20032024-ATR-01.qxd 3/20/2024 12:44 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 31°C | MIN 13°C YESTERDAY MAX 30°C | MIN 12°C QUESTION CANDIDATES ON STRAY DOG MENACE: CHAWLA COPS CONDUCT COMBING OP AT MALERKOTLA JAIL GENERAL HOSPITAL ACTOR BETH PETERS DIES AT 92 The stray dog menace should be the main issue in the LS polls, says Laxmi Kanta Chawla. P2 To rule out the possibility of inmates engaging in unlawful activities, a search operation was conducted. P3 Beth Peters, an actor and singer, passed away recently in central Florida after a short illness. She was 92. P4 » » SUNSET WEDNESDAY 6.12 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 6.32 AM » WEDNESDAY | 20 MARCH 2024 | AMRITSAR Banks ordered to monitor transactions as per poll code Govt lifting from April 1, grain arrival in markets from April 5 After prolonged winter, wheat harvesting set to begin soon No AC rides for commuters this summer without Metro buses Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 19 Deputy Commissioner-cumDistrict Election Officer Ghanshyam Thori, in a meeting held here today, said that compliance with rules regarding withdrawal of money and other expenses, should be ensured by the bank officials and employees in accordance with the Model Election Code in the district. The District Election Officer said that in the normal process, if any unusual or suspicious transaction of more than ~1 lakh is found, then the relevant banks should give information about that account holder to the District Election Office. The banks were also instructed to disseminate information about RTGS and other transactions of poll candidates. Thori said that the District continued on page 2 Amritsar, March 19 With weather taking a turn and daytime temperature reaching nearly 30 degree Celsius, the colour of the green wheat fields has started to turn golden as farmers claimed that harvesting of the crop would begin after two weeks. “If the temperature continues to increase at this pace, the wheat would mature within two to three weeks. High temperature results in loss of moisture from the grain,” said Joginder Singh, a farmer. He added that a prolonged winter usually helps in increasing wheat yield. “The winter this year was sufficiently long and it is hoped that the yield would be good this season,” he said. Meanwhile, the farmers have already started harvesting early sown mustard varieties. The farmers stated that Revival of service in near future appears to be remote possibility Courting risk Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service A wheat field along Majitha Road area in Amritsar. VISHAL KUMAR early sown mustard fields are ready for harvesting and the remaining would ripen within the next few days. While the government procurement of wheat is expected to start from April 1, the district agriculture officials stated that the arrival of wheat in local markets would start after April 5. They stated that if the weather takes another turn and the temperature dips again, the harvesting of wheat During the last summer season just before the service was closed in August, the Metro buses had recorded a daily ridership of 30,000 passengers. Lovely, a college student who travelled from Verka to Khalsa College daily, said, “I was forced to drop out of the college as my daily travel expense increased from ~20 daily to ~80.” Lovely’s mother works as a domestic Ignoring personal safety, students travel on a ‘gharooka’ (an makeshift motorised vehicle) in Amritsar. VISHAL KUMAR Amritsar, March 19 With General Elections at hand, the youth do not seem to be necessarily predisposed towards any political party which they feel only promote fault lines and sectarian divide in society. While they are to prepare for the competition posed by global trends, there hardly seems to be any government-run channel to prepare them for this and offer them avenues here, forcing them to move abroad. According to experts, the unguided youth are flying abroad without evaluating themselves and its pros and cons. As a result, many of them end up wasting precious years of their career. Encourage children to learn Urdu, says poet Azra Naqvi Azra Naqvi in conversation with Arvinder Chamak in Amritsar. youth, especially in this era of social media and how relevant are the concepts of mushaira and baithaks now. “Urdu and writing happened early in my life as I was born into a family of writers. My mother was a poet. I used to watch her reading and writing ghazals. Following in my parents’ footsteps, I started writing rhymes,” she said. Later, she also shared how in her growing up years, she was encouraged to write and study Urdu, which later in her life, paved the way for her becoming a champion of the language. Spending most of her life abroad, having lived in Mosul, Iraq and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, she further wrote for some foreign publications. Azra translated ‘Voices of Change’, a collection of short stories written by Saudi women writers in the 60s. She spoke on how noted poet Sahir Ludhianvi influenced her. “He was a passionate poet and it reflected in his works. With 11 books to her credit and many more literary accomplishments as a translator, Azra said more people should learn Urdu. “Children must be encouraged to learn the language because it has been part of our cultural and literary legacy. Not many younger generation Indians know or speak the language.” government departments bring in inefficiency and social unrest, they felt. The students, before thinking of migration, have to make proper plans. Only those who are skillful and have technical skills, have a chance of success in developed countries. Hence, migration should be a last resort, not the first priority of the youth, he commented. A city resident Rameshinder Singh Sandhu, who after studying abroad preferred to pursue a career in the international aviation sector while based here, said a lot can be done to retain youth in their native places. The government must evolve a mechanism to ensure that private jobs offer satisfactory salaries to youngsters. Most pri- MIGRATION OF INDIAN YOUTH AN ALARMING TREND Lakhwinder Singh Gill, former Deputy Director, Department of Higher Education, Punjab, said large-scale migration of Indian youth to foreign countries was an alarming trend, especially from a small state like Punjab, because migration of youth also means a loss from various angles, including social. But a major question is what causes a young man to leave his place of birth, which is not an easy decision. It is simply because he doesn’t see any security and quality of life after receiving education. vate firms are known to pay quite less which they consider as exploitation. The government should do something about it urgently, he felt. In addition, drugs are a big concern too. But the youth can be made busy by evincing interest in volunteer programmes in various fields. They will enrich many minds besides keeping themselves engaged, Sandhu observed. Educationists can play a creative role in these programmes by collaborating with various departments of the government. This will smarten our youth too. Such programmes are common in the West, he commented. This way, many will discover their hidden talent and interests, he added. Girl abducted on promise of marriage Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, March 19 A teenage girl was abducted on the pretext of marriage on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday from Chaudhry Wala village in the district. The Sarhali police have registered a case under Section 363 and 366-A of the IPC on Monday in this regard. The parents of the girl, in their complaint to the Sarhali police, said the family went to sleep on Saturday night as usual and the girl was found to be missing from her bed at midnight. The family said that she was abducted by someone who lured her to marry him. Lakhwinder Singh Gill, former Deputy Director, Department of Higher Education, Punjab, said large-scale migration of Indian youth to foreign countries was an alarming trend, especially from a small state like Punjab, because migration of youth also means a loss from various angles, including social. “But a major question is what causes a young man to leave his place of birth, which is not an easy decision. It is simply because he doesn’t see any security and quality of life after receiving education.” The states should focus on education and health sectors and have time-bound regular recruitment policy. Otherwise, the present scenario will continue to cause frustration and disappointment among the youth, pushing them towards migration. Vacant posts in Official posted at SDM office nabbed for taking bribe Honking on roads, functions at public places adding to noise pollution in city Amritsar, March 19 Continuing with its ongoing campaign against corruption, the Vigilance Bureau (VB), Punjab, has apprehended Tilak Raj, posted at the office of SDM-2, Amritsar, for accepting a bribe of R20,000. Disclosing this here on Tuesday, an official spokesperson for the Vigilance Bureau said accused Tilak Raj has been arrested on the complaint lodged by Amritpal Singh, a resident of Thathian village in Amritsar district. He further stated that during the investigation of the complaint lodged by Amritpal Singh, it was found that the accused had demanded ~30,000 to help the complainant get the compensation amounting to ~77, 92,000 for the land acquired by the National Highways Authority of India. Subsequently, a trap was laid by the VB and the accused was caught red-handed while accepting ~20,000 from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses. He said in this regard, a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered at the VB police station, Amritsar Range. The accused would be produced in a court tomorrow, he said. — TNS Tribune News Service c m y b Neeraj Bagga Amritsar, March 19 City residents are irked at the increasing noise pollution on public roads and markets. Apart from the rising number of vehicles, religious programmes being held at spacious markets and at intersections are adding to the problem of rising decibels. The vehicular noise pollution gets a boost due to religious programmes in which huge music systems blaring loud noise are installed on roadsides and at public places. Despite being a serious proven health hazard, the administration, traffic and pollution control agencies have not been able to kick-start a programme to pin down the honkers. As per the notification issued by the government in 2014, the level of sound in the residential areas should ideally be 55 dB, and 75 dB in the industrial zone. Manjot Singh, a vigilant city resident, said locals and visitors were forced to silently bear the cacophony of sound emanating out of vehicles and large sound systems installed on roadsides because there is no one to listen to sane voices. It also gives the impression that there is no rule of law when it comes to holding a programme on roadsides and commercial VISHAL KUMAR Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 19 An Evening of Words in Amritsar by Prabha Khaitan Foundation hosted at Taj Swarna, had the city audience enjoy an insightful conversation with poet, writer and educator Azra Naqvi, where the distinguished writer talked about ghazal, poetry and sweetness of Urdu-Hindi. The conversation was held under PKF’s Lafaz initiative and was hosted in collaboration with Ehsaas Amritsar. Naqvi opened boxes of memories while talking to Dr Arvinder Chamak and impact of Urdu literature, poetry on BRTS buses gather dust in the open at its depot at Verka in Amritsar on Tuesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Political parties not concerned about our wishes: Youth Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service could further get delayed. The officials and farmers stated that the early sown wheat fields might be at risk if it rained in the next two weeks. Wheat crop is grown on nearly 1.80 lakh hectares in the district. The agriculture department officials stated that nearly 7 lakh metric tonnes of wheat is expected to arrive in the markets by the end of the harvesting season. Amritsar, March 19 Local residents are sure to miss rides on air-conditioned Metro bus services this summer as the buses are off the roads for the past nine months. With no hopes of its revival in the near future as none of the elected representatives or any leader of the Opposition have chosen to highlight the issue so far. The Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) corridors in the city were built at a cost of ~550 crore. The corridors now seem to have become redundant. Further, around 92 Metro buses are gathering dust. The Metro buses were quite popular among local residents as these offered a comfortable ride at an economical rate. help and cannot afford to give him ~80 every day. Surely, there might be others like her who preferred Metro buses over auto-rickshaws or even bikes to reduce their travel expenses. “Riding on a bike is troublesome as one has to face dust and pollution. By using a Metro bus to reach my workplace, I always remained fresh,” said Rakesh, a cook at a hotel near GND University. Many residents complain that it is strange that neither any leader of the ruling party nor from the Opposition parties have taken up the issue. They have demanded that the Metro bus service must be resumed as it was the only public transport, that too AC ride provider, available to the residents of the city. A massive music system installed at a commercial market being played at high pitch during a religious programme in Amritsar. A DSP-RANK OFFICIAL AUTHORISED TO TAKE ACTION of any public places ❝As per norms, holdingfrom theprogramme inof the area. In requires prior nod, either SDM or SHO case of a complaint, a DSP rank official is authorised to take action. If required, the official can seek services of PPCB officials to ascertain level of pollution. Vinod Kumar, PPCB OFFICIAL ❞ markets. Any person or group of people can go and install a shamiana to carry out their choice of proceedings, despite the fact that noise pollution is a major cause of hypertension among many residents. It has become a health hazard for people. No devout soul really requires a loudspeaker to pray, feel residents. Another local resident Pawan Sharma said religious events which exceed permissible sound limits should not be allowed. He opined that the noise pollution created by vehicles, including buses and motorcycles, has been a major cause of concern, also because the number of vehicles on city roads has increased. All this is happening despite the fact that stringent punishment is provided in statutes, in case anyone is found violating the rules. Sharma said keeping in view the deleterious effects of noise pollution on the health and psychological well-being of the people, stringent measures are required from the authorities. According to an architect Mandeep Singh, concerted efforts are required to combat noise pollution. These are traffic management, land-use planning and design, low-noise tyres, quiet road surfaces, building designs and insulation. When contacted, Vinod Kumar, an official of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), said that as per the established norms, holding of any programme at public places required prior approval either from the SDM or Station House Officer (SHO) of the area. In case of a complaint filed against people or a group of people causing noise pollution in public, a DSP rank official is authorised to take action. If required, the official can seek the services of PPCB officials to ascertain the level of pollution.
The Tribune, now published from Chandigarh, started publication on February 2, 1881, in Lahore (now in Pakistan). It was started by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising four eminent persons as trustees.
The Tribune, the largest selling daily in North India, publishes news and views without any bias or prejudice of any kind. Restraint and moderation, rather than agitational language and partisanship, are the hallmarks of the paper. It is an independent newspaper in the real sense of the term.
The English edition apart, the 133-year-old Tribune has two sister publications, Punjabi Tribune (in Punjabi) and Dainik Tribune (in Hindi).