02052022-ATR-01.qxd 5/1/2022 11:35 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar TRIBUNE RAMPING UP MEDICAL INFRA, VAX SHOULD BE TOP PRIORITY PAGE 2 Instead of shutting schools, focus should be on preventive measures for students’ safety, say residents. PARTLY CLOUDY SKY INBRIEF HIT BY TRUCK, ELDERLY DIES Tarn Taran: An elderly man died on the spot, when a truck hit him at the Amritsar-Jhabal bypass on Saturday. The truck driver fled and is yet to be identified. The police said Arjinder Singh of Tarn Taran locality informed the police about the accident. The deceased (around 70) was going to Chhabal side, when a truck (PB-02, DT-7797) hit him. He received head injuries and was rushed to the local Civil Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. The truck driver was booked under Section 304-A the IPC. ASI Baldev Singh has started further probe. OC MOBILES SEIZED FROM JAIL INMATES Tarn Taran: The Central Jail authorities at Sri Goindwal Sahib during routine search seized five mobiles, two SIMs, six chargers, two headphones and three medical syringes from the barracks. Karnail Singh, Assistant Superintendent, Jail, submitted a complaint with the Goindwal Sahib police. A case under Section 52-A of the Prisons Act was registered against inmates Devinder Singh, Baljit Kumar Happy, Sumit Kumar, Robin Masih and one unidentified inmate. OC COTPA VIOLATIONS: 13 CHALLANNED Amritsar: The district Health Department issued challans to 13 cigarette venders for violating provisions of the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA). District mass media officer Amardeep Singh, who led the team, said inspections were conducted in Nawan Kot, Haripura, Islamabad, Putlighar, Model Town and Court Road areas. He said four challans were issued for smoking at public places and nine for violation of guidelines by tobacco sellers. TNS DRUG PEDDLERS’ REMAND EXTENDED Amritsar: The police remand of three ‘drug peddlers’, including a postgraduate student, who were held with 6-kg heroin, has been extended. They were produced before the Duty Magistrate. Those arrested are Lovepreet Kaur of Kotkapura, Deep Rai and his cousin Mehak Rai of Mahwa village near the Indo-Pak border. They were arrested by the Counter intelligence wing from near Vallah on April 28. TNS PAGE 3 Ajay Devgn made his directorial debut with Runway 34, co-starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rakul Preet Singh. MAX 41°C | MIN 27°C | YESTERDAY MAX 40°C | MIN 26°C SUNSET MONDAY 7:11 PM TAHIRA GETS CANDID ON SHILPA’S CHAT SHOW SHAPE OF YOU PAGE 4 Tahira Kashyap opened up about her sex life with husband Ayushmann Khurrana on Shilpa’s show recently. SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:43 AM MONDAY | 2 MAY 2022 | AMRITSAR 1,218 CCTVs to keep Flying history of drone seized a hawk eye in holy city 2 days ago being ascertained Charanjit Singh Teja TO COVER 466 LOCATIONS Tribune News Service ■ The MC will also establish an Integrated Command Control Centre to keep a check on the movements in city. ■ The entire city will be monitored 24x7 through these cameras on multiple screens, wherein the company, hired by ASCL, will look after the operation and maintenance work for 4 years ■ Preparations are being made to build ICCC on the top floor of the MC head office building in Ranjit Avenue ■ This project will cost around ~95 crore. It will be funded by the ASCL ■ ASCL officials claim it will be completed in nine months Amritsar, May 1 Under the Smart City project, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has proposed to instal 1,218 CCTV cameras at 466 locations in the city. The MC would also establish an Integrated Command Control Centre (ICCC) to keep a check on the movements on the entire city. Preparations are being made to build the ICCC on the top floor of the Municipal Corporation head office in Ranjit Avenue. This project will cost around ~95 crore. It will be funded by the Amritsar Smart City Limited (ASCL). Officials of the ASCL claimed that they had the target to complete this project within nine months. At the Integrated Command Control Centre, the entire city would be monitored 24x7 through these 1,218 cameras on multiple screens, wherein the company, hired by ASCL, will look after the operation and maintenance work for four years. Officials claimed that there would be complete monitor- ing to trace crime and control traffic in the city. As many as 12 air quality monitors, 10 message display boards, emergency call booths and intelligent traffic management systems would also be installed at 17 locations under this project. Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu said every major square and intersection of the city would be covered under the project, in which four to eight CCTV cameras would be installed at the intersections. Similarly, the walled city and the outskirt areas would also be covered. The roundabouts and intersections at Ranjit Avenue, Lawrence Road, Majitha Road, Batala Road, Putlighar, Chheharta, Bus Stand, Railway Station, Hathi Gate, Lohgarh, Lahori Gate and other areas would be covered. Under the project, the emergency response system will be active for 24 hours. With this, the police will be more capable than before to deal with criminals. Last year, the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMDIC) had floated tenders for three cities under this project. Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu said with the installation of CCTV cameras, residents and tourists visiting the holy city would be more safe and secure. “With the installation of CCTV cameras in every street and locality, crimes like theft, dacoity and snatching will also be curbed,” he said. BSF had recovered a bike from spot, which was found to be a stolen one PK Jaiswar THE CASE Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 1 The Border Security Force (BSF) is trying to find the flying history of the drone that was shot down by its personnel at Maude village near Pul Kanjri border outpost at the Indo-Pak border two days ago. On Friday, the BSF had shot down a China made black quadcopter (drone), model DJI Matrice- 300. Though no payload or dropping was found, during the combing operation in the area, the BSF and local police had also recovered a motorcycle sans registration plate from near the spot. This hinted that some unidentified drug smuggler had already retrieved the consignment from the drone before escaping. According to the police, apparently on seeing the BSF jawans rushing towards the spot and cordoning the area, the unidentified smuggler fled with the consignment leaving his bike behind. The bike was later found to be stolen one. The DSP , ■ The drone recovered from Maude village near Pul Kanjri border outpost at the Indo-Pak border two days ago had around 150-metre blue nylon rope attached with it ■ It was a black quadcopter (drone), model DJI Matrice300, made in China ■ It was taken by the BSF authorities while the motorcycle was handed over to the police for further probe. A case under Sections 21, 23, 28, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act was registered with the Gharinda police at that time ■ No payload or dropping was found during the combing operation in the area. The BSF and the local police had also recovered a motorcycle sans registration plate from near the spot. This hinted that some unidentified drug smuggler had already retrieved the consignment from the drone before escaping ■ According to the police, apparently on seeing the BSF jawans rushing towards the spot and cordoning the area, the unidentified smuggler fled with the consignment leaving his bike behind Attari Balbir Singh, said the bike belonged to one Gurlal Singh of the Sultanwind area. However, he told the police that his bike was stolen from near the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and order) near the Cantonment police station, where he had gone for renewal of his arms licence several months back. He had filed a complaint with the Cantonment police at that time. All facts were verified and found to be true, he said. The drone recovered from Maude village had around 150-metre blue nylon rope attached with it. The drone was taken by the BSF authorities while the motorcycle was handed over to the police for further probe. A case under Sections 21, 23, 28, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act was registered with the Gharinda police at that time. Another police official at Gharinda police station said the BSF was ascertaining the flying history of the drone seized. “Establishing the flying history of the drones has led to the arrest of drug peddlers involved in cross-border smuggling,” he said. A drug peddler of Havelian border village in Tarn Taran was nabbed by this method, while another smuggler was arrested from the Chheharta area. Pakistan based anti-national elements are pushing in arms, explosives and contraband by using drones. The instances of drone sightings have seen a rise in the last over one year. Stubble burning on the rise as Use of straw as fuel farmers get ready for next crop banned in factories Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 1 Farmers in the district are taking full advantage of the public holiday on Sunday, as a large number of stubble burning incidents were witnessed in the rural areas. It being a holiday, farmers were fully aware of the fact that no government teams would visit the area to keep a check on the illegal activity. At places, these fires were also seen burning the dry grass on the green belts alongside roads in rural areas. Every year, a large number of plant saplings and even big trees are damaged due to these unguarded fires started by farmers. Residents in the rural areas reported that stubble burning witnessed a sharp Amritsar, May 1 In view of the shortage of straw for livestock, Deputy Commissioner Harpreet Singh Sudan has banned its use as fuel in factories, besides sale out of the state. The district administration took the sweeping measure as a quintal of straw was available between ~700 and ~1,000 in the urban and rural areas of the district. The same quantity of straw was available from ~400 to ~500 last summer. Sudan said it came to his notice that due to shortage of straw, dairy farmers had been facing difficulty in getting the crop residue resulting in a surge in its price. He said it also came to notice that big factories, which were equipped with boilers, used straw as fuel. This was PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR FORECAST BIG B CALLS AJAY’S DIRECTION IN RUNWAY 34 ‘MARVELLOUS’ increase on Sunday. Though most farmers have already harvested the wheat crop, many also used the remaining stubble to make dry fodder for animals. However, the lower stems of the wheat plants, which could not be used by machines for Sun(day) cleanse making dry fodder, are burnt. In comparison to paddy crop, in which the entire stubble is unusable for farmers, in wheat most of it is used to make dry fodder. A farmer said: “If we do not burn the residue, it will float on water at the time of puddling of fields for paddy transplanting.” He said: “The idea of direct seeding of rice (DSR technique) has still not caught the fancy of a maximum number of farmers and as such the transplanting method is still being widely preferred.” Elderly man found murdered Son’s role suspected as he was hooked to drugs Tribune News Service A child bathes in the holy sarovar of Durgiana Temple in Amritsar on Sunday. VISHAL KUMAR Amritsar, May 1 A 62-year-old man was found murdered in Naraingarh village falling under Tarsikka police station here yesterday. Harbans Singh had retired as Class-IV employee from the mini-secretariat around two years ago and was currently working from house as a tailor. The police took the body of the deceased in custody and handed it over to the family after the post-mortem examination on Sunday. The family members and the police suspect the involvement of deceased’s elder son behind his killing, but for now, cops have booked an unidentified person for murder. “As investigations are still c m y b As ❝on,investigations are still we have registered a case against unidentified persons for now. ❞ SI Balraj Singh, IO, SHO, TARSIKKA POLICE STATION under progress, we have registered a case against unidentified persons for now,” said Sub-Inspector Balraj Singh, Investigating Officer, and SHO, Tarsikka police station. Preliminary investigations revealed that Harbans Singh’s elder son was hooked to drugs and he allegedly sold his sewing machine for money for his addiction. Ramandeep Singh, younger son of the deceased, told the police that on Friday evening, his elder brother Satnam Singh went to the market and called his wife Maninder Kaur ask- ing her to send his father to Jandiala Guru’s market to get his sewing machine back. He said Harbans went to the market around 9 pm. Later, around 11 pm, he again called and said that they’ve had dinner and there was no need to cook for them. After this, the mobile phones of both of them went off and they did not return home. He said on Saturday, Harbans Singh’s body was found near the railway lines in Naraingarh village, while Satnam had also not arrived home. Balraj Singh said there was no injury marks on the body of the deceased. Autopsy was done to ascertain the cause behind his death. He said investigations were also on to locate Satnam Singh as his interrogation would lead to the truth. came to my ❝Itfarmers havenotice that due to shortage of straw, dairy been facing difficulty in getting the crop residue resulting in surge of its price. Big factories, which are equipped with boilers, are also using straw as fuel. This is also causing scarcity in the open market. So, the use of straw as fuel in factories has been prohibited. Harpreet Singh Sudan, DC ❞ also causing scarcity of straw in the open market. So, he prohibited the use of straw as fuel in factories, Sudan added. All this is causing undue harassment to dairy farmers who are finding it tough to afford straw at this high rate for their livestock. It has caused resentment among farmers, who find their voice unheard. Besides, any imbalance of the equilibrium will hamper the supply chain of milk, which is the major source of nourishment among people in general and children in particular. The DC, using the powers vested under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Amritsar, 1973, prohibited moving straw from the border district to outside Punjab. Manjit Singh, a farmer from Bhilowal village, felt that a good proportion of farmers did not stock sufficient amount of straw, which was led to scarcity this summer. Amritsar-Nanded flight suspended, yet again Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 1 Air India’s Amritsar-Nanded flight connecting two major Sikh shrines has been suspended again. The flight had resumed after protest from Sikh devotes and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) around six months back. Now, Air India has stopped taking advance bookings for Amritsar-Nanded flight on its web portal. Earlier, the flight was cancelled on September 30, 2021. The move was opposed by the SGPC and the then Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi also intervened in the matter. Bibi Jagir Kaur, who was the SGPC president then, and Channi had written to Aviation Minister Jyotira- ditya Scindia. After suspension of three months, the flight had resumed on November 24 2021. Now again Air India has stopped this flight. “The flight was operational once a week up to winter schedule that ends in the last week of March. In the summer schedule, it has been discontinued. Air India has ceased operations in Nanded. Hence, flights from Amritsar, Delhi and Chandigarh to Nanded stand suspended till further notice,” said Yogesh Kamra, convener of the FlyAmritsar Initiative. “The Ministry of Civil Aviation should make a permanent effort with an incentive scheme for airlines to connect these holy cities,” Kamra said.