Jalandhar, July 31
As over 15,000 students appeared for online counselling to engineering colleges of Punjab for the first time, there is a mixed response to the new system. While there are many who reacted that the online system was very convenient and transparent, there were others who opined that the system had some lacunae if compared with the old manual technique.

The system has in fact resulted in generating a debate on the issue. Those who argued in favour of the system make a point, “There was no mela-like occasion for getting a seat in hot and humid weather, no hassle for people to assemble in Jalandhar and no waiting in queues till late evening. 

We could sit at home with AC on and fill choices at any time as per our convenience.” There are a few who think otherwise. A Pathankot-based parent rues, “My daughter had attained 999th rank in the PTU-CET, got 91 per cent in class XII CBSE, 96 per cent in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics (PCM) and still has not been able to get a seat of her choice. 

She had been trying to grab a seat either at Punjabi University or Guru Nanak Dev University, but has not been able to get a chance of upgradation even after the second counselling.

Over 25 candidates who had claimed and blocked seats at either of the two institutes dropped after the second counselling, perhaps availing a chance at a better college through the AIEEE. These seats which had gone vacant have now got converted to 15 per cent outside state quota, making them unavailable for us.” His argument is, “Had it been manual counselling where fee is deposited right on the spot, these seats would have come our way immediately for the uninterested students would not turned up.”

There are other parents who have been grumbling over the conduct of online counselling. Since eligibility check for admission under various categories was made after the rank allotment at respective institutes, there were many who were left shocked, for they did not fulfil the criterion. “All participating universities and colleges have their own definition for rural and border category eligibility, which many parents like me were not aware of till the first counselling. 

We were asked to make a correct choice in the second round but then we were left with a limited choice,” fumed a Gurdaspur-based parent. Vice-Chancellor Dr Rajneesh Arora reacted, “Parents need to be more vigilant in making choices. They need to go through rules and regulations of each institute prior to listing their preferences.”

Over the issue of dropping of seats, he said, “We cannot stop students from going to a better place. If we keep giving vacant seats to the next candidate, it would turn out to become a never-ending game.”

The officials of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) who provided assistance for online counselling, said, “The whole process was initiated after much brain-storming and deliberations by the representatives of participating universities. Gradually, we would be able to improve the system.”

Jalandhar, July 31
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh finally bought his pricey possession: Hummer. The cricketer had remained busy completing modalities of procuring the shining black swanky SUV in the past some time. “It was my dream to buy Hummer one day and with God’s grace I bought it. And today I am here in my hometown among my friends,” he said.

Talking to The Tribune, Bhajji said, “Hummer was my dream vehicle and I remained quite busy procuring this American wonder. I love SUVs because of their models, height and space. Earlier too I bought two Ford Endeavors,” he maintained. 

Though the cricketer denied any plan to procure any fancy number for his SUV, he said, “The number 3 on my cricket T-shirt is my lucky number. I would love to procure the same number for my Hummer as well,” he added. Earlier the off-spinner went to Bangla Sahib Gurdwara at New Delhi to pay his obeisance. “As my SUV came via Delhi, I preferred to visit Bangla Sahib Gurdwara,” he said.

Jalandhar, July 31
Tension prevailed at Randhawa Masanda village, near Focal Point, on the Ludhiana-Amritsar highway following shredding of a poster of a dera sant this afternoon.

The incident occurred when someone tore the poster, thus angering the followers of the sant. The followers assembled on the highway and disrupted vehicular traffic. The followers have been demanding arrest of the man who has hurt their sentiments within 24 hours.