23082023-ATR-01.qxd 8/23/2023 12:29 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune TEACHERS WANT BORDER AREA ALLOWANCE RESTORED RADHIKA BECOMES JURY MEMBER AT EMMY AWARDS Actress Radhika Madan is happy as she has become a part of the jury panel at the Emmy Awards 2023. P3 PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 36°C | MIN 28°C YESTERDAY MAX 37°C | MIN 29°C RAVI TALKS ABOUT HIS ROLE IN LAKHAN LEELA BHARGAVA Government school teachers have again raised the demand for restoration of special allowances. P2 FORECAST Ravi Dubey will be seen playing the role of a lawyer in a new series titled Lakhan Leela Bhargava. P4 » » SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7.06 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 6 AM » WEDNESDAY | 23 AUGUST 2023 | AMRITSAR INBRIEF TRAIN SERVICES DISRUPTED Amritsar: Railway passengers are irked at the irregular plying of trains on routes connecting the city to the eastern parts of the country. There have been complaints that Shaheed Express between Amritsar and Jaynagar, Jan Nayak Express between Amritsar and Darbhanga and the Saryu Yamuna Express have not been in service for the past couple of days. Railway officials stated that the regular frequency of trains from Amritsar to Bihar and Jharkhand has been disrupted due to interlocking work on the route. TNS MEDICAL CHECK-UP CAMP ORGANISED Amritsar: A free medical checkup camp was organised in Sundar Nagar area here on Tuesday by a local NGO, Mohalla Sudhar Welfare Association, here on Tuesday. During the camp, patients were given free consultation, diagnostic facilities and medicines. Residents were apprised of the causes, prevention and treatment of dengue and chikungunya. Raman Malhotra, president of the association, said residents needed to be vigilant. TNS Unions to continueprotests at toll plazas till release of farmer leaders Amritsar, August 22 The protest by various farmer unions demanding immediate release of their leaders arrested by the state government to fail the tractor march call given by 16 farmers associations entered its second day here on Tuesday with the protesters continuing with their agitation at toll plazas. Owing to the protest, staff at the toll plaza did not charge any fee from the commuters. The farmers are protesting at Mannawala and Mannawala toll plazas in Amritsar district and Usma and Mannan toll plazas in Tarn Taran district. While most of the senior leaders of the protesting farmer unions have either been arrested or detained in their homes, the protesters reiterated that the protest against the arrest of farmer leaders would continue until they were released. Earlier, 16 farmer unions — nine from Punjab, three from Haryana and one each from Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand — had given a call for tractor march to Chandigarh demanding relief for flood-affected people. No let-up as 6 dengue, 16 chikungunya cases reported Cases may be higher as patients receive treatment at pvt clinics Tribune News Service Members of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee during a protest at Mannawala toll plaza in Amritsar on Tuesday. VISHAL KUMAR Apart from seeking compensation for loss of crops, damage to houses and deaths due to drowning, the farmers unions had also asked the Central Government to release a special package of Rs 50,000 crore for the states in North India as it had been affected by the floods. The farmer leaders present at the Mannawala toll plaza alleged that the local police had tried to stop farmer groups from moving towards Chandigarh. Meanwhile, police officials held meeting with the protesters to persuade them to end their dharnas, but their talks failed. The leaders stated that the protests would continue till all farmers were released. The police also arrested a group of farmers travelling in a bus after which they were sent to Kapurthala jail, claimed farmer leaders. Amritsar, August 22 With cases of dengue and chikungunya continuing to rise, health experts have advised the residents to take preventive measures and devote at least one day a week to check their surroundings for mosquito breeding places. With six new positive cases reported on Tuesday, the total count of dengue patients has increased to 192. The total number of chikungunya cases has also increased to 130 with 16 new cases, stated health officials. The officials said at present the district had 48 active dengue and 33 chikungunya cases. Even as the official figures regarding the dengue and chikungunya cases seem higher, the actual situation in the city is worse as a large number of patients A rush of patients at the Civil Hospital in Amritsar. TRIBUNE PHOTO with symptoms of the two diseases are undergoing treatment at private hospitals and clinics. The experts said mosquito breeding could take place at unusual places like in waste water boxes attached to the rear of refrigerators and even money plant bottles. Doctors said the dustbins kept in the open, empty flower pots, and junked items such as tyres and others that had space to hold water could provide a conducive environment for mosquito breeding. The district health officials said health teams inspected 321 residences on the Majitha road, Tungbala and Shivpuri areas on Monday and found mosquito larvae in 35 houses. Civil Surgeon Dr Vijay Kumar said residents must make it a religious duty to devote one day per week to check for the mosquito breeding grounds. He said mosquito breeding could be easily prevented. The Civil Surgeon said the Health Department too was pouring used mobile oil in ponds to check breeding of mosquitoes. “The oil makes a thin layer on the surface of the water which reduces the level of oxygen required for breeding of mosquitoes,” added the Civil Surgeon. Police arrest two snatchers, ‘Roads to religious Jewellery shop looted at gunpoint recover stolen motorbike places to be repaired’ Tribune News Service Our Correspondent Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 22 The city police nabbed two snatchers who used to lift bikes by pointing sharpedged weapons at their targets here today. The accused have been identified as Sajan Shukla and Sahil alias Chhote Lal, a resident of Gali Banke Bihari, Jawahar Nagar, Batala Road, Amritsar. The police have recovered a sharp-edged weapon and motorcycle used in the crime. Ramandeep Singh, SHO, Sadar police station, said that on the basis of a tip-off, a police team led by subinspector Susil Kumar, incharge Vijay Nagar police post, arrested Sajan Shukla, who used to snatch motorcycles from commuters by pointing sharp-edged weapons at them. A case has been registered on the complaint of Vivek Kumar stating Four held with illegal pistols, 11 cartridges Jalandhar, August 22 CIA staff of the city police arrested four persons from various places and recovered three illegal pistols and 11 live cartridges from their possession here on Tuesday. The suspects have been identified as Gagandeep of Kaccha Kot in Jalandhar, Harjinder Singh of Kapurthala, Rahul Dadri of Alli Mohalla, here, and Kamaljeet Singh of Jammu and Kashmir. Gagandeep and Harjinder were arrested from near Basti Bawal Khel canal. While Rahul was arrested from Jyoti Chowk, Kamaljeet was nabbed from Harnamdaspura T-point here. The police said the suspects were arrested following a tipoff. They were in the city for some criminal activities. The suspects were produced in a court. — TNS The two gang members of looters in custody of Amritsar police. that at 4:30 am on August 19, he was going for work. When he reached near Surya Enclave in Banke Bihari Gali, two unidentified youths intercepted him. Pointing sharp-edged weapons at him, they took away his motorcycle and fled. After the investigation of the case, the police nabbed the accused Sajan Sukla on August 21. Sajan confessed having committed the crime and on the basis of his information, police today nabbed Sahil alias Chhote Lal. The police also recovered the weapon and snatched motorcycle from them. The arrested accused will be produced in court and police will take their remand for further investigations. Police officials informed that Sajan Sukla was already facing a case of snatching at Sadar police station in 2019. Tarn Taran, August 22 Minister for Power and Public Works Department Harbhajan Singh ETO on Tuesday said the roads leading to the religious places in the district would be repaired on priority so that the pilgrims visiting these places were not put to inconvenience. He expressed these views while laying the foundation stone of a special repair work of the FatehabadChohla Sahib road here. The minister said repairs on the 21-km-long road would be completed at a cost of Rs 13.46 crore, which connects National Highway 54 and National Highway 703 and also the historic towns of Khadoor Sahib, Fatehabad, Chapari Sahib, Dehra Sahib and Chohla Sahib in Tarn Taran district. Power Minister Harbhajan Singh lays the foundation stone of road repair in Tarn Taran. Harbhajan Singh ETO appreciated the policies of the state government, which were aimed at the welfare of the people under the guidance of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann. He said the Punjab Government also chalked out a comprehensive strategy to promote solar energy in the state. Amritsar, August 22 In a case of daylight robbery, three motorbike-borne miscreants entered a jewellery shop and looted cash and silver jewellery at gunpoint on Tarn Taran road here today. The incident was recorded in the CCTV cameras in which the two robbers are seen taking away silver jewellery and cash from the shop. Hari Singh, owner of shop, said, “I have a jewellery shop at Kot Mangal Singh Chowk in Ishwar Nagar on Tarn Taran road. Around 2.10 pm, three robbers carrying pistols entered the shop and asked me to surrender all valuables to them. I resisted, they manhandled me then. Two of them were carrying country-made pistols and threatened to kill me. They overpowered me and took away cash worth ~25,000 and silver jewellery. They tried to open the box in which we kept gold but did not succeed. One of them fired in A video clip showing three robbers on bike committing the crime in Amritsar. TRIBUNE PHOTO the air to threaten me.” The shopkeeper said that all three miscreants were on one bike. Hari Singh tried to chase them and the robbers tried to shoot at him but their country-made pistol misfired. Hari Singh snatched the countrymade pistol from the robbers and handed it over to the police. Panic gripped the area after the incident. The shopkeepers in the area demanded action against the robbers and their immediate arrest. Ranjit Singh, Investigating Officer in the case, said, “We have registered a case and constituted teams to nab the robbers. CCTV footage from the area has been procured for technical investigation. We hope the robbers would be arrested soon. We have seized a country-made pistol, which fell down from the hands of a robber during a scuffle with the shopkeeper.” Pensioners to stage GNDU urges affiliated colleges Sterilisation of stray protest in front of to get accredited by NAAC dogs begins in city ministers’ houses Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 22 The state body of the Punjab pensioners and employees has decided to hold demonstrations in front of a state minister’s house. The agitated employees and pensioners have decided to hold mass demonstrations in front of Power Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO’s house on September 10. The office-bearers of the association said on September 17, a state-level demonstration would be held in front of Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema’s residence in Sangrur. On September 24, a demonstration is scheduled to be held simultaneously in Jalandhar and Malout in front of Punjab ministers Balkar Singh and Baljit Kaur’s houses, respectively. Both are angry over nonfulfilment of the promises made by Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Maan, Harbhajan Singh, Harpal Singh Cheema and others in the run-up to the Punjab assembly elections held last year. The promises made by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema to the elected leaders of the state employees and pensioners union have not been fulfilled as yet. District president Madan Gopal, general secretary Madan Lal Mannan, Gursharan Jit Singh, Kartar Singh MA, Vasdev Sharma, continued on page 2 Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 22 A meeting of the Development Council of Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) was held today. The meeting was chaired by Prof Sarabjot Singh Behl, Dean, Academic Affairs, and the agenda was presented by Dr Shalini Behl, Dean, College Development Council. Dr Shalini Behl addressed pivotal issues concerning the affiliated colleges. Issues relating to college education were also discussed, including NAAC accreditation. All affiliated colleges were urged to undergo accreditation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). “The meeting was convened to discuss crucial matters concerning the development and enhancement of affiliated colleges under the Council’s Amritsar, August 22 As many as 100 stray dogs have been sterilised by the Municipal Corporation in the last 10 days. The civic body has allotted the contract to a private company to sterilise 20,000 stray dogs. Municipal Health Officer (MHO) Dr Kiran Kumar said the dogs were sterilised at the Sterilisation Centre in Mudhal. He said that due to some deficiencies at the Animal Birth Control Centre, Narayangarh, Chheharta, the centre has not become functional yet. He said that the centre would start functioning soon and more stray dogs would be sterilised on a daily basis. Operations will start at both centres from Thursday, said the MHO. He said that at present, stray dogs are being caught c m y b A meeting of the College Development Council being organised in GNDU in Amritsar on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO purview. Colleges, who are not yet accredited, were strongly advised to initiate the process within the next three months. Colleges were also instructed to strictly comply with the UGC guidelines and other set norms regarding appointment of regular principals and staff. Deduction of CPF and retired staff benefits in accordance with the specifications and adherence to regulatory norms issued by the UGC, NCTE and BCI were also discussed. Since the university has implemented NEP 2020, the constituent and affiliated colleges too will follow the upgraded academic calendar. Stray dogs roam in a building in Amritsar. VISHAL KUMAR from the area from where the complaint has been received. The stray dogs are released back in the same area after three days post sterilisation and vaccination dose. Dr Kiran Kumar said that more than 35 stray dogs would be caught and sterilised every day from Thursday. He said that the Municipal Corporation will get 20,000 stray dogs sterilised within two years.