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Uprooting of grass leaves hockey players jittery
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MC warns residents against wrong property tax self-assessment
Woman held for cheating, robbery
GNDU security to be beefed up
Forum directs insurance company to pay claim
Police fails to identify body
State-level tournament gets underway
CULTURAL EXCHANGE PROG
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Uprooting of grass leaves hockey players jittery
Amritsar, December 2 The stadium is regularly used to train hockey players and athletes. The move to uproot grass, however, has perturbed many young players. A budding hockey player said the uprooting of grass right in the middle of the ground would have an adverse impact on their practice. A student of a government school, he had enrolled to train himself to become a quality player about two years back. Another young player said, "It is Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) in the city which has a synthetic track to train hockey players which meet international standards. There is restricted entry for players and it is not possible that all players can be accommodated in the ground simultaneously. The stadium is located near the bus stand and railway station. It is easily accessible for players coming from inside and outside the city." A city-based former international hockey player said on condition of anonymity that since there was only one astro-turf ground in the district it was not possible to accommodate all players at the same venue. The Guru Nanak Stadium offers a good opportunity to budding players to get trained in basics of the game while playing on a grassy ground. Then they can graduate to astro-turf to hone their skills, he added. About uprooting of grass, he said it would take at least a couple of months to restore the ground with grass which would cost dear to aspiring young players. Sources in the Sports Department said it cost lakhs of rupees to plant the grass. District Sports Officer Harpaljeet Kaur said, “Grass got damaged after long spells of rain in August and the ground had turned uneven. The ground needs to be levelled and a road roller has been arranged for the purpose. It is a blessing in disguise as its maintenance has been carried out. We have been assured that grass would be replanted after the matches conclude.” Amount to the tune of Rs 17 lakh was spent to spruce up the ground before the World Cup Kabaddi last year but the government has instructed to keep a tab on expenditure this time, she added. She further said Rs 4 lakh had been released to the local sports department in advance and the government would pay the rest of the expenses following the kabaddi cup. The PWD (B&R) and Municipal Corporation have been engaged to give the facelift to the stadium. Dr Kuljeet Singh, a member of World Anti-Dope Agency (WADA), New Delhi, recently visited the venue of the game. Four rooms have been earmarked for the anti-doping team at the centre. They would conduct dope tests on players during the matches here. The samples taken would be sent to the WADA laboratory in New Delhi. The district administration has constituted 15 separate committees to smoothly conduct the kabaddi matches. Each committee has certain number of members. These committees with are welcome committee (10 members); security, traffic parking and parking committee (13 members); VVIP, VIP sitting and refreshment arrangement committee (10 members); meals committee to supply packaged food to visiting players (seven members); transport, fire brigade and recovery vans committee (five members); medical committee (five members); media publicity, folk song, public address sound committee (five members); cleanliness, temporary toilets, potable water committee (seven members); uninterrupted power supply committee (four members); players, senior officials, VIP, VVIP sitting arrangement committee (five members); match ground preparation, beautification, commentary committee (10 members); invitation, duty slips, parking stickers committee (four members); sarpanches, councillors, zila parishad committee (three members); players’ refreshment, dope test arrangement committee (seven members) and protocol committee (11 members). Besides, the district administration is regularly holding meetings to sort out bottlenecks and evaluate work. A meeting under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat was also held in this regard. match schedule
Measures in place
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Govt seeks ASI nod to go ahead with flyover project at SSSS Chowk
Amritsar, December 2 One of the busiest intersections in Amritsar city, the chowk is on famous Mall Road. It also facilitates linkage to Batala and Majitha roads and traffic coming from the bus stand and Bhandari bridge. Sandeep Rishi, chairman, Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT), said they were keeping track of the developments after the state government reapplied for no-objection certificate (NOC) through the Director Tourism and Cultural Affairs, who is also nodal officer of the project. The proposed bridge has two components viz. an over-bridge and an underpass. Billed as the city's first flyover, it was conceptualised in 2011 but it lost the race to Saifuddin Kitchlew flyover, popularly known as Court Chowk, which is close to completion. To be raised at an initial cost of approximately Rs 39 crore, the project now faces estimate revision due to cost escalation. Due to its proximity to the ASI-protected monument Rambagh Summer Palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the AIT had applied for NOC to the agency in July this year. It was done to avoid legal hassles before floating of tenders. As per the
ASI rules, no fresh construction can be undertaken within a 100-metre radius of the protected monument. The application for the NOC was rejected as the ASI called the documentation as "incomplete". The trust chairman said all required documents were arranged and were sent to the state government which had forwarded the same to the ASI office in New Delhi. He said a Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) survey conducted at different places in the city in November 2011 had revealed that after Bhandari Bridge, the area around SSSS Chowk was the most polluted in the city. The PPCB carried out a study on vehicular pollution during busy hours at key points. At Bhandari Bridge, the particulate matter was as high as 599 per cubic metre (µgm/m3) during peak hours while it was 232 µgm/m3 during lean traffic hours. At SSSS Chowk, the particulate matter was 586 µgm/m3 during peak hours and 212 µgm/m3 during lean hours. He said the construction of the over-bridge would facilitate an unhindered flow of traffic and thus reduce pollution around the protected site. Residents rue that the busy SSSS Chowk would be a mess as usual when it comes to managing traffic at this point.
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Cops fail to vacate two rooms at Valmiki’s hermitage site again
Amritsar, December 2 The Punjab and Haryana High Court in its order a couple of months ago had directed the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP-rural) to get the possession of two rooms in the ancient temple and hand these over to Mahant Baldev Giri, who claims
to lead the original Nath Yogi Dera. Members of the Bhagwan Valmiki Dhunna Sahib Trust led by its chairman Om Prakash Gabbar squatted in front of the two rooms to prevent the police from taking possession. These two rooms are under the possession of a group led by Mahant Malkiat Nath. The site shot into prominence after Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal laid the foundation stone
for raising a large temple with an inbuilt museum and panorama at a whopping Rs 115 crore on October 18. The Ram Tirath is located on Amritsar-Chogawan road, about 15 km from the city. Considering the tourist potential, the state government roped in the architecture department of Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) to prepare its design. The department prepared a design as per which 84’x84’ square shape hall with equal (84’ feet) height would form the main building of the temple. The main complex could accommodate over 200 persons at a time. Circumambulatory around the holy pond will have arcaded verandah.
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MC warns residents against wrong property tax self-assessment
Amritsar, December 2 It has been learnt that by exercising their right to self-assessment, several residents and commercial unit owners have submitted their property tax returns either on the collector rate prevailing at the time of purchase of the property or confusing it with ‘rebate’ in tax structure. In a recent instance, an MC inspector was issued a show-cause certificate for accepting lesser amount from commercial establishments at Focal Point or District Shopping complex in Ranjit Avenue. The authorities said action against the official was an “internal matter”. The MC authorities have clarified that it would be the liability of residents to clear their dues as per the current collector rate depending on the location of the property in question. As per government instructions, property tax with 10 per cent rebate would be acceptable up to December 10. The actual amount of property tax will be accepted from December 11 till December 31. Twenty five per cent penalty will be imposed on those depositing their property tax between January 1 to March 31, 2014. The penalty would be 50 per cent on the actual amount of property tax beyond this period. A heavy rush of taxpayers was witnessed at various collection counters here. The MC has set up offices for collection of property tax in its zonal offices at Sultanwind Gate, Lahori Gate, Bhagtanwala Gate, Sewa Nagar Gali No 2, Company Bagh, Bus Stand, Ghanupur Kalle Road opposite Government Girls High School, Chhehartta and its Town Hall head office. Shushant Bhatia, House Tax Superintendent, said there was a lot of confusion among residents about property tax calculations. “Self-assessment of taxes has to be worked out as per the prevailing collector rates. We are still accepting the calculation done by residents but the ones miscalculating the same would have to pay the penalty during the scrutinising process. I appeal to residents that they should be accurate while making self-assessment,” he said.
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Woman held for cheating, robbery
Amritsar, December 2 Besides the accused, Shashi Pardhan, the police have booked near half a dozen persons in this connection. Among others who were booked include her accomplice Raja and four unidentified persons. Vavinder Mahajan, Station House Officer (SHO), Sadar police station, said the accused had borrowed money on interest from
number of persons after handing them the registry of her house. After some time, she used to ask the person to come to a place with the registry on
pretext of returning the money. Instead of returning the money, she would get the victim thrashed and snatch the registry. She then threatened them to lodge a false FIR of molestation and sexual harassment. She along with her accomplices looted Jatinder Kumar who runs
a chemist shop in the Verka area. He told the police that Shashi Pardhan used to borrow money from him. Around two-and-a-half
months ago, she borrowed Rs 1.60 lakh from him and mortgaged the registry of her property. He alleged that on November 22, the
accused called her near Bhapa High School on Majitha Road along with the registry. When he reached there, the accused and her accomplices assaulted him. He said the accused snatched the registry besides Rs 7,000, a gold ring and an ATM card from him.
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GNDU security to be beefed up
Amritsar, December 2 He said now two security guards had been deputed to escort the girl students back to their hostels, who work during late hours in the laboratory. Besides this, three check points, along the road leading to girl hostels from the senate hall, have been established. The road in front of girl hostels has been restricted from 5.30 pm to 8.30 am, except for the on-duty staff. The patrolling along the hostel boundary walls has been intensified. The height of boundary walls is being raised and additional security lights are being installed. “The vigil has been increased. The entry to the girl’s hostels by boys has been curtailed. All these measures have been taken so that undesirable elements find it difficult to breach the security system,” he said Four female security guards have been recently recruited for the girl hostels. Besides this, three additional security guards for night shifts have been made available for the girl hostels. There would be an assistant warden and a nurse present round the clock in each hostel, he said. The security officer clarified that the incident that occurred in August, wherein three car-borne individuals entered the premises, was dealt suitable by the security. The second incident, that took place on November 24, was thoroughly investigated and facts would be revealed soon. The security officer appealed to the students to adhere to hostel rules and regulations and take safety measures like bolting the door from inside and following the hostel timings.
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Forum directs insurance company to pay claim
Amritsar, December 2 Earlier, family members of Lakhwinder Singh had filed a complaint against the United India Insurance Company Limited stating that Lakhwinder Singh had got group personal accident insurance being employee of the Shromani Gurudwara Parbhandhak Committee. The family alleged that Lakhwinder was covered under insurance for Rs 6 lakh. Lakhwinder Singh had died on May 19, 2011 after sustaining injuries in a road accident. The family said despite completing all the formalities, the insurance company repudiated their claim. The insurance company in its reply before the forum stated that the deceased Lakhwinder Singh was not holding any valid driving license to drive the vehicle. The company stated that no FIR pertaining to the alleged accidental death was registered and neither any postmortem of the body was conducted. The forum observed that the insurance company had paid the medical expenses for the treatment of the insured from May 13 to May 19, 2011. The forum stated that the personal accident claim cannot be denied on the ground that insured was not having valid driving license. The forum further stated that the appellant insurance company failed to show any law or condition of the policy by which the respondents were not entitled for such claim. Moreover, insurer cannot discard and reject the reports of the hospital authorities. It stated that technical objections such as not filing an FIR, absence of postmortem report and not filing claim within 30 days would not make much of a difference to case of the complainants and the opposite party cannot deny the claim on these grounds.
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DAV to open school in Srinagar
Amritsar, December 2 He also inaugurated a fully electronic Conference Hall and Swami Dayanand Study Centre at the host college. Addressing students he showed them “road map to success” by pursuing three pronged approach. He elaborated that these fine points were sustained with efforts to improve quality, getting feedback and the right state of mind. He told them that these qualities were required to keep 785 educational institutes spread across all over the country in top gear. Director, DAV Public Schools JP Shoor presented vote of thanks. Host College Prinicpal Dr Neelam Kamra presented college report.
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Police fails to identify body
Amritsar, December 2 The incident occurred on the intervening night of November 30 and December 1. The body was found from the agricultural land of Kashmir Singh of Bal Khurd Village. He told the police that he had dumped crop residue (stubble) at one corner of his fields located toward Loharaka road side. He said his watchman told him that several unidentified persons dumped something and set the stubble on fire. In the morning, they found the body of a young girl which was badly charred. Yadwinder Singh, SHO, Kamboh police station, said a case under Sections 302 and 201 of the IPC has been registered in this connection while efforts are under way to identify the antecedents of the deceased. “The body has been burnt beyond recognition. We have alerted all the nearby police stations,” SHO said.
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State-level tournament gets underway
Amritsar, December 2 Principal BBK DAV College Dr Neelam Kamra welcomed players and coaches and stressed on the fact that games and sports are integral part of education. Host DAV International School won first positions in skating rink race (1), skating rink race (2), skating (rink race-1) inline, skating (rink race-2) inline, table tennis, yoga and lawn tennis.
— TNS
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German delegates visit city
Amritsar, December 2 They visited Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh and Wagah Border. A special assembly was also conducted on the occasion. German food as well as Indian food was served to the delegates. Ryan students had an interaction with the German students and played lots of games together. Principal Rajni Kalra thanked them for their visit. — TNS
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