Big screen, bigger dreams for Anita
Amritsar, July 21
With the increase in the acceptability of Punjabi cinema, Punjabi actors have managed to find their due with celebrated performances and popularity among the masses. A generation of actors and artistes who used to stick to theatre unrelentingly while regional cinema was trying to hold its own are now shining on the big screen. And one of those actors is Anita Devgan.

Amritsar, July 21
The bandh call given by various Hindu organisations against the violence in Baltal during the Amarnath Yatra evoked a good response and the bandh passed off peacefully amid tight security in the city. Almost all commercial establishments as well as educational institutions were closed while a heavy police force was deployed outside mosques and market places.

Activists of various Hindu organisations were seen flashing naked swords and other weapons during their protests to forcibly shut down shops and other establishments. Hundreds of youngsters, carrying batons and swords, were seen roaming in various markets to force the closure of markets.

However, no major incidents of violence were reported as most of the commercial establishments remained close throughout the day.

A minor clash between the workers of a petrol pump near the bus stand and protesters was reported on the issue of closure of the pump. The activists of various organisations gathered outside the main mosque inside the Hall Gate where they shouted anti-Muslim slogans. However, the large number of policemen deployed outside the mosque persuaded the protesters to move away from the place.

At some places, the protesting youngsters entered into heated arguments with police officials, as they tried to take away weapons from them. However, the police officials seized dozens of sharp-edged weapons from the protesters.

Effigies of Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah were burnt at around half a dozen places in the city as the activists demanded that the Union Government act against the culprits of the attack at Baltal.

The prominent associations that supported the bandh call included the Bajrang Dal, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Shiv Sena Bal Thackrey, the Shiv Sena Samajwadi, the Hindu Suraksha Samiti, the Hindu Sangarsh Sena and the Amarnath Sewa Mandal.

As a result of the bandh call, the general public was at the receiving end, as most of the shops, including chemists and grocery shops, remained closed till evening. Even the closure of petrol stations caused a lot of trouble to the residents.

The common people preferred to stay away from the roads throughout the day which was evident from the empty roads. Even large number of shopkeepers who had came to market places early in the morning hoping that it would be business-as-usual day preferred to return back. 

Amritsar, July 21
The Municipal Corporation is planning to resume the ‘name and shame’ campaign against the defaulters of house tax as well as property tax. It now intends to get the names of these defaulters published in newspapers. Earlier, too, the MC drive had paid rich dividends and many defaulters had cleared their dues.

At present, there are around 10,000 residents who are on the defaulters’ list. According to information, around Rs 5.7 crore has been collected as house tax till date.

Officials said that the property tax came into being from 2013-2014, whereas the house tax dues were lying pending for an earlier period.

Besides, having almost Rs 10 crore as dead house-tax arrears (may be because of properties exchanging many hands or the government departments with whom the payment had to be settled through book adjustment), there is another Rs 15 crore to be recovered.

Besides, there are around 1,600 cases awaiting arbitration before the MC’s much-touted house-tax sub-committee, which could not keep its schedule for resolving the issues.

Similarly, for property tax, the MC had identified 3 lakh units (40,000 of these commercial) in the Amritsar urban area, but still there are around two lakh residents (in both residential and commercial categories) who are yet to pay their dues. The MC had set a target to collect between Rs 55-60 crore till March 2014. Till date, it could garner only Rs 23 crore.

With August 31, the deadline for depositing the dues getting closer, the MC has urged the residents to deposit their dues in advance. The defaulters have been cautioned that they will have to pay heavy penalty if they fail to clear their dues by the deadline.

Even as the Amritsar MC officials claim that no circular has yet been received in this direction, it has been learnt that the MC is framing a policy to recover the property tax dues with penalty amounting to 50 per cent of the tax applicable along with 18 per cent interest on the amount for the delayed period calculated from April 1.

Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora said that the taxes had to be realised. “We have been repeatedly urging the residents to pay their dues within the stipulated period. If they still do not adhere to it, we may resort to our old practice of publishing their antecedents in the newspapers,” he said. 

Amritsar, July 21
With the increase in the acceptability of Punjabi cinema, Punjabi actors have managed to find their due with celebrated performances and popularity among the masses. A generation of actors and artistes who used to stick to theatre unrelentingly while regional cinema was trying to hold its own are now shining on the big screen. And one of those actors is Anita Devgan.

A noted theatre person and senior artiste from city entertained in “Jatt & Juliet 2”, playing Diljit’s mother and in “Fer Mamla Gadbad Gadbad”. The director of Theatre Persons along with her husband Hardeep Gill, who is also an actor and was last seen in the national-award winning Punjabi film “Nabar”, is a lively personality and her strong theatre grounding has managed to impress filmmakers.

At present awaiting the release of her upcoming project and shooting for another, Devgan speaks of her on-screen experience and her desire to play niche characters.

“I consider myself quite a debutant in the film business. But the actor in me looks out for roles that are different. I will be seen playing the role of a villain, a lovable, NRI character in my upcoming Punjabi film “Control Paaji Control,” she says. The film stars Karan Kundra, Sangram Singh and Upasna Singh, among others, and is scheduled to hit theatres on August 22. Ask her about playing the baddie with a heart and she says it’s obvious in her character. “I believe that one has to add that interesting twist in every character one plays. No matter how many times you are seen in a comic role on the screen, if you portray it in a different shade each time, the difference is seen.”

But her most challenging character will be seen in another untitled Punjabi film starring Yuvraj Hans, Neeru Bajwa and Harish Verma. “I will be playing a mentally challenged person in the film, which I believe to be the most exciting and difficult role for myself. The film is under production right now and I am shooting for it at present.”

Coming from a strong theatre background, Devgan has been one of the few artistes in the city to have stuck to the traditional theatre like street plays and musicals. Her annual theatre festival, Punjabi Theatre Festival, brings in most celebrated plays and groups from across the region. “I believe theatre removes inhibitions in an actor. It allows to explore the depths of your creativity and experiment with yourself like never before.” She believes that over the years, Punjabi theatre has developed immensely, creatively and production-wise. “And so has the regional cinema. One might criticise that the Punjabi film industry has been ‘polluted’ by comedy films, but look at films like “47 to 84” or “Punjab 1984”. It proves that cinema has grown immensely and so actors now have opportunities to experiment on screen.”

Roles are coming her way from Bollywood as well but she seems to be choosy about them.

Amritsar, July 21
As the number of drug addicts opting for de-addiction, either willingly or under pressure from their family members, have increased during the past few weeks, unscrupulous elements have stepped in to cash in on the situation as de-addiction facilities in the government sector are limited. A testimony to the fact is the detection of two such illegal private centres in the city in the past one month.

The absence of scientific treatment of drug addiction at these illegal centres wastes the zeal of youngsters to shun drugs even as their families pays heavily to the owner of the centre, hoping that the treatment will yield results.

An increase in the number of advertisements in vernacular papers, which claim miraculous results, has also been noticed. In most of these advertisements, instead of any address, a phone number is mentioned. The advertisers claim that the drug addict does not require to be admitted at the centre and medicine will be sent at home.

Another advertisement, which talks about a doctor operating from the Ram Bagh area, claims to de-addict a person with homoeopathic medicines costing Rs 4,500 without any side effects and with full guarantee.

“The family of an addict will most likely take a chance with such advertisers. However, when they will fail to see results, they will blame the addict, which will further alienate him from his family, worsening his problem,” said a doctor.

As the police raids during the past more than a month have restricted the drug supply to an extent and youngsters have willingly come forward to shun drugs, the absence of such facilities at the level of the government are proving to be a hindrance. The district has only one de-addiction centre in the public sector even as private and unregistered centres are mushrooming to cash in on the problem. In such a situation, though people are spending thousands to shun the habit, they do not see the results coming. 

Amritsar, July 21
Although the Municipal Corporation had floated a tender for the construction of a memorial in the memory of noted playback singer Mohammad Rafi at a cost of Rs 40 lakh, the MC now denies any such move on its part in its reply to an RTI query. Incidentally, the tender was floated when the Congress government was in power in the state.

The advertisement inviting short-term tenders from enlisted contractors/firms/co-op societies was published in 2006 through the office of Superintending Engineer (Civil), MC, Amritsar, with the stated aim to construct a Bhawan Building in the sweet memory of late Mohammad Rafi. The last date for submitting bids was October 6, 2006.

Out of curiosity, a vigilant resident, Naresh Johar (who had procured the true copy of the advertisement), had submitted an RTI query with the MC, asking about the fate of the project.

He had questioned the MC on the details about the resolution that must have been passed in the House meeting held before the release of the advertisement for the project; the location of the proposed Bhawan; how many tenders were received for the project; and the details about commencing and completing the job.

To his surprise, the MC’s appellate authority replied “no information is available on record in the office of the MC”.

Questions are being raised whether this project was abandoned due to political envy? In 2006, it was the Congress government in power and the mayor’s chair was then occupied by senior Congress leader Sunil Datti.

Datti recalled that a resolution was passed at the House meeting. Thereafter, tenders were called for construction of a memorial bhawan in memory of Rafi.

Amritsar, July 21
The green cover in the city is continually depleting with each passing day. The recent felling of trees by the administration for the much-hyped BRT system drew resident’s ire.

But the little concern over the city’s green belt falling prey to commercialisation and ignorant attitude has not yielded much result. Several green patches in residential areas are turning into garbage dumps.

Mall Road and Circular Road areas have turned barren due to commercial activities. Company Bagh too is falling prey to the indiscriminate chopping of trees.

Amritsar, July 21
AAP’s Amritsar unit held a gathering at the residence of senior leader and national council member Ashok Talwar wherein he apprised the party workers of the issues discussed during a meeting held with the national convener Arvind Kejriwal.

Talwar said Kejriwal gave a patient hearing to the delegation from Amritsar and asked them to carry on their work for the ‘aam aadmi’.

“He told the workers to report him directly about the progress at the booth level under ‘Mission Vistaar’,” Talwar said.

He said Kejriwal was well aware of the anti-people policies and the corrupt style of working of the SAD-BJP coalition in Punjab. It was the duty of the AAP to stand with the common people who had posed great faith with the party and voted in large number in favour of AAP, he added.

Talwar said there was no bickering in the AAP Amritsar unit and all the party volunteers were working for a common goal — the welfare of the public.

He said booth level duties were being assigned to party volunteers, who will expand and strengthen the party base in their respective booths.

“The volunteers will also provide feedback to the party high command about the grass root problems of the people on the basis of which a concrete action plan will be formulated,” he said. — TNS

Amritsar, July 2
The police have arrested seven persons for possessing illicit liquor and narcotics in separate cases.

The Sultanwind police have arrested Hardeep Singh, son of Ajit Singh, a resident of Kot Harnam Dass, Amritsar, with 72 bottles of liquor.

The C-division police have arrested Sarabjit Singh alias Gulli, son of Balkar Singh, a resident of Kot Mit Singh, Tarn Taran Road, with 20 bottles of illicit liquor.

ASI Madan Singh said a case under Sections 61, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act had been registered against both the accused

In the second case, the A division police have recovered 5 gm of heroin from Balbir Singh, son of Tarsem Singh, a resident of Jaura Phatak. Confirming it, ASI Vijay Kumar of the Mohkampura police station said a case under Sections 22, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act had been registered.

In the third case, two persons — Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh, son of Satnam Singh of Guru Amar Dass Colony, Chheharta and Gurpreet Singh alias Balli, a resident of Milap Avenue, Chheharta, have been arrested with 200 gm of intoxicant powder.

Investigating officer ASI Harjit Singh of the Durgiana Mandir police post said a Splendor motorcycle had also been seized from their possesion.

In another case, the Civil Lines police have arrested Bachhittar Singh alias Happy, son of Lakhbir Singh, a resident of Naraingarh, Chheharta, with 150 gm of intoxicant powder.

ASI Narinder Singh said the mobile phone of the accused had been taken into custody to know about his connections for further investigation.

Separate cases under Sections 22, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act have been registered at the Civil Lines police station in this regard.

In the fourth instance, the A-divison police have arrested Rajinder Singh with 50 gm of intoxicant powder.

Amritsar, July 21
An air show was organised today on the historic Khalsa College campus. The cadets, under the supervision of Indian Air Force instructors, displayed their skills through various model aircrafts, including Excite-46.

Brigadier Balwinder Singh, Sena Medal, was the chief guest at the show. The programme was organised under the guidance of Wing Commander BK Ramela, Commanding Officer Vikram Uppal and Dr Sukhdev Singh.

Remala said the aim of the show was to promote the NCC enrollment and awareness campaign and celebrate the recent achievements of the college in aerobatics at the national level.

Helicopters and gliders exhibited rare glimpses of aero-dynamics with the college’s picturesque building in the background.

College principal Dr Mehal Singh said through these shows, students get attracted to IAF, which is one of the best professional air forces in the world.

Other present during the show included IAF instructor Upinder Singh Aulakh, NCC care taker GS Malhi, Devender Singh, registrar of the college, Prof Gurdev Singh, Dr Jaswinder Singh and Dr Iqbal Singh. 

Amritsar, July 21
After 60 years of its inception, Government Dental College has finally come up with a men’s hostel. Of the total 108 rooms planned for the hostel, more than a decade ago, a 36-room block was inaugurated by Medical Education and Research Minister Anil Joshi yesterday.

College students said the hostel would be a big boon for them as private accommodations are costlier and most of them do not offer facilities such as food.

The project of making a hostel for boys, residential quarters for faculty and auditorium was envisaged around 10 years ago with an estimated cost of Rs 10 crore.

However, due to lack of funds, the college had to wait for eight years before starting the construction.

To date, the college has managed to construct only 36 rooms with the available budget of Rs 2 crore.

The construction of the remaining portion of the hostel, residential quarters and auditorium requires additional funds.

While inaugurating the block, Anil Joshi said more funds would be allocated to complete the project at the earliest.

He asked the college officials to work out on details of funds required, keeping in view the present cost of construction.

College principal Dr Vimal Sikri said a long-pending demand of the college students had been fulfilled.

He thanked the minister for his efforts to get the facility started. 

Amritsar, July 21
In order to inculcate the spirit and values of democracy among students, Ryan International School, Amritsar, organised an investiture ceremony on Saturday.

The event was marked by a special assembly in which Lion HJS Khera was the chief guest and Commandant of Indo-Tibetan Border Police, JH Meshram, was the guest of honour.

The ceremony commenced with Bible reading, followed by a prayer medley, welcome speech and patriotic song. Principal Rajni Kalra felicitated the guests.

Khera presented scarves and badges to the newly elected council members. School president Jasmeen, along with prime minister Harman Dhaliwal, led the oath taking ceremony and took a pledge to contribute to the growth and progress of the institution.

A dance performance by tiny tots and a medley dance mesmerised the audience.

Scholar ties and trophies were given to the academic achievers. The chief guest appreciated and applauded the students for exhibiting great enthusiasm in accepting new responsibilities.

The event culminated with the folk orchestra and vote of thanks, followed by the school and the National Anthem.