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Group clash during auction of parking lots
Local Bodies Secy to gather feedback on property tax
Upward revision of collector rates on cards, move opposed
I do not believe in preaching: Author of children's books
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Trees, saplings dry up for want of care
Amritsar, May 27 Hundreds of trees on various roads in the city have been axed in recent months on the pretext of widening of roads. The remaining are drying up for want of care.
Fear haunts pharmacists
Social organisation protests bonded labour
Activists of the Volunteers for Social Justice hold a protest outside the deputy commissioner’s office in Amritsar on Tuesday.
PHOTO: R K SONI
Hoteliers seek relief from power tariff hike
Punjabi film treads beaten path
20 held for possessing narcotics, illicit liquor
One booked on rape charge
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Group clash during auction of parking lots
Amritsar, May 27 Members of both the groups received minor injuries. Sources said though the police recovered a double-barrel gun from the spot, no case was registered for the want of a complainant. Though some armed supporters of the one of the groups reached the spot with guns, a police team, led by ADCP City (1) Parampal Singh and ASP (East) Gaurav Garg, reached there following which they fled without causing any damage. Even the MC officials refrained from lodging a complaint. Meanwhile, the Ram Bagh police have asked the MC to provide details of the auctioneers. SHO Kulwinder Singh said in the absence of a complaint, no case was registered. "I didn't see any gun. In the absence of a complaint , we could not register a case. I had asked MC officials to file a complaint a number of times but they did not do it," the SHO said. Meanwhile, the MC has cancelled the auction. As per information, an auction for 19 parking lots in different parts of the holy city was held by the MC. As many as 65 bidders had paid Rs 40,000 per stand prior to the bidding. The auction for the Deen Dyal Upadhaya market parking lot was executed successfully but when it was the turn of the Machhi Mandi parking, a group objected to the process. This infuriated the other group, which led to a verbal duel. The MC officials tried to pacify them but all in vain. Superintending Engineer PK Goel, who was present on the occasion, said some of them were taken away but they started fighting again. Later, the armed men joined the fight. "We will file a complaint with the police against them," he said.
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Local Bodies Secy to gather feedback on property tax
Amritsar, May 27 The Secretary, Local Bodies, will hold a meeting with MC officials and resident welfare associations to gather the first hand information on the issue at Circuit House tomorrow. The meeting will be held at 11.30 am These kinds of meetings will be held all over the state. “The meeting is an endeavour to get feedback about the tax from different quarters of society as there has been a lukewarm response to the filing of the tax. It is a statewide exercise. The residents were hesitant to pay the tax as they had developed some misconception about it. The proceeds earned from the tax would ultimately be used to provide basic amenities under various Centre-sponsored schemes under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)," Municipal Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said . The MC had carried out a massive exercise to sensitise residents about property tax by holding various awareness camps and making online payment option available to them. However, the response to the drive remained tepid. MC officials confirmed that the half of the targeted amount could be realised till date. The lukewarm response to the property tax drive can be attributed to the fact that after the announcement of the General Election, the residents had hoped that it would be waived off. In Amritsar, around three lakh properties, including around 50,000 commercial units, came under the ambit of property tax. The MC had set the target of earning Rs 40-50 crore up to March 31 through property tax. Till date, only around 1.5 lakh units paid the tax. The total realisation from property tax is around Rs 21 crore. Now, defaulters will have to pay penal interest, counted from March 31, the last date for depositing the tax with 10 per cent rebate.
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Upward revision of collector rates on cards, move opposed
Amritsar, May 27 The real estate market in the border district is already reeling under a bad phase and the common man is finding it difficult to own his dream house. The imposition of various taxes, mandatory submission of PAN for purchasing property over Rs 5 lakh, high registry charges, high interest on house loans, costly construction material and sky-rocketing prices are ailing the real estate market here. A real estate agent, Harpinder Singh Walia, said the collector rates of the property were already high and these needed correction. He said presently there was a mismatch between the rates prevalent among public and others decided by the district administration, which is used during the registeration of a property. Citing the instance of New Golden Avenue, he said there were khasras number from 1187 to 1196 and a residential rate of Rs 17,200 per square yard is fixed by the government here. On the other hand, the prevailing rate among public is between Rs 11,000 to 12,500, depending upon location. Already real estate market is reeling under stress. Sources in the Revenue Department said the daily rate of registries had come down considerably. There used to be the registration of about 250 properties in Amritsar I and Amritsar II sections of the department every day before July last. Now, there are mediocre number of registeries are being performed. The sources say the income of the department from the registration properties has also come down. However, the real estate players say the ban on the registration of land deeds of the properties in the illegal colonies on July 11, 2013 changed the entire scenario. Earlier, the government had given a one-time opportunity to colonisers to get their offences compounded and plot holders to improve civic amenities in the illegal colonies by depositing development fee. Under the Punjab Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2013, the policy would remain in force from April 1 to March 31, 2014. Only the unapproved colonies or buildings constructed before April 1 would be considered under this policy. "After the implementation of the policy, it has come to light that investors were investing heavily in illegal colonies, which consolidated the speculative trend, resulting in an hike in land prices. In this scenario, the real buyers managed to own a piece of land only after it passed through many buyers," said Jastinder Singh, a real estate agent from Ranjit Avenue. He suggested that with the investors out of real estate business there was need to create policies to assist end users to own their house. Manmohan, a deed writer, said their business was hit adversely by the policy and it would remain so if the policy remained the same. He said due to the policy it had come to light that 90 per cent of the transactions were taking place in unapproved areas. He said 400 deed writers in the city had witnessed a considerable drop in their business. He said about two to four workers were attached to every deed writer but now they would have to decrease their staff in absence of inadequate work. However, even in this scenario the developers are in no mood to reduce the land cost.
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I do not believe in preaching: Author of children's books
Amritsar, May 27
That's why her book has a dog with unique superpowers. He can tell time, when it has disappeared from the world. "It was an amazing story to tell. A dog becomes a celebrity, a saviour in the time of need," she said. Sankar, who has a full-time job as an editor at Bloomsbury, has nurtured her writing skills for long. "I attended a workshop once on writing and that's when the seed for my own book was sown," she said. Her next is a young adult book about a girl who faces growing-up issues like bullying and homosexuality. "It's a developing genre in India and there are lots of writers exploring young adult themes like romance, growing up, emotions et al. One of the recent books from our publishing house is about romance and time travel," she said. Adventure, fantansy themes, she said, have instant appeal for young readers. "In India everything comes late and so young adult themes were already being written but never promoted. Its a growing market." But one has to be careful while dealing with young readers' minds. "Since young readers have quite a reflecting perspective, one cannot be too moralistic while dealing with young adult themes as they resist it. Reading is about enjoyment and satisfaction," Sankar shared. Sankar prefers to have school sessions and discuss children's perspective about her stories, whether from her own life or her books, as it helps break the paradox. "Alternate learning methods are effective in developing imagination and perception." As for her Amritsar visit, she was glad to have made it though a brief one. " I was always fascinated by the Golden Temple and the Wagah Border. I couldn't go to Wagah because of my busy schedule but I did manage to see the Golden Temple."
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Trees, saplings dry up for want of care
Amritsar, May 27
Dozens of these small trees and shrubs planted on the road divider on the Mall road, near Custom’s Office, have dried up as the plant residue is often burnt under them. The main road inside the cantonment area, popularly known as the Cantt road too, is clear example of official apathy. New saplings were planted on the stretch opposite the Army recruitment office and tree-guards were placed around them. A visit to the road shows that most of the saplings have dried up for want of care and large weeds have grown inside the guards. Despite the increase in temperature, the local civic authorities have yet to make arrangements for regular watering of plants. The recent plantation of costly ornamental saplings has not gone down well with the nature lovers and environmentalists. The wild palms (dates) were recently planted on various roads. At some places these were planted after uprooting the existing trees. PS Bhatti, a noted environmentalist and chairman of the Amritsar Pollution Control Committee, a non-governmental organisation, said, “These date palms have been purchased at an exorbitant price. At the same cost, hundreds of local plants can be planted, which will not require much care.” He said the recent chopping of plants on various roads was done ignoring the norms. Bhatti raised the matter in a meeting with district officials, who discussed biodiversity. “Instead of cutting trees blindly, they can be transplanted at other places, if it is so necessary to remove them for constructing roads,” said Bhatti adding that he had made a proposition to the administration to give him seven days to relocate these plants. The permission was, however, not granted.
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renewal of contract Tribune News Service
Amritsar, May 27 The contract, signed by the state government with the pharmacists and Class IV employees, will end on May 31. However, they have not received any communication regarding this from the government. "Just four days are left and the employees are worried," Kamaljit Singh Chauhan, president, Rural Health Pharmacists' Association Punjab said during a protest outside the deputy commissioner office here today. He said the employees would hold a state-level protest outside the Vikas Bhawan in Mohali. There are 1,183 rural dispensaries managed by zila parishads in Punjab. One rural pharmacist and one Class IV employee were hired on contract for every dispensary at a monthly remuneration of Rs 7,000 and Rs 3,000, respectively. These employees were first hired in 2006 and their contract had been extended from time to time. A majority of the employees has completed eight years of service. Just before the Lok Sabha elections, the association had initiated a chain hunger strike, which continued for 52 days before it was finally called off after the government assured to look into the issue. A protesting pharmacist said, “The government may punish us because we have been demanding regularisation of our services.” He said around 2,300 families in the state would be affected if their services were discontinued. fact file * There are 1,183 rural dispensaries managed by Zila Parishads in Punjab * One rural pharmacist and one Class IV employee were hired on contract for every dispensary at a monthly remuneration of Rs 7,000 and Rs 3,000, respectively * The employees were first hired in 2006 and their contract had been extended from time to time. A majority of them have completed eight years of service
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Social organisation protests bonded labour
Amritsar, May 27 VSJ state president Ranjit Singh said Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat had directed to free 100 brick kiln labourers. He added that the request for the same was submitted to the DC office on May 7. Earlier, bonded labourers had converged on the district courts to express their resentment, he added. These workers were bonded labourers as they did not have the right to work as per their choice, he said. The bonded labourers had also sought the implementation of the Bonded Labour Abolition Act, 1976. Quoting the statistics released by the International Labour Organisation, Ranjit Singh said, "There are 20.8 million slaves in the world. Of this India has the highest number of persons pushed into various forms of slavery. Punjab is not an exception to this."
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Hoteliers seek relief from power tariff hike
Amritsar, May 27 AHARA president APS Chatha said the hotels that were charging rent above Rs 200 were also charging 8 per cent luxury tax, 7.42 per cent service tax, which goes to the Centre. Besides, value added tax (VAT) on food in the most of the hotels is being levied at the rate of 14.3 to 19.25 per cent. Another member of the association, Piyush Kapoor, said the proposed beautification tax had created panic in the hospitality industry. Kapoor said their business was a seasonal one and at times, they were forced to offer rooms at concessional rates. In this scenario, many hotels were up for the sale while the ownership of a five-star property has gone to an international firm. Despite paying different kinds of taxes, the tourism industry is in crisis. The city's heritage sites are in a shambles and other infrastructure is in a deplorable condition. It has been a long-pending demand of the hoteliers to prolong the stay of tourists in the city.
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Punjabi film treads beaten path
Tribune News Service Film stars Roshan Prince and Jassi Gill play best buddies-turned-competitors for Simran Kaur Mundi's attention. The trio along with the comedian, Bharti Singh, interacted with the media in the city today. "The film is about two guys, who are best friends and keep getting in one trouble or the other. They fall in love with the same girl, Simran Kaur, and the film has some of the funniest moments during their attempts to catch the girl's attention," said Roshan. The actor, with successful films like "Naughty Jatts" and "Fer Mamla Gadbad" behind him hopes to get lucky with MTBR. His co-star, Jassi Gill, however, said that this would be his third and most refined acting on the screen as a newcomer. "I never planned to become an actor as I was happy to be a singer but post-Dil Vil Pyar Vyar, I have become more confident. Sharing screen with Gurdas Maan was a dream come true and this film has honed my acting skills," he said. Gill, who already had a good bonding with Roshan Prince during their singing careers, had fun shooting the film. "The major focus of the story is on two guys' relationship, their bonding and their friendship. Sometimes, we improvised during the shooting, so everything you see on screen comes off as real," he said. Bharti Singh, who will be seen playing her funny self in the film, said she had real fun during the making of the film. "Not for a day we took it as work. The entire team worked with great spirit," said a jubilant Bharti. Directed by Navinder Kirpal Singh, the cinematography of the film is done by John Wilmor. Bharti added that MTBR would establish a new quotient of laughter and performance in the Punjabi cinema.
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20 held for possessing narcotics, illicit liquor
Amritsar, May 27 The A Division police arrested Jaspal Singh and seized 150 grams of toxic powder. From Malkiat Singh, they recovered 35 bottles of illicit liquor. Sarabjit Singh was held with 26,250 ml of illicit liquor while Sunny and Raman Kumar were arrested with 70 grams of intoxicant powder each. Neeraj Kumar was held with 150 grams of intoxicant powder. ASI Manohar Singh of the A Division police station said a case under Sections 22, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act and 61,1,14 under the Excise Act had been registered against the accused. The Chheharta police arrested three persons, Narinder Singh with 250 grams of intoxicant powder, Kanwaldeep Singh with 200 grams of intoxicant powder and Surinderpal Singh with 320 grams of intoxicant powder. The trio have been booked under Sections 21, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act. Similarly, the Sadar police have arrested three persons, Bikramjit Singh with 300 intoxicant tablets, Dilbag Singh and Jagtar Singh with 100 grams of intoxicant powder each. Separate cases under the NDPS Act have been registered against them. The Civil Lines police arrested four persons, Nishan Singh with 60 grams of intoxicant powder, Mohan Lal with 210 grams of charas, Maninderpal Singh with 160 grams of intoxicant powder and Manpreet with 70 grams of intoxicant powder. They also have been booked under the NDPS Act. The Maqboolpura and Gate Hakima police have arrested Sukhdev Singh with 130 grams of intoxicant powder and Charanjit Singh with 220 grams of intoxicant powder. The Sultanwind police arrested Tarsem Singh with 100 grams of intoxicant powder whereas the Cantonment police arrested Swarni with 6,750 ml of illicit liquor but she was later released on bail. ASI Malook Singh said a case under Sections 61/1/14 of the Excise Act had been registered against her. The C-division police arrested two persons and booked two others for possessing narcotics and illicit liquor. ASI Tajinder Singh said Jagjit Singh and Rajesh Kumar were arrested with 50 grams of heroin, a paper roll, silver foil, matchbox and half-burnt matchsticks whereas Kala Singh and Lali were booked under Sections 61/1/14 of the Excise Act. While Kala, from whom the police has seized nine bottles of illicit liquor, procured bail, Lali, from whom 36 bottles of illicit liquor were seized, is still missing. The Airport police arrested Gurpreet Singh with 12 bottles of illicit liquor. A case under Sections 61/1//14 of the Excise Act has been registered against him.
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One booked on rape charge
Amritsar, May 27 The accused has been identified as Parveen Sharma, a resident of Mustfabad. On the basis of the victim’s complaint, the police have registered case under Section 376 of the IPC. in a complaint to the police, the victim stated that she was sexually assaulted on the pretext of marriage by Sharma. She alleged that the accused came to his house on May 21 and 22 and threatened to kill her and her family members, if she informed the police. Sub-Inspector Sarabjit Kaur and ASI Gurinder Singh said the victim’s statement had been recorded and the search was on to nab the accused.
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Activists of the Volunteers for Social Justice (VSJ), an organisation working for the cause of bonded labourers, held a protest against several factories for employing bonded labourers outside the deputy commissioner’s office today.
Punjabi films have moved over from just romance. While films like "Yaar
Anmulle" and "Burahh" had guys bonding over 'geris' and girlfriends, the latest film
"Mundeyan Toh Bachke Rahin" (MTBR) has two guys fighting for a girl's attention.
Film stars Roshan Prince and Jassi Gill play best buddies-turned-competitors for Simran Kaur Mundi's attention. The trio along with the comedian, Bharti Singh, interacted with the media in the city today.
