J A L A N D H A R

FIR against PTU VC, Registrar cancelled
Jalandhar, February 16
The FIR lodged against Punjab Technical University Vice-Chancellor S. K. Salwan and Registrar M.S. Grewal has been cancelled, after the police claimed that the two officials, named in the suicide note of a former PTU clerk Rajinder Kumar Sharma, were not guilty of his death.

Booked students not to be reinstated: NIT chairperson
Jalandhar, February 16
The newly-appointed chairperson of the Dr B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Ms Sushma Berlia, today said that the students who had been booked for alleged abetment to the suicide of Amit Gangwar, a first-year student of the institute, would not be reinstated.

Inter-State Bus Terminus to get a facelift
Jalandhar, February 16
Woes of thousands of passengers, who have to use the Inter-State Bus Terminus at Jalandhar, might be over finally, as the construction work for giving a new look to 32-year-old bus stand has started.

Bringing smile on faces of cleft-lipped children
Jalandhar, February 16
Hope now comes calling for hundreds of poor new-born children, who suffer from cosmetic disorder of cleft lip and palate and whose parents are unable to afford costly treatment.

Three robberies in Phagwara
Phagwara, February 16
A jeweller’s wife today reportedly fell into the trap of a man who tricked away with gold jewellery worth about Rs 2 lakh from her. Kiran Bagga, wife of Vinod Kumar Bagga, the owner of Golden Jewellers on Khera Road here, was attending the shop when a 45-year-old man came to the shop riding a scooter.

Fearing inspection, shops remain closed
Kapurthala, February 16
Most of the shops here and in Sultanpur Lodhi remained closed today, as a team from the Food and Supplies Department went on an inspection spree to verify the reports in a section of the media that synthetic milk and synthetic cheese were being sold in the area.

‘UPA govt will fall on its own’
Phagwara, February 16
The All-India Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a former Union Minister, Mr Shahnawaz Hussain, has claimed that the UPA Government would fall “under the weight of its own misdeeds.”

FIR against PTU VC, Registrar cancelled
Anuradha Shukla
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 16
The FIR lodged against Punjab Technical University (PTU) Vice-Chancellor S. K. Salwan and Registrar M.S. Grewal has been cancelled, after the police claimed that the two officials, named in the suicide note of a former PTU clerk Rajinder Kumar Sharma, were not guilty of his death. The police said it had reached the decision, to be presented in the court tomorrow, after recording the statements of the university employees concerned.

Sources in the police said statements of PTU Vice-Chancellor S.K. Salwan, Registrar M.S. Grewal were recorded. Also, according to police sources, the statements of Satpal, an attendant, Om Prakash, a chowkidar, Yadvinder Singh, a clerk, Sunil Dutt, a driver who had taken Rajinder Kumar Sharma to the hospital after he had consumed celphos tablets, Ik Onkar Singh, PA to the Vice-Chancellor, Narinder Singh, another clerk and one Rajinder Kumar and Kuldeep Singh were recorded.

Rajinder Kumar had been employed with PTU as a clerk, but was sacked in 2002.

The police, in its report, has said that the present PTU Vice-Chancellor joined in 2004 — two years after sharma lost his job.

Additional Station House Officer, Division Number 4, Mr Darshan Singh, said the FIR cancellation report was ready to be presented in the court. SSP Ishwar Singh also confirmed that the police had recommended the cancellation of the FIR.

Booked students not to be reinstated: NIT chairperson
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 16
The newly-appointed chairperson of the Dr B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology (NIT), Ms Sushma Berlia, today said that the students who had been booked for alleged abetment to the suicide of Amit Gangwar, a first-year student of the institute, would not be reinstated. “There are no plans to take those students back.”

Ms Berlia said this during an interaction with The Tribune here today.

She said the institute would start two new departments— electrical engineering and biotechnology engineering.

Ms Berlia, who is also vice-president of the Apeejay Educational Society and president of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said an approval for the same had been taken in a meeting of the institute’s board of governors held recently.

She was visiting the institute for the first time after taking charge as its chairperson. She conducted daylong meetings with the students, faculty and even some parents on various issues.

The chairperson said that not only B. Tech would be started in the two new departments in the coming session, M. Tech would also be offered in six departments including computer science, electronics engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, chemical engineering and instrumental engineering. She added that M. Tech had already been started in textile engineering and civil engineering streams last year.

She said the institute would also start offering M. Sc. in mathematics, chemistry and physics. There were also plans, she said, to start Ph D in some departments that have adequate infrastructural facilities required.

Mr Berlia said the intake of students into the NIT would depend on the faculty available in each department.

However, the chairperson said her primary task in NIT would be to improve the faculty. New staff, she said, would be recruited depending on the needs and the additional strength that the institute was likely to get.

She said she was keen on bringing about reforms in the rules, regulations and research facilities in the institute.

Ms Berlia said her priority would be to develop better liaisons with the industry for providing good job placements to the students.

Inter-State Bus Terminus to get a facelift
Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 16
Woes of thousands of passengers, who have to use the Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) at Jalandhar, might be over finally, as the construction work for giving a new look to 32-year-old bus stand has started.

Though the Jalandhar ISBT is one of the busiest bus stands in Punjab, with 20000 to 25000 passengers frequenting it daily, it has been a picture of neglect for the past over 10 years, thanks to the apathy shown towards it by different state governments.

Presently, the ISBT daily receives about 2700 buses, which depart for various destinations, both inter-state and within the state.

What is more interesting is the striking similarity between the assurances put forth by the leaders of the previous SAD-BJP government and those put forth by the present Congress government during the past one decade that the bus stand would acquire a new look. However, practically nothing has changed so far.

If something has changed during all this while, it is the names of promise-making political leaders. The pathetic condition of the bus stand, which has been almost like a slush-filled cesspool for more than 10 years, continues till date.

The situation becomes unbearable for passengers during rains, when they have to hire rickshaws to come out of the main platform area, all thanks to the accumulation of sewer water on the 12-acre premises.

But finally, there seems to be some hope for the “poor passengers”, as the Punjab Transport Minister, Mr Mohinder Singh Kaypee, has come out with the claims, which suggest that the Punjab government has woken up to the inconvenience of the passengers.

“The rebuilding process of the bus stand has started and it will cost about Rs 22 core. The construction work is being done by the Baroda-based M.S.K. Company, which is undertaking the work on the BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) basis. The new bus stand will have all modern amenities, and the ongoing construction process will be completed within a period of 18 months. For the first seven-eight months after the completion of the construction work, the new-look ISBT would be run by the same company, and afterwards it would be transferred to the Punjab Roadways,” said Mr Kaypee.

According to the plan, the new bus stand will have as many as 64 counters, of which 30 would be used for local bus services.

“In case of the Phagwara bus stand, 75 per cent of the construction has been completed and it will be ready by March 31. The rebuilding process of the Ludhiana and Patiala bus stands will start within two months,” added the Transport Minister.

Bringing smile on faces of cleft-lipped children
Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 16
Hope now comes calling for hundreds of poor new-born children, who suffer from cosmetic disorder of cleft lip and palate and whose parents are unable to afford costly treatment. “The Smile Train,” a New York-based global charitable organisation, has decided to come to the rescue of such children in the northern region.

A large number of babies, who take birth in semi-Shivalik hills and villages of nearby Himachal Pradesh, suffer from the disorder, wherein either there is a cut in the upper lip or the non-union of a portion of the lip or palate. Primarily, the lack of nutritious food to women during pregnancy is responsible for this disorder.

The disorder, if it remains untreated beyond the age of one and a half months, can lead to serious and permanent speech-related defects among children.

Since poverty is widely prevalent in semi-Shivalik districts of Punjab such as Hoshiarpur, Ropar, Gurdaspur, and in villages and towns of neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, most of the parents of new-born babies can hardly afford costly corrective therapy and treatment of the disorder.

Such poor parents now have a ray of hope in store for them, as “The Smile Train” has tied up with the local Bath Hospital for providing surgical care of indigent children with cleft lip and palate.

“The Smile Train” has decided to provide monetary grant to the hospital for free treatment of such patients. With this, Bath Hospital here finds a place in the list of the global chain of 200 hospitals.

“To begin with, ‘The Smile Train’ has sent a grant of $ 2,500 and we have already operated upon over 50 children to correct their disorder during the past one month. The monetary aid for operations of such children would be a regular feature henceforth.,” said Dr Jaswant Singh Bath, the chief of Bath Hospital and prominent plastic and cosmetic surgeon.

Three robberies in Phagwara
Our Correspondent

Phagwara, February 16
A jeweller’s wife today reportedly fell into the trap of a man who tricked away with gold jewellery worth about Rs 2 lakh from her. Kiran Bagga, wife of Vinod Kumar Bagga, the owner of Golden Jewellers on Khera Road here, was attending the shop when a 45-year-old man came to the shop riding a scooter. Vinod Kumar had gone out for some work.

The man told Kiran that he wanted to show the jewellery to his sister before buying. He took the woman on his scooter with gold jewellery weighing 250 grams. She was taken to Guru Nanakpura Mohalla, where the man stopped the scooter near a house.

He went inside the house taking the jewellery on the pretext of showing it to his younger sister. But he slipped away from the house.

Meanwhile, in another incident, valuables worth over Rs one lakh were burgled from the house of a Punjabi singer in Khalwaragate area here.

In a separate incident of robbery, over Rs 7,500 was looted at pistol point from a liqour vend at Narur village near here yesterday night. Two persons came to the vend and looted the amount at pistol point from one Ashok Kumar, a salesman at the vend.

Fearing inspection, shops remain closed
Tribune News Service

Kapurthala, February 16
Most of the shops here and in Sultanpur Lodhi remained closed today, as a team from the Food and Supplies Department went on an inspection spree to verify the reports in a section of the media that synthetic milk and synthetic cheese were being sold in the area.

Nonetheless, a team comprising the Assistant Director, Health and Family Welfare, Mr A.K. Khullar, and two inspectors from the Food and Supplies Department, collected ten samples of milk,cheese, desi ghee, pulses and vinegar from the shops that were open.

As the news of the inspection started pouring in, shops in the town started closing and remained closed till the team left. In Sultanpur Lodhi, the shops were closed before the team arrived.

‘UPA govt will fall on its own’
Tribune Reporters

Phagwara, February 16
The All-India Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a former Union Minister, Mr Shahnawaz Hussain, has claimed that the UPA Government would fall “under the weight of its own misdeeds.”

Addressing the media at a rally here yesterday, he accused the Left parties of playing “double politics”.

When again asked as to why BJP and its allies did not bring forth a no-confidence motion against the government, Mr Hussain replied, “We won’t have to do it because the government would fall on its own.”