Jalandhar, May 5
Punjab Technical University (PTU) may drop the third general round of counselling for BTech admissions this year, limiting the counselling to just two rounds. A decision in this regard is pending with the state government.

Since last year, the university has been conducting admission on the basis of All-India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE), the result of which is expected by mid-June. Within a week of declaration of the result, the university will start the procedure on online counselling.

By limiting the counselling to just two rounds, the university is intending to complete its own admission process in July and handover the remaining seats at the earliest to the colleges to handle it on their own. There are over 40,000 seats in various colleges of the state, including those of Punjabi University, Patiala, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.

Till last year, the university has been holding two rounds of counselling for 85 per cent Punjab and 15 per cent outside state quota following reservation policy. In the third round that was much beneficial to hundreds of students, the unfilled reserved seats were put in general quota that allowed many students to get seats of higher preference.

Dean (Academics) Dr Buta Singh said the third counselling delayed the admission process which the university was trying to squeeze. "Even after the seats are passed onto the colleges, nominees from the university would sit through counselling in all colleges to ensure that the seats are filled on merit," he added.

Regarding admission for the MBA and the MCA, which, too, is being conducted by the university for all colleges of the state, the Dean said the entrance test would be held on May 27, which would be at least one-and-a-half month in advance to the previous years. He said the result would be declared on June 11 and the counselling was expected to start around June 15. He said that he expected the registration to touch 20,000 mark, while it was just 8,500 last year. There are nearly 18,000 seats in the five participating universities, including Punjabi University, Guru Nanak Dev University, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Sikh World University Fatehgarh Sahib and Punjab Agricultural University. 

Jalandhar, May 5
Even as the district election office had declared that the voters’ list for the forthcoming civic polls would be printed by May 2 and made available to councillors and residents for objections from then on, three days have passed but the lists have not yet come out.

Councillors have since then been making rounds to the offices of the respective returning officers, but to no avail. Owing to the fact that the voters’ list of recent the Assembly polls is being taken as the basis for the MC elections, it has been cumbersome for the staff of the ROs and the Municipal Corporation in segregating the lists ward wise.

While doing so, several errors such as exclusion of some electors and their names in wrong wards have been coming out, owing to which the lists are being revised all over again prior to their printing. Prior to this, the district election officers had to wait for an approval from the Election Commission of India to use the voter lists for the purpose.

Jaskiran Singh, secretary, regional transport authority and RO for wards 51 to 60, said that the segregation of the lists ward wise was a very lengthy process. "Even as it was a holiday, my staff worked for the entire day today. They have finally managed to clear lists of eight wards. The work for the remaining two wards would be done tomorrow and we are expecting the lists to come out by tomorrow or day after," he explained.

Balraj Thakur, sitting councillor of Ward NO. 57, has demanded that the last date for receiving objection to the list should be extended in view of delay in handing over lists to them. "We need time to check the lists at our own end. We have been given May 9 as the last date for receiving objections, which needs to be extended by at least three-four days," he demanded.

Jalandhar, May 5
Agitating depot holders have decided to defer their six-day long protest against the reduction in Punjab quota of kerosene by 63 per cent after assurance by the Local Bodies Minister Bhagat Chunni Lal of bringing the entire matter to the notice of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Food and Civil Supply Minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon for raising it strongly with the Centre.

Earlier, the members of the Jalandhar district unit of the Depot Holders’ Association gathered outside Bhagat’s house at the local JP Nagar today morning to restart their chain fast in support of the restoration of the kerosene quota.

The agitating depot holders kept on sitting on dharna there from 9.30 AM to 12 noon. Subsequently, Bhagat appealed them to provide time till Wednesday, as he would take up their issue with Parkash Singh Badal and Adesh Partap Singh Kairon for raising the same with the Centre for restoring the kerosene quota.

At this, Anoop Sareen, president of the association, and its representative Ashok Nayyar in consultation with other depot holders decided to lift their fast started outside the district administrative complex from Monday.

Subsequently, the Local Bodies Minister offered juice to the agitating depot holders to break their fast.

Talking to The Tribune, Sareen and Nayyar said they had deferred their agitation till Wednesday after getting assurance in this regard from Bhagat. If the Punjab Government did not take up the matter with the Centre of restoring the quota strongly, they would restart their protest after finalising the future course of action on Thursday.

The Union Ministry of Petroleum allocated quarterly quota of kerosene from April to June 24,936 kl in Punjab as compared to 67,500 kl allocated in the first quarter January 2012 to March 2012, which means a cut of 63 per cent of kerosene to Punjab. Apart from agitation by the depot holders, the Jalandhar Vikas Manch, an NGO, also requested Union Minister of Petroleum Reddy to restore Punjab quota of kerosene.

Jalandhar, May 5
Call it paucity of staff or internal adjustment, the work of drivers for official vehicles is primarily being done by employees posted as safai sewaks, sewer men, peons, gardeners, beldars and helpers in Municipal Corporation.

The information obtained under RTI Act by an activist-cum-lawyer Rajinder Bhatia points to this anomaly. An office peon has been ferrying O&M executive engineer (XEN) Lakhwinder Singh, while a beldar has been driving B&R XEN Gurcharan Singh everywhere he goes. A sewer man has been driving the official car of SEO&MPS Jaggi while safai sewak have been doing the service for XEN Horticulture PS Gill.

Of the 42 three-wheelers of the MC, 27 are being driven by safai sewaks, three each are driven by gardeners and mechanics and one each by fitter and sewer man. Of the 12 dumper placers, three are being driver by safai sewaks.

In MC, 28 of the 29 tractor trailers are also being driven by safai sewaks, sewer men, gardeners and mechanics. Only 11 of the 41 truck tippers are being driven by trained drivers.

For operating machinery like JCBs, sprinklers and jetting machines, the office has outsourced services from the manufacturing companies or through contractors. 

Jalandhar, May 5
Following his controversial comments in the media regarding fragmentation of the BJP in Himachal Pradesh and prevailing corruption and nepotism, Rajya Sabha member and former CM Shanta Kumar today chose to be mum on the issue.

As the issue was raised time and again by the mediapersons, Shanta Kumar tried to clarify that he wanted various leaders of the party in HP to come together ahead of elections. The BJP leader was in the city in connection with a seminar on ‘FDI in Retail, Corruption and Black Money’ organised by Swadeshi Jagran Manch at DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology.

He said even as 700 lakh tones of wheat was likely to be procured this time, there was a provision to store only 450 lakh tones of the crop, which could lead to its damage.

He said he had suggested the Punjab CM and even the Prime Minister to disburse six month ration to poor families this year rather than the prevailing one month scheme. He said since storage, transportation and distribution of wheat was costing the state Rs 4.5 per kg, the poor families be asked to pick up grains on their own from the godowns, thus helping in creating more storage capacity.

Asked about the issue of supporting the name of Parkash Singh Badal as Vice President, he said he could not take the decision individually as it would be a decision of the NDA. “I of course would be happy as Badal sahib has been my good friend since 1977,” he concluded. 

Jalandhar, May 5
On the occasion of Climate Impact Day, a campaign to dispose of electronic waste effectively was initiated by an NGO, Pahal, here today.

As per the campaign for the efficient management of electronic waste, as many as 1,200 discarded cellphones were collected from students across the district under a campaign started six months ago. A sign of 350 was made with these cellphones to sensitise people on the fact that efforts had to be made to restrict carbon emissions to that number.

On the occasion, Prof Lakhbir Singh, president, Pahal, said cellphones were one of the biggest threats contributing to the increase of e-waste. As per estimates, in 2009, 2.9 billion cellphones were sold, while in the first quarter of 2010, 314.7 million mobiles were sold. By the third quarter of the same year, the sale increased by 35 per cent. He said it was shocking that 65 per cent of the people in the country had cellphones. In India every year four lakh tonnes of e-waste was produced, whereas 50 lakh tonnes of electronic waste was brought from America, Europe, South Korea and Australia.

This waste is broken, opened and moulded dangerously and illegally at the Silampur Market in Delhi.

Jalandhar, May 5
Family members of Baljinder Kaur, who reportedly was set ablaze by her in-laws, have alleged that the police under the influence of an Akali minister was forcing them to go for a compromise.

Baljinder Kaur, wife of Gurcharan Singh, was reportedly set ablaze by her in-laws at Sabobal village in March. The very next day, the victim succumbed to her burn injuries at Civil Hospital, Jalandhar.

The Lohian police has registered a case of abetment to suicide against her mother in-law Kulwant Kaur, her son Jasvir Singh and Jasvir’s wife Amarjit Kaur on the complaint of Pragat Singh, an uncle of the deceased.

Addressing mediapersons, Paragat Singh alleged that though the police has booked the suspects yet no arrest was made in this regard so far.

He alleged that the area Deputy Superintendent of Police instead of arresting the suspects was pressuring them to go in for a compromise.

The family members alleged that Jalandhar (Rural) police was trying to shield the accused on the directions of the area MLA, who is also a cabinet minister in the present SAD-BJP combine.

The family members have also given a written complaint to the IG police seeking necessary action against the errant police officials. 

Jalandhar, May 5
Polytechnic students of St. Soldier Group of Institutions have made a washing machine, which runs with the help of a cycle and does not require any electricity. It can be operated manually by paddling.

The washing machine is designed in such a manner that while cycling at home, one can wash clothes, too. This new methodology of washing clothes will encourage people to do more exercise, which will make them healthier.

Harwinder Singh, Sarabjeet Singh, Lovedeep Singh, Gagandeep Singh and Malkiat Singh, all the students of Mechanical Engineering (sixth semester), developed the project under the guidance of head of the Mechanical Department, Jatinderpreet Singh, lecturer Munish Kumar, and principal SPS Mehtiana.

Prof Manhar Arora, MD of the institutions, said: “The efficiency of the washing machine is as good as other brands of washing machines available in the market.”

This environment friendly machine would be useful for saving electricity. This product was also useful for persons suffering from obesity as they could do workout and contribute in washing clothes with their family members, he added.

Anil Chopra, chairman, and Sangeeta Chopra, vice-chairperson of the institution, announced scholarships for the students for their achievement. 

Jalandhar, May 5
Two bikes-borne youths robbed a woman of her gold earrings at gunpoint in the Laxumi Pura locality here today.

The victim, Krishana Devi, was on her way to attend some religious function at Devi Talab Temple when the incident took place. In her statement to the police, the victim said she and her friend were going to attend a religious function on foot and when they reached Laxumi Pura, two bikes-borne youths stopped them on the way.

Before they could react, one of the miscreants took out a gun and asked them to hand over cash and other valuables. The victim alleged that the miscreants then forcibly snatched her gold earrings and fled.

The victim was not able to note down the registration number of the motorcycle. The police after registering a case has launched a hunt to nab the accused.

Interestingly, in the past week, a number of snatching incidents have taken place and in majority of the incidents, women were the targets.

Jalandhar, May 5
The city police has arrested two women, including the wife of a dismissed Punjab Police personnel, on the charges of attempting to cash a forged cheque for Rs 30 crore from the account of a Jammu and Kashmir-based textile company.

The accused have been identified as Sukhwant Kaur, originally hailing from Jahagir village in Amrtisar and presently living in the Jyoti Nagar locality of the city, and Harjit Kaur, a resident of Saidpur village in Shahkot.

The accused Harjit is the wife of a Punjab Police constable, who was dismissed from the service while Sukhwant was a property dealer. The constable was dismissed from the service as he remained absent from the duty. Their two aides, including Harjit's husband Balkar Singh and Ranjit Singh are still at large.

SHO, Division No 5, Satwinder Singh said on October 12, 2011, the four accused prepared a forged cheque for Rs 30 crore of Chenab Textile Mill, Kathua, and had gone to cash the same from Punjab National Bank's branch at Basti Danishmanda here.

When the accused presented the self cheque to bank manager AK

Sehgal, the latter was stunned to see the amount in crores. Suspecting foul play, the manager asked the accused to furnish supporting documents which could prove the transaction of

crores that took place between the textile company and them (accused).

When the accused could not furnish the documents, the bank manager asked them to leave the cheque and came to ncash the same in the evening. When the accused again came to cash the cheque, the bank manager refused to oblige them, citing lack of evidence as the reason. The manager, after confirming the details from the company, filed a complaint with the police and also handed over the CCTV footage to identify the accused.

On the basis of the bank manager's statement and the copy of the forged cheque, the police registered a case under Sections 420, 465, 468, 471 and 120 B of the IPC.

Following a tip-off, the accused were arrested today by the police.