23012024-ATR-01.qxd 1/23/2024 12:37 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 11°C | MIN 5°C YESTERDAY MAX 11°C | MIN 7°C SCHOOL TEACHER SHINES AT SCIENCE LITERATURE FEST TRIPTII DIMRI’S FAN GOES EXTRA MILE TO MEET HER SOMY ALI TALKS ABOUT THE BIRTH OF NO MORE TEARS Sanjeev Kumar, a vocational lecturer from Govt School, Jabbowal, has won an award at science festival. P2 Actress Triptii Dimri’s fan went extra mile and put in everything that it takes to meet his favourite star! P3 The actress took to Instagram to share a throwback picture of the year she began her venture. P4 » » » SUNSET TUESDAY 5.55 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 7.28 AM TUESDAY | 23 JANUARY 2024 | AMRITSAR Three nabbed with 270-gm heroin, ~1.53L drug money Punjab Roadways, PRTC contract staff hold protest, want regular jobs Our Correspondent Amritsar, January 22 On the call of a state-wide protest given by the Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC Contract Workers Union, members of the district union held a gate rally outside the Punjab Roadways workshop opposite Qila Gobindgarh here on Monday. They were demanding the regularisation of their jobs and slammed the Central Government’s ruling that public buses should not take more than 52 passengers. The Punjab Government should fulfil the demands of the contractual and outsourced employees immediately, they said. Gathered outside the gates of the Amritsar-I and Amritsar-II depots, Baljit Singh and Jodh Singh, leaders of the union, in their addresses said the state government was not holding talks to regularise contractual employees. Instead of fulfilling their demands, the political lead- Tarn Taran, January 22 A team of the local CIA staff led by sub-inspector Balwinder Singh arrested three drug smugglers who were on a motor-cycle without a number plate. The police team recovered 270 grams of heroin and cash worth Rs 1.53 lakh in drug money from the possession of the smugglers. Police said that the smugglers have been identified as Nasib Singh of Gandiwind Saran, Jaikas Singh and Harpal Singh, residents of Sanghna. Police officer Balwinder Singh said that the cops were conducting a routine checking of vehicles when the suspected smugglers were signalled to stop. A search led to the seizure of heroin and drug money. The smugglers were produced in court on Monday and sent to two-day police remand. Tribune Reporters Flying of drones near Central Jail banned Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 22 The city police have banned the flying of drones within 500 metres of the Amritsar Central Jail here. The ban orders were passed by Manmohan Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police-cum-Officiating Magistrate, Amritsar city, under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Additional Deputy Commissioner Manmohan Singh said recently a toy drone flown by a family living near the Amritsar Central Jail had fallen within the high-security zone of the jail premises after it went out of control. He said it was dangerous as criminal elements in the jail could use these drones for sneaking in drugs and other prohibited material with the help of their accomplices. The Amritsar Central Jail. He said now it had become necessary to issue a complete ban on the flying of drones near the jail periphery. The order would remain in force till April 21. The Amritsar Central Jail is located in a densely populated area in Fatahpur. It has been a challenge for the jail authorities to stop the slipping of prohibited material inside the jail by way of throwing or using other illegitimate methods. Devotees celebrate temple consecration ceremony Event was telecast live on screen set up at Durgiana temple Tribune News Service Members of the Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC Contract Workers’ Union during a protest in Amritsar on Monday. Amritsar, January 22 The Pran Pratishtha (consecration) ceremony of Ram Lalla held at the Ayodhya temple on Monday cast its spell on the city today with devotees here joining the entire country in celebrating the moment by hosting langars and religious ceremonies to mark the day. Celebrations began early at Durgiana Temple, where the consecration ceremony was telecast live on a screen for devotees, who thronged the premises despite the low temperature. Several institutions, schools and civil society members hosted langars and religious events to mark the occasion. Meanwhile, Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, while congratulating the ter participated in the functions organised by various temples at Ajnala today and congratulated all Ram devotees on this holy day. Voice of Amritsar, a nonprofit organisation from the city, conducted a Pran Pratistha march, from Hall Gate that ended at Durgiana Mandir. President of the organisation, Neeta Mehra, said that the construction of Ram Temple was a happy occasion for the entire country. Lamps were lit and sweets distributed on the occasion. Executive member of the NGO, Dr Rakesh Sharma and Vikas, said one should rise above the divisive barriers and tread the path of harmony and brotherhood. Neeta Mehra was also honoured by the Durgiana Committee. ers were telling lies. After the elections, the AAPled state government in the state was introducing antipeople policies. Similarly, the BJP government at the Centre passed strict laws against the drivers in the name of introducing new hit-and-run law. They said they were protesting against the law that has been amended to impose a penalty of 10 years and a fine of Rs 7 lakh on the drivers. That is why, drivers of all categories opposed the law and the amended act would not be allowed to be implemented at any cost, they said. Jugraj Singh and Sukhdev Singh said successive governments had failed to fulfill the demands of the employees of the transport department. Among other demands, they were seeking uniformity in the salaries of employees of PUNBUS and PRTC, implementation of the equal pay for equal work rule, reemploy those contractual employees who were expelled in the past, etc. continued on page 2 Cops conduct search op at Attari railway station Copies of voter lists handed No fog but cold wave conditions continue over to political parties Amritsar, January 22 Ahead of the Republic Day celebrations, the Amritsar Rural Police on Monday carried out a search operation at the Attari railway station. The team was headed by Superintendent of Police Jugraj Singh and Deputy Superintendent of Police, Attari, Gurinderpal Singh Nagra. Search operations were also conducted at various important places and government buildings, including railway stations and bus stands in the rural belt. Satinderjit Singh, SSP , Amritsar (Rural), said all senior police officials were supervising the search operations at different parts of Amritsar rural areas, including Jandiala and Ajnala. He said search operations were carried out to inculcate a sense of security among the residents. — TNS Devotees watch the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla at Ayodhya live at Durgiana temple in Amritsar on Monday. SUNIL KUMAR entire community on the opening celebrations of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya, said that it was a “golden opportunity for our generation to have got the opportu- nity to see the opening celebrations of a historic temple”. Dhaliwal said that all Gurus, prophets and seers shared the feeling of brotherhood and love. The minis- Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 22 The district administration handed over the hard and soft copies of voter lists prepared on the basis of eligibility date as January 1, 2024, as per the programme issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI), to the representatives of political parties in the district. Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum-Additional District Election Officer Harpreet Singh handed over the copies of voter lists to the representatives of political parties here on Monday. Addressing the representatives of political parties in the meeting hall, the ADC informed that they would continue to improvise the voter lists and residents who continue to fulfill the condition of becoming a voter could register their names as voters. They can apply to the Booth Level Officer Additional District Election Officer Harpreet Singh hands over a copy of the voter list to representatives of political parties in Amritsar. (BLO) concerned, voter registration office or register online. The Additional District Election Officer said that in the list released today, there are a total of 19,67,288 voters, including 10,33,655 male and 9,33,551 females. He said that 57,107 more new voters have been registered in this list than in the previous list, in which the number of 18 to 19 years old voters is 45,782. He appealed to the general public to amend their names in the voter list, visit their booth officer (BLO) and fill the form to register their names as a voter. He said 2,126 BLOs are working specially for this. Election Tehsildar Rajinder Singh and other officials and representatives of political parties were also present on the occasion. — TNS Amritsar, January 22 Inclement weather continued to play spoilsport, affecting the routine life of city residents on Monday. Though the fog cover was not visible throughout the day, the sun also remained invisible. Consequently, an overcast sky added to the freezing cold conditions. Most trains arrived and departed as per their scheduled time at the Amritsar railway station. Similarly, the mobility of buses also improved considerably as they arrived and left at their scheduled time. It offered some respite to the commuting passengers in different parts of the state. The meteorological department had forecast dense to very dense fog conditions over North India during the next four to five days, but no fog cover has been witnessed for the past two days. Yet the Met prediction of continuous severe cold conditions over North India was felt in the holy city. Thousands of students belonging to city-based government and private schools participated in the rehearsals being conducted to celebrate the Republic Day on January 26 here. Ignoring the shivering cold conditions, they took part in different cultural activities and parade. Along with them, contingents of Punjab Police braved the cold to rehearse for the smart and crisp march past. Elaborate preparations are underway for the January 26 event, tents have been put up and other arrangements are being made to organise the Republic Day event at Guru Nanak Stadium here. Ahead of R-Day celebrations, DDCMC meet: MLA, MPs ask for boost to civic plans spl flying squad teams formed Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 22 The city police have formed special flying squad teams for keeping an eye on unscrupulous, anti-social elements and criminal elements in every police station and subdivision ahead of the Republic Day celebrations. The teams would include personnel other than police force personnel engaged in maintaining law and order in the city. This was informed by Amritsar Commisssioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar during checking in the walled city. He was accompanied by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Dr Mehtab Singh. “The teams would react immediately if they found movement of suspicious elements in the city. The police would not hesitate in taking preventive action against them,” said the Police Commissioner, adding that the police had already prepared a list of miscreants who had come out of jail on bail. Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar along with other police officials near Hathi Gate in Amritsar on Monday. He said in view of the upcoming Republic Day celebrations, the police had tightened the security in the city. He said all the police officials were asked to remain vigilant and on the road in order to inculcate a sense of security among the citizens and fear among the criminal elements. He said anti-sabotage teams were deputed for security. He said the checking of vehicles had also been increased in order to thwart any untoward incident. The police teams were also checking hotels and Inns, especially around the Golden Temple, the railway station and the bus stand in order to identify anti-social elements. The city has been divided into three zones and each zone would be supervised by an ADCP-rank official. The Police Commissioner visited nakas and briefed the police officials. He urged people to inform cops if they observe movement of suspicious elements. Amritsar, January 22 Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh, MLA from Amritsar North, has asked the authorities concerned to remove the newly constructed tabletop speedbreakers, constructed recently in several intersections of the city. He raised the issue at a meeting of the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DDCMC) and demanded departmental action against officials who implemented the work without taking advice from the public. MLA Kunwar Vijay Partap had openly opposed the idea of these tabletop speed-breakers, calling it a wastage of public money and responsible for creating hurdles in the flow of traffic. Gurjit Singh Aujla, Lok Sabha member from Amritsar, presided over the meeting of the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee. He reviewed the development works and urged the Municipal Corporation officials to make arrangements for cleanliness in the city and also address the prob- c m y b A newly constructed pedestrian pathway has been decided to be removed from the BRTS lanes at Novelty Chowk in Amritsar on Monday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR lem of garbage on a priority basis. He said that new machines are being installed at the Bhagtanwala dumpsite to get rid of the garbage. Aujla said that the parking of garbage collection vehicles at Ranjit Avenue should be stopped immediately. MP Aujla instructed officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) that all underpasses being constructed on the bypass should be of 5.5 meters so that people do not face any difficulty. He said that during the visit of the Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, the issues related to national highway (NH) were brought to his attention. He asked the officials to provide details of the projects so that a follow-up could be done for implementation. Aujla expressed concern over industrial waste discharge into city drains including Tung Dhab, Mananwala, Bhaktanwala and drains located on Tarn Tarn Road and asked for a meaningful solution. Assistant chairman of the committee, Jasbir Singh Dimpa, Member of Parliament from Khadoor Sahib, emphasised on the resumption of the BRTS bus service and said that there was a need to increase the number of these buses. He urged the resumption of bus service for the convenience of the people. Dimpa also directed to immediately release appropriate compensation to the farmers for the land acquired for the national highway. Addressing the meeting, MLA Kunwar Vijay Pratap took stock of the ongoing development works and said that more new vehicles should be deployed by the solid waste management company to remove garbage in the city. He also raised the issue of exploitation of employees in the garbage collection company and asked for a report on it. The Amritsar North MLA warned officials against delay in executing the development works. He said that all the development works should be completed in time. Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori took up issues raised by the committee members and gave an assurance that the work would be completed within the specified time-frame and said that any official found guilty of negligence will be booked and departmental action taken against him.
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