J A L A N D H A R    E D I T I O N

Weekly lok adalat to begin at Passport Seva Kendras
Jalandhar, January 8
The Regional Passport Office would launch weekly lok adalat at Passport Seva Kendras in the city. The first in the series would be held on January 11.

Sikhs still divided on Nanakshahi calendar
Amritsar, January 8
With different Sikh groups sticking to their respective stands, the community continues to remain divided over the Nanakshahi calendar which was amended a couple of years ago.

BJP candidate kicks off campaign
Amritsar : MP Navjot Singh Sidhu kicked off the election campaign of BJP candidate from the Amritsar Central constituency, Tarun Chugh, who is fighting against Congress heavyweight OP Soni, by opening his poll office today.

MP Navjot Singh Sidhu kicks off the election campaign of BJP candidate Tarun Chugh in Amritsar on Sunday. Photo: Sameer Sehgal

Cong forms dist industry cell to woo traders
Amritsar, January 8 The Congress today formed its district unit of trade and industry cell. Sources said the Congress’ move was a proof that the party wants to leave nothing to chance as it had lost to the SAD by a whisker in the 2007 Assembly polls.

Rs 73,000 looted from three petrol pumps
Phagwara, January 8
Four unidentified armed robbers in an Innova vehicle looted cash worth Rs 73,775 from three petrol pumps on the national highway in Phagwara and Phillaur on Friday night.

Poll arrangements in place
Nawanshahr, January 8
Shruti Singh, Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Electoral officer, in a press release issued here yesterday said elaborate arrangments to conduct free and fair elections in the three assembly segments of Nawanshahr, Balachaur and Banga in the district have been completed. 

Assistant poll observers appointed
Phagwara : Poll Observer (Expenditure) for Phagwara and Bholath Assembly constituencies Rajesh Sinha has appointed Sawdesh Kumar and Aditya Joshi Assistant Poll Observers for the Bholath constituency and Gurpinder Singh for the Phagwara Assembly constituency.

Weekly lok adalat to begin at Passport Seva Kendras
Kusum Arora
Tribune News Service

Sikhs still divided on Nanakshahi calendar
Perneet Singh/TNS

Amritsar, January 8
With different Sikh groups sticking to their respective stands, the community continues to remain divided over the Nanakshahi calendar which was amended a couple of years ago.

While the SGPC-run gurdwaras celebrated the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh on December 31, the DSGMC, led by Paramjit Singh Sarna, and other organisations like the Dal Khalsa went as per the original version of the calendar and celebrated the event today. Interestingly, as per the amended calendar, which is followed by the SGPC, Guru Gobind Singh’s birth anniversary will not be celebrated in 2012. Reason: As per the amended version, the gurpurb was celebrated for the second time in 2011 on December 31 while the birth anniversary does not figure in the calendar this year. On the other hand, the birth anniversary of the 10th Sikh Guru is celebrated on January 5 every year as per the original calendar. Sarna has been strongly opposing the amended calendar right since the changes were made and has maintained that original Nanakshahi calendar is a symbol of a separate Sikh identity. Similarly, the Dal Khalsa vowed to stick to original version, arguing that the amendments are in sync with Hindu religious events. The organisation voiced its concern against mixing of Nanakshahi with Bikrami calendar. 

BJP candidate kicks off campaign

Amritsar: MP Navjot Singh Sidhu kicked off the election campaign of BJP candidate from the Amritsar Central constituency, Tarun Chugh, who is fighting against Congress heavyweight OP Soni, by opening his poll office today. However, BJP leaders Mayor Shwait Malik and Arun Kumar Pappal, who were aspirants for the party ticket to contest from the constituency, did not attend the function. Chugh said he would project the development works carried out by the SAD-BJP combine in this term. TNS

Cong forms dist industry cell to woo traders

Amritsar, January 8
The Congress today formed its district unit of trade and industry cell. Sources said the Congress’ move was a proof that the party wants to leave nothing to chance as it had lost to the SAD by a whisker in the 2007 Assembly polls.

They said the urban voters, with sizable number of business community and its workforce, had thrown weight behind the BJP in the previous Assembly election. The Congress is now aiming to tap this segment.

PPCC (Industry and Trade Cell) president Daljit Singh Ahluwalia announced the names of members of the district Cell. Deepak Chathrath would be its chairman, Sunil Sharma (vice-chairman), Rajan Mehra (secretary) and besides there are 10 executive members.

He said he had forwarded demands of the industry and traders in general and the border districts in particular to the PPCC to be included in the manifesto. He refused to divulge details at this moment and said soon Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee would release the manifesto in Chandigarh.

He said as per the directions of PPCC president Capt Amarinder Singh, industry and trade cells had been formed in almost all districts of the state. — TNS

Rs 73,000 looted from three petrol pumps

Phagwara, January 8
Four unidentified armed robbers in an Innova vehicle looted cash worth Rs 73,775 from three petrol pumps on the national highway in Phagwara and Phillaur on Friday night.

In the first incident, the armed robbers looted a petrol station near Chachoki village on the highway between Phagwara and Goraya around 10 pm. Petrol pump employee Chander Paul told the police that the robbers came in a white Innova bearing number PB-10BM-6474 and asked him to fill diesel in the vehicle. When he told them that the station was closed, they took him into the office at the pistol point and took away Rs 30,000 from the office and sped away.

The second incident took place at a petrol pump near Bhattian village between Goraya and Phillaur. In the third incident, robbers snatched Rs 27,225 from the employees of a petrol pump at Ramgarh village near Phillaur and sped away. — OC

Poll arrangements in place
Our Correspondents

Nawanshahr, January 8
Shruti Singh, Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Electoral officer, in a press release issued here yesterday said elaborate arrangments to conduct free and fair elections in the three assembly segments of Nawanshahr, Balachaur and Banga in the district have been completed. As many as 522 polling booths in the district have been identified and examined thoroughly. Besides, as many as 660 EVMs had also been arranged and the randomnisation of EVMs in the presence of the representatives of the various political parties has also been completed.

Assistant poll observers appointed

Phagwara: Poll Observer (Expenditure) for Phagwara and Bholath Assembly constituencies Rajesh Sinha has appointed Sawdesh Kumar and Aditya Joshi Assistant Poll Observers for the Bholath constituency and Gurpinder Singh for the Phagwara Assembly constituency.

This was stated in a press note issued here today.