Jalandhar, November 9
Marriages, they say, are made in heaven, but solemnised on earth. Many city couples have especially chosen the 11/11/11 “heavenly date” to tie the nuptial knot and make a new beginning of their lives together.

Almost all marriage palaces and hotels of the city are booked for on the date for marriages or ring ceremony functions. In fact, many hotels have all the banquet halls booked for the functions on that day.

“The day happens to be one of the most auspicious ones in the whole millennium and I am really excited about getting married on such a special day,” said Angad Singh, a city-based film producer, who is going to get married to Ludhiana-based journalist Mandeep at Country Inn and Resorts here.

The groom-to-be said, “We had planned marriage for November and we discussed that there could be no better day than this one.”

Wedding bells for Vikas and his fiancee Bhumika will also ring on the same day. Said Vikas’ father Ashok Kumar, a JE with MC, “My son got engaged in April. Since we are Brahmins, we have to plan mahurats. It was a sheer chance that the panditji said 11/11/11 was auspicious and we were really excited.”

Ashok said he had even suggested Bhumika’s parents to arrange the marriage at 11 hours, 11 minutes and 11 seconds on that day. “But they somehow disagreed as they said their relatives would not be able to assemble early in the day for the ceremony,” he quipped.

Harpreet Kaur from Apra village, near Phillaur, is also getting married to Manvir Singh from Sansarpur village on 11/11/11. Their cousin, Amar Randhawa, said, “Everyone in the family just hopes that the number 11 proves lucky for the couple.

Amit Vij, manager of Hotel President, said a few ring ceremony functions, too, had been booked for the day. “The bookings have been done at least six months in advance. There has been much demand for the day ever since, but we have a limited number of banquet halls available,” he said.

Jalandhar, November 9
11/11/11 is a rare combination of the same day, month and year, arriving this Friday - after a gap of a 100 years.

While astrologers believe it is auspicious, the hype surrounding it - in India and across the world - has made it a day to reckon with it. (Read: Bollywood’s hottest mom, right now, (you know who), might see her baby being born on this date. Director Imtiaz Ali’s much-awaited and hyped film Rockstar is releasing on this date and two couples on his crew are getting married on the same date).

And if it helps, a Dutch thriller called the same (11/11/11) is also releasing on this date).

It seems manu married couples in the city are keen on riding the 11/11/11 bandwagon in Jalandhar too. Many city couples have specially asked their gynaecologists to arrange for 11/11/11 as the day when their little one comes into the world.

Gynaecologists across the city have been taken aback by the 11/11/11 hype. Couples are flooding in with 11/11/11 delivery requests.

Gynaecologist Dr Sushma Chawla says, “It is interesting to watch couples come in with 11/11/11 delivery requests. I for one do not believe in these concepts. A natural birth is the best for the baby. I have got the request from just one or two patients as yet. Those too, whose babies are due within just one or two days of the magical date. It is ok as long as I’m not doing it at the cost of the health of the mother or child.”

Gynaecologist Dr Surekha Sacchar says, “I have four patients who have opted for elective surgery on the 11th of November. These are all cases where these mothers previously had caesareans, but I have agreed to the special date because in all these cases it is best suited to avoid any further complications for the baby’s birth.”

While doctors are against deliveries where 11/11/11 falls way before or after the due date, the lucky couples whose babies would be born on the day, can’t stop beaming.

The Tribune talks to two of the starry-eyed couples:

Ritu and Dusshyant Sambher: Expecting their first child, the couple, who got married on December 10, 2009, are upbeat about the birth of their first baby on the “special” day.

While Ritu was given the date of November 12 by her doctor recently, she opted for November 11, because she tought it was special.

Ritu says, “It is a very special and auspicious date and comes once in a lifetime. We are lucky it matched my delivery due date.”

While there is a lot of Bollywood hype around the date too, Ritu says, ”It just the unique number that she went for and she is not bothered about the other Bollywood activities happening around the date.”

Dusshyant backs his wife on the decision and the entire family is looking forward to the date.

Kavita and Salil Bhardawaj: Kavita Bhardwaj, who is in the city in her mother’s house for the delivery, says, “It is the first time that we are having a baby and I wanted something special for us as a couple. The 11/11/11 coincidence came like a perfect timing to make our first baby special.”

Kavita, whose husband is Delhi-based trader, again is not fascinated by the filmy hype around the date. “For me it is important because the day comes only once in a hundred years. It is a lovely opportunity to make our baby’s birthday memorable. Me and my husband are very happy with our choice.”

Kavita, too, was given the due date of November 12 for delivery by her doctor, so she chose it to be a day earlier on 11/11/11.

Jalandhar, November 9
Some youths allegedly attacked three sisters and their mother over a minor issue with sharp-edged weapons at Sansarpur village here today. All the four victims were rushed to a nearby private hospital.

The victims have been identified as Priya (21), Shabnam (23), Rajia (19) and their mother Kamlesh. The girls got injuries on their heads and limbs and were referred to the Civil Hospital.

The incident occurred this afternoon when the three sisters were engaged in a minor fight at their residence

Noticing the loud voices of the girls, a woman from the neighbourhood asked them to stop making noise and even threatened them of dire consequences.

The girls alleged that the moment their mother started talking to the woman, a few youths, reportedly relatives of the woman, barged into the house and attacked them with sharp-edged weapons.

Police officials said they were recording the statement of all the four victims. The assailants had been identified as Binnu, Munna and Vicky, all residents of Sansarpur village.

Jalandhar, November 9
Bholu, kingpin of the notorious Bholu gang, who was arrested by the city police on Monday in a street clash that took place between his gang members, has a criminal past beginning from his childhood.

Investigation carried out by Jalandhar Tribune reveals that Bholu’s original name is Gursharan Singh, son of Surjit Singh. He earlier lived in 36 Rasta Mohalla and now lives with his uncle at Bhai Gurdit Singh Nagar.

Closes associates of Bholu claimed that Bholu had been involved in street fighting since he was 10 years’ old and most of the boys of his age never dared to argue with him.

With the passage of time, his notorious activities started gaining political mileage. Bholu’s neighbours disclosed that his notoriety helped him develop political links and many political leaders started giving him financial support and they used Bholu to get their work done through his notoriety.

The neighbours claimed that Bholu’s father died when Bholu was not even 10 years’ old. Closes associates of Bholu claimed that after the death of his father, Bholu’s uncle prompted him to commit crime. “Whenever Bholu was arrested by the police, his uncle, who is a property dealer, used to get him freed through his political links,” Bholu’s acquaintance said.

Police sources revealed that around eight criminal cases had been registered against Bholu in different police stations. He was also booked in an attempt-to-murder case at the Sadar police station. Otherwise most of the cases against him were of street fighting. Bholu was lodged in jail many times.

On Monday night, he was arrested by the police in a culpable homicide case for attacking a gang in the district courts.

Sources said a few months ago, Bholu had challenged some other gang for fight with his gang at Burlton Park, but the city police disbursed them after reaching there.

Bholu was also shot at by some gang members a few months ago, but he had a miraculous escape.

It was also learnt that many friends of Bholu left his gang and started a peaceful life.

Jalandhar, November 9
The fire brigade department of the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation is facing acute shortage of manpower and other essential equipment.

Importantly, the department is going through such a crisis despite the MC passing resolutions to fill vacant posts and to buy other essential equipment.

Informed sources said the department has one fire station and two sub-stations in the city. Against 42 posts of leading firemen, these units have no leading firemen at all.

Similarly, the stations have 18 firemen while the sanctioned posts are 168. Also, 23 posts of driver are also lying vacant.

Sources claimed that in year 1972 and 2000, the city fire station has 272 and 86 firemen, respectively.

Resolutions to fill vacant posts had also been passed twice in the house. Still, there has been no fresh recruitment.

Department sources said number of fire stations is also insufficient for the entire city. As per rule, one fire station is required to cover 10 sq km in an urban area while 50 sq km in a rural area, but these fire stations cover a total of 101.43 kms.

One of the firemen, on the condition of anonymity, claimed that they are hardly able to reach an incident site on time.

Jalandhar needs at least five more fire service stations to serve city residents in case of fire incidents, experts said.

The corporation has also held numbers of meetings to go high tech, but nothing has happened.

Sources said in March, the Divisional Commissioner wrote to Department of Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management for the requirement of essential equipment required for the fire service stations for three districts namely Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar.

He sought arial ladders, three multipurpose fire fighting vehicles, eight motorcycles equipped with advanced fire fighting equipment, three high power crane and recovery van and JCB machines.

Sources said the Local Bodies department is sitting over the file.

Fire stations lack other advanced equipment like turn table ladder, hydraulic platform, rescue tender, emergency/advanced rescue tender, foam tender and ambulance are also essential for a fire station.

Kamal Sharma, chairman, Fire Brigade Committee, said two new fire service stations one at Paragpur and other in Basti area have already been cleared in the house and also approved by the government.

B S Dhaliwal, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, said he would call a meeting of the house soon to discuss the proposal for the development of fire stations.

Jalandhar, November 9
The CIA (Rural) staff arrested four youths, who were planning to commit a robbery in the city, here today.

A case under Sections 399 and 402 of the IPC has been registered against them at the Goraya police station

The accused have been identified as Sunny Verma of Bhanoki village in Phagwara, Mangat Ram, alias Manga, Davinder Singh, alias Billa, and Gurvinder Singh, alias Kaka, all three residents of Rurka Kalan village.

The police has also recovered four sharp-edged weapons and one motorcycle from them. The police claimed that they had received a tip-off that some youths were planning a robbery at Pasla village, near Goraya, and they were carrying sharp-edged weapons.

The police raided the spot and arrested them.

The police claimed that the youths were involved in snatching of mobile phones and gold ornaments in the surrounding areas.

Jalandhar, October 9
An 11-member delegation of a non-government organisation (NGO), Council for Teacher Education (CTE), headed by city-based educationist Dr Dev Raj Vij, has recently returned from Nepal after a six-day educational exchange programme.

Set up in 1985 by Dr Gulab Chaurasia of Madhya Pradesh, CTE has 22 chapters in various states of the country. The motive of the CTE is to ensure continuous professional growth of the teachers of all learning institutions in general and teacher educators in particular.

The CTE chapter of Nepal was also launched during the recent tour. One chapter of the CTE is already working in Bangladesh. Stating that the visit was a remarkable one, the CTE national secretary, Prof SC Khurana, said an MoU was signed for further goodwill mission to exchange the educational expertise of both the countries for the betterment of the present scenario. — TNS

Jalandhar: Dr G.S. Samra, Principal of Lyallpur Khalsa Collegiate Senior Secondary School, has been selected for the Rajiv Gandhi Education Excellence Award by the International Institute of Education and Management. The award would be presented on November 30 at New Delhi. Earlier, Dr G.S. Samra has been conferred upon with the Best Principal Award and Best In Charge Award by National Science Olympiad, Delhi. — TNS