11072022-ATR-01.qxd 7/10/2022 11:59 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar TRIBUNE FIND ECO-FRIENDLY ALTERNATIVES TO SINGLE-USE PLASTIC ITEMS PAGE 2 Residents say hold awareness campaigns before imposing the ban, give incentives to those who follow it. FORECAST GENERALLY CLOUDY SKY INBRIEF DRY FRUIT WORTH LAKHS GUTTED Amritsar: A major fire broke out at a dry fruit warehouse in Majith Mandi today morning. No loss of life has been reported in the fire. Naaresh Manchanda from Sewa Society Fire Brigade said they got information about fire in the dry fruit godown at 9.15 am and reached the spot at 9.22 am. They immediately started dousing flames. Meanwhile, two fire tenders of the Municipal Corporation also arrived on the spot within few minutes, he said. Huge quantity of cashew packets and boxes were stored in the godown. All dry fruit worth lakhs was destroyed in the fire. Firemen brought the blaze under control within one hour. Flames were doused completely by 11 am. The cause of fire is yet to be ascertained. A short circuit might have caused fire. TNS 21-YEAR-OLD YOUTH ENDS LIFE BY SUICIDE Amritsar: A youth identified as Raghav Sharma (21) of Nangal Pannuan village ended life by suicide after he was defrauded of Rs 3.5 lakh by Mandeep Singh of the SG Enclave area on the Majitha road here. Mandeep cheated the victim on the pretext of getting him a job in the Amritsar MC. Following a complaint by victim’s father, the police have booked Mandeep on the charge of abatement to suicide. Sohan Lal, victim’s father, told the police that he works as driver and his son Raghav completed his Class XII recently. He said they met Mandeep Singh around three years ago. He used to live in Naag Khurd village at that time. He said Mandeep used to work as DJ player and was also a dealer of old cars. He said Mandeep lured them by stating that he had good relations with officials of the MC and could get his son Raghav recruited in the civic body. He demanded Rs 3.5 lakh for the same. Lal said the accused neither returned his money nor got his son a job in the MC. He also stopped answering their phone calls. Upset over this development, Raghav went out of the house on Saturday evening on pretext of going to temple. When he did not return, his family started looking for him. Later, he was found dead near their house. He had consumed some poisonous substance. The police took the body into custody for the postmortem examination and registered a case against Mandeep Singh. TNS PAYAL ROHATGI AND SANGRAM SINGH TIE THE KNOT IN AGRA Payal Rohatgi and Sangram Singh tied the knot on July 9. The pictures were shared by Payal’s Instagram account. MAX 34°C | MIN 26°C | YESTERDAY MAX 34°C | MIN 26°C SUNSET MONDAY 7:38 PM HINA KHAN VISITS THE SETS OF SWAYAMVAR — MIKA DI VOTI PAGE 4 Many big celebrities have come on Swayamvar — Mika Di Voti to help Mika Singh choose the right girl. SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:34 AM Two days after joining office, MC chief transferred again MONDAY | 11 JULY 2022 | AMRITSAR Festive harmony Joint Commissioner Hardeep Singh shifted as SDM, Kapurthala & Bholath Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 10 In a surprise development, two days after joining the Municipal Corporation office, Commissioner Sandeep Rishi has been again transferred back as Assistant Excise Commissioner to Patiala. It is his fifth transfer in the last twoand-a-half months. In fresh orders by the Punjab Government, Kumar Saurabh Raj has been appointed as Commissioner, Municipal Corporation (MC), Amritsar. Meanwhile, Joint Commissioner Hardeep Singh was also transferred. He has been appointed as Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Kapurthala, and Bholath. Rishi was promoted as IAS FIFTH TRANSFER IN TWO AND A HALF MONTHS ■ Sandeep Rishi has been again transferred back as Assistant Excise Commissioner to Patiala ■ It is his fifth transfer in the last two and a half months ■ Rishi was promoted as IAS last year and his first appointment as MC Commissioner was in the holy city on November 21, 2021 ■ In fresh orders by the Punjab Government, Kumar Saurabh Raj has been appointed as Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Amritsar last year and his first appointment as Commissioner was in the holy city on November 21, 2021. After the state Assembly elections results and formation of the AAP government he was transferred on April 24 as Chief Officer, Jalandhar Development Authority (JDA). There was no Commissioner for many weeks at the Amritsar MC. Then on May 23, the Punjab Government appointed Karnail Singh as Commissioner of the Amritsar MC. But Karnail Singh did not take charge as the Municipal Commissioner here. After this, on June 24, the Punjab Government gave the additional charge of Municipal Commissioner to Harpreet Singh Sudan, Deputy Com- Minister announces museum dedicated to singer Mohd Rafi Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 10 Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Culture Arjun Ram Meghwal has announced that the Ministry of Culture would set up a museum dedicated to famous yesteryear playback singer late Mohammad Rafi provided the authorities concerned submitted a plan for the same. Rafi’s ancestral Kotla Sultan Singh village is situated Amritsar district. Wrapping up his two-day visit to the holy city the minister assured that he would return with a Central project during his next visit here. In-charge, Amritsar Lok Sabha segment, Meghwal has been tasked to win the seat. The minister elaborated that there were over 140 seats in the country, which never sent a BJP candidate to parliament. “The Amritsar Lok Sabha seat is one of these,” he said. “Our target is to wrest the seat in the 2024 General Election,” he quipped. Delegations of the hospitality sector, traders, industrialists, environmentalists and others met the Union Minister and submitted their Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal (left) pays obeisance at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Sunday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR ❝ The holy city has a tremendous potential in tourism and this aspect will be further explored. The number of flights from the Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport should be increased. Arjun Ram Meghwal, UNION MINISTER ❞ demands. He said the holy city had a tremendous potential in tourism and this aspect would be further explored. He favoured increasing the number of flights from the Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport. Among others, BJP leaders Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, former Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora, Jagmohan Singh Raju, a bureaucrat-turned politician, who unsuccessfully contested from the Amritsar East Assembly constituency, were present on the occasion. Covid cases continue to increase; 11 test positive Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 10 With 11 positive cases reported in the district on Sunday, the total count of cases has increased to 59,671. The recent spurt in the number of cases has led to an increase in the active caseload. At present, the district has a total of 70 active cases. The total count of positive cases from the district has increased to 59,671. The district officials have also reported the recovery of six patients, with which the recovery count has improved to 57,917. The district officials stated that around 2,000 samples were being tested daily. They added that contacts of the positive patients were PAGE 3 People sans face masks at Heritage Street in Amritsar. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR also being tested to check the spread of the viral infection. While the number of cases from the district is on the rise, there is no visible impact on the general public as large crowds can be seen at public places. Even the masks which were earlier made mandatory by the government are seldom worn for the residents. c m y b missioner, Amritsar. Sudan started working as Deputy Commissioner, Chairman, Improvement Trust, and MC Commissioner. He took a bold decision in an inquiry for the digging case and suspended five officials of the municipal town planning wing. Subsequently, on July 7, Sandeep Rishi was reappointed Commissioner, Amritsar MC. He joined the office on Friday. Now, only two days later, the Punjab Government again transferred Rishi to the vacant post of Additional Commissioner, Excise Department. Political experts in the city are citing a power clash between two Delhi-based groups of the AAP in the recent transfer of the MC Commissioner. Pensioners’ body seeks release of balance payment Amritsar, July 10 Members of the Market Committee Pensioners’ Welfare Association sought swift release of the balance payment of the Sixth Pay Commission here on Sunday. A meeting of the association was held at Company Bagh under Harpreet Singh Sandhu, chairman of the local chapter of the association. He said the government was in the process of signing a memorandum of understanding with the State Bank of India for payment of pension, arrears, dearness allowance and others to the pensioners and family pensioners of the Punjab Mandi Board. He sought that the pensioners and family pensioners of the market committees of the state have also demanded the same facility from the government. Punjab Market Committees, Punjab Mandi Board and the government were urged by the association to release the arrears to the pensioners and family pensioners of the market committees as per the Sixth Pay Commission. President Atamjit Singh, public secretary Hira Singh and cashier of the association Naresh Kumar Sharma were also present. — TNS (Top) Devotees offer prayers at a mosque in Amritsar; BSF Commandant Jasbir Singh (centre L) presents sweets to Pakistani Rangers wing commander Aamir (centre R) on Eid al-Adha at the India-Pakistan Wagah border on Sunday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Centre trying to undermine Punjab’s right on Chandigarh, says Dal Khalsa Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 10 Referring to the statement of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in which he assured to give additional space for the construction of separate Vidhan Sabha for Haryana, the Dal Khalsa fired a salvo against him for the Centre’s design to undermine Punjab’s legitimate right on Chandigarh. Taking exception to Shah’s remark, the party leader Kanwar Pal Singh said like the controversial Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal, the people of Punjab would never allow any new construction that dilutes state’s right on its capital. “The Centre is hell bent to deprive Punjab of its legitimate right on its Panjab University (PU), river waters and TAKES EXCEPTION TO AMIT SHAH’S REMARK to deprive Punjab of its ❝The Centre is hell bentUniversity, river waters and legitimate right on Panjab capital Chandigarh. All recent initiatives by Amit Shah vis-a-vis Chandigarh are designed to strengthen Haryana’s claim and weaken the Punjab case. Kanwar Pal Singh, DAL KHALSA LEADER capital Chandigarh. All recent initiatives by Amit Shah vis-a-vis Chandigarh are designed to strengthen Haryana’s claim and weaken the Punjab case,” he said while adding that the BJP was playing divisive politics as it wanted to create a wedge between people of Punjab and Haryana in the wake of both coming closer during the farmers agitation. He said the AAP government in the state too, had adopted a defensive attitude ❞ to defend waters, university and capital, whereas the need of the hour was to have an offensive one. On Chief Minister’s Bhagwant Mann’s reaction to Shah’s statement, he termed it as a ridicule, childish and self-defeating statement. “After adoption of a resolution in Vidhan Sabha that Chandigarh exclusively belongs to Punjab, the Chief Minister begging for space shows that he has lost his mental balance,” he said.