Jalandhar, August 29
With the technology boom all over the world it seems students are making smart moves when it comes to career. The strong inclination of students towards engineering courses which are a ladder to enter the corporate world has given a jolt to the law courses in the region.

According to information, out of 340 seats in the three year and five-year LLB courses available in various law colleges affiliated to Guru Nanak Dev University, only 98 had been filled so far.

According to sources, 68 seats out of 100 in the main campus of Guru Nanak Dev University are vacant. Similarly, only 20 of 60 seats in Guru Nanak Dev University regional campus at Ladhewali in Jalandhar, 33 of 100 seats at Guru Nanak Dev University regional campus, Jalandhar, and barely seven of 80 seats at the university’s regional campus in Gurdaspur had been filled.

The university officials felt that the negative impact was due to the raise in difficulty level of the entrance test conducted by Punjabi University. They added that even the candidates found the pattern of paper a bit different and scored less.

They said the number of candidates who appeared in the test this time was far low and the candidate-seat ratio was 3:5. However, some law teachers attributed the low response of the students to the less advertisement for admissions.

The staff of law colleges pointed out that they earlier had an option to fill the vacant seats at their own level by conducting tests after the centralised counselling, but it was not the same this time.

They added that the relevant clause had been removed in the government notification.

The head of the law department at Guru Nanak Dev regional campus, Basti Nau, Dr R.K. Marwaha, said he had been receiving several queries from those desirous to join the LLB course, but added that they would be able to fill the remaining seats only if they were given a special permission.

Nawanshahr, August 29
After playing hide and seek for three months, the five accused - Vijay Jain, Abhey Jain, Narinder Jain, Saras Jain and Harsh Jain - in the Sandeep murder case surrendered to the police here today. They were presented in the Balachaur court and were remanded in police custody till August 31.

Sandeep, alias Sethi, who was working as a salesman at a cloth shop of the accused was found murdered under mysterious circumstances. The deceased’s family had registered a case against five members of the Jain family and the accused were absconding to escape arrest.

The murder case came to light when different political parties under the aegis of the Sandeep Murder Case Sangharsh Committee launched a drive against the police inaction. The committee held dharnas and protest rallies at different places in the district. A relay fast was also observed by members of the committee in front of the Balachaur SDM office.

A deputation of the sangharsh committee and chief parliamentary secretary Chaudhary Nand Lal had met Chief Minster Parkash Singh Badal separately to ensure immediate arrest of the accused.

With the Nawanshahr police failing to trace the accused, the case was handed over to the Hoshiarpur police for investigation.

Hoshiarpur: The judicial magistrate, Balachaur, today granted two-day police remand to the accused in the Sandeep murder case.

After the rejection of their bail applications by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on August 23, all these persons surrendered before the inspector-general Punjab police, Jalandhar range, Sanjiv Kalara, on Thursday evening in an FIR registered under sections 302 and 120-B of the IPC at Balachaur police station.

Kalra handed over all the accused to the special investigating team (SIT) led by Hoshiarpur SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill.

On the direction of the DGP, Punjab, the DIG Jalandhar range had constituted an SIT on June 26, 2008, to probe the matter and arrest the culprits.

The SIT today produced them before the judicial magistrate.

Sukhchain Singh Gill said all the accused would be interrogated and further investigation would be made accordingly.

Amritsar, August 29
Voicing serious concern over the violence directed against the Christian community in the trouble-torn areas of Kandhamal in Orissa, Bishop Pradeep Kumar Samantharai today urged all the religious communities to condemn the killing of innocents and the unabated violence which had created fear psychosis among the Christians.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the government of Orissa had failed to protect the live and property of poor Christian families in the state. He urged the central government to intervene and direct the state government to maintain law and order and prevent any backlash in view of the killing of a VHP leader a few days ago.

He appealed to the people from all walks of life to come on a single platform and exhort the majority community to allow people of all religions to live together in harmony without hurting the sentiments of others.

Meanwhile, Christian schools and institutions today observed a complete bandh to voice their concern over the killing of innocent persons in Orissa and Jammu and Kashmir.

Jalandhar: On the call given by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, all Catholic institutions in the city remained closed today in protest against the acts of community violence in Orissa and to express solidarity with the suffering Christians there.

All catholic institutions, including missionary educational institutions, remained closed in protest against the violence in Orissa, Father Thomas, Vicar General of diocese of Jalandhar, said, adding that September 7 would be observed as the day of fasting and prayer.

Prayer for peace and harmony in the world was conducted in all Catholic institutions of Jalnadhar diocese, he said while condemning the murder of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and his four associates at his ashram in Kandhamal district of Orissa on August 23. 

Kapurthala, August 29
The flood water has started receding in 14 affected villages in the Mand area of Sultanpur Lodhi.

Deputy commissioner J.M. Balamurugan today said the drainage department had installed seven heavy motors to drain out the water from the affected villages and the water level had decreased about half foot from five and a half feet.

He said seven heavy motors and five inlets were draining out 1,100 cusecs of water daily from the affected villages.

“The administration has stepped up the relief measures in the affected villages and given seven quintals of dry milk, 300 litres of kerosene, seven quintals of pulses, tea leaves and 919 tarpaulins to the relief camp at Bharoana village,” he said.

The administration had deployed three medical teams in Bharoana village to provide medical facilities to the people and five teams of veterinary doctors had examined 4,000 animals in the affected villages, he said.

The DC disclosed that the administration had given a grant of Rs 1 lakh each to the families of three persons who died in the floods in the district. The administration had also distributed Rs 8.76 lakh among 438 flood victims so far. — UNI

Amritsar, August 29
The local unit of the All-India Women’s Conference (AIWC) has become the first non-governmental organisation (NGO) in the state to be awarded diploma course by the ITI for training students in physiotherapy.

Stating this to the media here on Wednesday, AIWC president Rajni Bhrany said their centre located at Shrifpura chowk on the GT road has a fully equipped physiotherapy laboratory with all modern machinery where senior citizens are offered physiotherapy at a nominal rate of Rs 5.

Bhrany said those students having completed their plus two in medical stream are eligible to join the one-year diploma course.

The course is open for both boys and girls and the students completing it at the AIWC would be awarded diploma certificate by the ITI Technical Education Board under the union ministry of labour.

The AIWC president said the students would be eligible for any job as operators in the physiotherapy departments anywhere in the country and would be authorised to open their own physiotherapy units for becoming financially self-reliant.

Amritsar, August 29
The Avenues Institute of Technology and Management (AITM) was inaugurated by Rebecca Ball, trade commissioner, Australian High Commission (New Delhi), here on August 25.

Arun Bhutani, CEO, AB Educational Services Private Ltd, said this was the second institute in Punjab and 23rd in the country which would provide world-class educational facilities with state-of-the-art computer labs and teaching methodology. He said they would provide extensive support services to students seeking admission in Australian Unified Pathway Programme (AUPP).

Batala, August 29
A team of the south substation of the Punjab State Electricity Board was attacked when on Friday it went to check the power load at Chunni Tent House, City Road, which also runs a marriage palace on its premises. The PSEB team comprised SDO Jagtar Singh and junior officers Tirath Raj and Ramesh.

According to information, as soon as the team started checking the electricity load in the tent house, the owners objected to it.

This resulted in a quarrel between the PSEB officials and the owners of the tent house, leading to injuries to the SDO on the forehead and after parts of the face. He was admitted in the local civil hospital for medical treatment.

SHO Kapil Kaushal said the police had registered a case against six unidentified persons and no arrests had been made till the filing of the report.

Amritsar, August 29
A woman was killed and another seriously injured when a tractor-trailer crushed them as they alighted from a bus near Hussainpura Chowk here on Friday morning.

According to information, deceased Gurpreet Kaur, along with injured Sarabjit Kaur, had landed in the city this morning when the accident occurred. Gurpreet died on the spot, while Sarabjit was rushed to a hospital in critical condition. A case has been registered and the vehicle impounded.

Nawanshahr, August 29
Dhanna Ram, patwari of Kaleran revenue halqa, near Banga, was caught red-handed by a vigilance team led by DSP Gurtejinder Singh Aulakh while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1,000 from Ram Tirath of Kaleran village for issuing him a copy of farad jamabandi here on Friday.

Ram Tirath needed the copy of the farad jamabandi for selling his 21 kanal 17 marla land in the village. The patwari demanded Rs 1,500 from him but finally the deal was struck at Rs 1,000. Ram Tirath, however, approached the vigilance bureau which laid a trap to catch the patwari. A case under sections 7, 13(2) 88, Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, had been registered, said a press release issued by the vigilance department.