Jalandhar, April 19
Following an analysis of the poll expenditure of the candidates of various parties with the records maintained by the election monitoring committee, the SAD leaders today gave a representation to the District Election Officer, claiming that their expenditure was just Rs 10.12 lakh instead of Rs 29.40 lakh noted by the election staff.

Media in charge of the SAD, Jalandhar, Charanjiv Singh Lali, has claimed that the expenditure team had also added Rs 16.75 lakh as expenses incurred by Pawan Kumar Tinu by putting up hoardings of the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. “Since the candidate himself figures nowhere in the list, we have challenged it through our Chartered Accountant that such expenditure should, instead, be added in the party’s account,” he said.

Besides, the SAD has also filed an appeal over the expenditure added to Tinu’s account for paid news. Tinu leads all in terms of expenditure incurred so far with a tally of Rs 29,39,959. Chaudhary Santokh Singh’s expenditure stands at one-sixth the amount at Rs 5,44,499.

The BSP candidate Sukhwinder Singh Kotli and AAP candidate lag far behind at Rs 1,29,568 and Rs 34,000, respectively.

Besides the rate list earlier prepared, the election office has been adding Rs 5 for a cup of tea, Rs 250 per head for tea and snacks, Rs 5 for a flower garland and Rs 60 for a single curtain hired from tent house.

The expenditure listed in Tinu’s name in official records includes Rs 41,050 for rallies in Jalandhar Cantonment on April 4, Rs 4,237 for rallies in Jalandhar (West) and Rs 27,993 for rallies in Phillaur on April 5, Rs 36,910 in Nakodar, Rs 5060 in Khambra village, Rs 3,550 at Qadianwali village, Rs 17,895 at Sufi village on April 6, Rs 2,785 for a rally at Garden Colony, Rs 4,375 for Phillaur, Rs 8,007 for Pasla, Rs 5,954 at Rurka Kalan, 12,745 at Ghurkha, Rs 13,589 at Johlan and Rs 8,146 for Dhukla, Rs 10,005 for Masoni, Rs 5,727 for Dosanjh Kalan, Rs 5,898 for Karkar and Rs 6,803 for Maholka for April 7 and so on.

The expenditure listed in Tinu’s name in official records includes Rs 41,050 for rallies in Jalandhar Cantonment on April 4, Rs 4,237 for rallies in Jalandhar (West) and Rs 27,993 for rallies in Phillaur on April 5, Rs 36,910 in Nakodar, Rs 5,060 in Khambra village, Rs 3,550 at Qadianwali village, Rs 17,895 at Sufi village on April 6, Rs 2,785 for a rally at Garden Colony, Rs 4,375 for Phillaur, Rs 8,007 for Pasla, Rs 5,954 at Rurka Kalan, 12,745 at Ghurkha, Rs 13,589 at Johlan and Rs 8,146 for Dhukla, Rs 10,005 for Masoni, Rs 5,727 for Dosanjh Kalan, Rs 5,898 for Karkar and Rs 6,803 for Maholka for April 7 and so on.

Jalandhar, April 18
The District Election Office today received 1,298 EVMs.

The EVMs were unloaded and stored in a strong room set up at the Government Polytechnic College, Ladowali Road. Election Tehsildar Karnail Singh said already 3,128 EVMs were available for the Jalandhar Parliamentary constituency.

“We wanted double sets for 1,814 polling booths. In addition, we had sought five per cent extra machines just in case there was an error in some. The machines were already checked in some other district and we simply stored them today”, he added.

Jalandhar, April 19
The dilapidated condition of the Punjab Roadways buses has not only been causing inconvenience to the commuters but also bringing a bad name to the Punjab Roadways.

The situation is such that some of the buses have a dripping roof even if it is a minor rainfall. Their wipers are non-functional, which increases the risk of accidents as during the rainy season, the driver cannot see through the glass. Apart from this, the seats have not been fixed properly as whenever the buses cross a road that is in bad condition, the seats get broken and detached from the lower part.

Many of the buses have no first aid box at all. However, those which have first aid boxes, lack first aid items.

A bus conductor, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the crew members in the buses are trained to provide first aid. No fund is given to the driver or conductor to get the necessary items in the buses. If sometimes the money is given for repair, only half of it gets spent. The policies of the government are such that they want the Punjab Roadways to survive for long, the reason being that all the private buses are either owned by politicians or the influential people, who have good contacts with politicians.

State vice-president of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) Pardeep Kumar said the department has been facing a severe problem of manpower. "In the workshop, we have a few employees who are trained to work. Despite several complaints and requests, no one from among the senior officials is ready to listen to us," he added.

He said apart from the acute shortage of manpower, shortage of spare parts is the second major problem. "Without spare parts, we would not be able to fix the problem. Nobody is paying heed to the issue. Sometimes, the buses remain parked at the workshops due to lack of spare parts," said Pardeep, adding that due to the policies of the government, Punjab Roadways is on the verge of collapsing.

Neither the General Manager (1) Darshan Singh Gill or Rajeshwar Singh Garewal, General Manager (2) were available for their comments.

Jalandhar, April 19
Reminiscing his childhood days and sharing his schooltime experiences with his children and grandchildren, Lord Swraj Paul today took them along to the campuses Labu Ram Doaba Primary School and Labu Ram Doaba Senior Secondary School at Adda Hoshiarpur here this morning.

at grandpa’s school: Lord Swraj Paul takes his grandchildren Emalya and Archie to LR Doaba Senior Secondary School in Jalandhar on Saturday. Photo: Sarabjit Singh

At the school, he walked in the corridors, holding the hands of his granddaughter Emalya and grandson Archie, telling them that he as well his elder brother Satya Paul studied there. He went to his classrooms, sat with the schoolchildren there and interacted with them.

On the campus, he was shown the admission records of April 1, 1935, when his brother had taken admission and that of him, indicating his registration number as 2,552. The school authorities presented him the enlarged copies of his admission record.

While Paul came in a car, his family including his son Angad Paul, daughter-in-law Michelle Paul, daughter Anjli Paul and grandchildren and staff came in a bus. The family showed astonishment when their vehicles got held up at the Tanda level crossing for half an hour for the crossing of a train.

As his Briton daughter-in-law went about in the classrooms accompanying him, schoolchildren kept on inching closer to her to take a feel of a foreign national on their campus. They enjoyed holding her hands and watching her click pictures of the entire scene on her mobile phone.

Jalandhar, April 19
Three bookies nabbed by the city police have been sent in one-day police remand by court.

The purpose of taking the bookies on remand is to find out their links with the main bookies.

All were betting on IPL matches and were nabbed red handed by the police.

Shital, SHO, police division No. 6, said the police would interrogate the bookies to reach out to their kingpin. We are expecting to explore links of these nabbed bookies and, accordingly, raids will be conducted to nab their accomplices, Shital added.

The police had nabbed Karan, alias Kaku, owner of Hot and Cool restaurant, and recovered Rs 64,500 and a mobile phone from him. On his revelations, the police nabbed his accomplices Aman Kumar and Rohit. A case under the Gambling Act and the IT Act was registered against them.

Sources said some political leaders reportedly reached the police station to influence the police to release the nabbed bookies.

Jalandhar, April 19
After missing several deadlines, the work for six laning the Jalandhar-Panipat highway will resume in a few days.

This was stated by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) project director Vipan Sharma today.

Sharma said after the Supreme Court’s directions to Soma Isolux Tollways Private Limited, the company entrusted with the task, to complete the six laning project by March 31, 2015, the construction work would begin at full pace.

“Although almost 70 per cent work has already been completed, there was no progress in the construction work for the past two years. The work was lying shut because the bank, which was funding the Soma company, has stopped giving funds, citing company’s income issues. Sharma said now the bank has reportedly given nod to give funds to the company to complete the remaining 30 per cent work.

“Now we are confident that the work will be completed before March 31, 2015,” he held.

The project director said they would ensure that the flyover at Phagwara would be made operational in a month and the same would be followed by the completion of the Choggiti flyover. Both these flyovers were almost at the end of completion and the remaining work was likely to resume now, Sharma added.

The six-laning of the Jalandhar-Panipat highway work has been on at a snail’s pace since the day the project started. Interestingly, the construction work commenced on May 11, 2009, and was then scheduled for completion in 30 months. It has missed several deadlines including November 2011, February 2012 and June 15, 2012, and only 70 per cent of the work is completed. The total project cost (TPC) as envisaged by the NHAI at the bidding stage was Rs 2,747 crore, but now it had already crossed the Rs 4,500-crore mark.

The shortage of raw material was also one of the reasons that the work was running at a slow pace.

Now with the SC’s order, commuters will get a big respite from the routine jams they encounter near Choggiti, Rama Mandi and PAP flyovers and even at several incomplete stretches and underpasses. Traffic scene used to remain chaotic throughout the day as it took hours to travel even a few kilometers.

Even the city traffic police expressed happiness over the SC’s judgement, which came on Thursday. “Due to the incomplete bridge at PAP and Rama Mandi and the lack of approach roads, we are facing a huge difficulty in manning the routine traffic,” a traffic cop said.

Jalandhar, April 19
She appears to be adorable and innocent on first look but can give a quick and befitting reply to her opponents with gusto like her aunt. Meet five-year-old Tavisa Aulakh, the only niece of Saina Nehwal, ace badminton player of the country, who is sweating it out day and night at the badminton court of Raizada Hans Raj Stadium here in the city with the aim of bringing laurels to her family like her aunt. Although she is a huge fan of Saina Nehwal (her maternal aunt), Tavisa wants to defeat her one day with her exemplary game. She also likes the tag of ‘Tirupati Ladoo’ given to her out of love by her aunt Saina Nehwal.

“I like the way Massi plays badminton. She seems to be so focussed and unwavering that it appears nothing can stop her from marching to victory. I will also play like her and beat her one day,” said the girl with an indomitable spirit. She also revealed that her name, which means ‘strong’, has been given to her by her parents as they knew she would be eying a tough target in her life.

In what can be actually called a tough target set by a girl of her age, her parents are also supporting her in all possible ways. Immediately after school, she is brought to the badminton court for at least two hours of practice done under skilled trainers. After going back, she follows a tough fitness regime and a balanced diet to keep herself fit and active in her practice. “She is not much interested in studies like her aunt. All she wants is to play and win medals like her,” said Chandranshu Aulakh, her mother. She also informed that instead of buying regular toys like dolls, teddy bears and other paper board games, she prefers to buy rackets and fitness equipment to improve her game. “Although, Saina buys her so many toys liked by the children of her age, all she wants is her used rackets which she preserves like a priceless treasure," said Chandranshu.

She also revealed that the little girl fights with Saina for calling her a ‘Tirupati Laddoo’ due to her chubby appearance, but she loves the tag given to her out of love. “She always calls me a ‘Tirupati Laddo’ and says she would eat me as I would be delicious in taste. Although, I tell her that I don’t like the tag, I actually love it,” revealed the wonder girl.

Harvir Singh Nehwal, father of Saina Nehwal, when contacted, also applauded the hard work of his grand-daughter. “She has set a tough target at the very beginning of her life. We all keep her motivating all the time. In fact, Saina herself calls her many times out of her busy schedule to motivate her to play better and be the next stalwart in the family. Recently, she also sent her a box full of her badminton rackets and sports gears from Hyderabad,” said the proud grandfather.

Now, receiving professional training under her coach Gagan for the last six months, Tavisha has set her eyes on the district-level badminton championship to be held in August. With this, the little wonder is all set to climb the first level of her journey towards a glittering future.

Phagwara, April 19
Basic skills, co-ordination, self-belief and knowledge of a game are the passionate requirements for a player. To enhance their enthusiasm, Cambridge International School (CIS), Phagwara, is thrilled to serve these players in cricket and hire trained coaches to educate the students at Harbhajan Singh Cricket Academy located on school premises. In the presence of school chairman KS Bassi, managing director KS Bains, administrator Amarjeet Singh and principal Jorawar Singh expressed their views. This exciting academy has been a hit among the students and will hone their skills and opportunities both inside and outside the country.”

The gathering applauded Master Ashpinder Singh of Class X, of Cambridge International School, Phagwara, an off-spinner with a highest score of 100, who has been selected by Ellesmere College, Leicester, UK, which is functioning since 1884, and specialises in cricket.

A scholarship of Rs 5,00,000 as three months fee will be awarded by the Ellesmere College, UK. The CIS is sponsoring Ashpinder Singh.