01012021-ATR-01.qxd 12/31/2020 11:03 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar TRIBUNE ACTRESS SONAKSHI SINHA SIGNS WEB PROJECT WITH NETFLIX PAGE 2 Sonakshi will be making her digital debut with web series Fallen and will essay the role of a tough cop in it. FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY INBRIEF TWO DEATHS, 23 NEW CASES IN DIST MANISH MALHOTRA HOSTS NEW YEAR PARTY FOR B-TOWN FRIENDS The bash was attended by several Bollywood stars, including Kriti Sanon, Kartik Aaryan among many others. MAX 16°C | MIN 4°C | YESTERDAY MAX 16°C | MIN 3°C SUNSET FRIDAY 5:38 PM Tarn Taran: A team of the local CIA staff, led by SubInspector Sukhdev Singh, arrested Dilbag Singh of Chamba Kalan with 5 kg of poppy husk here on Wednesday. The accused, identified as Dilbag Singh, told the police that he had procured the consignment from Ravinder Singh Kaka of his own village five days ago. Both Dilbag Singh and Ravinder Singh have been booked under Sections 15-B, 29, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act by the Chohla Sahib police. The police have yet to arrest the other accused (Ravinder Singh). OC MAN ARRESTED WITH PISTOL Amritsar: The Amritsar (rural) police have nabbed a person with a country-made weapon. The accused has been identified as Palwinder Singh, a resident of Brar village. SubInspector Kuldip Singh said they arrested the accused near Mehlawala village. He said they recovered a .315 bore country-made pistol with a live bullet. He has been booked under the Arms Act. He was brought on police remand to ascertain the source of the weapon. TNS MAN ROBBED OF ~10,000 Amritsar: Mukhtar Singh, a resident of Umarpura village, was robbed by three persons. One of the accused has been identified as Kewal Singh of Isapur village. The incident occurred on December 21. The complainant alleged that he along with his nephew Vijay Singh was going to answer the call of nature when the accused surrounded them. The victim said the accused entered into a scuffle with them and took away ~10,000 cash from his pocket. TNS ANU APPOINTED TO GNDU SENATE Gurdaspur: Gurdaspur-based Anu Gandotra has been appointed as a member of the Senate of the Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar. He is also a secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. TNS THE NEW YEAR IS HERE AND CELEBS SHARE THEIR HOPES PAGE 2 As 2021 is here, it is time to reflect and reboot. Celebs list out their wishes, and dreams as we step into New Year. SUNRISE SATURDAY 7:30 AM FRIDAY | 1 JANUARY 2021 | AMRITSAR Ruckus mars MC House meet Ushering in a new dawn | Opposition, Mayor enter into a heated debate over illegal buildings | ~100 crore development works for city passed unanimously Amritsar: The health authorities reported two Covid-19 related deaths in the district on Thursday. With this, the toll has increased to 55. The deceased have been identified as Prabha Rani (65), of Fateh Singh colony (Gate Hakeema), and Manjit Kaur (60), of Indira colony (Jhabal road). The health authorities reported 23 new positive cases today and the total count of infections has increased to 14,510. The new cases include 12 influenza like illness cases and 11 contacts of positive patients. Meanwhile, with recovery of 48 patients, the recovery count has reached 13,561. At present, the district has a total of 394 active cases. TNS ONE HELD WITH 5-KG POPPY HUSK PAGE 2 Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 31 The BJP councillor’s allegations regarding involvement of the Congress councillors in construction of illegal buildings in the city and counter claims of Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu led to chaos in the General House meet of the Municipal Corporation on Thursday. Leader of Opposition Sandhya Sikka said the Mayor should be held accountable for construction of illegal buildings in the city. The Mayor vowed to disclose violations done by the BJP councillors. Rintu informed about a property at Bhullar Avenue on Fathegarh road, where an influential politician has reportedly violated the building bylaws. Jarnail Singh Dhot, a BJP councillor, intervened and started arguing with the Mayor. Rintu termed him ‘dallal’ of hoteliers. Dhot strongly opposed the Mayor and the Opposition councillors demanded to file this in the proceeding and prove it. Aman Arry, another BJP councillor, said they would file defamation case against Members of the National Human Rights & Crime Control Organisation and residents hold placards and balloons welcoming 2021 on New Year eve in Amritsar on Thursday; and (right) Jagmohan Kanojia flies a kite made by him with the message of a ‘Happy New Year’. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: VISHAL KUMAR BJP councillors argue during MC General House meeting in Amritsar. ‘CONDUCT DOPE TEST OF MC STAFF’ District Congress chief and MC councillor Jatinder Sonia proposed to conduct dope test of the MC employees. She laid stress on making the dope test mandatory before recruiting any employee. “Dope test of employees should be conducted and those found addicted should be terminated,” said Sonia. STAFF HIRED DURING COVID-19 OUTBREAK SACKED As many as 45 employees, who were hired during the outbreak of the Covid-19 at quarantine centres, had been removed recently. The employees protested outside the MC office and demanded reappointment. Councillor Davinder Singh said, “The MC should adjust them as they offered services without caring for themselves during the crisis. They should not be sacked.” the Mayor. Sikka condemned Mayor for using such words. Rintu said, “The government dismissed Municipal Town Planner IPS Randhawa a few months ago for allowing illegal construction. We take stern action. The BJP’s coun- cillors are welcome to come with names of violators and persons who are involved, but no one will be allowed to level false allegations.” Earlier, development works comprising ~100 crore were passed unanimously in the meeting. Presiding over the meet, the Mayor asked the councillors to observe two minutes of silence to pay homage to eminent persons and Covid warriors who lost their lives in 2020. Around 90 resolutions were moved in the meeting out of which all the resolutions except one were passed unanimously. The meeting was specially attended by MLA Inderbir Singh Bularia and he laid out a table agenda dedicated to Shaheed Baba Partap Singh and proposed to name the road from the Chatiwind Gate to Tahliwala Chowk after Shaheed Baba Partap Singh. The Mayor said the House meet got delayed due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown. He said in the last three years, development works worth ~400 crore had been completed while the previous House had done only ~125 crore of works. SUV driver tries Police crack carjacking case, one arrested to run over cop Dhingra blind murder Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 31 An unknown SUV driver tried to run over a cop when a police team signalled him to stop near Vallah vegetable market. He sustained serious injuries and rushed to hospital for treatment. The police registered murder bid case against unidentified persons in this connection. The victim, identified as head constable Simranjit Singh, told the police that at around 4 pm he along with his colleagues was present at a checkpoint near Vallah vegetable market. The staff signalled the driver to stop the Scorpio coming from vegetable market side. However, on seeing the police party, he tried to reverse the vehicle. He said he tried to stop the car but the driver tried to run The victim, identified as head constable Simranjit Singh, told the police that at around 4 pm, he along with his colleagues was present at a checkpoint near the Vallah vegetable market in the city. him over. He said he moved a side and climbed over the footrest of the SUV. He said instead of stopping the vehicle, the driver of the car hit him following which he fell down and got injured while the accused fled away with the vehicle. The Maqboolpura police have registered a case under Sections 307, 353, 186, 279 and 34 of the IPC against unknown persons while further investigations are under progress to identify them. Amritsar, December 31 The police have cracked the carjacking case in which a car was snatched from the posh Ranjit Avenue area at gunpoint by some armed youths on December 19. The police on Wednesday arrested one person identified as Manpreet Singh, alias Manu of Patti Balol in Sultanwind village, while his accomplices are still on the run. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Sandeep Malik told mediapersons on Thursday that the police recovered the car which the accused were running after fixing a fake number plate. The police also recovered a mobile phone which they used to operate with the help of an internet dongle in order to operate his gang for snatching. During Manpreet’s interrogation, the police identified one of his accomplices as Bobby of Guru Nanak varsity signs pact for sustainable habitat Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 31 Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) has become the first Indian university to join Cities Forum, London, a collaborative network of cities that share a belief in the importance of culture for creating thriving metropolitan environments. Centre for Sustainable Habitat (CSH) of GNDU signed a memorandum of understanding with Cities Forum, London, to conduct need-based collaborative research and training in different fields of sustainable habitat. The pact is a major industry-academia linkage for research and training in identifying various challenges and exploring solutions in mobility, housing, environment and sanitation in cities and villages of India. Both institutions have agreed to organise workshops, seminars, conferences, and training programmes on the different sustainable development goals and targets of the United Nations as adopted by India. Cities Forum, London, will act as the knowledge partner and has agreed to take the students of GNDU for internship, summer training and their studio projects in the mutually agreed upon areas of research. Prof Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Vice-Chancellor, GNDU, said such collaborative research and training activities with international organisations would go a long way in achieving the vision and mission of the university in the field of sustainable habitat. He said Cities Forum, London, was a global organisation with a multi-disciplinary international group of experts with an experience in sustainable urban development. c m y b case solved, one held Tribune News Service The accused in the custody of the Amritsar police on Thursday. Amritsar, December 31 With the arrest of a youth, the police on Thursday claimed to have solved a blind murder case of Manthan Dhingra (22) who was found dead at an abandoned house in the Gujjapura area here on December 15. The victim was shot in the back. The accused has been identified as Aman Kotli from whose possession the police recovered a country-made weapon which was used in the crime. The pistol allegedly belonged to Dhingra which the accused had taken along after shooting him dead. People saw the body and informed the police and family members about it. Preliminary investigation had revealed that Manthan had been missing for the last two days. The police questioned Manthan’s friends and their call detail records were investigated. The police had also examined footage of CCTV cameras installed in nearby areas. Manthan’s father works as a tailor. The police authorities said a day before Manthan went missing, he was involved in firing in Fateh Singh Colony that had left two persons injured. The youth was later identified as Manthan Dhingra. However, before the police could arrest him, he was found dead in Gujjarpura area. When Dhingra was hiding, the accused Aman Kotli shot him dead. Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar area. Besides, two unknown persons were nominated in the FIR registered with the Ranjit Avenue police station here. The accused also confessed to have committed three more carjackings in the holy city. Malik said raids were on to nab Bobby and their other two unknown accomplices who were still on the run. The police were yet to recover the pistol used in the crime. Three unknown persons armed with fire weapons snatched the car of a Bathinda-based trader Satnam Singh Walia. Satnam, along with his general manager, had gone inside the hotel in the posh Ranjit avenue locality on December 19 while his driver, identified as Vikas, was sitting in the car (PB-03BB-0211) parked outside when the robbers took it away at gunpoint. Relief for hotels as govt lifts night curfew In last phase, 4,357 students get smartphones in dist Amritsar, December 31 The district administration has lifted the night curfew, relaxing the restrictions on movement, on the timings of hotels and restaurants and gatherings at marriage palaces and banquets halls from January 1. The administration has also lifted the restrictions on the closing of hotels and restaurants. The earlier orders required these establishments to close by 9.30 pm. The administration has now allowed a gathering of 200 people at indoor places. Earlier, indoor gatherings of 100 people were allowed. For outdoor gatherings, the administration has capped the guest strength at 500 persons. The earlier orders allowed outdoor gatherings of a maximum of 250 persons. — TNS Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 31 The last phase of distribution of smartphones and tablets launched under the Smart Connect Scheme by the state government was completed on Thursday by distributing smartphones to 4,357 students in the district. Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh addressed the ceremony virtually and directed the education ministry to make the school education system of the state digitally updated. Today, the third and last phase of the campaign was carried out in 11 constituencies of the district covering students of 60 government senior secondary schools. The ceremony was presided over by Deputy Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Khaira, DEO Satinderbir Singh, DEO (Elementary) Kanwaljit Singh and NSUI president Akshay Sharma. Earlier, smartphones were distributed to 9,560 students of different schools in the district in two phases. The DEO informed that the state government had distributed smartphones and tablets to a total of 1,75,448 students across the state. Addressing a number of schoolchildren, their parents and teachers present at the time, DC Gurpreet Singh Khaira said all these efforts would enable the students of government schools to give better results by connecting with modern technology. “Punjab was the first state in the country to successfully launch a number of new schemes, including smart school campaign for standardization of education, and launched Punjab Educare app during the pandemic,” he said. NSUI president Akshay Sharma said these hi-tech phones would go a long way in mitigating the hardships faced by students due to break in their classroom studies.