Firing in Vienna, fires in Punjab

Two persons were killed and more than a dozen injured in violence across Punjab and parts of Haryana today after Sant Ramanand of Dera Sachkhand, injured in an attack in Vienna on Sunday, died in hospital. Angry Dera followers took to the streets, torching at least 11 train coaches and an engine, stoning buses, blocking traffic and clashing with police at several places.

The Army was called out in in Jalandhar, Phagwara and Hoshiarpur — curfew was imposed in the three cities and in Ludhiana — and placed on standby elsewhere. Cable operators were told to stop telecast of channels beaming pictures of the violence in Jalandhar.

Firing was reported from several places in Punjab as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal appealed for peace.

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Punjab minister Captain Kanwaljit dies in car crash

Senior Punjab Cabinet Minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh was killed in a car accident on the Chandigarh-Ludhiana National Highway-95 in Kharar on Sunday evening. The four-time MLA’s driver Parminder Singh and Personal Security Officer (PSO) Rattan Singh sustained injuries in the mishap.

Capt Kanwaljit was sitting on the front seat with Parminder at the wheels and the PSO seated in the rear when the accident took place. While Capt Kanwaljit was declared dead at PGIMER late on Sunday, the condition of both his aides was re ported to be stable.

The accident took place around 5 pm when the Hyundai Elantra car in which the Minister for Cooperation, Defence Services Welfare, Removal of Grievances, Pensions and Welfare of Pensioners was returning from Ludhiana, collided head-on with a ten-tyred truck, coming from the opposite direction, Station House Officer (SHO) Sub-Inspector Dalbeer Singh told The Indian Express.

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Rush to open IITs is a disaster: Prime Minister Science Advisor

In its hurry to boost higher education before elections, the Centre has pushed through six new IITs, setting up some in infrastructure challenged temporary campuses, and packing others into existing IIT complexes. It is a “disastrous” move, feels Prof C N R Rao, head of the Prime Minister’s Scientific Advisory Council.

“There was no proper discussion on this issue. Things could have been planned better. It took over 50 years to make IITs what they are today. After all it’s not like opening primary schools. These are institutes of excellence that have international standing. I am very upset that eight new IITs have been announced for implementation at one go. In July, I had written to the PM as well as the HRD Ministry and have made my views known to the PM when I met him later,” Rao said. He added that the move would bring down the brand value of the IITs.

Of the eight new IITs, six have started functioning in the current academic session in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat and Punjab. For the time being, IIT Rajasthan, Punjab and Orissa will operate from existing IIT campuses in Kanpur, Delhi and Mumbai. IIT Patna and IIT Gandhinagar will function out of temporary campuses.

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For clean polls in Congress youth wings, Rahul turns to former Election Commission

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has asked former Election Commission (EC) officials to help conduct organisational elections. So when the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) kickstarts direct elections for its Punjab unit in October, right from the block president to the state chief, K J Rao, who as an EC observer made a name during the Bihar elections of 2005, will act as the watchdog to ensure that criminal elements don’t find their way into the organisation.

“Rahul Gandhi has accepted our suggestion that any candidate found to have committed a crime punishable for two years under the law should be barred from contesting the organisational elections,” Rao told The Indian Express.

Rahul got in touch with former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) J M Lyngdoh some three months ago to streamline the organisational polls in the IYC and the National Students Union of India, the two organisations under his charge. Lyngdoh, in turn, directed him to Delhi based Rao.

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