Amritsar, September 7
Ninety-one-year-old Partap Singh, known as ‘Rukhanwala Baba’ at Heir village near here, passed away after a brief illness today. He is survived by a grandson.

Baba Rukhanwala was felicitated by the then Deputy Commissioner, Kahan Singh Pannu on January 26, 2011, for his consistent contribution to the environment.

The villagers came up with the sobriquet ‘Rukhanwala Baba’ for his selfless service in planting and maintaining the green wealth and being a perfect inspiration for young environmentalists and plant lovers.

So much so, whatever he got from his old-age pension, he spent it on procuring tree saplings and plant in vacant places at his village.

Rukhanwala Baba, who lived in Heir village, situated near Rajasansi on the Ajnala Road, has been credited with greening infertile lands. Since his childhood, he was inclined towards plants. His plantation drives started from Gujjranwala (now in Pakistan) and took him to many villages.

Even though his movement was restricted with growing age but he found time for planting new saplings near his home in the village. “We had been supporting him as it was not possible to live on measly Rs 250 as old age pension”, said Gurbhez Singh and Deepak Babbar of Mission Aagaaz, an NGO, which had taken his cause with the administration.

Partarp Singh felt pain when he saw someone chopping a tree in the name of development. He was only 12 when he started planting saplings in his Mohammad Kot village near Gujjaranwala in Pakistan. Son of farmer Ishwar Singh, Partap Singh used to accompany his father to fields which took close to trees.

Amritsar, September 7
With the state government deciding to impose property tax, the task of recovering dues has been assigned to the Amritsar Municipal Corporation.

Pardeep Sabharwal, Deputy Director, Local Bodies, said to bring every house falling in the MC limit under the property tax ambit, their identification and counting was paramount.

“The entire MC area has been divided in eight zones which are being looked after by six superintendents,” he said. He said the MC had got records of houses situated in the walled city and in civil lines area.

He said the Municipal Town Planner wing had been tasked to identify houses coming up in new localities on almost all bypasses and assign them particular numbers.

When questioned on whether these numbers would serve as house numbers, he said the final call would be taken only after the matter was debated in the House.

He said the entire process would be finished within this month. As per the 2010 Census, the city has nearly 2.35 lakh houses and out of these only 40,000 paid house tax to the tune of Rs 18 crore last fiscal. This year the MC has fixed the target at Rs 22 crore.

Sabharwal said almost all houses would come under property tax and the Amritsar MC would be able to make revenue of about Rs 100 crore in the very first year of its implementation from 2013-2014. Property tax would replace house tax from the next financial year. Earlier, house tax used to be paid only by those who have rented out their premises.

As per the new format, all residential properties above 100 square yard have to pay one per cent tax on five per cent value of the total cost of property. Total cost of property would be calculated by adding the cost of land as per the circle rate of the area and the value of building constructed over it. Hotels with five star grading and above and shopping malls would have to pay 10 per cent tax on 20 per cent value of the total property cost.

Proprietors of the rest of the properties would have to pay varied percentage on 15 per cent value of the entire cost of property. Marriage palaces, resorts, three and four star hotels would have pay five per cent tax.

While restaurants and two-star hotels would be liable to pay four per cent tax, private institutes like nursing homes, colleges and schools would need to pay two per cent tax, and government institutes of health and education would have to pay 1.5 per cent tax.

Meanwhile, tax exemption has been granted to religious institutions, orphanages, MC buildings, crematoriums, gaushalas and pure charitable trusts. The tax will be paid by property owners as per the pattern of income tax returns and it would have to be paid between April 1 to June 30 every year.

Under assessment of property and delay in submitting property return could attract financial penalty of 25 per cent fine over and above the property tax besides 15 per cent interest on the tax for the delayed period. The law also has a provision for imprisonment apart from fine. The MCs do not have power to alter the property tax and could review it only after a period of five years that too after approval of the state government.

Property tax will come into effect from 2013-2014 Identification and counting of every house falling under the MC limit is the most important task The entire area has been divided in eight zones which are being looked after by six MC superintendents All residential properties above 100 square yard have to pay one per cent tax on five per cent value of the total cost of property Religious institutions, orphanages, MC buildings and charitable trusts will be exempted from paying tax

Amritsar, September 7
The SGPC has requested Dr Laisjack Thorisivikiz, Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University, to set up a Sikh ‘Chair’ at its campus so as to give impetus to the demand of spreading the Sikh identity across the world.

The Vice Chancellor earlier visited Shri Guru Ram Dass Institute of Medical Education at Vallah near here. During the visit, he interacted with the institute’s senior faculty about the ongoing joint fellowship for Sikh students between Cambridge and SGPC.

Dr Laisjack Thorisivikiz said five students for the fellowship are selected by the Cambridge through a world-class selection process. SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar said expenses on the education of students are borne by the SGPC while in return students have to work at any of SGPC’s institutions for a period of at least three years.

Taking about the demand of Sikh chair, Dr Laisjack Thorisivikiz said he could not make any promise at this stage. But he assured them to take a decision soon. — TNS

Amritsar, September 7
When a young actor, Gurmeet Singh, said Jimmy Shergiel is as popular as SRK in Punjab, the statement made sense, for the very reason that Punjabi cinema hit its purple patch with Shergiel becoming the face of the industry.

Four years down the line, the purple run for the industry continues and getting better with each Punjabi film releasing.

So when ‘Jatt n Juliet’ hit the Rs 1 crore opening mark, most of the industry insiders were pleasantly surprised. Everybody knows that Punjabi films are getting bigger and better by the day, but nobody expected the bar would be raised to such a level that today Punjabi movies are giving big Bollywood flicks a run for their money at box office at least in Punjab.

This weekend saw two big movies releases with Bhatt camp’s horror fiesta ‘Raaz 3’ and Punjabi cinema’s Renaissance man Manmohan Singh’s ‘Ajj De Ranhje’ and the city thronged to theatres to catch the latest shows. While ‘Raaz 3’ comes with all essential Bhatt ingredients, including their lucky charm actor Emraan Hashmi, ‘Ajj De Ranjhe’ is a comic caper on the colourful functioning of the Punjab Police, with a formidable star cast and Manmohan Singh’s direction. The facts and figures on the first day make it a tough competition.

“Both the films are doing good business on first day. Though they differ in genres and the fact that ‘Raaz 3’ comes with good 3D effects, ‘Ajj De Ranjhe’ saw a heavy rush. We expect housefuls on Saturday and Sunday,” said Munish Karanwal, unit head, Cinepolis, Amritsar.

“Off late a lot of Punjabi films have outdone themselves, surpassing Bollywood flicks in box office collections. ‘Jatt n Juliet’ made over Rs 1 crore on the first day, ‘Carry On Jatta’ made Rs 65 lakhs on the opening day, where as ‘Joker’ and ‘Jism 2’ remained unimpressive,” he added.

As for the audience, they are enjoying the Punjabi movies with all its entertainment. “‘Ajj De Ranjhe’ deals with a good issue. The actors have performed their part excellently and the dialogues are ironical but laughable. It’s good entertainment,” shares Gurdeep Bains, a businessman who took his entire family for the film.

“The production values have gone up for Punjabi films, a fresh bunch or actors who are professionals and good scripts have contributed to the successful run of Punjabi films in the region,” he added.

Amritsar, September 7
The Health and Family Welfare Training School, which had earlier stopped admissions to the basic health workers course, is now hopeful of getting four new courses, with the government already announcing to run these courses.

The government has planned to initiate four courses for the students; hospital care attendant, emergency-cum-ambulance attendant, home-based health care attendant and operation theatre attendant.

The hospital care attendant and operation theatre courses would be a one-year course each, while the ambulance attendant and the health care course would be for 9 and 6 months duration respectively.

The health and family welfare department has announced to initiate the admission process for homecare course from January 2013 onwards as rest of the courses would begin from June 2013.

The insiders in the department revealed that there is an acute shortage of attendants especially, the operation theatre attendants. “At most of the places, class IV workers have been trained as the operation theatre attendants. There is no other option,” confided an official.

The local health and family welfare training school had stopped admission for the health worker course after the state government decision, earlier this year.

When contacted district family welfare officer and principal of the training school, Dr Ranjit Singh Buttar said, “Though no such information has arrived officially, we are hopeful of running these courses as the government had taken a decision.” He said the courses would hold youngsters train for the jobs of various kinds of attendants at the hospitals.

“Not only in the government hospitals but also in the private sector, there is a huge demand for such trained workers. Moreover, rural youngsters would be able to find a job for themselves,” he said.

Amritsar, September 7
It’s another happy weekend for the shopaholics of the city. The four-day lifestyle and interior exhibition at Sifty International is a heaven for all those who want something different for themselves.

The exhibition comes with a wide range of fashion and lifestyle products, from known designer houses and brands. If you never get tired of picking and chosing exclusive Pakistani designer suits, the exhibition is a must visit.

With over a dozen designer brands from across the border, the clothes section was most crowded. With particular style of hand embroideries, lacework and silhouettes, the Pakistani suits have made a brand of themselves among the city women.

“We come here at least three times a year and each time we get good sales. The cultural taste of the holy city is same as in Pakistan so it is a good market for us,” said Mohammed Azam who has brought a collection of suits in chiffons and georgettes.

As with the Pakistani suits, the staple remains with the fabrics, but the difference comes with the embroideries. The range of bright designer wears starts at Rs 1,000 and above.

Another staple Pakistani item that is a huge hit with city shoppers is the onyx furniture and décor pieces. The colourful, naturally textured stone was sculpted to perfection with furniture and huge center pieces making it an impressive display. Marble and wood crafted items also make an interesting display, adding to the options of shopper’s list.

The other highlights of the exhibition were stalls from Thailand with dry flowers and designer jewellery pieces in Boho-chic and sterling silver, designer home décor items, antique watches, garden furniture, water fountains, lamps and fancy candles.

Amritsar, September 7
United Colours of Science and Technology, a programme dedicated to the teachers’ was organised at Khalsa College for Women today.

The students exhibited their talent in debate, singing, skit, poetic recitation, fancydress, dance, collage making, poster and model making and thanked teachers for their contributions.

KCW principal Dr Sukhbir Kaur Mahal said the program aimed to acquaint students with the prevailing evils in society.

Amritsar, September 7
The Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) today organised a massive rally to oppose mandatory environmental clearance for brick-kilns fearing that closure of brick-kilns would result in unemployment of workers.

The agitators presented a memorandum of their demands to MP Navjot Singh Sidhu and Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal.

President of the sabha Mulak Raj said the closure of brick-kilns would result in a widespread unemployment.

He said the workers would oppose any such move of the government and brick-kiln owners to close the kilns. He said there are around 2,700 brick-kilns in the state and around 3,00,000 workers are directly associated with the business.

Brick-kiln Owners Association had already stopped the operations at their working sites to create pressure on the government so that they do not press on environmental condition.