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Change in NITs’ admission policy sparks off debate
Jalandhar, June 16
A recent announcement by the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) for change in admission policy to 20 NITs across the country has sparked off a row among the academicians, parents and students.

Mother-son duo killed in roof collapse
Jalandhar, June 16
Two members of a family were killed and another was injured as the roof of an old house at the Basti Gujan locality collapsed after a heavy rain on Mondaymorning.

MC elections: 413 candidates left in fray
Hoshiarpur, June 16
Out of 622, nomination papers of five candidates have been rejected for the elections of 285 members of the 105 remaining panchayats, elections to which were postponed earlier.

Villager succumbs to assault injuries
Hoshiarpur, June 16
Kulwinder Singh (28), resident of Ghorewaha village succumbed to his injuries at the local civil hospital last evening.

Sandeep Murder Case
‘Congress leaders remained in touch with the accused’
Nawanshahr, June 16
While senior police officials have been claiming for the past about two weeks that the police has reached “very near” to nabbing the accused in the Sandeep murder case, the political battle on the issue took a new twist today as Bimal Kumar, chairman of the Nigran Committee (supported by the ruling party), accused Congress leaders of being in touch with the accused in the case.

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	Change in NITs’ admission policy sparks off debate Deepkamal Kaur/TNS Jalandhar, June 16 A recent announcement by the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) for change in admission policy to 20 NITs across the country has sparked off a row among the academicians, parents and students. While there is one section that has appreciated the change, there is other section calling for a rollback of the new orders. As per the new orders, the outside state 50 per cent quota will be filled on the basis of the all-India merit in the AIEEE while doing away with the old formula of giving adequate representation to each state. The staff of the local NIT that has 510 seats to be filled in B.Tech this year has confirmed the new development. Those who are with the new change have said the admission would be governed by a common yardstick which is merit. But those against the change have said the new policy would defeat the very purpose of setting up the NITs by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, ie promoting national integration and communal harmony while ending any regional imbalances. Rashmi Talwar, a parent, said the new change was a setback for the parents from this region, including Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, where the merit is relatively less as compared to other regions, including Delhi and southern states. “Most of the seats will be grabbed by the states already leading on education fronts and students from underdeveloped states would be at loss. Getting into the national pool will be a bit difficult,” he said. Sukhwinder Singh, another parent, however, said there was no harm in doing admission on the basis of all-India merit. The students of the state in which an NIT is located have an ample chance of getting the seat in the 50 per cent quota. “For admission to NITs in other states, they of course will have to work harder. There should be no shortcuts,” he suggested. S.S. Chatha, economist and principal of the Lovely Institute of Higher Studies, opines, “I feel that the new system will deny social justice to the students of certain backward states who are ill-equipped owing to topography or state’s own wrong policies. The very idea of bringing together the students of different regions and helping them understand the cultural diversities would also be defied.” Former principal of Lyallpur Khalsa College, Satish Kapoor, also holds the same opinion. “Merit in different states is drawn as per various parameters specific to the state. Those in an underdeveloped state also need a chance to grow,” he outlined.
	Mother-son duo killed in roof collapse Tribune News Service Jalandhar, June 16 Two members of a family were killed and another was injured as the roof of an old house at the Basti Gujan locality collapsed after a heavy rain on Mondaymorning. When the roof collapsed at 2.45 in the morning, a widow, Urmila Dhir (55), was sleeping with her two sons Vikash Dhir (22) and Sunny (20) in the house. Officiating SHO of the police division No 5 Onkar Singh said Urmila and Vikash were killed but Sunny escaped with minor injuries. The bodies of Urmila and Vikash were sent to the local civil hospital for post-mortem examination, while Sunny was admitted to the same hospital for treatment, the SHO said.
	MC elections: 413 candidates left in fray Hoshiarpur, June 16 Out of 622, nomination papers of five candidates have been rejected for the elections of 285 members of the 105 remaining panchayats, elections to which were postponed earlier. District electoral officer-cum-deputy commissioner N.K. Wadhawan said 116 candidates had already withdrawn their names on June 14 and 88 members were unanimously elected, of which 28 in general, 29 in general (women), 13 in SC and nine each in SC (women) and BC categories. As many as 413 candidates had been left in election fray - 140 in general, 130 in general (women), 75 in SC, 44 in SC (women) and 24 in BC categories. Election would be held on June 22 from 8 am to 4 pm and the results would be declared thereafter. Meanwhile, the election committee of the Punjab unit of the BJP has issued the list of candidates for the Hoshiarpur, Hariana and Shamchaurasi municipal councils. According to Prof Rajinder Bhandari, state chief of the BJP, following are the candidates: Hoshiarpur: Ward 1 - Shiv Sood, ward 2 - Parveen Saini, ward 3 - Sushma, ward 4 - Malkit Singh, ward 11 - Rashpal Kaur, ward 12 - Kamlesh Kumar, ward 13 - Pankaj Kalia, ward 14 - Ranjeet Chaudhary, ward 15 - Gurmail Ram Jhim, ward 16 - Dr Raman Ghai, ward 20 - Krishan Lal Chhabra, ward 22 - Amarnath, ward 24 - Sudesh Ohri, ward 25 - Bharti, ward 26 - Swatantar Kainth, ward 27 - Neelam Verma, ward 29 - Sanjeev Kumar Dua, ward 30 - Kavita Parmar and ward 31 - Sham Ved Bhardwaj. Hariana: Ward 1 - Raman Kumar, ward 2 - Subhash Kumar, ward 5 - Rajeev Kapila, ward 9 - Prem Lata, ward 10 - Deepak Parbhakar and ward 11 - Gurbax Kaur. Shamchaurasi: Ward 1 - Chaman Lal, ward 2 - Bhagat Ram and ward 3 - Daljinder Kumar Sohal. — OC
	Villager succumbs to assault injuries Hoshiarpur, June 16 Kulwinder Singh (28), resident of Ghorewaha village succumbed to his injuries at the local civil hospital last evening. According to police sources, another youth of Ghorewaha village Amritpal along with Navdip Singh of Khadiala, Manjinder Singh of Babak and three more accomplices allegedly entered the house of Kulwinder Singh by scaling the boundary wall on the evening of June 14. They allegedly attacked Kulwinder Singh with sharp-edged weapons and rods and fled. Kulwinder Singh was shifted to civil hospital, Tanda, from where he was referred to civil hospital, Hoshiarpur, where he died. The Tanda police has registered a case under sections 302, 452, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC.— OC
	Sandeep Murder Case ‘Congress leaders remained in touch with the accused’ Parmod Bharti Nawanshahr, June 16 While senior police officials have been claiming for the past about two weeks that the police has reached “very near” to nabbing the accused in the Sandeep murder case, the political battle on the issue took a new twist today as Bimal Kumar, chairman of the Nigran Committee (supported by the ruling party), accused Congress leaders of being in touch with the accused in the case. The committee, constituted by chief parliamentary secretary Nand Lal, met Jalandhar range DIG Narinder Pal Singh and SSP Shashi Prabha Dwivedi here today to press upon the need of expediting the search operation to nab the accused. Talking to mediapersons Nand Lal and Bimal Kumar accused the opposition parties of falsely launching a stir on the issue. While providing photocopies of the call details of one of the accused, Bimal accused Congress leaders Ram Krishan Kataria and his daughter-in-law Santosh Kataria (former chairperson of the zila parishad) of adopting double standards on the issue. One of the accused had made five calls on the mobile phone of Santosh Kataria on May 30 and 31. “It shows that the Congress leaders remained in touch with the accused,” Bimal alleged. Further accusing the opposition leaders of politicising the issue just to gain political mileage, Bimal said the Nigran Committee had sincerely been fighting for securing justice for the aggrieved family. It would also provide financial support to the family to fight the legal battle, he added. On the other hand, a deputation of the Sangharsh Committee, comprising state CPM secretary Balwant Singh, state CPI secretary Joginder Dyal, Janata Dal (S) state president Mehar Chand Bhumla, former MLA Ram Krishan Kataria, Darshan Singh Matoo and Mahan Singh Rouri met Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in Chandigarh today. They apprised him of the dilly-dallying’ attitude of the police in nabbing the accused and registration of a politically motivated case (under various sections, including 307 and 120-B, IPC) against the members of the Sangharsh Committee. The deputation urged the CM to intervene to provide justice to the aggrieved family and demanded the cancellation of the case against the members of the committee. Giving details of the meeting with the CM to The Tribune over the phone from Chandigarh, former MLA Ram Krishan Kataria claimed the Chief Minister issued instructions to senior police officials on the telephone. Kataria rubbished the allegations being levelled by the SAD leaders that the murder accused remained in touch telephonically with them as per the call details obtained by the police. Denying allegations of politicising the issue, Kataria said the sole aim of the Sangharsh Committee was to press the police to arrest the accused in the murder. “The Sangharsh Committee is even ready to accept the leadership of CPS Nand Lal to achieve its goal”, further added the Congress leader.
	More job vistas for state youth sought Sanjay Bumbroo Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 16 The state government should create employment avenues for the Punjab’s jobless youths who are getting addicted to drugs and consequently indulging in petty crimes. Stating this in a press release here today, District Congress Committee (Rural) president Sukhjinderraj Singh Majithia, alias Lalli, criticised Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for “increasing” the number of babus in the government which was already administratively top heavy and had virtually gone bankrupt. “The SAD-BJP alliance is not in a position to sustain and finance the basic amenities like health and education to the people,” alleged Lalli. Lashing out at minister for information and broadcasting Bikram Singh Majithia over his alleged statement of gheraoing UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi if the central government failed to raise the minimum support price of paddy to Rs 1,300 per quintal, Lalli said the minister and the state government should first work to set their own house in order as both the alliance partners were toeing different lines. Lalli said the suggested increase of Rs 105 per quintal for paddy was only recommendatory in nature. A host of factors were to be taken into consideration to arrive at a final decision of fixing the MSP, he added. The Congress leader said PPCC president Rajinder Kaur Bhattal would soon meet the Union agriculture minister to forcefully plead the case of Punjab farmers for increasing the MSP of paddy and kharif crops.