10022024-ATR-01.qxd 2/10/2024 12:48 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune NRIS WANT TO COME BACK BUT WARY OF SYSTEMIC FLAWS ACTORS RICHA, ALI FAZAL EXPECTING THEIR FIRST CHILD Actors Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha on Instagram shared that they are expecting their first child together. P3 PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 20°C | MIN 5°C YESTERDAY MAX 22°C | MIN 4°C FIRST LOOK OF NEERU AND SATINDER-STARRER SHAYAR NRIs had come from Jalandhar, Nawanshahr, Kapurthala, Roopnagar, Mohali and other districts. P2 FORECAST Neeru Bajwa and Satinder Sartaaj bring romance to life in the first-look poster of Shayar. P4 » » SUNSET SATURDAY 6.12 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 7.16 AM » SATURDAY | 10 FEBRUARY 2024 | AMRITSAR Illegal drug counselling centre sealed; 5 addicts shifted to CHC Our Correspondent ADCP Dr Pragya Jain Dr Pragya Jain takes charge as DCP city Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 9 Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Dr Pragya Jain on Friday took charge as the Deputy Commissioner of Police after getting promoted to the rank. She is the first woman DCP of the city. Police Commissioner Gupreet Singh Bhullar fixed the star during the Pipping ceremony at his office here. Among others who were present on the occasion included DCP Harpreet Singh, DCP Alamvijay Singh, ADCPs Dr Darpan Ahluwalia, Prabhjot Singh Virk and continued on page 2 Tarn Taran, February 9 A team of the district health officials led by Deputy Medical Commissioner (DMC) Dr Sandeep Kalra sealed a drug counselling and rehabilitation centre at Assal Utaar village here on Thursday. The centre was allegedly being run illegally. The officials said the management of the said centre failed to produce any authority or the permission given to them by the state government or other appropriate authority to run the drug counselling centre. The centre had been functioning for the last four years. The centre management had applied for permission to the department, but that was rejected according to the record produced by the centre management. An official of the Health Department said the team was led by Dr Sandeep Kalra while Dr Gurinder Singh, district psychiatrist, Dr Jatinder Kaur, SMO, Community Health Centre, Khemkaran, Three of family held for sheltering drug peddler Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 9 The Jandiala Guru police have arrested three persons of a family for allegedly harbouring a drug peddler, identified as Fetahjang Singh, of Mehta. He was declared a proclaimed offender by the local court in December 2022. Those arrested were identified as Harinder Singh, alias Happy, and his two sons Gurkirat Singh and Gurmahapavitar Singh of Jandiala Guru. A case under Sections 212, 216 and 120-B of the IPC was registered against them. When the police reached to arrest Fatehjang during a raid, his health condition deteriorated and he was admitted to a hospital for treatment. ASI Ranjit Singh said the police got a specific input that Fatehjang was a habitual drug trafficker and was wanted in many drug cases. He had been evading an arrest for the past couple of years. He said the informer told that he was hiding in the house of Harinder Singh, alias Happy, who resides near Dargah Baba Ghode Shah in Jandiala Guru. He said following information, the police team raided Harinder’s house. He said the accused tried to flee from the backdoor of the house, but was intercepted by the police team. On seeing the police party, he fell down and was taken to a hospital. The police said he had two cases under the NDPS Act registered against him in August 2020 and December 2022 in which local court had declared him a PO. Farmer unions gear up for Delhiinprotest fromwith co-workers Feb 13 To take part protest to express solidarity Gurbaxpuri Health Department officials during the checking of the illegal drug centre at Assal Uttar village in Tarn Taran on Friday. Harjit Singh, Block Extension Educator (BEE), and Jugraj Singh, Health Supervisor, were members of the team. Besides, Sub-Inspector Sunita Rani, SHO, Khemkaran, was heading security arrangements on the occasion. The department official revealed that the team of the department found five addict patients who had come to the centre for treatment voluntarily. The team shifted the patients to the CHC, Khemkaran, but they moved to their houses. The Health Department team has apprised higher officials of the department of the situation. However, Dr Sandeep Kalra denied to divulge any information of the raid on the centre. Tarn Taran, February 9 The Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC), Punjab, that is a part of the kisan-mazdoor organisations going to take part in the proposed agitation in Delhi from February 13, is making all possible arrangements to take part in the protest while stressing on the acceptance of their demands. Satnam Singh Pannu, former president of KMSC, said that the call for agitation has been given by the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-political) jointly at the national level. Pannu said that as many as 200 kisan-mazdoor organisations were a part of the protesting outfits. There are 26-27 such organisations in Punjab. Satnam Singh Manochahal, district president of KMSC, said here today that on February 13, a convoy of as many as 1,000 Agitating leaders of the KMSC during a meeting at Piddi village in Tarn Taran on Friday. PHOTO BY WRITER tractor-trolleys with 40,000 farmers and workers would depart for Delhi in the morning. He said that besides beds, farmers were taking along all required material like gas cylinders and food grain and other items. He said that the participants were bringing along medicines also in case of need. Manochahal said that the KMSC was active for the last three months in villages to establish contacts at the grassroot level to mobilise farmers and workers for the proposed agitation. He said certain leaders of the KMSC would remain active in the field and send more workers if the need arose. The farmer leader said that during the last three months, conferences and tractor marches were organised in all 550 villages of the district. Rallies and meetings were held in which thousands of activists participated. He said the KMSC had sufficient funds as the organisation was well aware that the Union Government was in no mood to implement their demands like in the case of the previous Delhi Morcha which include legal guarantee on MSP besides other demands. In Tarn Taran district, the KMSC is a favourite organisation among farmers and workers since 2000. The KMSC started its work from this district and spread its mass base in other areas after that. A senior police official requesting anonymity said the police have already initiated steps as per the guidelines of the government. However, the police official said with the Union Government keeping open its doors for talks, the future of the agitation is not sure. He also refused to restrain workers from taking part in the agitation. Union flays deploying NREGA labour to VB nabs Patwari for clear sugar mill land for AAP conference taking ~42,000 bribe Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, February 9 NREGA Workers Union, Punjab, has flayed the deputing of NREGA labour to clear wild growth from the land of the non-functional Cooperative Sugar Mills, Sheron, where the AAP is organising a political conference on February 11. The AAP is organising a conference to highlight its performance and policies before the public after the state government took over the Goindwal Thermal Power Plant from the private sector. AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann are slated to address the conference. The district administration NREGA workers clear wild growth from the land of the closed Cooperative Sugar Mill, Sheron. PHOTO: GURBAXPURI. was on its toes to make arrangements for the conference. As the mill has been lying closed for 14 years, wild growth has come up on the land. The task of clearing wild growth from the 20 acres of land was being undertaken by NREGA labour. The work of clearing the wild growth has been started four days back. According to a rough estimate, 1,000 NREGA workers from different villages of the district were working at the site on Thursday (today). Ranjit Singh, Sarpanch of Jhamka village, said that he has brought 35 workers from his village as instructed by senior officials. Amarajit Kaur, one of the workers, said that she has been coming here for the last two days. Similarly, NREGA workers from Mannan, Pandori Ran Singh, Pandori Rehmana, Mallhia and other blocks were working at the site. Ranjit Singh Shakri, district president of NREGA Workers Union, Punjab, said clearing of wild growth was not in the jurisdiction of the MGNREGA Act as it is not among the work that creates assets. Shakri said it was totally illegal and not morally right as NREGA workers have been called from other continued on page 2 Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 9 The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Friday arrested a revenue Patwari, Sunil Dutt, posted in Amritsar district, for accepting a bribe of ~42,000 here. Disclosing this, an official spokesperson of the state VB said a case had been registered against the accused, Sunil Dutt, on an online complaint lodged by Gursahib Singh, a resident of Jalloke village in Amritsar, on the Chief Minister Anti-Corruption Action Line. He said the complainant in his complaint stated that the Patwari had taken a bribe of ~42,000 in lieu of executing mutation of his land. The VB, Amritsar Range, investi- The suspect in the custody of Amritsar VB officials on Friday. gated the complaint and found the allegations true and correct. On the basis of this report, a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the suspect, Patwari, at the VB police station, Amritsar Range, and Sunil Dutt was arrested. Further investigation into the case was underway, he added. Motorists taking shortcuts outside Bharat Ratna to Rao, City’s heritage character yielding ISBT create life-threatening risks Dr Swaminathan, space to demands of business Charan Singh hailed FLOUTING TRAFFIC RULES Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 9 Chaos prevails at several destination intersections on the main GT road opposite ISBT because of vehicles taking illegal U-turn to have access to the main elevated road. The stretch of the GT road from the New Amritsar intersection to the Hussainpura Chowk, outside the ISBT, is fraught with life-threatening risks posed by motorists trying to take shortcuts to reach their destinations. The danger of road accidents increases as fast moving vehicles include two-wheelers and heavy vehicles. Arvind Goyal, a resident of New Amritsar locality, said the stream of vehicles keeps going to and fro on the GT road outside their locality. In this scenario, service lanes on both sides perform a stellar job and offer residents of localities on either side an option to move A vehicle takes the wrong side on the elevated road near the Jahajgarh area from where vehicles from the GT Road come down towards the Golden Temple in Amritsar. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR out and in before being part of the high- density traffic. Yet several motorists put not only their lives but also that of others at risk by taking a U-turn and driving in the opposite direction at high speed. Vehicles of different sizes, especially cars attempting to move up from the one-way elevated ramp, which falls outside the Jahajgarh entrance, is a common sight on the road. Harpinder Singh Walia, a resident of Golden Avenue, said, “The move blocks the path of vehicles coming from the one-way ramp which could cause an accident. Yet people do not shy away from taking risks even as traffic policemen remain deployed at the spot to prevent people from taking an unauthorised U-turn to access the elevated road. Yet motorists continue to try to take advantage of the little distraction on the part of traffic cops.” He said despite police presence at the Ram Tirath Chowk, two-wheeler riders do not hold back from driving their vehicles against the flow of one-way road to gain shortcut to the Golden Avenue. Amritsar, February 9 Senior BJP leader Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina today hailed the decision of the Modi government at the Centre to confer India’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna to two former Prime Ministers, PV Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, besides to agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan. Chhina said Charan Singh and Swaminathan reflected the voice of farmers while PV Narasimha Rao initiated opening up of the economy to the world. Calling the decision as historic, Chhina said Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a strong decision to recognise the services of persons who were long forgotten. “All three were tall leaders of their time. Two are former PMs who deserved the honour long ago but their contributions were not recognised,” said Chhina. He praised the PM saying it takes a leader like Modi to c m y b ensure justice to them. “The whole farming community is today delighted that the leaders who raised their voices have been recognised in this way,” he said, adding that Rao was a distinguished scholar and statesman who stressed upon economic policies which opened Indian market to the world. He further said that Charan Singh dedicated his whole life to the cause of farmers and poor sections of society. He worked for the rights and welfare of farmers. From an MLA to minister and then on to PM, he remained a strong voice of the farmers, giving impetus to nation-building and stood against the Emergency. Chhina said Swaminathan’s contributions to the field of agriculture were immense and he was the agriculture scientist who was a major force behind the Green Revolution and played a pivotal role in helping India achieve selfreliance in food grain production. — TNS Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 9 The impact of modernisation and commercialisation has accelerated the process of replacing the old buildings reflecting the city’s heritage character with new architecture in the peripheral areas of the Golden Temple. Modernisation has triggered a wave among the residents to replace their old buildings with contemporary architecture. In the process, the walled city is fast losing connection with its glorious past. Commercialisation is wreaking havoc on the character of the walled city which was founded by the fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ramdas, in 1577. He was instrumental in shaping the character of the city by bringing in 52 professionals from different fields. Later, during the Sikh Misl period and during the reign of the legendary Sikh king, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the holy city gained multidimensional progress. All these phases were reflected An old building near Heritage Street in Amritsar. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR in the architecture of its houses and shops besides religious places which offered a unique look and character to the city of Golden Temple. However, fast-paced commercialisation triggered a construction of hotels and other commercial buildings in this part of the city. Its influence is visible in the narrow labyrinthine roads where three to five storey buildings have come up, replacing the old architecture. Daljit Singh, an NRI tourist, said the next generation would not be able to connect with the exact heritage character of the city after a visit to its holy shrines. In the mad race to look modern, people are replacing their age-old structures with modern architecture, incorporating relentlessly modern features like glass and steel. Dr Balvinder Singh, former Head, Guru Ramdas School of Planning of GNDU, and Advisor, Indian Heritage continued on page 2
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