping at a government school last month. The team had lodged a written complaint with Kamaljot Kaur, principal of Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Nehru Garden, alleging that coach Shashi Sharma, in a drunken state, had misbehaved with a canteen contractor on February 16. They said when the team members intervened, the coach misbehaved with them as well. However, in a sequel to the event, the girls from the host school too reportedly levelled charges of partiality and sexual harassment against the same coach in a newspaper report today. The coach, who was working at Nehru Garden School, has been transferred to a government school at Basti Danishmandan. As a result, two inquiry officers were appointed to verify both matters. Chanchal Sehgal, principal of the government school at Bhargo Camp, visited the school to inquire into the complaint lodged by the Andhra girls while Roop Lal, principal of Pandori Nijjran school, inquired into the matter related to complaints lodged by the girls of Nehru Garden school. The girls had alleged that the coach discriminated against them despite their better performance to favour other team members. They were asked to submit their complaints in writing. The inquiry officers said they were yet to go through the written statements of the girls. They said so far no one had leveled allegations of sexual harassment. Principal Kamaljot Kaur too denied possibility of any such incident. She said she had forwarded the complaint received by her from Andhra girls to the department officials. The coach, Shashi Sharma, when contacted, rubbished allegations levelled against him in the complaints saying that some people were trying to tarnish his image. He said transfer orders passed against him had no relation with complaints against him. “My parent school is Basti Danishmandan. I was on deputation to this school since June 2007 like three other physical education teachers. All of us have now been sent back to our main school since it is a lean period for sports activities,” he said.
	Jandiala Drain Treatment plant by month-end: PPCB Amarjit Thind Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 12 The municipal corporation and the Punjab Water Supply and Sewage Board have given an undertaking to install a sewage treatment plant (STP) at Phaulariwal village, which is likely to be commissioned by March 31, following which the problem of pollution in the Jandiala drain will be eliminated. This was stated by Yogesh Goel, chairperson, Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) here on Wednesday. Stung by persistent criticism, the PPCB has cited several factors which are leading to environmental damage in the state. “It is not right to hold the board responsible for the degradation of environment in the state,” said Goel, adding that factors like growing population, rapid urbanisation, agricultural and industrial activities and limited economic resources are wreaking havoc on state’s eco-health. "The board is a statutory body which has to work according to some rules and regulations and it is playing its role, perfectly, within that framework," he said. Talking about the Jandiala drain, Goel informed that as per the identification made by the board, there are 150 water polluting industries operating in Jalandhar, out of which 114 Industries have installed effluent treatment plants to treat the waste-water while the remaining 36 industries have not installed such plants. These 36 industries are tiny units engaged in businesses like vegetable bag tanning etc. The board is pressing all these industries to get the plants installed. Presently, directions under section 33-A of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, as amended in 1988, have been issued to the industries for sealing of water polluting processes, he informed. He further informed that about 100 to 150 MLD effluents of Jalandhar are being discharged in to the drain.
	Accident Death Claim denial: Pay up, forum tells firm Our Correspondent Hoshiarpur, March 12 Providing relief to Chander Mohan of Mohalla Kainthan, Dasuya, the district consumer fourm (DCF), Hoshiarpur, headed by PD Goel, ordered the New India Insurance Company Limited (NIICL), Dasuya branch, to pay Rs one lakh to Chander with interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum from the date of filing of complaint. The forum further asked the insurance company to pay Rs 1,000 as litigation expenses. Chander Mohan filed a complaint with the DCF and stated that his brother, Jatinder Kumar Sharma, who was insured with the NIICL under Rasta Apiti Accidental Insurance policy, died in a road accident. The NIICL had repudiated the claim of the said insurance policy of his brother on false grounds. The authorities of NIICL took a plea that Chander Mohan had not supplied the copy of FIR and postmortemreport, required for the settlement of the claim and denied that the insured person died in a road accident. Chander’s brother was suffering from diabetic ailment and died due to surgical operation. As per the terms and conditions of the policy, no claim shall be paid for want of police report i.e. FIR/DDR and postmortem report. The DCF held that the insurance policy is a bilateral contract between the parties. As the NIICL has not produced the terms and conditions of the policy on record, to prove that the claim is not payable without a police (FIR/DDR) and a postmortem report, therefore, adverse inference is drawn against the insurance company to the effect that it is not the requirement of the insurance policy that the claim is payable only if FIR/DDR and postmortem report is produced. The postmortem report is required to understand and know the cause of death. Chander Mohan had proved on record that deceased Jatinder Kumar Sharma died due to accident by fall. The DCF further held that the insurance company also failed to prove that deceased Jatinder was suffering from diabetes and died during the surgical operation.
	Aphid attack: Wheat crop under threat Hoshiarpur, March 12 During its recent survey, the agriculture department has noticed that the entire wheat crop in Hoshiarpur district has come under the grip of aphid. Chief agriculture officer Dr Kulbir Singh Deol said here on Wednesday that aphid generally sucked the juice from the leaves and wheat-chaffs which adversely affected the yield. Dr Kulbir Singh advised the farmers to immediately start spraying prescribed pesticides according to the guidance of agriculture experts to control the aphid attack, failing which they would get a low yield from their wheat crop. Dr Yadwiinder Singh, nodal officer of the National Food Protection Mission, said to overcome the shortage of zinc, farmers could get zinc sulphate on 50 per cent subsidy from any of the agriculture offices where it was readily available. One quintal zinc sulphate was required for a wheat crop spread in 5 acres. — OC
	Liver infection: Sidhu advised bed rest Amritsar, March 12 BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu was discharged from hospital on Wednesday and had been advised complete rest after having been diagnosed for severe liver infection. Talking to the Tribune from Delhi, Sidhu said the doctors attending on him at Apollo Super Specialty Hospital have also diagnosed some chest infection as his TLC and DLC were considerably high after he was admitted to the hospital two days ago after he collapsed due to high fever. He said his BP too had dropped which had resulted in his ailment. He said the doctors attending on him have suggested that he should be in bed for next five to six days and come for re-examination next week. Meanwhile, hundreds of his supporters here have sent him SMSs and emails for his quick and early recovery. — OC