Amritsar, October 8
Suspicious over the character of his wife, a man brutally stabbed her to death and fled from the scene here today. Kuldip Kaur, a resident of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, died on the spot.

Inder Singh, the accused, had a quarrel with his wife which took an ugly turn, following which he attacked and stabbed her for about 25 times, leading to her instant death.

A team of the Sultanwind police reached the spot and started investigation. A case under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code has been registered in this connection.

The incident came to light when the four children of the couple returned home from their school. They saw their mother’s body in a pool of blood. Hearing the cries of the children, neighbours gathered on the spot and informed the police.

Many people gathered near the spot on hearing the shouts of the woman. However, nobody dared to stop the man and save the woman. They remained a mute spectator while the accused fled from the spot in front of their eyes. He was carrying a bag with him.

The police took the woman's the body in its custody and sent it for postmortem. The police authorities said they had launched a manhunt to nab the culprit who has been on run.

They said the accused used to suspect the character of Kuldip Kaur. This often led to quarrels between them, but today it took an ugly turn leading the death of Kuldip Kaur. The couple had four children - three girls and a boy - from their 15-year-long marriage.

Amritsar, October 8
Even after the registration of a first information report (FIR) against the four accused for raping a girl following a local court’s order, the police has failed to arrest the culprits.

Meanwhile, the victim's family members today alleged that they were being continuously threatened and pressurised by the accused to reach a compromise.

Even after two months of the shocking incident, the city police had not registered a case against the accused even as the family had approached the police immediately after the incident came to light.

“Although an FIR has been registered by the local police, not a single arrest has been made till date. The accused are at large and they are threatening me and my family to reach at a compromise,” said the victim in a letter to Police Commissioner Ram Singh.

She alleged that though the incident took place on August 6, the police had failed to register a case on the pretext that it was "waiting" for the medical examination report for taking any action. The accused reportedly did this for teaching the victim a lesson, as she had lodged a complaint against one Jatinder Singh of the same area. The accused, the victim alleged, were known to Jatinder.

The victim, in her complaint to the police, had alleged that the four accused, identified as Ashu, Akhil, Babbu and their unidentified accomplice, abducted her by brandishing a sharp-edged weapon, when she was going to a market for some domestic work. She stated that the accused, who are all residents of Preet Nagar, near Nangli Bhatha, on Fatehgarh Churian Road, took her to an empty house situated close to Baba Shri Chand Gurudwara on Majitha Road.

The accused tied her hands and legs with an electric wire and thrashed her before Akhil put some tablets into her mouth, after which she fell unconscious. She was raped by them one by one.

But ironically even after the medical examination of the girl, the police, instead of taking any action against the accused, dithered on registering an FIR against them. She alleged that she, along with her family, made rounds of the Sadar police station hoping for some positive response, but in vain.

The girl then filed a complaint against the police and the accused in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, which ordered the police station concerned to immediately register an FIR in this connection and later inform the court about it. About the reason behind the incident, she alleged that on July 31, Jatinder misbehaved with her, after which she had lodged a complaint with the police. The accused might have committed the crime to take revenge.

Gurdev Singh Mattu, counsel for the victim, said the police even did not bother to record her statement under 164 CrPC in front of the Duty Magistrate. He urged the Police Commissioner to instruct the police officials concerned to arrest the culprits and expedite the investigation.

The family today met Police Commissioner Ram Singh, who forwarded the case to the ADCP(City-II) Amrik Singh Pawar to look into the case.

Amritsar, October 8
Even as the Municipal Corporation (MC) initiated a special drive to remove illegal hoardings from roadsides, rooftops and those tied to traffic lights, the structures used for pasting these hoardings were left untouched.

A team, led by MC Commissioner Dharam Pal Gupta, went to various parts of the city as Crystal Chowk, Bhandhari Bridge, elevated road and GT Road and got the hoardings removed.

The MC took the action following directions by the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued 10 days ago. In the fresh directions, the court had stated that illegal hoardings would not be tolerated.

The large-size rooftop and roadside hoardings were a distraction for the drivers. Their presence in abundance on every nook and the corner of the city reflected badly on the heritage and culture of the holy city.

Ironically, after the announcement of the results of the Municipal Corporation elections held recently, most of the illegal hoardings on roads had the pictures of the newly elected councillors or office-bearers, whom the residents had believed would work for betterment of the city.

As the large iron frames on which these illegal hoardings were fixed earlier have not been removed, the general public, which by now is well acquainted with the functioning of public officials, feel that hoardings would come up again - only it is a matter of time.

“I can guarantee that these would come up again in 10 days. By the next month there would be another drive to remove hoardings. Why the MC did not remove these structures,” said Rajinder Singh, a commuter, while the MC officials were busy in their exercise.

Perhaps the permanent solution to the problem lies in removing of all the illegal structures and ensuring that no new structure is allowed to come up. In the present scenario, after the large number of hoardings has been removed, sky looks more clear and roads more distraction free.

When contacted, MC Commissioner Dharam Pal Gupta said, “We are very strict about the issue. If anybody tries to install a hoarding illegally in future, we would make sure than an FIR is registered against him.”

Talking about the frames that have not been removed, Gupta said, “We are waiting for the new advertisement policy. After that we would auction the places that are approved and others would be removed.” He said all illegal hoardings in city would be removed.

Amritsar, October 8
About 600 teachers, employed in 33 schools run by the National Board of Rural Development (NABARD)-sponsored scheme in Amritsar, are peeved at the alleged non-serious and casual approach of the authorities towards releasing their salaries.

The perturbed teachers claim that their salaries are invariably released after months which hits their domestic budgets, as they have to take loans to meet various requirements.

Teaching and non-teaching staff working in the NABARD-run schools are not getting their salaries for the past four months. However, this is not the first time that they’re facing such a problem. Earlier too they had not received their salaries for months. They received their last salary of three months from March to May in September and now they are awaiting the salaries from June to September. Earlier, these teachers were not paid salaries from April to September, 2011.

Apart from this, hundreds of these teachers working in the NABARD-sponsored senior secondary education in government schools of rural areas are agitated over the recurring delay in the release of their salaries for months together.

A teacher, posted at a remote rural school, said, "I have not received my salary for the past four months. I am the only earning hand in the family of seven. The delay in salary means I have to take loan for day-to-day needs." The school fee of children and other mandatory expenses cannot be postponed.

About 10,000 teachers are working in these schools in Punjab. Otherwise, as many as 7,654 teachers are recruited under the NABARD-sponsored scheme in 351 schools in different parts of the state.

These teachers under different categories of masters, lecturers, vocational courses and non-teaching employees like librarians were recruited by the state government through an advertisement published in 2009, promising the pay scales that varied between Rs 3,200 and 6,400, which was increased from Rs 6,900 to 10,790, following the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.

The teachers rued that earlier it took the government two years to complete the recruitment procedure and now time and again ther's a delay in releasing of the salary.

The Government Schools Lecturer Union district president Deepinderpal Singh and state advisor Aman Sharma said their union had received a lot of complaints from the teaching and non-teaching staff working under the NABARD scheme. They urged the government to release the DD power for a year to the officials concerned for the employees working under the NABARD scheme.

They warned that if the demand was not met, they would be forced to launch an agitation.

Amritsar, October 8
The Northern Railway Men's Union (NRMU) staged a protest on the road leading from the railway station to Circuit House here to oppose the government’s move to introduce the FDI in the pension fund. The police had to divert the traffic towards other roads because of the road block.

Addressing the agitators, a union leader, Dilbagh Singh, said the UPA was bent upon harassing the employees with its policies. The employees stated that they would oppose any such move with all their might.

Vice-president of the union Jasmangal Singh criticised the government for its involvement in scams. "As the UPA itself is involved in so many scams, it is making such policies to take away whatever little the salaried people have,” he said. The NRMU leaders said they would intensify their protest to oppose the introduction of the FDI in the pension fund.

Amritsar, October 8
The BBK DAV College for Women lifted the overall championship trophy of the "A" Zone Youth Festival of Guru Nanak Dev University today. More than 800 students from affiliated colleges participated in the youth festival. Hindu College remained runners-up and Khalsa College, Amritsar, stood third in the festival.

In the "B" Zone Youth Festival, the Shehzada Nand College for Women stood first, while the SDSPM College for Women, Rayya, remained second and the SSSS College of Commerce for Women came third.

Prof Rajinderjit Kaur Pawar, Dean, Academic Affairs, presided over the valedictory function and awarded trophies to the winners. Addressing the students, Prof Pawar said cultural activities were needed for remembering our rich heritage.

She said these festivals provided equal opportunities to both boys and girls to perform on one platform.

Earlier, Dr Jagjit Kaur, Director, Youth Welfare, GND University, welcomed the chief guest. She also honored Prof Pawar with a memento.

Amritsar, October 8
On the eve of the 478th birth anniversary of the founder of the holy city, Guru Ram Dass, a nagar kirtan was taken out today.

The religious procession, led by Panj Piaras, passed through Sri Guru Ramdas Niwas, Chowk Ghanta Ghar, Bazaar Mai Sewa, Bazaar Papdaan, Chowk Chhatti Khuhi, Dal Mandi and Chawal Mandi. Guru Granth Sahib was placed in a beautiful golden palanquin bedecked with flowers.

Religious societies, gatka groups, shabad groups, school and college bands, Shiromani Committee, Dharam Prachar Committee and devotees participated in it.

Earlier, an ardas was performed and Panj Piaras were felicitated with "siropas" before the procession proceeded from Akal Takht.

President of the SGPC Avtar Singh congratulated the Sikh sangat on the Gurpurb of the fourth Sikh Guru. He urged the sangat to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple to seek blessings of the Almighty.

Secretary of the SGPC Dalmegh Singh said "prabhat pheris" would be carried out from Gurdwara Attari Sahib in Sultanwind village, Gurdwara Pipli Sahib and Bhai Vir Singh Hall at 6 am tomorrow (on October 9). He said a "jalaon" (show of splendour) displaying rare and precious articles and artifacts would be held at the sanctum sanctorum, Akal Takht, and Gurdwara Baba Attal Rai, inside the Golden Temple, from 9 am to 12 noon tomorrow.

The SGPC would hold a firework and “Alaukik kirtan darbar” to commemorate Gurpurb at the Golden Temple tomorrow evening.

Amritsar, October 8
In a respite for the people wishing to get their properties registered by the legal attorney appointed through a power of attorney by the owner, Revenue Minister Punjab Bikram Singh Majithia today announced a further extension of three months, till December 31, for considering such cases.

The Revenue Department had earlier announced an extension till October 28 only after the public, especially property dealers, had opposed the government orders stating the need for the presence of the owner along with the legal attorney at the time of the registration of the property.

Majitha was here to conduct a surprise inspection of the tehsil complex. Talking to mediapersons, he said the decision to extend the date was taken after a demand from various quarters.

Majithia said the date had been extended on the demand from a large number of people. However, he stated that the process of registration involving power of attorney was often used to dupe the government treasury of registration fees levied at the time of sale and purchase.

He said the introduction of new set of rules as per which the owner had to be present at the time of registration of property even if he had given a power of attorney to someone else would help in curbing the property-related disputes, besides checking underhand deals in which the fees was usually evaded.

During the surprise check at the tehsil office, Majithia interacted with the general public.

Addressing the grievances put forward by the public, Majithia ordered officials to do the needful.

Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal informed the minister that better infrastructure would soon be created in the complex for the comfort of the people. He said the waiting hall for the people in the registry area would be made air-conditioned.

Aggarwal said a new token system at the registration office had been initiated to ease the process for the general public. He said tokens could be collected from 8 am to 4 pm and only a limited number of 200 tokens would be given in a day. A separate counter for NRIs, senior citizens and physically challenged persons had been set up at Suwidha Kendra from where tokens can be collected from 9 am to 5 pm.