Jalandhar, April 21
Despite intense infighting in the rank and file of the BJP, the local unit presented a united face at the SAD-BJP rally here on Tuesday.

SAD candidate Hans Raj Hans had been facing an uphill task since the BJP leadership was busy in its own internal power play to openly come out and campaign for their candidate. This was more pronounced in the urban areas which have returned three BJP legislators.

Today, it was a pleasant sight for the Akalis to see a sea of BJP flags in the audience and this development did not escape the attention of those on the dais, including Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the BJP in charge for Punjab Balbir Punj.

Sources said that the BJP high command had been worried over the absence of their rank and file from the din of electioneering and had reportedly pulled up the state unit. The SAD cadres had been ploughing a lone furrow till now but the situation has brightened after today.

Punj is said to have done some plain speaking after his arrival in the city early this morning, following which the word was out that winning the maximum seats in the state was of paramount importance. The leaders were told to sink their differences and work at winning this seat.

Nevertheless, things seem to have picked up for Hans who had been feeling handicapped in the absence of BJP workers. Another cause for good tidings was the setting up of a central election office in Jalandhar. Now, the poll strategy could be fine-tuned so that the alliance partners work diligently in their areas of influence, the sources added.

Today’s rally was also first of the big shows held in this region during electioneering.

An added attraction was the presence of a large number of artistes among the audience who vowed to ensure the win of Hans. Folk singer Pammi Bai thanked Badal for recognising their contribution to society by giving a chance to Hans to contest. 

Jalandhar, April 21
On the third day of filing of nomination papers, two more candidates submitted their applications to District Election Officer Ajeet Singh Pannu here on Monday. Ashok Kumar (51) filed his papers as the nominee of the Bharati Gaon Taj Party and Vijay Hans (46) is the candidate of the Bharati Loktantrik Party.

In an affidavit filed before the DEO, Kumar has declared that he owns an Indica car and does not have immoveable property. He has also taken a loan of Rs 30,000 from the Ex-Servicemen Finance Company.

Hans has declared that he has taken a loan of Rs 6. 50 lakh from International Auto Finance. He owns two motorcycles and has paid Rs 1.50 lakh as income tax this year.

The nominations would continue till April 24 and scrutiny would take place the following day. Withdrawals will take place on April 27.

Jalandhar, April 21
One of the city’s busiest hotel, near BMC Chowk, has fallen into the trap of the Excise and Taxation Department on charge of evasion of taxes. Having conducted a raid a few months back, department officials have completed their reports against the owner of Hotel Kamal Palace for suppressing a turnover of Rs 2.25 crore and evading 12.5 per cent tax equivalent to Rs 28 lakh.

The officials are in the process of issuing a notice for payment of tax, in addition to charging a double penalty of Rs 56 lakh.

During a raid conducted by the enforcement wing of the department, the team had managed to lay its hands on some diaries which showed date-wise details of the parties which had been conducted, the number of visitors and per plate charges levied.

These details were reportedly tallied with the tax statements filed by the hotel, indicating evasion. Assistant Excise and Taxation Officer Harbir Singh confirmed the details. He revealed that the entries in the diaries were checked by calling up the clients. 

“We had written to certain banks, officials of the Indian Oil Corporation and certain government departments asking them to verify whether they had held meetings. The whole process including getting books, doing their scrutiny and verification, took time,” he explained.

One of the banquet managers of the hotel, when contacted, said the matter was not in his knowledge. He also denied having any contact number of the hotel owner. “He does not carry a mobile phone. I do not have his landline number at the moment either,” he replied.

Jalandhar, April 21
Stepping the ladder of success, students of the CT Group of Institutions have been certified by Derby College, UK, for the British Prime Minister’s initiative project. Students recently went for the “Entrepreneurship business plan competition” to Derby College under the British Council’s project to encourage educational relationship between India and the UK.

Competition winners Urvashi Chhabra and Alpna Chadha, along with project leader Prof Manhar Arora also the corporate relations and placements director, visited Derby College under an exchange programme.

Apart from academic activities, students went for sight seeing and visited Buckingham Palace, Westminster, London Tower, Parliament House and Nottingham Robin Hood Castle.

On the completion of the second phase of the project, students of the first and second phases were given certificates by chairman Charanjit Singh Channi. — TNS

Jalandhar, April 21
Two Congress observers for Bihar, PPCC secretaries Virendra Sharma and Yashpal Singh Dhiman, claimed that the party would perform well in the parliamentary elections there. Both the Congress observers returned from Bihar on Saturday after spending about a week there.

They had been appointed Congress observers for the Patna Sahib, Patliputra, Muzaffarpur and Gaya seats in Bihar.

While election for the Gaya seat had been held on April 16, polling for Muzaffarpur would be held on April 23, whereas votes for the Patna Sahib and Patliputra seats would be held on May 7.

Sharing his experience of the Bihar elections with the media, Sharma said Congress workers of Bihar were very enthusiastic over the decision of the party high command to contest the elections there at its own after RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and LJP supremo Ram Vilas Paswan left only three seats for the Congress.

PPCC secretary Virendra Sharma said the party high command had decided to contest on its own in Bihar on the report of CWC member Iqbal Singh, who had already prepared for the situation which arose after Lalu and Paswan’s betrayal.

District Congress vice-president Jitendra Sharma was also present on the occasion.

Jalandhar, April 21
Urging research scholars to explore new horizons in the field of space technology and work upon them in the larger interests of mankind and society, the Vice-President of DAV College Managing Committee, Delhi, Justice A.L. Bahri, today said students should undertake projects which were beneficial for all.

He expressed these views during the inaugural session of a national conference on “Modern management practices and information technology trends (MMPITT)” at the DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jalandhar.

The two-day conference was aimed at bringing industrialists, academicians, researchers, budding managers and entrepreneurs together for providing exposure to new endeavours.

The concluding day of the conference saw academicians from the industry discussing the management trends.

The Deputy General Manager of Punjab National Bank, Jalandhar Circle, P.K. Sharma, was the chief guest on the occasion.

He emphasised the need for time management for budding managers.

Children perform items during a Talent Show at St Soldier Divine Public School, Kapurthala Road, in Jalandhar. Photos: Suryakant

Money Matters Inc, a financial management firm, conducted a placement programme at Lovely Professional University for the final year MBA students from all streams. Thirteen students have been inducted. The successful students will be provided with a pay package of Rs 2.4 lakh per annum. The hired students will join as management trainees and be promoted to the post of relationship managers.

Dress exhibition

Students of Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Nehru Garden, held an exhibition under the vocational subjects “on-the-job training” programme. The two-day exhibition concluded on Tuesday which saw display of dress material by students of garment designing and making of the school.

Talent hunt show

To polish the hidden talent among the children, a healthy baby and talent hunt show was organised at St Soldier Divine Public School, Kapurthala Road, in which about 170 students participated. Students of one to three years participated in the baby show and three to five years in the talent show. In the talent show children showed their talent in modelling, dancing, singing and in the question-answer round. In the baby show Sachin stood first and was honoured with a Rs 3,000 prize and “Mr All-Rounder”, Kesar stood second and was honoured with a Rs 2,000 prize and with “Miss Sweet and Healthy Smile”, Hargun Singh stood third and got a prize of Rs 1,000. In the talent hunt show Jeesha got the first position and was awarded Rs 3,000 and “Miss Talented”, Dharvika Vatas got the 
second prize of Rs 2,000 and Avneet Kaur got the third prize of Rs 1,000.

Techno quiz

A team of students from the Department of Paramedical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, won the top position at a techno quiz organised by the All-India Medical Laboratory Technologists Association at the PGI, Chandigarh.

The event was part of the World Biomedical Laboratory Science Day celebrations. Sixteen teams from 11 institutes of the region participated in the event. The team was represented by Simranjit Kaur, Arsha Jaswal and Amritjot Kaur, all students of MSc (clinical microbiology), LPU.

Educational tour

An educational tour of students of Mehr Chand Polytechnic from final year of electrical engineering course was organised last week. The students visited the Bhakra power plant at Nangal, Gujarat Ambuja Cement unit at Ropar, HMT at Pinjore, the Punjab Energy Development Authority at Chandigarh, Maulana Power House at Manikaran Sahib and various windmills on the way. The trip returned from Manali on April 13.

Lecture

A guest lecture on personality development was organised at BD Arya Girls Collegiate School, Jalandhar cantonment, for the students of classes XI and XII. The keynote lecture was delivered by Dr Anirud Kapoor, who gave tips to the students on becoming smart in life.

Bakers’ contest

A bakers and confectioners competition was organised at St Soldier Hotel Management and Catering Technology behind REC under the guidance of Vice-Chairperson Sangeeta Chopra and Principal Rajan Sroha . Students of four-year and one-year ITI courses prepared different items under the guidance of Munish Kumar, in charge of the food department. Students made various delicious items

Investiture ceremony

Guru Amar Dass Public School, Model Town, organised an investiture ceremony on April 18. As many as 136 office-bearers were administered the oath of office and were presented badges. Ramandeep Singh and Tavneet Kaur of class XII were installed as head boy and head girl, respectively.

Red Day

State Public School, Shahkot, celebrated Red Day on April 17 for the students of nursery to class II. The students attended the school in red attire and also took part in sandwich making. A calligraphy competition was held for the students of classes III to X.

Space design contest

Police DAV Public School cleared the first phase of the University of Toronto space design contest in both the senior and junior groups. The projects - Mantavaya and Lakshita - dealt with establishing a space colony at the Langrangian point. The project has been designed to derive benefits from space in study of various subjects, especially the applied sciences. The team comprises Navdeep Kaur, Neha and Priyanka in the senior group and Anandita, Somali, Tushar and Anurag in the junior group. These students have also been invited to participate in the second phase of the competition to be held at Toronto University, Canada, in May, 2009.

Talent exam

Swati Maini, a class XI student of Police DAV Public School, bagged the third position in the state-level commerce talent search exam. Five other students also secured merit positions.

Prize distribution

As many as 200 meritorious students of the Apeejay Institute of Management were awarded for their accomplishments during the annual function held here recently. Deepti Sharma of MBA-IV B received the Dr Satya Paul award for moral values with a one-time scholarship of Rs 5,000. Amit Wadhwa of MBA-II A and Asha Das of MBA-IV A were honoured with the title of Mr Pinnacle-2008. Gurvinder Kaur of MBA-IV A and Vikas Kattal of MCA-VI A won the best prize for an excellent performance during a cricket match last year. PTU Vice-Chancellor Dr Rajneesh Arora was the chief guest on the occasion.