25022024-ATR-01.qxd 2/25/2024 12:20 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 22°C | MIN 7°C YESTERDAY MAX 22°C | MIN 7°C MC TO GET GOLF CARTS FOR ELDERLY AT HERITAGE STREET HONEY SINGH COLLABORATES WITH URVASHI RAUTELA AGAIN ONIR’S PINE CONE TO BE SCREENED IN LONDON Two mechanical road sweeping machines will also be provided for cleaning the Heritage Street. P2 “The song’s success lies in its infectious rhythm and the chemistry between the artists,” Honey Singh said. P4 National Award-winning filmmaker said he was “thrilled and honoured” for the screening. P4 » » SUNSET SUNDAY 6.24 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 7.02 AM » SUNDAY | 25 FEBRUARY 2024 | AMRITSAR Cong leaders, workers take out candle march in Patti Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, February 24 Congress workers led by Harminder Singh Gill, district president of the party, organised a candle march in Patti town on Friday expressing resentment against the killing of a young farmer, Shubhkaran Singh at the Khanauri border by the Haryana Police and para-military forces. Residents and farmers of nearby villages participated in the candle march. Harminder Singh said killing of an agitating farmer has exposed the intention of the BJP-led Union Government and Haryana Government that they have no sympathy with the farmers of the country and it was bent on crushing the farmers’ agitation. He said countrymen were with the farmers while the Modi government was trying to defame the farmers’ agitation. Sukhwinder Singh Sidhu, former SGPC member, Dalbir Singh, former Patti MC president, councillor Babbi too addressed on the occasion. KMSC wants action against those responsible for farmer’s death Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 24 Members of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee burnt effigies of the Centre and the Haryana Government at Golden Gate here and at various villages for stopping the farmers from reaching Delhi and hold a protest. The protests were organized by village committees of the KMSC in which local farmers participated in large numbers. Gurlal Singh Kakkar, president of the Chogawan zone committee of KMSC, said, “Most of our senior leadership is already holding a protest at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders. We are mobilising public support here by organizing these events.” Gurlal Singh said while one farmer was killed, several others were seriously injured due to the use of tear gas shells and plastic bullets by paramilitary forces deployed on Haryana borders. “The government has unnecessarily created tension on these borders. It should have let the Long queues at entry, baggage scan points irk air passengers Flyers advised to reach airport around 4 hrs before flight takeoff Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Members of the KMSC burn effigies of the Centre and the Haryana Government in Amritsar on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO farmers go to Delhi and hold their protest,” he added. The farmer leaders said the government must guarantee minimum support prices for all crops, which is the only way to safeguard the farmers’ interests. Gurbachan Singh Chabba of the KMSC said, “At present, the Union Government announces the MSP on 23 crops, but practically in Punjab it is given only on paddy and wheat.” He said legal guarantee on MSP would ensure that farmers get a fair price for all crops. The farmer leaders stated that legal guarantee on MSP would help in crop diversification as at present farmers are trapped in the wheatpaddy monoculture. They said that the protest would continue till all their demands are accepted. Sonu Maha, another leader of KMSC, said, “The farming community is deeply saddened by the use of violence against the farmers and demands that action should be taken against officials who were responsible for the death of young farmer Subhkaran Singh.” Amritsar, February 24 Passengers witnessed long queues at the baggage scan section as half of the counters were closed due to the ongoing work of upgrading the Xray machines at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport. As a result, long queues were seen at every step, including entry gate, baggage check, checking in, immigration and security check at the airport. Besides, the number of passengers has also increased with farmers blocking roads leading to Delhi. A large number of passengers who planned to take international flight from Delhi are now reaching the Amritsar airport to take a flight for Delhi or other international destinations. In view of heavy traffic at the airport these days, activists of a local NGO, Fly Amritsar Initia- Chaos prevails at the Amritsar airport on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO tive, working for betterment of the Amritsar airport, advised passengers to reach the airport three to four hours in advance for international flights. Yogesh Kamra from Fly Amritsar Initiative said, “The airport authorities are installing the inline X-ray inspection system at the airport. The civil work is underway and half of the X-ray counters are not functioning. It is possible that the passengers have to wait for their turn on entry gate, baggage check, checking in and immigration and the whole process takes time. Passengers can sit back and wait for flight after completing the required airport procedures such as baggage X-Ray scan, airline check in, immigration check out, security check and frisking. So, we advise passengers to reach the airport at least four hours before an international flight.” Sameep Singh Gumtala, convener of the FlyAmritsar Initiative, said, “The number of passengers has also increased due to closure of roads leading to Delhi. On our request, the number of flights for Delhi are increased by airlines, but passengers need at least three hours for international flights. The airlines and all airport procedures demands four hours for international flight, so it’s better not to complain as comparing service levels with other foreign airports does not help much. We also requested the airport authorities to enhance the resources and services.” It is worth mentioning here that for those travelling on domestic flights operating within India, they do not have to get their documents checked at the time of immigration and check-in, so they may take a little less time. Peddler nabbed with Missing grills: RTI activist approaches court Road mishaps claim 4 kg of heroin, pistol Seeks action against civic body, police dept for their failure to check theft 2 lives in Tarn Taran Amritsar, February 24 A day after the seizure of 6kg heroin from three drug peddlers, the Amritsar Rural Police seized 4 kg of heroin, drug money and a firearm from a cross-border trafficker. The accused was identified as Manjit Singh, alias Kalu, of Dhanoe Kalan village located near the Indopak border here. Amritsar Rural Police SSP Satinder Singh said besides the contraband, the police also seized ~2-lakh drug money, two mobile phones and a .30 bore pistol with five live cartridges and dongle from his possession. He said as per a preliminary probe, the accused was involved in drug peddling for quite some time now and it was for the first time that he was nabbed by the police. He said Manjit Singh has links with the Pakistani smuggler with pseudo name of Hazi. “We got a specific input that after retrieving the contraband consignment smuggled from Pakistan, he was going to deliver the same to someone at Maude village located near International Border,” he said. A naka was laid on the Dhanoe KalanMaude village road where he was intercepted. The police recovered 1-kg heroin at that time. During his preliminary interrogation, the police made the remaining recovery on his disclosure. A case has been registered under Sections 21, 27-A, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act and Section 25 of the Arms Act against him in this regard. He said the accused was being produced in a court and brought on police remand for further probe. His backward and forward links were being established, the SSP added. Amritsar, February 24 Perturbed over alleged inaction by the city police and Amritsar Municipal Corporation authorities, noted RTI activist has filed a complaint in a local court alleging that both authorities have failed to perform their duties. The complaint filed in the court sought an inquiry and registration of an FIR. “The court has registered a complaint and initiated the proceedings and scheduled the next hearing for March 16,” said RTI activist Parbodh Chander Bali. He had sought information regarding the iron grills fixed on roadsides and along the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) lanes which were uprooted/stolen from many places. The Punjab Government had inaugurated the ambitious BRTS project worth Rs VISHAL KUMAR Tribune News Service Tribune News Service A part of the grills along the BRTS lane missing in Amritsar. 545 crore in January 2019 with an aim to decongest city roads and provide a good, cheap and safe public transport system. The purpose of heavy and costly iron grills alongside the BRTS lanes on roads and beneath overpasses was to ensure safety of commuters, besides earmarking vacant land for establishing green belt. Nev- ertheless, a large number of iron grills went missing or were stolen by unscrupulous elements while green belts were uprooted giving a shabby look to areas. These green belts were encroached upon or being used for parking vehicles. “Despite best efforts, MC officials failed to provide any clarity on the reason behind the missing grills. Even the civic body authorities also failed to lodge any complaint with the police in this connection. As per law, MC officials should have maintained a complete record about the loss, theft or damage to the articles and in case of theft it should have been reported to police for filing a complaint,” Bali pointed out. Finding no response from the MC, Bali later filed a complaint with the police last month and the police recorded his statement on February 5 seeking a probe into missing grills. However, the police also failed to take cognizance and appropriate action in this regard. “Civic body officials and cops have failed to perform their duties diligently, causing a loss to the government exchequer. Moreover, there is no effort to recover or avoid future loss,” he added. Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, February 24 Two persons were killed and one was seriously injured in two road accidents at two different places in Tarn Taran areas on Friday late evening. The deceased have been identified as Manwinder Singh (42), a resident of Taragarh Talab (Amritsar), and Waryam Singh (32), a resident of Piddi. The injured was identified as 10-year-old Akashdeep Singh, nephew of deceased Waryam Singh. He was admitted to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Amritsar, where his condition is stated to be stable. According to information, Manwinder Singh met with the accident on the Tarn Taran-Khadoor Sahib road near Bal Gas Agency. He was on his motorcycle when he was hit by a Bolero, killing him on the spot. Sukhdev Singh, ASI, post- ed at the local Sadar police station, said the driver of Bolero was identified as Hem Raj of Naushehra Pannuan, who was booked by the police. In the second case, Waryam Singh along with his nephew Akhashdeep Singh was going towards the Sheron village side when he was hit by a speeding car from the rear. Waryam Singh and Akashdeep Singh were brought to a local private hospital where the doctors declared Waryam Singh dead and Akashdeep Singh was taken to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Amritsar, by the family members. The car involved in the accident have been taken into possession by the police. A case under Sections 304-A, 279, 427, 337 and 338 of the IPC has been registered against the accused by the Sadar police (Tarn Taran). The postmortem of the bodies were conducted at the local Civil Hospital on Saturday. ‘Sacred Amritsar’ opens with a blend of poetry, history Residents of Ward No.18 localities peeved over non-lifting of garbage Neha Saini Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Poets Swanand Kirkire, Sarbpreet Singh and Dr Sarbjot Singh Behal along with Soumya Kulshrestha; (right) Jasleen Aulakh opened the morning concert during the event in Amritsar on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS “Ibre Insha”, reflect an unrestricted, introspective and entertaining tone. His recital dedicated to the message of humanism and universality resonated with the idea of Amritsar as a city founded on the principles universal wel- fare and service, as it is fondly called “Sifti Da Ghar”. He composed sensitive verses and enthralled the audience with his wonderful performance along with his thoughts on poetry. Sarabpreet Singh carried for- ward this mystical energy with his soulful recital of kafis by Guru Nanak. Sarabjot Bahl’s poignant remembrance of the most brutal chapter of Amritsar’s history, the Jallainwala Bagh massacre, through his poem, c m y b ‘ Tein ki dard na aaya’, was brilliant in its narrative. It depicted the massacre through the perspective of a ‘bullet’ that never really hit/killed anyone but remained as a shameful, continued on page 2 Amritsar, February 24 Residents of various localities in Ward No.18 here are disturbed over poor sanitation. Owing to the negligence on the part of the Amritsar Municipal Corporation authorities, localities like Jagdambe Colony, Bohar Wala Shiwala, Gokaul Vihar and Banke Bihari Gali are facing the twin problems of choking of sewer lines and non-lifting of garbage. Localities such as Jagdambe Colony and Gokaul Vihar are densely populated and congested. Residents have been complaining of irregular lifting of garbage from their localities. The residents are also facing the shortage of potable water as two tubewells are lying defunct. Sandeep Rinka, former councillor and Congress leader, said, “We used to conduct de-silting of sewer lines twice a year. After the end of the MC General TRIBUNE PHOTO Amritsar, February 24 Evocative poetry, which began with the incredible Swanand Kirkire and ended with mystical magic of Baba Bulleh Shah’s kafis performed by the rising star of Sufi genre from the city, Karam Rajput, set the tone for the second edition of the “Sacred Amritsar” festival at The Earth here today. The cultural festival celebrates the mystics, poetry and heritage of Amritsar, bringing some of the most celebrated acts and artists on a single platform. The opening ceremony had moving poetry recitals, by renowned lyricist, singer and actor Swanand Kirkire; playwright, author, and podcaster Sarabpreet Singh; architect and poet Sarabjot Singh Bahl; and writer and poet Soumya Kulshrestha. For anyone who is familiar with Kirkire’s body of work, famous lines from his poem Garbage lies strewn in a locality of Ward No.18 in Amritsar. House in January 2023, the MC didn’t conduct de-silting during the last one year. The sewer lines are choked and water is overflowing. Garbage lifting is irregular. Residents would face the shortage of water supply in the coming summer season if the MC does not repair the tubewells.” “The area is being ignored by the authorities. Officials of the MC and leaders urge the residents to keep the city clean, but the vehicles collecting garbage from door to door visit the area only twice a week. They are forced to dump garbage in vacant plots. Heaps of garbage can be seen at every corner,” said Sukhdev Singh, a resident.