Jalandhar, March 10
The district administration is struggling hard to follow the guidelines laid down by the Election Commission of India (ECI), as it is facing acute shortage of staff in the district.

Due to this, it has violated the most important guideline of updating the voters' information pertaining to the elections on the district website. The administration has so far not updated important information like the details of the expenditure monitoring committee (EMC), contact number of the Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) and other important links like the updated information of the registered voters in the district, addresses of the polling booths, search your vote facility and the public awareness videos released by the ECI. It has still not updated the 24x7 toll free number constituted for public grievances.

“We are facing acute shortage of staff. Most of the posts designated for the ARO duties are lying vacant. I cannot update incomplete information. I have informed the higher authorities on the problems we are facing and are hopeful to get the posts filled soon,” said Varun Roojam, Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar. He also said that due to the shortage of staff, the administration was also facing a severe problem to get the data updated in the official records.

The posts of Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC-General), Deputy DO, Assistant Commissioner (General) and (Grievances) have not been filled for the past few months. Although according to the guidelines of the ECI, the administration has constituted an expenditure monitoring cell (EMC) comprising seven teams to check any foul practice during the elections, most of the posts of Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) to head these teams are still lying vacant. The post of the ARO in the 34-Jalandhar West, 37-Jalandhar cantonment and 36-Jalandhar North, which were lying vacant, were recently been filled by the Chief Administrator, Jalandhar Development Authority, Auditor-cum-AECT and Municipal Commissioner, respectively.

Jalandhar, March 10
The Jalandhar rural police today claimed to have solved a month-old blind murder case and arrested two persons in this regard.

The accused were identified as Sanjay and Ramu, a resident of Shahkot. The third accused Vijay, who is a proclaimed offender in a criminal case in Delhi, is at large. All accused were daily wage labourers and were working in the Shahkot grain market.

Sukhdev Singh of Malsian village was murdered by the accused on January 30 night while he was riding home on his bicycle. The accused had also looted cash, mobile and other valuables from the victim. After killing him, the accused had dumped the body in the fields.

A Rural police official said special teams were formed to solve the case and during investigation, the police rounded up Sanjay and Ramu on suspicion. During questioning, they confessed that they had murdered Sukhdev.

The nabbed persons told the police that they, along with their accomplice Vijay, had orchestrated the crime for the purpose of loot. They had not wanted to kill Sukhdev, but when the latter refused to hand over the cash and valuables to them, they killed him with sharp-edged weapons. Now, the police are conducting raids to nab Vijay, who is a native of Bihar.

Jalandhar, March 10
The Maqsudan police today nabbed a person for buying a minor girl and marrying her to his son. The police have registered a case against five persons under Sections 363 and 366-A of the IPC. The accused were identified as Penchali, to whom the girl was forcibly married, his father Amadin, both residents of Myani village in Hoshiarpur, Faqrudin of Bakapur in Phillaur and two brothers Alam and Juman, residents of Bambia Wal here.

As per the victim girl’s mother Ilmi, the girl’s uncle Faqrudin had forcibly took her daughter along and sold her to Amandin, who later married her daughter with his son Penchali.

Acting on her complaint, the Maqsuda police nabbed the girl’s uncle Faqrudin and started conducting raids to nab the remaining accused.

Manjit Singh, ASI, said the police would also inquire into the allegation of the girl’s mother that the girl’s uncle had taken money from Penchali’s father for marrying her niece with his son.

The police were making efforts to recover the minor girl, the ASI said. Further charges would be added after recording the girl's statement.

Jalandhar, March 10
The delay on the part of the district administration and the Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar, to revamp the City Bus service is coming as an annoyance to residents of the city.

Many residents said they had boarded the bus just once or twice. They regret that barring the two advantages of being the cheapest mode of public transport and providing a stable ride than the second choice, which is the autorickshaw, the city bus is of more of an annoyance than a utility.

Interestingly, none of the councillors in the ruling or the opposition party have ever taken up the issue for making improvements in the bus. With some very basic amenities not being provided, the councillors already have their hands full with issues of potholed and tattered roads, poor service in the lifting of garbage, non-working streetlights and the poor drainage, consuming a lot of time in the House meetings.

Leader of the Congress Dynamic Group Sushil Rinku said, “The city bus in its present mode is a big blot on Jalandhar. The buses being plied are condemned buses daily discharging soot in the city. The conditions outlined for the operators at that time were not well-drafted. But the new plan of the bus under the JNNURM is the gift of the Government of India. The only change that needs to be made is about covering several internal routes, including those leading to Basti Danishmandan and Basti Sheikh.”

Even the councillors of the ruling party are not convinced with the functioning of the city bus. Kishan Kochar, BJP councillor said: "The MC has many other prime civic responsibilities which are not being fulfilled. Running the city bus properly is a far-fetched idea. Even if the MC spends Rs 53 crore on purchasing 128 new buses, these will become unfit in another six months. The best option would have been to have buses on contract and outsource it completely.”

Joginder Pal Singh Ginda, a resident of Abadpura, said, “The city bus should have more routes. Like the way they started covering Kartarpur, the satellite towns like Nakodar and Adampur should also come in its ambit. Within the city, there are not much distances and buses must cover the peripheral areas. In the absence of any such service, the private bus operators have been making merry.”

Sukhjinder Singh, a resident of Alawalpur, said, “I have just once taken a ride on the City Bus Service. I was to travel from the bus stand to Kapurthala Chowk. It was such a horrible experience. The bus took me through a long route. First, it did not start for 15 minutes. Then it went on at just 5 km per hour speed. I regretted my decision as an autorickshaw would have been much faster and convenient.”

Barinder Singh of Rasoolpur, opined, “The biggest problem of the City Bus Service is that it needs a lot of space in front of it to move while an autorickshaw takes a turn and moves on from any alleyway or even inner roads during jams in the city. But with autorickshaws, one cannot have a smooth, comfortable and secure ride. In my opinion, city buses must be revamped and sent out on more routes for apt use of the service.”

Ajay Chadha, a businessman, said, “The slow pace of bus and its big size is a problem. Wherever these stand, they create a lot of problems for the remaining commuters. Even in the new plan, the MC intends to buy some large buses. But I think all city buses should be of smaller or medium size, especially because of prevailing congestion on roads.”

Gogi Sahota, a data operator, commented, “The buses should always stop at designated points. It may have a two-minute stoppage at bus shelters. That way, our unutilised bus shelters would also come to some use. I avoid driving my bike behind a city bus for you never know where it is going to halt and lead to an accident”.

Commissioner MC Manpreet Singh Chattwal said he hoped that the new project would get operational by July. "We have already floated tenders for purchase of new buses. The issue regarding CNG pump requires a legal opinion. We had tied up with GAIL for the project. Now, Jay Madhok has been allotted this region. We may snap our deal and hire the services of a private company after taking into account legal aspects."

ACP Traffic Dalbir Singh too said the city bus was leading to several traffic snarls in the city daily. “The MC should not ply any large size buses. More importantly, it first needs to improve the condition of the roads. The roads are in such a bad state that accidents keep happening every now and then. The paving of roads would help in streamlining traffic and ensure the better movement of the city bus too,” he said.

Surinder Saini, running an NGO Jalandhar Welfare Society, said, “The city bus can come out to be a very good project and can even eliminate the nuisance of autorickshaws in the city. In Jalandhar, all autos are being run on diesel. They have permits to run in peripheral towns like Kapurthala, Kartarpur and Nakodar but have penetrated in the city illegally. The day the DTO carries out a campaign and challans them, their unions start holding protest. My most important suggestion to the Municipal Corporation is to first clear all encroachments. Once that is done, there will be no problem in the smooth movement of traffic.”

The Entrepreneurship Development Cell (EDC) of Apeejay Institute of the Management Technical Campus organised a competition called 'Business Plan Competition' for all the students of the institution in order to motivate and inculcate in the students the skills for an entrepreneur. The participating teams were judged on the basis of the originality of business plan, setting of objectives, feasibility of executing it and confidence and conviction in the students to give it a shot. A total of five teams comprising four students each participated in the competition. All the teams came forward with remarkable, practically viable and innovative business plans.

Dr Rajesh Bagga, Director of Apeejay Institute of the Management Technical Campus, said that good management requires setting specific objectives and then tracking and following up. In order to be a good entrepreneur, one has to evolve strategy, develop a plan and not just wind it.

Jalandhar, March 10
Panchayat members of Muradpur village today met the SSP Jalandhar in connection with the encroachment on the village inn by some miscreants. They asked the SSP to take action against the encroachers.

The villagers also staged dharna in front of the SSP office and demanded immediate registration of a case against the miscreants.

Panchayat members alleged that certain miscreants had encroached upon the village inn, a year and-a-half ago. Despite repeated requests by the Panchayat members to vacate the land, they didn’t pay heed. Protestors said they had also met the BDPO, SDM and Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar, but nobody paid heed to their demands.

The protestors alleged that on February 14 this year, miscreants had also abused the Panchayat members who were putting pressing on them to vacate the land and they had also apprised the police about the incident but in vain.

The Panchayat members warned that if timely action was not taken against the encroachers, they would launch a strong protest against the police and administration.

Jalandhar, March 10
The Punjab Technical University (PTU) has announced a new admission policy empowering its affiliated colleges to admit students for the next academic session (2014-15) directly for all courses as per the guidelines.

A press note issued by the university stated that admissions for BTech courses shall be made through Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-2014) merit; Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) scores shall be considered for MTech admissions; and Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT) scores shall be considered for M Pharmacy admissions. Admissions to the BArch course shall be based on Aptitude Test conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and vacant seats shall be filled based on National Aptitude Test in Architecture (NATA) conducted by the Council of Architecture and marks scored in qualifying examination in the equal ratio (50:50).

Rank shall be prepared on merit and the seat matrix shall be uploaded on the college website as per the existing reservation policy of the Department of Technical Education and Industrial Training, Government of Punjab, available on PTU website for reference.

Each college shall conduct online or manual counselling and upload the merit list and seat allotment on its website. After declaration of the results, students shall have to deposit the fee within seven days. Colleges can fix the minimum eligibility for admission at their own level and this shall have to be clearly displayed on its website and communicated to the University for Transparency.

Dr Rajneesh Arora, Vice-Chancellor, PTU said, “Colleges have been cautioned not to profit from the process by way of charging capitation fee directly or indirectly. Miscellaneous charges like admission fee, security, student fund etc., shall have to be in strict accordance with the University and Punjab government guidelines. In case any complaint is received against any college, the college shall be held responsible and shall be liable to pay compensation to the concerned student.” 

Jalandhar, March 10
After the city police failed to trace the SUV of a local BSP leader, the owner of the SUV Amrik Bagri today announced a Rs one lakh reward. Whosoever will give him any clue will get the reward. He also uploaded the information on the social networking site Facebook.

Rahul Banga, brother of BSP leader alleged that he had also met Police Commissioner Ishwar Singh and asked him to gather the dump of mobile phones active near the spot during the loot. The police commissioner told them that police was investigating and hopefully they would soon recover the SUV.

“Our SUV Fortuner was snatched at gunpoint on March 3, and even after a week, the police failed to get any clue about the looted vehicle. Now, I have put up the pictures of the SUV on the Facebook and announced a reward of Rs one lakh,” Banga said.” 

Jalandhar, March 10
After tickling the Punjabi taste buds with the traditionally cooked Chicken Changezi’ and Lahori kebabs and flaunting your sophisticated dressing style with the world famous Pakistani Lawn, the Indo-Pak expo has finally come to an end with much fanfare on Monday at the Desh Bhagat Yaadgaar Hall. The exhibition was organised by the Punjab Chapter of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“People actually gave a very good response to our products, from apparels to eatries and artwork, and hence, we come here every year,” said Mavra Ziad, a fabric designer from Lahore. Apart from the appetising delicacies and the conventional Pakistani apparels exhibiting exquisite designs and colours, many stalls of wooden articles, handicraft items, marble work, dry fruits and toys from Pakistan and India were also set up. These items managed to find their way to Punjabi homes in the city.