Jalandhar, March 16
Not pleased with the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukerjee today, city residents reacted sharply to it saying it will bring more worries than relief to the common man.

The salaried class said they were hoping for a substantial hike in the income tax slab, but what came their way was a trickle. Working women have also strongly criticised the budgetary proposals.

Umesh Dada, a charted accountant, pointed out that the prices of almost all the commodities were bound to increase as the excise duty and service tax had been raised. "By all means, the budget has only increased the burden on the aam aadmi," he said.

Arvinder Kaur, an employee with a private firm, said it was disappointing to note that the income tax slab for women had been brought at par with men at Rs 2 lakh. "The limit had been kept static for us at Rs 1.9 lakh last year and has gone up by just Rs 10,000 this time, which is hardly any relief for us," she said. "The happiest lot today will be the ones drawing salaries between Rs 8 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, for they are the ones for whom the budget has brought the maximum reprieve," she added.

Amarpal, another working woman, seemed upset after viewing the budget telecast. "We get increments of just 5 to 10 per cent in our salaries once a year while our daily needs keep on increasing every now and then. Prices of refrigerators, ACs, gold, diamonds, hotel and taxi tariffs, phone bills, parlour charges and airline tickets have been raised. Prices of CFLs, salt and only a few other items have reduced, which is hardly any respite," she said.

Bikar Singh, an elderly and a farmer, said it was shocking to note that the Finance Minister had hardly announced any relief for the farm sector or even senior citizens.

Sonia Arora, an assistant professor, said: "Like every year, the Union Budget has done no good for the common man. Buying branded clothes and jewellery seems to be getting out of reach for the middle class. The FM seems to have not aimed at eradicating the poor and not poverty."

Jalandhar, March 16
The body of a five-year-old child, Lucky, who was allegedly kidnapped last month from outside his residence, was found floating in a sewer pond at Isapur village.

The parents of the child hail from Nepal, but were presently putting up at Focal Point. Deceased's father Vishnu said on February 17, his child was playing with his friends outside their house when a cyclist stopped near them and offered Rs 10 to each one of them.

"As the cyclist left, my child started following him and didn't return home. A case of abduction was registered at Police Division No. 8.

Station house officer Jatinder Pal Rana said the police was informed this morning about the floating body of the child in a sewer pond. The police fished out the body and started investigations.

The child's parents were called to identify the body. The SHO said it seemed that the body had been lying in the pond for the past some days.

"At this moment, it is not sure whether the child got drowned in the pond accidentally or his body had been dumped in the pond after his murder," said the SHO. The exact cause of the death could be ascertained after post-mortem, he added.

Jalandhar, March 16
The Class XI examinations of the Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) have been cancelled after papers of four subjects in the same class were leaked.

Seven schools in Jalandhar were issued notices in this a regard. The notices were issued by the Jammu Regional Campus.

Seven schools falling in Jalandhar district - four in Jalandhar Cantt, two in Adampur and one in Suranussi - have been affected. The exams, hence cancelled, will begin from March 26 till April 2.

There is no information how the papers got leaked, said authorities concerned.

Jalandhar, March 16
City residents, especially youths, took to the streets to celebrate after master blaster Sachin Tendulkar scored his elusive 100th international ton on today in an Asia Cup match against Bangladesh.

All those who remained glued to their television sets throughout the day had been anticipating this achievement since the day Sachin had scored a century against South Africa during the World Cup.

The moment, Sachin achieved this feat, people were busy making congratulatory calls, sending SMSes and sharing Facebook posts mentioning Sachin as "The God of cricket" and 'Proud to be an Indian'.

Jalandhar Tribune spoke to local cricketers, city residents and sports personalities and shared their joy on the occasion.

Promising cricketer and a member of Kings XI Punjab for the upcoming IPL season Mandeep Singh said: "This was the moment every Indian was waiting for. There were moments when his fans were dejected, but sooner or later this feat was to be accomplished and it is a proud moment for all of us. This is a landmark which will always remain difficult to accomplish for any cricketer," he said.

Mandeep, who has learnt cricket watching Sachin play, said: "Every moment associated with Sachin holds a great significance, but this will remain etched in the memory of every Indian forever."

The Jalandhar District Cricket Association (JDCA), a nursery for producing and sending the best cricketers to the team India, has planned to celebrate Sachin's feat on March 24 with a grand award ceremony for the best cricketers from the academy.

Secretary of the JDCA Surjit Rai Bitta said: "We are lucky enough to have witness such grand moment in the history of the ODI cricket. We wish that Sachin goes on to score more centuries as sky is the limit for him," he added.

Another cricket fan Joshil Kumar said: "Sachin became emotional after achieving this feat and so were his fans. Every single second of this feat would be written in the cricket history with golden words."

Jalandhar, March 16
Raising their voice against the decision of the Congress-led UPA government to introduce foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail sector, members of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch staged a dharna at the Company Bagh chowk here today.

The members started the dharna with the 'Bharat Bachao Andolan' and threatened the government with nation-wide protests, if it went ahead with the decision. The dharna was supported by various trade unions, including the footwear association, cloth merchants, retail trade associations, grocery associations and electronics goods association.

A protester, Surinder Anand, said the UPA government was working under the pressure of foreign companies and the policy if implemented would have a serious consequence. "The government is hell bent on introducing FDI in the retail sector which has an annual turnover of Rs 20 lakh crore and is giving employment to around 25 crore people," he said.

Chairman of the Khadi Board Vijay Sampla said the US and the European nations were deliberately forcing the consequences of economic slowdown on India. "The government will have to rollback its decision, else the nation will witness fierce protests," he added.

Jalandhar, March 16
Even as all other civic bodies, including the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation and the Jalandhar Development Authority have their web portals with latest information, officials of the Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT) have adopted a laidback approach.

All that the official website of the JIT (www.jld-jit.com) displays is the information regarding a draw conducted five months ago. All the remaining columns, including those on policies, public notices, department details, services and events have been kept blank.

In contrast, the MC is using its website (www.mcjalandhar.nic.in) for e-tendering, which helps invite bids. The request for proposal (RPF) details is put on the net in the downloadable form for anyone to check the details of upcoming projects.

The MC has also uploaded forms like availing birth and death certificates, water connection, building plans and filing RTI complaints on the web. Even the checklist of documents to be attached is mentioned for applicants to take a note of it and save time and effort. However, no such provision has been provided in the JIT website.

The MC also uploads agendas of all meetings, including those of the MC House and the Finance and Contracts Committee, on the net. The directory of the office is also updated with latest landline and mobile phone numbers of the staff, which again is a big miss in the JIT website.

The Jalandhar Development Authority has gone far ahead by uploading details of defaulters its website (www.jda.org.in). Further, it has all government notifications and master plan of the city. The website also mentions 14 different types of services offered at its single window system with the timeframe for execution of each of the service. In JIT, the single window system has rather been a non-starter.

Jatinder Singh, executive officer, JIT, said the technical staff was busy in the election duty. “I will now depute the staff for developing the web portal. I am sure that it will be done soon,” he added.

Jalandhar, March 16
Four burglaries in the city in the past two days have belied the police claims of foolproof security.

Burglars struck at a readymade garments showroom at the Kishan Pura locality last night and decamped with garments worth lakhs.

Showroom owner Inderjit Singh said when he came to open the showroom this morning, he was stunned to see the main locks of the shutter broken and the showroom ransacked.

On Tuesday night, burglars struck at three different showrooms in the city and took away goods worth lakhs. One of the showroom owners, Anil, said after breaking the main locks of the showroom, burglars took away seven LCDs, eight television sets, two scanners and cash.

In another incident, burglars decamped with nine LCDs, five DVDs and two home theatres from an electronics showroom at Focal Point. Showroom owner Manish Bhamba said the burglers entered the showroom after breaking a wall.

In a separate incident, burglars struck at Gee Tech, a computer showroom, at the Doaba Chowk. Showroom owner Parvinder Pal said that though burglars managed to break the main locks of the showroom, but were not able to enter the shop due to security codes.