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Another robbery incident rocks city
Rampant encroachments by residents, shopkeepers in Putlighar area
Old schools in
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MC collects Rs 11 crore as property tax, date for filing extended
A heavy rush was witnessed as residents thronged a camp to deposit property tax in Amritsar
on Tuesday. Photo: Vishal Kumar
Licence Expired
MC indifferent to plight of Company Bagh
Joint venture between India, Pak traders at PITEX
NRI police arrests two for defrauding old woman
Pharmacists assn holds poll
Protest held against animal torture
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Another robbery incident rocks city
Amritsar, December 10 The incident occurred around noon when a handicapped woman, identified as Daljit Kaur, was alone at home. The robbers entered the house when the domestic servant had just left the house. Daljit Kaur stated to the police that the four accused had covered their faces and immediately after entering the house, demanded money. When she said she did not have any, the culprits threatened to kill her. They took the keys of the almirah and took away gold jewellery, including three rings, a pair of ear rings and a digital camera. Parvesh Chopra, SHO, B-division police station, said following the statement of Manohar Singh, the husband of the victim, the police had registered a case under Sections 382 and 454, IPC, in this connection. He said preliminary investigations pointed towards the involvement of an insider in the case. He said the police would soon lay hands on the culprits. This is the second such instance in the city area. Earlier, a couple of unidentified persons had barged into a house in the posh Ranjit Avenue area and looted gold jewellery worth Rs 20 lakh after keeping the woman hostage. The police was yet to crack the case while it has claimed the involvement of an insider in this case also. However, even after nearly two weeks, the Civil Lines police does not still have a clue. Meanwhile, a New Delhi resident was robbed by two unidentified motorcyclists who snatched away her bag near the Punjab Roadways workshop opposite Gobindgarh Fort. Narinder Kaur, the victim and a resident of Rohini, New Delhi, said she was going to the railway station by an auto-rickshaw when a few unknown youths came from behind on a motorcycle and took away her bag containing her passport, a mobile and Rs 4,000 in cash from near the roadways workshop. The police have registered a case under Sections 382 and 34 of the IPC at the Civil Lines police station in this regard.
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Rampant encroachments by residents, shopkeepers in Putlighar area
Amritsar, December 10 Thanks to the political shelter, the violators have become more powerful than the law-makers. The area has become a paradise for the encroachers. The road leading to historic Pipli Sahib Gurdwara has also been encroached upon by shopkeepers, vegetable and fruit vendors while the road leading from Putilghar Chowk to Gwal mandi areas has been reduced to mere streets. It has become impossible to even move on foot on these roads due to frequent traffic jams. Even tough action by Municipal Corporation authorities did not deter the violators from encroaching upon the main roads. Two councillors belonging to the ruling party have their sweet shops on these roads and both of them have extended their shops illegally and put up gas stoves for making sweets. "Politicians should lead from the front in decongesting the area, but unfortunately our worthy leaders even shelter other offenders," said a resident while preferring not to be named. It has become almost impossible to remove these encroachments. Even when MC authorities accompanied by a police force go to the area for removing the encroachments they have to face the wrath of the people who attack the party. In October and November last year, MC teams were thrashed by the people of the area. "The shopkeepers have extended their shops and gobbled up footpaths and a major part of the road while unorganised parking also adds to the woes of the commuters," said Pritpal Singh, a local resident. "Devotees visiting the gurdwara often complain about the problems being faced by them due to traffic jams. Besides traffic chaos, these encroachments have also become a source of garbage. Vegetable vendors throw vegetable waste on the GT Road. Often, stray animals block the road while eating this waste. This leads to accidents many times," he added. Vegetable sellers, pull carts and ready made garment sellers have encroached upon the main GT Road.
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This school believes in tapping talent
Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service
Amritsar, December 10 He said the objective was to catch them young. He added that the school has taken upon itself the job of developing skills among students so that they need not to hanker after job once completing their education. Bajaj pointed out that “universities and colleges in the region were striving hard to place their students in companies”. The gap between the students appearing for the tests and interviews and the number of successful candidates is appalling. Officials of many companies were found complaining of not finding the right stuff. Notably, the school was established by Shri Ram Educational Society, which was founded in 1923 in response to the Non-Cooperation Movement call given by Mahatma Gandhi. As a result, the school was established to meet the challenges of the British colonial rule and to promote the spirit of nationalism among students. The school stands out among plenty of schools, even run by religious educational societies, as it does not charge any capitation fee and donations. On the reason for moderate fee structure in comparison to other CBSE affiliated schools, Bajaj said the educational society was of the firm belief that there were a large number of families in the city which had limited means and income but were not ready to seek financial assistance. The school has designed its fee structure accordingly. School principal Vinodita Sankhyan said apart from curriculum, the stress was laid on providing value based quality education at an affordable fee structure. She said the school offered liberal financial assistance and even gizmos to brilliant students. The school has thrown open a library, e-library, small gymnasium, a health gym, smart classrooms for its students. Following internal wrangling in the society, the student strength plummeted to 19 in 1999. It was then that the society, headed by late Dr Harbilas Rai, got the school affiliated to the CBSE. After 14 years, now the school has a strength of 3,200 students. Another school of the society is located on Batala road. The school will seek its affiliation to the CBSE from the next academic session.
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MC collects Rs 11 crore as property tax, date for filing extended
Amritsar, December 10 Superintendent, house tax of MC, Sushant Bhatia, said, “So far around 70,000 people have deposited the tax.” He said the date for filing of tax with 10 per cent rebate has been extended till December 31 by the state government, adding that the extension of date for filing of property tax had benefited both the tax payers and the MC employees. The MC employees are working at least for more than 10 hours a day to meet the targets for collection of property tax. A huge rush of people was seen at the offices designated by the MC for collecting property tax today. The civic body has set up nine zones in the city for collection of tax. It has also organised more than 150 camps in the city to facilitate people in filing the tax returns, said Bhatia. Bhatia said the MC had a target to collect Rs 40 crore as property tax till March 31, 2014. In the coming days, MC officials expect that more tax payers will file their taxes. Bhatia said around Rs 51 lakh as tax was collected from the residents of Ranjit Avenue, Lawrence road, Transport Nagar, Maqbool road and Basant Avenue. He said so far at least 30 per cent of the targeted people had paid the tax. He said the city had around 895 different areas on the basis of variations of collector rates of property. “With the extension of the date, we hope that we will be able to reach out to the residents of all these
areas,” said Bhatia.
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Health Department seals ultrasound machine
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, December 10 The machines were sealed after the inspection team led by the District Family Welfare Officer, Dr Ranjit Singh Buttar, found that the licence of the machines had expired around a year ago and the hospital was operating these machines without even applying for the renewal of the licence. According to the norms, the caretakers or the owners of the machines are required to apply for the renewal one month before the expiry date of the licence. The department had earlier constituted five teams for the inspection of all the ultrasound centres in the city. Each of these teams was led by an official of the rank of a Senior Medical Officer. While talking to The Tribune, Buttar said a report of the inspection was submitted to the Civil Surgeon, Dr Usha Bansal, who approved the sealing of the machines. Buttar said the ultrasound room at the hospital was found open even though no sonologist was found present at the place. He said a sonologist wearing a white coat and a name plate bearing his name should be present at the place. The inspection team also found that the hospital did not have a latest copy of the PC-PNDT Act which is mandatory for it under the provisions of the law. Further, even the board claiming that no sex determination tests were conducted at the place was not found to be of proper size and displayed at the appropriate place. Dr Buttar said while no big anomalies were found at other centres inspected by the teams of the department, a notice would be issued to all so as to make them comply with government rules.
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MC indifferent to plight of Company Bagh
Amritsar, December 10 The employees often resort to burning the garbage instead of proper disposal to get rid of it. “Whenever the employees burn the garbage, the smoke makes it difficult for the people to breathe at Lawrence Road and Crystal Chowk,” said
Nav Jeevan Singh, a local resident. The smoke emitted by the burning of the garbage, mostly plastic, spreads a suffocating cloud on the nearby roads and thus makes driving difficult for the commuters. The MC, which is responsible for ensuring cleanliness at the place, seems to have turned a blind eye to the problem of burning of garbage. “The burning of garbage and even tree wastes at public places is an offence according to the anti-pollution laws. How can
the government expect the general public to abide by these rules when its own limb is flouting
these daily,” said Avneet Singh, an engineering graduate. As a result of burning, the inner side of the boundary walls of the garden has turned blackish. The issue has been highlighted by media reports and the residents concerned on a number of occasions, but MC officials have failed to issue instructions to the employees concerned. The garden is visited by hundreds of joggers and walkers daily who feel that the city does not have enough of such places and even this one is not being maintained properly.
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Joint venture between India, Pak traders at PITEX
Amritsar, December 10 Talking to The Amritsar Tribune, Farooq Ahmad
Malik, chairman of the board of directors of the new JV, said both the Indian and Pakistani companies have 50:50 per cent share in the concern, which was registered at Amritsar. Following its inception, the company had imported products from Lahore, where it had a manufacturing unit, for sale in Indian market, he shared. Sharing difficulties faced during the setting up of the JV, he said as far as the Pakistan’s government and its procedures were concerned, it was quite convenient, but they had to undergo arduous rules in India. “We sought permission from External Affairs and Finance ministries in India, besides registering with the Punjab Industries Department. Similarly, seeking visa for employees is an uphill task in India,” he said About 20 employees of the Amritsar-based company underwent training at the Lahore-based factory, but the delay and drill they had undergone had delayed their business plans, he said. He anticipated that the JV would provide employment to about 200 youngsters in Amritsar. Amritsar-based Indian partner of the JV, Pradeep
Sehgal, said that the Lahore-based firm specialised in manufacturing polished and laminated doors, kitchens, wardrobes, school, colleges and offices furniture, besides laminated tiles.
— TNS
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NRI police arrests two for defrauding old woman
Amritsar, December 10 According to details, Charan Kaur, mother of two NRI brothers used to live in Uthia village. She had around three acres of agricultural land and an ancestral house. Satpal and Dilbagh took the old woman, an illiterate person, in confidence and got the registry of the land and the ancestral house in their names in 2008 on the pretext that the government was distributing compensation for putting up a thermal plant. Gurbir Singh, SHO, NRI police station, said a few months ago Charan Kaur went to visit her sons in Singapore. When she came back, she found all her belongings missing and her ancestral house in illegal possession. She informed her sons about this and they lodged a complaint with the NRI police station. The SHO said following investigations, the two accused were found guilty and a case under various sections of the IPC was registered against them last evening. In a late-night swoop down, the police arrested both the accused who were being brought on police remand for further probe, he added.
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Pharmacists assn holds poll
Amritsar, December 10 District election observers Kishore Sharma and Ajay Padhri said that the election results were out and Deepak Rai Devgan had been elected as the president from
Ajnala. The other officer-bearers include Ravinder Pal from Chogawa, Baljit Singh from
Majitha, Harmit Singh from Tarsikka, Bhupinder Singh from Verka, Harjinder Singh from Baba
Bakala, Gurmej Singh from Jandiala, Gurdial Singh from Amritsar (urban), Raman Kurmar from Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital and Ravinder Sharma from
ESI. State president Shamsher Singh Kohri said the list of five executive members of the association would be finalised soon.
— TNS
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Protest held against animal torture
Amritsar, December 10 The activists alleged that animals performing in these circuses are routinely tortured by the managers and trainers of the organisation. They demanded that use of all animals in the circus should be banned under the law. Grishma Myatra, an activist of PETA said, “The animals in circuses are routinely chained, beaten and denied everything that is natural and important to them.” She said that humans should stop treating animals just for their cheap entertainment.
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The Municipal Corporation collected approximately Rs 1 crore as property tax by the last date for filing tax returns with a rebate of 10 per cent today. MC officials said that so far they had collected around Rs 11 crore as property tax from the local residents.
Even as the state government claims to have transformed the holy city into a tourist destination, the ground reality is that one of the major attractions here, the Company
Bagh, is not free from garbage.
The paper and plastic waste can be seen lying around the statute of Maharaja Ranjit Singh at all times. Even when the garbage is collected by the Municipal Corporation employees, there is no system to dispose it
of properly.
