03022023-ATR-01.qxd 2/3/2023 12:11 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY CENTRE IGNORED AGRI SECTOR IN BUDGET: FARMERS’ UNION WILL SMITH SHOULD BE FORGIVEN, SAYS SERENA DEEPIKA AGGARWAL TO MAKE HER PUNJABI FILM DEBUT Members of KMSC burnt effigies of PM Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. P2 She was referring to the infamous incident when Will hit Chris Rock at the Academy Awards last year. P3 MAX 23°C | MIN 6°C YESTERDAY MAX 22°C | MIN 5°C The actress will be seen playing the parallel lead in director Avtar Singh’s upcoming film Ji Wife Ji. P4 » » SUNSET FRIDAY 18.01 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 7:11 AM » FRIDAY | 3 FEBRUARY 2023 | AMRITSAR INBRIEF LAWYER SEEKS FIR AGAINST AMRITPAL Amritsar: Congress leader and local lawyer Vaneet Mahajan has submitted a complaint to Police Commissioner Jaskaran Singh against Waris Punjab De president Amritpal Singh for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. He also attached a video with his complaint in which he alleged that Amritpal Singh allegedly made objectionable remarks about Goddess Durga. He sought the registration of an FIR against him for allegedly outraging the religious feelings of a community. TNS WOMAN DIES IN ROAD MISHAP Amritsar: A woman, identified as Jyoti (37), a resident of Kirpal Colony, lost her life when a rashly driven car hit her on the Verka bypass road here on Wednesday. She along with Prem Lata, the complainant, worked at a dry fruit factory at Manjo Pandori Lubhana village on the Verka-Majitha bypass on the Amritsar-Attari bypass road. When she tried to cross the road, a car hit her. She was injured in the accident and taken to Sri Guru Ram Dass Hospital at Vallah where she succumbed to her injuries. The car occupant sped away from the spot. A case has been registered. TNS Robbers loot goods worth ~25 lakh from tile factory Around 20 involved in crime booked, hunt on to nab miscreants Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 2 Around 20 armed persons looted a tile factory in Beharwal village falling under the Lopoke police station here on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday. They took away iron material used to prepare tiles and cement pipes worth Rs 25-30 lakh. Before committing the crime, they detained the guard and the labourers present in the factory at that time. The police have registered a case on the complaint of the owner of the factory identified as Kabal Singh. During a preliminary probe, the police found that DETAINED THE GUARD, LABOURERS AT UNIT ■ Before committing the crime, they detained the guard and the labourers present in the factory at that time. The police have registered a case on the complaint of the owner of the factory identified as Kabal Singh. ■ During a preliminary probe, the police found that the accused fled towards the Chogawan-Ajnala road after the crime and further investigations were in progress. the accused fled towards the Chogawan-Ajnala road after the crime and further investigations were in progress. Jatinder Singh, guard of the factory, said around 20 persons came in two vehicles and detained him and the labourers in a room. They snatched their mobiles phones, therefore they could not call anyone for help. Later, they took away iron materials and tiles from the factory. Karanpal Singh, SHO, Lopoke police station, said the police were looking into the route taken by the accused. He said police teams were scanning the CCTV cameras to find clues about the perpetrators. A resident of the village said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was inviting industrialists for setting up industrial units, but owners of existing factories were living in fear. He said the accused were armed with weapons and detained all the labourers before committing the robbery. “The government should first nail criminal elements and ensure the safety of the factories so that industrialists could work without fear. The law and order situation has completely collapsed in Punjab,” he pointed out. Kabal Singh said they were still looking into the extent of loss. He said they came to know about the incident in the morning. He urged the police authorities to nab the perpetrators and ensure that the stolen goods were returned to the owner. Youth booked for raping teenage girl Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 2 An 18-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a youth in Bohlia village falling under Ajnala police station here. Though the incident occurred on January 10, a complaint was lodged with the police yesterday. The accused identified as Gora, a resident of Fatehgarh Shukarchak, is a distant relative of the victim. No arrest was made till now though and a case has been registered. The victim stated to police that on January 10, her parents had gone to meet some relatives in Tarsikka while her two brother and sister had gone to the school. She was alone at home when the accused entered the house at around 11am. She alleged that the accused forcibly Rashpal sent to judicial custody in drug case PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Accused a distant relative of the victim took her to a room where he raped her. She said the accused threatened to kill her parents and siblings if she told anyone about this. She said she got frightened and did not tell about this to her family at that time. Now, she told her mother about the incident and after consulting other family members, they lodged a complaint with the Ajnala police. Sneha Lata, investigating officer, said the police have registered a case under Sections 376 and 506 of the IPC against Gora and efforts were being made to arrest him. The medical examination of the girl was also conducted and further probe was on. Amritsar, February 2 Following interrogation, the police have identified certain accomplices of drug peddler Rashpal Singh, alias Pali, of Kakkar border village. He was sent to judicial custody after expiry of his police remand yesterday. The Counter Intelligence Wing of Punjab Police had arrested Rashpal Singh with 5kg heroin along with Rs 12.15 lakh drug money from his possession. The contraband seized from him was part of a bigger consignment smuggled from Pakistan through drone recently. He was going to hand over the contraband along and drug money to other party when he was intercepted and arrested by the police on January 29. A case was registered under Sections 21 and 29 of the NDPS Act at the SSOC police station in Amritsar. Make public parking affordable: Residents 3 yrs on, black spots identified Incentivise people to utilise designated parking lots to reduce chaos on roads on BRTS lane not rectified yet Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service WOMAN AMONG 5 HELD WITH HEROIN Amritsar: The Punjab Police have arrested five persons, including a woman, for possessing heroin in separate instances here on Wednesday. Those arrested were identified as Kulwant Singh, Sonia, Rajbir Singh, Karan Singh, alias Pendu, and Rakesh Kumar. While Kulwant and Sonia were nabbed with 16gm heroin, the Amritsar rural police seized 10-gm heroin from Rajbir. Karan and Rakesh were held by city police with 10-gm heroin. TNS TWO MOBILES SEIZED FROM JAIL Amritsar: The Central Jail authorities seized two phones on Wednesday. One mobile phone was found abandoned while another was seized from Ranjit Singh, an inmate. TNS NREGA workers stage dharna in Tarn Taran Invest Punjab Summit chance to tap city’s potential, says Nijjar Vehicles parked haphazardly on the Lawrence Road in Amritsar on Thursday. PHOTOS: VISHAL KUMAR PARKING ISSUE-III Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 2 While most designated paid parking spaces in the city are not being properly utilised, the haphazardly parked vehicles on roadsides are one of the reasons for traffic chaos in the city. The residents stated that the high fee charged by the parking contractors is the reason why people do not use parking spaces. In the city, most designated parking spaces charge anything between Rs 30 to Rs 50 for parking a four-wheeler. A resident Jagtar Singh said, “These parking lots are leased out to private parking contractors at hefty amount. Instead of thinking of these parking spaces as an avenue for generating money, the purpose should be to clear the mess on city roads.” Another resident Sewak Singh said, “The city needs a parking system on the pat- tern of Chandigarh where the parking fee for a four-wheeler is fixed at Rs 14.” He said the parking attendants are often seen with two separate ticket books. “I happened to see these with one mentioning a parking fee of Rs 30 and the other mentioning Rs 50. This is done to extract more money from people who are from outside the city,” he added. The residents also suggested that making paid parking spaces affordable would encourage more people to use Artistes dwell upon Punjabi cinema, cultural challenges faced by society PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 2 On the second day of the 8th Amritsar Sahitya Utsav being organised by research institute Naad Pragas, at Khalsa College for Women, a special discussion on Punjabi cinema and cultural challenges faced by Punjabi society remained in focus. Eminent Punjabi filmmakers and critics, in the session on ‘Punjabi Cinema: Contemporary Scene and Direction’, analysed the current status of Punjabi cinematic content and quality. Immanuel Singh, an educator and actor-filmmaker, while focusing on the practicality of Punjabi cinema said Punjabi cinema has been more interested in commercial trends rather than its original vision of creating original content. “Bollywood has also limited Punjab to a these facilities. “There is a need to regulate the parking business. At government hospitals here, one can get an OPD slip for Rs 10 but has to pay Rs 20 for parking a vehicle,” said another resident Ankur Sharma. He said most commercial buildings do not have a parking area and people use the road to park their vehicles. The residents demanded that action should also be taken against institutions which have not created parking space as per the law. Amritsar, February 2 The black spots identified by traffic experts on the BRTS lane three years ago have not been rectified yet. Road accidents on the BRTS lane have become a routine affair. Earlier, there was a check on the entry of other vehicles in the BRTS corridor. But around eight months ago, restrictions on entry of other vehicle in the BRTS route have been removed. A committee, constituted by the state government, had identified nine black spots on the 31-km-long BRTS corridor in August 2019. Black spots were identified at Bhandari Bridge, the BRTS station outside the railway station, Valmiki Chowk, Putligarh Chowk, Civil Hospital, Ramtalai Chowk, Husainpura Chowk, Mall Mandi Chowk and outside Alpha Mall. Traffic load at Bhandari Bridge has eased after the construction of another rail- Punjabi filmmakers during an event in Amritsar on Thursday. specific mould, the diversity of the Punjabi society is not being presented through Punjabi cinema, but only the dominant social classes associated with agriculture are presented,” he said. Sharing another perspective on the matter, Daljit Amin, a filmmaker and academician from Punjabi University, Patiala, said the anthropology of Punjab has become the bearer of feudal values, due to which the hero of Punjabi cinema is also appears in a feudal character. “Punjabi cinema has failed to create diversity within itself,” he backed up his observation. Former professor of Punjabi University, Patiala, Dr Satish Kumar Verma also particpated in the discussion. The other sessions during the day were student dialogue on ‘Theory: Study and Teaching’, in which Varun Wigmal from Jawaharlal Nehru University Delhi, Lakhveer Singh from Jamia Millia Islamia, Heera Singh and Japreet Kaur from Punjabi University participated. Earlier, Dr Dipinderjit Kaur Randhawa, a scholar and thinker, adressed a session on theory of criticism from the perspective of study that literature has always been transformative but at present the relationship between the reader and the text has broken. While presenting the paper during this event, researchers Harkamalpreet Singh and Kulwinder singh, discussed new trends emerging in Punjabi poetry and English literature. Meanwhile, two books titled, ‘Alternative Narratives’ and ‘Carnival of Difference’ were released. Naad Pargas members, Sarabjit Singh encouraged researchers to understand the importance of theorising during academic research. c m y b Tarn Taran, February 2 A large number of MGNREGA workers under the banner of the NREGA Workers’ Union staged a day-long dharna in front of the main gate of the District Administrative Complex (DAC) on Thursday and highlighted different problems. The union also raised issues related to atrocities and irregularities being committed by the authorities while dealing with the workers. Ranjit Singh Shakri, district president, led the workers. A charter of demands and other issues was presented to the Deputy Commissioner. In his address, Shakri said the union had been demanding for the last eight months that work under the NREGA should be given to them in different 28 villages, but the administration adopted indifferent attitude as a result of which hundreds of workers were jobless. — OC Commuters drive with impunity on the BRTS lane in Amritsar. way bridge. Other spots are still not rectified. After studying the accidents reported on the BRTS lane, traffic experts had identified nine black spots on the BRTS road in August 2019. There were 30 black spots in the holy city. The committee had written to the Public Works Department (PWD) to take appropriate action to prevent road accidents. The PWD authorities did not pay heed to the recommenda- tions of the traffic advisor. The lack of proper signage, reflectors and other safety infrastructure led to accidents on the BRTS corridor. Grills on the BRTS corridor are missing at several places. Some broken grills are lying along the road, leading to accidents. Navdeep Asija, Traffic Advisor, Punjab, said, “On an average, eight accidental deaths are reported on the BRTS corridor every year.” continued on page 2 Minister urged to pitch for event to push growth in Amritsar Amritsar, February 2 Alleging step-motherly treatment, local activists demanded from Local Bodies Minister Inderbir Singh Nijjar to hold the Invest Punjab Summit 2023 in Amritsar. Hardeep Singh, president of Amritsar Vikas Manch, said, “We have written to the minister to hold the summit in the holy city. Amritsar will be an interesting place to invest for tourism, hospitality, IT, education and medical sectors for the investors. Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) has already started functioning. Amritsar has also been selected for medical tourism among 17 Indian cities by the government." “Amritsar successfully hosted the Heart of Asia Summit in 2016 and has now been selected for G-20 Summit in March and June 2023. Amritsar has emerged as a global hub for tourism, hospitality business and medical sector with great potential and opportunities. Land in Amritsar is cheaper than in Mohali, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Bathinda," said Manmohan Singh Brar, an activist. Kulwant Singh Ankhi, patron of Amritsar Vikas Manch, stated Amritsar is the second largest city of Punjab as well as an international tourism hub because of the Golden Temple. The city has many other tourist attractions like Jallianwala Bagh, Attari border, Durgiana Temple, Gobindgarh Fort, Sadda Pind, Punjab State War Museum, Partition Museum, Food Court and Town Hall building. Nearly one lakh visitors arrive in the city daily on normal days while on weekends, Gurpurab and holidays, 1 to 2 lakh visitors converge on Amritsar from India and across the world. Amritsar airport has three weekly direct air connectivity to London Heathrow and three weekly flights to Birmingham by Air India. Daily Doha flights by Qatar Airways, five days in a week to Singapore by Scoot, four days to Kuala Lumpur by Malindo Air of Malaysia, three weekly to Rome/Milan by Spice Jet and two to three weekly flights to Milan by Neos airline of Italy and four daily flights to Dubai and Sharjah by Air India Express, Indigo and Spice Jet. There are a total of 51 international departures in a week. Amritsar has five-star hotels and more than a dozen four-star hotels. “Invest Punjab should ask companies in hospitality, tourism, sports, IT and medical sector to invest in Amritsar by showing the city's potential," said Ankhi. — TNS