Jalandhar, April 21
Adopting an unusual method, the District Election Office chose to distribute the over 2 lakh copies of appeal to voters to participate in the April 30 Lok Sabha elections via an aircraft.

The sight of a plane dispersing colourful copies of the appeal was enjoyed a lot by residents, who chose to stand on the rooftops to enjoy the scene.

The plane that took off from the Patiala Flying Club first hovered around the district administrative complex, then showered appeal slips at 18 locations, including BMC Chowk before proceeding towards Milap Chowk, Devi Talab Mandir, Charanjitpura, JP Nagar, HMV College, DAV College, Apeejay College of Fine Arts, St Joseph’s School and Cambridge International School.

The copy of the appeal read, “Go for vote on 30th April, 2014. Issued by Varun Roojam, Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer”. 

Jalandhar, April 21
Illegal makeshift encroachments along the city's main roads, intersections and market areas have completely marred its beauty.

City residents have suggested that the Municipal Corporation must either provide some designated 'rehri' markets or ensure that vendors just take rounds in colonies and do not park their carts illegally on the main roads. A cross-section of the people with whom Jalandhar Tribune interacted, said the MC officials must devise a suitable policy to tackle with the problem.

Demarcate areas for vendors

Though every person has the right to livelihood, it has to be seen that it is not done at the cost of affecting the lives of other people. Vendors lead to blocking of roads and are a big traffic nuisance. Civic authorities must ensure that there are specific areas demarcated for allowing vendors, may be on the pattern of rehri markets in Chandigarh or smaller versions of the same. Such a provision will ensure that there is adequate parking available in market areas, which are otherwise blocked by vendors.

Jalandhar, April 21
Acting swiftly, the building branch staff of the Municipal Corporation (MC) this evening razed a new liquor vend building which was coming up illegally in front of the Mayor House at Model Town here.

The building branch officials, armed with JCB machines, reached the site and demolished the construction.

Mayor Sunil Jyoti had pointed out to officials that an illegal construction work had begun at a vacant plot in front of his house. On checking records, officials found that the building was coming up without any approval.

The Mayor said he had also asked his staff to check the status of the change of land use (CLU) of the building tomorrow. 

Jalandhar, April 21
Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall Committee today observed the 101st foundation day of ‘Hindi Association of Pacific Cost’, which later on became Ghadar Party.

General secretary of the committee, Dr Raghbir Kaur, said the Ghadar Party played a major role in Indian struggle for independence.

Speaking on the issue of ‘Kamagata Maru’ ship that was used by the Ghadar Party members to come to India, Harvinder Bhandal said the 100th anniversary of Kamagata Maru martyrs was being celebrated across the world where issues relating to present challenges and situation of the country and exploitation of the people were being raised and ways to overcome these challenges were discussed. 

Jalandhar, April 21
Taking security measures ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the police today launched a massive search operation at the railway station and the Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT).

Led by ADCP (Special Branch), Baljeet Singh Dhillon, along with over 40 police personnel, the police frisked luggage of passengers sitting at the bus stand and railway station. However, policemen did not recover any objectionable thing from both places.

The police said it was a routine search operation conducted by the city police ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The purpose of the search operation was to instill a sense of security among the city residents and make them feel that the elections would be conducted in a peaceful manner.

Interestingly, the police also interacted with passengers to instill a sense of security in them.

A police official said now with elections round the corner, such search and frisking operations would be conducted regularly at public places.

Jalandhar, April 21
Locked in a triangular contest, the SAD-BJP candidate from the Jalandhar (reserved) parliamentary constituency, Pawan Kumar Tinu, is busy in a rigorous election campaign. Ever since Tinu’s name was announced two months ago, the Akali leader has been extensively touring all the nine assembly segments in the constituency. From his high voltage campaign, 47-year-old Tinu, who is currently the Chief Parliamentary Secretary and represents the Adampur assembly segment, spared some time for a detailed interaction with Jalandhar Tribune. According to Tinu, sitting Congress MP Mohinder Singh Kaypee had miserably failed to do justice to Jalandhar despite the fact that the Congress-led UPA was in power. Here are excerpts from an exclusive interview with Tinu.

What are your plans for Jalandhar?

Besides the all-round development of the city, industry and sports will be my thrust areas. Improving sports infrastructure, particularly developing Burlton Park into a sports complex of international standards, will be my top priority. I would also like to set up mini sports centres at the municipal ward level so that kids in residential colonies can pursue their favourite sports discipline without any inconvenience. Reviving the sick industrial units will be another key area that I would focus on. Because of the anti-industrial policies of the UPA government, the industry in Jalandhar has suffered a lot. But once the NDA comes to power, the project of setting up big business exhibition halls will be initiated across Asia. The products manufactured in different states of India and its neighbouring countries will be displayed at the exhibition halls, which would improve our trade relations with the other countries and not only give a boost to Jalandhar but to the entire Punjab industry. Furthermore, the SAD-BJP government has taken an initiative to organise an NRI Sammelan annually to win over the faith of the NRIs so that they can invest in Jalandhar by setting up industries and starting other projects.

What can the youth of Jalandhar expect from you?

In order to make sure that there are enough employment opportunities, special focus will be on bringing more industry to Jalandhar. Skill development centres will be opened for imparting specialised training to the youth. This will enable them to set up their own industrial units. I will also make sure that in order to start different enterprises, the youth get loans from banks at a low interest rate of just 2 to 3 per cent.

Pollution has acquired an alarming proportion in Jalandhar. What are your plans to deal with the problem?

In order to tackle the problem of air pollution, I will make sure that Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is introduced in Jalandhar. Even battery operated auto-rickshaws would be a good option to control air pollution. For the industrial waste being discharged without treatment into open drains, the process of setting up treatment plants will be expedited. A mechanism will be devised to make sure that each and every industrial unit complies with pollution control norms.

What is your plan to rehabilitate people living in slums?

The issue of providing proper houses and clean surroundings to slum dwellers is of prime importance. I will make all efforts to provide them houses free of cost. Not only accommodation, steps will also be taken to impart education to their wards.

The condition of the Jalandhar Civil Hospital is extremely bad. What do you have to say on that?

It is a harsh reality that the UPA-II has been discriminatory towards Punjab in terms of providing funds for different sectors. But once the NDA assumes power, I will take all corrective measures to ensure that the Jalandhar Civil Hospital must get the requisite equipment and infrastructure.

There is a general feeling that Jalandhar has not been able to keep pace with other cities like Ludhiana and Amritsar in terms of development?

It would be wrong to say that Jalandhar witnessed less development than the other cities. Ever since the SAD-BJP government assumed power in Punjab seven years back, there has been remarkable improvement in terms of construction of bridges and road network.

Even Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal apologised for overlooking the pathetic condition of city roads. Your comments?

There is no denying the fact that roads were in a bad shape but it was not the fault of the Municipal Corporation. Because of the extended winter season and rains, the civic body could not re-carpet the roads on account of technical reasons.

Do you envisage any mega project, either in industrial or IT sector for Jalandhar?

Instead of making big announcements, I would like to ensure betterment of all sectors --education, trade and commerce, health and sports.

Jalandhar, April 21
Shweta Arora, a Class XI student of Police DAV Public School, PAP, Jalandhar, has bagged a national award in BSE International Financial Olympiad organised by the Eduheal Foundation and Bombay Stock Exchange for students of Classes IX to XII.

She was the only participant from North India. She has bagged the award in Class XI category.

As many as 15,000 students participated in the first round, which was held in November 2013 in different schools across India. Only 500 students were short-listed for level-2, which was an online test consisting of questions from different spheres like banking, insurance, general knowledge, mental ability and English language.

In this elimination test, 27 students qualified for the grand finale, which was held at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Mumbai, on April 11, 2014. The final round progressed through two stages. In the first stage, a preliminary written test was held from which only nine students qualified for the next round.

Also having been a part of a team that bagged the second prize during the NASA Space design contest in 2011, Shweta’s entry to national or international contests is not new.

Talking to Jalandhar Tribune, she said, “While I had been good in studies all through, everyone was hoping that I would be opting for medical or non-medical stream. But I chose the commerce stream, which took everyone by surprise. My thorough study of the syllabus has come in handy for I understood the concepts of commerce well and proved a successful examinee for this award.”

Held to promote financial literacy among students, the BSE Olympiad is being held to inculcate financial values and an understanding of money-related aspects among students.

Shweta whose father is in the Accounts Department of the Railways and mother a banker, said she received all kinds of support from her parents to pursue her dreams. She aims for B Com at a reputed institute and finally for IIM Ahmedabad. She was honoured by chief guest Pattrick Kearins (Australian Trade Commissioner), Ambarish Datta (CEO, BSE Institute Ltd), Ryan Pinto (chairman of Ryan Institutions) and Sandeep Ahlawat (Chairman of Eduheal Foundation).

Jalandhar, April 21
The Jalandhar rural police today claimed to have busted a gang of robbers and arrested five of its members. A Canada-based citizen was among the nabbed robbers.

The accused were identified as Harjinder Singh, alias Jinda, of Nakodar, Gurvinder Singh, alias Ginda, of Nakodar, Gaganheer, alias Sabi, of Jalandhar, Gurdeep Singh, alias Bittu, Valatiya of Nakodar and Ram Pal, alias Sonu, of Pojewal in Nawanshahr. Gurdeep is Canadian citizen.

All were members of the Surjit Singh Channa gang.

Jaspreet Singh Sidhu, SSP, Jalandhar, and SP, Detective, HPS Khakh, said Shiv Kumar, in charge, Special Staff, had received information that some gang members, armed with weapons, were planning to loot the cash van of a bank near Nakodar.

The police party then conducted a raid and managed to corner a Bolero jeep. However, two vehicle-borne robbers managed to escape from the scene.

During search, the police recovered, three country-made pistols, a .315 bore gun with six live cartridges, one double-barrel rifle with two live cartridges, a .12 bore single-barrel rifle with two live cartridges and 1455 gm of intoxicant powder.

During preliminary questioning, the accused revealed that they had orchestrated several loot, robberies and snatching incidents in the Jalandhar rural areas, including Mehatpur, Nakodar, Bilga, Nurmahal and Goraya. They had also committed crimes in the Ludhiana belt.

The SSP said recently the gang had looted gambling money from Ludhiana, and when a Ludhiana police reached Nakodar to nab them, the gang opened fire on the police party.

The accused had also recently opened fire on their rival gang in Nakodar. Gang members had also opened fire on Pankaj, owner of the King Fitness Health Club, in Nakodar last year.

The SSP said the main planner of the gang and notorious criminal Gurpreet Singh, alias Gopi, was lodged in a Ropar jail and was handling activities of the gang from the jail, adding that Gopi would be brought on production warrant to inquire the whereabouts of the remaining gang members who are at large.