20012023-ATR-01.qxd 1/20/2023 12:20 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune PHARMACY COLLEGE GETS THE NBA ACCREDITATION RAJAMOULI’S RRR MISSES 2023 BAFTA NOMINATION S S Rajamouli’s action blockbuster RRR has not been nominated for the BAFTA awards. P3 GENERALLY CLOUDY MAX 18°C | MIN 9°C YESTERDAY MAX 20°C | MIN 6°C DISCOVERY ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF NEW ORIGINAL Khalsa College of Pharmacy has become first institution in the region to be granted status by NBA. P2 FORECAST Discovery has announced a new investigative special, Hunt For The Indian Mujahideen. P4 » » SUNSET FRIDAY 5.53 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 7:29 AM » FRIDAY | 20 JANUARY 2023 | AMRITSAR Farmers body to disrupt rail traffic on Jan 29 Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 19 The Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee has announced that it would hold large gatherings at the district headquarters on January 26 to mark Fateh Divas. KMSC leaders stated that it was on January 26 last year that the Central Government had announced to repeal the three controversial agricultural laws. The committee has also announced that they would disrupt rail traffic on January 29 to protest against the alleged attack on KMSC in Delhi during the farmers’ agitation. KMSC general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher said the agitation against the Centre and the state government would be further intensified in the coming days as many of their demands were still unfulfilled. AAP MLA, Mayor at loggerheads over General House meet in hotel Kunwar Vijay Pratap says inappropriate I Hosting in personal capacity: Rintu GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 19 For a change, the Amritsar Municipal Corporation (MC) has scheduled its last meeting of the General House in a four-star hotel tomorrow. The move has invited the ire of Aam Aadmi Party MLA (North) Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh. The invitation was sent to all MLAs, who are ex-officio members of the MC House. The meeting is to be held in the hotel at 1 pm. Kunwar Vijay Partap said the MC has a well facilitated venue in the posh Ranjit Avenue area, yet it was inappropriate and a matter of great embarrassment that such an auspicious official meeting of the MC’s General House has been planned in a hotel basement. LETTER SENT TO MC COMMISSIONER ■ On receiving the invitation, Kunwar Vijay Pratap shot off a letter to MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi raising his strong objection over the choice of venue. “You being a responsible member of the All India Services, being posted as Commissioner of Municipal Corporation, should adhere to your constitutional obligations,” he wrote. “AAP is a progressive national party and it will send a wrong signal to the people if an official meeting is organised in hotels,” he said. On receiving the invitation, Kunwar Vijay Pratap shot off a letter to MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi raising his strong objection over the choice of venue. “You being a responsible member of the All India Services, being posted as Commissioner of Municipal Corporation, should adhere to your constitutional obligations,” he wrote. Kunwar Vijay Pratap wrote, “We all being the followers of the ideals of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar should abide by the basic ideals and conventions of the Constitution of India, especially related to 73rd and 74th amendments related to local bodies.” Ironically, the invitations were sent under the signature of Municipal Corporation Commissioner only, yet he stated that it was Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu’s decision to hold it in the hotel in his personal capacity. “The House meeting is chaired by the Mayor only and it was his choice to plan the meeting in a hotel as he wanted to host a PETA demands ban on spiked bits, says these cause pain, injury to horses PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 19 As part of the nationwide campaign against the use of spiked bits for controlling horses at ceremonies, the People for the Ethical Treatment to Animals (PETA) and the city police today displayed the instruments seized during raids across different parts of the city. The thorn (spiked) bits are devices fitted in the mouth of a horse used at a ceremony, such as a wedding, explained Natasha, an advocacy officer of the association, as she Members of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) display seized illegal spiked bits in Amritsar on Thursday. VISHAL KUMAR called upon the public to use some other means during such functions or to com- pletely avoid the use of horses at such ceremonies. She noted that the use of Areas that are major traffic bottlenecks need attention such instruments is prohibited under Rule 8 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Draught and Pack Animals Rules, 1965. She stressed that the use of this device causes extreme pain and injury to the horse. The organisation and the Police Department have held similar drives in Maharashtra and Delhi also. “Though these devices are prohibited under the law, but these are still being used. The manufacturing and sale of such devices should be stopped,” stated the organisation. lunch for the members of the House. There would be no burden on the MC exchequer,” he said. When asked about the legal sanctity of the House meeting, he said, “There was seldom any official agenda left. Still, I will look into the matter,” he said. On the other hand, Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu said that constitutionally, there was never any binding that the official meeting could not be held outside the official premises. “What’s wrong in it if I have invited my colleagues in my personal capacity at the hotel as a farewell get-together? So, we also intimated the officials that if there was any pending matter, that could be deliberated upon there only. Likewise, the minutes of the meeting would be recorded,” he said. Two die of ‘asphyxia’ at marriage palace Ex-serviceman among dead; probe sought Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 19 Two persons, including an ex-serviceman, died under mysterious circumstances in a room of a marriage palace located near the Verka bypass road here on Thursday. The incident came to light in the morning when other staff of the marriage palace reached there and found them dead. During an initial probe, the police said the duo apparently died due to asphyxia as they had kept burning coal in the room where they were sleeping. However, the family members said there was an injury mark on the wrist of one of the victims and demanded that the police Victims Balwinder Singh and Tejinder Kumar. TRIBUNE PHOTO should investigate the matter to ascertain the exact cause of the incident. The deceased were identified as Balwinder Singh (50) of Nangli village, who was an ex-serviceman, and Tejinder Kumar (32). Balwinder used to work as a security personnel in the palace. Kashmir Singh, a relative of Balwinder, said they received information about the incident around 9am Women power that Balwinder along with another person was found dead in the room. Owing to severe cold, they had kept burning coal in the room for keeping the room warm. He said in the morning they were found dead. Bant Kumar, a relative of Tejinder, said he had an injury mark on his wrist. He said the police informed that they died after breathing poisonous gas emitted by burning coal that led to their death. The police took their bodies into custody and later handed over the bodies to their families after autopsy. The police said a postmortem would ascertain the cause of death. The police have started inquest proceedings in the incident. 22-yr-old youth dies of drug overdose Punjab Police personnel during a rehearsal for the Republic Day parade in Amritsar. VISHAL Tarn Taran, January 19 Kot Dharan Chand Kalan village resident Harpreet Singh Happy (22) allegedly died of drug overdose here on Wednesday night. He was cremated on Thursday. Sukhdev Singh, first uncle of the victim, said Harpreet Singh, who was admitted to the de-addiction centre, Vallah (Amritsar), was brought back home just a few days ago. Sukhdev Singh said Harpreet injected himself with an overdose of intoxicant injection on Wednesday. Then he went to sleep and found dead after some time by family members. — OC NRI among 2 fall prey to snatchers Property tax recovery hit as staff deputed on delimitation duty Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 19 An NRI was among two persons to fall prey to snatchers in the city. While in the first instance the snatcher was nabbed, investigations were on to identify the suspects in the second incident. Rajwinder Kaur, a USbased NRI, said she along her daughter Kiranjit Kaur had come to Amritsar. Yesterday in the evening, she along with her daughter was shopping at the university market. They were return- ing home on an e-rickshaw when a Sikh youth came on a scooter (PB-02-BA-4107) and snatched her purse near the Jama Masjid located on main GT road. However, the onlookers nabbed the suspect and handed him over to the police. The suspect was identified as Gurjinder Singh of Kotli Miyan Khan village falling under Gharinda police station. A case under Section 379-B of IPC was registered against them. Similarly, unknown persons snatched a mobile phone and Rs 20,000 in cash from an e-cart employee near the Verka bypass road late in the evening yesterday. The victim Vinod Kumar said that he along with the driver was going on a ‘Chhota Hathi’ (goods carrier) and reached near SG Resort when two unknown bikeborne persons came in front of their vehicle. They started thrashing him and later snatched his phone and money. The Sadar police have registered a case in this regard though there has been no breakthrough so far. Residents pay property at the MC office at Company Bagh in Amritsar. A long traffic jam prevails outside the railway station in Amritsar on Thursday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 19 An under-construction railway over-bridge, a flyover and the out of bound Rigo bridge have led to poor traffic scene in the holy city. Frequent jams on various roads including those in the walled city have been troubling the residents. City residents are miffed over the failure of the district administration as well as civic authorities and the police department in streamlining traffic in a city that is a major centre of tourism and spiritual pilgrimage attracting a large number of people. Rampant encroachments by shopkeepers and vendors, lack of parking space and hap- hazardly parked vehicles are the other major factors that have spiralled in the past couple of years. The ever rising number of vehicles and whimsically driven auto-rickshaws and e-rickshaws have also contributed to frequent traffic snarls. The traffic police is also ill-equipped to handle such enormous problem. The recent anti-encroachment drives initiated by the police along with Municipal Corporation officials have failed to produce the desired results as the situation is back to square one just after a few days. Among the major traffic bottlenecks are areas like Putlighar Chowk, Gwalmandi Chowk, Railway Station, Hall Gate, Majitha Road, Lawrence Road chowk, Bhandari Bridge, Queenz road, areas near Golden Temple, Vallah chowk on Amritsar-Attari bypass road etc. At present, a flyover is under construction at Vallah chowk besides a railway bridge that connects the main GT road with Islamabad area further leading towards the walled city and other important roads. It has been under construction for a long time now. The Rigo Bridge that connects the GT road with walled city area near Gobindgarh Fort was also closed by the district administration for safety reasons as it was declared unsafe continued on page 2 Man booked for killing wife Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 19 A woman, identified as Gurjit Kaur (38), was killed by her husband on the Bhai Manjh Singh road in Kot Mit Singh area on Thursday. She was allegedly hit on the head with some blunt item. A domestic dispute is stated to be the reason behind the murder. The accused, Harpal Singh, fled the spot after killing her. Joginder Singh, father of the victim, said his daughter and her husband had not been on good terms. The couple had two children. c m y b Robbers’ gang busted, 3 held in Tarn Taran Tarn Taran, January 19 The city police on Wednesday busted a five-member gang of robbers which was involved in robbery incidents that took place in the area over the last few months. While three members of the gang were arrested on Wednesday with sharp-edged weapons, two managed to escape from the spot when the police party conducted a raid to nab them. Vishaljit Singh, SP (Investigation), said here on Thursday that those arrested were identified as Satnam Singh Lala of Pahuwind (Bhikhiwind), Gurwinder Singh Kalu of Noordi bazaar (Tarn Taran) and Charanjit Singh Channi of Kakka Kandiala. Those absconded were identified as Varinder Singh of Holy City (Tarn Taran) and Sagar Singh of Muhalla Jaswant Singh in Tarn Taran, said the SP . The SP said the gang members were holding a meeting in an abandoned building when the police party headed by ASI Manjider Singh raided the spot. A case under had been registered, added the SP — OC Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 19 After achieving the mid-term target in September, the property tax wing did not achieve much during the last four months. The property tax wing staff had collected Rs 25 crore as property tax till September 30. During the last four months, only Rs 3 crore has been collected. Now, the MC has been collecting property tax with a 10 per cent penalty. During the last few months, the MC identified around 450 defaulter property owners, who did not pay the tax during the past few years. There are some defaulters who didn’t even pay since 2014-15. The MC had served notices under Section 138 of the Punjab Municipal Act to seal the buildings for non-payment of tax. However, the department failed to initiate the sealing drive. Officials of the property tax wing claimed that staff of the department had been deployed on the duty of delimitation of MC wards. In the absence of required staff to collect tax from field, the MC collected only Rs 28 crore to date. Daljit Singh, Nodal Officer for property tax, said, “We have already issued notices for sealing the properties. The sealing of properties would be started within one or two days. For current year defaulters, we will issue reminders.”