Mandi Gobindgarh, November 1
Three-day Punjabi University Festival, Fatehegarh Sahib zone, concluded at Desh Bhagat College of Management and Computer Sciences,Mandi Gobindgarh, yesterday evening.Chairman of the Desh Bhagat Group of Institutes Zora Singh welcomed the guests. Institute’s director Shalni Gupta also spoke on the occasion.

The function was opened by director,youth welfare, Punjabi University, Patiala,Sunita Dhir and institutes’ vice-chairman Tejinder Kaur. The overall trophy was bagged by Mata Gujri College,Fatehgarh Sahib, while literary trophy went to Desh Bhagat College.

The results are as follows: Group shabad: Jawarlal Nehru Woman College, Mandigobindgarh, (1); Mata Gurti, Fatehgarh Sahib,(2); Skit: Khalsa College,Morinda,(1); Cordia College, Sanghal,(2); Mime: DBIMCS, Mandi Gobindgarh, (1); Dolphin College, Chunni, (2); Debate: DBIMCS, Mandi Gobindgarh, (2); Elocation: Khalsa College,Morinda, (1); Desh Bhagat College of Education, Mandi Gobindgarh,(2); Poetry recitation: Desh Bhagat College of Education, Mandi Gobindgarh, (1); Lincoln College of Law, Sirhind,(2); Folk Items: Embroidery- DSG College for Education, Dera Bassi,(1); Pakhi: Khalsa College, Morinda,(1); Mehandi: Khalsa College, Hansali, (1); Gudia Patola: PMN College, Rajpura,(1); Tokri: PMN College, Rajpura,(1); Toys made of sand: Khalsa College, Morinda,(1); Chikli: Government College, Dera Bassi, (1); Peerhi:Mata Gujri Collge, Fatehgarh Sahib,(1); Sewian: PMN, Rajpura, (1).

Ludhiana, November 1
Diamond Jubilee Panjab University Youth Festival at Ramgarhia Girls College entered the third day today. In quiz: Ramgarhia Girls College came first while Khalsa College for Women stood second and Government College for Women third.

In orchestra (Indian): Government College for Women team came first, KCW second and Master Tara Singh College was adjudged third. In women’s traditional song, Mata Ganga Khalsa College for Girls came first while GCW was second and MTS College third.

In folk instruments: MTS College was first while Mata Ganga Khalsa College for Girls, Kottan, and Ramgarhia Girls College were declared second and third, respectively.

Ludhiana, November 1
Absenteeism from duty cost nine school teachers transfers to other places. During a surprise visit, when director, Public Instruction, (DPI), Jagtar Singh Khatra, found teachers of a government school in Rauni village absent from duty, he was quick to act and stating that "studies of students should not suffer", he issued transfer orders of the teachers and also appointed new ones in their place.

The inspection, that was conducted in the last week of October from Government Senior Secondary School, Rauni, situated near Payal village, was done with a view to ensuring presence of teachers in schools.

"He came for inspection at around 9.20 am but found several teachers absent. The DPI waited and later decided to take an action," said sources.

While the DPI was unavailable for comments, DEO Sudesh Bajaj termed it as a "routine inspection". However, she hastened to add: "It is our motto that the teachers should be present in every school during their duty hour rather being absent. If they would be present, only then they could teach the students."

She said the department immediately appointed new teachers so that "studies of the students did not suffer".

Officials said such inspections would continue on a regular basis.

The absentee teachers who, were transferred to various schools across the district, are Jaspal Singh, Sukhjinder Singh, Anu Verma, Vijay Suri, Rajinder Kaur, Daljit Kaur, Kulwinder Kaur, Gurcharan Singh DP and Jasbir Kaur.

Ludhiana, November 1
The teaching and non-teaching staff of the Government College for Women welcomed the new principal RK Aulakh. Aulakh is a commissioned officer and former ADPI (colleges) Punjab, Chandigarh.A cultural show was presented.

Laurels: Two students of M.Tech (Power Engineering) 2nd year Amandeep Singh and Gursharan Singh participated in the event of CAD DESIGN in technical symposium held at Lovely Institute of Technology, Phagwara on October 30 and 31 and scored first positions. — TNS

COURTS

Man gets 7-yr RI for raping minor
Consent of a minor girl immaterial: Court
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, Novmber 1
The consent of a girl is immaterial and carries no value in the eyes of law, if she is below the age of 18 years. It was so held by a local fast-track court, while convicting a person facing accusations of abducting and raping a minor girl.

The judge of the fast-track court, R L Ahuja, sentenced Harpal Singh, a resident of Parjian Biharipur village, Ludhiana, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years on the charges of abducting and raping a girl, who used to live in his neighbourhood. The accused was also ordered to pay a fine of Rs 7,000.

An FIR was registered against the accused at the Sidhwan Bet police station on August 28, 2002. The case was registered on the basis of a statement made by Puro Bai, mother of the victim.The police succeeded in recovering the girl.

The mother of the girl had stated to the police that on the intervening night of August 24/25, she was sleeping in the courtyard of her house. At mid-night, she noticed that her daughter was not on her cot and the main gate of the house was lying open. She claimed that on inquiry, it was found that the accused had taken away her daughter with the allurement of marrying her.

The police succeded in arresting the accused on September 28 . While deposing in the witness box, the victim specifically stated that the accused continued to rape her against her wishes.

However, during the trial, the accused claimed that the victim was a consenting party. That’s why she never lodged any protest, when she stayed with him. He also produced one copy of the complaint filed by the girl before the subdivisional magistrate, Zira, against her parents, wherein she had stated her age to be 20 years.

But after perusing the evidence on record, the court held that the victim had stated that she was taken to the Zira Court complex and compelled to sign blank papers. The school certificates issued by a government school clearly established that the girl was below 16 years at the time of commission of offence. The accused was found guilty.