Star cast of ‘Love Yoou Soniye’ comes calling 
Amritsar, November 29
Couple Karanvir Bohra and Teejay Sidhu will be soon seen romancing in reel life as well with their upcoming Punjabi film, Love You Soniye. The duo was in Amritsar, promoting their film, which stars Raghu Ram, Vindu Dara Singh and Shivendra Mahal. For Teejay Sidhu it's the thrill of acting alongside her husband and for Karanvir Bohra this fact was a bit scary.

Amritsar, November 29
In a shocking instance, a mentally challenged woman who was allegedly raped by her neighbour succumbed to her injuries in Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Hospital here late last night.

Her death has raised a number of questions over the functioning of the police and its "negligent" attitude towards people especially those belonging to economically weaker sections of society.

The woman's relatives had earlier accused the Police Department of inaction. The Police Department had registered a molestation case against the accused, identified as Jinder Singh.

The matter was also raised before the Assistant Commissioner of Police (East), Gaurav Garg, last evening when he went to the area for holding a police-public meeting. Taking a serious note of the alleged police inaction, he had reprimanded the police officials concerned and told them to submit a report regarding this and arrest the culprit within five days, said Sukhdev Singh, general secretary, District Congress Committee (Urban). He said action should be taken against the police official concerned also.

Interestingly, the case was being investigated by the women cell of the police. But even after a month had elapsed, the police had done nothing in the case so far.

Sukhi Devi, an eyewitness of the incident and sister-in-law of 40-year-old victim, had said that on the intervening night of October 28-29, she heard some noises from her neighbour where the victim lived. The victim was alone at home as her daughter had gone to visit her maternal grandparents while her 15-year-old son had gone to her aunt’s house.

She said she saw the accused, identified as Jinder Singh, sexually abusing the woman. She alleged that he had brutally beaten her up before committing the crime as it appeared from the injury marks on her face and other body parts. She raised an alarm following which the accused fled.

They immediately informed the Verka police who got the victim admitted to the Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs’ Memorial Civil Hospital where she is recuperating from her injuries.

The post-mortem examination of the victim could not be conducted today as the police officials reached the Civil Hospital late for taking the records pertaining to her discharge.

Dr Balbir Singh Dhillon, SMO, Civil Hospital, confirmed that the victim died late last night while adding that the doctors attending on her said that she had received grievous injuries.

Police authorities had failed to take the medical examination report which was earlier conducted by a medical board when she was admitted in the hospital on October 29.

Amritsar, November 29
Members of the district unit of the Sarab Sikhya Abhiyan (SSA) Non-Teaching Union today staged a protest outside Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Mall road, venue of the state-level quiz competition on social study in view of the scheduled arrival of the Director-General School Education (DGSE), Kumar Rahul.

The DGSE, who was the chief guest, did not turn up and Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat performed the formality.

Members of the union, whose protest today entered the 37th day and who have been demanding pay scales on a par with SSA teachers, have already crippled the working of many government schools in the state. They raised slogans against the government and sought implementation of their demands.

SSA Non-Teaching Staff Union Punjab President Vikas Kumar said the DGSE warned the SSA non-teaching staff to return to work or else they would be terminated.

He said following telephonic instructions on November 14, they were barred from marking attendance and claimed that step motherly treatment was being meted out to the non-teaching staff. On the other hand, 14,000 SSA teachers were already given pay scale of Rs 31,500 and Rs 28,000 per month.

He said teachers and non-teaching staff were hired on contract under the SSA after the component was introduced in the state in 2004. There are about 1,400 SSA non-teaching staff and the SAD-BJP coalition government promised to introduce the pay scale from November 30, 2011, he claimed.

District Education Officer (SE) Satinderbir Singh said the DGSE could not arrive here as he developed fever.

Meanwhile, Government High School, Chola, in Shri Muktsar Sahib district today clinched the first position at a state-level quiz competition held on the subject of social study.

Organised by the Punjab School Education Department, the quiz contest was held at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Mall road. The team of Government High School, Cheema Khudi, Gurdaspur, stood first and Government Middle School, Kaaliyan, Sangrur, stood second and third, respectively.

The programme commenced with a welcome song after the recital of a Shabad and concluded with a captivating performance of a folk dance gidda and folk singing by students of the host School.

Under the directions of the Department of Director-General, School Education, finals of the state-level quiz were organised by the Punjab School Education Department. Overall, teams from 22 various districts of Punjab took part in the Social Science Quiz Competition.

Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, Ravi Bhagat while felicitating the winning teams, distributed prizes and stated that there was no shortage of talent among students of government schools; they only required exposure.

The value-added programmes conducted by Sarv Sikhya Abhiyan have helped create opportunities for these talented students to a large extent. He also emphasised on the importance of subject-related sightseeing for students.

Assistant State Project Director Jaswinder Singh addressing the students described the importance of social science, which is capturing the eagerness of students. He also talked about the activities being undertaken for the overall personality development of students.

Amritsar, November 29
Four persons, including two women, were killed while one of their relatives was injured seriously in a road mishap that occurred near Khilchian, around 25 km from here, on the Amritsar-Jalandhar road here today.

The incident occurred when a car going towards Jalandhar rammed into a stationary truck parked on the roadside. There were five persons, including three women in the car. Out of them, four victims died on the spot while a woman identified as Satpal Kaur (35), a resident of Bham village (Hoshiarpur), was seriously injured in the mishap. She was rushed to a private hospital here.

According to information, they were returning to Hoshiarpur after attending a marriage function at Amritsar. Those killed were identified as Jatinder Singh (35), a resident of Bham village, Hoshiarpur, his father-in-law Harjit Singh (58) of Daroli Kalan village, Adampur, Gurpreet Kaur (39) and Rajbir Kaur (40) of Mahio Patti village, Phagwara. Avtar Singh, SHO, Khilchian police station, said the accident happened at about 4.30 pm. He said though the exact reason behind the incident was yet to be ascertained, it was found during a preliminary probe that Jatinder Singh was driving the car.

“Eyewitnesses said the car suddenly went out of control, came off the road and collided with the stationary truck parked on the roadside,” he said.

The accident was so severe that it became difficult to pull out the bodies as the car was stuck below the truck.

“Four victims had died on the spot while Satpal Kaur had suffered critical injuries,” said Avtar Singh. He said some of the relatives had reached the spot, adding that action had been initiated under Section 174, CrPC, while further investigations were under progress.

Amritsar, November 29
Couple Karanvir Bohra and Teejay Sidhu will be soon seen romancing in reel life as well with their upcoming Punjabi film, Love You Soniye. The duo was in Amritsar, promoting their film, which stars Raghu Ram, Vindu Dara Singh and Shivendra Mahal. For Teejay Sidhu it's the thrill of acting alongside her husband and for Karanvir Bohra this fact was a bit scary.

I was genuinely worried about how the Punjabi audience will react to a non-Punjabi hero. I have heard a lot about Diljit Dosanjh and Gippy Grewal, who are Punjabi movie stars and then it was me, a non-Punjabi, with his first Punjabi film. I was skeptical about acceptance, said the actor.

But just before its release on December 6, Karanvir is quite confident. Punjabi films are doing good business in India and overseas. But then the quality is being compromised for commercial gains. With "Luv You Soniye", it's just not a stylish script, but the way it has been shot l. We have tried to reach out to the national audiences by giving it a classy push  he said.

Teejay Sidhu said, We have created a cool, modern and stylish film with fun characters.

Teejay is also excited to share the screen with her husband, who she thinks is a better actor and now a producer. I might be the boss at home but he was the boss on the sets. We have worked on each other's strength and tried to make a good film, she said

Amritsar, November 29
With the last date for payment of property tax falling tomorrow, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has pressed more staff into service at the payment counters, including tube-well operators and beldars, to cope with the rush of the residents who are queueing up in large numbers.

According to government instructions, the property tax is being accepted with 10 per cent rebate up till tomorrow. Thereafter from December 1 to December 31, the actual amount of property tax will be accepted. From January 1 to March 31, 2014, the property tax with 25 per cent penalty will be accepted and thereafter the rate of penalty will be 50 per cent on the actual amount.

To avail a golden opportunity to pay due amount with rebate, heavy rush of tax payers turned up at various counters here.

The MC has set up offices for the collection of tax in its zonal offices situated at Sultanwind Gate, Lahori Gate, Bhagtanwala Gate and Sewa Nagar Gali No. 2, Company Bagh, Bus Stand, Ghanupur Kalle Road opposite Government Girls High School, Chhehartta and at Town Hall headquarters.

Besides this, the awareness cum realisation camps, too, were being organised in different parts of the city on the demand of citizens so as to facilitate them to deposit the tax on the spot.

These offices as well as seminars are being organised under the supervision of the House Tax Superintendents as well as the Nodal Officer, which included Rajinder Kumar Sharma, Nodal Officer, Sushant Bhatia, Daljit Singh, Pardeep Kumar and Subhash Chander all Superintendents.

The residents of any locality desirous to set up the camps could contact their respective councillors for this purpose.

MC Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said by paying the tax, while on the one hand the general public can avail 10 per cent rebate and have to pay nominal amount. The tax collected by the MC will be utilised for the development of the city only.

“We could anticipate the heavy rush, that’s why we had incorporated 130 extra hands from other departments. You cannot take the tube-well operators for granted, they are all diploma holders and after getting thorough knowledge they were deputed to collect the taxes. I have also spared at least one master trainer over a team of 14 tax collectors in every collection centre so that if there arises some discrepancy, it should be removed on the spot. 

Amritsar, November 29
Though all the religions around the world teach love, preach sympathy for others and encourage mutual respect and harmony, yet the world today is torn by conflicts, enmity and religious hatred. These views were expressed by Joginder Singh Vedanti, former Jathedar, Sri Akal Takht Sahib, during the inaugural session of a symposium on 'Contribution of Sikhism in Promoting Peace and Communal Harmony'.

The symposium was hosted by the Centre on Studies in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Guru Nanak Dev University, in collaboration with the National Foundation for Communal Harmony, New Delhi, here today. Dr Mohinder Singh, member, National Commission for Minority Education Institutions, New Delhi, delivered the keynote address. Ambassador Ashok Sajjanhar, IFS (retd), Secretary, National Foundation for Communal Harmony, New Delhi, presided over the inaugural session. Prof Ajaib Singh Brar, Vice-Chancellor, welcomed the chief guests and others. Dr Gulzar Singh Kang, coordinator, introduced the guest speakers.

Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti said, "To be a Sikh, it is mandatory that one must respect and accept all other religions of the world and at the same time must respect the customs and rituals of others."

Dr Mohinder Singh said, "The politicians are dividing the masses on the name of religions for their own benefits." "The approach should be not to act like scissors and tear the social fabric apart, but to act like a needle and sew it together," he said. Pointing towards student-teacher relation, he advocated that teachers should inculcate moral and ethical values among the students.

Ambassador Ashok Sajjanhar said, "The objective of the National Foundation for Communal Harmony is to propagate communal harmony among various quarters of society by establishing 'Sadbhavna Clubs'."

Prof Brar said, "Sikhism is the youngest religion and it conveys the message of peace and harmony."

Meanwhile, Prof Brar also honoured Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, Dr Mohinder Singh, and Ambassador Ashok Sajjanhar with shawl and university publications. Dr Shashi Bala, Dr Gurcharan Singh and Dr Gurnam Singh Sanghera, Dr Gulzar Singh Kang, Dr Harjit Singh and S Sukhpal Singh also presented their research papers on the occasion.

Amritsar, November 29
The high mast lights installed on the Novelty Chowk, worth Rs 6 lakh, were damaged during the maintenance job carried out by a private firm as the crane which carried it turned turtle. This was the answer given by the MC to a local resident Rajesh Sidhana, who got the reply to his query after a year, through the Right to Information Act.

The MC in its reply had admitted that these lights were damaged in August/September, 2010 and categorically admitted that no inquiry was conducted post instance and no penalty was ever imposed on the contractor who was hired for the maintenance of these lights.

Even the officiating engineer and the JE of the electrical wing who were looking after the maintenance were never questioned.

The high mast lights were erected on around 25-metre high beam pole in 2003.

Sidhana said he was still not satisfied with this vague reply. "Though I have received the reply from the electrical wing of the MC, which has specifically admitted the lapse but restrained from taking any action against its officials or the firm with whose fault these lights got damaged. I will approach the Information Commissioner as it was a public property and now in the absence of which severe hardships are being faced by the commuters," he said.

The Executive Engineer, Electrical wing, MPS Bedi said, "It is true that no action was taken against the officials concerned till date. Yet, we have furnished the reply as per the query of the resident; if he is still not satisfied he can approach us again. At present these non-repairable damaged lights are lying in our store and are of no use." 

Amritsar, November 29
The district administration has established permanent counters for preparing Aadhaar cards at all the Suvidha Centres.

Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat said 11 centres have been established in the district at the District Court Complex, Civil Surgeon Office, District Transport Office and Suvidha Kendars at Ajnala, Baba Bakala, Majitha, Ramdas, Attari, Lopoke and Tarsikka. 

Amritsar, November 29
Delegates of the Jhang Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), Pakistan, will participate in the PHD- Punjab International Trade Expo, 2013, PHD-PITEX, to be held in the city next week.

A PHD Chamber of Commerce press communiqué issued today stated that Suhaib Farooq, who will lead a 17-member delegation of the JCCI, said, "We keenly wait for this annual event wherein we get an opportunity to interact with the businessmen from India and other participating countries."

Terming the bilateral trade to be the most promising factor for having better bilateral relations between India and Pakistan, he said "If trade takes a front seat, automatically, other issues will get pushed to the back seat."

"Booming bilateral trade may well be the strongest pillar of Indo-Pak rapprochement so much so that it will not only overtake the pace of general confidence-building but also have a substantial impact on each other's mutual perceptions," he said.

He said, "There is a lot of scope for trade in handicrafts, textiles, surgical items, sports goods, renewable energy sector and many more."

RS Sachdeva, co-chairman, Punjab Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: "With the thrust on enhancing trade between the two countries in the right direction, we should explore the possibilities of technology transfer between the two nations now."

The exchange between such delegations are a step further to provide a platform to the traders and masses of both the countries to understand each other better and dispel the presumptions in their minds for themselves, said Sharma.

Another visiting delegate, Waqas Farooq, said, "For traders and businessmen, trade is primary and we urge to both the governments to open the trade between the two nations."

As per reports, the total imports during the first quarter i.e. April 2012 - June 2012 was that of Rs 190.22 crore as compared to Rs 92.59 crore during the corresponding period of the last financial year.