03022024-ATR-01.qxd 2/3/2024 12:41 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune GNDU HOSTS ALUMNI MEET, HONOURS THREE EX-STUDENTS AVIKA TALKS ABOUT HER SECOND COLLABORATION WITH BHATTS Avika Gor, renowned for her diverse roles, announced her project, Bloody Ishq, her second collaboration with Bhatts. P3 PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 18°C | MIN 5°C YESTERDAY MAX 20°C | MIN 5°C SARGUN MEHTA AND RAVIE DUBEY STAR IN A MUSIC VIDEO GNDU hosted annual alumni meet today. A number of former students from various fields attended the meet. P2 FORECAST Dreamiyata Entertainment has recently released song Ve Haaniyaan, starring Ravie Dubey and Sargun Mehta. P4 » » SUNSET SATURDAY 6.01 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 7:12 AM » SATURDAY | 3 FEBRUARY 2024 | AMRITSAR 3 robbers loot ~35,000 from Vallah resident Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 2 Three armed miscreants looted a person identified as Lakhbir Singh, a resident of Hardev Avenue, Vallah, of Rs 35,000 when he was returning home. The complainant told the police that on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, when he was returning home on his scooter, three persons travelling on another scooter waylaid him. One of them put a pistol on his waist and threatened to shoot him. They demanded his belongings from him. The complainant said he handed over Rs 10,000 to them. One of them searched him and took out Rs 25,000 from his pant pocket. Later, they fled towards the Golden Gate side. The police registered a case under Section 379-B (2) of the IPC and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act against unidentified suspects and initiated probe in this connection. VB slaps another corruption case against AIT accountant Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 2 The Vigilance Bureau (VB) has slapped another corruption case against Vishal Sharma, an accountant of the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT), for accepting Rs 45 lakh as illegal gratification. He was booked following a complaint lodged by Major Singh, a resident of Sultanwind village here. He provided audio-visual evidence against Sharma to the VB leading to registration of an FIR under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act against him. Earlier, Sharma was arrested by the VB in connection with Rs 8 lakh bribery case on January 6. He is currently lodged in a jail under judicial custody. The VB had also arrested former AIT law officer Gautam Majithia in the case. A Vigilance spokesman said Major Singh lodged a complaint along with audio- Already in jail in a similar case The office of the Improvement Trust in Amritsar. FILE PHOTO visual evidence against Sharma on the Chief Minster’s anti-corruption action helpline. Immediately, a probe was launched and the allegations were found true. Major Singh stated to the VB that in 1998, the AIT acquired around eight-andhalf acres belonging to his father Bakshish Singh and paternal uncles Jagjit Singh and Harjit Singh under the New Amritsar scheme. He said the government had given compensation to those whose land was acquired under the scheme. He said they had filed a petition before the President, Land Acquisition Claims Tribunal, as they got less compensation. The court decided in their favour and directed the Improvement Trust to give 20 per cent more compensation to them. 70 hospitals listed under Farishte Scheme Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 2 Theadministration has registered 70 hospitals of the district under the Farishte Scheme. In this regard, a meeting with officials of various departments led by Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori was held here on Friday. Thori said Farishte Scheme was unveiled to save lives of persons injured in road accidents. He said any resident who takes a person injured in a road accident to a hospital would be awarded Rs 2,000 by the govern- Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori chairs a meeting in Amritsar. ment. No investigation would be conducted for taking the injured to a hospital. Thori said free medicines would be provided to patients in all government hospitals. He instructed the Civil Surgeon to ensure inspection of all government hospitals. Seventy hospitals listed under the Farishte Scheme included 13 primary, 35 secondary and 22 tertiarylevel hospitals. Civil Surgeon Dr Vijay Kumar said the listed hospitals would be compensated as per the HBP 22 package rates defined by the National Health Authority. The Civil Surgeon said the state health agency had identified 52 packages for the treatment of road accident victims. Major Singh said the balance compensation was Rs 1.5 crore and they met Vishal Sharma for getting the amount released. However, he demanded Rs 45 lakh as bribe for releasing the amount. As Sharma was adamant, they decided to give him bribe. Later, the accused issued three cheques of Rs 12 lakh each in the name of complainant’s father and two uncles. They gave Rs 30 lakh to Sharma. But the accused demanded remaining Rs 15 lakh from them. Major Singh said finding no way out, they gave the amount to him outside the AIT office following which he handed over cheques of Rs 34.47 lakh each to them. Following probe, the VB found the allegations true and registered a fresh case against him. VB officials said Vishal Sharma would be brought on production warrant for further investigation. 16-yr-old girl dies in road mishap Our Correspondent Phagwara, February 2 A 16-year-old girl died in an accident on the Phillaur-Talwan road this afternoon. The deceased has been identified as Mandip Kaur, a resident of Mao-Sahib village, near Phillaur. The girl, who was working in Ludhiana, was returning to her village along with her colleague Deepak on a motorcycle which collided with another two-wheeler. Due to impact of collision, Mandip fell on the road and was run over by a speeding truck. Antaryami Colony resident booked for vendor’s murder over ‘monetary dispute’ Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 2 A day after a vendor Yashpal was shot dead by armed assailants near the Gate Hakima police station, the police booked Harjit Singh, alias Raja Basi, a resident of Antaryami Colony, for his murder. A monetary dispute is stated to be the reason behind the murder. “We have booked Harjit Singh, alias Raja, following statements of family members of the deceased. Efforts are on to nab him. Further investigation is in progress,” said Rajwinder Kaur, SHO, Gate Hakima police station. Suman, daughter of the deceased, told the police that her father used to sell eggs on a cart. Yesterday, he set up his cart near a government school around 5 pm. Around 7 pm, some unknown person came outside their house and said Yashpal had been shot. He was taken to the Civil Hospital. Suman said by the time family members reached hospital, doctors had declared Yashpal brought dead on arrival. She alleged that the suspect had taken Rs 2 lakh from his father for arranging a job for him. When he was unable to arrange a job, the victim asked him to return his money. However, the suspect filed a false case of Rs 5 lakh fraud against her father. Suman alleged that the suspect used to threaten to kill his father. The police said an FIR under Section 302 of the IPC and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act was registered against suspects following statements of the family of the deceased, the SHO said. “A probe is on to identify shooters. Raids are on to nab Harjit Singh,” the SHO said. Sanitation drive launched around holy Sikh shrine Amritsar, February 2 Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner Harpreet Singh inspected sanitation, garbage lifting and other civic works in the walled city on Friday. He also launched a sanitation drive around the Golden Temple and took a round of the area. He instructed sanitation staff to clean all approach roads to the holiest Sikh shrine properly. He directed officials of the garbage-lifting company to lift waste daily.He told civil, operation and maintenance officials to fill potholes and get sewer lines cleaned in all the areas. The MC Commissioner said he had been receiving several complaints about insanitary conditions and non-lifting of garbage around the Golden Temple. He was accompanied by Assistant Commissioner Vishal Wadhawan, health officer Dr Yogesh Arora, superintendent engineer Sandeep Singh and sanitation staff. — TNS Office-bearers of the Chief Khalsa Diwan Bachao Front address mediapersons in Amritsar on Friday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Front announces five candidatesforCKDpolls Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 2 Ahead of the Chief Khalsa Diwan (CKD) general body elections on February 18, the CKD Bachao Front announced its five candidates today. The existing body has completed its five-year term. Addressing mediapersons here on Friday, office-bearers of the Front said these five candidates include Surinderjit Singh for the post of president, Amarjit Singh Vikrant and Sarbjit Singh for vicepresident, Ramnik Singh for general secretary and Sukhdev Singh Mattewal for Buoyed by interim Budget, city’s tourism Middle class families dejected industry expects to gain from incentives over no hike in I-T exemption the post of local president. The announcement for the post of second general secretary would be made soon, the office-bearers said. Surinderjit Singh, who is the founder of Kesh Sambhal organisation, said in order to keep the election process transparent and fair, the CKD had been requested in writing to appoint a presiding officer and three returning officers of the Front to offer a level playing field. He said CKD president Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar, who is also an MLA, assured that he would discuss the issue. SAD announces candidate for 2027 Assembly elections GS Paul Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 2 The tourism industry of the holy city expects to gain from the interim Budget released yesterday as various incentives have been offered to the hospitality sector. Piyush Kapoor, vice president, Amritsar Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHARA), said 48 per cent rise in budgetary allocation for the tourism industry was encouraging. He said it would bolster the local industry. He said the information about proportion of funds allocated for the city and in which aspect these would be invested was awaited. APS Chatha, president, AHARA, said the Budget Tribune News Service Tourists throng the Heritage Street in Amritsar on Friday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR focused on the promotion of domestic tourism. It was a laudable move. However, keeping in view the nature of visitors coming to the city of the Golden Temple it was necessary to fine-tune the overseas tourism policy as well. A large number of NRI population of Punjabi descent was residing in Canada, the UK and the USA. He said they must be encouraged to travel to the holy city. The next generation of the Punjabi NRIs born and brought up abroad should also be encouraged to stay in touch with their roots, he said. Amritsar, February 2 Micro, small and mediumscale enterprises (MSMEs) and middle class families feel let down by the interim Budget. MSME operators say corporate groups cornered the lion’s share like previous Budgets of the Narendra Modi-led Central Government. Jaspinder Singh, who is employed in a private bank, said the Budget was hopeless for middle class families. Their limited income and growing expenditure did not figure in the priority list of the government. In the Budget, middle class families had to satisfy with “promises” that the government would launch a scheme for those “living in rented accommodation, slums and unauthorised colonies to buy and build their own houses”. Another promise was for tech-savvy youth for whom a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore would be established with 50year interest-free loan. Reacting to the Financial Budget 2024-25, Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal president Piara Lal Seth said the income tax (I-T) revenue of the government increased three times since 2014 and the GST revenue by 12 per cent. Keeping in view these encouraging trends and inflation, income tax exemption for the middle class was not hiked in the Budget. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her Budget speech that direct tax collection increased three times in 10 years. Though taxpayers had increased 2.4 times and their contribution was useful in development of the country, there was no relief for them. Taxpayers expected that the income tax exemption would be hiked from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 10 lakh in the Budget so that the middle class could get relief from the rising inflation. Amritsar, February 2 In an unexpected development during the second leg of the ‘Punjab Bachao Yatra’ in Ajnala and the Majithia area led by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, SGPC member Jodh Singh Samra from Ajnala, a close aide of Bikram Singh Majithia, was announced party candidate for the next 2027 state Assembly polls. During the march, Majithia accompanying Badal in an open SUV insisted the latter to , publically declare Samra as the candidate for the next state polls. Badal too responded in the affirmative while praising Samra for being instrumental in garnering massive Continued on page 2 Mexican singers, dancers enthral audience at 7th Khalsa College International Folk Festival Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 2 The foot-tapping and headswinging dance beats from Mexico swayed the audience at Khalsa College of Engineering and Technology (KCET), which is hosting the seventh Khalsa College International Folk Festival. An attractive fusion of Indo-Mexican folk exchange was presented as singers and dancers performed together showcasing the rich cultural and folk traditions of both the countries. The event reached crescendo when dancers from Mexico and college students, clad in their traditional Punjabi dresses, took to the stage and per- formed an impromptu fusion. The festival was organised by Khalsa College Governing Council (KCGC) in collaboration with Punjab Cultural Promotion Council (PCPC) and was Members of the Mexican folk group Tierra Mestiza perform during a function in Amritsar on Friday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR c m y b hosted by the KCET and Khalsa College of Education (KCE) jointly. The Mexican folk ensemble “Tierra Mestiza”, led by director Carolina Ordaz Ortiz, danced and sang in their traditional attires. The music and theatrical presentation of folk hat dances, folk ballet and carnival style group dances were presented. Khalsa institutions’ students performed bhangra, gidda, Himachali Naati and Kashmiri Rouf dances during the festival. Punjab Cultural Promotion Council head Dr Davinder Singh Chhina said the aim of the event was to bring artistes from different countries on a single platform to promote multi-cul- turalism and international cooperation. He said the artistes from Mexico were in Punjab for over a week. The other artistes, who were part of the Mexican group, included Itzel Guadalupe, Elizabeth, Sara, Erika Lilian, Maria Soledad, Rodrigo, Hugo Mauricio, Omar Alejandro, Alfonso and Noe Jeronimo.
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