Amritsar, November 17
Having the facelift of cities on agenda, the Local Bodies Department today disbursed grant-in-aid worth Rs 751.58 crore to all 149 local bodies of the state to compensate them for the loss of octroi.

The grant is meant for the overall development of the cities. It was disclosed by Anil Joshi, Minister for Local Bodies, Punjab.

The Municipal Corporation, Amritsar, has been allocated funds to the tune of Rs 65.55 crore, the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, has been disbursed an amount of Rs 184.84 crore, Jalandhar Municipal Corporation Rs 77.87 crore, Bathinda MC Rs 33.33 crore, MC, Mohali, Rs 25.70 crore, Patiala MC Rs 18.21 crore, Moga MC Rs 15.93 crore, Hoshiarpur MC Rs 13.55 crore, Pathankot MC Rs 9.54 crore and the Phagwara Municipal Corporation has been provided the finical assistance of Rs 8.99 crore.

Joshi said the grant-in-aid was provided to local bodies from the collection of VAT.

The respective local bodies, including municipal corporations, municipal councils and panchayats would use this grant for providing better basic amenities and setting up modern infrastructure.

Joshi reiterated that the Punjab Government’s resolve to enact total facelift of all cities by providing the citizen basic amenities coupled with ultra modern infrastructure.

He said the funds were provided to the local government for the seven months (up to October 31, 2013,) of the current financial year 2013-14 and in total Rs 751.58 crore was disbursed to the local government.

Amritsar, November 17
A mobile phone has been recovered from another jail inmate on the Amritsar Central jail premises.

Even as the Jail authorities have installed sophisticated search equipment to keep a check on forbidden material inside the jail premises, there has been no let up in instances of smuggling of narcotic substances and mobile phones to the jail.

Nonetheless, in the fresh incident, the jail authorities recovered a mobile handset from an undertrial, Ramandeep Singh.

Confirming the incident, Deputy Superintendent RK Sharma said the handset was without SIM card.

“We have registered a case with the Cantonment police station against Ramandeep under Sections 454/380, IPC. The accused must have hidden the SIM card somewhere else,” he said.

Talking about the repeated instances of recovery of mobiles and narcotics from the jail premises, Sharma said: “The inmates are under scanner. Still, they manage to bring mobile phones and drugs,”adding that mobile jammers were a must in high security jails to check such incidents.

Amritsar, November 17
The Kathunangal police has booked four persons for allegedly thrashing and looting members of a family near the Pakharpur area on the Amritsar-Batala road.

Amarjit Singh, a resident of Quadian, told the police that he along with his three family members were coming to Amritsar from the Batala side when they stuck in a traffic jam near Pakharpura.

He said four persons, who were travelling in a car, came from behind and entered into an argument with them over giving side to their vehicle. Later, they broke the windowpane of the car with a hockey stick.

He alleged that the accused also snatched a gold necklace and earrings of women who came out of the vehicle to pacify them.

The police has registered a case under Sections 392 and 34 of the IPC against the four youths.

Harjit Singh, investigating officer, said earlier the accused had a dispute with the family members near Jaintipur where the construction of a bridge was underway.

He said a truck got stuck at a speed- breaker near Pakharpura that led to the traffic jam. At this point, the four youths who came from behind again entered in a verbal dual with the victims, which later turned into a scuffle.

He said when the female members of the family came out of the car to intervene in the matter, the accused, as per the compalinant, snatched their gold jewellery and left the spot.

Further investigations were under progress to identify the youths, he added.

Amritsar, November 17
With the last date of depositing the property tax (with a rebate of 10 per cent) approaching, MC teams have been pressed into service to conduct awareness/ collection camps on Sundays and gazetted holidays also.

Today, it collected Rs 3.25 lakh by conducting one such camp at Ward No 51 where around 250 residents deposited their taxes on the basis of self-assessment formulas. Though the Amritsar MC has endeavoured every possible step to sensitise residents about depositing their property tax, as applicable in the state w.e.f April 1, 2013, the pace with which the tax amounts are pouring in, it seems to be quite unfeasible that it would be successful in recovering cent per cent recovery.

Even as the date of the Punjab Government’s ordinance to pay property tax in urban areas falling under the MC limits has been extended till November 30 in Amritsar, a total of Rs 1. 8 crore has been collected from around 10,000 residents only. After analysing the collection graph, it has been observed that there has been a lukewarm response among commercial unit owners.

Confirming the lukewarm response, MC’s Superintendent Shushant Bhatia said the commercial unit owners were still reluctant to pay property taxes.

“If there are just 10,000 residential unit owners who paid their property taxes, it was just 1,500 commercial unit owners who paid their taxes. We cannot achieve the target until and unless we collect at least Rs 20 lakh daily, but the average collection is limited to under Rs 5 lakh daily. In today’s camp, we could collect only Rs 3.25 lakh. The matter has been brought to the notice of the higher authorities,” Bhatia said.

It has been learnt that Secretary, Local Government, Ashok Gupta, is likely to visit Amritsar soon to review the progress of the implementation of property tax in the city. The Amritsar civic authorities anticipate to garner between Rs 40 to Rs 50 crore annually.

Amrtisar, November 17
In its drive against drug abuse, the police has arrested eight persons allegedly involved in drug peddling and seized narcotic substances from their possession.

They were identified as Daljit Singh of Kaler village, now residing near the Mahan Singh gate, Baldev Singh of Guru Arjun Dev Nagar, Tarn Taran road, Jaspal Singh of Ajnala road, Amar Singh of Majitha road, Balraj Singh of Khanpur village, Kamal Sharma of Gehri Mandi, Jagtar Singh of Kaonke and Pardeep Kumar of Chheharta.

Daljit was nabbed with 260 gm of some narcotic powder while Baldev Singh, Jaspal Singh and Amar Singh were held with 250gm, 100gm and 150gm of narcotic substances, respectively.

Balraj Singh and Kamal sharma were arrested with 100 gm and 200gm of intoxicant powder, respectively, while Pardeep was nabbed with 100 capsules and Jagtar with 10 gm of heroin in separate cases. The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act, 1985.

Amritsar, November 17
A low turnout of devotees at Ram Tirath, the ancient hermitage of Bhagwan Valmiki, during the annual fair has perturbed the traders who had set up their stalls here. They believe that the ongoing tussle between various warring factions is affecting the footfall at the shrine.

Two groups of Nath Yogi sects led by Mahant Malkiat Nath, who is supported by Bhagwan Valmiki Dhunna Sahib Trust chairman Om Prakash Gabbar, a political leader associated with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and another led by Mahant Baldev Giri are currently locked in court battle to take control of two rooms, known as Dhunna Sahib. Dhunna Sahib is believed to be the original site of the ashram.

A couple of months ago, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the Amritsar rural police to get the possession of the two rooms hand them over to Mahant Baldev Giri. These orders have not been implemented so far.

The police kept the orders in abeyance fearing it could lead to a law and order problem since an attempt to take over the said rooms had resulted in pelting of stones.

At present, the rooms are under the possession of another group led by Mahant Malkiat Nath, who is supported by Bhagwan Valmiki Dhunna Sahib Trust chairman Om Prakash Gabbar, a leader associated with the SAD.

On the other hand, an action committee of various Balmiki factions brought the matter Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal of the foundation stone of Bhagwan Valmiki temple having been laid for at Ram Tirath area on the land which reportedly belonged to the Balmiki Mandir Gian Ashram.

Badal was in the city recently.

The communiqué said the 11 acres of land belonged to the Kaler village panchayat.

The panchayat has given the land on contract to the Gian Ashram Dera, which has been tilling it for the past 27 years.

Sant Ram, a trader, said, “I hold a stall of puja articles and another for bangles every year. A low turnout of devotees is apparently hurting our business. I will not be placing further order for procuring material as the sales are unlikely to pick up.”

He said people deliberately held back from visiting the ancient shrine.

The Ram Tirath complex is located on the Amritsar-Chogawan road where sage Valmiki is said to have composed the Ramayana and offered shelter to Sita after she was banished from Ayodhya, according to the legend. The temple site is believed to be the place of birth of Luv and Kush.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal laid the foundation stone for the proposed Rs115 crore Valmiki Temple marking the Pargat Utsav (birth anniversary) of Maharishi Valmiki at a state level function here on October 18.

The state government decided to raise the temple in the middle of the sarovar while Dhunna Sahib rooms are situated on a corner of the embankment of the holy pool.

The government contacted a team of architects of the Sri Guru Ram Das Department of Planning and Architecture, Guru Nanak Dev University which prepared the layout and site plan which had already been approved and finalised. The main temple, a sangat hall, a museum on Bhagwan Valmiki, a panorama depicting the Ramayana, a multi-storey parking lot to be turned into a landscaped garden and 2.5 acres piece of land would see construction of L-shape serai building.

Amritsar, November 17
Several NGOs today initiated the third phase of cleanliness drive at various places in the city. Voice of Amritsar, among other NGOs, cleaned up the railway station, including its entrance.

Marking areas that have been neglected by the civic body, the NGOs extended their “dustbin campaign” to ensure that all commercial areas here have dustbins installed.

“The main entrance of the Amritsar railway station has a footfall of over 50,000 everyday. Voice of Amritsar started the campaign in the morning when about 60 of its members joined to clean the main portico of the station entrance.

“We also cleaned the Golden Temple replica in the verandah of the railway station. Posters and illegal hoardings on the walls were scrapped and all the garbage was removed. The Voice of Amritsar has over 4,000 people and we have made it our priority out to clean the city,” said Dr Rakesh Sharma, president, Voice of Amritsar.

They were joined in their effort by Eco Amritsar, GNDU faculty members and students, students from Government School Heir, Mission Aghaaz, Amritsar Vikas Manch, Global NGO and other organisations.

Some of the Ngos have come together to form an umbrella club, Go-NGO, which will work for the development and cleanliness in and around the city in collaboration with the administration.

“This club will ensure smooth and equal distribution and implementation of government developmental and welfare schemes at the grassroots level, take responsibility for independent development works and run educational and awareness campaigns to reach out to people about issues like cleanliness, ecology, literacy etc,” said Gurbhej Singh from Mission Aghaaz.

The concept of GO-Ngo has also been given a green signal by the Deputy Commissioner and it will function in tandem with the authorities concerned.

This was the third phase of the cleanliness drive which earlier saw their volunteers clean up the over bridge that had been turned into a dump. Other areas under the cleanliness drive are Race Course Road, Nehru Shopping Complex and parts of Rattan Singh Chowk.

“We want more people to join in our efforts and inform us about the areas that need attention in terms of garbage problem and sanitation issues. We will continue to carry out our individual efforts to clean up every nook and corner of the city,” said Dr Sharma.

Amritsar, November 17
Various colleges and schools from across the state participated today in the one-day Inter-College Media and Art Festival held at DAV College here.

Organised with the collaboration of American India Foundation, the event aims to develop intellectual skills among the students. The department is involved in providing quality media education to the aspirants and focuses on imparting education through films and other audio-visual mediums.

A US-based non-profit organisation, the American India Foundation (AIF) focused exclusively on India. It is running a project in Punjab by the name "Our Family, Our Neighborhood, Our World ('O3')", an innovative education project fostering cross-cultural understanding and social good by connecting students, educators, and artists through multimedia, music, dance, and theatre in India and Pakistan.

Principal Dr KN Kaul welcomed Aamir Aijaz, project manager, O3. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Kaul said the media and art festival was a platform for the students from various colleges and schools. He said media acts as the fourth pillar of democracy and people related with it directly or indirectly. He said such efforts are a step forward. Aamir Aijaz said the America-India foundation has been a part of such events.

"This media and art festival is one of the various activities that we are doing under 'O3 Project to make youth rich in culture, self-reliant and socially conscious," he said.

"The next AIF- O3 project is going to organise a 'O3 Film Festival on December 21 in Amritsar. Submissions of films made on the cultural and social issues of Punjab by school and college students are welcomed from all corners of Punjab latest by November 30 and selected films will be screened in the Festival," he added.

In the first session, the students from various schools and colleges participated in extempore, mimicry and ad mad. A series of competitions were hosted in the second session, such as poetry recitation, singing (solo), caption writing, still photography and film screening. Students participated with zeal in the event.

Anita Devgan, a prominent film face, also graced the event as a guest of honor, who interacted with the students and shared her experience of films with the students. It is pertinent to mention here that Devgan has played important part in various Punjabi films as actor and director. She added that it was an immense pleasure for being a part of such live show and experiencing the young talent from close quarters.

Amritsar, November 17
Global Institutes vice-chairman Akashdeep Singh recently returned after attending the Global Engineering Deans Council Conference, (GEDC-2013) organised by the University of Notre-Dame in Chicago (USA).

He said the main goal of the conference, which concluded on October 22, was to provide heads of the institutes with ideas, tools and best practices to become innovative leaders of engineering education.

A qualified engineer, Singh said he felt highly satisfied after interacting with the delegates who had come from different parts of the world. —TNS

Amritsar, November 17
The three-day Annual National Cricket Tournament of Association of Schools for the Indian Schools Certificate (ASISC) will kick off at Gandhi Ground from tomorrow.

The tournament is sponsored by Sport Mentor, a company jointly owned by Anjali Tendulkar and Aarti Sehwag. The tournament is being held under the umbrella of Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE).

The tournament is hosted under the auspices of St Francis School along with the cooperation of Alexandra School, Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Basant Avenue and St Joseph’s Convent School, Khasa.

Various schools affiliated with the Indian Schools Certificate (ASISC) will take part in the event.