Amritsar, November 25
The state government earned over Rs 33 crore in the process of regularisation of properties and illegal colonies constructed and raised in violation of law in the district till the end of the deadline on November 5. The government permitted its departments concerned to accept the pleas for regularisation of properties at enhanced fine by extending the date of the process up to December 13.

It was the second time that the government extended the deadline to accept the applications for regularisation with enhanced fine. Earlier, the state government extended its deadline up to November 15 after it had ended on November 5 -- before the deadline was to end on October 7 within 45 days of the notification of the policy.

The enhanced fine for illegal colonies is 25 per cent and for plots, it is 10 per cent. After the conclusion of the extended deadline, the fine will increase by 50 per cent for unapproved colonies and 20 per cent for plots.

In the district, the Municipal Corporation is collecting the regularisation fee from the public falling in its jurisdiction and the Amritsar Development Authority (ADA) is doing it from the natives in the rest of the district.

There are about 405 illegal localities in the city. Of these, 242 illegal colonies are under the Municipal Corporation and 167 under the ADA.

On behalf of the MC, Municipal Town Planning department collected over Rs 20 crore. On the other hand, the ADA has garnered Rs 13.10 crore till today.

According to the Regularisation of Unapproved Colonies Act, specially constituted committees under all these authorities will start working once the extended date for accepting the applications with enhanced fee will be over, in this case December 13.

These committees will comprise a senior official of departments concerned (MTP and ADA), SDMs of the sub-divisions concerned, District Town Planner and a Superintendent Engineer-level official.

These committees will have an uphill task to identify the colonisers and then extract composition charges from them. They will need to consult registries and 'farads' of such colonies, which are available with the Revenue Department, to identify the colonisers. These committees will have penalising powers like recommending discontinuing of sewerage, water supply and electricity connections to illegal colonies and individuals.

The new policy envisages compulsory application for regularisation by owners of plots and buildings in the unauthorised colonies for compounding/regularisation of their plots.

The composition fee for the regularisation of unauthorised colonies constructed before August 17, 2007, is 0.5 per cent of the collector rate as on April 1, 2013, subject to a minimum of Rs 25,000 and a maximum of Rs 1 lakh per acre.

For unauthorised colonies constructed after August 17, 2007, the fee will be 2 per cent of the collector rate, subject to a minimum of Rs 1 lakh and a maximum of Rs 5 lakh per acre.

Amritsar, November 25
Suspended Municipal Town Planner (MTP) Des Raj has levelled serious allegations against MC officials including that of bribery for extending undue favours to the proprietors of illegal buildings. He has also named former MC Commissioner and Mayor and filed an affidavit in the Punjab and Haryana High Court alleging he was tortured mentally by MC authorities.

Des Raj has also written to the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court as well as to the Supreme Court that his life was under threat as he had been receiving threatening calls daily.

Incidentally, it was on October 17, when Des Raj was placed under suspension on the charge of corruption by Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi for allegedly demanding a bribe for providing a no-objection certificate for the registration of a house in Amritsar.

Denying all allegations, Des Raj said the City Mayor, the former MC Commissioner and the Senior Town Planner demanded Rs 1 lakh each every month; otherwise he would have to give up his position. Des Raj claimed that MC officials misguided the Local Bodies Minister and got him (Des Raj) suspended on a false pretext.

“I have met the minister and apprised him of my plight. He heard me patiently and assured to review the matter. The alleged NoC of the said house has not been issued till date. It was on record. So on what grounds I was suspended is still not clear to me. I was not even served a chargesheet. I got the suspension orders only on November 19. Before that, my powers were withdrawn since May 30 when I refused to oblige the three officials. They had asked me to bring Rs 1 lakh each and continue every month. I pleaded that I was a humble man, but they didn’t listen to me,” he said.

Des Raj claimed that he was being humiliated apparently for belonging to a reserved community.

“I will bring the matter to the notice of the National SC Commission that I was made a scapegoat and was humiliated at every point of time before his juniors as I belonged to SC community. I have also written a letter to the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court as well as to the Chief Jusitce of Supreme Court at New Delhi”, he said.

Denying all allegations, STP Hemant Batra said all his allegations contained no truth. “Moreover, I have no role to play in his suspension. It was done at the Local Bodies Ministry level”, he added. City Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora said it was a thorough probe which revealed the nefarious designs of Des Raj. “We are scrutinising his record and conduct thoroughly since his joining. There were constant complaints against him due to which the former MC Commissioner Bhupinder Singh had withdrawn his powers. His allegations are baseless,” he said. 

Amritsar, November 25
Ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections, the SAD-BJP coalition government has embarked on a image makeover campaign.

Major coalition partner Akali Dal fielded leaders of the BJP, which has pockets of influence in urban constituencies, in the holy city today. BJP leaders led by its state party chief Kamal Sharma, Local Body Minister Anil Joshi, Industry Minister Madan Mohan Mittal, political adviser to Chief Minister, Tikshan Sood, and others addressed groups and fielded questions of members of various business and other associations. The objective was to dispel the image of a government introducing one tax after another.

Addressing a cross-section of various associations, Joshi alleged that the Congress and its leaders were dexterous enough to spread rumours. He stated that the property tax was reduced considerably. Similarly, commercial property tax was also reduced from 15 to 3 per cent.

He claimed that the state government had to impose all these taxes under pressure from the Congress-run Union Government. He said the Congress rumour mill put in its entire wherewithal to defame the SAD-BJP government, to deviate the attention of the people form its corrupt leaders who had been involved in scams of crores of rupees.

Mittal said the SAD-BJP coalition government introduced a new format, according to which traders could do their business without keeping accounts after January 1. He said it was made possible as the tax would be deducted at the initial stage itself.

BJP state chief Kamal Sharma said his party was of the people and for the people. He added that people must see though the designs behind rumours and conclude accordingly.

Amritsar, November 25
Days after SAD leader Maninder Singh Bittu Aulakh and industrialist Jagdish Singh Chahal were arrested by the Patiala police, the city police have arrested a former district Congress women wing president Madhu Khanna, alias Kavita Rani, of the Namak Mandi area for allegedly indulging in drug trafficking.

According to the police, she and her son, Gagan Khanna, were involved in selling habit-forming drugs. It claimed to have seized 600 intoxicant tablets from Madhu and 400 from her son, Gagan. They were arrested by the police a few days ago.

Ashok Kumar, SHO D-division police station, said they used to sell intoxicant drugs to rickshaw-pullers and labour class. An intoxicant tablet or a capsule which was available in the market for Rs 2 was being sold for Rs15 to their clients by them, said the police official.

Gagan was earlier arrested by CIA staff last year for a similar offence and a case under the NDPS Act was registered against him at that time. He was currently on bail.

Investigations showed that Madhu Khanna, a small-time Congress leader, used to run a tea shop on the ground floor of her residence. She had been in the drug trade for the past one and a half years.

Police authorities said that there had been several tip-offs against Madhu Khanna regarding drug peddling following which police teams laid a trap and sent a policeman impersonating as a customer.

When she was selling habit-forming drugs to him, the police conducted a raid at her home and confiscated intoxicants from her possession. The police also arrested her son, Gagan Khanna, and seized 400 intoxicant tablets from him.

During interrogation, it was found that she used to procure the contraband from Avtar Singh, a resident of Gali Munshian wali.

"Avtar Singh has been on the run since his name cropped up in the investigations. He was also booked by the police for a similar offence and was currently on bail. We have launched a manhunt to arrest him as his interrogation could lead the police team to the main suppliers of intoxicants to them," said Ashok Kumar. 

Amritsar, November 25
It was all about music and people. The purpose with which Idea Jalsa concert series Art and Artists began its 14-city tour from Amritsar, was enjoyed visibly. The concert at Khasa BSF post got the jawans dancing to the folk and energetic tunes of Master Saleem.

The first-time show in the holy city with Jalsa-Art and Artists, a brainchild of actor-artiste Durga Jasraaj, was nothing less than ethereal. The combination of the best, as musical maestros Master Saleem and Shabad from Ragees of Golden Temple, came together at the Khasa Army Headquaters, the concert was enjoyed by families of jawans as well as music lovers. “Over the past seven years, the project Idea-Jalsa, music for the soul, has grown from strength to strength across all mass media. It is now in 165 countries, but our first performance in Amritsar was really special and the the crowd support was spectacular,’ shared Jasraj.

As for the maestro and popular singer Master Saleem, who entertained with his soulful sufi and popular songs, it was one of the best performances of his career. “It’s always a pleasure to perform among Punjabi fans and with the concert being held for the jawans of the BSF, it makes it special,” said the singer after his performance. As for his association with Jalsa-Art and Artists, Saleem says such initiatives give confidence and support to Indian musicians. “Since the effort is to promote talent from various genres of music and artistes with folk backgrounds, to be associated with music’s cause gives a purpose to our singing.” 

Amritsar, November 25
In a shocking incident, a drug addict strangled his wife and later committed suicide by hanging himself in Gehri Mandi village in the Jandiala Guru area late last evening. The deceased was identified as Lakhbir Singh and his wife as Rajwinder Kaur, alias Raj.

According to details, Lakhbir Singh, a labourer, was an acute alcoholic and a drug addict and his wife used to object to his habit of drinking.

On Saturday, the couple had a quarrel after Lakhbir left his work in the middle and returned home drunken. Enraged over this, Lakhbir strangled his wife and later committed suicide by hanging himself from the roof of the house, said Sub-Inspector Harjit Singh, who is investigating the case.

The couple had two children, Jobenjit Singh (14) and Gurpreet Singh (12), from their marriage. Harjit Singh said action had been initiated under the CPC and bodies of the couple were handed over to their relatives after the post-mortem examination today.

Amritsar, November 25
Bollywood actor Kareena Kapoor Khan surprised the visitors at Golden Temple as she visited Amritsar unannounced. She flew in to attend a corporate event for Limca, a brand she endorses.

Later, she visited the Golden Temple before flying back to Mumbai. “It was a very enlightening and amazing experience to have visited the Golden Temple. I feel spiritually uplifted,â€� said the actor. — TNS

Amritsar, November 25
A resident of Dharmu Chak village, Satpal Singh, committed suicide by immolating himself last evening.

On the basis of a complaint filed by his family and a suicide note that was recovered from the site, the Mehta police have booked his wife and four others (in-laws) in abetment to the suicide case. No arrest has been made so far.

Darbara Singhm, father of the deceased, in his statement to the police said that his son was married to Balwinder Kaur of Khujala village. He alleged his in-laws used to harass him mentally. He alleged that yesterday his son received a call from his sister-in-law, Raji, and her husband, Joga Singh of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, Sultanwind road. After the call he became mentally upset and later set himself on fire and succumbed to his injuries.

Investigating officer Kewal Krishan Singh said that Satpal's family produced a phone recording of the interaction between Satpal and his in-laws. The recording revealed that he was very upset with them and had even mentioned to end his life. Later, the family also presented a handwritten suicide note of Satpal in which he held his in-laws responsible for his extreme step.

A case under Section 306 of the IPC has been registered against his wife Balwinder Kaur, Sukha Singh, Budda Singh of Khujala village besides Raji and her husband Joga Singh in this connection. He said further investigations were under way while raids were being conducted to nab the suspects.

Amritsar, November 25
The instances of crime against women have been continuing unabated as yet another case of molestation was registered with the local police here last evening.

Though the incident took place at the parking of a shopping mall on November 10, the victim lodged the complaint with the police last evening, said the police officials.

The police have arrested two youths out of the five booked in the case. The victim, who is an employee in a showroom in the shopping mall, in her complaint to the Maqboolpura police alleged that she was standing in the parking of the mall after her duty hours, when around five youths passed obscene remarks at her. When she objected to this, the accused allegedly entered in verbal altercation and abused her besides threatening her of dire consequences. Soon the situation took an ugly turn and the suspects slapped her.

Investigating Officer Surjit Singh said initially the girl did not know the names of the accused persons and perhaps that’s why she had not informed the police at that time. Her family then identified the persons at their own level and efforts were made to reach a compromise made by the accused persons.

“The girl filed a complaint and we registered the case under Sections 354, 341and 506 of the IPC,” said Surjit Singh

Among those booked include Rajesh Soni of Kot Harnam Das, Amrik Chohan of Sherawala gate, Vinay of Hakimawala, Jaskaran Singh of Batala road and Gurpreet Singh of Sultanwind road.

“The police have arrested Rajesh Soni and Gurpreet Singh. They were sent to judicial custody while raids are being conducted to nab the remaining culprits,” he said. 

Amritsar, November 25
A state-level capacity building workshop on the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) was organised by the Housing and Urban Dev Corporation at Town Hall, Amritsar.

The objective of the programme was to apprise the officials of urban local bodies about the nuances of this flagship programme by the Government of India.

The Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) aims at making the cities and towns slum-free.

The Government of India has envisaged a grant assistance of 50 per cent of the project cost to the cities with a population of more than five lakh and 75 per cent of the project cost to the cities with a population of less than five lakh.

The participants were made aware of the various provisions of guidelines, action points, components and checkpoints through different presentation by the Housing and Urban Dev Corporation officials and guest faculty from the Guru Nanak Dev University.

Amritsar, November 25
After the preliminary hearing on the cognizance being taken by the Amritsar MC regarding the illegal hotels/ guest houses/ inns around the Golden Temple, the Punjab and Haryana High Court bench has fixed the next date of hearing as February 3.

MC Commissioner DPS Kharbanda and STP Hemant Batra appeared before the High Court to appraise the action being taken in this regard.

Senior town planner Hemant Batra said the survey report of illegal mushrooming of over 150 illegal commercial structures was tabled before the High Court bench today.

“We acquainted the High Court about the exact picture and allegations being imposed on us. We will be appearing on the next date with more evidences as has been directed by the High Court,” he said.

The MC authorities had earned the wrath of the High Court in the past for mushrooming of illegal hotels around the Golden Temple and had failed to initiate any action against them. Thereafter, a fresh survey was conducted by three teams, comprising three officials each and 150 hotels/inns/guest houses, including three sarais (inns) of the SGPC which were the part of the list of illegal structures which defy laid down building bylaws. “

MC Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said it was directions of the High Court that besides the existing ones, not a single fresh illegal construction should crop up around the Golden Temple. “We had identified 40 such buildings and some of which faced demolition action recently. The rest of them will follow the action as per law,” he said.

The MC is scanning the whole scenario as per law. The 21 hotels or guest houses were those which were located in the Galliara area around the Golden Temple. There were 150 commercial establishments which were running illegally.

“These hotels never obtained the NOC either from the Municipal Corporation or the fire department,” said an official.

“With no alternate fire escape route, there were only ‘narrow stairs’ leading to upper floors. None of these hotels/ Inns/restaurants have the mandatory provision of parking lots,” said the official. 

Amritsar, November 25
Following instructions from the Education Department, teachers of government schools are making arrangements to hold lectures and awareness programmes to educate students about forthcoming celestial event as per which Comet ISON will appear in the sky with maximum brightness on November 29.

A science teacher, Pankaj Kumar, said: “Apart from the state Education Department, the Department of Science and Technology, Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti, other science and astronomical bodies are also doing their best to use this occasion for spreading awareness on astronomy.”

He said, “In communication to all school in Punjab, the DGSE office has directed the teachers to organise awareness lectures, discussion and day-time astronomy activities.”

The forthcoming event is pegged as a special day in the history of astronomy as most awaited comet of the year, comet ISON, nearest to sun, will occur on November 29. It will pass the Sun at a speed of 1.1 million km above the solar surface.

A keen observer of astronomical events, Sanjay Marwah, said he and his family are enthusiastic for the upcoming passage of the comet towards earth after a very long time. He said it would be a lifetime experience to capture the fleeting glance of the comet. 

Amritsar, November 25
Ishwar Chander Sharma, IG (Border Range), today inaugurated the Idea Junior Championship League 2013, an inter-school sports championship, conceptualised by IDEA Cellular.

The Amritsar zonal finals held at Khalsa School saw students from over 40 schools competing against each other in sports events like athletics, volleyball, basketball, hockey and judo. The inauguration of the zonal finals received a phenomenal response from the participants, along with their coaches, parents and schools. The finalists selected in Amritsar competed with each other with full zeal and excitement.

Speaking on the occasion, Ishwar Chander Sharma said: “Sports have always played an important part in our lives as it gives our energy a positive direction.” He said drugs have captured Punjab’s youth to a great extent and requested schools to encourage sports so that children can focus on sports and education and excel in their life.

Teachers should also encourage sports in the curriculum so that children understand the importance of good health and keep themselves away from any sort of addiction. He praised and congratulated Idea Cellular on focusing on sports and trying to polish talent in Punjab since past 3 years.

Felicitating the winners in the city, Arul Bright, Chief Operating Officer, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, IDEA Cellular, congratulated the winners and all the school children from across the city who participated in the Championship League.

Kapurthala, November 25
A pen down strike by the SSA/RAMSA non-teaching officials in Kapurthala entered its thirty-sixth day.

Navpreet Chahal, president, SSA/RAMSA Non-Teaching Employee Unioin, Kapurthala, condemned the state government for overlooking their demands.

He said their union has already launched a pamphlet-distribution drive to disseminate the state government’s wrong policies. “The state government has been discriminating us. The government has already granted revised pay scale to the RAMSA (Teaching) employees,” he claimed. —OC

Amritsar, November 25
Even after 48 hours, the police officials are yet to identify the body that was recovered from Kot Khalsa area in the intervening night of November 23-24.

The police have kept the body at a mortuary for identification purpose. Since the body seems to be of a migrant labour, the police have also contacted Uttar Pradesh Kalyaan Parishad, an organisation of migrants, besides several other organisations for identifying the deceased.

Unidentified youth was brutally murdered after his throat was slit. The police had registered a case under Section 302 of the IPC in this connection. "We have also informed neighbouring police districts, including Amritsar rural police, Tarn Taran and Batala," said investigating officer Mangal Singh.—TNS

Amritsar, November 25
JS Puri, a former IAS officer and father-in-law of MC Commissioner DPS Kharbanda died this afternoon.

He was admitted to the PGI Chandigarh after he had met with an accident a couple of weeks ago, but could not sustain multiple fractures. Earlier Puri, too, had served the holy city as MC Commissioner about one and a half decade ago. —TNS