06082024-ATR-01.qxd 8/5/2024 10:32 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune ECO-CRUSADER WEAVES RAKHIS TO SPREAD AWARENESS FARMERS' UNION HOLDS BIKE RALLY IN SANGRUR Urges Central Government to open Attari, Hussainiwala borders for trade with Pakistan. P3 PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 34°C | MIN 28°C YESTERDAY MAX 36°C | MIN 28°C CAST OF SHAHKOT LAUNCH TEASER OF THEIR FILM Mauli threads, seeds, bamboos used to make festival ecologically sustainable, holds classes on social media. P2 FORECAST The Jatinder Shah musical narrates the story of Punjab — on both sides of the border. P4 » » SUNSET TUESDAY 7.22 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 5.50 AM » TUESDAY | 6 AUGUST 2024 | AMRITSAR GNDU students end hunger strike after officials agree to demands Feeding time Varsity to consider reservation in admission; forms review panel on fee hike Neha Saini Amritsar, August 5 The 12-day long hunger strike by a students’ front of Guru Nanak Dev University called off their protest after the university administration agreed to the demand of reservation for border area students and reviewing fee hike in the university. SATH, a student organisation, had been raising these demands repeatedly over the past few months, following which three students – Jaskaran Singh Zira, Gurwinder Singh and Karanvir Singh — sat on a hunger strike at the university main gates. Dean (Student Welfare) Prof Preet Mohinder Singh Bedi on Monday met the protesting students after they had gathered in large numbers at the university gates in the morning, following a university bandh call given by SATH and members of the United Sikh Students’ Federation. Addressing the students, he said GNDU will consider the demands of student reservation and fee hike, giving assurance in writing. “The A child enjoys feeding birds near Lahori Gate in Amritsar on Monday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR Police bust cross-border arms smuggling module PK Jaiswar Pak drone seized from Tarn Taran Tribune News Service Our Correspondent The seized pistols. during a search, he added. The DGP said that the arrested accused has been in contact with Pak-based smuggler Rana Dyal, who was pushing huge consignments of weapons and drugs into Indian territory through drones and other means. Further probe was on to ascertain previous smuggling activities carried out by him, he said. Yadav said that during preliminary investigations, it was discovered that Rajwant Singh has been receiving consignments of drugs and illegal weapons sent by Pak-based smuggler Rana Dyal for quite some time. The smuggled weapons were meant for sale to local buyers, he added. A case has been registered in this regard. Tarn Taran, August 5 In a joint operation with Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, a team from the Khalra police station led by ASI Hari Singh recovered a Pakistan-made drone from the fields in Dall village. ASI Hari Singh said that he had received information about drone activity in the village. A case has been registered by the Khalra police. Dean, Student Welfare, GNDU, Prof PM Bedi reads the written assurance in Amritsar on Monday. THE RESERVATION WAS ABOLISHED FOR STUDENTS AFTER 2017 ■ After the students continued their hunger strike despite meeting with VC Prof Jaspal Singh Sandhu on the fifth day of strike, the university authorities, had filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, on August 1, terming the dharna by students ‘illegal’. university administration will write to the Punjab Government to seek permission to increase and reserve the seats for students from the border belt on similar grounds as being done in Punjabi University, Patiala. Moreover, the government ■ The reservation was abolished for students after 2017. 7% seats were reserved for rural belt students, 3% for border areas and 2% for students belonging to the 1984 riot-affected families. Since 2017, the reservation has been converted to ex-servicemen quota will be asked to decide upon the request within one month to give 10 per cent additional reserved seats for rural areas. If the government does not give this approval, Guru Nanak Dev University will approve the seats by presenting this reso- lution in its next syndicate at its level,” said Prof Bedi. Besides, he said a committee would be formed with the representation of students to reconsider the fee increase every year. Currently, the university raises the fee by 5 per cent for new Unsold SCOs a safe hideout for drug addicts in city Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 5 Unsold shop-cum-offices (SCO) of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar scheme, commonly known as Mall Mandi, have become a hideout for addicts and unscrupulous elements. The SCOs are located near the Vallah road. An isolated location provides shelter to addicts from the police and residents. Such things are not new for officials of the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) which has been taking steps to prevent the misuse of SCOs SUNIL KUMAR Amritsar, August 5 Ahead of Independence Day celebrations, the State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) today busted a cross-border smuggling module with the arrest of an operative of Pakistan-based smuggler Rana Dyal. Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, Gaurav Yadav said here on Monday that the arrested accused was identified as Rajwant Singh alias Raju, a resident of village Attalgarh in Amritsar. Police have recovered two sophisticated 9mm Glock pistols along with two magazines from his possession besides impounding the motorcycle (PB-02-AL-7481) on which he was going to deliver the consignment. The DGP said that the SSOC here had received specific inputs that Rajwant Singh Raju had recently procured a consignment of smuggled weapons and narcotics, and was on his way to deliver it near Khurmanian Morh on Attari-Amritsar Road. Acting swiftly, a police team cordoned off the designated area in a planned manner, apprehended the accused and recovered the consignment SUNIL KUMAR Tribune News Service Debris dumped in front of unsold shops of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar scheme of the AIT near the Vallah sabji mandi in Amritsar. falling under its jurisdiction. Constructed years ago by the AIT, 40 SCOs under the Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar scheme, have been lying locked and uncared for the past several years. In all, 25 per cent of the SCOs have been sold. Rest of the SCOs did not catch the fancy of buyers despite listing them in the auction several times. Not a single SCO is functional. Taking advantage of the secluded place, people and even officials of the municipal corporation dump garbage here. Garbage and debris are dumped on the spacious parking space outside the market. Ravi Kumar, Executive Engineer, said despite best efforts, addicts were finding their way inside market. He said dead bodies of addicts had been found in the market on numerous occasions. Ashok Talwar, Chairman, AIT, said, “Officials of the Trust have impounded two vehicles of a contractor hired by the MC for regularly dumping garbage in the parking area of the market. Efforts are on to secure and clean the market area.” Wild growth of grass on central 1 booked for forging arms licence documents verges draws stray cattle Tribune News Service Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 5 Wild growth of grass on the central verges of city roads is attracting stray cattle nowadays. A number of cows and bulls can be seen grazing alongside the central verges and footpaths. The corridor of Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) has become a favourite place for the stray cattle with bus service remaining suspended for the last over one year. A number of stray animals can be seen grazing inside the BRTS corridor. Lush green grass on both sides of the grills and green areas near Metro stations has been attracting the stray animals. The residents claimed that the movement of cattle on roads leads to accidents and sometimes even the vehicles get damaged by stray cattle. Most of the time, stray cows gather around garbage collection points, fodder sellers and outside gaushalas. With rain in past few days, grass and weeds have flourished on the central Cattle graze medians on BRTS corridor in Amritsar. verges making the cattle visible on roads. Last year, on the directions of the state government, the Municipal Corporation conducted a survey of stray animals in the city and found that a total of 535 stray cattle were roaming around on roads. Santokh Singh, a resident of Majitha Road, claimed that a herd of six stray cattle was roaming near Guru Nanak Avenue. He was worried that in case they attacked commuters, then who will be held responsible? Residents of the walled city area often witness traffic jams due to movement of stray cat- tle from Lohgarh to Gaushala. Kamal Sharma, a local resident, stated that the authorities are in deep slumber and wake up only after an untoward incident takes place. The residents alleged that even after collecting cow cess on various items, the government has failed to make proper arrangements for stray cattle. A local activist recently demonstrated against the government for providing shelter to all the stray cows. The Punjab Government introduced cow cess in 2016 and promised to build 500 cow sheds in different districts. The government started collecting cow cess, but failed to build the required number of sheds. The Punjab Government charged people Rs 100 on oil tankers, Rs 10 on a bottle of liquor, Rs 5 on a bottle of country-made liquor, Re 1 on a bag of cement, two paisa per unit on electricity bills, Rs 1,000 on AC marriage palace, Rs 500 on non-AC marriage palace, Rs 1,000 on buying a car and Rs 200 on buying a two-wheeler. Amritsar, August 5 A local trader, Gursajan Singh Bedi, has been booked by the Tarn Taran police for allegedly getting a fake arms licence prepared by forging the documents. A complaint was lodged with the Election Commission of India with copies to the Punjab Chief Minister, the Chief Election Officer and the District Election Officer and the police in May this year and an FIR was registered against him on July 31. The licence was issued in 2006. The complaint was lodged by Sandeep Bedi of Jujhar Avenue located on the Ajnala road here. This was the sixth case registered against him. Investigation by the police revealed that he got his arms licence prepared on the basis of fake documents. When the licence was prepared, he was a minor, investigations revealed. It also hinted at the collusion of DC office staff and police personnel. As per a police probe, he gave Sarai Amanat Khan as his residential address for preparing the arms licence, but in the Aadhaar card and passport, he gave Ranjit Avenue locality as his address. The licence was issued by the Arms Licence branch, Deputy Commissioner Office, Amritsar, in June 2006. Tarn Taran district was formed in the same year. As per documents submitted to the police, he was a minor when the arms licence was issued. Nevertheless, the licence was valid up to June 2016, but Gursajan did not deposit the weapon either with the police station or with any gun house, the police said. He had applied for renewal of the arms licence in September 2019. The DSP (City) said the Tarn Taran police communicated with the DC, Amritsar, and the Deputy Commissioner, Tarn Taran, seeking a record of the same, but they did not find continued on page 2 admissions in undergraduate courses every year. Prof Bedi said the university also wants to resolve the issue, “But the onus of taking a policy decision or policy change rests with the state government. We are ready to take this up with them.” After this, three students — Gurwinder Singh Varpal, Jaskaran Singh Zira and Karanveer Singh — ended their hunger strike and conducted a prayer ceremony. Meanwhile, the university bandh call did not have much effect on the functioning of the university as the matter was resolved between students and university management early in the day. Jaskaran Singh Zira, who is vice-president of SATH and student of Bachelor of Social Science (2nd year), shared that now, the student organisation will put a demand before the Punjab Government that an annual grant should be given to Guru Nanak Dev University like being given to Punjabi University and the reserved admission quota, which was in place till 2017 in admissions, should be restored. Insulted by wife & father-in-law, man ends life Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, August 5 A Tarn Taran resident reported to have been insulted by his wife and her father, committed suicide by consuming a poisonous substance here. The deceased has been identified as Manjit Singh (38), a resident of Gali Cinema Wali, Tarn Taran. He was married to Hina Verma, a resident of Mohalla Sipai Wala, Ambala town two and a half years back and the couple had strained relations. Hina Verma lodged a complaint with the local city police. Both sides were called by the police on August 1 to inquire into the matter. Manjit Singh was badly insulted by his wife and her father Sunil Sugandh. Manjit Singh consumed some poisonous substance on the spot and was admitted to a local private hospital. He breathed his last on August 4 during treatment. ASI Gurmit Singh said that on the complaint lodged by Balwinder Kaur, mother of the deceased, the accused Hina Verma and her father Sunil Sugandh have been booked under Section 108 and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on Sunday. The accused are yet to be arrested by the police. Unions protest, want govt to accept pensioners’ demands Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, August 5 Employee and pensioner unions organised protest rallies against the state government here on Monday and burnt effigies of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Following a call given by the state leadership of the Punjab State Mulazam and Pensioners Sanjha Front, a rally was c m y b organised at the local bus stand by the employees and pensioners. Ajit Singh Dhotian, Karaj Singh Kairon, Gurpreet Singh Gandiwind and other leaders criticised the Chief Minister for repeatedly cancelling the meetings called to discuss the demands of the employees and pensioners. The union leaders said that the state government was deliberately vacillating in accepting the demands of the employee unions. The leaders of the Front said that they have been demanding the revival of the suspended allowances. They also sought the removal of discrepancies in the recommendations of Sixth State Pay Commission, revival of the Old Pension Scheme, releasing of stopped installments of dearness allowance (DA), forceful- ly deducting of Rs 200 per month from the salaries and pension of employees. The leaders warned that in case the government did nothing in favour of the employees and the pensioners, they would oppose the ruling party candidates in the ensuing state byelections. The employees marched on the roads and burnt effigies near the old DC office. The activists of the Punjab State Pensioners and Senior Citizens Association led by its district president Ajit Singh Fatehchak, after organising a rally at the local Gandhi Municipal Park, marched in bazaars and burnt an effigy of the state government in front of the office of the Tarn Taran MLA. The leaders of the Association stressed on the current demands of retired employees.