28032026-ATR-01.qxd 3/27/2026 11:27 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY NURSES CONTINUE STIR OVER GRADE PAY RESTORATION CURATING STORIES OF SURVIVAL THROUGH STITCHES THAT MEND TAYLOR SWIFT RULES AT IHEARTRADIO MUSIC AWARDS Demanding restoration of grade pay, nurses boycotted all medical services at the Government Medical College. P2 An activist and archivist, Rubina Singh engaged the audience with an interesting ‘rafoo’ session at Majha House. P3 MAX 28°C | MIN 18°C YESTERDAY MAX 28°C | MIN 18°C Taylor Swift clearly dominated the iHeartRadio Music Awards 2026 with seven wins. She picked up most trophies. P4 » » SUNSET SATURDAY 6.47 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 6.23 AM » SATURDAY | 28 MARCH 2026 | AMRITSAR BSF seizes heroin, opium along border Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 27 In two separate operations along the international border, the Border Security Force (BSF) recovered narcotics consignments, including heroin and opium, along with a drone, leading to the registration of two different cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act), 1985. The first case was registered under various provisions of the NDPS Act and Sections 25, 26 and 29 of the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024, at the Lopoke police station here on the statement of BSF officer Arun Singh, Assistant Commandant, ‘A’ Company, 100 Battalion. The BSF party recovered 536 grams of opium along with packing material and a foreign-made DJI Air-3 drone during an operation near the Pulmoran border outpost in the district. In another case registered under the NDPS Act, the BSF recovered 1.04 kg of heroin along with packing material. The seizure was also effected by the same BSF unit. The police said further investigations were in progress in both the cases. advisory rumours Two arrested with 10 DCissuesbuying ofagainsthoarding,on Day 2 as panic fuel continues foreign-made pistols Says there is no shortage of petrol and diesel across Amritsar district Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 27 The Amritsar Counter Intelligence (CI) has busted a crossborder illegal arms smuggling module with the arrest of two persons and recovery of 10 foreign-made sophisticated pistols from their possession. The arrested accused have been identified as Resham Singh, a resident of Khusupura in Amritsar, and Manpreet Singh, a resident of Khwaspur in Tarn Taran. The police also impounded a black Platina motorcycle (bearing registration number PB-63-D-3668) allegedly being used to transport the consignment. Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Friday said the recovered weapons include a Turkeymade Zigana pistol, an Austria-made Glock pistol, two USA-made Beretta pistols, five PX5 pistols and a Chinamade Norinco pistol along with magazines. Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused were working at the behest of a foreign-based gangster in coordination with Pakistanbased smugglers to facilitate the smuggling of illegal arms into India, the DGP said. The consignment was meant for The weapons recovered by the Amritsar Counter Intelligence. further distribution among criminal elements across Punjab, he said. The CI Amritsar had received specific inputs about cross-border smuggling of arms and ammunition using drones, the DGP said. Acting on the information, police teams laid a naka near Kohali village on the AmritsarChogawan road and apprehended the accused while they were allegedly transporting the consignment, he said. “Further investigations are underway to establish forward and backward links of the accused and dismantle the entire network,” he said. A case was registered under Sections 25, 25(1) A and 25(1) B of the Arms Act and Section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against the accused at the State Special Operation Cell police station, Amritsar. Yesterday, the Jalandhar Counter Intelligence had confiscated 10 country-made pistols of 7.65mm calibre and 20 magazines and arrested two persons from Uttar Pradesh in this connection. They were also acting at the behest of foreign-based criminals operating from Germany and the USA. They supplying were weapons to criminal gangs in Punjab. — TNS Meet the man behind Ranveer’s authentic Dastar in Dhurandhar Amritsar, March 27 After a gap of nearly one year, Amritsar Mayor Jatinder Singh Moti Bhatia has convened a General House and budget meeting of the Municipal Corporation (MC) on March 30. Around 50 proposals are expected to be taken up for discussion during the meeting. This will be the second General House meeting of the current corporation. The previous meeting was held on March 29, 2025. With the financial year 2025-26 nearing its end, the approval of the MC budget has become mandatory to ensure continuance of the civic operations in the city. Officials said if budget was not passed by the House, all financial transactions of the MC would come to a halt from April 1, 2026, including payments and execution of development works. The corporation had approved a budget of Rs 459.45 crore for the financial year 2025-26. As per the Municipal Corporation Act, the meeting agenda must be circulated among all members, including seven MLAs and 85 councillors, at least 72 hours in advance. The MC has proposed a budget of Rs 481 crore for the financial year 2026-27, with 20 per cent earmarked for the development works. In the current financial year, the corporation had achieved nearly 80 per cent of its targeted revenue collection. Out of the proposed Rs 481 crore budget, Rs 315 crore is allocated for salaries, which constitute around 66 per cent of the total expenditure. At least 80 per cent of the salary payments will be met through the corporation's share of the GST funds. An amount of Rs 98 crore, nearly 20 per cent of the budget, has been allocated for development and maintenance works. — TNS Vehicles queue up outside a fuel station on the MM Maliya road in Amritsar on Friday. VISHAL KUMAR Harveen Kaur to ensure that no one indulges in hoarding or black marketing of the fuel. The DC also asked her to take strict legal action those fuel pump owners who were caught black marketing petrol/diesel. “I assure residents that there is no shortage of petrol/diesel at any fuel sta- MC General House to meet on March 30 Neha Saini Amritsar, March 27 Despite repeated assurances and advisory issued by the administration, residents made a beeline for petrol and diesel at fuel stations across the district. Long queues of vehicles were witnessed at almost all petrol stations as residents indulged in panic buying of fuel on the second consecutive day. Due to hoarding and bulk refuelling stoked by rumours of energy lockdown, several petrol stations remained closed from morning till afternoon on Friday, citing no fuel stock. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Dalwinderjit Singh said there was no shortage of petrol and diesel in Amritsar district. He said consumers should purchase petrol/diesel as per their requirement. The DC also convened a meeting to take stock of situation during which he instructed all petrol pump owners in the district to avoid overcharging consumers on the pretext of fuel supply shortage. He said if any petrol pump owner was found doing so, appropriate action would be taken against him. The DC instructed District Food and Supply Controller Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 27 The success of Aditya Dhar’s blockbuster Dhurandhar is generally seen as significant for small artistes, actors and people from Amritsar, who were part of it in one way or the other. Though success and elation is now about their 15 minutes of fame, it represents a combination of inspiration, opportunity and visibility. One such young entrepreneur from city, Balwinder Singh, too has found a sense of pride in the success of Dhurandhar. Why? Because Balwinder is the man behind the authentic, neat Dastar (turban) that Ranveer Singh as Jaskirat wore in the film. Not just him, but Balwinder, a turban trainer, tied turbans for all characters, who sported one in both the films. “I tied Afghani style and Baloch style turbans for characters in Dhurandhar and later Sikh Dastar for Ranveer Singh, freestyle turban for Atiq’s character and also Punjabi style saafa for Pinda and other characters,” shared Balwinder, who runs his own turban studio Inder Pagri House at Kot Khalsa. Balwinder has previously worked with actor Anupam Kher in Calorie, a Canadian-Indian film before being contacted by the makers of Dhurandhar. “Aditya Dhar was impressed by how I tied the Punjabi Dastar, the authentic semi-Patiala Shahi wattan wali pagg (turban) that Ranveer’s character sports in the film. I feel that previously, Bollywood films did not show Dastar in an authentic way and with the respect it commands. While working on the film, I told the crew that we will follow maryada of Dastar. We used to tie Dastar and after the scene, untie it, keep Balwinder Singh with filmmaker Aditya Dhar; and (below) with cast and crew of the film Dhurandhar. it aside with respect to ensure its maryada. It’s not a fashion accessory, it deeply sacred for us,” said Balwinder. He is all praise for Ranveer Singh, who he said was always mindful while wearing Dastar. On the work front, Dhurandhar, said Balwinder was a learning experience for him. “I did not know how to tie Baloch style turban, which uses 16-17 metre running piece of cloth and required a lot of specific folds and ties. I was shown photos and videos after which I learnt to tie freestyle Baloch turbans as well,” he said. Balwinder said currently, the most popular forms of turbans among youngsters were Patiala Shahi, Barnala Shahi, Amritsari wattan wali Dastar and the very popular Sidhu Moosewala style wattan wali freestyle turban. c m y b tion within the limits of Amritsar district. One should not worry about the supply of fuel. As before, fuel should be purchased as per the requirement. No one needs to hoard these items,” he said in his appeal to residents. Harveen Kaur said she held a meeting with sales officers of various oil compa- nies in Amritsar district. “We have been informed by sales officers of the oil companies that there is no shortage of petrol and diesel in the district. Driven by rumours, some people among the general public are buying and storing excess petrol/diesel. This will create problems in the future.” Special Offer GT ROAD, AMRITSAR ( (