Jalandhar, March 26
It was a mix of glamour, politics and religion as a massive shobha yatra was held in the city on the eve of Ram Navmi here today.

Thousands of residents converged on the streets not just with a religious fervour but also with the eagerness to see the popular actors of mega-serial Mahabharat and Bollywood who were in the city leading the yatra. Men, women and children trying to shake hands with actors Gajender Chohan of Yudhishtra fame and Arjuna in Mahabharat were a common sight. Mukesh Khanna of Shaktiman fame, Dev Anand Junior, Lalu of Hamlog and Sambha from Sholay were all there to pull the crowds.

The shobha yatra was taken out from the Devi Talab Mandir and it passed through prominent markets and roundabouts amidst chanting of sacred bhajans. A huge congregation of religious gurus from across the region too was part of the yatra. There were stalls of langar along the yatra route. Huge pandals had been erected where various groups enacted scenes from Ramayan through their performances.

Today’s rally was prominently organised by president of the temple committee Shital Vij. Another yatra will be organised tomorrow in which political leaders.

Jalandhar, March 26
Several activists of Sikh organisations clashed with followers of the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan at Phagwara near here on Monday evening.

The Sikh activists were protesting against the permission given to the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan to hold prayer meetings for three days in the Hanuman Garrhi temple at Phagwara. The protesters were accusing the Sansthan of hurting the sentiments of the Sikh community.

Sikh protesters led by former Keshgarh Sahib head granthi Ranjodh Singh blocked traffic on the second consecutive day on the GT road leading to Hoshiarpur on Monday evening.

Subsequently, the protesters assembled outside the temple and raised slogans against the followers of the Sansthan. On learning this, the followers of the Sansthan took positions on the roof-top of the temple and started pelting stones at the Sikh activistswho also retaliated.

Police cane charged the protesters and fired two tear-gas shells. Several persons, including some policemen, were injured.

Kapurthala SSP Rakesh Agarwal and Phagwara SDM Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal were on the spot.

The SSP confirmed that one policeman was injured in the stone pelting.

Following the canecharge and teargasing, the Sikh protesters blocked traffic on the GT road leading to Jalandhar. The blockade was on till the filing of this report.

According to Kapurthala DC JM Balamurugan, both the parties had reached a compromise in the afternoon in the presence of ADC BS Multani and SDM Dhaliwal.

The DC said that the clash that followed was due to some rumours.

However, according to reports, after the compromise new speakers were allowed to make speeches. Representatives of Sikh organisations were demanding a ban on the Sansthan to hold meetings. 

Nawanshahr, March 26
Dr Jaspal Singh Randhawa, general secretary, Association of Principals Non-Government Colleges (GNDU, Amritsar area), in a communication to Education Minister Dr Upinderjit Kaur, urged her to urgently release the grant of fourth quarter ending February 2007 before March 31.

The colleges especially small ones located in rural areas have not received any salary grant since November 2006, and if the same trend continues, they will be facing serious financial crisis, said Dr Randhawa.

He urged the Education Minister to enhance the salary grant to meet actual 95 per cent deficit according to the present liabilities.

Randhawa reminded Upinderjit that the release of 95 per cent grant in aid scheme for paying salaries of non-government affiliated colleges was introduced by Parkash Singh Badal in 1978. Besides, he also urged the Education Minister to lift ban on recruitment of teaching and non-teaching employees against the vacant posts under grant in aid scheme. Demanding immediate attention to these issues, Randhawa urged the minister to call a meeting for a thorough discussion on the various issues including implementation of pension-cum-gratuity scheme, principals’ scale relating to the higher education for a solution.