16042024-ATR-01.qxd 16-04-2024 00:41 Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 31°C | MIN 21°C YESTERDAY MAX 32°C | MIN 20°C MC COMMISSIONER INSPECTS PARKS, DUMPS 7 KG HEROIN, ~36 LAKH DRUG MONEY SEIZED DUA LIPA ANNOUNCED AS HOST FOR SNL MAY EPISODE MC chief Anupam Kaler visited different areas with a team of the horticulture and health branch of the MC. P2 CIAnabs a drug peddler having links with cross-border smugglers and recovers heroin along with drug money.P3 Dua Lipa gears up for sensational return to the iconic show, not just as a musical guest, but as its host as well.P4 » » » SUNSET TUESDAY 7.00 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 5.59 AM TUESDAY | 16 APRIL 2024 | AMRITSAR Man held with contraband, revolver Amritsar, April 15 CIA staff have arrested a drug peddler with commercial quantity of contraband and a country-made pistol. He was identified as Jagjit Singh of Neshta village in Attari, now residing at Harkrishan Nagar, Kale Road, falling under the Chheharta police station here. SI Balwinder Singh of CIA staff-2 said he along with his team was present near Government Senior Secondary School in Guru Ki Wadali and checking vehicles when they saw a scooter-borne person coming. However, on seeing the police party, he suddenly took a Uturn. But he was arrested by the police team. He tried to throw away a polythene, but it was seized which was later found to be carrying heroin. “The police have seized 50gm heroin from him and also impounded his scooter (PB02-EF-8830). During search, the police also recovered a .32 bore revolver along with three bullets,” he said, adding that he could not produce the documents regarding the weapon. The police also recovered 20gm heroin from the possession of Karan of Ram Tirath Road in a separate incident. — TNS DTF members condole death of woman mid-day meal worker Vigilance nabs ASI for taking ~5K bribe Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 15 The district unit of Democratic Teachers Front, Punjab, today expressed condolence over the death of a mid-day meal workers, Manjit Kaur, in Ludhiana from burn injuries sustained during cooking mid-day meal at her assigned school. DTF general secretary Gurbinder Singh Khaira said that the state government must give mid-day meal workers in the state their due in terms of wages and health insurance. “The mid-day meal sisters, who prepare meals for a large number of students in government schools are serving the students without any government security system, safety kits or any safety assurance. Moreover, the demand for health insurance that they have been raising since years now, have been delayed in implementation. This recent death at a school in Machiwara Kham, Ludhiana, due to burns while preparing lunch for the students should be a wake-up call for the government,” he said. Ashwani Awasthi, district Amritsar, April 15 The Vigilance Bureau here has arrested an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Nachhatar Singh posted at the Ajnala police station for allegedly seeking and accepting graft of ~5,000. He was nabbed following a complaint lodged by Avtar Singh of Shamsherpur village in Fatehgarh Churian here. The VB spokesman said the complainant alleged that the ASI was demanding Rs 10,000 for favouring his son during investigation in the case registered against him at the Ajnala police station. He said following this, Vigilance sleuths laid a trap and arrested the accused red-handed while accepting a bribe of ~5,000 from the complainant in the presence of official witnesses. Vigilance Bureau officials said a case under the prevention of corruption act was registered against him at the VB police station in Amritsar Range. He would be produced before the local court tomorrow seeking his police custody for further investigations. Members of the DTF during a protest in Amritsar on Monday. unit head of DTF said that , even after repeated demands and meetings by the state government for cooks, no safety kits, no uniforms, no health facilities, no life insurance, no minimum wages law has been implemented. Among the demands of the employees, there has been a stalemate between the organisation and the government, mainly on the issues of implementation of 37 different types of allowances, irregular dearness allowance, ACP scheme, old pension restoration scheme etc. Referring to another such incidents in recent years, Awasthi said that another midday meal worker, Ranjit Kaur, suffered serious injuries when the pressure cooker burst while cooking in Phulpur Grewal’s primary school at Rupnagar but survived. In this regard, the leaders made all the cooks aware and appealed that special attention should be paid to safety rules while cooking, such as cleaning the cooker properly, cleaning the gas from time to time, inspecting the pipe etc. so that in future, such painful accidents can be avoided. Police crack jewellery shop robbery case Suspect nabbed with toy pistol; cash recovered Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 15 The Division C police on Monday claimed to have cracked the robbery in which a jeweller was robbed of cash at gunpoint near Gate Hakima here three days ago. The accused was identified as Jagdish Singh, alias Goldy of Dashmesh Nagar area. The police recovered the snatched cash, toy pistol and scooter used in the crime. Dr Darpan Ahluwalia, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, revealed that the accused had come out of jail on bail on March 8. She said using the same modus operandi, he had looted a man using a toy pistol in the Civil Lines police station area two years ago while he also had four theft and snatching cases against him at the Division B, Kotwali and Civil Lines police station in 2022. After looting the jeweller, Jagdish Singh kept on changing his clothes. He was staying in Dashmesh Nagar area The suspect in custody of the Amritsar police on Monday. with changed identity to avoid police raids. However, he was identified by police teams after scanning the CCTV cameras in the area. Amritpal Singh, a jeweller, said he was sitting in his shop, Singh Jewellers, when the accused entered the shop. He was wearing a ‘parna’ (headgear) and a mask. After entering the shop, he took out a pistol, loaded it and threatened to shoot him. He was alone at the shop at that time. He demanded the cash from him. He took out two bundles of cash from the box and fled away on his Hand over Children’s Park at Company School bus drivers exhorted to Bagh to public: Kunwar to AIT Chairman follow traffic rules in letter & spirit Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 15 MLA Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh on Monday submitted a memorandum to the Chairman of Amritsar Improvement Trust through a letter demanding that Children Park located at Company Bagh should be handed over to the public. Along with a delegation, he met with Chairman Ashok Talwar and raised a demand to open the park to the general public. It is worth mentioning here that in 2016, the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) had transferred the park at Company Bagh to a private firm on an 11-year lease in gross violation of the established principles of public policy and governance. MLA Kunwar said the Company Bagh is a heritage park and it is looked after by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). However, the maintenance work was being looked after by the municipal corporation. The AIT entered into an MLA Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh hands over a memorandum to the AIT Chairman in Amritsar on Monday. TRIBUNE PHOTO illegal contract with a private firm by transferring the park on lease to a private party in 2016. Even the Amritsar Municipal Corporation has no authority to authorise the lessor (AIT) to enter into such an illegal contract. The park was earlier open to the common people of Amritsar without any charges but during the SADBJP regime, it was illegally handed over to the private firm. Kunwar said in the given circumstances, the AIT has no authority to enter into such a contract with any private firm. “The object and intention of the contract was to provide an unfair advantage to a private party. It is clear from the contents and phraseology of the contract. Not only this, the lessee (private party) has been authorized to charge separate fees for entry, parking and riding, which is completely contrary to established principles of public policy. Even the term “High Powered Committee” is not defined in the Agreement”, said the MLA. In this regard, MLA Kunwar said he had raised a strong demand through question number 1011 in the Punjab Assembly in the recently concluded budget session in this regard. Kunwar added that the formation of such a “high-powered committee” for this nefarious purpose further abets the alleged nexus of the political mafia as people generally discuss openly. Kunwar emphasised that it can be said that the contract has been entered into with the sole intention of giving undue monetary benefit to the private party and the interests of the common citizens have been ignored. He said that I am making this demand in the public interest and especially under the instructions of those people who have been deprived of the use of the premises of Children Park. Amritsar, April 15 Days after the tragic road mishap that claimed the lives of six schoolchildren in Mahendargarh in Haryana, the city police on Monday held a meeting with drivers of the school buses at Delhi Public School and asked them to follow the traffic rules in letter and spirit, besides fulfilling the norms underlined in the Safe School Vahan Policy approved by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The traffic education cell while interacting with the drivers pointed out that unskilled driving and drink and drive usually lead to mishaps that snuff out precious lives and destroys families. Sub-Inspector Daljit Singh, in charge, Traffic Education Cell of the city police, said encourage driver to keep in mind the traffic rules while driving on roads. He asked them to wear seat belts, do not drink and drive and do not jump the red lights. While elaborating on the norms under the Safe School Vahan Policy, he said the drivers Police personnel during a meeting with drivers of school buses in Amritsar on Monday. TRIBUNE PHOTO should desist from using mobile phones while driving. Traffic cops also interacted with school students and informed that commuters should necessarily wear helmets while driving two-wheelers and wear seat belts while driving four-wheelers. They also encouraged them not to indulge in underage driving which is rampant in the holy city. Daljit Singh said drivers should not consume any type of drugs and follow the speed limits while driving school vans and buses. After the seminar, the cops checked the first-aid kits, fire extinguishers, CCTV cameras and speed governors in the school buses. The drivers were asked to wear uniforms with name plates. — TNS scooter parked outside. The entire incident was captured on the CCTV camera. On the statement of Amritpal, the police registered a case. Meanwhile, the ADCP urged the jewellery store owners to strengthen security measures by deputing security guards, proper lighting, motion sensors, multiple alarm systems besides installing CCTV cameras with hidden DVRs and keep the cash boxes locked. In the incident, she said the accused easily took out the case from the cash box as it was open. Amritpal’s mother, kin released from Central Jail Amritsar, April 15 Waris Punjab De head Amritpal Singh’s mother Balwinder Kaur and other family members were among six persons released from Amritsar Central Jail here today in the evening. They were detained under preventive measures when they were going to Takht Damdama Sahib at Bathinda for carrying out Khalsa March seeking transfer of Amritpal Singh and his associates lodged in Dibrugarh Jail in Assam under the National Security Act. They had applied for bail in the sessions court here but were released by the police on bail. After release, they reached the protest site at Heritage Street. Balwinder Kaur along with other family members and several Sikh organisations had been holding a protest at the Heritage Street near Golden Temple for the past two months for shifting Amritpal and others from Assam jail to Punjab. — TNS Former CM Channi offers ‘Heer-Ranjha’ not just about forbidden love but prayers at Golden Temple also gender violence, says Pak-based author Amritsar, April 15 Immediately after the Congress announced former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi as its nominee for the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat, he came here to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple. He was accompanied by senior Congress leader Pargat Singh and other party leaders from the Doaba region. Talking to waiting media persons outside the Golden Temple, he said the Congress party chose him to do ‘Sewa’ from the Jalandhar seat and for this he came to say thanks to the Guru Sahib. He said as a ‘Sewak’, he will go to ‘Malka’ (masters) in Doaba”. Quoting the friendship of Tribune News Service Former CM Charanjit Channi pays obeisance at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Monday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Sudama and Bhagwan Krishna, he said he was a Sudama and natives of Doaba would take care of him like Bhagwan Krishna. He refused to comment on the objections being raised by the Chaudhary family against his candidature and added that he was stand- ing at the holiest Sikh shrine. Responding to another query, he said he has been serving people of the state from different places. From Kharar, he went to contest at Chamkaur Sahib and was elected as an Independent from there. — TNS Amritsar, April 15 Waris Shah’s classic Heer has been among one of the most significant folk literature of Punjab and over the years, a subject of various reinterpretations and adaptations. The most recent one is by author Haroon Khalid, in his latest book ‘From Waris to Heer’. The Literary Club of Guru Nanak Dev University hosted a riveting discussion with the Pakistan-based celebrated author and journalist, Haroon Khalid, on his retelling of the iconic Punjabi folk tale, Heer Ranjha. In conversation with Ratnadeep Chakraborty, a stu- c m y b Pakistan-based Author Haroon Khalid at GNDU in Amritsar. dent from the MA International Relations programme at GNDU, Khalid delved into the concept of “Qissa writing, or storytelling through short stories, which emphasises retelling familiar stories using new symbols and interpretations rather than striv- ing for pure originality”. He grappled with the challenge of reinvigorating the wellknown ‘Heer Ranjha’ narrative, whose ending is widely known across Punjab, while keeping the audience engrossed. “Drawing from the ‘Qissa’ storytelling tradition, I aimed to offer fresh social and political insights through his retelling,” said Khalid, whose earlier repertoire as author includes four books: A White Trail (2013), In Search of Shiva (2015), Walking with Nanak (2016) and Imagining Lahore (2018). A key element of Khalid’s experimental approach involved blurring the lines between author, characters, and story itself. The characters in ‘From Waris to Heer’, he explained, “possess a selfaware quality, actively playing roles within the tale.” Attributing this meta-fictional technique, he said it enabled him to explore complex themes of history, politics, religion, and gender through the viewpoints of his protagonists. Khalid shed light on the historical context surrounding Waris Shah, one of the central figures, noting the scarcity of concrete details regarding him, allowed greater creative licence in his depiction. He also unpacked how his writing organically reflects Pak- istan’s rich composite culture —- a recurring motif across his body of work. In the current climate where tradition is often politically exploited, Khalid aimed to authentically capture this confluence of identities. The profound concept of divine and earthly love in ‘Heer Ranjha’ was another focal point. According to Khalid, the perspective is rooted in the mystical tradition which synergises the two forms of love. The transformations undergone by characters like Heer mirror this merging of the spiritual and corporeal realms, catalysing profound shifts in identity.