Briefly Region

New excise policy announced in Himachal

Himachal Pradesh’s new excise policy announced this evening proposes a hike in the licence fee on country liquor from Rs 113 per proof liter (PPL) to Rs 120 PPL,besides a significant increase in the Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) has been made — from Rs 157 PPL to 190 PPL. The policy was cleared by the Cabinet a few days ago. Some of the highlights of the policy are rationalisation of country liquor and IMFL vends allotted to retail vendors because of increased demand in certain areas. The minimum quota of IMFL has been increased too. Jagdish Sharma,Commissioner,Excise and Taxation,said: “Already,the auction of 49 toll tax barriers in the state has shown a major increase,upto 69 per cent,in the revenue,barring Chamba district,which will be auctioned later.”

NRI booked for murder in US held in Hoshiarpur

A fugitive NRI,booked for the murder of his wife in the US,was arrested from Session Chowk in Hoshiarpur on Thursday. Sucha Singh,originally from Ghogra village in Hoshiarpur,had a red corner notice issued against him by Interpol in 2008 and has been arrested under Section 41(g) of the Criminal Procedure Code. Police said Singh left for the US in 1990 where he married Jagjot Kaur in 1995. Jagjot had later moved in with her parents because of strained relations between the two. On July 28,2003,the police said,Singh entered the house and attacked both his wife and her mother,who survived despite serious injuries,with a knife. SSP Rakesh Aggarwal said Singh had been sent to judicial custody and Interpol had been informed of his arrest.

Boy dies in hospital,students protest

After the death of a student of DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology (DAVIET),Jalandhar,in a Ludhiana hospital on Wednesday evening,students of the college staged a protest on Thursday,alleging that they were getting contaminated water in the hostel and food quality was also quite poor. Police had to be called to control the situation. Rishab Kumar,the deceased,was a third year student in mechanical engineering. He was from Una district of Himachal Pradesh. Rishab had been reportedly ill for the last one week. The college authorities had earlier claimed that he died due to swine flu,but later said the cause of death was pneumonia. Students staged a protest alleging that no one was listening to their problems of contaminated water and cited cases of typhoid and other water-related problems. The college,however,refuted the allegations,saying they had provided water filters in every hostel,and said the students were inviting problems by eating outside.

Baba Farid College students excel

Students of Baba Farid College of Engineering and Technology have bagged top rank in a national-level robotic competition held on the campus of information technology division of Banaras Hindu University,Varanasi (UP). Robo-Opus 11 was held from March 3 to 6 in collaboration with Robosapiens,a noted robotics firm. The team comprising Arundeep Singh and Gopal Goyal,students of ECE department of Baba Farid College of Engineering and Technology,bagged the top position. Their ‘Line Follower Robot’ operated with the help of a mobile phone. The students designed the robot under the supervision of lecturer Harmeet Singh Sandhu.

Dal Khalsa reminds SGPC of Blue Star memorial

Radical Sikh body,the Dal Khalsa,on Thursday,reminded the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee of its promise to build a suitable memorial for those killed in Operation Blue Star. “The resolution adopted at the SGPC executive meet on Feb 20,2002 to build a memorial in memory of those who died during the army attack in June 1984 is still pending and even after nine years,the SGPC is yet to take any decision,” said Kanwarpal Singh,a Dal Khalsa leader.

Man killed by domestic help

Joginder Singh (50),a farmer,was allegedly killed by his domestic help who fled with the money the former was carrying on Wednesday night. According to the family,the farmer had Rs 6,000 with him when the help,Bhuleshwar,demanded Rs 2,000. Joginder gave him Rs 200. When the farmer was asleep,Bhuleshwar allegedly attacked him and fled with the rest of the money. The police have registered a case and have detained some relatives of the accused.

Workshop on disaster risk reduction

A district level workshop,organised by the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration Punjab,to discuss disaster risk reduction and development planning was held on Thursday. The meet was attended by heads of various departments of the district. SS Gill,a retired IAS officer,while addressing the crowd,said a multi-pronged strategy was required while undertaking development activities like construction of schools and urban expansion to reduce risks of various disasters.