J A L A N D H A R    E D I T I O N

‘India fast emerging as medical tourism hub in Afghanistan’
Jalandhar, May 19
India has emerged as the most preferred destination for Afghan nationals not only for sight seeing, but also for getting themselves medically treated.

Amarjit Singh Consul General, Herat, Afghanistan

Friend sets Class V student afire
Phagwara, May 19
A student of Class V, identified as Gurkirat Singh of Chack Mander village sustained serious burn injuries when his friend, Sukhi, attempted to set afire after attacking with a burning bottle full of kerosene after a minor quarrel this afternoon.

3 booked for gang rape
Gurdaspur, May 19
Gurdaspur SSP Ravcharan Singh Brar has ordered the registration of an FIR against three boys who were allegedly involved in raping a local girl, said to be in her early 20s, on May 7.

Centre has soft corner for Punjab: Ashwani Kumar
Gurdaspur, May 19
The Centre has a soft corner for Punjab as it has sanctioned a Rs 14,000 crore package for the state for the current fiscal, said Minister of State for Science and Technology Ashwani Kumar.

Inter-state gang of robbers busted, 3 held
Phagwara, May 19
The police has busted an inter-state gang of robbers with the arrest of three persons near the Sugar Mills chowk here last night. Phagwara SP Harkamalpreet Singh Khakh said the accused had been identified as Harjinder Singh, alias Happy, of Bhanoki village, Anjum Kohli of Nurpur in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh and Gurwinder Singh of Kukhrain in Kapurthala.

Residents block traffic
Hoshiarpur, May 19 Residents of Mohalla Piplanwala led by former municipal councillor Harbhajan Singh blocked vehicular traffic and staged a dharna on the Hoshiarpur-Jalandhar road for more than two hours to protest against the erratic supply of drinking water.

Over 4,000 appear for JET
Nawanshahr, May 19
As many as 4,011 students appeared in the Joint Entrance Test (JET) conducted by the Punjab State Technical Education and Industrial Training Board for admission into various technical courses in the polytechnic institutes and engineering colleges in the state.

‘India fast emerging as medical tourism hub in Afghanistan’
Varinder Singh/TNS

Jalandhar, May 19
India has emerged as the most preferred destination for Afghan nationals not only for sight seeing, but also for getting themselves medically treated.

In north India, Punjab is fast becoming favoured destination for rich Afghan nationals, who, like Punjabi NRIs from Canada, USA, UK Italy and Australia, find medical treatment much cheaper and a lot easier here. "India has emerged as the most preferred destination for Afghans. They are not only attracted to tourist destinations, but also finding it easy to get themselves treated in top hospitals in Delhi and other cities due to inexpensive and world-class treatment available here," said Amarjit Singh, Consul General, Counsulate General of India, Herat, Afghanistan.

Amarjit, who was on a visit to Jalandhar, said, "Increase in the inflow of Afghan nationals is also due to liberal visa policy adopted by India. We grant visa to almost anyone in Herat after customary checks."

"Afghanistan is also developing stronger business ties with India and is encouraging businessmen to export hand-woven and other carpets and dry fruits and at the same time import heavy machinery, medicines, clothes and food items. India, which is treated as the most-friendly country there, is helping in re-building of Afghanistan. The Salma Dam in Herat province, which is totally funded by India, is likely to be completed within a year. The dam will produce power for the northwestern Herat region bordering Iran," said he said. He said after Kabul, Herat too would be connected with New Delhi as the Herat International Airport would be made operational within a couple of months.

Dr Vijay Mahajan, owner of Tagore Hospital, said more and more NRIs and foreigners were coming to India for treatment. "A heart surgery costs around Rs 8 lakh in Canada, but it is done for nearly Rs 2 lakh here," said Dr Mahajan.

"Delhi has turned out to be the number one destination for Afghan nationals for treatment and Punjab is also emerging fast on the international medical tourism map,” said Dr Balraj Gupta, owner of Rattan Hospital.

Friend sets Class V student afire
Our Correspondent

Phagwara, May 19
A student of Class V, identified as Gurkirat Singh of Chack Mander village sustained serious burn injuries when his friend, Sukhi, attempted to set afire after attacking with a burning bottle full of kerosene after a minor quarrel this afternoon.

Gurkirat was admitted to the Civil Hospital with more than 50 per cent burns.The police is investigating the matter.

In another incident, one Jai Karan of nearby Bhaghana village sustained serious burn injuries when he came in contact with a high-tension wire near Bhularai Chowk today. He was admitted to the local Civil Hospital with serious burn injuries.

In another incident, one Rajinder Singh of Ludhiana was attacked and critically wounded with sharp-edged weapons by his friend Chirag near here today. The victim was admitted to the Civil Hospital. The Police has registered case against the assailant, who was still at large.

A resident of Lakhpur village, identified as Taranjit Singh, reportedly committed suicide after consuming some poisonous substances at his residence last night. The police has registered case and sent the body for post-mortem.

In another case, the body of an unidentified person was found near the local railway station yesterday. Railway police in charge Pawitra Singh said that the deceased fell down from a running train.

3 booked for gang rape
Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, May 19
Gurdaspur SSP Ravcharan Singh Brar has ordered the registration of an FIR against three boys who were allegedly involved in raping a local girl, said to be in her early 20s, on May 7. The Police has booked Heera of Tibri, Roomi of Abul Khair village and Roomi of Gurdaspur town under various Sections of the IPC.

The incident has sent shock waves among residents as the girl, a resident of Babowal village near here, was allegedly picked up by the trio in broad daylight from the high security area of Fish Park, a stone's throw from the residences of senior officers of the administration.

In her statement to the SSP, the girl claimed that she was abducted Fish Park and was later taken to a secluded spot where she was allegedly raped by the trio. One of the accused also filmed the entire incident on his mobile phone and later the video was uploaded on the internet.

Gurdeep Singh, SHO, Gurdaspur City police station, where the FIR has been lodged, under Sections 376 (rape), 363 (kidnapping), 328 (giving the woman an intoxicating substance) and 506 (intimidation) of the IPC, confirmed the incident and said the police was conducting an inquiry into the incident.

Interestingly, the police has also added section 64-A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, as the accused had uploaded the video on internet. The complainant said that three occupants of an Alto car pushed her into the vehicle and later she was taken to a isolated place where she was gangraped.

Centre has soft corner for Punjab: Ashwani Kumar
Ravi Dhaliwal/TNS

Gurdaspur, May 19
The Centre has a soft corner for Punjab as it has sanctioned a Rs 14,000 crore package for the state for the current fiscal, said Minister of State for Science and Technology Ashwani Kumar.

Addressing a press conference here today, the minister said the amount was a whopping 22 per cent more than what the state got last year. He added that for the year 2011-12, the Central government had sanctioned a grant of Rs 11,500 crore and for this year financial it had been raised to Rs 14,000 crore.

He added that such a massive financial package was primarily due to the efforts of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi who felt that since Punjab was a border state and had suffered a lot due to two wars and also due to terrorism, it deserved such a grant.

Speaking on India-Pakistan ties, Ashwani Kumar, who was in the town to oversee the construction of the state-of-the-art old-age home which will be managed by NGO Helpage, said the opening of the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at the border was just the first step towards normalising relations between the two nations. “The ICP will felicitate trade in a big way and has fulfilled a long standing demand of people from both sides of the border. More confidence building measures are in the pipeline,” he disclosed.

Inter-state gang of robbers busted, 3 held
Ashok Kaura

Phagwara, May 19
The police has busted an inter-state gang of robbers with the arrest of three persons near the Sugar Mills chowk here last night. Phagwara SP Harkamalpreet Singh Khakh said the accused had been identified as Harjinder Singh, alias Happy, of Bhanoki village, Anjum Kohli of Nurpur in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh and Gurwinder Singh of Kukhrain in Kapurthala.

Khakh said the police has recovered two stolen motorcycles, one

activa scooter, three mobile phones, one sharp-edged weapon and intoxicants from their possession.

The SP said the accused had confessed to their involvement in a number of theft and snatching cases in different districts, including Kapurthala, Jalandhar and Ludhiana, besides some parts of Himachal Pardesh.

The SP said acting on a tip-off, a police party headed by SHO, City,

Sarwan Singh Bal raided the areas near the Sugar Mills chowk and nabbed the accused.

Khakh said two of the arrested accused were students of a private university. The accused were produced before the local Judicial Magistrate who remanded them in police custody for further interrogation, said the SP.

Residents block traffic

Hoshiarpur, May 19
Residents of Mohalla Piplanwala led by former municipal councillor Harbhajan Singh blocked vehicular traffic and staged a dharna on the Hoshiarpur-Jalandhar road for more than two hours to protest against the erratic supply of drinking water.

MLA Sunder Sharm Arora, Congress municipal councillors Karamvir Bali and Mohan Lal Pehlwan also joined the protesters. They raised slogans against the Hoshiarpur MC for its failure to supplying potable water. The protesters lifted the blockade after Naib Tehsildar Manjit Singh reached the spot and restored the water supply. — OC

Over 4,000 appear for JET
Our Correspondent

Nawanshahr, May 19
As many as 4,011 students appeared in the Joint Entrance Test (JET) conducted by the Punjab State Technical Education and Industrial Training Board for admission into various technical courses in the polytechnic institutes and engineering colleges in the state. Deputy District Education Officer Dinesh Kumar said as many as 5,218 applications were received and 19 examination centres were set up in the district.