29042023-ATR-01.qxd 4/28/2023 11:51 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLOUDY RETAIL VEGETABLE SELLERS GO ON STRIKE IN CITY SOORAJ ON INSTAGRAM AFTER BEING ACQUITTED TAAPSEE'S DOBAARAA TO PREMIERE ON SILVER SCREEN The trouble cropped up when workers of a private firm asked retailers to pay user charges. P2 After being acquitted in a suicide case, actor Sooraj Pancholi wrote on Instagram: ‘Truth Always Wins’. P3 & Pictures will host TV premiere of Anurag Kashyap's mystery thriller Dobaaraa on April 29 at 9pm. P4 » » MAX 36°C | MIN 21°C YESTERDAY MAX 36°C | MIN 19°C SUNSET SATURDAY 7.09 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 5:46 AM » SATURDAY | 29 APRIL 2023 | AMRITSAR Anmolpreet tops in dist; Rajbir, Pathankot district her namesake bag 2nd, 3rd slots tops state in PSEB Asr ranks 5th in state with overall pass percentage of 98.88% Neha Saini Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 28 It was once again an all-girl show in the PSEB Class 8 Board results as top three positions in the district were bagged by girls. Anmolpreet Kaur, a student of Standard Public High School, Dhulka (Tarsikka block), Amritsar, had the distinction of being the topper in the district as the Punjab School Education Board declared the results. Anmolpreet scored 99.17 per cent with 595 marks out of 600. Her performance in the PSEB Board exams also put her at fifth rank in the overall state merit list. Rajbir Kaur and another student also by the name of Rajbir Kaur, both students of Sri Dashmesh Senior Secondary School, Kotla Sultan Singh, bagged the second and third position respectively in the district. While Rajbir PSEB CLASS VIII RESULTS Class VIII exams Manvi, Bhumika bag top positions Ravi Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Anmolpreet Kaur Rajbir Kaur Rajbir Kaur 99.17% 99% 98.83% Kaur scored 594/600 to get 99 per cent and a state rank of sixth, her school mate and namesake scored 593/600 to get 98.83 per cent and a state rank of seventh. In the overall state-wise result, Amritsar ranked fifth with a total pass percentage of 98.88 per cent. The total students from Amritsar who appeared in the exam were 28,560 out of which 28, 241 passed. District Education Officer (Secondary) Jugraj Singh expressed happiness over the Class 8 results and said that the students have proved that they are at par with any other Board in terms of performance. “The inclusion of technology-based teaching and efforts by teachers to reach out to the students through an individual approach has helped improve our result over last year,” he said. Police book eight in Thar snatching case Pathankot, April 28 Emphasis on learning using modern technology is being cited by experts as the main reason for Pathankot district attaining the overall first position in the PSEB middle class examination, the results of which were declared today. Pathankot got 99.33 per cent marks to finish overall first in the state. Girl students attained the top two positions in the district. They are Manvi Thakur of Government High School, Muthi, located in Narot Jaimal Singh education block, widely considered to be one of the most backward areas of Punjab where internet speed is extremely slow as compared to neighbouring Pathankot. Bhumika of Government Senior Secondary School, Mallikpur, bagged the second position. An elated Pathankot District Education Officer (Secondary) Rajesh Kumar said the students were asked to use e-content, a web programme of digital text and images, throughout the year. “This time the Education Department has given enough funds for us to incorpo- Amritsar, April 28 The Maqboolpura police have booked around eight persons in connection with snatching of an SUV, Thar, from local resident Anil Kumar of New Amritsar area here on Thursday. Among those booked included Jaideep, Jagmohan, Sabu of Batala Road and five unknown persons in the case. 14 denied boarding to Dubai flight Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait installed at Attari check-post Amritsar, April 28 Fourteen passengers of a SpiceJet flight bound for Dubai were in shock when they were denied boarding by airline staff at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport here on Friday. The airline’s ground staff stopped the passengers from boarding the flight citing name mismatch on the visa. The flight (number SG-55) left for Dubai at 9.15 am. About one and a half hours before the departure of the flight, 14 passengers were stopped at the airport. The airline’s ground staff duty manager said father’s name was mentioned twice in the visa document of the passengers issued by the Dubai Government. Father’s name of the passengers was written twice — in the surname and father’s name columns. They said it was not a major error and could be rectified before the departure. — TNS A case under Sections 379B, 148 and 149, IPC, and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act has been registered against them and efforts were on to nab them. — TNS MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla (centre), FICCI FLOI members and BSF officers show the portrait at the Attari-Wagah JCP on Friday. VISHAL KUMAR Amritsar, April 28 A digitised version of Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait, dedicated to 75th Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, was installed at the significant location at the Attari-Wagah border on Friday. The portrait has been prepared and digitised by author, heritage promoter and artist Harpreet Sandhu (former additional advocate general, Punjab). “The portrait will not only be a sign of patriotism, but also of immense interest for the daily visitors during the retreat ceremony and above all a significant preview of the Father of the Nation from across the border,” said Harpreet Sandhu. “To glorify the Mahatma, this huge portrait carries his meaningful quote (The future depends on what we do in the present),” added Sandhu. Sanjay Gaur, Deputy Inspector General, Border Security Force, acknowledged the innovative and dedicated efforts of nature artist Harpreet Sandhu for the portrait at the Attari JCP . The pictorial work compiled by Harpreet Sandhu depicting Bapu’s message was also released by Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Khadoor Sahib MP Jasbir Singh Gill, Deputy Commissioner (Amritsar) Harpreet Singh Sudan, DIG, Border Range, Dr Narinder Bhargav, Deputy Commissioner Customs ICP Attari Navneet Kaushal , Joint Commissioner (Customs), Attari JCP Navdeep S Sand, hu, Superintendent Customs AIPL Director Shamsheer Singh, Deputy Commandant BSF JCP Attari, BSF and Customs Department officers and jawans. — TNS Date palm trees case: Forest Dept report awaited MLA Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh had complained to VB alleging irregularities PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 28 The Vigilance Bureau (VB) has been awaiting a report from the Forest Department on the planting of date palm trees on road dividers and in other key areas of Amritsar by the Municipal Corporation aimed at the beautification of the city. The Vigilance Bureau has started a probe after former Inspector General of Police (IGP) and now AAP MLA from North constituency, Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh had raised the issue while alleging gross irregularities and corrupt practices in planting the trees. Recently, the MLA expressed his dissatisfaction over the slow A dried date palm tree along the Majitha Road in Amritsar. VISHAL pace of inquiry in the case while adding that the MC was removing the dried palm trees to derail the Vigilance probe. “There is more to it than meets the eye,” said a Vigilance official while wishing not to be named. “The climate here does not suit the date palm trees. The place of planting, that is the road dividers, is also questionable,” he added. The Vigilance Bureau has been working on different aspects including the price at which these plants were procured. Recently, Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh circulated a live video while showing several dried palm trees which were allegedly chopped by the authorities. He pointed out that this was objectionable as a Vigilance probe was in progress. The MLA alleged that the MC officials were trying to hide the scam. He pointed out that the central verges were not a suitable place for planting large palm trees. It was an attempt to embezzle the funds, he had alleged. As many as 175 palm trees were procured for Rs 18 lakh in 2021 and the expenditure on planting them was additional. However, within a short span of time, many palm trees dried. Alleging gross irregularities and corrupt practices in the plantation and maintenance of these trees, Kunwar Vijay Pratap had written a letter to the Chief Director, Vigilance Bureau, Punjab, for probe on February 14. The Bureau started a probe into the alleged scam on February 28. SSP Vigilance, Varinder , Singh said that it would be inappropriate to comment at this point when the investigations were on. He said the probe would be completed soon. c m y b rate the latest technology in learning methods. Projectors were given to almost all schools. The thoughtful inclusion of technology in learning environment ensured that all students, regardless of their socio-economic status, had the right opportunity to experience learning and develop skills that allowed them to fully realise their potential,” said the DEO (Secondary). He said the district would do better next year as the state government was continuously upgrading old infrastructure and at the same time providing new one, particularly in the schools located near the International Border (IB). Gurdaspur stood overall third with a pass percentage of 99.06 per cent. DEO (Secondary) Amarjit Singh Bhatia said Ekta of Dayanand High school, Qadian, had topped the district. “This time, with enough grants from the state government, we took technology to even the last of the border villages. This was to ensure that children of border area schools did not lag behind as compared to students of private schools,” said Bhatia. 4 int’l smugglers held after brief encounter 1.7-kg heroin, one pistol & 5 cartridges seized The accused in the custody of the Tarn Taran police on Friday. PHOTO: GURBAXPURI Tarn Taran, April 28 The Khalra police after a brief encounter on Thursday on the Sursingh-Chak Sakandr link road managed to arrest four international smugglers. The police recovered 1.7-kg heroin, one pistol and five cartridges from the spot. The police also took two motorcycles of the smugglers in their custody. SP (Investigation) Vishaljit Singh informed mediapersons here on Friday that the smugglers were identified as Sukhbir Singh Sukh of Bhuregill, Ranjit Singh Raja of Sri Goindwal Sahib, Harpreet Singh and Mangal Singh Manga, both of Naushehra Dhalla. The SP said the Khalra police on a tip-off set up a naka on the Sursingh-Chak Sakadar road and when the police party saw smugglers coming on two motorcycles near the naka point, they signalled them to stop, but one of the smugglers fired at the police party. He fired three gunshots at the police party. The police party members not only managed to escape, but also captured all the four smugglers. The SP said the smugglers were identified as Sukhbir Singh Sukh of Bhuregill, Ranjit Singh Raja of Sri Goindwal Sahib, Harpreet Singh Happy and Mangal Singh Manga, both of Naushehra Dhalla. The SP said the smugglers had brought the heroin and the weapons through a drone from across the border as they had their links with the smugglers from across the border. A case under Section 307 of the IPC and sections of the NDPS and Arms Acts by the Bhikhiwind police. The smugglers were produced in a court, which sent them to two-day police remand. The SP said the other members of the gang and their links with those from across the fencing would be known during their interrogation. — OC