Jalandhar, March 27
The Punjab Excise and Taxation Department is expected to earn a whopping Rs 212 crore following the draw of 573 liquor vends falling in Jalandhar I and II zones. The draw will be held on Wednesday at the Red Cross Bhawan.

The draw for Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr zones is also scheduled to be held at the same venue.

Of the total 573 vends, 236 fall in Jalandhar I and 337 in Jalandhar II. Rural areas, including Kartarpur, Bhogpur, Adampur, Alawalpur, Nakodar, Shahkot, Lohian and Nurmahal, fall in Jalandhar zone II.

Till last year, Jalandhar I was split into 18 circles, each with 12 liquor vends. As per the new excise policy, there will be 14 circles within the MC limits, each having 15 vends, making a total of 210 vends. Besides, there will be 10 vends in Goraya town and two in villages around it. Similarly, 10 vends in Phillaur town and four in villages around it, making a total of 236 vends. This zone is expected to fetch a revenue of Rs 145 crore.

Of the total 337 vends falling in Jalandhar II, 220 vends will be of Punjab-made liquor (PML) and 117 of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL). This zone has been split into 21 circles, of which eight are in urban areas and 13 in the rural belt. This zone is expected to fetch a revenue of over Rs 67 crore.

The excise department is also expected to make an additional income by enhancing the licence fee from Rs 189 to Rs 196 per one litre of bottle.

Jalandhar, March 27
The traffic signalling system synchronised by the Municipal Corporation to maintain smooth flow of traffic at some of the intersections of the city has gone haywire. Reason: A technical snag in traffic lights installed at Football Chowk.

The problem arose due to the laying of central verges at Footbal Chowk. The underground cables were damaged during the ongoing work.

Rajdeep, in charge, traffic signal, said they tried to repair the cables, but in vain. "As the cable got crushed due to the ongoing construction of central verges at Footbal Chowk, its link with other three succeeding traffic lights has also snapped," said Rajdeep.

"The authorities are now planning to lay new cables deep in the ground to prevent damage," he added.

He said that there were six traffic cycles and synchronisation was also set according to them, including morning off-peak hours, morning peak hours, afternoon off-peak hours, evening peak hours, evening off-peak hours and night non-traffic hours. After laying fresh cables, the synchronisation of all traffic lights needs to be done again, he said.

The MC had synchronised the traffic lights in May last year. As per the arrangement, anyone getting a green light at Football Chowk would not have to stop at Chick Chick Chowk, Kapurthala Chowk or even at Workshop Chowk as he would get the green signal on reaching at all the next intersections.

The programming of the lights was done in such a way that by the time a commuter covered the distance up to the next point at a speed of 35 km per hour or so, the next light also goes green.

Lakhwinder Singh, XEN (O&M), however, feigned ignorance and said the traffic lights had been synchronised at four intersections and traffic is running at its pace.

Jalandhar, March 27
The Municipal Corporation plans to pass the annual budget of Rs 610 crore for the next fiscal, with Rs 296 crore coming from its internal sources and the remaining Rs 313 crore to be generated from loans and grants. The budget meeting is scheduled to be held on March 29.

An amount of Rs 137 crore (22 per cent) is bound to go as salaries for the staff, Rs 37.51 crore (6 per cent) as committed expenditure on maintenance of resources and Rs 439.95 crore (72 per cent) on development projects. The total proposed expenses exceed Rs 4.46 crore more than the expected income.

The MC officials have proposed to sell its 13 properties, including those at Dairy Complex in Jamsher, Paragpur, Dakoha, Dhanowali, Kadom, Maqsudpur and Chak Jinna villages, besides those in Lamma Pind, Basti Bawa Khel, shops near Guru Nanak Library, Madan Floor Mill Chowk and shops at the basement. 

Jalandhar, March 27
Some unidentified motorcycle-borne miscreants robbed four persons of cash and valuables in separate incidents last night. Two of the victims were also injured in the process.

Dinesh, a waiter at a private restaurant, said when he was on his way to the restaurant, he was stopped by two bike-borne youths in Ranjit Nagar. “Before I could react, one of the miscreants hit me on my head with a brick. Later, they took away cash and a mobile phone from my pocket, the victim, who is undergoing treatment at a hospital, alleged.

In another incident, Sunil, a fast food vender, alleged that on Monday night, when he was heading home, two bike-borne armed youths stopped him on Mithapur road and attacked him with a sharp-edged weapon. They took away Rs 1,800 and also snatched his silver chain, he alleged.

In a separate incident, the victims Munna and Harilal, both vegetable vendors, alleged that two bike-borne miscreants robbed them of Rs 3,300 and Rs 3,100, when they were on their way to buy vegetables in the market.

The miscreants, who were armed, also threatened them of dire consequence if they complained to the police, they alleged. 

Jalandhar, March 27
Playing peek-a-boo with the audience of Jalandhar, the theatre activists of the city are sure an unpredictable lot.

While there have been phases of tireless, path-breaking theatrical activity in the previous years, this year, the scene is pretty glum as compared to the last year.

With just a total of six plays on World Theatre Day today (one of which is happening on tomorrow), and the months of silence on the theatre front, which preceded the World Theatre Day, the hopes for a theatrical revival (at least anytime soon) are dashed.

While last year, there were about 14 plays happening on and around World Theatre Day, this year not even half as many plays are being presented.

While theatre persons agree that things are not as rosy as they should have been, there’s still a ray of hope.

Even though theatrical events are clearly not all that frequent, they say Jalandhar is one city where dramatists have kept the art alive even though they always knew they weren’t getting anything in return.

Professor Ankur Sharma, who heads a group, YUVA, says, “Efforts need to be put to get more audience to appreciate theatre and to make city theatre come out with avant-garde productions. But it is also important to point out that city groups are now heading out and creating their own niche in other cities. With greater acceptability outside Jalandhar, the chances might also be brighter in the city for these groups.”

Neeraj Kaushik, who heads a group, Style Arts, says, “If we see things right from the start, tjhe DD and AIR have provided a lot of jobs to people. Theatre is certainly not as paying as the other two mediums. That is probably the reason that more energies have been directed to the electronic media. But contrary to what some people chose to believe, I certainly don’t think theatre in the city is dead. But it certainly does need a fillip, a boost.”

Notably, while the scene in the city itself is glum, some city groups have recently made it big through their plays outside the city.

While YUVA held two shows of play “Court Martial” at Punjab Naatshala, Amritsar, Gurvinder Singh of the group Bohemians also took one of his productions down south, which was greatly lauded.

Jalandhar, March 27
The Women Studies Centre of Kanya Maha Vidyalaya (KMV) organised a lecture on rights and duties of women.

Addressing the students, key speaker Krishma Kapoor from the Rashtra Sevika Samiti said the nation could prosper only if women were empowered in all spheres of life. Major issues and concerns that limit the number of woman in decision-making bodies were also highlighted.

On the occasion, the biography of sister Nivedita, a social worker and disciple of Swami Vivekanand, was also discussed.

Farewell party

The Innocent Hearts Group of Institutions organised a farewell party to bid adieu to the outgoing students of MBA and BCA.

On the occasion the students presented a colourful cultural programme. Alisha Jain and Waquar Alam Of MBA were adjudged as “Mr Farewell” and “Miss Farewell”, respectively, and Simran and Neeraj of BCA were given titles of “Mr Farewell” and “Miss Farewell”, respectively.

DAVIET placements

As many as 11 final-year B.Tech students of the DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology (DAVIET) bagged placements with ICICI Lombard GIC Limited at an annual salary of Rs 2.92 lakh.

The selected students include Abhishek Sharma, Bhuvnesh Sharma, Gagandeep Singh, Kunal Jhamb, Nitin Sahni, Ramandeep Singh, Sahil, Sumit Sood, Vijay Kumar Vinayak and Amrit Bhambri. The selected students would join the ICICI Lombard GIC Limited after the completion of their degrees in May.

Punjabi cinema

An interactive session on Punjabi cinema was conducted for the students of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Guru Nanak Dev University, Regional Campus, Ladhewali, by a delegation from iGlobal Punjabi Media and KBK Group.

The delegation included UK-based award-winning film and television producer Simon Howard, renowned film lecturer and screenwriter Richa Sharma and Rajesh Chaudhary from the IGP. The delegates emphasised on the need to explore new avenues in diverse fields related to films and media. Problems of Punjabi cinema were also discussed.

Mega job fest

The CT Group of Institutions organised mega job fest “Naukri” for polytechnic colleges on its Shahpur campus in which 17 leading industries of the region participated. As many as 150 students were shortlisted for jobs in the fest.

Educational trip

The MGN College of Education organised a one-day trip to Sri Fatehgarh Sahib, Sri Anandpur Sahib and Virasat-e-Khalsa. A total of 108 students went for the trip during which they visited galleries and learnt about the history of Khalsa Panth.

Jalandhar March 27
Commuters are finding it hard to negotiate large potholes and encroachments on Ladowali Road. A 1-km long stretch of the road leading to Alaska chowk is virtually in a tattered state.

The commuters curse the Municipal Corporation (MC) for not filling potholes. They alleged that due to delay in filling potholes on the road, the potholes have been spreading further hence damaging the road more.

On many occasions, commuters sustained injuries when their vehicles skidded on the road. The situation turns worse during night.

“Just a few days ago, my bike skidded near Alaska chowk and I sustained injuries on my legs,” Gaurav Sama, commission agent, said, adding that the road had been in a dilapidated state for the past several months, but authorities had been keeping their eyes shut over its sad state.

Adjacent to Alaska Chowk, a garbage dump has come up, which also disturb the smooth flow of traffic on the road. During rain, the garbage emit foul smell, Vandana Sharma, a local resident, rues.

Beside road’s sorry state, encroachments in the shape of scattered scrap of vehicles on the road further add to the commuters’ woes.

Despite the MC’s tall claims of taking action against the encroachers, till day nothing has been done in this regard.

It is an irony that whenever the MC sends its tow crane to remove the encroachments, shopkeepers, howsoever, often came to know about the move and they then immediately remove the scrap of vehicles in no time. And when the MC’s tow crane arrives, the official always return empty handed.