Jalandhar, April 22
Getting a seat in any of the engineering or pharmacy colleges of Punjab will be a cakewalk for the candidates appearing for the CET being conducted by Punjab Technical University on May 3.

Officials have revealed that the number of applications received this time were over 25,000, which was 10 per cent more than the figure of 22,400 received last year.

As per the current seat availability status, there are a toal of 21,576 seats in 71
engineering colleges, 1,830 seats in 33 pharmacy colleges and 190 seats in five
architecture colleges.

Since nearly 25 new colleges have been seeking approval from the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the Punjab government, at least 3,000 more seats are expected to get added up this year.

As a result, Punjab colleges will have seats for all the CET applicants if they would want to stick back here.

But that usually is not the case. Many bright students appear for PTU-CET just
to be on the safer side, even as their first preference is to find a place in the IITs
or any other top colleges of the country through the AIEEE examination scheduled
for April 26.

Even those who do not even fair well in the CET, prefer directly getting the seat booked through the management quota, which is 33 per cent of the total seats, rather than opting for counselling.

According to the current seat availability status, there will be 7,120 management quota seats in engineering colleges.

Also, all those seats which will not get filled through online counselling will be converted into management quota seats to be filled by the respective colleges.

The managements of various colleges have already started engaging their staff in getting students from other states and even neighbouring countries.

While till the last year staff of several colleges had been camping at Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Patna and Himachal Pradesh to bring in students, it is learnt that several colleges have sent their staff to Nepal, Bhutan, Indonesia and some African countries to bring in foreign students for their colleges.

Jalandhar, April 22
The Congress received a shot in the arm with the Christian Front deciding to support the party nominees in the Lok Sabha polls.

Announcing their decision to join the Congress in the presence of former PPCC chief and party candidate for Jalandhar seat Mohinder Singh Kaypee, chief spokesperson C.D. Singh Kamboj and Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira at a press conference here today, Lawrence Chaudhary, president of the outfit, said their brotherhood was of the view that the Congress was best suited to lead the country.

Moreover, their community had benefited from the programmes and policies of the Congress whenever the party was in power, he added.

He said they numbered over 25 lakh in the state and vote en bloc for the Congress. “We have the numerical strength to make or mar many a contest on all the seats in the state,” he pointed out.

Citing the reason for backing the Congress, he said the Hindi right wing parties like the VHP and the BJP had targeted their community in Orissa.

“Our churches and homes were looted, nuns were raped and thousands were forced out of their villages to take shelter in state-run camps. In fact, no minority will be safe in the country if the BJP is again voted back to power,” he alleged.

Similarly, Sukhbir Singh Shalimar, general secretary of the Bahujan Shakti Party,
also joined the Congress to protest against the injustice meted out to the Dalits
in the SAD-BJP regime.

He said more than 40,000 members of the Kashyap-Rajput community in the Jalandhar constituency would wholeheartedly work for the success of Kaypee.

Jalandhar, April 22
CPI (M-L) candidate Hans Raj Pabwa today filed his nomination papers from the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency.

The candidate reached the District Administrative Complex (DAC) with a group of CPI (ML) supporters shouting anti-government slogans.

Earlier Pabwa had contested elections from the Phillaur Lok Sabha seat and the Noormahal assembly seat. He has also served as sarpanch of Pabwa village, near Noormahal for almost 20 years.

Amritsar, April 22
“Don’t throw bombs on Amritsar and Tarn Taran”. These words of caution were sounded by late Zubeda Khatun to her sons Air Vice-Marshal Anwar Khan and Safdar M. Khan, also a senior Air Force officer of Pakistan during the Indo-Pak war of 1965.

Since Zubeda hailed from Tarn Taran and her husband Mohammad Aslam from Amritsar, she did not want damage to happen to these holy cities of Indian Punjab through her sons. Both sons of Zubeda are alive and lead a retired life in Lahore.

Mohammad Asghar, a senior Welsh politician and son of Zubeda, echoed words of his mother when he came here to explore his roots in Amritsar and Tarn Taran today.

A great votary for world Punjabi unity, Asghar visited the Tarn Taran court complex where his grand-father was working before the partition of the country. The family migrated to Pakistan after the partition and settled in Lahore and Faislabad.

However, Asghar could not trace the ancestral houses of his father and mother in Amritsar and Tarn Taran even as his close friend Bhupinder Singh Sandhu, a local Punjabi writer, took him to various places.

Asghar said visting Amritsar and Tarn Taran was like visiting his own family where he received a lot of love and affection.

Being a member of parliament from the UK, Asghar deals with education. He visited all the universities of Punjab and Khalsa College here to explore the possibilities of establishing educational links between Wales and Indian Punjab.

Asghar was born in Peshawar in 1945 and currently lives in the UK. He studied at Peshawar University and completed accountancy course at Nash College, Newport.

Coming from a family which had six fighter pilots, his political interests include economic development since he feels strongly about combating social exclusion.

After becoming involved in politics, he became his party’s regional coordinator, member of the National Executive Committee and was Wales’ first Muslim councillor, representing the Victoria Ward in the Newport City Council.

He said Amritsar-born Muslim leader Bashir Ahmed, who died a couple of months ago, was the first Punjabi-Scottish member of parliament.

Amritsar, April 22
Travelling on the roads leading to the District Court Complex was a privilege which was reserved only for the supporters of the ruling SAD-BJP alliance and the Congress here today.

Even as the police had made elaborate arrangements by erecting barricades on the occasion of filing of nomination papers by SAD-BJP candidate Navjot Singh Sidhu and O.P. Soni of the Congress, people were largely resentful of the move.

The police blocked all roads leading to the district court where the office of the District Election Officer is located from 10 am till 1.30 pm in order to facilitate the smooth filing of the nomination papers by installing barricades.

In the wake of the show of strength put forth by the ruling SAD-BJP alliance, barricades were erected at Rialto Chowk, Income Tax Chowk, Government College for Women Chowk and near Green Avenue.

The inconvenienced commuters were aghast at the sudden change in the traffic route and were seen asking for passage from the standing police personnel.

It caused an increase in the volume of traffic on the adjoining roads and long
traffic jams.

A resident of Ranjit Avenue of B Block, Harminder Singh, said he had not witnessed any security hassle in the morning when he had gone to drop his children at school.

“However, when I came later to go to my shop situated at the Telephone Exchange in the walled city, I experienced strict security measures on road,” he added.

Nawanshahr, April 22
Activities like seminars, one-act plays, film shows, tree plantation, painting, slogan-writing competitions, etc, were organised today at different educational institutions in the district to mark the Earth Day celebrations with a view to sensitising the students in particular and masses in general, to protect the natural resources on earth for environmental sustainability and human survival.

The Education Department in collaboration with the CV Raman Science Club and
the Lotus Eco Club of Government Senior Secondary School, Bharta Kalan,
organised a film show.

A film prepared by the Punjab State Council of Scientific Research and Training was screened to make the students aware of the need and importance of protecting the planet earth from the growing menace of environmental pollution and global warming.

District science supervisor Balihar Singh Bains presided over. Rajan Bhardwaj delivered the keynote address.

A seminar was organised at Government Senior Secondary School, Rahon. Principal Harkanwaljit Kaur, teachers and students delivered lectures.

The JC Bose Eco Club of Bhagwan Mahavir Public School in collaboration with the Rotary Club, Banga, organised a function to observe Earth Day.

Club members staged a one-act play to mobilise students for the judicious use of the natural resources.

Tiny tots of Little Mangoes Playway School and Kids Club planted saplings to observe Earth Day.

AMRITSAR: Various non-government organisations on Wednesday celebrated Earth Day by carrying out rallies and seminars to spread awareness about the environmental degradation by different actions of the people.

Akal Purkh Ki Fauj in order to mark the day distributed more than 50,000 pamphlets and posters and spread awareness about global warming and informed about the steps to be taken to prevent it, besides reducing pollution.

The organisation held an awareness programme at its school situated in Vai Bhui village where free education is being provided to children.

The students and teachers of the school pledged to plant more and more trees, besides saving every drop of water. Mission Aagaaz observed Earth Day at Government Saragarhi Memorial Secondary School, Mall Mandi, Amritsar, where Deepak Babbar, an environmentalist, apprised the students of the importance of clean environment for the life of humans as well as mother earth.

He said the pay commission had done great injustice to the veterinary inspectors by recommending pay scales to them lower than those of pharmacists.