The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	10-yr-old boy goes missing Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 8 A 10-year-old boy, Gurkirat Singh, went missing under mysterious circumstances from the Verka area at 4 pm last evening. No ransom call has been received by the boy's parents till now. The incident is being connected with a land deal, which the boy's father Angrez Singh has recently struck. Gurkirat, studying in Class III at Modern Study School, Majitha Road, came home at about 3 pm. An hour later, he went out to play but never returned. Tension prevailed at Gurkirat's residence located near Gurudwara Nanaksar Sahib. His mother Kulwinder Kaur, surrounded by relatives and neighbours, said she last time she saw Gurkirat was when he left home to play at the back of their residence. "I made tea and went to call him up, but he was not there," she said sobbingly. The couple has two sons - Gurkirat Singh and Harkirat Singh. Gurkirat was younger to Harkirat. The family had recently struck a deal to sell a chunk of agriculture land worth Rs 4.63 crore, for which an advance amount was already received. Angrez Singh said no demand for ransom was received. "We cannot suspect anyone in our acquaintance. We have not received any call for ransom and we are not involved in any dispute with anybody," he said. Karaj Singh, an uncle of the victim, said though nothing concrete could be said about the incident, but the land deal, which the family had struck, could provide a lead. "At present, we are clubbing the matter with the land deal and his abduction on that account cannot be ruled out. We are taking police assistance in tracing the child," he said. Deputy Superintendent of Police Baljeet Singh said the police was working on different theories to crack the case. "At present, there is no news about the whereabouts of the missing child. Even as no ransom call has been received by the family members, it is yet to see whether the child had left home on his own or someone has abducted him. We have registered a case and search is on to trace the missing child," he said. Meanwhile, the family has reportedly announced Rs 1 lakh award for anyone who trace their missing son. They have constituted teams of their relatives and friends to search for the missing child. Announcements at religious places, bus stand and railway station have been made about the incident.
	3 students booked for cutting hair of Sikh fellow; 1 arrested Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 8 Three students of the Khalsa College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (KCVAS) here have been booked for allegedly shearing hair of one of their junior Sikh student. Out of the three, Navjot has been arrested today, while the other two - Simranjit Singh and Jobanjit Singh - are still at large. All are students of the IIIrd year of Bachelors in Veterinary Science, who allegedly shorn the hair of Saranjit Singh, a student of IInd year in the same stream. Saranjit Singh lodged a complaint with the Cantonment police station and the trio has been booked under Sections 295 and 34 of the IPC. Sharanjit Singh said the seniors barged into his room on the evening of November 6 and overpowered him before cutting a bunch of his hair with a pair of scissors. It has been learnt that Sharanjit Singh had an altercation with the trio on the premises of the college some hours ago on the same day. The seniors were allegedly offended with Sharanjit for his opposing ragging about a year ago. “They used to tease me as I had opposed their move of ragging juniors about a year ago, as they had tried to misbehave with me then. On November 6, a verbal altercation occurred between us near the college canteen over the same issue and they threatened me with dire consequences. I just ignored it and came back to my room at Sainik Rest House at about 4 pm,” he said. “Hardly an hour and a half must have passed when the seniors gained entry into my room and before I could realise their intentions, they took out a pair of scissors and cut my hair. One of my college mates Kanwaljit Singh, who studies in B.Tech (mechanical), was a witness to this episode,” he alleged. The Principal of KCVAS, S.K. Jand, said the college had constituted a committee to probe the matter, but the members of the committee told him that neither the victim nor the accused turned up to face the inquiry. “The moment father of the victim Sukhwinder Singh apprised me of the incident, I formed a committee to investigate the matter, but nobody from either sides came to put their side of view. Moreover, the incident had occurred outside the college premises, let the law take its course. On our part, if they are held guilty, we will take disciplinary action accordingly,” he said. Sources said all the four studied in the same class in the 1st year, but Sharanjit was detained the same year and he became one class junior to the accused. Meanwhile, investigating officer Harinder Singh of the Kabir Park police post said Navjot was arrested today while the other two were still at large. “The exact cause of the incident is under investigation. We are raiding the suspected hideouts of the accused.
	Surge in prices may hit sale of crackers Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 8 Burning a hole in the festival budgets of the common people, prices of firecrackers recorded a surge of about 25 per cent to 30 per cent from the previous year. Green firecrackers struggled to find place in the buying list of customers as they were more costly than the normal firecrackers. Satnam Singh, a trader, said green firecrackers could not gain much popularity among the customers as they were about 25 per cent costlier than the normal ones. He said even China-made firecrackers were not popular among the locals as they preferred crackers which burst in the sky. A packet of ‘Hawai’, which was available at Rs 70 last year, now costs Rs 100, while its another kind is at Rs 40, which used to be Rs 25 last Divali. Similarly, a packet of ‘Anar’, previously available at Rs 160, now costs Rs 200. The cheapest available firecracker in the market is ‘Chitput’, which costs Rs 5 per piece, while the most costly is ‘Joy 260’, which costs between Rs 200 and Rs 2,500. ‘Whistle Hawai’ is another popular cracker. ‘Flowerpot’, which starts at Rs 40 and goes up to Rs 150, is the new arrival in the market. Harish Dhawan, president, Amritsar Fireworks Association (AFWA), anticipated that the sale of firecrackers at the wholesale Jahajgarh market would double from the last year’s Rs 1.5 crore. He said last Divali wholesale traders had been given only four days by the administration to sell their merchandise. He said the Punjab and Haryana High Court today permitted 10 more shops out of the total of 30 to operate and hoped that these shops would be opened by tomorrow. He said 20 shops were already opened on November 1. As per the established norms, the Police Commissioner issues licences for a certain period to allow the sale of firecrackers under the Explosive Act. Similarly, the Union government issues licences under the Petroleum and Explosive Safety Act for the storage of crackers. He said there were around 30 wholesale traders, who had licences under the Petroleum and Explosive Safety Act. The district administration had to implement the stringent rules following the instances of fire break out due to crackers. Earlier, wholesale cracker markets used to be situated at the IDH Market near the Bus Stand and Pappar Wala Bazaar near the Golden Temple inside the city used to be another popular location. However, these markets had to be shifted to Jahajgarh in 2000 after a massive fire had broken out at IDH market in which material worth crores had perished and loss of human life had been reported in 1999.
	North Zone Inter-University Youth Festival Accomplished artistes inspire budding talent at alma mater Neha Saini Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 8 Every academic institution has a success story. While some have many and others a few. And these success stories are what is required to inspire the ones who follow or aspire to follow the path of success. So when the 28th North Zone Inter-University Youth Festival, “Guldasta” opened at Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) on Wednesday, inspiration was flowing free among the student gathered as some of the success stories shared the stage and their experiences with over 15,00 students from 28 universities. The budding student artistes gathered to compete in music, dance, theatre and performing arts competitions being held at GNDU. Singer Jasbir Jassi, Sarabjit Cheema, Amrinder Gill and Satinder Satti were present as the brand ambassadors of their alma mater. They were honoured for their achievements. Nostalgia ran high as they shared their formative years spent in honing their skills participating in various youth festivals with the students. "Youth festivals are probably the most important events in a student's life, if not for the intellect, for the shear emotion. Now, everybody knows about the colourful demonstrations of energy, the celebrations and upbeat mood, but the talent is the real entertainer. I remember when I was a student here and participated in various youth festivals as a singer. The encouragement, cheers and criticism I got on stage helped me achieving my present and hopefully contribute to my future," said Amrinder Gill, actor and singer, who did his master's degree from GNDU. Amrinder also gave an entertaining performances on his hit songs for the cheering crowd. "I used to get loudest cheers then as well," he shared in a light mood. Apart from the fact that youth fests give students an opportunity to show their talent, boost confidence and know the competition, it also opens the door for a career opportunity. "Most talented artistes are picked up by the talent scouts of some big labels in music Industry, who have made college fests and youth fests a ground for finding fresh talent," shared singer Sarabjeet Cheema, who had participated and won accolades as a bhangra dancer during his student years. "I was a member of the bhangra team and won many prizes in youth fests for best dancer. Singing happened later," he added. Satti, who was quite outspoken in getting the message across, kept it direct. "University is a place to have fun and what is more fun than youth festivals. Many outsiders come here to experience the beautiful environment, the cultural spirit and of course the pretty faces around," she said. Many known artistes have built their foundations participating and performing at youth festivals as students and taking a cue, singer Amrinder Gill, too, said young and aspiring artistes should make youth fests an important platform to perform and hone their skills.
	Divali gift options become bigger, better Neha Saini Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 8 The king of all festivals is here. Divali is a time to splurge, celebrate and pamper your near and dear ones. And city knows it the best as goes the saying "Dal roti ghar di, Divali Amritsar di" (nothing beats the taste of home-cooked food and Divali celebrations in Amritsar). It is not just a saying, but a statement that symbolises the essence of the festival of lights, of festive spirit that the holy city is so proud of - the city wrapped in lights and season's decorations, narrow lanes to multi-storeyed malls jam-packed with festive offers and everybody soaking in the festive spirit. Whether its food, clothes or jewellery, the favorite time of the year is here and the best you can do is go shop. Divali gifts are the most important and popular part of the celebrations. From being a gesture of festivities to becoming a status symbol in the social circus (pun intended), Divali gifts have seen a makeover with new concepts and customised improvisations having made their mark in the market. "Since Divali is the most important festival in India, everybody is in a festive mode. Over the years, the Divali budgets have become important and inflation or recession has no effect over it. Gifting options have become bigger and better, moving away from regular sweets and dry fruits. People are now mostly into customised gifts and designer options," says Bharti Malhotra, owner of Bharti Arts, which specialise in making customised gifting options like murals, clay and moulding crafts and paintings. "My Divali special includes decorative thalis in crystal with embellishments, home decor items like murals, even portraits," she says. Depending on the kind, one might spend anything between Rs 1,000 and 15,000 per gift. And that's not all, SS Innovations in Green Avenue have more on offer. Silver photo frames embellished with pearls and semi-precious stones, customised candle stands in white metal and silver, and lots of silver decor items are what they are talking about. "Silver makes for a very classy and elegant gift and since it is auspicious for the season, it becomes a perfect gifting option," says Sujata, owner of SS Innovations. The price falls between Rs 500 and Rs 5,000 per piece. Since silver is Divali favourite, there are some expensive and exclusive gift options like silver diyas, lamps and religious portraits. If not the cash or kind types, then there are more out-of-the-box options like gifting a grooming and spa session. Like it? Festive offers like body spas, face treatments and hair treatments on the occasion are easy to pick and gift. One can gift them as a surprise grooming package or else get the bookings done before hand. We are talking of a traditional or therapeutic foot spa, sauna and jacuzzi therapies and hair spas within the range of Rs 999 to Rs 1,899.
	multiple LPG connection holders Last date for submitting KYC forms is November 15 Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 8 Multiple LPG connection holders are having sleepless nights as the oil and gas agencies have clarified that November 15 is the last date for submitting the Know Your Customer (KYC) forms by them. Both genuine customers, in hurry to submit KYC forms, and LPG distributors, unable to handle the rush of customers, heaved a sigh of relief. Area Manager of the IOC Sanjeev Sharma said it was mandatory for all LPG consumers to submit KYC forms, but the last date was only for those who had multiple LPG connections. He added that LPG customers not appearing in the list of multiple connection holders were not needed to submit KYC forms as of now. The decision to cap number of subsidised LPG cylinders to six per annum led to confusion about the fate of multiple connections and transfer of old connections, besides surrender of surplus connections. As the rumour of November 15 being the last date for submitting KYC forms doing the rounds, a large number of LPG consumers were seen thronging the offices of LPG dealers. He said after limiting the number of subsidised LPG cylinders, the company had come up with fresh customer-friendly guidelines to simplify the process of transfer, unblocking blocked connections and releasing new connections. As per the latest guidelines, a consumer could get a new connection online and those who having big families and requiring more LPG cylinders than the prescribed limit could get an instant new additional connection and similarly non-subsidised cylinders. He added that the consumer would have to pay existing market rate for cylinders on this connection. He added that the IOC had nearly 5.23 lakh connections in Amritsar, besides there were two other players - BPCL and HPCL. When asked about the total number of multiple LPG connections in the city, he said the process of verifying the same was underway and the exact number would be known only after its completion. District Food and Supply Controller Dr Rakesh Kumar Singla said LPG was considered a green fuel and had a wide range of uses. He opined that environment friendliness and multiple uses of LPG, coupled with the advantage of its pricing, was enticing people into using the product meant for domestic cooking for other purposes like commercial cooking and even to drive automobiles. Meanwhile, KYC form requires a range of inputs from consumers. These inputs are name, consumer number, date of birth, father's name, mother's name, name of spouse, address, telephone number, mobile phone number and email ID. A clause of it seeks at least one of the following documents for proof of address: Aadhaar (UID), lease agreement/rent receipt, telephone/electricity/or any other utility bill, driving licence, voter ID, passport, ration card, house registration document, LIC policy, flat allotment/possession letter and self-declaration attested by gazetted officer. It also seeks consumer's bank name, its branch, address, IFSC code and account number and PAN number, if one possesses.
	25 centres set up for teachers’ eligibility exam Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 8 The Central Board of Secondary Education has established 25 centres for conducting the Central Teachers Eligibility Examination (CTET) in Amritsar on November 18. CTET city coordinator Dr Dharamvir Singh said candidates must download their roll numbers from the website as the same would not be sent through post at their residences. He added that syllabus of the test and previous question papers were also available on the website. Three centres have been set up at Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary Public School on the GT Road, Majith-Verka bypass, Sultanwind Link road; three centres at Khalsa College’s science, commerce and agriculture blocks; Guru Teg Bahadur Public School, Khankot; Cambridge International School; Army School, Amritsar Cantonment; Sri Guru Teg Bahadur College for Women; Bhavan’s SL Public School; Spring Dale School; Ram Ashram Public School; DAV Public School; Ryan International School; Khalsa College for Women; Amritsar Public School; BBK DAV College; Kendriya Vidyalaya – I; Khalsa College Senior Secondary Public School; Sri Guru Harkrishan International School; Manav Public School; Police DAV Public School; and DAV International school.
	from schools and colleges Tender Feet Nursery School holds annual function Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 8 Tender Feet Nursery School celebrated the spirit of today’s youth by depicting common scenarios in our modern life during the annual function held here today. Prabha Tandon, principal of the school, said: “It is high time that we accept the reality and address core issues in the formative years of a child's education”. Students and their parents enjoyed the delightful presentation. Region-level contests Robinpreet Kaur of Baba Gurmukh Singh Uttam Singh Senior Secondary School, Khadoor Sahib, won the first position in the declamation contest held under the three-day region-level competitions at Government Girls Senior Secondary School. The contests, which were organised by the Punjab School Education Board, Mohali, concluded today. Apart from Amritsar, students from Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Tarn Taran, Hoshiarpur and Pathankot took part in the contests. Manpreet Kaur of Government High School, Birampur (Hoshiarpur) was adjudged winner in poetry recitation. Palwinder Kaur of Baba Naga Public Senior Secondary School, Bhoma, stood first in general knowledge competition. Ved Kaur of Arya Girls Senior Secondary School, Qadian, was the winner of gidda competition. Additional Deputy Commissioner Supreet Singh Gulati distributed prizes among the winners. Divali Mela Ahead of Divali, the BBK DAV College for Women today organised a two-day Divali Mela on its campus. Students from class XI to MA, including BFA, displayed exclusive designs created specially for the occasion. These objects include torans, candles, diyas, shandeliars, rangoli colors, pots, decorated mirrors, greeting cards, mobile covers, carry bags, etc. Beautiful paintings of Ganeshas, flowers, seascapes, decorative patterns, etc, are also being exhibited along with the stalls. This fair is an annual feature of the Fine Arts Department. Dr Neelam Kamra, principal of the college, inaugurated the fair. She said the aim of the fair was to vocationalise the abilities of students. They themselves design and execute all items. Hence, all sale profit goes to them. Two-day workshop A two-day workshop on “Iron Indicators: Assessment and Amelioration” began today at BBK DAV College. It is organised by the Department of Zoology. Dr Monika Bhardwaj presented introductory speech on the relevance of the workshop. The event was organised for screening girl students for iron deficiency and non-iron deficiency anaemia and subsequently chalking out a plan for the amelioration of anaemic status among the students. Iron Indicators those were determined included Serum Iron (SI), Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC), Serum Ferritin (SF), Haemoglobin (Hb) and Complete Blood count (CBC). The BMI (body mass index) was also recorded. A poster-making competition was also held on the occasion, featuring iron status of Indian women.