17052023-ATR-01.qxd 5/17/2023 12:08 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune RARE HEART SURGERY DONE ON 32-YEAR-OLD AT GMC BRITNEY SPEARS’ HUSBAND UPSET OVER FILM ON WIFE Sam Asghari has lashed out at the “disgusting” television special centred around his wife. P3 PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 40°C | MIN 25°C YESTERDAY MAX 40°C | MIN 23°C ACTOR SAMARTH JUREL TO PLAY BANARS BOY IN MAITREE The patient with ruptured sinus of valsalva aneurysm at two places was brough to the hospital. P2 FORECAST Actor Samarth Jurel will play the role of Banaras boy Harsh in Zee TV’s fiction show, Maitree. P4 » » SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7.21 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 5:32 AM » WEDNESDAY | 17 MAY 2023 | AMRITSAR Opt for direct seeding to save on labour, water, farmers told Amritsar, May 16 The Agriculture Department has advised farmers to use the direct seeding of rice (DSR) technique for paddy to cut labour cost and conserve water. Agriculture experts said the paddy sown with the DSR required less water, especially during the initial days of growth. Chief Agricultural Officer Jatinder Singh Gill said paddy sown with the DSR required only 50 per cent of the water than the manual transplantation. Labour shortage during paddy transplantation season was a major issue every year as the number of migrant workers for manual transplanting had decreased for the last many years. The Chief Agricultural Officer said the farmers could save labour cost as more area could be sown with DSR technique in very less time. He said the field trials of the paddy sown with the technique had proven that it gave the same quantity of yield as compared to the paddy transplanted manually. Gill said field employees of the department were also organizing sessions with the farmers to provide them technical knowledge regarding the DSR technique and farm practices associated with it. — TNS 43-day coal reserve: Minister allays power shortage fears this summer May have crossed over to Pakistan during floods last year GS Paul Tribune News Service Cabinet Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO (second from right) poses for a photograph after inaugurating development works at Rana Kala village in Amritsar on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 16 Allaying fears of shortage of power supply this summer, Power and Public Works Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO has announced that the thermal plants have sufficient reserves of coal for 43 days. He was to inaugurate development works in villages of Jandiala Guru here on Tuesday. “It was made possible due to the opening of a coal mine located in Jharkhand by the AAP-led state government,” he said. Elaborating on the planning made by the department regarding power supply in summer days, he said the thermal plants in the state currently had reserves for 43 days. He said this happened due to the Punjab Government’s opening of a coal mine located in Jharkhand, which was closed for a long time. He inaugurated the installation of solar lights, bathrooms, gym and interlock tiles in the crematorium and the RO system in a government elementary school at a village in Jandiala Guru constituency. He said the timely opening Summer shield of coal mines in Jharkhand not only increased coal reserves but also saved crores of rupees of the government. He said, “The state government does not face any shortage of money for public welfare works and the main reason for this was that every penny was going to people.” The minister laid the foundation stone of an anganwadi centee, which is to be built at a cost of Rs 9.82 lakh, at Government Elementary School at Mallian village. He said soon a sports stadium would be built here at a cost of Rs 32 lakh. School girls cover their head and face with dupattas to protect themselves from the scorching heat while returning home in the afternoon in Amritsar on Tuesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, May 16 An NRI, Ranjit Singh Khoji, a resident of Darajke village here, has been booked for raping a teenage girl and also putting vulgar photos of the victim on social media. The victim, who is the accused’s neighbour, in her complaint lodged with the police stated that the accused and the victim developed a friendship four years ago and established a physical relationship with her at her house. She alleged the accused made her vulgar videos too. Though the accused managed to go abroad, he used to contact her and pressurised her to send her objectionable photos to him. Just two months ago, the accused returned home and again continued on page 2 Amritsar, May 16 Probably after over three decades, a long-snouted gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) has been spotted in Pakistan’s Punjab province for the first time. It is believed that this rare mammal could be the part of a population reintroduced on the Indian side, but had drifted to the other side of the Radcliffe Line. The matter came to light when Bilal Mustafa, a postgraduate researcher on the historical distribution of animals from the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) at the University of Oxford, recently posted a video clip. The video showed a couple of men, likely to be fishermen, attempting to free an agitating gharial from a net. Mustafa, also a member of IUCN SSC Crocodile Specialist Group, told The Tribune that a possibility was that it swam all the way from the Harike wetland, around 50 km ahead of the India-Pakistan border, through the Sutlej river. “I observe that it was seen in a stream of Pakistan Punjab A snapshot of video clip of the long-snouted gharial which was spotted by fishermen. COURTESY: BILAL MUSTAFA after three decades. Otherwise, it was thought to be extinct. A possibility is that it has come from the Harike wetland on the Indian side through the Sutlej, might be during floods last year as observed by local residents who stayed nearby. The exact location of its reemergence on the Pakistan side has yet to be confirmed. There could be more in line, I suppose,” he said. Nonetheless, Mustafa, in his tweet thread, wrote that gharials were mentioned to be extinct in most of Pakistan’s rivers in 1978, according to the Pakistan Wildlife Conservation Strategy Report. “The reason being the construction of barrages, illegal killing for skin trade and the use of gill net for their capture. Then again in a report in 1980s they were mentioned to be only in marginal numbers in the upper reaches of the Ravi, Sutlej and Indus rives, but in Pakistan they were thought to be in Nara Canal but it was not a habitat for them as they are an open water species,” he added. On a lighter note, he said that the sighting of a gharial near the Indian border is a sign of hope that if both countries could come together for the cross country collaboration. “This can become a good initiative between both countries with the gharial acting as ambassadors for India- Pakistan relations,” he said. The Harike wetland is where the Beas and the Sutlej converge. From 2017 to 2021, the World Wildlife Fund for NatureIndia (WWF) in collaboration with the Punjab Forest and Wildlife Preservation Department had reintroduced and breed around 94 of these critically endangered species of crocodile in Punjab streams in different phases. These were mostly brought here from Morena in Madhya Pradesh. Gitanjali Kanwar, senior coordinator of WWF-India, who has actively participated in revival of the gharial project, said Mustafa’s claim appeared to be believable. “We are following it. The gharials, during their juvenile and sub-adult stages, have a tendency to migrate downstream. There could be a few more who made their way out from Harike into the main channel of Sutlej that flows into the Pakistan side. Yet, we are on the job to procure the ground information to ascertain the exact location from where this particular gharial made its way, whether through main channel or the minor ones,” she said. 7-yr-old girl abducted BJP SC Morcha leader’s murder from border village case cracked; accused arrested Tribune News Service NRI booked for raping teen, uploading obscene pics 3 decades on, gharial spotted in Pakistan’s Punjab waters Amritsar, May 16 A 7-year-old school girl reportedly was kidnapped by an unidentified motorcycleborne couple at Rampura village of Amritsar on Monday. The girl has been identified as Abhiraj Jot Kaur. A student of Class II, the girl left home to attend her tuition around 4 pm, but did not return till evening. The kin of the abducted girl searched her and later lodged a complaint with the Gharinda police station. The police sealed the entire village in the morning and searched every house. The CCTV cameras installed Motorcycle-borne couple seen taking the girl along with them around the place where the girl used to go for tuition are being scanned. In the available footage, a suspect bike rider along with a woman was seen taking the girl with them. They picked the girl from the way she used to go for tuition. The suspect woman was riding pillion and both had covered their faces. The police claimed that they have been searching the area thoroughly and technical investigation is underway to trace the girl. Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 16 The Amritsar Rural Police claimed to have cracked the murder of BJP’s SC Morcha general secretary Balwinder Gill with the arrest of an accused, who shot him dead on April 16 at Jandiala Guru. The accused has been identified as Jagjit Singh, alias Shankar alias Sona, while his accomplice Mandeep Singh alias Budhu and Arsdeep Singh alias Maas are still absconding. All are residents of Taragarh Talawa village. On April 16, the accused — Jagjit and Mandeep — visited Jotisar colony and rang the doorbell. The moment he opened the door, the assailants opened fire on him. Police officials revealed that financial transactions between Balwinder Gill and Mandeep Singh Buddhu were the main reason behind the murder of Gill. Jagjit Singh Sona is a habitual criminal and facing two separate cases under the NDPS Act after the recovery of the heroin. Similarly, co-accused Mandeep Singh alias Budhu has been facing four cases, including under the NDPS and Arms Acts, at various police stations of Jandiala Guru and Tarn Taran. According to police officials, Mandeep Singh alias Budhu arranged a motorcycle from Tonny of Naurngabaad village. Mandeep Singh gave his pistol to Jagjeet Singh and Arshdeep to get his money from Balwinder Gill and also teach him a lesson. Following this, Jagjit Singh drove the bike with Arshdeep riding pillion. They covered their faces with cloth and reached Gill’s house. Jagjeet Singh stayed outside while Arashdeep entered house and shot at Balwinder Gill. The police have arrested Jagjeet Singh while Mandeep Singh and Arashdeep are still absconding. Police teams are raiding at their probable hideouts. Teachers want changed Casteism a reality among diaspora, says Ujjal Dosanjh school timings in district Indian-origin Canadian author gives a sneak peek into his debut novel The Past Is Not Dead Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 16 With the day temperature rising above 40 degrees Celsius across the state, members of the DTF district unit on Tuesday demanded to revise the school timings. Ashwani Awasthi, district unit head of DTF said, “The , temperatures in the state have touched 42-43 degrees Celsius and power cuts are being imposed in many places. With the rising temperatures and the imposition of power cuts, students coming from poor families are facing various difficulties. The day temperature has even touched 44-45 degrees Celsius in some districts.” He said, “The scorching heat can be dangerous for students as they are more susceptible to heatstroke and other heatrelated illnesses. The Meteorological Department has also issued a yellow alert regarding IMD ISSUES YELLOW ALERT FOR HEATWAVE The scorching heat can be dangerous for students as they are more susceptible to heatstroke and other heatrelated illnesses. The Meteorological Department has also issued a yellow alert regarding the heatwave. the heatwave in the state.” Leaders of the DTF said apart from health hazards, the heatwave also made it difficult for students to concentrate and learn. In view of this, the DTF members urged the government and the Education Department to change the timings or give relief in terms of early school break. The current timings for government schools is 8am to 3pm. Last year, amid extreme heatwave conditions, the Punjab Government had rescheduled the school timings. Neha Saini Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 16 Migration from Punjab has touched a record high, turning a trend into a crisis. While a section of youngsters keep flying away to foreign countries in search of a better future, better life, something that they cannot flee from seemingly, is caste. Caste is one such obstinate chaser and Ujjal Dosanjh, Indianorigin Canadian lawyer, politician and author talks about the issue of casteism among diaspora with his debut novel, The Past Is Never Dead. Dosanjh, who was born in Dosanjh Kalan in Jalandhar and spent his early years at his parents’ village before migrating to the UK, has served as the 33rd premier of British Columbia from 2000 to 2001 and was active in politics in Canada till recently. In conversation with Preeti c m y b Author Ujjal Dosanjh will be participating in a session on his recent book at Majha House in Amritsar. Gill, founder, Majha House, and Deepa Swani, he spoke about the book, the prevalence of casteism in Punjab and diaspora and several other related issues at a special session hosted by Majha House. You can leave India behind, but not your ‘caste’. The Past Is Not Dead is Dosanjh’s tribute to a man he witnessed being subjected to caste-based violence back in the UK when he had just migrated there in 1965. “I have carried this story with me since 1965. I was 18, a young turbaned boy, who had just migrated to the UK and was living with some cousins of mine. There was a man, who was an acquaintance of my cousin and used to do hawala transactions at the time. He was having an argument with another guy, who was accusing him of not remitting money back to his family in Punjab. Amid the argument, I saw the guy stand up and give a slap to the man’s face, hurling casteist slurs. This incident has remained with me,” he shared. The protagonist in his novel, Kalu, goes through incidents and experiences in his life as an immigrant, most of them inspired by real-life incidents from Dosanjh’s life. “I worked in a crayon factory as a lab assistant and I know circumstances that people go through in the UK as immigrants. So, I had to give Kalu experiences that I had,” he said. Dosanjh said that contrary to what people in India or Punjab may believe, but casteism is a reality abroad. “I have had many friends, among whom are Dalits. I have seen people go numb or crazy if they know their child is marrying a person from lower caste. There are so many incidents in Bedford (UK) alone to believe that. It’s not as brutal as in India, but it’s ugly.” He also gives another reason for growing sense of irrelevance among diaspora. “When people migrate to another country, not quite familiar with the culture or society of that country, there are chances that they get ghettoed, physically and continued on page 2