Amritsar, February 7
A meeting to discuss the levying of property tax in city was held at the Municipal Corporation (MC) office here today.

It was decided that a tax of Rs 50 per annum be levied on houses in less than 60 sq yd area. The property tax on house having area more than 60 sq yd but less than 120 sq yd will be Rs 150 annually.

On these properties tax would not exceed Rs 50 and 150, respectively, even if the houses are multi-storey and owned by the same person. However, if the different storeys are owned by different persons, the tax would be charged separately from each owner.

The MC has also decided to divide city into eight zones for the purpose of collection and levying of property tax. Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora said a map of the eight zones prepared by the Local Bodies Department would soon be made public. He said general public could express their views on the demarcation planned within a period of one month.

"The zones would be finalised after listening to the views of the public," said Arora.

Industry Minister Anil Joshi said a Unit Evaluation Committee with the Deputy Commissioner as Chairman and MP, MLAs and Mayor as member secretaries would be set up to determine the property tax to be levied on properties exceeding 120 sq yd. The committee would keep into consideration the prevalent cost of the land, cost of construction and rent while determining the tax. The committee would give a 30-day time to the general public to put forward their suggestions and objections before determining the tax.

While the members of the Congress opposed the levying of property tax, Anil Joshi said the conditions of the Jawahar Lal Nehru urban development project had forced the state government for applying this new tax it. He said if the states did not implement property tax, the Central Government would not issue funds for urban development.

Joshi said all care had been taken to reduce the burden on poor residents, which was clear from the nominal taxes applied on properties less than 120 sq yd.

The meeting was presided over by Industry Minister Anil Joshi and attended by Chief Parliamentary Secretary Inderbir Singh Bolaria, Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora, Local Bodies Director Priyank Bharti, Senior Deputy Mayor Avtar Singh, Congress MLAs Raj Kumar Verka and OP Soni and the Commissioner.

Amritsar, February 7
The recovery of mobile phones from the Central Jail premises continues with the jail authorities seizing as many as eight of them in the past three days.

The jail staff recovered four mobile phones yesterday, while as many number of phones were recovered on the intervening night of February 4 and 5.

The four inmate, who were having mobiles phones, have been lodged in the jail on the charge of drug peddling. It confirms the fears of the intelligence agencies that drug smugglers have been running their networks from the jail premises.

As per the details, four mobile phones were recovered from Harjit Singh, Gundeep Singh, Mohammad Shayad Ahmad and Sukhraj Singh, all of them lodged in the jail under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Four mobile phones were recovered from Kapil Sharma, who was convicted by the court in a abetment to suicide case. He has been serving seven years of rigorous imprisonment. He had hidden the mobile phones, wrapped in a plastic bag, under the earth by digging it.

The jail authorities' proposal to install mobile signal jammers in the high-security prison has long been hanging fire and in the absence of any mechanism to jam the signals, the mobile phones continue to be sneaked in.

In order to check sneaking of narcotic materials and mobile phones inside the jail, a scanner was installed recently. The State Special Operation Cell, a counter intelligence wing of the Punjab Police, had written to the government for installing jammers while pointing out the fact that the smugglers in jails are using mobile phone connections of Dubai and Middle-east countries as their signals could not be traced through the Indian network.

official speak
After the installation of scanner machine no one can manage to sneak a new mobile phone inside the jail as all the material brought by family members of jail inmates are now scanned before they are allowed to enter. Whatever mobile phones are being seized have already been smuggled into the jail. Search operations will continue in the future to recover all mobile phones, which are hidden by inmates. As far as the installation of mobile signal jammers is concerned the proposal is with the state government and it is up to it to install the same.

— Amrik Singh, Superintendent, Jail

Amritsar, February 7
The Amritsar (Rural) police has arrested two persons in connection with a murder case in which a youth was beaten to death by in-laws of a woman with whom the victim had developed illicit relations.

The incident had occurred at Jones village on February 2. The police has booked Rattan Singh, brother-in-law of the woman, and his nephew in this regard. Both the accused had been on the run and were caught by the police yesterday.

The victim, Sonu (28), a resident of Guru Ki Wadali, had gone to meet the woman at her in-laws' house in Jones village when she was alone. However, the in-laws of the woman got a wind of this, who reached the spot and beat him to death.

New Delhi, February 7
Commuting the death sentence awarded to two persons from Amritsar, the Supreme Court today ruled that society’s perception of crime was a vital test for deciding the punishment.

“While applying this test, the Court has to look into a variety of factors like society’s abhorrence, extreme indignation and antipathy to certain types of crimes like rape and murder of minor girls, especially intellectually challenged minor girls, minor girls with physical disability, old and inform women with those disabilities, etc,” a Bench comprising Justices KS Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra held.

The SC clarified that the examples were only illustrative and not exhaustive. “Courts award death sentence because the situation demands due to constitutional compulsion reflected by the will of the people and not judge-centric,” the Bench explained.

Old age of the convicts and the probability of reformation and rehabilitation were also the factors to be kept in mind. To award death sentence, the aggravating circumstances had to be fully satisfied and there should be no mitigating circumstance favouring the accused.

“Even if both the tests are satisfied as against the accused, even then the Court has to finally apply the rarest of rare cases test (RR test) which depends on the perception of the society and not judge-centric that is whether the society will approve the awarding of death sentence to certain types of crime or not,” the SC held.

In the present case, Gurvail Singh, alias Gala, and another had murdered a man, his wife and their two children at Bhittewad village in Amritsar district on August 21, 2000, following a land dispute.

Awarding life sentence to the convicts, the SC ruled that they should be in jail for a minimum period of 30 years without any remission.

Amritsar, February 7
The special fast track court to deal with crimes against women has sentenced a man to five years of rigorous Imprisonment here today.

Additional Sessions Judge Neelam Arora sentenced Sonu, a resident of Muradpura, in a case registered against him in October, 2009, on the complaint of a local woman.

The complainant had stated before the police that Sonu had entered her house and switched off the lights. After stealing money from the house, he outraged the modesty of her daughter. The accused tore off the clothes of her daughter and attempted to rape her.

Amritsar, February 7
Burglars decamped with gold ornaments and cash from the residence of Anil Sharma in the Katra Sher Singh area late last evening.

Anil Sharma stated to the police that he and his family members had gone to their neighbour’s house when the incident took place. When they returned they found the wardrobe open and Rs 95,000 and gold jewellery, weighing 160 gm, worth several lakhs, missing.

A case under Sections 457 and 380 and IPC has been registered at the Kotwali police station. Baldev Singh, investigating officer, said no arrest had been made so far.

Amritsar, February 7
In the quarterly meeting of Project Axshya for control of TB, District TB Officer Dr Naresh Chawla instructed the staff to ensure TB diagnosis test for HIV infected people.

The meeting was attended by counsellors, treatment lab supervisors and laboratory technicians.

Chawla also instructed them to submit their reports with the District TB Hospital regularly and at the earliest. He warned that delay in submitting reports might prove detrimental for TB control programme.

Amritsar, February 7
The holy city has been on every tourists travel list, whether local or global traveller. The holy city’s spiritual and cultural charm has consistently been a big boost for the thriving hospitality industry here.

Whether it’s the heritage, the geo-political status, the spiritual epicentre or simply the food, the residents have branded the very essence of the city to sell at the international tourist circuit. And since the peak tourist season is about to knock at the door, several big and small names in the industry are gearing up to play the perfect host.

For starters, nothing works better than a makeover, whether in the menu or in-house services. “Each year the tourists travel to Amritsar with higher expectations from the city’s hospitality industry. Most tourists are well-travelled and the key is to give them best services on a balanced budget,” says Atul Pandey, general manager, Best Western Merrion. For them, the high point for the upcoming season will be their status as Platinum Pick hotel on a popular travel portal. “To match up to the standards, we have planned a lot of complementary in-house services, innovative food and beverage menu and the ambience that changes with the demand of the guest,” he says.

Avaas, a recent new addition to the city hospitality industry, too, has some plans up its sleeves. "The tourist inflow remains good all throughout the year and we have some international guests who want to experience the city with its best services. The hospitality industry has to be liberal and adaptable according to the guests’ standards and we, too, are ready to change or innovate our food or in-house services as and when the requirement comes,” shares Amit Ahuja, manager, Avaas.

Most hotels target prolonged stay of tourists by giving them special offers, services packages and special in-house complementaries. Since no month has been a slack for the tourism industry, there is no dearth of package deals. “We have planned special packages for guests this time since it’s important to make them feel special. Since most hotels offer similar services, a bit of a makeover in interiors or some complementaries thrown in attract good business,” says Kunal Moudgil, front desk manager, Golden Tulip.

Also, the fact that digital media and travel websites have come to the rescue of budget hotels for maximum reach has come in handy. “Maximum guests who travel are well-informed about the best available services, thanks to the digital media. Our presence online affirms that we are among the best," says Amit. Agrees Atul, “Since not every guest or tourist can do a recce of the best deals in the city, digital travel or hospitality portals come as an aide for them and us to reach out to our potential customers with best deals.”

Amritsar, February 7
Acting on a tip-off, the activists of Himmat— an NGO launched to provide help to the eve-teasing victims— today took upon themselves to teach a lesson to eve-teasers roaming outside Saint Francis School with the help of police.

After getting information that a number of boys indulged in eve-teasing when children came out of the school after school hours, the activists headed by Manmohit Singh along with a police party, reached the spot and conducted a march. They held several boys who were roaming in the area without any specific reason.

“Those caught from the spot were left after they felt sorry for their conduct and apologised in full public view. They promised to never indulge in such practice in future,” said Manmohit.

He said the girls could call at the helpline number (9888754522) of the group. The NGO was launched by Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu under the banner of the Mankind Welfare Society in January.

Within a month, the group claimed to have solved 40 eve-teasing cases. Mohit said they had now been flooded with various complaints including domestic violence and dowry cases. 

Amritsar, February 7
City-based NGO Mission Aagaaz has urged Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal keep in mind the public expectations from the Railway Budget-2013 while preparing it.

Project adviser, Mission Aagaaz, AL Adlakha said the NGO interviewed people from all walks of life and forwarded these for review ahead of the Railway Budget, which was expected to be presented in Parliament by the end of this month.

The Railways have thousands of acres of unutilised land and scores of under-utilised properties. The NGO said people wanted the Railways to utilise every inch of railway land to good remuneration. He said among other demands was removing encroachments from the railway land.

“Most of the people wonder as why the Indian Railways is running into losses despite the fact that it owns large tracts of land. A common man is at a loss to know why an establishment which is having customers in crores is suffering from chronic losses,” Adlakha said.

“People think that the Indian Railways have immense earning potential which is being wasted,” he added. The NGO said the public expected high level of cleanliness in train coaches, platforms and toilets with top priority. Cleanliness had been ignored for too long and people wanted a ban on defecation along the railway lines, it added. It said people also seek improvement in catering and make food available of international quality so that foreign tourists could be attracted to travel in trains. Punjab has long been ignored when it comes to spreading new lines and there should be immediate end to this discrimination such as started a direct train between Amritsar and Ahmedabad, it said.

It claimed that people were demanding linking the areas such as Abohar, Fazilka and Ferozepur with Amritsar. The line between Ludhiana and Chandigarh needed to be started immediately and the Amritsar-Chandigarh train be extended up to Kalka.

Amritsar, February 7
Rajkumar Verka, Vice-Chairman, SC/ST Commission, today directed the local police for speedy investigations in a case of attempt to rape.

The victim had alleged that the police was not taking any action against the accused persons.

Sources said the 19-year-old victim who belonged to the Islamabad area here had approached the commission alleging that neither the police had registered a case nor arrested the accused who had been threatening her.

The accused are the owner of the house in which she was living as a tenant. The girl alleged that she was also beaten up by them.

Verka said a police team headed by ADCP Harjit Singh Brar was called before the commission. He added that investigations were already on in the case.

He said that the victim’s father was a Class IV employee in the police department who had died.

Assuring all possible help, he directed the police officials to speed up the investigations and take appropriate action against the culprits. 

Amritsar, February 7
Gumber Eye Hospital, a private eye clinic, has announced to organise a free eye check-up camp, particularly for children, on its premises on February 9 and 10.

Dr JS Gumber said children suffered from a number of eye problems as squint, ptosis, eye allergy, cataract, glucoma and watering etc.

He said the growing use of computers, mobile phones and watching television were aggravating the eye problems among children. He said if ignored, these could become problematic with increase in age.

He stressed on the intake of a healthy diet and lesser use of video games and mobile phones.

“The parents of school-going children who use computers and other gadgets must get them examined and ask them to wear glasses while using screen gadgets,” said Dr JS Gumber. 

Amritsar, February 7
Chief Parliamentary Secretary Inderbir Singh Bolaria today honoured Harpreet Singh Marwaha who claims to be the first turbaned Sikh in the Australian police.

Marwaha visited his native place here today. A protective service officer in the Australian police force, he is the son of the SAD’s trade wing president Rajinder Singh Marwaha. Harpreet said he had gone to Australia to study but then he came to knew about the opportunities in police. — TNS

Amritsar, February 7
The Punjab government has accepted amendments in the VAT-15 form after various trade delegations held meeting with Industry Minister and head of Excise and Taxation Departmant Anil Joshi.

This was claimed by claimed Bal Kalan Industrial Welfare Association president Sundeep Khosla.

Khosla returned after taking part in the state-level meeting held yesterday at Chandigarh. The meeting held under the chairmanship of the Industry and Commerce Minister with representatives of the industry and Anurag Verma of ETC Punjab and other officers of the Excise and Taxation Department.

The government accepted that mentioning of the goods receipt (GR No) number and date are not mandatory in annexures 18 and 19 of VAT 15.

While mentioning of goods in transit are no longer compulsory in annexure form numbers 19 and 24 of VAT 15.

He said annexures 23 and 24 of the VAT 15 are no longer mandatory and mentioning of relevant districts in the VAT form was also not compulsory.

Details of the date of deposit and deduction of VAT and TDS were no longer compulsory, he added.

Worksheet number 4 of VAT 15 related to exempted unit have also been made optional.

The problems relevant to the Master Dealers Files (MDF) would be solved in near future and facility to correct the MDF files by the dealers introduce shortly (self Amending producer) were assured by the minister, he said.

Members of the Focal Point Industries Association welcomed the decision of the state government.

DS Goraya and Kamal Dalmia, president and secretary general of the association respectively, said the decision would remove many doubts and uncertainties plaguing the industry.

Among those who took part in the meeting were Ajay Mehra, president, Amritsar Warp Knitting Association; Rajinder Sharma, vice-president, Plastic Association; Rajinder Goyal, president, Tea Traders Association; Naveen Sehgal, president, Amritsar Sale Tax Practitioner Association; SK Sharma, director, RTI forum. 

the implications Annexures 23 and 24 of the VAT 15 are no longer mandatory Mentioning of relevant districts in the VAT form was also not compulsory Worksheet number 4 of VAT 15 related to exempted unit have also been made optional

Amritsar, February 7
During a seminar on developing learning and sustaining skills among children, Dinesh Victor, CEO, SIP Abacus, Chennai, said they must be enriched and empowered with essential life skills to build them for future.

The seminar was held at Sri Harkrishan Senior Secondary Public School, GT Road, Amritsar here.

The two-hour long exercise was meant to introduce and familiarise the children as well as the parents about the global skill enhancement pogrammes devised by Abacus. Working in th field of education since 2003, Victor shared programmes to improve the children’s mental abilities among others.

“Though we cannot anticipate about the future but we must ensure that we build our children for the future,” he said.

He threw light on various programmes such as brain gym, global art, mikid, orator that focus on particular learning and mental abilities of a child. Victor said schools should be the training and grooming grounds for future whiz-kids.

“We have unique programmes that develop concentration, confidence and visual memory through our flagship SIP Abacus and Brain Gym programme, creativity and confidence through our Global Art Programme, accelerated learning and improved social skills through AMAL programme and better English communication through our Mikids programme. We have already trained 200,000 children across the country through these programmes and have international partners working with us. Putting the pressure on kids to achieve what we expect out of them is stressful. But if we empower them with skills that take that stress out, learning and achieving will be a fun,” he said.

All these programmes are for kids aged between 5-15 years of age.

He also interacted with children and parents. Dharamvir Singh, Prinicipal, Sri Harkrishan Sr Sec Public School, said the difference was markedly visible.

“We have implemented the Abacus programmes in our curriculum for the past four years and we have seen the results. It helps students who have concentration or retention issues and it also helps improve listening skills. We have seen weaker students perform better after enrolling in these programmes. We plan to have more professionals training our students,” the principal said.