08112023-ATR-01.qxd 11/8/2023 12:26 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune APEEJAY COLLEGE WINS INTER-ZONAL YOUTH FEST JENNIFER ‘STRUGGLING’ AFTER CO-STAR MATTHEW’S DEATH Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston’s friends are worried about her in the wake of Matthew Perry’s death. P3 MAINLY CLEAR MAX 28°C | MIN 15°C YESTERDAY MAX 27°C | MIN 16°C MOUNI ROY REVEALS KEY TO A STRONG RELATIONSHIP Students of Apeejay College of Fine Arts bag trophy in Inter-Zonal Youth Festival for 23rd time in a row. P2 FORECAST Mouni Roy shared some important tips to strengthen relationships on show Temptation Island. P4 » » SUNSET WEDNESDAY 5.36 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 6.53 AM » WEDNESDAY | 8 NOVEMBER 2023 | AMRITSAR CIA staff arrest man with pistol, cartridge Tribune News Service Tourist footfall expected to surge on Diwali in holy city Neeraj Bagga Amritsar, November 7 Personnel of Crime Investigating Agency (CIA)-2 nabbed a miscreant with a .32 bore pistol and one cartridge in Guru Ki Wadali area here on Tuesday. The accused has been identified as Gurpreet Singh, alias Sonu, of Khaparkheri village in the district. Dilbagh, in-charge, CIA Staff-2, stated that ASI Lajpat Rai from CIA Staff got a tip-off about the accused. On the basis of the information, CIA Staff raided Guru Ki Wadali area and nabbed Gurpreet Singh with a .32 bore pistol. A case under Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act and Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against him by the Chheharta police in this regard. The accused will be produced in a court. Suspects carrying pistols entered shop at 10pm, probe on: Cops Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 7 Tourist footfall in the city is likely to peak at a record level during Diwali which falls this weekend. Following the age-old adage of ‘Dal-Roti Ghar Di, Diwali Amritsar Di’, people of Punjab prefer to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple on Diwali night. Tourist flow surges every weekend leading to high room occupancy. However, this time the figure is likely to cross the mark, said a tourist guide Gurinder Singh Johal. People involved in the hospitality industry are expecting a thriving business this time. Traditionally, people love to celebrate Diwali in the city of Golden Temple. This time, the flow of international and domestic tourists has also picked up pace. Johal said presently, domestic tourists from Hyderabad, Pune, Gujarat and West Bengal are Robbers target medicine shop at Katra Sher Singh, loot ~10 lakh A rush of tourists on Heritage Street in Amritsar. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR arriving in the city. Similarly, overseas tourists from Australia, Europe, US and Malaysia are also coming to see the city. There are about 20 guides involved in the profession and all of them are finding the business impressive, he said. Sounding a word of caution to the government, tourist guides demanded that it seriously needed to streamline the growing traffic mess, mugging of visitors and high pollution levels. Sarah Apellt, a German national who resides in India due to her professional commitments, said overseas tourists wanted to stay with local families to observe their traditions during Diwali night. However, locals are not so forthcoming to share their space. Satnam Singh, a hotelier, accepted that the tourist flow was presently good and was slated to surge during the Diwali period. Amritsar, November 7 Five masked robbers barged into a medicine shop and robbed ~10 lakh cash at gunpoint at Katra Sher Singh here on Monday night. The incident took place at NV Surgical Pharma in the medicine market located in Katra Sher Singh. Nitin Sareen, owner of the shop, stated that he was about to close the shop for the day at around 10 pm. They had counted the cash collection of the day. Meanwhile, five robbers, who were carrying pistols, entered the shop. They had covered their faces with cloth. Each robber had two pistols in his hand. They surrounded him near the counter and his brother was dragged to the other side. The robbers put the pistol at the temple of shop owner Nitin Sareen and asked A CCTV footage shows masked robbers in a medicine shop at Katra Sher Singh in Amritsar on Tuesday. him to hand over all cash and valuables to them. Sareen opened the cash box (galla) for them. They collected around ~8 lakh from the cash box, claimed the shop owner. After this, the money kept in the wallet and pockets was also taken. Then they asked for mobile phones. The shop owner gave his mobile phones. After committing the crime, the accused broke the CCTV cameras installed inside the shop. They took around five to seven minutes to commit the crime and then they left the shop. The police initiated action on the statement of Nitin Sareen. The incident BRTS issue unlikely to get resolved Police recover over 3.5 kg of before election of new MC House heroin in separate incidents Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 7 It’s now over four months since the Metro buses being run under the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) went off the road. Over 90 buses have been gathering dust at the terminal on Verka-Vallah bypass. Workers at the bus terminal claim that the government has to pay a huge bill before resuming the service as technical snags have developed in the buses that have remained parked at the terminal for long. Ironically, there is no sign of the service being resumed as no effort in this direction is being made by the authorities. Residents and activists in the city observed that if the situation continues to remain the same for a few more months, these buses would Metro buses gather dust at the bus terminal on the Verka-Vallah bypass in Amritsar. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR meet the same fate as the city bus service. A fleet of 60 buses, introduced under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), were damaged while being parked at Mall Mandi ground. “The tyre got punctured due to low air pressure, the engines would also get affected. These buses were parked in the open during rainy season. Their roofs and body are also getting damaged by rust. The authorities should show some concern over public money. Now, the MC elections have been announced but no one will raise the matter till the new MC House get elected,” said a BRTS worker Before the suspension of BRTS service on July 4, over 37,000 passengers used to avail the bus service every day. The BRTS authorities had issued smart cards to over 8,000 daily passengers. Besides, a number of students from various educational institutions used to travel on these buses every day. It is pertinent to mention here that after being run for six years on the BRTS corridor, Metro buses have been off road as one of the private firms, Swarna Satnam Transport Service, which used to operate and repair buses and take care of the terminal at Verka bypass, stopped functioning. Our Correspondent SSP Ashwani Kapur gives details regarding the recovery of the contraband in Tarn Taran on Tuesday. PHOTO: GURBAXPURI NDPS Act and Section 10,11 and 12 of the Aircraft Act. In another incident, the Valtoha police led by Subinspector Balwinder Singh seized 610 grams of heroin Tribune News Service Our Correspondent Members of the CKD educational committee during a meeting in Amritsar on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Amritsar, November 7 The Chief Khalsa Diwan (CKD) will hold a sports tournament for its students from November 15. The tournament will begin from the CKD school at Sri Anandpur Sahib and include 132 games. This was decided today at a meeting of the educational committee of the organisation presided over by its chairman Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar. The tournament will be held across all CKD schools. During the meeting, discussions were held regarding the preparation of a new syllabus by reviewing the scriptures published by the Educational Committee for CKD schools. Dr Nijjar emphasised the need for the Educational and Dharam Prachar committees to make the religious subjects taught in schools more interesting so that children can acquire knowledge easily and deeply. He also stressed on using Sikh principles to combat social challenges including patriarchy and supporting women’s empowerment. Local president of Diwan and Secretary, Educational Committee, Santokh Singh Sethi said that written examinations related to religious and Sikh history and Shaheedi Gurpurab of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur should be conducted in CKD schools. — TNS Computer teachers during a protest in Tarn Taran on Tuesday. PHOTO: GURBAXPURI EDU MINISTER PAYS SURPRISE VISIT TO SOE Education Minister, Punjab, Harjot Singh Bains paid a surprise visit to School of Eminence, Khadoor Sahib, here on Tuesday. He announced that a large number of vacant posts of teachers and lecturers would be filled within two to three months. The minister was accompanied by Aam Aadmi Party’s Khadoor Sahib MLA Manjinder Singh Lalpura. The minister said the state and had lost 100 teachers (who died), but the state government was in no mood to accept their demands. The state government had deprived them of the benefits under the 6th Pay Commission. The leaders warned the state government that they c m y b Alliance Air to start flights for Shimla from November 16 Tribune News Service Tarn Taran, November 7 Khemkaran police recovered 3.016 kg of heroin during a search in the fields of a farmer Somjit Singh of the same village. SP Vishaljit Singh said here today that SHO, Khemkaran, Subinspector Gurinder Singh carried out a search after receiving a tip-off and recovered the consignment which was wrapped in a cloth bag. The total weight of the bag was 3.448 kg and it contained 3.016 kg of heroin. The SP said the consignment was brought from across the border through drone by smugglers and kept hidden under the grass. Police have registered a case under Section 21-C, 61 and 85 of the from a Creta car after stopping it at a naka. The accused has been identified as Harpal Singh of Chheherta in Amritsar. He too has been booked under the NDPS Act. CKD to hold sports Computer teachers protest, Residents blame farm tournament in its want their demands fulfilled fires for toxic smog schools from Nov 15 Tarn Taran, November 7 The district branch of the Computer Teachers’ Union, Punjab, held a strong protest against the state government asking the state government to accept their demands soon. Led by Sital Singh, district president of the union, computer teachers from different parts of the district participated in the protest. State president Gurvinder Singh and Rakhi Mannan were among others who addressed the gathering on the occasion and reminded Education Minister Harjot Bains of the AAP-led state government’s promise, made to them a year ago, that the state government must give the computer teachers a gift by accepting their current demands. The leaders said the teachers were waiting for their gift which had not been given to them so far. They said teachers had been agitating for their genuine demands for years was captured on CCTVs. Nitin said though they damaged the CCTV cameras, the entire incident was captured. The police have taken the CCTV footage of the robbery into their possession. The cash amount looted was said to be around 10 lakh. On receiving information, the police reached the spot and started investigation. The police said the shop owner’s statement had been recorded. Investigation has been started on the basis of the footage captured on the CCTV cameras. Inspector Jaspal Singh, SHO, E-Division, said, “The market shuts around 8 pm. The shop was open around 10 pm when the incident happened. The traders should also be serious about their safety. We have constituted teams to nab the robbers soon.” — TNS government was planning to provide desks and benches to the schools and construct swimming pools in schools. The minister asked students about the change witnessed since the AAP government came to power. He said the students of Eminence of Schools were guided to their bright future. The minister also visited School of Eminence at Sri Goindwal Sahib. must participate in bid number in a state-level rally to be organised in Anandpur Sahib on November 11, the Vidhan Sabha constituency of Education Minister Harjot Bains, who was proving to be the biggest hurdle in the way of their demands. Amritsar, November 7 As incidents of burning crop residue in the district continue to increase, air pollution has started rising with the region remaining engulfed in smog throughout the day. The smog cover, which had been seen building over the sky for the last few years, has increased to such an extent that it has started causing health problems to residents. The Punjab Pollution Control Board has also reported an air quality index of 205 for the holy city, which is considered poor by the air quality standards. The district has reported a total of 1,444 farm fire incidents till date, which are considered to be the prime cause of air pollution or toxic smog. “One can see a layer of haze lingering in the sky. Besides, it has also impacted visibility,” said Satnam Singh, a local resident. A visit to rural areas reveals that a layer of smog has covered the sky. Most residents report that earlier they used to witness smog for a few hours every day, especially during early morning hours, but it persisted throughout the day on Tuesday. Amritsar, November 7 After the Amritsar-Kullu Manali flight, Alliance Air is now going to start a direct flight from Shimla airport in Himachal Pradesh to Shri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport in the holy city. The airline would start operating flights from November 16. The flight would be operated through ATR 42-seater aircraft thrice a week. As per the schedule issued by Alliance Air, the service will run three days a week — on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The airline will take off from Shimla at 8.10 am and reach Amritsar at 9.10 am. From Amritsar, the flight will take off at 9.35 am and reach Shimla at 10.35 am. The introductory fare from Shimla to Amritsar is Rs 2,000. The Shimla airport is located at Jubbarhatti, 22 km from the main city. Yogesh Kamra, convener, Fly Amritsar Initiative, said, “We welcome the new direct non-stop flight from Shimla, the capital city of Himachal Pradesh, to Amritsar. The journey by road is long and can take up to 10 hours whereas the Shimla-Amritsar flight can cover this distance in only an hour.” “This convenient connection would boost both inbound and out-bound tourism in Amritsar. Many domestic and international tourists want to visit Amritsar during their North India tour when travelling to the Upper Himalayan tourism circuit,” he added. Earlier, the Alliance Air had initiated a flight from Kullu-Manali to Amritsar on October 1, which is getting a good response. Boost to connectivity Smog at Mudehal village along the GT road near Amritsar. VISHAL The flight would be operated through ATR 42-seater aircraft. The service will run three days a week — Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday. It will take off from Shimla at 8.10 am, reach Amritsar at 9.10 am. From Amritsar, it will take off at 9.35 am and reach Shimla at 10.35 am. Introductory fare from Shimla to Amritsar is Rs 2,000.