IN Brief

Employees to take out march on March 5
Chandigarh: Five local units met on a call given by the National Forum,comprising Central trade unions,labour federations and employee federations,on Saturday. It was decided that a march would be organised on March 5 for fulfilment of various demands. These include providing stimulus package for sectors hit by recession,to implement labour laws,implement Social Security Act,2008,and stop privatisation of public sector undertakings.

Mixed response to budget from hotel sector
Chandigarh: The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Chandigarh has said while the Union Budget has failed to reduce the depreciation rate from 20 per cent to 10 per cent,the proposal to allow companies that set up hotels of two star and above investment-linked deductions is a welcome step. In a statement issued here,a member of the Managing Committee of the association,Ankit Gupta,said the hospitality industry has been neglected in previous budgets. “Budget 2010-2011 will help increase room inventory and also help the industry in availing cheaper loans,” he said. Gupta added that the expectations of the industry from the budget were that the hotel sector should not be equated with real estate sector,since it leads to higher interest rates.
The industry also expected infrastructure status for hotel industry,exemption of service tax on foreign exchange earned from services like health club,banquet rentals etc,extension of interest subvention since it is a major employment-intensive sector,luxury tax exemption on tariff of less than Rs 2,500,uniform rate of four per cent on tariff of Rs 2,500 and above,uniform VAT/sales tax and reduction in depreciation rate.

52-year-old farmer killed near Nabha
NABHA: Darshan Singh (52) was brutally murdered last night near his own fields in village Achal under the Nabha tehsil of Patiala. Singh was last seen going towards his fields on Friday evening. His body was recovered from near the motor on his fields in a pool of blood. His face was also damaged,as it seemed that the killers hit him with a heavy weapon. He is survived by two sons and two daughters. His elder son first saw the body today. The police have registered a case of murder against unknown persons. A dog squad has also been pressed into service.

Three robbers get four years in jail
Chandigarh: Three robbers were sentenced to four years’ rigorous imprisonment for planning to rob a petrol pump in Sector 44 in 2008. The Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Gian Chand Garg sentenced Sham Mangal,Sarabjit Kumar and Sanjeev Rai today to four years in jail under Section 399 of the IPC and Section 25 of the Arms Act.
The three were arrested on September 2,2008 when the police had claimed to solve a large number of burglaries and robberies in the city with their arrest. Two other gang members — Manoj Kumar and Kuldeep — had managed to flee. At the time of arrest,the police recovered a pistol,two revolvers and 12 cartridges from their possession. Police had said Mangal had been involved in illegal activities in the area for the last eight-nine years. A case was registered in police station Sector 34 in September 2008.

School student injured in brawl
Chandigarh: Four students of New India School-18 allegedly attacked a 17-year old Class X student outside the school premises on Saturday.
The injured student Aadil Setia of Sector-12A Panchkula suffered injuries on his forehead and received three stitches.
The attackers were identified as Tarun Bhatia,Rajat Dhaia,Ashwarya Kumar and Satwant Singh Tur. Setia claimed one of the attackers had an iron rod in his hands and they attacked him without any reason. The victim claimed the mother of one of the assailants is also a staff member in the school management. Setia was rushed to Government Multi-speciality Hospital (GMH)-16 and discharged after preliminary treatment. The police said they are investigating and a daily diary report has been lodged in this regard.

YPS Patiala celebrated Annual Day
PATIALA: Yadavindra Public School,Patiala,celebrated its annual day today,with Director General,National Security Guards,N P S Aulakh,as the chief guest. Aulakh,a YPS alumnus,lit the lamp and was introduced to the staff by principal Stanley Vinod Kumar. After the invocation song and speeches by the principal,head boy and head girl,Aulakh gave away prizes to students who excelled in academics and co-curricular activities in 2009. The programme ended with a colourful and entertaining variety programme,comprising Sarasvati Vandana,a classical recital by the school orchestra,hindi skit,tango dance,English play Pygmalion and the school song.

Khalsa College wins trophy at youth festival
PATIALA: Two-day Punjabi Folk Festival concluded at the GTB Hall of the Punjab University today. According to Youth Welfare Director Satish Verma,a record number of over 1,200 boys and girls participated in various events of Punjabi folk art forms and games. Khalsa College,Patiala won the overall championship,followed by the Government Mohindra College,Patiala and University Campus,which shared the honours. The folk games trophy was bagged by the Government College,Ropar,while the State College of Education,Patiala clinched the folk games and folk art forms trophy. The Vice-Chancellor honoured noted Punjabi artists Sarabjeet Cheema,Pammi Bai,Bhupinder Bubble,Gurmeet Bawa and Master Bhajan Singh.

Hola Mohalla begins at Anandpur Sahib
Ropar: The three-day Hola Mohalla celebrations begun at the birthplace of Khalsa Anandpur Sahib on Saturday. Thousands of pilgrims have arrived in the town from Punjab and other parts of the country to participate in the celebrations and to pay obeisance at Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib and other gurudwaras.
A large number of langars have also come up in Anandpur Sahib and on all roads leading to the town. The Akali Dal (Badal),Congress,Akali Dal (Amritsar) and Dal Khalsa will also organise their political conference on the occasion of Holla Mohalla at Anandpur Sahib tomorrow,which will be addressed by senior leaders of these parties. The Ropar district administration and SGPC have made elaborate arrangements and a large number of security personnel have been deployed in the mela area to maintain law and order.